← ArchiveSunday, August 31, 2014DateAugust 31, 2014Speaker—TextLuke 5Passages in this sermonLuke 50:39John 814:19Psalms 4014:45Colossians 1:914:45Joshua 2214:58Ephesians 5:623:162 Timothy 2:1524:492 Chronicles 730:39Isaiah 633:221 Peter 534:24TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00Amen. Thank you, Greg. Can you come get this for me? Thank you, brother. Hey, where are they going? I pray they're going to find a seat and not leave. They haven't even heard me preach yet, huh? Good morning. How are you guys this morning? Are you excited? Oh, come on now. Are you excited?0:27Amen. We're so excited about this journey we're on. If you brought your Bible, I hope you did. Turn with me to Luke chapter 5, Luke's gospel chapter 5 of our text today. You know, churches do some unusual things, don't we? I mean, we really do. Sometimes we try to get the message out and we really have the great intentions of getting the message out and in our print material, through our websites, through our signage and all kinds of stuff. I have traveled and been in so many0:56different type and styles of churches. It's amazing. From liturgical type worship services to the most charismatic of bunch. I've been in cross blended style worship services to contemporary services and I've seen all kinds of printed material and all this stuff since 1984, since Deb and I surrendered to ministry. We've been in small churches, big churches, and sometimes we just mess it up. Amen? Sometimes we1:19just mess up the message. We try to get it out. And over the years, I have seen these things in bulletins and worship folders and signage and things like that, and I found them to be interesting. Sometimes we get the message out, but it's the wrong message. We just need to tweak it. Maybe we need to look at it a little more closely. Maybe we need to address it. Maybe we need to proofread it just a1:47little bit more. Saw in a bulletin recently, it said the announcement in the church bulletin for national prayer and fasting conference. Now that's a good thing. Prayer and fasting conferences, we should do those kinds of things. Those are very biblical things to do for churches to do. But here's the next sentence. The cost for attending the fasting and prayer conference includes meals. Now I started thinking about this. This had to be a Baptist church, did it not? I mean, only Baptists can fast and have meals2:14and pray at the same time. Amen? So we do those things. I saw this in recently. It said, ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. Now I guess that this was a Midwestern church, a rummage sale. We call that a yard sale here in Alabama, right? Don't forget the yard sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Nothing wrong with that. The next sentence goes on to say, don't forget your husbands. And all the women said, amen, right? This is one of my favorite. This is2:42the church just down the road from where I live off 119 over North Shelby County. Had this big marquee sign out there. They were trying to get some things, you know, fired up in their church. And this, I love, I love what this said. He was trying to get these little sayings and slogans and stuff like that to encourage people to come to the church. He said, don't let worry kill you off. Let the church help. Now, is that what we're supposed to do? Kill people off? I mean, maybe a deacon or two, but I mean,3:13you know, I don't know. But you know, this is some of my favorites right here. This one, this was in a Presbyterian church I was speaking at one time. It said Weight Watchers. Now that's a great organization. I'm not here to bash Weight Watchers. Some of you are saying, pastor, you need to join. I am going to join. One of these days, I'm going to join. It's a great organization, Weight Watchers. It said Weight Watchers will meet at 7 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church. No big deal. Listen to what it said.3:39Please use the large double doors to the side of the building. That's encouraging them people, the large double doors, right? This is one of my favorites right here. The low self-esteem support group. Now, I'm telling you, we need to have these support groups that helps people along right there, kind of stuff. This one said, the low self-esteem support group will meet on Thursday at 7 p.m. No big deal. This is the next sentence. Please use the back door4:07entrance to the building. I mean, can you imagine? I got low self-esteem. Can you go through the front door? That's what I was thinking about, right? This is one of my favorites. This was last year at the church that I just left. This was in there. There was a listing of the songs in this, the particular. It had a listing of all the Christmas songs that we're going to be doing. It had a listing. Our next song is, Angels, We Have Heard, Get High. I pray those boys and girls up there not get high. Amen?4:38Well, I want you to know, we're embarking on a journey that it's been 20 years since this church has done this. It's called transitioning from one senior shepherd to the next senior shepherd. And I can tell you, it's your choice. But I have chosen for it to be the best of times for this church. I