to Isaiah chapter 9, Isaiah chapter 9. Nevertheless, the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea beyond Jordan in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light, They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. And then down in verse 6, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. And then turn with me please to Matthew. Matthew chapter four. Beginning in verse five. I'm sorry, verse 11. Beginning really where we left off last week. Matthew 4, verse 11. Then the devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto him. Now when Jesus heard that John was cast into prison, He departed into Galilee, and leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zebulun and Naphthalim, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphthalim, by the way of the sea beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people which sat in darkness saw great light, and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up. From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. And he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father and followed him. The verses we're particularly looking at, verse 15 there, Jesus saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And he said unto them, follow me, and I will make you to be fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw two other brothers, James and John mending their nets, and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father and followed him. So all of this came right on the heels of what we were thinking about last week, that tremendous, terrible, terrific, really, temptation that dark, dark day in the desert when Jesus was wrestling with Satan himself in the wilderness. right after the devil had left him, and then came the announcement that John, his dear friend and forerunner, John the baptizer, had been thrown into prison and was just awaiting death, soon to be killed. So it's very, very clear now that Satan, you see, is out to stop Jesus and everything having to do with his kingdom and his work. We'd say today it's obvious that Satan is playing hardball, attacking Jesus directly through that temptation in the wilderness and indirectly by taking away John, one of his best men. and shutting him up to be killed. So there's no time to lose. There's only three years left. And Jesus immediately begins to call his men. And he calls them first to salvation, as we saw. Come and see, he said to those two. Come and see. And he approached each one of the others, Philip and Nathaniel. each one of the others. He invited them to come and see him. And then when they made that response, he proved himself to them, and then said, I can prove more yet. There's more yet to see. He called them first to salvation, to come to know him as they professed him, Savior, Lord, the Messiah, we found him. He called them first to come to him, and to come to know him, now he's calling them second to follow him, to be his disciples. Four good young men, two pairs of brothers, Peter and Andrew, James and John, because you see, men are Jesus' method. Men are his method. Oh, he had a plan and a program, a long-range plan. He had that kingdom plan that stretched from the beginning of time to the end of time. He's going to be explaining that to us a little bit later on. He had that plan. He had a strategy. But really it boils down to this. Men are his method. And these are four of those men. These are four of them that we're hearing about today. Jesus spent more time with these men and the others that were going to see him select than he did with all the other people, and he sometimes ministered to multitudes. But when you look at it carefully through the Gospels, you'll find he spent more time with these men than he did with all the others put together. Men are his method. And this is still the way, the way that Jesus calls you and me yet today. He calls us to get to know him. to trust Him, to believe in Him as being our Savior and our Lord, come and see. That's where we first hear Him. I can remember that first. I suddenly wakened up to the fact, I don't know where I'd been, but I suddenly wakened up to the fact, you know, Jesus can take away my sin. And I knew I was interested in Him because of that. And I came to know Him. He caused me to come to know Him. Come and see, get to know me, trust me, as those six men did there in that first chapter of John. Second, He calls you and me to follow Him. Follow Him, follow me, Jesus says, and I'll make you fishers of men. Follow me, and I'll make you fishers of men. You may follow a dozen other people, If you follow me, I will make you to be a fisher of men. That's the kind of promise that only Jesus could make. And he's made it. He's made it to you and me. It's ours. just as much as it was theirs. Children, there are just two pictures today. For those of you who are drawing pictures, there are just two of them. This first part where Jesus is saying, follow me. I don't know how you're going to draw that picture, but that's what he's saying, follow me. Follow me closely. I want you to become my apprentice. That is a real invitation. Todd Brown was telling me about the man that he