The Unforgettable Fishing Trip, Part 2

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you once again that we have this glorious opportunity to worship you on the Lord's day, to come before your presence and to receive grace and knowledge from the truth of your word. And we pray that you'd open our eyes, that we might be receptive to those things that we see because they truly are the Lord Jesus Christ himself revealed in his word. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. We find ourselves in the fifth chapter of Luke. And so if you have your Bible, I would invite you to turn there with me if you would this morning, Luke chapter five, the unforgettable fishing trip.

Now I know this is more of a father's day message than a mother's day message because you mothers don't do much fishing. Uh, well, I'm sorry about that, but that's where we are in Luke chapter five, but I promise you that the lessons learned today will enable you to live for the glory and honor of God. Luke chapter five is a, is a chapter, the first 11 verses specifically detailing for us the character and nature and attributes of our God that we might understand him as the God of truth, the God who knows all things, the God who has unlimited power, the God who was holy, holy, holy, and the God who bestows mercy upon his people.

Every Jew knew about the knowledge of God, that it was infinite. Every Jew understood the power of God because the old Testament explicitly speaks to that. Every Jew knew that God was the God of truth and every Jew understood that God was holy, holy, holy. They knew him as a pure and holy living God. And they knew that only God could bestow mercy upon people. So if Luke is going to demonstrate to us that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, then Jesus must demonstrate those exact same attributes because Jesus is God in the flesh.

Last week, we talked to you about the context of our time in Luke chapter five, verses one to 11. And the context centered around two things, the multitude that pressed against our Lord and the message that our Lord preached. We saw in verse number one last week, now it came about that while the multitude were pressing around him and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret.

That lake is the sea of Galilee or the sea of Tiberias. So our Lord is by the lake and he is preaching. And as he is preaching, the crowd is beginning to press around him. And we saw last week where there were hundreds, literally thousands of people that would follow our Lord and gather around him when he began to teach because of his great healing miracles. And so people would come and they would listen and they were pressing in around him so much so that the Bible says in verse number two, he saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake, but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets.

And he got into one of the boats, which was Simon's and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And he sat down and began teaching the multitudes from the boat. So our Lord doesn't do anything by accident. Our Lord does everything by divine appointment. He gets into Simon's boat. He doesn't get into James and John's boat. He gets into Simon's boat because Simon's going to learn a very valuable lesson on this day in Luke 5. But he gets down to the boat and he asked Simon to push it out a little bit into the water.

And then he begins to teach and preach some more. And we told you last week that our Lord is consumed with a preaching ministry. We told you what Luke 4 said in verse number 43, I must preach the kingdom of God, that divine must. Our Lord was the consummate preacher. He always focused on preaching. And whenever you gather a crowd around, you must teach them about the kingdom of God. We must come to grips with the fact that our Lord was a preacher and we need to be consumed with preaching the gospel.

When he sent his disciples out in Mark chapter 16, he sent them out to preach the gospel into the entire world. We need to preach. We must have that divine must to preach the gospel. We spent a lot of time last week talking about why it is people don't preach the gospel anymore. It's not the popular thing to do because when you preach the truth, it preaches against error. When you preach the truth, it refutes, it rebukes, it exhorts, it confronts, it corrects, it convicts, it deals with sin and people don't want to hear it anymore.

And yet it's so important that we understand that the church, which is the pillar and foundation of the truth, must continue to preach the truth. And unfortunately and sadly for our country and the world, more and more churches are straying further and further away from that divine commandment. In fact, listen to this. You know, I don't want to beat a dead horse, but I'm not sure this horse is dead yet, so I'm just going to keep beating on it. Listen to this. These are just some excerpts from churches in our area that talk about their ministry.

And you tell me whether or not they have the compulsion to preach the gospel or not. These people advertise in this manner. Here there is no fire and brimstone, no Bible thumping, just practical, witty messages. Here's another one. Services at our church have an informal feeling. You won't hear people threatened with hell or referred to as sinners. The goal is to make them feel welcome, not drive them away. Here's another one. As with all clergymen, this pastor's answer is, is God. But he slips them in at the end, and even then doesn't get heavy.

