Jesus said, in Matthew 4:19: "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
What does it mean to you to be a fisher of men?
What does it mean to you to be a fisher of men?
Are you a fisher of men?
- Thread starter ResidentAlien
- Start date
-
Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.
If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!
To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.
It means that I, with the help and grace of the Holy Spirit, evangelize and obediently and faithfully spread the Gospel of Jesus, the Word of God, to all those I meet and see. There are many means of evangelization. You don't have to stand on a soapbox and orate. Instead, just live your life as Jesus lived His; with love for the Father's will and for all our brothers and sisters. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And it's very important that everyone I know is aware that I am a follower of Jesus.
In the parable of 'The Sower and the Seed' the Gospel tells us, "Those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”. It is not enough for us to have faith in Jesus, but we have an obligation to share that faith with others.
arthurfleminger There is a place Jeremiah & Isaiah one says don't sow among thorns.The other says Take your swords and turn them [implied into garden tools] and put all your heart soul and might into gardening.If you take the second scripture and with the other then you could say we need work the ground ={remove the thorns & work the soil} before we sow the seeds or even before Jesus sow the seeds so that those seed Jesus investment have a chance to prosper.[if i remember Jesus in a parable, called a servant wicked and lazy} that hid the money in the ground.If we don't work the ground we are wicked.
Jesus said no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him (John 6:44). We throw our line or net in the water, but God determines the catch. I feel that the church as a whole has resorted to human methods of attracting fish. Some of them catch great numbers but is it from God or man?
It all began with Norman Vincent Peale and Robert Schuller; and more recently Rick Warren. They started asking people what they wanted in order to get them to come to church, rather than preaching the word and letting the Spirit decide who was in the church. Where did the church get the idea that they must constantly be growing in order to be "healthy?" This seems to have led to desperate (and worldly) measures by many churches to grow and retain people.
It all began with Norman Vincent Peale and Robert Schuller; and more recently Rick Warren. They started asking people what they wanted in order to get them to come to church, rather than preaching the word and letting the Spirit decide who was in the church. Where did the church get the idea that they must constantly be growing in order to be "healthy?" This seems to have led to desperate (and worldly) measures by many churches to grow and retain people.
some fishing methods I would definitely NOT recommend
There are factory fishing trawlers that scrape the bottoms of the oceans and totally destroy the seabed. Much of what they catch they throw back, dead.
If you want a sustainable harvest, you got to do it right and not bulldoze the harvest, destroying everything in its wake.
There are factory fishing trawlers that scrape the bottoms of the oceans and totally destroy the seabed. Much of what they catch they throw back, dead.
If you want a sustainable harvest, you got to do it right and not bulldoze the harvest, destroying everything in its wake.
It means preach the Gospel of Christ and save as many people as possible like Paul said he is all things to all people in the hope of winning them to Christ.
But like all fishermen we need the right lure and bait and what is that for that is the question.
Which all we have to do is allow the Spirit to lead us and want to do the will of God.
Hey montana, so great points. To me, the right lure is Truth.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean when you say "Paul said he is all things to all people in the hope of winning them to Christ." Can you expand on this?
1Co 9:18 What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.
1Co 9:19 For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
1Co 9:20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
1Co 9:21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.
1Co 9:22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
1Co 9:23 And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.
That is true the lure is truth for the truth will set you free and you cannot be led of the Spirit.
Some Churches have a large congregation and have not the truth of serious things that matter then what does it accomplish.
The only thing it accomplishes is at least they started living for God and hopefully they will see the error of the Church.
Ear tickling began long before that
Even so, having great numbers of people attending "seeker friendly" venues keeps them exposed to the revealed written Word of God, despite those places recognizing that they are not necessarily preaching to the saved, which some have freely admitted. That they teach error and promote principles which seem clearly un-Biblical to those with vastly different understanding? We can only hope that among such congregations will be those who do come to know the love of God and the Truth of the gospel, and find a local assembly that teaches the unadulterated Word of God, free of such blatant error.
I think the sea is the metaphor- the vast void of emptiness and sin that swallows up men. So, Jesus will teach his disciples to catch men out of the sea of sin- so they can be saved.
That might just be the sailor in me, though. The Sea of Galilee is more like a lake, than an actual sea... but I guess you could still drown in there if you weren't careful.
That might just be the sailor in me, though. The Sea of Galilee is more like a lake, than an actual sea... but I guess you could still drown in there if you weren't careful.
People drown in bathtubs!
The sea is defined as the nations in Rev
Meaning unbelievers
Revelation 17:15 “The waters you saw, where the prostitute
sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.”
It means that one actively seeks to speak the Gospel of Jesus, the Gospel of Salvation to men that one meets during their daily walk in this life. That they ALSO LIVE the Gospel of Jesus, which is most often the best witness a Christian has to introduce Jesus to the unsaved of this world.
I am a fisherman........
Sometimes if fish for the wee fishies
and
Sometimes I fish for men
to me .
Jesus was talking to men who had fished thier whole lives for food and a living. I believe it’s Jesus explaining they would now be called to spread the gospel and “ fish “ for souls to be saved and gathered into the kingdom .
That comes from following after him
Great numbers coming to God... yet we know no one comes to God unless He does the pulling. No one can come to GOD unless HE calls them first. You think people on their own or from some human can come to God? Many try to get in because its not through Jesus/Yeshua Christ. There will be a day dressed in white robes that NO MAN can number them.. that came from ever nation! "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; "
Look at what Christ said.. I will make YOU a fisher of men. You really think YOU were lead on your own to share or witness
There will be a day dressed in white robes that NO MAN can number them.. that came from ever nation! "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; "Look at what Christ said.. I will make YOU a fisher of men. You really think YOU were lead on your own to share or witness
Being prepared to get alongside someone to teach them thru the Word. Being prepared to share the faith.
To me, it means going forth and planting the seed of the word of the Lord in people's hearts.
I am not really the kind to go and try to reap; although I may extend an invitation to receive Christ on some occasions.
My style is mainly to preach the word and let the word have its way in people's hearts.
Because God said that His word will never return void (Isaiah 55:10-11)...
Whether it saves a man or merely makes him accountable on his day of judgment, depends on whether the man receives Christ as the result of the word being preached (see Hebrews 4:2).
I am not really the kind to go and try to reap; although I may extend an invitation to receive Christ on some occasions.
My style is mainly to preach the word and let the word have its way in people's hearts.
Because God said that His word will never return void (Isaiah 55:10-11)...
Whether it saves a man or merely makes him accountable on his day of judgment, depends on whether the man receives Christ as the result of the word being preached (see Hebrews 4:2).
Yes, money is certainly part of it. But I read something in another thread that really made me stop and think. I'll quote it so I don't misstate what was said: "The small ones [churches] I have visited are desperate for new members and are dying a slow death. They all share the same lack of teaching the congregation to be fishers of men."
Do we need to teach people to be fishers of men, or will they automatically become fishers of men when they realize the exceptional gift we have in Christ? If smaller churches like these are dying and desperate for new members, maybe the best thing to do is let them die a natural death. What they've been doing obviously hasn't been working; but that's no reason to resort to man-made schemes to attract worldly-minded people.
To me it seems, people aren't fishers of men because they haven't addressed the core issues. People from all walks of life are lost and in need of the Savior. We have the only thing that can save them from eternity separated from God in a place they don't want to be: Truth. If we learn how to share this message effectively, then we will truly become fishers of men.