Common Men With An Uncommon Opportunity

Common Men with an Uncommon Opportunity…

Matt. 4:18 ¶ And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

20 And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

(Prayer)

January 6, 1850, was bitterly cold in Colchester, England, a hard-biting blizzard keeping most worshipers at home. At the Primitive Methodist Chapel on Artillery Street only about a dozen showed up. When it became apparent that even the pastor would not arrive, an unlettered man rose and spoke haltingly from Isaiah 45:22, Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. Then the crowd dispersed, thinking the day’s service a loss—not realizing that a fifteen-year-old boy had ducked into the room to escape the snowstorm, and, hearing the sermon, had been converted.

Years later that boy, Charles Spurgeon, wrote: “Don’t hold back because you cannot preach in St. Paul’s; be content to talk to one or two in a cottage. You may cook in small pots as well as in big ones. Little pigeons can carry great messages. Even a little dog can bark at a thief, wake up the master, and save the house.… Do what you do right thoroughly, pray over it heartily, and leave the result to God.” (Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations and Quotes)

Do you think that Peter and Andrew had any clue, any idea what they were in for?

Do you think in their wildest imagination they could have predicted while standing there on that boat that day what lay ahead for each of them?

This day started out like any other…

They got up early that morning… They got their equipment all ready…They packed themselves a lunch…And, off they went to the docks to get on their fishing boat.

They pushed off from the dock, and not far from shore they began throwing out their nets. There probably was a little bit of excitement every time they pulled in their nets wondering what they had caught. But, really…after doing it for so long, …nothing really surprised them anymore.

They were fishermen. That’s what they did. It was their job. It was how they made a living.

Even more being fishermen, was who they were. This family business was passed on to them by their father, who had probably had it passed on to him by his father…

This is how they provided for their family. It’s how they put food on the table.

All day long they would be out there on the water…

Some days were probably a very good day of fishing, and others were not so good. Most were just an average day.

Everyday, it was the same thing. It was very ordinary. Peter and Andrew were common men with common professions.

They were just fishermen.

Uncommon Opportunity

19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Christ walks by the Sea of Galilee…He sees the two brothers in their boat fishing...throwing their nets out.

He stops, and yells out to them as He declares… “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

I’m sure Peter and Andrew were curious about what He had said.

This was not their fist meeting with Jesus. The Bible records…

John 1:35

Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;

John 1:36

And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

John 1:37

And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

John 1:38

Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?

John 1:39

He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.

John 1:40

One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.

John 1:41

He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.

John 1:42

And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

This was the first meeting they had with Christ. They spent time with Him…

And, now back in our text these ordinary men, Peter and Andrew, are given an invitation, an opportunity to join Christ in His purpose.

And, what is Christ’s purpose?