Becoming a Fisher of Men
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All For His Glory
All For His Glory
At the heart of every Christian should be a desire to reach others with the gospel of Jesus Christ. For we understand that it is the power of God unto salvation and we only go by the commission that has been given to us.
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
Ephesians 4:1
The greek word that we gain our word church comes from the derivitive of a word that means called out ones.
As one man has said that the church is a gathering of those who have been called out of the world by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
So as we have been called out of this world we should walk in a manner worthy of our calling.
this was originally in the context of church unity but has great application to the mission of our lives.
As a Christian a Christ follower i should mimic that which Christ exemplified by his life.
Christ said that i will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
Christ is growing his church by using power of his gospel through the preaching His Word and the work of His spirit to transform the lives of those unworthy.
He does this by using broken vessels to proclaim his word. That is those who they themselves have been transformed by his truth.
With this broken vessels comes infirmities that even pour into our evangelism efforts.
Ultimately thankfully the failures and fallacies of men does not hinder the overall plan of God.
This doesn’t mean there are great consequences for our actions and our carelessness but at the end of the day it does not nor cannot hinder God.
Mark 1:16-20
Here we see Christ calling his disciples to follow him. HE uses an analogy that eluded to their occupation.
Here they were fisherman and Christ called them to follow Him and he will teach them to be Fishers of Men.
We must be careful not to draw too many analogies or correlations between evangelism and fishing.
Not every detail about how to fishing aligns with how to evangelize.
One thing we can be sure of where they correlate is the fact of man fudging the numbers of what was actually caught and the size of that caught.
some things we must be cautious of:
Faithfulness and obedience is not always manifested with a quota of the day.
Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Here we see Christs work in the disciples live to transform their lifestyle from an earthly one to an heavenly began with Christs call and ended with Christs commission.
You have one at the beginning of his earthly ministry and the other before he ascends into heaven.
He has the call come and gives the command go, with the promise that i will be with you always.
So what is the platform that we learn how we may become fishers of men?
Christs life (His word and deed) from the time of his call to his commission as the son of God teaches his disciples what this looks like. And we may draw great truths as well as it is recorded for us the lives they lived after Christs ascension.
To know what it looks like to be a fisher of men we look at the life of Jesus.
V. 17 Follow the Master (Christ must have priority)
What gave the heart to become fishers of men? the call of Christ
For every follower of Ch
The call:
Follow me and i will make you fishers of men.
Becoming a fisher of men begins with the heart of God and not with the heart of man.
Man didn’t become so compassionate at the state of sinful men that we drove ourselves to love the unloveable.
For God so loved the world…Not for man so loved the world.
So as we see that this heart begins with Gods initiative Christ must hold place of priority and preeminence in all areas and in that in which we are discussing today.
Why do we evangelize?
To see lost souls saved? Yes but not the main reason.
There are many motives to why men evangelize their cultures but at the heart of every Christ follower is a deep love for God and seeking to be obedient to him.
To see the kingdom of God spread? ?Yes but not the main reason
To See the church grow.? Yes but not the main reason
To see our culture be liberated from the bonds of sin? Yes but not he main reason.
Because of
There are many motives to why men evangelize their cultures but at the heart of every Christ follower is a deep love for God and seeking to be obedient to him.
Christ must have preeminence in everything we do. Even evangelism.
At the root we must seek to honor him above all else and live for his Glory, otherwise our evangelism efforts will be worthless.
What do you mean?
Why do we have heart to see lost souls saved? Because the command of God commands us to love God first and then people second and carry on the commission given to the apostles. The holy spirit empowers us and instills within us a heart for other people.
So by loving God first it brings the proper response of loving people second.
If God doesn’t come first then we will not have a proper love other people. IT will be a self seeking love.
The mission that Christ calls us on is not an easy mission. To love the loveable requires a work of God in our lives and all the more the need for us to cherish him above all else and not people.
Do you think that you can love people (sinners) more than God can?
Otherwise you will have an humanitarian ministry that does nothing else but keep them warm and their bellies full but leaves their spirits cold and starving.
True love for people will seek to meet physical and spiritual needs.
If God is not number one then when things don’t happen the way that we think they should then they immediately begin to think their message must need to be altered and the method must change.
When you begin at the wrong starting point you come to the wrong diagnosis of the situations.
So all we do must be done for the “Glory of God.”
As we continue to move forward with the ministries that God has burden our church with we seek to move forward with caution by his leadership.
The name of the ministries that we are begin fall under the framework of “FOR HIS GLORY” Ministries.
When he has place of priority then we will be on the proper path of ministries that will outlast our generation and change lives not just today, this week, this month, year or decade but rather for eternity.
Plug for ministry mission statment
Our desire is to Declare the glory and the wonders of God to all nations and people that they may fear Him above all else and ultimately live 4His glory. Our strategy is one of Faith that continually comes before the throne of God for His direction that we may live out a mission that is guided by his hand and accomplished by His power. This means that He is the King that rules our hearts, He is the shepherd that leads the way, and He is the General that gives the commands, He is the Architect that provides the plans, and is the Builder that accomplishes the task. Therefore, we follow when doors are opened and stop when doors are closed understanding this is His work and not our own. There is no limit what our God is able to accomplish and no mountain that our God is not able to move, so we leave our ministry open ended for God to add as he sees fit. We cannot draw for you a pretty box that would contain all this ministry entails but this we make our earnest desire to live 4His Glory in whatever capacity He sees fit.
