Jesus was the maker of fishers of men

JESUS WAS THE MAKER OF FISHERS OF MEN
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
And he saithunto them, follow me, and I will make
you fishers of men. Matthew 4:19
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Christ's Call To Service
Matthew 4:19
R. Tuck
Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. From John 1. we learn that
these men were previously calledto discipleship. It was well that they should
have a time of fellowship with Christ before they were further called to the
service of Christ. Observe how the full idea of the Messiahshipwas gradually
unfolded, stage by stage. Our Lord never hurried. He seta noble example of
"doing the next thing;" and all the Divine plan for him gradually but surely
unfolded. These men were fishers. Our Lord used a figure which was quite
familiar to them, and would be very suggestive. Thesethoughts would surely
have come to their minds. As the fish have to be gathered, to be skilfully
gathered, and to be persistently gathered, so have men. Christ wants us to fish
for men as, during these long years, we have fished in this lake for fish. Here
will come in careful descriptions of the boats, nets, and methods of the
fishermen of Galilee.

I. MEN HAVE TO BE GATHERED. Morally, and in view of their
independence and self-willedness, men are like the fishes that roam free in the
water, going this way or that at their own pleasure. But this freedom is moral
peril. There are foes for men in their freedom, as there are for the fishes.
Gather the fish and deliver them from their foes. Gatherthe men into the
allegiance ofChrist, and so deliver them from evil.
II. MEN HAVE TO BE SKILFULLY GATHERED. Few occupations involve
more skill than fishing. The fisherman must judge the weather, decide on his
net or line, adapt his bait, and know the habits of the creatures. So the Apostle
Paul, as the great gospelfisherman, would make himself" all things to all
men." Illustrate by the conversions recordedin the New Testament, pointing
out how different were the methods used in eachcase in order to effectthe
ingathering.
III. MEN HAVE TO BE PERSISTENTLYGATHERED. Because there is a
natural resistance whichis too often successful, andmust be dealt with again
and again. Show where the fisher-figure fails. They who fish for men gather
them in order that they may be everlastinglysaved. - R.T.

Biblical Illustrator
Follow Me.
Matthew 4:19
Follow Me
D. B. Hooke., H. Cole., W. Kelynack.
1. Follow Christ as your Teacher.
2. As your Example.
3. As your Friend.
4. If you see to the following what will Christ do?
(D. B. Hooke.)
1. These heavenlyfishermen follow Christ personally.
2. They follow Him circumstantially.
3. They follow Him singly, with a single eye.
(H. Cole.)The greatlessonofthe text may be summed up in this — that
successfulwork for Jesus must spring out of a devout imitation of Him.
"Follow Me," etc. In the example of Christ there are two points which it is
important to look at.
I. The estimate Jesus Christ gave to humanity in contrastwith all the other
objects that engagedHis attention. In comparisonwith the claims of man,
everything else was regardedas subsidiary.
II. His whole careerwas evolvedfrom this centralconceptionin regard to
humanity. To save men — that was His mission. I must work — that was His
motto. These thoughts were always presentto His mind. Our grand central
controlling purpose must be the imitation of the Master, in striving to become
the servantof all.

1. Christian work must so far resemble Christ's work as to be inspired with
the soulof earnestness.
2. The possessionofyearning pity and interest in humanity.
3. The cultivation of a spirit of large self-denial.
4. Persistencyin effort.
5. Prayer. Does this command stir your soul to nobler work and better service,
etc.? What is your response?
(W. Kelynack.)
Follow Me
Seeds and Saplings.
I. WHOM? .Notsimply a human teacher, but Jesus, who qualified Himself by
His earthly life, with its temptations, toil, and suffering, to be the efficient
leaderof men.
II. How? We cannotfollow His personas the disciples did; but we may —
Obey His precepts and copy His example.
III. WHY? We cannot direct our own course — there is no leaderequal to
Christ — if we follow Him we shall be in goodcompany. Only thus can we
escape spiritual dangerand eternal death.
IV. WHITHER? To God: "I am the way," etc. To heaven: "In My:Father's
house," etc.
V. WHEN? NOW. Always.
(Seeds and Saplings.)
The attractive face of Jesus

J. B. Brown, B. A.
In lower human forms this magnetic attractionof man on man is not
unknown. It is the orator's power. The orators of revolutions — men like
Mirabeau — are full chargedwith it; they are like jars laden with electric
fire; there is that in their words which flashes out, and stirs, sways, and rules
mankind. Christ constitutes in a still higher form the great Captain's power.
(J. B. Brown, B. A.)
Fishers of men.
Ministers fishers of men
Dr. Burns.
I. The APPROPRIATENESSofthe figure. The world is the sea, the scene of
their labours.
II. The DUTY TO BE DISCHARGED. This net must be employed —
constantly, diligently, skilfully.
1. Let the Christian fisherman rightly understand his net, and the appointed
way of using it.
2. Let successbe the grand object of attention.
3. Be cheerfully devoted to the work.
4. Our resourcesare infinite and exhaustless.
(Dr. Burns.)
Fishers of men
Beecher.
1. To fish well, it is necessaryto study the peculiarities of fish.

2. You must go to the fish.
(Beecher.)
Scientific knowledge not enoughfor the preacher
Beecher.
It is necessaryto know more than the science ofichthyology. What a book can
tell a man about fishing is worth knowing, but it is little that a book can do
towards making a man a true fisherman. If a man is going to fish for fish, he
must become their scholarbefore he becomes their master; he must go to
schoolin the brook, to learn its ways. And to fish for men, a man must learn
their nature, their prejudices, their tendencies, and their courses. Aman, to
catchfish, must not only know their habits, but their tastes and their resorts;
he must humour them according to their different natures, and adapt his
instruments according to their peculiarities — providing a spearfor some, a
hook for others, a net for others, and baits for eachone, as eachone will. To
sit on a bank or deck, and sayto the fishes, "Here I am, authorized to
command you to come to me and to bite what I give you," is just as ridiculous
as it can be, even though it does resemble some ways of preaching. The
Christian's business is not to stand in an appointed place and say to men,
"Here am I; come up and take what I give you as you should." The
Christian's business is to find out what men are, and to take them by that
which they will bite at.
(Beecher.)
Fishers of men
A. Thomas.
Christ came upon these men when they were busy at their everyday work. He
saw them casting net into the sea. His eye is upon us in all the work we do in

the world. And as:He looks upon us, so He calls us. It is true we may be so
absorbedin other pursuits as not to hear the call.
I. What was His call? They were to leave their work that they .might engage in
higher work.
II. How shall we hope to be successful?
1. We must follow Christ.
2. We must submit to His teaching and influence.
3. Christ only can qualify us for the work.
(A. Thomas.)
Industry an indication of worth
A. Thomas.
Whether, as He watchedthem putting out the net, He saw signs, whichwere
indications to His penetrating and prophetic eye of fitness for the higher work
to which they were to be called, we cannottell. It is possible. Fora very small
thing will serve as a revelation of characterto those who are keen-sighted, and
who understand how the little is allied to the great. Just as a student like
Owenwill constructthe entire skeletonif you give him a single bone, so the
master, in the study of the human nature, will often be able to give a fair
judgment of the whole characterif he sees only what many would regard as
casualand meaningless acts.
(A. Thomas.)
Men miss the call of Christ through over occupation
A. Thomas., C. H. Spurgeon.
You cannot attend to many things at once. There may be a glow of heavenly
light on the mountain-top, but it will be nothing to the man whose eyes are

fixed on the path along which he is painfully toiling. There may be the sound
of sweetmusic carried on the night breezes;but it will be lost upon those who
are disputing loudly and striving angrily with eachother.
(A. Thomas.)
1. A fisherman must be acquainted with the sea — we must know the locality
in which we have to work.
2. A fisherman must also know how to allure fish.
3. The fisherman must be a man who can wait with patience.
4. A fisherman is one who must run hazards.
5. The fisherman must be one who has learned both how to persevere and how
to expect.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
A fisherman must also know how to allure the fish.
C. H. Spurgeon.
I saw on Lake Come, when we visited Bellagio, some men fishing. They had
torches burning in their boats, and the fish were attractedto them by the
glare of the light. You must know how to getthe fish together. You know there
is such a thing as the ground-bait for the fishes. You must know how to allure
men. The preacher does this by using images, symbols, and illustrations. You
must know how to catch the fish, throwing out first.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Church enriched from the ranks of poverty.
Dr. d. Harris.

A few years ago, on a wintry morning, a boy in the habiliments of poverty
entered an old schoolhouseamong our westernmountains, and avowedto the
master his desire for an education. There was poverty laying one of her
richest gifts on the altar of religion, for that boy was Jonas King. On his
humble shoemaker'sbench, Carey laid the foundation of British Baptist
Missions. JohnNewtonfound in his congregationan unfriended Scotchbey,
whose soulwas then glowing with new-born love to Christ. He took him to
John Thornton, one of those noble merchants whose wealth, whose piety, and
whose beneficence increasedtogether. Theyeducatedhim, and that boy
became Claudius Buchanan, whose name India will bless when the names of
Clive and Hastings are forgotten. John Bunyan was a gift of poverty to the
Church. Zwingle came forth from an Alpine shepherd's cabin; Melanethon
from an armourer's workshop;Luther from a miner's cottage;the apostles,
some of them, from fishermen's huts. These are the gifts of poverty to the
Church.
(Dr. d. Harris.)
STUDYLIGHT RESOURCES
Adam Clarke Commentary
Follow me - Come after me, δευτε οπισω μου . Receive my doctrines, imitate
me in my conduct - in every respectbe my disciples. We may observe that
most of the calls of God to man are expressedin a few solemn words, which
alarm, the conscience,and deeply impress the heart.
I will make you fishers of men - Ezekiel47:8-10, casts much light on this
place;and to this prophet our Lord probably alludes. To follow Christ, and be
admitted into a partnership of his ministry, is a greathonor; but those only
who are by himself fitted for it, God calls. Miserable are those who do not wait
fur this call - who presume to take the name of fishers of men, and know not

how to castthe net of the Divine word, because not brought to an
acquaintance with the saving powerof the God who bought them. Such
persons, having only their secularinterest in view, study not to catchmen, but
to catchmoney: and though, for charity's sake, it may be said of a pastor of
this spirit, he does not enter the sheepfold as a thief, yet he certainly lives as a
hireling. See Quesnel.
Some teachto work, but have no hands to row;
Some will be eyes, but have no light to see;
Some will be guides, but have no feetto go;
Some deaf, yet ears, some dumb, yet tongues will be;
Dumb, deaf, lame, blind, and maimed, yet fishers all!
Fit for no use but store an hospital.
Fletcher's PiscatoryEclogues. Ec iv. 5, 18.
Following a person, in the Jewishphrase, signifies being his disciple or
scholar. See a similar mode of speech, 2 Kings 6:19.
Albert Barnes'Notes onthe Whole Bible
Fishers of men - Ministers or preachers of the gospel, whose business it shall
be to win souls to Christ.
The Biblical Illustrator
Matthew 4:19
Follow Me.
Follow Me
1.Follow Christas your Teacher.

