Good morning. We'll be on lesson two on Peter. If you see on the screen now, the answers to the first part of the lesson we were teaching, what we've been over so far. Does anybody need a lesson two outline? Got a couple over here, brother. One up here. One, of course, got a guest wish to thank you for being with us this morning. I didn't know you hired a helper there, brother. That's good. Delegate. Delegate. That's what you need to do. So we're on A. We'll be finishing up A, toiling his own way. Of course, Peter is going out fishing now. Jesus has preached. And he's told Peter to go out and let down his nets. Go back just a little bit here. Okay. So we often face discouragement in our Christian lives and wonder if what we're doing makes a difference. And of course, drawing illustration what Peter has done, he's been out all night again to fish. Of course, he knows what he's doing. He's a professional fisherman and he's caught nothing, the Bible tells us. And so probably he is discouraged. But God's Word assures us that when we are working for the Lord, It does make a difference. 1 Corinthians 15, 58. That's probably in your outline there. Therefore my beloved brethren be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Now if you stop right there, that's what Peter had done all night, right? As far as fishing. He'd done everything he knew how to do. For as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. So when you're working for the Lord, If you are truly doing it for Him, then it's not in vain. You may never see results of what you do, but you have done it for the Lord and therefore it's not in vain. We need to understand why God's asking us to do something. Now, Peter letting down his nets in a spot that had been already fished, had already been done, and easy to see that Peter probably didn't understand why he should go back out into the same spot and fish in a time of day that was not the time to fish. So it just made no sense. And a lot of times we don't understand maybe what the Lord wants us to do as to why. But we have to understand that we just do what He asked us to do. And we rely on God's plan and not on our own plan. Isaiah 55, eight and nine, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. Whereas the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Now we can, of course, after we're saved a while, we do learn how to do things for the Lord. But we're never going to know everything God knows. We're never going to understand everything God wants us to do. It's not even on the same scale as far as what we know and what God knows. You can't even compare the two. So that finishes up toiling his own way. Now we're going to talk about trusting Christ's word. That's B, trusting Christ's word in verses 5 through 7. You may have had times in your life when you were preparing to obey Christ, even thought that you were doing what he asked you to do. And I think that's what Peter was doing. I don't think that, I'm gonna cover that part later, because I haven't, I need to preface that with something else. The first six words in Luke 5, 6 are a beautiful, simple, profound summary of the disciples' obedience. Let me go back and read those two verses. I don't know why. I thought I had it. Okay, I got it down here. Maybe. Yeah. And Simon answered and said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the net. And in verse 6 it says, And when they had done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes, and their net break. So when he did what Jesus said, sometimes when we're doing what the Lord wants us to do, we can do and do and do, and we continue doing what the Lord wants us to do, and we don't see anything, we still don't understand, although we've been doing it for some time, we don't understand why we're doing it. But it says that at that point, and when they had done this. We don't have to figure it out. We just have to do what Jesus tells us to do. Think about back in your life. Has there been a time in your life where you can think back and say, when I did that, when I did what God had been telling me to do, everything just worked out better. Everything just fell in place. Maybe you could say, I thought I was doing what God asked me to do. But then I realized I wasn't quite there. And when I did that, just like when they had done, when they had this, and when they had this done, or when they had done this, maybe I wrote that down wrong, I don't know. When they did that, then everything fell in place. Then they knew, Peter knew, when Peter pulled on that net, And it was breaking fish. He knew why he was supposed to do what he was told to do. But he didn't know until that moment. And it's not, well, I did almost everything the Lord told me to do, and I didn't see any profit out of it, and I quit. You ever done that? Ever worked at it a while? Oh, this ain't working. I need to do something else. I got to figure out something else. And we just quit too early. It's like a combination lock. I'm not going to tell you the combination on my storage building. But just say it's 5, 10, 15, right? I could put 5 in, I could put 10 in, and then I could put 14 in. It's not going to open, right? You have to do it all. And just like that, the Lord has given us something to do, and it's not that God says, let's try it this way. No, God said, this is the way it needs to be done. This is when you need to do it, how you need to do it, where you need to do it, who you need to do it with. He knows every detail of it. He's not just throwing you out there and throwing you on a wild goose chase. And we have simple and direct instructions throughout scripture. And really one of the most basic and simple instructions given is at the beginning of Christ's miracles. And his mother said, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. If we would stick with that one simple verse. Whatsoever he saith, do it. Whatsoever God saith unto you, do it. Rocket science, right? Just do what he says. But we want to understand what he says. You're never going to understand everything God says. And if he wants you to understand it when we get to heaven, you will. But a lot of things we say, well, when we get to heaven, we're going to understand. You probably won't even think about it. You're probably not even going to be worried about it. If you need to, you will. And we believe we'll be happy to do what the Lord says if we just explain it first. Well, we're probably not going to understand it if he does. If