• Luke 5:1-11

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon preached on December 28, 2003 by Laurence W. Veinott. © Copyright 2003. All rights reserved. Other sermons can be found at http://www.cantonnewlife.org/.

Before Christmas there was an ad on television that showed a family building a snowman. Just about when they were done the father was putting the face on the snowman and he put a black car key for the nose. It was a key for a Lexus. Of course when his wife saw it she got very excited because she knew she was getting a new Lexus for Christmas.

Symbols can be important. It's significant that just before Jesus told His disciples that they were going to become fishers of men—He told them to put out their nets and they caught a huge catch of fish. There were so many fish that they couldn't haul them into the boat. They had to get another boat to help them. Then both boats began to sink because there were so many fish.

What does this teach us?

What did the great catch of fish symbolize?

There is a clear connection between the great catch of fishes and evangelism. (Norval Geldenhuys, Commentary, p. 183) One of the things that Jesus was showing His disciples was that

there was a bountiful harvest waiting to be brought in.

Peter and his companions were astonished at the great catch. Jesus then said to Simon,

"Don't be afraid;
from now on you will catch men."

The catch of fishes teaches us that we are to expect a great harvest. Jesus was showing His disciples that there are many people to be brought into the kingdom. That's what the symbolism teaches.

Elsewhere Jesus clearly taught this. In Luke 10:2 He said to His disciples,

"The harvest is plentiful,
but the workers are few.
Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore,
to send out workers into his harvest field."

The harvest is plentiful. It is not meager. It is not insignificant. It is bountiful. It is ready to be brought in. In John 4:35 Jesus said to His disciples,

"Do you not say,
'Four months more and then the harvest'?
I tell you, open your eyes
and look at the fields!
They are ripe for harvest."

The harvest is bountiful and ready.

One of the great mistakes that some Christians make today is that they have too pessimistic an attitude toward evangelism.

They don't see the harvest as either being big or being ready to be brought in. They have the attitude,

"This is the day of small things."

They will quote verses like Matthew 7:13-14 where Jesus said,

"Enter through the narrow gate.
For wide is the gate and broad is the road
that leads to destruction,
and many enter through it.
But small is the gate and narrow the road
that leads to life,
and only a few find it."

And they may quote Matthew 22:14 where Jesus said,

"For many are invited,
but few are chosen."

These Christians will interpret these verses to mean that we should not expect great things as far as conversion goes. There are only going to be a few that are saved.

But is that so? Is the harvest big or not? It can't be both big and small. Jesus didn't contradict Himself.

One of the keys to interpreting the Bible correctly is to consider the main point that is being made. When Jesus said that the harvest was plentiful it was clear that He was talking about the number of people who would be saved. In Matthew 7:13 the main thrust of Jesus' teaching is to enter into the narrow gate. B.B. Warfield tells us that Jesus' words were calls to those who heard, (Biblical and Theological Studies, 'Are They Few That Be Saved?', p. 349)

"to strenuous effort to make their calling and election sure…"

Those words are included in an article that Warfield wrote called, "Are They Few That Be Saved?" In it he showed that such verses do not teach that only a few will be saved. In that article he demonstrated that the foundation on which that view rests, (p. 349)

'crumbles when subjected to scrutiny'.

Warfield firmly believed that those verses decidedly did not teach that the final number of those saved will be few in comparison to those who are lost. To understand them that was is to misunderstand them.

Over the ages some Christians have debated the ratio of the saved to the lost, with some thinking that there will be more lost than are saved while others believe that more will be saved than lost. I don't think there's enough information to decide one way or the other. God hasn't revealed to us the ratio of saved to unsaved.

But one thing that the Bible is clear on is that

there's going to be a vast number that will ultimately be saved.

We should be optimistic about evangelism because of this.

Jesus gave these fishermen a tremendous catch of fish. He told them that the harvest is plentiful. He told them that the fields were ripe for harvest. In Revelation 7:9f the apostle John wrote,

"After this I looked and there before me
was a great multitude that no one could count,
from every nation, tribe,
people and language,
standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.
They were wearing white robes
and were holding palm branches in their hands.
And cried with a loud voice, saying,
'Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne,
and unto the Lamb.'
And all the angels stood round about the throne,
and about the elders and the four beasts,
and fell before the throne on their faces,
and worshipped God,"

It was a great multitude that no man could number. Yet perhaps that was not the whole of God's people. They were perhaps but a small percentage of those that will be saved. John asked who they were—those in the white robes. The angel answered, (verse 14)

"These are they which came out of great tribulation,
and have washed their robes,
and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb."

