August 13, 2025 • 46 mins
The story of Simon becoming Peter shows how Jesus looks past who we are now to who we can be in Him. From the first moment they met, Jesus spoke a new name and identity over a weary fisherman who had no idea what was coming.
On the shores of Galilee, after a night of empty nets, Simon reluctantly obeyed Jesus’ call to “launch out into the deep.” The overflowing catch that followed wasn’t just about fish—it was about a life transformed. Confronted with his own unworthiness, Simon fell at Jesus’ feet, only to hear the words that would change his future: “Do not fear. From now on you will catch men.”
This encounter still speaks today. Jesus isn’t put off by our failures or doubts—He steps into our boat, calls us deeper, and reveals who we truly are in Him.
NEW BOOK! I'm pleased to say that we have completed a new book that has been years in the making. The Ten Shirot: Songs of Redemption looks at ten songs that were sung through pivotal times in Scripture. It's an examination of the redemption of Jesus, of worship, and of Scripture in a way that we believe you probably haven't seen before. Check it out at https://a.co/d/0a4KIooL .
The Redeeming Love Bible Broadcast is a ministry of Grace Baptist Tabernacle. We're located at 121 Arborside Lane in King, NC and we can be reached at welcome@gracebaptisttabernacle.org. Please continue to share these episodes, and please consider coming to visit our church. We are excited and expectant for you to come!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Glory, glory, glory, hallelujah, amen, bless God,
welcome those who are here andthose of our local number who
are still on the road.
We're looking forward to safety.
We're looking forward to goodreports, looking forward to
seeing exactly what the Lord'sbeen doing in all of the travels
.
Amen and hallelujah, andwelcome to our streaming
(00:24):
audience.
We pray for you guys every day,pray for all you folks Nearly
70 countries full now and thankyou for being with us tonight
and excited about what the Lordis going to say to you.
Every single time you hear amessage, every single time you
open up his word, the Lord hassomething to say to you, and the
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Lord has something to saythat's very, very deep and very,
very personal to you.
And it's been well said don'tread the Bible, but let the
Bible read you.
Amen, let the Bible read you,let the Word of God search you
and let the Word of God sanctifyyou and let the Word of God
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grow you up.
And even tonight, let the Wordof God show you that you're lost
.
Let the Word of God show youthat you're yet in your sin.
Let the Word of God show you ofsin and righteousness and
judgment, because he doesn'tjudge you now to destroy you.
He judges you now to bring youto the Savior.
He judges you now to bring youto Jesus.
(01:31):
And so let God read you tonight, let God speak to you tonight,
no matter where you are or whoyou are or whatever kind of
situation you're in.
I'm going to tell you just tostop it, just to drop the
situation, just to forget aboutit.
Don't let your mind go to it.
Don't let your mind come upwith excuses and then you end up
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talking yourself out of whatthe Lord is saying to you Amen.
So just let the Lord speaktonight.
Amen, because he's speaking foryour good and not for your
destruction.
Amen.
So just let the Lord speaktonight.
Amen, because he's speaking foryour good and not for your
destruction.
Amen.
So we will come over to Gospelof John here, chapter 1.
And let's come down to verse 40.
(02:19):
And we'll start here.
We'll be going to Luke, chapter5, in a few moments, but let's
start in John, chapter 1,tonight and start in verse 40.
One of the two which heard Johnspeak and this is John the
Baptist and followed him wasAndrew, simon, peter's brother.
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He first findeth his ownbrother, simon, and saith unto
him.
We have found the Messiah whichis being interpreted, the
Christ, and he brought him toJesus.
And what a blessing that isthis young man.
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He was a young man.
He had been with John theBaptist when John the Baptist
was in the wilderness and Johnwas preaching and John was
baptizing in that wilderness.
He had been there and he hadbeen there when Jesus was
baptized.
He'd been there to hear Johncry out behold the name of God
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which taketh away the sin of theworld, and he'd heard that and
he'd seen Jesus be baptized.
And he had seen Jesus humanlyjust walk away after that and
they'd followed him.
He was one of two disciples whoheard John and they followed
him.
He was one of two disciples whoheard John and they followed
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Jesus and they spent some timewith Jesus after they followed
him.
I would love to hear what Jesussaid to them Humanly some of
the first people to want tofollow Jesus and to hear what
Jesus had to say.
And Jesus would turn aroundearlier in the chapter and he
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would say what seek you?
And they would say where do youdwell?
Who are you?
Where do you live?
Where do you dwell?
What do you have to say?
And maybe Jesus said it with asmile.
He said well, come and see.
And they went and they saw andthey had time with Jesus and
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they spoke to Jesus.
And Jesus spoke to them.
And this is Jesus filled withthe Holy Ghost, this is Jesus
walking in the will of hisfather.
This is Jesus hearing from thefather and giving to these men
what he hears from the father.
And after that interaction,after that exchange, it's the
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most natural thing in the worldfor Andrew to go find his
brother.
Go find his brother.
And a lot of people said Simonwas you know again, you know he
would go out to hear John theBaptist, but he didn't go to be
with Jesus.
That day it was Andrew who wentto be with Jesus and so, most
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natural thing in the world, he'dbeen with Jesus.
He went to find Simon and hefound his with Jesus.
He went to find Simon and hefound his own brother and he
said we found the Messiah, we'vefound the anointed one, we've
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found the man that God has saidwas coming.
Well, he's here.
We found him and he broughtPeter to Jesus and when Jesus
beheld him, beheld Simon.
He said and I believe the HolyGhost told him this directly you
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are Simon, the son of Jonah.
Thou shalt be called Cephas,which is, by interpretation of
stone.
This is Peter, but this isPeter before he was Peter.
This is Jesus telling Simon Iknow who you are You're Simon,
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the son of Jonah.
You shall be Cephas.
I wonder what Peter thought.
You know a lot of folks I readthis is the first time they met.
This is the first time Simonmet Jesus and this is what the
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Holy Scripture records of thatmeeting.
There was before that, therewas after that, but this is what
the Scripture records.
Jesus had a clear, definite wordfor this man and my friend, my
brothers and sisters in Christ,I'm going to ask you how natural
is it for you to bring peopleto Jesus?
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How natural, how normal is itfor you?
Because this is just a youngman.
This is both Simon and Andrew.
They were yet in their sin.
Both Simon and Andrew were yetto be born again and they just
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had one conversation with Jesus.
They had one interaction withJesus.
They had one interaction withJesus.
He goes out, he finds hisbrother and he says we found him
.
Come and see him.
You need to meet him, you needto hear him, you need to be with
him.
I mean he was ecstatic.
I believe His face was shiningand it wasn't some sort of heavy
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, burdensome thing that he hadto go do.
But no, this was natural andthis was normal.
I'm going to ask you about yourrelationship with Jesus.
