Call to Follow and Fish

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. [1^st 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!