["O Come All Ye Faithful"]
Good morning and welcome. Let's find our seats, take our song books, and turn to song 229.
Song number 229.
229. Let's sing it out, all in the first.
I have a song I love to sing Since I have been redeemed
Come, my Redeemer, Savior King Since I have been redeemed
Since I have been redeemed Since I have been redeemed
I will glory in His name Since I have been redeemed
I will glory in my Savior's name 229 on the second
I have a Christ that satisfies Since I have been redeemed
To do His will My highest Christ
Since I have been redeemed Since I have been redeemed
Since I have been redeemed I will glory in His name
Since I have been redeemed I will glory in my Savior's name
I have a witness bright and clear Since I have been redeemed
Dispelling earth out and clear Since I have been redeemed
Since I have been redeemed Since I have been redeemed
I will glory in His name Since I have been redeemed
I will glory in my Savior's name Good, sing it on the last.
I have a home prepared for me Since I have been redeemed
Where I shall dwell eternally Since I have been redeemed
Since I have been redeemed Since I have been redeemed
I will glory in His name Since I have been redeemed
I will glory in my Savior's name
And we'd like to welcome you to Verity Baptist Church this morning. We're glad you're with us
We have a wonderful service lined up for you today and of course tonight as well
And we'd like to begin the service with a word of prayer
Let's go ahead and bow our heads together and let's pray
Heavenly Father and Lord we do thank you for allowing us to gather together today
We thank you for allowing us to be able to come together and sing praises and open the Bible, study and learn
I pray that you would meet with us this morning as we open up your word and study the Bible
I pray that you would help us to grow and to leave here different than we came
In the maxillist name of Christ we pray. Amen
Turn to song 206
Song 206
206 on the first
There is a song in my heart today Something I never had
Jesus has taken my sins away Oh, say that I'm glad
Oh, say that I'm glad, I'm glad Oh, say that I'm glad
Jesus has come and my cap's overrun Oh, say that I'm glad
Wonderful marvelous love He brings Into a heart that stands
Through darkness tunnels the soul just seems Oh, say that I'm glad
Oh, say that I'm glad, I'm glad Oh, say that I'm glad
Jesus has come and my cap's overrun Oh, say that I'm glad
We have a fellowship rich and sweet Tongues can never remain
Abiding in Him the souls retreat Oh, say that I'm glad
Oh, say that I'm glad, I'm glad Oh, say that I'm glad
Jesus has come and my cap's overrun Oh, say that I'm glad
You're singing well, sing it out on the last
Won't you come to Him with all your care Weary and worn and sad
You two will sing as His love you share Oh, say that I'm glad
Oh, say that I'm glad, I'm glad Oh, say that I'm glad
Jesus has come and my cap's overrun Oh, say that I'm glad
Good singing.
Amen. All right. Well, let's take our bulletins and we'll look at some announcements this morning.
If you do not have a bulletin, just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you.
If you need a bulletin this morning, just put your hand up and we will get one for you.
The verse this week, 2 Corinthians 5 17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.
Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new.
That's a good verse there. We like that.
If you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service times Sunday morning service 10 30 a.m.
We're glad you're with us on Sunday morning, of course, on the Lord's Day for church.
We do invite you to be back tonight at 6 p.m. for the evening service.
The evening service is different than the morning service.
Different songs that are sung, different sermon that's preached.
Just one more opportunity in God's house with God's people under the preaching of the word of God.
And then, of course, we have our Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 p.m.
This Wednesday is going to be a special service.
We'll talk about it here in a minute.
And then you'll see our soul winning times.
And our main soul winning times on Saturday morning at 10 a.m.
And soul winning is when we go out in the community, we knock doors, we invite people to church,
and we preach the gospel to anyone who's interested.
We have additional soul winning times on Thursdays and Fridays and Sundays at 2 p.m.
So we'd love for you to join us if you'd like to go soul winning this afternoon.
There's a time there for you to be able to do that.
If you're a first time guest, if it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church,
or maybe it's your first time in a long time, we'd like to welcome you and greet you
and thank you for being with us this morning.
We want to let you know that we have a gift we'd like to give you as you walk out of the church building this morning,
as you go through the foyer, the main foyer, or if you go out through the secondary foyer,
you'll see little tables set up, and on those tables right as you leave, you'll see these little gift bags.
Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest this morning.
There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have,
but the one I'd like to highlight is this documentary that our church made.
It's called Being Baptist, and it's very well made, very interesting. We think you'll like it.
I tell people it's educational and entertaining, want to give this to you as a gift.
So please make sure you don't leave here this morning without grabbing one of these gift bags on your way out.
And if you are a guest, we'd ask that you please take a moment and fill out the communication card,
which is inserted in your bulletin. If you need a pen, just raise your hand,
and one of our ushers can bring you by a Verity Baptist Church pen.
You're welcome to keep the pen as a gift from us as well.
We're not going to do anything odd with your info. We just want to record your attendance.
We actually want to be a blessing to you, but we need your information to do that.
So please take a moment and fill the card out.
When we're done with the announcements, we're going to sing a song.
When we're done singing, we're going to receive the offering,
and as the offering plate goes by, you can drop this card in the offering plate,
or you can hand it to me after the service. I'll be standing at the main door greeting people on the way out.
We of course are, if you look at our announcements there, a family integrated church.
What that means is that children and infants are always welcomed in the service.
We don't separate children from their parents for any reason.
We do have mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience.
All of the rooms have comfortable seating. They have monitors set up,
so you can still watch the service and listen to it.
So if you have a child that's been distracting during the service,
or if you need some privacy, we would encourage you to use those rooms as needed.
If you're not sure where those rooms are at, you can look at the back of the bulletin,
and you'll see a layout of our church building.
It'll show you where the restrooms are, where the bathrooms are.
It'll show you where the mother-baby rooms are, where the daddy room is.
So please make sure you use those rooms if you need them.
If you are here this morning and you need to be baptized, we'd love to baptize you.
The baptistry is filled, the water is warm, and we've got everything you need.
We've got shirts and shorts and towels and robes, whatever you need, we've got it.
So if you would like to speak to somebody about baptism,
maybe you're not sure if you need to be baptized or what that means,
on your communication card on the back you can check off that you'd like information about being baptized,
and we'll follow up with you in regards to that.
Maybe you've already spoken to somebody and you know you need to be baptized,
all you need to do is at the end of the service, after the preaching,
while we're singing the last song, if you step out that door,
one of our staff guys will meet you there and we'll get you situated for baptism.
So please let us help you with that if that's something that you need today.
If you look at the announcements and upcoming events,
of course we're going through a series on Sunday mornings and Sunday nights called Journey with Jesus.
It's a verse-by-verse study through the Gospel of Luke,
and we're on a journey with Jesus, learning about the life of Jesus.
2022 is the year of Jesus at Verity Baptist Church,
we're learning about Jesus, we're walking with Jesus,
and there literally is no other character that would be better for us to study than of course the Lord Jesus Christ.
On Wednesday nights we're usually going through the book of 2 Corinthians verse-by-verse and chapter-by-chapter,
however this Wednesday night we're going to have a special speaker,
you'll notice in your bulletin, we're going to have deacon Corbin Russell from Paper Word Baptist Church,
in Tucson, Arizona, he's going to be preaching for us this Wednesday, February 2nd at 7pm.
You're not going to want to miss it, and brother Corbin is a good friend of mine and I enjoy his company,
and he's a great preacher, and he'll be preaching for us,
and I want to encourage you to be here on Wednesday night,
even if you don't normally come to church on Wednesday night,
I'd encourage you to come this Wednesday night and hear deacon Corbin Russell preach for us on Wednesday,
we'll have a great time with that. And then of course you're invited to the wedding of Moses Thompson and Skylar Johnson,
that's this Saturday, February 5th at 4pm, it'll be at the Gibson Ranch Park, the address is there for you,
if you'd like to attend you can sign up on your communication card, and we'd love for you to make plans to be there.