believe your best days are ahead of you. I believe the best is yet to come. And I believe that we're going to see God move in such a mighty way that we've not seen before in the life of this5:05church. Not to say that what you've done in the past has not worked and not been good, but I can tell you we have a lot of work to be done. Amen? Look around this building. We have some spots open for some to come worship with us. Amen? So it's time for us to decide. I want you to look around in this room. This, in my opinion, should be the last time this building looks this way. We should make a5:29commitment today to say we have got plenty of work to do as the body of Christ. We should get together and fill up this building. Amen? I believe you built it for this size so you can house this number of people. And so it's our responsibility as Christ followers, as members of this body of Christ, that we let everything go to reach that goal. Amen? So I want us to look around here right now and see all5:56those spots. And when you see those spots open right now, just picture in your mind's eye someone sitting in that seat right there. Would it not be a great testament to the to the next coming senior pastor to know that this church is exciting and exploding and amazing growth over the next few months and years? It would be exciting. It would be alluring. It would be attractive for that next senior6:23pastor to come to be a part of what God is up to. So my goal, my goal in my personal life is to begin the process of filling in the open spots that we have available for people to see sit and come and hear and worship together in spirit and truth. Luke chapter 5 beginning with the first verse through the 11th verse. And I want you to know this message right here is entitled letting go of the nets because I believe6:50there's some of us in this room have we've walked into this building with some nets that we've been holding on to. Luke chapter 5 beginning with the first verse. Now it came about while the multitude were pressing about him and were listening to the word of God. Now that's a very important line. Listening to the word of God. He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake, but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. And he said he got into one of the boats which was Simon's and he asked him to put out a little way from the land and he sat down7:18and began teaching the multitudes from the boat. And when he had finished speaking he said to Simon, put down your, put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch. And Simon answered and said, Master, we have worked hard all night. Now the new King James, this is the New American Standard version I'm reading from. The King James verse is, Master, we've tolled hard. Means it's spulsion.7:44The new Alabama translation would be this. Master, we fished all night long and we ain't caught a cotton-picking thing. That's what it would translate if we had it in that vernacular. He said, Master, we worked hard all night and have caught nothing but at your bidding or at your word I will let down the nets. And when they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish and their nets began to break. And they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came8:11and filled both of the boats so that they began to sink. Verse 8, but when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus' feet saying, Depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For amazement it sees him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken. And so also James and John's the sons of Zebedee who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Do not fear from now on you'll be catching men. The little Greek translation says, Do not fear from now on you'll8:39be catching men alive. And then the application statement is in verse 11. And when they brought their boats to land, they left everything. Or the King James says they forsook all and they followed him. Let's pray. Father, let the words of my mouth, the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Lord, we love you. We praise you. We thank you for what you're about to do in our midst today.9:06Remove the obstacles standing in the way from you doing what you want to do in our lives. And we give you the praise and the glory and the honor. In Jesus' name we pray. And the church said, Amen. If you're looking at your notes, every week you'll have these handouts so that you can take some notes and follow along with me and then go back and dissect them and then infuse them into your life throughout the week. I want to challenge you to take some notes along with us. We learn more when9:31we're writing things down. And so the message truth today is every Christian must know the word of God so they can define God's will for their lives and be empowered to accomplish his work. Church, let me say, every one of us need to know the word of God. If we're going to do what God says, we need to know what God says. Amen? If we're going to say, thus saith the Lord, then we need to know what the Lord9:56doth saith. We need to be a part of an ongoing small group. We need to be involved. If you can only do one hour a