541. Gospel of Luke - Chapter 5 (#1) - Jesus Tells Peter he will be a Fisher of Men - April 29, 2024

[00:00:06] Welcome to Wisdom Today. My name is Bill Kelley and I'll be your host. In this podcast, we will be exploring the book of Proverbs.

[00:00:15] Amen, prayer. Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today. Lord, I pray that you would reveal to everyone listening how much you truly love each and every one of them.

[00:00:34] In addition, I ask that everyone listening would have favor with both God and man. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

[00:00:44] This is Proverbs 29 beginning in verse 1.

[00:00:49] He who is often rebuked and hardens his neck will suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy. When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.

[00:01:06] Whoever loves wisdom makes his father rejoice, but a companion of harlots wastes his wealth. The king establishes the land by justice, but he who receives bribes overthrows it. A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.

[00:01:29] By transgression, an evil man is snared, but the righteous sings and rejoices. The righteous considers the cause of the poor, but the wicked does not understand such knowledge.

[00:01:45] Skauffers set a city aflame, but wise men turn away wrath. If a wise man contends with a foolish man, whether the fool rages or laughs, there is no peace. The bloodthirsty hate the blameless, but the upright seek his well-being.

[00:02:08] A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back. If a ruler pays attention to lies, all his servants become wicked. The poor man and the oppressor have this in common. The Lord gives light to the eyes of both.

[00:02:29] The king who judges the poor with truth, his throne will be established forever. The rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases, but the righteous will see their fall.

[00:02:52] Correct your son, and he will give you rest. Yes, he will give delight to your soul. Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint, but happy is he who keeps the law. A servant will not be corrected by mere words, for though he understands, he will not respond.

[00:03:17] Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him. He who pampers his servant from childhood will have him as a son in the end.

[00:03:33] An angry man stirs up strife, and a furious man abounds in transgression. A man's pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor. Whoever is a partner with a thief hates his own life. He swears to tell the truth that reveals nothing.

[00:03:57] The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe. Many seek the ruler's favor, but justice for man comes from the Lord. An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, and he who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked.

[00:04:27] Take a closer look at verse 9, and Proverbs 29 verse 9 says this, If a wise man contends with a foolish man, whether the fool rages or laughs, there is no peace.

[00:04:46] Friends, we will take a closer look at that verse prior to closing today, but what I'd like to do is continue our study in the Gospel according to Luke.

[00:04:58] Now on Wednesday's podcast, we left off on chapter 4, so today we will begin on chapter 5 of Luke. Let's begin in verse 1.

[00:05:12] So it was, as the multitude pressed about him to hear the word of God, that he stood by the lake of Geneseret, and many of us know that as the Sea of Galilee. They are the same body of water, and saw two boats standing by the lake.

[00:05:35] But the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then he got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and Simon is another name for Peter, and asked him to put out a little from the land, and he sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.

[00:05:59] When he had stopped speaking, he said to Simon, Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. But Simon answered and said to him, Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing.

[00:06:19] Nevertheless, at your word I will let down the net.

[00:06:26] So friends, the first point that I would like to go over today is Jesus asks Peter to launch out into the deep.

[00:06:37] I am reading out of the Nelson's Study Bible, and I'd like to go over the commentary found in my Bible for verse 5. It says at your word, I will let down the net.

[00:06:53] This is Peter's statement of faith. The fisherman noted that he and his companions had just failed to make a catch at the best time for fishing the evening.

[00:07:09] The circumstances were not good for a catch at the time of Jesus' command, but Peter chose to obey his word and let down his nets anyway.

[00:07:23] For a moment here I'd like to just pause and put yourself in Peter's position.

[00:07:31] Peter is a professional fisherman and he has done this his entire life. He knows when the best time to fish is.

[00:07:40] He knows where to go, he knows what time to go, he knows what the fish are doing, and he had not been successful.

[00:07:51] He and his crew were tired. They were tired. They're ready to put their nets up to go home and take a nap.

[00:08:01] But no, Jesus had different plans for them. Let's go to verse 6.

[00:08:09] And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.

[00:08:19] So the second point I'd like to bring up is they catch more fish than they can handle.

[00:08:27] And many of you may know this story, but there were 153 large fish.

[00:08:35] They caught so many fish that they couldn't handle the great catch.

[00:08:43] Let's go to verse 7.

[00:08:45] So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them.

[00:08:51] And they came and filled both the boats so that they began to sink.

[00:08:57] When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees saying,

[00:09:03] Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

[00:09:10] Let's look at the commentary for verse 8.

