Good morning, Christian Fellowship Church. It is good, once again, to be able to preach God's Word to you. And as many of you know, about three years ago, we began a study in the book of 1 Samuel, in 1 Samuel chapter 8, and we have reached, or had reached last May, chapter 11. And every good expositor would then expect to go on to chapter 12. But as I was preparing to preach this morning, I felt impressed to preach on the text that we will look at today, which is Luke chapter 5, verses 1 through 11, which can be found on page 860 of the Pew Bible directly in front of you. And as you think back and as you think about the messages that we have heard as a church, if you go back even to the men's retreat when we had our joint fellowship, we have heard sermons which reminded us of who we are, those who have been united to Christ and how this truth should impact our lives. We were taught about the principles of evangelism and edification and indigenization by Jim Dowdy as he shared with us the work that he is doing in Mexico. We were encouraged to taste and see that the Lord is good, and as a result of that, that we should increase in our trust in Him. We continued our study in the Book of Acts. studying God's working in the early church and the purifying work that God was doing in the church and the radical change that was coming about as God worked in His church. And last week we were reminded of our security in Christ. Our security in Christ and the role of suffering and purifying our faith and God's great love for us shown in Christ's death for us even as we were sinners and His enemies. and then taken all together along with Pastor C's report from Nepal, we have been exhorted to consider in all of these things who we are individually in Christ and who we are collectively as the church and what we have been called to be and commissioned to do. Truths which we will see displayed in our passage this morning and truths which we must be reminded of and that should remain at the forefront of our minds in the day and age in which we live. In our passage today, we will see Christ effectually call to himself his first disciples, and in calling them, we will also see his commissioning of them. In this passage, we will also see the three offices which Jesus perfectly fulfills, the office of prophet, the office of priest, and the office of king shown as well. And so in honor of God's word, let us stand together to read Luke chapter 5, verses 1 through 11. On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. And Simon answered, Master, we toiled all night and took nothing. But at your word, I will let down the nets. And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats so that they began to sink. But when Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken. And so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, do not be afraid. From now on, you will be catching men. And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. Let us pray together. Our God and Father, this is your word. We pray as we study your word today that you would, by your spirit, open our eyes to behold great and wonderful things from your word. May you bring conviction of sin May you bring encouragement and may you bring newness of life to those who may be gathered here and do not know you. We pray and ask that you would be glorified in all that is taught, in all that is heard, and may we glorify you in the lives that we will lead that have been changed by your word this morning. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Please be seated. So we will see in our passage today the effectual call of Christ at work as his call of Peter is a call to obedience to the promised prophet, a call to the mediation of the great high priest, and a call to the sovereign king's purpose. Let us first look at a call to the obedience to the promised prophet in verses 1 through 7. You see here that the Word of God tells us that on one occasion, While the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. And so we find ourselves once again in the region of Galilee. Galilee was hardly the place where one who might have been seeking the Messiah would expect the Messiah to appear. Galilee was neither the religious center of the nation nor did it have a stellar reputation among the Jews. We heard this by Nathanael when he was told about the people or about Christ and he said in John 1 46, can anything good come out of Nazareth? which was in Galilee. And in Matthew's gospel, the region is referred to as Galilee of the Gentiles. But it is indeed this region that Jesus grew up in. And Luke has indicated to us in previous chapters of Luke, that Galilee is where Jesus begins his ministry in Luke 4.14. It is in Nazareth, his hometown, that Jesus receives the first things of rejection. When he went to the synagogue to teach and he was handed the scroll and read from Isaiah 61, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. He then pronounced in Luke 4.21, today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. We see the reaction of the people there. They're enraged, drove him out of Nazareth, seeking to cast him off a hill. And he went to Capernaum, and while teaching in a synagogue there, he heals a man or casts a demon out of a man. And after performing this miracle, he then goes to Simon's house and heals Simon's wife and heals many others. And as chapter 4 ends, we're told that the people are attempting to keep him from leaving Capernaum. And yet he tells them that he must continue preaching the good news of the kingdom. So in chapter five, we are at the Lake of Gennesaret, another name for the Sea