As I was seeking the Lord the other day, I could strongly feel His heart in this. I sense that He desires to speak concerning an influx of newborn Christians.
Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers: Get Ready to Disciple the Newborns!
“The fishermen are about to deliver the fish into the sanctuaries of many churches! Will you be ready to disciple them?”
A Year’s Worth of Fish in One Day
Recently I saw a documentary TV program that was highlighting a particular region of the north. In it, they showed a large number of fishing boats, all in one bay of water. These fishermen were waiting for the exact moment of the opening of the season to go out and make their catch.
The fish they were going to catch were in spawning season. And every year, these fish return to one particular area of the water to do their spawning. There were huge numbers of fish that annually returned there by instinct to reproduce after their kind. The documentary also said these fishermen could catch enough fish in one day to equal a years’ worth of wages. T
This is a prophetic picture of the time and season we are in. We are fishing for men.
Luke 5:1-11, 4 Fishermen Called as Disciples
As the people pressed upon Him to hear the word of God, He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret and saw two boats beside the lake. But the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He entered one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to thrust it out a little from the land. Then He sat down and taught the people from the boat.
When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
Simon answered Him, “Master, we have worked all night and have caught nothing. But at Your word I will let down the net.”
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was tearing. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink.
When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear. From now on you will catch men.” So when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.
In this passage of Scripture, we are given a picture that represents many similarities in the season the kingdom of God is in right now.
First of all, we have Jesus, who is out ministering to a multitude of the world’s people. He is drawing them to Himself, The Holy Spirit has been letting us know that Jesus is out there doing this right now, and a great harvest is imminently upon us.
Second, the fishermen have packed up their gear, parked their boats on the shore and are cleaning their nets. This is a picture of where the evangelistic ministry has been for quite some time now. Evangelists have been working hard to catch new believers for decades, and have had little to no response.
Third, we have Jesus getting into a boat and telling His disciples to take Him out on the lake with them. Not only that, but He also tells them that they are not to pack up their gear but to let down their nets again for another attempt. This is a picture of the what the kingdom prophets have been telling us for quite some time now. It’s time for another revival. Get ready for a huge catch; the fish are coming to your pond.
The next picture we have is the response of the tired fishermen. In my words: “Lord, we have been trying for a long time to get people saved, and we are just not having very good success at this.” I’m sure that Jesus lovingly looked into their eyes, and with His look of love, He was saying, “I know, child, but just listen to Me again, because this time it’s different. I’m in the boat with you!”
The final picture here is the one where the disciples did catch fish. However, it was not the normal catch this time. There were so many fish that there nets were breaking, and they had to call out to their friends to bring their nets as well, because there were so many fish that one net was not able to contain the catch. Their boats were sinking because of the vast number of fish, and they were not prepared to handle the size of the catch.
They were unprepared for the influx of so many fish that they were astonished and convicted. They even told Jesus to leave them because they were not prepared ahead of time with the faith and equipment to handle the great catch that was happening now right in their midst.
Jesus finished this encounter up with this exhortation to His disciples: “Do not fear. From now on you will catch men.”
Jesus let His disciples know that this experience had another application. They were being trained to fish for men.
The Season of Harvest Is Upon Us
I sense from the Lord that we have begun to enter the season of harvest in the kingdom.
The Spirit of God is stirring and drawing the hearts of those who are ready to answer His beckoning to salvation. I feel in the Spirit that this number of souls is extremely large. I see a picture in my spirit of a vast number of souls, like a huge school of fish frantically swimming and stirring the waters around them. They are in great anticipation for what is about to take place in their lives. They have been feeling the Spirit stirring them and drawing them, but they have not known what to do about it or with it.
These fish are coming to your pond.
Will you be ready to disciple them? {eoa}
You can reach Vince Viozzi at [email protected]. If you would like to invite him to speak at your church, meeting or conference please send an email with the subject Line “Invite Vince” to the above email address.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.