Theme: The Call to Follow and Fish
Topic: Leaving All to Follow Christ
Title: The Caller; the Fisher and the
Fish
Texts: Matthew 4:18-22 and Mark 1:14-20
Introduction:
a.
What
can you see in our world today?
b.
As
a Christian, what are you doing about this?
c.
Are
you the fisher of the fish?
d.
In
this video you are about to see, we Christians are called by God to fish for
Him, because there are many fishes in the sea and these fishes are falling
straight to the snare of the enemy.
INSIGHT:
The
world is facing spiritual decline, but the biggest problem is, the world
doesn’t know about this.
I.
Purpose of Jesus’ Call – The
Fishes
a. Matthew
4:16 – the people sat in darkness…who sat in the region and shadow of death. There are many fishes in the
sea, and they could be your love-ones, friends, relatives, family, community,
your nation and the world.
b. These people are lured and
trapped by satan in his snares and they know nothing about it. Satan uses his
bait: fame, wealth and splendor in exchange for their souls.
c. They are captive and blinded,
they are controlled by the god of this world, they are groaning inside waiting
for deliverance – these fishes could be someone close to you, and these people
need Jesus. They need someone who would tell them about Him.
d. Do you know the difference
between Jesus as the Fisher and satan? When a person gets caught in Jesus arms,
He offers them life to the full and afterwards they became parts of Jesus’
body. While satan, once you get caught in his traps, you’ll fall into a frying
pan!
e. Is it okay with you to see
your love-ones die without knowing Jesus? If not be a member of Jesus’
Fishermen: He never hanged Wanted Posters – His demand for manpower is urgent
that’s why He made the call personal. There are a lot of people dying without
knowing Jesus, but the sad reality is the Church doesn’t care about this.
II.
The Call to Believe – On the account of Jesus’ preaching before He
gathered the first disciples, He was declaring four things as stated in Mark 1:15:
a. “The time is fulfilled…” –
the time when after He was baptized by John, tempted by satan in the wilderness
and ministered by angels – this was the commencement of His ministry. This is
the time that He needs to fulfill His purpose. All of His preparations are over
and it’s time to put them to action. His mission and ministry starts here in
order to accomplish what He was assigned and committed to do.
b. “…the Kingdom of God is at
hand…” – this Kingdom which was hidden from men was now proclaimed by Jesus
Himself, His willingness that all become partakers of this Kingdom. Jesus’
desire to establish God’s kingdom not in physical but in the hearts of men.
c. When
Jesus declared that the Kingdom of God is at hand, He was declaring that
redemption and salvation has come: the need of the world to hear the good news.
d. The purpose of Jesus’ call is
to bring light to this darkened world because the people sit in darkness
[Matthew 4:16], because the world is sick, dying and passing away. [1st
Cor. 17:31 says, “those who use the
things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present
form is passing away.”]
e. “Repent…” – the first step of becoming part of
this Kingdom is to turn away from sin which is the basic sign of humility
therefore acknowledging that our offense is committed against God and that we
badly need His mercy.
f.
“…and
believe in the gospel.” – Believe in Jesus which is the core and the gospel
that man needs to know.
g. It is impossible for us to be
partakers of God’s kingdom without doing the basic and necessary steps: repent
and believe.
III.
The Call to Follow – is an
idiom of discipleship. Upon declaring Jesus’ first evangelistic crusade, He
calls for people who will become His arms, voice, hands, feet to the world.
a. Jesus’ earthly mission has a
timetable of 3 years. During this span of time He needs to accomplish the
purpose of His coming – part of that is to have people on His team which will
continue what He has started. He is calling fishers who are not qualified in
earthly standard but will be perfected along the way.
b. Jesus’ call is to enhance the
gift that He has given us since we are formed in our mother’s womb. For He has
knitted us so He knows our frame – He knows our capacity to succeed and become noble.
Before anyone can use us for vain glory, Jesus desires to make us an instrument
of praise and glory for Him.
c. Jesus Call is a total
surrender – when Peter, Andrew, James and John responded to Jesus, they left everything
behind them, their business, family and their comfort zone. Jesus’ call
requires faith to depend on Him for everyday sustenance and provision, it is
putting God’s kingdom first and foremost on our list, it is counting everything
loss that we may gain Christ [“What
is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider
them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” Philippians 3:8]
IV.
