Fish Stories
By Pastor Jim May
Mark 1:16-20, "Now as he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him. And when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him."
God has called each of us to be fishers of men. Just as he walked along the sea and saw these disciples going about their daily business, he walked by you and I, one by one, and called our name and made us that same promise.
Jesus calls us to leave the past behind and step into a life of service unto the Lord and King. Jesus is always looking for a few good disciples. How many of us will answer the call? How many will cast aside our own hopes, dreams, ambitions and desires to take up the challenge to become a fisher of men?
Too many people hear the call, step forward to accept the call, and then slowly shrink back into their old ways and start charting their own course once again.
But Jesus said, in Luke 9:62, "…No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." That means that we can’t turn loose of the call of God and we can never be same as we were before we met Christ, ever again.
Before you knew the Lord as your Savior and before you ever heard the gospel, you could live in sin, run with the wild crowd, and live like the devil and it never bothered you because you just thought that’s the way that everyone lived. But once you have found Jesus and been born again, you can never forget the ways of the Lord. You may not want to walk in that way, but you can never really go back and enjoy the life of sin either because now you know that there is a better life, and a judgment day coming. Every day that you are walking with the Lord, and every day that you may turn away from God, there will always be that thought of an eternal judgment in the back of your mind. You can’t shake it! You can’t dodge it! You can’t forget it! And you will never be rid of it! God won’t allow you to forget what he has done for you. You won’t have as much pleasure in your sin anymore because now you know that there is a heavy price to pay for that moment of pleasure.
Some people fall back into old habits of drugs, alcohol, gambling and running the bar circuits, but let me tell you that they are never able to take a pill, or snort a line of coke, or shoot it up, drink it up or smoke it up, without remembering that judgment will surely come. Some fall back into the party life, but every time the party heats up, they remember that the party won’t last forever and that there is a righteous judge who will call them to question one day.
Jesus calls us to be fishers of men. He calls us to cast our net into the world of the lost and then allow the Holy Spirit to draw the net in once again. We never know who will hear. We never know what kind of person the net will snare. We never know when the catch will come. Our job is just to cast out the net and bait the hook and let God do the rest.
Have you ever been fishing and managed to catch a few fish that were not “keepers”? I believe that even when you fishing for the souls of men, that same kind of scenario happens again and again. How many times have I seen a man or woman answer the call, take the bait, if you will, and tug on the line, only to shake off the hook and run back to their comfort zone in the world of sin, just when they are almost in the boat?
Perhaps your story as a fisher of men is similar to the stories that we hear from the fishermen who always like to brag about the one that got away.
It never fails that when a fisherman comes home empty-handed, he will always have a story to tell of one that was “almost caught”.
That word “almost” reminds me of the story of King Agrippa and Paul in Acts 26:28, "Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." Paul preached the gospel to King Agrippa and he was a very persuasive preacher. There is no doubt that the message of the gospel was getting through to Agrippa. I’m sure that he was sitting there, squirming in his seat under the “white hot” convicting power of the Holy Ghost. God was ready to set the hook in Agrippa’s heart, but just at the last moment, Agrippa turned from the bait, ran back into his comfort zone and was lost forever. We have no record where he ever had another chance to respond to the gospel and be saved. He was almost persuaded but that wasn’t good enough. What a “fish story” that was for Paul. Agrippa was a “big fish” in a sea of little people. He was a king among men. What a catch he could have been for Paul and the Kingdom of God, but he got away and Paul walked away empty handed from that fishing trip!
Almost – that’s a dangerous word when it comes to talking about being a fisher of men. I almost talked her into accepting Christ! I almost had him convinced to come to church today, but then he got away! Almost is going to be such a condemning word on Judgment Day.
Well God, I was almost saved! God, I was very near being really committed to the House of God! God I was almost in the boat, just one more minute longer – if you would have delayed your return only a few more seconds – I would have been in the ark of safety.