we had full understanding, there'd be no need for trust, no need for faith if we understood completely. Peter continued learning this lesson throughout his life, even at the Last Supper. The Lord prepared to wash Peter's feet. And Peter said, not me. But John 13 says, Jesus answered and said unto him, what I do now, what I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. So there was, when he was washing, Peter said, you know, and we can understand Peter's feelings, he didn't want God washing his feet, he just said, that didn't make sense, and it didn't. But Jesus had a reason for doing it. Now, the requirement for immediate obedience can definitely be seen in the military. There's times that soldiers are given directives and they have to follow them immediately or lives could be endangered. And sometimes we read about stories where soldiers follow the directions, the orders that they have been given you know, for long periods of time. And I remember an episode on Gilligan's Island where there was a Japanese soldier there. He had been evidently hiding out on that island, and he, of course, this was in the 60s, and he thought World War II was still going on. He captured all the people there on Gilligan's Island, had them in a, he built a jail for them and had them all in cages. And I remember thinking, even as a boy less than 10 years old, that it makes sense that there was some Japanese soldiers thinking that. But in the 60s, 20 years after the war, there's no way that there was still some out there. And I still thought that until I read this. In 1974, a Japanese officer named Hiroo Onoda was relieved of duty. This would not be unusual except that he had been hiding in the Philippine jungle since the end of World War II in 1945. He did not believe the news of the Japanese surrender to the Allies and refused to give himself up personally until a superior officer had properly ordered him to do so. The Japanese government located Onoda's commander, at that time a bookseller, and flew him to the Philippines to give the faithful soldier the formal order. Now, this soldier followed the order of an imperfect commander. He believed that's what he was supposed to do. How much more should we follow the orders of a perfect, perfect commander? We should follow what the Heavenly Father tells us to do. Peter told the Lord nevertheless at thy word. Now that tells you that Peter really didn't think he was going to get anything. But it was an order from God. And he says, I do it. Nevertheless, at thy word, I will let down the net. He was about to experience some powerful results. And to his amazement, when he pulled up the net, it was overflowing with fish. In fact, the Bible says it was so full that it broke. Now, what if Peter had said, I fished all night. We talked about last week how he'd worked third shift, worked all night, he was tired. And we talked about, you know, if somebody works third shift and comes in on a Sunday morning and hears preaching, they are ready to go to bed. Peter was ready to get some rest. But he said, it's thy word, I'll let down the net. God is able to exceedingly abundantly above what we think. His working is often contingent upon our obedience and cooperation. God wants us to trust Him. He wants to do things in our lives through our faith in Him. Ephesians 3, 20 and 21, Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be the glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Now, when Jesus visited his hometown of Nazareth, the Bible says that he was unable to do many great works. Matthew 13, 58, and he did not many works there because of their unbelief. Now, does this mean that Christ did not have the power to do it? No, he had the power to do it. But he works in response to our faith. God honors faith in Him. And that's when we see things done, when we have faith in Him. He can do absolutely anything He wants to do, but He wants to do it through our faith. And then part number 3, the confession. Verse 5 again, or A is partial obedience. And Simon answered and said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the net. Now last week I asked you to look at the command given by Jesus and then the answer given by Peter and see if you could see a difference. Well, there's one letter difference. The main letter is an S. Jesus said, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draft. You see the difference? Jesus said let down the nets, but Peter said he would let the net down. And many times we try something once and God wants us to keep doing it. How many times have you heard somebody say, I've done this for so long now, I need to do something else. Well, that could be God's direction, I don't know. But meantime, I'm afraid it's not. So you have to ask yourself, how many nets did Peter have? Now, I'm a little disagreement with the lesson book that I have. It says that Peter had many nets and he should have let many nets down. But in my mind, I don't see Peter having a motorized trawler out there with many nets and booms that he can let down. We're only given three people that was on his ship, so probably only one net at a time, that is. Now, he had nets in case one broke. I'm sure there were nets on there. I don't know how many he could let down at one time. Maybe it was only one. But then when the net began to break, he called over his partners, James and John, to help him out, and they filled both ships with fish. Now, I asked myself the question, How did James and John fill their boat? It would have been hard to fill their boat with Peter's net. But James and John did have a net. And to me, they must have let down their net and they filled both boats up. So then he had put out the nets. The definite difference is Jesus said nets and Peter said net. Many times we only follow in partial obedience. But definitely when they put both nets in Peter had followed completely and then he was blessed. Now Peter needed to catch fish That's how he supported his family. Christ knew and he provided that. In our life, God will supply our needs. And we all know that sometimes we want and we don't get that. But if we need it, God will supply our needs. And many times you say, well, that's a necessity of life and I'm not being provided that. Are you still living? That's not been a necessity. God knows what you need. Matthew 6, 31, 33, Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat, or shall we drink? or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. See, we're to seek