How natural and normal of aregular affectionate outflow is
it that you overflow on otherpeople?
Natural, normal affectionate.
Natural normal affectionate IfI can hammer that into
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evangelical culture in this roomand beyond Natural, normal
affectionate.
Pure, clean, simple, childlikelove between you and Jesus.
You hear from Jesus every day.
Bless God and amen.
He's got a word for you.
Every single day he's got lifefor you.
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Every single day.
He's got grace over you.
Every single day your sin isforgotten.
Every single day You're filledwith the Holy Ghost.
Every single day the gifts arealive.
Every single day he's got acalling.
Every single day You're walkingthat out.
Every single day You'rerejoicing in Him.
Every single day You're walkingin a peace that the world
doesn't understand or have andcan't duplicate.
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Every single solitary day,you've got three levels of joy
and a peace that the worlddoesn't understand.
You might start out in joy andthen maybe you get a great joy
and then by the end of the day.
Bless God.
You're exceeding abundantly joy, unspeakable, full of glory.
You can't put it into words.
Is that your relationship withGod?
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That's what the New Testamentdescribes.
That's the baseline, babe inChrist, relationship with God
that the New Testament describes.
And guess what?
Not a single thing I justlisted you bring to the table.
Not a single thing I justlisted.
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There aren't 33 levels ofChristians.
There aren't 7 levels ofChristians.
There aren't.
There's just people in Jesus,born again people in Jesus, some
again people in Jesus.
Some of us are older, some ofus are younger, but we all got
the same Holy Ghost.
Some of us been walking withhim for a real long time humanly
.
Some of us just started walkingwith him humanly, but y'all got
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the same Holy Ghost.
You've got the same promises Ihave.
I've got the same promises youhave.
You've got the same Bible Ihave.
I've got the same Bible youhave.
You've got the same Bible Ihave.
I've got the same Bible youhave.
Bless God and amen.
God didn't tell me anythingdifferent from what he told you.
I want to ask you tonight areyou listening?
And I want to ask you tonight,if you're listening, how do you
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practically live this out, walkthis out.
How is this working in yourlife, in your specific set of
circumstances, your specific setof situations?
Because I'm married, I gotthree kids.
You might be single.
I'm somewhere in my early 40s.
I honestly, I'm at the pointright now where I forget how old
I am already.
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It just doesn't matter to meanymore.
I mean it's just anotherbirthday.
You know, it kind of goes by.
But some of y'all, you knowyou're young, you know some of
y'all under 12, you know I thinkyou're under 12.
I don't know.
But you know some of y'all.
But you're walking with theLord.
Bless God and amen.
But I've got the same Bible youhave.
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You've got the same Bible Ihave.
I'm under the same blood as you.
You're under the same blood asme.
What I'm describing is normalaccording to God, and he has
finished every single thing.
He didn't give you threequarters of the Holy Ghost and
let you earn the rest of the 25%.
No, he gave you 100% of theHoly Ghost.
And this guy, andrew, is anexample to you tonight.
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We would say this is still OldTestament, but it was enough to
get him to go to his brother andmake sure that his brother got
in the presence of Jesus.
Because this is how to get intothe presence of Jesus in this
day.
You had to go to him, you hadto talk with him.
That's all he knew.
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Bless God.
That was enough, and Jesusdidn't disappoint.
Jesus looks square at SimonPeter, just like he does to you
tonight.
He gives a word from God.
Peter probably didn't have aclue what he was talking about.
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Oh yeah, I'm Simon, son ofJonah.
I know who my dad is.
I know who my brother is.
I know I'm a fisherman.
My whole family fishes.
That's our stock and that's ourtrade.
That's what we do for a living.
I'm going to be a stone, I'mgoing to be Cephas, I'm going to
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be Peter.
I don't get it.
And then the interaction moveson, john moves on, but I want
you to come over to Luke,chapter 5, with that backdrop in
mind, with the fact that Godhas a word for you.
Whether you're born again orwhether you're not, tonight, god
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has a word for you.
If you're not born again, thisis God's simple word for you,
just like Peter.
See, peter had to be born againfor this to happen.
You must be born again.
You see what God does inPeter's life.
He's a symbol for us.
He's a type and he's a form.
He looks at every lost man,woman and child and he sees you.
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You see, god knows thebeginning and God knows the end.
He sees you where you are now.
He says to you you're going tobe this, that's going to take
some unpacking, but stay with me.
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He knew Jesus knew he was goingto take away Peter's sin.
He knew he was going to a cross.
He knew about his blood beingshed.
He knew about the crucifixion.
He knew about rising again onthe third day.
He knew what that wouldaccomplish in the eyes of God.
He knew, yes, indeed, he is thelamb of God who takes away the
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sin of the world.
Simon Peter's sin is included.
He knew what this man was to beas a born-again spirit-filled
man of God.
He knows, oh, you might be thebiggest fornicator.
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You might be the biggest liar.
You might be the biggest thief.
You might be the biggestblasphemer.
You might have all the murderin your heart.
You might have all the deadreligion.
You might have your morality.
You might have.
You know and you're trying toadd God into that somehow.
You know you've got your morals, you've got your goodness,
you've got your versions.
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You might be you know morallycrazy.
You might be morally very, verystrict.
You might be tall, you might beshort.
You might have long hair, youmight have short hair.
Well, god knows it all.
God's looking at you and he saysI took away your sin.
I've got something for you.
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I've got a wife for you.
I've got a husband for you.
I've got kids to give you thatyou haven't had yet.
I've got a message that you canpreach to your family.
I've got a message that you canpreach to your friends.
I've got a life for you that Ihave bought and paid for For you
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.
I give it to you.
What you got to do is believeme.
What you got to do Is put yourfaith in me.
What you've got to do Is simplyreceive what I give you.
So, just like Peter Before, hewas Peter tonight, if you're in
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your sin, god's got a life foryou.
He's got a real eternal life.
I believe every single lost man, woman and child has at least
one calling.
I believe every single lost man, woman and child should you
believe on the Lord Jesus Christtonight.
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I know you'll receive the HolyGhost.
I know you'll receive at leastone spiritual gift from him.
He's got an eternal life foryou, he's got a love for you,
he's got a passion for you.
He's got things for you to walkout.
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As I can tell you the truth, man, before I was born again, I
wouldn't have the life I havenow.
No way I would ever have thefamily I have now.
No way my relationship with mymother would be what it is today
.
No way the relationship with mydad would be what it is today.
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I wouldn't be who I am todayhad I stayed in my sin and
walked away when the Lord calledme to salvation.
Had I walked the other way.
You see, if Peter had walkedthe other way, he would have
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stayed Simon, son of Jonah, hiswhole life.
