Author: petebeck3

Pete Beck III ministered as a pastor and Bible teacher in Burlington for over 35 years. He is married to Martha, with whom he has four children, ten beautiful grandchildren, and five amazing great grandchildren. He ministers in his local church as a Bible teacher and counselor. He has written several books, including two that are available on Amazon - Seeing God's Smile and Promise of the Father - as well as a wide variety of Bible-related articles.

Christmas: Remembering God’s D-Day

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When Jesus was born, it marked God’s invasion of the earth, his D-Day, so to speak. God the Father sent his only begotten Son into enemy territory to conduct a secret mission that would win the war against Satan and his henchmen and liberate all captured lands.

After Adam and Eve betrayed God in the garden, the Lord promised that one of Eve’s descendants would one day crush Satan. Speaking directly to the serpent, God said:

15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” Genesis 3:15 (NASB95)

This promise indicated that the Lord would preserve a God-fearing line of humans from which the Messiah would one day spring.

Upon hearing this, the serpent, or Satan, set about to try to prevent this prophecy from coming to pass. He instigated Cain’s murder of Abel in the hope of cutting off the line of promise. He tried to corrupt the entire human race through evil angels having children with human women, producing the Nephilim. It got so bad here on earth that God decided to more or less start over using Noah’s line.

Eventually God moved forward with the plan and revealed himself to Abraham, reiterating the promise that one day a godly descendant would be sent to save us.

17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” Genesis 22:17–18 (NASB95)

Satan therefore became an inveterate enemy of Abraham’s descendants in the hope of stopping God’s promise, but he was unable.

Eventually, King David was told that one of his descendants would rule  on God’s throne forever.

16 “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ” 2 Samuel 7:16 (NASB95)

The Messiah would be no ordinary king. His rule would be eternal.

Eventually, in God’s perfect timing, God incarnated the eternal Logos inside Mary’s womb. This was the promised descendant, an alien being unlike any other, a true God-man, born of God by the Holy Spirit, as God prophesied through Isaiah. His father was Abba. His mother was Mary.

When Jesus’ birth date came, it was God’s D-Day, his invasion of the earth by an unstoppable person who would crush Satan and redeem those who put their faith and allegiance in him.

As the angel told Joseph:

...“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:20b–21 (NASB95)

Not many realized what happened, besides Satan. Joseph and Mary knew. God informed the shepherds in the field. The magi from the East knew, probably being familiar with Daniel’s prophecies. But the people that should have been in the know were oblivious. The Jewish scholars and religious leaders were consumed with their own agendas and missed God’s.

Just knowing a lot about the Bible is no guarantee that we will understand what God is doing. If the heart is wrong, we will miss out.

This is a principle of God stated by Jesus.

25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. 26 “Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. Matthew 11:25–26 (NASB95)

We probably all know the story of how Herod deduced the age of the Messiah through the information gleaned from the magi and consequently murdered all the boys two-years old and younger born in Bethlehem, another attempt to kill the promised Messiah.

Jesus grew to manhood out of the limelight and hidden from the murderous designs of Satan and those who served him. Finally, in God’s perfect timing, Jesus was introduced to the world by his cousin John the Baptist, who through revelation recognized him as the Messiah. From that time forward, God’s plan moved inexorably toward the crucifixion, God’s secret plan to defeat Satan and rescue humanity.

When Jesus rose from the dead as the Lord of Lords, Satan knew he was ultimately defeated, but that has not stopped him from battling to the very end. He is such a liar by nature, he has probably convinced himself that there is still hope that he can unseat God from his throne. He has not given up on his plan, and he still has lots of willing people who have decided to stick with him instead of being reconciled to God.

Nevertheless, now as before, God’s plan is unstoppable. God laughs at Satan’s vain attempts to usurp the throne.

2 The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Psalm 2:2–4 (NASB95)

Eventually, just as Jesus promised, he will return to this earth as the glorious Son of Man prophesied by Daniel. He sill raise the dead and judge everyone who ever lived. Every knee shall bow before him and every tongue confess that he is  Lord. Those who love and serve him will receive blessings and an eternal reward. Those who hated him will be consigned to the lake of fire.

Now is the time to be reconciled to God. Today is the day of salvation. Do not delay. No one is guaranteed a tomorrow.

Prayer

Jesus, thank you for coming to the earth to defeat our oppressor and reconcile us to your heavenly Father. I repent for living a self-directed life and acknowledge you as my Lord and Savior. I receive all you died to provide for me. I give myself to you. Use me as you see fit. Amen.

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Part 6: Using Diagnostic Questions

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Asking questions is one of the best ways to keep any conversation going. If we have the opportunity to have a spiritual discussion with someone, one thing good to know is where are they on their life journey with respect to knowing Jesus as Lord and Savior.

If we are going to help a lost person find the way home, the first thing we need to do is determine his or her present location.

If we want to fashion our presentation of Jesus to correspond to our listeners’ unique situation, we need to accurately diagnose where they are spiritually on their life journey. We can use diagnostic questions to help us in this process.

Here is a great opening diagnostic question to help us focus how we present the gospel: “Where are you on your spiritual journey to God?”

This question is “wide open,” but it does assume some sort of spiritual hunger. If the person resists this question, he or she may not be open at all to spiritual things. If the person does reply to us, the question does not presuppose a “Christian” answer, but allows him or her to an unbiased answer that can be very helpful.

Open-ended questions can allow a person to freely express how they are trying to find God or think they have found him and can put our listener at ease to honestly express his or her thoughts, rather than becoming defensive.

We have used the following two questions many times during outreaches. It is called the “two-question test” that reveals if a person is going to heaven. Many find such a “test” intriguing enough to submit to it, and, when they do, it often allows us to share the gospel with them.

Two Question Test
  1. If you were to die today, would you go to heaven?
  2. Why do you think so?

The answer we get to the first question may be anything from “I think so” to “I don’t believe there is a heaven.” When we ask them why they believe that way, some people will give the standard Christian response of “I believe that Jesus is my Lord and Savior.” Others may come up with their reasons they think as they do. Some may say, “I try to be a good person” or “I go to church.” If they give a non-biblical reason, we may then ask them if they realize that the Bible says that is not how we get to heaven. They are often surprised, which may give us the opportunity to ask if it is okay to share what the Bible says is the one way to get to heaven.

The gospel presents Jesus as the Savior who died for my sins, the Lord who rose from the dead, the Baptizer in the Spirit who poured out his Spirit on the church, and the divine Son of Man, who will come in the clouds with great glory at the end of time to judge the living and the dead and rule forever over God’s new creation.

Looking back on my own journey to faith in Christ, I did not initially understand all of that. My conception of Jesus was very incomplete, but it was enough for me to be saved.

The Holy Spirit helped me to understand that what the Bible says about Jesus is true. I believed in my heart, in a basic way, that he died for my sins so that I could be forgiven and that, because he rose again, he deserved my lifelong devotion and service.

According to Paul, it is an inner belief in his resurrection that makes us right with God and a public acknowledgement of Christ’s lordship that saves us.

...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Romans 10:9-10 (ESV)

Since everything depends on the Holy Spirit opening our eyes to understand who Jesus really is; when we share the gospel, we would be wise to follow Jesus’ example by asking our hearers some form of the question Jesus posed to his disciples.

Let me read it to you.

Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” 16  Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17  Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Matthew 16:15-17 (NLT)

We might reword it a bit to fit our context, such as follows.

  • Who do you think that Jesus was or is?
  • Do you think Jesus was more than a mere man?
  • Do you think there was anything special about Jesus?
  • Do you agree with what the Bible says about Jesus?

