Let’s Go Fishing
Prairie Baptist Church – 12/6/09
A.M. Service
Text: Mark 1:16-20
Key verse: Mark 1:17 - Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
Premise: Peter had a mediocre career going until Jesus offered Him a promotion to be a fisher of men. From that point on, the catches he would get were eternal and satisfying beyond measure.
The Introduction
Read Text First
The story goes that Mark Twain loved to go fishing, but he hated to catch fish. The problem was he went fishing to relax, and catching fish ruined his relaxation, since he had to take the fish off the hook and do something with it. When he wanted to relax by doing nothing, people thought he was lazy, but if he went fishing he could relax all he wanted. People would see him sitting by the river bank and they would say, “Look, he’s fishing, don’t bother him.” So Mark Twain had the perfect solution: he would take a fishing pole, line, and a bobber, but he wouldn’t put a hook on the end. He would cast the bobber in the water and lay back on the bank. That way he could relax all he wanted and he would be bothered neither by man nor fish. Mark Twain is like a lot of Christians I know. They have their pole in the water, but there is no hook on the end. They are not fishing; they are relaxing. Do you think this is what Jesus had in mind when he said, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”? (Matthew 4:19).
(Peter had been introduced and knew about Jesus earlier-John 1:35-42)
Here, Peter and Andrew are fishing and not to much a distance down the way are John and James getting ready to fish as well.
Jesus comes along and calls them to follow Him with a unique offer: becoming fishers of men.
He came and spoke to them in a manner that helped them understand what He wanted them to do.
He says the same thing to each one of us.
But what does “fishing for men” really mean?
Body
1. Spiritual Fishing Is A Calling, Not A Gift (17 - Jesus called to them to follow Him)
A. A calling of privilege – 1st Thess. 2:4 - But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.
i. God has placed his trust in us as His children
ii. He has called us to represent Him to others
B. A calling of necessity – Luke 19:10 - for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
i. It is necessary because they are lost
ii. He is not sending us on a seek and destroy mission but a seek and save mission
iii. While we do not do the saving, we are instrumental in God’s work of saving.
C. A calling of reconciliation – 2nd Cor. 5:18-19 - 18Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
i. God lets us have a role in the peace talks
ii. When the Atom Bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, there was not a whole lot of room left for bargaining for the Japanese. It was either surrender or get more of the same.
iii. With God, it is not about bargaining but an offer of the cessation of hostilities.
D. A calling of joy – Rom. 10:15 - And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!”
i. Fishers of men have happy feet.
ii. Did you ever notice how your feet can affect how the rest of your body feel? When your feet are hot the rest of your body is hot. When your feet are uncomfortable, the rest of your body is uncomfortable. Take care of your feet and you will feel better. Having beautiful feet not only means that they take you places but that you radiate the love of Christ in your life. It is a joy that affects you.
2. Spiritual Fishing Is Expected, Not Requested (17 – This was command to obey)
A. An interesting cartoon shows a fourth-grade boy standing toe-to-toe and nose-to-nose with his teacher. Behind them stares a blackboard covered with math problems the boy hasn’t finished.
With rare perception the boy says, ’I’m not an underachiever, you’re an overexpecter!" Today in the Word, MBI, April, 1990, p. 30
i. God is not an overexpecter.
ii. What He expects He also enables us to perform.
iii. Especially when it comes to witnessing.
B. The command was to go, not wait until they come to you - Mark 16:15 – And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
i. The demoniac - Mark 5:19 - “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.”
ii. Telling others should be an automatic response to salvation on our part
iii. We should be driven by our love for Christ to tell about His great love.
C. The power of God enables us to witness - Acts 1:8 - But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
3. Spiritual Fishing Requires Going Where People Are (Jesus took them to the sinners)
A. The job of the church is not to impact the church, but to impact the world. It’s like a huddle in a football game. 67,000 people don’t pay $25.00 a ticket to watch the Titans huddle. What if you went to a Titans game and for 2 ½ hours you watched 11 men stand in a circle and talk? That’s not what you pay for!! 67,000 people pay $25 a ticket to see what difference the huddle makes. What they want to know is, having called the play in secret, does it work in public? The challenge for the church is not what we do when we call our Sunday morning huddle, but what we do when we break our huddle and head to our Sunday morning assignment. When Satan lines up against us, what difference does it make that we are Christians?
B. We need to go find the lost in the dire situations they are in - Luke 14:16-23 - 16Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, 17and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ 18But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ 19And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ 20Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ 22And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ 23Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
i. They will not come on their own
ii. It is the desire of the master to make His house full
iii. He wants His fisherman to make it a priority
C. We need to make some adjustments to win the lost (not compromising Scriptural standards) - 1st Cor. 9:19-23 – 19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; 20and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; 21to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; 22to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 23Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.
i. Paul here was not talking about spiritual compromise
ii. He was talking about adjusting to the culture without compromising the Scripture
iii. The goal was to gain a listening ear for the gospel
D. Every person should be seen as a lost soul and a potential child of God - Col. 1:28 - Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.
4. Spiritual Fishing Requires Hard Work (16 - casting the net and dragging in the fish was hard work)
A. There are three kinds of workers. For example, when a piano is to be moved, the first kind gets behind and pushes, the second pulls and guides, and the third grabs the piano stool.
B. Diligence
i. You don’t catch something every time you throw your line in
ii. For a harvest to happen, you have to keep at it
iii. Rom. 12:11 - not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
C. Strength
i. Fish will fight you, so don’t get discouraged
ii. Fish will try to wear you down, so it requires patience
iii. Eph. 6:10 - Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
D. Alertness
i. There are always others who will try to steal your bait or your fish
ii. You have to watch out for those who do not belong that could encroach on your territory
iii. Not other Christians, but those who would do damage to the cause of Christ.
iv. John 10:10 - The thief (the devil and those who do his work) does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
5. Spiritual Fishing Requires Preparation (19d – they were mending their nets)
A. Now, my dad once told me the story about a peculiar fisherman from Minnesota. You see, this fisherman was very well prepared. He knew how to fish. He had everything you need to be a good fisherman. He had poles, nets, bait, and even a really nice boat, but this fisherman had a problem. You see, for all his preparation he never caught anything. Not one fish. Not one, not ever. And you know why he never caught a fish? What do you think? The answers easy: He never went fishing. He had all the knowledge and all the equipment, but he never got into the boat, he never left the dock.
B. A fisherman continues to learn his art well (through study)
i. The best lures and bait
ii. The best places to fish
iii. 2nd Tim. 2:15 - Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
C. In order to improve a fisherman learns from a better fisherman (through discipleship)
i. Sometimes, it’s good to go with someone who has more experience
ii. We can learn by watching what others do and imitate their actions
iii. Ephesians 5:1 - Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.
D. A fisherman isn’t much of a fisherman if he doesn’t go fishing (through telling the good news)
i. We need to get out and tell.
ii. Here is the bottom line, to truly qualify as a disciple we need to be telling others. Why?
a. A disciple follows a master and does what the master does
b. A Christian is a “little Christ” and we are supposed to be like Him
c. Jesus proclaimed, preached, told.
d. He has given us go and tell others just like He did
Conclusion:
Jesus may be fishing for you this morning. You may have never received His offer of forgiveness and mercy. He is waiting for you.
(Christian) When was the last time you went fishing for souls?
Have you taken advantage of the opportunities Christ has given to share the good news?
Maybe some are afraid they don’t know how or that they might mess up.
Jesus does not want you to have that fear but to tell the simple news of what He has done for you.
How is He speaking to you this morning and what is He telling you to do?
He wants us to cast our nets into the sea of humanity and catch men and women for Christ. If we were to face Him today, would we stand there with dry nets?
