Peter sought. If you will please take your Bibles and turn to Luke 5. We'll be reading verses 3-11. Here Simon learned something I wish we could all see this morning. You can listen and understand facts, take those facts into your head, but that will only be storing knowledge. But I'd like for you to see this, just get a hold of you, get into you. I'd like for you to see this with your heart, and that'll put what you learn into action. We all know that the Bible says, Be not hearers of the Word only, but doers, lest ye deceive your own heart. So when we hear what God's teaching us, comes into our heart, it becomes action. I have a real problem in later years, and that is people come and make decisions, but there's no change in their life. In fact, I have a total problem with this idea of people thinking about it or not thinking about it, that this is me. I've told our people several times If that were my attitude, this is me, they wouldn't have a pastor and we wouldn't have the church. When God called me to preach, He changed me totally. When I say totally, totally. And it wasn't that I was in deep sin or drunkenness, but it seems as though we're afraid to change. We just are so proud that we just say, this is me. first surrendered to preach, I couldn't speak. I told the people just recently, I went to nine years of speech therapy. I learned how to put my tongue on my nose. I was the shyest guy you ever wanted to find. Understand what I'm saying? I don't think we allow the Bible to get into our hearts to the place where it changes us. And this morning I'm asking you to ask God to let this get into your heart and move you. Again, our text is Luke 5, starting in verse 3. 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. Now, when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we've toiled all night. We've been doing this all night and we've taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word, I'll let down the net, singular. And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes in their net break. And they beckoned on to their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help. And they came and filled both ships so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell 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 draught of 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, for henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all and followed him." Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, You know how thankful I am for our friends to come to this meeting. You know how we want to be a blessing. I want to be a blessing this morning and I can't be without you. So I just ask that you give me freedom as I preach and empower what I have to say and speak to somebody. We know you can't make them, but Lord, speak that at least somebody would change to the place where they're more useful for you. In your name we pray, Amen. Simon was one of the best men that God had as he walked this earth. But Jesus knew that Simon Peter needed to learn a lesson if he was going to be a really good servant, if he was going to be truly useful and happy and successful. So Jesus said, I need to borrow your boat. Now, here's a crucial time of decision for a Christian. And we all have these times. And as I said already, most people just say, I'm that, not that way. We have people come to our church and they'll say, boy, I need this. But they never do anything about it. And they go on their way and never, never progress. Now, again, this boat meant everything to Peter. It meant his job, his income. It's the way he fed his family. And here's a question that I have for you this morning. Will I give all I own to Jesus? You say, oh, yeah. Oh, yeah? Won't you think? Won't you apply it to yourself personally? Will I give all I own to Jesus? Now, I could have said, I'll let you have this boat, but as soon as the sun rises, I've got to be out on this lake catching fish. It's my living. If we want God's blessings, though, we've got to be able to give up everything. Anything I want, I don't want to get off. But I wanted to be an architect. Then I wanted to be a pilot. In fact, I joined the Navy Air, came this close to being a pilot, I wanted to be a pilot. And so when I surrendered. I My pastor was a good man and our church was a decent church. But he was run by the deacons. He's relegated to a little apartment, I don't know how many kids he had, a lot. Just a little tiny apartment up in the corner of the building next door. And I thought if I was in a surrender, I fought God's call to preach for 10 years. If I were to surrender, it was like being a monk is the way I looked at it. I wasn't going to accomplish anything for God. That's the kind of Christianity I came from. I lived in Chicago. I remember always seeing the bus drivers, their pants were real shiny in the back. And my pastor had shiny pants. Now, this might seem silly to you, but I'm not trying to joke. When I surrendered, I surrendered to shiny pants. and to being relegated to a little apartment up in the corner, and to do nothing with my life. You understand what I mean by being a monk? Just kind of