He would have never been afisher of men, he would have
never seen several thousand Jewsbe saved and born again on the
day of Pentecost and beyond that.
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He would have never walked intoCornelius' house to give the
gospel to that Gentile family.
Had he turned and walked away,he would have forever been Simon
, son of Jonah.
Never would have been Peter.
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You tonight, my friend, oh,you're in your sin.
The wrath of God abides on you.
The wrath of God builds everyday, and I'll tell you what the
mercy of God is here tonight.
The mercy of God brought you tothis message.
The mercy of God brought you tothe hope and the goodness of
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his calling.
The mercy of God brought you tothe blood of Jesus, which not
only it.
Completely you're saved fromthe wrath of God.
If you trust on Jesus, you'recompletely saved.
But that is only the beginning,my friend.
I can tell you, if you walkwith God, oh, you'll go through
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it.
You may have heard it on Sundaymorning, but I'll tell you what
.
Every single trial, you comeout more refined.
Every single moment of puttingdown, every single moment of
mortifying, every single momentof celebrating the fact that you
are crucified with Christ andyou are risen with him, you are
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crucified with him.
That the body of flesh might bedestroyed and you say
hallelujah, the world's betteroff without it, the world's
better off without who I used tobe, and thank you, jesus, for
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who I am today.
My friend, don't walk away fromthat calling and let's go to
Luke, chapter 5, here, and we'llsee this play out just a little
bit Amen.
Now, this is sometime later.
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You see, peter Simon had metJesus.
This happened sometime laterand it came to pass that, as the
people pressed upon him this isJesus to hear the word of God.
He stood by the lake ofGennesaret and he saw two ships
standing by the lake but thefishermen were going out of them
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and were washing their nets andhe entered into one of the
ships.
He did this on purpose.
He entered into one of theships which was Simon's.
He specifically saw Simon'sship and he entered into it and
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he prayed him it would thrustout a little from the land
Because the people were pressingin more than any house could
hold.
But you see that in the GospelsPeople press in and people
throng.
You see that in the GospelsPeople press in and people
throng.
But here Jesus veryintentionally prays Simon to put
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him out a little bit in theboat from the land.
And so he thrusts out a littleand he sat down.
Jesus sat down and taught thepeople out of the ship.
And now presumably Simon canhear this message.
Whatever Jesus said today,simon can hear this message now.
You need to go back up one verse.
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Two ships standing by likefishermen are going out of them,
they're washing their nets.
These people had just fishedall night.
This type of fishing wastypically done at night and it
was typically done in theshallows.
And this lake, I think it, wasabout seven miles long and 12
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miles up and down north to south, and so typically they would
not go out far, they wouldn't gointo the deep, they would stay
shallow and they would fish atnight.
And now, when we read on, keepthat in mind when he had left
speaking, he said to Simon Jesussaid to Simon launch out into
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the deep and let down your netsfor a drought.
Simon, answering, said to himMaster, we have toiled all the
night.
We've taken nothing.
Nevertheless, at thy word, Iwill let down the net.
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At thy word I will let down thenet.
So in the context here, thesemen had fished all night, they
had caught nothing.
And imagine they're tired.
They toiled and if you toil, atoil is a particularly
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exhausting labor.
It's exhausting, it'sburdensome, you get tired, you
get burnt out.
And these guys, they didn't geta single fish.
They went out there for hoursin the night fishing the way
that fishing was supposed to bedone.
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They're professional fishermen.
They didn't catch a thing.
They cast the net and theybrought it in.
They cast the net and theybrought it in.
They cast the net and theybrought it in and they didn't
get a thing.
So I'd imagine these guys, theymight be disappointed, they
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might be frustrated, they mightbe frustrated, they might be
embarrassed and I know they'retired.
They had toiled all night.
It ain't a good thing.
And to that group of people plusmore, jesus was speaking on
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this particular day.
So he said to Simon, whoperhaps remembered that Jesus
had said something about himbeing called Cephas one day, a
stone, whatever that meant.
He said well, master.
And a lot of people say a lotof things about how he said this
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.
Some people say he wasfrustrated, some people say he
was reluctant, some people sayhe was despaired, some people
say he was faithless, somepeople say he was faithful, and
this is going back to the 1700s.
On these commentaries and someof these preachers, a lot of
people say a lot of differentthings, but what you can settle
on today is he was a littlereluctant because this Jesus who
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he acknowledges here, he's amaster.
He acknowledges that, obviously.
And maybe he's thinking what inthe blazes does a rabbi know
about fishing?
He's talking go out there wherethe water's deep in the daytime
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, and he's telling me.
We're going to get a drought.
We're going to get a drought,we're going to get a full catch.
After we broke our backs andsweated all night and toiled all
night for nothing.
And it's hallelujah.
Nevertheless, at thy word, Iwill let down the net.
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And they went.
Regardless of how Peter was,they went.
And when they had this done,they took their little boat and
they launched out into the deepin the daytime and they let down
their nets.
They enclosed a great multitudeof fishes and their net broke
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and that broke.
And they had to great multitudeof fishes and their net broke
and that broke.
And they had to beckon to theirpartners in the other ship that
they should come and help them.
And they came and they filledboth the ships so much that they
began to sink.
I believe Jesus was sayingsomething to Simon.
I believe Jesus was sayingsomething to Simon.
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And when Simon Peter saw itbless God.
That's another reason I lovePeter he fell down at Jesus'
knees.
He said depart from me, getaway from me, lord.
I'm a sinful man.
Get away from me so you're notdefiled.
Get away from me because you'renot defiled.
Get away from me because Godand man are supposed to be
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separate.
Get away from me.
We heard a little testimonytoday about when God draws near,
when you start to listen to God, when God starts to draw you to
salvation, there's a fear.
There's a fear.
You go back through everyinstance of the Old Testament
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just about that I can think of.
And when God showed up, peoplegot afraid.
When God showed up, people saidhow can this be?
When God showed up and startedspeaking, people not only did
they not understand, but so manyof them the Lord or the angel
that he sent, or Jesus himselfin the Old Testament had to say
fear not.
I'm coming to you because Iwant to come to you.
I'm speaking to you because Iwant to speak to you.
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I'm promising to you because Iam going to make good on
everything that I promised toyou.
I'm doing this because I wantto Don't worry about me getting
defiled to you.
I'm doing this because I wantto Don't worry about me getting
defiled.
What you ought to be asking isLord, thank you for coming to me
.
What you ought to be saying isLord, come closer.
Lord, speak on.
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Lord, speak further, because Iam a sinful man.
Peter was 100% right about that,no matter how he said it here.
I believe it was the religiontalking.
I believe it was, you know,whatever interpretation that the
Pharisees and the Sadducees andthe scribes had handed down
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talking.
But you can see for sure thatthey certainly believed in
separation between God and man.
