Launch Out

Introduction: I had been praying and asking to the Lord to direct me to a passage of Scripture that would be fitting and encouraging both for those going back to school and those of us also who are not in school and the Lord had brought this passage to my attention.

Let’s read this passage together in Luke chapter 5 verses 1-11 this morning.

Text: Luke 5:1-11

Luke 5:1–11 KJV 1900

1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. 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. 4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. 6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, 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 was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: 10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. 11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

I want us to look at this command as we think about this start of the school year, it is found in verse number 4 of our text and is two words, “Launch Out...”

As you go back to school for this year, the Lord is calling you to Launch Out.

As we continue to serve the Lord here at Sharon Baptist Church, the Lord is calling us to Launch Out.

Let’s Pray

I. The Command to Launch Out

Luke 5:3-4 “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. 4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.”

There were two parts to the command given to Peter, and we will deal with those shortly.

But I want you to see in this verse that our Lord and Savior gave a command to Peter to launch out.

It is interesting to think about the fact the this was Simon Peter’s ship according to verse 3.

You can imagine Him thinking, “Here is a man, whom I allowed to sit on my ship and teach the people out of, and He is commanding me to launch out.”

And so we come this first vital lesson concerning the command, and that is this that God has every right to give us the command to launch out.

Psalm 24:1 “1 The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein.”

And if you are saved, not only are you God’s by simple fact that He is the Creator, not only is He the owner of all things.... but you are doubly His by the purchase of the Lord Jesus Christ by His blood.

I Corinthians 6:20 “20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

A. God has every right to command us.

I believe that God is calling you all to launch out this morning.

For some of you that means your launching out to the deep waters of study at school… putting in sincere effort… not just getting by... and all your might into your studies.

For some God is calling you to launch out to the deep waters of being a faithful witness at home or on the job or in the community.

For some God is calling you to launch out to the deep waters of full time service to the Lord.

For some God is calling you to launch out to the deep waters of faithfulness to Him.

I know two things for sure God always has a people, and God always has a purpose for His people.

There is a clarion call to you this morning to launch out…

The Lord has not called us home yet, and therefore while we are temporarily on this earth, we are called to live a life pleasing to Him.

I am challenged not to be complacent this morning. I know that God is calling me to launch out into the deep.

God by the way calls all of His children to launch out into the deep. It is His design for us to be conformed to the image of His Son and this by necessity requires us to exercise ourselves in living by faith--- a living faith...

The Lord not only asks Peter to launch out, but He commands that He let down the nets.

That tells us this, the Lord gives us specific instructions.

B. God gives us specific Instructions.

This book that we hold, the Bible is not vague. Now in truth there may be many things that we do not fully understand. But the Lord has made clear for us how we are to live as His people.

For instance, for the teenagers and young people going back to school.

The Lord has made it clear that you are to witness to others about the Lord Jesus Christ. This is both in life and in lip.

Let me say it this way, you are to speak to others about their need to be saved and you are to live a life that says you are saved.

I am told by the Christian Law Association that, “Students may distribute religious tracts or literature to their schoolmates in the same manner as they would be permitted to distribute non-religious material.”

For the rest of us God has given us specific instruction concerning the Christian life. We have an entire record filled with not only direct commands, but also life examples on how we are to live our lives.

Here we see that Peter recieved specific instructions from the Lord. It contained two parts, Launch out into the Deep, then secondly, let down your nets for a draught.

Not only is it right and proper for the Lord to give us commands, we see He also gives us specific instructions, but thirdly, God has a purpose for the command.

C. God has a purpose for the command.

Oftentimes God’s purposes are not one-sided as we may suppose.

Sometimes it is that we look for the ONE reason God has asked me to go in a particular direction.

And there may be one great overall purpose involved, but we may discover that there are many reasons why God has asked us to go a certain direction or complete a specific task.

For instance:

There is more than one reason we are told to preach the gospel to every creature.

There is more than one reason we are told not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

There is more than one reason we are told to read and study the Word of God.

And here, in our text, the Lord Jesus Christ had a multifaceted purpose for Peter to obey his command...

It wasn’t by the way to see how many fish would fit in one net.

The good news for you and me this morning, is that when we obey the Lord and yield ourselves to Him, we discover the most profit in our lives.

Do you want to live the very best life you can live?

Then obey God to the fullest.

The blessing is that God gives us purpose and context.