found, the chef that he saw in Europe not long ago, and the people from all over the world who were following him. Well, Jesus here is saying, you know, I want you to follow me close to be my apprentice. Follow me. And then the second part, the pictures in that second part, and I will make you to be fishers of men. I want you to be able to catch men, to be my witness to men. I will make you to be able to do that. Now what you have to do, I will make you. There are certain things you have to do in that, that is follow me, and I will make that. Now this first part, Jesus said, follow me. And now that you trust me and know who I am, I am Savior and Lord, I want you to follow me. It's both a challenge. And it's an invitation, a challenge in that Jesus is saying to us, how well do you know me? Do you know me and trust me well enough to follow me and become my apprentice, especially in view of the threat? John had just been thrown into prison. And there's a danger there. There's a risk there. Do you know there are some people who like that? I ran into that. Margie and Bob and I did. We wanted to see the seven cities in Turkey in 1976. And we were driving down through there. And then they had asked me to minister in Ankara to the underground church. This was the church no one was supposed to know about. and didn't know about. They were meeting in secret. And then came the message, you need to know that there are four Christians from one of those seven cities that were just now thrown into prison. And if you're caught doing what we're asking you to do, you could very well be apprehended. And I was willing, but I really had to think about what that meant to Margie and to Bob. But somehow or other we knew that's what God wanted us to do. There's some tremendous blessings that came out of that. I think these disciples were a little bit in that same situation. If they threw John in prison, they could throw us in prison. If we follow him, if we follow him very closely, they'll soon find us too. And we could be thrown into prison. But there's some people that don't shy away from that kind of invitation. Do you know me and trust me well enough to leave those boats and nets, your profession, and even your father, and the servants, to be with me wherever I go, wherever I take you? Do you trust me that much?" And these poor men did. Scripture is very plain about it. When they had brought the ships to land, they forsook all and followed him. Mark says James and John immediately left their father with the servants in the boat and followed him. In spite of the danger, they followed him. It does not mean that they just abandoned business and family and everything else. Peter is going to be one of these, as we are going to see in a few minutes. And we read that Peter continued ministering in the home of his mother-in-law. And there's clear evidence that Jesus' mother and other ladies were with him. They didn't just abandon these other responsibilities, but this was a new priority from here on. This following of him was even more important. than these other things, which they still had some sense of responsibility for, as we're going to be seeing as we go on through this. It's a higher calling now. They are following Jesus. And it was not only Jesus' challenge, it was his invitation. I want you to be my closest friends, my confidants, the ones who are on, I'm not calling you servants, I'm going to be calling you friends, my partners in the business of winning my world." And they did. John Bunyan in Pilgrim's Progress tells us about how, as Pilgrim is making his course there, he finds lots of people who are willing to follow Jesus afar off, afar off, afar off. And I think I've seen almost a 20th century application of that. You know the story, or maybe you've heard the story of the man who, as he was driving merrily down the road of life, he sees Jesus. And he thinks, he's a good man. I ought to have him with me. So he whips over and actually opens the back door. And Jesus just stands there and shakes his head. Then he suddenly realized he made a terrible mistake. And so he goes around and opens the front door. And Jesus still just stands there and shakes his head. And slowly it begins to dawn on him. And he goes around to the driver's side and opens the door. And Jesus nods his head and gets in and drives the course of life. And the man follows. Lots of people today who, yes, they trust Him, but how much do they trust Him? That's a question. Following Jesus means six things, and these aren't exhaustive, they're merely illustrative. It means these things, just what we've been saying here, putting Jesus first, more important than family, profession, friends, or anything or anyone else, putting Him first. And it means that Some people and some things are going to be left behind. Some of our best friends want a little bit of Jesus and a whole lot of the world. And Jesus was speaking to that point when he said there that day, no man can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven. and these other things will take care of themselves. And later, in the Gospels, we hear Jesus talking with men like the rich young ruler. And Jesus loved him. He