Regardless of how we ask the question, the answer will open a window into the heart of the responder. It will help us understand whether the Spirit has revealed Jesus to them yet. It will help us assess where they are on their faith journey and how we might be able to help them to go farther down the path.

Click here to see more articles on Fishing for People the Jesus Way.

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Part 5: Behold the Lamb

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When we fish for people, our primary responsibility is to eventually share with them Jesus, the Lamb of God, just as John the Baptist did for those who listened to him.

The next day he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29 (ESV)

John the Baptist was given the privilege and responsibility of introducing Jesus to the world. Followers of Christ today are commissioned to follow in John’s footsteps. It is our honor, privilege, and responsibility to announce to people that Jesus is God’s Lamb, who was sent to die for our sins and open the door wide for us to be reconciled to God.

The idea of a human sacrifice to appease God’s wrath is shocking and offensive to many of us today because we refuse to acknowledge the enormity of the evil of our sin or the demands of God’s holy justice. Our sin induced separation from God was irreparable without God’s assistance.

Even though the Jews accepted animals had to be sacrificed to atone for sins, they would have been shocked at the idea that Jesus, or any person, could be such a sacrifice. The proclamation that Jesus was and is God’s Lamb is beyond the limits of our power to logically comprehend. Without a revelation from God’s Spirit, we cannot see or accept who Jesus really is – God’s Lamb.

Sin alienated us from our heavenly Father and made us his enemies. (Romans 5:10) Adam and Eve committed treason in the garden, and we have been following in their footsteps ever since. By nature, we are proud, self-sufficient beings, who insist on trying to live independently from God. Our sin and rebellion cut us off from God’s life and blessings.

God loved us so much that he was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice of his own Son to restore us to himself.(John 3:16)

It was the only way back for us. The just punishment for our sins had to be paid, and we needed a new source of life. God’s solution would have to be something radically new and different. God sent his Son to provide forgiveness and life. By his Spirit, Jesus lives in and through all who believe and receive his gracious offer.

The good news of the gospel is that Jesus earned for us a right relationship with God and gave us his life, too. All we have to do is acknowledge that he is Lord and Savior and declare allegiance to him.

The Gospel message is so simple that even a little child can believe. However, adults who have learned from Satan to doubt and question everything often have a much more difficult time.

The announcement of Jesus’ identity as God’s Lamb will fall on deaf ears unless the Holy Spirit opens our hearts and minds. Otherwise the Gospel sounds like nonsense. In that day, some heard and believed John, but many others scoffed and rejected his message. The more humble and hungrier the hearer, the more likely he or she is to be granted revelation from God.

25 At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. 26 Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way! Matthew 11:25–26 (NLT)

The more educated, nuanced, and cynical the hearer, such as the Pharisees, the greater is the barrier to faith. This is because faith resides in the heart. The unredeemed mind will not accept the gospel message.

14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:14 (NKJV)

When our human reasoning ability becomes the litmus test for spiritual truth, the heart is left out in the cold. Only the Holy Spirit can break through the fortress of logical arguments against God that reside in a hardened heart.

4 We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. 5 We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:4–5 (NLT)

God’s Spirit penetrated the logical defenses erected by the Apostle Paul, and he can do it again today for anyone who is open at all.

When we crack open the door to our heart, God is ready to rush to our aid.

John the Baptist issued an invitational command to his hearers: “Behold the Lamb of God!”

He knew that it always takes revelation for anyone to recognize who Jesus is.

God had to open John’s eyes, too, for him to know his cousin in this supernatural way. (John 1:30-34)

Paul, perhaps the greatest evangelist the world has ever known, also understood this. He fearlessly announced the Gospel of Jesus the Messiah, because he was convinced that it contains the power to save people when coupled with the Spirit’s ability and activity to open the human heart. He wrote the following.

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. 4  In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5  For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6  For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 (ESV)

To be able to recognize that Jesus is the Lamb of God requires that God’s Spirit open our eyes today, just as in John’s and Paul’s day. Nothing has changed. While John was uniquely the Messiah’s forerunner and Paul was a ground breaking evangelist and apostle, their experience of “beholding” Jesus is what might be considered “normal” for every believer to experience.

One cannot become a follower of Christ without some measure of revelation from God.

I am not suggesting that each follower of Christ must begin with a vision of God’s Spirit descending upon Jesus as a dove or that we must be knocked off a horse while in route to persecute believers, but the Spirit must open our spiritual eyes and hearts for us to know Christ. How He does this is unique for each person.

When John commanded his hearers (and so the Spirit commands Bible readers throughout the ages) to behold the Lamb, he understood what every fisher of men must know today.

God’s Spirit must be actively engaged in the evangelism process for there to be any fruit at all.

What is also true is that God asks his followers to point others to Jesus, the Lamb. We are to invite them to be reconciled to God through his Son.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21  For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 (ESV)

When we proclaim the Gospel and ask people to believe in Jesus, we depend upon the power of the Gospel and the activity of God’s Spirit.

God usually uses these three things – a person proclaiming the Gospel, the latent power of the Gospel itself, and the activity of the Spirit – to create an explosion of faith and revelation in the heart of the hearer that results in conversion and the new birth!

Those who are open and hungry and in whom the Spirit is working will supernaturally experience what it means to behold the Lamb! It takes faith for us to trust in the power of the gospel and the hidden working of the Spirit. We must refrain from trying to do the Spirit’s work for him by merely trying to reason a person to faith. Reasoning is important, but it can never replace the inner work of God’s Spirit to open our spiritual eyes.

Every fisher of men must be willing to proclaim a gospel that depends from beginning to end on the power and activity of God.

Click here to see more articles on Fishing for People the Jesus Way.

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Part 4: God’s Tackle Box

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Good fishermen usually have well-stocked tackle boxes full of their favorite lures and other equipment that have given them success in the past. Fish act differently from day to day and depending on other factors such as time of day, temperature, etc. Successful fishermen adjust their bait to fit what the fish are biting. Fishers of men should have the same mindset.

If all we have is hammer, everything starts to look like a nail. If we only have one bait and one-size of hooks in our tackle boxes, we are going to be limited in what we can catch. If we have only one way that we present the gospel, we limit our effectiveness.

If we look at how Jesus fished for people, we quickly realize that he custom tailored his words and approach to the individuals he encountered.

If we are going to fish for people the Jesus way, we will need to do the same. Below I have listed some key things we might want to have in our own spiritual tackle boxes.

A Commitment to God’s Mission

Fishing takes commitment. Commitment comes when we are convinced that something is so important that it is worth any sacrifice we may have to make to see it happen. We will believe that it deserves our heart, time, finances, and effort – for as long as it takes. Unless we are truly committed, we may agree that being on mission is worthwhile, but other things will preempt it. Committed people are different. Nothing stops a committed person from putting his or her convictions into action.

Many Christians are committed to God, to church, to family, to their jobs, and to pursuing a happy life. Relatively few are committed to the Great Commission, which is a huge priority to God.

I recently talked with an avid fisherman. This man has an important job, two of them, in fact – his main job and his “side hustle.” Despite having to invest huge amounts of time in his work, he still finds time to fish almost on a daily basis. Living on a lake doesn’t hurt. Nevertheless, why does he do it? Is it because somewhere back in the past he made a commitment which he now honors, or is it that he is committed because he loves to fish? I think you know the answer. How do we move from being dutiful, or perhaps guilt driven, fishers of men to fishing because we love to fish?

We have to start somewhere. Most of us may have begun sharing with others because we were excited to know Jesus and wanted others to experience his amazing grace, too. That was what prompted me as a brand new Christian. But after we encounter enough “push back,” we may back off. Sadly, some followers of Christ have never shared the gospel with another person for whatever reason. If we have backed off or never even started to fish for people, we will need to overcome an inner resistance to get going.

