READY TO FISH

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on December 6, 2020 under 2020 |

Bethany Bible Church Sunday Message; December 6, 2020 from various passages

Theme: We must keep ourselves ready to share the good news of the gospel with others.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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At the beginning of 2020, I began a study titled Seven Resolves for Personal Revival. I introduced seven ‘resolutions’ that would help us to grow in the kind of walk with the Lord Jesus that leads to personal revival—and that would also help us in our prayers for a larger spiritual awakening for our nation in these times. Those seven resolves were;

1. TO GROW IN MY RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST.

2. TO GROW IN MY REPENTANCE FROM SIN.

3. TO GROW IN MY RELIANCE UPON THE HOLY SPIRIT.

4. TO GROW IN THE DAILY READING OF THE BIBLE.

5. TO GROW IN MY REGULAR ATTENDANCE AT CHURCH.

6. TO GROW IN THE RESTORATION OF RELATIONSHIPS.

7. TO GROW IN MY READINESS TO SHARE OUR FAITH.

Over the past 11 months, we’ve examined the first six of those resolves. And now, this morning, I ask that we take up the seventh and final of those resolves—that we grow in our readiness to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus with others.

* * * * * * * * * *

For many of us, the idea of sharing our faith is something that makes us a bit nervous.

We all know that, as followers of Jesus, it’s something that we must do. In fact, it’s our Lord’s ‘great commission’ to us. We’re not to keep the good news of the gospel to ourselves; but we’re to share it with those around us. Jesus said that, as we go out into the world, we’re to make disciples of all nations—baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that Jesus commanded us to do. No genuine believer would argue with that.

Rather, I suspect that what makes us uneasy or hesitant about it all is that we’re just not sure how to go about it. We’re uncomfortable with the idea that we might pressure or offend someone. And what’s more, we’re not even sure whether or not we are personally qualified to do it. I suggest to you that our hesitancy and discomfort comes from a misunderstanding of the nature of the task itself.

So; to set our thinking in the right direction this morning—and maybe even to set our minds at ease about this whole matter of sharing our faith—I ask that you turn with me to some passages of Scripture that tell us some things that our Lord said about it. First, turn with me to the Gospel of Matthew—specifically to Chapter 4. There, we’re told;

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. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him (Matthew 4:18-20).

We’re also told—in the next few verses—that Jesus then went from there and saw the other fishermen-brothers, James and John, and called them also. And I suspect that He told them the same thing, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Now the thing to notice in this is that Jesus didn’t tell them, “Go out and fish for men.” They wouldn’t have known how to do that if He had. If they had run out in their own power and understanding and tried to ‘catch’ people the way they caught fish, it would have been disastrous. In fact, they wouldn’t have even been capable of doing it. But instead, Jesus gave them only one word of instruction: “Follow me.” And as they did that one thing faithfully, Jesus Himself would ‘make’ them into the fishers of men that He wanted them to be.

And that’s something that’s very important for you and me to understand—right at the very start—with respect to our duty to share the gospel of others. It’s not that we run out and try to make ourselves into great evangelists. We don’t make ourselves into anything at all. Rather, it’s that we faithfully—devotedly—obediently follow Jesus in a personal relationship of love; and as we do so, He will transform us and makes us into people that win others to Himself. You might say that if we will devote ourselves to those first six resolutions that we have talked about over the past several months, we will be doing our part to follow Jesus; and we can then trust Jesus to do His part in “making” us into fishers of men.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; let’s look at another passage. This one is found in Luke 5. We were told in that previous passage that Peter and Andrew left their nets to follow Jesus. But it must be that they didn’t leave them entirely. It must be that Peter, anyway, occasionally came back to the nets; because in Luke 5, we’re told that he was back to fishing again. (Isn’t that the way we are, by the way? We start to follow Jesus, but we really haven’t begun to follow Him as exclusively and as devotedly as we should just yet. I’m glad that He’s patient with us and helps us to grow in our devotion; aren’t you?)

