Here's the words of Luke. And it came to pass that as the
people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by
the lake Gennesaret and saw two ships standing by the lake. But the fishermen were gone out
of them and were washing nets. And he entered into one of the
ship, which was Simon's, prayed unto him that he would thrust
out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the
people out of the ship. And when he had left speaking,
he said unto Simon, launch out into the deep and let down your
nets for a draw. And Simon answering said unto
him, Master, we have toiled all night and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word I will
let down the net. When they 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 might come and
help them. And they came and filled both
the ships, so that they began to sing. 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 in 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. Jesus said
unto Simon, Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. When they
had brought their ships to land, they forsook all and followed
him. Look at verse 8 again. Depart
from me, For I am a sinful man, O Lord." This is just one of
many miracles, signs, and wonders that our Lord did in the presence
of his disciples and in the presence of others. This particular one
is known as the miraculous catch or draw of fish, and it likely
exceeded anything that Simon or his fisherman brethren and
partners had ever seen before. Another one of those great miracles
by which Jesus was proved to be the Christ or the Messiah. Though there were many that witnessed
this great miracle, it seemed that first and foremost it was
for the sake of Simon. All this was done with Simon
in mind, the Apostle Peter. that it was designed for him
and for his benefit and progress. And the Lord makes a pulpit out
of Simon's boat, as we read in verse 3, and he directly addresses
Simon personally in verse 4 and again in verse 10. And the great
catch, the Lord said, was but a picture of Simon's ministry
that was to become. He was to become a fisher, a
catcher of men. Now, Simon was to have a very
important part in the work of the Lord. We learned that from
Matthew 16 and verse 18 and 19, Matthew 26 and verse 40, Mark
16 and verse 7. where many things were done and
many things were to be reported unto the Apostle Peter. So with
that in mind, let's see if we can set the scene in our text. It occurred on the lake, or a
sea if you prefer, after Simon and his fishing partner had fished
all night long They were giving up, nothing to catch, and they
were cleaning and washing their net, making ready for the next
day's fishing. The Lord got in Simon's boat,
had him push it out a little bit from the bank, sat down in
it and began to speak unto them. When he was done speaking unto
all of them, he in verse 4 says, Simon directly launched out into
the deep, let down your nets for a draught or a catch. Go out a little bit where the
water is a little bit deeper. Go out a little bit, cast off
a little from the shore, and the Lord promises him a catch
and assures him that there will be success in the endeavor. Well,
we see Peter. He had mixed emotion. On one
hand, look at verse 5, he had let down his net. They had toiled
all night to the point of exhaustion and had nothing to show for it.
No fish to sell or to eat or to put upon their table. They
had nothing but empty nets the next morning that might show
for it. But on the other hand, he respects
Christ's word unto him and says to him, nevertheless at your
word, I will let down into the water. Can we see here a mixture
of faith and of doubt in the apostle? I've toiled and got
nothing. We labored all night. to no avail
but Lord at your word because you said so on the credit and
the merit of your words the words imply as Thomas Goodwin said
that Simon did it only on the credit of Christ's words that
he believed the Lord so let's give it one more try if we can
do it that they say let's give it one more try let's fish deeper
or all of that was not in the apostles mind when the Lord sent
him and bid him to go and to fish. But it does speak well
of the fishermen that at the word of Christ they did cast
out their boat and drop down their net. And verse 6, if you
look, they got their net so full that they were about to break. They were literally bulging and
overflowing with fish. And in verse 7, they called for
help for others that were fishing there and nearby. And the boats
were literally so full of fish that it appeared that they might
sink. Their greatest catch ever in
this place or any place. Now, consider this, the same
men, the same boats, the same nets, in the same lake, all night
and nothing caught. But then, by the direction of
the Lord, a huge catch, and that evidently in a short time, which
shows the Lord's power over all things natural and celestial,
including what we might call the intelligent creature. Who
provided the great fish that Jonah might be swallowed up?