They believed God was there andman was there, and never shall
the twain meet.
And that's what theypractically taught.
They put law upon law upon lawupon law upon law and they came
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up with their own.
But they missed charity, theymissed mercy, they threw out
love and they threw out the factthat God himself had given them
that law in the first place,because he wanted people to know
who he is.
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And Peter today, at thisinstance, was in a state of
astonishment because Jesus brokethe nets.
Hallelujah, and Jesus justabout sank their ships.
Hallelujah, because he put somany fish in those nets that
they couldn't help but see thathe is the Lord.
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And this was Peter's responseand thank God that Jesus didn't
listen to him.
Hallelujah, jesus didn't depart.
Jesus did not depart from Peterbecause he was a sinful man.
You see, jesus knew why he wasthere.
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He was there to bear witness tothe truth.
He was there to fulfill the law.
He was there to.
He was there to bear witness tothe truth.
He was there to fulfill the law.
He was there to fulfill thescriptures.
He was there to show that Godis faithful and he was there to
take away this man's sin, and hewould do it.
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So Peter was astonished.
How are you tonight, when God isdrawing near to you, whether
you're born again tonight orwhether you're lost tonight?
I believe God's drawing near toyou.
He's drawing near to youpersonally and he's reaching to
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you and he's speaking to you andhe's saying to the lost I see
your sin, I see you.
The thing is, I've been to thecross.
The thing is I've died and thething is I've risen again and
I'm alive today.
I'm speaking to you because Iwant to speak to you.
I'm speaking to you not just tospeak to you.
I'm speaking to you not just tospeak to you, but because I
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want to do a miracle in you, andthat miracle is called born
again.
That miracle is called behold,all things are become new.
That miracle is called youbeing with me.
That miracle is calledforgetting your sin, my blood
being applied to you.
I'm coming to you to do that,and the only way I'm not going
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to do it is if you don't believeme.
That's the only way anybodyever goes away lost.
They just don't believe God.
They believe something else.
I'm talking to those of youtonight who are believing God.
Don't delay, call upon the nameof Jesus, don't delay.
You know, if you want to falldown on your knees, fall down on
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your knees, fall down on yourface, do it standing up.
It doesn't matter.
But if God is looking at yourheart and he's saying I want you
to be saved, I want you to beborn again, I know you and I
love you, and this is how I amloving you.
This is my affection, this ismy love in action.
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I don't want you to die in yoursin.
I don't want you to stay inyour sin.
I don't want you living in yoursin.
I don't want you haunted byyour sin.
I don't want you burdened downby your sin.
I don't want you fearful.
I don't want you afraid.
I don't want you dying.
I don't want you lustful.
I don't want you, you know, apuppet of the devil himself.
I don't want you in yourmorality.
That's going to pass away.
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I don't want you in yourentertainment.
That's going to pass away.
I don't want you worshipingyour idol.
That's nothing.
I don't want you in that.
I don't want you worshipingthat.
I don't want you anywhere indealing with anything, putting
your faith in something that'sgoing to die.
But I want you to be with mebecause all this heaven and all
(33:07):
this earth is passing away.
You look at Sodom, you look atGomorrah, you look at Babylon.
It's all type and a form ofthat.
The old ones, the historicalones.
The world and its system ispassing away.
The world, which is puppeted bythe devil himself, flips at the
(33:31):
end of the book.
There's a new heavens and a newearth.
Sin has no place.
Where does it go, my friend?
That's why Jesus died.
The sin got put on him.
(33:54):
Your sin got put on him.
Whatever that looks like, gotput on him.
Lust put on him, Pride put onhim, all the drunkenness and the
drugs and the idols put on him,and he died, because that's
(34:14):
what sin demands In the eyes ofGod death.
Well, he put himself in yourplace and he died.
Now, if you reject his blood,if you reject his blood, you
answer for your sin.
If you receive him, believe onhim, put your faith in him, his
(34:47):
blood answers for your sin.
That's where the sin goes, oneof two places.
But either way it's dealt withand either way God is glorified.
I'll tell you what the will ofGod is, because he loves you.
And he tells us ironicallyironically through Peter he's
(35:08):
not willing that any shouldperish.
Go read what Peter wrote, whathe would write later on, you'll
find it.
He's not willing that anyshould perish, but that
everybody should come torepentance.
And so we've got to concludetonight Amen.
(35:29):
Peter wasn't the only one there.
If you go down to verse 10, sowas James and John, the sons of
Zebedee.
And there was another message.
Folks called them the sons ofthunder and they were partners
with Simon.
And Jesus said unto Simon.
Here he goes again.
He had said unto Simon, you'regoing to be Peter.
(35:50):
He says unto Simon.
He starts off in a veryfamiliar way Fear not.
Because Simon was afraid, jesussaid fear not.
From henceforth thou shaltcatch men.
(36:12):
If you heard last week's message, peter was the one to take the
gospel to the Gentiles.
Humanly speaking, see, godworked it all out.
You can listen to the messagelast week.
Humanly speaking, god needed aman to go.
Peter was his man.
Before that we saw 3,000 oneday, saw 5,000, another.
(36:39):
Thousands upon thousands andthousands of the people of
Israel heard about Jesus, andPeter was a part of that,
humanly speaking.
Now, peter will be the first totell you it's in the name of
(37:00):
Jesus.
Peter will be the first to tellyou this is the Holy Spirit,
this is Jesus.
He was always pointing name ofJesus.
Peter will be the first to tellyou this is the Holy Spirit,
this is Jesus.
He was always pointing peopleto Jesus.
Humanly, he was given what theHoly Ghost was telling him to
give, and the Holy Ghost waspointing people to Jesus, and so
Peter did that.
But the Lord's word wasfulfilled, and the Lord's word
(37:22):
is fulfilled tonight because,humanly, Peter's a part of this
message.
Humanly, that promise, thattestimony is going on.
Now, my friends, you've heard ofGod's promises to you tonight,
(37:44):
especially for the lost, and Ipray.
Brothers and sisters, the Lordis just flooding you, promise
after promise, after promiseafter promise, word after word
after word after word, wisdomafter wisdom after wisdom after
wisdom.
As he walks you through whatyou're walking through today, as
(38:05):
he walks you through whatyou're walking through today,
I'll tell you he's faithful here, way beyond two broken nets.
That was just a sign, that wasjust hey, I'm the Lord, there's
a faithfulness that far outlaststhe fish.
Amen, far outlasts.
That's you.
(38:27):
You see, I don't some believeit is.
I don't believe it is.
It's not just Simon, james andJohn who are supposed to be
fishers of men, not just them,that's you.
(38:53):
So you go back to the beginningof this message.
God wants it to be natural.
What do you want?
God says well, you go out thereand fish.
You go out there and you castthe net.
You go out there with yourtestimony.