2. As your Example.
3. As your Friend.
4. If you see to the following what will Christ do? (D. B. Hooke.)
1. These heavenlyfishermen follow Christ personally.
2. They follow Him circumstantially.
3. They follow Him singly, with a single eye. (H. Cole.)
The greatlessonof the text may be summed up in this-that successfulwork
for Jesus must spring out of a devout imitation of Him. “Follow Me,” etc. In
the example of Christ there are two points which it is important to look at.
I. The estimate Jesus Christ gave to humanity in contrastwith all the other
objects that engagedHis attention. In comparisonwith the claims of man,
everything else was regardedas subsidiary.
II. His whole careerwas evolvedfrom this centralconceptionin regard to
humanity. To save men-that was His mission. I must work-thatwas His motto.
These thoughts were always presentto His mind. Our grand central
controlling purpose must be the imitation of the Master, in striving to become
the servantof all.
1. Christian work must so far resemble Christ’s work as to be inspired with
the soulof earnestness.
2. The possessionofyearning pity and interest in humanity.
3. The cultivation of a spirit of large self-denial.
4. Persistencyin effort.
5. Prayer. Does this command stir your soul to nobler work and better service,
etc.? What is your response? (W. Kelynack.)

Follow Me
I. Whom? Notsimply a human teacher, but Jesus, who qualified Himself by
His earthly life, with its temptations, toil, and suffering, to be the efficient
leaderof men.
II. How? We cannotfollow His personas the disciples did; but we may-Obey
His precepts and copy His example.
III. Why? We cannot direct our own course-there is no leader equal to Christ-
if we follow Him we shall be in goodcompany. Only thus can we escape
spiritual danger and eternaldeath.
IV. Whither? To God: “I am the way,” etc. To heaven: “In My:Father’s
house,” etc.
V. When? Now. Always. (Seeds and Saplings.)
The attractive face of Jesus
In lower human forms this magnetic attractionof man on man is not
unknown. It is the orator’s power. The orators of revolutions-men like
Mirabeau-are full chargedwith it; they are like jars laden with electric fire;
there is that in their words which flashes out, and stirs, sways, and rules
mankind. Christ constitutes in a still higher form the great Captain’s power.
(J. B. Brown, B. A.)
Fishers of men.-
Ministers fishers of men

I. The appropriateness of the figure. The world is the sea, the scene of their
labours.
II. The duty to be discharged. This net must be employed-constantly,
diligently, skilfully.
1. Let the Christian fisherman rightly understand his net, and the appointed
way of using it.
2. Let successbe the grand object of attention.
3. Be cheerfully devoted to the work.
4. Our resourcesare infinite and exhaustless. (Dr. Burns.)
Fishers of men
1. To fish well, it is necessaryto study the peculiarities of fish.
2. You must go to the fish. (Beecher.)
Scientific knowledge not enoughfor the preacher
It is necessaryto know more than the science ofichthyology. What a book can
tell a man about fishing is worth knowing, but it is little that a book cando
towards making a man a true fisherman. If a man is going to fish for fish, he
must become their scholarbefore he becomes their master; he must go to
schoolin the brook, to learn its ways. And to fish for men, a man must learn
their nature, their prejudices, their tendencies, and their courses. Aman, to
catchfish, must not only know their habits, but their tastes and their resorts;
he must humour them according to their different natures, and adapt his
instruments according to their peculiarities-providing a spearfor some, a
hook for others, a net for others, and baits for eachone, as eachone will. To
sit on a bank or deck, and sayto the fishes, “Here I am, authorized to
command you to come to me and to bite what I give you,” is just as ridiculous
as it can be, even though it does resemble some ways of preaching. The
Christian’s business is not to stand in an appointed place and say to men,
“Here am I come up and take what I give you as you should.” The Christian’s

business is to find out what men are, and to take them by that which they will
bite at. (Beecher.)
Fishers of men
Christ came upon these men when they were busy at their everyday work. He
saw them casting net into the sea. His eye is upon us in all the work we do in
the world. And as:He looks upon us, so He calls us. It is true we may be so
absorbedin other pursuits as not to hear the call.
I. What was His call? They were to leave their work that they might engage in
higher work.
II. How shall we hope to be successful?
1. We must follow Christ.
2. We must submit to His teaching and influence.
3. Christ only can qualify us for the work. (A. Thomas.)
Industry an indication of worth
Whether, as He watchedthem putting out the net, He saw signs, whichwere
indications to His penetrating and prophetic eye of fitness for the higher work
to which they were to be called, we cannottell. It is possible. Fora very small
thing will serve as a revelation of characterto those who are keen-sighted, and
who understand how the little is allied to the great. Just as a student like
Owenwill constructthe entire skeletonif you give him a single bone, so the
master, in the study of the human nature, will often be able to give a fair
judgment of the whole characterif he sees only what many would regard as
casualand meaningless acts. (A. Thomas.)
Men miss the call of Christ through over occupation
You cannot attend to many things at once. There may be a glow of heavenly
light on the mountain-top, but it will be nothing to the man whose eyes are

fixed on the path along which he is painfully toiling. There may be the sound
of sweetmusic carried on the night breezes;but it will be lost upon those who
are disputing loudly and striving angrily with eachother. (A. Thomas.)
1. A fisherman must be acquainted with the sea-we must know the locality in
which we have to work.
2. A fisherman must also know how to allure fish.
3. The fisherman must be a man who can wait with patience.
4. A fisherman is one who must run hazards.
5. The fisherman must be one who has learned both how to persevere and how
to expect. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A fisherman must also know how to allure the fish.
I saw on Lake Come, when we visited Bellagio, some men fishing. They had
torches burning in their boats, and the fish were attractedto them by the
glare of the light. You must know how to getthe fish together. You know there
is such a thing as the ground-bait for the fishes. You must know how to allure
men. The preacher does this by using images, symbols, and illustrations. You
must know how to catch the fish, throwing out first. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Church enriched from the ranks of poverty.-
A few years ago, on a wintry morning, a boy in the habiliments of poverty
entered an old schoolhouseamong our westernmountains, and avowedto the
master his desire for an education. There was poverty laying one of her
richest gifts on the altar of religion, for that boy was Jonas King. On his
humble shoemaker’sbench, Carey laid the foundation of British Baptist
Missions. JohnNewtonfound in his congregationan unfriended Scotchbey,
whose soulwas then glowing with new-born love to Christ. He took him to
John Thornton, one of those noble merchants whose wealth, whose piety, and
whose beneficence increasedtogether. Theyeducatedhim, and that boy
became Claudius Buchanan, whose name India will bless when the names of

Clive and Hastings are forgotten. John Bunyan was a gift of poverty to the
Church. Zwingle came forth from an Alpine shepherd’s cabin; Melanethon
from an armourer’s workshop;Luther from a miner’s cottage;the apostles,
some of them, from fishermen’s huts. These are the gifts of poverty to the
Church. (Dr. d. Harris.)
Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible
And he saith unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you fishers of
men.
After me ... That is, after Christ, is every disciple's true place. The place of
every disciple is behind his Lord, as a follower. Later, Peterwas to forsake
this place and be rebuked by Christ who said, "Getthee behind me, Satan!"
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
And he saith unto them, follow me,.... These two brethren had been the
disciples of John, as Theophylact thinks, and which seems agreeable to John
1:35 and though through John's pointing out Christ unto them, they had some
knowledge ofhim, and conversationwith him, yet they abode with him but for
that day, John 1:37 and afterwards returned to their master; and upon his
imprisonment, betook themselves to their former employment: from whence
Christ now calls them to be his disciples, saying "follow me", or "come after
me": that is, be a disciple of mine; see Luke 14:27. And to encourage them to
it, makes use of this argument; "and", or "for", I "will make you fishers of
men": you shall be fishers still, but in a higher sense;and in a far more noble
employment, and to much better purpose. The net they were to spreadand
castwas the Gospel, see Matthew 13:47 for Christ made them not ‫יגייד‬ ‫,הרות‬
"fishers of the law", to use the words of MaimonidesF7, but fishers of the
Gospel. The sea into which they were to castthe net was first Judea, and then
the whole world; the fish they were to catchwere the souls of men, both

among Jews andGentiles; of whose conversionand faith they were to be the
happy instruments: now none could make them fishers in this sense, or fit
them for such service, and succeedthem in it, but Christ; and who here
promises it unto them.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he saith unto them, Follow me — rather, as the same expressionis
rendered in Mark, “Come ye after Me” (Mark 1:17).
and I will make you fishers of men — raising them from a lower to a higher
fishing, as David was from a lowerto a higher feeding (Psalm78:70-72).
John Lightfoot's Commentary on the Gospels
19. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
[Fishers of men.] This phrase is something agreeable with that of Maimonides
upon the Talmud, A fisher of the law.
Robertson's WordPictures in the New Testament
Fishers of men (αλεεις αντρωπων — haleeis anthrōpōn). Andrew and Simon
were fishers by trade. They had already become disciples of Jesus (John1:35-
42), but now they are called upon to leave their business and to follow Jesus in
his travels and work. These two brothers promptly (ευτεως — eutheōs)
acceptedthe calland challenge of Jesus.
The Fourfold Gospel
And he saith unto them, Come ye after me1, and I will make you fishers of
men.