In his Gospel, Luke referred to Peter by his birth-name ‘Simon’. Luke tells us about how the Lord Jesus had been teaching people along the Sea of Galilee; and in Chapter 5, he wrote;

So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat (Luke 5:1-3).

It must have been that Peter and some of his fellow fishermen were doing their ‘day’s end’ work of caring for their nets in the boat, and were listening as Jesus taught. And as he listened, Peter must have been thinking hard about what he was hearing—fascinated by this Master Teacher that he had begun to follow. Luke goes on to tell us,

When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (v. 4).

And I imagine that, at that moment, Peter thought, “Well; this Master Teacher named Jesus surely knows a great deal about a lot of things; but He clearly doesn’t know much about fishing.” And yet, though Peter may have had his doubts, he obeyed. We’re told;

But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon (vv. 5-10a).

Now; it didn’t make sense to Peter—experienced and professional fisherman that he was—to cast out his nets right then. And just think of what would have happened if he had refused to do as the Lord had told him to do. He wouldn’t have taken in a miraculously enormous catch. But what the Lord showed Peter is that He—this Lord and Master who said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men”—also knows how to draw the fish along, and knows the best time and place to throw out the net. If He can do this with fish, He also knows how to do this with people. A fisherman obviously can’t sit on the shore and wait for the fish to jump out of the water to him. He has to row his boat out to where they are. And in the same way, we need to go out to the places where the people are who need to hear the message of Jesus’ love. That’s what the whole idea of ‘missions’ is about. But if we follow Jesus as He tells us, we can trust Him not only to make us into fishers of men, but also to providentially steer people our way who need to hear about Him from us.

Now; Peter suddenly became aware of who Jesus was. Only God in human flesh could command fish like that. And more; Peter also became aware of what a sinner he himself was in the presence of such a holy one as Jesus. With Peter broken, as it were, from his sense of self-sufficiency, and now brought to a place of humble worship at the feet of Jesus, we read;

And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him (vv. 10b-11).

And here, we find yet another important lesson for us to learn. We see that when Jesus makes someone a ‘fisher of men’, in order for them to be useful to Him, He must first bring them to a point of complete brokenness from self, and cause them to bow down in humble recognition of who He is. He makes fishers of men out of those who know that they are unworthy to be in their Master’s service; and who not only follow Him, but also are humbled before Him and in love with Him for the grace He shows to them, and who learn to trust His perfect timing and wisdom.

You could say that, to be ‘fishers of men’ for Jesus, we ourselves must first be fully ‘caught’ by Him.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; turn with me to another passage. You’ll find this one in the first chapter of the Book of Acts. By this point, Peter and the others had been following Jesus for a while. They heard His teaching and saw His miracles; and they also knew that He was crucified and had been raised from the dead. And now, the resurrected Lord Jesus was about to depart from them, return to the Father, and send the Holy Spirit to minister to them in His place. Acts 1:6-8 tell us;

Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:6-8).

And here, we learn still another important thing about how our Lord calls us to the work of sharing the gospel with others. We’ve seen that, firstly, He is the one who, as we faithfully follow Him, makes us ‘fishers of men’. Secondly, we can trust Him to lead us to the places of life where He has prepared people to hear us. Thirdly, He is the one who makes us qualified to be fishers of men by breaking us free from self and bringing us into humble and dependent worship of Him. And now, fourthly—even after all this—He still doesn’t leave it to us to do the work on our own, but sends the Holy Spirit to empower us to be His witnesses in this world.

As fishers of men, Jesus makes us partners with the Holy Spirit in bearing witness of Himself in this world. As Jesus told His apostles in John 15:26-27;

“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. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning” (John 15:26-27).

* * * * * * * * * *

And now, I’d like to share one more passage with you. You’ll find it in 1 Peter 3:15. After many years of being made into a fisher of men, after many years of serving the Lord and being His witness in this world, the apostle Peter wrote to his brothers and sisters and said,

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear (1 Peter 3:15).

