Are you truly following Jesus? To truly follow Jesus you need to be a “fisher of men”. This refers to Jesus’ call and command to his disciples in the New Testament.
Where Jesus invites and calls them to follow Him and spread the Gospel message to others. In Matthew 4:19, Jesus tells His disciples “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”.
Meaning they would go on to help bring others into a saving personal relationship with Jesus. This highlights the God given mission of Christians to spread the gospel and lead others to Christ. And making disciples and growing God’s kingdom. It emphasizes the importance of outreach, compassion, and sharing the love and teachings of Jesus with others.
In this 2 part series of Bible studies we will look into one of the key requirements of truly following Jesus. There is much more to following Jesus than going to church.
Are You Truly Following Jesus?
Jesus Commands Us To Follow Him
In Matthew 4:19 Jesus told His followers, His disciples, to “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men”. This is the first part of God’s purpose and mission for His followers and His church. To faithfully follow Jesus and be fishers of men. Or to go and share & preach the Gospel to as many others as possible.
There are some key things to understand about this verse. And some important questions also.
Most important to understand that Jesus is not asking His followers to do this. Jesus is calling and commanding them. To truly follow Jesus is to obey everything He commands.
If you are not being fishers of men, or sharing the Gospel with others, then you are not truly following Jesus. You may be following Jesus in many areas of your life, like in your marriage or family or relationships or finances… But if you are not actively sharing Jesus and the Gospel with others, then you are not truly following Jesus yet.
A “fisher of men” is not merely someone who does witnessing occasionally. Or participates in an outreach ministry event or a mission trip a couple of time per year.
Are You Truly Following Jesus?
A Lifestyle of Loving Others & Sharing Jesus
A “fisher of men” is a person who IS a witness for Jesus, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is a person that has the same heart and love and passion for lost people as God does.
It is a person who is constantly sharing God’s love and the Gospel with others. It is not a person that does witnessing or outreach once in awhile. It is a person that is a witness all the time. It is a lifestyle of love and sharing Jesus with others.
Acts 1:8 – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will BE my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
A “fisher of men”and a faithful witness is someone who has the same heart as God for lost people. He or she has God’s love & desire and passion to see lost people come to have a reconciled relationship with God and eternal life.
We need God to touch our hearts and place His love and passion for lost people into us. It is not natural for us to have such a love and passion for others, especially lost sinners.
Are You Truly Following Jesus?
Being A Fisher Of Men & A Faithful Witness
A “fisher of men” is a person who continually prays for and looks for opportunities to share the Good News of Jesus. With as many people as they can. He or she prays for “divine appointments” to share Christ with others.
A fisher of men is someone who is actively sharing the Gospel with others in their daily life. You do not need to be a full time servant like a pastor or missionary. Jesus’ command in Matthew 28:19-20 is to “Go therefore and make disciples…”
The word “go” in this verse means “as you are going”. As you are going through your daily life. As you are working. As you are at school. As you are talking to your neighbors. As you are getting together with family.
Being a faithful witness and a fisher of men is having the same heart as God. And it is living a lifestyle of faithfully being a witness for Jesus.
Are You Truly Following Jesus?
Important Questions About Following Jesus & Being Fishers Of Men
Was Jesus just talking to the original disciples who would become the “apostles” or the heads of the new church in the book of Acts ? Or was Jesus talking to and commanding all of us to follow Him and be fishers of men and share the Gospel with others?
If you look in most churches today, you would think that Jesus was only commanding pastors, or church leaders, or missionaries to carry out the work of sharing the Gospel. Sadly, in many churches today no one is sharing or preaching the Gospel, not even pastors.
The answer to the question of who was Jesus talking to is clearly found in God’s Word.
Read Acts 8:1,4 – it says that “a great persecution came against the church”. The new church was in Jerusalem at the time, very shortly after Jesus dies and rose again to heaven in Acts 1.
Acts 8:1 “On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.“
Acts 8:4 “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.”
Acts 11:19-20 “Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.”
Acts 11:21 “The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.“
Acts 8:1 says that the apostles, the leaders and pastors of the church, stayed in Jerusalem. And the rest of the church, the ordinary people in the church, were scattered to other places.
Now watch what happens in verse 4: “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went“. Preached the word in this verse means they preached the Gospel everywhere they went.You can see this in Acts 11:19-21.
And because of their faithful obedience to Jesus’ commands, God empowered them and blessed them to reach many lost people with the Gospel.
