1. One of the wonderful things about preaching the Word of God is that you can go just about anywhere and do it. For example, I have preached in parks, on the boardwalk at Rockaway Beach, on street corners, on the subway, and so forth.
2. Of course, the Lord Jesus Christ was the greatest preacher and our great example. In our text today we see that He used Peter’s fishing boat for His pulpit (5:1-3). This would have been a great spot for our Lord to preach. The Sea of Galilee ("the lake of Gennesaret" – vs. 1) had a small shore line with rolling hills that formed a perfect outdoor auditorium.
3. There are many wonderful lessons from this passage of Scripture. Here we read that Simon Peter allowed our Lord to use his boat to preach. If we yield our possessions and property over to the Lord, it is a blessing to see how He uses them for His glory. Also, it is always a blessing for us. Many Christians are missing out on the blessings of God because they are selfish.
4. Another valuable lesson: You can only catch fish if you allow the Lord to direct you (5:4-6). Peter and the others had "toiled all the night" and caught nothing. But the Lord, who is omniscient, knows where the fish are.
5. Here is yet another lesson: Service carried on by our own wisdom and strength is useless. The secret of success in Christian work is to be yielded to the Lord.
6. Here is a fourth lesson: It was out in the deep waters that the nets were filled to the breaking point. This indicates that we have to stop hanging around the shore line and launch out by faith, which means full surrender to the Lord’s will. Sometimes it is frightening stepping out by faith but the Lord blesses us abundantly by doing so. Also, it is tremendously exciting (5:6,7).
7. It was out in the deep waters that the nets began to break and the boats began to sink (5:6,7). Obeying the Lord oftentimes brings problems. But these problems can be taken care of because He is in the boat with us!
8. I want to draw out one more lesson here, before getting into my message. It was while Peter and the others were engaged in their ordinary employment that our Lord called them to be fishers of men (5:10). "Just as a rudder guides a ship only when it is in motion, so God guides men when they too are in motion" – William MacDonald.
9. If you are wondering what God has in store for your life, just keep busy doing what you’re doing, and He will make His will clear to you (cf. Acts 13:1-4). Notice they were busy serving in their local church when God moved them out. Keep busy and the Lord will direct you and guide you.
10. Catching fish is a nice occupation, but catching men is infinitely better (5:10,11). That’s why this fishing boat made such a good pulpit for our Lord – every pulpit ought to be a fishing boat where the preacher gives out the Word of God and tries to catch fish.
11. There may be some unsaved person here today who is thinking – ‘I don’t want to get caught’— but think this through – you cannot escape God’s drag-net (Matt.13:47-50). Either way, you will be caught. The question is – where will you wind up? -- it is either heaven or hell (Matt.13:47-50).
12. After such a lengthy introduction, I hope the rest of my message will be simple and to the point. I have entitled it, "Launch Out into the Deep, and Let Down Your Nets" (5:4).
13. Launching out by faith involves three things: obedience, recognition (recognizing God’s holiness, as well as our own sinfulness), and forsaking all and following Christ.

I. LAUNCHING OUT INVOLVES OBEDIENCE (5:5,6).

1. Here in our academy, Mrs. Valles is teaching the students a nice song about obedience. I do not recall all the words, but I remember the chorus says something to the effect that "obedience is the very best way to prove that you love God."
2. Another well-known hymn is "Trust and Obey."
3. These songs are certainly Scriptural for Jesus said: "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15).
4. The great British general, the Duke of Wellington, once gave a command to one of his men and the man told him that it was impossible to execute such a command. Wellington replied, "You just go ahead and do it, because I don’t give impossible commands!"
5. Likewise, our Lord does not give impossible commands. When He told Peter to let down the nets, Peter should not have told Him about "toiling all night." Our Lord knows when we have been toiling all night. He knows how we spend our time. And He knows where to drop the nets!
6. Perhaps Peter was thinking, "Jesus is just a carpenter, and we’re experienced fishermen – what does He know?"
7. There are so many lessons for us in this passage, one could be studying it for days and still not exhaust it:

1. When we do things God’s way, He blesses (5:6).
2. When we go fishing, we must go where the fish are. This sounds obvious yet when we see how few souls are being saved today, we realize many Christians have not learned this lesson.
3. When we go fishing, we must be patient. Spurgeon said: "I sometimes hear of persons getting very angry after a gospel sermon, and I say to myself, `I am not sorry for it.’ Sometimes when we are fishing, the fish gets the hook into his mouth. He pulls hard at the line; if he were dead, he would not; but he is a live fish, worth the getting; and though he runs away for awhile, with the hook in his jaws, he cannot escape. His very wriggling and his anger show that he has got the hook, and the hook has got him. Have the landing-net ready; we shall land him by and by. Give him more line; let him spend his strength, and then we will land him, and he shall belong to Christ forever."
4. Our Lord commanded Peter to let down all the nets (plural – 5:4). But Peter felt it was no use and said, "Nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the net" (singular – 5:5). If Peter had completely obeyed the Lord and let down all the nets, the net probably would not have broken. We limit God by our unbelief, and we limit God by our disobedience.