No ranting, no raving, no fire, no brimstone. He doesn't even use the H word. Call it light gospel. It has the same salvation as the old time religion, but with a third less guilt.

Here's another one. The sermons are relevant, upbeat, and best of all, short. You won't hear a lot of preaching about sin and damnation and hell fire. Preaching here doesn't sound like preaching. It is sophisticated, urban, and friendly talk. It breaks all the stereotypes. Here's another. The pastor at our church is preaching a very upbeat message. It's a salvationist message. But the idea is not so much being saved from the fires of hell. Rather, it's being saved from meaninglessness and aimlessness in this life.

It's more of a soft sell. Folks, the reason God preached the gospel was because he was going to save people from hell. It wasn't about aimlessness and meaninglessness. It was about being saved from hell. When people asked in Luke 13, Lord, are many people being saved? The question is, what are they being saved from? They're being saved from the fires of hell. You can't save people from the fires of hell unless you preach about damnation and the fires of hell. People don't know where they're going unless you tell them.

Here's another one. The idea, says this pastor, is to get people through the front door. Then disprove the stereotype of the sweating, loosened necktie, Bible-thumping preacher who yells and screams about burning in hell for eternity. In other words, this is a summation of these excerpts. Here's the new rule for the church. Be clever, informal, positive, brief, friendly, never loosen your necktie, never let them see you sweat, and never use the H word. That's the bottom line in evangelicalism today.

People need to hear the gospel, folks. People need to hear the truth. Who's going to tell them? Jesus preached the truth. He had a divine must. I must preach the kingdom of God. And this was the context of Luke 5, 1 to 11. And Luke will emphasize this over and over and over again because he wants us to know that the main motive of the ministry was the preaching ministry. People needed to hear the truth because they had been led astray for so long. And here's one thing I've shared with you before.

I'll share it again. That, you see, what has happened is that when someone comes along and preaches the truth, we think that they're teaching error because we have been so inundated with falsehood for so long. We don't recognize the truth anymore. So we think the guy who's preaching truth is a heretic. He's way out to lunch. He doesn't know what he's saying. And so when Jesus came along and began to preach, the people were consumed. They were amazed at what he was saying and so taken back by how he said it.

And over and over again throughout the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, people were dumbfounded by what he said because they never heard anything like it before. See, Jesus never gave his opinion. He just spoke the truth. He never gave a theological position. He just gave the only one position that there ever was because it was a true position because he always spoke the truth. That's why we told you. Remember, they were listening to the word that comes from God. That's the literal translation as to the word of God.

It's the first time Luke uses it, but it's the word literally that comes from God. So when Luke says that Jesus is speaking, he is speaking the words that come from God. Why? Because he is actually God in the flesh. So every time he opened his mouth, it was the word of God. So Luke tells us that Jesus is a source of truth because he speaks truth. That's the context. Now, number two, let's go to the catch, okay?

The catch. That's in verses four and following. And when he'd finished speaking, he said to Simon, put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch. Now, remember, Jesus doesn't go fishing. Jesus goes catching. That's important to understand. The title, I think, for our sermon today is probably wrong. It should be the ultimate catching trip instead of the ultimate fishing trip because, you see, our Lord doesn't go fishing. He catches. When we go fishing, we hope to catch something. But our Lord goes catching.

Let down your nets for a catch. Let's begin by looking at the request. You must understand what has taken place here. Our Lord's done preaching. It's probably somewhere around the middle of the day. And he asked Simon to go out into the deep. Let's get on board and let's go out and do some catching. Now, you need to understand that there are two kinds of nets they use. This is important. A year ago when we were in Israel, we were on one of the boats, and one of the boats went up close to the shore, and one of the men there demonstrated to us how they would this long net.

