Fishing for Men 101

Introduction: Fisherman Illustration. (In costume.) Are you here for the fishing tournament too? I hope I’m not too late for the weigh in. Man, oh man, fishing is the best! I love it more than a hog loves slop! I eat, breathe and sleep fishing!

Deep sea fishing, lake fishing, river fishing, trout stream fishing, pond fishing, pier fishing, fishing for complements, …oh wait…how did that one get in the list?

I even brought my favorite rod and reel today, you know, just in case I might want to fish.

You look like a man who likes to fish. Let me ask you, do you know what it’s like to be out in the gulf stream on a beautiful cloudless day when you snag a 65 pound king mackerel and that bad boy fights you with all it’s strength until you land that thing in the boat? … me neither, but maybe one day!

You know what they say, a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work? That’s what they tell me any way.

I love fishing so much, I joined the local fishing club. I could hang around with those guy for hours listening to fishing stories. When the boys are not talking about fishing, I love to watch fishing shows on TV, you know…Wicked Catch and Deadliest Tuna…or maybe I got those turned around.

I bought some wonderful fishing gear over the years - only the best rods, reels, tackle boxes, fish finders. I have been to some of the best fishing seminars led by some of the finest fishermen. Good ol’ Bill Houston and Jimmy Dance. The best! I have learned how to tie my own flies and bait my own hooks. I can cast over-handed, underhanded, back-handed and free-handed. I spent ours in my front yard practicing my technique.

I just bought a brand new bass boat too. I had to trade-in my ol’ truck for a bigger one just to pull it down the road. It sure is a beauty. I love how the sun reflects off of the red glitter flake finish. I made my wife park her car in the back yard so I could put it in the garage. I polished that thing up the other day. Got her ready for a big trip.

Eventually, I want to get my rods and tackle box and put that bad boy in the water and go fishing one day. I just don’t want to scratch it up or get it smelling too much like fish if you know what I mean. Ewwww.

When it comes to fishing for men, some believers are just like that man who knows everything possible about fishing yet he never actually goes fishing. He is a fan of it, but not a practitioner.

Would it surprise you to know that only 3 out of 10 unchurched Americans say they have had a Christian share how to become a Christian with them? ONLY 29% have heard the gospel from the lips of a follower of Christ. (Lifeway)

Did you also know that close to half of unchurched Christians surveyed ARE willing to hear another person discuss their religious beliefs with them?

When Jesus called his disciples, he told them to follow him and he would make them fishers of men. Fishing for men is more than just talking about fishing…It’s actively fishing!

Listen to this encounter of the calling of Peter found in Luke 5...

Luke 5:1–11 (ESV)

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret,

and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.

Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”

And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.

They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.

But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken,

and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

I want to look at 4 lessons that we can learn from Christ calling Peter that I believe apply to us today as the church of Christ.

BACKGROUND: Jesus was speaking to a very large crowd near the lake Gennesaret which was also known as the Sea of Tiberias. The crowd was closing in on him so he noticed some fisherman cleaning their nets nearby. He approached Simon Peter and asked to use his boat. He told him to put out a little from the shore and there he sat in the boat teaching the people. After he finished teaching, he challenged Peter to...

Get Out to Where the Fish Are (v. 4)

“Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

I wonder if Simon thought to himself, “What does this son of a carpenter turned preacher know about fishing?”

Now Simon Peter and his friends were probably pretty tired and discouraged at this point.

They just wanted to go home and get some sleep.

“Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!”

For Peter and his friends, this wasn’t a hobby, this was their livelihood. No fish = no pay.

I’ll bet Simon Peter could think of hundreds of reasons why this was a bad idea.

“I’m tired Lord.”

“The best time to fish in the deep water is at night Lord.”

“Lord, all these people here have probably scared the fish away!”

“Lord, we just cleaned the nets and stored them for the day.”

“Lord, you might know religion, but you don’t know anything about fishing.”

Jesus told him to launch out into the deep - where He knew the fish were at.

What are the excuses that we use for not fishing for men? For not evangelizing?

“Pastor, I don’t have the gift of evangelism.” - Guess what, not one does! It’s a command, not a gift.

“Pastor, I don’t know what to say.” Well, did you get saved? If so, that is a good place to start…with your testimony.”

“Pastor, I don’t know any lost people.” Well then, shame on you! Jesus didn’t tell believers to come hole-up inside of a church building and wait for the rapture or for God to call them home. He said, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

“Pastor, that is your job.” I have a question for you. Does the shepherd produce sheep or do sheep produce sheep?

Illus. I spoke to a pastor recently who’s church was sponsoring an outreach booth at a community event. I was invited to participate in the outreach by a member of the church. I wanted talk to the pastor about it before I committed to help because I didn’t want to overstep my bounds. He was a really nice man but… When I spoke to him on the phone, he said that it was something that his church members were leading and that he would rather be at home watching college football. But felt like he had to be there in case someone wanted to meet the pastor. He also told me how much he appreciated what I was doing because he just couldn’t do what I did. He said if the Holy Spirit was really leading him, then he would share the gospel with someone but he just couldn’t walk right up to a complete stranger and witness to them. Do you know what I did? I went to the NC State Football game to share the gospel with some other brothers instead. You say, didn’t they need you? Yes they did… but they needed their pastor to step up and be the example even more!

Jesus told Peter to launch out into the deep. Go out to where the fish are at.

Church, are you going to go where the fish are? Or are you content to care for the fish inside to the four walls of this aquarium?