of Galilee. And once again, a crowd is pressing in on Jesus in order to hear the word of God. Imagine being in that crowd, hearing the Word of God from the very one who is the Word of God. And seeing that there was a better way for him to teach the people, he tells Simon to cast his boat out from the shore so that he can begin to teach the people. And as we see here in verse 3, he says that getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. We should note here that sitting was the formal way of teaching in that time. And so here we see Christ graciously going to people who may not have ever felt that they could set foot in a synagogue because they were sinners. We remember the Pharisees calling Jesus a friend of sinners, one who hung out with tax collectors and others who were not seen as being righteous. And yet here he is. on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, formally teaching the Word of God to the people. Unless we think that there is some kind of, I've heard it preached oftentimes, that there was some kind of mystical thing that Simon somehow just saw Jesus right there and began to follow him, as we'll see later. No, we are told in the Bible that Peter actually knew Jesus well before this. The book of John tells us that about a year before this event happened, Peter had been introduced to Jesus. And in that meeting, Jesus said to him, you are Simon, the son of John, and you shall be called Cephas, which means Peter. Verse three tells us that Jesus sat down and taught the people. And as he did this, he was fulfilling the office of the prophet. What is the role of the prophet but one who is sent by God to a people to proclaim God's message? Think of the ministries of Moses and Isaiah. Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Daniel, and the other prophets up through the ages to John the Baptist. And you will see men whom God called to proclaim His coming judgment and His coming salvation. And as was spoken by God through Moses in Deuteronomy 18, 18, an ultimate prophet, a supreme prophet would come. He said, I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. The promised prophet is the Lord Jesus Christ, who was sent by God to proclaim a message to the people, one that said, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Verse four tells us that when he finished speaking to the crowd, Jesus turned to Peter and said to him, put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch, a man which on its face likely sounded ridiculous to Peter. Why might it sound ridiculous? Well, first, remember that Jesus was a carpenter. He was not a fisherman. He was not skilled in fishing. So think of the many times when we are doing something or we are doing our job and someone who has no experience doing that comes and tells us how to do it. Secondly, it was daytime, likely the middle of the day. And any experienced fisherman will tell you that the best time to fish is around sunrise and at sunset. And finally, Peter provides another reason that the command on its face seemed or might seem ridiculous in verse 5 when he says, Master, we toiled all night and took nothing. Peter is an experienced fisherman, and yet they toiled all night and took nothing. And while Jesus' command was unusual, Scripture provides for us many examples of God calling people and commanding people to do what on its face seems to be a ridiculous thing. Think of Joshua and the army of Israel, who were told to march around Jericho in order to gain the victory. Marching around a city, is hardly the way that you would think of conquering that city. Think of Elisha when a widow comes to him and asks him for help because someone is going to come and take her children into slavery. And what does he tell her? Gather all the vessels that you can and take the little bit of oil that you have and begin to pour it out into these vessels. Think of his instruction to Naaman. when he told Naaman to go and wash himself in the Jordan River, which Naaman even says is a filthy river. You're more apt to catch something in that river than to be healed of the leprosy that he was seeking a cure for. But as ridiculous as this sounded to Peter, he obeyed. Despite having toiled all night and having caught nothing, Peter turns in his thinking when he says, but at your word. But at your word. The natural and understandable response of Peter to Jesus' instruction could have been, Don't you know this isn't the right time to fish? What you're asking me to do makes no sense, but at your word. The situations that you face today, have you come to the point of saying, but at your word? Might you sit here and say, Jesus, this health issue says that I should be filled with anxiety and burdened by care, but at your word, I will cast my cares upon you because I know that you care for me. 1 Peter 5, 7. Master, the world would say that this sorrow that I am experiencing should consume me and crush me, but at your word, I will come to you, the one who is the God of all comfort. 