was a very attractive man, but he wanted to follow afar off. And he went out into the night He did not see Jesus. He did not trust him that much. And you've probably known people who are trying to follow Jesus afar off. And their lives are plagued by indecisions and fears. and false starts, and they never do have a purpose that's so much more important than they are, or than anything they can think of, that they'd be willing to give their lives for that. I look forward to you as a congregation seeing that tape from Scotland, that Eric and Michael has put together, where one of the daughters of this congregation, and there's several of them speaking there, and one of the sons also, right there at Wigton. And she's saying, the girl that was drowned here a few years ago, for her faith, is the same age that I am. And I wonder, what I have is more important than life itself. But Jesus always, in every generation, finds those people who will follow Him, no matter what it costs, or where it goes, or what has to be left behind, or who has to be left behind, and somehow or other, their lives develop a purpose that is very clear in their hearts, as well as in their lives, so clear that they're willing to die for that. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? That's the second thing that will be there in the life of any person who is following Jesus in the way He's inviting us to do here. Lord, what will that? That was the prayer that the Apostle Paul made there that way on the road to Damascus. And that's the meridian line and the magnetic compass for the person who's following Jesus. That isn't a thing that's just prayed once. That's every day. Lord, what today do you want me to do? What's your plan for me today? And I'm following that. I'm committed to that. The minute I hear it, I don't have to think any beyond that. The minute I know what that is, that decides it. That's settled. Lord, what will thou have me to do? That's the prayer for every day of life. What is the new today, Lord? What's your plan for me today? They're following him. That's what's involved in following him. And that means going with him wherever he goes or he takes me on the face of his earth. That's world vision. There's no place on the face of God's earth that I would not go if I knew God wanted me to go there. Can you say that? Is that true? Are you following Him that way today? Lots of people being killed today. There's lots of challenge there, but there's invitation too. Lo, I will be with you always, even unto the end of the world. When you go where I send you, all power is given unto me in heaven and on earth, so go. I'll take care of you. Lo, I will be with you always, even unto the end of the world. And then that means following Jesus, concentration on his wishes and his desires for me. following him so closely that I can catch his spirit. I'm not being dragged into it, I want it. I'm following him that closely, his spirit. I almost sense what it is before I get there. We'll be singing in a few minutes from the 123rd Psalm where God describes how it is that he wants us to focus on him when we're following him. 123rd Psalm, as the eyes of servants focus on the hand of a master and the eyes of a maid on the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God. And you've seen that take place, and where a person who's waiting on the table and is really intent upon what the will is of the person that they're waiting on. And I've seen the time when a lady, all she had to do was lift her little finger. And I'm just marveled at the way that girl always knew how to change those dishes, or to bring something else in, or to do something. Well, it was the concentration. And that's what's involved in following, so concentrated on whatever it is. And in this particular 123rd Psalm, we're saying, this is the way I want you to come to church, to be concentrated on His Word. And when you're concentrated on His Word, then there'll be lots of goofs that I make up here. that you won't even hear or see. You'll be so focused on getting his word out of it, in spite of me, that God will bless it and use it in your life. That's part of what's involved in following him, following him. I used to, well, they were trying to teach me to fly in formation in the Navy. And you know, that's where you have three planes flying like this. And my wing leader was never satisfied until the man who's flying back here could read the instruments in the cockpit of the plane right in front. We had to be that close. And when we're that close, then he makes a move, and I'd better catch that. I'd better catch that, or we'll all three go down. And that's the impression that I get here. where God says, I want you to stay concentrated and focused on, and a person who is following Jesus, you can't see if you're that far away, but I want you to stay focused, concentrating on what I want. Knowing that God's word will never go out and return into him void, but will always accomplish the purpose that he has sent it to. Faith always comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Follow me, he says. And that involves that daily time in the Word and prayer, and it obeys instant