week to the life of this church, do it in Sunday school, do it in small group, you will grow. We know. We've tricked you. If you get involved in that, you'll come get involved in this. Amen? Then you'll be empowered to accomplish his work. So we must know the word of God. This is a wonderful10:22text. This text, Jesus was walking by the lake of Genesha. Same body of water. Sea of Galilee, Sea of Tiberias, depending on where you were, is what they called it. Now, we have a big body of water not far from here, Logan Martin, Lake Logan Martin. And Lake Logan Martin's a big water. And anywhere you go around that lake, it's Lake Logan Martin Lake, right? Lake Martin's down towards Auburn. And then we have Smith Lake up towards Cove. And all the way around those lakes, it's the same.10:49But in biblical days, wherever they were is what they called the town, is what they called the lake. So this is a Lake Gennesaret, the area in Gennesaret, or Gennesaret, as some would say. Jesus was walking by the lake of Gennesaret, minding his own business. And Simon Peter, who was noted in this text, Simon Peter saw him coming. He had already been with him in a place called Capernaum and heard of his11:14teaching. And of his teaching, he heard who he was. And so he saw the miracles. He saw what was going on in Jesus' ministry. He knew who he was. There's Jesus in Nazarene. We want to hear what he has to say. So Jesus was walking by the lake of Gennesaret in the middle of the daytime, minding his own business. And Simon gathered around a great multitude to hear what he had to say. The first principle for11:39you to fill in some blanks is, if we will listen to his word, he will teach you his will for your life. Now church, listen to me. I find a lot of people who want to know God's will. How many of y'all want to know God's will for your life? Everybody does, right? If you're a Christ follower, we want to know God's will. And we throw that terminology around. Oh, let's find God's will for our lives. Well, let me ask you this. Are you finding God's will through a video series or a tape series or a television program?12:06Are you finding God's will through God's word? Folks, let me tell you something. We will not define God's will for our lives, for us personally and collectively as this body of believers, with the absence of God's word. We must know the word of God. The Bible says they gathered a great multitude and pressed about him to hear the word of God. Look what it says in verse one. Now, when it came about, a great12:33multitude pressed about him, around him, and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. And he saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake, but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. And he got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and he asked him to put a little away from the land. And he sat down and began teaching the multitudes from the boat. Now, Jesus12:56followed the Levitical order of the day, Trent. He followed the Levitical order of the day. He always stood to read the scriptures, but when it got time for teaching and preaching, what did he do? He sat down. Now, I'm not going to climb all the way up there. I might not ever get back down. But he always sat down to teach the multitudes. He always followed the Levitical order of the day. Stood to read, sat to teach. I like that idea. Maybe I could get a stool up here or something like that, right? I told my wife, I'm going to start sitting13:24down to teach. She said, Dan, you can't stand still 10 seconds. Much less sit there and do that. But Jesus followed the Levitical order. He always stood and he sat down. In this day, he's walking by the lake of Gennesaret. He doesn't have a platform, stool or chairs or anything like that to sit in, Brad. So he saw these two boats lying at the edge of the lake. One of them happened to be Simon Peters. Simon Bar-Jonah. Simon and Andrew, they were13:49fishing partners in the Zebedee Fishing Company and they were there cleaning their nets for the next night's catch. You see, if we're going to know God's will for our lives, we got to know God's word. To know the word of God is to know the will of God. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light in thy path. I love what Jesus said in John chapter 8. Jesus therefore saying to those Jews who had14:19believed in him, if you abide in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine and you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. How many of y'all want to get free? Amen. The truth shall set you free. We need to know the word of God. We need to know his will. To know his word, we will know his will. Psalms 40 verse 8. I delight to do thy will, O God. Thy law is within my heart. Colossians 1 9 says14:45the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. So to know the word of God leads us to know the will of God that leads us to walk in his ways. I love what Joshua 22 verse 5 says. Joshua 22 verse 5 says to love the Lord your God and walk in his ways and keep his commandments and hold fast to him and serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. We need to know the word of God15:13so that we