Chapter 5, and I want, with the
Lord's help, to direct you tonight to verse 8. Our text is found in Luke 5,
8. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell
down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful
man, O Lord. incident that we read in the
opening part of this chapter is not the first time that Simon
Peter had met with the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that Christ had met with
Peter on a previous occasion. In fact, we have that recorded
in the opening chapter of John's Gospel. And there we're told
how it was Andrew who introduced Simon to the Lord, and remember
the words of Christ, how Simon, the son of Jonah, thou shalt
be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, a stone. And now here in Luke chapter
five, we have an incident somewhat later, and what we have recorded
here really is Peter's commission. I read verse 8 for our text,
but you see in what follows how the Lord speaks to Peter and
those associated with him as fishermen, James and John, and
how they are called now to be followers, to be disciples. And
we're told in verse 11 that when they brought their ships to the
land they first were called and they followed him. So, in a sense,
we might say that what we have in John chapter 1 is the first
call of Peter, but this is more particularly the commission of Peter and the others. And
the effect that all this has upon Simon Peter is quite remarkable. He had witnessed this miracle,
his great draught of fishes, We read in verse 8, when Simon
Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart
from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. And in it, we see something
of Peter's faith in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. That
really is the theme that I want to try to address, that Peter
is brought to fear and to acknowledge that this person who is standing
before him, is none other than the Lord God himself. We know how subsequently Peter
will make those great confessions. We have it there in Matthew chapter
16, of course, at Caesarea Philippi, when he confesses our Christ,
the sign of the living God. And then again, at the end of
John chapter 6, a remarkable chapter, that long chapter, Our
late dear friend Sidney Norton used to call it the chapter of
the great diminishings, the multitudes, who are following the Lord at
the beginning of that chapter after the miracle of the feeding
of the 5,000. But then now the Lord by His
ministry is searching and sifting the multitudes and they're all
departing from Him. And then He asks the disciples,
will they also go around? And it's Simon Peter, the game,
who comes forward. To whom shall we go now? That's
the word of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that
thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. And that Peter
clearly is one who is increasingly persuaded with regards to the
identity of Jesus of Nazareth, that he is indeed the Christ,
he is indeed the eternal Son of God, God incarnate. When Simon Peter saw it, He fell
down at Jesus' knees, saying, Be pardonable, for I am a sinful
man, O Lord. And as we come to consider the
content of this verse, I want to divide the subject matter
into three sections. First of all, to say something
about Christ's preaching at this time. And then, secondly, Christ's
commandment that is given to Simon Peter. And then finally,
the prediction that the Lord makes. First of all, then, Christ
preaching. He is, of course, that great
prophet that was promised back in Deuteronomy chapter 18, where
God says that he will raise up a prophet like unto Moses, and
yet greater than Moses. The law was given by Moses, grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ. And so, as a prophet, we see
the Lord Jesus speaking the words of God. In fact, in his preaching,
Christ is revealing God. In fact, he is the revelation
of God. He is the image of the invisible
God. And so we're told at the beginning
of John's Gospel In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. The sign was in the beginning
with God. Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ, no
man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is
in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared Him. And so we
have this ministry, this teaching, this preaching of the Lord Jesus. And look at the opening verse
of this chapter. We're told he came to pass, and
as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood
by the lake of Canaster. And it's interesting, he then
enters into Simon's ship and prays him, but he would thrust
out from the land, and he sat down and towards the people out
of the ship. I remarked only the other day
how that seated position was the usual way in which the rabbis
would teach the people. The scribes of Pharisees, we're
told in Matthew 23, they sit in Moses' seat. And the Lord
says, therefore, the people are to respect them. And the Lord,
when he is preaching in the Sermon on the Mount, we're told in the
beginning of Matthew 5, when he was set, when he was seated,
there is the Lord. People are pressing upon him
to hear, the Word of God. And he is that one who is the
great teacher sent from God. And so he goes into Simon's ship
and he sits down and he is teaching the people, preaching. And what
do we see with regards to this ministry? Well, this ministry
of the Lord Jesus is obviously authoritative. It's authoritative. And we're reminded of that previously.
