TRAINING

"Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

Equipping and training is crucial to any job, but it is especially critical for the work of evangelism. No one is asked to do the work of an evangelist who is not fully prepared for what he may find. We must be trained! We must be equipped!

The fivefold ascension gifts to the Church have been assigned the task of equipping the saints for their ministry, to prepare them for works of service. In that spirit, I would like to teach you about training for evangelism. I cannot equip you for this work, but I can, God willing, teach you some things about the training process.

Who is to train and equip us for ultimate evangelism? Who is in charge of fishing for men? Who are the reapers in the great harvest of the end of the age which is upon us now?

Charles Simpson said, "If you want peace with God, stay out of His chair." Those words struck me like a hammer blow. I do want peace with God. I do want to please Him. I do want His joy at my obedience to be my strength. I want to be a Father-pleaser and make Him happy. Then I am strong. Then I have confidence and determination. Then I am right, and flooded with peace and great joy.

But, I often find myself in His chair - second-guessing God, determining my own course of action, deciding what would be the best way to accomplish a task that He has already outlined for me. When this happens, I lose my peace, I strive in the flesh, I get nervous and determined, I sweat and thereby pollute my priestly service.

Jesus is responsible to train us for evangelism. Jesus is responsible to equip us for this task. Jesus says to us, just as He did to Peter, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Our job is to follow Him. Jesus trains, we follow. Jesus equips, we follow.

Man's way is to worship and serve some one or some thing. Everyone has a god of some kind that he worships and serves. The first command of God is, "You shall have no other gods before me." Yet, men have gone in search of other gods. Even believers are warned by the Apostle John, "Dear children, keep yourselves from idols." 1 John 5:21.

In our "enlightened" state, we look with horror at those who kneel down before some statue or image of another god. And yet beloved, we have all fashioned other gods with our minds and hearts and spent our strength and vitality in worshipping our creation. What do I mean?

God is God. He has a personality and characteristics. Some things He likes, and some things He hates. He does things the way He wants, and no one can make Him into something else. Yet we approach God and the things of God and change them according to our own thinking. We fashion another god with our minds as surely as if we had carved an idol with our hands.

I am me. I have a personality and characteristics. I like some things and I hate some other things. Please accept who and what I am. Take me and love me, or leave me alone, but don't pretend I'm something else. Don't relate to me as if I was someone else. I hate it -and so do you. And so does God!

The Bible is the revelation of the Word of God. It is the word of God. It is true and inspired and inerrent. It is God-breathed. It is alive and dynamic. God Himself, by His Spirit, works through this word to bring us light and revelation. He reveals Himself to us in the pages of the book we call the Bible. (Eat this book. Digest it. Let it become incarnate in you. But don't worship it. It is a thing.)

We approach this book and see God and say, "Oh no, I don't think that's the way it is. I don't think God is like that." Stop! Idolatry! Your thinker is not your God. Your thinker is not your authority. When you do that you are fashioning another god with your mind.

Great learning and study is not the answer to this problem. I have a Bachelors Degree from a major university. After those four years, I took two years of pre-seminary, two years of seminary, a year of internship, and then another year of graduate study at the seminary. They told me that I was a theologian.

Do not make an idol with your mind, and do not follow things. You can't serve God and money. You can't serve two masters. Still we try.

Jesus said, "Follow Me." "Follow Me" - not my sandals, not my robe, not my chalice, not my staff, not my burial cloth, not any thing. "Follow Me."

This propensity to worship "things" has always plagued mankind. The "religious" nature of man has caused him to take the good gifts of God and make them into an idol. The Brass Serpent on the pole in the wilderness. The Ark of the Covenant. The Temple. The Ephod. The Urim and Thummim. The "marks" of the office. The Bread. The Wine. The Water. The Building. The Doctrine. The System.

Demonized man thinks, "If I can make a 'system' that incorporates what God has done, then I'm O.K." He salves his conscience and need for God thinking consciously or unconsciously "I now have God on my terms, in my little world, in my little box, on my little altar." Beloved, heaven and earth cannot contain God, much less any man-made system.

The way of man is to seek the praise of men. We are all looking for the "well done" affirmation from someone. When we seek this from God and His representatives, like Jesus, we are true Father-pleasers. When we seek this from men, we are destroying our faith.

