It's time now for the Chapel Hour, coming to you from the campus of Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. Today's message was preached during a recent Sunday morning worship service held on the university campus. Our speaker is the university executive vice president, Dr. Bob Wood. Following the reading of the scripture from Luke chapter 5, verses 1 through 11, Dr. Wood will bring a message titled, Obedience is the Very Best Way. Before Dr. Bob Wood, our Executive Vice President, preaches for us this morning, Dr. Wood has asked that we turn our attention to Luke chapter 5, Luke 5, in preparation for the message, reading verses 1 through 11. Luke 5, 1 through 11. 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. And when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draft.' 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. When they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes, and their net break. And they beckoned unto their partners which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came and filled both 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 in all that were with him at the draft of the fishes which they had taken. And 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 shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all and followed him. May God bless the reading of his word to our hearts in preparation for the preaching of Dr. Wood this morning. We are about to enter into a missions conference this next week. and hear some wonderful explanations of work on the mission field and some great testimonies of people who have given their lives to serve God around the world. If it's like other missions conferences and years gone by, a great number of you will surrender your life to the service of the Lord. And God will use you greatly as you reach people for Christ around the world. The passage it was reading you're hearing this morning in Luke chapter 5 in many ways relates to the ministry. If you'll turn there, please, I will give you that which the Lord's laid on my heart for this morning. This is the earliest days of the public ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's choosing and preparing his disciples to spread his word around the world. I've often thought about the daunting task that Christ had when he entered his public ministry in the form of a human after the incarnation. He has a three-year ministry on this earth as a human. In that three years, he is to set in place the mechanism that will cause all the generations that come after him to preach his gospel around the world to lost people. He's to choose men that will follow him and who will take upon themselves the burden of this gospel and who will care about a lost and dying world. Men who have themselves had a personal experience with Jesus Christ. And here in the very early days of that public ministry, we see a story that teaches us some of the greatest truth in all Scripture about our service for God. Here in this passage, the Lord Jesus is teaching His disciples and His new followers a foundational message about something that must be present in all of our lives if we're to truly serve God. Through this story, the Lord is teaching us that obedience is the very best way. For the title of the message this morning, I've borrowed the title of that song which many of you sang as juniors in church. Obedience is the very best way. I'll spare you the pain and suffering of trying to sing that song to you this morning. I've already told you often from the pulpit how the Lord kept from me any kind of musical talent, but I won't set about to prove it for you by singing that. But it is a biblical principle that obedience is the very best way for us to serve God. Notice that Jesus first preaches his word to these people, and then some unusual things begin to happen. He teaches great lessons, and not only is he just preaching truth to the masses, he is calling out for himself from among that large congregation some disciples to carry on his ministry. And this is a life-changing experience for many of His disciples. It's a life-changing experience for Peter. And if you learn the truth of this passage of Scripture, it will be a life-changing experience for you. And God can use you greatly in His service if you simply understand the simple truth taught in this passage of Scripture. Obedience is the very best way. It's the key to being a good disciple of Jesus Christ. It's a key to fulfilling God's will for your lives. In the past, this often mystified me to see young college students who know Christ in such a dilemma in finding the will of God. I talked to hundreds of young people, and over the years, I suppose, I've talked to thousands about God's will, and it always seems to be kind of a mystery to them, and they never can quite find it or seek it out. And I think the real problem, my young friends, is that we all already have a will for our lives. And sometimes that will is in conflict to the will of God. And the key is in surrendering totally to the will of God. And we're going to see that truth in this passage this morning. As the Lord Jesus steps up to the side of the lake, and He has already built a great number of followers that are waiting to hear Him teach the messages of truth, look at verse 2. He saw two ships standing by the lake, but the fishermen were gone out of them and were washing their nets. And he entered 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 he taught the people out of the ship. I want you to get into this setting so that you can understand what God's trying to teach us here. These men were fishermen. And they had been out fishing all night and they had a bad night. I suppose they're not in a real good mood. Many occasions in my life I've been out fishing all night and quite a few occasions I've caught nothing. And I can promise you that I'm not real cheery and in a great mood the next morning. And they're cleaning up after having expended all their energy in their livelihood the night before and not been very productive. And they're packing