Luke chapter 5. Actually, we're going to start
reading in Luke 4, verse 40. We're going to end up in 5, which
is where we'll be for our main text. Luke chapter 4, starting
in verse 40, Now when the sun was setting,
all they that had any sick with diverse diseases brought them
unto Christ, and he laid his hands on every one of them and
healed them. And the devils also came out
of many, crying out and saying, Thou art Christ, the Son of God. And he rebuking them, suffered
them not to speak, for they knew that he was Christ. And when
it was day, He departed and went into a desert place. And the
people sought him and came unto him and stayed him that he should
not depart from them. And he said unto them, I must
preach the kingdom of God to other cities also, for therefore
am I sent. And he preached in the synagogues
of Galilee. And it came to pass that as the
people were pressed people pressed upon him to hear the Word of
God, he stood 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'd entered into one of
the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would
thrust out a little from the land, and Christ 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 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 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 should come and help them. And they came and
filled both ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell
down at Jesus' knees and 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 son 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 follow Christ. Now, what
we see in the preliminary passages in chapter 4 is that He's preaching and healing. He's preaching and healing our
Lord Jesus Christ to all those that were near Him. And so, preaching,
specifically, and this use of healing was a means to show that
He was the Christ. But the preaching, such is the
means of grace our Lord has set forth to call His sheep unto
Himself. I don't say that there's not
healings anymore. I know there's not healings the way people think
there is, though with prayer and fasting and whatnot, I believe
that the Lord still takes care and still heals His people, so
I don't discount that. the preaching. He says, they wanted to keep
them there in the desert, and he says, I've got to go to other
cities for I'm sent. This is what I'm sent for. And
he preached in the synagogues. So that's the means that the
Lord uses. Now, he may use the reading of
the Word, and tracts, and different things like that. I do know,
without a doubt, that he uses the preaching, which is just
the verbal out-speakings. And so when you go into your
place of work, I guess technically, you're not a preacher, but if
you speak with someone, that's how he's going to use you to
tell others. And if you can't, as I've said
many times, if you can't say a whole lot, Invite them, just
have them come. But now let's look at chapter
5, and we're just going to go through verse by verse, and then
we're going to see what really the whole text is about. But there's other lessons in
here that we could learn, and may God give us grace to do so.
The first thing I noticed in chapter 5, and the first thought,
it came to pass that as the people pressed upon Christ to hear the
Word of God, to hear the Word of God. I ask myself this, I
ask you this, do we have a pressing need, do we have a pressing want,
a pressing desire to hear the Word of God? Again, I'm nobody,
and I'm less than the least, but How do you say it humanly? You're stuck with me. But the Gospel is preached here. That I know. The Word of God
is highly esteemed here. The songs fit with the words
in the book. This morning, are we pressing
to hear the Word of God? Or are we just coming because
husband came, because my wife came, coming because I don't
have anywhere else to go. No. They pressed. They pressed upon
Christ to hear the Word of God. That's my first thought. The
second thought is found in verses 4 and 5. Now when they had left
speaking, when he had left speaking, Christ said to Simon, Let down
your draw. He did so, and he says in verse
5, Master, he says, we've toiled, and that's hard labor. That's
hard labor. That's not just reading, flipping,
you know, that's hard labor. We've toiled all night and have
taken nothing. Nothing gained, nothing caught,
just hard, Labor hard work as Peter calls it, but then he says
Christ says to or Peter says to Christ nevertheless at your
word I Will let down the net nevertheless at thy word Contrary
to what we think we know I'm going to read the word see what
it says about something contrary to all visible accounts I'm going to listen to what's
being preached. I'm going to join in fellowship,
in the songs, in the hymns, in the breaking of bread. Nevertheless,
He commands us to do these things. So we do these things. Contrary
to all visible accounts, contrary to all human logic, we just fished. And you're talking to fishermen. You're talking to fishermen.
