Luke 5:1-7

Luke chapter 5 I’m going to read the first seven verses for our text and study this morning and it came to pass that as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God he stood by the lake Ganeserate and saw two ships standing by the lake but the fishermen were gone out of them and were washing their nets. He entered into one of the ships, which was Simons, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. 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. 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. And when they had done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes and their net break, and they beckoned onto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them, and they could come and help them, and they came. came and filled both the ships so that they began to sink. May God bless to us his holy and sacred word this morning. At the height of C.H. Spurgeon’s ministry in London, the great Baptist minister there, at the metropolitan tabernacle, even though it could hold thousand, thousands of people. It could not accommodate all the people who wanted to hear the preacher. The building was always at overflow capacity with people standing in the aisles and in the back and on the balconies and everywhere else. At times, Spurgeon would actually ask his members to relinquish their seats and not come so that other people could actually fill up the church and hear the preaching. Now this is a rare occurrence. It doesn’t usually happen in our day and age where people have a, you know, it seems like they have to be begged to come to church. Most churches have trouble filling their seats and interest in preaching has certainly waned. However, when we read about our Lord Jesus Christ, he often had over flowing crowds himself. People flocked to hear the Savior as he preached. Jesus, we know, has, according to our last chapter and the last verse, has gone around Galilee preaching the gospel in the very synagogues in Galilee. And many people wanted to hear his message. And here we have the fact that there are so many people that want to hear him that no synagogue could actually accommodate these people. We’re not given the details of his message here, but it had a profound effect upon his hearers. I want to speak this morning on the high value of the Word of God. Let me begin by saying this. You should learn to appreciate those times when people are eager to hear the Word of God. And it came to pass that as the people pressed upon him to hear the Word of God, he stood by the Lake of Gneserate. Now, Jesus certainly was an extraordinary teacher. As we’ve already seen in Luke chapter 4, verse 22, all bear witness. bear him witness and wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth. Scripture reveals that the people were astonished at his doctrine, for he taught them as one having authority, and not like the scribes and the Pharisees. Matthew 7, 28, 29. Now, the Lord, when he came, preached the unvarnished message of God himself. He didn’t try to alter it. He didn’t try to make it more man-pleasing. He didn’t try to scratch the ears of his hearers by something pleasant. He didn’t foul down the sharp edges to soften the harshness or severity of the message. To put it simply, as he says, John 178, I have given them the words which thou gave us me. Straightforward, this is what God says. Our text indicates the profound effect the word had on the hears when they hear the straightforward message of the word of God. People flock to hear. And the important factor in all this preaching is what we read in Jeremiah 1-7, whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speak, and that’s what Jesus did. He brought the message from God to the people. Now, friends, we do not attempt to prove the truthfulness of God’s Word, or attempt to persuade the hearer of the genuineness of God’s Word with some type of scientific method or something. We proclaim, Thus, Seth, the Lord. We don’t try to critically analyze the Word of God. We learn this. Scripture is self-authenticating. It proves itself to be true. We don’t have to prove it to be true. Remember what Jesus said in John 10, My Sheep hear my voice. And when the Word of God is proclaimed, the voice of Christ speaks to people’s hearts, and they are moved by the Word of God. You are made to realize God is speaking as you listen to the Word of God faithfully proclaimed. He’s speaking through His Word to your heart. The Holy Spirit shows you by an inward testimony that this is true. So people are not left to their own. They’re not left on their own to determine, well, is this the Word of God or is it the Word of God? Proclaim the truth of God’s Word and it will speak for itself by the power of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit reveals to you this truth. And God’s elect, always hear his voice when the Word of God is proclaimed. Spurgeon related to the story of a mother of a family. who was married to an infidel. And the man made just a religion in front of the children all the time. Ridiculed her. And yet, she succeeded in bringing up all of the children in the fear of the Lord. And Spurgeon asked her how this was possible. How did you do that? How did you keep them from the evil influence of their father? Who so opposed the things of God. And this was her answer. She said, because to the authority of a father, I do not oppose the authority of a mother, but that of God. From the earliest years, my children have