away everything, thinking about, we'll fish another day. We'll try to catch enough fish to sell, to feed our families, to cause our business to be successful. The Lord Jesus comes walking by with a great throng of people following Him, looking for a message from Him, and He sees these two ships, and He steps into one which just happens to be Peter's ship. That was His choice. Little boat it was, fishing boat it was. And he's going to use that boat as a pulpit. And he says to Peter, thrust out a little bit from land. First of all, I want you to notice the Lord Jesus Christ is asking man. He requests man's use of his assets. This is God. God in human form. And yet he's about to borrow something from a man. He's asking for the use of something that belongs to an individual. Doesn't that seem a little strange to you? That God is depending on something that he's given to one of his servants? He's going to use that for the future? And for a great cause and to teach a wonderful lesson that will never fade away? He requested use of man's assets, his material asset. He borrowed Peter's boat for a pulpit. It is true, my friend, that God uses our assets. And how free are we to allow God to use our physical assets in His ministry? How selfish are we with the things that God's given us? If you look at the life of the Lord Jesus, He often borrowed things from men. He borrowed Peter's boat to preach the gospel. The latter days of his public ministry, he borrowed a donkey for his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Borrowed one from an individual. After his crucifixion, he borrowed a tomb. He didn't need it for long, just for three days and three nights. But he used all of these items that belonged to someone else, that came from men, for the furtherance of the gospel, for the power of his ministry, and yet one of the hardest things for a man to learn in life is that God wants those things we have to further his kingdom. It's a little bit overwhelming to me to recognize that God will use your assets to further his kingdom. He allows us to participate with him and be part of his work. He not only borrowed Peter's boat, he besought Peter's brawn. He says to him, thrust out. This was not a motorboat. This is a fishing boat. And Peter, Now think of the mood he's in. I've been out there fishing all night. I've just cleaned up my nets because I know that I have to take care of this valuable piece of property to use later. And now the Lord Jesus is asking me after I've been up all night and I'm tired and I'm worn out and I had a bad night. And he's asking me to expend my energy and thrust out a little bit so he can use this boat for a pulpit. I'm glad that Peter acquiesced to the request of the Lord Jesus Christ. But knowing Peter, as the Bible reveals Peter to us, I'll bet you that in the background there was a little grumbling going on. Peter had something else to do. You know what he had to do? He had to go home and go to bed. If he's going to fish again this night, if he's going to earn a living for his family, he's facing going out there again and expending his energy again to try to take care of his family. And the Lord said, I want to borrow your boat for a little while, but I ask you to go with me and I ask you to expend your energy for me. I don't know how this affects you. But it's an overwhelming thought to me that the omnipotent, all-powerful God of the universe would ask for a mere man to expend some of his energy to further the kingdom of God. Certainly, Jesus Christ is not lacking for power. It's man that's lacking for power. And yet God wanted to use the energy of Peter to carry his message forth to this great throng of people. He wanted to use that boat for a pulpit. And God requested from a mortal man the use of his property and the use of some of his power or his energy to put that property in a position that it would be useful to God. Well, the second thing I want you to see in this passage of Scripture, he rewards man for the use of his assets. Oh, he didn't do this, use Peter's assets without having in mind some great reward for Peter. I often think about the building of the temple in the Old Testament. When David was expressing to all the congregation of Israel the purpose for the building of the temple, he said, for the palace is not for man, but for the Lord God. We're working for God. We're building this temple for God. But whose children were taught in that temple? Who was it that learned the truth of God and received counseling from priests and had their lives greatly benefit? Who was it that enjoyed the singing of the Levites in that temple? It was man. You see, my young friends, you can't do anything when your primary motive is to bring glory to God without receiving rewards for that. That's the way God works. He rewards man's use of his assets. Verse four. Now, when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, launch out into the deep, let down your nets for a draft. Simple instruction. Peter, let's go fishing. You've learned some lessons in the shallows. I want to teach you some greater lessons in deeper water. Will you go with the Lord a little bit further? Will you go with the Lord into the deeper water where you learn the greater lessons? Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draft." Well, now he's using this energy and he's following instructions How many times does God ask men to do something that caused them to use their energy? I started through the Scripture when I was preparing for this message, and to tell you the truth, I found so many passages, I decided to use just those in the Gospel of John. Just a few of them to tell you that God asked you to expend your energies for Him. John chapter 5 and verse 8, Jesus said to the one sick of the palsy, take up your bed, rise up and walk. Well now, why didn't the Lord Jesus go just pick him up and lift his bed up for him? He's telling a lame man, an incapable man of walking, expend your energy, get up. Get up, roll up your bed, put it on your back, carry it home with you. It's time for you to be healed. It's time for you to expend your energy to serve God. John chapter 2 and verse 7, Jesus saith unto them, fill the water pots with water and they filled them up to the brim. Here's Jesus at the wedding feast of Cana of Galilee. And they ran out of wine and Mary, his mother, said to him, son, they're in an embarrassing situation and a difficult set of circumstances. What do you want him to do?" And he said, take these water pots down and fill them with water. Now listen, God doesn't have to have man expend his energy and do that, does He? You see, God is allowing man to participate with Him in His work. This is a privilege. This is a great benefit. And they took those water pots and they're very, very heavy. They fill them with water and the Lord Jesus performed his first public miracle at the wedding feast of Canaan, Galilee, made the water into wine. John chapter nine and verse seven, Jesus said to him, go wash in the pool of Salome, which by interpretation is sent. And he went his way, therefore, and washed and he came again seeing. Here's the blind man. Blind from his mother's womb. The Lord gives him work to do. He says, get up, go down to the pole of Siloam, wash your eyes out, then you'll be able to see. Expends your energy. Hyper-spiritual people sit around all the time waiting to see God do some kind of miracle and miss the great blessing of literally participating with God. Can you see this? This is just three passages in John. There are about 14 passages in John, and I don't know how many passages throughout the New Testament where God asked us to work with Him as well as for Him. And though these were simple instructions, they were specific instructions. Notice this. Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draft. How many specific instructions are there from the Lord in the Bible, I don't know, I read one Bible scholar who said that he's found 2200 in the New Testament. Specific instructions like love your neighbor. Specific instructions like if your enemies thirst, give them drink. Specific instructions like, bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. The Bible is filled with specific instructions. Do you ever do your devotions, reading Scripture, looking for the specific instructions of God to you? I think most Christians are so lazy, they're afraid they might see some of those specific instructions. They try to avoid them rather than find them. But he gave them specific instructions. Let down your nets. And then I want you to see in this passage of Scripture a subtle stubbornness. Look at verse 5. Simon answering said unto him, Master, we've told all night and we've taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word, I'll let down the net. Here is a subtle resistance that I think is very proud. Peter is saying, Lord, I just got through fishing all night. I am a fisherman by trade. I'm not only just a fisherman, I'm a professional fisherman. I own the company. It's my boat. I'm in charge. I've been able to be very successful in this industry. I made enough money to buy my own boat, to have my own private fleet, to have these men working for me. I've been on this sea for many years. I understand fishing. And here's a preacher that says, let's go fishing during the daytime. What do you think Peter's thinking? And when you get home to heaven, you ask him. I think I know what he's thinking. Because I think I know Peter pretty well. He has a lot of character traits that I share with him, unfortunately. Peter's thinking, Lord, You're a preacher. I'm a fisherman. And we don't fish during the day. We fish at night. The water's cooler. The fish are closer to the top. It's easier to get them in the net. It's cooler for us to be out there in the evening time fishing than during the hot sun of the day. You know what Peter's probably thinking? Poor old Jesus. He doesn't know much about fishing. Now isn't that strange? He just created fish. And He created the water. And He created the lakes. And He created the universe. But a mortal man thinks God doesn't understand the circumstances. In Isaiah chapter 40, the Jewish people said of God, He doesn't understand our lives. He doesn't understand our suffering. He doesn't understand what we're going through. Listen, it's very common for a finite, weak man to think God doesn't understand. And that's what Peter's saying here. He just doesn't understand. But I'm going to placate him. How many times in your life have you said, God doesn't understand? I see these instructions of Scripture. They're too hard for me. Or circumstances won't allow me to do that. Or I don't have enough time. Or I don't have enough money. Or I don't have enough energy. When you say that, you're saying God doesn't know what He's talking about. How foolish. How silly this looks. when we really unveil it and look at it as it is. How arrogant it is for a man to think God doesn't understand. It's us that doesn't understand, not God. And then we see a response that's partial. There is nothing insignificant in God's Word. I want you to look again at the simple instructions of Jesus Christ to Peter in verse number four, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draft. Do you see that word nets? It's clear, it's clear in the Greek, it's clear in the English, but I want you to listen to Peter's answer. Master, we've told all the night and taken nothing. Nevertheless, OK, I give up. Nevertheless, at thy word, I will let down the net." Do you see a difference in the instructions of God and the following of those instructions by man? You see, the Lord Jesus Christ said, let down the nets, plural. Yes, in by far the majority of the manuscripts, it is plural. But Peter said, I'll let down the net. Singular. Well, why is that? You should do a little research. It's pretty interesting. There were two and sometimes three nets on most of those fishing boats. There was a very large drag net that was several hundred feet long, in some cases as much as 300 feet long. And it was heavy and burdensome, tollsome. But also on the back of most of those ships, there was a small test net. You see, they