Who caused Balaam's mule to speak out unto him? Who put demons
in the herd of swine that they went rushing down to their destruction? And who put fish in Simon's net
on this particular night? Who would deny? Who at all would
attempt to deny that the Lord might have caused the fish to
jump into the boat, if it had been his will. The Lord could
have caused the fish to flounce out upon the dry land. All they
had to do was to pick them up. Instead, he puts them in their
net. to be drawn out in the natural
way. And this was sufficient to make
the desired impression upon Simon, who was a fisherman by trade. Joseph Hall said this, Peter
was a skilled fisherman who knew well the depth of his trade,
therefore he recognized the magnitude of the miracle. Yes, he did.
He recognized the magnitude of what he had seen and what the
Lord had called. So let us focus now, if we can,
on the reaction of Simon or the Apostle Peter to this obvious
miracle. Their nets are full to the point
of breaking, the ships heavy laden, driving low in the water
to the point of sinking. How does Simon respond to what
he saw? What did he do? He does not say,
we're rich. We have fish enough and to spare. Let's have a feast. Let's have
a fish fry. We'll take a few days vacation.
No need to fish for a while. We have much fish to tide us
over. Nor does he say, Lord, Lord,
the boat is about to sink. Come and save it my livelihood
is threatened both the nets and the boats are in danger of being
lost and destroyed instead in verse 8 when He saw his reaction
is amazing His heart is not toward the fish his thoughts are not
upon the nets and the boat his concern is not for his safety
but for his life his reaction I think is very spiritual both
in what he did and in what he said first of all what he did
he fell down at the knees or the feet of the Lord Jesus in
verse 3 we see the Lord had been sitting in the boat and Simon
kneels before the Lord and He bows and prostrates himself. He assumes a posture of worship
and of reverence and humbles himself there in the presence
of the Lord, bowing the knee, owning the Lord as the superior
and the divine one in a ship that seems to be sinking. This
is upon his mind. As to what he said, there are
some of the most amazing words to be found anywhere in the scripture. Depart from me, O Lord, for I
am a sinful man. Now where we might have expected
gushings of praise, thanksgiving, rejoicing, and glee as they went
on their way, instead there's a strange request. Depart from
me and a startling confession from one of the leading apostles. Lord, I am a sinful man. What brought all of that on?
Now let's see if we can a little bit get into the mind of Simon
Peter. What moved him to say these things? What's the motivating factor
behind Peter's action and his word? What brought it on? And
are his words or were his words proper on that occasion? Let's look at verse 9. We read
there that he was astonished. In fact, everybody that saw it
was astonished. Linsky says the word contains
the idea of being enclosed or enveloped. that he held, that
he was held in amazement as they all were. He was dumbfounded,
we might say. He was stupefied. He was frozen
as if in wonder and surprise at what had occurred. It was
more than he could take in. They'd never seen anything like
that, never heard anything like that before. But then the question
comes to our mind, why on this occasion Does Peter confess himself
to be a sinful man? Why blurt out this thing? Are
there not other things that might could have been said? Look at
verse 5. We toiled and caught nothing. Shall we find success now? Did he question the likelihood
of success before he saw the work of the Lord? Or did he go
only because it was the Lord's command? Is he now smitten from
conviction that he even thought or said such a thing to the Lord,
that in any way he raised a reply against the Lord, that every
word that proceeded out of the mouth of Christ is true and is
accurate, not to be measured at the bar of human reasoning
or standard? not to be weighed against our
effort or our failure. And the question then comes to
mind, what does Simon mean by his confession, I am a sinful
man, O Lord? Does he by this put himself in
the same class with worldly sinners? Does he speak from the standpoint
of one who is an unbeliever, an unconverted man, without a
work of grace, without any interest in Christ. Does he confess it
in comparison to Christ, between himself and Christ? Here's some
thoughts gleaned from a work called Contemplation by a man
named Joseph Hall, born in 1574. Simon was a skilled fisherman. He had seen many a catch. And
so he immediately recognized that this was not owing to his
skill or his ability. Also, he realized that it was
not a merely natural occurrence. It was a miracle. It was supernatural. It came from none other than
the Lord Himself. And by seeing this, he saw glory
anew in Christ, and he saw the vileness of himself personally,
and it motivated him to utter the words of our text, in part,
Lord, I am a sinful man. We've already hinted that Simon
is not putting himself in the same category as a lost and worldly
sinner. He was a called man, a disciple
of the Lord. He saw, he felt, he knew himself
to be sinful. And when It became strongly appalling
upon this occasion. He confessed it out loud, not