Jesus said, "I do not accept praise from men." John 5:41. Wow! Then He said, "How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, and make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?" John 5:44.

John described the cowardice of many, even the leaders who believed in Jesus, but because they were afraid the Pharisees would put them out of the synagogue, they did not confess their faith. He explains, "for they loved praise from men more than praise from God." John 12:45. (Remember beloved, the cowardly are the first to be thrown into the lake of fire. Rev.21 :8)

A true Jew is one whose heart has been circumcised by the Spirit, not by the written code. "Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God." Rom. 2:29.

Father God, by Your Spirit make me a true Jew.

Man's way, man's labor and achievement is motivated by envy. Solomon describes this meaninglessness and chasing after wind: "I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor." Eccle. 4:4. All labor - all achievement - all accomplishments - everything outside the Kingdom of God is motivated by envy.

"I have more money than you." "My house is nicer than yours." "My church is bigger than yours." "I led sixteen people to Christ." "We have pure doctrine." (implied: "but you...") "Our Church (wrong word. - use denomination) is the third largest in the world." (Notice: this comment is never used when speaking to someone from the first or second largest.) "Our Church (wrong word - use congregation or flock) is the fourth largest in the city." (Notice: this comment is never used when speaking to someone from the first, second or third largest congregation.) "We are the fastest growing church."

I don't know how long Adam and Eve lived in The Garden before The Fall. It was long enough for him to name the animals, and I think it is implied that God would regularly come and fellowship with them there. When you name something, you have a relationship with it. Adam lived in perfect harmony with all God's creation until... Even today, when the effects of the curse are experienced through all living creatures, we still enter into close and deep relationships with the animals.

For most of us a dog or a cat or a bird, has been named and become a real part of our lives. Some even have a close relationship with animals that we consider dangerous and frightening. Was it less for Adam? There was no fear, and no danger from these magnificent creations. They were God's handiwork, he was God's masterpiece until...

Can you imagine the shock and trauma to Adam and Eve when God killed one of these animals to give them skins to cover their nakedness? They had probably never seen blood before. They did not know what death was. They had never known the experience of watching life tear away and leave the body. Shock. Trauma. Horror. Revulsion. God did it.

It is a bloody mess to kill and skin an animal. I once went on a hunting party and helped. One minute this powerful, awesome bull elk was running on the mountain side. The next he was dying and bleeding. Then the bloody work began. Blood is everywhere. It is no longer a free, living creature it is now a carcass to be cleaned, skinned and quartered. Blood on the ground, blood on your hands and clothes, blood on the knife, blood everywhere. God did it for Adam and Eve.

Abel brought an offering to God from his flocks. There was shedding of blood. "The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering." His brother Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord, "but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor."

As Moses journeyed back to Egypt to deliver the people of God, he was confronted by the Lord Who was about to kill Moses. His wife Zipporah, "took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it. 'Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,' she said. So the Lord let him alone." Ex. 4:25,26.

How many thousands, even millions of animals were slain in the Tabernacle and the Temple? What huge quantities of blood were shed? What was it like to stand at the foot of Sinai, enter a covenant with God, and be sprinkled with blood?

All this blood. Blood on the altar. Blood on the Mercy Seat. Blood on the utensils. Blood on the Priests. Blood everywhere.

Why all this blood? Because it is God's way. "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." Heb. 9:22. Why all this blood? Because it is a shadow and type that points to the Blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God. On the sacrificial altar at Calvary, He shed His blood once and for all, for all people of every nation, tribe, and language, for all people of every time from Adam, to Noah, to Moses, to David, to Daniel, to Mary, to Paul, to Augustine, to Francis, to Luther, to Wesley, to you and me, and to any unborn generations yet to come.

Oh, the blood of Jesus. The blood poured out for the forgiveness of sins. The blood with which He purchased the church of God. The blood that justifies us. We are redeemed, bought back, not with silver or gold but with the precious blood of Jesus. The blood that cleanses and purifies. The eternal blood. The blood with which we wash our robes and make them white. The blood by which we overcome the accuser of the brethren. The blood by which we enter with Him into the Holy Place.

Surely this Jesus we have decided to follow is to us a bridegroom of blood. When the crowds wanted to make Him a king on their terms He said they had to eat His flesh and drink His blood if they wanted any part with Him. That's a hard saying. Like the disciples we have no other place to go because He has the words of life. So be it. We will follow on His terms, not ours.