after his temptations at the beginning of chapter 4 we're
told then in verse 16 of that chapter how he comes to Nazareth
and as was his custom on the Sabbath day he goes into the
synagogue and the president of the synagogue delivers to him
the book of the prophet Isaiah, and the Lord turns to Isaiah
61, and he reads those words. Here in verse 18 of chapter 4,
the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal
the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovering the sight of the blind, to set at liberty them
that are bruised. to preach the acceptable year
of the Lord. How this verb, to preach, is
repeated in these verses. And then he closes the book and
sits down and all the eyes in the synagogue are fastened upon
him. And he says, this day is this
scripture fulfilled in your ears. He is that one then who has authority
He has been anointed and he's baptizing the Spirit as descended
upon him in the form of a dove. He has the Spirit of God without
measure. And now he begins his public
ministry. And then later in chapter four,
verse 31, we're told that, and we came down to Capernaum, a
city of Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath days. And they
were astonished at his doctrine, for his word was with power. His word was with authority,
all the Lord Jesus Christ. He is that one then, who when
he preaches, the people are struck by the power of his ministry. At the end of the Sermon on the
Mount, remember? At the end of Matthew chapter
7, when Jesus had ended all these sayings, the people were astonished
at his doctrine. For he taught them as one having
authority and not as the scribe. And when the Jewish authorities
send certain officers to arrest him, they come back and what
do they say? Never man spake like this man.
The Lord's ministry then, his preaching, is clearly with authority. And that authority is underlined
and confirmed by the miracles that he is performing. Here,
of course, at the beginning of chapter 5, it's a miracle, this
remarkable draft of fishes. But we have so many miracles
spoken of when we read through the Gospels. We read of miracles
in this chapter that we've just read, and we read of miracles,
as I say, throughout, in all the chapters. It seems there's
some reference to the great miracles in chapter 7, there at verse
11 following, He raises one from the dead, the widow of Nain's
son. And we're told what effect this
had upon those who were present. In chapter 7, 16, there came
a fear on all, and they glorified God, saying that a great prophet
is risen up among us, and that God hath visited his people. Oh, these miracles are such a
wonderful confirmation of his ministry in that same seventh
chapter, where John sends some of his disciples, he seems to
be doubting whether Jesus is the Christ, and he sends them
to ask, and then we're told there at verse 22 in chapter seven,
Jesus answering said unto them, go your way and tell John what
things you have seen and heard, and that the blind see, the lame
walk, the lepers are cleansed, the dead here, the dead are raised,
to the poor the gospel is preached, and blessed is he whosoever shall
not be offended in them. All these miracles, as we see
there in verse 22, are leading up to this statement, the gospel
is being preached. And that gospel is being preached
to those who are the poor and the needy. All the miracles are
such a a remarkable confirmation of the preaching of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Again, another example, the beginning
of Mark. In Mark chapter 1 and verse 27,
the man with unclean spirit in the synagogue at Capernaum had
told, there they were, all amazed in so much that they questioned
among themselves, saying, is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority commandeth
he even the unclean spirits, and they obey." Even those amongst
the Jewish leaders, there were those who recognized something
special with regards to the Hispanic of Nicodemus. When he comes to
the Lord there in the third chapter of John, we know, says Nicodemus,
He's a teacher amongst the Jews, is Nicodemus. We know that thou
art a teacher come from God, he says to Christ. No man can
do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. And remember there in John, the
word that we have, miracle, is literally the word sign. In chapter
two, the beginning of signs in Jesus, in Cana of Galilee, and
manifested forth his glory and his disciples believed on him. As he reveals something then
of his glory in the miracle. And in this chapter we read that
incident at verse 18 following the man who is brought by his
friends upon his sickbed, he is paralyzed, sick of the pulse,
and he finds some way whereby they can present him to the Lord.
