And I Will Make You Fishers of Men

Mark chapter 1 verses 16 through 18. Passing along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.

And immediately they left their nets and followed him. We're all aware of the fact that when Jesus gave his final instructions to his followers at the end of the Gospel of Matthew, he didn't tell them to go out and save souls. He didn't tell them to go out and bring men to decision and then move on to the next time.

He told them to go out and make disciples. Now we know that Jesus isn't looking for church members, isn't looking for admirers, he isn't looking for nice people, he's looking for disciples. But our problem here in this place and probably in other fellowships as well is that many of us have a rather morbid idea of what a disciple is.

Many of us think of a disciple as a kind of spiritual heavy who has a really pretty heavy atmosphere about him. Wilbur's a real disciple, which means usually that Wilbur has a look of total commitment on his face and he can quote scriptures and he never misses Bible studies. Now there are people and fellowships all over the city that are actually afraid of that word discipleship because it makes them think of hard things like discipline, self-denial, sacrifice, voluntary poverty, asceticism, work, persecution.

Now this is compounded by the fact that most of the people who think of themselves as true disciples make a big production out of it. You know they give the impression that it's they're paying a terrible price. Oh it's so hard.

But what is a disciple? A disciple is nothing other than a pupil, a learner. A disciple is a person who has placed himself voluntarily with all his heart under the authority of a certain teacher. You know and the important thing to the disciple is not that he's a disciple but that he is a wonderful teacher.

His mind is on his teacher not on himself. His desire is to soak up and get into himself everything the teacher wants to teach him. Now when the teacher happens to be the crucified and risen son of a living God and you're the disciple, the major consideration is not how hard it's going to be, how much you're going to have to give up.

The major consideration is that this teacher Jesus is transforming you into a man, a woman of God, into a new creation. He's making you into something brand new as you walk in his way and follow him. Now granted you know you have to decide before you start to walk with him whether you want him for a teacher badly enough to put Jesus and his claim on your life far above mother, father, wife, husband, brother, sister, children and your own life.

Do you want him badly enough for a teacher that you're willing to utterly and completely turn yourself over to him? See but once the answer to that is yes, once you settle that one, then the issue is not whether you have the aptitude for persecution or whether you have the willpower to cut out all your bad habits. That's not the issue. Those are his problems not yours.

Jesus will absolutely transform you into a man or woman of God as you walk with him and do what he says. For instance, when Jesus said to Peter and Andrew follow me and I will make you to become fishers of men, he didn't run right over and take him to his office and run a set of tests on them to see what their aptitude was. He didn't check their work record to find out what their habits were.

No, he says this is my problem. It's up to me to make you fishers of men and I know what I'm doing. I'll take care of that.

All I want you to do is walk with me and learn and halfway through the course Jesus didn't take Peter aside and say Simon I'm sorry but you just don't have the right temperament to be a disciple. You better go back to fishing. He didn't write a letter to Andrew and say look at Andrew you never told me when you started to follow me that you had all those problems.

You're too mixed up to be a disciple. You'll never make it. You better quit.

He took those characters and made them into exactly what he said he would. He made those men into fishers of men. Now if he can do that with those guys, he can do it with us.

I am going to make you into men and women of God. I am going to make you into latter-day 11th hour prophets. I'm going to cause the Word of God to flow from your lips like rivers of living water.

I'm going to manifest the kingdom of God through you as the blind receive their sight and the lame walk and the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear as you follow me. He's the teacher. We're the disciples.

We learn from him two ways as we walk with him. First of all we learn by trusting him. Now this is true always.

You know no teacher can teach a pupil if he doesn't have the pupils trust. You know in junior high school or grade school or high school or college this is always true. You don't trust your teacher, you don't learn very much.

This is especially true with Jesus. He can't do anything for you if you don't trust him. And this is why he says you have to hate father, mother, wife, husband, children, brothers, sisters, your own life.

See so that your trust is in no way divided. It is utterly and completely on him. You burn your bridges behind you.

You have no secret fire escapes. No secret way back to your own life just in case. Everything's centered on him.

Only when our trust is utterly on Jesus can he really begin to teach us. And so all through the scriptures we see this emphasis on believe, believe. I am the bread of heaven.

He who comes to me will not hunger. He who believes on me will not thirst. Believe.

If any man thirst let him come to me and drink. As the scripture has said, he who believes in me out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water. Jesus says to the blind man he just healed, do you believe in the Son of Man? He says who's he? You're looking at him.

Lord I believe. I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes on me though he were dead yet shall he live.

And he who lives and believes on me shall never die. Now Jesus can take care of any mistake we make. He can turn our blunders into victories.

But there is one thing he will not abide. He will not abide our unbelief. And that's where our problem is.

He says look, I've manifested myself to you. I've shown you the power of my blood to set you free from sin. I've given you peace with the Father.

Then how come you're going back into your old unbelief? How come you're walking right back into your old fears? How come you're on that treadmill of guilt again? Why aren't you trusting me? Why aren't you believing me? Never does he sympathize with your unbelief. Never. Jesus was extremely patient with his disciples.

