Let's Go Fishing

There are several movements in these verses which are very interesting to follow. We see the places where He went, we see the people that He encountered, and we see the power which He displayed.

Matthew 4:12-17 tell us about the Lord’s move. (Read the Scripture) It was a very sensible move on the part of Jesus, because when he went down to Capernaum he went where the people were. There was a large population there.

Matthew 4:12–17 ESV

12 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16 the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” 17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

That’s the way Jesus always worked. He went where the need was the greatest. He went where the people needed to see the light. When the light comes on, life comes in. John said of our Lord Jesus, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men,” John 1:4.

Matthew 4: 12-17 set before us the Lord’s move.

Matthew 4:18-22 talk about the Lord’s men.

Matthew 4:23-25 show us the Lord’s ministry. The Lord’s ministry was a three-fold ministry:

The Bible tells us here that the Lord went about all Galilee,

1. Teaching in their synagogues

2. Preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and

3. Healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

Now let’s look at verses 18-22. This is the passage from which I will take my topic for this evening’s message. These are some of my favorite verses because they talk about something many of us are interested in. They talk about going fishing. Jesus is enlisting men around him who will assist him in his work.

Matthew 4:18-22 “18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And 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. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.”

I. THE CALL, Matthew 4:18 “While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.”

“And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee…..” That was the equivalent of the shopping mall of Galilee because that was the center of activity. If you had gone around the Sea of Galilee on a typical day, you would have found it to be a beehive of activity. People were everywhere.

There Jesus sees two brothers; Simon called Peter and Andrew….

In verse 21 it says, “he saw two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother.”

Jesus is going to call these four men to be some of his first disciples. Now this is not the first time these men have encountered Jesus. The first time they had met is recorded in the Gospel of John at the baptism of Jesus. When Jesus came to be baptized John said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)

When Jesus saw these men following him he said, “What seek ye?” They said, “Master, where dwellest thou?” Then Jesus said one of the most interesting things. He said, “Come and see.”

That is the great call to salvation. That is the first call that Jesus Christ makes to the soul. “Come and see.” That is the invitation that the First Baptist Church of Center Point must extend. We have an invitation from the Lord Jesus Christ to every unsaved person in our community to come and see. We’re not talking about our building. You can find finer buildings elsewhere. We’re not talking about our musicians as wonderful as they are. We’re not talking about our ministering staff. We’re saying come and you’ll see Jesus. You will find out how Jesus can change your life and make you a brand new creature.

This call has a further step because it is a call to serve the Lord. After you have been saved, you have accepted his call to salvation. This is also a call to serve the Lord..

It says he saw two brothers casting their net into the sea, verse 18. I know that these men were weak men because I have read about them in other places. You can’t help but like Simon Peter but he was a real rascal. The Lord really had a job to do when he got a hold of Simon Peter. He was impetuous. He was a loud mouth. He bragged all the time. Every time he opened up his mouth he put his foot in it. Even after he got saved, if you put him under pressure he’d cuss a little bit. The night before our Lord was crucified, a little maiden put a little pressure on him and he cursed. He was about as unlikely a person as you would ever expect to be a follower of Jesus.

Andrew never was a preacher as far as we know. He never wrote a book or was a great speaker. He was just an ordinary guy who lived in the shadow of his more prominent brother.

James and John in verse 21 were a couple of hot heads. When they began to follow Jesus they went into a village where He was rejected and they wanted to call down fire and burn them all up. That’s a sweet Christian spirit isn’t it? Turn or burn!

They weren’t exactly model citizens either. That’s the great thing about the call to follow Jesus. Jesus doesn’t call us to follow him because of how wonderful we are. Jesus takes weak people and uses them. He changes them to make them more what they ought to be. We’re not called on the basis of His grace. We’re not called on the basis of our skill. We’re called on the basis of His power to use us and make something out of our lives.

1 Corinthians 1:26-29 26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence. (KJV)

That causes me to think about my own call to preach. If you had asked anybody who knew me growing up beside the tavern, the son of parents who sold drugs and bootlegged liquor, none would have ever thought that I would one day be a preacher. That’s the wonderful thing about following the Lord. You give Jesus you as you are and he’ll give you back you as He can make you.

In verse 19 he said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”

It’s amazing what Jesus can make out of weak people. Give Jesus your crab apple and he’ll give you back a golden delicious. Give Jesus your little acorn and he’ll give you back a mighty oak. Give Jesus Simon Peter, shifting like the sand, and he’ll give you back Simon Peter, a mighty rock for the Lord. Give him Jacob, the schemer, and he’ll give you back Israel, a prince with God and a prince with men. Give yourself to Jesus as you are and he’ll give what he makes you by his grace.

Oh it’s a great honor to be called to follow Jesus.

II. THE CHALLENGE

Jesus said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Now we know they were already fishers of fish. They were fishermen. Jesus is challenging them to move up to a higher calling, a higher level of occupation. He’s giving them a more noble vocation.

He offers to them the opportunity to be fishers of men, to catch men, to win men to the Lord.

Jesus wants you to take what you’re doing as an opportunity to win people to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Could that increase your excitement when you go to work in the morning?

Our number one business is to win people to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s first. That’s why we must emphasize the importance of every member evangelism. That’s why we must place priority on our Monday outreach and visitation ministry.

FBC, Jacksonville encourages every person who joins their church to get involved with their visitation program. They don’t have to say anything, just be willing to go out with someone who will do the talking while they do the praying.

Simon Peter had another experience with Jesus in the fifth chapter of the book of Luke. They had been fishing all night but hadn’t caught anything. They were fishing without Jesus. You will never catch anything when you try to fish without Jesus. Jesus told them where the fish were. When Simon Peter realized it was the Lord he fell down and said, “Depart from me I’m a sinful man, O Lord.” And Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid Simon, from henceforth you’ll catch men for Jesus Christ.” Let’s go fishing! Let’s catch some people for Jesus.

It’s real easy for a church to become side-tracked on secondary matters. If they’re not careful, a church can just get interested in swapping goldfish with other fish bowls, letter in and letter out. All some churches are interested in is swapping members with other churches instead of catching some fresh fish for the Lord.

Then some churches have become keepers of the aquarium, taking care of the fish they already have. I heard about an old boy who went fishing and came back. He was asked, “Did you catch anything?” He said, “No, but I influenced several.”

You got to do more than just live you life to be a witness for Jesus. A witness is a person who tells what he knows personally to be true. You’ve got to open your mouth and say something. You don’t just influence the fish, you catch them! A church is in the fishing business.

III. THE COMMITMENT

There are several things you need to know about fishing if you’re ever going to be a good fisherman.

1. Fishing takes patience and persistence. (Illustration of getting up early and often)

You’ve got to fish if you’re going to catch fish. If you want to win somebody to the Lord, you’ve got to stay at it.

2. If you want to catch fish you’ve got to go to where the fish are. Sinners are as anxious to get in the church building as fish are to get in a net.

3. If you want to catch fish you’ve got to stay out of sight. If that fish sees you, he’ll take off and you’ll never catch him. If you want to win people to Jesus you’ve got to stay out of sight and let Jesus do it.

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