The Call of Jesus to be Fishers of Men

Well, good morning, beloved. Please turn to the Gospel of Luke 5 this morning as we will be reading and preaching from Luke 5 verses 1 -11.

And when you have that, please do stand for the reading of God's Word. Again, Luke 5, starting in verse 1.

Hear ye this morning the Word of the Lord. On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on Him to hear the

Word of God, He was standing by the lake of Genesaret. He saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.

Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, He asked him to put out a little from the land.

He sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.

And Simon answered, Master, we toiled all night and took nothing. But at Your word I will let down the nets.

When they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish and their nets were breaking.

They signaled to their partners and the other boat to come and to help them. And they came and filled both the boats so that they began to sink.

But Simon Peter saw it and fell down at Jesus' knees saying, depart from me, for I am a sinful man,

O Lord. For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had just taken.

And so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Do not be afraid.

From now on, you will be catching men. And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed

Him. This is the Word of God. You may be seated. Let us pray.

Father, we do come before You. In the name of Jesus Christ, our beloved Savior, ask

You, Lord, that You would work in us that which is pleasing Your sight, edify us, build us up into inner man. Lord, help us to turn our hearts, our attention to Jesus this morning.

Lay aside every sin, every high and lofty thing that may so easily entangle us and to keep us from Thy sovereign grace and will from hearing that which

You have laid before us in Your Word. And Father, we do ask that You now give us the power by Your Spirit to not just be hearers of Your Word, but also doers, that we too can respond to the call of Jesus Christ to be fishers of men unto the glory of the one true and triumphant God, Father, Son, and Spirit.

Amen. Well, church, here we are in the

Gospel of Luke 5. And in this Gospel narrative of Luke, we're learning more and more how

Jesus is the center of redemptive history, that at the heart of Jesus' message is

God's kingdom breaking into the world through His life and His ministry,

His eventual death, His burial, and His resurrection. That God is breaking into humanity.

God is breaking into the world with a new thing, with His kingdom. And now at this junction of Jesus' life,

He is now calling others to participate with Him in this kingdom work of catching souls, men, women, and children for the kingdom of God.

On this occasion, it says in verse one, while the crowd was pressing in on Him, why were they pressing in on Jesus?

Because at this point, Jesus had already begun His miraculous ministry. He was healing the sick.

He was beginning to relieve those who were oppressed by demons. His ministry was catching much fervor in the land of Israel.

And at this junction, people were pressing in on Him because they wanted to hear the

Word of God that He preached. So I want you, if you're following in today's notes in the insert this morning, early in the ministry of Jesus, the crowds pressed on Him to hear the

Word of God. Can you imagine for a moment what it looks like to be part of a great movement?

Maybe some of you are young or old enough to have maybe gone to a campus crusade for Christ.

Maybe you went to a Billy Graham rally. Maybe you've gone to another preacher's rally where hundreds or thousands of people gather to hear this one preacher preach.

Imagine the excitement that would have been surrounding this man, Jesus of Nazareth, as people are hearing about the miraculous works, seeing

His works, and they want to hear Him preach the Word of God. And so much of it, they're pressing in on Him.

The crowds are gathering around Him and the masses are coming to Him because they want to see what He can do.

They want to hear His words. And they're standing by this lake, and it says in verse two,

He saw the two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.

Jesus, early in His ministry, is preaching God's Word. But Jesus turned His attention from the crowd to the fishermen.

I want you to notice that, and I want you to write that in notes as well if you're following along. Jesus turned His attention from the crowd to the fishermen.

Why does Jesus turn His attention from the masses to the few? Why does

He turn His attention to those who are pressing in on Him to hear the Word of God to the lowly fishermen?

It's because Jesus knew this. In order to best serve the many, He must first serve the few.

In order to serve the many, one must first serve the few. Jesus understood that in order to have a movement that would be successful, that would take over the world as it has today, you need to focus not just on the masses, but on the few who are willing to work.

To the few who are willing to press in and share this good news with others.

Jesus knew that in order for this movement to survive, in order for the masses to be well -served,

He must first make disciples. He must first make disciples. Think for a moment about what that word means, disciple.