didn't have any fish finders or radar back in those days. They weren't sure where these schools of fish were located. So they would throw out a test net out the back. And when they'd find a school of fish, then they'd go to all the trouble to let down the big drag nets that enclosed the great schools of fish. You know what Peter's saying? I'm going to placate you, Lord. I'm going to go out there and throw a net out, and I'm going to test and see if anything's out there. But I want you to look at verse 6. And when they had thus done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes, and their net broke. Now I want you to think for just a minute with me. Was this God's purpose? Did God plan to break Peter's net? This is a valuable asset to his fishing business. And when a net was torn, it was a great deal of trouble to repair it. And it was a valuable asset. Peter's got a torn net. How do you think he felt about that? But why is it torn? It's torn because of partial obedience. Remember, obedience is the very best way, not partial obedience, not just placating the Lord, not just throwing him a bone, not just going partway. My guess is most of the Christians sitting under the sound of my voice in this building this morning are just like Peter. You go part way. You try to placate the Lord and throw him a bone now and then. Well, I'm going to tell you something. You have some losses in your life. You miss some great blessings in your life when you're partially obedient. when you fail to follow the simple and straightforward instructions of God. Ask Moses about this. Ask Moses there when he came to Kadesh Barnea and the Lord told him, cross over into the promised land. So what does Moses do? He gets some spies together and he sends them over in the promised land. And he says, go over there and look and let me know if that land's like God said it was. Let me know if you think we can take that land. Wait a minute, Moses. This is one of the greatest leaders God ever had. And he was personally obedient. And we're all subject to this failure in our Christian life and experience if we don't think it through and follow God explicitly. And the spies came back and 10 of them said, wow, it's a tough place over there. Those people that we got to defeat are giants and we're as grasshoppers in their sights. And it doesn't look like we can take this place. All right, Moses, you're partially obedient. You checked it out. So now you've got 40 years to wander around in the wilderness. There are a lot of you in the wilderness this morning, spiritually, trying to figure out what God's doing, trying to understand God's will for your life, but you've just been partially obedient. You've looked at the giants, and you've looked at how difficult it is to do God's will completely, and you've turned your back on simple instructions of God. God said to Moses, go possess the land. But now for 40 years, they wander around in the wilderness until they die. A response that's partial. You see it all the way through the Bible. I'll not take time to give you more stories. These are true stories about real people. And we're all subject to the same failures that they had. Thirdly, I'd like for you to see his response to man's arguments. The response of the Lord Jesus. It always cost us something. Their net break something useful something valuable every time you're partially obedient to God's commands it cost you something. And you never get the full blessing. that God's trying to give you because by faith you didn't trust His Word and do exactly what He told you to do, though His instructions are simple. These instructions to Peter were not complicated. Peter heard what He said. Peter was right there with Him. But praise the Lord, He always understands. I like verse 7. They beckoned to their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came and they filled both ships so that they began to sink. Wow. Had a pretty good day of fishing, didn't we? Oh, oh, it is the wrong time. But we're minding the voice of the master. And now we've had a great blessing. So what did Peter say? Come on, everybody else, get in this blessing with me. Come on and enjoy the work of God. That's witnessing. That's calling others to enjoy what God has given to us. That's soul winning. That's reaching out and sharing blessings with other people. How long has it been since you've won anyone to Christ? Well, you see, you may be grumpy like Peter was when this all started. You need to rejoice and get happy in the will of God, and then you can start sharing your joy and happiness with others. Christ understood. He understands our weakness. He knows our frame and understands that we're but dust. He's willing to forgive and to restore. Now Peter has corrected his error. He's not trying to do it all himself. He's trying to share it with others. He's trying to bless others. I want you to see his reward for man's awareness. Christ's reward for man's awareness. Verse 8, When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I'm a sinful man, O Lord. When we become obedient to the commands of God, we begin to see God as He is. And when we see God as He is, we begin to see ourselves as we are. The same thing happened to Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 6. For seven years, he'd been the chaplain of God's people. And his first cousin Uzziah died. And he's worried about his job. And he goes to the temple to pray. And he sees God. And when he got a proper perspective of God, he saw himself as he was, and he said, woe is me, I'm undone, a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. Conviction. Peter falls under great conviction when he sees the truth, and that he had failed to follow that truth. And he said, I'm not worthy to follow Christ. I'm not worthy. To be blessed so by God. Great conviction and then confession. Depart from me, I'm a sinful man, O God. Hey, isn't this interesting? The Lord said, Peter, this is just what I want you to recognize so I can allow you to work for me. I just want you to see the truth. And now you've come face to face with