Come ye after me, etc. See .
James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary
FISHERS OF MEN
‘I will make you fishers of men.’
Matthew 4:19
The objectof the preaching of the Gospelis to catch men.
I. Only Christ can make fishers of men.—Christian people should be willing
to give up their cleverestandbrightest boy to preachthe Gospel, but when
they have done all, all is not done, for it is only Christ who can make ‘fishers
of men.’ ‘Apart from Me,’says the Lord, ‘ye can do nothing’ (St. John 15:5,
R.V.). Christ is indispensable;we cannotdo without Him.
II. Hiding selfis the secretofcatching men.—The true fisherman will tell you
his greatsecretis to hide himself: and certainly self-forgetfulness is the
essenceofthe highestpreaching. If the preacherdoes not forgethimself his
hearers will not. Sometimes men are caught by some consistentlife and not by
preaching.
III. Without love men cannot be caught.—Youremember how in St. John 21
our Lord asks St. Peterthree times the same question—‘Lovestthou Me?’
The Greek wordtranslated ‘love’ in Matthew 4:15-16, is not quite the same.
In Matthew 4:15 our Lord says to St. Peter, ‘Lovest thou Me more than
these?’St. Peteranswers, ‘Yea, Lord; Thou knowestthat Thou art dear to
me.’ Then in Matthew 4:16 our Lord says the secondtime, ‘Lovest thou Me?’
St. Peteranswers, ‘Yea, Lord; Thou knowest Thouart dear to me.’ Then the
third time Christ uses St. Peter’s own word, ‘Am I dear to thee?’And St.
Peterreplies, ‘Lord, Thou knowestallthings; Thou knowestthat Thou art
dear to me.’ If Christ is dear to us, then and only then shall we win souls for
Him.
—The Rev. F. Harper.

Illustrations
(1) ‘An old man was trout-fishing, pulling them out one after another briskly.
“You manage it cleverly, old friend,” said a passer-by;“I have passeda good
many below who do not seemto be doing anything.” The old man lifted
himself up, and stuck his rod in the ground. “Well, you see, sir, there be three
rules for trout-fishing; and ’tis no use trying if you don’t mind them. The first
is, keepyourself out of sight. The secondis, keepyourself further out of sight.
And the third is, keepyourself further out of sight still. Then you’ll do it.”’
(2) ‘The density of shoals of fish in the Sea of Galilee canscarcelybe conceived
by those who have not witnessedthem. Frequently these shoals coveran acre
or more of the surface, and the fish, as they move along slowlyin masses,are
so crowded, with their back fins just appearing on the level of the water, that
the appearance ata little distance is that of a violent showerof rain pattering
on the surface. We obtained fourteen species offish in the lake, and probably
the number inhabiting it is at leastthree times as great.’
(SECOND OUTLINE)
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY
This incident brings to our mind three distinct points in connectionwith the
Christian ministry.
I. The aim of the ministry.—As fish in the waters, so the souls of men are
plunged and wandering in this world of sin, both oceans equally vast, and
alike troubled and agitated. To ‘deliver them from this present evil world’ and
gather them into the Kingdom of God is the task of the minister of the Gospel,
and the aim of all his efforts. The true aim of this vocationis the salvationof
souls. The missionof the minister has various aspects;his means of actionare
diverse; but all must be subordinate to the supreme end we have mentioned
and defined.
II. The source ofits efficacy.—‘Iwill make you fishers of men.’ This promise
sums up the whole of the work of grace whichChrist accomplishedin His
disciples, and which He accomplishes still in every minister of the Gospelwho
is worthy of the name. Let us mark its principal stages.

(1) Conversion. To become fishers of men we must, as it were, have been
caught ourselves.
(2) Calling. ‘Ye have not chosenMe, but I have chosenyou,’ said Jesus to His
disciples.
(3) Preparation and spiritual education. The education of the disciples was, if
not the most brilliant, at any rate the most important, part of Christ’s
ministry, and the triumph of His charity and wisdom.
(4) He grants success.
III. The condition of its efficacy.—‘Follow Me.’Follow Jesus, thatwas in
reality the sole business of the apostles, andit is also ours.
What is faith? Following Jesus withthe thought.
Love? Following Jesus with the heart.
Obedience? Following Jesus with the will.
Sanctification? Following in His steps and imitating His example.
Self-denial, the spirit of sacrifice? Leaving all to follow Him, as did the
fishermen of the sea of Galilee.
John Trapp Complete Commentary
19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Ver. 19. He saith unto them, Follow me] And togetherwith his word there
went forth a power inclining them to follow, whereby it appears that they
were not only of the many that are called, but of those few that are chosen,
Luke 6:13; Matthew 22:14;"The Lord knowethwho are his," saith St Paul.

But this knowing of his is carriedsecret, as a river underground, till by
effectualcalling he separates them from the rest, till they can "callupon the
name of the Lord and depart from evil," 2 Timothy 2:19. This when they are
once taught of Christ they must be acting;when he hath tuned and touched
us, we must make music, and while the Spirit embreathes us, we must turn
about as the mill, and follow the Lamb wheresoeverhe goeth, as these
disciples did, Revelation4:4.
And I will make you fishers of men] Of live men, Luke 5:10, ανθρωπους
ζωγρων, as fishers desire to catchfish alive, because they are more vendible:
an apt metaphor, wherein, 1. The world is comparedto the sea, for its
unsettledness, tumultuousness, the oppressionthat is in it (the lesserfishbeing
devoured by the greater), and the swaythat Leviathan, the devil, bears there,
Psalms 104:26;Psalms 2:1-12. The Church is compared to a boat, because it is
continually tossedwith the waves ofaffliction, as Noah, Jonah, the disciples,
Paul, and those seafaring men, "that staggerlike a drunken man," and all
their cunning is gone, Psalms 107:27;Psalms 3:1-8. The fish to be caught out
of this sea and to be brought into this ship are men, John 1:42; Matthew 8:24.
Nature hath, as it were, spawnedus forth into this worldly sea;where we
drink iniquity like water, wandering confusedlyup and down, till caught and
castinto the fish pool for the Master’s use and service. Unwittingly we are
caught, and unwillingly we are kept, as fishes labour to get out of the net and
would fain leap back out of the boat into the water. 4. Ministers are fishers. A
busy profession, a toilsome calling, no idle man’s occupation, as the Vulgate
conceitit, nor needless trade, takenup alate, to pick a living out of. Let God’s
fishermen busy themselves as they must, sometimes in preparing, sometimes
in mending, sometimes in casting abroad, sometimes in drawing in the net,
"that they may separate the precious from the vile," &c., Jeremiah15:19;
Matthew 13:48; and no man shall have just cause to twit them with idleness,
or to saythey have an easylife, and that it is neither sin nor pity to defraud
them.

Sermon Bible Commentary
Matthew 4:19
Christ's Training of the Ministers of the Word.
I. Who are they that are chosenby our Lord to receive the signalbenefit of
training in His school? Notone of the twelve is a priest or a priest's son. There
is not a man with Pharisaic relationshipamong them. They were all
"provincials" of a very decided type, plainly as strange to the springs of
metropolitan power and habit as though they had never been to the chief city
of the people. In the possessionoffaith and hope and love they were all
alike—andin nothing else. Christ did not, never does, callduplicates, but
men, individuals, having an absolutely original "make," bent, bias, or
personalforce in them.
II. Note the means adopted by our Lord in equipping the Apostles for His
service:(1) A constant and habitual companionship with Himself; (2) the
Gospelaccounts fully demonstrate that unselfish and helpful work for men
formed a most essentialfactorin the education of the first disciples for the
duties of the apostolate;(3) a third potent agentin the upbuilding of the
characterof these first Gospelfishermen is disclosedin the sharp sorrows,
sudden shocks,and painful and repeated sufferings they encounteredin the
way of their useful and helping work for men; (4) these men were fitted for
their work by their deepening experience of the powerand riches of the life of
Christ.
III. And for what is all this prolonged and varied discipline? What is the
Teacher's aim? Clearly, concisely, and comprehensivelyis it stated in this
guiding word of the Preacher. It is to catchmen. The aim is directly at men.
Man fills the whole vision; the steadfastgaze is on him, the anxious work is for
him, the lengthened discipline is for him. As Jesus came to save men, so His
servants are sentout on precisely the same errand. He lives for men. We have
to do the same. It is eachman for Christ, and the whole of eachman for
Christ. That is the aim of every minister who knows what He has to do, as it is
the well-defined purpose of Christ in calling him and training him for the
ministry.

J. Clifford, Christian World Pulpit, vol. vi., p. 257.
Christ's call to us is essentiallythat which He addressedto these first disciples.
I. What was His call to them? It was this—they were to leave their work that
they might engage in a higher work. The secularwas to be exchangedfor the
spiritual. They were fishers. Henceforth, they were to be something more than
fishers. They were to become fishers of men. And that, I say, is the call He
addresses to us.
II. "How is that so?" you may ask. "Are we all to abandon the work which we
are doing? Is the child at schoolto leave his books, andthe clerk his desk, and
the workmanhis tools, and the painter his brushes and easel?and are we all
to become preachers or missionaries?"Ofcourse that would be impossible.
We should not be too quick to conclude that because we do not like the
drudgery of our secularwork, or meet with indifferent successin it, we are
therefore designedfor something higher and more sacred. Other things being
equal, it is more likely that Christ will callto His side those who have
prospered in their worldly undertakings, than those who have not prospered.
Do not suppose that it was because Peter's heartwas not in his work, or
because he was clumsy with his net, that he was calledto be one of the twelve.
In the Kingdom there is need for the capable men, as well as room for the
feeble and the incompetent. The summons to all men is not to forsake
altogethertheir secularwork. In what sense, then, is their work to be given up
and exchangedfor a higher work? In this sense, that it is no longer to be the
end of their life, the final objectof ambition and endeavour. What was an end
becomes, in the case ofthose who hear the call of Christ, no more an end, but
a means.
III. "Fishers of men"—that is what we must be if our Master's ends are to be
ours. Forthis is what He was—a Fisherofmen. And His disciples are to
follow Him, and they are to follow Him not merely that they may be safe
under His protection, or that they may be happy in His companionship and
sympathy, but that they may share in His work, that they may make His holy
mission their own. And how shall we hope to be successfulin it? Note these

two conditions—which, really, are one: (1) We must follow Christ, and (2) we
must submit to His teaching and influence.
Arnold Thomas, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xvi., p. 8.
References:Matthew 4:19.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxii., No. 1906;Ibid.,
My Sermon Notes:Gospels and Acts, p. 12; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iii., p.
240;vol. vii., p. 279;H. Jones, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxii., p. 17; D. B.
Hooke, Ibid., vol. xxiv., p. 261;J. de KewerWilliams, Ibid., p. 132;J. H.
Shakespeare,Ibid., vol. xxvii., p. 278;H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2,673.
Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomonof the New Testament
Matthew 4:19. δεῦτε, come ye) This word has the force of calling combined
with the idea of the present moment; see Matthew 11:28, Matthew 21:38, etc.
This is evident from the singular δεῦρο, hither.— ποιήσω, κ. τ. λ., I will make,
etc.)The authority of Jesus Christ[is here asserted].— ἁλιεῖς, fishers)See
Jeremiah16:16.
Matthew Poole's EnglishAnnotations on the Holy Bible
Here was their call to the office of apostles. It is observable that God’s calls of
men to places of dignity and honour, and his appearances offavour to them,
have ordinarily been when they have been busied in the honest employments
of their callings. Saul was seeking his father’s asses, Davidkeeping his father’s
sheep, when the Lord calledthem to the kingdom. The shepherds were
feeding their flocks whenthey had the revelationof Christ. He calleth four
apostles from their fishery; Amos from amongstthe herdmen of Tekoa;
Matthew from the receiptof custom; Moseswhenkeeping Jethro’s flock,
Exodus 3:1,2; Gideonfrom the threshing floor, Jude 6:11. God never
encouragesidleness, but despisethnot persons in meanestemployments.
Follow me, that is, to return no more to your employment.

