Gospel Quest #9 Christ’s Challenge
Luke 5:1-11
Introduction:
A
forest ranger was sure that LeRoy was not fishing according to the rules and
regulations of the state of Texas and he decided to try and find out. Yet no matter how much he spied and pried he
could never figure out what ol’ LeRoy was doing. He would just see him at the
end of the day with a boatload of the biggest fish in the lake and couldn’t say
nothing.
Finally
he just decide to ask LeRoy how he was catching all those fish when no one else
was. LeRoy said, “Well if ya wants I can just shows ya hows I do it.”
The
ranger agreed, and LeRoy and the ranger went fishing. They took out Leroy’s
tiny little John boat. The ranger said, “LeRoy you can’t catch any fish in that
little boat.” LeRoy didn’t say anything. They trolled out to the middle of the lake
in the heat of the day. The ranger said, “LeRoy you can’t be catchin no fish
here, in this boat at this time of day.” LeRoy didn’t say nothing. LeRoy then
reached into his tackle box pulled out a stick of dynamite and lit it. The
ranger shouted. “LeRoy, it is illegal to fish with dynamite and if you throw
that stick into this lake I’m going to arrest you.” LeRoy smiled handed the lit
stick of dynamite to the ranger and said, “You gonna keep talkin or ya gonna start
fishin?”
Lets look at another fish story this morning and this one in
Luke 5:1-11 doesn’t involve dynamite. Christ challenges his disciples to launch
out into the deep.”
Let’s look at a little bit of background. Luke 5 is an
account of the calling the apostles and if all we had was Luke’s account it
seems a bit abrupt. Luke 4 the fourth chapter is the first time that any of the
disciples are mention and there we read about Jesus healing Peter’s
mother-in-law. The next thing Luke then records is the challenge of Luke 5:11
“they forsook all and followed him.” That seems a big jump after just one home
visit and one sermon. Actually, this was not the disciple’s first encounter
with Jesus nor was it their first call. The first call is recorded in John
1:35-42; 35 Again the next day
after John stood, and two of his disciples; 36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he
saith, Behold the Lamb of God! 37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and
they followed Jesus. 38 Then Jesus
turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said
unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest
thou? 39 He saith unto them, Come and
see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was
about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two
which heard John [speak], and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
41 He first findeth his own brother
Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being
interpreted, the Christ. 42 And he
brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the
son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.
And it may surprise you to know that this isn’t their second
calling, that was in Matt 4:18-22 18
And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called
Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were
fishers. 19 And he saith unto them,
Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 20 And they straightway left [their] nets, and
followed him. 21 And going on from
thence, he saw other two brethren, James [the son] of Zebedee, and John his
brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called
them. 22 And they immediately left the
ship and their father, and followed him.
Luke 5 is actually their third call, but it is after this
call, this encounter with Jesus that they left everything behind and fully follow
Him. What made this call different? What
made this call, the final call? I think
it was in the challenge of Christ to launch out into the deep. I believe it was
a test of faith that showed the power of Jesus Christ. This event took these men
who had been believers and made them into disciples and later into apostles.
This event started them on the process of truly being “sent ones” with the
gospel of Christ as their message and the hope of eternity as their burden.
Challenge and Command - Luke 5:1-4
And it came to pass, that, as the 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
entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would
thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out
of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into
the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
Jesus’ challenge to Peter
Jesus told Peter, “Launch Out Into the Deep and Let Down
Your Nets for a Draught.”
Jesus came to the Lake of Gennesart, also called the sea of
Galilee. He was already well known for people were pressing upon him. The word
“pressing” means to put pressure on like a stone laid atop a tomb. The crowd
literally was crowding Jesus so much that he could not do anything because they
were so packed around him.
I believe he came looking that day, for the fishermen
partners he had already spent time with and had already formed a relationship
with Him. This team of fishermen, brothers and friends, he was going to turn
into a team of apostles, that would ultimately change the world.
Jesus sees their ships but they aren’t in them and He finds
them cleaning their nets, which is last task they would do after fishing
through the night. He then asks Peter, the leader of their enterprise, to let Him use
his boat for a pulpit. So they put out a little way from the shore and Jesus
sits down and speaks with the people. This was the way they heard the Gospel,
no shouting, no theatrics, but teaching and quite learning.