On the night He was betrayed, He took the cup after supper and... On this day, the same Jesus, takes the cup and says to you and me, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."

Later that same night in agony in the garden His sweat became as drops of blood. As He travailed in prayer, as He offered Himself but asked to not drink the cup if possible, as He considered becoming sin for us, a lamb to be slaughtered. The blood already began to flow. Oh, the blood of Jesus!

In the morning He gave His back to the whip and the blood flowed. He gave His head to the thorns and the blood flowed. He gave His face to those who tore out His beard and the blood flowed. On Golgotha He gave His hands and feet to the spikes and the blood flowed. Oh, the blood of Jesus!

Oh, the blood of Jesus! God's way is through the blood of Jesus.

God's way is to follow Jesus. We are pilgrims - people on a journey. We are strangers and aliens on earth who are looking for a better country - a heavenly one. We are in the world, but not of the world. The eternal purpose of God is our purpose. We desire to do everything possible to extend the Kingdom of God, and therefore our lives are set to follow the King.

The King lives forever! He is enthroned on Zion's Holy Hill, and also in our lives. The great eternal purpose of my life is to follow Jesus. The short range goal in my life is to follow Jesus. In the short term my concern is to hear His voice and follow His steps in specific projects and activities. The questions I must ask are: "What has Jesus called me to do as I follow Him?" "What is the strategy Jesus has outlined for me to follow?" "How does He want me to involve others in the projects so we follow Him together?"

Jesus is the Way. He is both the "narrow gateway" and also the "way" itself. That means He is the route, the road, the journey, the highway, the license that allows you to travel, the map, the guide, the beginning, the end, the everything. Jesus is the Way. He said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6.

The early Christians were called "Followers of the Way." What a beautiful and meaningful name for a Christian: a follower of the Way, a follower of Jesus, a pilgrim, a person on a journey.

Father God grant that such a descriptive title would be appropriate for us today. Grant that we would be followers, movers, doers, and not hearers only.

The evil one has deluded much of modern Christianity with the lie that all God wants from us is to know the truth. If I know Jesus, that's enough. If I introduce you to Jesus, and you can say, "Oh yes, I believe in Jesus," that's enough. Beloved, that is a lie.

The enemy doesn't care so much about just knowing Jesus, he gets upset when we start to do what we know. He gets mad when we start to follow Jesus. He gets terrified when the obedience of faith begins to come forth. His kingdom is threatened when God's people function as Followers of the Way.

The other name for the early Christians was "Disciples." A disciple is a follower. Great leaders have always had disciples or followers. The mark of a leader is followers or disciples. If someone doesn't have followers or disciples, he is not a leader. We are all to be disciples of Jesus, followers of Jesus, learners from Jesus, servants of Jesus.

Our word discipline comes from the same root as disciple. The process of discipline or discipling is to form, shape, mold, or train the one who is following. For example, parents are responsible to God to disciple, or discipline, or train, shape and mold the children loaned to them. If they do a good job, the children reach a point where they are no longer discipled by their parents, but became disciples of Jesus on their own. The parents will always provide love, identity, family etc., but the discipling process is always limited.

A grave danger exists in the Christian community. Some leaders draw disciples after themselves. Paul warned the Ephesian Elders that this would happen, and commanded them to be on guard. We must all be on guard to carefully follow Jesus ourselves, and lead our own disciples to Jesus as well. This may seem like an apparent contradiction, but it is not.

We are disciples of Jesus, and also disciples of others for limited times and in limited areas. The discipling relationship with Jesus goes on for a lifetime. The other discipling relationships are limited, and always in the Lord, so that we follow others as they follow the Lord. To think of discipleship as apprenticeship is helpful. Our apprenticeship with Jesus is for life, but in the other apprenticeships, we graduate or get journeyman's papers somewhere along the line.

If you are a leader and have followers, or disciples, I pray that the fear of God would guide you. May you hear loud and clear, "I the Lord your God am a jealous God." May you present all those entrusted to you mature and complete in Jesus. May you answer for them with joy at their single-minded devotion and service to Jesus.

In equipping for evangelism, Jesus keeps the primary responsibility for training. He may assign us a "master" to do some of the training at certain points, but the primary responsibility is still His. He may ask us to train others in how to share the faith, etc., but He maintains the primary responsibility. He said, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

Here we are Lord. We desire to follow You.

