Fishers of Men
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One of my good friends is a professional fisherman here in Colordao. And one of the things he always told me was all the good times he has fishing far away from any lake or river in the Denver metro area. He talks about how all the places to fish in the metro area are high pressured areas. There is just too much fishing going on and if you are gonna fish there, you have got to bring your A+ game if you are gonna catch anything. You gotta treat every cast with clear precision. You gotta check your line and bait every time. I remember once when I was fishing in Washington during the salmon run this one particular day we were not catching anything. My line was getting shredded up but out of laziness I did not change my line. I could feel it all frayed up, but we weren’t catching anything. And then bang. It was a big king salmon jumping out of the water all the people fishing stopped and watched cheering me on and when he was almost in… snap. You could see the line 15 lb test line shredded and it snapped right there. Missed the only bite of the day because I did not bring my A game. In the end… fishing is hard.
When Jesus called the disciples and said follow me, that was packed with alot. And then when He added fishers of men there was added so much more. Much of the time we hear an interpretation of this passage in light of the context of 21st century fishing and we use 21st century examples and we can miss the essense of what Jesus was communicating. Many times we understand fishing today in light of leisure a man with a straw hat with a weed in his mouth lemonade on hand and asleep. Or we see it in sport where they work hard to catch a fish and then they let it go???
In the first century, the reason was food. Survival. The reaction might be a bit different, but it does carry a great illustration of what its like to evangelize men today. And the understanding of the great privilege it is to do this. The calling of Christ to us is more important than even our identity and profession and more urgent that we should immediately drop it all to follow His calling.
One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed him. A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too. They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.
The grass withers the flower fades but the word of our God stands forever.
Follow Me
Fishers of Men
Caught
The first thing we will look at today is a brief treatment of the sense of Jesus commanding the future disciples and apostles to their calling. Second, we will look at the context of what it is that Jesus meant in His promise to make them fishers of men. Finally, we will see the beauty of what is means for us to haven been caught by the fishers of men.
Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world cause us to see the things of this world to be more important than the calling of Christ to follow Him, it is the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of the scriptures that will cause us to see the blessings of the promise of Christ for those who follow Him. Life and life more abundant.
I. Follow Me
-The invitation for discipleship.
A. As Jesus comes to Andrew, Simon, James and John He calls upon the with a great interjection and imperative. A command. Come and follow behind. The idea was immediately understood and recognized. This is the idea of a Rabbi who have those who follow them… they are their apprentices, their trainees, their disciples, their followers. They understood the command to follow Christ. But they would soon discover that this was not the conventional Rabbi.
B. And family we know that Jesus does give us the blue print of what it will mean for us to become a disciple of Christ. But ultimately these men were called to be apostles of Christ which carries a whole different blueprint altogether. An apostle is called by Christ himself and they will have the authority and power to prove it. This is why there are no apostles today.
II. Fishers of Men
-All of His promises are yes and Amen.
A. It is clear that the teachers desire to have followers that will listen and learn from them, but it comes with Christ that we do not just listen and learn, but that we are turned into fishers of men by Christ.
B. This is not a new thing to grasp. It was used to illustrate the idea of judgement.
“But now I am sending for many fishermen who will catch them,” says the Lord. “I am sending for hunters who will hunt them down in the mountains, hills, and caves.
The Sovereign Lord has sworn this by his holiness: “The time will come when you will be led away with hooks in your noses. Every last one of you will be dragged away like a fish on a hook!
C. But when it comes to Christ we are not fishing men for the end of judgement but now it is for the end of salvation. Now we should recognize that this is what they did for a living, not for sport or small parties. They did not fish with a pole and hook but with nets. This is still the way those who make a living fishing do it. Growing up in Hawaii we had a love hate relationship with these net fisherman. Some are great and some not very nice. But this is method of our first disciples.
Dr. Hendrickson writes, “When skillfully cast over the shoulder it will spread out, forming a circle as it falls into the water, and then, because of the pieces of lead attached to it, will quickly sink into the water, capturing the fish underneath.”