[00:09:14] Peter's confession indicates that he recognized God's work through Jesus.

[00:09:22] Peter, as a sinful man, was not worthy to be in Jesus' presence because Jesus was holy.

[00:09:31] Let's go to verse 9.

[00:09:33] For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken.

[00:09:41] And so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee who were partners with Simon.

[00:09:49] And Jesus said to Simon, Do not be afraid.

[00:09:53] From now on you will catch men.

[00:09:58] So friends, my third point today is Jesus tells Peter that from now on he will be fishers of men.

[00:10:09] Now let's look at the commentary.

[00:10:13] It says, Do not be afraid.

[00:10:16] Jesus does not drive away the sinner who recognizes his or her wretched condition.

[00:10:26] He accepts the confessing sinner and offers that person the opportunity of reconciliation with God.

[00:10:35] Then he sends the forgiven sinner out to do the work of God.

[00:10:41] To catch men means that Peter's commission now was to rescue men from the danger of sin.

[00:10:52] Now friends, I have a treat for you.

[00:10:55] I am actually going to go back to April 6th of 1862.

[00:11:03] And I am going to read a portion of a sermon from the great historian Charles Spurgeon.

[00:11:13] And here we're talking about the two draughts of fish.

[00:11:17] So let's first look at the story we just read in Luke chapter 5 verse 4.

[00:11:24] Now when he had left speaking, he said of the Simon, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught.

[00:11:34] Now let's go to John chapter 21 verse 6.

[00:11:39] And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship and ye shall find.

[00:11:48] They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.

[00:11:58] The whole life of Christ is a sermon.

[00:12:03] He was a prophet mighty in word and deed, and by his deeds as well as his words he taught the people.

[00:12:13] It is perfectly true that the miracles of Christ attest his mission.

[00:12:20] To those who saw them, they must have been evident proof that he was sent of God.

[00:12:26] But we ought not to overlook that probably a higher reason for the miracles is to be found in the instruction which they convey.

[00:12:38] To the world without at the present time, the miracles of Christ are more hard to believe than the doctrine which he taught.

[00:12:49] Skeptics turn them into stones of stumbling and when they cannot cavill at the marvelous teaching of Jesus,

[00:12:59] they attack the miracles as monstrous and incredible.

[00:13:05] I doubt not that even the minds seriously vexed with unbelief, the miracles instead of being helps to belief have been trials of faith.

[00:13:20] Few indeed are there in whom faith is wrought by signs and wonders.

[00:13:28] Nor indeed is this the gospel way of bringing conviction to the soul.

[00:13:34] The secret force of the living word is the chosen instrumentality of Christ,

[00:13:42] and wonders are left to be the resort of that anti-Christ by whom the nations shall be deceived.

[00:13:52] We who by grace have believed view the miracles of Christ as noble attestations to his mission and divinity.

[00:14:04] But we confess that we value them even more as instructive homilies than as attesting witnesses.

[00:14:15] It is our conviction that we should lose much of the benefit which they were meant to convey to us

[00:14:24] if we were merely to view them as seals to the role, but they are a part of the writing of the role itself.

[00:14:35] The marvels wrought by our blessed Lord are acted sermons fraught with holy doctrine,

[00:14:44] set forth to us more vividly than it could have been in words.

[00:14:50] We start with the assumption upon which our sermon will be grounded this morning,

[00:14:57] that Christ's miracles are sermons preached in deeds, visible allegories, truths embodied,

[00:15:06] principles incarnated and set in motion.

[00:15:10] They are in fact the pictures in the great book of Christ's teaching,

[00:15:17] the illustrations by which he flashed light into dim eyes.

[00:15:23] We have heard of some ministers who could say that they had often preached from the same text,

[00:15:30] but they had never delivered the same discourse.

[00:15:34] The like may be said of Christ.

[00:15:37] He often preached upon the same truth, but it was never precisely in the same manner.

[00:15:45] We have read in your hearing this morning the narrative of two miracles.

[00:15:51] One found in Luke chapter 5 and the other in John 21,

[00:15:56] which seem to the casual observer to be precisely alike.

[00:16:02] But he who shall read diligently and study carefully will find that though the text is the same in both,

[00:16:12] yet the discourse is full of variations.

[00:16:16] In both the miraculous droughts of fish, the text is the mission of the saints to preach the gospel,

[00:16:26] the work of man catching, the ministry by which souls are caught in the net of the gospel,

[00:16:36] and brought out of the element of sin to their eternal salvation.