2 Corinthians 1, 3. Jesus, I'm struggling with forgiving this person or these people who have hurt me. And I want to stay in this place of unforgiveness. But at Your Word, I will look to You to help me to forgive others because I have been forgiven. Ephesians 4.32. Jesus, the devil, the world, and my flesh say to give in to this sin and make peace with this sin. But at your word, I will look to continue to fight against this sin, believing your word that sin will not have dominion over me. Romans 6, 14. Have you come to a point of saying, but at your word? in obeying Christ instead of stopping at that which would be the natural response. We turn from our own understanding. We turn to the one who has spoken his word to us and who spoke to Peter as well. And the text tells us that Peter obeys, and they let down the nets, and the nets become full of fish. And the catch is so great that they need help to bring the fish into the boat, and the boats begin to sink. And so while Peter's obedience to the promised prophet led to an immediate and substantial physical blessing, as this miracle unfolds before Peter's eyes, he comes to realize the one who is commanding him is set apart from who he is. And this one commanding him is calling him to the mediation of the great high priest which we see in verses 8 through 10. Let us look there. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees saying, depart from me, for I'm a sinful man, O Lord. For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken. And so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, do not be afraid. In verse 8, we see the response of Peter, who instead of assisting with the catch that is sinking the boats, he focuses on the one who's in the boat with him. And instead of thinking about all of the income that he will make from this great catch, instead of thinking about all of these other things, he responds in terror, falling down at Jesus' knees saying, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. We should note these things in Peter's statement. Note the commanding force of Peter's first word, depart. Get away from me. We see the personal nature of what Jesus says. Notice he says from me. Peter recognizes that this one that is speaking to him is separate from him and he does not want to have anything to do with him. And so he knows that it is he who stands in need at that point in time. We see the reason for Peter's command. He says, for I am a sinful man. And we see Peter's title for the one that he is speaking to, O Lord. Earlier in our text, Peter spoke to Jesus and called Him Master. And we could think in our English language that those two words are the same, but they are not inferring the same thing. In Greek, that word Master means overseer. But here, Peter calls Jesus Lord. Kurios. Title given to God. indicating Jesus' supreme authority. In v. 9, we're told the reason for Peter's response to Jesus in this way was the astonishing catch of fish which he and the others witnessed. And so we see this sign and this wonder producing that which it was meant to produce. This sign from Christ causes Peter to become keenly aware that the one in the boat with him is not only worthy of the respectful title Master, but this one is God. And as this truth is realized, Peter responds in wonder, in awe, in terror. Just as Joshua in Joshua chapter 5, when he comes face to face with the commander of the armies of the Lord, what does he do? He falls on his face. When Isaiah sees God glorified before him in Isaiah 6, what does he do? He falls and proclaims extreme sorrow upon himself and says, I am undone. And in our scripture reading today, we saw the response of John, who saw the same Christ, but saw Him glorified. And what did he do? He fell down at Jesus' feet as though dead. Peter and the others respond in this way because when man is confronted with the presence of God, he becomes aware of the supreme holiness of God. And there is an overwhelming and crushing sense of his own sin. Have you come to know the utter wickedness of your heart? Have you come to know your deserving of the wrath of God for all of eternity because of your sin? Have you come to fathom the holiness of God which cannot abide with sin and which promises to consume those who have lived their lives in rebellion to Him? Have you believed the very bad news that is declared in Romans, beginning at chapter 1, verse 18, saying, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. And this passage goes on and ends in Romans 3.20, saying, for by the works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. And if you were to read that whole passage in Romans, it confirms for us the total depravity of man. It tells us that we outside of Christ will suppress the truth of God. That we will instead try to seek our own righteousness. A righteousness based on good works. A righteousness based on the things that we have done. And will then try to present to God in order to be made acceptable to Him. That is a very dangerous place to be because there is no work that God will accept from us. There is only one work that He will accept, and that is the righteous life and the righteous atoning death of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And if you cannot believe the bad news about the utter wickedness of your heart, then the good news has no place for you. The good news of God's great grace and mercy shown in sending Christ for us. The good news of the Son of God taking upon Himself a human nature. Walking upon this earth. Being tempted in every way that we are, yet without sin. Going to the cross. and not only receiving the beatings and bludgeoning of the Romans, but experiencing and receiving the very wrath of God that would take an eternity for Him to meet out on each one of us. The good news of His resurrection on the third day, declaring His victory over sin, hell, and the grave. And the good news of His return to condemn those who have rejected Him, but to take into heaven for all of eternity those who have placed their trust in Him. None of this is good news without their first being an awareness of God's holiness. None of it is good news without an awareness of the depth of our sin and the separation that exists because our sin and God's holiness cannot