Fishers of men

 

COLERAINE INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH

SERMON NOTES FROM SUNDAY 11 AUGUST 2024 – JEFF FERGUSON, ACRE GOSPEL MISSION

MATTHEW 4 VERSES 18 – 22

 

As I was reading this portion of scripture, I began to think of those who go fishing or those who enjoy going fishing. Sometimes you can go fishing and catch loads of fish all day.  Other times you can catch nothing, stand there all day and wonder where have the fish gone.  Sometimes you can watch others catching plenty and for you there is nothing happening.  Sometimes you can stand for hours before you get one bite.  You just do not know what it will be like when you go out.  As we look at the lesson of fishing I want to point out a couple of things in relation to fishing.  First you need to have your line in the water.  There is no point in getting to the place where you plan to fish and to not throw in the fishing line to the water.  You also need the correct bait to attract the fish.  There is no guarantee you will catch anything all you.  Fourthly, you need to have patience when fishing. 

 

We can apply these principles to the Christian life as well.  If we want to reach people for Christ we need to have our net out – we need to be actively working for the Lord.  We have to put our fishing line into the water. If we want people to be impacted with the gospel we need to be teaching the right gospel not just ear tickling. When we use the correct bait, we must have the correct form of the gospel for lives to be changed.  Even though we have done all these things we may not see people coming to Christ in great numbers but we need to remember it is not our job to converted fishing for men.

 

Why did Jesus call fishermen?  Verses 18 and 19.  That was actually the normal job of the day. The area where they worked.  Normal hard working men of the area seeking to do a hard day’s work, seeking to provide for their families.  A fisherman is a hands on type of person. They are in the middle of the activity. They are getting the job done as they go about their daily work. Simple men doing their days work.  They were busy working on their boats, mending their nets.  They went about quietly doing their work.  Maybe they had to go out in all kinds of weather conditions but they were willing to get their hands dirty in order to complete the task.  God uses normal people.  In years gone by it was thought that only the educated people could be involved in the things of God. People studied books but as Christians we have a part to play, to be part of the great commission.  God can use you regardless of the task.  What did these men know about fishing for people’s souls?  They might not know much about fishing for men but we notice that straightaway they left their nets and followed him.  In today’s world people leave the spreading of the gospel to specific people in the church – perhaps the pastor, elders or deacons but each of us have a responsibility as Christians to tell people about the gospel.  We don’t have to be in the pulpit or on the street corner but we can live before people, showing them God’s love through our actions.  We need to be casting out our nets in the area we work in, waiting to see what you will catch, willing to see people reached for the gospel.  That is the task God has given us.  We have the opportunity this week to cast out our nets, to bring in people not normally in a church.  Are we specially trained for these things?  Maybe some of us are more educated than others but we all have a commission to spread the gospel to everyone that comes in.  In Bible College when I attended 10 years ago we had a class called “Each One reach one, each one teach one”.  The multiplication principle.  If you were to witness to one person and they trusted Christ you then taught that person to reach another person.  Continuing thermocouple until after 20 years one million people would be reached with the gospel.  Obviously when we reach people we might not see them saved but there is potential in reaching one other person with the gospel.  There are 2 ways we can live on this earth as Christians – be someone who is happy, on their way to heaven with no thought for others, to be used by God or we can be Christians who love the Lord and want to reach others with the gospel. 

 

Verse 19 “follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”  The Lord Jesus is our master.  That is who we follow.  He is our leader, our heavenly father.  He asks us to follow him so we can stay close to him and learn more from him each day.  Through that we can be more attentive to his will.  Sometimes people are calling themselves Christian but have little interest in actually following Christ and what he wants for their lives.  Maybe they have their own agenda.  They try and fit God around themselves.  We must place God at the centre of our lives, follow after him and put things of our lives second place to God.  Verse 20 these men straightaway left their nets and followed him.  The act of following someone is very secure place to find yourself.  You are putting your trust in them, they know what they are doing and you are happy to rest in them.  When I first went to Portugal and had to travel to Lisbon I was aware of the large number of different lanes in the road system.  I found it quite daunting at first but there was one man who knew the way.  He had been there for 20 years and so I followed him.  I was resting secure in knowing that he knew where he was going.  Do we depend on God to direct our paths every day?  We need to follow after him day by day, placing our security in him.  We know we are following one who is sure of the way. 