Those were just the Christians who came out of the great tribulation.

God's promise to Abraham also leads us to believe that those who will be saved will be a vast number.

In Genesis 15:5 God took Abraham outside and said to him,

"Look up at the heavens and count the stars —
if indeed you can count them.
So shall your offspring be."

In Genesis 22:17 God said to Abraham,

"I will surely bless you
and make your descendants
as numerous as the stars in the sky
and as the sand on the seashore."

The number of those who will be saved is going to be vast.

The second thing we see from our passage that should give us optimism regarding evangelism is the fact that

Jesus is Lord of the harvest.

These fisherman had been fishing all night and hadn't had any success. When Jesus told them to go out in deep water and let their nets down, Peter replied,

"Master, we've worked hard all night
and haven't caught anything."

They had been fishing all night and hadn't caught a thing. But it was different when Jesus told them to go out and put their nets over the side. They filled their nets. They had to get the other boat to help. Even then, there were so many fish that the boats started to sink.

What does this mean as regards evangelism? Jesus is Lord of the harvest. He has absolute control over the harvest. He gives success to our efforts. He is the One that is in control of salvation. As a result of His work Jesus has been raised to the highest place. Ephesians 1:21 describes it this way,

"far above all rule and authority,
power and dominion,
and every title that can be given,
not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
And God placed all things under his feet
and appointed him to be head
over everything for the church,
which is his body, the fullness of him
who fills everything in every way."

He rules all things. He is going to bring in the harvest.

We see this theme in Matthew 28:18f as well. In some of His final words before He ascended into heaven, Jesus said to His disciples,

"All authority in heaven and on earth
has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always,
to the very end of the age."

All authority has been given to Jesus. He controls salvation. We see an outworking of this in Acts 2:47 where we read, (KJV)

"And the Lord added to the church daily
such as should be saved."

Jesus is Lord of the harvest.

What does He want as regards to the harvest?

Is He going to be disappointed in the final harvest? Isaiah 53 talks about the substitutionary work of Jesus on our behalf, of how we are saved by His suffering and death. I love how it ends, (verse 11, KJV)

"He shall see of the travail of his soul,
and shall be satisfied:
by his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many;
for he shall bear their iniquities."

He shall see the travail of His soul and be satisfied. The context there is about Him seeing His offspring and the good pleasure of the Lord prospering in His hand. (verse 10) The meaning is that He is eminently satisfied with the result of His work.

Is Jesus going to be disappointed in the harvest? No. He controls it. Is He going to be disappointed in the numbers? No. He saw the result of the travail of His soul and He was satisfied. Indeed, Jesus looked ahead to the future, to the time when His people would be with Him and it filled Him with joy. Hebrews 12:2 speaks about this. It refers to Jesus and says,

"for the joy set before him
endured the cross, scorning its shame,
and sat down at the right hand
of the throne of God."

B.B. Warfield writes, (Biblical and Theological Studies, Are There Few That Be Saved? p. 350),

"But when Christ shall have 'seen the travail of His soul' and been 'satisfied' with what He has seen; when the whole course of the Gospel shall be complete, and shall be surveyed from beginning to end, it will be found that God's elect, or church, is 'a great multitude which no man can number, out of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues,' and that their voice is as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, 'Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.'

Now what does this mean for us?

First,

expect a great harvest.

Be confident that the gospel will have great success. Jesus is Lord of the harvest. His glory is tied to the salvation of sinners. He's not going to be disappointed in the results. He saw the travail of His soul and was satisfied.

The disciples later experienced a success like they had fishing that day. On the Day of Pentecost 3000 were saved. In one day 3000 people became Christians.

Salvation is of the Lord. (Jonah 2:9) He gives us success. Without Him we can do nothing (John 15:1f). With Him we can do all things. (Philippians 4:13) The church's evangelism will be successful. F. Godet writes on Jesus' actions in giving a great catch of fish, that He was, (Commentary Vol. 1, p. 256)

"desiring to attach henceforth these young believers to Himself with a view to His future work, He determines to give them an emblem they will never forget of the magnificent success that will attend the ministry for the love of which He invites them to forsake all…"

The Word of the Lord will be successful wherever it goes. In Isaiah 55:10f we read,

"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return to it without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower
and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD's renown,
for an everlasting sign,
which will not be destroyed."