And then of course we have our I Love My Church Sunday coming up,
you should have one of these big ol' flyers in your bulletin,
and we want to just remind you and encourage you to be here for I Love My Church Sunday,
that'll be Sunday, February 13th at 1030am, and we want you to invite somebody,
if you've been talking about a friend or a co-worker, family member, a neighbor,
you've been looking for an excuse to invite them, this would be a great time for you to do that,
you'll notice there that we're going to have some special things going on,
we're going to have bags of pink vanilla and caramel Valentine's Day popcorn for every family in attendance in the morning service,
the choir and the orchestra will have special music, that service, I'll be preaching a special sermon,
and then that evening, after the evening service, we're going to have a potluck after the service in the fellowship hall,
so we encourage you to be here and invite someone to church, bring someone with you to I Love My Church Sunday,
and then of course we want to let you know that there's a Soul Winning Blitz coming up,
we have a South Sac Soul Winning Blitz coming up on Saturday, February 19th,
and this is a special, if you remember these are kind of the things we do,
aside from our regular Soul Winning time, so this will be an all day thing,
it starts at 930am, it'll go to 4pm, it's on Saturday,
you won't meet here at the church building, you're going to meet at a Starbucks down in South Sacramento,
and if you'd like to participate you can sign up on your communication card,
it's an all day event, alright, so we're going to feed you lunch,
and we're going to take care of those things, but you know, the Bible says the laborer is worthy of his reward,
so you've got to stay, you've got to commit for the whole day,
so you can't say oh I'm going to go to South Sac Soul Winning Blitz for the morning and then stay for lunch and then cut out,
no that's just called normal soul winning, alright, and we're going to have that still on that day,
we'll have our regular Saturday Soul Winning as usual here at the church building,
you don't have to go to the South Sac Soul Winning Blitz, you can just come to normal soul winning,
but if you'd like to help us with knocking out some of the areas in South Sac,
you can sign up for this special event, it's an all day event,
lunch will be provided, starts at 930am, goes to 4pm,
and again if you can't make that or that's not something you're interested in,
we have our regular soul winning time still, we'll meet here like we normally do,
but that's a special event, so sign up on your communication card,
it's for Saturday February 19th, and then of course 9 chapters a day,
many of you have probably already finished, you've got a couple of days left for those of you that haven't,
and praise the Lord for that, if you've already finished,
then you can go ahead and on your communication card,
you can let us know that you have finished, and we were, I don't see it in my bulletin,
I don't know if you guys have it on your bulletin, we're supposed to put the reading chart,
do you guys have a reading chart in your bulletin, you do?
Okay, well I guess I'm just the only one that didn't get it,
but you should have an Old Testament reading chart,
and we'll encourage you to read the Old Testament in the months of February through December,
but if you finish the 9 chapters a day challenge, make sure you let us know on your communication card,
if you don't have a reading chart, if you didn't get one, we'll make sure,
Brother Shaw, if you can get that reading chart, make sure it's back there for the people that need it,
9 chapters a day choir, they've got practice today at 5 p.m.,
homeschool group, they've got PE class on Thursday February 10th at 10 a.m.,
and I want to remind you, or let you know for those of you in the homeschool group,
that there's a Valentine's Day party on Monday February 14th at 11 a.m.,
you can see my wife for information, that's for the homeschool group.
Upcoming cleaning crew, you can check for your name there,
other things there for you to look at, please don't forget to turn your cell phones off,
we'll place them on silent during the service so that they're not a distraction to anybody,
if you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of January,
it looks like those are all passed, praise report, money matters,
all those things are there for you to look at, and I think that's it for all of the announcements,
so we're going to go ahead and sing the chorus of the week, which is a wonderful Jesus medley,
and this is a lot of several songs that have been put together,
so we're going to go ahead and sing them one right after the other as a medley,
if you don't know it, let's turn it together, if you do know it, let's sing it out on the first,
Isn't he wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, isn't Jesus the Lord of all us,
eyes have seen, ears have heard, it's recorded in God's Word,
isn't Jesus my Lord, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, Jesus is to me,
saving me, keeping me from all sin and shame,
wonderful is my believer, praise his name, precious name,
oh how sweet, hope by birth and joy of death, precious name,
oh how sweet, hope by birth and joy of heaven is a wonderful place,
filled with glory and grace, I want to see my Savior's face,
heaven is a wonderful, heaven is a glorious, heaven is a wonderful place,
but until then my heart will go on singing,
until then with joy I'll carry on,
until the day my eyes behold the sifting,
until the day God calls me home,
this world is not my home, I'm just passing through,
my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue,
the angels beckon me from heaven's open door,
we'll let hope in this world any more,
more, more about Jesus, more, more about Jesus,
no love is saving, no mercy,
for all this trouble died for me.
Amen. Good singing.
Bob, the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time,
and let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank you for allowing us to gather together today.
We pray that you bless the offering, Lord.
We ask that you bless the gift and the giver.
We ask that you would meet with us as we open up your word in a few minutes.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Thank you.
Amen.
Turn your Bibles to Luke, chapter 5.
Luke, chapter 5.
If you do not have a Bible, raise your hand and an usher will bring you one.
Luke, chapter 5.
This morning we will read verses 1 through 11.
Luke, chapter 5.
Just keep your hands up and an usher will bring you a Bible.
Luke, chapter 5.
The Bible reads,
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 and saw two ships standing by the lake,
but the fishermen were gone out of them and were washing their nets.
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.
Now when he had left speaking,
he said unto Simon,
Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draft.
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.
And when they had done this,
they enclosed a great multitude of fishes and their net break,
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 ships so that they began to sink.
When Simon Peter saw it,
he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying,
Depart from me, for I am a simple man, O Lord.
For he was astonished, and all that were with him,
at the draft of the fishes which had they had taken.
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.
And when they had brought their ships to land,
they forsook all and followed him.
Let's pray.
Lord God Almighty, thank you for this day.
Amen.
Before we get into the sermon this morning,
I do have a baptism certificate to hand out just very quickly.
And I'll go ahead and read this.
The certificate of baptism is awarded to Jason Cavett
in recognition of his baptism on the 16th day of January of the year 2022,
presented by Verity Baptist Church with the verse that says,
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death,
that like as Christ was raised up from the dead,
even by the glory of the Father,
even so we should walk in newness of life.
And we've got some pictures here for Brother Jason
to remember the day of his baptism.
And let's go ahead and give him a round of applause.
Amen.
All right.
Well, we're there in Luke, chapter number 5,
and we're going to read this.
And we're going to read this.
Amen.
All right.
Well, we're there in Luke, chapter number 5.
And, of course, on Sunday mornings and Sunday nights,
we've been on a journey with Jesus.
And that's the title of the series we've been going through,
Journey with Jesus.
And it really is a verse-by-verse study through the Gospel of Luke.
And we're studying the life of Christ and the ministry of Christ.
And we come to this passage of Scripture in Luke, chapter number 5.
And just to be honest with you,
this passage that we're going to look at this morning, verses 1 through 11,
is one of my favorite stories in the entire Bible.
I don't know why.
It just is.
And whenever I read it, I'm motivated by it.
I've preached out of this several times over the years
just because I love this story so much.
And every time I preach through it,
I end up writing a new outline for it.
Obviously, the story is the same every time you preach through it.
But I always think, oh, I've already preached that.
I could find my old outline or whatever.
But I'm never satisfied with that.
And I end up writing a brand new outline for this story.
It's interesting to me that you can preach through the same passage
several times and write several different outlines.
And it just shows you that this book was not written by man.