When he finishes, Jesus tells Peter, “launch out into the
deep water and drop your nets for a catch of fish.”
Jesus is doing three things by telling this to Peter.
First he is testing his obedience
Second he is offering him a reward for the use of his time
and ship to let him preach.
Third he is going to teach a lesson that can’t be taught in
words alone. It is a lesson of faith in action, a lesson of promise with risk,
a lesson of a gift under the guidance of God.
Jesus Challenge to Us
Jesus today is still challenging us as believers to launch
out into the deep and let down your nets.
Jesus is still in the business of turning normal, nominal
Christians into disciples and then turning disciples into apostles. He wants to
change us from those who just believe, into those who are committed to Him and
finally to those who are truly and personally commissioned and commanded by Him
to do the work of carrying the Gospel.
Jesus’ plan for reaching this sinful world has changed at
all, He is still using the same method of making believers into disciples, into
apostles and fishers of men.
The only question we need to answer today is, am I willing
for Him to do this to me? Am I willing for Him to do this in my church? Am I willing
to listen as Jesus says, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets?”
Jesus also still trying to accomplish in us the same three
things that he did in Peter.
First, he is testing our obedience.
Second, he is offering us a reward and a blessing for obeying
and serving Him. He has always worked this way.
Deuteronomy 6:3 Hear
therefore, O Israel, and observe to do [it]; that it may be well with thee, and
that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised
thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.
De 11:27 A blessing,
if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:
Jeremiah 7:23 Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye
shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that
it may be well unto you.
Third he is trying to teach us a lesson that can’t be
learned by words alone.
Psalms 119:71 It is
good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
Sometimes the only school we can understand is the school of
life and hard knocks. True for the apostles and still true for us.
Illustration: Personal example
I am absolutely sure
that Jesus still tells us, Launch out into the deep.
I heard him first as a 14-year-old boy walking the aisle
with tear in my eyes and a calling in my heart to tell people about the love of
God.
I heard it again when I was 21, after years of running from
that call I heard as a teenager. Now I had a wife and a newborn baby boy and my
own little business. But this time I answered, “Yes, Lord. I will launch out
into the deep.”
I’ve heard Jesus after each heartbreak, after each defeat,
after each desertion or betrayal still saying, “Launch out into the deep.” He has sent me to places where I felt afraid
and felt a failure but still when I feel its time to pull up the nets and go
home for good, he points away off across the sea of doubt and uncertainty and
says, “Launch out into that deep, there is still work to be done there.”
His voice has always been strong, and His assurance
unmistakable. I want to see God’s hand at work in my life and in my church in
ways that leave no doubt that he is challenges us, “Launch out into the deep. You
are not finished doing what I sent you to do.”
Transition: Notice the response of Peter to the Lord’s challenge
in vs. 5
Doubtful but Doing - Luke 5:5
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.
Peter’s Response
“We have toiled all night and taken nothing nevertheless at thy
word I will let down the net.”
This kind of response is one of the reasons why the Lord
chose Peter to be an Apostle and later the pastor of the church at Jerusalem. He
is so much more like you and I than Paul or even John. Peter more than any
other New Testament Bible character thinks like us, and says the things we are
thinking.
Peter is polite but blunt. “Lord, we fished all night.”
For real fishermen, men who made their living catching and
selling fish, nighttime was the best time to work. One of the techniques was
for the fishermen to take torches and hold them close to the surface of the
water. The fish would by attracted to the light, would swim near the boat and
the men would cast a net and catch their fish.
Peter knew this, he was a lifetime fisherman. He was the
expert, Jesus was just carpenter and now a Rabbi or teacher. Nothing in Jesus
background qualified him to tell Peter how to fish.
Also, Peter was tired when he says we have fished all night
he wasn’t exaggerating. They had started at sunset and fished until sunup, now
they sat on the shore cleaning and drying their nets.
Finally, Peter knew something the Lord didn’t know, it just wasn’t
a good day for fishing. They hadn’t caught a thing all night. There just
weren’t any fish in that lake. (I can understand this because of my own futile attempts
at fishing. Somedays you can’t catch a fish with a stick of dynamite.)
But Peter didn’t stop with “We’ve toiled all night and taken
nothing. No, he continued and said, “Nevertheless at thy word I will let down
my net.”
