"Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing at the edge of the lake of Gennesaret; and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake, and the fishermen, having gotten out of them, were washing their nets. And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the crowds from the boat. And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." Simon answered and said, "Master, we labored all night and caught nothing, but at Your word, I will let down the nets." And when they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish. And their nets began to break; so
they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and
help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they
began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!" For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken, and James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon, were also likewise amazed. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men." And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.
Good Morning my beloved,
We
welcome you to worship today in the name of God the Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. What a privileged is to have you here with us today. I am grateful for those of you that have been faithfully praying for me, for this ministry, sharing the website with their friends, neighbors and loved ones. It's through those faithful prayers I find the strength in the battle, as I stand against those demonic alliances around me, I thank God for allowing me that opportunity to preach the Truth of God to those are deceived by false religion, a privilege that I don’t take lightly. If God is using this ministry to impact your life, or the lives of those around you, please write and let us know, we'd love to hear from you.
We are living in a time where the church has fallen prey to the spirit of inclusivism, to intellectual openness, buying into the lies of the culture that on order to love someone you must accept everything they believe or do, meaning that it has lost its convictions, and as a result, there is a reinterpreting the Scripture to embrace a myriad of individual perspectives, patting themselves on the back, congratulating themselves for accommodating everything everybody thinks as truth for them, consequently, objective truth, what is actually true, is no longer tolerated. Anyone who upholds biblical Truth, who is unwilling to compromise their convictions, is thought to intolerant, bigoted and unloving. If you will indulge me, and permit me to be dogmatic for a moment without conforming to the political correctness of the day when I say, I believe it is acceptable to stand firm in your beliefs, to refuse to compromise your convictions while still demonstrating godly love and compassion towards others. It is entirely possible to communicate biblical Truth without resorting to being unkind, unloving, lacking compassion toward others. Because God is a God of love, but there is a love that God hates, and that is the love of the world. To love perfectly is to hate perfectly, that's why God hates false religion and anything that threatens His perfect love. In fact, the greater your love, the more intense your love is for something, the greater your hatred toward that which threatens to jeopardize that something, the two are essentially inseparable. It is my love for the Truth, my deep affection for the Truth, my strong commitment to the Truth that drives me to abhor error, a fact that may be evident to many of you if you've been following this ministry for any length of time.
Jesus said in John 15:22-23, "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also." In James 4:4 he warns "You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world sets himself as an enemy of God." And 1 John 2:15-17 tells us that "If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For
all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the
eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from
the world. And the world is passing away, and also its lusts, but the
one who does the will of God abides forever."
Yet, tragically, in this era of tolerance, inclusion and acceptance, a new theology is being promoted by even some of the most influential evangelical leaders of our day, a theology that is diametrically opposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which calls us to practice righteousness and commands us to obey that which God has revealed as His law. As followers of Christ, we are bound to not only believe the Gospel but to obey the absolute, non-negotiable moral components of law of God. These absolutes moral standards then that become the tests of one’s true spiritual condition. In fact, in 1 John 2:3-4, John says "And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him."
To be clear, there is nowhere in Scripture where God says "I invite you to come to church, and if you don’t like what you hear, if
you decide that you don't want to obey My Word, just profess Christ and you're then at liberty to live according to your own desires." No, God says
"I invite you to come to church, and hear the Truth! Obey My commands!" That is the essence
of the invitation to salvation, it's no wonder Satan is actively working to manipulate the Scriptures, to rid the world of the only Truth that saves, that is the True Gospel. We are not afforded the luxury of altering the Word of God, to reinterpret the Scriptures to conform to the corrupt standards of the satanic world system. The church must be so consumed with the Truth, that it enforces a strict zero tolerance policy for error, and for anybody who is guilty of propagating error. It is just crucial for us to recognize those who are not in the kingdom, in desperate need of forgiveness, no matter what they claim and proclaim the truth about sin to those who deny their sinful spiritual condition as it was for Jesus, whatever the repercussions may be. The church has become inundated with those who claimed to be Christians, who are in a state of denial, they're self-deceived and the truth isn’t in them. They manifest no desire for obedience to God's Word, no genuine affection for fellow believers, revealing they're not true Christians by their attachment to the world. Scripture teaches, "If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." True Christians don’t identify with the world, in other words, we’re dead to the world and the world is dead to us. When we talk about not loving the world, we’re not talking about the created world, or the people of the world, we're talking about the invisible evil world system, that is run by Satan.