You go out there and fish.
You go out there and you cast anet.
You go out there with yourtestimony.
You go out there with my word.
You go out there filled with myHoly Spirit.
(39:16):
You will have an increase.
You can't lose, because somedays God will give you a fish.
Some days God will give you afish.
Some days God will give you aharvest.
Some days God will allow you towater what, humanly, somebody
else already planted.
(39:39):
Someday you're the first one tobreak ground.
You're the first one tointroduce someone to Jesus.
They might walk away, God'sglorified.
They might persecute God'sglorified.
(39:59):
They might curse you.
Well, guess what Jesus saidBless those that curse you, and
blessed are you when men perseccurse you.
Well, guess what Jesus saidBless those that curse you, and
blessed are you when menpersecute you.
You get to know a little bit ofwhat he went through and what he
goes through on a daily basis.
And, oh, my friend, whensomeone rejoices when someone is
(40:21):
born again, heaven rejoices.
And then, friend, I can maybetry to close again.
When someone is born again,heaven rejoices.
And then, friend, I can maybetry to close again on a
testimony.
It might be helpful for you,but a few years ago I remember
(40:41):
open-air preaching in an oldtown famous in America I don't
know how many people still knowAndy Griffith, but Mount Airy,
north Carolina and met thisolder he was older at the time,
this gentleman and he told meabout how there were other
people before me who used tominister.
(41:01):
There was an old bar and folksused to stand outside the bar
and they would witness to peoplewhen they were coming in and
going out.
And he said well, I rejectedFor years and years and years I
rejected, mocked them, made funof them.
One day I didn't reject.
(41:23):
One day I kn't reject.
One day I knelt down and Iprayed and the Lord saved me.
And then years went by and Imet one of those people years
later who used to be outsidethat bar.
I told him what happened.
(41:44):
He must have jumped 10 feet inthe air and there was rejoicing
and the whole time I'm like,well, some people water, some
people plant, some people water,some people harvest, but we all
rejoice together.
Church Jesus wants that for youand church, the world needs it.
The world needs to meet Jesusand he wants you to do it.
(42:10):
Our musicians will come forwardtonight, amen.
But if you're that persontonight who is lost yet in your
sin and you're here in this room, I want you to come forward and
be glad to pray with you whilethese folks behind me play some
music.
But if you're listening on theother side of that camera, video
(42:34):
or audio, however, you'relistening to this and the Lord's
drawing you and there's a fearof God right now and you know
specifically that you're apartfrom him.
You know specifically thatyou're in your sin, you're a
sinner, you're under thatjudgment of God, you're under
(42:56):
that good judgment of God thatsays I'm holy, you're apart from
me, and then all of a sudden,just like Simon.
God manifests himself, godglorifies himself.
God is raised up and all of asudden, all you see is your sin.
There's good news for youtonight Jesus.
(43:20):
His name is Jesus.
He's your Savior, he's yourLord.
He's your Savior, he's yourLord.
He's your God, he's your King.
His blood is shed for you.
He gave His life for you.
He died in your place and he'sliving and he's alive and he's
saying put your faith in me.
(43:44):
I don't want you to perish.
I don't want you to go away sad.
I don't want you to go awayangry.
I don't want you to go awayhard.
I want you to fall down on yourknees a sinner and get up, a
saint.
I want you to speak to me.
I want you to respond to me andmy friends.
Let the faith that's insidecome out into some words.
(44:07):
Ask Him to save you, ask Him tobe born again, ask Him to put
His blood on you.
Hallelujah, hallelujah,hallelujah, hallelujah.
Anybody who's ever prayed thatin a faithful, honest, honest
heart?
Never in history has he or willhe turn you away.
(44:30):
So trust him tonight and thankyou for being part of this.
Thank you for sharing these, ifyou're listening on the social
media.
Thank you.
A lot of you did this.
That's encouraging to see.
Thank you, a lot of you didthis.
You know that's encouraging tosee.
Thank you.
Like and subscribe.
Might sound silly, but it helps.
(44:52):
It helps us to reach morepeople through the social media,
but please do share thesemessages.
Please do continue to play themfor your churches, for your
friends, for your family members, whether they're saved and born
again and want to hear a wordfrom God, or whether they're
lost and in their sin, and Goduses this to speak to them and
(45:14):
to draw them to salvation.
Please do continue to share.
Get in touch with us, email us,call us, send us a text message
.
Hallelujah and amen.
Please do feel welcome andencouraged to come to any and
all of our services and meet usin person.
We look forward to meeting youand may the lord continue to
(45:35):
richly bless us, amen.
Glory, glory, glory, hallelujah, amen, bless God,
welcome those who are here andthose of our local number who
are still on the road.
We're looking forward to safety.
We're looking forward to goodreports, looking forward to
seeing exactly what the Lord'sbeen doing in all of the travels
.
Amen and hallelujah, andwelcome to our streaming
(00:24):
audience.
We pray for you guys every day,pray for all you folks Nearly
70 countries full now and thankyou for being with us tonight
and excited about what the Lordis going to say to you.
Every single time you hear amessage, every single time you
open up his word, the Lord hassomething to say to you, and the
(00:48):
Lord has something to saythat's very, very deep and very,
very personal to you.
And it's been well said don'tread the Bible, but let the
Bible read you.
Amen, let the Bible read you,let the Word of God search you
and let the Word of God sanctifyyou and let the Word of God
(01:09):
grow you up.
And even tonight, let the Wordof God show you that you're lost
.
Let the Word of God show youthat you're yet in your sin.
Let the Word of God show you ofsin and righteousness and
judgment, because he doesn'tjudge you now to destroy you.
He judges you now to bring youto the Savior.
He judges you now to bring youto Jesus.
(01:31):
And so let God read you tonight, let God speak to you tonight,
no matter where you are or whoyou are or whatever kind of
situation you're in.
I'm going to tell you just tostop it, just to drop the
situation, just to forget aboutit.
Don't let your mind go to it.
Don't let your mind come upwith excuses and then you end up
(01:56):
talking yourself out of whatthe Lord is saying to you Amen.
So just let the Lord speaktonight.
Amen, because he's speaking foryour good and not for your
destruction.
Amen.
So just let the Lord speaktonight.
Amen, because he's speaking foryour good and not for your
destruction.
Amen.
So we will come over to Gospelof John here, chapter 1.
And let's come down to verse 40.
(02:19):
And we'll start here.
We'll be going to Luke, chapter5, in a few moments, but let's
start in John, chapter 1,tonight and start in verse 40.
One of the two which heard Johnspeak and this is John the
Baptist and followed him wasAndrew, simon, peter's brother.
(02:40):
He first findeth his ownbrother, simon, and saith unto
him.
We have found the Messiah whichis being interpreted, the
Christ, and he brought him toJesus.
