Introduction
Now it came to pass that a group existed who called themselves fishermen. And lo, there were many fish in the waters all around. In fact, the whole area was surrounded by streams and lakes filled with very hungry fish.
Week after week, month after month, year after year, those who called themselves fishermen met in meetings to discuss their call to fish, and how they might go about their fishing. Year after year they carefully defined what fishing means, defended fishing as an occupation, and declared that fishing is always the primary task of fishermen.
They continually searched for new and better methods of fishing and for new and better definitions of fishing. Further, they adopted slogans like "The fishing industry exists by fishing as fire exists by burning" and "Fishing is the task of every fisherman." They sponsored special meetings called "Fishermen’s Campaigns" and "The Month for Fishermen to Fish.
These fishermen built large, beautiful expensive buildings for local fishing groups. The plea was that everyone should be a fisherman and every fisherman should fish. One thing they didn’t do though, they didn’t fish. They met regularly; they organized local, state, and national associations to help the local fishing groups to send out fishermen to places where there were many fish. They continued to meet with great fervor and spoke about their vision and courage to speak about fishing, to promote fishing in the far regions of the world where many other varieties of fish swam. They enjoyed times to share their favorite casting techniques and all the new fishing equipment that was on the market.
Some fishermen got together and decided to build training centers where the primary purpose would be to gather men and teach them how to fish. They offered courses on the needs of the fish, the nature of the fish, where to find the fish, the psychological reactions of fish and how to approach and even feed the fish. Those who taught had doctorates in fishology. But the teachers didn’t fish, they only taught fishing. After tedious training, many who attended these training centers graduated and were given licenses to fish. They were sent out to do full time fishing; others went out to continue the research on fish and traveled far and wide to track the history of the fish. They lauded the faithful fishermen of years gone by for keeping fishing going.
After a stirring meeting one night on the necessity of fishing, one young man left the meeting and went fishing. The next day he reported catching two outstanding fish. He was honored for his excellent catch and was scheduled to visit all the big meetings to tell how he did it. So he quit his fishing so he would have time to tell other fishermen about his experience. Because of all this experience, he was placed on the Fisherman’s General Board of Directors. He was named in the Who’s Who Among American Fishermen.
Now some of the fishermen sacrificed and put up with all kinds of difficulties. Some lived near the water and bore the smell of dead fish every day. They received the ridicule of others who made fun of their solitary way of life. In fact, many of those who ridiculed them called themselves fishermen and wondered about those who felt it was of little use to attend the weekly meeting to talk about fishing. After all, were they not following the Master who said, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men?" yet, they never fished. Imagine how hurt they were when one day it was suggested that those who didn’t go fishing or never caught fish were not really fishermen, but isn’t that true? Is a person really a fisherman if he never goes fishing?(1)
Today I am going to preach to you a message that has been on my heart for some time now. Though I have never delivered this sermon to you before, it is a message that I have shared many times in other words and from various texts, and it is this, that God is calling on every one of you as members of this great church to become personally involved with Him in reaching the lost souls of the people all around us. It is the call to be fishers of men. It is the call of EACH ONE REACH ONE. It is the theme of EVERY MEMBER A MISSIONARY. It is a theme that must be repeated, it is a subject that cannot be ignored. It is a calling that will not go away because every second of every hour of every day people are dying without Christ in this world and they are going to hell! I don’t think words can express how grieved God must be over all our talk about winning people, when we really never try that much to win people.
Our text this morning is 2 Corinthians 5:17-21.
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
Paul said that we are ambassadors for Christ, but what does that mean? An ambassador is simply an official messenger or representative of one nation or kingdom to some other people with a special errand. The definition is very close to the New Testament word for apostle. An apostle is one who is sent out bearing the message of another and who acts by His authority. That’s what a missionary is. A missionary is an apostle or an ambassador who has been sent out from one kingdom to reach the people of another with a specific message to deliver or a specific task to perform. God has always had His missionaries, and from Genesis 3 we find that He was the first of them as He went walking in the garden to find the two people who had sinned against Him. Since that day God has been sounding out the call of Luke 19:10, "the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost," and now He’s trying to do it through you!
