Luke's Gospel chapter 5 and verse
1. And it came to pass that as the
people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood, that
is the Lord Jesus, by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw two ships
standing by the lake, but the fishermen were gone out of them
and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the
ships, which was Simon's, and prayed to him that he would thrust
out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the
people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking,
he said unto Simon, launch out into the deep and let down your
nets for a draft. And Simon answering said unto
him, Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing.
Nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when he
had this done they enclosed a great multitude of fishes and their
net break. And they beckoned unto their
partners which were in the other ship that they should come and
help them. And they came and filled both
the ships 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 was astonished, and all
that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had
taken. And so was also James and John,
the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus
said unto Simon, Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their
ships to land, they forsook all and followed him. Amen. May the Lord bless to us this
reading from his word. In the earliest days of the Lord's
ministry, He preached in the synagogues of the area of Galilee
and seems to have taught the people as part of their ordinary
worship services. We saw that several times in
chapter four. And it's emphasised in the closing
verse of Luke chapter four where the gospel writer says there
in verse 44, and he preached in the synagogues of Galilee. So it was in the synagogues that
principally the Lord's ministry took place at the beginning,
at the start of his preaching. However, the fame of the Lord
spread quickly and the power of his ministry, both in word
and in the miracles that he performed, stirred up an enthusiasm and
a curiosity. that could not be confined to
the structures of religious worship there at that time and in that
area because all Galilee was abuzz with a passion and with
an excitement for this new teacher of whom it was said, never man
spoke like this man. And again, Mark tells us, the
common people heard him gladly. And this was the enthusiasm that
was a stir in the local community. It's described in the opening
verse of our chapter where Luke tells us that the people pressed
upon him to hear the word of God. And we can almost imagine
that busyness, that hubbub, that sort of power of the throng gathering
around Jesus and pushing and pulling and trying to get close
to him. And it's that little scene there
that I want us to picture in the first point that I want to
leave with us today. And it's simply this, that there
was a desire to hear the Word of God amongst these people.
And I fear that we don't see that evidenced very much today. The Lord was not preaching wealth
and well-being. He wasn't preaching revolution.
He wasn't preaching politics. He was declaring the word of
God, purely and simply, and the people pressed on him to hear
him. He preached the gospel of the
kingdom of God, and he preached the worldwide gathering of the
church. and the people were eager to
hear him speak. We can't force people to have
an appetite for the gospel and we can't produce an interest
after spiritual things where and when it does not exist. But I confess, I genuinely wonder
why it is that so many people today are content to live, and
we have to say, content to die, without ever inquiring about
the state of their soul or considering the warnings regarding their
everlasting accountability before God. Nevertheless, I take great
encouragement as a preacher that this message that the Lord Jesus
Christ declared, this message of sovereign grace and the establishment
and gathering of his kingdom, this message of mercy which Christ
spoke and that I endeavour to imitate is a message, is the
message that answers the deepest need of men and women in this
world, their eternal need. And we understand that this is
a spiritual matter. Genuine interest in the gospel
requires spiritual light and spiritual awareness. And let
me just make this personal. If you have a burden for your
soul, then you're a very privileged person indeed. There is reason
to assume, even amongst those whose curiosity had been stirred,
had been piqued by the Lord's words, there at the Lake of Gennesaret
on that day, there's every reason to believe that many of those
who heard the Lord speak that day we're not truly seeking spiritual
help. Let there be no doubt then, to
have a genuine interest in the gospel and the true message of
God's word is a blessed, blessed honour indeed, that itself speaks
and suggests of a spiritual work of mercy in our hearts. I rejoice that this little group
gathers week by week to hear the word of God. I thank the
Lord that he has given us such a desire and still provides the
means by which the gospel of grace and mercy feeds his people
and builds up his church. The second thing I want to point
out here is to do with this miracle. The Lord employed a little ship
belonging to Simon Peter to gain relief from this jostling crowd. The Saviour employed this method
on several occasions, actually. This was not the only time that
he rather resourcefully, I think, used a ship like this in order
to speak to a group of people. But when he'd finished speaking
and the people had presumably begun to disperse, he turned
to his hosts in the ship and he said, launch out into the
deep and let down your nets for a draft. And I think that the
significance and force of this statement should not be overlooked. Jesus was no fisherman. He was
not even a coastal dweller. He lived in the hill country
of Judea. He was a carpenter. What did
he know about catching fish? On the other hand, the men to
whom he was speaking right now had been fishing all night. It
was their life. It was how they made their living.