It’s a challenge to overcome the inertia of doing nothing. We will have to want to do it and be willing to “press through.”

We may have to commit ourselves to do it out of a sense of duty; however, as with my friend, fishing grows on people. We may find that fishing for people becomes something we want to do. That is when we may become “addicted” to what brings us joy, which can produce a lasting commitment.

If we are the best fisherman in the world but are never set aside time to go fishing, even the least talented fisherman will catch more fish than we.

What we do with our time reveals what we truly believe and what is important to us. Unless we make ourselves available for God’s Great Commission work of fishing for people, we may only be deceiving ourselves into thinking we are disciples.

An Interest in People

I have known people, and most likely so have you, who were committed to telling others about Christ, but who apparently had little love for their listeners. Their words about God’s love were offset by their unloving attitude, sending a confusing mixed message. Jesus, on the other hand, combined an unswerving love of truth with a deep love for people. This made him intriguing and magnetic for anyone whose heart longed for God, and repulsive to those who were playing religious games. If we do not have God’s love for people, we will likely attract religious hypocrites and repel the ones to whom we are sent. People are tired of being approached by those who only want to present a sales pitch to them without having any sort of caring relationship. Unless we are genuinely interested in people, we will never really be good at “catching” them.

People are not evangelism “targets.” They are valuable individuals who are worth knowing, loving, and relating to, whether or not they ever choose to follow Jesus.

People instinctively know whether or not we are interested in them. May God increase our love for and interest in the people with whom we relate.

A Servant’s Heart

Jesus came to serve and ultimately give his life away. Service is an earmark of a true disciple. In today’s consumer culture, we are trained to think more in terms of what’s in it for me than in being a servant to others. Many consumerists assume those who share the gospel have the same mindset, which makes them suspicious of our motives. They may think we are just trying to build up the numbers in our church or are after their financial support. If we have Christ’s servant heart, we will look for ways to demonstrate God’s love in practical ways, not as a project, but because we love. This can include spending time in conversation to get to know someone, setting aside time to visit at people’s homes, having people over to our residences, praying for them privately and one-on-one in person, helping with a project, or just being there for them during a crisis. Loving and serving people is worthwhile in its own right. It also may open the door for us to be able to share why Jesus is so important to us.

Jesus wants his followers to serve our way into the hearts and lives of those around us. Loving service gives credibility to the gospel message.

Knowledge of the Bible and the Gospel

Bible literacy is very low, even among churchgoers. As a culture we have grown lazy and unmotivated to pursue  knowledge of the Scriptures and Bible truth. The Word of God is our life. It is our bread. We should habitually “eat” it by reading, meditating, and applying its truth. We should expect the Holy Spirit to reveal wonderful things about God to us, but many of us do not even crack open our Bibles. Many churchgoers show up on Sundays with their mouths open, expecting the pastor to give them enough pre-digested food to last them for a week. True disciples make a commitment to grow in their knowledge, understanding, and application of the Bible through personal study and application.

31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31–32 (NKJV)

We will never be effective fishers of men unless we understand the gospel well enough to share it easily and naturally.

Dependence on the Holy Spirit

When Jesus launched his three-year itinerant preaching ministry, he quoted Isaiah 61:1 to help us understand his identity and mission.

And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:17-21 (ESV)

Jesus depended upon the Holy Spirit to equip and empower him for the ministry he carried out over the rest of his earthly life. Although he was and is God in the flesh, he depended on the Spirit, just as we must. Jesus was filled with the Spirit at the River Jordan and operated in the power and gifts of the Spirit throughout his ministry.

One of Jesus’ titles is Baptizer in the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:16).

Jesus commanded his followers to receive this empowering from on high so we too can be as effective as the Spirit can make us.

We simply cannot rely on human intelligence and ability, if we want to be expert fishers of people.

(If you are interested in learning more about the baptism and gifts of the Spirit, you can read my other articles on this website or purchase my book on the subject, entitled Promise of the Father,)

Boldness

The Holy Spirit gives Jesus’ followers boldness to share the Gospel. This is the main function of the baptism in the Spirit.

8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8 (NKJV)

We may know what the Gospel says, be committed to the Great Commission, and love people, but eventually we will face those crucial times when courage is required. That is one of the main reasons we need the baptism in the Spirit.

When we share the gospel, we run the risk of being misunderstood, rejected, ignored, or even persecuted. Jesus said that if we confess him before men, he will confess us before his Father in heaven and the angels; but if we are ashamed of him and the Gospel before men, he will not give us this heavenly approbation. (Matthew 10:32-33) These are sobering words.

The Apostle Peter denied Jesus during a time of great fear and pressure; so, we should not be surprised when we are tempted to keep our mouths shut when we should be standing up boldly for truth. I am not suggesting that we be obnoxious representatives of Christ. There are appropriate times and ways to share God’s truth and other times to be silent. Knowing which is which requires us to be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading. However, when it is clearly the right time to be bold, that is what needs to be in our “tackle box.”

Patience and Determination

Fisherman must be patient and determined. Sometimes the fish are biting and other times they are not. We are encouraged to believe that God’s Word will not come back void, but will accomplish his intention. (Isaiah 55:11) Paul exhorted his disciples to never become weary in well doing because “in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9) Working with people requires patience and determination.

We may fail in our attempts over and over, but quitting makes failure permanent.

We cannot always know what is going on beneath the surface in a person’s life. On the exterior he or she may appear to be uninterested or resistant, when deep inside he may be wrestling with God or she could be close to surrendering to Christ. The Apostle Paul is a great example of God’s ability to get through to the most hostile foes of the Gospel. We can ask the Lord to encourage our hearts to keep sowing into the lives of those around you. It will not go unrewarded.

As we look at our own tackle boxes, perhaps you, like me, are missing some gear. Don’t worry. God’s grace will make up for what we lack. The important thing is to start fishing and add as much gear as we can along the way.

If we wait to begin until after we think we are completely ready, we may never catch a fish.

Every person we lead to faith in Jesus is a person added to God’s family and rescued from Satanic oppression. Every person we help to become a fisherman will multiply our efforts.

Now, let’s get fishing!

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Part 3: The Heart of a Sent One

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Our desire to fish for people will enlarge when our hearts are touched by the Great Shepherd so that we see people the way he does. The following passage summarizes our Lord’s heart for people who do not yet know him.

36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Matthew 9:36–38 (NKJV)

When we see people through the eyes of the Great Shepherd, we will also be moved with compassion. We will see them as they are – weary, harassed, scattered, and relatively helpless against the deception and onslaught of the devil. Seeing people in this light should motivate us to leave our relative ease and enter their world in order to lead them to Christ. Jesus left the glories of heaven to come after us. He asks us to follow his example.

Ever since the tower of Babel, an overriding principle at work in fallen humanity has been to gather, enlarge, and increase our size, power, control, and influence, in order to make a name for ourselves without any reference to God. This principle is at work in governments, businesses, and even the church. For a number of years there has been a decided shift toward what many call the mega-church. Concurrently there is another move toward decentralization into small groups meeting house to house. Both focus on gathering people, some into very large groups and others into smaller ones.

The Great Commission works contrary to the Babel principle of enlargement and calls people to “go.” Christ asks his followers to leave the comfort and security of the local church and go to where those who don’t know Jesus live. This does not mean we abandon our local churches, but that we set aside time for going into the harvest.

The Great Commission commands us to “go” make disciples, not stay put as safe and secure churchgoers.

The story of how God’s Spirit led the early disciples in fulfilling the Great Commission is found in the Book of Acts. God scattered the quickly centralizing church in Jerusalem through persecution, which caused the gospel to impact hitherto unreached areas. The church at Antioch, under the direction of God’s Spirit, chose to send out the best and brightest of its leaders and ministers to do apostolic (“sent out” missionary) work.