It means a learner, a pupil, someone who sits at the feet of a teacher or a master. And Jesus knew that though the crowds were clamoring to hear

Him, though the crowds were anxious to see what He could do, hear His words, in order to best serve them,

He needed soldiers of His cause. He needed fishers of men who would come and teach the

Word of God and able to catch the masses that were going to come to Him. Which is why, again, we see in the

Scripture here, in verse 3, getting into one of the boats, which was

Simon's, He asked him to put out a little from the land. He sat down and taught the people from the boat.

So He takes the few, He takes the fishermen. He says He allows them to, the fishermen allow

Him to commandeer His boat so He can go and He can preach from the water to the masses.

And He's doing so, He's doing this for a purpose. He's demonstrating something in verse 4.

As we had finished speaking, He said to Simon, put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.

A lot of times today, preachers will use some improvs or some props in order to teach.

Jesus is like the master at this. Jesus not only teaches in parables, which is a picture or a way of communicating that would be common to the people of their day.

He also uses this very powerful imagery of these boats on water.

And He says, I've got fishermen here and I want to show the crowds how you fish. I'm not sure about you,

I've never been fishing. I've lived in a fishing town before called Surgeon Bay in Wisconsin. Very well known fishing town.

And I've known a lot of fishers, a lot of fishermen. But I myself have never actually fished.

And I could tell you right now, if someone told me, okay, now put your nets out, I'd be like, oh no, this is gonna be embarrassing.

How embarrassing is this gonna be? That I'm gonna have to fish in front of these crowds and in front of Jesus? Especially with what the disciples are just about to tell

Him. It says in verse 5, Simon answered,

Master, we toiled all night and took nothing. So what they're saying is like, Jesus, we've tried this already.

We've gone into the water, we've been fishing all night, and we haven't catched anything. So you sure you wanna do this?

But they respond with this, they say, but at your word, I will let down the nets.

Like Jesus, we tried this already, we know we're not gonna catch anything, but if you say so, if you command us, if you want this, we'll do it.

Think about the faith that is required in this action. Here is the fisherman,

Jesus is not a fisherman. He's not a fisherman, he probably comes from a household of carpenters.

And you've got the professionals on one side saying, Jesus, we've tried this, we're the professionals.

We know what we're doing. But if you say so, if you command us, if you called us, we'll do it.

We'll do it. In life and in our circumstances, sometimes we'll be confronted with similar situations where we think because of our position, because of what we've done, because of our experience, we may know a little bit better than Jesus.

Like, Lord, I know you want me to do this, but I've done this before and it hasn't worked. Or Lord, I know you call us to do certain things in your word, but I've been doing this and it hasn't been working out for me.

Are you sure this is what you want? Are you sure this is your will? Beloved, we will always constantly have this internal battle of discerning for ourselves what is

God's will. And I've shared with you before this secret to understanding God's will.

First and foremost, it should be what? Does anyone remember? What should it be? Church of a

B. It should be biblical. And these men, these fishermen who are hearing

Christ, hearing His words, and Jesus says do, and they do what? What He commanded.

It is always biblical to listen, to hear, and do the Word of God.

Do the Word. Do what the Master requires of you. And in that, you will be in His will.

Whether you fail or whether you succeed, you can be in God's will if you listen and you obey.

These fishermen listened and obeyed the words of their

Lord. And Jesus commands Simon to cast his nets. Why don't you write this in the notes?

Jesus commands Simon to cast his nets. Though Simon spent all night with no reward, he obeyed the

Word of the Lord. You see, Simon, again, was a professional fisherman.

This was his trade, this was his job, and this was not Jesus' world, this was not his profession, this was not his trade.

Simon, though not fully understanding, obeyed the Word of the Lord, and we must do likewise.

Obedience does not always call us to know what's on the other side. It doesn't always require us to know what's on the other side, whether it's success or failure.

But I promise you this, beloved, on the other side of obedience is always blessing.

I want you to hear that again. On the other side of obedience is always blessing.

God always blesses those who obey. Now, the blessing may look different for every person.

The blessing may often, even sometimes, seem like a curse in the eyes of the world, but God always promises blessing on the other side of obedience.

And obedience requires faith, more than it requires your understanding.