And what a blessing that isthis young man.
(03:01):
He was a young man.
He had been with John theBaptist when John the Baptist
was in the wilderness and Johnwas preaching and John was
baptizing in that wilderness.
He had been there and he hadbeen there when Jesus was
baptized.
He'd been there to hear Johncry out behold the name of God
(03:25):
which taketh away the sin of theworld, and he'd heard that and
he'd seen Jesus be baptized.
And he had seen Jesus humanlyjust walk away after that and
they'd followed him.
He was one of two disciples whoheard John and they followed
him.
He was one of two disciples whoheard John and they followed
(03:47):
Jesus and they spent some timewith Jesus after they followed
him.
I would love to hear what Jesussaid to them Humanly some of
the first people to want tofollow Jesus and to hear what
Jesus had to say.
And Jesus would turn aroundearlier in the chapter and he
(04:08):
would say what seek you?
And they would say where do youdwell?
Who are you?
Where do you live?
Where do you dwell?
What do you have to say?
And maybe Jesus said it with asmile.
He said well, come and see.
And they went and they saw andthey had time with Jesus and
(04:32):
they spoke to Jesus.
And Jesus spoke to them.
And this is Jesus filled withthe Holy Ghost, this is Jesus
walking in the will of hisfather.
This is Jesus hearing from thefather and giving to these men
what he hears from the father.
And after that interaction,after that exchange, it's the
(04:58):
most natural thing in the worldfor Andrew to go find his
brother.
Go find his brother.
And a lot of people said Simonwas you know again, you know he
would go out to hear John theBaptist, but he didn't go to be
with Jesus.
That day it was Andrew who wentto be with Jesus and so, most
(05:20):
natural thing in the world, he'dbeen with Jesus.
He went to find Simon and hefound his with Jesus.
He went to find Simon and hefound his own brother and he
said we found the Messiah, we'vefound the anointed one, we've
(05:43):
found the man that God has saidwas coming.
Well, he's here.
We found him and he broughtPeter to Jesus and when Jesus
beheld him, beheld Simon.
He said and I believe the HolyGhost told him this directly you
(06:07):
are Simon, the son of Jonah.
Thou shalt be called Cephas,which is, by interpretation of
stone.
This is Peter, but this isPeter before he was Peter.
This is Jesus telling Simon Iknow who you are You're Simon,
(06:30):
the son of Jonah.
You shall be Cephas.
I wonder what Peter thought.
You know a lot of folks I readthis is the first time they met.
This is the first time Simonmet Jesus and this is what the
(06:53):
Holy Scripture records of thatmeeting.
There was before that, therewas after that, but this is what
the Scripture records.
Jesus had a clear, definite wordfor this man and my friend, my
brothers and sisters in Christ,I'm going to ask you how natural
is it for you to bring peopleto Jesus?
(07:16):
How natural, how normal is itfor you?
Because this is just a youngman.
This is both Simon and Andrew.
They were yet in their sin.
Both Simon and Andrew were yetto be born again and they just
(07:42):
had one conversation with Jesus.
They had one interaction withJesus.
They had one interaction withJesus.
He goes out, he finds hisbrother and he says we found him
.
Come and see him.
You need to meet him, you needto hear him, you need to be with
him.
I mean he was ecstatic.
I believe His face was shiningand it wasn't some sort of heavy
(08:03):
, burdensome thing that he hadto go do.
But no, this was natural andthis was normal.
I'm going to ask you about yourrelationship with Jesus.
How natural and normal of aregular affectionate outflow is
it that you overflow on otherpeople?
Natural, normal affectionate.
Natural normal affectionate IfI can hammer that into
(08:26):
evangelical culture in this roomand beyond Natural, normal
affectionate.
Pure, clean, simple, childlikelove between you and Jesus.
You hear from Jesus every day.
Bless God and amen.
He's got a word for you.
Every single day he's got lifefor you.
(08:46):
Every single day.
He's got grace over you.
Every single day your sin isforgotten.
Every single day You're filledwith the Holy Ghost.
Every single day the gifts arealive.
Every single day he's got acalling.
Every single day You're walkingthat out.
Every single day You'rerejoicing in Him.
Every single day You're walkingin a peace that the world
doesn't understand or have andcan't duplicate.
(09:09):
Every single solitary day,you've got three levels of joy
and a peace that the worlddoesn't understand.
You might start out in joy andthen maybe you get a great joy
and then by the end of the day.
Bless God.
You're exceeding abundantly joy, unspeakable, full of glory.
You can't put it into words.
Is that your relationship withGod?
(09:32):
That's what the New Testamentdescribes.
That's the baseline, babe inChrist, relationship with God
that the New Testament describes.
And guess what?
Not a single thing I justlisted you bring to the table.
Not a single thing I justlisted.
(09:54):
There aren't 33 levels ofChristians.
There aren't 7 levels ofChristians.
There aren't.
There's just people in Jesus,born again people in Jesus, some
again people in Jesus.
Some of us are older, some ofus are younger, but we all got
the same Holy Ghost.
Some of us been walking withhim for a real long time humanly
.
Some of us just started walkingwith him humanly, but y'all got
(10:16):
the same Holy Ghost.
You've got the same promises Ihave.
I've got the same promises youhave.
You've got the same Bible Ihave.
I've got the same Bible youhave.
You've got the same Bible Ihave.
I've got the same Bible youhave.
Bless God and amen.
God didn't tell me anythingdifferent from what he told you.
I want to ask you tonight areyou listening?
And I want to ask you tonight,if you're listening, how do you
(10:41):
practically live this out, walkthis out.
How is this working in yourlife, in your specific set of
circumstances, your specific setof situations?
Because I'm married, I gotthree kids.
You might be single.
I'm somewhere in my early 40s.
I honestly, I'm at the pointright now where I forget how old
I am already.
(11:02):
It just doesn't matter to meanymore.
I mean it's just anotherbirthday.
You know, it kind of goes by.
But some of y'all, you knowyou're young, you know some of
y'all under 12, you know I thinkyou're under 12.
I don't know.
But you know some of y'all.
But you're walking with theLord.
Bless God and amen.
But I've got the same Bible youhave.
(11:25):
You've got the same Bible Ihave.
I'm under the same blood as you.
You're under the same blood asme.
What I'm describing is normalaccording to God, and he has
finished every single thing.
He didn't give you threequarters of the Holy Ghost and
let you earn the rest of the 25%.
No, he gave you 100% of theHoly Ghost.
And this guy, andrew, is anexample to you tonight.
(11:55):
We would say this is still OldTestament, but it was enough to
get him to go to his brother andmake sure that his brother got
in the presence of Jesus.
Because this is how to get intothe presence of Jesus in this
day.
You had to go to him, you hadto talk with him.