And on the end of the nets were weights. It's a one-man net. He would sling that net into the water. It would drop down around a school of fish. And he, with a cord, snapped that thing together. And sure enough, lo and behold, a year ago, the guy caught a fish. I thought it was a trick or something, but actually he did catch a fish. But that's how they do it. They would walk along in the water. And in the early morning of the day or the cool of the evening, those fish would come up to the front, and they would sling that net out, and they would rip that cord.

And sure enough, they'd catch fish. That's how a one man would catch fish. This is not what the Lord's talking about in Luke 5. There's another kind of net. It's a huge net. It's called a seine. History tells us that sometimes they're a quarter to a half a mile in length. And what you would have is you'd have a boat on shore who would go out just a little ways, and then another boat that would go further into the deep. Okay? And that boat, as it went out into the deep, would begin to drop this net as it progressed into the deep.

And then it would circle around this way, back to the boat close to the shore. And that net, because it had weights on the bottom, would sink down into the water and corks on top, so it would float on the water. And it would encompass everything in that area and bring it together. And they would collect the fish in that huge net called a seine. And that's what they were using at the time. That's how they fished. That's how they were able to get large groups of fish. And so our Lord says to Simon, Simon, put out the boat into the deep, and let's go out for a catch.

Now, you need to understand something. Luke is going to show us something about our Lord, that our Lord knows where all the fish are. He knows everything. Now, we have a hard time understanding this. And I'm going to explain that to you this morning, so you grasp the fact that we talk about omniscience, that God knows everything, but we don't understand omniscience. For example, Matthew chapter 10 says these words. Matthew chapter 10, verse number 29. Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father.

In other words, the Lord knows every sparrow. One commentator says every hop of a sparrow. He knows every hop a sparrow takes. He knows everything about the sparrow. Then he says this. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. The very hairs of your head are all numbered. Listen, God knows how many hairs you have. He doesn't know it because he counted them. He just knows them. If God has to count them to know how many there are, that means there was a point he didn't know how many there were.

Right? So God doesn't have to count them to know. He just knows. For some of you, he doesn't have to know much, because there's not a lot of hair out there. Others of you, he has to know a lot more. But the point being is that God knows, not because he counted them, but because he knows. God knows where the fish are. So he says, Simon, I want you to set out into the deep because we're going to go out for a catch. Now that leads us to point number two, and that is the resistance, or maybe a better word, the reluctance on Simon's part.

Listen to what he says. He says, Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing. Now please understand what is taking place here. You had this huge net. The Bible tells us that they were drying their nets. The Bible says, remember in verse number two, but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets.

They washed them and then they had to dry them because once they were dry, they were easier to move. Now you're talking about, listen, hundreds of pounds of weight. And so they would take their nets and they would spend the day washing them, drying them, and mending them. You see, what the fishermen did was sleep during the day and fish during the night. That's why Simon says, Master, teacher, leader, commander, we've already been there. We've already done that. We have fished all nights. See, our Lord is asking Simon to do something.

This is very important for you to understand. He's asking Simon to do something in the area in which Simon is a professional. Simon's a great fisherman. That was his life's business. That's how he made ends meet. He was a lifelong fisherman. He knew fishing better than the carpenter knew fishing. Master, let me remind you that you are a carpenter's son.

And I am a fisherman. And we've already been fishing. And you don't fish in the middle of the day because we all know that during the middle of the day when the sun comes out and beats down, especially on the Sea of Galilee, the fish go deep into the water and that net won't go down that far. And Lord, we've already been out to the deep. We've already been out there. And there's nothing out there. We've already been there, done that. It's time for us to take a break, wash the nets, dry the nets, mend the nets.

And you know what, Lord? We sleep during the day. It's time for us to get some rest. We've already heard you preach and we're worn out from washing the nets and listening to you preach. We're ready for a nap, Lord. A little bit of reluctance and resistance on Peter's part. Have you found in your life that there's a lot of reluctance on your part to do what God says?

Especially in the areas that you think you know best. Because, you know, when it comes to omniscience, we want to talk theologically and theoretically about the omniscience of God. But we don't want to understand that God knows more than we know, especially in the area of our expertise. After all, we have a MA, a BA, a THA, or THD, or PhD, or whatever it is that you might have. And we know this job. We know this business. And God says, this is what I want you to do.