Antioch is our best model of a Great Commission  church.

God is still in the business of sending out disciples to engage and impact those who do not yet know him.

Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” John 20:21 (NLT)

As we obey the call of the Spirit and go out into our neighborhoods, cities, work places, schools, and other places where people gather, God wishes to develop  in us the same compassion that compelled Jesus to give away his life for others.

Being a “sent one” asks us to give away our lives.

This can happen if we believe that God is worth the sacrifice and, secondly, that lost people are worth serving with our time, resources, and everything else. This kind of compassion only comes via God’s Spirit. Where it is lacking, people will not serve as “sent ones.” They will take the easy way out and simply gather with other believers.

God wants us to do both – to go to the lost and to regularly gather with other sent ones in order to mutually encourage, equip, and strengthen one another for the 24/7 mission of working in God’s harvest field.

The Importance of Listening

If we have Jesus’ compassion, we will realize that every person has a story worth hearing and is a life worth saving.

Many who devote themselves to being God’s ambassadors here on earth are not good listeners. We imagine that others should listen to us since we have the message of life. This is what some call a “know it all.” We may think we can skip relationship building in order to quickly inject them with the gospel.

Jesus, however, was a good listener who tailored his life giving words to fit the unique human being who had his attention.

We may be tempted to resort to some sort of “canned” gospel message we find easy to remember. That is not how Jesus operated. He was always listening to people and, more importantly, to the Holy Spirit.

If people discern that we are not interested in them or their stories, why should they be interested in us or our message?

Compassionate sent ones care about every person’s life story. If we expect to become expert fishers of people, we must become excellent listeners… quick to hear and slow to speak.

Targeting People’s God-Fashioned Felt Needs

Every person has needs that only God can fulfill.

Because we live so isolated from one another, we may imagine that other people’s lives are just fine, not realizing that behind every door in our neighborhood some sort of drama is playing out that may be preparing their hearts to receive the Lord.

Some have desperately asked God to show them a sign that he exists or cares. Could it be that you are supposed to be the answer to their prayer? Others have given up, thinking that perhaps God does not love them or care about their situation after all. Many are embittered at what life has brought their way. Others are despondent, listless, and hopeless. While it is true that wealthy people generally may have less felt needs than the poor, it is not true that their lives are altogether rosy. Anyone with wealth knows that money is not the answer to life’s deepest questions nor does it satisfy our deepest desires. Many affluent homes are wracked by relational dysfunction and are reaping the whirlwind that comes as a result of putting other things ahead of God.

When we meet and relate to people, God wants to open our eyes to see them as he does – harassed and helpless sheep about whom he cares deeply.

Unless we discern what those deepest heart longings are, how can we fashion a presentation of the gospel that addresses them?

God is personal. He told the adulterous woman that she was not condemned. He told the Samaritan woman that she was important by engaging her in conversation and revealing that he knew all about her sins but did not reject her. He called Zacchaeus out of the tree and offered to dine with him.

In each case, the way Jesus engaged these individuals gave them hope that God knew who they were and cared about them.

He accurately represented Father God’s heart toward them. This allowed Jesus to minister at the deepest level with amazing results. Jesus wants us to partner with him in the adventure of being his personal representatives to lost and hurting people.

We need the Spirit’s help to pull this off. It does not come naturally to us. We cannot do it by ourselves. Only God can reveal to us what lies beneath the cleverly erected exterior that people use for self-preservation. Only God knows the deep heart cries lurking beneath often crusty facades. If we listen, he will tell us all we need to know. He will assist us to tailor gospel truth into a divine arrow that goes right to the heart.

Hope for the Hopeless

Every person has a hope, which only Jesus can fulfill.

Many of the people who live around us have descended into some form of hopelessness, but deep inside every individual, no matter how dim it flickers, is the hope that God knows and cares about us personally and is willing to help us.

People long for a Savior, whether or not they will admit it, since we instinctively know that we cannot save ourselves.

We hope for a Shepherd to guide us because none of us knows where we are going at the deepest level of existence. Our eternal destinies are hidden from us when we do not know Jesus. As Henry David Thoreau once wrote, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.” We often bluff our way through life, hoping for the best, but, deep down, we would like some assurance that everything will be alright. John addressed this deep desire.

13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. 1 John 5:13 (NKJV)

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the only pathway to knowing the Father. He is the Good Shepherd, the Great Provider, our Protector, and the God of hope. We can be sure that, unless a person is resolutely hardened against God, there is something in him or her that will resonate with the Good News that Jesus gave his life away to bring us back to the Father and make us into born-again authentic children of God. They will be attracted to the promise that Jesus will lead them safely on life’s journey, if only they will surrender to his benevolent Lordship.

Fishing for people the “Jesus way” asks us to learn to see, love, and engage people as Jesus’ representatives. We have been given the privilege to care, listen, love, and speak in his stead in order to lead them to the Great Shepherd. Nothing could be more exciting or rewarding!

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Chapter 91: The Laying on of Hands in Ordination and Ministry

foundations

The laying on of hands is one of the first principles of the doctrine of Christ, which indicates its importance doctrinally and practically. The Lords wants us to thoroughly understand its meaning and application.

Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits.  Hebrews 6:1–3 (NKJV)

In ordination, laying on of hands can impart spiritual gifts, grace, and authority. It also symbolizes an identification or union between the minister and the one upon whom hands are laid. The one receiving the ministry may also act as a substitute for the one or ones doing the laying on of hands.

Identification and Substitution Relating to Christ’s Sacrificial Death

As an example of identification and substitution, in the Old Testament, offerers laid their hands upon the animals they brought to be sacrificed by the priests, thereby symbolically imparting their sins and offenses against God to the animal, which died in their place. A good example of this is when the “escape” goat was released into the wilderness bearing Israel’s sins. May believe this foreshadowed our Lord carrying our sins into hell after his crucifixion.

21 Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. 22 The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.  Leviticus 16:21–22 (NKJV)

When Jesus the Lamb of God was crucified, God placed our sins on him. He was completely identified with us and our sin. When he died, we died. Since he paid the penalty for our sins, so did we because we were in him. There can be no double jeopardy in God’s justice system.

5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 6:5–11 (NKJV)

Jesus also acted as our substitute by dying in our place. Because God the Father accepted his offering on our behalf, we received the gift of his right standing with God (justification) through identification or union with Christ.

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.  2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB95)

We were placed “in” Christ so that when he died, so did we. When he rose, we did, too.

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.  2 Corinthians 5:14–15 (NASB95)

The identification/substitution aspect of the laying on of hands must be understood if we are to grasp the nature of the finished work of Christ on our behalf, but it also relates to ordination into ministry and the impartation of gifts and blessings.  

Identification and Substitution Regarding Ordination to Ministry

In the Old Testament, every firstborn son belonged to the Lord. Instead of requiring them to enter service to the Lord’s tabernacle, God set apart men from the tribe of Levi to substitute for the first born.

Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine. 15 “Then after that the Levites may go in to serve the tent of meeting. But you shall cleanse them and present them as a wave offering; 16 for they are wholly given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself instead of every first issue of the womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel.  Numbers 8:14–16 (NASB95)


God used the laying on of hands to symbolize, formalize, and communicate the grace needed for the Levites to carry out this service.

and present the Levites before the Lord; and the sons of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites. 11 “Aaron then shall present the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the sons of Israel, that they may qualify to perform the service of the Lord.  Numbers 8:10–11 (NASB95)

This concept carries over into the New Testament. When the Holy Spirit called Paul and Barnabas to take the gospel to foreign lands, the leaders of the church recognized this calling by laying hands upon the two.