[00:16:42] The preacher is compared to a fisherman.

[00:16:46] The fisherman's vocation is a toilsome one, woe be to that minister who finds his calling to be otherwise.

[00:16:56] The fisherman must go forth in rough weathers and at all hazards.

[00:17:02] If he should only catch fish in a calm sea, he may often starve.

[00:17:08] So the Christian minister, whether men will receive the word with pleasure or reject it with anger and wrath,

[00:17:17] must be ready to imperil reputation and risk comfort.

[00:17:24] Yea, he must hate his own life also, or he is not worthy of his heavenly calling.

[00:17:33] The fisherman's is a rough occupation.

[00:17:36] No dainty fingers may come in contact with his nets.

[00:17:41] It is not a trade for gentlemen, but for rough, strong, fearless men who can heave a rope,

[00:17:51] handle a tar brush or scour a deck.

[00:17:55] The ministry is not meant for your dainty souls who would go delicately through this world without a trial,

[00:18:03] an offense, an insult or a sneer.

[00:18:08] Such work is meant for men who know how to do business on great waters

[00:18:14] and can go abroad upon the sea, not fearing the spray or the waves.

[00:18:22] The fisherman's calling too must be carried on perseveringly.

[00:18:27] It is not by one grand hall that a man makes his fortune.

[00:18:32] He must constantly cast forth his net.

[00:18:37] One sermon makes not a preacher.

[00:18:41] He who shall but now and then deliver himself of some carefully prepared oration is no true minister of God.

[00:18:51] He must be instant in season and out of season.

[00:18:57] He must cast his net in all waters.

[00:19:01] He must in the morning be at his work, and in the evening he must not withhold his hand.

[00:19:08] To be a fisherman a man must expect disappointments.

[00:19:13] He must often cast in the net and bring up nothing but weeds.

[00:19:19] The minister of Christ must reckon upon being disappointed, and he must not be weary in well-doing for all his disappointments.

[00:19:29] But must in faith continue in prayer and labor expecting that at the end he shall receive his reward.

[00:19:41] It needeth no great labor for you to work out at leisure the comparison between fisherman and the gospel ministry.

[00:19:52] The simile is so aptly chosen.

[00:19:56] Friends, I hope that you have enjoyed listening to a portion of this particular sermon.

[00:20:05] But before we close today, I'd like to go back to our verse of the day found in Proverbs 29.

[00:20:13] And Proverbs 29 verse 9 says,

[00:20:17] If a wise man contends with a foolish man, whether the fool rages or laughs, there is no peace.

[00:20:28] Now friends, every once in a while on this podcast I will talk about foolishness and being a fool and how we are to avoid being that way.

[00:20:42] Friends, we are to be righteous.

[00:20:45] We are to learn and get in the habit of doing the right thing over and over again.

[00:20:53] Friends, if we live our lives the correct way, we can learn from our mistakes.

[00:21:01] The proverb tells us that fools do not learn from their mistakes and they will make the same mistake over and over again.

[00:21:12] So let's look at verse 9 again.

[00:21:15] If a wise man contends with a foolish man, whether the fool rages or laughs, there is no peace.

[00:21:27] So friends, this verse is telling us that if you come upon a fool and you recognize that he is a fool, we are not to argue with them.

[00:21:42] They will not hear what we have to say.

[00:21:48] So friends, my call to action today is I want you to think about what it must have been like for Jesus to be in Peter's boat

[00:21:59] and for Peter to have been out all night long and not caught anything.

[00:22:05] He was tired.

[00:22:07] This person comes in his boat and says launch out into the deep.

[00:22:11] It would have been very easy for Peter to say something different, but he said,

[00:22:17] nevertheless at thy word we will let down our nets and the results were nothing short of a miracle.

[00:22:30] Friends, I will never end a podcast without giving anyone an opportunity to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

[00:22:39] If there is anyone listening today and you've never taken that step, I invite you to repeat a simple prayer after me today.

[00:22:47] Jesus, I recognize that I am a sinner and in need of a Savior.

[00:22:53] I believe that you are the Son of God and you died on a cross to forgive me of all of my sins.

[00:23:00] Jesus, I invite you to come into my heart.

[00:23:04] I ask that you lead me and guide me from this point forward.

[00:23:08] I make you my Lord and Savior.

[00:23:12] Now may the Lord bless you and keep you.

[00:23:16] The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

[00:23:21] The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

[00:23:27] Friends, tomorrow is testimony day.

[00:23:31] I invite you to join me and a special guest as we further explore wisdom.