TOWARD AN EFFECTIVE MINISTRY

Chapter 5                     HENCEF0RTH YOU WILL BE CATCHING MEN

While the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he was

standing by the lake of Gennesaret. And he saw two boats by the lake;

but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.

Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put

out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the

boat. And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into

the deep and let down your nets for a catch." And Simon answered,

"Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will

let down the nets." And when they had done this, they enclosed a great

shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, they beckoned 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. But when Simon Peter

saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am

a sinful man, 0 Lord." For he was astonished, and all that were with him,

at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and

John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said

to Simon, "Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men."

Luke 5:1‑10

When our eyes open and we find ourselves walking in fellowship with the Son of God we can only marvel at how it all happened. “How did I come out of my darkness into this light?" Is it not true that we found our way to Jesus the same way those fish found their way into Peter's net?...we were drawn.

"No man can come to me except the Father which has

sent me draw him."

"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all

men unto myself."

And notice how Jesus drew us to himself. It was not through angels but through some human being. Somebody talked to us ...put a book in our hand ...brought us to the right place at the right time ...prayed for us. Those fish didn't get into Peter's boat by jumping out of the water and flopping in. Peter had to lower the net ...then God drew. And after the fish were drawn into the net Peter had to raise it up. So Peter fished and God drew. And in the same way somebody was fishing and we were drawn by God ...but it was through  their fishing. 

Marvelous as was the miracle of those fish in the boat, the far greater miracle was the four men who found their way into God's kingdom that day ....Peter, Andrew, James and John. The instant Peter finds himself drawn into God's net of mercy, Jesus speaks a word to him which may surprise us.

Jesus did not say, "Now Peter, you're saved."

          But rather, "Now Peter, you're going to be catching men."

The instant we find ourselves in God's kingdom he immediately makes us the means by which somebody else is drawn in. The only saints who survive are those who allow themselves to be the means by which other people are drawn ....those who bear fruit. 

Every branch of mine that bears no fruit he takes away.

To every believer the address of the Lord is, "Don't be afraid... from now on you are going to be catching men."  Of course we're not going to be catching men if we don't fish. But when we begin to fish we find it happening exactly like it did for Peter.

Perhaps a reader is wondering, "Does this mean that if I'm going to be a fisher of men I have to go out on the street with tracts? Do I have to grab people by the collar and ask them if they're saved? Do I have to turn every conversation in everybody's living room to 'spiritual things'? Do we have to behave in such a way that people dread to see us approaching?" The answer of course is no. God doesn't draw people into his kingdom by means of our religious antics. He draws people into his kingdom by means of his mercy ...while we fish. And fishing is a very simple thing. It can be described in four steps. Two are internal and two are external.

To fish for men begins by taking an essential step within our own hearts ...getting a vision of the Lamb of God.

When John the Baptist said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," and multitudes of people from his own disciples left John and go with Jesus, I believe that John's eyes were not on the audience ...they were on the Lamb of God ...he was looking at Jesus. It was because John himself had a burning vision of who this was that his words had such authority. It is only as we allow ourselves to be drawn to Jesus that we can become the means by which others are drawn to him.

In practical life this means that we discipline ourselves daily and hourly to turn our minds away from self and on to him ...that we think him, eat, sleep, drink and delight in him who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself. Perhaps the most successful fisher of men that ever lived was the apostle Paul. Note that Paul's primary concern after years of catching men and women for the Kingdom of God, was not that he would "win souls" but that he would win Christ.

That I might win Christ and be found in him. That I might

know him in the power of his resurrection, the fellowship

of his sufferings, and be made like him in his death. For

me to live is Christ, to die is gain. It is no longer I who live,

but Christ who lives in me.

The people who are going to be used by God to draw others into his kingdom are those who are truly finding rest under the yoke of Jesus ...who are learning from him to be meek and lowly of heart ...who are receiving their satisfaction from knowing him. He's the one who satisfies.

The next step in this process of fishing for men is also interior.