abide one with another. But because of Jesus' finished work, Those who have repented of their sin can hear the same words that Jesus spoke to Peter in verse 10. Jesus says to Peter in verse 10, do not be afraid. Did we not hear those words spoken to John in our scripture reading when Jesus said to him, when he fell down as though dead, what did Jesus say? He said, fear not. Do not be afraid. Words that God has spoken to his people throughout redemptive history. Words of peace and assurance in times of fear and distress. Words that bring comfort to his people, reminding us that God is for us. And why could Jesus speak these words to Peter? Because Peter was his. Jesus died and would die eventually for Peter. And even when Peter found himself on this sea once again in John 21, thinking that following Christ was over, he had failed Christ miserably, and he just couldn't see what his future held. We see Christ once again coming to Peter and restoring him and bringing him back to following him. And likewise, Jesus speaks these words to us because he has brought peace between us and God. Ephesians 2 verses 14 through 18 say, For he himself is our peace. who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who are near. For through Him, we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. And 1 Timothy 2.5 tells us, For there is one God, and there is one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. And as our Mediator, Jesus perfectly fulfills the office of the High Priest. A high priest was the representative of the people before God under the old covenant. And as Hebrews 4, 14 through 16 tells us, since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. As Jesus spoke in the words, do not be afraid to you. Have you experienced the peace with God that only comes through salvation in Jesus Christ? Do you know this day the unlimited access that we are given through Christ and that has been granted by His redemptive work? If you do not know these things, know that you can come to Christ today. For he promises that those who come to him, he will in no wise cast out. And as we see Jesus say, do not be afraid, we should not only ask why Jesus could speak these words to Peter and to us, but we should also ask the question, why did and why does Jesus speak these words to us? And we see this in the last part of our text, that Jesus speaks these words to Peter and to us because Jesus was calling Peter and he is calling us to his sovereign, kingly purpose. Look at 10b in our text. Jesus says, Once Jesus assures Peter that he does not need to fear, Jesus promises that Peter will now be catching men. And notice that Jesus does not say, you might be catching men, or you may be catching men. He says, you will be catching men. And this catching men in the Greek means to take them alive, to take something alive. And this would be Peter's commission from Christ. And in previous church experience, this issue of catching men or this phrase of catching men would then lead to a metaphor that basically was based on our modern definitions of fishing. So if you talked about fishing with someone now, you would talk about getting a pole, and getting a wire, and getting hooks, and lures, and baits, and all of these things. And so the metaphor would basically follow that we were to go out with these sticks and we were to throw the hook which was the gospel of Christ and on that hook there would need to be some kind of bait and whether that bait was music or drama or something else to get people's attention so that they could find themselves on the hook of Christ or the hook of the gospel, then we would draw them in. But this method of fishing would not have been what Peter and the others, hearing him say this, what they knew. As we saw in our text, they fished with nets. And they would put the net into the water, and they would pull the net through the water, and the net would catch fish as they were swimming along, and they would bring it up into the boat, which was something that Peter and his partners were expecting to do that night. And what did they do? They toiled and found nothing. And so if we were to equate what Jesus was saying with our modern inventions of fishing, salvation would be emptied of God's sovereignty. Because that would mean that we had something to do with people finding themselves on the hook of the gospel. But as we look at this scene, And we think about the fact that Peter and the others had toiled all night, dragging their nets through the water, and no fish coming along. When Jesus spoke and told them to put down their nets to catch those fish, He sovereignly put those fish in the net. And just as he sovereignly directed each of those fish into the net of Peter and his partners, we know that he will sovereignly draw the hearts of men and women, boys and girls, to himself. we put out the gospel net as the gospel message. It is not our ingenuity. It is not our keenness at being able to present the gospel. It is God's sovereign work of directing the hearts of men. And think also of As these fish came into the net, there was the possibility that they could swim right back out. But we know that those who God saves, He keeps. And no one can snatch them out of His hand. So we have been called to bear fruit for God in being those who are called to His purpose of pointing others to the one who saves. And as we seek to grow in our leaving of everything in order to follow Christ, we are called also to call others to a similar pursuit. And following Jesus, as we are told that Peter, James, and John do here, is walking in a newness of life. A life that is sustained by