Go Fish
Notes
Transcript
Matthew 4:18-22
Matthew 4:18-22
READ
PRAY
| CAPTURE
|| “Elle, why don’t you come with me?”
||| Top of ridge, looking out upon the outer fringe of the Lincoln National Forrest nestled at the foot of the Sierra Blanca
||| Cool, clear morning with serene silence surrounding us on all sides. Scent of Ponderosa Pines filled the air.
||| We were trying to figure out how to pair off (hunting group of four), and I threw the invitation out to Elle
|||| Go back to the pickup and Rangers down the slope with one of the old(er) guys, or keep walking up the game trail into the rocks and ridges with me?
|| With only a short glance at Dad, his friend, and the two options laid out before her, she responded, “Okay. Let’s go.”
||| Get this: after seven hours, multiple miles covered, hundreds of feet of elevation change up and down, sweat and fatigue, a filled out elk tag, heavy loads of meat to carry out, a descent into a rocky ravine, and much more adventure and excitement that probably *more or less* amounts to a hunter’s tall tales, I looked over to Elle and asked:
|| ”This is probably the most romantic thing we have ever done together”
||| Elle: “This is one of the most adventurous things we’ve done together”
||| Will she follow me next time?
| CREATION
|| One of our favorite trips of the year- we get to look out on God’s beautiful creation!
|| About the third or fourth mile, the church boy part of me thought Ps 121:1-3 would be a good Bible memory verse as we tripped and slipped and stumbled down the mountain with our heavy loads:
I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
|| One morning, I simply sat on a rock and read Scripture. The beauty of the Bible is that it beckons us reckon with our realities, recognize the beauty and goodness of the world around us and, in turn, give glory to God. The natural rhythm of appreciating creation and worshipping the Creator.
| CHASM
|| However, there’s a treacherous turn in the trail— trouble up ahead. There’s a gap between what ought to be and what is.
|| Romans 1:18-25, 28-32
|| Who is this talking about? Surely not me?
||| Romans 3:23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
|| Here lies the chasm: humanity has not followed God. They have not given proper worship and glory to Him. Humanity will die, the forever kind of die, apart from God.
||| This was well established last week: humanity is really good at making decisions that result in death.
| CHRIST
|| However, two simple words show how things turn around: “But God”
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
||| The turn around, or the Good News, or the Gospel, is about a Person, Jesus Christ
|| NOW AS JESUS WAS WALKING BY THE SEA OF GALILEE [18a]
||| Here is God the Son, walking along the waters He created. Mount Arbel standing sharply over the lake, giving way to the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon in the distance.
||| God the Son sent to earth for the very purpose of saving men from the sea of sin.
||| Eternity Himself walking along the shoreline, seeking out the souls of mankind.
|| HE SAW TWO BROTHERS, SIMON WHO WAS CALLED PETER, AND ANDREW HIS BROTHER, CASTING A NET INTO THE SEA, FOR THEY WERE FISHERMEN. [18b]
||| “Who’s Simon? Who’s Peter? Wait- Simon is called Peter?” “And what about his brother?”
|||| Men with no genealogy given or no grand introduction. Just ordinary men who were fishermen.
|| AND HE SAID TO THEM, “FOLLOW ME, AND I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN.” [19]
||| ”Follow Me,
|||| Me
|||| Matthew shows how Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophetic promises. Jesus is the hope that people were hoping for.
||||| Matthew 1 - The long-awaited Savior, the Messiah. The Son of David, born into Israel’s kingly line. The Son of Abraham, the father of the people of Israel. Immanuel, God with us.
||||| Matthew 2 - Sovereign over the wise, Shepherd over the weak. King and Ruler. The New, and Greater, Moses
||||| Matthew 3 - Righteous Judge. Beloved Son of the Father.
||||| Matthew 4 - The New, and Better, Adam. The True Israel. Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
||||| This is who is speaking.
|||| Follow
||||| Follow Him where? Where was He going?
||||| Worship song: “I’ll Follow You Anywhere”
||||| Yet Jesus was going somewhere. He was headed to the Cross.
||||| He has His face set like a flint (Foretold Isaiah 50:7; Fulfilled Luke 9:53). The spotless Lamb who come to die.
||||| To follow Him meant to go where He was going. To follow Him meant to go the route He had gone.
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
||||| “You comin’?”
||||| He had has His face set like a flint.
||| and I will make you fishers of men.”
|||| Fishers of men
||||| Metaphorical expression
|||||| Jesus spoke these guy’s language. He met them right where they were.
||||| A window into the heart of God. God’s great concern is saving people.
“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
||||| He’s after people. And ransomed people will play a part in gathering more ransomed people to Him. Think about the glory this brings God!!!
||||| "Destined to bring men into the Church and life eternal,” McEvilly
|||| I will make you
||||| Notice that Jesus didn’t tell Peter and Andrew, “Come along and fish for men.” That’d be two commands, and they’d be responsible for carrying out both.
||||| They had one command, one responsibility: follow Me.
||||| And Jesus took ownership over the rest. Their sincere, full surrender and obedience would naturally lead into the rest.
||||| More is caught than taught. It’s good to be near to Jesus. It’s good to follow Him.
||||| Moreover, God said He’d do the work. And God always gets the job done.