To Peter, it didn’t make sense. It was contrary to his experience.
It was downright unfair to ask of men who were at the end of the strength but
because Jesus was the one asking. Peter responded, I’m going to do it anyway.
“At your word, Lord.”
Do you see why Peter was the leader of this group both as
fishers of fish and later as fishers of mem? He saw the world of reality and had
his doubts, even expressed those doubts but he still believed in Jesus.
Even if Peter didn’t believe it could work, didn’t understand
how it should work, and even had doubts that it would work, nevertheless he was
going to try, because Jesus had said it.
Our Response
What is our response to the command of Christ to launch out
and let down our nets?
We can identify with Peter in many situations, but you know
what the difference between us and Peter often is? We have the same doubts
about what God is telling us to do but instead of stating those doubts and
talking to the Lord and then doing it anyway, like Peter, we instead don’t say
anything and then we don’t do anything.
God’s word challenges us with a command, “Launch out into
the deep with your finances.” “Launch out into the deep with your family.”
“Launch out into the deep with your life.” Launch out into the deep with your
church.” Most challenging of all God says, “Launch out into the deep with your eternal
soul.”
Too often we know what the Lord is challenging us to do but
we say nothing and then we do nothing. It would be better if we stood up in the
middle of church shouted that God doesn’t make any sense, this can’t possibly
work and then said, “To prove it I’m going to try it anyway just to show you.”
But instead we sit there in our cocoons of silence and our
coffins of inactivity and refuse to do anything at all. Refuse to even try or
to test God and His promises.
You know what God, himself says about testing him? He says,
I am bigger than your doubts and greater than your tests, “Just try me!”
Scripture: Malachi 3:10
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may
be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I
will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that
there shall not be room enough to receive it.
God is greater than your doubts. He is greater
than your tests. Gideon tested God. Zechariah the father of John the Baptist
tested God. Hannah the mother of Samuel tested God. They and many, many others
stepped out in spite of their doubts, in spite of their fears and said, “Lord I
can’t see how this is going to work but I’m going to do it anyway.”
We need to have even enough faith to own up to your doubts
and then because God’s word said it, do it anyway.
Illustration: Send the Communion Set we will surely need it.
An incident from the lives of Robert and Mary Moffat
underscores this truth in an interesting way. For 10 years these two
missionaries faithfully pursued their endeavors in Bechuanaland without one ray
of encouragement brightening their way. Not a single person was converted to
Christ. Finally, the directors of their mission board began to question the
wisdom of continuing the work. The very thought of leaving their post, however,
brought grief to the devoted couple who felt sure that eventually they would
see the fruits of their labors. They stayed on, and for two more years the
forces of darkness reigned. Then a friend in England wrote to Mrs. Moffat that
she wanted to send her a gift, and asked for a suggestion. In her reply she
requested nothing for herself, although she could have used many things. Rather
she pleaded, "Send us a communion set; I'm sure we will need one
soon." God honored her faith, for the Holy Spirit began to work in hearts,
and a short time later six people accepted the Savior. Soon a small group had
united to form a church for fellowship and to study the Bible. The communion
set from England was delayed en route; but on the very day before the Lord's
Supper was to be observed, the gift arrived.
Transition:
I love stories like that. The world may call it a
coincidence but God’s people know that God though His providence had it all
taken care of. Let’s return to the Lord’s challenge in Luke 5 vs 6.
Reward and Repentance Luke 5:6-9
And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude
of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which
were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and
filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he
fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O
Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the
fishes which they had taken:
Peter’s Obedience
Peter’s obedience, even with his doubts, is rewarded and he
repents of his lack of faith.
Peter does what the Lord says. He had Jesus with him in the
boat, probably to show him this wasn’t go to work, Peter then launches out into
the deep and lets down his net.
I believe that no sooner than the net had submerged that it
must have felt like the boat had dropped anchor. Peter and probably Andrew his
brother, begin to try and draw the net in and so great is the catch that the
net begins to break.
The Bible says he beckoned to his partners, John and James, in
the other ship. They must have been some distance, perhaps just offshore,
seeing if anything was going to happen, because He beckons to them. So, he is
trying to hold the net with one hand and waving with the other hand trying to
get them to launch out into the deep with him and help him draw in this crazy
catch of fish.