When we follow Jesus faithfully, and are broken to self and submitted to Him, and are walking in dependency upon the enabling power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus becomes increasingly ‘sanctified’ in us. We set Him apart as Lord over our lives; and He shines through us and makes Himself manifest in us. And then, it simply becomes a matter of our being ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us. People that we go out to in this world will see the difference in our lives that the Lord Jesus makes—they will see the purity of Jesus in our lives and words and attitudes, and they will see the calm peace and confidence He gives us in the midst of trials—and they’ll want to know about it. And then, in a meek and reverent spirit, we simply need to be ready to open our mouths and share the reason for that difference—pointing the way directly to Jesus.

Now; I hope you can see from all this that being an effective witness for the Lord Jesus in this world isn’t a matter of being an expert at it. We don’t have to be able to argue philosophy with people, or find clever ways to convince them or persuade them. We don’t have to have a graduate level degree in evangelism or in Christian apologetic. It’s not something that we really have to be apprehensive about doing. It’s simply a matter of loving and following Jesus faithfully, and of loving other people, and being ready telling them about what He has done for us in the power of the Holy Spirit.

When I placed my faith in Jesus Christ back in 1973, do you know what it was that I did on the very next day? I called my best friend and told him what I had done. I didn’t belong to a church, and I hadn’t taken any evangelistic training classes, and I wasn’t even around other Christians very much; so I didn’t know that this was something that I was ‘supposed’ to do. I simply did it—almost automatically. At the time, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to do. I was happy that Jesus had saved me and had washed my sins away, and I cared about my friend, and so I told him what happened.

In these dark and difficult times, the people all around us desperately need to hear the good news of Jesus. But they especially need for us to get back to the simplicity of just letting Jesus make us into fishers of men—trusting Him to place us before people that want to know the reason for the hope that is in us—and sharing the good news, in the power of the Holy Spirit, and out of the overflow of joy and gratitude for what Jesus has done for us.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; in that last passage that we looked at, the apostle Peter said that we are to ‘sanctify’ the Lord Jesus in our hearts. And that basically has been what we’ve been talking about so far. But Peter also said that we need to be ‘ready’ to give an explanation of the hope that is in us. There is a certain amount of ‘preparedness’ that’s involved. And that’s what I’d like to now go on to talk about.

It might be that we could keep gospel tracts or booklets with us, and hand them out to people or to leave them for others to read. There are many good ones; and there’s a great deal of value in doing that. That certainly could—and probably should—be a part of what we do to be ‘ready’. You can hardly do better, for example, than by giving people a copy of the Gospel of John to take away and read. But the most effective way to share the gospel with someone else is not just by handing them a booklet in an impersonal way, but by conversing with them in a warm, personal, relational, loving, conversational, one-on-one kind of way.

And for that reason, one of the greatest things we can do to be ‘ready’ is to have a basic pattern in mind that we can follow in sharing the good news with others. It shouldn’t be something that we ‘memorize’ and simply ‘recite word-for-word’ to people. Rather, it should be a basic structure of thought that helps us to adapt our conversation with someone, and that helps us to lead them to the crucial points they need to know in order to enter into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. It needs to be something that we can talk about over a nice, long dinner; or something that we can share with someone when we only have a few minutes with them. It needs to be something that we can adapt to their personal situation and to their personal sense of need, and that we can tailor in any way that best suits their personality.

And so, I’d like to pass on a pattern that you can follow. There are four basic ‘affirmations’—four key ‘essentials’—that someone needs to know in order to hear and believe the gospel in a saving way. (And by the way, I have found that—in talking with people about these four essentials—I have hardly ever heard anyone disagree with them.)

The first is this:

1. WE WERE MADE BY GOD TO HAVE A SATISFYING RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM.

Almost everyone would find that this makes perfectly good sense. If God has made us, and if God Himself is relational, and if we ourselves are relational, then He obviously made us to have a relationship with Himself. We’re told in the Bible that when God made Adam, He made him in a way that was different from everything else He made. He formed Adam from the dust of the earth, and breathed His own breath into him. As soon as He made Adam and Eve, God began talking with them right away. We are made to have a satisfying relationship with God.

