He did not say, “I will try to make you fishers of men”, He said, “I will make you fishers of men.” Our job is to follow His leading, and He will make us into fishers of men. Even though this is a clear command from God, it is seldom obeyed by the majority.
Illus: For example, it has been suggested that …
• 20% of all Christians never pray
• 20% of all Christians hardly ever attend church
• 20% of all Christians hardly ever give
• 20% of all Christians hardly ever attend prayer meeting
• 20% of all Christians never have a family worship
• And 99.5% never win a soul to Christ
John Bisagno
All those statistics are appalling, but think about this, 99.5% never win a soul to Christ. NEVER! They must be willing for their family, friends and neighbors to go to a Christ-less eternity, because they never tell them how they can be saved.
Illus: This is like knowing a bridge is washed out, and seeing a family member, friend or neighbor come down the road and never warning them of the danger!
Every Christian that has been saved from a Christ-less eternity should have a burning desire to see their family members, friends and coworkers come to know Christ also.
Illus: The Institute for American Church Growth asked 10,000 people about their decision to join a particular church. What led them to church? The answers were:
• Special need - 2 percent
• Walk in - 3 percent
• Pastor, - 6 percent
• Visitation - 1 percent
• Sunday School - 5 percent;
• Evangelistic crusade - 5 percent
• Program - 3 percent;
•(Listen to this) FRIEND/RELATIVE, 79 PERCENT
(Wayne Zunkel, Leadership, Vol. 5, no. 3)
Let’s take a look at Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He was constantly bringing people to the Lord. He is believed by many to be the best example of a soul winner. Almost every time we see him in the Gospel accounts, he is bringing someone to Jesus.
Andrew could not preach or lead like Peter, but he could bring folks to the Lord. This speaks volumes about this man, for example:
• There are folks who can invite their family members to come to church and they will not come.
• There are folks who can invite their coworkers to come to church and they will not come.
• There are folks who can invite their neighbors to come to church and they will not come.
Why? Because these folks can not see anything in a positive way that has happened in their life, so why should they waste their time to go to church when it has not done anything for them.
The people that are most successful in life in bringing people to church and to Christ, are people who can show their friends, family and coworkers that the Lord has done a work in their heart for the better.
This is why Andrew was able to bring men and women to Christ. In the life of Andrew, we see what it means to be a Fisher of Men.
John 12:20 22, “And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus.”
He was MOLDED BY THE MASTER and had a talent for bringing men to Jesus.
BEING A FISHER OF MEN REQUIRES TWO THINGS: We must be -
I. SEEKING
John 1:41a “He first FINDETH his own brother Simon…”
Listen, I would like to win everyone to Christ, but especially I would like to win my family and friends to Christ. If I truly believe that Hell is REAL and Hell is HOT, I certainly want to win them to the Lord.
And evidently this is how Andrew must have felt. The Bible tells us the first thing he did after he came to know the Lord, “He first findeth his own brother Simon…”
If we are going to be fishers of men, we have to SEEK the lost to win them, the same way a fisherman seeks to catch fish. Listen, most fishermen are absolutely fanatics about fishing.
Illus: A man that had two buckets of fish was leaving a lake well known for its fishing, when he was stopped by a game warden
The game warden asked the man, "Do you have a license to catch those fish?" The man replied to the game warden, "No, sir. These are my pet fish." "Pet fish?!" the warden replied. "Yes, sir. Every night I take these fish down to the lake and let them swim around for a while. I whistle and they jump back into their buckets, and I take them home."
"That's a bunch of hooey! Fish can't do that!" The man looked at the game warden for a moment, and then said, "Here, I'll show you. It really works." "O.K. I've GOT to see this!" The game warden was curious. The man poured the fish in to the river and stood and waited. After several minutes, the game warden turned to the man and said, "Well?" "Well, what?" the man responded. "When are you going to call them back?" the game warden prompted. "Call who back?" the man asked. "The FISH." "What fish?" the man asked. (Contributed by Frank Worm)
Fishermen love fishing so much they will do anything to catch fish.