It really is the Word of God.
But I love this story because what we find in verses 1 through 11
is the calling of Peter.
And James and John, they're already followers of Jesus to an extent,
but now they're going to be called to full-time ministry.
And they're going to be called into the ministry,
and specifically into the ministry of soul winning.
And what we're going to look at this morning,
as we go through this passage,
we're going to see a fishing story.
It's one of those stories that fishermen would tell
about some big catch that they had.
But I want you to know that the purpose of this passage
about some big catch that they had.
But I want you to know that the purpose of this event,
the purpose of the story and the application
is not about fishing fish.
It's about catching men.
In fact, if you look down at verse number 10,
just to show you the context,
in verse number 10, we're going to walk through the entire passage
from verses 1 through 11 this morning.
But if you look at verse 10, it says,
And so was also James and John the sons of Zebedee,
which were partners with Simon.
And Jesus said unto Simon,
Fear not, notice what he says,
From henceforth thou shalt catch men.
And that was Jesus' purpose for orchestrating the story,
putting these events into play,
was that Peter and James and John might from henceforth catch men.
So I want to give you this story,
and I'd encourage you,
I'm going to give you several points in regards to this.
And on the back of your course of the week,
there's a place for you to write down some notes.
And I would encourage you to outline
to write this outline,
because you might be able to teach it,
or preach it to somebody someday,
and praise the Lord for that.
So I want you to notice here in verse 1,
the Bible says this,
And it came to pass that as the people pressed upon him
to hear the word of God,
he stood by the lake Gennesaret.
And the lake Gennesaret there is a different name
for the Sea of Galilee.
The Sea of Galilee has different names that it goes by.
The Bible says there in verse 2,
and saw two ships, this is referring to Jesus of course,
Jesus saw two ships standing by the lake,
but the fishermen were gone out of them
and were washing their nets.
I want you to notice that it is morning time,
and Jesus is there, the Bible says in verse 1,
the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God,
and we'll talk about that statement later on in the sermon,
but I want you to notice that there's people gathered there,
and they're gathered for him to be able to preach the word of God,
and as he's there he saw, the Bible says, two ships,
the fishermen were gone out and were washing their nets.
Now the reason that the fishermen had gone out
and were washing their nets is because of the fact
that they had been working all night.
In fact, if you look at verse 5,
it says, And Simon answered and said unto him,
Master, we have toiled all the night.
So notice these fishermen are toiling all the night.
They had been working all night long.
They understood that there at the Sea of Galilee
the best time to fish would be at nighttime.
It would be when the fish would be out,
and when they would be active.
They've been working all night. They're tired.
They're finishing up the day.
We would call this working graveyard.
They've worked all night. It's morning time.
People are getting up and gathering,
and Jesus is getting ready to hold a service,
but they're getting ready to finish their day.
In fact, they're washing their nets,
getting ready to go home so that they can go home,
get some rest. Notice verse 3,
And he, referring to Jesus, entered into one of the ships,
which was Simon's.
And of course, Simon there is a different name for Peter.
This is the apostle Peter or the man
that would become the apostle Peter.
And I want you to notice, and here's point number 1
if you're taking notes, I want you to notice
the inconvenience of Peter.
Notice that Jesus inconvenienced Peter
and said, 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.
And I want you to notice the ingenuity of Jesus here
because he's got this group of people, this crowd.
The Bible says that they pressed upon him
to hear the word of God.
And what Jesus does is he's on the seashore
of the Sea of Galilee or the Lake Gennesaret
and he's there and the multitudes have come.
And he's using the beach or the shore there
like an auditorium in the same way
that we've got this auditorium set up
or we've got people kind of all around
facing towards the center where the preaching is being done.
He's using the beach in that area.
And what he's doing is he's asking Peter
if he could use his boat as a platform.
He entered into the ship and he asked Peter
to thrust out, to push out a little from the land,
just push him off the land into the water
so that the people could gather and sit
around the shore there and he could speak
and preach and teach them from that boat,
using that boat as a platform.
It's really the ingenuity of Christ that we see here
and his knowledge of science and understanding
because Jesus is using the water
as his voice would carry through the water
he's using it as an amplifier to be able to speak
to a large crowd of people, a big multitude.
Of course, in the ancient time,
Jesus did not have technology to use
like we have today, microphones and speakers
and things of that, things like that.
So he's on this ship, thrust out a little into the water,
speaking to the crowd on the shore,
using the water to carry his voice,
to amplify his voice to be able to speak to these people.
But I want you to notice, in this little plan of Jesus,
in this little service of Jesus,
he's inconveniencing Peter because the Bible says there,
look again at verse 2,
And saw two ships standing by the lake,
but the fishermen were gone out of them.
So the ships are there, the fishermen are not.
They're not in their boats.
They're outside of the boats, washing their nets,
and they're not in their boats.
They're outside of the boats, washing their nets,
cleaning their nets,
getting things ready to be done for the day,
and he, notice how Jesus is,
and keep in mind, Jesus already has a relationship
with Peter, James, and John.
He knows these men.
He entered into one of the ships.
He just walks onto the ship,
and he prayed him, referring to Peter,
that he would thrust out a little from the land.
And I'm here to tell you this morning
that if you're going to be used of God,
you're going to be inconvenienced by God.
I don't know if you know this,
but you know that Jesus wants to use you,
and Jesus wants to use me.
And oftentimes, people think,
and they have this idea, and they say,
well, Jesus wouldn't need me,
and Jesus wouldn't want to use me.
But you know, Jesus wants to use you
even if it's just a little,
even if it's just a small amount.
I mean, Peter's not preaching a sermon here.
Peter's not conducting the music.
He's not playing in the orchestra.
He's not doing anything.
He's just providing a ship.
He's just thrusting out a little into the land.
He's just giving a little of his time
and giving a little of his energy,
giving a little bit of his resources,
and he's being inconvenienced by Jesus
when Jesus says, thrust out a little from the land.
And we can learn from this
that Jesus wants to use everyone,
even if it's just a little.
But I want you to notice that it doesn't end there.
When my kids are getting older,
I've got some young ones still.
When my, especially my sons,
when they were younger, we had this book.
I'm sure we still have it somewhere in the house
that we would read to them.
It was a book I grew up reading.
A little children's book.
And I thought it was pretty famous.
I think it is a famous book,
but sometimes I bring it up to people
and they act like they've never heard of it,
but it's a little book called If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.
Have you ever heard of that book,
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie?
And the whole, see, like three hands go up.
I don't understand why this book's not popular.
Maybe you guys just don't read,
but it's a little children's book.
I mean, you could read it in like two minutes,
so maybe you should start.
But the whole point of this book
is if you give a mouse a cookie,
he's gonna ask for a glass of milk.
And if you give him a glass of milk,
he's gonna ask for, you know, whatever.
And then the story goes on.
He asks for a napkin, he asks for this,
and he asks for that.
And whenever I read the story from Jesus,
it reminds me of that little book,
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,
because if you give Jesus a little bit,
he's gonna ask for more.
I want you to notice that he entered
into one of the ships, which was Simon's,
and prayed him that he would thrust out
of the ship.
So notice, he asked, Peter,
can I use you a little bit?
Can you help me for some time?
Can you thrust out a little into the land?
And Peter says, of course.
And they thrust out together,
and Jesus sat there, and he taught the people,
and he preached the sermon.
Notice the last part of verse three.
And taught the people out of the ship.
Notice verse four.
Now when he had left speaking,
so his sermon's done now.
The service is over.
What it is that he said, or what he preached.
But when he got done preaching,
he said unto Simon, notice,
he said unto Simon, in verse three,
he said, thrust out a little from the land.
In verse four, he says,
launch out into the deep.
