Fishers of Men

Jesus met some fishermen one day and said to them “I will make you Fishers of men.” Over time, these men became Great evangelists and fishers of men. The only thing required was the Holy Spirit.

Prior to the Holy Spirit being added to them, they could not be fishers of men. Why? Let’s examine what the Holy Spirit brought, and some aspects missing without Him .

Taken from Doctor Carl H Stevens. ” Without the Spirit, a man is left to his “Old Sin Nature.”  ( OSN.)

1. The OSN is insecure-not well adjusted-lacks confidence in God’s plan and details of providence.
2. The OSN Is overly sensitive. Does not trust in the purpose of the steps that God leads us.
3. The OSN is paranoid: Suspicious and easily irritated.
4. The OSN produces a negative attitude which produces negative reactions.
5. The OSN interferes with the digestion of categories (of The Scriptures), and their application.

This posture Is weak for fishermen who require poise, patience, and consistent faith.

In contrast, a person filled with the Spirit:

1.  trusts in the Lord with all of his heart And leans not on his own understanding. (discernment). Proverbs 3:5
2. He knows that “All things are for his sakes.” 2 Corinthians 4:15
3. Grace is revealed to other people by him, He has the Spirit of grace. Hebrews 10:29
4. He knows, “All things work together for good for those who love God” Romans 8:28
5. Love is shed abroad in his heart…hope makes him not-ashamed. Romans 5:5

But, we have an obvious problem here:  inconsistency — we go back and forth.

Ravi Zacharias, famed apologist demonstrated that man is not wired to be fully transcendent (active faith), neither fully self-deterministic (passive acceptance). But both.

Viktor Frankl speaks of “… the polar field of tension established between object and subject. “…life plays out on a pendulum between the subjective “self” life and the objective “outer” life, — my passive self-deterministic side largely hinders the active-transcendent world of God.

What does this have to do with fishing? Well plenty.

One day I find peace patience and poise, but tomorrow I can’t find it. Today I feel confident to speak with strangers, tomorrow I pale. Today I feel secure, tomorrow I am paranoid. I sadly lack consistent transcendent faith.

So, lets try to resolve. In 1 Kings 18:21 Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal,

“Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.”Two teams formed — 450 prophets of Baal versus 1 Big Elijah, prophet of God. Each team got a bullock to offer as a sacrifice. One condition was levied — you can’t light a fire under the sacrifice; your God must provide the fire. The Baal team went first but no god lit a flame under their sacrifice; after a long time of trying. Then it was Elijah’s turn. He set up the bullock and wood. Then he doused it with four barrels of water. We can guess the result. Yes God from heaven lit up the wood, bullock, stones and water.

What can we learn? Without the Spirit we are stuck with a mostly pre-determined, partially transcending existence. The supernatural is “hit or miss” for us. However the Spirit filled man, by choice, can have the supernatural at all times; he steps beyond the wishy-washy.

He walks in love, by faith.

At any moment we have

• access into grace wherein we stand, Romans 5:2,
• we have access by one Spirit unto the Father, Ephesians 2:18,
• “… access with confidence by the faith of Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 3:12

Friends, the insecure, over sensitive, negative person has no will, (patience or poise) for fishing for men. But, the Spirit filled, thrives in His continual love-shed-abroad.  It’s in his heart. Let’s go fishing.   love ya