Trembling at the Lordship of Jesus Christ
by Pastor Matt Black
08 January 2006

Lord’s Day Evening

Luke 5:1-11

Introduction: Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke 5. I’ll begin reading at verse 1. Luke’s Gospel chapter 5. Our message this evening is titled, “Trembling at the Lordship of Jesus Christ.”

[Read Luke 5:1-11]

This is an amazing story that tells us so much about what Simon Peter thought of Christ. We see in this passage that Jesus cared enough about Peter to test his faith, and to break him of all shallow and vain assumption he might have had about himself. You see, before Peter can be preaching at Pentecost, he had to be trembling at the feet of Jesus. We see God do a work in his heart in this passage. It is that kind of work that I want to see God do in all of us. The Lord Jesus is trying Peter, He’s testing him, and tonight the Lord is testing each one of us. Who does Simon Peter really think the Lord Jesus is? Does he see him as a mere man? Does he see him as the one who has the right and authority over his life? Who do you think the Lord Jesus is? Is He really Lord? What do you think of His Lordship? Is it something we can leave or take? Perhaps in your life He was Lord yesterday. But is He Lord today? Will He be Lord tomorrow? Tonight we come to a test to see what you think of Christ.

1. We see the Posture Christ exhibits. Here we have Jesus Christ, the omniscient One who is God in the flesh. He is preaching to a multitude on the Sea of Galilee. This is the first thing we notice in the text.
1. Christ cares for the people. He cares for the crowd. He cares for the whole mass of fallen humanity. He has called us to preach the Gospel, not to a certain select group of people, but to every creature. This principle is brought out by Paul to Timothy:

1Timothy 4:10

For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

The word “specially” is malista which has the idea of especially, chiefly, most of all, or above all. John 3:16 tells us that God loves the world. He loves every one in the world, but He does not love every one equally. Scripture tells us that he has a special exalted love for His people, for those who believe. Why does he love us? Because we have it in ourselves to believe? Because there is something special or different about us compared to those who reject Christ? No, we are born God-haters like everyone else. He loves us because He wants to demonstrate His mercy and the glory of His name. So Christ here has the multitude in sight. He’s preaching to them. And yet he has his eye on someone else. He is ordering the circumstances so that He might have a personal one-on-one encounter with Simon Peter.

2. You see, Christ contemplates the individual. He loves the world, but within the mass of men, God knows us each individually. There are Jacobs that he loves and Esaus that He hates. Spurgeon once said that what was amazing was not that God hated Esau. We should all expect God to hate us. That is what we deserve. What is truly amazing is that God loves Jacob. Jacob was a heel-grabber. He was a deceiver. There was just as much or more in Jacob to hate than in his brother Esau. But God is concerned about the individual.

Romans 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

God tells a hesitant prophet in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”

He says again in Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

So here Christ is got so much on his plate. He’s teaching the multitude. They are crowding in on him. And yet, I am sure that Christ planned to be at that place at that time, because he was dealing with an individual named Simon Peter. So he sees these fisherman, one of which is Simon. And he climbs aboard Simon Peter’s boat, and taught the people from the boat.

Just picture Jesus. He would have been sitting down in the boat. That is the way teachers would have instructed back then. He is preaching to the multitude, all the while he is thinking on one named Simon Peter.

II. We then see the Pursuit that Christ evidences. God is the God of the second chance. You see this is not the first encounter Christ has had with Peter. It’s not the second, or the third, but this is the forth time Christ is pursuing Simon Peter. We read in John 1, the first time Jesus calls Peter. Remember Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist, and when John said that Jesus was “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world,” Andrew told Peter and they went to Christ. Then John 1:42, “[Andrew] brought [Peter] to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

Apparently, Peter follows Christ for a while, and goes back to fishing. Because we see again in Mark 1:16-18, “Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. 18 And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.”

So far so good. He’s given a second chance, and he follows Jesus. Jesus’ third encounter with Peter is in Luke 4 with Peter’s mother-in-law. Just before this fishing incident, Jesus is in the house of Simon Peter. Look at Luke 4:38, “[Jesus] arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon’s house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her. 39 And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.

So now we come back to our text in Luke 5, and it is very apparent that,

1. He pursues Peter despite Spiritual failure. He returned to the fishing business after he had been called to follow Jesus! Peter had clearly failed in his calling as a disciple of Christ. When Jesus finds him here, he doesn’t write him off. He has in no way forgotten about Simon. In fact, it is just the opposite. He pursues Simon Peter!

Perhaps you are here, and you come tonight and all you have to give to the Lord is spiritual failure. You’ve not done right—you’ve gone back to fishing. The Lord has not forgotten you. He’s stepping onto your boat right now. He’s going to give you a test—the test to see what you really think of Him.

But before we get to that test, we need to see that Peter had failed in another way.

2. Peter had experienced Material failure. v. 5, Peter says to the Lord, “[W]e have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing.” Here was a man who knew the Sea of Galilee like the back of their hand, and he had failed miserably. He went back to fishing, and he even failed at that. And here is the principle that we need to focus on tonight. You can go back fishing. You can go back to this world. You can go and try it out again and return to your former way of living. You can do that, but you are going to fail miserably. If you’ve heard the voice of Christ, you cannot turn back, for Jesus said, “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:32). Oh, you might look back, but you’re not going to look back for long, because if you are genuinely called of God, then Christ will be pursuing you. You cannot get away from Him. And thank God that Peter was not left to himself in his spiritual and material failure.

And that brings us to our third point.