Just because we may not understand, just because we may not always comprehend, does not mean that we should abandon faith, but we hold on to faith, even when times are difficult, even when times are bad, even though we've been laboring all day, all night, and we have no recollection or no idea how we're gonna get through the day, or through the month, or through the year, but we trust, we hold fast to that which

God has said in His Word. Trust in the Lord, and as the Proverbs says, lean not upon your own, what?

Understanding, because our understandings, they're limited. We don't always see the full picture.

Oftentimes, we don't, and neither will we, maybe until the other side of eternity. But God, being the sovereign

God that He is, knows all things from beginning to the end. All things are in His purview.

All things are within His sovereign hand. All things are according to His deed and will. Therefore, we can trust, and faith is an action of trust.

We are trusting in another. Just as these fishermen are hearing Jesus saying, do this, and though they've been laboring all night, and they're the professionals, they think they have it all together,

Jesus says, do, and He promises them blessing on the other side.

And these disciples did just what the Master required. See and know this, beloved.

Sometimes, following Jesus doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Amen? Can we just be real for a second?

Sometimes, following Jesus doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Delaying personal pleasures, delaying personal profit, delaying self -gratification, sometimes doesn't feel good.

Doing what God requires, sometimes doesn't make me feel good or look good.

Sometimes, following God's word and His law and His decree doesn't always give us the results that we're looking for.

Sometimes, following Jesus doesn't make a whole lot of sense because we cannot see past our previous outcomes.

We can't see past our previous outcomes. But where there is Jesus, and where Jesus is, there's always a new and a better way.

Indeed, this Jesus is our waymaker. He's the way, the truth, and the life.

If you have Jesus, know this, that your outcome will ultimately always be blessed.

These men who out of faith listened to the Master, although toiling all night and took nothing, at His word, they let down their nets.

Verse six says this, and when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.

Now why is this a miracle? Why is Jesus using this as an example, not just for those who are in the boats, but for those who are on the beach who are observing this?

Jesus is demonstrating two things primarily. One, that He is

Lord, that He has supremacy over every area and aspect of life.

Although He's not a fisherman, He commands the fish, amen? Though He's not an engineer,

He commands the engineers. Though He's not a professional architect, He is the one in charge of all of architecture.

Jesus is in charge of everything. And at His command, at His decree, all things work according to good for those who are called according to His purposes and those who love

God, amen? He is ultimately working good. And He's also demonstrating this, that at His command, there is a plentiful harvest to be won.

At His command. When we listen to Jesus, when we do what is required by faith,

He will bless us with an abundance. Scary concept,

I know. Don't get confused, as I often tell you, with the abundance of Christ and the abundance that is supposedly preached by prosperity preachers.

This is two different concepts. Because true abundance isn't always material.

True blessing isn't always that which you can have and fit in your back pocket. True blessing is the harvest of souls, of men, women, and children for the kingdom of Christ.

That's the harvest. That's the blessing. And Jesus is using this picture of the nets, of these fishermen, of these boats, of the great harvest that is about to happen upon the face of the earth, of men, women, and children coming to know this

Jesus and inheriting eternal life through faith in His name. Again, verse six, when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish.

Simon caught a huge amount of fish demonstrating his call to be an evangelist.

I want you to write that in notes. Simon caught a huge amount of fish demonstrating his call to be an evangelist.

In contrast, Simon, apart from the Lord, was searching for a catch in the darkness of night.

Notice what he had said previously. He had been toiling all night and took nothing.

Yet, under the light of day, under the light and the illumination of Jesus Christ, his working, which he was doing in vain, ceaselessly, had now brought fruit through the direction and faith in Jesus Christ.

Again, in contrast, Simon, apart from the Lord, was searching for a catch in the night, in the darkness of night, reminding me of what

John 9, 4 says, where Jesus says this, I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day, for the night cometh when no man can work.

Life apart from Jesus is indeed like living in the dark. It's like living and toiling and working in the dark with no true light, no true illumination, no true good outcome.

We may get some things done, but ultimately, it leads to darkness and separation. In Jesus, we have light and illumination.

In Jesus, our work has meaning, our life has meaning. All the things that we do, that we suffer through, that we toil for, that we work for, ultimately has true meaning and purpose.

Apart from Jesus, Simon is in the night of dark, working aimlessly, but in the light of Christ, he receives a catch for the ages.