John and James arrive and the probably put another net under
Peter’s net and then they all lift the nets and the poundage of that catch was
so great that both boats begin to sink. As they draw the nets the ships tip
toward the water line under the greater weight and start taking on water!
Now maybe its just me, but don’t you imagine that the Lord
was sitting on the other end of the ship, with a big smile on his face. He may have
even been laughing a little himself watching all this commotion? He knew what was
going to happen all along.
When Peter sees the catch, when he realizes that his boat is
so heavy it is in danger of sinking, he falls down at the feet of Jesus and
repents of his doubts, his fear and his pride. “Depart from me for I am a
sinful man, Oh Lord.” Oh what a confession. What a heartfelt, open to the soul
confession!
In a way that he had never seen Jesus before, he sees him
now as truly Lord in all things. and in comparison, Peter can only see himself
as a sinner, unworthy to be in the same place as Jesus the Christ, God the son,
creator, ruler and sustainer of all.
The Bible says, “For he was astonished.” Literally that word
means, “a wonder held him round.” The
wonder, the miracle, of what they had seen, surrounded and held Peter fast.
Isn’t it just like Jesus to work like this? Peter had cast a
net that caught fish, but Jesus had cast a miracle that caught Peter.
Our obedience?
Where is our obedience, our risk and especially our
repentance?
Peter would never have come to this place, at the feet of
Jesus, never seen Jesus as much more than just a Rabbi had he not obeyed the
Lord and launched out into the deep.
He risked much in doing so.
He risked embarrassment from all those people and other
fishermen on shore. “Look at Peter he’s going back out to fish at the wrong
time and in the wrong place. What’s wrong with him?”
He risked all that he owned. His nets began to break and his
ship begins to sink. If he lost these things he would lose everything he had in
this world.
He even risked his life. We know from the story of Peter
walking on the water that he probably can’t swim. If the boat goes down Peter goes
down.
Yet because he risked it all in obedience to Christ, he was
able to see Christ as he had ever seen Him before.
You know what we must ask ourselves today. Where is my
obedience? Where is my risk and especially where is my repentance?
When have you obeyed the Lord in spite of your doubts and
fears? When have you risked everything you have and everything you are, in
obedience to him? When was the last time you fell at the feet of Jesus as you realized,
“I shouldn’t be loved by Him? I shouldn’t have be forgiven by Him. I shouldn’t
spend eternity with the One who is the Creator, Ruler and Sustain of All. I
shouldn’t be here, but by His love and grace I am and all I can do is fall at His
feet and call out My Lord, My God, My Savior,… My Jesus!
Have you heard Jesus’ invitation to trust Him, are you
willing to risk it, willing to test Him and see if this promise of salvation is
real? Oh you’ll never know the amazement, the wonder holding you round about,
until you launch out in the deep of your doubts and fears and trust Jesus.
Eight times in the NT Jesus says, “Come unto Me.” The most
memorable invitation is in Mathew 11:28
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest.
You have heard His call, that is it right there, just as
real and vital today as it was then. Have you obeyed by coming to Him?
Transition: The story doesn’t end here in fact this is the
only the end of the beginning of the story for Peter and the apostles. But don’t worry it is the end of my sermon.
Conclusion
Forsaking and Following - Luke 5:10-11
And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou
shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook
all, and followed him.
Peter Forsakes All
Peter, Andrew, James and John forsake all and follow Christ.
After this third time Jesus called his
disciples, the Bible says, “They forsook all and followed Him.”
Why this time? I believe it was because they saw Him as they
had never seen him before. Because they had obeyed Him as they had never obeyed
him before. Because the risked everything as they had never risked before. Now
they were ready to be Apostles, sent ones, ready to take the Gospel of Christ
to the ends of the earth and ready to carry the burden of eternity on their
shoulders.
Are you ready this morning?
I can’t think of anything worse, than one day looking back to a time and
a place where I could have made a choice to obey God, and trust Jesus, but
instead said nothing and did nothing. I can’t imagine realizing that because of
my refusal to obey, I missed seeing Jesus Christ as I had never seen him
before. I missed the opportunity of serving
him. Or worst of all, I missed eternity because I did nothing.