We say, you know, Lord, this is my job. I know what I'm doing here. It's not time for me to do this or to do that. And a lot of times in our own lives, God says, this is what you need to do.

God says, this is how you need to parent your children. And we say, well, we've got a lot of children. We've been through that. We know how to parent our children, Lord. Let us take care of it. We don't need anybody telling us what to do with our children. Or God says, you know, you need to do this with your husband or with your wife.

And we say, well, we've been married for 40, 50, 60 years. We don't need anybody telling us what to do, Lord. We've been down this route before. We know marriage. We've been there. See, we always like to think that we know more than God does. Peter is expressing the fact that he knows more than the master knows, because he's the fisherman. He knows fishing. Master, we've already been there. We've already done that. But then he says this, but at your bidding, I will let down the nets. Now, folks, this is hard work.

This is not easy work. You wash the nets. You're in the process of drying the nets, mending the nets. And now you've got to put the nets back into the boat again, and you've got to push out into the deep. These weren't little boats. These were boats big enough to hold all 12 disciples, right? And the Lord Jesus Christ. So they held at least 13 men. And if they had a crew of men that would man the ship, there would be more than 13 on there. These are pretty big-sized boats. So now we've got to load the net back onto the boat again.

Lots of weight, lots of work. And sometimes we're just not willing to do the work that God asks us to do. Too tired. We've been there. We've done that. And the Lord says, you know, Simon, I want you to cast out into the deep, because we're going to have a great catch today. And Simon says, Lord, at your bidding, I will do this. That's good for Simon, because Simon, listen, is going to reap a great reward. When God asks you to do something that is difficult, that's hard, that goes against your human knowledge, God does it because He knows everything.

And God knows what's going to happen. And God has a plan, a plan designed specifically for you. And today it was a plan for Simon. Something was going to happen in Simon's life that would change it forever. And the Lord knew that. So Simon says, at your bidding, Lord, I will do this. In other words, it's the least I can do. I mean, you healed my mother-in-law. I mean, my wife's happy. And because you made my wife happy, I mean, this is the least I can do. And so, sure enough, they set out into the deep for six.

When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish. And their nets began to break. And they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the nets, and they began to sink. Folks, this is the reward of obedience. The reward of doing what God says in spite of the hardship, in spite of the difficulty, in spite of the inconvenience, in spite of thinking you know more than He knows.

Look at the reward. Now, this is a great quantity of fish. They had not seen anything like this before. Verse number nine says this, for amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken. There were so many fish that as they brought the boat around and they encompassed all these fish and began to bring them up into the boat, the nets began to snap, pop, break. And as they were trying to get all these fish into the boat, there were so many fish that their boats, both boats began to sink.

There were so many fish that they couldn't handle it themselves. They had to signal for James and John. They had to come out too with their boat to help with everything that was taking place because it was a great quantity of fish. And both boats began to sink. Because you see, Jesus knows everything. He knows where the fish are. So He goes for a catch, not for a fish or a fishing. He knows where they're at. And all of a sudden, now you begin to understand the omniscience of God. Peter didn't know where they were or he would have caught them earlier.

You know, 10% of the fish are in 100% of the lake, you know. And you got to figure out where they're at and try to, or the fish are in 10% of the lake, which is a huge place. You got to find where they're at. And the Lord knows, knows exactly where they're at. See, this whole thing about God's omniscience is an amazing attribute. Let me give you an example.

Listen to Mark chapter 13, Passover. This is right before the crucifixion of our Lord. And on the first day of unleavened bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, verse 12 of Mark 14, His disciples said to Him, where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?

And He sent two of His disciples and said to them, go into the city and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him. And wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, the teacher says, where is my guest room in which I may eat the Passover? And my disciples and He Himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready and prepare for us there. And the disciples went out and came to the city and found it just as He had told them. And they prepared the Passover. Jesus says, this is what you're going to do.