One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Appoint Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.” 3 So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way.  Acts 13:2–3 (NLT)

By so doing, they sent Paul and Barnabas out as representatives of the local church at Antioch. They also acted as substitutes for the rest of the church, since the entire church was called to spread the good news. The church got behind them in prayer and financial support. In addition, blessings and grace were imparted. They committed these men to the grace of God, just as Paul did later when he ordained elders through the laying on of hands.

Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. 24 Then they traveled back through Pisidia to Pamphylia. 25 They preached the word in Perga, then went down to Attalia.  Acts 14:23–25 (NLT)

Although the laying on of hands is not specifically mentioned, I believe we can assume that they did so. Grace is communicated at the time of ordination.

Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecy spoken over you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you.  1 Timothy 4:14 (NLT)

When we ordain someone, it does not transform them on the inside into new people. Rather, governmental leaders should only ordain those in whom God has already been at work preparing them for ministry. The Lord should have already made clear that he has appointed them to the work.

We lay hands upon those whom God has already laid his hand upon.  

In addition, the laying on of hands does not impart character, only grace and gifting for ministry. Character is an inner ongoing work of the Spirit of God and is vital in the life of anyone ordained to ministry.

God’s gifts and the pressures of ministry can only flourish without crushing us over time if we have a strong foundation of godly character.

Once we ordain someone, they become formally identified with us. Therefore, we should be careful to only ordain proven people. Otherwise, we may become identified with their failures and sin. The reputation of God’s church is at stake.

Do not lay hands on anyone hastily and so identify with the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.  1 Timothy 5:22 (NET)

When hands are laid on individuals to ordain them to governmental ministry, authority is conveyed to them by those in authority.

Then Moses said to the Lord, 16 “O Lord, you are the God who gives breath to all creatures. Please appoint a new man as leader for the community. 17 Give them someone who will guide them wherever they go and will lead them into battle, so the community of the Lord will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” 18 The Lord replied, “Take Joshua son of Nun, who has the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him. 19 Present him to Eleazar the priest before the whole community, and publicly commission him to lead the people. 20 Transfer some of your authority to him so the whole community of Israel will obey him.  Numbers 27:15–20 (NLT)

God gives grace and authority to those to whom he gives responsibility.

Responsibility without authority is an exercise in frustration. Authority without responsibility is an ego trip.

Laying on of Hands to Impart Blessings and Spiritual Gifts

The laying on of hands is also used to impart blessings outside of ordination. Jesus laid his hands on children to bless them.

One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could lay his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. 14 But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” 15 And he placed his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left.  Matthew 19:13–15 (NLT)

It should be our practice to lay hands on people, with their permission, to bless them and pray for them. We never know what God may communicate to them through this gesture. He may impart healing, a miracle, or a sensation of his presence. The baptism in the Spirit is often imparted through laying our hands upon people and praying for them.

As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. 16 The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.  Acts 8:15–17 (NLT)

Jesus laid his hands upon the sick as part of communicating healing to them and setting them free from demonic oppression.

While the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them. 41 Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But rebuking them, He would not allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ.  Luke 4:40–41 (NASB95)

…they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”  Mark 16:18b (NKJV)

Some people teach that we should not cast out demons by laying on of hands because the demon might enter us, but that is not scriptural. We are protected from demonization by the Lord, unless we open a door by deliberate sin. Often sick people are afflicted by demons, and sometimes it is difficult to discern if the sickness comes from natural or demonic sources. When we lay hands upon the sick, we may find that people are delivered, as seemed to happen when Jesus prayed for the sick and laid hands on them. Generally, we should simply cast them out with a command in Jesus’ name.

Conclusion

In summary, the laying on of hands is one of the first principles of the doctrine of Christ. It carries with it the idea of substitution and identification. Blessings are imparted, responsibility given, and authority communicated. Even those who do not have roles of responsibility and authority in the church can practice the laying on of hands in prayer, blessing, healing, and casting out evil spirits. I believe that the laying on of hands is underutilized by the church as an evangelistic tool. Many people will allow us to pray for them, even if they are not currently open to the gospel. Once we pray and lay hands upon people to bless them, we cross over an unseen barrier that allows us to talk more freely with them about spiritual things in the future.

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Part 2: Become an Answer to Prayer

fishing

It is one thing to pray for our neighbors and friends and another to become part of the answer to prayer. God wants to activate our ministry, and one way he does this is by opening our eyes to the need. How do we see the people who live, work, and play around us? Or do we even see them at all? Many of us have learned to live in relative isolation, thanks to air conditioning, television, refrigerators, and “social media.” We may keep up with events and people from afar, missing out on much of life and the opportunities all around us.

Until we see people as Jesus does and make a decision to offer to get involved in their lives, it is not likely that we will understand his heart for them or influence them very much toward God.

Matthew’s Gospel records a time when Jesus spoke to his closest followers about the crowd that surrounded him. It gives us a glimpse into his heart for people.

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:35-38 (ESV)

Compassion motivated Jesus’ earthly ministry. He saw people as harassed and helpless sheep who desperately needed someone to protect, feed, and lead them. The Greek word for “harassed” can also mean “flayed”. We have a difficult time understanding just how wounded and in danger people with Christ are. Jesus pointed out that there is a great harvest field, which is ready and waiting for caring people to go to work. This means that the Holy Spirit is already at work in the lives of the harassed and helpless. What is stopping us?

We all battle with fear, laziness, disobedience, reluctance to experience discomfort, and a general lack of love for the those who do not know Jesus. Have we forgotten what it is like to live without knowing the Lord? What can help us to change?

Prayer

Prayer is the first part of Jesus’ solution to adding people to his harvest team.

Only God can change us on the inside and make us willing to invest our lives in his harvest field.

Jesus said to pray “earnestly.” This is because Satan fiercely resists any effort to share the gospel and make disciples. In addition, the part of us the Bible calls the “flesh” resolutely opposes sacrificing our comfort and ease to participate in God’s harvest work. It is the spirit inside us, the part of us in union with God’s Spirit, that wants to serve God in the harvest. The spirit and the flesh are in continual warfare until Jesus comes back again to raise us from the dead and deliver us finally and completely from this struggle. Until then we must make a determined stand against the inner pull of the flesh against God’s mission.

Without constant effort and determination, we followers of Christ tend to be lazy, self-centered people who put our own comfort, ease, and security ahead of helping lost, helpless, and harassed sheep who have not yet found the Shepherd.

Earnest prayer is needed to pry followers of Christ out of the comfort of their own homes and into the places where people who need Jesus can be effectively engaged.

Only God can transform us into people who are consumed with his passion for the lost and dying, but we have a part to play, and it begins with prayer. God wants us to make the choice to join him in this noble task.

But prayer does not save people: the Gospel does. Prayer is a means to an end and can never substitute for the kingdom work of actually conveying the Good News to those who desperately need to hear it.

As powerful and necessary as prayer is, it can never serve as an excuse for not obeying the Great Commission by going to the lost.

Getting into the Harvest Field

Going and making disciples (the Great Commission) is the second part of Jesus’ solution. Bringing people into the family of God through sharing the gospel message requires us to get into the harvest field ourselves. This will not happen without our overcoming the inertia of doing nothing and making the choice to go outside of our homes, our “comfort zones,” and engage people on a regular basis.

No great fisherman only occasionally dabbles in the sport. No effective fisher of men only randomly dips his line in the water.

Once we break loose from what held us back and make the choice to get involved in people’s lives, we find that God has already been at work. He wasn’t idly waiting for us to show up. We should not have the attitude of expecting the Spirit to join us as we plow ahead with own ideas and attempts to do God’s work. Instead we should look for what the Spirit is doing and join him as humble observant servants.

