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Right over there in Luke chapter number 5. I'd like you to keep your place there. That is our text for tonight. But go with me just real quickly to the book of Matthew. Matthew chapter number 4. Just go back past the book of Mark into the book of Matthew. Matthew chapter 4. And tonight we are continuing our study in the life of the Apostle Peter. We are doing our best to do a systematic study through the life of Peter. And if you remember we started a couple weeks ago and the first sermon was called the call of Peter. We learned about Peter's calling into the ministry and into being a disciple and a follower of Jesus Christ. And then last week we learned all about Peter's mother-in-law. And we also took some time and talked about Peter as not being the first pope and we learned about that. And tonight we are going to continue kind of in this early part of Peter's ministry. And we are going to be learning about why we do not obey and the problem with not obeying. But I want you to notice that in this story in Luke chapter 5, Peter gets called into the ministry. But Peter has already been called into the ministry. If you remember in Matthew 4, you should be there. Look at verse 17. The Bible says from that time Jesus began to preach and to say repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee saw two brethren, Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea for they were fishers. So I want you to notice that in the Matthew event where Peter is called into the ministry, Jesus is walking by the Sea of Galilee and he sees them fishing. And now the Bible does not tell us this but it seems to be kind of like the middle of the day type thing where he is walking by the Sea of Galilee, they are working, they are fishing. And notice verse 19, And he said unto them, Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets and followed him. And going on from thence he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father mending their nets. And he called them and they immediately left the ship and their father and followed him. Now some people believe and some people think and I wouldn't necessarily argue with somebody about this but they'll think that Matthew chapter 4 and then the passage we just read, Luke chapter 5 verses 1 through 11 are the same story and we're just getting a lot more details in Luke chapter 5. And that may be the case, I don't know to be honest with you. But when you look at the Gospels through a chronological lens, you can make the argument that these are two separate stories. And we talked about this a couple of weeks ago but I'll just kind of remind you about this. If you look at the book of Matthew and we just read there, Matthew chapter 4 verses 17 through 22, you have that first calling of Peter where Jesus goes and it's not just Peter, it's Peter and Andrew and James and John. Jesus walks by the Sea of Galilee and he calls them and invites them to follow him. And then if you continue in the book of Matthew, you have the story we dealt with last week in Matthew chapter 8 where we have the healing of Peter's mother-in-law. Now that healing of Peter's mother-in-law is not a very long story but it seems to be an important story because it becomes kind of an anchor story through the Gospels, meaning it's mentioned in three of the four Gospels. And when we want to look at the chronology of the Gospels, we can use these anchor stories to kind of get a timeline. And here's all I'm trying to explain to you. In Matthew 4, we have this story of Jesus telling Peter, hey, follow me and I will make you fishers of men and straightway they followed him, left their nets and followed him. And then in Matthew 8, we have the healing of Peter's mother-in-law. When we look at the Gospel of Luke, we have in Luke chapter 4, the healing of Peter's mother-in-law and then in Luke chapter 5, we have Jesus calling Peter into the ministry. And all I'm telling you is this, when you compare the Gospels, it seems like these are actually two very similar stories but different stories because in Matthew, we have the event before the healing, quite a bit before the healing of Peter's mother-in-law and then in Luke, we have the event right after the healing of Peter's mother-in-law. Now again, I told you this before. I tried to go through and chronologically put the Gospels together. I got about halfway through and I took a break. That break was about three years ago and I haven't gone back to it. It is difficult. It is difficult to try to put these stories into chronological order and I don't believe that all of the books are in chronological order and I shared this with you before but some of these books, I think they're just kind of put in order by subject. You'll have in some of these books where Jesus is giving parable after parable after parable after parable. I don't think Jesus sat there and just gave 30 parables in a row. I think the writer is just kind of putting all the parables together. So there's something to be said for that. The point is this. I believe that the calling of Peter actually may