Luke 5:8-11

The gospel of Luke chapter 5 reading verses 1 through 11, our focus will be on verses 8 through 11 this morning. And it came to pass 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. 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. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, launch out into the deep, let down your nets for a draught. Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, if thy word, I will let down the net. And when they had done, and when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes and their net break. And they beckoned under 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. Simon Peter, when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees saying, depart from me, I am a sinful man, O Lord, for he was astonished and all that were with him at the draught of fishes which they had taken. So was also James and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, fear not, from henceforth thou shall catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him. May God bless to us, his sacred and holy word this morning. Paul Veronis, like many other painters, was given to eccentric moods and odd behavior. On one occasion, he accepted the hospitality of a family that was living in a beautiful country villa. While he was there, he assumed great liberties. during his visit, claimed absolute possession of his room and wouldn’t let any servants or maids in it. After staying for a while, he suddenly slipped away without even saying goodbye or thank you to the family. On entering his room, the servants found the sheets from the bed missing. As they looked around the room, they found them all crumbled up in a corner. When they unrolled the ball, there was a magnificent pitcher drawn on them. It was Alexander in the tent of Darius. This was the artist’s way to recompense the family for their hospitality. Odd, but that’s how he did it. Jesus Christ, pressed by a crowd, while trying to preach, borrowed the ship of Simon Peter to act as a pulpit from which he could preach to those who were on shore. When he finished preaching, he told Simon to launch out into the deep and let down his nets. Now, to a weary fisherman who had spent all night fishing and had caught nothing, this might appear to be useless. However, because Christ had given the command, Simon Peter does what he’s told. And we find that Jesus repays Peter for the use of his boat by a huge catch-of-fish on this occasion. This certainly revealed the divine glory of Jesus Christ as well as repaid Simon for the use of his ship. It’s the after after. of this miracle that I want to focus upon this morning in verses 8 through 11. The effect it had on Peter, as well as on James and John, and their call to be disciples of Christ. Let me begin by saying the impression. Let’s talk about the impression made by Christ on Peter and his companions. Everyone was astonished as we read here. and verses 9 and 10, for he was astonished on all that were with him at the draught of fish which they had taken. As experiences these men were, as fishermen, they had never seen a catch of fish like this catch of fish. So many fish were caught that the weight began to sink not only one ship, but both ships. That never occurred before. So these men were, thunderstruck and they knew that it was Christ doing that Christ had done this because they had just been out fishing and caught nothing. It wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t a chance event. It was a miracle that Christ performed on this occasion. And they had to admire Christ for it. Everyone was greatly enriched. Now think about this. Peter and his partners fish for a living. This was not recreation. This was not some type of sport. to them. This is how they made their living. They caught fish and sold them. And their family ate it. So they would provide for their family. They’d make their living by this means. Now this great drought of fish meant a good income. Perhaps they caught as much as a week’s worth of fish in one catch here. So they were very joyful. It was like getting a big bonus that was unexpected. They were excited. They were excited. about it. Here was a tangible example of God’s goodness to them, Christ’s goodness to them. And he abundantly provided for their need. He was sympathetic to them in the fact that they toiled a whole night and caught nothing. So he richly compensates Peter for the use of his boat and his partners here as well. So everybody’s enriched. Now, as we look at this passage of scripture, we should realize that Christ’s works should be astonishing to you and I. We look at the miracles of Christ. You can be so accustomed to Christ performing miracles that you fail to be amazed by them. You know, we know that, let’s say the prophets Elijah and Elijah perform miracles. We see a few list of them in their lives and we see that they did this and that and the other. and so forth. But when we get to Christ, it seems like in one day he could