The harvest field is where we discover how to partner with God’s Holy Spirit.

Joining in God’s work is the most fulfilling and rewarding thing anyone can do.

Generally speaking, harassed and helpless sheep are not lining up at our church doors on Sunday mornings. In fact, many of them have been turned off by the church; although, many are still attracted to Jesus. Often they are a “mess” – people with a blend of rebellion, resentment, and hunger for God all rolled up in one.

Where and how can we successfully engage people who need and secretly desire Jesus, but who want nothing to do with what they understand about “church”? I am sure the same was true in Jesus’ day. Countless people in Israel found nothing to attract them to the austere legalism and hypocrisy practiced by the Pharisees, who were considered to be the best models what it meant to be a devout Jew. Their form of Judaism was to be found in the Temple and synagogues, an unlikely habitat for the average “sinner”.

Jesus frequented these religious centers, but also he went elsewhere in search of those who were most open to his life transforming message.

Jesus engaged people in homes, market places, trees, wells, and along the road. He did not set up a central meeting place and expect people to flock to him. In addition to teaching in synagogues wherever he went, he visited people’s homes and met them in market places, wherever life happened. And Jesus is our model.

Until we become the answer to our own prayers by making the choice to get involved in the lives of those who live around us, we are not yet a part of God’s mission to the heartrending and often silent cries of harassed and helpless people in need of God who live all around us.

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Part 1: Introduction to Fishing for People the Jesus Way

fishing

Fishing for people is one of the most exciting, rewarding, and potentially costly occupations we can pursue. It is something to which every follower of Christ is called.

Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 20 And they left their nets at once and followed him. Matthew 4:19-20 (NLT)

Just as he did at the beginning of his itinerant ministry, Jesus still invites us to follow him and learn how to “fish” for people.

The simple invitation quoted above sums up what it means to be a disciple.

Our Lord did not say, “Come, follow me, and I will make you a moral person, a churchgoer, a Bible scholar, or any of the other things we often prioritize ahead of fishing for people.

The purpose of this series of articles on “Fishing for People the Jesus Way” is to help us realize that “fishing” for people can be interesting, challenging, fulfilling, adventure-filled, and enjoyable. It does have a cost attached to it. It will cost us our time and potentially bring persecution, but it is worth anything we may suffer in the present because it promises huge rewards in eternity. I hope I can help to remove any inhibiting sense of fear, drudgery, duty, or religiosity from the equation, so that we can be set free to join the Holy Spirit, who is already at work in our communities. Jesus is waiting for more people to join him in the work of the “harvest”.

35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Matthew 9:35–38 (NKJV)

The Gospels are filled with examples of how Jesus engaged people in such a way that they either chose to follow or to resist him. Just as today, some were even indifferent, but many responded to him and his message.

The Gospel generally should make people mad or glad, depending on the condition of their hearts.

Those with hard hearts will become angry, but those who are “poor in spirit” (spiritual beggars who are hungry for God) will happily hear and follow. Christ’s disciples are willing to follow Jesus wherever he may lead on a joyful adventure called fishing for people. This series will help to prepare and equip you.

I have been a Christian for fifty years and have tried all sorts of ways of presenting the gospel. These articles will address the one-on-one opportunities we get in life, not large-crowd evangelism. When it comes to sharing with individuals, if we are motivated by a sense of religious duty, we may come across as being uninterested in the people we approach. If we rush or skip the process of relationship development in order to quickly notch another conversion, we may make our listeners feel cheap or part of a project and thereby sabotage God’s work.

Jesus engaged people in a way that made them understand that he cared about them.

Sometimes we may get “one shot” at sharing the gospel with a person. We must make the most of it, as led by the Spirit. In other situations, we may be able to develop an ongoing relationship with someone, which will provide opportunities to share with them on numerous occasions. We dare not rush things at the beginning in those cases. To those whose hearts were tender and open, Jesus was willing to engage them on an individual basis and take as much time as necessary to help them grasp his message and identity.

Jesus poured out his blood to provide us with the Good News that the way back into God’s family, favor, and blessings is wide open. The Lord of Lords paid the price for us to be forgiven for our brazen rebellion against God’s kingship. He opened the door to our being reconciled to his heavenly Father by dying in our place and rising again. Our message is indeed Good News.

Jesus wants us to engage the people who live around us with Holy Spirit compassion and zeal.

Our Lord wants us to become excited about fishing for people as he did, in a quest to help them become part of God’s family of reconciled former rebels.

In the Gospels Jesus shows us how to properly engage people in order to communicate God’s love and care for them and to winsomely invite or even command them to become his followers. As we learn to demonstrate God’s love to those around us, it is amazing how much we can learn from them and how God will open doors into our hearts and theirs.

The Holy Spirit will help us just as he worked through Jesus.

In the articles which follow, I will share examples from the Gospels of how Jesus fished for people. As we observe and learn from how he did it and begin to imitate his example, while relying upon the guidance, power, gifts, and boldness of God’s Spirit, we can be part of winning and making more followers of Jesus who also will learn to fish for people. I hope you will travel with me down the dusty roads of Israel with Jesus, learning from the Master Fisherman.

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Using the Authority God Gave Us

spirit

It is vital that we understand and use the authority we have in Christ to preach the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons. Through the resurrection, God the Father declared Jesus to be the powerful Son of God, the Messiah King of Israel, the Lord of Lords.

and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, Romans 1:4 (ESV)

He died as the defenseless Lamb of God who willingly submitted himself to a cruel death in order to expiate our sins. He rose again triumphantly from the grave, never to relinquish his rights, authority, and power as God’s divine Son again, except one day to his heavenly Father (1 Corinthians 15:28). In addition to his own authority as the Messianic King, our Lord regained all the authority that Adam had ceded to Satan by rebelling against God in the garden. As the risen God-Man, Jesus has both the authority of God and the regained delegated authority of God that belongs to man. He graciously shares his authority with the church which he has called to rule and reign with him in the kingdom of God (2 Timothy 2:12).

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19  Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 (NLT)

Adam foolishly relinquished his God-given authority to Satan when he submitted to the serpent’s lie and betrayed God in the garden. Adam and Eve were created to use God’s benevolent authority as rulers over the earth (Genesis 1:28). By relinquishing that authority to Satan, the earth has been filled with all sorts of horrors and aberrations from God’s original intent for creation. The perverted creation awaits Christ’s Second Coming when all things will be restored.

For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20  Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21  the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. Romans 8:19-21 (NLT)

After Christ’s resurrection, God’s authority was reinstalled upon the earth in a kind of installment plan. It is here already, but not yet completely.

Christ invests his authority in his people, who act as his representatives on earth in kingdom of God matters. The Holy Spirit is God’s Enforcer. We are the spokespeople.

Christ’s delegated authority extends to several different areas. It is important for his followers to understand what this authority is, how it works, and what is our role in the process. I will look at three areas in this article.

Authority to Preach the Gospel

Preaching the gospel is perhaps our greatest responsibility and a wonderful expression of the authority Jesus gave to his followers.

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15 (NKJV)

We are privileged to stand before people and declare to them that by acknowledging that Jesus is Lord and submitting their lives to him and by believing in all he accomplished for them through his death and resurrection, they can be forgiven, restored to a right relationship with God, receive eternal life, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. If the gospel is not the truth, we are guilty of misrepresenting God. If it is the truth, we are co-laborers with God in the grandest enterprise of the ages – bringing men, women, and children to God through our preaching.

All of Christ’s followers are commissioned as preachers who speak with God’s authority.

We may not be eloquent. We may only share with a few individuals during a lifetime, but we represent him nevertheless.

Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17  And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. Colossians 3:16-17 (NLT)

We depend upon God’s Spirit to  reveal to people that the gospel is true.

He is the one who works in people’s hearts to convict them of sin, bring them to repentance, help them to believe, and regenerate them.

Christ’s authority is released in our preaching combined with the regenerative inner work of God’s Spirit. We must do our part, and the Spirit does his.

It is also important to understand the the Spirit also helps us to fulfill our responsibility in this great enterprise. We need his empowering to be effective preachers.

The Spirit also often works through signs and wonders to confirm the truth of the gospel.

This happened frequently in the book of Acts and takes place today as a regular thing among the Hindu peoples who are hearing the gospel. We should always be alert and open to the Holy Spirit using us in this manner to pray for people to be healed, as a proof of the truth of the gospel. Jesus is the same today as he was when he walked the earth, and so is his ministry. (Hebrews 13:8)

How to use our authority to preach the gospel

We declare God's truth that if a person confesses with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and believes in his or her heart that God raised him from the dead, he or she will be saved. (Romans 10:9) The gospel should conclude with an invitational command: confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, and you will be saved.

Or we can approach it as Peter did on Pentecost, when the people asked what they needed to do. 

Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39  "For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself." Acts 2:38-39 (NASB)

Notice that in both cases, an invitational command was given, which was a call to an active response by the hearer. Only those who are moved by God's Spirit will respond. The rest either will turn away in indifference or actively resist or persecute the preacher.

 

Authority to Heal

Christ purchased our healing when he endured the cross and everything connected to his passion, especially the beating he received at the hands of the Roman soldiers. Isaiah 53 makes it clear that Jesus took our sicknesses and diseases upon himself at the cross in the same way that he carried our sins and iniquities. (For a detailed explanation of this great truth, consider reading Christ the Healer by Bosworth. I have also written about this. Click here to see that article.)

Matthew confirmed that Jesus’ healing ministry was a fulfillment of Isaiah 53, by referencing part of that chapter as an explanation of Jesus’ ministry.

When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. 17  This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES.” Matthew 8:16-17 (NASB)

The Apostle Peter also showed that he understood that Isaiah 53 was a key to understanding Christ’s healing ministry when he wrote the following.

and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. 1 Peter 2:24 (NASB)

This is a quote from Isaiah 53:5.

But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. Isaiah 53:5 (NASB)

The Hebrew word for “healed” is rapha, which is part of a compound name for God revealed to Moses and Israel during their desert wanderings, which was YHWH-rapha – the Lord Our Healer.

And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer.” Exodus 15:26 (NASB)

God heals us inside and out – spiritually, psychologically, emotionally, relationally, and physically. The Bible does not teach us to confine God’s healing work to less than the whole person.

Jesus commissioned his followers to proclaim healing in his name.

And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. 2  And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. Luke 9:1-2 (NASB)

Three defining signs of the coming of God’s kingdom are the preaching of the gospel, healing of the sick, and deliverance from demons.

Physical healing is analogous to a trumpet calling us to believe the gospel and proclaim allegiance to the lordship of Jesus. It is also an act of God’s mercy extended to hurting people. Healing is love in action. (Matthew 14:14) 

How to use our authority to proclaim healing.

Once again, just as with the gospel, it is our responsibility to proclaim healing, and it is the Holy Spirit's responsibility to make our words come to pass. We have Christ's authority to pray and proclaim healing, but only the Spirit has the power to perform it. This takes the pressure off of us. Ours is to obey, get out on a limb, and see what God will do. The rest is up to God.

When ministering healing, keep in mind that we are not begging God to do something outside of his plan and purpose in Christ. We "claim" the benefits of what Christ has already accomplished and ask God's Spirit to make healing an experienced reality for those to whom we minister. The manner, timing, and extent of healing are all in God's hands. We should encourage those for whom we pray to believe God's promises and trust him to fulfill them in his way and time. Ours is to believe and receive by faith. God holds the rest in his hands. Even if we die believing for something we never experience in this life, we still bring glory to God by our faith. (Hebrews 11:13)

Below is an example of how to minister healing.

But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, "Look at us!" 5  And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6  But Peter said, "I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk!" 7  And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. Acts 3:4-7 (NASB)

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers and elders of the people, 9  if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, 10  let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health. 11  "He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone. 12  "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:8-12 (NASB)

Both of these passages refer to the same event. Notice that Peter gave a command - "walk," or, in effect, "be healed." When Peter explained himself before the Jewish authorities, he used the healing as an opportunity to proclaim Christ's lordship and the gospel's offer of salvation. This is our example.

 

Authority to Release the Demon Oppressed

Another sign of the coming of God’s kingdom is when followers of Christ command demons to leave in Christ’s name. Demons oppress people, and Jesus came to put a stop to that. Using Christ’s authority and relying on the power of God’s Spirit, we can command demons to leave people and cease oppressing them. As with the gospel and healing, our authority is not passive. It is aggressive and forceful.

We speak directly to evil spirits and command them to leave in the name and authority of Jesus the risen Son of God. The Holy Spirit will then enforce our spoken word. It’s as simple as that.

I have written extensively on this subject in other articles. Here is a good one which you can access by clicking here.

Putting These Things into Practice

It is one thing to agree that something is true and quite another to act out our faith. Unless we practice our what we believe, we may be deceiving ourselves into thinking we we have faith, when in fact we do not. Using our authority in Christ to preach the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons proves our faith and allows us to experience what it is like to be Christ’s representatives on earth.

We will never know what it is like to lead people to Christ, watch him heal, or see him deliver people from oppression, unless we are willing to take the “risk” of using our God-given authority.

We must be willing to have others think we are crazy or to look foolish in their eyes. It is not our responsibility to look good or make things happen, but only to obey. I have never had anyone get angry with me for praying for them, even if the answer did not immediately manifest itself. Usually people are grateful that someone would care enough to make the effort. On the other hand, I have had the privilege of being a part of leading people to faith in Christ, seeing them healed before my eyes, and casting out demons. That is because I was bold enough to use the authority I have in Christ. Let me encourage you to step out in faith and use what God has given to us. We do not want to one day stand before Christ and hear him ask us why we did not use what he put into our hands, do we? We will never be “ready” or “good enough.” We simply must step out in faith.

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Understanding the Feasts of Israel in Light of the New Covenant

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The Old Covenant Feasts of Israel foreshadow our Lord Jesus and his ministry and can only can be rightly understood in relation to him. Like the Old Covenant sacrifices, these feasts also have New Covenant fulfillment and ongoing application to the lives of believers.

There were three main feasts, Passover or Unleavened Bread, Pentecost or the Feast of Harvest, and Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles or Ingathering is broken down into three sub-feasts – the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Trumpets, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

Three times in the year you must make a pilgrim feast to me. 15 You are to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of Abib, for at that time you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before me empty-handed. 16 “You are also to observe the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors that you have sown in the field, and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year when you have gathered in your harvest out of the field. 17 At three times in the year all your males will appear before the Lord GOD. Exodus 23:14-17 (NET1)

God commanded Israel to keep these three great feasts every year. All the males were required to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and appear before the Lord. In other words, it was not enough to agree that these feasts were important: Israelites had to participate. Today most Christians know these feasts as Passover (the Feast of Unleavened Bread), Pentecost (the Feast of Weeks), and the Feast of Booths (Feast of Ingathering). These main feasts can be broken down into sub-feasts, but the Lord includes the parts in the whole. Therefore, in this brief study we will not concern ourselves with the sub-feasts.

The Old Covenant scriptures were written for our benefit to reveal Jesus and to foreshadow and typify the great salvation brought to us in the New Covenant.

Jesus taught his disciples how the Old Covenant scriptures pointed to him. If we miss Jesus as the point or goal of all scripture, will not understand their true meaning at all.

Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things written about himself in all the scriptures. Luke 24:27 (NET1)

Jesus translated, interpreted, and explained how the Old Covenant scriptures applied to him. Once our eyes are opened to Christ and how he came to fulfill what was written, it becomes easier for us to see Jesus in the Old Covenant.

Seeing how the feasts were fulfilled by Christ and experienced by us believers will enrich our lives.

Passover

The event which inaugurated the first feast also was the first step in Israel’s exodus from Egypt. At the first Passover God showed mercy and favor to his people when the angel of destruction put to death all the firstborn of Egypt as the final installment of God’s judgment upon that nation, its gods, and its obstinate leadership. On the evening of Passover, God commanded his people to gather in homes by families. Each family was ordered to sacrifice and eat a lamb and to smear its blood upon the doorposts and lintel of their home. Any Israelites who stayed inside the blood-marked home on that dreadful night was spared the death of their firstborn. All the firstborn of Egypt not residing in a blood stained home were killed that night. As a result of this last plague, Pharaoh finally let God’s people leave Egypt to start their journey to the Promised Land. Israel was commanded by God to keep perpetually Passover to commemmorate this great deliverance.

We know from New Covenant scriptures that Jesus fulfilled what God always had in mind for this feast when he died on the cross as the Lamb of God.

…For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 1 Corinthians 5:7b (NET1)

His blood is spiritually applied to the lives of those who place their faith and allegiance in Christ, through which he becomes our Passover Lamb, thus sparing or redeeming us from the judgment of God’s wrath against sin, which will fall on everyone who refuses to believe.

For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14  who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. Colossians 1:13-14 (NLT)

Jesus died on the actual feast of Passover, perfectly fulfilling its meaning and purpose. When we place our faith in Christ, his blood is applied spiritually to the “doorposts and lintels” of our hearts so that God’s judgment will pass over us. Just as Christ bore our judgment on the cross on the New Covenant fulfillment of Passover some 2000 years ago, so we must personally receive that provision by believing the gospel.

Therefore, the Feast of Passover is fulfilled twice in the New Covenant for the believer – historically at Calvary and personally when we put our faith and allegiance in Christ.

Just as participation in the Old Covenant Feast of Passover was not optional, neither is it an option to have a personal fulfillment of that feast if we wish to be a child of God. If a person failed to keep the feast of Passover under the Law, he was cut off from the people of God; likewise, if we are not born again and come to know Jesus as our Passover Lamb, we will be eternally cut off from God. If Jesus had not fulfilled Passover by dying on the cross, we would all be cut off from God. Each of us must also keep his or her own feast by believing in Christ and his atoning blood.

We cannot claim to be a Christian, if we do not experience the reality of Passover personally.

Pentecost

The second feast with a mandatory attendance requirement was the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost. Literally it means fifty, because it was celebrated fifty days after Passover.

God first instituted the feast of Pentecost as a shadow pointing to a greater reality that would be fulfilled in Christ.

In the Old Covenant shadow, this was a feast of the first fruits of the harvest. The very first time the Israelites celebrated it was at Mount Sinai, fifty days after escaping from Egypt. Fire and thunder came from the mountain when God gave the law to Moses. The people were not allowed to draw near to the mountain because of their sin. Because of their subsequent transgression of worshiping an idol during Moses’ absence, three thousand died.

The New Covenant fulfillment came on the exact day of the Old Covenant feast, fifty days after the Passover crucifixion of Christ, another exactly-to-the-day fulfillment of a feast. In the fulfillment of Pentecost, instead of fire and thunder, there were tongues of fire and the sound of a mighty rushing wind in the upper room where the disciples had gathered to pray. Instead of being forbidden to come near God, believers in Christ’s finished work on the cross, who have now been reconciled to the Father through the Son, have bold and confident access to the presence of God. Instead of the law, which was written in stone and brought death, the life-giving Spirit, who writes God’s laws upon human hearts, is given to God’s children. Instead of 3000 dying because of a transgression of the Law, 3000 were saved in response to the gospel message preached by Peter on that day.

The prophet Joel foretold this giving of the Spirit, and Peter quoted a portion of that prophecy in his sermon on that first New Covenant Pentecost. (Joel 2:14-21) God always planned to pour out His Spirit as His incredible gift to humanity. Moses long before expressed God’s heart when he exclaimed:

… I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” Numbers 11:29 NET

This wonderful promise is not gender-specific either, nor is it limited by age, culture, or race. Jews and Gentiles, men and women, young and old alike are able to receive this wonderful gift. The gifts of the Spirit accompanied this outpouring. Joel specifically mentions prophecies, dreams, and visions. Paul extends the list in First Corinthians, Chapter 12. This outpouring was God’s plan to bless and reach the entire human race with the gospel.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth. Acts 1:8 NET

The Law was unable to accomplish God’s will for mankind because humans are fatally flawed by sin. Our wonderful heavenly Father sent His own Son to accomplish for us and in us what he alone could do – to gain the benefits and blessings connected to living a perfect life of submission and obedience to God.

For us to be right with God, we must have God’s righteousness and God’s life inside us.

This righteousness comes by professing allegiance to the person and faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross and through his resurrection. God’s life comes to God’s people via the indwelling Holy Spirit.

In addition, the Lord wants His power and ministry to flow through us. This comes by way of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The New Covenant ministry of the early apostles included miracles, healing, deliverance, and salvation. All of this was an extension of the ministry of the risen Christ through his disciples. The Holy Spirit was the power behind Christ’s ministry during his days here on earth, and He remains the power behind the church’s ongoing ministry. God’s heart is to pour out his Spirit on all people. That is why we have been given the Great Commission. God still has more people to bless, and he still plans to pour out His Spirit on all people.

The Old Covenant Feast of Weeks had to be fulfilled in the New Covenant on the exact day of the feast, and each believer is expected to have a personal fulfillment in his or her life by receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

The reason this needs to be emphasized is because some people regard the baptism in the Spirit as an option or think it is included automatically in the new birth. Using the logic of God, however, this cannot possibly be true. God foreshadowed these two important parts of our faith experience by representing them in separate feasts on different dates with separate fulfillments in the New Covenant. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that both the new birth and the baptism of the Spirit are required events or experiences in a believer’s life. Also, it is evident that one cannot contain the other because they are represented by two distinct feasts. In other words, a born-again believer needs to be baptized in the Holy Spirit as well.

(If you would like to learn more about this amazing baptism in the Holy Spirit, consider reading Pete’s book entitled, Promise of the Father, which is available from Amazon in paperback and Kindle versions.)

The Feast of Ingathering

The third great feast with a mandatory attendance requirement was the triple feast of the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Trumpets, and the Feast of Booths, which are subsumed under the title of the Feast of Ingathering. This feast comes in the autumn months at the time of the harvest and is the one Old Covenant feast that as yet has neither a New Covenant nor a personal fulfillment.

It is reasonable to assume that our Lord’s Second Coming will be the New Covenant fulfillment of this feast, at which time Jesus will raise the dead, catch up the living believers to be with him, judge all people, and install his Father’s kingdom, over which he will rule.

It is also quite clear that each believer will need to have a personal experience of this feast in his or her own life. If we are not gathered to the Lord at his Second Coming, we have no part with him.

Summary

In summary, the three major feasts of Israel signify three major events in church history and in the life of every believer.

Just as it was mandatory for each Israelite male to participate in these feasts, it is required that Christ fulfill all these feasts and that the church participate in each of those fulfillments. Individually every believer must also have his or her Passover, Pentecost, and Feast of the Ingathering. We are to experience the new birth, the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and the resurrection, or we have no part in Christ.

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