Go to the city. There's going to be a man with a pitcher of water. You see that guy, follow him. Don't say anything to him, just follow him. And wherever he goes and enters the house, you go into that house and say, where is the room prepared for my master and his disciples? And that man will show you where that room is. See, the Lord knew that. The Lord knew there'd be a man there with a pitcher of water. They would follow him. He knew where the room was. He knew everything. So when you come over to John chapter 16, listen to what it says in John 16, that night of Passover, John chapter 16, verse 29.

His disciples said, Lo, now you are speaking plainly and are not using the figure of speech. Now we know that you know all things and have no need for anyone to question you. By this we believe that you came from God. So they testify the fact, Lord, we know that you know all things, that you are actually from God. We now know this, but they really didn't know it. They really didn't get it. Because you see, we never grasp infinite understanding. We never grasp omniscience. Over in John chapter 1, John chapter 1, verse number 47, it says this, Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and said to him, Behold, an Israelite, indeed, in whom was no guile.

And Nathanael said to him, How do you know me? Jesus answered and said to him, Before Philip called you when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. I saw you. Nathanael answered him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel. How would you know where I was seated? How would you know that in me there is no God? Only God knows what's in me. Over in John 2, it says this, it says, verse 23, Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast, many believed in his name, beholding his signs which he was doing.

But Jesus on his part was not entrusting himself to them, for he knew all men. And because he did not need anyone to bear witness concerning man, for he himself knew what was in man. He knows everything. There's nothing God doesn't know. Look at John chapter 6.

John chapter 6, verse 64, But there are some of you who do not believe, Christ says, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe and who it was that would betray him.

The Lord knows who was going to betray him. The Lord knew who was going to believe in him. He knows everything. He didn't find out in eternity past who was going to believe in him. He already knew who was going to believe in him. You see, if there's ever a point where God has to make a decision based on your decision, God is not omniscient. He doesn't know everything until you do it. No, he knows everything. Now, I know you think you got it, but you don't have it yet. Look at Luke 22.

Luke chapter 22, verse 31, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. Christ says to Peter, look, Satan has asked permission to sift you like wheat.

And Christ says, but I prayed for you, Peter. I prayed for you that your faith would not fail. Peter says this, and he said to him, Lord, with you, I am ready to go both to prison and to death. Verse 34, he said, I say to you, Peter, the cock will not crow today until you have denied me three times that you know me. You see, the Lord knew Peter was going to deny him, but Peter, see, was the rock, and he knew that he could stand strong for the Lord. So that night at Caiaphas' house, and Luke is the only one who records this, that night at Caiaphas' house, after our Lord was beaten, the cock crowed.

And the Bible says in Luke that the Lord turned and looked at Peter. The Lord never said a word, just looked at him. Now turn to John 21 for a moment. John 21. In John 21, you had the fact that the fishermen are fishing. Peter went back to fishing. They haven't caught anything. Christ yells from the shore, Peter, throw the nets on the other side of the boat. You got them on the wrong side. Throw the nets on the other side of the boat, and guess what? They catch fish because Jesus knows where the fish are.

And Peter immediately recognizes that it's the Lord after his resurrection. He swims to the shore, and Christ and Peter have this conversation about, Peter, do you love me? And Peter says, you know, Lord, I like you a lot. And Christ says again, Peter, do you really love me?

Agapao, do you really have an unconditional love for me? And Peter responds, Lord, I like you a lot. I have a fond affection for you. And then the Lord says, but Peter, do you really have a fond affection for me? And listen to Peter's words. This is so good. He said to him, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. You see, it took Peter his whole life to realize that Lord knows all things. You can remember what's going on in his mind, how the Lord said, you're going to deny me. And Peter said, not me.

I'm rock. I'm rock. I'm steadfast. I'm strong. Others might, but I won't. Peter says in great humility, Lord, you know everything. Everything. See, the Lord knows everything in you. Psalm 139. He knows everything. He knows those of you who are using your cell phone right now to text somebody else in another part of the campus. Say, well, Pastor, how did you know I was doing that? Listen, if I know you're doing it, the Lord knows you're doing it, right? The Lord knows what you're thinking about right now.