I will make you fishers of men: here is the work of ministers setout, to gain
souls to God; they are not to fish merely for a livelihood, much less for honour
and applause to themselves, but to win souls to God, and are to bait their
hooks and order their nets to this end, which they will never serve, if either by
generaldiscourses theymake the meshes so wide that all will dart through
them, or if by their wit and learning they make their discourses so fine and
curious that few or none of their hearers canunderstand them. Nor will all
our art make us fishers of men: I will make you, saith Christ. Paul may plant,
and Apollos may water, Godmust give the increase. Butyet we must order
our nets rationally and probably in order to our end, and without that cannot
expectGod’s blessings. Norwere the apostles presentlyto enter upon the
work of the ministry, but first to follow him. And indeed such should all
gospelministers be. In the choice ofMatthias, Peterlimited the people in their
electionto those that had accompaniedwith them all the time the Lord Jesus
went in and out amongstthem, Acts 1:21. Other ministers commonly prove
fishers for something else, not for the souls of men.
Justin Edwards' Family Bible New Testament
Fishers of men; the means of taking them out of the kingdom of Satan, and
bringing them into the kingdom of Christ.
Cambridge Greek Testamentfor Schools andColleges
19. δεῦτε. Frequent in Homer and in lyric poets. It was usedas an ‘animating
interjection’ (Buttmann), without any necessaryconnectionwith movement,
as ἔρως με δεῦτε Κύπριδος ἕκατι | γλυκὸς κατείβωνκαρδίανἰαίνει. Alcman.
(Buttmann, Lex. 316–319.)This word is an instance of epic influence on
Alexandrine Greek as it is not Attic: in N.T. it is rare except in this Gospel.
ἁλιεῖς ἀνθρώπων. A condensedparable explicitly drawn out, ch. Matthew
13:47-50. Cp. Jeremiah16:16, ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω τοὺς ἁλιεῖς τοὺς πολλούς,
λέγει κύπιος καὶ ἁλιεύσουσιναὐτούς.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible
19. Fishers of men — The comparisonof the preacherto the fisherman, as
derived from this passage, wasa favourite idea with the early writers of the
Christian Church. Fish in the waters are as sinners in the world. It is the
preacher’s art so to bait the hook of divine truth as that, with ready appetite,
the sinner will receive it and be captured for salvation. Hence there was a
striking accordance, andperhaps even an intended typeism, betweenthe early
engagements ofthese men and their subsequent professionas apostles.
PeterPett's Commentary on the Bible
‘And he says to them, “You come after me, and I will make you fishers of
men.” ’
So Jesus approachedthem and calledthem to leave everything and follow
Him. Once they had done so, He promised, He would make them ‘fishers of
men’. All knew what He meant. He was calling them to a long term
commitment. They were to learn from Him and then become evangelists and
teachers, themselves calling men to follow Him, and passing judgment on
those who refused to do so (Matthew 10:14). By this He was making clearHis
own unique authority, and His right to call men to do His bidding without
question. Only Someone very conscious ofGod’s authority would have felt
able to behave in this way, for we note that the only reward was to be that
they would be fishers of men, in His Name (Matthew 5:11).
The callfor them to become fishers of men may be seenas connecting with
Jeremiah16:16, which were words spokenconcerning ‘the last days’ (and
therefore, to the Gospelwriters, the days of Jesus). ‘BeholdI will send for
many fishermen, says the Lord, and they will fish them’. However, the words
of Jeremiah primarily had judgment in mind, and while that would certainly
be one of the responsibilities of the disciples (Matthew 10:14) it was only the
darker side. For Jesus had now come with a more positive messageas well.
Before judgment must come the offer of salvation(Isaiah 61:2 a, compare its
use by Jesus in Luke 4:19-20). In contrastto Jeremiahwe have the prophecy
in Ezekiel47:10 where the outflowing of the river of life from the Temple
results in many fish which will be fished by the Lord’s people who will spread

their nets to take them. So the acceptable yearof the Lord and of salvation is
to precede the Day of vengeance (Luke 4:19). And as always when God is
about to judge men, some are also to be wonto righteousness by His
judgments. Thus these Apostles will have a twofoldministry, being called to
win men to righteousness,while also consigning those who refuse their words
to judgment. Even while taking men alive for Christ, they would necessarily
become the cause of judgment on those who refused (Matthew 10:14). For
they are drenched not only with the Holy Spirit but with fire (Matthew 3:11).
We canalso compare here the parable of the casting of the net in Matthew
13:47-50. Thattoo has fishers of men in mind. But there those who castthe net
are the angels at the end of the age. Neverthelessthe same principles apply.
The net catches both goodand bad, and those caught are judged by how they
have responded to the Good News ofthe Kingly Rule of Heaven. By this it is
made clearthat what the people of Godwill begin and continue, the angels
will finalise.
Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Matthew 4:19. Come ye after me. This call is to be distinguished from the
previous acquaintanceshipand discipleship (John 1), and also from the later
choice and call to the apostleship(Matthew 10). The call is thus expanded: ‘1.
An invitation to full communion with Him; 2. A demand of perfect self-
renunciation for His sake;3. An announcement of a new sphere of activity
under Him; 4. A promise of rich reward from Him. The callof Jesus to follow
Him, 1. A call to faith; 2. A call to labor; 3. A callto suffering and cross-
bearing; 4. A call to our blessedhome.’(Lange.)This call to personal
attendance, probably in all cases precededthe call to the apostleship. Even
this office did not obtain full validity until the day of Pentecost, whenthe
Church was organized, or, strictly speaking, reorganized. The Twelve were
gradually prepared for their work. Paul’s case is exceptional.
I will make you. His power, not their ability, made them what they became.

Fishers of men. ‘The main points of resemblance cannotbe mistaken, such as
the value of the object, the necessityof skill as well as strength, of vigilance as
well as labor, with an implication, if not an explicit promise, of abundance and
successin their new fishery.’ (J. A. Alexander.) Our Lord uses human agents;
even He did not labor alone. Let no one assume to be independent of others in
any goodwork.
George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary
Christ here makes an allusion to the prior occupationof his apostles. David, in
his Psalms, makes similarallusions to his former occupationof shepherd: "He
took him from the flocks of sheep, he brought him from following the ewes big
with young, to feed Jacob, his servant, and Israel, his inheritance." (Psalm
lxxvii. ver. 70.)(Menochius)
E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes
fishers of men. A Talmudic expression:"A fisher of the Law" (Maimonides,
Torah, cap. I).
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged
And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
And he saith unto them, Follow me - rather, as the same expressionis
rendered in Mark, "Come ye after me" [ Deute (Greek #1205)opisoo (Greek
#3694)mou (Greek #3450)] - and I will make you fishers of men - raising them
from a lowerto a higher fishing, as David was from a lowerto a higher
feeding (Psalms 78:70-72).
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(19) Follow me.—The command came, as we have seen, to those who were not
unprepared. Short as it was, it was in some sense the first parable in our

Lord’s teaching, the germ of an actualparable (Matthew 13:47). It suggested
a whole circle of thoughts. The sea is the troubled and evil world (Isaiah
57:20), and the souls of men are the fish that have to be caught and taken
from it, and the net is the Church of Christ. The figure had been used before
(Jeremiah 16:16), but then it had presented its darker aspect, and the “fishers
of men” were their captors and enslavers. The earliestextant hymn of the
Church, by Clement of Alexandria, dwells on the image with a rich and
suggestive playfulness. Christ is thus addressed:—
“Fisherof men, the blest,
Out of the world’s unrest,
Out of sin’s troubled sea
Taking us, Lord, to Thee;
Out of the waves ofstrife,
With bait of blissful life,
Drawing Thy nets to shore
With choicestfish, good store.”
Follow
8:22; 9:9; 16:24;19:21; Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27; 9:59; John 1:43; 12:26;John
21:22
I will
Ezekiel47:9,10;Mark 1:17,18;Luke 5:10,11;1 Corinthians 9:20-22;2
Corinthians 12:16
The Bible Study New Testament

Come with me. They had continued to fish. Now they are formally called to
devote all their time to a new work. They are to become apostles—special
messengersofChrist.
E.M. Zerr's Commentary on SelectedBooksofthe New Testament
We note that the Lord did not say anything to these men as to their personal
conduct. They had alreadybeen converted by John and hence nothing was
wanting along that line. John"s work was to "prepare the way of the Lord"
by persuading men and women to repent and be baptized. That made it
entirely proper for Jesus to call upon them to enter the work for which they
had been prepared. Make you fishers of men. That was a psychologicalappeal
to these men in view of their usual occupation. Jesus did not belittle or even
criticize their business, but only promised to give them an improved-
opportunity to work at the trade of fishing. He intended for them to have
better bait (spiritual meat) and take more valuable fish, the souls of men.
The Making of Men-catchers
And he saith unto them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Matthew 4:19
CONVERSION is mostfully displayed when it leads converts to seek the
conversionof others: we most truly follow Christ when we become fishers of
men.
The greatquestion is not so much what we are naturally, as what Jesus makes
us by his grace:whoeverwe may be of ourselves, we can, by following Jesus,
be made useful in his kingdom.
Our desire should be to be men-catchers;and the way to attain to that sacred
art is to be ourselves thoroughly captured by the greatHead of the College of
Fishermen. When Jesus draws us we shall draw men.

I. SOMETHING TO BE DONE BY US. "Follow me."
1. We must be separatedto him, that we may pursue his object.
We cannotfollow him unless we leave others (Matt. 6:4).
We must belong to him, that his design may be our design.
2. We must abide with him, that we may catchhis spirit.
The closerour communion with Christ, the greaterour powerwith souls.
Nearfollowing means full fellowship.
3. We must obey him, that we may learn his method.
Teachwhat he taught (Matt. 28:20).
Teachas he taught (Matt. 11:29;1 Thess. 2:7).
Teachsuchas he taught, namely, the poor, the base, children, etc.
4. We must believe him, that we may believe true doctrine.
Christ's own teaching catches men; let us repeatit.
Faith in Jesus on our part is a greatforce to begetfaith.