have happened two different times. The initial time that we just read about in Matthew 4, then we have Jesus following up with Peter, healing his mother-in-law and then we have the story that we're going to deal with tonight in Luke chapter number 5. Now if that's not the case, that's fine but it seems like it's a different story and this story has a lot more details and it has one specific detail I'd like you to notice. If you go back to Luke chapter 5, we're going to dig into the story and we're going to go through it all but I want you to notice something just off the bat in verse 5. In the Luke version of the calling of Peter, the Bible says, And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night. So in Matthew, Jesus is walking by the Sea of Galilee and he sees them. The Bible says he saw two brethren, Simon called Peter and Andrew's brother, casting a net into the sea. So they're fishing as he walks by the Sea of Galilee and he sees them fishing. In Luke 5, he walks by them and they're done fishing. They're actually cleaning their nets. They're done for the night because they've been fishing all night and I think that Peter is just a lot like you and I are, stubborn and unbelieving and unwilling sometimes to do what we're asked to do because Jesus goes to Peter and he calls him into the ministry. He says, hey, you're going to catch men from now on. Follow me and I will make you fish as a man. And he was called into full-time ministry to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. And Peter says, okay, I'll follow you, but I'll keep fishing at night. I'll just moonlight as a fisherman because like you and I, it's difficult sometimes to let go of the things of God. And I want you to notice that here they've been toiling all night. He was fishing all night long. And Jesus is, like we talked about the first week, following up on his convert Peter here and inviting him into the ministry. Now, here's what you need to understand. Not everyone's invited into full-time ministry. We understand that. But everyone is invited, like Peter, into ministry, into following Christ and obeying the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want you to notice how Jesus does this. Are you there in Luke 5? Look at verse 1. The Bible says this, And I want you to notice that word there. In fact, if you don't mind writing in your Bible, you might want to underline that phrase. Here's how it begins when God begins to call you and to use you with Jesus. It begins like this. First he says, can I inconvenience you? Can I inconvenience you? Notice he enters into the ship. Now, Jesus already healed Peter's mother-in-law. Jesus already called, if we follow the Matthew account, already called him into ministry. Now, Jesus walks onto the ship of Peter, who he's already called to be a fisher of men. And he says, hey Peter, you know, thrust out a little from the land. Can I use you and can I inconvenience you for a little bit? Notice the last part of verse 3. So understand this. Many people want to hear Jesus. Jesus walks out to Peter, already having a relationship with him, walks onto his ship. And he says, hey Peter, I know you've been fishing all night, even though I called you into the ministry. I know you've been fishing all night, but can I inconvenience you for a minute? Would you mind thrusting out a little from the land? And what Jesus was doing, he was allowing Peter to kind of bring him out into the water so that the people could sit at the shore. And Jesus was actually using the water as an amplifier to be able to preach to this crowd. Because your voice carries over on water well and he's just using nature to be able to minister and use it. Obviously this was before sound systems and mics and things like that. So Jesus says, can I inconvenience you? And that's how it begins. That's how it begins. It begins with, would you mind doing something? Would you thrust out a little from the land? But notice in verse 4, now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, he says, now that I've used you a little bit, now that you've answered this question, can I inconvenience you? Now I want you to answer this question, Peter. Can I use you? Notice the next question from the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, launch out into the deep. Launch out into the deep. And here's the truth. God does not mind and Jesus does not mind if you begin with thrusting out a little from the land. But eventually he wants you to launch out into the deep. Eventually he wants to use you in a great and mighty way. And I'm just telling you this up front so you can understand this. There is an agenda behind the Lord Jesus Christ and there is a ministry behind the Lord Jesus Christ. It may begin with, can I inconvenience you? And can you thrust out a little bit? But it always ends with a launch out into the deep because Jesus doesn't want part of your life. He wants to take over your life. And I don't mean to be disrespectful when I say this, but when I read this, I always think of that kid's book. My kids have this book when you give a mouse a cookie, right? Have you