He knows everything that's going to happen later this afternoon, tomorrow. He knows everything. He doesn't know. There's nothing he doesn't know. He's omniscient. He knows where the fish are. That's why he can put out into the deep for a catch. And Peter's overwhelmed because not only does he understand the omniscience of God, now he begins to understand the ultimate power of God. The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 1 that God upholds the universe by the word of his power.

We have a hard time understanding God's omnipotence as well. God is all-powerful. He's El Shaddai. He's the Almighty God. But, you know, if God upholds the universe by the word of his power, how hard do you think it is for God to move the fish to the right location? Not very hard at all, is it? God can do anything. Psalm 62, Psalm 62, says that power belongs to God. And he is that all-powerful God who can do anything he wants. He created the heavens and the earth by just speaking a word because he's all-powerful.

And Peter on this day received a great reward because in that reward, point number four, is a recognition of who Jesus is. Back to Luke chapter 5. Listen to this. It says, And when Simon Peter saw that he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. This is his recognition, which ultimately is his greatest reward. But he recognizes if God is a source of truth and Jesus is speaking truth, Jesus is God. If God knows everything and Jesus knows where the fish are, Jesus must be God.

If God is all-powerful and Jesus is able to move all the fish to a certain location, meaning he controls all things by the word of his power, then he must be God in the flesh. If he's God in the flesh, he's holy. And if he's holy, I'm sinful. See that? And so he says, O Lord, depart from me. I am unworthy to be in your presence. Leave me alone. He falls at the feet of Jesus. It says, depart from me. I'm a sinful man. It's interesting to note that Luke calls Simon, Simon, all the way up to Luke chapter 6, where he's designated as an apostle, Peter.

This is the only time Luke calls him Simon Peter. And that's because this is where Simon becomes Peter. This is where he becomes the rock. This is where he becomes, the transformation takes place. Remember, in John chapter 1 was his conversion. In Mark chapter 1 was the confirmation of his call. And in Luke chapter 5 is the commission based on the confirmation and the conversion. And this is his commission. And this is where Simon becomes fully Peter. He says, depart from me. I'm a sinful man. See, that's why I take you back to last week and the beginning of our time today.

You've got to preach the word of God. Why? Because man needs to recognize he's a sinner. And it's unworthy to be in the presence of a holy God. That's why I love 1 Corinthians chapter 14, when it says, verse 24, if all prophesy and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all. He is called to account by all. The secrets of his heart are disclosed. And so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you. How does an unbeliever know that God is among us?

Unless we prophesy the truth of God's word, unless we speak the truth of God's word, they will not know. And they will not fall down and worship the true and living God unless God is put on display in that church. And the only way that God can be put on display is if God's word is systematically and succinctly preached week in and week out. That's the only way. People need to see God in all of his glory. He knows everything. He's all powerful. He speaks the truth. And that's the holy God of the universe.

And when man sees God as holy, he sees himself as sinful. He does. He sees himself as unworthy. He sees himself as full of guilt. He becomes intimidated. He becomes traumatized. And that's why the Bible says in Isaiah 66, verse number two, this man I will look to, to him who is broken and of a contrite heart and who trembles at my word.

God says, that's the man I look to. That's the man I will save. That's the man I will bless. If you don't tremble under the authority of God's word, God doesn't bless your life. He doesn't. Because you haven't come to the point that you've recognized him as holy and you as sinful. Because you see, when you see God as holy, all you can see is your wretchedness, is your unworthiness, is your sinfulness. And like Peter, all you can say is, Lord, depart from me. I am a sinful man. I'm a sinful man. I don't deserve to be in your presence.