nothing. Accomplishing nothing. But I'm glad I gave my life to God. Sharon and I were ready to get married. And I said to her, and that's a lot of years ago, but I said, Sharon, how do you like to be a preacher's wife? And I, you know, whatever, I was going to be youth pastor. She said, I'd hate it. I said, well, that's what I'm going to be. I hadn't talked to anybody for 10 years, just, just fought. What I'm saying is whether you're going in a full time service or not, you have to trust God. Trust him. I've counseled people down through the years, good people, people who believe the Bible, said they love the Lord, hated this world. But everybody has to make a decision at this crossroads in life if they're really going to be used of God. And that is, well, I give everything to God. I'm not saying everybody should be in full time service, but I'm saying everybody ought to be willing to say, I'll give everything to God. I remember one guy represents a group. He was a bus captain here. But the ends weren't meeting. And he came to me and he said, Preacher, he said, the church is growing. Church needs money. I can't afford to stay in the bus ministry. I'm going to quit the bus ministry and my ministry is going to be giving. Well, I'll tell you, the guy whose ministry is going to be giving, as opposed to everything else, will soon stop giving. On the other side, I think of another fellow that was saved here. He represents another group. Boy, did he work. Did he love winning souls and knocking on doors and everything else that was in the church. But he said, I can't give. If I gave, I couldn't pay my bills. And I say, your lack of faith will kill your ministry and soon kill your soul winning. By the way, it did. What a decision. It'll dictate your future Christian life. But Peter said, I don't know. When it'll come back, but OK, Lord, take my little boat. Now, we know that Jesus just wanted to use it, just push it off a little bit and teach the Bible to the people, get away from the crowd so he could do a better job. But when he came back, he looked at Peter and thought, you've learned a lesson. You gave me a ship. Now I want to complete that lesson. You have fished all night and taken nothing. I want you to take your nets, plural, and I want you to put those nets down exactly where I tell you, and you're going to reap like you never have before. Now Peter, halfway, half-heartedly believes God and he took one net and he thought he'd appease the Lord. In verse 5 it says, And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we've toiled all night. We've taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word we'll let down the net. You're God. I'm the expert. I've been doing this all my life, but you're God. I'll throw a net in. Oh, how our life. How we miss out teenagers. College students. How we miss out by just half heartedly following God. I am positively convinced. That God. wants to bless every Christian family on the face of this earth positively convinced. I also I'm not a prosperity type guy, but I do believe God wants to open the windows of heaven. I don't understand that. Malachi 3.10 says, Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house. And prove me now herewith, saith the Lord, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out... What's it saying? A blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it. Well, I believe in the King James Bible. You practice it. Understand what I'm saying? He's saying, I'll open the windows of heaven. He's God. And by the way, I could stand here for hours. I've seen miracles. I've seen Him open the windows of heaven to the place where it scared me. John Hall, our engineer that's helped build the buildings around here, I think he can remember right after our court case, within a year, God sent so many people here, I was afraid the floors were going to cave in. And I remember coming to him and saying, will the floors hold them? Right when we were supposed to be dead, right when the newspapers wrote our obituaries, we had so many people we couldn't handle them. And we could look at so many, the point being, we say we believe the Bible. By theology and doctrine, we say we believe the doctrine. But do we practice it? The Bible says, train up a child in a way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Now, you preachers are there making excuses. Either that's the Bible or it's not. When I left Iowa State, I was fighting geology, evolution, and I went to Bible college and I was fighting this. It doesn't say that, my first class professor said. It doesn't mean that. And the devil used to say that to me. If you spank those kids too much, they're going to hate you. And my relatives said that to me. Everybody but my wife. Do we believe or not is what I'm saying. We waffle. We play games. Peter caught so many fish that his neck broke. And he had to call his partners with the other ship. And can you see with me as those two ships try to make it toward shore? If you read the Bible, they were sinking. The water was lapping over the edge because they were so full of fish. And Peter saw it. I want to say something. God wants to show us