response, and it obeys my willingness to go wherever he wants and to be his witness. That's following him. There are lots of other things involved in it, but I think you get the picture of what's involved in following. That's what he was saying to them there. He says, you follow me. And then the next part we go right on to, and I'll make you Fisher's men. Now, one of the other Gospels tells us about something that happened there, and I don't know how to get this point across, but they, Jesus the crowd had been crowding in and this is where he says these same words to them in one of the other Gospels the crowd been crowding in and so Jesus puts himself he has he gets into Peter's boat and they push it out a little piece and he speaks to the whole crowd because they can't get close enough to him otherwise he speaks to the whole crowd there as soon as he's finished he turns and says now let's go push out into the deep and cast your net down and they said well we were fishing all night last night and didn't get anything But you say to do it, so we'll do it. So they did. And that is so full. That is, they pulled a fish in and they called to their friends, James and John and their boat, and they came up and both boats began to sink. They had so many fish in them. Well, that creates quite an impression in the heart of a professional fisherman. And Peter was that professional fisherman. And so he gets down and he said, Lord, get away from me. I can't stand this. That's just how immature he was at that point. The very one who showed him how to fish in a way he'd never fished before says, now follow me. Fear not, Peter, Jesus says it there. Fear not, Peter, follow me and I'll make you fishers of men so that I'll be filling up your life not only with fish, but with men. Fear me, fear not, Peter. and follow me." We'll talk a little more another day about how immature these disciples were and how Jesus built them up into maturity at the very time he was calling them. He says, follow me, Peter, and I'll make you fishers of men. There are a number of things involved that Jesus does in making us to be fishers of men, and we'll go ahead and talk with you about those now. The first of these, he makes us to be his witness, his example. That's what he does. We follow him. He says, the next thing I do is make you a fisherman. God has said the law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul. That's the only thing perfect enough to bring about the conversion of the soul. The law of the Lord, that book there, that book there is the thing that brings about the conversion. But the testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple. So when God puts his life and his light into our hearts, then we become his testimony. And I'm always a little wary when I hear somebody say, well, I'm going to share my testimony with you. It's not your testimony. It's the Lord's testimony. He's speaking in you and through you. And it's not bad to call it yours. You thank him for it. but make sure you know that it's His testimony in you. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. So when God puts His life and His light into our hearts, then we become His testimony. That's part of what's involved in His making us fishers of men. And other people become sure because they know that it is real because of what they see in your life. That's one of the ways He makes us fishers of men. Jim Long's sister, Jerry, was talking with us up here Friday night. And she told us about how when she was, I think it was in high school, wasn't she, that she saw her dad and mother come to know Christ. She was in high school. And she said, I saw their lives change. I saw them change. And that was the testimony and the witness. that God used in the life not only of Jerry but also of Jim. As Bill and Lois Long changed, that was the thing. And that's part of what's involved when he says, you follow me and I will make you to be that kind of testimony and that kind of witness. And then he sends us wherever he wants us to go. That's another way he makes us to be his testimony and witness. The Apostle Paul is a good example of that. In Acts 16, you'd think that the Apostle Paul was a pretty mature Christian, and he knew right where he was going to go, right where God wanted him to go. Now, the Roman road went straight through west to Ephesus, and according to the records, the Apostle Paul wanted to go, I think, to Ephesus. God says, no. And so here's a mature Christian. This kind of thing does happen. And then next he wanted to go straight north into what's Russia today. And the Holy Spirit said, no. And I think we could see Paul just bouncing off the ropes from one side to the other because then God directs him to go to Troas. It's not west and it's not north. It is northwest. He's fine tuning him. And so he goes northwest to Troas. And there in Troas, he hears the call over into Macedonia. Follow me, and I will make you to be fishers of men. I'll do that kind of guiding for you. I will do that. I believe that Margie and Bob and I saw a little bit of that kind of thing taking place with us in 1976 when we were over there. And it's the way he does in making us to be