Spread The Word

Today’s narrative paints the picture of a frustrated group of people who have worked all day and done all they could and have failed.  The have failed at their work which means that they and their families are at risk of not having anything to eat and not having anywhere to live.  They have failed, they have accepted that they have failed and they are preparing to go home to their families with nothing.

Then Jesus tells Simon Peter to try again.  Simon knows that there is no point to this.  He has proven it.

But he has faith enough in Jesus, even though he is doubtful, to be obedient to Him and casts his net out again to catch fish.

So what happened?

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Luke 5:1-11  -  King James Version
5 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,

2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

3 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.

4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.

7 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 the ships, so that they began to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:

10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.

11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.
***
Luke 5:1-11  -  New International Version
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
5 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,[a] the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
***
Matthew 22:36-40  -  King James Version
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
***
Matthew 28:18-20  -  King James Version
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Transcript

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Welcome And Where To Listen

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Welcome to the Christ Quarter. Thank you for taking time out of this day to enjoy the presence of Christ and the words of Christ. Today let's read a section of Scripture, discuss what it means, and also how it applies to our lives. I hope that God will speak to you through my words and more importantly through his scriptures, and will bring you closer to him. I am blessed and thankful to have this time to speak with you, and I thank you so much for being with me here today. The Christ Quarter is available on Amazon Music. Just ask your smart speaker or app to play the Christ Quarter Podcast. I'm also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Luke 5:1-11 Read Aloud

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Today's scripture selection is Luke chapter five, verses one through eleven. The King James Version reads as follows And it came to pass that as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Genesarat, and saw two ships standing by the lake, but the fishermen were going out of them and 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. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon, answering, said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the 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 their net to break. And they beckoned them to their partners which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them, and they came and filled both the ships so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him at the drought of the fishes which they had taken. And so was also James and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon, and Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land they forsook all and followed him. Lion I V says it this way. One day, as Jesus was standing by the lake of Genesaret, the people were standing around him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water's edge two boats left there by the fishermen who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the shore. There he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch. Simon answered, Master, we worked hard all night and haven't caught anything, but because you say so, I will let down the nets. When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they sent on their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, Go away from me, Lord, I am a sinful man. For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, Don't be afraid, from now on you will fish for people. So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything, and followed him.

Prayer For Understanding And Love

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for this day. We thank you for the freedom and the ability to discuss your word and enjoy your presence. Help us to understand your word and your will for our daily lives more fully. We ask that you will bless this discussion of your word, that it will speak to someone who needs to hear from you. We ask that you use these words to bring someone closer to you, and that you will touch their hearts to love others through action in your name. We ask that each of us will do something to show love to their neighbor, in action as well as in word. That each of us will do our best to represent you to the world. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Obedience After A Night Of Failure

SPEAKER_00 4:36

The verses for today are inspiring. Today's narrative paints the picture of a frustrated group of people who have worked all day and done all they could and have failed. They have failed at their work, which means that they and their families are at risk of not having anything to eat and not having anywhere to live. They have failed. They have accepted that they have failed, and they are preparing to go home to their families with nothing. Then Jesus tells Simon Peter to try again. Simon knows that there is no point to this. He has proven it to himself. But he has faith enough in Jesus, even though it's doubtful, to be obedient to him and cast his net out again to catch fish. So what happened? Well let's get right to it. Our narrative opens with Jesus having just healed many people at Copernum, now teaching out in the open at the lake of Jacinerat, which is also referred to as the Sea of Galilee. Many people had heard about Jesus and his miraculous works and sought him out. Many of the people sought out Jesus because of their faith in him, but undoubtedly many of them sought Jesus because of the spectacle. Regardless of their motivations, all these people crowded around Jesus. I imagine that they were talking among themselves as well as calling out to Jesus and generally making a lot of noise. So Jesus walked into one of the two ships, which was Simon's, and asked Simon to move his ship a little out from the shore. This allowed Jesus to sit down, which was the normal position for teaching, and not be pressed by the crowd and so as to be heard as well. Once Jesus had given his message to the people who were gathered on the shore, he told Simon and the other ship captain to launch their ships back out into the lake. He further told Simon to lower his nets and catch more fish. I'm sure the other men were as doubtful as Simon was when hearing this. They had all worked hard all night, repeatedly lowering their nets and had not caught anything. I imagine that Simon was a little embarrassed also to be seen by his fellow fishermen lowering his nets again in an obviously futile attempt to catch fish. I imagine some of them even laughed at him. However, Simon Peter had previously seen Jesus heal his mother-in-law in Luke chapter 4, verses 38-41, and he had more faith in Jesus' abilities. This small amount of faith bolstered Simon Peter's obedience, and he obeyed Jesus, lowering his net into the lake. He then catches more fish than his net can handle and has to ask for help from his fellow fishermen. I'm sure it took them a minute to get over their shock and to move into action. They gather so many fish that their ships were overloaded and began to sink. These fishermen had knowledge based on personal experience that there was no point in trying to fish again. They knew that there were no fish to be caught. But with a little bit of faith in the heart of Simon Peter, Jesus changed their situation through Simon's obedience to him. In verse eight of our verses today, we see Simon then falling down at Jesus' knees, saying, O Lord, depart from me for I am sinful. Simon knows that Jesus is a man of God and acknowledges his own sinfulness and unworthiness. Surprisingly, Jesus tells him not to be afraid, and that going forward he will be a catcher of men. As a result, Simon along with James and John left their ship, their equipment, and their tremendous catch of fish and followed Jesus.

Love God And Share The Gospel

SPEAKER_00 8:16

Matthew chapter twenty two, verses thirty six through forty says Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus replied, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment, and the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments. Matthew chapter twenty eight verses eighteen through twenty says, And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo I am with you always, even until the end of the world. Amen. Jesus commands us to first love God and then love our neighbors. He also commands us to teach everyone. If we love God and study his word, then we will want everyone to know about him. I spread the word of God through this message that you're listening to. Others have their own way of spreading the word of God to all nations, not just to our church, our Sunday school, or just our friends. We are to spread the word to all nations. It has not always been easy to do this, but today with social media and the internet in general, there are many ways to spread the word of God. How are you spreading his word? What are you doing to bring non-believers into the family of God? Pray to God and ask him what he would have you to do and have fun with your assignment. That concludes our scripture discussion for today.

Closing Thanks And The Lord’s Prayer

SPEAKER_00 10:02

Thank you for spending this time with me talking about, learning about, and enjoying Christ. It is my hope that God has used my words to touch you today and has brought you closer to Him. Let us pray. Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debt towards. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.