He said, Peter, will you launch out into the deep,
and let down your nets for a drought?
And Simon answering said unto him,
Master, I want you to notice,
the type of Christian that's being
illustrated here by Peter.
Because when Jesus shows up, Peter's tired.
He's been working all night.
He's getting his things ready to go home.
Jesus shows up and says,
can you thrust out a little into the land?
Can I use you a little bit?
Could you make yourself available
for me a little bit?
And like any Christian, like any believer,
like any follower of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Peter says the same thing that you
and I would say.
He says, sure thing.
You're my Savior.
You're my Lord.
You're my master.
You brought me salvation.
You're God in the flesh.
I mean, if you want me to thrust out
a little bit, that's no problem.
And I think most of us of Jesus
were here today, and he would ask you,
could you do me a favor?
Could you help me for a little bit?
Could I use you for a second?
We would all say, no problem.
And by the way, Jesus is saying that today.
And praise God, most of you
don't want you to notice
when you give a mouse a cookie,
it might ask you for a glass of milk.
And when Jesus asked you
to thrust out a little from the land,
he may make another request
which is launch out into the deep.
Can I use you a little more?
Can you do something more?
See, some of you were faced
this January, and we asked you this question.
We said, would you read the New Testament
for a little time?
Would you thrust out a little from the land?
Would you separate yourself for a little time?
Could we inconvenience you for a month?
And many of you, I believe,
Lord willing, will see as the numbers come in.
Many of you took up that challenge
and said, yes, I'll read nine chapters a day.
Yes, I'll get on board with what's going on.
Yes, I'll allow you to inconvenience us
for the month of January.
I'll read the Bible and thrust out
a little from the land.
But I'm here to ask you now,
now that you've thrust out a little,
February through December,
and read the Bible cover to cover,
and do what most Christians have never done
in their entire lives,
and read the Bible cover to cover this year.
See, some of you, if we have some big day going on,
or some big thing,
some Red Hot Preaching Conference,
or some big event, and we say,
hey, we're trying to get 200 and some odd people
to maybe help us with this or help us with that,
you'll show up to that.
And I appreciate that.
And I thank you that you are willing
from time to time to thrust out a little
and then also launch out into the deep
and not only be a soul winner
when there's a special event going on,
but be a soul winner every week of the year.
Some of you, we've asked you,
and we're not tricking you.
We're saying, hey, it's okay with soul winning.
It's okay if you don't know what to say
and you're nervous.
You just come on down.
You don't have to say anything.
You can be a silent partner.
We'll partner you with somebody
that knows what to say,
and we won't throw you to the wolves,
and you can be a silent partner.
And all of that is true.
We're asking, would you thrust out
a little from the land and join us
for a little time and be in convenience?
But let me tell you, once you've done that
for a while, the next request is this.
Will you launch out into the deep
of memorizing the verses and learning
how to give the gospel?
Becoming a speaker and becoming a soul winner
that can communicate the gospel clearly?
I'm just here to tell you that Jesus
always begins with thrust out
a little from the land.
And the next question, if it's yes,
the next question will be,
will you launch out into the deep?
And this is usually where the excuses begin.
And Simon answering said unto him,
Master, we have toiled.
The word toiled means to work extremely hard.
He says, we have toiled all the night,
he says, and have taken nothing.
He said, we've been working all night long,
and it's not been a good day.
We haven't caught anything.
We've toiled all the night
and have taken nothing.
You're asking us to do something.
And here's the thing, Peter would say,
I was willing to thrust out
a little from the land.
I was willing to be inconvenienced
by you a little bit.
I was willing to show up for this one event
or do this one thing.
But now you're asking for a bigger commitment
that I'm willing to make.
And here's the question that I have for you.
How much are you willing to be inconvenienced
by the Lord Jesus Christ?
I mean, if he asked you to thrust out
a little into the land, would you say yes?
And most of you, I would imagine, would say yes.
But what if he asked you to launch out
into the deep?
Would you say, well, wait a minute,
you don't understand, I'm tired.
Wait a minute, you don't understand, I'm busy.
What, you want me to do what?
We've already been, I've already been,
I need to go home, I've got things to do.
How willing are you to be inconvenienced
by your Lord and Savior?
You're there in Luke chapter five.
Go with me if you would to Luke chapter 17.
Luke chapter 17.
I'm here to tell you that
as followers of Jesus Christ
and servants of the Lord,
we should not only be willing to thrust out
a little from the land, but we should also
be willing to launch out into the deep.
And whatever that means,
whatever that is,
well, I'm willing to throw something
into the orphan place.
The orphan place goes by, I'm gonna,
you know, throw in a little gift there.
Okay, but God says, are you willing
to launch out into the deep
of obedience and faith
and becoming a faithful tither?
Well, I don't know about that, God.
Are you willing to launch out into the deep?
Hey, hey, wherever you start,
get started, but are you willing
to take the next step?
Are you willing to go a little further?
Are you willing to go a little past?
If I show up to church Sunday morning, great.
How about you launch into the deep
of three to thrive Sunday morning,
Sunday night, Wednesday night,
and become a faithful church member
to all the services?
That's a little too deep for me.
Yeah, well, Jesus is asking all of us
to launch out into the deep.
And the question we've got to wrestle down,
the question you've got to wrestle down
is how inconvenienced are you willing
to be for Jesus?
Luke 17 and verse seven,
we have a story, a parable
that says, it says there in verse seven,
but which of you, this is Jesus speaking,
he says, which of you?
Because we have this idea, see,
we're American Christians,
and as American Christians,
we've got all these thoughts about our rights
and what I deserve,
and I shouldn't have to do this,
and I shouldn't have to do that,
and if I do do it, you better act like
I'm the greatest thing that's ever happened.
If I show up to church on a Sunday night,
you better cheer and applaud
like I'm the greatest thing ever.
This is all of the sacrifice
that I'm willing to do.
If I show up for a soul-willing event,
if I participate in nine chapters a day,
this is what Jesus said,
but which of you, having a servant,
this is someone that works for you,
an employee, plowing or feeding cattle,
will say unto him by and by
when he has come from the field,
go and sit down to meet
and I will not rather say unto him,
I want you to notice this,
Jesus said, if you have a servant
and he's doing what he's supposed to do,
plowing and feeding the cattle,
you know, are you gonna go up to him
and say, hey, go and sit down,
get some food?
Is that what the master's gonna say?
He says, and will not rather say unto him,
wouldn't the master rather say
or actually say, make ready?
He says, and will not rather say unto him,
wouldn't the master rather say
wherewith I may sup and gird thyself
and serve me till I have eaten
and drunken and afterward
thou shalt eat and drink?
Notice verse nine.
Does he thank that servant
because he did the things
that were commanded him?
I love this little phrase.
It says, I tro not.
The word tro means think.
Jesus says, I think not.
He says, does the master
thank the servant because
he did the things that were commanded him?
Please, please don't misunderstand me.
You show up for some cleaning event.
You show up for some soul-winning event.
You show up for some service.
You show up for some special thing
and Pastor Jimenez and Ms. Joanne,
we're gonna say thank you to you.
In fact, one of the criticisms
that I receive is that I say thank you
too much sometimes to people.
You're always thanking me for this,
thanking me for that and here's the thing,
I do thank you because you don't have
to do what you do and I understand that
you're not your lord and master.
I'm just thankful you're here to help
but the Bible says that does he thank,
referring to the master,
does he thank the servant because
he did that which the things
that were commanded him?
He says, I think not.
So likewise ye, notice the application,
when ye shall have done
all those things which are commanded you.
Doesn't the Bible command you to tithe?
Doesn't the Bible command you
to be faithful to church services?
Doesn't the Bible command you,
hey, so likewise ye,
when ye have done all those things
which are commanded you,
say, we are unprofitable servants.