People use all kinds of excuses for not wanting to share their faith. They have a list a mile long when it comes to representing God in this world, when it comes to fishing instead of talking about fishing. Some people claim...
· They don’t have any non-Christian friends
· They say they don’t have the gift of evangelism
· They claim they don’t have the time
· They’re worried about what their friends and family will think
· They don’t know how to bring up the topic
· They aren’t sure of what to say once the conversation is started
· They say they don’t know enough
· They claim their faith is a private matter
What God wants from you is for you to accept your calling as an ambassador, a missionary, His representatives in this world and that you quit making excuses and start doing what you’ve been called to do - tell others about the life-changing person of Jesus Christ. Are you ready to quit talking about fishing? Are you ready to quit talking about being a missionary or an ambassador so you can get busy for Christ? If you’ve answered no or I’m not sure, then I want you to confess that to God right now, commit yourself to listening to what I’m about to say, and in faith give yourself to God. If you’ll do that, or if you’ve said yes, then let’s continue by considering four characteristics every church member ought to have so they can be the very best missionary they can be for Christ. If you want to be the best missionary, or the best representative for Christ that you can be, then...
You Must Know The Son of God
You can’t very well represent a king that you’ve never met. You can’t very well represent a country that you don’t belong to - you’re loyalties are going to be all messed up. Imagine me driving out to D.C. to be an ambassador to President Bush for Vincente Fox, the president of Mexico. Now I know a lot about Mexico. I live close to it and I’ve even been there a few times. I’ve used their goods and enjoyed their food. I’ve talked Spanish before, worked right along side Mexican people before and have even worn a sombrero, but I’d make a rather sorry ambassador because I am an American and my loyalties lie in America!
Do you get the picture? Some people go to church, they talk the talk, they look like Christians, the act like Christians, they hang out with Christians and may even convince a few people they are Christians, but they’ll never make a good representative for Christ because they don’t belong to Him!
Paul said, "...if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." It’s just as plain as that. There are only two choices. You’re either in Christ or you’re not! You either know Him as your Savior or you don’t! Without Christ is where we are when we enter this world, and even though we hear the gospel, and even though we have Bibles in our homes and use a form of prayer, until we are born again we are without God, without Christ, and are strangers to God! A person can come stand in our fellowship hall every time we have an eating and starve and die - if he wants to be filled and live then he has to put out his hand and take hold of that which is offered to him. In the same way, you can have Jesus Christ preached in your hearing every Sunday and starve spiritually and die and go to hell unless you put out your hand of faith and lay hold of the salvation that Christ offers.
You can get by in this world without a lot of things. It is inconvenient to be without money. It is miserable to be without health, it is lonely to be without a friend, it is wretched to be without a reputation, but to be without Christ is the worst lack in all the world! Your only hope is to be in Christ!
Christ is the only person you can be in. You can be married to somebody. You can follow somebody. You can be in the presence of somebody, but Jesus is the only One you can be in! What does it mean to be in Christ? Its like Noah and his family were in the Ark. The ark was a type of Christ. God had told Noah that He was going to judge the earth. He told Noah that there was safety in the ark. He told Noah that if He wanted to be saved he would have to get in the ark. Folk, when that flood came the only people saved were the ones inside the ark. They were safe in there because God shut the door and no one or no thing was going to open it. We are in Christ in the same sense. God has promised a day of judgment. He has assured us that the only way to be saved is to be in Christ, but just like it was in the days of Noah, a lot of people scoffed and said it’ll never happen, but it did! A lot of folk are saying today that Jesus isn’t coming back, that there’ll be no day of judgment, that God is a God of love and He wouldn’t send anybody to hell. That’s a fool’s talk!