And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”
||||| Well-known pastor: “They’re paid for, and God will not go back on His Son’s payment.”
||||| Jesus has bought Himself a people. They will be His. He will gather them to Himself. And as you surrender and obey to Him, it’s His good will to carry out a joyful part of this gathering to Himself through you.
|| IMMEDIATELY THEY LEFT THEIR NETS AND FOLLOWED HIM. [20]
||| Obedience. They listened. They obeyed. Their obedience would be used to bring about a blessing to the world.
|| GOING ON FROM THERE HE SAW TWO OTHER BROTHERS, JAMES THE SON OF ZEBEDEE, AND JOHN HIS BROTHER, MENDING THEIR NETS; AND HE CALLED THEM. IMMEDIATELY THEY LEFT THE BOAT AND THEIR FATHER, AND FOLLOWED HIM. [21-22]
||| Notice the parallel between Matt 4:18-20 and Matt 4:21-22
|||| More and more men. Turning and following.
|||| Luke 5:1-11
||||| Most scholars believe this account in Luke takes place after the account we are reading
||||| In that account, James, Peter, and John left everything and followed Him
||||| Not only more and more men. More and more of men. More and more, more and more.
||||| Kingdom on the move
| CALL
|| CONSIDER THE CALL
||| Your part: follow Him
|||| “Golgotha isn’t a suburb of Jerusalem. Let’s go outside the gate and suffer and bear reproach.” Piper
|||| Take up your Cross and follow Him! Radical reorienting of what matters in life. And how you live life. Not self-glorification. Not self-preservation. Rather, self-sacrificing. Putting everything on the table to love God by loving people. The old self crucified. And he life now lived, lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. If I walked by sight, MAN I would miss those things that the world offers. But I’m walking by faith, trusting in the reward of faith.
|||| The importance. Life or death. Forever with Him or forever separated from Him. Just know this: He is Life and Light, and separation from Him is death and darkness.
|||| Die to live. Or walk the easy path that leads to death— to the slaughter.
|| COLLIDE WITH THE CALL
||| (How do we follow Jesus now?)
|||| We don’t follow Jesus’ physical movements anymore. But there’s a similar, if not surpassingly glorious, path to walk with Him now.
|||| The Christian life begins with death. Putting to death the old man. The one that served sin. Repentance.
|||| There’s also a new birth. A spiritual birth. The Spirit of Christ comes to dwell in the believer when they believe in His death, burial, and resurrection. Belief.
|||| Repent and believe. Behold, the Kingdom. Death and new birth. Obedience to the Gospel.
|||| Then, as sons and daughters of God, we walk as Jesus walked. We meet with Jesus in the Scriptures. We live as witnesses, living as Jesus lived.
the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
|||| The Spirit makes us into ministers of reconciliation. Ministers who share Christ and bring others into maturity in Christ.
||| (What needs to change?)
|||| Not merely an altar call commitment. Not merely a Sunday decision. A slow, lifelong, steady struggle. Sometimes painful. Increasing surrender. Sold out to Him. All of life for all of life.
|||| The call to follow Jesus is not a child’s game, Go Fish. Which is the irony of the sermon title.
||||| Jesus isn’t out to get Peter’s ace of spades. “One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish.” He knows what is in man. Man was made in Him and through Him and for Him.
||||| Church isn’t a hobby.
||||| Jesus Christ gave His life for this. From exaltation to humiliation. Behold, the Kingdom of God, right here! We carry out the Kingdom day by day by following Him.
|||| Gauge: Fishermen fish. They don’t always like fish, they don’t always catch fish. But fishermen fish.
|||| You might not always win a person to Christ, nor will your relationships always bear fruit. Seasons come and go. God is sovereign over seasons. But just as fishermen fish, Christians pursue people. Jesus loves people, Jesus’ followers love Him (and increasingly reflect Him more and more). Therefore. Jesus’ followers love people.
|||| How will they know we are Christians? By our love
|||| Pursuing God results in pursuing people. Where’s your heart on this?
||| His part: He will make you a fisher of men. Transformation.
|||| If you know Jesus and follow Him, He changes you at your core
|||| Like a seed planted deep in the ground, His body went into the grave. However, on the third day, He would spring into exploding life. He was buried to sprout. (Stuart)
|||| He multiplies life. Like a plant that dies to produce more seed, we are crucified with Christ to continue the multiplication of life that He began.
|| RESPOND TO THE CALL
||| (Walking away different)
||| “Come into union with the Word who made you, and you will come to Life! You came from Him; please come back to Him. You were made for Him. The result of this reunion will be more than human existence; it will be human ‘Life.’” Frederick Bruner
||| Commit yourself to Him, and carry the cross. The Sovereign King of the Universe is worth following. Follow, and He’ll make you a fisherman.