And I'm so thankful that, as far as best I can tell, when
I preach the truth and if it gets close to home, it's not
me picking on you, it's not me wanting to pick on you, it's
perhaps the Holy Spirit is convicting you. And still, you come. Because many, or several, that
we've known over the years have come And I can tell by the expression. And just because I can read a
few things doesn't mean I know what I'm talking about or know
what I can see. But I've seen some faces looking back at me
and I could tell they did not like what they heard. And eventually,
they floated away. They walked away. So contrary
to all human logic, we're going to let down the net. Because
I see here and we see here that faith is not really interested
in excuses. Not really interesting excuses,
but simply, lovingly obeying the commands and Word of Christ.
We've done this. You're talking to fishermen.
We know our trade. But you say, go back out and
let it down again. You're cleaning. Most of the
time, and wives, I see this in your looks sometimes, you get
everything cleaned up in the kitchen and someone says, well,
I want something. And you're like, dude, or dudette, I just
clean the kitchen. Oh, to have this kind of faith
active today and tomorrow and when our blessed Lord comes again.
Because we're here this morning to hear this message. To have
this kind of faith. Nevertheless, I know what the
economy says, I know what my bank account says, I know what
the realtor says, I know what this says, I know what that says,
whatever. Contrary to logic, to what the Word of God says. And how do we know what the Word
of God says? Because we're pressing to hear the Word of
God. The next thing I see is the results
of God giving fruit bearing faith, or faith that bears fruit. Verse
6, when they had done this, when they obeyed the Lord, They enclosed
a great multitude of fishes at their net break. They beckoned
their partners to come and help them. And they came and they
filled both ships so that they began to sink." That's the results
of Christ-initiated faith. It's going to happen every time.
But look at Peter's reaction, verses 8 and 9. When Simon Peter
saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, or his feet, saying, Depart
from me, for I am a sinful man." And you say, well, he was doing
that because, well, the next verse says why he did it. For
he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the drought
of fishes that they had taken. Peter's reaction to this miracle,
or this miracle of grace, is as everyone who names the name
of Christ will say, or do, or have the attitude sooner or later.
If you don't have this attitude, if you have never had this attitude,
listen, because you may be far from the Kingdom. If you've never
had this Peter falls down at Christ's knees, or at His feet,
and he says, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
It just acknowledges two things. The first thing is it acknowledges
astonishment at the pure, free, sovereign grace of God in the
person and accomplishments of Christ. He called Him Lord. He acknowledged that He was Lord
over him, He was Lord over the fishes. He was Lord over the
seas. He was Lord over everything. He acknowledges the sovereignty,
the right for God to rule and to reign. And I know if you believe
the Gospel this morning, there's been times that the Lord has
right in front of your face rebuked you, And you feel so bad and
so horrible that this is repentance. This is a phrase of repentance. You realize that He didn't have
to come and meet here this morning. He didn't have to come and reveal
the Word. Christ was with them out in the
boat. He didn't have to be there. And
He also acknowledges it's a good clear view of Himself. That He's
undone, He's unfit, and He's overtly sinful. And that's us. And these two things, anyone
who names the name of Christ, sooner or later, the Lord will
bring us this point. And we continue to come to Him.
It's not like, okay, I repented, I did this, I did that, now everything
is fine. The flesh is still in us. My situation is my experience
at work, and I didn't have that many different jobs, but when
I would go to a new job, I'm like, good, I can start fresh.