There are many today that are floating through life with no clue as to why they are here. If you were to answer the question, what is my purpose, what answer would you give.

Can I tell you this morning, God is calling us to launch out into the deep for a purpose.

If you are going back to school, God wants you to be diligent in your school work now, so you can be a greater service to Him later!

D. God works in and through the circumstances of our lives to teach us.

We will discover in just a few minutes, that this situation arose after a long fruitless night of fishing. And the Lord as He does in our lives as well, taught Peter and Andrew and James and John using this very circumstance.

God put his hand on what we would call the “ordinary” and did what only He can do!

It will make all the difference in the world, if you come to understand that your very lives and all that you do are as unto the Lord.

Peter went fishing the night before for Himself. But in the day, in the light, He would be fishing as unto the Lord.

As you go to work, as you go to school, as you go home, understand we are the Lord’s and are here for Him.

II. The Concern to Let Down the Net(s)

It is has been said by many Bible expositors that the Lord Jesus Christ gave Peter a command to let down His nets.... in the plural.

You will notice it at the end of verse 4 once again, “Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.”

There were two parts to this command, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets.

The result of this was according to the Lord. In other words, Peter was not responsible to make the fish go into the net. He was responsible to launch out and let down.

Notice with me what Peter says in verse 5.

Luke 5:5 “5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.”

Here we have a clear case of reluctance.

On the sea of Galilee, it was well known that you catch fish at night and at that in the shallows.

And yet the Lord’s instructions were for Peter to thrust out into the deep let down their nets in the daytime.

What the Lord asked Peter to do was contrary to his reasoning and experience.

After a night of toil, having cleaned the nets a Carpenter is asking me to go out and fish in the deep, during the day.

This was surely a test to enlarge Peter’s faith.

Later on Peter would recognize this very truth when He pens down the words by inspiration of the Holy Ghost,

I Peter 1:7 “7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:”

How precious are the tests intended to enlarge our faith!

Not only do we see a case of reluctance from Peter, but secondly, we see in Peter’s reaction

B. A case of misunderstanding.

A great many mistakes and failures occur in our lives because we do not have a right vision of our Lord. After this incident, Peter will see more clearly when He falls down at Jesus’ knees saying “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

This man was not just a carpenter, He was not just a master, but He is the Master, He was not just a man, but He is the God-man. He is not just a Rabbi, but He is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God.

Too often we are found as Peter, allowing God to speak to us about what we deem are “spiritual things” which of course only occur on Sunday, and fail to seek His face in other matters.

How careful we are to seek the Lord’s face at the church house but somehow forget to seek the Lord on other places.

And yet God is Lord over our entire lives. After all He did set the moon and stars in the heavens. He did create the earth and seas and all the birds, animals and plant life that exists. I would say He knows where the fish are and how to catch them.

Illustration: One preacher recounted this testimony, “We knew a man who was a chief engineer at a laboratory that produces sound equipment. At a small prayer group meeting one night Sidney told us this story: “This week a strange thing happened. We produced two hundred amplifiers for a custom order, and when they came off our assembly line not a single one of them worked. We checked all the blueprints, all the parts, and could find nothing wrong. I went back into my office. I closed the door and I got on my knees and said, ‘Lord, what’s wrong with these amplifiers?’ And while I was still kneeling the idea came to cross two particular wires. It didn’t make sense to do so, but I went back and tried it. It worked. All those sets were delivered in perfect working order because Jesus demonstrated He knew even more about electronics than I did.”Bruce Larson and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Luke, vol. 26, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1983), 103–104.”

Let me encourage you students as you embark on your studies at School to ask God to enable you to do your very best.

Ask Him to help you remember what you need to and learn what you are supposed to learn.

Ask Him to guide you with the best study habits and guide you on best how to master all of your classes.

You can imagine Peter, this was his element, this was his trade, this was his expertise… “Jesus may know religion but He does not know fishing…”

And After we have expended our efforts and our energies and used our wisdom and have come up short, then it is we ask the Lord for help.

We see the case of reluctance, the case of misunderstanding, but then we also discover:

C. A case of small faith.

We see in Peter’s response a case of reluctance, a case of misunderstanding concerning the Lord, but then also a case of small faith.

We can rejoice in these words, Nevertheless at thy word in verse 5.

As it concerns our lives, the Lord is not limited by our reasoning or mental capacity but by our faith.

God’s call to us is for obedience.

Your past failures are not a reason to disobey.