5. We must copy his life, that we may win his blessing from God; for God
blesses those who are like his Son.
II. SOMETHING TO BE DONE BY HIM. "I will make you."
Our following Jesus secures oureducationfor soul-winning.
1. By our following Jesus he works convictionand conversionin men; he uses
our example as a means to this end.
2. By our discipleship the Lord makes us fit to be used.
True soul-winners are not self-made, but Christ-made.
The making of men-catchers is a high form of creation.
3. By our personalexperience in following Jesus he instructs us till we become
proficient in the holy art of soul-winning.
4. By inward monitions he guides us what, when, and where to speak.
These must be followedup carefully if we would win men.
5. By his Spirit he qualifies us to reachmen.
The Spirit comes to us by our keeping close to Christ.
6. By his secretworking onmen's hearts he speeds us in our work.

He makes us true fishers by inclining men to enter the gospelnet.
III. A FIGURE INSTRUCTINGUS. "Fishers of men. " The man who saves
souls is like a fisher upon the sea.
1. A fisher is dependent and trustful.
2. He is diligent and persevering.
3. He is intelligent and watchful.
4. He is laborious and self-denying.
5. He is daring, and is not afraid to venture upon a dangerous sea.
6. He is successful. He is no fisher who never catches anything.
See the ordination of successfulministers. They are made, not born: made by
God, and not by mere human training.
See how we can partake in the Lord's work, and be specimens of his
workmanship: "Follow me, and I will make you. "
Hooks
I love your meetings for prayer, you cannot have too many of them: but we
must work while we pray, and pray while we work. I would rather see a man,
who has been savedfrom the gulf below, casting life-lines to others struggling
in the maelstrom of death, than on his knees onthat rock thanking God for
his owndeliverance; because Ibelieve God will acceptactionfor others as the

highest possible expressionof gratitude that a savedsoul can offer. —Thomas
Guthrie
Ministers are fishers. A busy profession, a toilsome calling, no idle man's
occupation, as the vulgar conceive it, nor needless trade, taken up at last to
pick a living out of. Let God's fishermen busy themselves as they must,
sometimes in preparing, sometimes in mending, sometimes in casting abroad,
sometimes in drawing in the net, that they may "separatethe precious from
the vile," etc. (Jer. 15:19;Matt. 13:48); and no man shall have just cause to
twit them with idleness, or to say they have an easylife. —John Trapp
The minister is a fisherman. As such he must fit himself for his employment.
If some fish will bite only by day, he must fish by day. If others will bite only
by moonlight, he must fish for them by moonlight. —Richard Cecil
I watchedan old man trout fishing the other day, pulling them out one after
another briskly. "You manage it cleverly, old friend," I said. "I have passeda
goodmany below who don't seemto be doing anything. " The old man lifted
himself up, and stuck his rod in the ground. "Well, you see, Sir, there be three
rules for trout-fishing, and 'tis no goodtrying if you don't mind them. The
first is, Keep yourself out of sight; and the secondis, Keep yourself farther out
of sight; and the third is, Keep yourself farther still out of sight. Then you'll
do it. " "Goodfor catching men, too," thought I. —Mark Guy Pearse
Lord, speak to me, that I may speak
In living echoesofthy tone:
As thou hast sought, so let me seek
Thy erring children, lost and lone.
O lead me, Lord, that I may lead
The wandering and the waywardfeet;
O feed me, Lord, that I may feed

Thy hungering ones with manna sweet.
O strengthen me, that while I stand
Firm on the Rock, and strong in thee,
I may stretchout a loving hand
To wrestlers with the troubled sea
O teachme, 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.
—F. R. Havergal
The best training for a soul-saving minister is preciselythat which he would
follow if his sole objectwere to develop the characterof Christ in himself. The
better the man, the more powerful will his preaching become. As he grows like
Jesus, he will preach like Jesus. Given like purity of motive, tenderness of
heart, and clearnessoffaith, and you will have like force of utterance. The
direct road to success in saving souls is to become like the Savior. The
imitation of Christ is the true art of sacredrhetoric. —C. H. S.
Mr. Jesse relatesthat certainfish give preference to bait that has been
perfumed. When the prince of evil goes forth in quest of victims, there does
not need much allurement added to the common temptations of life to make
them effective. Fishers of men, however, do wellto employ all the skill they
can to suit the minds and tastes of those whom they seek to gain. —G.
McMichael

Charles Hadden Spurgeon
132. The Disowned
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will
say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesiedin thy name? And
in thy name have castout devils? And in thy name done many wonderful
works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me,
ye that work iniquity. Matthew 7:21-23
ONE of the best tests of everything is how it will appear in the moment of
death, in the morning of resurrection, and at the day of judgment. Our Lord
gives us a picture of persons as they will appear "in that day."
Riches, honors, pleasures, successes, self-congratulations, etc., shouldall be set
in the light of "that day."
This test should especiallybe applied to all religious professions andexercises;
for "that day" will try these things as with fire.
The persons here depicted in judgment-light were not gross and open sinners;
but externally they were excellent.
I. THEY WENT A LONG WAY IN RELIGION.
1. They made an open profession. Theysaid, "Lord, Lord."
2. They undertook Christian service, and that of a high class:they habitually
prophesied and workedmiracles.

3. They had obtained remarkable success.
Devils had owned their power.
4. They were noted for their practicalenergy.
They had done many wonders: they were active in many ways.
They had done wonders. Astonished everybody.
5. They were diligently orthodox.
They did everything in the name of Christ. The words "Thy name" are
mentioned three times.
II. THEY KEPT IT UP A LONG WHILE.
1. They were not silencedby men.
No one discoveredtheir falsehood, ordetectedtheir inconsistency.
2. They were not openly disownedby the Lord himself during life.
3. They were not made a laughing-stock by being left to use the holy name
without result (Acts 19:13-17). Devils were castout.

4. They expectedto enter the Kingdom, and they clung to that false hope to
the last. They dared to say, "Lord, Lord," to Christ himself, at the last.
III. THEY WERE FATALLY MISTAKEN.
1. Their tongue was belied by their hand They said, "Lord, Lord," but did not
do the will of the Father.
2. They used the name which is named by disciples, but did not possessthe
nature of obedient servants (Luke 6:46).
3. They prophesied, but did not pray.
4. They castout devils, but the devil was not castout of them.
5. They attended to marvels, but not to essentials.
6. They wrought wonders, but were also workers ofiniquity.
IV. THEY FOUND IT OUT IN A TERRIBLE WAY.
They had the information from the mouth of him whom they called Lord.
Here let us carefully notice:
1. The solemnity of what he said. "I never knew you. " He had been omitted
from their religion. What an oversight!
2. The terror of what it implied: they must depart from all hope, and continue
for everto depart.

3. The awful truth of what he said. They were utter strangers to his heart. He
had not chosenthem, nor communed with them, nor approved them, nor
caredfor them.
4. The solemn fixedness of what he said. His sentence would never be recalled,
altered, or ended. It stood, "depart from me."
Brethren, the Lord cannotsay to some of us that he does not know us, for he
has often heard our voices, and answeredour requests.
He has known us—
In repentance, seeking mercy, and receiving it.
In gratitude, blessing his gracious name.
In adversity, looking for his aid, and enjoying it.
In reproach, owning his cause under ridicule.
In difficulty, seeking help and safetyunder his wing.
In love, enjoying happy fellowship with him.
In these and many other ways he knows us.

Professors, does Jesus know you? The church knows you, the schoolknows
you, the world knows you; does Jesus know you?
Come unto him, ye strangers, and find eternallife in him
Warnings
In many simple works God is more seenthan in wonderful works. The
Pharisee at heaven's gate says, "Lord, I have done many wonderful works in
thy name";but, alas, has he ever made the Lord's name wonderful? —T. T.
Lynch
Pollok describes the hypocritical professoras—
The man that stole the livery of heaven
To serve the devil in.
I knew you well enough for "black sheep," or, rather, for reprobate goats:I
knew you for hirelings and hypocrites, but I never knew you with a special
knowledge oflove, delight, and complacency. I never acknowledged,
approved, and acceptedofyour persons and performances (Ps. 1:6; Rom.
11:2). —John Trapp
Not "I once knew you, but cannot own you now;" but "I never knew you; as
real penitents, suppliants for pardon, humble believers, true followers." —E.
R. Conder
Note our Lord's open confessionbefore men and angels, and speciallyto the
men themselves:"I never knew you." I knew about you; I knew that you
professedgreatthings; but you had no acquaintance with me; and whatever
you knew about me, you did not know me. I was not of your company, and did
not know you. Had he once knownthem, he would not have forgotten them.

Those who accepthis invitation, "Come unto me," shall never hear him say,
"Departfrom me." Workers ofiniquity may now come to the Saviorfor
mercy; but if they set up a hope of their own, and ignore the Savior, he will
bid them depart to endure the rigors of his justice. Is it not striking that
preachers, casters-outofdevils, and doers of wonders, may yet be workers of
iniquity? They may work miracles in Christ's name, and yet have neither part
nor lot in him. —C. H. S.
"Departfrom me,"—a fearful sentence, a terrible separation. "Fromme,"
said Christ, that made myself man for your sakes,that offered my blood for
your redemption. "Fromme," that invited you to mercy, and you would not
acceptit. "From me," that purchased a kingdom of glory for such as believed
on me, and have resolvedto honor their heads with crowns of eternal joy.
"Departfrom me:" from my friendship, my fellowship, my paradise, my
presence, my heaven. —Thomas Adams
Charles Hadden Spurgeon
END OF STUDYLIGHT RESOURCES
How To Become Fishers ofMen
by
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
(1834-1892)
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
[Matthew 4:19]

__________________________________________________________
© Copyright 2013 by Tony Capoccia. This updated file may be freely copied,
printed out, and distributed as long as copyright and source statements
remain intact,
and that it is not sold. All rights reserved.
Verses quoted, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the
HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONALVERSION,
©1984 by the New York Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Bible
Publishers.
__________________________________________________________
When Christ calls us by his grace we must not only remember what we are,
but we must also think of what he can make us into.
Jesus said, “Follow me, and I will make you.” We must repent of what we
have been, and rejoice in what we may become. It is not “Follow me, because
of what you already are.” It is not “Follow me, because youmay make
something of yourselves;” but, rather, “Follow me, because ofwhat I will
make you.” Truly, I might say of eachone of us, as soonas we are converted,
“…whatwe will be has not yet been made known...” [1 John 3:2]. It did not
seema likely thing that lowly fishermen would developinto apostles;that men
so skillful with the fishing net would be quite as much at home in preaching
sermons and instructing converts. One would have said, “How canthese
things be? You cannot make founders of churches out of peasants of Galilee.”
That is exactly what Christ did; and when we are humbled in the sight of God
by a sense of our own unworthiness, we can feelencouragedto follow Jesus
because ofwhat he canmake us into. What saidthe woman of a sorrowful
spirit when she lifted up her song? “He raises the poor from the dust and lifts
the needy from the ashheap; he seats them with princes…” [1 Samuel 2:8]