can walk in his ways and that will indeed lead us to do his work. You see, we Baptists, we figured this thing out called church work, have we not? Amen. We really have. We could train a monkey to do most of what we do in church work. We can because we've got this program all down, man. This thing is all programmed. We plug and play. We got this thing going Sunday school, youth ministry, children's ministry.15:41We got this nursery thing going on. We got worship service. We can plug this thing, Greg, and play every step of the way. But sometimes we have so programmaticed the work of God that we miss God's divine will for our lives. You see, to walk in his ways will lead us to do his work so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work.16:06Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Church, let me tell you, we won't know the will of God until we know the word of God. So we need to know the word of God. Jesus walking by the lake of Genesis, he sat down and began teaching the multitudes. He stood to read it, sat down and teach. Now we don't know the three points and the point that Jesus shared that day, do we? But we always16:32know that he always talked about taking up thy cross and following me. He always challenged them to get in on what he had going on. But there is a deeper meaning in this text for us today. Not only do we need to know the word by listening to the word of God so we can define God's will for our lives, but secondly, we will, if we know his word, we will do what it says and he will show us his power. Church, look with16:55me, what, verse 4. Verse 4, he goes on to say, he said, and when he finished speaking, he said to Simon, put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch. Now that's very interesting. I'll share with you in a moment why it is. And Simon answered and said, Master, we've worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your bidding, I will let down the nets. And when they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish and their nets began to break. And he signaled to their partners17:23in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats so that they be, underline this, began to sink. They didn't sink. They didn't lose the fish, but they began to sink. Now when Jesus walking by, sat down, began teaching, then he leaned over to Simon. He says, I've got a message for you, Simon. I want you to let down your nets for a catch. And Simon said, now wait just a second, God. We, let me tell you about fishing in the Sea of Galilee here. Can you see the humor in17:50this statement? Here's the fisherman, Simon Barjona, telling the man who invented the fish how to fish in his own sea? We do the same thing, don't we? Lord, let me tell you about running a church. Oh, me or amen. Lord, let me tell you about tithes and offerings. Let me tell you about giving of my time. You see, let me tell you something, folks. Let me tell you something crystal clear.18:18If you're saved by his grace, you are called into this great mission. Thank you, Brad. Got one amen out of that. If you're saved by his grace, you are called to this great commissioning. Let me say that once again. If you are saved by his grace, you are called to this great mission.18:43Thank you. Wake up, please. I love you. But we've got a lot of work to do and we've got every one of us to be in on it. How many of y'all don't want to see the power of God work? Nobody. Every one of us want to see the power of God work. Amen? Then we got to do what God says do. It's simple. We have messed19:06this thing up so many times in church work for years. Folks, let me tell you something. I've been Southern Baptist nine months before I was born. I mean, I've been in church all my life. I've seen every songbook throw in business meeting you can possibly imagine. I've seen all kinds of craziness and good stuff happen in church. Let me tell you something. What I long for in these last days on19:33this planet is to see the power of the Holy Spirit move in such a way that we can't explain it. I want to see God move in such a way in the life of this church on my watch. I want to see God to do such an amazing work that we can just run out of here and say, let's just blame that one on Jesus. Amen? I long for the moment that we can't explain what God is up to. When we start doing what God19:57says do, he will show you his power. Now, why do you think that's so significant in this particular passage? Because they did their best fishing at night, not in the morning, not in the midday. Now, Lake Logan Martin, I'm not a fisherman. I think it's a colossal waste of time, but that's okay. I'm a20:19golfer and that is of God. This fishing thing, we can go to the restaurant and get fish. Amen. They've already got it cleaned up for you. Put it in the deep fryer and the whole, I mean, this whole fishing thing is nuts. I know some of, how many of y'all fishermen go ahead and confess your sin, raise your hand. Thank you very much. You love that fishing boy. You go out there, don't they, don't they wise,20:45they go out there and they put that hook in the water and out there all day long and it's hot and they've eaten the bologna sandwiches and