also. Peter suddenly realized that Christianity was true. Sorry, people, you hear me say this. Everybody here doesn't. I am just so convinced that there's not much difference between most Baptists and most Episcopalians, except they have the right doctrine. The problem is they don't believe the doctrine. They don't practice the doctrine. What good is it if you have the right doctrine if you don't live it? He realized that what Jesus taught was a fact. All I did was give him my little boat and he gave it back. Plus, he showed me how to catch fish like nobody ever has on this lake, ever. I've learned a new truth. This thing has finally got into me. Peter saw it. In verses 8 and 9, it says, When Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man. We like to act like we're so good. God's so lucky to have us. If we see God, we don't feel that way. For he was astonished in all that were with him at the draught of fishes which they had taken. We used to call them hippies. Long, stringy hair, never took a bath, stunk. I don't know what they're called today. But they have rings in their nose and every other part of their body. They tattoo themselves all over and shack up, just like the hippies. They haven't seen it. We know that. But the pastor, who, as the Bible says, is afraid of the faces of the people. Afraid to take a stand for what's right and trust God to take care of him. He hasn't seen it any more than the hippie. And the church member. Boy, today it's not in vogue to knock on doors. The church member who won't knock on doors because people are mean. The church member who makes excuses isn't doing everything he can to raise his children. He hasn't seen it. The church member who can look around the world and look around, in our case, Chesterton, Indiana, and see the sin, and could it ever get any worse, See people going to hell. Kids going to the devil. Drugs. And then look at a church. Look at your church. Our church. And see what God has given us. The opportunities. If that doesn't excite you, something's wrong with you. Bad wrong. I remember a guy who came down here to visit from Milwaukee and. He was visiting his brother, if I remember correctly, and he got saved that morning, he and his wife. And when he was being dealt with. He. We realized he he wasn't married. And so I married him that day. We say, how can you do that? I don't care about the paperwork. He can take care of the paperwork the next day. But I married him before God that day, because that's what he needed to do. And then that night, I was talking to him about the Holy Spirit. I said, now the Holy Spirit lives within you, and He'll show you what you need to do. And he said, that must be what's telling me to move to Chesterton. Now here's a guy who got saved, got married, got baptized, and made the decision to move to Chesterton in one day. You say, how did that happen? He saw it. He saw it. I don't know whether it was, I shouldn't say I don't know, honestly, I believe about 80 percent ignorance and about 20 percent faith when I came here. All I knew is that God wanted me to start a church in Chesterton, Indiana with one family that was here. And we had no support. Zero support. And we would just pray. I say, just pray. It was hard. Every praying for food, praying when Jeff was born, doctor and hospital bills and pray and you know God not only always paid the bills they always came in always came in But they came in in a timely manner it seemed like I could remember where we lived in the little parsonage I'd go in that living room sit on the couch, and I'd say okay God here we go again But God did it And I'm so glad that I didn't. And I'm not saying you shouldn't have support. Courtney, we support him. I'm not saying you shouldn't have support, but I'm so glad I did not have support. Because I saw God take care of us week after week after week after week, never asking for a thing. And we expected it. And then it came to our first building, the house, our house we met in the basement right here someplace. And the first building was where those glass doors are down there. And we were going to build our first building. And we went to get a loan. They wouldn't give us a loan because we had a loan on the property here. We had eight acres in that house. And so we decided to place bonds. And we placed bonds. Now, there were 10 total family units, that's including single men, women, and stuff like that. And I personally talked to everyone and I asked them about their neighbors, their grandparents, everybody, you know. Have you talked to everybody? And it came in until the last payment, supposed to be $18,000. And I revisited everybody, everything, we've talked of everything, we couldn't do nothing else. And I got up, it was like that building was like a spook to me, it was scary. And I was preaching, I used to preach really wild back then, excited, pressure. And I remember I was preaching away and I said, you know, we're supposed to have $18,000 by Tuesday to pay our bills. And if God can't pay our bills, then we're going to shut the doors. And I got out of pulpit, when I say went home, went upstairs and Sharon says, what did you