We cannotknow what God may make of us in the new creation. Who could
have imagined all the beautiful things that came out from darkness and chaos
by that one command, “Let there be light?” And who can tell what lovely
displays of everything that is divinely pleasing may yet appear from a
person’s formerly dark life, when God’s grace has said to them, “Let there be
light?” Oh, you who presently see in yourselves nothing that is desirable, come
and follow Christ for the sake ofwhat he can make out of you. Don’t you hear
his sweetvoice calling to you, and saying, “Follow me, and I will make you
fishers of men?”
Note, next, that we are not yet made everything that we will be, nor everything
that we should desire to be, when we were first fished for and caught. This is
what the grace ofGod does for us at first; but it is not all. We are like the
fishes, making sin to be our element; and the goodLord comes, and with the
gospelnet he catches us, and he delivers us from the life and love of sin. But he
has not done for us all that he cando, nor all that we would wish him to do,
when he has done this; for it is another and a greatermiracle to make us who
were fish to become fishers—to make the saved ones saviors—to make the
convert into a converter—the receiverof the gospelinto an imparter of that
same gospelto other people.
I think I can sayto every one of you—If you are already saved, then the work
is only half done until you are active in bringing others to Christ. You are as
yet only half formed into the image of your Lord. You have not attained to the
full development of the Christ-like life in you unless you have begun in some
feeble way to tell to others of the grace of God: and I trust that you will find
no rest to the sole of your foot until you have been the means of leading many
to that blessedSaviorwho is your confidence and your hope. His word is—
“Follow me,” not merely that you may be saved, nor even that you may be
sanctified; but, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Be following
Christ with that intent and aim; and fear that you are not perfectly following
him, unless in some degree he is making use of you to be fishers of men.

The fact is, that every one of us must be about the business of a catching men
and women for Christ. If Christ has caughtus, we must catchothers. If we
have been apprehended of him, we must be his sheriffs, to apprehend rebels
for him. Let us ask Christ to give us grace to go fishing, and have the ability to
castour nets that we may capture a greatmultitude of fishes. Oh that the
Holy Spirit may raise up from among us some master-fishers, who will sail
their boats in many seas, andsurround great schools offish!
My teaching at this time will be very simple, but I hope it will be highly
practical;for my longing is that none of you, that loves the Lord, would be
reluctant to fish for him.
May it be that all the members of this church, and all the Christians that hear
or read this sermon are fruitful in winning the lost for Christ! The factis, the
day we live in is very dark. The heavens are lowering with heavy
thunderclouds. Men often dream of what storms may soonshake this city, and
the whole socialfabric of this land, even to a generalbreaking up of society.
The night is becoming so dark that the stars may seemto fall like damaged
fruit from the tree. The times are evil. Now, if never before, every glow-worm
or firefly must show its spark. You with the tiniest candle must take it out
from under the bushel, and set it on a candlestick, where it can be seen.
We need all of you. Lot was a poor creature. He was a very, very wretched
kind of believer; but still, he might have been a greatblessing to Sodomhad
he only pleaded for the people there, as he should have done. And the weak
Christians of our day, as I fear many are, need to be prayed for, for we need
every one of these truly converted souls, in these evil days—Oh, let us pray
that eachone of them may glorify the Lord. I pray that every righteous man
and woman, irritated as they are with the conversations ofthe wicked, may be
more persistent in prayer than they has ever been, and draw near to their
God, and get more spiritual life, that they might be a blessing to the people

perishing all around them. I address you, therefore, at this time, first of all to
dwell on this thought. Oh, that the Spirit of God may make eachone of you
feel your personalresponsibility!
Here for believers in Christ, in the order of their usefulness, three things from
our text:
1. First, something for believers to do—Follow Jesus.Jesussaid, “Follow me.”
2. Secondly, something to be done by their greatLord and Master:Jesus said,
“…I will make you fishers of men.” You will not grow into fishers by
yourselves, but this is what Jesus will do for you if you will just follow him.
3. Lastly, we find a goodillustration, from our great Master;for he often
spoke to the people with a parable. He presents us with an illustration of what
Christians should be—fishers of men. We may getsome useful hints out of it,
and I pray the Holy Spirit to bless them to us.
I. First, I will take it for granted that every believer here wants to be useful to
Jesus. If they do not, I would question whether they could be a true believerin
Christ. Well, if you want to be really useful, here is SOMETHING FOR YOU
TO DO TO THAT END:“Follow Jesus, and He will make you fishers of
men.”
A young man asked, “Whatis the best way to become an effective preacher?”
One personanswers, “go to seminary.” “But Christ says, “Young man, follow
me, and I will make you a fisher of men.” How is a person to be useful?
“Attend a training-class,” one says. That’s true, but there is a much better
answerthan that—“Follow Jesus, andhe will make you fishers of men.” The
greattraining schoolfor Christian workers has Christ at its teacher;and he is
at its head, not only as a tutor, but as a leader: we are not only to learn of him
in study, but to follow him in action. “Follow me, and I will make you fishers
of men.” The direction is very distinct and plain, and I believe that it is

exclusive, so that no one can become a fisherman by any other process.This
process may appearto be very simple; but assuredly it is most effective. The
Lord Jesus Christ, who knew all about fishing for men, was himself the
Absolute Ruler of the rule, “Follow me, if you want to be fishers of men. If you
want to be useful, follow in my steps.”
1. I understand this, first, in this sense:be separatedunto Christ.
These men were to leave their pursuits; they were to leave their companions;
they were, in fact, to quit the world, that their one business might be, in their
Master’s name, to be fishers of men. We are not all called to leave our daily
business, or to quit our families. That might be rather running awayfrom the
fishery than working at it in God’s name. But we are called most distinctly to
come out from among the ungodly, and to be separate, and not to touch the
unclean thing. We cannot be fishers of men if we remain among men in the
same element with them.
Fish will not be fishers. The sinner will not convert the sinner. The ungodly
man will not convert the ungodly man; and, what is more to the point, the
worldly Christian will not convertthe world. If you are of the world, no doubt
the world will love you as its own; but you cannot save the world. If you walk
in darkness, and belong to the kingdom of darkness, you cannotremove the
darkness. If you march with the armies of the wickedone, you cannot defeat
them. I believe that one reasonwhy the church of the Living God at this
present moment has so little influence over the world is because the world has
so much influence over the church.
Nowadays we hearNominal and Liberal Christians insisting that they may do
this and they may do that—things which their Puritan forefathers would
rather have died at the stake than have tolerated. They claim that they can
live like the world, and my sad answerto them, when they crave for this
liberty, is, “Do it if you dare. It may not do you much more harm, for you are

so bad already. Your cravings show how rotten your hearts really are. If you
have a hungering after such dog food, go, you dogs, and eat the garbage.
Worldly pleasures are fit food for mere pretenders and hypocrites. If you
were God’s children you would hate the very thought of the world’s evil
pleasures, and your question would not be, ‘How far may we be like the
world?’ but your one cry would be, ‘How far can we get awayfrom the
world? How much can we come out from it?’“ Your desire should be to
become very strict in your separationfrom sin, in such a time as this, than to
ask, “How canI make myself like other men, and act as they do?” Brethren,
the use of the church in the world is that it should be like saltin the midst of
rotting; but if the salt has lostits savor, what is the goodof it? If it were
possible for salt itself to go bad, then it could only increase and heighten the
over all rotting taking place. The worstday the world ever saw was when the
sons of God were joined with the daughters of men. Then came the flood; for
the only barrier againsta flood of vengeance onthis world is the separationof
the saint from the sinner. Your duty as a Christian is to stand firm in your
own place and stand out for God, hating even the clothing stained by the
corrupted flesh, resolving like one of our forefathers said, “Let others do as
they will, but as for us and our house, we will serve the Lord.”
Come, you children of God, you must stand with your Lord outside the camp.
Jesus calls to you today, and says, “Follow me.” Was Jesusfound at the
theater? Did he frequent the sporting events or the racetracks? Do youthink
that Jesus was seenin any of the places of amusement and entertainment of
the elite of his day? No, He was not. He was “holy, innocent, undefiled, and
separate from sinners.” Yet, in one sense no one mixed with sinners so
completely as he did when, like a physician, he went among them healing his
patients; but in another sense there was a gulf fixed betweenthe men of the
world and the Savior, which he never attempted to cross, andwhich they
could not cross to defile him.

The first lessonwhichthe church has to learn is this: Follow Jesus into the
separatedstate, and he will make you fishers of men. Unless you take up your
cross and protest againstan ungodly world, you cannothope that the holy
Jesus will make you fishers of men.
2. A secondmeaning of our text is very obviously this: live with Christ, and
then you will be made fishers of men.
These disciples whom Christ called were to come and live with him. They
were to be associatedwith him every day. They were to listen to him publicly
teachthe eternalgospel, and in addition they were to receive special
clarifications, in private, of the Word which he had spoken. They were to be
his personalservants and his close friends. They were to watchhis miracles
and hear his prayers; and, better still, they were to be with him, and become
one with him in his holy work. They were allowedto sit at the table with him,
and even to have their feet washedby him. Many of them fulfilled that word,
“Where you live, I will live:” they were with him in his afflictions and
persecutions. Theywitnessedhis secretagonies;they saw his many tears;they
noted the passionand the compassionofhis soul, and thus, in time, they
caught his spirit, and so they learned to be fishers of men.
At Jesus’feetwe must learn the art and mystery of soul-winning, to live with
Christ is the best education for usefulness. It is a greatadvantage to any
Christian to be associatedwith a Christian minister whose heart is on fire.
The best training for a young man is that which a group of pastors, in the 17th
century, gave, in which eachelderly pastor had a young man with him who
walkedwith him whenever he went up the mountainside to preach, and lived
in the house with him, and listened to his prayers and observedhis daily
holiness. This was a fine instruction, was it not? But it will not compare with
that of the apostles who lived with Jesus himself, and were his daily
companions. Unparalleled was the training of the twelve. No wonder that they
became what they were with such a heavenly tutor to saturate them with his
own spirit! And now today his bodily presence is not among us; but his