only to and in the hearing of Christ, but also in the hearing
of his fishing partner. When we put the two halves together,
when we understand the meaning to be, He felt unworthy to be
in the presence of the holy and righteous Son of God. By the way, compare the reaction
of this same man in John chapter 21, much the same circumstances
another night of fishing. Now, moderns, even people in
the churches today, might diagnose the Apostle Peter as suffering
from a severe case of low self-esteem. You know, this is one of the
new national diseases now. People, they say, need to feel
good about themselves. feel themselves are worthy and
good and deserving. They need to have high self-esteem
concerning themselves, a sense of worth in themselves, that
they are good in and of themselves. And today all kind of vileness
is blamed on low self-esteem. The churches have even entered
into what I see as an adulterous relationship with psychology
over this matter of self-esteem. But the scriptures teach us that
God will strip away sinful pride and self-righteousness and put
one down in the dust as a work of His grace. And I think this
goes for first-time penitents especially, as well as seasoned
Christians in their own life. For consider the publican in
Luke 18, 13, and 14, smote upon his breast, his eyes cast down,
standing afar off, and prays, God, be merciful to me, a sinner
or the sinner. Actually, he uses the word that
is translated in the New Testament, make reconciliation, Hebrews
2 and verse 17. And some say that it even has
the article, be me the sinner. He went to pray at the temple
of being a publican, a tax collector for Rome, who was famous for
their corruption and their dishonesty. As he prayed, he was seized with
a deep sense of conviction of his sinful way of life and his
unworthiness in his own wickedness. And he confessed it and he prayed
there for mercy. He did not lift up his eyes or
his head. And as we read, he went down
to his house justified rather than that old Pharisee who stood
over there proclaiming his many virtue. Another example, the
returning prodigal son in Luke chapter 15. He came neither expecting
or demanding the father's favor, nor a restoration to a high place
in the family. But he said in verse 21, I have
sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and I'm no more worthy
to be called thy son. Make me as one of the hired servant. Scripture tells us he had wasted
his substance in riotous living. He had sunken to the level of
feeding swine. in a famished land. But this
prodigal was in a better frame of mind than his self-righteous
older brother, as we read in the parable. Now, there is a
double fault with the preaching and theology of many today, which
affects the way they deal with, quote, sinners, unquote. and
dictates their views and it is evident in their preaching what
they tell others. Number one, there is not much
sense of the holiness, the absolute unbounding holiness of God that
is being preached today in the churches. Few there are who comprehend
the full measure of the majestic attribute of the holiness of
God. his wrath, his hatred, his anger,
and sin. All are basically ignored in
preaching today. I attribute this to the false
view of the love of God as universally popularized by such men as D.L. Moody, Armenians, Unitarians,
and such like. The only attribute they emphasize
is the love of God. And yet, search the scripture
and see, neither Christ nor the apostle ever went about telling
sinners that God loved them. Then secondly, we noted, there
is not in its strong sense today of the sinfulness and the depravity
of the race, especially original sin. Preachers no longer cause
Jerusalem to know her abomination, Ezekiel 16 and 2. They don't
speak much about sin and unrighteousness and God's view of it. They don't
speak much about sin, but they talk about mistakes, and they
talk about bad choices, and they talk about hurting people. Human depravity is very unpopular
today. Even in the churches, the doctrine
of depravity is not welcome. My brother and sister, only sinners
can be saved, and they must come to view themselves as a sinner
in the sight of God, even as the chief of sinners, as Paul
once wrote of himself. Even Christians ought to view
themselves as sinful and unworthy of the blessings of God and of
grace. Peter's reaction was not an aberration. It was a normal response when
dwelling on the mighty God and dwelling upon our failures and
sometime our attitude. And in this, the apostle had
some good company, as there ought to be a sense of sinfulness and
unworthiness in every child of God as they draw near, see themselves
for what they are, God for what he is we've already considered
the publican and the prodigal son now remember the centurion
whose servant was sick at the point of death and he sent for
Jesus not to come but to simply speak a word saying I am not
worthy for you to come under my roof. Consider Abraham, Genesis
chapter 18, making intercession for Lot and Sodom. He said in
verse 27, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which
am but dust and ashes." Abraham reckons himself dust and ashes,
not the Lord, but himself, to assume the work of a mediator
and an intercessor between God and men. A man, a descendant
of dust, being permitted to speak and to approach unto the Lord.