And what does the Lord do? Verse 20, when he saw their faith,
he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven. And the scribes
and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speak
of blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God
alone? Now, right, it is God's prerogative
to pardon the sin. But when Jesus perceived their
thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your
hearts, where it is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven, thee
ought to say, Rise up and walk. But that ye may know that the
Son of Man hath power, authority upon earth to forgive sins. He
said unto the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise, and take
up thy couch, and go into thine house. And immediately he rose
up before them, took up that whereon he lay, and departed,
to his own house, glorifying God, and they were all amazed. And they glorified God, and they
were filled with fear, saying, we have seen strange things today. Or the ministry of the Lord Jesus
Christ. His preaching ministry, the authority
of that ministry. Now it's underlined time and
time again here in Scripture. This is that messianic ministry,
he is the promised one. He is truly the Christ of God. Now we see him speaking here
to these men who are to be his apostles. In verse four, when
he had left us speaking, he said unto Simon, launch out into the
deep, let down your net for a draught. 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 that is done, they enclose
a great multitude of fishes, and their net break." Who is
this man? Who is this man? Is he not that
one who is spoken of in Proverbs? Think of the language of the
Psalmists there in the 8th Psalm, what is man? You know the passage
in Psalm 8, and there at the fourth verse, through to the
end of the psalm. What is man that thou art mindful
of him, and the Son of Man that thou visitest him? Thou hast
made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned
him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion
over the work of thy hands. Thou hast put all things under
his feet, all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beast of the field,
the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea. Mark it. The
fowl of the air and the fish of the sea are under his feet. And what shall a passer through
the depths of the sea? Now, that psalm is evidently
speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that because it's quoted
by Paul there in Hebrews 2 verse 6 following. This is the manuscript. This is the promised one. This
is the Messiah. This is the last Adam. The first man Adam was made a
living soul. The last Adam we're told was
made a quickening spirit. The first man is of the earth,
the second man is the Lord from heaven. This is that man. Or
that man that was promised in the Old Testament, that Messiah
that the Jews were expecting and looking for, but they knew
him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
But there were those. And amongst them, this man Simon
Peter. They want the Christ, isn't it?
They want the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Or the ministry
dead of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is what these men are
witnessing, Ministry of the preaching is constantly being confirmed
by these remarkable works, these great miracles that Christ is
constantly performing. But let us, in the second place,
turn to the Lord's commands, what he commands Simon Peter
to do. Here at verse 4, the Lord says,
unto Simon, launch out into the deep, and let down your nets
for a draught." And then Peter responds. And what do we see in Peter's
response? Well, we see his obedience. Verse five, 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. Now we have a nevertheless in
this verse, but we're not to be too hard on Peter. This is
not doubtful reasoning. It's not reasoning with the Lord
Jesus. It is the Lord is saying something unreasonable. I would
say here we see really his readiness to obey. He was an experienced
fisherman. Doubtless, he knew much about
that lake of Gennesaret. And yet, he is willing to step
forth and to obey what Christ says to him. Why is it so? Because
this is the word of a king. When the Lord says to him, Lord
charge into the deep and let down your nets for a drought,
that's a word of authority. The preacher tells us in Ecclesiastes
8,4 where the word of a king is, there is power. And is there
not that power in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? There
is that effectual call, the promise is given to Christ in Psalm 110,
thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. And we
know how the Lord calls his sheep. My sheep, he says, hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal
life. or there is that that comes as
the efficacious call of the gospel when the Lord himself speaks. And now the Lord is that one
who clearly spoke in the preaching of Paul to those Thessalonians.
He tells them in the opening chapter of 1 Thessalonians how
gospel came not unto you in word only but in power and in the
Holy Ghost and in much assurance. It goes on to say in the second
chapter, verse 13, when you receive the word of God which you heard
of us, you receive it not as the word of men, but as it is
in truth the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you
that believe. This is the command of the Lord
Jesus Christ. This is that effectual call of
the gospel, that efficacious grace of God. We have it, of
course, in what we are so familiar with in the five points of Calvinism. That little mnemonic tulip, total
depravity, unconditional, election, limited, atonement, irresistible
grace, perseverance of the saints. It's that fourth point then of
the five of them, the irresistible grace of God in the gospel, the
effectual call of the gospel. Many a call but few are chosen. And this is what we see here
in the experience of Peter. But it's interesting, we have
Peter's obedience. Peter is obedient. But then coming
to the words of the text, in a sense we have a strange statement
here. It's Peter's objection when Simon
Peter saw it. When he saw that obedience had
led to that great multitude of fish being caught. When Simon
Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart
from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. And here we see what
I believe is the paradox of true faith, the paradox of saving
faith. There is a coming to the Lord
Jesus Christ in faith, and yet at the same time, there is a
shrinking away from him. You see, with saving faith there
is such a real sense of our sinnership. Can that salvation, that great
salvation, really be for mine? When we feel ourselves to be
so unworthy that the Lord should ever take any account of us.
And we see here in the text that Simon Peter is in good company.