spiritual power is perhaps more fully known to us than it was to those apostles
in those two or three years of the Lord’s earthly presence. There are some of
us to whom he is intimately near. We know more about him than we do about
our dearestearthly friends. We have never been quite able to totally
understand our dearestfriend’s heart in all its twists and turns, but we know
the heart of the Jesus Christ. We have leanedour head upon his chest, and
have enjoyed fellowship with him such as we could not have had with any of
our own friends and relatives. This is the surest way of learning how to do
good. Live with Jesus, follow Jesus, and he will make you fishers of men.
Watch how he does the work, and therefore learn how to do it yourself. A
Christian man should be an apprentice to Jesus to learn the trade of a Savior.
We cannever save men by offering a redemption, for we have none to
present; but we can learn how to save men and womenby warning them to
flee from the wrath to come, and setting before them the one greateffective
remedy. Watch how Jesus saves,and you will learn how it is done: You cannot
learn it any other way. Live in fellowshipwith Christ, and people will notice
that you have a certaindemeanor about you, that seems to make you very
capable to teachand to win souls.
3. A third meaning, however, must be given to this “Follow me,” and it is this:
“Obey me, and then you will know what to do to save men.”
We must not talk about our fellowship with Christ, or our being separated
from the world unto him, unless we make him our Masterand Lord in
everything. Some preachers are not true to all of their convictions, so how can
they look for a blessing? A Christian who wants to useful to the Lord, ought to
be very particular as to every point of obedience to his Master. I have no
doubt whatever that Godblesses our churches even when they are somewhat
flawed, for his mercy endures forever. When there is a measure of error in the
teaching, and a measure of mistake in the practice, he may still consentto use
the ministry, for he is very gracious. But a large measure of blessing must
necessarilybe withheld from all teaching, which is knowingly or glaringly
faulty. God can sethis sealupon the truth that is in it, but he cannot sethis

sealupon the error that is in it. Out of mistakes aboutChristian ordinances
and other things, especiallyerrors in heart and spirit, there may come evils,
which we never lookedfor. Such evils may even now be influential on the
present age, and may work worse damage on future generations. If we desire
as fishers of men to be largelyused of God we must copy our Lord Jesus in
everything, and obey him in every point. Failure in obedience may lead to
failure in success. Eachone of us, if he would wish to see his child saved, or his
Sunday-Schoolclass blessed, orhis congregationconverted, must be careful
that, he is a cleaninstrument of the Lord. Anything we do that grieves the
Spirit of Godmust take awayfrom us some part of our powerfor good. The
Lord is very gracious and compassionate;but yet he is a jealous God. He is
sometimes sternly jealous towards his people who are knowinglyneglecting
obedience to certainof his commands, or are in associations, whichare not
cleanin his sight. He will hinder their work, weakentheir strength, and
humble them until they finally say, “My Lord, I will follow you after all. I will
do what you call me to do, or else you will not acceptme.” The Lord said to
his disciples, “Go into all the world and preach the goodnews to all creation.
Whoeverbelieves and is baptized will be saved” [Mark 16:15]. Now, we must
get back to apostolic practice and to apostolic teaching:we must lay aside the
commandments of men and the impulses of our own brains, and we must do
what Christ tells us, as Christ tells us, and because Christtells us. Definitely
and distinctly, we must take the place of servants; and if we will not do that,
we cannot expect our Lord to work with us and through us. Let us be
determined that, as true as the compass needle is to the north pole, so true will
we be, as far as our light goes, to the command of our Lord and Master.
Jesus says—“Followme, and I will make you fishers of men.” By this teaching
he seems to say—“Ifyou go ahead of me, or fall back behind me, and you cast
the net; you will catchnothing. However, when you do as I command you, you
will castyour net on the right side of the boat, and you will find a great
catch.”

4. Again, I think that there is a greatlessonin my text to those who preach
their own thoughts instead of preaching the thoughts of Christ.
These disciples were to follow Christ that they might listen to him, hear what
he had to say, drink in his teaching, and then go and teach what he had taught
them. Their Lord says, “WhatI tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight;
what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs” [Matthew 10:27]. If
they will be faithful messengers ofChrist’s message, he will make them
“fishers of men.” But you know the proud method nowadays is this: “I am not
going to preach this old, old gospel, this musty Puritan doctrine. I will sit
down in my study, and burn the midnight oil, and invent a new theory; then I
will come out with my brand new thought, and blaze awaywith it.”
Many are not following Christ, but following themselves, and of them the
Lord may well say, “You will see whose wordwill stand, mine or theirs.”
Others are wickedlydiscreet, and judge that certain truths, which are clearly
God’s word, had better be kept back. They say, “You must not be harsh, but
must preach friendly things. To talk about the punishment of sin, to speak of
eternal punishment, why, these are unfashionable doctrines. It may be that
they are taught in the Word of God, but they do not suit the intellect of this
age. We must trim them down.”
Brothers in Christ, I will have no part of their wickedness. Willyou? Our
enlightened age believed that they have discoveredcertain things not taught in
the Bible. Evolution may be clearly contrary to the teaching of Genesis, but
that doesn’t matter to them. They are not going to be believers of Scripture,
but original thinkers. This is the arrogantambition of the age we live in. Note
this, in proportion as the modern theologyis preached the depravity of this
generationwill increase. To a greatdegree I attribute the looseness ofour age
to the carelessnessofthe doctrine preachedby its teachers. Fromthe pulpit
they have taught the people that sin is a small thing. From the pulpit these
traitors to God and to his Christ have taught the people that there is no hell to
be feared. A little, little hell, perhaps, there may be; but justified punishment

for sin is made nothing of. The precious atoning sacrifice ofChrist has been
derided and misrepresentedby those who were pledged to preach it. They
have given the people the name of the gospel, but the gospelitself has
evaporatedin their hands.
From hundreds of pulpits the gospelhas disappeared; and still the preachers
take the position and name of Christ’s ministers. Well, and what comes of it?
Why, their congregations grow thinner and thinner; and so it must be. Jesus
says, “Follow me, I will make you fishers of men;” but if you go your own
way, with your own net, you will make nothing of it, and the Lord promises
you no help in it. The Lord’s directions makes himself our leaderand
example. It is, “Follow me, follow me. Preachmy gospel. Preachwhat I
preached. Teachwhat I taught, and keepto that.” Do this, and he will make
you fishers of men; but if you do not do this, you will fish in vain.
5. I close this part of my discourse by saying that we will not be fishers of men
unless we follow Christ in one other respect;and that is, by endeavoring, in all
points, to imitate his holiness.
Holiness is the greatestrealpowerthat canbe possessedby men or women.
We may preachthe truth, but we must also live the truth. God forbid that we
should preachanything else;but it will be all in vain, unless there is a life at
the back of the testimony. An unholy preachermay even render truth
contemptible. In proportion as any of us draw back from a living a zealous
sanctificationwe will draw back from the place of power. Our powerlies in
this word, “Follow me.” Be like Jesus.
In all things endeavorto think, and speak, and act as Jesus did, and he will
make you fishers of men. This will require self-denial. We must daily take up
the cross. This may require willingness to give up our reputation—readiness
to be thought fools, idiots, and the like, as men are apt to call those who are
keeping close to their Master. There must be the cheerful resigning of
everything that looks like honor and personalglory, in order that we may be
completely Christ’s, and glorify his name. We must live his life and be ready
to die his death, if need be. O brothers and sisters, if we do this and follow

Jesus, putting our feet into the footprints of his piercedfeet, he will make us
fishers of men. If it should so please him that we should even die without
having gatheredmany souls to the cross, we will speak from our graves. In
some way or other the Lord will make a holy life to be an influential life. It is
not possible that a life, which can be described as following Christ, should be
an unsuccessfulone in the sight of the MostHigh. “Follow me,” and there is
an “I will” such as God can never draw back from: “Follow me, and I will
make you fishers of men.”
Thus much on the first point. There is something for us to do: we are
graciouslycalledto follow Jesus. Holy Spirit, leadus to do it.
II. But secondly, and briefly, there is SOMETHING FOR THE LORD TO
DO.
1. When his dear servants are following him, he says, “I will make you fishers
of men;” and be it never forgottenthat it is he that makes us follow him; so
that if the following of Christ be the step to being made a fisher of men, yet
this he gives us. ‘It is all of his Spirit. I have talkedabout catching his spirit,
and abiding in him, and obeying him, and listening to him, and copying him;
but none of these things are we capable of apart from his working them all in
us. “…your fruitfulness comes from me” [Hosea 14:8], is a text which we must
not for a moment forget. So, then, if we do follow him, it is he that makes us
follow him; and so he makes us fishers of men.
2. But, further, if we follow Christ he will make us fishers of men by all our
experience.

I am sure that the man who is really consecratedto bless others will be helped
in this by all that he feels, especiallyby his afflictions. I often feel very grateful
to God that I have undergone fearful depressionof spirits. I know the borders
of despair, and the horrible brink of that gulf of darkness into which my feet
have almost gone;but hundreds of times I have been able to give a helpful
grip to brethren and sisters who have come into that same condition, which
grip I could never have given if I had not known their deep despondency.
So I believe that the darkestand most dreadful experience of a child of God
will help him to be a fisher of men if he will but follow Christ. Keep close to
your Lord and he will make every step a blessing to you. If God in providence
should make you rich, he will allow you to speak to those ignorant and wicked
rich who so much abound in this city, and so often are the cause ofits worst
sin. And if the Lord is pleasedto let you be very poor you can go down and
talk to those wickedand ignorant poor people who so often are the cause of
sin in this city, and so greatly need the gospel. The winds of providence will
move you to where you can fish for men and women. The wheels of
providence are full of eyes, and all those eyes will look this way to help us to
be winners of souls. You will often be surprised to find how God has been in a
house that you visit: before you get there, his hand has been at work in its
rooms. When you wish to speak to some particular individual, God’s
providence has been dealing with that individual to make him ready for just
that word which you could say, but which nobody else but you could say.
Oh, be you following Christ, and you will find that he will, by every
experience through which you are passing, make you fishers of men.
3. Further than that, if you will follow him he will make you fishers of men by
distinct warnings of impending dangers in your own heart.
The Holy Spirit warns us of many impending dangers, which are not noticed
by Christians when they are in an indifferent condition; but when the heart is