True Christians have fellowship with one another, we're called to hold each other up and to bear each other’s burdens, but we cannot be in true fellowship when our lives are full of sin. When I talk about fellowship, I'm not talking about fellowship in the way most people understand it today, consisting of merely getting together for reading a few Bible verses and some social interaction, talking about everything under the sun, patting each other on the back and sharing a meal. True biblical fellowship is something very different than what we generally think about fellowship in most Christian circles today, quite frankly, I believe the early church would be aghast! When the Bible speaks of fellowship it's more than just socializing, it is the word "koinōnía," it’s being linked together, sharing in a common life with a genuine unity, a real concern for one another that continues to deepen as we grow to know Him better, it's becoming part of a true spiritual partnership with Christ and with other believers, because the Spirit of God takes up residence in your life. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:9, "God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." When you became a Christian, you became a joint partaker of the divine nature of Christ, your soul is in a profound partnership with the family of God, and that produces a real intimate, divine partnership with other believers. You know you're a Christian when righteousness is the pattern of your life and you have a loving relationship with one another, based on the love of God in Christ Jesus. Jesus emphasizes that in John 13, when He says, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another." True Christian fellowship centers on fellowship with God, and the common life we share together in Christ, I dare say its like a marriage, you’ve got to desire it, you've got to work at it, make time for it, and steer clear of anything that could potentially harm that intimate connection, that close relationship with one another and with Him. Because once we've departed from that, we no longer have the basis for true Christian fellowship. Anything less is merely a counterfeit, a cheap replica, and is at best incompatible with the authentic fellowship that Christ envisioned, not just in this life, but for eternity.
Let's pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, thank You for Your Word, for graciously confronting us with such clarity the reasons why we can’t love the world, and that we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren; things that have personally spoken directly to my heart, very specifically that I often spread myself too thin, and the importance of establishing some priorities in my own life, to make more time for those that I love most and to invest more time nurturing those relationships and to put more time and energy into building relationships within the beloved family of Christ, that will strengthen the common bonds of those relationships founded on the love that comes from You, manifesting itself in the form of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Who demonstrated the profound ability to balance truth and love, confronting mankind and exposing him for who and what he really is, a wretched sinner, while extending the gracious invitation to rescue us from eternal condemnation and everlasting punishment. Lord, I pray that You would continue to use this ministry to reach those who are facing eternal judgement, that they might be saved from Your wrath that is to come.
In Christ's precious name we ask and pray
Amen
Today's Message: Gone Fishing, Catch You Later
Open your Bibles with me to the 5th chapter of the Gospel of Luke. Luke 5:1-11. As some of you may have noticed by now, Luke's account stands out as the longest of the four verifiable, historical records documenting the life and works of Jesus Christ. Like the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and John, it's not really very difficult for us to discover exactly Who the real Jesus is; that He is the God-Man, fully man and fully God. In fact, I do not believe that a comprehensive study of the New Testament, approached with a genuine sense of objectivity and impartiality, can unequivocally reach any other conclusion than Jesus is indeed Almighty God. In fact, I am thoroughly convinced that there's sufficient evidence here within these few verses, to unmistakably establish His deity, to make the case as to His divine essence as God. I am confident that you will be in agreement with me as we read and explore these verses together with an open mind, and open hearts, attentively listening for the message that the Holy Spirit wants to convey to each of us today. Please join me in reading Luke chapter 5, verses 1-11.
"Now it
happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to
the word of God, He was standing at the edge of the lake of Gennesaret; and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake, and the fishermen, having gotten out of them, were washing their nets. And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the crowds from the boat. And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." Simon answered and said, "Master, we labored all night and caught nothing, but at Your word, I will let down the nets." And when they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish. And their nets began to break; so
they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and
help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they
began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!" For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken, and James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon, were also likewise amazed. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men." And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him."
Let's look at verse 1, "Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing at the edge of the lake of Gennesaret." Luke begins chapter 5 with "Now it happened," he doesn't tell us how much time has chronology passed since Jesus preached in the synagogue in Capernaum, casting a demon out of a man who was there and afterward went to the house of Simon, where He found his mother-in-law lying in bed with some sort of illness that produced a high fever in her and when He rebuked the fever, it left her and she immediately got up and began waiting on them. And, while the sun was setting at the end of the Sabbath day that people were coming from all over, bringing Him anyone who was sick with various diseases and He was laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them and He was casting demons out of many that same day.