Again in chapter 16 He says, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." Matt. 16:24,25. This basic theme is repeated over and over again throughout the teachings of Jesus. Let's take the outline from this verse and look at the implications for us.

If anyone would come after me.

The "if' is no longer an issue for most of us. We have decided to follow Jesus. We want to be fishers of men, and He said this is the way He would train us. We have entered into covenant with our God through the blood of Jesus. It doesn't matter that we did not understand all that was involved, here we are. We have signed the contract. Our names are on the bottom line. Now we can look at the terms and conditions of following Jesus.

He must deny himself.

"Lord, nobody told me anything like this when I signed up. It's not fair. All my life I have been on a crusade to fulfill every desire of my heart. The whole world is marching to a different sound. The word isn't 'denial', it's 'self.’ Self-fulfillment, self-actualization, self-gratification, self-motivation, self-advancement, self-everything. I'm told 'You deserve the best', 'Go for the gusto,' 'It doesn't get any better than this.' What about me Lord?"

There is a war going on. It is real, dangerous, ugly, and a fight to the death. The war even goes on in the members of my body, "waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members." Rom. 7:23 The battleground is my mind: the way I think and feel about things.

The evil one uses the world to fight for our lives. He fought for Jesus and tempted Him in the same way he tempts us. Jesus won! Satan lost! In Jesus, we also win. He said, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33. In Jesus and His victory we win, but the evil one continues the battle for our minds and thinking by using the world.

There are three ingredients of the world's attraction to us. "For everything in the world - (1) the cravings of sinful man, (2) the lust of his eyes and (3) the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world." 1 John 2:16. Notice that these are the three temptations that our enemy used against Jesus. Jesus won! Satan lost! Now the battle continues in our minds.

Jesus used the Word of God. Jesus overcame the enemy. Jesus said, "NO!" As we follow Him, we use the Word of God in various situations, we overcome the evil one, and we too say, "NO!"

Fellow sinful man what are your cravings? What do you just have to have or you'll die? Chocolate? Tobacco? Food? More sleep? Alcohol? Peanuts? Sports? Vitamins? Sex? It seems ridiculous to think like this in the clear light of day. But you and I both know from experience that there comes a time when the battle is hot and heavy and we really do think we'll die if we don't get what we're craving. In the heat of battle, the victory is still in Jesus. He lives in you. He has overcome. Put your tongue just behind your top teeth. Make a nasal sound. Now round your mouth and make a full mouth sound. "NO!"

What do your eyes lust for? New car? Better house? Bigger office? Swimming pool? RV? If the Lord wants you to have this, great. Receive it gratefully and thankfully as another item to steward as a servant of God. If He has not made it clear that these are for you, deny yourself. Say "NO!" It's good for you to deny yourself.

What are you proud about? What do you have, or what have you done that you'd like to tell others about? "Wow, for three days I haven't talked about myself once. What victory! I can't wait to tell Joe." The hooks of the world are set deep inside us. Even when we are pressing on, and overcoming, the lure and desire of the world is at hand. "NO!" Jesus lives in me. "NO!" I will deny myself!

The victory is in Jesus. Jesus is in me. "NO!" "No" is the appropriate response to the world. "No" is the appropriate response to the evil one. "No" is the appropriate response to my sinful cravings and pride.

And take up his cross.

Jesus put in His cross time once and for all. On that horrible/beautiful Roman instrument of execution He died the death of the forsaken of God. By the way we reckon time, on a specific day, at a specific place, He died on a specific cross.

By the way God reckons time this was an eternal act in which the Lamb of God was slain from the foundation of the earth. This is an eternal act so when the Apostle John looks into an open heaven, he sees the Lamb looking as if it had been freshly slain. And so, this horrible/beautiful cross of Jesus has become an emblem, or a symbol to us:

However, "and take up his cross" is not speaking of Jesus' cross. Jesus is talking about those who follow Him. "He (the follower) must deny himself and take up HIS cross." Beloved this is my cross and your cross and the cross for every one who follows Jesus. "Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:27.

Do you mean that I have to get a big cross and lug it around the world like Arthur Blesset? Yes, if God tells you to do that. And even if God doesn't tell you to carry a physical cross with you day by day, He is still telling you to carry with you in your heart and mind your own cross. This ugly/beautiful instrument of your own death.

