Matthew 4:18 - 22
Intro:
6 - ’Tis The Season To Be Extravagant
To Love Him with all of our being!
13 - ’Tis The Season To Be Confident
To Know He is there no matter what!
20 - ’Tis The Season To Be Jubilant (Part 3 of 4)
To Trust in Him alone for our Joy!
27 - ’Tis The Season To Be Expectant (Part 4 of 4)
To Believe He is going to use us to do great things!
Jesus grows up in a world that was incredibly hostile. He was a Jewish man in a Roman world. He was in extreme poverty. In the heat and stench of the world.
Three facts about the world system:
1. We live in a negative, hostile world.
-just look at the newspaper to see this.
2. We are engulfed in a system that just seeks to get by.
-people at work "Slow down we have to do this all day."
3. Most choose not to live differently.
-"don’t make waves." or "Who cares?"
These three facts about our world system cause major experience to happen to you and me:
We begin to lack courage!
This strong desire in us to be the best of the best. To stand up and be counted! To make a difference with our lives!
In Matthew chapter 4 Jesus comes along the lake and finds 4 ordinary people, fishermen.
People which the world would pass by every day, not seeing their potential.
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. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left
I want you to notice some ways that Jesus began to recruitment and place an expectancy in the heart of the people He sought out for ministry.
I. His choice
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. -- Matthew 4:18
Look at the people Jesus chooses for ministry.
Fisherman, not rabbis.
When I get to heaven I have some questions for God.
Do you have any questions that you want to ask Him?
Question #1. "God, why would use people like these to advance Your kingdom?"
If I was God I would not use people. Not use me. Don’t look at me that way I wouldn’t use you either!
God, why would you tie your hands?
Question #2: If He chooses to choose people why does He choose some of the people He chooses?
I wouldn’t have chosen...
...fatherless Abraham to be the Father of the nation Israel.
...spoilt boy Joseph to become the wise Prime Minister of Egypt.
...stammering Moses to be the spokesmen for Israel.
...quiet overlooked David to be the leader of Israel.
...unclean Isaiah to be the Old Testament prophet.
...disobedient Jonah to be the evangelist of Nehinvah.
...lowly Mary to be the mother of Jesus.
Nor would I have chosen an unstable Peter to launch off the early church.
You wouldn’t have chosen any of them either. Isn’t that right?
ILL: I want you to look at the person you are sitting beside. Just look at that person.
They are kind of a sorry lot aren’t they? Look at them. Not much are they?
Some of you husbands should be agreeing with me so quickly!
One of you tell the other, “I wouldn’t have chosen you”. Just tell them.
Now to keep that person humble, look right back and say, “I wouldn’t have chosen you either”.
It’s amazing at the people God chooses to use.
There are 3 reasons why we are
important to God:
a. Who I am.
God the Father created us. In His own Image. That gives a great deal of importance to us. Who we are.
b. What I cost.
Jesus Christ God’s Son gave up His life on calvary for us. It literally cost God’s only Son His entire life. What I cost makes me important to God and thirdly.
c. What I can become.
I am important to God because of the power of the Holy Spirit can make me today what I was not yesterday, and give me more power for tomorrow.
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. -- Acts 1:8
Jesus could look these men and women in the eye and say, I’m going to give you power and you will change a world!
There is a difference in the way that man looks at the crowd and the way that God looks at the crowd.
We look 1# from the eyes of what they were.
#2 we look at them as they are today.
God sees differently. When God sees us who are saved by the blood He sees no past. He looks at us as what we are, Children of Himself! And what will become.
That’s the difference between God and us.
The world has past by many people who have made great contributions.
ILL: On the small people made big.
ii. the call of Jesus.
And He saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. -- Matthew 4:19
He looked at them and said, “Follow Me”
3 things are important about a call
#1 Who calls: Everyday we receive calls on the phone. Some, the ones of important can just call and you talk, maybe about nothing. Who it is important.
ILL: $20 a month calling. My parents are important.
#2 What they say: Some what they say is very important even though who have no idea who they are. The message they bring is life changing.
ILL: When I was a fire fighter and received calls of emeg.
#3 Where I am: in my own life. There are times when I respond to the call. There are times when it is right for me to hear the message. I’m ready. I’m prepared.
This is what was happening to the disciples.