They had been labouring all night without a catch at the very time
that the fishing was best. Despite their efforts, they had
nothing to show. And I've no doubt that these
men would have been frustrated, they would have been weary, perhaps
even annoyed at the dearth of fish that they had encountered. A fisherman needs to catch fish
or he doesn't eat, nor does his family. And Peter is no doubt
surprised at the suggestion. And at first, he appears ready
to resist the idea. But then he pauses. What's he
going to do here? Does he assert himself and refuse
the Lord's request? Or does he deny himself and comply? Well, he complies. He's seen
enough of the Lord. He's heard enough of the Lord
to realise that this is not an ordinary man. And what a blessed
lesson that is as well. If we are to be useful for the
Lord, if you and I are to be useful for the Lord, he has to
make us humble. in those very areas where we
vainly imagine our greatest strengths lie. And I think we know the
story. So many fish were netted that
the nets broke. And it seems that the boats themselves,
both Peter's boat and the boat of his partners, James and John,
Not one but two were in danger of sinking under the weight of
the number of fish that were caught. This was a miracle. It was a miracle in several levels.
The Lord's knowledge and control of such a shoal of fish and their
recovery into the boats despite nets being broken. and the preservation
of the ships and the crew, despite them beginning to sink, all bespoke
of the power of the Lord Jesus. There was much in this incident
to overwhelm and justify Peter's admiration. But it was something
more, it seems, that caught Peter's attention. He wasn't preoccupied
with the fish. He saw beyond the miracle and
he saw the Lord. He saw the Lord with the eyes
of faith, perhaps in a way that he'd never seen him before. And
that speaks about conviction. This miracle, this experience
convinced the big fisherman of the Godhead of Christ and it
was as simple as that. It was as if the scales had been
removed from his eyes. No doubt something had stirred
in Peter's heart and mind before under the message of the Lord.
No doubt there was a degree of admiration at the things that
the Lord was saying. And we've every reason to believe
that Peter and Andrew and the sons of Zebedee had an awareness
of the Lord before this incident took place. The other gospel
narratives would suggest that. This was not the first time that
Peter had encountered the Lord. But when Jesus spoke and when
Jesus preached, he heard what the Lord had to say. But this
moment, this miracle, this incident convinced Peter that he was in
the presence of God. His immediate reaction was to
tremble and to prostrate himself at Jesus' feet. and his words
reveal his feelings. Depart from me, for I am a sinful
man, O Lord. I don't know how much of the
gospel Peter knew at this time, but he knew enough to know that
he was unfit to be in the company of this one in whose presence
he now stood, or rather, in whose presence he now knelt. Peter
knew nothing short of almighty power. He grasped something of
omniscience and omnipotence in the way in which the Lord Jesus
Christ performed this miracle. And we could back into that miracle.
We could think about the gathering of the fish. We could think about
the timing of the day. We could think about the location
in the lake. All of these things. had to have
been known, had to have been ordained by God. And Peter grasped this. He saw
the significance, the immensity of all that had gone into this
miracle. And from this, he concluded the
Godhead of Christ. May we all be as convinced of
the Saviour's identity, and may we all be convinced of our own
personal unworthiness as Peter was that day, because only under
such awareness will the true blessings of the Gospel be known
to us. And this gives me my final point.
Realising the force of Peter's confession makes the words of
the Lord in response, I think, more gracious and more comforting. It was not the sinking boat that
Peter had to fear, but it was hell and damnation of his soul. A sinner in the presence of God
has much to fear, but when the Saviour says, Fear not. When Christ says, fear not, then
what have we to fear? If God justifies a sinner by
the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, what grounds have
we to fear? No doubt Peter had lots to learn
about the Lord Jesus Christ, the work of the cross, the efficacy
of his blood to cleanse from all sin. And yet those words,
that day, in that moment, fear not, were sufficient comfort
for his soul at that present time. And there was more to this as
well. The Lord would have disciples, messengers whom he'd teach and
prepare and commission for his service. Apostles who'd be employed
in preaching and ministering the gospel for the salvation
of sinners and for the gathering in of the church. And these simple
fishermen were the first of that discrete chosen group. They would no longer be fishers
for fish. Now they would catch men. And
I like the authority and the certainty with which the Lord
speaks here. There's no maybe or perhaps in
this matter. They would most certainly and
definitely be fishers, be catchers of men by the preaching of the
gospel and the ministry of the word of God. And that is a wonderful
work of grace. that continues to this day. Amen.