ever read that book? And it goes like, when you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to ask you for a glass of milk. And when you give a mouse a glass of milk, he's going to ask you for this and that or whatever. And in some ways, that's how Jesus is. He says, hey, can I inconvenience you for a little bit? Sure, Jesus. And he says, okay, hey, why don't you thrust out a little from the land? And then once you do that, then Jesus says, hey, how about launching out into the deep? How about actually doing and getting involved and getting sold out and getting committed? And notice what Jesus says in verse 4. He says, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a drought. Now the word drought there means for a haul or a load. Jesus says, I want you to launch out into the deep, right? Because you want to fish, right, Peter? I asked you to fish for men, but you want a moonlight as a fisher of fish. So if that's what you're interested in, why don't we launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a haul, for a load of fish, for a drought? And here is normally where the excuses begin, right? Because usually we're okay with thrust out a little from the land. But the excuses begin when we're asked to launch out into the deep. And notice, Peter, like you and like me, has excuses. Verse 5, And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing. He says, we weren't even fishing. We weren't even fishing all night long. It was not a good day. We toiled all night. We have taken nothing. We've already washed the nets. You've seen us washing the nets. If we take the nets and put them back into the sea, then we're going to have to wash them again. Nothing's already happened. He said, we have toiled all the night. And here's what I want you to understand. And this is all by way of introduction, by the way. We're going to jump into the sermon here in a minute. But this whole story, this whole event, this whole experience is orchestrated by the Lord Jesus Christ to teach a lesson to the Apostle Peter. Because here's what we've already learned about the Apostle Peter, is that he is like you and he is like me. He is stubborn. And Jesus already asked him to serve. And he has his reasons why he can't, why he has to slow down, why he can't trust God. And what we learned in the story is this. We learned two things. I'm going to give you two points. There's two sub points. We'll move through as quickly as we can. And here's point number one, all right? Let's talk about this, why we choose not to obey. Because that's what Peter's doing. He's not obeying after he's already been called into the ministry. He's already been told to be a fisher of men. And the reason that Peter doesn't obey is the same reason you don't obey, the same reason I don't obey. And it's this. And if you're taking notes, you can write this down. We don't obey because we are only willing to go so far. Isn't that true? Because we're only willing to do so much. See, most of us, if we call ourselves Christians and we say we're followers of Jesus Christ and we're believers of Jesus Christ, we are okay with thrust out a little from the land. But where we begin to make excuses is when we are told to launch out into the deep. And here's the truth. The reason that you don't obey and the reason that I don't obey, the reason that we don't do what God has already told us to do is because the truth is that we're only willing to go so far. And we're only willing to do so much. And I want you to notice how this is illustrated in this story. Now, I want you to notice a couple of things. And I'm going to need some of you guys to help me with this. All right? So you're going to wake up, all right? You wives kind of wake your husbands up and get them going. But I want you to notice the wording that the Holy Spirit gives us in these verses. In Luke chapter 5 and verse 2, the Bible says this, And saw two ships standing by the lake, but the fishermen were gone out of them and were washing, and this is where I'm going to ask you guys to help me, okay? I want you to read the next two words together, all right? Let's read them together. Washing their nets. I knew I should have asked the ladies to do it. Okay, how about let's do it like you are actually awake, all right guys? All right? Don't look bad. Impress your wives right now. Washing their, let's say it together, nets. One more time. Nets. Maybe a little more. There you go. Now you woke up. All right. Washing their, say it again? Nets. And I want you to notice. I want you to notice something. The nets is plural. Do you see that? They're washing their nets. They're fishermen. They're commercial fishermen. They're not out there with a fishing hook. They've got nets. They've been fishing with nets. They've been putting nets out in the sea. Oh, they've toiled all night and they're washing their nets. They've got plural. And I want you to notice, not only do they have nets, plural. How many nets? I don't know, but I know there's more than one. Jesus asked them to lay down there or to send down or to let down their nets. Look at verse 4. Now when they had left speaking, he said unto Simon, launch out into the deep and let down your, I need your help guys, what does it say? Nets. Do you see that? Let down your nets for a drought. So in verse 2 we are told that they have nets, plural. In verse 4 we're told that Jesus asked them to lay down their nets, plural. In verse 5 we have what most of us do when we're asked to do something by God. Luke chapter 5, verse 5. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all night and have taken nothing. There's our excuse. But then we say this, nevertheless, because I'm a good Christian, at thy word, as if I'm actually going to obey what you say, he says, I will let down the, and guys help me with this, what does he say? Nets. Let's say that with a little power. Nets. I want you to notice, Jesus asked for nets, and Peter said, I'll lay down a net. And here's the truth. The reason that we don't obey is because there's only so much we're willing to do. You see, Peter is saying, I've already washed all the nets. This is a lot of work, Jesus. You want me to lay down the nets? I'm not going to lay down the nets, but I'll tell you what, I'll lay down a net. And please understand this, partial obedience is disobedience. And the reason that we disobey, the reason that we don't obey, the reason, if we were honest with ourselves, that we are told what to do, that Jesus instructs us, that Jesus says, here's what I want you to do with your finances. In fact, here's five weeks of sermons of what you should do with your finances. Here's what I want you to do in relational conflict. In fact, here's five weeks of how to deal with relational conflict. Here's what I want you to do in your marriage, with your children, with your job. Here's what I want you to do in every area of life. I want you to do these things. And the reason that you disobey and I disobey is because we're only really willing to go so far. And as long as we are asked to thrust out a little from the land, that's okay. But as soon as we're asked to launch out into the deep, now we've got problems. See, Jesus asks for the nets, and Peter agrees to give him a net. And here's the truth. Here's why he did it. Because, and here's point number two, deep down inside we think we know better. I mean, isn't that true? Deep down inside, we think we know more than God. I mean, look at verse five again. It's Simon answering sentences. Master, he's already told us what he thinks. Jesus said, lay down the nets for a drought. And Peter says, Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing. And you know what? Just to be fair, just to be fair to Peter. Because I like Peter. The reason I want to study Peter is because I connect with Peter. Peter, you know, it's hard for me to connect with someone like Paul, but it's easy for me to connect with someone like Peter, because Peter makes a lot of mistakes. He says a lot of stupid things, and he sometimes does things, and he doesn't think. And that's, you know, a lot like us. And let me just say this. In Peter's defense, in Peter's defense, Peter was a fisherman by trade. If we were to look at, just by human logic, who is the expert when it comes to fishing, we would say Peter, because here's what you need to understand. Peter was a fisherman by trade. Jesus was a carpenter by trade. Right? Go to Matthew 13. Let me show it to you. Matthew chapter 13. Look at verse 5. Matthew chapter 13 and verse, I'm sorry, 55. Matthew 13 and verse 55. Matthew chapter 13 and verse 55, notice what the Bible says. Matthew chapter 13 and verse 55, the Bible says this. Is not this the carpenter's son? Referring to Jesus. And in these days, you were often what your family were born into. You were kind of picked up that trade, and you were taught that trade. Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas? And by the way, Jesus had brothers. Mary had children after Jesus. Go to Mark chapter 6. Look at verse 3. Mark chapter 6. If you're there in Matthew, just go to Mark. Mark chapter 6, verse 3. In Matthew, he's referred to as the carpenter's son. In Mark, he's referred to as the carpenter. Notice Mark chapter 6, verse 3. Is not this the carpenter? The son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joseph, and of Judah, and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. So in Peter's defense, before we beat up too much on Peter, we need to realize that Peter was a fisherman by trade. And Jesus was a carpenter by trade. And if there was an expert when it came to fishing, it would have been Peter. And Peter is looking at Jesus, and Jesus is asking him, I want you to follow my instructions. I want you to do what I'm asking you to do. And Peter chooses. He chooses to disobey. And he disobeys for the same reason that you and I disobey. And it is this, because we are only willing to do so much. But deep down inside, you will never say it, and I will never say it. But deep down inside, we think we know better than God. Which is why you can listen to a 60-minute sermon with over 30 verses on God just telling you why you shouldn't go into debt. Don't go into debt. Debt is bad. Debt is bad. Debt is