have surpassed everything that these men did in their whole lifetime with the kind of miracles that he was doing every day. There’s a lot of miraculous things that are recorded. He changed the water and the wine it came. He heals the blind and the lepers and the deaf and the dumb and the lame and the lame and the He casts out demons from people. He walks on the water of the Sea of Galerie, remember? He stills the wind and the waves when there’s a storm. He multiplies the loaves and the fishes. He raises the dead in the case of Lazarus. So God would have you carefully contemplate all the miracles that Christ has done and be amazed at the power. and the authority of Jesus Christ. We get so used to it that we expect it, and we should be looking at it and saying, this is truly amazing. Compared even the sum of the prophets in the Old Testament, what he did was multiplied so many thousand times over. It’s just amazing how much he did. Just truly astonishing. You know, when Philip brought his friend Nathaniel to meet Christ, it was quite quite. an experience because Jesus greeted Nathaniel with the words, behold, an Israelite, indeed, in whom there is no gall. And Nathaniel was taken back by these words, once knowest thou me? We just met, how do you know who I am? And remember what Jesus said to him, giving, revealing actually his omniscient knowledge of all things, before that Philip called thee when thou was, us under the fig tree, I saw thee. And Nathaniel’s amazed. He exclaims, rabbi, thou art the son of God. Thou art the king of Israel. What did Jesus say? Thou shalt see greater things than these. This is nothing compared to what you’re going to see. Look at Christ’s miracles and see that he’s not a mere man. He is indeed the son of God. So we look at his miracles, that’s amazing. We look at His miracles. the gracious works of Christ. It’s also amazing. You shouldn’t merely be astonished at Christ’s miracles, as great as they are. Perhaps even more amazing is when we contemplate his gracious works of salvation in people’s lives, he raises the spiritually dead, too. Not only just a physically dead, but the spiritually dead. That’s quite. quite impressive. Remember what Jesus said in John 525, the hour is coming and now is. It’s a present reality when the dead, here he means the spiritually dead, shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that here shall live. Later in that chapter in chapter 5, he’s going to talk about the physical resurrection at the end of time, the bodily resurrection. He speaks of both resurrections. Jesus Christ saves the worst of the worst of the resurrection. Jesus Christ saves the worst of the sinners and changes their lives. You know, we see harlots, street prostitutes, changed by the grace of God. Adulterous women, like the woman taken in the very act of adultery and like the woman at the well and so forth, saved, converted, changed by God’s grace. We see the covetous like Zacchaeus completely changed and willing to give back what he has falsely taken. Thieves are won and saved. The thief on the cross, we see a changed man in him. Demon possessed like Mary Magdalene, out of whom he cast seven devils and so forth. When Isaiah describes the Messiah, he calls him in Isaiah 63-1, mighty to save. And that’s what Jesus is. He’s mighty to save. So Jesus Christ is the Savior, sinful, people, is also someone. to be astonished at. So we see much to be impressed by Christ about. So we see the impression made by Christ on Peter and his companions here, and it’s truly amazing. Secondly, I want us to focus on Peter’s confession. Notice verse 8 here. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, oh Lord. As a sinner, he feared being in the presence of a divine person. As Peter contemplates what Christ is done, he’s not just astonished. He’s fearful. He’s fearful. It’s fearful. It’s revealed to him that Jesus, who is standing beside here in the boat, actually dealing before at this time. is no ordinary man. This is a divine person. The exceeding splendor and divine power of Christ shines forth in this magnificent catch a fish that has taken place. Add to this the preaching that Simon Peter probably heard because he was there as the boat gets borrowed. He hears the, the Savior preaching. And Peter is made to feel his sinfulness and the fact that he’s in the presence of the Holy God. The Holy God. Depart from me for I am a sinful man of Lord. Now, that’s something a babe in Christ may say. We would think perhaps with being weak in spiritual knowledge, that would be something he might say. It would have been better if he would have said, abide with me. I need you, you know. But he’s fearful. I think that Peter’s words, I think, express exactly those feelings you have. When you are brought into close contact with the Lord God, the sight of divine greatness, glory, and majesty makes you feel. very strongly your littleness and your sinfulness. You recall that Moses, when he was dealing with the Lord on