You are a holy God. And you need to leave me alone, Lord, because I can't exist in your presence. And when you read through the Bible, all those people who had encountered the living God, Job says, I repent, in dust and ashes. Abraham said the same thing in Genesis chapter 18. Manoah said the same thing in Judges chapter 13. We saw God, we're going to die. Isaiah said the same thing in Isaiah chapter 6. He was a prophet of God, a great prophet of God. And all Isaiah could say was, I am a dirty prophet with a dirty mouth because I have seen a holy God.

And the problem with us is that we come to church and we think God's deserving or lucky to have us in his kingdom. We come to church thinking, boy, God is so blessed to have me in his kingdom. I can do so much for the kingdom. I am so good for God. That's our attitude today. We have the wrong attitude. For the moment you have that attitude, you are no longer shaking under the authority of God's word, and you no longer have the fear of God. Listen to what the Lord says. This is the result. It says, for amazement, verse number nine, had seized him and all of his companions, that's James and John, because of the catch of fish which they had taken.

And so also James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, do not fear, or literally, stop being terrified. See, a number of years ago, I wrote a booklet called The Fear of God. I tried to give it away on the radio, and nobody would take it, you know, because people don't preach the fear of God anymore. But you know, unless you fear God, it's the unbeliever that doesn't fear God. Remember that, Romans 3 says that the unbeliever has no fear of God before their eyes.

It's the believer who fears God. There is forgiveness with thee, the psalmist says, that thou mayest be feared. Only the forgiven man fears God. The unforgiven man does not fear him. And so, here is Simon, fearful, terrified, terrified that a sinful man is in the presence of Almighty God. And Jesus says, here's the result, listen to this.

See, God, when you're at the point where you know alienation, God bestows reconciliation. That's the point. When you know and recognize you should be damned because you are so unworthy, God reaches down and says, stop being terrified. Do not fear, Simon. Why? Because there's that overwhelming acceptance where God says, to this man will I look, to him who is broken and of a contrite heart and who trembles at my word.

That was Peter. This is the first time in Luke's gospel that man comes to realize his sinfulness. This is the first time in Luke's gospel where we see real, true biblical repentance of an individual who knows he's unworthy, who knows he's in the presence of God and deserves not to be there.

You see, the moment you think you deserve to be in the presence of God, you're in big trouble spiritually. See, we don't humbly go before the throne of grace and talk to God truthfully and say, Lord, we don't deserve to be here. We are unworthy. But by your grace and by your mercy that you bestowed upon me, I'm able to come into your presence and I thank you for that. And here's Peter. Depart from me, I am a sinful man. And the Lord says, Peter, stop being afraid. This is the mercy of the Lord, right?

This is the mercy of the Lord. Peter doesn't deserve to be there. Peter doesn't deserve to be a disciple. Peter doesn't deserve to be an apostle. But as he goes on, he thinks he's worthy. He thinks he's deserving because he's one of the 12. He's the leader of the 12. We'll talk more about Peter when we get to Luke chapter 6. But he begins to think he's worthy, that he won't deny the Lord, that he's strong. But he's not. See, he never really truly learned the lesson until it was at the end. When you read about Peter in the book of Acts, Peter's finally got a grip on the lesson that the Lord had been trying to teach him for three years.

Without me, Peter, you're nothing. With me, you're everything, but without me, you're nothing. Peter began to learn that as time went on. And the Lord says, Peter, stop being afraid. When Isaiah saw himself as a man with a dirty mouth, God sent him to his people. When Job saw himself as a sinful man who should repent in dust and ashes, who didn't think himself worthy to be treated as he was by God, did not think that it was fair for him to suffer all these great and hardships that came upon his life.

When he finally repented of his sin and dust and ashes, then God blessed his life and gave him twice as much as what he had before.

But it wasn't until he got to that point that God blessed him. Think of John in Revelation chapter 1. We saw a vision of the glorified Christ and fell down at his feet like a dead man. It wasn't until that time that God gave him the vision of the end. See? You want God to bless your life. You want God to reward you with great results. See yourself as a sinner in the presence of a holy God that doesn't deserve to be there and watch the mercy of God pour forth on your life. That's the lesson of Luke 5.