all this hot and they're fishing and fishing. They got rubbed spots on their hands and they get back home. How many fish did catch anything, but oh, it was great. I'd rather you set my hair on fire and put it out with an ice pick than to do something that crazy, right? You'll get that about lunchtime. But I mean, the best day of their fishing21:09was at night. Because the schools of fish would run in that cloudy, mucky water of the Sea of Galilee. And they tell us that that water is so mucky, you can't even see it in the bottom during the daytime. But at night, the moon would shine down. You see the schools of fish. And so they would stand there at night with those big, huge, they didn't have what we have in the depth finders and dynamite to do21:33the fishing. They didn't have any of that kind of stuff. They would stand there with this big, huge net and the schools would go by Brad and they would throw the net with weights on it. And then they'd draw the nets in every day, every night to bring all the fish in. In the daytime, they would spend their days washing and mending the nets for the next night's catch. And Jesus said something interesting to Simon. Simon, let down your nets for a catch. And Simon said, Lord, we fished all22:00night long and ain't called a cotton picking thing. But at your word, at your bidding, at your calling, I will let down the nets. And when they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity. Now, I don't know what that number, great quantity, I think it's more than three or four. I mean, it's a large number of fish. I mean, it's22:30unbelievable. In fact, there were so many. He calls his brothers, Zebedee company, fishing company, guys, get your bass boats out here. These fish are about to get away. And when they brought their boats to land, they brought their boats to land. That's where you see something unusual happen. You see, when we start doing what God says do, he will empower us to withstand the lies of the deceivers. Now, church, let me tell you something. There's going to be some people, good,23:00upstanding people, maybe some in this room that are going to say, well, we just can't do that. Uh-uh, not during transition time. No, no, no, no, we can't do that. No, we can't do that. Ephesians chapter 5, verse 6 says, let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things, the wrath of God comes unto the sons of disobedience. I don't want the wrath of God on me by doing what God says,23:28by not doing what God tells me to do. It empowers us to withstand the lies of the deceivers. Secondly, it empowers us to overcome the pressures of the devil. Now, folks, let me tell you something. The devil is alive and well. He looks like a lot of us. He's not running around with a red suit and a pitchfork and a tail out there like that. That's not what he looks like. He looks like us. He is out to destroy the New Testament church.23:58That is his job. If he can't keep you from saying yes to Jesus in salvation, he will keep you from growing in Christ Jesus. He will keep you away from the things of God. If he can't keep you from becoming holy, he will try to take the holiness out of you. Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. I am more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus. I can overcome him because the power of the Holy Spirit is indwelled in my life.24:25When we do what God says do, he will show us his power. Thirdly, it empowers us to move on past any, overlook any doubters that might be. There are some out there that's going to doubt us. I love what 2 Timothy 2.15 says, Be diligent to present yourselves approved to God. Strengthen with all power, Colossians says, according to his glorious might24:56for the attaining of steadfastness and patience and joy. Folks, let me tell you something. There's going to be people that are going to say, they're going to give you doubt. They're going to say, you can't do that during transition time. But yes, you can. Because greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. Nine years ago this month, or coming September,25:23the founding pastor of the church that Deb and I have been members of since 1993 stepped down. I was selected on the pastor search committee. I don't know what I was thinking when I said yes, but I did. And I embarked on that journey of serving the church of Brook Hills to search for the next senior pastor. And it was an amazing journey. And it was an amazing journey.25:52We had 450 resumes the first month. 