Sermon Cloud

Matthew 4:18-22

Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

Following Christ requires daily putting to death, putting aside of our own goals, desires, and ambitions, and taking up Christ's goals, desires, and ambitions.

God's plan for you and me is to make us fishers of men.

Notice some things about the way they were fishing in those days:

1) they lived near the seashore (Sea of Gallilee)

2) they had boats, and made regular trips out onto the water, where the fish live.

3) they had nets... they intended to bring them in more than one at a time!

4) they fished at night: in the darkness. They used lights to attract the fish to the nets.

    a) the light of Christ in our countenance (our face and our eyes) attracts people living in darkness

    b) the light of Truth that connects to reality ("AHA!" or "YES!" moments)

5) they got the fish out of the water: into the boat or dragged to shore

Notice what James and John and their father were doing in Mattew 4:21...

They were MENDING THEIR NETS!

Evangelical Christianity today has TWO GAPING HOLES in its net:

1) We have abandoned the use of the law (10 commandments) in our preaching of the Gospel. Galatians 3:22-24 The law "concludes all under sin" and is a "schoolmaster" to bring us to Christ. See also: Romans 3:19-20 by the law is the knowledge of sin. Romans 7:7 I had not known sin but by the law.

2) We have abandoned our faith in Genesis 1-11 instead of defending the faith.

In high school, when I was a new believer, I was in a bit of a wilderness. I knew I had the joy of the Lord, and joy in His Word (His Spirit witnessing with my Spirit regarding the Truth I was reading). I believed God heard and answered my prayers. I WANTED to believe God's creation story, but it really looked like the atheists and the evolutionists "had all the cards."

I was given a "New Scofield Reference Bible" which was a great help to me in understanding the Scriptures, but DON'T believe his notes on Genesis 1-3! It's all Gap Theory, or Day Age Theory, etc.

One book that CHANGED my LIFE and I highly recommend:

"The Genesis Flood: The Biblical Record and Its Scientific Implications" by John C. Whitcomb and Henry M. Morris ISBN: 0-87552-338-2

An extremely important new book on this issue is "Already Gone" by Ken Ham and Britt Beemer.