because I blew it. They heard me cuss, or they heard
me joking around. I dishonored the Lord. I'm like,
okay, now I can start afresh and anew. And then, same thing
with, you know, and I would just say, Lord, why do I do these
things? Why do I do that which I do not
desire, I do not want to do? And so we continually repent. We continue to say to the Lord,
depart from me. He didn't say James or John or
the son of Zebedee or Andrew. He said me. And he said, I'm
preaching. He's like, I hope that person
hears it. No, I'm not talking to that person. I'm talking to
you because I've talked to myself. Lord, depart from me. And just the humble, the Lord
humbles those who are proud, and He's gonna do that. So we
see that there's two things, this Christ acknowledges two
things. God is sovereign, and a clear view of our sin and
sinfulness. And then I say until we get a
clear view of who He is in truth, and what we are in truth, we
will always think more of ourselves than we should. May our Lord
give us eyes to see and ears to hear. Now, let's look at the
whole purpose of these 11 verses. And he tells us plainly in verse
10, And it was also with John and James, son of Zebedee, which
were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto them, fear
not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. This is the main import. of what he's talking about. So
this is what we're going to like. This story, this truth is to
teach his people how to speak the good things regarding our
Lord and His salvation. It's to use evangelism, to tell
others about Christ. Or when we gather together under
His banner, it's to seek out His elect bride. First thing
he says in verse 4, we go back over again, seeing it in this
light. You're going to be fishers of men. Verse 4, Christ said,
go to the deep and let down your nets. Go. Go forth and launch. We do this every Sunday, we do
this every Wednesday, and every day in between. This is a special
time, but that's not the only time we talk about Christ. This is what we do, we tell of
Him, we live for Him, we love Him, And as we have done many
days prior, we just keep honoring Him. Christ's command. Go forth. And I've said this before, my
sister-in-law, you know, 40-something years old, doesn't know what
her purpose in life is. Right here. Right here. If we are believers, if we are
partakers of the heavenly calling, We do this and he doesn't have
to give account of himself to puny creatures. It is enough
that he speaks graciously to us. He says, go forth and launch.
That's what we are to do wherever we're at. The second thing is
that use of means he will and can and often uses means versus
six and seven. They did what they were. They
had did what they were supposed to do at his word. And then they
got a bunch of fish. Now God would still be glorified
if he saw fit to not use us, but he's saying in verse 10,
from henceforth you're gonna catch men. So let's look back
at how they got caught. But God purposely and providentially
chooses to do so, and therefore we can revel in what he's done
and exalt him. The nets, the boats, the sea
were all used to catch the fish, and so it is with souls. We use
all lawful means available to us. He employs the tongue, be
it a woman, a man, or a child. Those who know of the truth and
know of Christ and how it is that God can justify sinners,
we tell of Him to others. The example would be Romans 10. How can they hear unless they
have a preacher? Faith cometh by hearing, hearing
the word of God. Whether it's a little girl, as
in Kings, in the case of Naaman, that little girl, little maid,
she said, oh, were my master, if he knew about that there's
a prophet in Israel. And we speak about the prophet
in Israel. Or whether it's one of the sons
of thunder. God is going to use, employ means. However, now this is what I thought
was interesting. The means themselves are utterly
useless unless the Holy Spirit works for its success. Back to our text. Verse 5. Master, we've toiled all night,
yet have taken nothing. We've been here thirty-something
years. Were these men not skillful fishermen? Yes. Did not they understand
the work involved? They toiled. Yes. Did they lack opportunity? No, they were fishing. Did they
lack due diligence? No. Did the sea lack the necessary
fish to be caught? Absolutely not. Why then is it
in verse 5, they've taken nothing, and in verse 6, their net break? The only answer can be, who makes
us to differ? The only answer can be the presence
of the glorious person and workings of Christ and His Holy Spirit,
because there is no power in the means themselves. The power,
the might, the enabling, all is of and by and through Christ
Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit of truth and grace. They toiled. They were fishermen. They knew the trade. They knew
where to fish. And my stepfather, when he was still alive, he would
give guide work down at Table Rock, and he would go to specific
coves. He knew where, and they always came back, they always
had fish. He knew where the fish were. So, we just keep casting the
net, and casting the net, and casting the net. He's going to
use the truth that he has placed in your heart to tell others. or invite, or whatever, to catch
fish. Turn to John chapter 12. John
chapter 12. And believe me, this lesson really
hit me, really struck me. Because I have a tendency to
complain about the lack of fish. Let's
use a better term. That's okay. Mine is not to determine
who or what. Mine is just to... And He's promised His Word will
not return void. And if it's not returning void
in those who understand the Gospel, by them growing in grace. John
chapter 12 and verse 32. Christ says, if I, if I be lifted
up from the earth will draw all men unto me. This he said signifying
what death he should die. This then is our calling, it's
our blessed privilege, our desire to do all we can for this community
and every other town, village or city to speak those things
that are most assuredly believed among us. Turn to Luke chapter 1 verses 1 through 5. For as much as many have taken
in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things
which are most surely believed among us, even as they delivered
them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and
ministers of the word. It seemed good to me also, having
had perfect understanding of all things from the very first,
to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theopolis, that
thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou
hast been instructed." That's what we're doing. We're just
casting, throwing the nets, throwing the nets, throwing the nets.
