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NOTICE:   THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!

AN UNFORGETTABLE FISHING TRIP

Introduction

How many fishermen do we have here today? (and I had better say fisherwomen too! Or should I say fisherpersons?)

If you’ve done a fair amount of fishing, no doubt you’ve got a fishing story that you have shared at some time or the other. Now it is well known that fishing stories have a way of becoming larger than life as they are shared. We’ve all probably either told a story or heard a story about “the one that got away!”

Usually those that tell those tales don’t have any credible witnesses who saw what happened to substantiate their claims. So folks roll their eyes and say “Yeah, right!”

That may be the way it is with a lot of our fishing stories, but that is not the way it was with Peter’s fishing story that we are going to look at today. (Read the Scripture)

The house that I grew up in from the time that I was 11 years old until I left home had a fishing pond out in front. My granny and I and several of our neighbors fished in that pond quite often. We caught all kinds of fish out of there–catfish, bluegill, other kinds of bream, white perch, and a few bass among some other good fish and some trash fish.

While we were always fishing for fish, there was one fish in particular that we all wanted to land. It was a fairly good size bass that we would see break the water from time to time and when the sun hit the water just right you could see him swimming in the water or just kind of motionlessly laying there. He was a big knocker!

Two of the boys in our neighborhood (Buddy and Randy Sears) had named him “Old Joe” before we ever moved on the property. They had been fishing in that pond for years and had caught a great many fish. However, they were primarily interested in catching Old Joe.

My granny and I would fish for fish, and oh what a fisher my granny was. She had the patience of Job when it came to catching fish. If the fish weren’t biting, I was ready to put the pole up and do something else. But not my granny, she would drown crickets and worms for hours on end to catch fish.

But while my granny and I were interested in catching fish in general, we also were interested in catching one specific fish–Old Joe. The reason being for me it would have been a prize catch. I wanted to mount him as a trophy catch on my wall or something. My granny had other thoughts. She was going to filet him up real good and get quite a few meals out of him.

Well, Old Joe was finally caught by one of those neighbor boys (Randy Sears) and he weighed out right at ten pounds. I wish I could say that I caught him, and I could make a great fishing story about that, but it would only be a fishing story. It would not be the truth.

We see in our text that the Lord Jesus Christ was fishing for men. Verse 1 says that the people pressed upon Him to hear the Word of God. Would to God that everybody was that eager to hear the Word of God. Our attitude toward the Word makes a difference in how we respond.

Now understand that the lake of Gennesaret is just another name for the Sea of Galilee, especially the portion that was on the west shore of the lake next to a village by that name.

So, Jesus is fishing for men in general, but He was really fishing for one man in particular– Simon or Peter. We see that Jesus called Simon Peter into a relationship that was based upon trust and obedience.

We need to see today that Jesus is also calling us into a relationship with Himself that is based upon trust and obedience.

I want everyone to leave here today not only knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, but also committed to following Him in trust and obedience in every area of life, even the areas in our life where we might think that we have arrived.

Notice how Peter entered a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ:

I.         PETER’S CALLING. (vs. 1-3)

Historians and archaeologists say that there were possibly as many as 4,000 boats on this lake during Jesus’ day. I don’t know how they came up with that, but we do know that fishing was a big business in that day.

            Don’t you think it was more than a coincidence that the Lord chose Peter’s boat?

This was not the first time Jesus had met Peter or else Peter might have reacted quite differently to Jesus getting in his boat.

In John 1:35-42, we are told that Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was a disciple of John the Baptist when John proclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God!,” and pointed to Jesus. The Bible says there that Andrew and another disciple followed Jesus home and spent the rest of the day with Him.

After that, Andrew went and found his brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah!” Andrew then took Simon to see Jesus and Jesus gave Simon the name Cephas or Peter, which means “a stone.”

We saw last week how that when Jesus left the synagogue in Capernaum, after he had cast a demon out of a man, that he entered Simon’s house and healed his mother-in-law.

So, of all the boats on this lake, Jesus got into Peter’s boat and asked him to push it out a little from the land.

Not only did getting in the boat make it easier for Jesus to teach the crowd that pressed upon Him, but Jesus would have had a private audience with the man rowing the boat.

Up to this point I don’t think that Peter had yet totally surrendered and trusted Jesus as his Saviour and Lord.

Understand that when Jesus called Peter to shove the boat out, Peter was busy cleaning his nets. Peter had had a long night. He was tired. He was dirty. He was frustrated.

            He was probably ready to go home. But Jesus had other plans.

Sometimes when we get like Peter and maybe we don’t feel like obeying the Lord, if we just determine to be obedient and come and hear from Jesus, He does great things for us.

Jesus wanted to get into Peter’s boat. Now we know that Jesus was fishing for the souls of those who came to hear him, but primarily he was fishing for Peter.

I remember when Jesus got into my boat and was fishing for me when I was 14 years old just about to turn 15 a little over 35 years ago.

Has Jesus climbed into your boat yet? Has he caught you? My prayer for you today is that if you haven’t already, that you will let Jesus come into your boat today and that you will trust Him and obey Him as Peter did.

            PETER’S CALLING.