Mount Sinai, we read that he did exceedingly fear and quake when he was confronted by the divine presence. It made him afraid. Isaiah, seeing the thrice holy God on his throne high and lifted up. Cringed in fear. Woe is me, for I am undone, for I’m a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of Glory. We see the same kind of thing right here with Peter on this occasion. It’s always a humbling circumstance when we have dealings with the Lord God. So as a sinner, he’s fearful of being in a God. the presence of a divine person. Now, if nothing else, when we think about these passages in Scripture, we should realize how needful we are of a mediator between God and man. And Jesus Christ is that mediator. The more dealing you have with the Lord, the more you realize you need a mediator. A mediator is someone who stands before God on your behalf to represent you. That’s what Jesus Christ came to do. Without a mediator, your thoughts of God can never be comfortable because you always feel like Peter. You feel like Israel in the Old Testament after God spoke to them from the Holy Mount, Mount Sinai. What did they say? All the people saw the thunderings and lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the mountain smoking. And when the people saw it, they removed. and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, speak thou with us, and we will hear, but let not God speak with us, lest we die. Jesus Christ is the mediator, the new covenant. How thankful we ought to be to have this one represent us before God. Through Christ, we can draw near to God in boldness and not in fear. We can become before the throne of God. grace. Those without a mediator who are unsaved will find God a consuming fire who devires all who come before him. However, those in Christ who were saved by him will find God a reconciled father who will treat you as dear children who belong to his family. And that’s a great difference. So through Christ the mediator, the chief of the sinners may draw near to God with confidence assured of acceptance. Now, you’ll notice it doesn’t matter how religious you are or how moral you may be. You can’t approach God without being like Peter, fearful and overwhelmed. We have to turn to Christ in faith. And then you have a mediator. And then you were accepted in the beloved before the Lord God. So we have people. Peter’s fearful confession here. The third thing we see here is the call of Christ for Peter and his friends here to be apostles. In the second part of verse 10, we read, Jesus said unto them, or Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not, from henceforth thou shall catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all and followed him. Here we have them made fishers of men. Now, these words of Christ were not exclusively meant for Peter. It included his partners here, James and John as well, and Andrew may have been involved. We don’t have his name listed here, but he was Simon’s brother. He may have been on the ship with Simon. These men will do some things infinitely greater than merely catch fish. This is what Jesus is indicating to them. Their calling is going to be much higher. Not just catching fish. But henceforth thou shall catch men by enclosing them in the gospel net. They would experience a greater instance of the Redeemer’s power way beyond that here of catching men in a net, or catching fish in a net. You recall when Peter preached on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, 3,000 souls were added to the church. When Peter and John both spoke to the people of Israel in Acts Chapter 4, 5,000 men were added. They were catching men in the gospel neck. These men at Christ call readily. said, farewell to the fishing business, and entered into the ministry, and followed him. They forsook all and followed him. Peter, or excuse me, Paul in 2 Timothy 2, 2, said this, verses 3 and 4. Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warth entanglet himself with the affairs of this life, that he may be able to doeth. please him who has chosen him to be a soldier. They couldn’t keep fishing and also follow Christ in the ministry here. It was too much for him to do this. In order to be taught and trained here, they had to follow Christ. All faithful ministers of the gospel follow in the footsteps here, the apostles. Well, there is much to discourage ministers of Christ. When you look at your own weakness, when you look at the daunting task of the ministry, the opposition of Satan and the world against you, you may get discouraged. But Christ holds out a promise. Fear not, thou shall catch men. Faithful preachers of the Gospels have a right to believe that their labor will not be in vain that they will catch men in the gospel men. God’s word does not return unto him void. It for which he sent it. And here we have the promise of Christ in this regard. They’re made fishers of men. Now this connection here, this phrasing and so forth makes us think in terms of soul winning