bad. Debt is bad. Debt is bad. And you always say, debt is bad, but not for me. I can do it. Because you know better than God. Because deep down inside, you know better, right? And we can say that about anything. That's why God says, hey, when it comes to marriage, wives, submit to your husbands. And husbands, love your wives, and I've got this structure, and I've got this plan. I want you to do it this way for a reason. And we walk away saying, nah, well, yeah, I know that's what the Bible says, but I'm just going to do it. I just think that it'll, I know what the Bible says about disciplining your children and spanking your children and that I shouldn't be lazy about it and that I should start early and that I should not spare for their crying. But I just think that when it comes to my little princess, there's an exception. Because deep down inside, you say, why do we disobey? Here's why we disobey. Because we're only willing to go so far. And deep down inside, deep down inside, we really think we know better than God. And here's the problem. Here's the problem. Go to Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 3. You open up your Bible just right in the center. You're going to like it from the book of Psalms right after Psalms. You have Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 3. And here's what I want you to understand. And here's the takeaway. When we do what we think is best, we will fail. Proverbs chapter 3, verse 7. Proverbs chapter 3, verse 7. Be not wise in thine own eyes. Be not wise in thine own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from evil. Be not wise in thine own eyes. Well, I think the way I see it is, no, no, no, no, no. Be not wise in thine own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from evil. Proverbs chapter 12. Look at verse 15. And then in Proverbs 3, just flip a few pages over. Proverbs chapter 12 and verse 15. Notice what the Bible says. Proverbs chapter 12 and verse 15 says, the way of a fool, the way of a fool is right in his own eyes. But the Lord pondereth the hearts. Go to Proverbs chapter 21. Look at verse 2. Proverbs 21 and verse 2. Proverbs 21 and verse 2. The Bible says this. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes. But the Lord pondereth the hearts. Go to Proverbs chapter 16. Just flip back. Proverbs 16, verse 25. Proverbs 16 and verse 25. Please understand this. Please understand this. You say, well, I think the way I see it. Look, be not wise in thine own eyes. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes. Proverbs 16 and 25. There is a way which seemeth right unto a man. But the end thereof are the ways of death. And the truth is this. That the reason, the reason. And I'm not trying to beat you up. I'm telling you, Peter's no different than you are, no different than I am. The reason we disobey, the reason that God gives us, or Jesus gives us clear instructions. He says, here's what I want you to do. I want you to lay down the nets. I want you to let down the nets. And we say, well, I'll lay down a net. The reason we do that is because the truth is this. Whether we want to admit it or not, there's only so much we're willing to do. And deep down inside, we just really don't believe that God knows what he's talking about. When it comes to your marriage, your childrearing, your finances, your health, relationships, whatever the Bible says, whatever the Bible says that you've chosen, I know that's what the Bible says, but I'm not going to do it, or I'm only going to do it partially. It's because deep down inside, you actually think you know better than God. And I think I know better than God. So why do we choose not to obey? Because we're only willing to go so far. We're only willing to do so much. And because we actually think we know better. Now let me answer this, and here's point number two, and we won't be very long. Go back to Luke chapter five. I told you two points, two sub-points for each point. Point number one, why we choose not to obey? Here's sub-point number one, because we're only willing to do so much. Thrust out a little? Sure. Launch out into the deep? I don't know about that one. And because deep down inside, deep down inside, we think we know better. Nets? Nets? Really? I already washed the nets. I've already been out all night long. I'm the fisherman. You stick to chairs, OK? You stick to nice decorative wood things. And I don't know, sure, out of respect, a net. Thanks for healing my mother-in-law, a net. But I don't know about nets, because deep down inside, we know better than God. Than God. So here's point number two, why we should obey. Why we should obey. I want you to notice what happens in our story, Luke chapter five, Luke verse six. And when they had done this, when they had done what? Disobeyed, partially obeyed, let down a net when they were told to let down the nets. And when they had done this, same thing happens to Peter that happens to you and happens to me. And when they had done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fish. You say, whoa, that's great. Yeah, it would have been great if you would have let down the nets. But notice what happens to their net and their net, plural, break. Do you understand what's going on in the story? Jesus is trying to teach Peter a lesson. He gives him instructions. He says, lay down the nets. I know you've been working. I know it's sacrifice. I know you're going to have to clean them all up again. But let down the nets. I'm going to give you a drought. This is what you want to do, right, Peter? You want to fish. You don't want to fish for men. You want to fish for fish. So let me give you fish. Let down the nets. Peter says, I don't know about that. How about a net? And when he lays down, when he sends down the net, Jesus tells us, the Bible tells us, they enclosed a great multitude of fish and their net break. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came and filled, notice, both the ships so that they began to sink. Why should you obey? And why should I obey? Here's why. Number one, because when we do what we think is best, it usually doesn't work out. You lay down your net, and your net's going to break. So let down the nets like you've been told. And when we do that, which is right in our own eyes, when we do that, which is logical, when we do that, which makes sense, when we say, I don't know what you're asking. You're asking for a little too much. Thrust out a little. I can do that. Launch out into the deep. Let down the net. I'm only willing to do so much, Jesus. And really, I know what I'm talking about, because I've been doing this for a long time. And here's what I'm telling you. You say, why should I obey? Here's why. Because when you do what you think is best, it generally doesn't work out. And that net will break. And those ships will sink. I want you to notice what Peter finally became aware of at the end of the story. Look at verse 8. When Simon Peter saw it, when Simon Peter saw it, I want you to notice the change. And by the way, let me just say this. The thing that Peter struggled with his whole life, this whole fishing thing, is a big deal. Later on, we'll learn, towards the end of this series, we'll learn that when Simon denies the Lord Jesus and he quits the ministry, he says, I go a-fishing. It was kind of his comfort zone, something he dealt with. There's always that temptation. Jesus, in fact, goes to him. And he says, remember we talked about this, Peter? You're not supposed to fish anymore. And if you remember the conversation between Jesus, He says, do you love me more than you love these fish? And then Jesus says, go feed my sheep. Go feed my lambs. You're done with fishing. Fishing's done. I called you to do something different. Why is it? Why is it that we choose not to obey? Because we're only willing to go so far. Because even outside, we think we know better. But why should we obey? Here's why. Because when we do what we think is best, it generally doesn't work out. And here's the second reason. Here's the second reason why. Luke chapter 5, look at verse 8. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees. Why don't you notice the attitude has changed completely? Saying, notice what he says. Depart from me. He says, depart from me. For I am a sinful man, O Lord. And here's what Peter is saying. Peter is acknowledging that I'm a sinful man, and you're not. I'm a mortal man, and you're God, your deity. You say, pastor, why should I obey? Here's why you should obey. Because when you do what you think is best, your nets will break. Your ships will sink. Things will not work out. But here's the second reason why you should obey. This is a deep one. Ready? Because when the creator of the universe gives you advice, you should take it. I mean, this is what Peter realized. I'm a sinful man. Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. Notice verse 9. For he was astonished. He was surprised. He was in wonder. He was amazed 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, here we go again. Fear not. This time, he's a little more descriptive. From henceforth, thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to the land, they forsook all and followed him. You know what Peter realized? Peter realized, I'm a sinful man, and you're not. And if God, the creator of the universe gives you advice, you'd be smart to take it. You'd be smart to do it. Go to Matthew chapter 7. We'll finish up right here. We'll be almost done. We're going to look at a few verses of Matthew. We'll finish up. We're talking about obedience, right? We're talking about obedience. And here's the truth. Whether you want to admit it or not, here's the truth. For you and for me, why do we not obey? Why is it that God gives us clear instructions in the Bible, in God's word, and we choose to ignore it? Why is it? Why do we do that? Here's why. Because we're only willing to go so far. We're only willing to do so much. And deep down inside, we think we know better. We think we know better than God. We think we know better than the preacher. We think we know better than all the counselors. We think we got it figured out. And yes, that might apply for everyone else, but I'm the expert. I'm the expert in this situation. And