Illus: One day Jim was out fishing and was not having any luck at all. He tried lures, worms and other types of bait and was just not catching anything. Tom was fishing about 20 feet from him and was catching fish as fast as he cast his line out. Jim was getting very jealous of this showoff, so he asked Tom what he was using for bait. Tom said, "I am using worms, but I dip them in whiskey before I put them in the water." Jim got really interested in this technique so he asked Tom if he could try one of these drunk worms. Tom had no problem with this request, so he handed Jim one of the worms. Jim placed the worm on the hook and cast the worm out, and no sooner than his hook hit the water, when Jim’s pole began to bow like crazy. He set his hook and started to reel it in. Once he got his catch up to the shore, he noticed that the worm had the fish by the throat...... Jeff Walsh Indianapolis, Indiana
Fishermen will do anything to catch fish, and those who love to win souls to Christ will do all they can to see people saved.
Now that does not mean we go to the night clubs, dance halls, casinos and theaters. If we do, we will lose our testimony and we will never be able to win them to Christ.
But it does mean we go to other places that will not harm our testimony, and we go there for the specific purpose of SEEKING to win people to Christ.
One of the hardest things in the world to do, is have good news and no one to share it with. Much of the news we hear today is a combination of GOOD NEWS and BAD NEWS.
Illus: I heard about a conversation between a patient who woke up in a hospital and a doctor.
• Patient: “I'm in a hospital! Why am I in here?”
• Doctor: “You've had an accident involving a bus.”
• Patient: “How bad am I?”
• Doctor: “Well, I've got some good news and some bad news. Which would you like to hear first?”
• Patient: “Give me the bad news first.”
• Doctor: “Your legs were injured so badly that we had to amputate both of them.”
• Patient: “That's terrible! What's the good news?”
• Doctor: “There's a guy in the next ward who made a very good offer on your slippers.”
Illus: An artist asked the gallery owner if there had been any interest in his paintings on display at that time. "I have good news and bad news," the owner replied. "The good news is that a gentleman inquired about your work and wondered if it would appreciate in value after your death. When I told him it would, he bought all 15 of your paintings."
"That's wonderful," the artist exclaimed. "What's the bad news?" "The guy was your doctor."
Andrew had some wonderful news, and he could hardly wait to share it with his brother Simon. The news that Jesus was the Messiah, was just too good to keep to himself. Andrew went and found someone he loved, someone he cared about, and led him to Jesus!
BEING A FISHER OF MEN involves SEEKING, but also being a FISHER OF MEN involves-
II. SPEAKING
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.”
Illus: As Christians, we have all talked with people who were concerned about a loved one or friend. A lost man was telling a Christian man one day that he asked his Dad and Mom not to go fishing in a pond nearby unless he was there. Why? Because he was concerned about them. But listen, his concern was only for the physical part of his Mom and Dad. Because if either one of them were to drown they would go to a Christ-less eternity.
May God help us to see our family, friends, and coworkers PHYSICAL needs, but even more to be able to see their SPIRITUAL needs, and seek to win them the same way a fishermen seeks to catch fish.
Andrew’s approach was SIMPLE - IT WAS SHARING THE NEWS OF CHRIST!
Psalm 107:2, “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;”
Illus: Someone has said, “To keep this good news to ourselves would be in effect to deny its value”
Some folks can not recognize good news when they hear it.
Illus: A farmer went to his banker and announced that he had bad news and good news:
• "First, the bad news.…” "Well," said the farmer, "I can't make my mortgage payments.
• And that crop loan I've taken out for the past 10 years -- I can't pay that off, either.
• Not only that, I won't be able to pay you the couple of hundred thousand I still have outstanding on my tractors and other equipment.
So I'm going to have to give up the farm and turn it all over to you for whatever you can salvage out of it.” Silence prevailed for a minute and then the banker said ,"What's the good news?" "The good news is that I'm going to keep on banking with you," said the farmer. (Bits & Pieces, April 30, 1992.)
Andrew’s approach was SIMPLE - IT WAS SHARING THE NEWS OF CHRIST! Let’s look at his sharing the good news of the gospel.