always seen the Bible on my table. This holy book has constituted the whole of their religious education. I was silent that it might speak. Did they propose a question? Did they commit a fault? Did they perform a good action? I opened the Bible and the Bible answered, reproved, or encouraged them. The constant reading of Scripture has robbed the extraordinary thing which surprises you. It’s essential that we realize that the Bible is no ordinary book. And when it is proclaimed, it’s not just an ordinary message. You know, people may open a Bible and think, well, this is just great literature. On the level, you know, of Shakespeare or Plato or the Iliad and the Odyssey or Dickens or something of this nature. But if you do that, you may be started like Jacob. Remember Jacob when he was at Bethel, he had that dream, that vision of the ladder with the angels going up and down, and he went to you. he said, surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not. My friends, when you come to the scriptures and you start reading the script, you may think it might be just great literature, but you’re going to find the Lord is in this place, and you knew it not. He speaks through the scriptures. God’s voices in this book. And the lesson is that he hath, he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully, Jeremiah 23, 28. Because God. God will use His word to speak to souls, to deal with people’s hearts. It’s an extraordinary teacher with an extraordinary teaching that Jesus had. Now, we have an eager audience here. They pressed upon him to hear the Word of God. Our Lord’s teaching, stirred up people. They had a strong desire to hear what he had to say. And it seems that no house or synagogue could contain the crowd so here he is he’s speaking to them in the open air now he was by the sea of Galilee Galilee is the area the territory and sometimes it’s called the Sea of Galilee sometimes it’s called the Sea of Tiberius there’s a on the western coast the city of Tiberius is there here it’s called the Lake of Ganesaret because there’s a particular porcel of land on the western shore is known as Ganeserate. So all three of these terms refer to the same thing. It’s the Sea of Galilee that we’re talking about. So the crowd is pressing upon him, forcing him to the water’s edge, and so he is going to try to speak to them. But there are so many that it makes it difficult. What a wonderful thing. The seal. So many people wanting to hear the Word of God. It’s true. Many may prove to be idle and unprofitable hearers when it comes to the Word of God and only a remnant will be saved. But it is often true that people have no interest in the Word of God at all. And few desire to hear it proclaim. However, there are occasions when God works in such a way that he moves people to flock to hear the Word of God proclaimed. And here’s one of those occasions. Prophets were not well received in Israel. And you remember when Jonah was a prophet, he ended up being sent to a heathen city, Ninevehah. When he gets there, the whole city is moved by his preaching. The whole city is interested so that the people of Ninevehah believe God and proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them even to the least of them. Now that was interesting. That he would go and they’d all be listening to what he had to say. Whereas Israel seemed to have less interest at all in any of the prophets who spoke to them. When Paul and Barnabas came to Antioch and Pisidia on their missionary journey, Paul taught in the synagogue, and we read the next Sabbath, came almost the whole city together to hear the Word of God proclaimed. In Acts 1344. Some people relish good preaching. Even when there are many external disadvantages, they’re not deterred. And there’s not a soft, cushiony pew that people can sit in. There’s not a soft, cushiony pew that people can sit in. no comforts of air conditioning. They’re out there in the elements, out in the open air, but they come to hear the Word of God. In various towns in the United States, large flocks of pigeons assemble at the town squares of various cities at noon every day. It’s not the music of the bell tower there or the clock that’s there in the middle of the middle of the city that attracts them every day. Why are they gathered there at the town square? Because people are out there giving food at noontime to the pigeons. And they know when the food’s going to be there and they go out and get it. And so God moves people at times to hear the word of God because this is the food that they need. They don’t care if it’s a plain service. as long as they get to hear the word of God expounded. Priority must be given to the word. Preach the word. Be instant in season and out of season, the scripture says. Well, it was in season here when Jesus is preaching and people are flocking to hear. So you should learn to appreciate those times when people are eager to hear the word of God. Secondly, you should learn to appreciate those times when people are eager to hear the word of God. Secondly, you should learned to use the means available to proclaim the Word of God. Now we see here in verses 2 and 3 this, and Jesus here saw two 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 Simons, 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. Look at the poor circumstances Jesus had here for preaching. The people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, but here’s the flat surface here. You can imagine