We have done that which was our duty to do.
You say, what does that mean?
Here's what it means.
When you show up,
you have a real spiritual week
and you're like, Pastor,
let me tell you about my week
and look, you tell me about a week
that I can praise you with joy
and be glad with you.
Did you say, let me tell you about my week?
I show up to church Sunday morning,
I show up to church Sunday night,
I show up to church Wednesday night.
Let me tell you about my week.
I read the Bible every day.
Let me tell you about my week.
I prayed every day.
Let me tell you about my week.
I went soul winning this week.
Let me tell you about my week.
I got paid and I gave my tithes to the Lord.
Let me tell you about my week.
I hope you had a week like that.
I hope that you have many weeks like that.
But let me tell you something.
God looks down and says, am I supposed to thank you
because you're doing what you're supposed to be doing?
He says, when you have a week like that,
here's what you should say.
I am an unprofitable servant.
I haven't done anything above and beyond.
I haven't made any extra profit for my master.
I have done that which was my duty to do.
I've only done that which was expected of me.
I haven't gone above and beyond.
I'm here to tell you that when Jesus asks you
to launch out into the deep, it's your duty to be available.
Romans 12, one, you don't have to turn there.
The Bible says, I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies
a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service.
We have done that which was our duty.
Go back to Luke chapter five if you would.
See, we have a wrong understanding of who we are
and who God is.
Psalm 24 in verse one says, the earth is the Lord's
and the fullness thereof, the world and they
that dwell therein.
You know that the earth belongs to God
and everyone that dwells on earth belongs to God.
You belong to God.
Whether you're saved or not, you belong to God.
And if you're saved, you doubly belong to God.
So when God shows up and says, will you launch out
into the deep, the only correct answer is yes.
And then don't pat yourself on the back
because we are unprofitable servants.
We have done that which was our duty to do.
We see the inconvenience of Peter.
I want you to notice secondly, not only do we see
the inconvenience of Peter, we see the insertitude of Peter.
Notice, Peter is an uncertain man.
In this situation.
In Luke five and verse five, he says,
and Simon, the Bible says, and Simon answering said unto him,
Jesus said, you've thrust out a little from the land.
I'd like you to launch out into the deep.
And Simon answering said unto him,
Master, we have toiled all the night
and have taken nothing.
He says, we've already been fishing all night long.
We didn't catch anything.
It's not a good day for fishing.
I want you to remember something
and I want to remind you of something.
Go back one book to the book of Mark,
if you would, Mark chapter six.
And let me just remind you of this,
that Peter was a professional fisherman.
He was not out there on a Saturday morning
just messing around.
This is what he does for a living.
He's got a business.
He has an enterprise and he's partnering
with two other business brothers, James and John.
They do this for work.
This is how they feed their family.
This is how they pay the bills.
This is what they do for a living.
They are experts.
They are professional fishermen.
Peter was a fisherman by trade.
Jesus, though he's God in the flesh and we understand that,
by human standards was a carpenter by trade.
Mark chapter six and verse three,
notice what the Bible says.
It's not this, and we know that Jesus
was obviously in full-time ministry.
He's not doing carpentry at this time.
But this is what he was trained in.
Joseph, his stepfather, was a carpenter
and he was obviously trained in this trade.
It says, is not this the carpenter,
they're referring to Jesus, the son of Mary,
the brother of James and Joseph of Judas and Simon,
and are not his sisters here with us?
And they were offended at him.
So please understand this.
Peter says, I'm a professional fisherman.
You're a carpenter.
Don't tell me what to do.
I know what I'm doing.
I've toiled all night long.
I went at the right time.
I went with the right tools.
I put in the work and we still caught nothing.
And now you, carpenter, are going to tell me,
fisherman, to launch out into the deep,
to catch some fish?
I'm here to remind you that there is always a reason
by our human logic to doubt God.
Have you ever noticed, go to Proverbs if you would,
Proverbs chapter three, you open up your Bible
just right in the center, you're more than likely
following the book of Psalms.
Right after Psalms, you have Proverbs.
Proverbs chapter three.
You ever notice that God asks us to do things
that are counterintuitive?
It's called faith.
He's trying to get us to exercise faith.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.
He's causing us, he's wanting us to do things
that don't make sense.
They don't make logical sense.
And there's always a human, reasonable, logical reason
why to not do whatever it is that God's asking you to do.
But we should remember that God is the expert.
Proverbs three and verse five, the Bible says,
trust in the Lord.
And that's what it comes down to.
Why do we not do what God asks us to do?
Here's why, because we lack faith, because we don't trust.
That's what faith means.
It means to trust, to put your trust in something.
The Bible says, trust in the Lord with all thine heart.
Here's the problem, and lean not
unto thine own understanding.
See, this doesn't make sense to me.
When I do the math, it doesn't make sense.
When I look at the facts, it doesn't make sense.
When I look at it logically, it doesn't make sense.
When I write a list, I know, God,
you're asking me to do this,
but when I write a list of the pros and cons,
it doesn't make sense.
And here's what the Bible says,
lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct thy path.
We see the insertitude of Peter.
He has a reason to doubt.
He says, look, I know what I'm doing,
and we've been doing it, it's not a good day.
I've already been toiling, our net's already half washed.
He says we're washing the net.
Do you understand that if we launch out of the deep
and we put the nets in the water,
we're gonna have to wash them again.
We've already washed them.
We've already done the work.
You already inconvenienced us enough.
So I want you to notice that you see
the inconvenience of Peter.
I want you to notice that you see the insertitude of Peter.
I want you to notice, thirdly,
that we see the instruction of Peter.
Peter's not happy about what he's being asked to do,
but he does make one good statement.
Now, he doesn't follow through how he should,
and I'm gonna show you that to you in a minute.
But he makes a good statement, and he says this,
notice verse five.
And Simon answering said unto him,
Master, we have toiled all night and have taken nothing.
And then he makes this statement.
I love it.
In fact, I'd encourage you to underline it in your Bible.
He says, never the less at thy word.
Nevertheless, at thy word, I will let down the net.
If you would, go with me to the book of 2 Peter.
2 Peter, chapter number one.
If you start backwards from the book of Revelation,
you have Jude, 3 and 1 John, 2 Peter.
2 Peter, chapter number two.
I'm gonna make a few statements now
and later on in the sermon,
and I understand that they're repetitive.
I get that.
They're statements that I've made and I've been making,
and I'm gonna continue to make.
And sometimes I think people might think,
Pastor, you know, you repeat yourself a lot.
But I wanna remind you that my goal
is not to preach to be heard.
My goal is to preach to be repeated.
That you might repeat these things to yourself
and that you might repeat these things to others.
I was blessed yesterday at our soul-winning meeting.
Brother Matt preached, and he said this phrase.
He said that God is the goal.
And it's a phrase that I've been saying,
and I'm glad to hear him say.
He said, why, aren't you upset he's stealing our material?
No, well, I'm preaching to be repeated.
And by the way, I stole it from somebody too.
There's no new thing under the sun.
But I've been telling you this statement
and repeating the statement and bringing the statement up
over the last several weeks, and it is this,
that we ought to build our lives on the Bible.
We ought to build our lives on the Bible.
And here we see an example of it as well,
and I want you to notice when Peter says,
nevertheless at thy word, that is the right answer,
and that is always the right answer.
And here's what I'm trying to tell you.
When you show up to church like this
and the word of God is preached
and the word of God is applied,
whatever area it might be in your life,
that the Holy Spirit begins to work in your heart,
and God is telling you, you need to do that,
or you need to stop doing that.
I'm glad you've thrust out a little into the water,
but now I want you to launch out into the deep,
and I want you to step out by faith,
and I know it's gonna be inconvenient for you,
and I know it's gonna be a lot of work for you,
and I know it doesn't make logical sense for you,
but I want you to do it.