prayer and by the Word of God. As Jesus said in Matthew 4-4 when he was being tempted by Satan in the wilderness, repeating Deuteronomy 8-3, What is his response to Satan? He says, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. So if you profess today to be a Christian or know others who profess to be a Christian and yet have no appetite for the word of God, that should raise a red flag for you. Because in following Christ, we need to be nourished by the Word of God. We need the Word of God. It sounds as ridiculous as someone who says that they like living and yet they've decided not to eat food. Our earthly bodies need food. Our spiritual lives need to be sustained by the Word of God. And it is in the Word of God that we know who we have been called to be and what we have been commissioned to do. And we've seen other aspects of what it means to follow Christ in this passage as well. Because following Christ entails obeying Him. Did we not see the fruit of obedience in Peter's life as he obeyed Christ's instruction to him earlier on? But we are called to an even greater obedience in terms of repenting of our sins first, but then asking the Spirit's help to walk in a manner that is worthy of Christ. Following Christ entails looking only to Christ. Notice when Peter sees that Christ is holy and that he is not. He doesn't turn to anyone else for help. What does he do? He casts himself upon the mercy of Christ. There is no other hope. There is no other help other than Christ. And we're reminded of this in verse 3 of the hymn, Rock of Ages, which says, nothing in my hand I bring. Simply to the cross I cling. Naked, come to thee for dress. Helpless, look to thee for grace. Foul, I to the fountain fly. Wash me, Savior, or I die. Jesus is not another option among many when we follow him. He is our only way. He is our only truth. And he is the only life. And as shown here in verse 11, following Christ entails leaving everything behind. losing our life that we would gain the life of Christ. Laying aside our pursuits, forsaking every other love and forsaking every other trust in order to fulfill His purpose and His will in our lives. And Jesus is worthy of this because He is God. And he is the center of all things. And we as individuals and as the church must remember this. We have just seen the completion of an election cycle, which has in many ways exposed many things about our country. But most profound for me is the fact that we have developed a Messiah complex about our leaders. And yes, we are called to pray for our leaders, and we are called to lift them up to God and ask that God would help them to rule righteously. It is so easy for us to get drawn into the arguments and drawn into all of the division and all of these other things that have so been magnified during this last election season. One brother reminded me this past week so aptly that Jesus was not on the ballot on Tuesday. He has never been on a ballot, nor will he never be on a ballot. Jesus is on the throne. And we, as his people, must remember that we are first and foremost citizens of an eternal kingdom. And we have been called not to rile ourselves up, for one party or for one candidate or for one cause, but the cause of the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is what we have been called to be and that is what we have been commissioned to do. I've even had to ask myself sometimes as I've discussed this with others, as I've become energized either outwardly or inwardly, do I find myself being this riled up about the fact that there are others around me who are lost, who face an eternity in hell unless they submit themselves to the gospel. Am I so concerned about being right about this certain issue? Or am I more concerned about fulfilling what Christ has called me to do? And so we must remember Christ's words to his disciples and his continuing words to us in Matthew 28, 19 through 20 when he says, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you and behold I'm with you always to the end of the age. And before he said that, He told them that all authority in heaven and on earth is His. And so we see the promise that He will be with us. And that promise should comfort us in these uncertain times. And may the Holy Spirit help us not to forget we have been called to not only be the children of God, But we have been called, as Peter would write later on in 1 Peter 2.9, we have been called to be and are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. And so as we prepare to partake of the Lord's Supper, May we be reminded of God's great grace in enabling us to rightly respond to the gospel call. May we be reminded of the great cost paid by the promised prophet, our great High Priest, our sovereign King, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and his great humility. commissioning us to carry his gospel message into this lost world. Let us pray together. Oh Lord Jesus, we thank you for your great love for us and your great love for the Father's will that you would set aside the glories of heaven to come to this earth and to live a life that was full of temptation and yet you were without sin, and to die an atoning death for us who were your enemies. Help us, Lord Jesus. to honor you by fulfilling your commission to your people, to carry the gospel into this world. And as we live in these uncertain times, and as we live in times that are growing darker and darker, may you help us to be the light that reflects you, that we might point others to salvation that is only found in you. May you do all of these things for your glory, in your glory alone. In your name we pray. Amen.