Fishers of Men

Good Morning Church

Bibles out Mark 1.

Walking through the Gospel according to Mark…

We will be slowly working our way through Mark from now until Resurrection Sunday…

We are going to jump right in today…

READ V14-20

We pick up this week after the baptism and temptation of Jesus…

So we are transitioning out of the ministry of John The Baptist

and today transitioning into the ministry of Christ…

Remember Johns job…”he (is the) voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.”

Johns ministry was to prepare the Jews to receive the Messiah…

In those days…when a king was coming into a city…the king would send before him (out in front of the kings convoy) a herald…

A man who would go into the city a few days before the king and tell the people of the city…

THE KING IS COMING!!! BE READY!!!

That was Johns ministry…to prepare the way for the King…To show people the identity of the Messiah…

AND to prepare them to believe in His name…

BUT NOW as we read v14…we see that JTB ministry has fulfilled its duty and has ended…John has been arrested and placed in prison…(we will get into why this happened in later chapters)

AND NOW the bible tells us a new ministry has begun…the ministry of Christ…

We see that the message has changed slightly…its no longer that the king is coming…

ITS NOW THAT THE KING HAS COME!!!

And this King…is ushering in a kingdom…

READ V14-15 again!

The time is fulfilled…A kingdom is at hand…

AND JESUS HAS COME TO ESTABLISH THE KINGDOM…

HE IS THE…

The Kingdom Establisher (v14-15)

Now…2 Kingdoms talked about in the NT…(mainly in the 4 gospels)

If you read the 4 gospels…you will see Jesus preaching both…the KOG and KOH…

ALOT of people (pastors, theologians, ect) get bogged down on what these kingdoms are…are they the same thing???

They all have a different stance on “KINGDOM THEOLOGY”

ALOT of scholars will tell you that we don’t really know..we cant understand them…

Well if you take away mans opinion…and you let the bible commentate for its self…comparing spiritual things with spiritual things…

You will see that its really quite simple…

Kingdom of God vs Kingdom of Heaven

-Kingdom of God= SPIRITUAL KINGDOM

Lets do something crazy here…lets let the bible establish our “Kingdom Theology”…

Romans 14:17 “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

1 Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption.

Here is what Jesus Himself says about the KOG…

Luke 17:20-21 “And when He was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, He answered them and said, The kingdom of God comes not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”

So this is a SPIRITUAL KINGDOM…

And this spiritual Kingdom is one that we as the CHURCH EXPERIENCE TODAY…

GOD REIGNING SPIRITUALLY IN HIS PEOPLE…

WE AS THE CHURCH..WE HAVE A KING…AND WE SERVE OUR KING...IN HIS SPIRITUAL KINGDOM…

That resides inside of us…our bodies are His to rule…our lives are His to rule…

Now this is different from how the bible discusses the KOH…

-Kingdom of Heaven= Physical Kingdom

NOT ONLY THAT…

BUT this physical kingdom is a Kingdom for the Jews…

Matthew 10:5-7 “These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter you not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Its one that has been promised to them as a people…from all the way back in the times Abraham…

And continued to reconfirm it throughout the OT…

God tells King David…

2 Samuel 7:12-14 “And when your days be fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, which shall proceed out of your bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be My son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men”

So the Jews are awaiting a time when they return as rulers of the world…and not a people being ruled over…

For over a thousand years at this time they have been without a Kingdom…

They have been ruled by Babylon, Persia, the Greeks, now the Romans (at this time)…

The OT scriptures tell them that a King is coming to establish a physical Kingdom…

This King will defeat their enemies and rule….

Thats why they welcome Jesus…they believe He will usher in this physical Kingdom…

Mark 11:9-10 “And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord: Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that comes in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.”

BUT THE JEWS DESIRED THIS PHYSICAL KINGDOM GREATER THAN THE SPIRITUAL ONE…AND BECAUSE OF THAT THEY REJECTED BOTH…WHEN YOU REJECT THE KING OF BOTH KINGDOMS YOU REJECT BOTH KINGDOMS

A lot of people today are confused by this…These 2 kingdoms are not the same thing…again one is physical the other is spiritual…

BUT Jesus has come to usher in both kingdoms…

These are both spoken of in the Gospels because JESUS IS KING OF BOTH (KING OF KINGS)

And as we read through the 4 Gospels we see that both Kingdoms are at hand…He is here and ready to bring both…one after another…

They must believe in the gospel of the kingdom of God (spiritual)…so that the (physical) kingdom of heaven can come…

THATS WHY JESUS TELS THEM…

Matthew 6:33 “But seek you first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you”

Seek first the spiritual kingdom…the Holy Spirits domain and rule…and the physical will come…

these people though…they are really bad at choosing the physical over the spiritual…

Exodus…God delivers (from Egypt)…they complain (about food and water)

A few weeks ago we looked at the story of Jesus feeding the 5K…

When they come looking fro Him the next day…He says…you only seek me not because I you saw me perform a miracle (which confirms I am from God)….you only seek me because I fed you physically…

AND ITS FRO THIS REASON JTB WAS SENT…

This is what John prepared the people for…to see their need for both the kingdoms…spiritual and physical…

Notice Johns message in v4 was to “REPENT”…Change your mind…see where you stand…in sin…see that you need a savior

The gospel Jesus is preaching is to “REPENT AND BELIEVE”…

Change your mind…(you are not holy because you are a Jew, or because of the Law)

Believe that I am the Messiah!!!!