right with God and living in communion with God, we feel a sacredsensitivity,
so that we do not need the Lord to shout, but his faintestwhisper is heard. No,
he doesn’t even have to whisper, and yet we hear Him.
Oh, how many willful Christians there are who must be controlledtightly with
the bit and bridle, and receive a lash of the whip every now and then! But the
Christian who follows his Lord will be tenderly guided. I do not say that the
Spirit of Godwill say to you, “Go to that chariot,” or that you will hear a
word in your ear; but yet in your soul, as distinctly as the Holy Spirit said to
Philip, “Go to that chariot and staynear it” [Acts 8:29], you will hear the
Lord’s will. As soonas you see an individual, the thought will cross your
mind, “Go and speak to that person.” Every opportunity of usefulness will be
a call to you. If you are ready, the door will open before you, and you will hear
a voice behind you saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” If you have the grace
to run in the right way you will never be long without an inkling as to what
the right wayis. That right way will lead you to river or sea, where you can
castyour net, and be a fisher of men.
4. Then, too, I believe that the Lord meant by this that he would give his
followers the Holy Spirit.
They were to follow him, and then, when they had seenhim ascendinto the
clouds, to the holy place of the MostHigh, they were to stay in Jerusalemfor a
little while, and the Holy Spirit would come upon them and clothe them with
powerfrom on high [Luke 24:49]. This word was spokento Peterand
Andrew; and you know how it was fulfilled to Peter. What a multitude of fish
he brought to land the first time he threw his net in the power of the Holy
Spirit! [John 21:6]. “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Brothers and sisters, we have no conceptionof what God could do through
this congregationofbelievers gatheredin our Church tonight. If right now,
we were to be filled with the Holy Spirit, there are enough of us here, to

evangelize our entire city. There are enough here to be the means of the
salvationof the world. Let us seek a blessing;and if we seek it let us hear his
guiding voice, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
You men and womenthat sit before me today, you are sitting by the shore of a
greatsea of human life swarming with the souls of men and women. You live
in the midst of millions; but if you will follow Jesus, and be faithful to him,
and true to him, and do what he commands you to do, he will make you
fishers of men.
Do not say, “Who will save this city?” The weakestwill be strong enough.
Samson, with a fresh jawbone of a donkey, taken up from the earth where it
was lying bleaching in the sun, killed a thousand Philistines [Judges 15:15-16].
Do not fear, nor be dismayed. Let your responsibilities drive you closerto
your Master. Let the shock ofthe prevailing sins of our land make you look
into his dear face who long ago wept over Jerusalem, and now weeps over our
cities. Take hold of Christ, and never let him go. By the strong and mighty
impulses of the divine life within you, quickened and brought to maturity by
the Holy Spirit of God, learn this lessonfrom your Lord’s own mouth:
“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
You are not fit for such a task, but he will make you fit. You cannot do it by
yourselves, but he will make you do it. You do not know how to spread the
nets and draw schools offish to shore, but he will teach you. Only follow him,
and he will make you fishers of men.
I wish that I could somehow saythis as with a voice of thunder, that the whole
church of God on earth might hear it. I wish I could write it in stars
diagonally acrossthe sky, “Jesus said, Follow me, and I will make you fishers
of men.” If you forgetthe edict, the promise will never be yours. If you follow
some other track, or imitate some other leader, you will fish in vain. God
grant us to believe fully that Jesus cando greatthings in us, and then do great
things by us for the goodof all those around us!

III. The last point you might study in your private meditations with much
benefit. We have here AN ILLUSTRATION FULL OF INSTRUCTION. I
will give you a few thoughts which you can use. “I will make you fishers of
men.” You have been fishers of fish: if you follow me, I will make you fishers
of men.
1. A fisher is a person who is very dependent, and needs to have faith.
He cannot see the fish. One who fishes in the sea must go and throw in the net,
as it were, at an uncertain possibility. Fishing is an act of faith. I have often
seenin the Mediterraneanmen go with their boats and enclose acresofsea
with vast nets; and yet, when they have drawn the net to shore, they have not
had even a whole handful of fish. A few wretchedsilvery nothings have made
up the whole catch. Yet they have gone againand thrown the greatnet several
times a day, hopefully expecting something to come of it.
Nobody is so dependent upon God as a minister of God. Oh, this fishing from
the Church’s pulpit! What a work of faith! I cannot tell that a soul will be
brought to God by it. I cannot judge whether my sermon will be suitable to
the persons who are here, exceptthat I do believe that God will guide me in
the throwing of the net. I expecthim to work salvation, and I depend upon
him for it. I love this complete dependence, and if I could be offered a certain
amount of preaching power, by which I could save sinners, which should be
entirely at my own disposal, I would beg the Lord not to let me have it, for it is
far more delightful to be entirely dependent upon him at all times. It is a
blessedthing to be weak if Christ becomes more fully your strength. Go to
work, you who would be fishers of men, and yet feel your insufficiency. You
that have no strength, attempt this divine work. Your Master’s strengthwill
be seenwhen your own strength is gone. A fisherman is a dependent person,

he must look up for successeverytime he puts the net down; but still he is a
person of faith, and therefore he throws in the net joyfully.
2. A fisherman who makes his living by fishing is a diligent and persevering
man.
The fishers are up at dawn. At daybreak our fishermen are fishing, and they
continue fishing till late in the afternoon. As long as hands can work men will
fish. May the Lord Jesus make us hard working, persevering, unwearied
fishers of men! “Sow your seedin the morning, and at evening time do not let
your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whetherthis or
that…” [Ecclesiastes11:6].
3. The skillful fisherman is intelligent and watchful.
It looks very easy, I dare say, to be a fisherman, but you would find that it was
no child’s play if you were to take a real part in it. There is an art in it, from
the mending of the net right on to the pulling it to shore. How diligent the
fisherman must be to prevent the fish from leaping out of the net! I heard a
greatnoise one night in the sea, as if a giant was beating some huge drum; and
I lookedout, and I saw that the fishermen were beating the waterto drive the
fish into the net, or to keepthem from leaping out of it, while the net was
being closedaround them. Ah, yes! And you and I will often have to be
watching the corners of the gospelnet lestsinners who are almost caught
should make their escape.Theyare very crafty, these fish, and they use this
craftiness in endeavoring to avoid salvation. We will have to be always at our
business, and to exercise allour faculties, and more than our own intellects, if
we are to be successfulfishers of men.
4. The fisherman is a very hard working person.

Being a fisherman is not an easycalling. He does not sit in an armchair and
catchfish. He often has to go out in harsh weather. If a farmer worries about
the clouds he will never sow, likewise, a fisherman that worries about the
clouds will never fish. If we never do any work for Christ except when we feel
up to it, then we will not do much. If we feel that we will not pray because we
cannot pray, we will never pray, and if we say, “I will not preachtoday
because I do not feel that I could preach,” we will never preachany preaching
that is worth the preaching. We must be always at it, until we wearourselves
out, throwing our whole soulinto the work in all circumstances,for Christ’s
sake.
5. The fisherman is a daring man.
He tempts the boisterous sea. A little brine in his face does not hurt him; he
has been wetthrough a thousand times, it is nothing to him. He never
expectedwhen he became a deep-sea fishermanthat he was going to sleepin
the lap of comfort. So the true minister of Christ who fishes for souls will
never mind a little risk. He will be bound to do or say many a thing that is
very unpopular; and some Christian people may even judge his words to be
too severe. He must do and say that which is for the good of souls. It is not his
to entertain a question as to what others will think of his doctrine, or of him;
but in the name of the Almighty God he must feel, “If the sea thunders and
crashes, stillat my Master’s command I will let down the net.”
6. Now, in the last place, the man whom Christ makes a fisher of men is
successful.
“But,” one says, “I have always heard that Christ’s ministers are to be
faithful, but that they cannot be sure of being successful.” Yes, I have heard
that saying too, and in one way I know it is true, but in another way I have my
doubts about it. He that is faithful is, in God’s way and in God’s judgment,
more or less successful.

For instance, here is a brother who says that he is faithful. Of course, I must
believe him, yet I never heard of a sinner being savedunder his ministry.
Indeed, I would think that the safestplace for a person to be in if he did not
want to be savedwould be under this gentleman’s ministry, because he does
not preachanything that is likely to arouse, impress, or convince anybody.
This brother is “faithful:” so he says.
So likewise, if any personin the world saidto you, “I am a fisherman, but I
have never caught anything,” you would wonder how he could be calleda
fisherman. A farmer who never grew any wheat, or any other crop—is he a
farmer? When Jesus Christ says, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of
men,” he means, that you will, really catchmen and women—thatyou really,
will save some;for he that never did catchany fish is not a fisherman. He that
never saved a sinner after years of work is not a minister of Christ. If the
result of his life work is nothing, he made a mistake when he undertook it. Go
with the fire of God in your hand and fling it among the straw, and the straw
will burn. You can be sure of that. Go and scatterthe goodseed:it may not all
fall in fertile places, but some of it will. You canbe sure of that. Go and let
your light shine, and someone’s eye will se the light. You must, you will
succeed. Butremember this is the Lord’s word—”Followme, and I will make
you fishers of men.” Keep close to Jesus, and do as Jesus did, in his spirit, and
he will make you fishers of men.
Conclusion
Perhaps I speak to an attentive hearer who is not converted at all.
Friend, I have the same thing to say to you. You may also follow Christ, and
then he can use you, even you. I don’t know but that he has brought you to
this place that you may be saved, and that in years to come he may make you
speak for his name and glory. Remember how he called Saul of Tarsus, and

made him the apostle to the Gentiles. Recoveredpoachers make the best
gamekeepers;and saved sinners make the most capable preachers.
Oh, that you would run awayfrom your old master, Satan, tonight, without
giving him a minute’s notice; for if you give him any notice, he will hold on to
you. Rush to Jesus, andsay, “Here I am a poor runaway slave!My Lord, I
bear the shacklesstillupon my wrists. Will you setme free, and make me your
own?” Remember, it is written, “…whoevercomesto me I will never drive
away” [John 6:37]. Neverdid a runaway slave come to Christ in the middle of
the night without Jesus taking him in; and he never gave one up back to his
old master. If Jesus makes youfree you will be free indeed. Quickly flee to
Jesus. Maythe Holy Spirit help you, and he will in time make you a winner of
others to his praise! God bless you. Amen.
Added to Bible Bulletin Board’s “SpurgeonCollection” by:
Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
How To Become Fishers ofMen
by
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
(1834-1892)
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

Jesus was the maker of fishers of men

Jesus was the maker of fishers of men

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Jesus was the maker of fishers of men

Similar to Jesus was the maker of fishers of men (20)

More from GLENN PEASE

More from GLENN PEASE (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Jesus was the maker of fishers of men