Simon then finds himself with more catch than he could dream of because of his obedience to the

Lord while walking in the light of day. It's in walking in Jesus, listening to the

Master, doing as he commands, that we will get the catch of our life, that we will get the blessing, the abundance that he promises us, even here in this analogy of Scripture.

What does Peter do? What does Simon Peter say and do? Verse seven, they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both the boats that they began to sink.

Not only was the catch big enough for Simon Peter, the catch was so big, was so incredible, was so bountiful that he had to get other boats alongside him so they can share in the catch.

Brothers and sisters, this is the kingdom work of God. This is the kingdom of God in action that sometimes walking in faith requires us to get our nets ready, to prepare others also for the work, to bring others alongside us so that we can partake in the greatest catch and the greatest harvest work in the history, that work of making disciples for Jesus Christ.

I'm often reminded of this text of Scripture in a song that is not sung in this church, not sung in this tradition typically, but I went to a predominantly black church in inner city

Hartford many, many years ago, and this church was a church that was so lively, which was just incredible.

And the song that they sung has always stuck with me, and it was a song called Get Ready for Revival. And it says, open up your nets, get ready for a catch, get ready for revival.

And I loved that song, and I love accompanying it with this Scripture, because at the heart of what

Jesus is talking about here is revival of the gospel of Jesus Christ, infiltrating the hearts of humans, coming into people's lives, illuminating them with the light of the gospel of Christ so that lives are changed and transformed, and as one life is changed and transformed, so another, and so another, and another, until the whole world is filled with people who are praising the name of Jesus.

And that day is coming, brothers and sisters. It's prophesied in Isaiah chapter two that the whole world will be filled with the knowledge of the

Lord as the water covers the very sea, that the whole earth in unison will come under the dominion and knowledge and lordship of Jesus Christ, and all things will be under His dominion and power forever.

That day is coming soon, brothers and sisters, and today we are observers of that fact. Even later on, as we observe a baptism, again, isn't it been neat that almost, it seems like week after week after week, we've been seeing a baptism?

This is part of that catch. This is part of that revival. This is part of that work that Jesus was alluding to, that we will have in latter days, we will have in these days in which we're living in, a time in which people will come to a knowledge of the

Savior and be transformed and be washed not only outwardly with water, but inwardly with the water of the

Word of God. That's the promise. And that is what Peter was partaking in here when he was also bringing others into this catch.

So they even began to sink. So much of a blessing that they began to sink down.

It reminds me of Psalm 23, that God's blessing is like a cup that is running over. It runneth over.

That's a spiritual blessing, this spiritual abundance that comes with knowing Jesus Christ. And I love

Peter's response in v. 8. Notice what he says. But when

Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees saying, depart from me, from a sinful man,

O Lord. You know what Peter's doing at this moment? He's recognizing the Lordship and the sovereignty of Jesus.

He says this Jesus, though not a fisherman, was able to command the seas themselves that they obeyed

His command. And at His obedience, at Simon's obedience, He was able to reap the blessing of Christ's sovereignty, of Christ's power working in nature and the lives of His people.

This Jesus is wonderful. This Jesus is awesome. And He's also holy.

Holy. Peter is struck by the holiness of Christ.

The separateness of Christ that He can command even nature itself.

And he responds with this confession. Depart from me. Move away from me,

Jesus, because I'm sinful. I'm not worthy to be part of this work. I'm not counted as righteous enough to be in Your presence,

O Lord. Because he recognized not only the holiness of Christ, but the holiness of the call of following Jesus Christ.

And he says depart from me. Echoing the very words of the prophet

Isaiah in Isaiah 6, where the prophet sees the

Lord seated and enthroned on high, seeing the cherub and the seraphim singing, holy, holy, holy is

Yahweh Jehovah of hosts. The whole earth is filled of His glory. And so impressed was the prophet in that moment.

He says, woe am I, for I am a sinner, and I'm a man of unclean lips, and I live amongst a people of unclean lips.

He understood that at that moment, he was faced with pure holiness. And at that moment, the prophet understood that he was a sinner.

He was an atheist by the name of Christopher Hitchens. I got to meet him once when

I worked at a forum called the Connecticut Forum in 2009. I think it was 2008, 2009. I got to meet this famous speaker.