Everyone in the church understood that Jesus called and commanded all of His followers to go and share the Gospel with others. And they all faithfully obeyed Jesus. And God was able to use them to reach a great number of lost people.
This could and should be happening today too! What is it not?
Are You Truly Following Jesus?
Follow Jesus & Be A Fisher Of Men
Every member of the church, all of the regular people of the church, faithfully shared the Gospel. Because they understood clearly that Jesus commanded all of His followers to be “fishers of men”, not just the pastors or leaders of the church.
Because of their faithfulness, even though they suffered and some even died for it, God was able to empower and use them to reach many lost people for Jesus.
“And the LORD added to their number daily those who were being saved.” – Acts 2:47
“The LORD’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the LORD.” – Acts 11:21
Are You Truly Following Jesus?
Be A Fisher of Men
We want to encourage you to be faithful to Jesus. And to obey His command to be a fisher of men. Someone who is actively sharing God’s love and the Gospel wherever you are and go.
If you don’t know how to share the Gospel, there are many tools to help you. Such as Billy Graham’s Steps to Peace With God Gospel tract, or many others.
Notice that Jesus doesn’t say “try your best to be a fisher of men or witness”. He says “Follow me and I will make you a fisher of men.” Jesus is saying that if you follow Him, or if you will obey Him, HE will empower you to share the Gospel with others. He will be there with you, through His Holy Spirit, to empower you and give to you whatever you need to be His witness or “fisher of men”.
If you will do your part and obey Jesus and share the Gospel, the Holy Spirit will empower you:
He will give you power to share the Gospel, and His love & power to BE a faithful witness:
Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
If you don’t know what to say or are anxious:
Matthew 10:19-20 “…do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”
If you are afraid to share Jesus with others:
Acts 4:29-31 (early disciples’ prayer for courage & boldness after Peter and John were arrested and threatened for sharing Jesus) “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus. After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.“
Are You Truly Following Jesus?
Don’t Let Fear Stop You
Don’t let fear stop you from obeying and following Jesus, or from sharing the Gospel with others who desperately need Jesus. God can and will use you in His Kingdom work of reaching lost people.
This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. – John 15:8
Continue Growing Closer to God
Explore these related resources on Intimacy With God(opens in new tab):
- Intimacy With God(opens in new tab) — Discover how to develop a deeper relationship with God.
- Prayer(opens in new tab) — Learn how to develop a deeper and more meaningful prayer life.
- Reading the Bible and Bible Study(opens in new tab) — Learn how to read, understand, and apply God’s Word.
- Hearing God’s Voice(opens in new tab) — Learn how to recognize God’s leading and discern His voice through Scripture.
- Worship(opens in new tab) — Discover how worship can become a lifestyle.
- Seeking God(opens in new tab) — Learn what it means to seek God wholeheartedly.
- Knowing God Personally(opens in new tab) — Discover what it means to have a personal relationship with God.
- Spiritual Growth(opens in new tab) – What is spiritual growth? How can you grow closer to God and more like Jesus?
- Waiting on God(opens in new tab) — Learn how to trust God during seasons when you are waiting for His direction.
- The Holy Spirit(opens in new tab) – Learn who the Holy Spirit is, what the Holy Spirit does…
- God’s Purpose For Your Life(opens in new tab) – how you can discover God’s purpose & calling & mission
- Sharing the Gospel of Jesus: How Sharing Your Faith Deepens your Intimacy With God(opens in new tab)
The goal isn’t simply to learn more about God.
The goal is to know God personally, love Him deeply, hear His voice, walk with Him daily, and experience a growing intimacy with Him.
Kevin Bart has been a follower of Jesus for over 40 years. Kevin has taught Bible study classes, small groups, and discipleship classes for many years. He developed Pursuing Intimacy With God Bible studies website and book after many years of seeking God and studying His word. Kevin and his wife Nancy have 3 sons and 2 precious grandchildren.
Kevin is a former business owner, and current international missions ministry leader with more than four decades of combined business and ministry experience. After building and running a successful business for 23 years, with God’s guidance and blessings, he sold his company to dedicate himself to full-time global missions.
For over 20 years, Kevin and his wife Nancy have led a self funded international missions ministry. Utilizing learned business and financial management skills, as well as knowledge and experience in travel points and miles, to date they have had more than 5o mission trips to 36 countries in the Caribbean, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
After many years of studying the Bible and the Book of Revelation, and writing many Bible studies and articles, Kevin finally finished Unraveling The Mysteries of the Book Of Revelation. Hopefully it will be a blessing to many people.