B.B. Warfield, commenting and quoting from Abraham Kuyper, (B.B. Warfield, (Biblical and Theological Studies, Are There Few That Be Saved? p. 336),

"'it is mankind as an organic whole which is saved' and the lost are accordingly only individuals who have been cut off from the stem of humanity. 'Ask… whether God has deserted since the fall this, His splendid creation, this human race with all its treasure of His image, —in a word, this His world, in order that, casting it aside, He may create an entirely new somewhat out of and for the elect. And the answer of the Scriptures is a decided negative…. If we liken mankind, thus, as it has grown up out of Adam, to a tree, then the elect are not leaves which have been plucked off from the tree that there may be braided from them a wealth for God's glory, while the tree itself is to be felled, rooted up and cast into the fire; but precisely the contrary, the lost are the branches, twigs and leaves which have fallen away from the stem of mankind, while the elect alone remain attached to it. Not the stem itself goes to destruction, leaving only a few golden leaflets strewn on the fields of eternal light, but, on the contrary, the stem, the tree, the race abides…"

Secondly,

in your evangelism, make sure that we rely on Him and give Him all the glory.

The disciples fished all night with no success. But as soon as they did what the Lord told them—they couldn't take in the fish without help.

We need to rely on God for all our success and give Him all the glory. The great multitude that John saw in Revelation 7, the one that could not be numbered, sang, (verse 10)

"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb."

In John 15 Jesus taught His disciples that they could no nothing without Him. This is illustrated by a story about Lawrence of Arabia who was in Paris after WW1 with some of his Arab friends. He took some time to show them the sights of the city: the Louvre, the Arch of the Triumph, Napoleon's tomb etc. But they found little of interest in those things. The thing that really interested them was the faucet in the bathtub in the hotel room. They spent much time there turning it on and off; they thought that it was wonderful. All they had to do was turn the handle and they could get as much water as they wanted. Sometime later, when it was time for them to leave Paris for the East, Lawrence found them in the bathroom with wrenches trying to detach the faucet. They said,

"You see, it is very dry in Arabia. What we need are faucets. If we have them, we will have all the water we want."

Lawrence had to explain to them that the effectiveness of the faucets did not lie in themselves but in the immense system of water works to which they were attached. And he had to point out to them that behind this lay the rain and the snowfall on the Alps. (From, Philippians, by James Boice. p. 57)

Thirdly,

recognize that as we follow Jesus and seek to glorify Him, there will be things that happen that we will not understand.

God's ways are mysterious. He has great plans for His church. He has great plans for evangelism. He has plans to bring in a multitude that no man can number.

But the details of those plans may not make sense to us. This is illustrated by this story of the fishes. I don't know anything about fishing with nets but I've read that the best time for fishing with nets was at night. Norval Geldenhuys writes, (Commentary, p. 181)

"The best time for fishing with nets was during the dark night and the worst time was during the morning with the glistening rays of the sun on the waters."

The disciples had been out fishing all night and had caught nothing. When Jesus told them to go out again and let down their nets for a catch, Peter said,

"Master, we've worked hard all night
and haven't caught anything."

Jesus' orders didn't seem to make sense to Peter. It seemed that it was the worst possible time to do it. But Peter did what Jesus said and had a great harvest of fish.

In the same way, there are mysteries about evangelism that we don't understand. Our job is not to understand—it's to be obedient, to plant, to water and to wait on the Lord for the increase. The harvest will be plentiful.

Fourthly,

don't let your unworthiness stop you from practicing evangelism.

God has given this job to us sinners. When Simon Peter saw all the fish, he fell at Jesus' knees and said,

"Go away from me, Lord;
I am a sinful man!"

Jesus didn't say to Peter, "No, Peter. You're wrong. You have too low a self-esteem. You're not a sinner."

No, Peter was correct. But Jesus said to him, (verse 10)

"Don't be afraid;
from now on you will catch men."

God has committed the ministry of reconciliation to us. (2 Corinthians 5:18) He hasn't committed it to angels but to us.

There is much work to do. It is our work. It is the work of bringing lost men and women to Jesus. We plant. We water. God gives the increase. Let's work hard at our great and glorious task. There's nothing greater than this.

Lastly,

if you're not a Christian, you need to be saved.

Outside of Jesus you're lost. You're like a fish in a dark ocean that headed for destruction. You need to be caught by Jesus. You need to be translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Go to Jesus. He can save you. Repent and turn from your sins. Go to Jesus and He will accept you with open arms. Find life in Jesus today.