By faith you need to believe Him to be capable of saving you - come and trust Him, risk your soul with Him and put your confidence in the only begotten Son of God! Give up on every other hope or shadow of hope you have. Don’t put your hope in yourself! Don’t go through life hoping that those Christians are wrong. Don’t count on hell not being there. You consider that ark of safety and you watch as the storm clouds of God’s wrath are billowing in the sky and you put your trust in Christ - get in the boat!(2)
What happens when you get in Christ through salvation? You become a new creation, a new creature. At that moment, when the Spirit of God takes up residence in you, "old things are passed away and all things become new. And all things are of God, who [did all the necessary work]." Now, let me point something out here. When Paul says that old things are passed away, that’s an immediate transaction, but what does it mean? If you were a girl chaser before salvation, chances are you still leaned that way after salvation. If you had a taste for beer before you were saved, chances are you still drive by the store and want to buy it. Oh, you may have learned to control it, but the desire was still there. You may have learned to surrender to Christ and allowed Him to give you self-control, but those old sinful desires still warred in your body. If that weren’t the case, then Paul was wasting his time writing the 6th and 7th chapters of Romans. "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?" he asked.
So what does he mean - old things are passed away and all things are become new? This is important, because so many people are spending their days in agony, doubting their salvation because the old things are still there and they have no assurance of their salvation. Listen, under sin, without Christ, you have no right to heaven. You are a sinner and you’ve been found guilty and condemned and you are an enemy of God. But in Christ, in salvation, a legal transaction takes place in the courtroom of heaven. Paul said in Romans 5:1, "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." To be justified means that you have been declared free from the penalty of sin and you’re set free from all that goes with it. Jesus said, "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."(3)
· When you were sentenced to die for your sin, Jesus was your sacrifice!
· When you deserved to bear God’s wrath for your sin, Jesus was your propitiation!
· When you were separated from God by your sin, Jesus was your reconciliation!
· When you were in bondage to sin, Jesus was your redemption!(4)
The old things, the condemnation, the wrath of God, the slavemaster in your life called sin have no hold on you! In Christ all things become new, and all those things are of God. You have a new home; a new king; a new nature! God didn’t clean up the old sinful nature! He didn’t wipe you off and give you a new start! He have you a new life, a new nature. Paul said in Ephesians 4:24, "...that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Only God is in the creating business! People can say all they want to that they can create. Ron can get out in his shop and build the most beautiful piece of furniture ever seen by human eyes. It can be a work of art, a masterpiece, but he didn’t create. All he did was take what God had already given him and reshape it with his tools until it was better. That’s not what God did with you! He created a new man! A man that was created in God’s likeness of righteousness and holiness!
Do you know the Son of God? Has God performed this great work in you? Have you been born again? Have you come to Christ in repentance and faith so that God might create in you a new man created in His likeness? It may be that you have not been sharing your faith because you’ve never really known the Son of God. You’ve just been going through the motions, doing what all good Christians do without really knowing Jesus at all. If you’re going to be the missionary God wants him or her to be, you must be born again!
You Must Know The Heart of God
Not only do you need to know the Son of God, but you also need to know the heart of God as well. Verse 18 states it for us, "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation." There it is. You’ve heard it said before that missions is the heartbeat of God. What is missions if it is not God working through His people reconciling a lost world to Himself? God’s heart is beating for you, and once you know Him, His heart beats for the world through you. He has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ in salvation, and He has given to us the ministry of reconciliation - that is, He has commanded His churches to go and win people and He has called you to get personally involved in being a fisher for men.
Yes, well, we know that intellectually don’t we? We all know God longs for lost people to be reconciled to Him. We’ve been hearing that all our lives. So what? Yeah, Yeah, Jesus loves me this I know. Blah, blah, blah! Who cares? You think that’s foolish? Well let me ask you then, do you care? Do you? How do you show it? By looking at lost people and talking about how pathetic they are? By pointing out how sorry they are or how they act like, well, like lost people? That’s my tendency. It’s easy to criticize, believe me, I know. It’s easy to point out how everyone is so bad. What’s not easy is to get with the program and share Christ with them. So long as we are distant from the heart of God we’ll not share our faith.