8. Before moving on to my next point, let me remind you that obedience may involve sacrifice, but it is certain to result in many souls being saved.

II. LAUNCHING OUT INVOLVES RECOGNITION (5:7,8).

1. By this I mean recognizing our failures, our sinfulness, our faithlessness, and our total unworthiness (cf. Job 42:5,6; Isa.6:5).
2. This recognition includes recognizing that Jesus Christ is Lord, that He is a holy and just God, and that we are unworthy to stand in His presence.
3. Recognition must involve repentance (5:8; Job 42:6).
4. Thank God, He doesn’t throw us overboard (though we certainly deserve it)! He told Simon Peter, "Fear not…" (5:10).
5. Jesus said, "Fear not; from henceforth (what a beautiful word!) thou shalt catch men" (5:10). This was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost and following (Acts 2:41,47; 4:4). That’s a lot of fish!
6. Let me ask you something – whose hook are you on, God’s or the devil’s?
7. The devil has his fishing line in the water and his hook is baited with the things of the world. Oh, my friend, don’t let him reel you in!
8. It is interesting to note that the word translated "catch" (5:10) is used only one other time in the New Testament (cf. II Tim.2:24-26). In the great sea of life, God is catching men but the devil is too. Be careful!

III. LAUNCHING OUT MEANS FORSAKING ALL AND FOLLOWING CHRIST (5:11).

1. As we study carefully this passage of Scripture, we notice that when Peter recognized our Lord’s holiness and his own sinfulness, he addressed Jesus as "Lord" (5:8).
2. This is important because there are some people today who teach that you can be saved by Christ without receiving Him as Lord.
3. They teach that you can receive Him as Saviour, and later on down the road you accept Him as Lord. Of course, they are forced to admit that for many of their "converts," they never do get around to receiving Christ as Lord.
4. The late evangelist Vance Havner said, "Nowadays we have created an artificial distinction between trusting Christ as Saviour and confessing Him as Lord. We have made two experiences out of it when it is one…Salvation is not a cafeteria line where we can take the Saviourhood of Christ and pass up His Lordship, take what we want and leave the rest…To be sure, one may not understand all that is involved at conversion, but no man can knowingly and willfully take Christ as Saviour and reject Him as Lord, and be saved. Paul told the Philippian jailer, `Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved…Here is the key to the sad state of many Christians and churches. There is a cheap, easy believism that does not believe and a receivism that does not receive. There is no confession of Christ Jesus as Lord. It is significant that the word `Saviour’ occurs only 24 times in the New Testament, while the word `Lord’ is found 433 times" (Repent or Else, pp. 117,118).
5. Those who refuse to receive Jesus as Lord are like those who say, "We will not have this man to reign over us" (Luke 19:14). It is of the same spirit as the blood-thirsty mob that shouted: "Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas" (Luke 23:18).
6. In Luke 5:11, we see that these fishermen were true disciples of Christ because "they forsook all, and followed Him." Are you willing to do that?
7. Later on, in Luke 14:25-33, our Lord gave three "cannots" concerning discipleship. "Great multitudes" were following Him (Luke 14:25), but very few meant business. Do you mean business with the Lord, or are you just playing church?
8. The last "cannot" is: "Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:33; cf. 5:11).
9. Have you forsook all? Is Jesus Christ your Lord? Can you hear His voice calling you?

CONCLUSION:

1. A little over a month ago an obituary caught my attention and I cut it out. It was about the death of "the oldest Titanic survivor."
2. I have preached many times about the Titanic but my favorite story is about John Harper of Glasgow, the man who fished for men right up to the minute of his death.
3. At a meeting in Hamilton, Canada, one night, a man stood up to give a testimony. He said: "I am a survivor of the Titanic. When I was drifting alone on a spar (a piece of wood used to support the rigging on a ship) that awful night, the tide brought John Harper of Glasgow, also on a piece of wreck near me. `Man,’ he said, `are you saved?’ `No,’ I said. `I am not.’ He then replied, `Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.’ The waves took him away; but brought him back a little later, and he said, `Are you saved now?’ `No,’ I said, `I cannot honestly say that I am.’ He said again, `Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and shortly after he went down; and there, alone in the night, and with two miles of water under me, I believed. I am John Harper’s last convert."