That's all he knew.
(12:15):
Bless God.
That was enough, and Jesusdidn't disappoint.
Jesus looks square at SimonPeter, just like he does to you
tonight.
He gives a word from God.
Peter probably didn't have aclue what he was talking about.
(12:36):
Oh yeah, I'm Simon, son ofJonah.
I know who my dad is.
I know who my brother is.
I know I'm a fisherman.
My whole family fishes.
That's our stock and that's ourtrade.
That's what we do for a living.
I'm going to be a stone, I'mgoing to be Cephas, I'm going to
(12:58):
be Peter.
I don't get it.
And then the interaction moveson, john moves on, but I want
you to come over to Luke,chapter 5, with that backdrop in
mind, with the fact that Godhas a word for you.
Whether you're born again orwhether you're not, tonight, god
(13:20):
has a word for you.
If you're not born again, thisis God's simple word for you,
just like Peter.
See, peter had to be born againfor this to happen.
You must be born again.
You see what God does inPeter's life.
He's a symbol for us.
He's a type and he's a form.
He looks at every lost man,woman and child and he sees you.
(13:47):
You see, god knows thebeginning and God knows the end.
He sees you where you are now.
He says to you you're going tobe this, that's going to take
some unpacking, but stay with me.
(14:11):
He knew Jesus knew he was goingto take away Peter's sin.
He knew he was going to a cross.
He knew about his blood beingshed.
He knew about the crucifixion.
He knew about rising again onthe third day.
He knew what that wouldaccomplish in the eyes of God.
He knew, yes, indeed, he is thelamb of God who takes away the
(14:36):
sin of the world.
Simon Peter's sin is included.
He knew what this man was to beas a born-again spirit-filled
man of God.
He knows, oh, you might be thebiggest fornicator.
(14:56):
You might be the biggest liar.
You might be the biggest thief.
You might be the biggestblasphemer.
You might have all the murderin your heart.
You might have all the deadreligion.
You might have your morality.
You might have.
You know and you're trying toadd God into that somehow.
You know you've got your morals, you've got your goodness,
you've got your versions.
(15:17):
You might be you know morallycrazy.
You might be morally very, verystrict.
You might be tall, you might beshort.
You might have long hair, youmight have short hair.
Well, god knows it all.
God's looking at you and he saysI took away your sin.
I've got something for you.
(15:40):
I've got a wife for you.
I've got a husband for you.
I've got kids to give you thatyou haven't had yet.
I've got a message that you canpreach to your family.
I've got a message that you canpreach to your friends.
I've got a life for you that Ihave bought and paid for For you
(16:04):
.
I give it to you.
What you got to do is believeme.
What you got to do Is put yourfaith in me.
What you've got to do Is simplyreceive what I give you.
So, just like Peter Before, hewas Peter tonight, if you're in
(16:31):
your sin, god's got a life foryou.
He's got a real eternal life.
I believe every single lost man, woman and child has at least
one calling.
I believe every single lost man, woman and child should you
believe on the Lord Jesus Christtonight.
(16:51):
I know you'll receive the HolyGhost.
I know you'll receive at leastone spiritual gift from him.
He's got an eternal life foryou, he's got a love for you,
he's got a passion for you.
He's got things for you to walkout.
(17:17):
As I can tell you the truth, man, before I was born again, I
wouldn't have the life I havenow.
No way I would ever have thefamily I have now.
No way my relationship with mymother would be what it is today
.
No way the relationship with mydad would be what it is today.
(17:38):
I wouldn't be who I am todayhad I stayed in my sin and
walked away when the Lord calledme to salvation.
Had I walked the other way.
You see, if Peter had walkedthe other way, he would have
(18:01):
stayed Simon, son of Jonah, hiswhole life.
He would have never been afisher of men, he would have
never seen several thousand Jewsbe saved and born again on the
day of Pentecost and beyond that.
(18:21):
He would have never walked intoCornelius' house to give the
gospel to that Gentile family.
Had he turned and walked away,he would have forever been Simon
, son of Jonah.
Never would have been Peter.
(18:41):
You tonight, my friend, oh,you're in your sin.
The wrath of God abides on you.
The wrath of God builds everyday, and I'll tell you what the
mercy of God is here tonight.
The mercy of God brought you tothis message.
The mercy of God brought you tothe hope and the goodness of
(19:02):
his calling.
The mercy of God brought you tothe blood of Jesus, which not
only it.
Completely you're saved fromthe wrath of God.
If you trust on Jesus, you'recompletely saved.
But that is only the beginning,my friend.
I can tell you, if you walkwith God, oh, you'll go through
(19:25):
it.
You may have heard it on Sundaymorning, but I'll tell you what
.
Every single trial, you comeout more refined.
Every single moment of puttingdown, every single moment of
mortifying, every single momentof celebrating the fact that you
are crucified with Christ andyou are risen with him, you are
(19:49):
crucified with him.
That the body of flesh might bedestroyed and you say
hallelujah, the world's betteroff without it, the world's
better off without who I used tobe, and thank you, jesus, for
(20:09):
who I am today.
My friend, don't walk away fromthat calling and let's go to
Luke, chapter 5, here, and we'llsee this play out just a little
bit Amen.
Now, this is sometime later.
(20:30):
You see, peter Simon had metJesus.
This happened sometime laterand it came to pass that, as the
people pressed upon him this isJesus to hear the word of God.
He stood by the lake ofGennesaret and he saw two ships
standing by the lake but thefishermen were going out of them
(20:51):
and were washing their nets andhe entered into one of the
ships.
He did this on purpose.
He entered into one of theships which was Simon's.
He specifically saw Simon'sship and he entered into it and
(21:12):
he prayed him it would thrustout a little from the land
Because the people were pressingin more than any house could
hold.
But you see that in the GospelsPeople press in and people
throng.
You see that in the GospelsPeople press in and people
throng.
But here Jesus veryintentionally prays Simon to put
(21:35):
him out a little bit in theboat from the land.
And so he thrusts out a littleand he sat down.
Jesus sat down and taught thepeople out of the ship.
And now presumably Simon canhear this message.
Whatever Jesus said today,simon can hear this message now.
You need to go back up one verse.
(21:55):
Two ships standing by likefishermen are going out of them,
they're washing their nets.
These people had just fishedall night.
This type of fishing wastypically done at night and it
was typically done in theshallows.
And this lake, I think it, wasabout seven miles long and 12
(22:16):
miles up and down north to south, and so typically they would
not go out far, they wouldn't gointo the deep, they would stay
shallow and they would fish atnight.
And now, when we read on, keepthat in mind when he had left
speaking, he said to Simon Jesussaid to Simon launch out into
(22:41):
the deep and let down your netsfor a drought.
Simon, answering, said to himMaster, we have toiled all the
night.