The Kingdom Establisher!!! (I have come to bring both spiritual and physical kingdoms…IF ONLY YOU BELIEVE!!!

This is the good news Jesus is preaching…

THIS IS THE SAME WAY THE GOSPEL IS BROUGHT TO THE LOST TODAY…

REPENT AND BELIEVE!!! (change your mind on your sin…see your need for a savior…Believe in the only one who can save you)

BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL…

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15…

“I DECLARE TO YOU THE GOSPEL:

That Christ came… He died for our sins according to the scriptures (just as the OT said He would)…

He was buried and raised on the 3rd day according to the scriptures (just as the OT said He would)…”

THIS ISN’T JUST GOOD NEWS…ITS THE GREATEST NEWS EVER!!!!

Whenever we see good news in the bible…God always sends His people to proclaim it…

JTB came to herald the good news to the Jews…the promised King is coming…

Jesus has come preaching the good news of the gospel of the Kingdom…

BUT WHO WILL GO WITH HIM??? WHO WILL GO AFTER HIM??? TO PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS OF HIS DEATH BURIAL AND RESURRECTION???

Next we see Jesus employ some help…

Next Eh calls His…

The Kingdom Workers (v16-20)

READ 16-20 AGAIN

Jesus in Galilee..this is a fishing town on the water…blue collar…kinda poor…not very prominent...

Here he finds 4 uneducated fisherman…

Probably sweaty, smelly…out fishing all day

These are who the Lord calls into His ministry…simple…blue collar…average dudes…

No “holy men”...No prominent men…these first 4…2 sets of brother…simple fishermen

God speaks to them…He calls them by word…He says “Come and follow me”…and they respond…

God instructed in word and these men respond in obedience…

Church… God’s Word ain’t just for the scholars…the preachers…the college educated…

God’s word was written for average people like you and me to read and understand…and to respond to…

ITS FOR EVERYONE MAN!!! Rich, poor, man, woman, child…

I challenge you parents go home and read God’s word to your children and watch what happens…(you might be thinking, they don’t understand what I’m reading) watch them blow your mind with what God writes on the heart of a child that hears His word…

The biggest lie Satan places in the head of mankind is that the bible is to hard to interpret…its not for the simple man…You aren't holy enough for a relationship with Christ…you ain’t educated enough to understand the stuff in that book…

NO!!!! Its for 4 fishermen…on a boat…the Lord speaks His word…and they follow…

and He says…I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN…

This was all part of God’s plan…they weren't just random fisherman…He knew exactly what kind of men He was looking for…

Jeremiah 16:15-16 “But, The Lord lives, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands where he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers. Behold, I will send for many fishers, says the Lord, and they shall fish them…”

Right now your catching Tilapia…staple diet of these people…

But I am calling for you to change what you are fishing for…

You are going to be fishers of men…

you are going to proclaim the gospel…and through that those who believe in it…will be pulled from sin and death up to eternal life with the Lord…

One of these fisherman experiences this first hand (Peter walking on water story)

The Lord tells these 4 fisherman…you are going to be my instruments…my kingdom workers…

Proclaiming the gospel…and watching people get hooked on it!!!!

There ain’t nothing like seeing a person place their faith in Jesus…(freedom comes over them, hope build in them, they become a new creation)

Its incredible man..

Anybody in here love fishing??? ME TOO!!!

Its hard though ain’t it…

Its usually hot…out there pole in the water…casting over and over again waiting for a fish to take the bait…

If i could describe fishing…45 minutes of boredom followed by 45 seconds of pure excitement…

Thats why we do it!!! Because as soon as that 45 seconds is over its almost like we forgot what it felt like and we want to do it again!!!

Every time Im fishing…and its time to go home…ONE MORE CAST…LET ME SEE IF I CAN GET ONE MORE…

IS THAT HOW WE FEEL ABOUT PROCLAIMING THE GOSPEL???

Better question to ask first is this…

ARE YOU FISHING???

Are you a fisher of men???

Are you actively trying to catch people for Jesus???

This is the core work…the core job responsibility of a disciple of Christ…to fish…

AND Notice that this call to follow Jesus and become fishers of men… it takes priority

They stop what they are doing…”Immediately forsook…Immediately abandoned their nets and followed Him”

Fishing was their livelihood… How they survived…fed themselves…paid taxes to Rome…

NOTICE…the call to Eternal LIFE and to proclaim how to get it …takes priority over the desire to live…

BEFORE YOU ARE ANYTHING ELSE…you are a follower of Jesus Christ and a fisher of men…

If you placed your faith in Jesus…YOU ARE ON THE BOAT!!!!

YOU ARE APART OF THE CREW…

PICK UP A POLE AND FISH!!!!

HELP FILL THE BOAT…

PRAY!