I'm here to tell you, whenever God confronts you that way,
the right answer is always this,
nevertheless at thy word.
If the Bible says it, I believe it,
I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna trust it,
because I'm gonna build my life on the Bible.
Second Peter chapter one and verse 19,
I've shared this verse with you,
but I want you to see it again.
Bible says, about the Bible, it says,
we have also a more sure word of prophecy,
talking about the word of God, praise God for it.
Then he says this, where unto ye do well that ye take heed?
I'm here to tell you, whenever the Bible tells you
to do something, I don't care where it is.
I don't care if it's your marriage,
I don't care if it's your child rearing,
I don't care if it's with your health or your finances,
I don't care if it's relationally,
I don't care if it's forgiving someone,
I don't care if it's turning the other cheek,
I don't care where it is,
whenever the Bible tells you to do something,
ye would do well to take heed.
It would be smart of you to say, I don't like it,
it doesn't make sense, it's gonna be inconvenient,
nevertheless at thy word.
Nevertheless at thy word.
Hey, that oughta be the theme of our lives,
why do you do that?
Nevertheless at thy word.
Why do you dress that way?
Nevertheless at thy word.
Why don't you go there?
Nevertheless at thy word.
We oughta build our lives on the Bible.
And I know I've been repeating that,
but I want it to sink into your mind and your heart.
I want that thought to penetrate your life
and to remind yourself.
We oughta build our lives on the Bible,
and nevertheless at thy word,
I will let down the net even when it doesn't make sense,
because we have a more sure word of prophecy,
where unto ye do well that ye take heed.
But I'd like to take it a step further,
go back to Luke chapter five.
Let me say this.
Not only should we build our lives on the Bible,
but we should build our ministry on the Bible.
I want you to look down at verse one again,
and we're not gonna start over the sermon,
I just want you to point out something to you
that I didn't point out when we were there before.
Luke five and verse one, and it came to pass,
I love this, I just love this phrase,
that as the people pressed upon him
to hear the word of God,
what was the ministry of Christ,
what was it built upon?
Remember, Jesus had performed miracles,
Jesus had cast out devils,
Jesus had done all these marvels
and these wonders, but yet the Bible tells us
that when the people pressed upon him,
yes, some of them came because of the feedings,
some of them came because of the miracles,
some of them came because of the casting out devils,
but here we're told that people pressed upon him
to hear the word of God,
to hear the word of God preached,
explained, applied.
Go to the book of Isaiah, if you would, Isaiah 55.
I'm not sure if you kept your place in Proverbs,
I didn't ask you to, but if you go
from the center of the Bible, from Psalms or Proverbs,
you have Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah.
Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah.
Isaiah 55, do me a favor, when you get to Isaiah,
put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there
because we're gonna leave it
and we're gonna come back to it.
But I believe that we should not only
build our lives on the Bible,
I believe, and something we're trying to do here
at Verity Baptist Church,
is to build our ministry on the Bible.
I hope, and I believe that it can be said,
and I hope that it continues to be said of this church,
that the people showed up, they came,
they pressed in to hear the word of God.
I love our church, and I don't know
if I should even say this because it might get
some of you thinking the wrong way,
and that's not what I wanna do.
I love the fact that this church is built on one thing,
the preaching of the word of God.
Now don't misunderstand me, I love the orchestra.
I love the music, that special that was played today,
that was beautiful.
And the choir singing, and the children's choir,
and all those other things, and I appreciate all that,
and I love all that, and we're trying to have
high standards when it comes to all of those things,
and we wanna do things with excellence around here,
but the truth is this, that people don't show up
to this church because of our music ministry.
They don't show up to this church
because of our beautiful facilities.
They don't show up to this church
because this is kind of the cool church,
the trendy church, the church that all the cool kids go to,
not that you're not cool kids.
People always show, you know,
I mean, the funny thing to me is that I'm totally oblivious,
you know, my wife and I, we show up early,
and I'm in my office, and this, that.
I don't, you know, we've got people in this church,
I mean, we've got professionals,
and educated, and business owners,
and I mean, people that are successful,
and just killing it, and their secular jobs,
and I don't even know, and honestly,
I have no clue what any of you drive,
or many of you, where you live, or the thing.
I just think it's funny, though,
that I don't know what people think
when they come out to a church like this,
and they see all these new cars, and beautiful cars,
and successful people, and they're pressing in
to come into a building next to a methadone clinic.
For one reason, the word of God.
They press upon to hear the word of God,
and I believe, look, we don't have to build,
we don't have to build our ministry on other things,
and many churches you go to today,
even conservative, IV churches, you show up,
and it's an hour and 30 minutes of music,
an hour and 30 minutes of entertainment and production,
with a 15 or 20 minute sermon
that barely has the word of God in it,
and I'm here to tell you, we don't have to do that.
We can build our ministry on the Bible,
and I believe that when we preach the Bible,
and we explain the Bible, and we expound the Bible,
and we apply the Bible, people will show up
to hear the word of God.
They won't show up for me, they won't show up for you,
but they'll show up if they know
that they can learn the word of God.
The power is in the word of God.
Isaiah 55 and verse 11, the Bible says this,
so shall my word, God says,
so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth.
It shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please,
and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I send it.
You say, pastor, why are you preaching
Sunday morning, Sunday night, verse by verse,
chapter by chapter, through the Gospel of Luke?
Why are you doing that?
Here's what I know about the word of God,
that it shall not return void,
that it will accomplish what it's supposed to accomplish,
that it shall prosper in the thing,
God says, whereunto I sent it.
I don't know what you need.
There's a little bit over 200 people here this morning,
and I don't know what all of you need,
but I do know this, that what we all need
is the word of God.
And the right answer, the right answer
is always nevertheless at thy word.
Keep your finger there in Isaiah, please.
We're gonna come back to Isaiah.
Go back to Luke chapter five.
We saw the inconvenience of Peter
and the insertitude of Peter.
We see all the instruction to Peter.
Why don't you notice, fourthly,
the insubordination of Peter.
Peter, true to form, makes a right statement
and then does the wrong thing.
You know, I love Peter
because he's always putting his foot in his mouth,
he's always doing the wrong thing,
always saying the wrong thing.
Here he says the right thing,
but he does the wrong thing.
Now I wanna point this out to you,
and if you've heard me preach on this passage,
I'm sure you're familiar with it,
but I want you to look at it, verse two.
Jesus, the Bible says,
and saw two ships, referring to Jesus,
standing by the lake,
but the fishermen were gone out of them,
and were washing their,
I want you to notice this word, nets.
If you don't mind writing your Bible,
you should put a little line under the S there.
Nets, that's plural.
They had multiple nets they were washing.
And he entered into one of the ships,
which was Simon's,
and prayed to him that he would thrust out
a little from the land,
and he sat down and taught the people out of the ship.
Now when he had left speaking,
he said unto Simon,
launch out into the deep,
and let down your,
I want you to notice what Jesus says,
let down your nets.
See that S there at the end, that's plural.
You gotta underline that.
The little S there, nets.
Let down your nets for a drought.
The word drought, there's our modern word, draft.
It means to draw in, or to bring something in.
To bring in a great multitude of fish.
They're washing their nets.
Jesus says, drop, launch out into the deep,
and let down your nets, plural, for a drought.
Verse five, and Simon answering said unto him,
Master, we have toiled all the night,
and have taken nothing.
Nevertheless, at thy word, good,
here's the bad part,
I will let down the, notice this word, nets.
You see what's missing there?
Jesus says, let down the nets.
He says, will you thrust out a little?
Says, sure thing.
Will you go down into the deep?
Now you're inconveniencing me.