And I was one of the people who on the back end helped moderate a debate between him and a

Jewish rabbi and a so -called Christian pastor. He was not much of a

Christian. His theology was akin to that of a heretic. But yet, we were able to have this conversation with him.

And one of the things that Christopher Hitchens was known for saying was that if God is real, and if I die, and at this moment, he had cancer, and so he knew that his life was short.

And Christopher Hitchens, side note, the guy smoked like you would never believe.

In between every break, he'd be lighting up a cigarette, which he dies later of cancer.

And he says often and famously, especially in this debate in which I was a part of, he says, you know, if God is real, and if I die and go to heaven, so what?

You know what I'm gonna tell God? I'm gonna say, child cancer. I'm gonna bring up all these things that God has allowed to happen, that God has permitted to happen, and I'm gonna shove it and rub it right in his face and say, you can't hold me accountable.

I'm gonna hold you accountable. And the rabbi and the Christian didn't really have anything much to say to that, and they didn't have a good response.

And in reality, just a short few years later, Christopher Hitchens dies of cancer.

And he faces his maker. He faces his creator. And I bet you, before he could even get a word out, he is met by pure, unadulterated holiness.

And it's at that moment of encountering true, powerful holiness that man can only respond with two things, either complete silence or complete admission of their sinful, fallen state.

And as the prophet and as Simon Peter encounter true holiness, they encounter with their mouths the true confession of who they are, woeful, separated sinners.

How then can sinners be made right with God? How can sinners who are separated from this holy, magnificent creator,

God who is so transcendent, so otherworldly, how can we come and approach this

God? The prophet Isaiah's example in Isaiah chapter six. He needs an intermediary, an angel of the

Lord comes to him, takes his tongs, puts his coals of fire from the altar of God, places it upon the unclean lips of the prophet.

And God, through that instrument, infuses holiness to the prophet

Isaiah so that the man of unclean lips can now speak clean, holy words from God.

In the example of Simon Peter, he is not, he is one who acknowledges himself as a sinner before the

Lord. And how does he now become an instrument to be used by the

Lord to speak the true and holy words of God? It's because God's instrument in this instance is himself through Jesus Christ.

That Jesus can now come into the life and hearts of believers, touch the very lips and the very heart of the sinner and make them holy.

Jesus imputes his righteousness to you and to me. And therefore, men, women, and children of unclean lips and unclean hearts can be made clean and speak the true words of God.

That is only possible through saving faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only way by which we can be made right with God so that unclean people, unclean lips can be made clean.

And Jesus transforms the hearts of men and women, such as Simon Peter, to now not just be a sinful man, but a man who is used to catch other men, women, and children for the kingdom of Christ.

This is good news. You're following the notes? Peter falls at the knees of Jesus, acknowledging that he's a sinful man.

Again, similar to the prophet Isaiah when he saw Jehovah of hosts.

And in verse nine of Luke, chapter five, it says, for he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken.

And so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, do not be afraid.

From now on, you will be catching men. Notice the assurance that the

Savior gives. Simon Peter just gets a glimpse, just a small glimpse of the glory, majesty, sovereignty of Christ.

And at that, that was enough, that was sufficient to make Peter confess his sinfulness before him, and also to grow in fear because of the miraculous power of Christ.

But Christ responds with these assuring words, do not be afraid. Do not be afraid.

Beloved, I don't know what you're going through in life. I don't know what challenges you're facing right now. But I assume many of us have unknowns, difficulties, challenges, things that must be overcome, things that we don't know how we're going to resolve.

But I want you to know that if you walk with the Savior, if you know Jesus, do not be afraid.

Don't be afraid. Trust in him. Know him. Rely on the power of his grace and the power of his resurrection to bring even dead things back to life.

That's the power of our Savior. That's who our Jesus is. He's the

God of revival. He's the God of all things. He is sovereign over all things.

Therefore, do not be afraid. Why? Because he's going to turn your despair into a mission.

Your despair, your challenges, are going to be used for God's purposes to fulfill his purpose and to fulfill his mission for you and for his kingdom.

The men were astonished, not just by the huge catch, but of the clear divine call.

I want you to write this in the notes. The men were astonished, not just by the huge catch, but of the clear divine call.