They had been with Jesus for a few times. They were starting to say, “NO one has ever talked like Him before”. Now they had gone back to the sea. Back fishing.
You know fishing and boats become kind of boring when you’ve been with Jesus.
All of a sudden the things that really turned them on became dull, to fade away. It started to seem that what they were doing now was just not satisfying any longer.
“Our life once stretched never regains the original dimension”
Oliver Wendall Holmes.
The moment we have been stretch we will never again be happy to just return to the norm. To where you were. This is what growth is all about.
Think of your own spiritual journey. There will be things that you use to do that no longer thrills you any more as you grow and mature.
ILL: I haven’t done much fishing but when I first got here Jeff Presuss took me fishing. We travelled straight down a mountain. Unloaded the boat. Grunted and wheezed! I pulled out minnows.
I have had a taste of something bigger. Northern Pike is where it’s at!
This is what Jesus did, He gave them a taste of His life and now when they are out on the boat He walks by and says, “Follow Me, I want to make you fishers of Men”. These guys looked at the nets and said, what are we waiting for?
When you put all three of these things that make a call important you are going to have something that is going to be life changing. The right person saying the right thing at the right time speaks to you will give the right response.
iii. the challenge of Jesus
He challenged them in 3 areas.
And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. -- Matthew 4:19
#1 Jesus took responsibility for their success. “I will...”. He didn’t say you are going to do it. He didn’t say you are going to do you best. But “I will”. I take the responsibility for your growth. If you will obey me, I will make you fishers!
Jesus looked at these guys and said, Fellows, if you will get out of that boat. If you’ll take a chance. If you’ll take a risk. If you’ll decide no longer to just be a bored, unchallenged, unspirited Christian, just sitting in a pew. If you will get out of the boat. If you will find your gift. If you will just do something for me. “I will” begin, not you, not the pastor, I will begin to make you something that you’ll never be by yourself.
#2 The second thing that makes this challenge of Christ so irresistible, is that Jesus gave Hope. Jesus gave tremendous hope.
When they heard "I will make you fishers of men” they knew He was saying I’ll take you where you are and make you something greater. He gave them hope an expectancy, "I will make you."
ILL: What would you really like to do in life? Doesn’t have to be spiritual. Maybe... I would love to be able to draw like Robert Batman. I’d love Robert to come and make me a great artist.
When Jesus walked into these guys lives he said, “Fellows, you don’t have to stay the same in your lives. You can be a lot better than you are. He gave them hope. I’m going to make you something that you can’t make yourself.
#3 The third thing that makes this call irresistible, is that He shared a vision. They would become fishermen alright but not of fish but men. Fish are for the here and now, I will give you eternal purpose.
iv. The Concern of Jesus
He had 4 concerns
#1 The first one was relationships. He wanted them to have the right relationship before anything else. “Follow Me”. Worship comes before work. Jesus wants your hearts before he wants your hands. Don’t do anything great for God until the relationship is right.
#2 His second concern was growth.
He wanted them to go that is why he said “I will make you fishers of men.”
ILL: 3 rubber bands 1 skinny, 1 fat, 1 colored.
All sizes and all shapes but the only purpose of a rubber band is to be stretched.
God sees us not only as what we are but what we can become. His concern for us is that we begin to grow. He’s designed us for growth.
Growth equals change. You can not grow and remain the same.
We change when we do 3 things
a. when we hurt enough that we have to change
ILL: A man not doing very well on the job. The boss kept trying to get him to do things. Finally the boss got really mad. He said, “If you don’t change and do things differently you’re going to be fired.” Immediately he changed. All the people around the worker said what happened to you. He said, “He never spoke to me like that before.”
b. We change when we learn enough that we want to.
-what am I doing? I want to quit this and start this.
c. We change when we receive enough that we are able to.
#3 His third concern was fruitfulness.
The evidence of growth is fruitfulness. If you follow I’ll make you fishers of men. Great things will happen.
These men were world changers. They would have never guessed how far the Lord would take them.
#4 His final concern was obedience.
Obedience is nothing more than letting God do what He said He would without getting in the way.
And they straightway left
-- Matthew 4:20
Worldly success is based on achievement but Biblical success is based on obedience. If you obey Him you will have fruitfulness. This is what they did.
May we be stretched so far from sitting in the pew that we just can’t be content to sit any more.