why is it that you should obey? Well, you should obey because when a man does that which is right in his own eyes, it usually doesn't work out well. A great example of that is the book of Judges. The theme of the book of Judges is there was no king in Israel, and every man did that which was right in his own eyes. And you will find no book that has more messed up stories in it than the book of Judges. Why? Because men were doing that which they thought was best. And when you do and when I do what we think is best, it usually doesn't work out. Our nets break. Our ships sink. And because Peter found out that when the God of the universe gives you advice, you should take it. You should do it. So here's a question I have for you. What are you doing with what you've learned? I don't know if you've noticed this. If you've come to Verity Baptist Church for any length of time, I don't know if you've noticed this, but we give you the Bible in heavy doses around here. I don't tell a lot of stories. This morning, I told a little story about that Japanese soldier. And during the hatchet series, I might tell you some military stories as we go on. But I usually don't tell a lot of stories. I'm usually not that funny. Sometimes when people laugh, I'm not really sure why exactly. And I don't have a lot of illustrations and all those things. But I will tell you this. We give you the Bible. We give you the Bible. We give you instruction. We tell you, here's what God wants you to do. And we dissect that, and we go through it. And we're going to talk about relationships. We're going to talk about fighting. We're going to dissect those verses. We're going to tell you, here's what God says about it. Here's what God says about finances. Here's what God says about love. Here's what God says about serving. Here's what God says about soul winning. Here's what God says about relationships and marriage. We give you the Bible in heavy doses. And we're trying to, to the best of our ability, be extremely clear about, here's the application. Here's what God says, and here's what to do about it. So here's the question I have for you. What are you doing with what you've been taught? Because unfortunately, and I try not to think about it too much, most people come to a church, even like this, week after week after week. And they hear instructions from the Bible that says, lay down the nets! Lay down the nets! Lay down the nets! And you walk away saying, I don't know about all that, but I'll lay down a net. Then your net breaks. Like, that didn't work out. Sometimes you even blame the Bible. You didn't follow the Bible. You did half of what the Bible said. He didn't say 5% tithe. He said 10%. And your net breaks, and your ship sinks, and things don't work out. You say, ah, I tried the Bible. No, why don't you actually try the Bible? Why don't you actually do all of it? Why don't you actually apply all of it? And here's what I'm telling you. Here's what I'm telling you. The reason we don't obey is because sometimes we really don't believe that God knows what he's talking about. Jesus gave the same lesson, different format. Let me give it to you real quickly. We'll be done. Matthew 7, verse 24. You know the story. Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, this is Jesus. He's finishing the great Sermon on the Mount. He's in his conclusion. He's driving the application home. I love the preaching of Jesus as application driven, application driven. Not just here's what the Bible says, but here's what you should do about it. Here's what the Bible says, and here's what you should do about it. And to the best of our ability at Verity Baptist Church, we try to tell you, here's what you should believe. Here's what you should not believe. Here's what you should do. Here's what you should not do. Here's how you should feel about it. Here's how you should not feel about it. Here's what the Bible says, and here's what to do. You say, why do you do that? Because that's what Jesus did. Notice. Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, Jesus just got done preaching one of the greatest sermons in the world, the Sermon on the Mount. He says, all of you have been hearing this sermon. You've been hearing these truths. You've been hearing these principles. He says, but I want you to understand something, that whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not. You heard it. You were taught it. You took notes on it. But you're not applying it. You're not doing it. Here's what he says. And doeth them not. I will liken him unto, I'm sorry. He says, and doeth them. We're talking about, got confused here. We're talking about the man that doeth it. He said, hear these sayings of mine, and doeth them. He says, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house, and I want you to notice this, built his house upon a rock. Remember from last week what the rock is? It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's what he's saying. When you learn the Bible, hear the Bible, receive the Bible, and then you apply it, you do those things, it's like you're building your house upon a rock. And the idea is that you're building it upon a strong foundation. You say, why do I need a strong foundation? Here's why, verse 25. And the rain descended. Notice that it doesn't say if the rain descended. It just says the rain descended, because here's what you need to know, and here's what I need to know. There's always a storm coming. There's always a famine coming, whatever illustration you want to use. There's always a time of tribulation coming. There's always a difficult time coming. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon the house. And it fell not. Why? For it was founded upon a rock. And then he gives us the flip of the coin. Notice what he says in verse 26. And everyone that heareth these things of mine, and doeth them not. He says, shall be likened unto a foolish man. He says, you're wise if you hear it and you do it, Peter. You're a fool if you hear it and you decide that you know better or you decide that you're just not willing to do that much. Ligand unto a fool, which built his house upon the sand. Now here's the thing. Building your house upon the sand is going to be easier than getting it founded upon a rock. The problem is this, that, verse 27, and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the wind blew, and beat upon the house, and it fell. And great was the fall of it. The nets broke. The ships sank. It was destroyed because it was built upon the sand, not upon the rock. And this is what Jesus said. Jesus said, if you hear it, Peter, if you hear it and you don't apply it, his word's not mine, you're a fool. You're foolish. And great will be the fall of it. And here's what I've seen over the last nine years, that people come to a church like this and they hear the preaching, and they hear the preaching, and they hear the preaching. And we tell them and we teach them. We say, here's what God wants you to do. Here's what God wants you to do. Here's what God wants you to do. Here's what God wants you to do. And people say, well, I'll do half of that. I'll do some of that. I'll thrust out a little, but I won't launch out of the deep. I'll let down one net, but I won't let down the nets. I'm not willing, and I think I know more, and I think I can outsmart you, God. And then the nets break. The ships sink. And sometimes they even blame God. But God tells you. God tells you. You've got to do something with what you've been taught. So here's the question I have. Are you obeying what you've been taught? Are you obeying what you've been taught? Are you looking at the Bible, following along with the scriptures, looking at it and saying, this is what God wants us to do. Are you going home and having a conversation with your wife or with your husband and saying, this is what God wants us to do with our children. We're not doing that, but we need to start doing this. This is what God wants us to do in our marriage. This is what God wants us to handle our finances. This is what God wants us to treat each other. This is what God wants us to treat other people. I know we don't want to do that, and it seems a little much, and it seems a little far, but I think we should do it. Because when the creator of the universe gives you advice, you should take it. You should listen to him, because he created you with a purpose, and he created you with a plan. And if you're not, and I'm not trying to run you out. I'm really not. I'm glad you're here tonight. But if you're going to come to church like this, and you're not actually going to do what you're learning from the Bible, what's the point? So Peter learns this lesson. Peter learns this lesson. Jesus calls him into the ministry. Jesus calls him. Jesus calls him. He says, hey, Peter, I'm going to make you a fish. Follow me, and I will make you a fisherman. And Peter says, I don't know. I'll follow you, but can I fish at night? And Jesus orchestrates this lesson to try to teach Peter a lesson on obedience. And the lesson is this. You should just obey. You should just launch out into the deep. If you're trusting Jesus with the eternity of your soul, you might as well trust him with everything else. Just get sold out and get sold in. Because if you don't, your nets will break. Your ships will sink. Your house will fall. And great, the Bible says, was the fault of it. Just bow your heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your word. Thank you for the Bible. Thank you for Peter, who is an encouragement, at least to me. Because sometimes we're stubborn, and sometimes we're prideful, and sometimes we just think we know better. And Lord, I pray that you would help all of us here tonight in whatever areas we're struggling with, where the Bible says, just do it. Just do this. God says, trust me. I'm giving you instructions. Just do it. Lord, I pray that you'd help all of us to just launch out into the deep. No hesitation. No overthinking it. No doubting. Just obey. Because the blessings are connected to the obedience in God's word. And Lord, I pray you'd help all of us to learn that, to apply that, to bring that into our lives. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray.