This morning beloved I will say that God’s will for all men, all women, all of whom will profess Christ is Lord are souls. It is the passion for souls that Christ wants to birth in our hearts and this desire should be to please God through the redemption act of one to another, of redemption towards the offender, redemption toward those that might not have the best interest for you. This morning beloved Christ is offering the invitation to follow Him.
Matthew 4:18-20
18 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
There should always be a willingness to seek after the richness of the word of God to stir the hearts and challenge lives to seek after Christ and His will for the human race. See beloved everything that Christ had in mind and everything that has to do with the church of Christ has to do with winning souls. If ever people ask what is God’s will for my life, it is simply winning souls. This is essential to the Christian experience. It’s not a mystery to the Christian but it is a mystery to the unbeliever.
In our text this is the starting point to understanding the heart of God, souls. Jesus said follow Me and I will make you fishers of men. But this can only be obtained by first following Christ. A passion for souls first means that you have a passion for Christ. Without a passion for Christ we will not have a passion for souls. It is not only impossible but it is absolutely the essence of Christianity, a passion for souls because of a passion for Christ.
See beloved a passion for souls is the consequence of a passion for Christ. Beyond that we are way off what the will of God is, because before salvation I was way too selfish, way too distracted, way too small minded to think of anyone but me. This love for souls is a reality in my life it doesn’t come from the largeness of my heart or the nobility of my character but ultimately for the love of Christ.
We are by nature incredibility selfish, beloved this love that I have has grown out of my love for Christ and ultimately that has grown out of His love for me.
1 John 4:19
19 We love Him because He first loved us.
Beloved unless that love of Christ breaks upon your hearts we would not have a passion for souls. Why? Because people are far too difficult, far too disappointing to drum up a burden for them out of outuism. When people first get saved they are burdened out of their own ability to love these lost and deprived people, but after a couple of upsets and fifty broken promises to come to church that will be enough for anyone to say within their hearts let them go to hell if they want. This is a reality that many do not understand, because they love out of their own resources and not by the love of Christ.
Jesus told these men follow me, Jesus is telling you today even this morning follow me, when I received this invitation I understood that I would have to follow Jesus into the gospels, that means I have to follow Him into the wilderness where He prayed alone with God, where He fasted for forty days to have dominion over Satan and the wickedness of man, and yet He was willing to pay the price in fasting and praying to have that dominion in His ministry.
I’m going to have to follow Him into the doors of Galilee and watch as people press in on His personal space and in that watch Him pray for every single need, these needs become so intense that Jesus gets into a boat off the shore to address every need of these poor, desperate people. I’m going to have to follow Him into the synagogue, into the market place, just about everywhere teaching and preaching the Kingdom of God.
I’m going have to absorb this compassion for souls. So much compassion that Jesus goes into a crowd of lepers and I’m going to have to see how He touches the stubs of their hands and watch as He touches their open sores as He prays for their healing. I’m going to have to follow Him to Nain, where the widow’s son is being carried out to be buried and Christ reaches out to touch the dead unclean corpse, He’s not worried about defilement, He’s not worried about repercussions he’s just worried about a widow who lost her son.
I’m going to have to follow Jesus into the synagogues and watch as the flesh of anger is filled within the religious people who care more for their donkey’s and ox’s the they do the souls of men. I’m going to have to absorb the intensity of that anger and also absorb what is compelling Jesus to face the opposition to do what He does. I’m going to have to follow Christ to the crest of the hill where they want to throw Him off and while He makes His escape goes back into the same crowd of haters to teach the truth.
I’m going have to follow Him to Jarius’ house and watch as He is pressed on every side again could barely move and out of that crowd a woman, one small insignificant woman touches the hem of His garment and He is aware of that. He’s aware of one woman in this crowd and stops and is compelled to not allow her to melt back into the crowd to become another statistic but called her out for her own personal altar call.
I’m going to have to follow Christ into Jerusalem where He knows what is going to happen, into the garden where Christ both the human side and the spiritual side are having a contest of will and watch how He intently prays and say’s nevertheless not My will but Your will be done. I’m going to have to follow Jesus to the cross the darkness at noonday, the agony and death to the resurrection and promise all this in order to have this passion for souls. I know that I need to follow Christ. Why? Because I know that He is the ultimate Arch type of someone who has a passion for souls.
I’m going to have to watch Jesus interact with harlots, tax collectors, murderers, raw sinners and watch how He reaches out to these souls because He loves them. Why do I do what I do? It is because I have observed Christ and in my observation I have developed a burden and passion for what Christ has done for me. This is why I want to live like this, following Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:14-20
14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. 16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that 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. 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.
So we look upon our scripture it is the love of God that works through those who love God and in that the love of God flows through us to reach a lost and dying generation. We love Christ because He first loved us. And in that love we are to have that passion for souls and cry out as if God where speaking directly to them through us. But in order to do just that we are to follow Christ.
The call is out, God is looking for such to be fishers of men, God is inquiring of them who would accept the invitation to follow Him. His desire should be our desire and our desire should have been ignited because of His love for us. As I close to be reconciled to Christ, this is the main purpose of the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that is for man to have communion with God through repentance of sin. This is the passion of Christ; that mankind would no longer be condemned by the act of sin but refute it, reject it and in that embrace the invitation to follow Christ by renouncing sin and accepting His forgiveness by repenting and begin to follow Him and pick your cross, becoming fishers of men. Will you do that today? Will you be a part of history and be that ambassador that vessel that He wants to work through? Will you accept the invitation and begin to do God’s will?
Beloved the passion for souls is ultimately an expression of our passion for Christ, and it comes out of that reality. And truth be told we might have a hard time loving people that do not love us but when we love Christ loving them is the natural outflow of that. The passion that we have for Christ issues forth in a passion for souls. Jesus didn’t just invite us to a great cause, He invited us to join Him. Follow me, He said follow Me. If Christ becomes everything to us so will the passion for souls.
Let me include that winning souls is some supernatural stuff and can only be wrought by the Holy Spirit. But let me reiterate what Jesus said, He said “I will make”, I will make you powerful and able to fish for men. In our bible Jesus tells His disciples that He will send a helper but wait for the helper in other words do not try to go and fish on your own. Jesus said don’t try it without the Holy Spirit.
But in our bible it is clearly said to go into all the world and save souls. We see in the book of Acts 2:6:
Acts 2:5-11
6 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. 7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 "And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 "Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 "Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 "Cretans and Arabs--we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God."
Because of the Holy Spirit people came running to church, why? The Holy Spirit was in the midst. I want to explain a little about the power fo the Holy Spirit this morning, beloved there were sixteen different languages here now correct me if I’m wrong but if you have 120 people shouting sixteen different languages I don’t think you would understand them. The bible says that they heard them glorifying God in their own language. Now what this says to me is that it is the Holy Spirit that makes the gospel comprehendible to sinners, and changes it from our discussion of religion to a Holy Ghost witness. Supernatural witness.
The Holy Spirit is what makes us fishers of men, The Holy Spirit is what enables us to win souls and have a passion for the souls of men, gives us the ability to speak to blind sinners.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
But God promises a helper to speak into the lost and give life.
1 Corinthians 2:11-14
11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Sinners are blind to the light of the gospel, so we have help for it is the Spirit of God that translates, it is the Spirit of God that makes us fishers of men. The Spirit of God is absolutely essential to the gospel of Jesus Christ, we cannot do it without Him.
John 6:63
63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
John 15:26
26 "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
It is the Holy Spirit that transforms all that we do into a power light bearing declaration of the Kingdom of God. And for this to happen we are going to have to be filled with the Holy Spirit, not just once but every day.
What I am preaching about this morning will not work without the Pentecost Doctrine, this is why the church went to entertainment to bring souls in and they took another approach when it clearly tells us in our bible that it is the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that empowers our witness.
• Acts 1: Wait
• Acts 2: they came running to church
I want to be that effective, if I follow Christ and make Him the center of my life the passion for souls will be evident. Your hole salvation, my whole salvation is about saving souls, our entire Christianity is based on souls for Christ. As a Christian a passion for souls is not an option, it is not something that you’ll choose maybe I’ll care or maybe I won’t, passion for souls is the end result of conversion. It is the reality of following Christ, will you accept the invitation to be fishers of men?