We all die hard. We cling to life and resist death. Death is our enemy. We struggle and fight death. Even the death we should embrace and welcome, we fight against. For example:

A young man began an investment company. He worked hard for a few years and the company began to earn a good profit, and show a good potential. The young man now finds himself being drawn powerfully to the Scriptures. He just can't get enough of the Bible. He begins to be used of God in sharing the truth and realities of the King and His Kingdom. The Lord begins to speak clearly to him to give up his business and spend one or two years in the Word preparing for what the Lord would show him later.

"But God, I'll lose my business." (When we are resisting, we usually call Him God not Father or Lord.)

"You gave Me the business, remember?"

"Yes, but, I've worked so hard for it. It will be all that work for nothing." (Sheep go "Baaaabaaabaa... abbaAbba." Goats go, "But, but, but.")

"You said you did that work as unto Me. I have accepted it."

"But God, You know what I mean, the money, the income. I've built a support base. I could work part-time and study part-time and guarantee some income."

"…silence …"

"God, this is painful!"

"Yes."

"It's like death."

"Yes."

"But God, don't You care?" (Beep, beep. beep. Danger! Caution! Watch out!)

"....silence...."

"I'm sorry Father, I know You care."

"I forgive you, and yes, I do care. You are precious to Me. Remember the sparrows."

"Must I die to this?"

"Yes!"

And so this young man goes on with God in the exciting adventure of following Jesus, denying himself and taking up his cross. Congratulations young man! There is a resurrection! You will be incredibly joyful when all is said and done!

The next danger the young man faces, and we all face whenever we get on our cross and die, is to think, "Well, thank God, that's over." Beloved, our cross is not a once and for all episode. It is daily. It is not, "Hallelujah, I've arrived." No, you may have made a good start, or you have made some good progress, but this is a journey, a following, a pressing on.

Notice the word that Luke includes when he quotes Jesus that Matthew did not. "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." Luke 9:23,24. Did you notice the word? DAILY.

Daily put on the new man created in the image of God. Daily put to death the old nature. Daily reckon, or count yourself dead with Christ, and now alive, yet in truth and reality Christ alive in you. Let's talk a bit about this exchanged life. Christ in me, and my life hid with God in Christ.

Here is a personalized translation for me of Rom. 6:3-l1: "When I, Frank B. Smith, was baptized into Christ Jesus, I was baptized into His death. I shared His death with Him, or He shared His death with me. At any rate, He died, I died. I was buried with Him through baptism. I went down in a watery grave and died with Him, in order that, just like He was raised from the dead through Father's glory, I too might live a new life.

"Now if I died with Him, I will also live with Him. We know that Jesus, raised from the dead cannot die again, death has been defeated by Him. The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God.

"In the same way, I, Frank B. Smith, am dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus."

I have already died. Death has no more power on me. I died with Jesus on the cross. I rose with Jesus on that first resurrection morning. This exchange took place when I was baptized. Therefore when sin is present, I count myself a dead man. It's really hard to tempt a corpse.

Here's how it works. I see this beautiful sports car and everything inside me says, "That's beautiful. That's for you Frank. You deserve it. Wouldn't you look flashy driving that thing around...." When I come to my senses and realize what is happening, I mentally place myself on the cross with Jesus, and all this subtle temptation vanishes. It's gone. I am dead to that.

Now let's suppose I didn't come to my senses until after this coveting went the whole way. I bought the car, or rather sold myself to six years of exorbitant payments. Now what? I can mentally picture myself with Jesus on the cross, or dead, lying in a coffin, but when I open my eyes, there that thing sits at the curb, and the monthly bills keep rolling in.

Here is where my cross comes in. Here comes some hard dying: Apologies. Sale of the flashy little idol. Paying off the balance due after getting rid of the car. And hopefully learning to die faster and more effectively next time.

As I face my cross, it helps me to know that Jesus never leaves or forsakes me. It also helps me when I look at the way He embraced His cross.

He knew it was time. Some Greeks came to the feast. They asked Philip to see Jesus. Philip and Andrew then went and told Jesus.

Dear fellow, aspiring evangelists, comrades in following Jesus Who asks us to take up our crosses, please join me in praying the prayer of St. Francis. He was a choice servant who gives us a good example of how to die.