450 resumes. It was crazy. I mean, it was that stacked this high. I mean, they were from 18 years old to 80 years old. We started working through our process and all those kinds of things, Brad, and we put our feelers out to the church. We did our surveys. We did all that kind of stuff. And we realized that what we needed as a church was a 40-plus, 40-something-year-old pastor26:17married with 3.2 children. We hoped that he had this kind of degree along with this kind of postgraduate degree, and it would be a blessing if he had this, an extra degree. And we really wanted that. He had to pastor a church 1,500 or more. He had to be this. He had to look this way. And he had to have all this kind of stuff.26:46And we had all our plan. And in January of 2006, God sent this 27-year-old, scrawny-looking professor of preaching from New Orleans Seminary to fill in the pulpit. Our people went crazy. We gave our folks the opportunity to recommend somebody if they knew them. And so we had this little box out there in the lobby of the church where they could come and stuff the name of the person they wanted us to seek out.27:14And we would pray over them. We had several people turned in that way. And so every Sunday morning at 6 o'clock, the pastor's search committee at the Church of Brook Hills would meet in the pastor's office. And we would go through all our findings and our studies. And we were looking online and DVDs and all kinds of stuff like that. So we had this young kid come preach two Sundays in a row. And our people went nuts. They started filling the ballot blocks.27:43Every week we'd come, we'd give our report. And we would have, would you look at this guy? Would you look at this guy? So we had him back in February. We had him back in March. And by the time we started listening to the church, finally, we had 500 requests for Dr. David Platt and 450 over here. And I leaned over to the chairman of the committee, who a godly man.28:13I said, Dr. Phil, I think we probably need to deal with this David Platt guy. So we start the process. 25 hours of interview time. And in May of 2006, we announced that David Platt will be our new senior pastor. And our church went crazy. Our committee never left the building. I still want my money for that travel that I was supposed to get out of that. They didn't buy me a meal or anything.28:42I mean, what's the deal there, right? But the Lord knew fit. Today, already, you haven't heard, David Platt, Wednesday, was voted, 93% of the trustees voted to be the next president of the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. He is stepping down as pastor for the Church of Brook Hills. It's been amazing eight years.29:10We have more people on the mission field than ever before. We're sending people and funding them ourselves. We gave $1.3 million to missions last year and going to give another $1.3 million this year to missions. You say, well, you're a big church. Well, it doesn't matter. It's all relevant, right? You say, wait a minute. Why are you telling us, Dan? Because I had more people say, you guys are crazy for calling a 27-year-old to be your pastor.29:36Well, I beg to differ. I think God sent the right man at the right time, just like he's going to send the right man at the right time for Bethel Church, bar none. And this transition season, we can see the power of the Holy Spirit work, the miraculous, but we've got to say, we are going to do what God says do.30:01If we get far off of this word, we are far off from doing what God says do. We've got to listen to his word to find his will. We've got to do what he says do to see his power work. And thirdly, and I'm close with this, we've got to humble ourselves before the mighty hand of God. He will fill us with his power and use us in his service.30:312 Chronicles 7 verse 14 is a very familiar passage for many of you, but sometimes we forget this passage. And my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. Then I will hear them from heaven and forgive their sins and will heal their land.30:54Church, I don't know about you, but we need a Holy Ghost, heaven-sent healing in many of our churches today. I love what the passage, as it picks it up in verse 8. He did what God said do, and God showed him his power and filled the boats with fish. And then when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying,31:24Depart from me, for I'm a sinful man, O Lord. For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken. And so also James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Do not fear. From now on, you'll be catching men alive. Now, I believe the Bible literally. I believe it's God's holy word.31:53I believe it from every, I believe every comma, every period. I believe it's an errant, infallible word of God. I believe it from Genesis to maps. I believe everything about it. I believe the cover is of God. I really do. I believe it's God's word. And I take it literally. And here's what happened that day. Simon Peter let him use his boat. He used it as the pulpit. He sat down and began teaching them all too. Gave the message and he leaned over to Peter and said, I've got a greater message for you. Let down your nets. He did. They closed the fish.32:23He brought his boat to land. And I believe Simon, Brad, fell down at Jesus' feet saying, Depart from me. For I am a sinful man, O Lord. I doubted your power. I doubted your calling. But nevertheless, I did what you said do. And I saw the power of your life that day. He fell down at Jesus' feet saying, Depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord.32:50And what did Jesus do that day? Did Jesus punch him in the mouth? He probably should have. Should he take that number 10 sandal, kick him in the teeth? He probably should have. Jesus reached down and I believe he grabbed Simon Barjona by the neck and said, Simon, from henceforth, thou shalt call men alive. It's the same premise as Isaiah chapter 6.33:22When Isaiah saw the Lord lofty and high. And the foundation of the temple was rattling. And Isaiah said, Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips. My eyes have seen the King, the Lord. I live amongst a people of uncleanness. For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Church, let me tell you something.33:52Simon Barjona saw the power of the Holy Spirit work like he'd never seen it work before. And Jesus said, From this day forward, Simon, you'll go catch men alive. And my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves. Seek my face. Pray and seek my face. Then I will hear them from heaven, forgive their sins, and heal their land.34:16Listen to what Peter says. First Peter chapter 5. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon him because he cares for you. Be sober in spirit. Be on alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about you like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firming your faith, knowing that in this same experience of the sufferings are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.34:43And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. Church, we need to humble ourselves before the mighty hand of God so that he can fill us with his power and raise us up to use us mightily in his service.35:12Church, the application is in verse 11. And when they brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Jesus. I was thinking about that this morning in my early morning quiet time this morning. I was looking over the notes for today's message and starting on this brand new journey with you folks.35:37And I'm telling you, I didn't sleep much last night, and I sleep usually pretty good. But I was just kind of restless because I'm so excited about this journey. And I started thinking about this morning that one line. And when they brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. The best day of their fishing life, they quit to follow Jesus.36:04The best day of their fishing career, they quit to follow Jesus. Begs the question today, unconditional surrender will lead to an undeniable transformation. Begs this question, what kind of net are you holding on to?36:34Are you holding on to the net of past sins that you haven't given up? Or maybe you've given it, taken it to the altar, and then all of a sudden, you come by and you grab it and take off. I can't see it. We can't see it. Can't smell it. Can't touch it. But it's that invisible sin that you've been dragging in your life. You've been carrying that all these years. Maybe it's a past situation, a failed marriage, a failed business, a failed something.37:00You've stumbled along the way. Something has got you stumbling before the Lord today. And he's saying, untangle yourselves. Cast all your cares on me because I care for you. Let go of your nets to follow me. The question is this.37:28Do you want to see the greatness of God work in your personal life as well as in the life of this church? If that be the case, are you willing to let go of the nets of the past to see the greatness of the future that God has in store for you? Unconditional surrender will lead to an undeniable transformation. Let's pray. With heads bowed, eyes closed in this room,37:58the instrumentalists are coming to get us ready to sing our song of invitation. Today, maybe God has spoken to your heart. Maybe God has spoken to your heart in such a way that he's calling you to be a part of this faith family. Maybe you're looking for a church home. Maybe God is speaking to your heart today. And he's saying, I want you to come plant your life here at Bethel Church. Whatever the calling is on your life, whatever God is speaking to your life about,38:26will you let go of the net? Will you follow him? Will you let him create a you, a clean heart, to start afresh and anew today? Right here in this very room, quietly as they begin to play this great song of invitation, will you simply transfer your faith of yourselves into the person of Jesus today? Will you let go of the nets?38:55Will you say today, I surrender completely to the Lord Jesus today? Will you be that person? Will you, right now, go before the Lord? If they're that person, let me pray over you. Slip your hand up right where you are. Yes, and let me pray over you right now. Yes, I see it. Others, yes. Father God, you see the hands, but more importantly, Lord,39:29you see the hearts. You see the hearts of those who are making life-changing commitments to you, Lord. You see the hearts of those who are surrendering to your Lordship. Lord, these are people that are dropping their nets right where they are. And God, I believe that you've got them right where you want them, ready to surrender. Lord, I pray as we embark on this journey together,39:58Lord, I pray. I pray, Father God, that you radically do something so unique in our lives. And we're excited about the days ahead. Place in our path today, Lord Jesus, your divine will. God, we give you all the praise and all the glory and all the honor.40:28We love you. And we thank you for what you're about to do in this place. In Jesus' name we pray.More sermons on Luke →