his fishers of men. We had come from Turkey down into Syria, Latakia. We got across the border finally. And it was late and finally drove into Latakia, Syria at night and a terrible, terrible thunderstorm. I had no idea where the American school was. I'd been there in 1953. I had no way of knowing, because other people had been taking us then, where that American school was, where I hoped that there might be some of the Christians in the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Syria that we had met before. And all I knew was that it was an American school, and we went into the hotel, because that was a place where we could find somebody that could speak some English. We were camping, and so we didn't have any We weren't staying there, but I finally found somebody who could speak English and they found a boy who they told him where the American school was, the old American school. And so he got in the camper with us and we drove down there. He showed us where to drive and we pulled up and my heart sank because the American school, as I remember, it was a big building, but it had huge trees around on the grounds around there. And there weren't any trees, and I was just sure it was the wrong building, but the boy jumped out and ran away. And so I didn't know what else to do. And I walked up to the building, and here was light coming out the windows that were on ground level, and barbed wire around there, and I could see troops inside. And I knew then that that really couldn't be the American school. But there wasn't anything else to do, and I went around back, and there was one of those covered stairways that goes up the top, and it was a dumb thing to do, but I walked up that stairway and banged on the door, and a little boy came running out, and the light was in my eyes, so I couldn't see who it was, except it was just a little boy, or a little girl, I've forgotten now which, Margie, but anyhow, I said, all I could say was, American school. I couldn't speak, American school. And I scared the daylights out of the little boy, and he screamed and ran around the corner. And a minute later, somebody came out with skirts on. I couldn't see any faces because the light was so bright. And she looked at me a minute, and she said, Roy Blackwood, how did you get over here? And the minute she spoke, I knew who it was. I said, Adibi Awad. I'd forgotten her name. She'd been in school with Margie and me. And her daddy was the pastor there. And that was the American school. But the troops had taken over the building. There was fighting. And they'd cut all the trees down. And she and her father were under house arrest on the top floor. And she'd been praying for several weeks. that someone from back at college would contact her. But we didn't know that. But Jesus said, you follow me, and I'll make you to be fishers of men. We went in, and Daddy was dying. We had some worship with him, sang, prayed together, not only that night, but the next day. Spent quite some time with him, and then went on our way. But Jesus arranges those times. He said, you follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And he'll do that with you. He'll do that with us. He'll do that with you. And Jesus also promises to put his words into our mouths in making us to be fishers of men. Matthew 10, 19, Jesus is sending them out now. It's a little bit beyond where we are, but this is the kind of thing he does. He says, take no thought for what you shall say in that hour, the hour when they arrest you and call you in before the officials. The Holy Ghost will put words into your mouth. Just 12 or 16 hours prior to that, we've been coming across that border from Turkey into Syria, and they weren't going to let us through. And they began tearing apart everything that we had in the car, examining it, even the first aid kit and the parts in it. And suddenly it occurred to me to show them the passport. And I showed them the passport. And for some reason or another, their eyes happened to focus on the words minister. And it was just that it was, you know, on the passport, minister of the gospel. But they didn't know what the gospel meant. And so all they saw was minister. And they came to conclusion that it must be a minister of government. And so they actually brought out tea and served us and helped us along. But he puts words there that you'll never think of, words that are needed to be a fisher of men. He puts his words into your mouth or onto your passport in making you to be his witness so long as you're following him. One more thing I wanted to remind you of in connection with this. The thing that goes on behind the scenes and between the lines and really from all eternity, he puts it into the hearts of men to want to know him. Augustine said it well. Thou hast made us for thyself, O God, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in thee. God builds that into the heart of a person. Pascal, who was an intense student of Augustine, put it into the terminology of a physicist. He said the same thing in a physicist's words, our hearts are built in the form of a God-shaped vacuum and nothing can satisfy save God in the person of Jesus Christ. God