The circumstances, by the way, did not add up. But Peter showed a small light of faith in what he already knew concerning the Lord. If he had not, he would not have gone out at all.

This is a small step of faith. I am all for giant steps in the Christian life, but I am thankful for the small steps of faith as well.

Here Peter surrenders his own reasoning and submits Himself to the Lord’s instructions.

We see he states, “Nevertheless at thy word...”

That ought to be our motto, “At thy word...”

I am reminded of the terrific battle plan that God gave Joshua in the seige of Jericho.

God told Joshua, muster as many soldiers as you can.

Throw ropes onto the walls.

Get out the battering rams for this is a high-walled city.

No, none of those things appear in the text, that is not what God commanded in Joshua chapter 6.

Can you imagine the challenge to the faith of the multitudes when they are told to march around a city for six days in silence blowing some trumpets and on the seventh day they did it seven times shouting after the seventh time around?

And yet as they obeyed the Lord, the walls came down.

Number one the Bible shows us The Call to Launch Out, Secondly from Peter’s response We see the Concern to let down the Nets.

Next, I would like you to note:

III. The Catastrophe of Partial Obedience

We see that this failure in full obedience still yet provided vital instruction for Peter.

But I want you to notice, that Peter let down a net, instead of the nets.

There were two parties that would be involved in this mass of fish later.

Peter received instructions from the Lord to let down the nets, instead He let down his net.

One expositor said it well, “We can do worse than fail—we can succeed and be proud of our success, and burn incense to our net.” Joseph S. Exell, The Biblical Illustrator: St. Luke, vol. I (London: James Nisbet & Co., n.d.), 473.

We cannot say, what would have happened had Peter let down both nets. But we do know that He only let down the one.

It then required the rest to get involved.

Notice verses 6 and 7..

Luke 5:6-7 “6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.”

What a catch! It required all the get involved. I look out and see all of you… some going to school some going to work some going about other business in your lives.

And I understand what God has called us too. It is a great work and a mighty work.

It is a work that requires all of us to labour for Him.

Young people we are counting on you to do the work of the Lord among others at school.

Adults.... we are counting on you to do the work of the Lord among those with whom you work around.

Retirees… we are counting on you to do the work of the Lord in your day to day business.

You see the work is great… and too often the workforce is too few.

The harvest truly is plenteous but the labourers are few.

We discover as we begin to close a important discovery that Peter makes as He sees all of this unfold and that is:

IV. The Conclusion of Our Poverty and His Power

The Bible says in Luke 5:8 “8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

Peter’s vision of the Lord is what helped Him understand who He was.

In the presence of the Lord, we realize our own spiritual poverty.

These very words, echo what Isaiah stated in Isaiah chapter 6, having seen the Lord high, holy and lifted up.

He stated, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”

This conclusion is so vitally important to our walk with the Lord. It leads us to careful dependence on Him.

And might I say, this is a terrible conclusion but a wonderful realization.

We do not revel in the fact that we are undone, we do not glory in the fact that we are sinful men.

But we give glory to God for shining His glorious light upon us that we may seek His face for the work needed to be done by the Physician.

My friend, all I am trying to show you it that we ought to cast ourselves wholly upon the Lord for His help!

As we draw close to the Lord. As we take Him at His Word. As we take simple steps of faith and His light grows brighter and brighter let fall down on our knees and seek His precious face.

I think it all boils down to our last point and that is this:

V. The Commitment to Follow the Lord

The Bible tells us in verse 11 “And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.”

Upon seeing all that the Lord had done, the Bible tells us they forsook all and followed Him.

Most scholars believe based on the other accounts that this is not the first encounter of these men with the Lord. And they idea is that they perhaps according John’s Gospel had spent some time with the Lord already.

So what is it that took place here. The Bible says, the commited themselves fully to the Lord.

Little did they know all that God had for them ahead.

One thing is for sure, the Lord had a purpose for them to fish for men.

As we think about Back to School Sunday, I wonder if there would be some young people here today who will be willing to wholly follow the Lord as you head back to school.

I wonder if there would be some adults here who would be willing to wholly follow the Lord this year.

Young people can I say this to you, we are dealing with days when folks are trying to teach all manner of things including immoral lifestyles that go completely against what God tells us in His Word.

You are going to have to make a choice to reject those things and hold onto the Word of God as the only real truth!

Its going to take courage and in some cases great boldness on your behalf. But nonetheless the Lord is calling all Christians to launch out into the deep.