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Bro. Otis Fisher
Of Luke. First eight verses. And if you can find what he's trying to teach here, we'll go on. And it came to pass. Now whenever you see this statement, what does it mean, Virg? You'll either see it, it came to pass, or as time passed, or something like that.
Well, it indicates that some time went by. 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.
They 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, were pressing so hard upon him that he decided to step into a boat and push out a little bit from the land.
This was Simon Peter's boat. Russell, do you think that that was just an accident, that it belonged to Simon Peter? That's right. Now the people were eager to hear. And he did this for convenience. You know, having spent a lifetime in sound reinforcement, I always think about how did he talk to them, hundreds of them.
Well, if you look at the setting, he was out from the shore a little bit. The prevailing breeze would carry his speech across the water. Water does not absorb sound. The slope of the sea, of the side of the lake, would offer a perfect amphitheater.
And if he had something behind him, a sail or something, that would project it forward. So he was in an ideal location for this to occur without using any amplified sound. Four. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, launch out into the deep and let down your net for a hour.
This is new to Simon. Here's a man. He doesn't really know who he is. He has come along and he's acting like a fisherman. Tell Simon to pull out a little ways and let down your net for a draught. What is a draught, Burge?
How did they fix a draught? A large catch.
Hey brothers, you know, he's speaking on that too. When he went on the boat, Simon, even though he had been sitting and fishing all night, he trusted what Jesus was telling him to do.
He had to be, I guess, in light of who he was. Well, Christ had a very commanding voice. You listen to him. Those that are constant followers of Christ shall have him as their constant guide. And that was coming into play here.
And Simon answers, said unto him, Master, we have toiled all 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 the net broke.
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 boats so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' feet saying, depart from me, for I am a sinful man.
Now going back, when Jesus finished talking, now when he had left off speaking, so he turns his attention to the fishermen. David, did he know that they'd been out there all night? Why didn't he tell them so?
Well, he didn't know everything. That's right. So he tells them, push out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. Well, Simon Peter wants to find fault, but he says, nevertheless, at thy word, I will let down the net.
Now there's two things that our Savior aimed at in this miracle. Who can name me one of them? You've read it a dozen times. You heard me read it. You're looking at it now. What truth do you get from this, Russell?
Well, while he's thinking, Verge, what do you get from it? Keep thinking, Russell. Well, there is going to be a miracle, but Jesus aimed at teaching at least two things, and I'm sure there's much more from this incident.
David? Did these men know that he was Christ at this time, about 30 AD, the beginning of his ministry? They thought he was a man, a spiritual man. Now, what was it you said, David? That it doesn't matter how hard I work, it's bare proof unless I do it in Christ.
All right, so he's going to prove to these men his Godhead, his presence in God, but he's not going to mention that, but he's going to prove it. Now, something else. For those with.
It, before he had power over everything, because they had toiled all night and caught nothing, and they went back, and he filled their nets, whether it was fish or they'd already been,.
Would that be one of the things that he could be showing them? Yes. To assure them of the great success. Now, this is success in fishing, and he's going to apply that to fishing for men. See, Jesus Christ never passed up an opportunity to teach.
He's teaching them to listen to him attentively. We owe duty to the sovereign master, and who else? Charlotte, or has she told you that? We owe duty, yes, cheerfully. We are here to get along with people and obey duty, and still not obey the master.
We obey the master, obey cheerfully. Owe it to ourselves. No man ever took Jesus profitably for his teacher, who did not at the same time receive him as his own. Take Jesus as your teacher, and he'll teach you a big difference.
We have lots of people that, when they have done this, we've enclosed a great bunch of fishes, so much that his net began to break, exactly as one. Here's practically a stranger that's coming on board.
He's taught the word of God. There's no doubt about that, and he commands them to move out in the deep. They were running into trouble for the men in the other boat. To their aid, they did. Charlotte, how many fish did they catch?
From this we learn, it may be that you can't do it, but you know somebody that can. But anyhow, you get it done. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinner.
Now, when Simon Peter saw what is it, it says, when Simon Peter saw it, he was utterly amazed. He'd been looking at all of this, but when he saw it, he didn't know who Jesus was as much as he could. All had been revealed, astonished, and all that were with him at the draw of the fishes which they had taken, and so was also James and John, the son of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon, and Jesus said to Simon, fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all and followed him. Do you know what is meant by the phrase, leaving your hammer in the middle of the air? When it's quitting time, a carpenter does not leave his hammer hanging in the middle.
They brought the ships, they tied up the ships, they did whatever they had to do, then they followed him. He does not mean for sure-car responsibilities at all.