builds people the way they are. He reminds them of the loveliness of Jesus Christ. He causes men to want to respond to that, and then, after all the hard work is done, he merely sends us around to identify these things in terms of the person of Jesus Christ, so that the person who receives Christ comes to know him as Savior and Lord. That's the testimony of the Lord. He says, I want you to follow me and to be, to be my witness. In closing, I want to point out seven similarities because there are going to be two of the elders of this congregation that are going to be going in a very dangerous situation called fishing. I want to just summarize some of these things by pointing out some similarities here. A fisherman is dependent and trustworthy. He doesn't demand that the fish be in a particular spot at a particular time, biting on a particular bait. A Christian witness doesn't demand that a soul would be at a particular place listening to a particular explanation at a particular time. He uses good judgment. He uses good judgment. He doesn't try to force a hearing. And a fisherman is diligent and he's discerning. He's out early and late, he perseveres, rain or sun, He goes back and forth across that same spot because he knows there's something down under there. He loses hundreds of leaders, but he's not offended. He just keeps on going back. And so is a person who's involved in Jesus' catching of souls. That same perseverance, early and late. He's not offended. he does go back. And a fisherman is intelligent and he's watchful. He remembers what bait he was using the last time he was there, what they were rising to, and he watches the shadows and how to cast that in such a way that the shadow's not there. A man who's working with souls senses the need of the person that he's talking to. His ears are tuned to the tone of the other man's voice. He watches for God to speak through the providences that he's sending into the life of that man. He matches those providences of Scripture. He's instant, in season and out of season, to set that hook, the hook of Scripture, at the very particular moment, to speak the right word, as God says, in season. He's laborious and he's self-denying. He'll drive for days and he'll work for hours. and so will a man who's working with souls. One old trout fisherman once said to me one day, the important thing, the first law of a good trout fisherman is to keep yourself out of sight. The second law of a good trout fisherman is to keep yourself further out of sight. The third law of a good trout fisherman is to keep yourself still further out of sight. That's the way it is with a Christian. he keeps the word, he keeps Jesus Christ there, he keeps himself out of sight, that Jesus Christ would be the one. And he's daring. He's not afraid of bad weather. Any man working with souls is not afraid of wind and rain and snow. I knew Margie had become a fisherman. Her daddy had been, and then we were married, and we began fishing, and we were up in Canada that day, And it had begun raining, and there was quite a bit of wind connected with it. And I saw Margie get up. We were in the trailer, and she walked over, and she looked out the window. And then she came back and sat down. I said, Margie, what are you thinking? Well, she said, those walleyes are probably running right over there between those two islands. I said, Margie, do you want to go over there now in this rain? She says, oh, no, no. But she said, they'd probably be running over there. It wound up that we left the children in the trailer when it was nice and warm. We went over there, and sure enough, they were running. Well, that's the persistence of a man who's fishing for souls, too. The last thing that a fisherman is is successful. You know you're not really a fisherman if you're not catching fish. If you're not catching fish, there's no way that you can have that name. And any man who is not catching fish for Jesus Christ, What does it say? How closely are we following him? Where is it with you and me? Lord, speak to me, that I may speak in living echoes of thy tones. As thou hast sought, so let me seek thy erring children, lost and lone. Lead me, Lord, that I may lead the wandering and the wayward feet. Feed me, Lord, that I may feed Thy hungering ones with manna sweet. Strengthen me that while I stand firm on the rock and strong in Thee, I may stretch out a loving hand to men who are in that troubled sea. Teach me, Lord, that I may teach the precious things thou dost impart, and wing my words that they may reach the hidden depths of many a heart. Thank you, Lord, for inviting us to come and see. Thank you for the way you've proven yourself to us to be Savior and to be Lord. Thank you now for making this further invitation. just to follow you, to follow you. And then the promise that when we do, then you will make us to be fishers of men. Thank you, Lord. And we would respond. Lord Jesus, hear every person, every man, every woman, every boy, every girl. As we pause for a moment now, to hear each person make his or her own response in silence within his or her own heart. Follow me and I will make you to be fishers of men. In Jesus' name, amen.