LAUNCHING OUT
Luke 5:1–11
This passage is
our theme Scripture for the next church year. Normally we introduce it on our
anniversary Sunday, but this year we want to introduce and develop it early so
that our anniversary Sunday becomes a launch Sunday with a commissioning
service and an ordination service.
Let’s read it
together.
1 So it
was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood
by the Lake of Gennesaret, 2 and saw two boats standing by the lake; but
the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets.
3 Then He
got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little
from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.
4 When He
had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, "Launch out into the deep and let
down your nets for a catch." 5 But Simon answered and said to Him,
"Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your
word I will let down the net."
6 And when
they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was
breaking. 7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come
and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to
sink.
8 When Simon
Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I
am a sinful man, O Lord!" 9 For he and all who were with him were
astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus
said to Simon, "Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men."
11 So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and
followed Him.
PRAYER
Let’s look
carefully now at the text.
1 So it was, as the multitude pressed
about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret,
This is the Sea
of Galilee. Jesus referred to it as a “sea” but here Luke calls it a lake. It
is six hundred eighty-five feet below sea level, about seven miles wide, and
twelve miles long. In Christ’s day, it was abundant with fish.
Jesus had
started His public ministry. He had been baptized by John, filled with the
Spirit, tempted by the devil in the wilderness, returned in power to preach,
heal, and cast out demons.
Great crowds
followed Him to hear His teaching and experience His power. He was now
preaching around the Sea of Galilee
2 and saw two boats standing by the lake;
but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets.
The fishermen were
Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John. They were acquainted with Jesus and His
ministry and had followed Him on some occasions.
3 Then He got into one of the boats,
which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat
down and taught the multitudes from the boat.
The boat became
both a refuge and a platform.
4 When He had stopped speaking, He said
to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
The professional
fishermen would have problems with this. After all, Jesus was a carpenter and
an itinerant teacher. What did He know about fishing?
The best time to
fish was the night time, and you did not fish in deep water!
Sometimes we
think we know more than God! But
remember, God know the end from the beginning.
II Corinthians 9:8 NKJV
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having
all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
God will give
you all you need to do the job he has called you to do!
5 But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing;
nevertheless at Your word I will let down the
net.”
Master: Greek
word used only by Luke; speaks to His absolute authority.
At Your word… rhema.
The people had gathered in verse 1 to hear the word, logos, but here Peter acknowledges
the personal word.
6 And when they had done this, they
caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. 7 So they signaled
to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and
filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.
One rhema
word makes all the difference!
8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down
at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” 9 For
he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they
had taken;
A mighty move
results in conviction and repentance.
10 and so also were James and John, the
sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” 11
So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed
Him.
These four men
left their livelihood and followed Jesus full-time from this point on! Their
destiny was established!
There are so
many lessons here for us. We will spend the next few weeks looking at the
lessons in this passage because it speaks to the place God is calling us. He is
calling us to launch out into deep water, places that we are unfamiliar with,
places that have yielded no fruit in the past but are now overflowing with
promise. God is speaking and we must obey!
That is the
first thing I want us to look at: listening and obeying the voice of the
Master.
Do you remember
the old RCA Victor emblem? It was a dog sitting in from of an old horn speaker
on a record player. The slogan underneath said, “His Master’s Voice”.
Can you hear Him
speak? Do you obey? Self-control has been defined as “instant obedience to the
initial promptings of the Holy Spirit”.
Jesus is calling
us to ’launch out’ just like He commanded Peter to launch out in this passage.
There is
something interesting about launching out in this passage. Look at verse 3.
3 Then He got into one of the boats,
which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a
little from the land.
The term ’put out’ is the same Greek word as ’launch out’ in verse 4.
4 When He had stopped speaking, He said
to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down
your nets for a catch.”
When God begins
to speak to us, he tests our obedience in small things first. Put out a little
ways…
Zechariah 4:10 NKJV
For who has despised the day of small things?…
Matthew 25:21 NKJV
His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant;
you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.
Enter into the joy of your lord.’
Before we can
launch out into the deep, we have to learn how to put out a little ways. we
have to learn how to listen and obey in the little things.
Faithfulness
proceeds ruling. In the words of T.D. Jakes, “You gotta pay your dues baby”!
Faithfulness in
the little things…
Rusty and Vicki
and the potato chip bowl… Choir before worship team…
Rehearsal before
performance…
If Peter didn’t
’put out’, he would not get to ’launch out’!
Many of you feel
you have been called to deep water living and you wonder when it will come. You
are waiting on heaven to call you out, but heaven is waiting on you to ’put out
a little ways’…
It is both a
test and a process. You learn to listen and obey by listening and obeying!
Exodus 16:4 NKJV
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from
heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every
day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not."
Will we obey?
James 1:22 NKJV
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Why was Peter
obedient? Because he had watched Jesus heal his mother in law!
Mark 1:29–31 NKJV Now as soon as they had
come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with
James and John. But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever, and they told
Him about her at once. So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up,
and immediately the fever left her. And she served them.
Luke 4:39 NKJV
So He stood over her and rebuked the
fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them.
When Peter heard
the command, He obeyed. When the command became bigger, he obeyed. He already
knew the voice and the power that came with the voice!
“At Your word…”
Do we live ’at
His word’?
What small
matter of obedience is left undone?
No comments:
Post a Comment