D. You guys are fishing for fish, I’m gonna promise you something ever better.
Dr. Leon Morris writes, “But clearly fishing for men has a greater dignity than fishing for fish so that in this allegorical connecting of their present and future ways of life they must have discerned that Jesus was inviting them to something very worthwhile. Diétrich puts it well: “It is no longer a question of taking fish from the lake, but of drawing men up out of the abyss of sin and death, catching them in the great net of God!”
E. This calling to be fishers of men was an important and infinitely valuable task.
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise.
Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever.
When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some.
F. And what an awesome promise that is given to all of us. Fro those of us who have been caught and now received the promised Holy Spirit for there is now no fishing for men ground that is too hard, to difficult, too deep, none because we know that who who is in me is greater than he who is in the world. The calling to follow Christ is greater than all that we could ever have and do in this world. Nothing compares with it.
G. And it is clear. I have many friends who are pastors who left lucrative careers to go into the ministry to become full-time fishers of men. There was no problems with dropping the net to follow the calling of Christ. To live lives worthy of the calling. And many who have given up careers, friends and family to become Christians. To become a follower of Christ. Like James and John even left there Dad there. Oh but Shane thats kinda messed up to do that to family…
“If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine.
And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
H. In the calling of Christ many of us still have not dropped our nets. People who we need to tell about Christ. Things we are being called of God to do. Many of us God is calling to a duty that we cannot or better yet will not do. Oh, but job, career, family, I have a duty… do ya? So did they. But there was no hesitation, they obeyed the command of the Word made flesh and left it all to follow Christ. What are not not doing today that we are supposed top do? What is Christ calling you to do that you are not doing? Christ commanded them… Christ has commaned us. They obeyed why not us?
I. There was no hesitation to obey Christ. They left their nets at once and followed Christ. James and John immediately left dad and their boat. Family and their careers. It may not be your careers… what is it? What is it that you are not laying down to obey the calling of Christ? For us as Christians we need to see that when we become disciples of Christ our lives are disrupted. You are now dead to the life that you have been living. We live now for Christ. Period.
My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
J. The calling of Christ to follow Him is not to be taken lightly and it is to be obeyed immediately. Matthew Henry says… Those who would follow Christ aright must leave all to follow him. And I add… and must leave all now.
Matthew Henry goes on… “This instance of the pliableness of the disciples, gives us a good example of obedience to the command of Christ. Note, It is the good property of all Christ’s faithful servants to come when they are called, and to follow their Master wherever he leads them. They objected not their present employments, their engagements to their families, the difficulties of the service they were called to, or their own unfitness for it; but, being called, they obeyed, and, like Abraham, went out not knowing whither they went, but knowing very well whom they followed.”
III. Caught
-The beauty of the gospel of Jesus.
A. And the reason why we needed to be caught is the same reason why we rebel against the command of Christ. The hunter had to come to hunt for us. Its the thing that so easily besets us. Its the thing called sin. We are all lost in the abyss of the great lake of wickedness and we are all deserving of being caught to be judged. All of us. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is no one righteous no not one. There is no one on earth who always does good and never sins.
B. And the wages of this sin is death. There is a real judgement that God promises. We better believe the reality of this. We better believe the severity of this. We better believe that it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God. To the faithful he shows himself faithful. To the blameless he shows himself blameless. To the pur he shows himself pure. And to the wicked he shows himself hostile. Weeping and gnashing of teeth. The eternal fire. Eternal torment. No water to cool the tongue. And He is coming to judge the living and the dead.
C. But can we be saved from this… Yes. The fishermen are out and they are catching men for Christ, not for judgement but for salvation. My grandfather and grand mother shared the gospel with me in Midland texas one summer evening. I was caught. I was caught for Christ. I was caught to abandon my net and follow Christ. I was caught becasue they told me that Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures and he was buried and he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. They told me that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners. They told me that all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And they told me that If I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead I would be saved.
D. Get caught… we are fishers of men here at CBC. We are casting out our nets. Get caught. Don’t swim away from the lure we cast before you today. Get caught. Today repent and believe that Jesus is the Christ the son of the living God and you will have life in His name.
E. Follow Him today… His promises come to pass. He did make his followers fishers of men. Many of us here are here because we got caught. But he promises more than just making us fishers of men, he promise us life and life more abundant not in the net of judgement, but in the net of grace upon grace.