say that for? I wasn't planning to say it. She wasn't questioning the wisdom of her husband, but I wasn't planning to say it. Now, we were starting a school. And so I went down, and I mean, we didn't have, I'm not stretching it, I mean, we didn't have money. I mean, I wouldn't call Sharon on Monday, but I had a call Tuesday, because it was due Tuesday night. And I remember I was in Chattanooga, Tennessee, recruiting teachers, and I called and I said, did it come in? She said, yeah, 19,500. Now, there was nobody else to see. But people that wanted 500 got 2,000 or something, or somebody said they didn't want anything, there it was. God did it. You understand? And I'm so convinced. And I'm not just talking to preachers or full-time workers. I'm talking to you college students. I'm talking to everybody. We always stop when God wants to do great things. I say to our students in our church, in fact, that's why the stone says it out there, find God's will. And then do it! If you know it's God's will, do it! Don't be afraid. Through the years, time after time, this kind of thing has happened. And I guess my question is, have you forgotten what God said He'll do? Peter sought. And because he's God, he's absolutely supreme and holy. Peter saw the holiness of God and he fell down on his knees and said, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. And that's where we need to be. Not making excuses, not reasoning things out. We're dirty, rotten men and women. We know nothing. God wants to bless us. Turn to Revelation 4. Have you ever come to that place? If so, are you still at that place? Revelation 4, 8, they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come. Revelation 15, verse 4, Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For Thou only art holy, for all nations shall come and worship before Thee, for Thy judgments are made manifest. We read in 1 Samuel 6.20, Who is able to stand before This holy God. I think that's our problem. We're just staying in there. Job said in Job 15.15, the heavens are not clean in His sight. Have you got there? Isaiah 6.3, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory. Do you see it? Or do you treat Him like a spare tire? Just used in an emergency. Or do you treat him like some union worker at a factory? Always telling him what you want and what you deserve. Do you just come to church and go through your Christian motions because it's the thing to do? Or have you seen him as Isaiah did in Isaiah 6? High and lifted up in his holiness. Now I want to bring home a point. Seeing Him as God, coming to that place where you cross the line and fall at His feet is key to all that's good for you. I believe that God will bring into a good church every person He needs to pay the bills. Don't need high-pressure gimmicks. Just if everybody does what they should, the bills will be paid. I think most would love to see revival in their lives at least. You see this, you'll have revival in your lives. Have all your kids grow up and not have to make excuses to be proud of what God has done? How would you like to be a soul winner? Maybe you've got an unsaved father and you'd like to see him saved and go to heaven. or win some child and give him direction in a real life. Once you see what I'm preaching about, you have the key to all these things. Let's take being a soul winner, and I'm not talking about a pep rally, but I'm talking about the kind of soul winner that's powered by God in its second nature. The first prerequisite to being a soul winner is giving everything that you have to God. Now, you think about it. Peter wasn't a soul winner until this point. But when you give your all, then soul winning is second nature. Again, in our text in verse 10 at the end, it says, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. But until you give your job, I'm not saying quit your job. Give your job, your home, your family, your pride, all to God. You won't have a longing for souls. You won't have a desire to catch men. But when you give your all, you'll want to win souls. You'll want to see souls saved. You'll want to be in a church that sees souls saved. You'll want to pray for the pastor, pray for the church. But you won't do it until you see God's holiness. And let me say, part of that is getting your worldly affairs in order. I'm convinced it just goes right together. We know Jesus said in Luke 16, 11, if therefore ye have not been faithful and unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? What's unrighteous mammon? Dirty, filthy money when it comes to American, ma'am, and it's not worth anything. And if you can't trust God with that. He's not going to trust you with souls. Or good children or anything else. Did you know that your spirituality is directly related to your finances? This is what the Lord is teaching. And when Peter saw it, he gave all. Jesus said, now, Peter, you're going to be able to catch men, you're going to be a soul winner. And by the way, I think Peter's still catching men 2000 years later. Who was it that the Lord chose to preach at Pentecost and see 3000 saved? It's the first time he ever preached. He didn't have an