As we follow the master we can then be sure to embody what he lived out, make priority what he did, and as well be met with the adversity.
As we follow the master we can then be sure to embody what he lived out, make priority what he did, and as well be met with the adversity.
he master we can then be sure to embody what he lived out, make priority what he did, and as well be met with the adversity.
He preached truth
He practiced what he preached
He reached those the world cast away
He was persecuted, for what he preached and what he practiced.
REad the gospels and document the word and deeds of Christ to learn how we may better glorify our father in heaven.
I think
He preached truth.
WE must remember that even what we do here must be for his Glory.
So as we preach the truth unto the world For his Glory we are no longer fearful of what man say and do.
Men no longer control our message but God does.
When the culture tells us it is not politically correct, unloving, and offensive to say their is only one way to heaven and not by the works of man but rather through the grace of God.
When the culture tells us to call sin sin no longer is favorable we do not silence our voices but rather volcalize them all the more.
Man that can be silenced by man wether by fear or by bride is a man that has not believed the words himself to be true.
I think of the guards who came to the high priest after Jesus arose and told them what they had seen and they were paid to keep silent.
The apostles as they were beaten to keep silent yet rejoiced and continue on.
We know it is the truth that sets people free so we do not wish to give them the wrong dianosis or the wrong cure.
Those who know the truth and have been liberated by it have all the greater responsibility to proclaim it.
It is the power of God unto salvation. But to men it is foolishness and a stumbling block.
The need for sound doctrine in our churches.
We should be a people of truth not lies.
Caroline and the tooth fairy. You lied to me.
Lies fade with the ways of man bu the word of the Lord endures for ever and never comes back void. Let that be what we spend our lives investing in.
Their is nothing more upsetting then seeing the people proclaiming it neglecting to live it out.
We must be a people that practice what we preach.
PRACTICED WHAT HE PREACHED.
He lived the truth. He was the truth.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for GOOD WORKS.
If you testify life found only Christ yet it has not changed you lifestyle then you may want to think truly what you are trusting in.
They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.
Titus
not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth.
This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.
Titus
What is interesting in the context these are born from sound doctrine found in Jesus Christ.
When christ redeems us and the holy spirit quickens us we become a new creation by the power of God. Set free. Not live as a dog and returning to his vomit.
Matthew 5
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
Is every thought brought captive by the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
So when we live for his Glory in practicing what we preach it will be not run dry by the power of men but continues in the most extreme cases by the power of God.
Some of the greatest proclamations of the gospel were when men lived out the truth in the places that was beyond what natural men flesh out.
returning wrong doings with forgiveness
Returning cursing with blessing
Returning persecutions with prayers
Loving my spouse when they dont love me back
In the instances that we seek to not live out the truths of the word of God are all the more places that we desperately need to live it out. Wether in our homes, our work places or in our community we should shine with our works unto the Glory of God.
Here is great question to ask ourselves. At times we are so quick to expend ourselves for the sake of those we do not know but neglect those within our homes.
How are my kids seeing my good works?
How is my wife experience my good works?
We cannot neglect our families from the ministries that God has placed before us.
Not only does this effect the way we live but also our heart towards those we reach.
Take mental record of those who Christ continually made an effort to reach.
Those who were predominately cast aways in their own culture. The least of these. Not fully for we know many who would not fall under this cultural stigma were changed by Christ.
But we are quick to reach those that look like us. but neglect those that are not so easy to love.
But by Christ example we see him taking a different route that was not discriminatory towards economical status, prestige, popularity, physical abilities, skin color, or educational knowledge.
he made an effort for the least of these and so should his church.
To truly love people we must truly love Christ.
WE love only because he first loved us.
He was persecuted for what he preached and lived out.
Christ was crucified and we think of nothing less that may come across our paths for living for him.
The apostles were martyred
Those who live Godly lives will suffer persecution.
For the christian is better to be persecuted for righteousness sake than for unrighteousness.
Be persecuted for righteousness, and though earthly judges may wrongly persecute us one day the good judge will testify and judge according to righteousness.
When you preach the truth and live it out you can be sure of one thing. It will be met with adversity. Specifically by those who wish to live in darkness. The gospel truth has a funny way of exposing that which we do not want expose.
Are you fearful of what men will do or say when you seek to live a Godly life?
I believe Christ called his disciples to Pick up their cross and follow him.
This the picture and proclamation we see in baptism. We are to die to ourselves and live to Christ.
The cross being the reminder that we need daily to not allow my flesh preeminence to life but rather christ who is life.
This is where Paul found himself when he sat in the bottom of a prison cell as he penned, “For me to live is Christ, and die is Gain.”
This reveals the true priority of your life and who’s glory you are living for. Self or Gods.
Does Christ have preeminence in all areas of our lives?
Are the things i say and do a reflection fo that truth.
Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
Do we desire what God desires? and am i willing to die for his cause?
God has a heart and a mission to redeem sinners. His love is greater than ours could ever be. Let us hold him in position of priority that we may truly learn what it means to become fishers of men.
We see that this began with a call to learn and commission to go.
The question is are you willing to lay your dreams, your wants, and your desires on the alter to follow the Master?
In so doing you may find that your plans were nothing in comparison to what the master had in store for those who follow him in such ways.