We now begin to line up our desires with God's ...through prayer.

There's not one of us who "in the natural" has any desire to see people drawn into the Kingdom of God ...we don't care. We might want to see more people in our churches or more students in our Bible studies. Many of us are lusting for numbers. We love to collect people the way stamp collectors collect stamps or coin collectors collect coins. But when we spend time with God this begins to change and we find our motives and our desires beginning to conform to the heart of God. This change can be observed in Peter as we see him portrayed in the New Testament.

As we look at Peter in the opening verses of Luke 5, Peter's main concern is fish ...he loves to fish. I'm sure he fished not only for a living but for joy. But soon we see Peter spending more time with God. All through the book of Acts we see Peter depicted as one who devotes himself to, prayer. He says, "We will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word." In Acts, chapter 10, we see him up on the rooftop of the house praying. As Peter emerses himself in the Spirit of God through prayer, people are drawn to the Kingdom of God by just getting under his shadow. By the time we get to the Peter who writes the epistle, we see a man who is rejoicing at seeing souls finding their way from darkness to light ...rejoicing at the mercy of God which has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

When we spend time seeking God, daily seeking God, we discover that God begins to inflame our hearts with a desire which is his. And to our own amazement we find ourselves weeping for Jerusalem ...longing after those multitudes ...yearning to see people brought from darkness into light. And when this begins to be the state of our hearts then we are ready for the next step.

The third step brings us into the external realm: letting down the net.

To let down the net is to enter into the stream of God's word by some kind of redemptive labor. At the command of God we begin to do things in the place where we find ourselves that will be signs to people around us that God loves them ...simple things. Our Lord let down the net by healing the sick, opening the eyes of the blind, listening to their problems, relieving their guilty conscience.  We now hear him sending us forth to manifest God's mercy ...proclaim the kingdom ...heal the sick. You pray for that man. Give that woman an encouraging word. Minister to that child's need. Listen when that neglected soul wants somebody to talk to. When these simple things are done at the word of the Lord they become the net into which God draws living souls.

And he called the twelve together and gave them power

and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and

he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God, and to

heal. And he said to them, "Take nothing for your journey,

no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have

two tunics. And whatever house you enter, stay there,

and from there depart. And wherever they do not receive

you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from

your feet as a testimony against them." And they departed

and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and

healing everywhere.

In other words, "Rely on nothing but me, and go out there and manifest God's kingdom to these people."

After this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them

on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place

where he himself was about to come. And he said to them,

"The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray

therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into

his harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs

in the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals;

and salute no one on the road. Whatever house you enter,

first say, 'Peace be to this house!' And if a son of peace is

there, your peace shall rest upon him; but if not, it shall

return to you.  And remain in the same house, eating and

drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his

wages; do not go from house to house. Whenever

you enter a town and they receive you, eat what

is set before you; heal the sick in it and say to  them,

'The kingdom of God has come near to you."'

 Relying totally on God we minister to the needs that are before us, believing that as we do God will come in behind us and confirm to those to whom we're ministering that he is indeed working redemptively, supernaturally, for their blessing.

The final step is: to haul the net up.

To haul up the net is to call people to repentance and faith in Jesus and lift them into God's kingdom. After we have shown men God's mercy then we can say, "Repent ...turn ...open your heart to the Lord." And many to whom we say this will respond in ways that will astound us. We can be bold ...we don't have to be timid. There are people who are actually waiting for somebody to say, "Turn! Come! Open your heart! Let the Lord come in."

They will respond. With joy they will bound into God's kingdom. When Jesus says, "All right, lift the net," we will be astonished at the catch.

The same Lord who said to Peter, "Don't be afraid. From now on you're going to be catching men," includes us in this promise: if we will keep our eyes on the Lamb, and if we will immerse our hearts in God in prayer that we may line up our desires with his, and if we will go out and truly do redemptive work in the place where we find ourselves, and if we will then call people to repent and believe.