Go Fish [P.O.]
Notes
Transcript
Matthew 4:18-22
Matthew 4:18-22
READ
Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
PRAY
| CAPTURE
Hunting trip
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.
How to pair off (hunting group of four), and I threw the invitation out to Elle “Want to come with me?”
Choice: old(er) guys, or keep walking up the game trail into the rocks and ridges with me
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 said:
*romantic* Elle: *adventurous/crazy*
| CREATION
One of our favorite trips of the year- we get to look out on God’s beautiful creation!
Church boy part of me — Ps 121:1-3 memory verse:
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.
Morning, 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
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,
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 *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.
Turn around, or Good News, or the Gospel, is about a Person, Jesus Christ
NOW AS JESUS WAS WALKING BY THE SEA OF GALILEE [18a]
God the Son, walking along the waters He created. Mount Arbel stood at the edge of the lake on the far side, 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. Men who had met Jesus, gotten to know Him, and were about to get an invitation
|| AND HE SAID TO THEM, “FOLLOW ME, AND I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN.” [19]
Follow Me
Me
Matthew: 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. There will be no Kingdom without the King. And here He is.
Follow
Follow Him where? Where was He going?
Worship song: “I’ll Follow You Anywhere”
Yet Jesus was going somewhere. 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.. Met them right where they were.
Also- 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. & a relationship with Him is gloriously contagious. His followers seek out and bring more people to know Jesus. People who bring more people.
I will make you
Notice — Jesus didn’t tell Peter and Andrew: “Come along and fish for men.” That’d be two commands (they’d be responsible for both)
One command, one responsibility: follow Me.
Jesus took ownership over the rest. Sincere, full surrender and obedience would naturally lead into Jesus covering the rest.
More is caught than taught. Bottom line? 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, commenting on this blood-bought ones: “They’re paid for, and God will not go back on His Son’s payment.”
Jesus has bought Himself a people. They are 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]
Parallel between Matt 4:18-20 and Matt 4:21-22. Addition. More and more men. Turning and following.
Luke 5:1-11 (takes place after the event we are reading about right now). In that account, James, Peter, and John left everything and followed Him
Not only more and more men. More and more of men. Not just a quantity of men, but quality as well. Men who have given themselves over to Him. More and more. Kingdom on the move
| CALL
[CONSIDER]
The importance: Life or death. Forever with Him or forever separated from Him.
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: what matters, how you live life. Not self-glorification. Not self-preservation. Rather, self-sacrificing.
Putting everything on the table to love God by loving people. Old self crucified. And the life now lived, lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved you and gave Himself for you. When we walk by sight, MAN it is difficult not to miss those things that the world offers. But in walking by faith and trusting in the reward of faith, we have the eyes of faith to see what God sees (little by little)
He is Life and Light, and separation from Him is death and darkness.
[COLLIDE]
(How do we follow Jesus now?)
We don’t follow Jesus’ physical movements anymore. But 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. Death and new birth. This is obedience to the Gospel, and the Kingdom of God come here and now. Heaven on earth placed within you.
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.
We are bought into the family of God, bound together by His love.
The Spirit makes us into ministers of reconciliation. Ministers who share Christ and bring others into maturity in Christ.
(What needs to change?)
Not just an altar call commitment. Not just a Sunday decision — slow, lifelong, steady struggle of sanctification. Often painful. Increasing surrender required. Sold out to Him. All of life for all of life.
Call to follow Jesus: not a childish game or entertainment for the religious. Go Fish. [irony]
Jesus isn’t out to get Peter’s ace of spades. “Go fish” “Dangit” OR “One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish.”
Childlike faith & salvation for the religious and irreligious. Jesus is God! He knows what is in man. He rules the universe. Man was made in Him and through Him and for Him. He is inviting us into what He is doing in His infinite mercy and grace.
Church isn’t a hobby or club. Jesus Christ gave His life for this. From exaltation to humiliation.
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.
Behold, the Kingdom of God, right here!
We carry out the Kingdom day by day by following Him.
Gauge that gives insight into our intimacy and fellowship of following Jesus: Fishermen fish. Don’t always like fish, don’t always catch fish. But fishermen fish.
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. Renovation
He multiplies life. His Life that came bursting forth into life reproduces into the hearts and lives of believers.
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
And like a plant that dies to produce more seed, we are crucified with Christ to continue the multiplication of life that He began.
[RESPOND]
(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 fully to Him, carry the cross. He’s worth following. And as you follow, He’ll make you a fisherman.