 

“I will make you fishers of men.”  Do we know how to fish for men in our strength - ultimately no we don’t.  Jesus says “I will make you fishers of men. “  These men were not yet what Jesus wanted them to be.  But God is not bound by who we are.  He is able to turn us into what he wants us to be.  When God begins a work in our lives he has the power and ability to transform us and use us for his glory.  We may not have a University education but God is able to use us and help us to study the bible and teach others.  We may not have skilful hands but God can use us to build churches around the world.  We might not have the gift of music but we can lead people in praise to God.  If God has a task for us to do God will enable us to do the task he wants us to do.  Have you identified a task God wants you to do? God will give you the ability to do what he wants you to do.  God gives us strength to do his work.  Maybe there is a person you want to talk to, to share your faith with but you don’t know how to overcome that fear – God will help you if you trust in him.  God has been able to use people down through the years and turn their life around. People with no training at all.  We have been celebrating the life of Dr Bill Woods.  He left NI with no education.  God was able to use him, to train him as a doctor and to serve in Brazil to help eradicate leprosy.  That is what God can do.  Not through man’s strength but because they followed Christ and he enabled them to do it.  God made them into what he wanted them to do.  How can we reach out to unsaved people?  So that others see the love of God?  To influence others by our attitude – 1 Peter 3 verse 15 “always ready to give an account and an answer for the hope that is within us.”  People shall see something different in our lives and in turn ask the question.  Why is it that so many people label others as good living oor that person who attends church.  People will know we are Christians and follow Christ.  Through this we have the opportunity to tell them about Christ.  In Luke 5 verse 5 we read that these men had fished all night and caught nothing.  Why did they fish all night?  Fish are drawn to the nets by the lights of the boats.  As Christians we should be reflecting the light of the gospel to people around us, attracting them to our Saviour.  Does your light shine brightly throughout the week?  Do people recognise you by your attitude, that you are different?  Or maybe you are a Sunday only Christian?  This is our task as Christians – to shine forth the light of the gospel.  Not only to love God for ourselves but to have love for others.  To share that light so that other people realise we are Christians.  We don’t want to just meet together on Sunday and go back to normal lives the rest of the week. We are labourers through God’s work. We can be an influence to others through our actions. Our salvation does not depend on our works.  Good works should flow from us as we seem to serve and please.  Unfortunately today Christians are known for things that have been done wrong, that do not bring glory to God.  They label us as hypocrites.  We need to get back to the place where our actions reflect our sincerity for God.  Some small action can shine to others.  More to what you are doing or saying.  Can you think of something you did in recent days that demonstrated love to the person you were in contact with?  A sobering thought as we look back over a week. Have we missed serving others by our actions? 

 

We can be an influence to others through our words.  Peter reminds us we should always be ready to speak about the Lord, to share what the Lord has done in our lives.  Sometimes it is necessary to give a verbal defence of the scriptures.  It is not an acceptable thing today in the world to speak out in defence of the gospel.  In Acts of the Apostles we read that several times the apostles were told several times to be  silent, to not speak of these things concerning Jesus.  In Acts 4 verse 20 following these different confrontations they could do nothing else only speak of him more.  That is what it is to have a defence for the Lord Jesus Christ. Although the world will put us down it encourages you to speak more of him.  There needs to be a willingness to leave our own personal desires and our own goals and priorities.  We don’t know where Jesus will lead us when we become Christians.  We don’t know what it will involve. Maybe we will have to leave our own country and families.  We must have a willingness to leave all our desires and plans for the future to follow after what God wants us to do.  Where is your journey with the Lord taking you?  Are you prepared to go?  Perhaps this journey is leading you to witness to a neighbour.  Will you invite them to church?  Offer them a gospel tract?  Maybe you are being asked to share the gospel with someone at work.  Are you prepared to share with them, pray that God will open them to the gospel. Are you prepared then to disciple them through many long hours?  “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”  He will do the work – all we need to be is available to allow God to work through us. 

 

Fishermen don’t know where fish are.  They will use all kinds of special devices today to find the fish.  We need to be where the fish are. The fish don’t jump into the boat by themselves.  We need to understand first how fish act.  One of the things that happens as we grow up in our Christian lives is we build up our friendship groups around Christians.  We begin to leave non-Christians aside, lose focus on who actually is lost.  We need to build relationships with those unbelievers too.  Build friendships and trust so that in time we can effectively lead them to Christ.  So often we hold missions in our churches and the meetings are full of Christian.  We are fishing to wrong people.  We no longer are preaching to the unconverted.  We need to be out encountering people where the gospel needs to be heard. We need to use different strategies.  A good fisherman will try a different method to bring the fish in.  Many have different ideas of how we reach different people.  Different people require different strategies.  We need to be prepared to try those different approaches.  We need to learn how to wait. Fishing is all about having patience.  George Muller shared the gospel with a friend who never responded to the gospel.  For 52 years George prayed for that man but he never seen him converted.  At his funeral the man heard the gospel preached one more time and he trusted Christ.  Never give up on someone.  Where are you fishing from?  Have you cast your nets out and are waiting to see who responds or is your fishing gear packed up?  You have been fishing for some time.  The Lord wants us out there reaching others.  There are plenty of opportunities to reach people.  I trust you will see many ways to reach people for the gospel.  We have cast out our nets this week and we are looking to the Lord for what he will do through our Holiday Bible Club.