analytical outline. But he saw what was needed to be a success for God. And Simon Peter saw it. He fell down at Jesus' knees saying, Depart from me for I'm a sinful man, O Lord. No quartets that look like thousand-legged jitterbugs. But Peter stood and preached in the power of God and caught three thousand men. That's not learned in the classroom or from other great preachers, people who want to go follow other great preachers, it's not caught by idol worship. But he saw that he must give himself and his resources and God blessed. Now, I'm not a fisherman. I don't like to fish. Well, these kids saying, oh, man, my grandkids saying I didn't know granddaddy was a heretic. All my grandkids love the fish. But I don't like to fish. Now, I'd like to catch fish. There's a difference. I only went fishing as an adult one time. I took Jeff down our lake. There's a lot of, if you want to catch, there's been some big bass caught down there and stuff. I'm not exaggerating. You can catch them down there. My wife likes to eat them. But one time I took Jeff down there, I believe it was 15 minutes and that was it. I don't have the patience. But I go back again and say, I would like to catch lots of fish. Just pull them out. And the point I want to make is that Jesus didn't say He'd make us fishers of men like we sometimes say. But henceforth thou shalt catch men. Just like you put your net down and it broke and you had to call the other ship, you'll catch men. You don't have to be a fancy soul winner. I'm not. You don't have to be one of these guys that know everything. You don't have to be confident in yourself. Just do it. I'm going to tie things up, but look at verse 11. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all and followed him. Now, if you really see it, It'll be so exciting and so thrilling that you'll forsake all and follow God. We lose sight. Of the holiness of God. We need to fall in love with him again. There's an illustration that I think all have seen. There's a girl. Lives in a very nice home. Her parents love her. Her father spoils her. Maybe she's in her own bedroom. Big closet full of clothes. Always food on the table. She doesn't have a need. She doesn't have a want. But she leaves that to marry some knucklehead They're always knuckleheads, aren't they, Dad? I've got two knuckleheads. They leave that to marry a guy and live, and maybe my girls first lived in a one-room utility apartment. Maybe they don't even know if they're going to have food. Maybe she has to go work in order to help put food on the table and pay the bills. Now why would somebody leave that beautiful home with all that security to live like that? Because she found something she likes better than security. And when you see it, you'll forsake all also. I don't mean that in most cases you have to sell your house or quit your job. I don't mean that. But when you see it, all else fades into oblivion. You'll be at the prayer meetings, and you'll be praying, and you'll be wanting revival. When there's a need in the offering, you'll be taking care of it. When you see it, you won't give in to financial pressures. When you see it, you won't give in to pressures on the job. When you see it, you'll fall on your face and you'll cry, holy, holy, holy. Your car will be God's, no matter how much the gas costs. Your family will be God's, no matter what the excuses. Your time will be God's and you'll always be ready to change your schedule. Your money will be His. When he has a need, you'll fill it. Sometimes I hear people say something to the effect, my, how they have sacrificed. Probably mean well, but it's an ignorant statement. You can't sacrifice for God. I'll swap a pocket full of dirt for a pocket full of diamonds any day. I've never given anything up for God. Anything I've done, for God was an improvement. Anything I've given to God has been a blessing. And the best thing that could ever happen to you is for God to let you have a position of service. Peter said, I see it. I understand it now. I see your holiness and I see my sinfulness. And the Lord said, Now that you've put me in perspective, now that I'm not only your savior, but I'm your Lord. Now you're going to see miracles. I believe God wants that for everyone. I say again, I'm through. I believe God wants to bless everybody. I believe everybody he wants all everybody in this room to be able to pay their bills. I believe he wants everybody here to raise children to live for God. I believe He wants to bless every church in the world with souls. I do. And growth. Strong people. Every church. But we have to see it. We have to step out on faith. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word and thank You that it still excites me. And I pray that You'll get into the heart or hearts of people here. Stir them up. Not emotionally, not physically, but spiritually, Lord. I say again that somebody make a decision That would mean they'll have to change maybe their personality and change some of their practices. But in result, they'll see you do great things. Lord, I pray that You'll bless this invitation. Holy Spirit, deal with hearts. In Your name we pray, Amen.