The
Caller – Jesus Christ – against the call of this world.
a. Passed the
test – [Matthew 4:1-11] satan offered fame and riches and splendor to Him but
Jesus was focused on one thing: You! He was never swayed to and fro, what He
needs to finish must be done accordingly for He knows what is at stake if by
chance He slipped away from His goal.
b. Beloved
Son of God – [Mark 1:11] the Father honors and exalts the Son, Jesus. Because
Jesus us the perfect image of the Father. He is authorized to represent the
father and all authority and power is upon Him in order to accomplish God’s
will. If the father delights in Him, then we can be assured that He delights
whomever Jesus approves. Jesus words and calling is final for He speaks on
behalf of the Father. He is not mistaken in His decision.
c. The
Spirit descended upon Him like a dove – [Mark 1:10] Jesus as 100% man was
enveloped by the Holy Spirit for Him to accomplish His mission. Christ’s
mission is not an easy one. The Great One who [“Who,
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7But
made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was
made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion
as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross.” Philippians 2:6-8] Being holy yet dying a sinner’s death was much
unbearable for Him yet He bore it all for the sake of His love to humanity.
d. This is the kind
of caller who is sounding the call.
As stated in my previous preaching, satan is also calling and sometimes we have
responded to his call more than we have responded to Jesus’. Let’s make an
analysis of who is the best:
JESUS SATAN
Passed the test Failed
the test
Beloved Son of
God as Lucifer he
was created by God
Powerful
Holy Spirit
Baptizer
He died because
of His love for you
e. Jesus is incomparable, but
sometimes it’s helpful to analyze and evaluate the truth, for more and more
people are being deceived that satan is powerful because he can do some stuff.
Jesus is more than that.
f.
Indeed
Jesus’ call may sound radical, leaving your family, riches and everything just
to follow Him – but the price is worth it don’t you think. Anyway, Jesus’ call
is not to be taken as a burden, because He never imposed Himself on someone but
rather He allows us to choose whom we will follow. There are famous people in
our world today who are willing to sacrifice their own souls for money, fame
and splendor but they don’t know the scary trade this will bring upon them. Our
response to Jesus’ call allows us to choose between death and life.
g. Jesus is worthy of our trust,
He deserves our attention for He surpasses all knowledge and wisdom. He’s a
miracle worker, lover of soul, all knowing and all-powerful. So there’s no
reason not to trust Him and not to respond. He can take care of you. Trust Him
when He asked you to leave everything behind for He will take care of them for
you.
V.
The
Fishers – Simon and Andrew - Notice that He didn’t call the trained Pharisees
or scribes He called artisans and
encouraged them that the skills they already had were serviceable in the
kingdom.
a. If
God called shepherds like Moses and David to shepherd his people Israel, Jesus
could call fishermen to be gatherers of people. Some great men and women of God
in the Bible never even became public expositors of Scripture; social workers,
teachers and many others have skills and backgrounds on which we must draw to
be an effective church today. It is to our loss that congregations disregard
the insights of the various professions among us. [Taken from Bible Gateway
Commentary] so what you are today is enough for God to utilize you, all you
need is an obedient and trusting heart to the One who calls you.
b. These fishers were not
perfected overnight – they have their weaknesses: impulsive, arrogant,
boastful, self –righteous and hypocrites. Despite of their weaknesses Jesus
loves them. As much as He knew their tendency to succeed, He knew all along
their tendency to fail, to doubt, to commit mistakes and be proud, yet in all
these, Jesus saw in them the potential to grow, to change and the potential to
do great things for the kingdom.
c. Jesus is not limited by our
weaknesses and limitations, unless we totally shut Him off, just like Judas.
Our limitations and weaknesses are conditions that are present in every human
being – this is God’s springboard of opportunity to show Himself powerful. But
the act of limiting God is an offense to Him, it is rejecting and doubting what
God can do and will do through you. How do we limit God, it is by acting,
saying and living in faithlessness – the thought of I can’t do it, I’m not
qualified, and so on.
d. The fishers demonstrated
three things:
i.
Immediately
left their nets and follow Him v.18 Mark
They
left their business source of income and livelihood
ii.
They
left their father Zebedee
They
left their family and love-ones
iii.
They
act is haste.
e. If we are going to follow
Christ, it’s important to do it immediately, this act simply means putting
Christ above all else and depending on Him for resources, for His resources are
readily available. That’s why Jesus wants us to be baptized with the Holy
Spirit so we can experience the same power that can change the course of
history!
f.
They
may have records of failures and downfall, Jesus allowed this to happen to
build their character: once they allowed Jesus to take the full control of
their lives – they were able to turn the world upside down.
VI.
Conclusion:
a. Jesus’ call is still ringing…
let’s respond to His call and make a change on our world today, let us not
allow the instruments of the enemy steal the center stage. It is high time that
we sound the alarm of salvation!
b. Sound the alarm and make it
so loud until it reaches the farthest side of the world. Before it’s too late!