Jesus had for them by saying, do not be afraid. From now on, you'll be catching men.

That's the call. Jesus is not only quieting their hearts because of the miraculous nature of what had just taken place, but because of also the immense enormity call of ministry to be fishers of men.

He's saying, don't be afraid because I'm going to be with you. Last night,

Simon, you were toiling all night. You were fishing all night and you didn't get not even a single catch because apart from me, you can do nothing.

But with me, all things are possible. That's the call of the

Savior. Trust in Him. Know Him. Walk in Him and leave everything else to follow

Him. Notice the radical call of discipleship, the radical call of ministry here that is taking place.

These fishermen, these men who have families, who have businesses, who have things to take care of, they're being called by Christ.

And Jesus says, do not be afraid. If you were called outside of your vocation, outside of your comfort zone, you'd likely have a lot of reason to be afraid.

But Jesus is calling. He's calling men, women, and children to be fishers, fishers of men, to be proclaimers of God's kingdom.

Do you trust Him? Can I tell you this, church, that you are also at this moment, right now, being called.

You're being called to obey Him. You're being called to go out into the world and be a witness for Jesus Christ.

Jesus says, as He ascended to the Father, but you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and to the ends of the earth.

He wants you to be a witness of His death, burial, and resurrection. He wants you to be a witness of His kingdom.

Will you answer the call? You say, Pastor, I'd like to, but what does that mean for me?

What does that entail? How will that affect me? What will that mean for my life?

Well, here's the call, simply put. God is calling you to be a disciple, a learner, who is now, who in turn, teaches others to be learners, to be disciples.

Jesus wants you to be His hands and feet in this fallen and broken world, and to share the light, love, and illumination of Christ's gospel everywhere you go.

Essentially, what He's calling you to be is a preacher, a herald of good news.

This world so desperately needs good news, amen? This world so desperately needs good news, because we turn on the

TV, and it's always bad news. Every time we look in social media, more bad news.

Every time we get a phone call, maybe bad news. The world needs good news, and guess who has it?

You do. Every single one of you who treasures and has Jesus Christ reigning as Lord in your hearts, you bring with you good news.

Therefore, don't take that treasure, that light, and put it under a basket so that no one sees it, but instead, put it at the highest pedestal of your life, of your heart, of your mind, of your mind, and let it come forth so that others may hear and see the gospel in your life, amen?

Let that light shine, like that song says, right? This little light of mine,

I'm gonna what? I'm gonna let it shine. I'm gonna let it shine. Let that light shine, the light of the gospel of Christ.

Let that light shine so that you too will be counted among those who are called fishers of men.

Notice how this teaching ends here in verse 11. When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

They left everything and followed him. These men left behind their businesses, their livelihoods, worldly possessions, relationships, to follow after Jesus.

And what a shame, because some of us today in modern day life and Christendom can't even get out of the couch or be bothered with kingdom businesses.

And yet, there are those here in scripture who gave up everything to follow him.

Even still, there are those today who have given up everything to follow him. And yet, many

Christians can't even get off the couch. Can't even be bothered to come to church.

Can't even be bothered to share their faith. And yet, here's the call, brothers and sisters, if you want to be a disciple of Jesus, if you want him in the blessings of abundance that comes with knowing him, here's what it'll cost you.

Everything. Everything. It'll cost you everything. It'll cost you everything.

That's exactly the call to John, to Simon, to James.

This was the call to leave everything behind, your profession, your worldly passions, all things that you have in life, and come follow me, a nomadic preacher.

Who has nothing to offer you physically, but has everything to give you spiritually.

And the promise of eternal life. That's true abundance. That's true blessing.

And brothers and sisters, let it be known that indeed it will cost you everything to be a disciple of Jesus.

It'll cost you sometimes opportunities at work. It'll cost you at times friendships.

It'll cost you at times peace at home. Because the gospel at times is a sword which causes division even in homes.

It'll cost you at times advancement. It'll cost you at times money.

It'll cost you at times things that are precious to you. It will cost you. It's costly to follow

Jesus. Which is why I said at the beginning of the sermon, sometimes it just doesn't make sense to follow

Jesus. From a worldly, earthly perspective. But in losing everything, we truly find all that we ever needed.

Because Jesus is enough. And Jesus was enough for Simon Peter.