Illus. The famous radio host, Paul Harvey said: “Too many Christians are no longer fishers of men, but the keepers of the aquarium.” ― Paul Harvey

There are plenty of fishing holes within a mile of this church. Look at all of the subdivisions around you. New apartment buildings being built. I met with pastor Matt this week and he showed me a great fishing hole, just outside the door here. It’s in the field behind the church where the local recreational football group meets each week.

Those fish aren’t just going to jump into the aquarium. You got to go fishing!

Let Down the Net (vv. 4-5)

Peter said, “...at your word I will let down the nets.” There was a reluctant trust expressed in Peter’s obedience. Nevertheless, there was obedience.

I said this earlier but I want to be clear…sharing the gospel is an obedience issue. It’s not about giftedness because there is no spiritual gift of evangelism. There is the gift of the Evangelist which is an office of the church as shown in Ephesians 4:11-12 “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,” But there is no gift of evangelism.

Acts 1:8 ESV

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Mark 16:15 ESV

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

Why would Peter obey the Lord when the Lord was telling him to do something that went against everything that Peter knew about fishing?

Because he believed in Jesus, not because he believed that the circumstances were right.

2 Timothy 4:2 ESV

preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

The idea is to proclaim the gospel at those time whenever we are ready, and at those times when we may not be ready.

Illus. David Guzik wrote this: “It makes all the difference in the world when our work is directed by Jesus. We can work - even work hard - for a long time with no results. But when Jesus directs our work, we see results.”

Letting down the nets means to take the tools that you have in your hands and put them to use!

This story shows us that the worst excuse for not sharing the gospel with someone is our previous failures. They had fished all night but caught nothing. “Well, I tried to share the gospel with my friend but they didn’t trust Christ so I gave up.”

Do you realize that when it comes to sharing the gospel, our success is found in our obedience rather than our results? If you keep casting the net but you have not caught any souls, don’t sell the nets! Keep em clean and keep casting them again and again until you do.

Illus. Have you ever heard the story of a man named Frank Jenner. I’m going to give you the cliff notes because it is a remarkable story. Jenner was an Australian evangelist who witnessed to at least 100,000 people in his lifetime. He came to know Christ after encountering some open-air preachers who were preaching the gospel in front of the National Australia Bank in Melbourne Australian. He was so grateful for his salvation that he committed to speak to at least 10 people per day about Christ.

After his conversion, he went home to his wife and told her about Christ. She thought he had gone man and left him taking their daughter with her. He spoke to his wife’s brothers and they became angry with him at one point physically assaulting him.He found the best place to do this was on George Street. He wrote to his family back home in England telling of his conversion and their need for Christ but he never heard back from them.

He did most of his witnessing on George Street in Sydney. There he met many people from all over the world. he would ask them this question: "If you died within 24 hours, where would you be in eternity? Heaven or hell? It was said that many people made initial professions of faith with Mr. Jenner but he really didn’t know whether any of them remained committed.

One day a Baptist pastor from England began to hear stories about a man on George street sharing the gospel and how many of them came to Christ under similar circumstances. The pastor discovered that they had indeed encountered Mr. Jenner and professed faith in Christ. On a preaching tour in Australia, the pastor discovered that Mr. Jenner was very ill and in the hospital and went to meet him there. He told Mr. Jenner story after story of people who had been touched by Mr. Jenner’s witness.

Jenner began to weep and the pastor asked what what was wrong. This is how Mr. Jenner responded: “When I came to Christ, I promised Him that I would share Jesus as a simple witness to at least 10 people a day. In my retirement years, the best place to do this was George Street. I got lots of rejections, but a lot of people courteously took my gospel tracts. In over 40 years of doing this, Sir, I have never heard of one single person coming to Jesus…until today.”

Be Ready to Haul in the Catch (v. 6-7)

Whenever we share the gospel in faith, we need to believe that God is going to save souls. If you are asking God to send you a catch but you are not doing so in faith, then guess what? He ain’t!

Churches need to have a revival of confidence in the power of the gospel to save whosoever, whenever and wherever it is proclaimed.

Peter and his companions were astonished at the large number of fish that they had caught in their net. They had to call for the other boat to come and help them encircle the nets so as not to lose their catch. They were not prepared to handle the blessing that God had given to them.

Would this church be ready to handle a large influx of new believers should God choose to send them your way?

Illus. Anyone who has ever had a baby understands that you have to be ready when that baby arrives. “It’s not a matter of, oops the baby is here. Maybe we ought to get the nursery ready. Hey honey, do we have any diapers?” Is your spiritual nursery ready? Do you have what you need in place to disciple any converts that God may send your way?

After all, Jesus said that our mission is to make disciples…not just converts. Disciples are followers of Christ. We hve plenty of fans of Jesus but few followers!

Follow THE Fisher of Men (vv. 8-11)

First of all, notice how Peter responded to the Lord who performed this miracle? He was convicted of his sin and humbled in the presence of Christ. If you are going to follow THE fisher of men, this is where it all starts - in humble repentance and faith.

“I am a sinful man.”

All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But we must acknowledge this fact before God and with His help, turn from sin to follow Him.

Jesus said to Peter, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

In the original language, the idea of catching is the idea of taking captives alive. When these men caught fish, they caught them, removed them out of their environment, and it resulted in death for the fish. When we catch men, we take then from the environment of death and bring them to life through Christ.

They left their nets and followed Jesus.

They left their old lives behind and began a new life.

That is the call of the gospel.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.