Some of you may be wondering, "When do we get to the training part?" Well, this is it. This is what Jesus talks about when He says to follow Him. To follow Jesus means come after Jesus, deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow. This is the process by which He equips us to do evangelism. This is the way He makes us fishers of men. There are, however, two more points I would like to make about being Jesus' disciple and following Him.

"A student (disciple) is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher." Luke 6:40. When Jesus, our master teacher, finishes discipling us in any area of life, we will be like Him. We will do things the way He does.

If we are taught (discipled) in fishing for fish by Uncle Jim, we will fish like he does. If we are discipled in fishing for men by George, we will do the things George does. If Edward trains us for evangelism, we will do it like Edward.

At this point we typically run on ahead of God and rush to the Scriptures to discover Jesus' secret pattern. What we find is that there wasn't any pattern, or at least not an obvious one. Did He have a method to His work of fishing for people, of meeting needs and harvesting people for eternal life? No, at least not an obvious one. Well, He had to have a system of some sort for the way He ministered. Again, not an obvious one that can be discovered by casual observation.

Every episode recorded in the gospels between Jesus and others seems to be different. He approached each individual and each group in a unique manner. Sometimes He taught, then healed. Sometimes He touched, sometimes He allowed them to touch. Sometimes He pointed to the faith of a person, sometimes faith isn't even mentioned. Sometimes He did signs and wonders, then taught, sometimes He taught first. In our mad rush to get a handle on Jesus we miss it. We miss the key.

What a beautiful promise!

What a scathing condemnation of the faithlessness, unbelief, and prayerlessness of us modern Christians. Jesus said, "Anyone who has faith in me will do…." Do you have faith in Jesus? If so where are the seeing blind? the hearing deaf? the living dead? the walking lame? the rejoicing poor? Jesus said, "ANYONE."

Do you see the need for Chapter One of this book? Repent! Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent! Repent and turn to Jesus to follow Him. Stop following all the wrong ideas, wrong theology, wrong approaches to evangelism, wrong concepts wrong faith, wrong (non-existent) signs and wonders, wrong running ahead, wrong doing it my way.

There are pockets of "power evangelism" in the Church. There are many places in the world where the poor, dumb believers aren't smart enough to know all the reasons "why not" so they just do the wonderful things Jesus did. Even in "enlightened" America God is raising up men like the late John Wimber who both does and teaches, "Doin' the Stuff." Doin' the stuff according to Wimber is simply doing what Jesus did.

Do you want to do it like Jesus? Do you want to follow Him? Okay. Here is the key. Here is the pattern, method or system Jesus always used. We've alluded to it before, but here it is the way He described it:

Please read the last verse again.

Got it? Once you see it, it's clear. Jesus said what He heard Father say; Jesus did what He saw Father do. Don't add anything, or make it more complex. Jesus said what He heard Father say; Jesus did what He saw Father do.

Why did Jesus spit on the ground, make mud of the spittle and anoint the blind man's eyes? Because He saw that happening. In His spirit, He saw this vision -He saw Father doing it, so He did it. Why did He say to the woman at the well, "go call your husband"? Because He heard Father say it. This is the pattern and method Jesus always used. "Always" is a strong word. It is the word Jesus used.

As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. John 20:21

I am the vine; you are the branches. John 15:5

What if you don't hear His voice? If you don't hear the voice of the Good Shepherd something is wrong. It is normal for sheep to hear the voice of their shepherd. It is not normal to not hear the voice of your shepherd.

If you're not hearing His voice, stop what you're doing, get still before God, and listen. Make sure you are following Jesus, deny yourself, take up your cross and die to yourself, press on with Jesus and listen. If you still don't hear, ask Him to speak to you and tell you what's wrong.

The Lord speaks to us in our spirits. The evil one also communicates with us every way he can. He is pushy and harsh, condemning and self-justifying. A sheep must learn to distinguish between the voice of the Good Shepherd and another voice. Some believers have stopped listening because they don't want the responsibility of distinguishing the voices. If this is what you have done, repent and grow up. Jesus has a lot to say to you and He wants to make you a fisher of men.

The Lord usually speaks to us in a still small voice . Oh He also speaks through events and happenings, through catastrophes and mighty shakings, but like Elijah, the closer we get to Him, the less we are concerned with the wind and fire and earth-quakes, and the more we respond to the "still small voice."

You can read about this in 1 Kings 19.

Many of us no longer hear the voice of Jesus because sometime in the past we heard His voice and did not want to do what He said. We shut it off, and don't listen anymore. We become like those lonely, isolated people who are surrounded by words and messages, but don't hear anything.

If this is what you have done, then I urge you to repent. Ask Jesus to forgive you for not listening to Him, for not doing what He asked you to do, and for not paying attention any more. Then, if it is appropriate, do what He asked you to do.

If you are confused, or uncertain about the voice of Jesus, go and counsel with your Pastor or spiritual overseer. The Lord our Shepherd has also given us gifts of Under-shepherds to care for the flock of God. Go and counsel with the one who is God's gift for you so that the evil one cannot confuse you and render you ineffective as a fisher of men.

The principle of two or three witnesses is important, especially when we hear questionable messages. Seek godly counsel with those who deny themselves, have taken up their crosses and are following Jesus. If what you are hearing is from God, others will be hearing it also. If the evil one is trying to isolate and destroy you, the counsel of your brothers will protect you.

When you hear things that are hard, follow Jesus. Fear Him more than men. Seek His favor, rather than praise from men. He has sent you; be faithful to Him. He is with you; walk in His ways. He has loved you unto death; be secure in Him.

Suppose you are a Pastor of a struggling flock. A multimillionaire comes to you and says, "Pastor, I want to follow God and do what's right. What should I do?" In the flesh you immediately think, "Oh hallelujah! Our financial problems are over," but in your spirit you hear clearly, "Go sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, then come and follow the Lord with us." In Matthew 19, Jesus faced the same situation. He showed His great love for the man.

Elisha's servant was terrified when an army surrounded them. The man of God prayed that his eyes be opened, and he saw the army of God all about them. God asked Amos, "What do you see?" He saw a plum-line, then he saw a basket of ripe fruit. Ezekiel saw a man with a measuring rod. The Apostle John saw a door open in heaven.

God said through Joel, "And afterward I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions." Joel 2:28. Peter told us on the Day of Pentecost that was what was happening; and, it is still happening today.

If you are one of us Christians who have been taught that the gifts of the Spirit were only for the time of the early Church, I would ask you to carefully examine the scriptures and repent of your unbelief. Shake off the traditions of men which try to limit the power of God.

As the showdown between the two kingdoms nears, we need to function in His gifts. and not in our puny human resources. These are Bible Days. These are exciting days. These are days for heroes. These are the "good old days". When we reminisce in the Kingdom of God about the mighty exploits done for Jesus, we will think on these days.

If you hold to the position that these gifts of healing, miracles, tongues, etc., were for some other day, then you would have to be consistent with your position and say that the spiritual gifts of wisdom, understanding, faith, administration etc., are also for another day and not today. Beloved, that is a preposterous position. Ask Jesus about it. Ask Him for every gift that He wants you to have. Please don't come short in anything.

Back to seeing and visions. How it works, I do not know, but it does work. It is not the same for everyone. Some see writing. Some see pictures. Some see events happening. Some see in different ways at different times.

When I see something in the spirit, it is usually in light and dark, like the vision of the city reported in the first chapter. The first time this happened, I was praying and I was shocked.

There were about twenty of us praying and seeking the Lord in a traditional "church" building. I began to pray for a lady I had never met. I suddenly "saw" a light abdomen with a dark obstruction about three inches below and an inch or so to the right of the belly button. I had no idea what to do, so I asked her if she had any troubles in that area, and sure enough she did. We prayed for this, and she was healed.

I was embarrassed to ask about this. I felt funny that I "saw" something in that part of her anatomy. I thought I would seem like a bumpkin to pursue it. I was worried what the other people would think of me.

When God healed this sister we all rejoiced. We laughed and cried and celebrated. I was in awe that God would allow me the privilege of being His instrument of healing. Jesus also celebrated with us. God is so good!

Do what you see Jesus do.

Training and equipping is crucial. We must be trained and equipped to be fishers of men. Jesus trains and equips us. Our job is to follow Him, deny ourselves, die to our own ways, press on and wait. Listen and watch, hear and obey.

May your nets be full, your joy overflowing, and may the grace and glory of God shine forth from you as you happily journey on The Way.