He was enough for James. He was enough for John. He was enough for the rest of the 12. He was enough for the 120 that were converted at Pentecost.

He was enough also for the 3 ,000 that were later to come. For the 5 ,000 that were added. And for every single

Christian that has ever been born again and saved. Jesus is enough. Jesus is enough for you today.

Regardless of your trials, regardless of your outcome, regardless of what you're going through. Can I tell you? He's enough.

Therefore, somebody asked the question, do we really need to leave all of our earthly possessions behind to follow

Jesus? And the answer is, not always. But sometimes, yes.

And be prepared for that. Be ready for that. It's been already two, three times in our family life where we've answered a call.

And what did it cost us? Everything. First time we were called to ministry in Canada.

We could only fit that which we could fit in our little car at the time. It was a Ford Taurus.

Whatever we could fit in that car was what we took with us. And we left behind earthly possessions, friends, family, and went to a place where we knew no one.

We had no friends, no connections. And we went and we served the Lord there for four years. Started two churches.

Baptized dozens of people. Saw the Lord do incredible things because we obeyed.

And it cost us everything, but what did we get in return? Everything. Everything.

Same time again, we left Canada, back to the United States. Now, moving from country to country isn't easy, and sometimes you leave things behind.

And again, we only were able to take, now at this point, with three kids, my wife pregnant at the time, with our fourth child, and we could only take what we could fit in our bags, which was 12 bags, and that, in four years, condensed to 12 bags.

And we left, and we served the Lord for another four years elsewhere.

I'm not telling you there's a pattern here, but maybe there's a pattern here, okay? And what did it cost us?

Everything, but what did we get in return? Everything. Jesus is worth it every single time.

And if he tells you to drop your bags, drop everything and follow him, I promise you it will be worth it every single time.

He's worth it. He's worth it, because he's Lord, and he's holy, and he's magnificent, and he's our blessed

Savior. So trust in him, beloved. Walk in him. Regardless of what you're going through in life, know that his plan, his sovereign hand is sure.

He will not falter. He will not allow you to go by the wayside. He will hold you, and he will sustain you with his mighty right hand, that hand that is mighty to save.

My hope is this, beloved, that you hear these words, that you're able to apply these truths, that you obey

God's word to reap God's blessing, that you live sacrificially, that you're able to abandon everything at any moment for the cause of the gospel of Christ, and that you be committed to this kingdom work, here, locally, and wherever the

Lord may lead you in the future, that you be fully committed to this kingdom work, and that you too can reap the blessing, not just of eternal life, but the blessing that is obedience itself, for it is better to obey than to sacrifice.

Let me pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you for your good, bountiful, and mighty hand.

The hand by which you have saved us. Your right hand, which is able to sustain us, and your hand, which will now even lead us to the place that is homeward, upward, in heaven, the place in which you have set aside for us.

Lord, we thank you for this message, and we pray, God, that you'd work in us, that which is pleasing in your sight, to enable us and empower us to be truly disciples of your kingdom, that yes,

Lord, it is a heavy call. It is a great call, Lord, to be called fishers of men, that indeed, at times in life, it may cost us everything to be disciples, but to be kingdom proclaimers.

But Lord, may you grant us the joy and the hope of knowing that it is indeed our great joy to leave all things behind and to follow you, because you are indeed the one and the one alone who is counted and called worthy.

So much so, Lord, that even John the Revelator, as he sees his grand vision in heaven of these scrolls that could not be opened because none could be found worthy enough to open it, that heaven itself was silent as it mourned for a time, because none was found, even amongst the heavenly hosts, none upon the earth, none under the earth, who was found worthy but one alone, the

Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world. Jesus was counted worthy.

And Lord, we do count you worthy even now in our worship, in this message, and also in the things that we're about to partake of, namely, the ordinances of baptism and the

Lord's Supper. Lord God, help us to continue to count you worthy alongside of all creation, as we even sing and confess of our hearts.

Indeed, worthy is the Lamb, for he was slaughtered from the foundation of the earth, and he purchased for God a people of every nation, tribe, and tongue, for the glory of the one true and triumphant God, Father, Son, and Spirit.

We do count you worthy, we worship you even now, O Lord Jesus Christ. In your name we pray, amen, amen.