Nevertheless, at thy word,
but he says, but I'm gonna do it my way.
You want nets?
I'll give you a net.
You want me to put on the nets?
Well, look, we've already been washing these nets.
I don't wanna get all these nets dirty again.
We're not gonna put down the nets.
Nevertheless, at thy word, good job, Peter,
I will let down the net.
I will only do one.
You asked for two, you asked for three,
you asked for multiple.
I'm willing to do one.
Let me tell you, this is how most Christians
live their Christian life.
I'm not willing to do everything you've asked me to do.
I'm not willing to go all in.
I'm not willing to go out into the deep.
You asked for nets, I'll give you one.
Partial obedience is disobedience.
And it never works out.
Jesus said, launch out into the deep and let down your nets.
Peter says, at thy word, I will let down the net.
One.
Peter said, I'll give you one, Jesus.
That's as far as I'm willing to go, one.
Verse six.
And when they had done this, how'd it work out for them?
They enclosed a great multitude of fishes,
and their, notice, net, the one, break.
You say, why did it break?
Because he asked for nets.
Because Jesus knew what he was doing.
Because Jesus knew the type of multitude,
the great multitude that was coming.
And Jesus said, let me tell you something.
You're gonna need some nets for what I'm about to do.
And he says, well, I'm not willing to do that.
I'll let down the net.
And Jesus says, go ahead, your net's gonna break.
I think it's interesting to me when people come to
those of us in ministry,
and they'll say, what should I do in this situation?
And they'll say, well, here's what the Bible says.
The Bible says you should do X, Y, and Z.
And they'll say, I'll only do X.
I'll say, well, see how that works.
How should I raise my children?
Well, the Bible teaches that you oughta discipline
your children, you oughta disciple your children,
you oughta delight in your children.
It teaches that you oughta discipline them.
And you should also disciple them,
which means you oughta sit them down
and read the Bible and pray with them.
And it means that you oughta delight in them
and spend time with them and befriend them and love them.
And that's how you raise kids for the Lord.
And then people say to me, oh, I don't know,
I'm gonna discipline them,
but I oughta hold discipleship thing.
I'm not really into that.
I think, okay, go ahead and let your net break.
Or they'll say, I like the whole delight thing.
I like being their buddy.
I like being their friend.
But that whole disciplining thing,
I'm just a little too lazy.
Okay, go ahead and let your net break.
I'm here to tell you that partial obedience
is no obedience at all,
because you need it all.
You need to do everything God has told you to do.
You need to apply everything in your life.
And if you show up and treat church like a buffet,
and you say, well, I like this, and I don't like that,
and I like this, and I'll take that,
but I'm not gonna take that,
and the pastor said this, and I like that,
and I'll do that, but I don't like this part over here.
Let me tell you something.
Your net will break.
It won't work.
It'll get destroyed.
If Jesus has nets, you better just do nets.
I know better.
You know nothing.
I know nothing.
Just do what God told you to do.
He says, nevertheless, at thy word,
good job, Peter, I will let down thy net.
No, Peter, no.
And that's gonna break.
Notice we see the increase of Peter.
Verse seven.
And they beckoned unto their partners,
which were in the other ship,
that they should come and help them.
And they came and, notice, filled both the ships
so that they began to sink.
Notice this big increase that God wanted to give Peter
and James and John, but they were ill-prepared
because they thought they knew better than God,
because they were unwilling to do exactly
what God told them to do.
They said, I like this, but I don't like that.
I'll take this, but I won't take that.
No, no, no.
If he says nets, you just better do the nets.
Go back to Isaiah, if you would, Isaiah 54.
This is the kind of story you tell.
Fishermen like to tell stories,
and fishermen are notorious
for exaggerating their stories.
They tell you about a fish they caught,
and every year the fish gets bigger and bigger and bigger.
This is the kind of fisherman story
that people would probably think
Peter and James and John were lying about.
Let me tell you about this one time.
We're out fishing, and the net broke,
and we had two ships, and the ships began to sink.
But this was a real story.
Jesus gave them the biggest catch ever.
I'm here to tell you that Jesus wants
to give us a big catch too.
Isaiah 54 in verse two says about the house of God.
It says, enlarge the place of thy tent,
and let them stretch forth the curtains
of thy inhabitation.
Spare not, lengthen thy courts,
and strengthen thy stakes.
He's talking about having a bigger place to meet,
and having a bigger net to reach people.
Why?
Because God wants to give us a great catch as well.
2 Corinthians 10, you have to turn there, verse 16 says,
to preach the gospel in the regions beyond.
We saw that God gave an increase to Peter.
Keep your finger right there in Isaiah.
We're gonna come back to it.
Go back to Luke chapter five.
We saw the inconvenience of Peter,
the insurgitude of Peter, the instruction of Peter,
the insubordination of Peter, the increase of Peter.
Why don't you notice the inadequacy of Peter?
Jesus says, let down the nets.
Peter says, I'm the expert here, but I respect you.
At thy word, I'll let down a net.
As a result, the net breaks, they call their friends,
fill the ship with fish, the ships begin to sink.
And Peter realizes something, and he's not the expert.
Oftentimes in our lives, we need the nets to break,
and the ships need to start sinking
before we start realizing that we don't know
as much as we think we know.
When Simon Peter saw it, verse eight,
he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying,
Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
And he was astonished, the word astonished me,
surprised, or amazed, and all that were with him
at the draught of the fishes which they had taken.
Peter became very aware of his own inadequacy.
Go back to Isaiah, if you would, Isaiah chapter six.
I've been talking to you about being repetitive.
Here's another repetitive thing I'll say to you today.
We need to have a high view of God.
You know what Peter got?
At the beginning of the story, he had a low view of Jesus.
And what I mean by that is he respected Jesus,
he loved Jesus, but he didn't really understand
that Jesus knew more than he did.
In fact, when it came to fishing,
Peter thought that he was the expert
and that Jesus was simply a carpenter,
and he was just kind of doing what Jesus asked,
just to show him that, okay, I'll play your little game,
and I'll do what you've asked me to do.
But now at the end, Peter has gotten a high view of Jesus,
a realization that he's not dealing with a man,
he's dealing with God.
He fell down at Jesus' knees saying,
depart from me, for I am a sinful man.
You're holy.
You know what you and I need is a high view of God.
I've showed you this passage before,
but I wanna show it to you again
because I want you to repeat it,
and I want you to live it.
Isaiah 6 and verse 1, in the year that King Uzziah died,
this is, this is Isaiah speaking.
It's interesting to me that Isaiah connects this,
what he's about to experience here is connected
in his mind with the year that King Uzziah died.
Uzziah was not a bad king.
And it might be that the king's death
had brought some instability, some insecurity,
some questions as to what was going to happen.
And it's interesting to me that
in the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah says,
I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne
high and lifted up.
Let me remind you, no matter who sits in the White House,
no matter who sits in power,
that the Lord is always in control.
He said, I'm not sure what's going on in politics
the year that King Uzziah died.
I'm not sure what was gonna happen there,
but I can tell you this,
that I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne.
And he says these words,
high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
And above it stood the seraphims, each had six wings,
a twain, he covered his face,
and with twain he covered his feet,
and with twain he did fly,
and one cried unto another and said,
holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts,
the whole earth is full of his glory,
and the post of the door moved at the voice of him
that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
I'm here to tell you that you and I
need to develop and we need to understand
that the Bible teaches a high view of God,
that he is high, holy, and lifted up.
And when we understand,
and when we have a high view of God,
we will develop a humble view of ourselves.
Verse five, Isaiah says,
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 the people of unclean lips,
and mine eyes have seen the king.
He said, King Isaiah died, but I have seen the king,
the real king, the king of kings, the Lord of hosts.