At some point after that period of time, Jesus, still in Galilee, is near the lake of Gennesaret preaching and teaching the Word of God and a large crowd is beginning to gather around Him because they have never encountered a teacher like Him before Who spoke with such power, authority and clarity. An excellent communicator has the ability to attract a large audience, we see that even today. And, as He was addressing the audience that gathered around Him along the shore of the lake, the crowds continued to multiply, and began to push Him closer and closer towards the water. It is worth noting that during the time of Luke, the phrase "the Word of God" was not commonly used in dialogue as it is in our Christian vocabulary today, its has become synonymous for the Bible. In fact, it's found less than ten times in the Old Testament and only around forty times in all of the New Testament, so when Luke uses the term what he is actually saying is as Jesus was speaking, they were listening to the word that comes from God, meaning He Himself is the source of Truth. You'll never find Jesus studying the Scriptures to prepare for His sermons, He already knew everything there was to be known, all He needed to do was open His mouth and God Himself spoke. Every word Jesus spoke was divine, it was the very voice of God, in human flesh. In John 5:24 Jesus said, if we will listen to what He says and believe it, the impact is so powerful that our lives are dramatically changed, we are born-again, and receive the gift of eternal life, a profound Truth that is repeated over and over again throughout Scripture. By the way, there are only two kinds of people in the world, those who hear the Word of God and believe the Truth and those who listen to the voice of Satan and believe his lies. Only the Truth has the power to produce eternal life, rescuing sinners from Hell. Jesus said in John 8, "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
Verse 2, "And He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake, and the fishermen, having gotten out of them, were washing their nets." So, as Jesus was speaking the divine words that come from God, preaching the Good News about salvation, repentance for the forgiveness of sins and entering the kingdom of God, the increasing crowds are pushing Him closer and closer toward the water, He notices there are two fairly large boats at the edge of the lake, the fishermen had already gotten out of them, and were washing their nets to prepare for the next night of fishing. Fishing was typically done at night and then during the daytime, they would dedicate their time to cleaning and mending their nets, fishing as an occupation is very time consuming, demanding the fishermen put in a significant amount of time and effort.
Verse 3, "And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the crowds from the boat." It was no coincidence that Jesus chose to board Simon's boat, it was deliberate to take Simon who had already been following Him part-time to a higher level of commitment, full-time and later, those who were his partners in the fishing trade, namely James and John, the sons of Zebedee. By the way, Peter must have been a difficult guy, much like the many of us, because if you'll notice Jesus dedicated a significant amount of time during His life, and even after His resurrection, trying to get Peter to reach the level of commitment required for him to become the recognized leader. Jesus sovereignly knew that Peter was the key, because he had the greatest influence on the rest. So He gets into Simon's boat, and asked him to put out a little way from the land, He needed to continue to teach the multitudes from the boat. This should be a lesson to those who preach, from the heart of Jesus, no matter what the difficulties you're facing, you have to find a way to keep preaching the Gospel. Because unless the Gospel is proclaimed to those who need to hear the message of forgiveness, no man can attain salvation.
It bears repeating, Jesus was relentless about preaching and teaching the Good News because how are sinners going to believe the Gospel if they don't hear, and how are they going to hear it if there is no one to preach it? Folks, in this age of inclusivity, accepting and affirming everyone's version of the truth and treating them all fairly, there still remains only one way to come into the kingdom of God and that is by openly confessing Jesus as Lord and believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, apart from that Truth, you cannot be saved. The Church is without excuse, many pastors have consistently chosen to hide the best news the world has ever heard in order to please a culture driven by it's own insatiable lusts, and by doing so, we have angered God. I am convinced that the willful rejection of God's Truth about sin, is why so many denominations are literally collapsing on themselves.
Verse 4, "And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, 'Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." After Jesus finished speaking many things about the kingdom of God, no doubt some of the most profound teaching the world has ever heard before or since, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." Even though Luke uses the word "díktyon," a generic term for any type of fishing net, we 're able to determine what kind of net it was because it required two boats to use it, it was a very large drag-net with weights called a sagēnē, that was cast into the sea and dragged through the water between the two boats to catch fish of every kind. The Sea of Galilee is not really a sea, it's actually a lake, only thirteen miles long at its longest point, and seven miles wide at its widest point, seven hundred feet below sea level and by now it's the middle of the day, about the time the sun reaches its apex or highest point. Peter having a lot of experience, knowing the sun generally drives the fish down so deep into the water, making it challenging for the net to reach them, couldn't resist telling Jesus he's convinced there weren't going to be any fish there.
Verse 5, "Simon answered and said, "Master, we labored all night and caught nothing, but at Your word, I will let down the nets." Master is word "epistatēs," it means chief or commander, it's a term of respect for anyone who is in authority, not necessarily acknowledging His deity. In other words, Peter doesn't fully understand Who Jesus is yet. It's as though Peter is respectfully saying, "Look, I know that You are a Master in You're field of expertise, but allow me to mention that since You're out of Your league here, You are overestimating the situation. We are the fishermen and I'm telling you, it's pointless, we've fished all night, and caught absolutely nothing. Now the sun is beating down on the lake and that means that there are no fish here, that's why we've been washing our nets. Do You not understand the futility of what You're asking? But, since You healed my mother in-law, the least I can do is to do as You ask, but before I do it, I want You to understand the pointlessness of your request, there's no fish there.