John Gill said on this verse, the disproportion between the
speaker and the one spoken to was infinite, unquote, in comparison
to God Abraham saw and called himself to be but dust and ashes. Who can forget the experience
of Isaiah in chapter 6? Isaiah, the great statesman prophet,
saw a vision, the Lord high and lifted up. Holy, holy, holy,
the angels cried around about the throne. What was Isaiah's
response? He saw the Lord high and lifted
up. He saw the cherubim. He saw him cry, holy, holy, holy. What was his response? Did Isaiah jump up and holler
whoopee or hallelujah? Oh, he jumped up and fell down
and cried, I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips, for
mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." In verse
5, he feared he would be cut off. The reason, I am a man of
unclean lip. I do not believe that Isaiah
Use profanity or was a man a profane speech, but when he saw the Lord
he saw then himself Then there's a testimony of John the baptizer
John 127 he is preferred before me who shoelatched it I am not
worthy to unloose John saw himself in comparison to Christ not even
worthy to fall down on the ground and and perform such a slave's
task as unlatching the shoestring. Consider the Lord's servant Job,
whom the Lord called a perfect and an upright man that eschewed
evil. And yet when the Lord did speak
to Job, Job said, Job 40 and verse 4, Behold, I am vile. What shall I answer? I will lay
my hand upon my mouth. Again in Job 42, 5 and 6, I've
heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye sees
you. Wherefore, I abhor myself, I
repent in dust and in ashes. Hear him again, I am vile. I abhor myself, I repent." Now
it stands as an immutable truth. The more we see, the more we
know of the majesty of God, the more conscious we become of our
own unworthiness. and that we are yet sinful. The greater his works towards
us, the more we have the mind of Simon, of Abraham, of Job,
and of Isaiah. In fact, it is doubtful if one
has grace who has no sense of being sinful in the sight of
God. All saints will confess themselves
to be vile like these in the scripture. Does it pain some? I know it does. Hear Paul say,
I am carnal, O wretched man that I am. I am the chief of sinners. Every child of God will have
many occasion to echo the words of these saints of older time. I'm a sinful person. I'm vile. I'm a man of unclean lips. I'm
unworthy. I'm undeserving, Lord, of Thy
blessing. But we live in a generation that
is proud, arrogant, and boastful, and self-righteous. And the reason
is they are ignorant of the character and of the attributes of God. And if they think of God or Christ,
they think of him as one like themselves, as in Psalm chapter
50 and verse 21. But the power the sovereignty
the purpose and so forth of God is not preached in the churches
No wonder there is no one. There's no all of this great
majesty but this much is sure they who truly come to God through
Christ are will be made to see themselves as sinners in his
sight. And those in Christ will over
and over say to the holy God, I am vile, I am sinful, I am
unworthy. Let us echo the words of this
man, for now we can understand them. In seeing the glory and
the power of Christ, he sees himself, and the natural thing
is, I am a sinful man, O Lord. May the Lord forgive us and ever
give us grace.