3. We see the Principle that Christ extols—obedience! Repentance, faith. Who does Simon Peter really think he is? Here we come to the test. It is a test to see who owns Simon’s possessions, Simon’s time, Simon’s wisdom, and Simon’s will. There is nothing more revealing of our estimate of the Saviour than our response to His commands. What we think of Jesus Christ can be determined in how we respond to his commands. What do you think of Christ? Let’s do a little test. We should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. It’s amazing that people miss church on the Lord’s Day morning, but there as fine as they can be on Monday morning. The Lord commands us to pray, to read the Scriptures. Are you obeying him? You can call Him Lord on Sunday. But does He rule you on Monday?

Simon Peter comes to this test, and we see,

1. There is a moment of reluctance. V.5 But Master, you don’t understand! We’ve toiled all night! I’m a captain! My friends will think I’m crazy! What does the Master know about fishing? He’s a carpenter.

This reluctance is natural. Here is Peter in broad daylight around noon. That’s not the time to fish. The time for fishing is over. This doesn’t make sense Lord. What will my fellow fisherman think? This is ridiculous!

How about you? Is there a reluctant spirit in your life? What do you really think of Christ? Is He Lord?

2. So then we come to a moment of obedience. The Lord doesn’t want my arguments or my opinions, He wants my obedience!! He wants my acceptance of His Lordship and authority over my life. We need to personalize it as Thomas did: He’s MY Lord, and MY God!

“Nevertheless, at thy word, I will let down the net”

When we give a response like that to the Lord, results always follow! His boat was filled with fish, his heart was filled with worship, and his life was filled with service.

Verses 6-7, “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.”

That brings us to our final point.

4. We see a Power that Christ that Christ exercises. Here is Simon Peter’s test of obedience, and he proclaims Jesus as Lord! He obeys! It is when we embrace the Lordship of Jesus Christ that we begin to see the Lord as he really is.
1. Do you see the power that Christ exercises in the natural world?

i. Christ is Lord of the Sea. Christ is more than a carpenter! He is the same one that created the fishes. He’s Lord of the fishes and Lord over the sea. He commanded the fishes to come to that point. It doesn’t matter that it was midday. Christ has power over the natural realm. He can do whatever He pleases.

ii. Christ is Lord of our Sustenance. Verse 11 tells us that Peter “forsook all and followed Jesus.” What did Peter get when he returned to his nets? Nothing. He toiled all night with nothing. But look at what he got when he followed the Lord. He got enough fish to feed not only his family, but a hundred families. Following the Lord is not forfeit, it’s profit!! God promises to take care of His children.

Hebrews 13:5 “Be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

Psalm 37:25, David says, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”

He does not promise you ease or comfort on this earth, but He does promise to take care of you.

Matthew 10:29=31, “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Christ is Lord of our Sustenance! And then we see,

iii. Christ is Lord of our Success. Here Peter is successful beyond human measure. He was not expecting it. He thought it was probably a pretty unreasonable idea. But we need to understand this. Success comes from obeying Christ; not having a natural capacity for what God calls us to do. Simon Peter had a natural capacity for fishing. He knew this lake. He was a good fisherman. Success is more following Christ than having the natural capacity for the job. Natural capacities can fail, but God’s capacities can never fail. God never fails! So what do you have in mind for your life? You have it all planned out right? How about letting God define your success. He is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us (Ephesians 3:20). Have you given Him the reigns of your life so that He might do His pleasure in heart and life?

Isaiah 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. So we see Christ’s power over the natural realm. But secondly,

2. Do you see the power Christ exercises in the spiritual world? We read in verse 8, “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

i. Over Peter’s soul. ”We must part company!” Simon Peter says. “I love you, I adore you, I worship you, but I’m not fit for your company.” With humility he acknowledged the diety of Christ, because he kneeled at Christ’s feet; he acknowledged His sovereignty, for he called Christ “Lord;” he acknowledged the purity of Christ, for he said “I am a sinful man.” If we are going to see a real work of God in our hearts, we must see ourselves as nothing and God as everything.

We need to put “self” on the Cross and Christ needs to be on the throne.

ii. Over the souls of men. “You shall catch men” and Peter did! Look at Pentecost. He preached on the Condescension, the Crucifixion, and the Coronation of Christ on the Day of Pentecost. It was a solid doctrinal sermon, and three thousand souls were saved!

Sometimes we are so busy with our own problems that we cannot see the great plan that God has for us. He wants us to reach the world! When we begin to submit to the Lordship of Christ in our personal lives, we get a burden for souls around us. You see it is Christ’s intention for each one of us to be fishers of men!

Conclusion: So what was Peter’s response? Verse 11 They forsook all and followed him—Christ had become his Life because Christ had become his Lord! Jesus Christ is Lord. He is, but have you gotten to the place where you take that personally? Have you said, “He is MY Lord!” Are you ready to tell that to every creature?

Appeal: Let’s have heads bowed and eyes closed. Is He Lord of your home? Is He Lord of your finances? Does He get a tenth of it? Is He Lord in your time? Will you be here next Lord’s Day? Will you be here for soul winning? Jesus is Lord, but is He YOUR Lord? Are you trembling at His Lordship? If you need to pray, you come right now and yield yourself to Him. Come now if you would like to pray. Let’s dedicate ourselves to promoting the Lordship of Christ together. It is only when you are in awe of the Lord’s presence that you will have a pure conscience, a peaceful home life, and a zeal for doing the Lord’s will.

Closing Hymn: He is Lord (187)