I wonder how many almost made it to the ark before the flood came in Noah’s day? I wonder how many stood on the outside, beating on the door and calling out for Noah to let them in? They were so close to salvation, so close to being saved, but once God shut the door it was just a moment too late! That’s they way it will be in the Second Coming of Jesus as well. I’m sorry friend – close only counts in hand grenades and horseshoes. There’s no reward for being almost saved. The only words those who almost made it will hear are, “depart from me, I never knew you.” What a terrible price to pay for almost becoming a Christian!
Matthew 13:47-50, "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
One thing that strikes me is that you can often determine what kind of fish you will catch by choosing the right bait to throw to them.
You won’t catch many bass using worms on a hook. Bass like something a little livelier than that. And you won’t catch many small brim if you use nothing but a crank bait to catch them. You have to use the right bait for the right fish.
Jesus told us that he would give us the right bait in Luke 21:12-15 when he told the disciples, "But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony. Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist."
Sometimes you have a specific “fish” in mind when you go out fishing for men. Maybe its old Uncle Bob, whose been nibbling at your hook for a long time but you can never set the hook before he jumps off. Maybe its Aunt Sallie who swims around the bait, sniffing at it, bumping it with curiosity, but never wants to “swallow the hook, line and sinker”. You’ve been “after those old lunker fish” for a long time now and you just keep hoping that one day you will land the “big one” and that they will become a “trophy on your wall” for the Lord. I hope and pray that you find the right bait, and use the right hook, and that one day you can walk into the church and brag about the one that didn’t get away this time.
But there are times also when you don’t really bait a hook; you just throw out the net and see what’s there. That’s the way that most of my preaching is – I’m just constantly casting out the net and reeling it in to see what kind of “fish” I might have caught. Sometimes I feel like my net only frightens fish to run into the nets of other fishermen, but that’s okay too, as long as somebody catches them. My job, like yours, is to just cast the net and let God do the rest.
Every once in while, when the net is cast and drawn in again, there’s a new fish inside. Someone will respond to the call of the gospel. Someone will step forward for prayer at the altar of God. Some dear “fish” will get hooked by the power of the Holy Ghost and God draws them in.
But just because they come in to the boat doesn’t mean that they are going to stay! How many have we seen come into the door of the church, only to visit, or maybe to stay for a little while, and then they manage to jump right back out of the boat again? I wish I could say that every “fish” that we caught would be a keeper for Victory Temple, but inevitably, some are going to get away, and some won’t give up their past life long enough to prove God’s faithfulness, and some just love their sin a little too much. So they just spit out the hook and away they go – almost saved, but still lost!
I know that every one of us, who have cast out the bait, and witnessed about Jesus has our own “fish stories” to tell. We all can talk about the ones that got away.
Tonight I want to encourage you to get a better “fish story”. Get out there and catch a few “fish”, a few lost souls, and then come back and testify of God’s goodness and tell us about the “fish” that didn’t get away.
Every fisherman knows that if you have the right bait in the right water and weather conditions, and its presented to the fish in right manner, you stand a good chance of landing a fish. But every fishing trip doesn’t mean that you will come home with a boatload to share. Sometimes you come back with nothing but sunburn for your troubles. Yet, a real fisherman just keeps going back again and again because he loves the water and challenge of fishing.
That’s the way that we must be as “fishers of men” as well. We need to learn to love the challenge of casting the net. We need to love the fish enough that we will seek them even when we have tried time and again and failed. God doesn’t call us to be “fishers of men” without also placing some “fish” in our waters for us to catch.
God wants every “fish” to be caught. 2 Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
God called you by name and you have answered the call. He has given you the job of being a “fisher of men”.
Jesus said in Mark 16:15, "… Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."
That means that there are a lot of “lost fish” everywhere. They are all around you in the sea of people every day and everywhere you go. Get out there and cast forth your nets, bait your hooks and throw out the line. God will bring in the fish.
I’m waiting, and God is waiting, and we are all waiting - to hear some really good “fish stories” of the ones that didn’t get away!