Peter got a good view at Jesus and understood who Jesus was,
and he fell down at Jesus' knees,
and he said, depart from me, for I am a sinful man.
And I'm here to tell you, when you get a high view of God,
you say, what's wrong with the churches in America today?
I think the biggest problem that they have
is that they don't have a high view of God.
Listen to me, they wouldn't show up in flip-flops
and skinny jeans if they got a high view of God.
They wouldn't be doing the messes they're doing,
and worshiping the way they're worshiping,
and bringing the world, and the rock music,
and all that garbage into the house of God.
If they got a high view of God,
they saw God high, holy, and lifted up,
and you and I wouldn't be doing the stuff we're doing.
We wouldn't be cutting out on soul winning,
and cutting out on church services,
and skipping out Bible reading,
and we wouldn't be doing the things that we were doing
if we had a high view of God.
You know what our problem is?
We don't have a high view of God.
Peter didn't have a high view of God,
and because he didn't have a high view of God,
he says, I'll let down a net.
Once he figured out who Jesus was,
he saw his own inadequacy.
Developing a high view of God
produces a humble view of God.
Let me give you the last one.
Go back to Luke chapter five.
We saw the inconvenience of Peter,
the insurgitude of Peter, the instruction to Peter,
the insubordination of Peter, the increase of Peter,
the inadequacy of Peter.
Let me give you the last one, number seven.
We see the involvement of Peter.
Look at verse 10.
And so was also James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
which were partners with Simon.
They were all amazed.
And Jesus said unto Simon, fear not.
From henceforth, thou shalt catch men.
Jesus says, I didn't do all this
to tell you how to be a better fisherman.
I did all this to show you that I know what to do
when it comes to fishing fish
more than you, Mr. Professional, knows about fishing fish.
And now that you know that I'm the expert,
now I'm gonna get you on my agenda,
and from henceforth, we're gonna catch men.
I want you to know it's verse 11.
And when they had brought their ships to land,
they forsook all and followed him.
It's interesting to me.
This is probably the greatest catch they ever had.
They made the most money they've ever made.
And on that day, they forsook all and followed him.
Notice that Jesus involved them in ministry.
Involved them in the ministry of reconciliation.
He said, you're done catching fish.
You're gonna catch men now.
Go to Matthew chapter four if you would, Matthew four.
Let me just say this.
God wanted to involve Peter and James and John.
Jesus is bringing his group of disciples together
and we're gonna see when Jesus calls Levi or Matthew,
one of the disciples.
But as much as Jesus wants to involve Peter and James
and John and Matthew, I'm here to tell you
that Jesus wants to involve you and he wants to involve me.
I'm thankful yesterday morning,
and I hope you, I'm not boasting or bragging about this.
I'm just rejoicing with you.
I'm thankful that yesterday morning
or our Saturday morning soul-winning time,
soul-winning rally,
we had 100 soul-winners show up yesterday.
100 soul-winners showed up.
100 people from our church showed up.
We have 202 people in church this morning.
100 of you showed up yesterday to go out,
knock doors, preach the gospel, catch men.
Now let me just say this and I'm not boasting,
I'm not bragging, I hope you understand that
because pride goes before destruction.
Some of you, this church is the only church
you've ever known and I'm not trying to boast or brag,
but I want you to understand that 100 soul-winners
showing up on a Saturday morning is not a normal thing.
It's, God is doing something special here.
God is working amongst us.
But I'm also here to tell you that 100 is not enough.
God wants us all involved.
Would to God that one day it would be said
of Verity Baptist Church that 200,
I'm not talking about a red-hot preaching conference.
I'm talking about just a regular Saturday morning
in the middle of January, 100 soul-winners showed up.
Hey, would to God that one day,
just on a regular Saturday morning,
200 soul-winners showed up.
What if one day 500 soul-winners showed up?
What if one day 750 soul-winners showed up?
I'm not talking about a church living.
What if one day 1,000 soul-winners showed up
on a regular Saturday here at Verity Baptist Church,
a soul-winning army to go out and reach people
with the gospel of Christ.
God wants to involve you.
Matthew 4.19, the Bible says this,
and he saith unto them, follow me, Jesus says,
and I will make you fishers of men.
See, here's the truth.
And I'm not mad at you, I'm thankful for you.
I'm also not Jesus and I'm not your master.
But some of you are sitting on the shore.
You're just on the shore there,
hearing the preaching, involved in the service.
You need to take the step to be like Peter,
to thrust out a little from the land,
to get involved just a little bit.
Just let him use you a little bit.
Just let him inconvenience you a little bit.
Some of you are Peter.
You've thrust it out from the land.
You're out just a little bit,
being used just a little bit.
And you need to launch out into the deep.
Allow God to use you.
Allow God to have his will in your life.
And I'm just here to say that I believe
that God wants to use this church
to launch out into the deep,
to bring in a great catch, a great harvest for him.
But we can't do it without you.
So you know what Jesus needed?
He needed Peter.
He needed James.
He needed John.
He needed Matthew.
He needed help.
He needed some people to get involved.
And you know what we need here?
Is we need you to get involved.
If you're on the shore, thrust out a little, won't you?
If you've thrust out a little,
launch out into the deep, won't you?
Get involved in the ministry of catching men.
Help us to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ
and get involved.
Because God wants to use you
as much as he wants to use anyone else.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for this story.
It's one of my favorite stories.
A great fishing story.
With a soul winning application.
I pray you'd help us to learn and to apply to our lives.
Help us to have the attitude that Peter had
when he said, nevertheless at thy word,
and to apply the things we learned from the Bible.
Help us not to have the attitude that Peter had
when he said, I will let down a net,
when he should have gone full in and let down the nets.
I pray, Lord, that for those that are on the shore right now
that you would move in their hearts
to thrust out a little from the land.
And for those that have thrust it out,
that you would move in their hearts
to launch out into the deep.
Lord, I pray for all of us
that you would help us to develop a high view of God
and an accurate, humble view of self.
In the matchless name of Christ, we pray, amen.
We're gonna have Brother Matt come up
and lead us in a final song.
I wanna encourage you to be back tonight, 6 p.m.
for the evening service.
And tonight's a different sermon
than the one this morning.
Tonight, we're gonna continue on our journey with Jesus.
And I wanna encourage you tonight,
we're gonna look at several miracles of Jesus
and they depict or portray or picture several things.
I wanna learn about Jesus and the ministry of Jesus
and of course, we encourage you to be with us
as we open up God's Word.
If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know.
And if you have any questions for us,
we're available for you.
And then of course, I wanna encourage you
to come back next week and bring somebody with you.
Invite someone to church next week
as we continue our journey with Jesus.
Next week, next Sunday morning,
we're gonna be looking at the story of Matthew, Levi,
how he got called into the ministry
and how Jesus involved him in ministry.
And I think it'll be a blessing to you.
So invite someone to church,
make sure you're faithful to the house of God,
why brother Matt, come and lead us at this time.
Turn to song 319.
["I Am Weak But Thou Are Strong"]
Song 319.
319 on the first.
First.
Then we're walking close to Thee.
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
Through this world the toilet sings.
If I falter there, You can see.
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
Let it be.
With me my burden shares.
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
Just as close to my feet.
Let it be, Jesus is my King.
Let it be, walking close to me.
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
Let it be, I wish it all the last.
Let my feet will I do good.
Time for me will be no more.
God, You d Monk me safely on to Thy Kingdom,
ra microphone, just as close to the one with you.
Jesus is with me.
Let all people should be.
Let it be. Let it be.
Amen. Good singing before we leave here. If anybody has questions about salvation,
church membership, or baptism, pastor will be at the door. He'd love to talk to you or direct you to someone who's trained you to talk about that.
I'm going to ask, let's see, Brother George, would you close a prayer for us?
Amen.