him sort of getting swallowed up and perhaps he wouldn’t be heard as well in a situation he was in. He’s being pressed toward the shore of the sea, maybe into it if he continued to be in front of the crowd. they couldn’t see him. Perhaps they couldn’t hear him well, for the most part. And so what does he do? There’s no building that’s going to hold all these people. That’s dedicated to worship, no synagogue. None is available to accommodate this crowd. But he spies the fishing ships, and he goes into Simon Peter’s ship. and the other partners that he had, the other ship, of course, belonged to the sons of Zebedee, James and John. Peter and Andrew are in one ship, and James and John are on the other ship. So he boarded Simon Peter’s ship, and he requested it be used for free-cheon. Just go out a little bit from the shore, and he can sit down on the ship and teach the people on the shore the word of God. Get a little distance. Now, these people had just spent, these men had spent all night fishing and were told it was a disappointing effort. They didn’t catch any fish at all. Some of these men had met Christ before, and they had an interest in his ministry, because John 1 tells us about Simon and Andrew, and their interest in Christ. We know from Luke 4 that Jesus had stayed at Simon’s house when Simon Peter’s mother was sick. Simon Peter’s wife’s mother was sick. And so he healed her of the fever. Remember? We studied that. So he’s familiar with Simon here, and Simon is familiar with him. So Simon readily complies with Christ’s request and he allows the Savior to use his ship as a pulpit. Jesus here does not allow any inconveniences to deter him from preaching the gospel. Even if a ship has to be the pulpit, it doesn’t matter. So the poor circumstances Christ had for preaching. Now, this indicates to us that we should use the means available to us, to advance the kingdom of God. The servants of Christ should learn a lesson from the master’s example. We don’t need perfect conditions to proclaim the Word of God, and you don’t need perfect conditions to hear the Word of God. Sometimes you may not have a dedicated place to meet like a church building. We don’t have an elevated stage. We don’t have a sound system. or anything of this nature. You make do with what you have, what God has provided, rather than being idle and complaining about your poor circumstances. Is there a place where the people can meet? Is there a house? Is there a rented room? Is there a business that you can meet at? Whatever it takes in order to meet in order to meet in worship, the Lord and hear the Word of God and proclaim the Word of God. Even if he can’t do all you want, be determined to do what you can. Use what is available to you. You know, it’s always the slothful person who has been crying that there are obstacles in the way. The slothful man, the way of the slothful man is a hedge of thorns. Proverbs 1519. It is a hard way, hard to do. anything with him. However, the faithful person looks for ways around difficult circumstances, and here we see that, that Christ is, I’ll use a ship as the pulpit. He seizes the opportunity, takes advantage of it. I also remind you this. Christ was not a graduate from the rabbinical schools of the day. He wasn’t trained. by the Pharisees or the Sadducees and their schools, but he was called to preach. And when he has opportunity, he preaches. And if he doesn’t have a synagogue to preach out, he’ll preach in the open air. There are those who believe you have to have a seminary degree to preach. Well, it’s true that not anybody or not everyone is gifted or qualified to preach. It’s also true even if you go through seminary, you may not not be qualified to preach. But shouldn’t we recognize those who have the ability to preach and give them the opportunity to do so? Dare we pull men down that God has raised up? Shouldn’t the church elevate these men to see if indeed they are able to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and edify the people of God? God would have all his servants, all his male servants, at least, to be prophets and preach in a way. In a sense, we wish that that was the case. But if the public synagogues will deny Christ a place to preach, he’ll find somewhere to preach. So we should learn to use the means available to proclaim the Word of God. Thirdly, you should learn to show unhesitating obedience to the Word of God. To the Word of God. In verses 4 to 7, we read here about Christ telling the disciples here, or the before they’re disciples actually, he tells them, but when he had left speaking, he had finished his sermon, he said unto Simon, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught. Christ’s commands are obeyed here. His command is obeyed by Peter. Jesus rewards Peter for the use of his ship. You never serve the Lord without him rewarding you. If you’re going to, you know, he’s going to use the ship for preaching, and Christ sort of rewards him for this and says, okay, I know you didn’t catch anything last night, but, you know, this is what I want you to do. Now, Peter was an experienced fisherman. He has plenty of knowledge about fishing. He’s probably done it all his life. Jesus is a carpenter’s son, and his skill at sea could be questioned. Peter explains that he and his companions, look, we’ve toiled all night fishing and we have caught nothing, not a single fish. Sounds like me. When I go fishing. And you expect Peter to raise, to raise an objection