II.       PETER’S CHALLENGE. (vs. 4-5a)

            Jesus taught the people from Peter’s boat. And Peter had the best seat of anyone there.

We are not told how long the teaching session lasted. One thing for sure is they weren’t looking at their watches–they didn’t have any. And I don’t think Peter went to sleep on the Lord either! He may have been tired, but I believe he wanted to hear what Jesus said.

Jesus knew that Peter and his partners (James and John) and all their crew had fished all night and caught nothing. He saw them come ashore empty-handed.

Why did He ask Peter to try one more time? Because if Peter was going to enter into a relationship with Jesus, it would have to be based upon trust and obedience.

The request may seem simple to us, but we need to understand that Peter was an experienced fisherman that knew the odds of catching fish.

Think about it for a minute. Peter knew fishing. Peter had grown up learning how, when, and where to fish. He knew in his mind that this was not the time, the place, or the manner that he was used to fishing. But he had to get beyond what he knew, because what he knew just didn’t cut it the night before.

Some of you may be in some situations right now where it seems difficult if not impossible to trust God. You are doing all that you know to do, but it is just not working.

There is a song entitled “Through It All” that you may or may not be familiar with. It says, “I thank God for the mountains, and I thank Him for the valleys, I thank Him for the storms He’s brought me through; For if I’d never had a problem I wouldn’t know that He could solve them, I’d never know what faith in God could do. Through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus; I’ve learned to trust in God; I’ve learned to depend on His Word.”

III.      PETER’S COMMITMENT. (vs. 5b-7)

            “Nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the net.” or “Because you say so, I will”

God is not looking for excuses, He is not looking for alternatives, He is not looking for explanations and He is not looking for shortcuts. He is looking for trust and obedience!

            Peter resolved in his heart to trust Jesus and then to obey His command.

            Because Peter was obedient, he received a great blessing!

            We need to realize that disobedience has a multiplying effect in our lives.

            You’ve probably heard the saying:

“Sin will take you farther than you want to go, it will keep you longer than you want to stay, and it will cost you more than you want to pay.”

But just as disobedience has a multiplying effect in our lives, so also obedience has a multiplying effect in our lives.

Luke 6:38–“Give and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”

Someone once said, “Little faith will bring your soul to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to your soul.”

            Peter obeyed the Lord and then the Lord exceeded his expectations.

            If you will obey the Lord today, He will exceed your expectations.

            PETERS CALLING, CHALLENGE, COMMITMENT. . .

IV.      PETER’S CONFESSION. (vs. 8-10a)

Peter was in awe of the number of fish they took in, but I believe he was more in awe of the Person Who sent those fish. For the first time he saw and understood for himself who Jesus really was.

He cried out a similar cry to Isaiah when he was confronted with a thrice holy God,

Isaiah 6:5 “Then said I, 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.”

Again, Peter didn’t have great expectations when he obeyed the Lord. Jesus told him to let down his “nets” in verse 4. And although Simon trusted and obeyed the Lord. We know that his faith was small as verse 5 says he let down “the net.” And Jesus did far more than Peter ever expected. Not just on that day, but also in the days that followed.

Peter’s confession was rooted in his heart. A confession that is not rooted in the heart is of no merit for salvation. It takes more than going through the motions of praying some prayer.

Romans 10:9-10, 13–“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If you will respond to the calling of Jesus today, trusting and obeying Him and confessing your sin, you too, just like Peter, can be saved and enter in to a relationship with Jesus.

            PETERS CALLING, CHALLENGE, COMMITMENT, CONFESSION. . .

V.        PETER’S COMMISSION. (vs. 10b-11)

            Jesus commissioned Peter to be a fisher of men.

            In other words, “Peter, if you thought that was something, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

Listen, I’m not promising you a great fishing trip this morning. God doesn’t offer a problem-free life. But He does offer life more abundantly!

John 10:10–“. . .I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

            Peter had to leave everything to follow Jesus, vs. 11.

            You cannot stay where you are in sin and disobedience and go with God.

God is calling you to a relationship with Himself that is based upon trust and obedience. The question is, have you responded to that? If not, will you respond today?

            As we respond to the call of Jesus, others will follow us as we follow Jesus.

            (e.g. James and John followed Jesus when Peter followed Jesus)

Conclusion

Jesus is tenderly calling today. He is fishing for you! He wants to be in your boat. Is He?

Will you let Him in your boat? Or are you too tired, too busy, too soiled and too frustrated with life to mess with Jesus. Why not come to Him just as you are today. Trust Him. Obey Him.

Jesus is offering you a challenge today. How will you respond to the challenge. Will you allow Him to be the Lord of your life even though you think you’ve got a good handle on life when you know in your heart that you really don’t.

Jesus is wanting you to commit to Him today. Just trust His Words without delay!

Jesus wants you to turn your heart and life over to Him today. He wants to give you life and give it to you more abundantly. But you have to trust Him. You have to obey Him.

Jesus is wanting you to confess today. Confess that you are a sinner and confess that you are trusting Him as the only way of salvation.

Jesus is wanting to commission you today. He wants you to become more than just a child of God, He wants you to become a disciple, a follower. He wants others to see your obedience and follow you as you follow Him.

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NOTICE:   THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!