ctober 11, 2009
Sermon # 806
Fish and Fishermen
Introduction:
Jesus related his parables to the daily life around him. While Nazareth was not on the sea, Jesus spent a lot of time in Galilee, located on the inland sea. It was from Galilee that he called his fishermen disciples. So they well understood this story.
Matthew 13:47 - 51 (NKJV) 47“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, 48which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. 49So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, 50and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” 51Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”
Jesus and the fishermen
Matthew 4:12 - 22 (NKJV) 12Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. 13And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: 16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.”
17From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 18And 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. 19Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20They immediately left their nets and followed Him. 21Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, 22and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
Jesus will use what you already know.
Peter, Andrew, James and John were all fishermen – if they knew how to catch fish, they would know how to catch men – Evangelists.
Paul was a Rabbi and teacher
Acts 22:1 - 3 (NKJV) 1“Brethren and fathers, hear my defense before you now.” 2And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent. Then he said: 3“I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today.
Paul used his rabbinical training
Acts 19:8 - 10 (NKJV) 8And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. 9But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. 10And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
Whatever you have a background in, God will use it.
Matthew 17:24 - 27 (NKJV) 24When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?” 25He said, “Yes.” And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?” 26Peter said to Him, “From strangers.” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. 27Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.”
ILL: Who does Jesus send to catch the fish with the tax money? - Peter, the fisherman.
Jesus will use what you already have
Matthew 8:23 - 27 (NKJV) 23Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” 26But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
Matthew 9:1 - 8 (NKJV) 1So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. 2Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” 3And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!” 4But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? 6But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 7And he arose and departed to his house. 8Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.
Matthew 13:1 - 2 (NKJV) 1On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. 2And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
What do you have that Jesus can use?
Exodus 4:1 - 5 (NKJV) 1Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’” 2So the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.” 3And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), 5“that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
Why do you say, “When I have that or I know this, I will serve Jesus? Then, I will win souls to His kingdom, then I will add to His Church?” I did not start telling people about Jesus and salvation after I graduated from college or seminary, was licensed, or ordained. NO! I began the day after I was saved.
When can you count a fish as being caught?
ILL: My Son, Dennis and I were fishing off Cape Lookout several weeks ago. “Fish on Dad!” he yelled and pointed to the starboard pole. I rushed over, grabbed the rod, and gave it a tug. I felt nothing on the end of the line so I put it back into the rod holder. Dennis slammed the motors into neutral, jumped out of his captain’s chair, grabbed the rod back from the holder, and began to wind the line as fast as he could. Suddenly, a nice Spanish mackerel broke the surface. “If you’re not going to fish, dad,” he said with a big grin on his face, “you run the boat.” When the fish hit the deck, it was a good 21” long and weighed about 5 pounds. I had not felt the fish because it was running toward the boat. Now, if Dennis had not pulled the fish aboard I would have missed out on dinner.
Jesus did not say, “Catch men.” He said, “Make disciples!” You have to bring them into the assembly, church!
You have to go to where the fish are.
Luke 5:1 - 11 (NKJV) 1So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, 2and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. 3Then 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. 4When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
5But 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.” 6And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. 7So 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. 8When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” 9For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” 11So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.
John 21:1 - 14 (NKJV) 1After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: 2Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. 3Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. 4But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5Then Jesus said to them, “Children, have you any food?” They answered Him, “No.” 6And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.
7Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea. 8But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from land, but about two hundred cubits), dragging the net with fish. 9Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. 10Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.” 11Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken. 12Jesus said to them, “Come and eat breakfast.” Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, “Who are You?”—knowing that it was the Lord. 13Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish. 14This is now the third time Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was raised from the dead.
The angels will assort the fish.
Matthew 13:47 - 51 (NKJV) 47“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, 48which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. 49So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, 50and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” 51Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”
ILL: I have done this many times. The net has a “lead line” that is a rope on the bottom with pieces of lead, cork on the top, and cotton net between. The net is hung between two poles which are pulled up to a beach. Then, being careful to keep the leads on the bottom, the net is drawn onto the shore. All kinds of fish are caught.
In the Lake of Galilee, the best eating fish are now called, “Peter Fish”
In the Atlantic, you may catch “pin fish” that have sharp spines, or “blow fish” that swell up, “Eels” that slip away, “Stingrays” that can cause injury and even death, even sharks.
The point of the story is that it is not our job to separate the fish, only to catch them. At the end of the age, the angels will separate the wicked from among the just. God knows who the “good” fish are.
Conclusion: How can I know that I am one of the “good fish?”
It’s not based on your righteousness, but on His!
Romans 3:21 - 23 (NKJV) 21But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…
Salvation is through faith
Romans 10:5 - 13 (NKJV) 5For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.” 6But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) 7or, “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