I often tell people about something that a great theologian named Augustine once said in prayer; “Thou hast made us for Thyself, O God, and the heart of man is restless until it finds rest in Thee.” We have a testimony deep within us; a yearning that tells us that we are meant by God to have fellowship with Him. We are all aware of a yearning that exists in our being that can only be satisfied by God Himself. It’s like what the apostle Paul said in Acts 17:28;

“… in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

But as soon as I share that with someone—almost right away—they think, “Well; if God made me for that relationship, then why am I not experiencing it? Why does God feel distant from me? Why am I trying to fill that ‘God-shaped hole’ with other things?” And that’s when we need to share with them the next essential point; and that is that …

2. SIN HAS BROKEN THAT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND STANDS IN THE WAY.

‘Sin’ is a word that, in its original meaning, speaks of ‘missing the mark’. It means that we have fallen short of what God wants us to do. Our first parents—Adam and Eve—missed the mark. They ate of the tree that God had forbidden to them; and that act of disobedience immediately broke their relationship with God. They fell in sin; and inasmuch as they were our first parents, they passed their fallenness on to the rest of us. Now, we’re all born into this with a broken relationship with God.

God is holy. He cannot have fellowship with sin. It tells us in Isaiah 59:1-2;

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened,
That it cannot save;
Nor His ear heavy,
That it cannot hear.
But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
And your sins have hidden His face from you,
So that He will not hear (Isaiah 59:1-2).

It’s our sins—the sin that we inherited from our first parents, and the sins that we have committed on our own—that stand in the way of a relationship with God. And what’s more, the penalty for sin before a holy God is death. As it says in Romans 6:23,

… the wages of sin is death … (Romans 6:23a).

But do you know what else it says in that verse?

… but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (v. 23b).

And that’s when we need to share with people the third essential point; and that is that …

3. GOD IN LOVE SENT HIS SON JESUS TO PAY THE DEBT FOR SIN ON THE CROSS.

The death penalty for sin must be paid. It must be paid by someone who had no sin of their own. And God—in love—did something about this. He sent His Son into this world—to be born into the human family as one of us and to live a sinless life on our behalf—in order to pay the death penalty for sin in our place on the cross. It says in Romans 5:8;

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

It says in Isaiah 53:6;

All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6).

That’s how God has taken away the barrier that stands between us and Himself. He has paid the debt for our sin through His own Son Jesus. As it says in 2 Corinthians 5:21;

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).

That’s what God has done. But there’s something that we must do about what He has done. This is when we need to share the fourth essential point; and that is that …

4. WE MUST PERSONALLY PLACE OUR FAITH IN WHAT JESUS HAS DONE FOR US.

Salvation is a gift; and like all gifts, it only becomes ours when we receive it willingly. I love to share with people what it says in John 3:16-17. Almost everyone knows at least a portion of it. It says;

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:16-17).

And then, if they have followed along with me on all those four essential, easy-to-understand points, and if they are willing to do so, I invite them to pray with me right then and there and accept what Jesus has done for them. If they are not willing, at least they will have heard what it is that they need to do. I will have ‘fished’ in the power of the Holy Spirit. But just as all good fishermen will tell you, fishing doesn’t always mean catching. Perhaps I will have only been used by God to prepare the way for someone else to do the catching in the power of the same Holy Spirit.

* * * * * * * * * *

So then, dear brothers and sisters; let’s make it our resolve to be always ‘ready’ to share our faith with others. Let’s learn to have a pattern like this ready for use. Let’s show them what the Scriptures have to say about it all; and let’s become practiced in sharing it. Let’s grow to be ready to fish.

And most of all, let’s yield ourselves to the Lord Jesus; so that we let Him make us into the ‘fishers of men’ He wants us to be.

EA