what God wants us to do. We're to fulfill what we need to do in the kingdom of God and then God will bless us with these things. It's not that we are to go out and seek those things and God will let us get them. But if we seek what he wants, then he will provide it. Romans 8, 32, he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? We should not doubt God is able or God will provide. He provided his son for us that we may go to heaven. God has proven his faithfulness to his people for thousands of years. He proved his faithfulness to Israel when he provided manna and every other need in the wilderness for his people. He provided Samson with the jawbone of a donkey and he killed a thousand Philistines. He didn't have that. God put it there for him to use. He provided food and water to Elijah. He provided deliverance to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So why would we doubt that God can do the same for us? And then B is full forgiveness. After Peter realized what Christ had done, he fell down at the Lord's feet. He transformed from the skeptical, brash fisherman to a humble, broken man in painful awareness of his unworthiness. When we see the Lord as he is, we will see ourselves as we are. You can't see yourself as you are until you see God as he is. Isaiah 57, 15, for thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy places. with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. You see, when you consider God the old man upstairs, you're not gonna see yourself as you are. The old man upstairs is not instilling us a need to confess or a need to obey. Why should I confess to the old man upstairs? Why should I obey the old man upstairs? He's up there and I'm down here. I do what I want to. But when you see God as God truly is, then you see a need to confess and then you see a need to obey. Psalm 51, 17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. Oh God, thou wilt not despise. It says the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. That is, sacrifices made by a sinner, humbled under a sense of sin, has true repentance for it. It's not God is sacrificing. The sacrifices that he accepts, that is the sacrifices of God. When that sinner is smitten, wounded, and broken with it by the Word of God in the hand of the Spirit, which is a hammer to break the rock in pieces, grieving for sin, as committed against a God of love, broken and melted down under a sense of it, and a view of pardoning grace and mourning for it, while beholding a pierced and wounded Savior. The sacrifices of such a broken heart and contrite spirit are the sacrifices God desires, approves, accepts, and delights in. So, we don't just give a sacrifice and say, okay God, this is what you asked for, here it is. No, we sacrifice because God is holy, because He is great, because He is God, because He is good. And we sacrifice that because that's all we can do. We can't make ourselves better, we can just sacrifice financially, we can sacrifice with our time, we can sacrifice with our praise, with our worshipping, if we see God as who he is. James 4.10 says humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up. Sometimes The world looks at it, and I hear some Christians do, as God is beating us, He wants to beat us down. No, He wants us to humble ourselves down so He can lift us up. He wants us to trust in Him to lift us up. Luke 14 and 11, For whosoever exalted himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. And we have the Example in the Bible of the Pharisee and the publican praying and the Pharisee saying, you know, in his prayer tell him what a really a great person he is and all this great stuff that he does and thanks God that he's not as this publican or as this sinner. That's not the way to get anything out of God. That's not a contrite spirit. That's not a broken spirit. But then the publican says this Lord forgive me. We can thank the Lord that he is indeed the friend of publicans and sinners. So do we see ourselves sometimes in Peter the way that he acts? And I know sometimes we do the same thing. We look at the Israelites and say, well, why do they do all that? Why do they keep disobeying? And we see Peter and say, well, as high as Peter is here, how come he gets low here? And Peter's up and down, Peter's up and down. But don't we see ourselves in that, that sometimes we are really trusting in the Lord, we're obeying God, we're following God, and then something comes up hard and we really, we quit. Not that we'll quit forever, but we stop and then we have to start back again. And that's the way Peter was. He wasn't 100% all the time. And no Christian is. There's times in our lives when we don't follow exactly what God has us to do. Peter hesitated and argued. Basically, he says, again, he said, well, we've already done it, Lord, but we'll do it again because you asked us to. We can make things right in experiencing the blessings of obedience. Revelation 22 and 12, says, Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 2 Corinthians 5, 10, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. So we will be rewarded for what God has for us to do. We may not see that reward here but there's coming a time and we don't know when that time comes. He says again in Revelation 22, Behold I come quickly and my reward is with me to give every man according to his work. But it also says there's a judgment. So there's things that we have done for the Lord and some of the things we will be rewarded for And some of the things are just going to burn up because we didn't do them for the right reason. But if we do it for the Lord, we will be rewarded. We have that to look forward to, but we should do it because of what God has done for us because He is God. He sent His Son to die on the cross to shed His blood for our sins. And so we owe Him everything. There's nothing you have that you don't owe to God. But He doesn't ask for everything. He doesn't ask for all your money. He knows that there's things that you have to do to live, but he does ask for sacrifices. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you, Lord, for this day that you've given us. We thank you, Lord, for your many blessings. Lord, I pray, Lord, you help us, Lord. Lord, I know that we're not always what we ought to be, Lord, but may we strive to be that. May we strive to confess our sins before a great and mighty God. And Lord, we thank you for your forgiveness. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.