the truth and you've confessed your own weakness and your own failure. And I can use you if you're a humbled man yielding to your conviction and confessing to God your weakness. Let me tell you something. There are none of us perfect. There are none of us without weaknesses. But pride and arrogance go before a destruction and before a fall. You know, when God can really use you, when you recognize what you are and what God is, He can use you. As long as you think you're something special, you're going to fail at the work of God. Their condition? Notice verse 9, For he was astonished, and all that were with him were astonished at the draught of fishes which they had taken. I love this word astonished in the Greek. It's got 10 or 12 meanings. I'll just give you a few of them. They were all surprised. They were surprised that during the day they found all these fish. They were surprised that God knew what he was talking about. They were surprised that God chose to give them such a great and a wonderful blessing. They were breathless. This word means they were dumbfounded, spellbound, amazed. How long has it been since the work of God has made you stand in amazement, spellbound, breathless, because you see the power of Almighty God? That's what happened in this case. The omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God of heaven revealed His power to a simple bunch of fishermen, and they stood in awe of God. And when God's people stand in awe of God, they can do nothing but tell others about it and be excited about it. Their calling—I love it. Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men." He said, I'm just revealing to you what I've really got for you to do now. I've got you in a place where you'll understand me. I've got a calling for you. Don't be afraid. These fish are not important, it's men. There's something more important in your life than fishing. They forsook all. My friends, they just had the biggest catch of their life. They caught so many fish, their boats were about to sink. But they forsook all. Those fish became unimportant to them. They walked off and left them. It's interesting to me that three years later, after the resurrection of Christ, when Peter had denied Christ, that he went fishing again and took the disciples with him. And there was the Lord Jesus after he was raised from the dead seeking Peter. And he was sitting by a fire where he was cooking fish for their breakfast. And when Peter jumped out of the boat and swam to the shore, he had denied Christ three times. Christ made Peter confess Him three times. Lovest thou me? Lovest thou me? Lovest thou me? But he said something else. As he sat there by that fire with those fish, I'm sure the Lord Jesus Christ was pointing at those fish when he said to Peter, Lovest thou me more than these? Even after this great experience in Luke chapter 5, three years later, Peter was backslidden and cold and indifferent. The Lord Jesus had the reminding of this incident before he set him on fire again and put him to the work of winning souls to Christ. And he asked him a powerful question. Lovest thou me more than these? What's really important to you, Peter? Your fishing business or serving me? I ask you, are you Peter before the miraculous draft, the fish? Or are you Peter afterwards? Or could you be Peter three years later when you've grown cold and indifferent and you've forgotten this great miracle? Has God done a great miracle for you in the past and you've forgotten about it and you've let the power of it slip from your mind? Have you become cold and indifferent? and gone back to business as usual. I wonder if you're a little like Peter in the beginning of this passage. Do you think you know more than the Lord? Are you following him half-heartedly? Do you react to his commands with partial obedience, just trying to placate God? If you do, it costs you something. Or have you learned obedience is the very best way. That's when the blessings come. I like what one translator says about this last verse, verse 10. Here's his translation. From henceforth, I shall catch men alive as the word signifies under life as the Syriac and Persian version render it. Thou shall cast the net of the gospel and be the happy instrument of drawing many people out of the depths of sin and misery in which they're plunged into the way of life and salvation. And which was greatly verified. For just a few days after John chapter 21. Peter cast the great net of the gospel. And 3,000 were swept into the kingdom of God as He enclosed the souls of men in that net to take them home for eternity. What a story. What a blessing. They forsook all at the height of their success in their earthly business and set about to follow God in His eternal heavenly business, seeking the souls of men. What a great lesson this is. Have you learned it? Would you stand, please? Our gracious heavenly Father, we thank you for the beauty and the truth of this simple story. How well we can understand Peter and his partial obedience But how thrilled and excited we are when you teach us about. The truth that obedience is truly the very best way. That peace and power come to those who are totally obedient to your word and not just to those who are just trying to placate you. As Peter was in the beginning of this story, God let this simple story touch the hearts of all of us in this auditorium. For those that are living in Luke chapter 5, call them to the gospel ministry. And for those who have been there but have backslidden to John 21, ask them again if they love you more than these worldly, earthly things, and rekindle their fire for the truth of the gospel. In Jesus' name, Amen. You've been listening to the Chapel Hour, coming to you from the campus of Bob Jones University. Our speaker was Dr. Bob Wood, Executive Vice President of BJU. For a cassette copy of today's message, send a check for $7.20 to Campus Store, Bob Jones University, Greenville, South Carolina 29614. Be sure to mention the name of the speaker and today's date. The Chapel Hour has been sponsored by Bob Jones University.