Verse 6, "And when they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish. And their nets began to break." Here we see Jesus' omniscience, only God knows everything there is to know, without limits or error, because He possesses divine knowledge. Jesus knew exactly where the fish were, because He is God in human flesh! I want you to realize that when God calls you to do something, even though it makes no sense, illogical in terms of our human understanding, it serves no purpose to resist, He already knows the outcome. What else can I say, except trust the Lord. Trust the Lord always. This most amazing characteristic of Jesus is seen on a number of occasions throughout the New Testament, we don't need to go into all of them, just a couple verses will do.
Mark chapter 2, verses 6-8, "But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, "Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?" Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, "Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?" How did He know what they were thinking without anybody telling Him? Then, at the end of Matthew 17, when they needed to pay their two-drachma tax, He told Peter, "Go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a stater. Take that and give it to them for Me and you." How did He know what fish had the coin, where the fish was? Because He possesses the knowledge that only God has. I'll give you just one more, John 1:47-49, "Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said about him, "Behold, truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!" Nathanael said to Him, "From where do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." Nathanael answered Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel." IF Jesus isn't God, how could He possibly know the character of somebody He has never met?
Verse 7, "So they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink." Can you imagine the look on Peter's face when he finally grasped the fact that Jesus not only knew precisely where the fish were, but as expression of His extraordinary power, He was also able to gather an enormous amount of fish, that was far surpassing any normal catch imaginable, so much that their boats couldn't contain it and they began to sink, leaving everyone in awe with no logical human explanation! I have personally experienced the miraculous power of God during my battle with advanced stage 4 colon cancer, it's an absolutely amazing thing when even the medical professionals and scientists are left speechless, completely in awe by something that defies all human explanation!
Verse 8, "But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!" When Peter saw what happened, he immediately recognized that this extraordinary event was supernatural, he knew there's only One Who has the power to command the fish to gather exactly where He wanted them, being in the presence of Almighty God, and overwhelmed by his own sinfulness, he fell down at Jesus’ feet saying, "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, I don't deserve to be in Your presence!" I must confess, it always astonishes me when people assume they can approach Christ seeking forgiveness with a self-righteous, impenitent attitude. I mean, do they not realize they are approaching the Holy Living God, the Creator of the entire universe? They should be terrified! Let me tell you something, we all like to think we're pretty good people, but when you see Jesus Christ for who He really is you’re going to see yourselves for who you really are, and believe me, there's nothing to be proud of. May I just add, this is precisely the kind of humility, shame and unworthiness we should anticipate from anyone who earnestly seeks the Lord's forgiveness, surrender is the only proper response to the call of God on your life, trusting Him to take care of the details. When was the last time you completely humbled yourself at the feet of Jesus in shame and humility repenting of your sin? It's interesting that its at the exact moment when the sinner feels the most alienated from God, it is actually the moment when our compassionate, loving Savior is seeking to pull the sinner closer.
Verses 9-10, "For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken, and James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon, were also likewise amazed. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men." I love this, just when the Lord finally has you where you need to be, broken and contrite, and instead of condemning you, He extends the invitation to live for His glory, demonstrating His amazing grace and mercy! It's important to understand that He is not interested in a half-hearted surrender or a part-time commitment, He's looking for a wholehearted, unwavering commitment from us. Isn't it amazing how the very same God Who has the ability to instill sheer terror in the unrepentant sinner, also has the capacity to bring peace penitent sinner who seeks forgiveness?
That brings us to verse 11, "And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him." What is it that you are holding in your hands today that is preventing you from dropping everything and following Him? You cannot serve the King, if you don't belong to the Kingdom. From that moment on, they went from being fishermen to fishers of men, only God, Who gives grace and mercy to sinners, can do that! This is the biblical picture of salvation, when a penitent sinner truly embraces the Savior, they leave their past behind as they embark on the journey of their lifetime and they follow Him in obedience. Scripture knows nothing of a salvation where the sinner clings to his past life of sin and just adds Jesus. In every biblical example when the sinner recognizes his sinfulness and acknowledges his need for salvation, he willingly lets go of his past without resistance to follow the One that saves his soul, just look at the lives of Peter, Andrew, James and John, and the rest of the group that readily relinquished their past without opposition to pursue the One Who made them His twelve disciples.
Have you come to that point in your own life where you're prepared to forsake everything, leaving it all behind and turn to God through faith in Jesus Christ? Or are you merely fooling yourself, professing to follow Him, running the other way, in order to cling to your sin? Now, you're standing in the presence of the Savior, Who is speaking to you through this message, the only One Who can forgive your sin and give you a new life, worthy of the highest calling of all, which is to become a proclaimer of the Gospel. I pray that you will surrender it all to fully embrace Him, even now, in this moment.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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