Those things which are most surely, most surely believed among us.
That man is totally depraved. He is incapable of doing anything
good spiritually. But depravity does not mean that
a person does everything wrong all the time. No, no. Spiritually,
in the eyes of God, we will not come to Him. It is to those things
most surely believed among us that God is totally and sovereignly
in control of all things, whether it's past, present, or future,
in providence, in time, and in reality. that He has a purposeful
redemption, that as He sent His Son to die for a specific people
that He foreknew from before the foundation of the world,
or before the world was created, to live, bleed, and suffer, and
die for them. We know and we believe, and these
things are most assuredly believed among us, that the grace of the
Holy Spirit enables those whom Christ laid down His life to
believe the truth when it is told to them in time. In the fullness of time, made of a woman, made under the
law, redeemed. And all for whom that Christ
died in the Holy Spirit enables, they will be eternally and effectually
kept. Not a one of them lost. Not a
one of them lost. These are things that we most
surely believed among us. Turn to 1 John 1. The epistle
of 1 John. Verses 1-4. It's saying the same thing here. The same thing. And you notice there in Luke
how he was saying that what he was writing was specifically
eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word. It all connects with
the Word, the Scriptures, the Bible. So if there's any error
in here, we're in trouble. I've said this years ago, somebody
was questioning the authority of Scriptures. He said, it's
just written by man. I said, well, how do you know
if it's wrong and it's not wrong on the area of substitution? If he's wrong, he's wrong on
substitution. Most men are miserable. Let's just live and party out
our days without any care and concern. 1 John 1, verses 1,
2, 3, and 4. That which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, there's the hearing, which we have seen
with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have
handled of the word of life, he's speaking of Christ, who
is the word of life, for the life was manifested, and we have
seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life,
which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us, that
which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you, that you
also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship
is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. These things
write we unto you, that your joy may be full. That's why we gather together
every Sunday and Wednesday. My desire for me and for you
is that our joy may be full. How is that accomplished? By
declaring the Word of Life. Not what somebody thinks about
it, and there's some good writers and I know a whole lot more than
I do, but the Word of Life. Because as we've seen in this
day and age, which has been in every day and age, this world
doesn't know what's going on. It's up and down. This is good
one day, this is bad the next day, this is right, and then
it becomes wrong, and then they pass laws, all these different
things. But the Word of God, it never wavers. It's always
the same. How can you have joy of something you don't understand?
in the world. The world doesn't bring joy.
It does bring some joy, but then it's usually, it's fleeting,
just like our life is. So, I say to you, as Christ was
lifted up in type, as like He was that brazen serpent, let
us lift Him up in life, in tongue, and in deed. To God be the glory,
and to God we leave the results. I'm not going to try to coerce. I'm not going to try to coerce
you. I'm not going to try to coerce your children. I'm going to be
interested if we've got good conversation about the things
of Christ. But we're not going to pressure
that. Because somebody can be pressured,
and then the next day they can be unpressured. But if the Holy
Spirit, through the preaching of His Word, through the belief
of His truth, convinces us of sin and righteousness, We will
be convinced. And then the last thing I noticed
is that, that's a big catch. I don't know how big the ships
were, you know, speculation, I have no idea. All I know is
they were at capacity and then some. How did these men make
a living? By selling the fish. What did they do when they got
those boats back to shore? Let's see. There's a lot of money
sitting there. There's a lot of money sitting
there. And we could use it for charity. And we could use it
to help our neighbor Bobby. We could use it to help a person.
We could do all that. Or, we follow Christ. Now, I'm not
telling you to quit your job. I'm not saying anything. I'm
just saying, when they saw that, And they were astonished at the
miracle and at what Christ had done and His authority and their
sinfulness. Money, the world, all the riches
in the world cannot be compared to that one pearl of great price. And they said they left those
ships and followed Christ. May we do the same thing and
may we tell others cast the net, and give Him honor and glory. Bruce, would you pray?