here to Christ’s command, but instead, he says, nevertheless, at your command, I will do what you say. let it be clearly understood that Christ’s words here are the words of God. Christ is divine. Peter says, you say so, Lord, I’ll do it. And he follows what the Lord commands him to do. And he gets this great catch of fish, too great for this ship to even halt. In fact, we’re told here that he has to signal his partners, James and John, to come and help him. The net’s breaking. and when they get the fish into the two ships, the ships are starting to sink. It’s probably the greatest haul they ever made on this occasion. But what I want to focus upon here is Peter’s unquestioning response to Christ’s command on this occasion. Christ command to Peter is obeyed. Now, you should learn there are blessings associated. when unhesitatingly obeying every command of Christ. You have a duty to obey Christ’s commands. All who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ recognize Him as Lord and Master. You are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you, he said in John 1514. The moment you become a Christian, you become Christ’s servant. servant. He’s the one who gives the commands. We are the ones who are to obey his commands. And therefore it’s incumbent upon you to know the scriptures, to search the scriptures, to see what those commands are that have been given to us to obey. So you must learn what Christ will is that’s found in Scripture, and then you must do it. You have a duty to obey Christ’s commands, and you must obey Christ’s commands. And you must obey Christ’s commands even when they seem contrary to human reason. Having labored all night and not caught any fish, does it seem reasonable to obey Christ’s command? Human reasoning, human experience may tell you, well, you know, I’ve been out there all night and we didn’t catch anything. I don’t think there’s anything to catch. human reasoning cannot be the basis on which we obey the commands of Christ. Suppose you do something wrong. Suppose you do something that’s contrary to the Word of God, and yet something good comes out of it. Remember Joseph’s brothers who mistreated him and sold him as a slave into Egypt? And yet, it turns out to be a good thing, because Joseph was the means of saving, all their families through out the famine period. Now, obviously, you can’t direct your life by following their example. Well, good came out of it. Yeah, but it was an evil action that you did. It was just that God brought good out of evil. We don’t do evil that good may come. John Bunyan was locked up in prison for many years for preaching the gospel. The legal authority said to him, John, will let you out, but you must promise not to preach again. And Bunyan wouldn’t do that. They said, we have duly authorized preachers by the government. What have you a mere tinker to do with preaching? But Bunyan didn’t reason. Well, I can see this preaching didn’t turn out very well. They landed me in prison. Maybe it wasn’t. it’s a good idea. They landed me in jail and made it impossible for me to provide for my family, my wife, and my blind child. Bunyan does not use human reasoning. He believes he’s been called by God, sent by Christ to preach the gospel. And what does he say? If I lie in Gale or in prison, till the moss grows on my eyelids, I will never conceal the truth which God has taught me. You can’t look at past experiences in the way of obedience to your Lord’s plain commands. You cannot put your past experiences in the way of obedience to Christ’s command. You can’t say, well, I don’t think this is a good idea because this is what will happen. We do what God commands us to do. We do what Christ commands, regardless of our thinking. So we don’t need to… evaluate Christ’s demands by human reasoning to see if really there are things we ought to obey. See if they should be obey. No, that’s not how we do it. We obey Christ because he commands because he commands us to do it. So you should obey Christ’s commands even when they seem contrary to human reason. You should obey Christ’s command, be obedientist commands because he always rewards it. Psalm I Peter’s boatload of fish. was his reward. He obeyed what Christ said and God blessed him. We’re blessed in the doing of the word, James tells us, in his epistle. In keeping Christ commands, there is a great reward. That’s a good lesson to learn, isn’t there? The path of duty may sometimes be hard. It may be disagreeable to you. This must not deter you. you are to walk by faith and not by sight to believe that the Lord will bless you if you do what he command you to do. You will never be the loser when you obey Christ. Number one, it will provide happiness for your own life. Number two, you’ll be useful to others. And number three, you’ll be glorifying to God. So you should learn to show on a number one. hesitating obedience to the Word of God. Well, Christ had overflowing crowds, just like Spurgeon in a sense, had those overflowing crowds. There are times when it seems like the people are moved by God to hear the Word. And other times, there are a few who will hear the Word. Our text here, I think, gives us several lessons. Learn to appreciate those times when people are eager to hear the Word of God. Take advantage of that. Learn to use the means available to proclaim the Word of God. And thirdly, learn to show unhesitating obedience to the Word of Christ, the Word of God. Let us close with the Word of God.