and fishing. Doesn’t. The spiritual fisherman must be dependent upon God. One who fishes at sea. has to cast his net at a pair of venture. He doesn’t know where the fish are. He doesn’t know how many there are. He’s trusting that God will enable him to catch the fish when he puts out his net. You don’t know when you witness for Christ if you will be enabled to catch this particular fish that you’re after. We don’t you don’t know that. Fishing is sort of like an act of faith. You let out the gospel net and you see what gets captured by it. You may fish for quite a while. You might come up empty. You may be like Peter and feel like, boy, I’ve fished a lot and I haven’t caught anything. However, day by day, if you keep up your effort and you believe that what Christ promised will come true, eventually you’ll catch something. you never know which soul will be brought by God to the net and be brought to salvation. We’re dependent upon God here. Notice this, that the spiritual fishermen must be willing to labor to have a catch. We read about Peter who’s toiled all night and this futile effort to catch fish. Fishing is not an easy calling. you have to brave the rough seas. You have to work at spreading this large net, then you’ve got to pull this net in. There’s a lot of work to be done in fishing here. If you hardly do any work, you can’t possibly think you’re going to catch fish and expect to gather any into Christ. Fishing is not sitting in a lounge share here with a cold beverage and reading a book. Like, you know, recreational fishing here. Or maybe for sport, as you see a lot of people do in the summer. Now this fishing is where you’re out there and usually you have two ships and there’s a net spread between the ships and so forth and then you’re putting the net out and then you’re hauling it back in and you have to maneuver the ship and you have to maneuver to the net, draw it in toward shore and so forth. There’s a lot of work to be done. It’s very laborous, not recreational, not reaction, reaction. relaxing. So you have to be willing to toil. Labor, laying the net and bringing it to shore. So we have to labor in giving out the gospel. We have to labor in pulling in the souls, so to speak, and drawing them in as we try to reach them for Christ. So the spiritual fishermen must be willing to labor to have a catch. Notice this, the spiritual fisherman must be willing to labor to have a catch. Notice this, the spiritual what daring. When you go out on the sea, it can be bolsterous at times. It can be stormy, as we see of Galee often had storms on. Mankind is said to be like a troubled sea. And so we, you know, in dealing with souls, we’re out on the sea, so to speak, dealing with all the people of the world. There’s waves that splash against us. The sun bakes down upon us. The storms frequently arise because people respond differently to the witness of the gospel of Christ. You never know if they’re going to be hostile or not to your witness. Now, as a spiritual fisherman, we don’t mind taking some risks. We don’t mind having to confront some difficulties as we go about spreading the net and trying to give out the gospel. You’re going to have to say many things that will be very unpopular in people, perhaps. may not like what you have to say and judge you severely. But you must do and say what is best for the souls of those to whom you witness. It’s not always an easy task, and it takes some bravery to be a soul winner. I like what we read in Acts chapter 4 when the spirit fell upon the disciples there. And they were empowered. They were given boldness, the Bible says, to speak for Christ. That’s what we need as the people of God. We need a boldness to speak for the Lord. Well, the artist Paul Veronis wished to reward the family who hosted him at their beautiful country villa. So he painted on the beds sheets this picture of Alexander in the tents of of Darius as a way of thanking them. Well, Jesus here wishes to reward Peter for the use of his ship as a pulpit, but at the same time he has an ultimate purpose, and that is to display his glory and power and to call these men to be his disciples. But he does reward them with a tremendous catch of fish here. and by that he reveals his divine power and glory. He prepares the hearts of Peter and his companions that to be the apostles that he wants them to be and catch men. Now, my friends, let us wonder at Christ works as well. We ought to be amazed at all that Christ does, and we shouldn’t take for granted these things. We should see that he is the Son of God. Let us also appreciate it. the fact that Jesus Christ is our mediator. Because like Peter, if we’re left to ourselves, we would say, depart from me, I am a sinful man, O Lord. But with Christ as our mediator, we are accepted, and we can draw near to God. And let us learn something about fishing for souls from this passage as well. Or it is compared to the regular fishing here on the seas. Let us close with. the word of prayer.