A. HIS SHARING WAS PERSONAL
Andrew said, “We have found the Messias”. This was not speculation nor was it second hand information. Andrew was telling Peter what he personally was sure of.
They were fully convinced that they had found the MESSIAH!
B. HIS SHARING WAS POWERFUL
When Andrew shared what he knew to Peter, it was powerful. “We have found THE MESSIAS..”
• The One foretold by the Prophets
• The One long expected by our Fathers
• The One of whom John The Baptist was preaching
What a POWERFUL MESSAGE! The Gospel is powerful!
Rom. 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
Illus: In his 1942 devotional, Abundant Living, E. Stanley Jones, writes: “The early Christians did not say in dismay: ‘Look what the world has come to,’ but in delight, ‘Look what has come to the world.’"
Notice, IT WAS POWERFUL, but also as Andrew witnessed for Christ it was with humility.
Andrew did not say “I” but “WE” have found the Messias.
Illus: In the olden days, the organ had to have someone in the back pumping air to the organ for it to play. On one occasion an organist who thought a lot of herself was playing, and when she got through everyone applauded as if she was the only one involved in playing the organ. She got ready to do her next number, and she hit the keys and nothing came out. She hit the keys again and nothing came out. She looked in the direction of the man who was doing all the pumping, and told him to start pumping. He said, “Before I do, I want to hear you say, ‘We’”!
Illus: A wealthy man was fishing in the streams of Scotland. He had the best patent pole that money could buy. After hours of effort without even a bite, he came across a country boy with only a switch for a pole and a bent pin for a hook, but he had a long string of fish. "Why is it, I can't catch any?" the man inquired. "Because you don't keep yourself out of sight," the boy quietly replied.
This is the secret of fishing for men as well as trout. Lift up the Lord Jesus Christ. Send the people away talking about Him, instead of praising you.
C. THE SHARING WAS PROSPEROUS
There were things about Jesus that Andrew didn’t know, but he did know what Jesus had done for him, and he knew that Jesus was the hope of Israel. He simply asked Peter to come see for himself.
Illus: In 1962, a 14 year old boy by the name of Robert White, wrote to President John F. Kennedy’s personal secretary requesting the President’s autograph.
Within a few weeks, Evelyn Lincoln honored the boy’s request by sending him a facsimile signature in the mail. That began a relationship of correspondence that lasted 33 years.
Impressed with White’s passion for presidential history, Mrs. Lincoln gave him thousands of documents and mementos.
She saved whatever could be saved including even doodles JFK drew during meetings. Today, Robert White, now 53, boasts the largest private collection of Kennedy memorabilia, over 50,000 items.
Sometimes simply asking is all it takes. (Southwest Airlines Flight Magazine, November 1999).
BEING A FISHER OF MEN involves SEEKING and SPEAKING.
Conclusion:
John 1:42a “And he brought him to Jesus....” Andrew realized that the work of salvation belongs to Jesus. He would bring men to Christ and He would do the saving.
One man said at his dad’s funeral, “He never cried.”
Listen, when you care about something enough, you will cry.
• When you have moms and dads crying for their children to be saved, you will begin to see them come to Christ.
• When you have Christians crying over their lost friends, neighbors and coworkers, you will begin to see them come to Christ.
God’s Word says in Psa. 126:5, “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.”
We must “sow in tears” if we expect to “reap with joy.” We just need to love the souls of men and bring them to Christ.
Illus: A strong horseshoe magnet may be held over an old rust eaten, shapeless nail without any response.
But a new nail will leap to the magnet, attract another, and through it draw yet another, until several are attracted.
That is how Christians are, they are an attraction to the lost. And once they lead men to Christ, those new Christians will then become a spiritual magnetic force that will attract others.
Jesus said, “...Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men....” (Matthew 4:19)
Illus: When fishermen catch a big fish, they will often take it to the taxidermist so they can mount it on the wall as a trophy so others can see what they caught.
Listen, there are going to be a lot of proud people in heaven when they stand before the Lord and say, “See what I caught!” What will you have, to show the Lord what you have done with your life?
BEING A FISHER OF MEN requires...
I. SEEKING
II. SPEAKING