He didn't call them a bunch of dummies. He didn't beat them all the time over the head with a club. But there was one place where he would absolutely give not even an inch.

He wouldn't give them an inch. When for instance the disciples panicked in the boat, he didn't say well I understand. You're just weak in faith.

It'll come after a while. He says where's your faith? Why did you doubt old men of little faith? The time they couldn't heal the epileptic. Again, we don't see Jesus coddling these men.

Oh faithless and perverse generation. How long am I gonna have to put up with you? Jesus does not see our unbelief as a weakness. Nor does he see it as something we can't help because we're so smart.

He sees it as pride. Stubbornness. Hardness of heart.

He says look. Look to me. You know when you start to really trust me then I can teach you.

And that's his word to us today. You know stop looking at yourself to see how committed you are. I'm not very committed today.

You know I've had two weeks of you know bad commitment. You know and then we're on each other others back. You know brother over here, sister over here.

They're not committed. Don't look at yourself. Don't be measuring your commitment and don't be looking at your brother.

Look at me. You'll never increase in your commitment by looking at yourself and you will never learn from me until you get your eyes off your brother and sister and look at me. Get your eyes on your teacher.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am meek and lowly of heart and you'll find rest for your soul. Now the second way we learn from Jesus is by doing. For instance, when the disciples said to Jesus, Lord teach us to pray.

He did not say okay fellas we're gonna have a 10 week seminar on prayer. You know every Wednesday night at 8 o'clock I'm gonna get you clued in on prayer. No.

He said start to pray. When you pray say our Father who art in heaven and once you get started keep at it. Don't give up.

Ask and it shall be given you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be open to you.

He didn't give him a bunch of theory. You don't learn prayer by getting into the theory. You don't learn prayer by reading books about it.

You learn to pray by praying. See and when you start to pray even though you feel like a dummy, you feel inadequate, you feel foolish, you feel stupid, you feel ignorant, nevertheless Jesus himself your teacher comes inside here and helps you through his spirit with groanings which cannot be uttered. We don't know how to pray as we ought to do the opposite.

When he sent out the 12 and again when he sent out the 70, you know he didn't give them all kinds of details as to the method. How are you going to do this? He didn't go into the background of the spiritual world and the unseen realm of the spirit. He simply told these men preach the kingdom, heal the sick, and if we had been there we would have rebelled and said what are you talking about Lord? We don't even understand the first thing about the kingdom of God.

We don't know how to heal. Lord first you have to give us a training program and Jesus would say this is your training program. The only way you're ever going to learn these things is to do them.

And so if we start that way then whenever our Lord in whom we trust tells us to go out and feed the multitudes we do this. We go out and feed the multitudes even if all we have are five loaves and two fish. And if he tells us to take the gospel out to all the uttermost parts of the earth as a testimony to all nations then we do this beginning right where we are.

See and if he tells you to open scriptures to the hungry brother or sister you know you don't sit around and suck your thumb and plead your inadequacy. You get your thumb out of your mouth and open your Bible and you start opening the scriptures to this person into your amazement. You will find things coming out of your mouth you never dreamed you knew.

Now I'm not saying that discipleship is an easy life. Surely the world that put our master on the cross isn't going to make it any easier for us. If you follow Jesus of course there's going to be persecution and there's going to be discipline and there's going to be self-denial and it's going to be danger that's true.

But discipleship is not this morbid legalism. So many people these days are making it out to be a disciple. Oh but I believe in discipleship.

I don't believe in the gifts. I believe in discipleship. You don't walk through that valley alone.

You've got a master. You've got a teacher. You've got a Savior.

You've got a friend right down in that mess with you and he's going to get you and he is going to make you into exactly what he said he would if you'll trust him and do what he says. Now his word to those in this assembly right now who already consider themselves to be disciples and I pray God there are many is get your eye off your discipleship and off your fears and off all those reservations you have about the other phony believers and get them on me says Jesus. And his word to those in this assembly who are still standing off in the distance because you're scared stiff of the word discipleship is it's the thief who comes to steal and to kill and to destroy.

I have come that you might have life. Have it more abundantly. Don't be afraid.

Come on. Follow me. I will make you fishers of men.

Let's read it again. Passing along by the Sea of Galilee he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea for they were fishermen and Jesus said to them follow me and I will make you become fishers of men and immediately they left their nets and followed him. May God help us to do the same right now.

Let's pray. We're just asking that right now father by the help of the Holy Spirit those who have been holding back because they want to be nice people and they want to be admirers of the Lord but they don't want to follow him will be delivered from their fear and will come and walk with him and leave their nets behind. We pray also oh God that those who have made a commitment and have got stuck in the slough of morbid legalism may be delivered from this and get their eyes off themselves and back on to the teacher.

Lord Jesus we thank you for your presence in this place and we look to you Lord today to renew us in your grace and in your power in your wisdom to confirm the word to our hearts and in our circumstances and to set us free from those chains and lift up those bars of iron and those gates of brass. Set us free Lord this day into a life of joyful, glad, mighty obedience. We ask it for your mercy's sake.

Amen.