He's in company with a multitude of saints that we read of in
Scripture. We can think of a man like Job, When we come to the
end of that book, what does Job say? Chapter 42, verse 5, I have
heard of thee by the hearing of thee. Now mine eye seeth thee,
wherefore I abhor myself. And repents. He dusts and dashes. He abhorred himself. But isn't
this what Peter is doing? Exactly the same. I am a sinful
man. He is so unworthy that the Lord should take any account
of him. But we see it also in the experience
of the prophet Isaiah when he received his commission. Here
is Peter receiving his call and commission to be a disciple and
apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember when in Isaiah 6 the
prophet also received his call. He sees that great vision there
in the temple in Jerusalem. King Uzziah had died. In a sense,
for a moment, the throne was vacant. But he sees a throne
that's never vacant. He sees the great throne of God
and the angels, the seraphim, round about that throne. And
what is the reaction of the prophets? Woe is mine, for I am undone,
for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a
people of unclean lips, and mine eyes have seen the King, the
Lord, of hosts. But we feel his uncleanness,
he's being called to be a prophet, he has unclean lips. Do you remember
how one of the seraphim brings a live call from off the altar,
the brazen altar, the place of sacrifice, and that is placed
upon his lips and he's cleansed. For the purgatory of that precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, he cleansed that man who would
pronounce woe upon himself. And it's the same with this man
Simon Peter here, as he is commissioned. He says he departs from the earth,
for I am a sinful man, O Lord. But then also, we have the example
of Daniel. When Daniel sees something of
the glories of God there in chapter 10 and verse 8, He tells us how
he was left alone and saw this great vision. And he says, there
remain no strength in me, for my comeliness was turned in me
into corruption, and I retain no strength. All is comeliness.
All is righteousness. Corruption. All our righteousness
is guilty wrath. All these men, you see, these
are the ones that dear Simon Peter is in company with, and
as with this Apostle, so also with the Apostle John, when we
come to the New Testament, and then in the opening chapter of
the Revelation, when John is privileged to see the glorified
Christ. Oh, what does he say? When I
saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his hand upon
me, saying, Fear not, I am the first and the last. I am he that
liveth and was dead, and am alive forevermore, Amen, and have the
pleas of hell and of death. Oh, the Lord, you see, he puts
his hand upon John, and John is raised up, and here the Lord
doesn't depart. Though Peter says, depart from
him, the Lord doesn't depart from him. Rather, does the Lord
call him now to follow him? Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not,
from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they brought their
ships to land, they forsook all and followed him. All the experience then of Simon
Peter. And you know, it's true in some
measure, in all of God's children, it must be. Think of the language of the
hymn 310, Our Staggering Faith Gives Way to Death. Our courage
yields to fear. Shocked at the sight, we straight
cry out, Can ever God dwell here? What is Josie Bard speaking of
in that hymn? He's speaking of himself. He's
speaking of his own heart. Can ever God dwell here? When
we're made to feel what we are, and that's faith. That is faith. It's knowing ourselves as we
know the Lord. Here then we see the gracious
word, the effectual cord of grace that the Lord issues to Simon
Peter. And then finally, we have, in
a way, a prophecy here, a prediction. Here in verses 9 and 10, we're
told how Peter was astonished, and all that were with him, 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. Again, similar words in Matthew
chapter four, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. Well,
that was their call. What is this miraculous draft
of fish? It's symbolic. It's symbolic
of the work that these men are now going to be engaged in. There
is a sense, says Dr. Gill, that Pentecost, and what
happened on the day of Pentecost and subsequently throughout the
book of Acts, is the fulfillment of the words of Christ. Fear
not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. Remember on the day
of Pentecost we're told They that gladly received the word
were baptized and there were added to them three thousand
souls. And then a couple of chapters
later, Acts 4.4, five thousand believed. All the Lord God you
see. Nothing is impossible with him.
And this is what we're to believe. That even in these dark days
in which we're living, the Lord is fulfilling his purpose. And
we trust that the Lord still has a gracious purpose to forfeit,
and it's for us to be found faithful, or that we might be favoured
with such a faith as we see here in Simon Peter, that we might
stand in awe before the great God. His works are in the earth,
his judgment is upon the face of the earth. But let us plead
with him in terms of his mercy and his grace, that he may yet
stay his hand and that there he might come and by his mighty
power yet call a multitude of sinners to himself. May the Lord be pleased to bless
these truths to us tonight. Amen.