He was terrified. He was absolutely terrified that he would be in the presence of Almighty God. You know, the terror of the believer doesn't cause you to run. It causes you to cling. Deuteronomy chapter 13 speaks of that. Verse number four, you shall follow the Lord your God and fear him, and you shall keep his commandments, listen to his voice, serve him, and cling to him. See, the man who fears God knows he's God, can't run from God, so what's he do? He clings to God and begs for mercy. He clings to him.

That's the man who fears God. That's the man that God bestows mercy upon and grace upon. That was Peter. Now listen to this. This is so good. Listen to this. Jesus said to Simon, Simon stop being terrified because what I'm about to tell you is going to change your life forever. Someone says, from now on you will be catching men. What a lesson. The word catching men, zogroan, from two words, agro, which means to catch, and zoan, which means life. Listen to this. He said, Peter, you spent your whole life catching live fish in order to make them dead, but now you're going to catch dead men in order to give them life.

What a lesson. That's powerful. What a commission. What's our commission? Our commission is to catch dead men and give them life, the life of the gospel. That's why it's so important to preach the good news. If you don't preach the gospel, you can't give them life because Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. You got to give them life, and the only way you can is to give them the truth. And Peter, because of his unworthiness, experiences from God his great mercy. And the Lord says, you know, Peter, you don't have to be terrified anymore.

From now on, this is what you're going to do. You're going to catch dead men and give them life. Here's the conclusion. Verse 11, when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. How do you know? How do you know you have truly seen and understood the living God? How do you know you have sensed your unworthiness? How do you know that you are unworthy of anything God offers? How do you know God is unmissioned? How do you know you know that God is all powerful, the El Shaddai, the holy God of Israel, the God of truth, the God who bestows mercy?

Answer, you've been forgiven. Number two, you forsake everything. And number three, you follow him. That's how you know. They left everything, and they followed him. Peter had been a part-time follower up to now.

Jesus' ministry was in the Galilee region, so he could fish during the night and follow Christ during the day and do this kind of thing. But now everything changed for Peter. Now it all changed. He would follow him with his whole heart. I wonder today if God has everything of yours. Have you forsaken everything to follow him? Doesn't mean you've got to go into the pastor or to go to the mission field. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about your heart's commitment and heart's desire to do whatever God says, whatever he asks you, or whatever he commands you.

You've experienced the forgiveness. How do you know you've experienced the forgiveness of God? You forsake everything that's of importance to you and follow him without reservation. That's how you know. That's how you know. Lord, I'm yours. Whatever you want, I'm going to do. Whatever you want me to say, I'm going to say. However you want me to live, I'm going to live. Wherever you want me to go, I'm going to go. Lord, I'm going to do that. There's no reluctance. There's no resistance. There's no saying back, Lord, you know, I know this better than you do.

I think I've got a better plan than you do. It's just, Lord, you know what? You're right. You're it. I'm nothing. You're everything. I'm going to forsake everything. I'm going to follow you. You have my heart, God. You have it all. You have my kids. You have my wife. You got my job. You got my car. You got my house. It's all yours. Anyway, God, you gave it to me. It's all yours. Do whatever you want to with it. When's the last time you said that? Do whatever you want to do with my wife, my husband, my children, my grandchildren, my job, my house.

It's all yours. Just do whatever you want, Lord. I'm going to follow you without reservation because you're my king. You're my master. You truly are my Lord. Let's pray. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for the lessons learned in Luke 5. Thank you for Peter and how you used him. Thank you for the lessons you taught him. May we learn them well. May we apply them to our lives. If there'd be one today, Lord, who has not experienced your forgiveness, I pray for them today that today they would experience the forgiveness of almighty God who longs to bestow mercy upon the repentant sinner.

And pray for every man and woman, boy and girl in this room today that, Lord, without reservation, they would be willing to forsake everything to follow you, whatever you ask, to go wherever you want them to go and do whatever you want them to do because you are their Lord. You are their Savior. You are their king. And may we as a church follow you with all that we have. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.