If you’re going to be a great ambassador for Christ, if you’re going to be the best missionary you can be for the Lord, then your heart must beat with His. This isn’t natural though. Your heart doesn’t naturally want to beat with God’s. It resists that level of spiritual intimacy because even as good as you are your sinful heart is black. You must maintain a high level of spiritual intimacy with Christ through personal and corporate worship, through much prayer and the study of His Word until you come to a place when you begin to see what He sees, to feel what He feels, to sorrow over what sorrows Him, to love like He loves.
Can you share your faith with a black person? Could you share your faith with a Muslim? Could you share your faith with a Mexican that you feel has come and taken your jobs? Let me answer that for you - not if you don’t know the heart of God. If your heart beats with the same passion for souls that Christ’s did, then sharing your faith won’t be about color or sex or race or money or whether you’re tired or hungry or hot or cold. Sharing your faith will only be as natural as you are willing to draw close to the heart of God. Let me tell you about the heart of God. The heart of God beat for...
· The first man and woman when they turned their back on Him and He went looking for them.
· The human race when He chose not to destroy it all in the flood and start over.
· Sodom and Gomorrah when Abraham pleaded with Him for just 10 righteous souls.
· A prostitute named Rahab when He saved her and her family in the destruction at Jericho.
· A city named Ninevah when He called a lone prophet named Jonah to go and preach repentance and faith to them.
· The woman at the well
· The woman caught in adultery
· A rich Pharisee named Nicodemus
· A murderer named Saul
· A dying thief hanging on a cross
In Luke 20 Jesus told a story that shows us the heart of God.
"A man planted a vineyard, leased it out to tenant farmers, and moved to another country to live for a long time. At harvest time, he sent on of his servants to collect his share of the crop. But the farmers attacked the servant, beat him up, and sent him back empty-handed. So the owner sent another servant, but the same thing happened; he was beaten up and treated shamefully, and he went away empty-handed. A third man was sent and the same thing happened. He, too, was wounded and chased away. ’What will I do?’ the owner asked himself. ’I know! I’ll send my cherished son."
That’s the heart of God! That same heart is still beating today for lost souls, but God is counting on you to be in tune with Him so that you bear the same burden for their salvation that He has. Until you bear that burden you’ll not be the kind of missionary God is looking for. The king you represent has sent us out bearing His message, but we lack His passion. Does your heart break over the spiritual condition of lost people? If you’re like me, it hasn’t been. Oh, we have good intentions. We want to, we meet and talk and plan and teach and train and memorize and all of that, but we fall short with intellect. You must know the heart of God - but how?
· You need to get in the Word
· You need to be growing in the Word
· You need to be spending time in prayer
· You need to be spending time with the publicans and the sinners
· Look for opportunities
· Think about what’ll happen to that person if you don’t tell them
Conclusion
God is calling on you to become personally involved with Him in reaching lost souls. God wants you to accept your calling as His ambassador, His missionary to this world and its time that you quit making excuses and start doing what you’ve been called to do. Are you ready to quit talking about fishing? Are you ready to quit talking about being a missionary or an ambassador so you can get busy for Christ? This isn’t about you. It’s about God reconciling a lost world through His Son Jesus Christ.
Have you been reconciled to Him in salvation? Today you can be. Do you know the heart of God? Does your heart beat for people the way God’s does? He knows whether it does or not. Confess your apathy to God today. Repent of that sin of an uncaring spirit, and accept what God has called you to be in Christ.
Works Cited
1. Adapted from The Parable of the Fishless Fishermen, by Weeks Dubose, as found in Westwood Baptist Church’s monthly newsletter, August, 1997
2. Adapted from Charles Spurgeon, The Believer a New Creature, Sermon #881, delivered July 18, 1869
3. John 8:36
4. Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. Great Britain: Inter-Varsity Press &, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994, pg. 580