We've taken nothing.
Nevertheless, at thy word, Iwill let down the net.
(23:03):
At thy word I will let down thenet.
So in the context here, thesemen had fished all night, they
had caught nothing.
And imagine they're tired.
They toiled and if you toil, atoil is a particularly
(23:24):
exhausting labor.
It's exhausting, it'sburdensome, you get tired, you
get burnt out.
And these guys, they didn't geta single fish.
They went out there for hoursin the night fishing the way
that fishing was supposed to bedone.
(23:44):
They're professional fishermen.
They didn't catch a thing.
They cast the net and theybrought it in.
They cast the net and theybrought it in.
They cast the net and theybrought it in and they didn't
get a thing.
So I'd imagine these guys, theymight be disappointed, they
(24:06):
might be frustrated, they mightbe frustrated, they might be
embarrassed and I know they'retired.
They had toiled all night.
It ain't a good thing.
And to that group of people plusmore, jesus was speaking on
(24:26):
this particular day.
So he said to Simon, whoperhaps remembered that Jesus
had said something about himbeing called Cephas one day, a
stone, whatever that meant.
He said well, master.
And a lot of people say a lotof things about how he said this
(24:48):
.
Some people say he wasfrustrated, some people say he
was reluctant, some people sayhe was despaired, some people
say he was faithless, somepeople say he was faithful, and
this is going back to the 1700s.
On these commentaries and someof these preachers, a lot of
people say a lot of differentthings, but what you can settle
on today is he was a littlereluctant because this Jesus who
(25:18):
he acknowledges here, he's amaster.
He acknowledges that, obviously.
And maybe he's thinking what inthe blazes does a rabbi know
about fishing?
He's talking go out there wherethe water's deep in the daytime
(25:39):
, and he's telling me.
We're going to get a drought.
We're going to get a drought,we're going to get a full catch.
After we broke our backs andsweated all night and toiled all
night for nothing.
And it's hallelujah.
Nevertheless, at thy word, Iwill let down the net.
(26:00):
And they went.
Regardless of how Peter was,they went.
And when they had this done,they took their little boat and
they launched out into the deepin the daytime and they let down
their nets.
They enclosed a great multitudeof fishes and their net broke
(26:27):
and that broke.
And they had to great multitudeof fishes and their net broke
and that broke.
And they had to beckon to theirpartners in the other ship that
they should come and help them.
And they came and they filledboth the ships so much that they
began to sink.
I believe Jesus was sayingsomething to Simon.
I believe Jesus was sayingsomething to Simon.
(26:49):
And when Simon Peter saw itbless God.
That's another reason I lovePeter he fell down at Jesus'
knees.
He said depart from me, getaway from me, lord.
I'm a sinful man.
Get away from me so you're notdefiled.
Get away from me because you'renot defiled.
Get away from me because Godand man are supposed to be
(27:09):
separate.
Get away from me.
We heard a little testimonytoday about when God draws near,
when you start to listen to God, when God starts to draw you to
salvation, there's a fear.
There's a fear.
You go back through everyinstance of the Old Testament
(27:34):
just about that I can think of.
And when God showed up, peoplegot afraid.
When God showed up, people saidhow can this be?
When God showed up and startedspeaking, people not only did
they not understand, but so manyof them the Lord or the angel
that he sent, or Jesus himselfin the Old Testament had to say
fear not.
I'm coming to you because Iwant to come to you.
I'm speaking to you because Iwant to speak to you.
(27:56):
I'm promising to you because Iam going to make good on
everything that I promised toyou.
I'm doing this because I wantto Don't worry about me getting
defiled to you.
I'm doing this because I wantto Don't worry about me getting
defiled.
What you ought to be asking isLord, thank you for coming to me
.
What you ought to be saying isLord, come closer.
Lord, speak on.
(28:16):
Lord, speak further, because Iam a sinful man.
Peter was 100% right about that,no matter how he said it here.
I believe it was the religiontalking.
I believe it was, you know,whatever interpretation that the
Pharisees and the Sadducees andthe scribes had handed down
(28:36):
talking.
But you can see for sure thatthey certainly believed in
separation between God and man.
They believed God was there andman was there, and never shall
the twain meet.
And that's what theypractically taught.
They put law upon law upon lawupon law upon law and they came
(28:57):
up with their own.
But they missed charity, theymissed mercy, they threw out
love and they threw out the factthat God himself had given them
that law in the first place,because he wanted people to know
who he is.
(29:18):
And Peter today, at thisinstance, was in a state of
astonishment because Jesus brokethe nets.
Hallelujah, and Jesus justabout sank their ships.
Hallelujah, because he put somany fish in those nets that
they couldn't help but see thathe is the Lord.
(29:40):
And this was Peter's responseand thank God that Jesus didn't
listen to him.
Hallelujah, jesus didn't depart.
Jesus did not depart from Peterbecause he was a sinful man.
You see, jesus knew why he wasthere.
(30:01):
He was there to bear witness tothe truth.
He was there to fulfill the law.
He was there to.
He was there to bear witness tothe truth.
He was there to fulfill the law.
He was there to fulfill thescriptures.
He was there to show that Godis faithful and he was there to
take away this man's sin, and hewould do it.
(30:22):
So Peter was astonished.
How are you tonight, when God isdrawing near to you, whether
you're born again tonight orwhether you're lost tonight?
I believe God's drawing near toyou.
He's drawing near to youpersonally and he's reaching to
(30:46):
you and he's speaking to you andhe's saying to the lost I see
your sin, I see you.
The thing is, I've been to thecross.
The thing is I've died and thething is I've risen again and
I'm alive today.
I'm speaking to you because Iwant to speak to you.
I'm speaking to you not just tospeak to you.
I'm speaking to you not just tospeak to you, but because I
(31:08):
want to do a miracle in you, andthat miracle is called born
again.
That miracle is called behold,all things are become new.
That miracle is called youbeing with me.
That miracle is calledforgetting your sin, my blood
being applied to you.
I'm coming to you to do that,and the only way I'm not going
(31:34):
to do it is if you don't believeme.
That's the only way anybodyever goes away lost.
They just don't believe God.
They believe something else.
I'm talking to those of youtonight who are believing God.
Don't delay, call upon the nameof Jesus, don't delay.
You know, if you want to falldown on your knees, fall down on
(31:57):
your knees, fall down on yourface, do it standing up.
It doesn't matter.
But if God is looking at yourheart and he's saying I want you
to be saved, I want you to beborn again, I know you and I
love you, and this is how I amloving you.
This is my affection, this ismy love in action.
(32:18):
I don't want you to die in yoursin.
I don't want you to stay inyour sin.
I don't want you living in yoursin.
I don't want you haunted byyour sin.
I don't want you burdened downby your sin.
I don't want you fearful.
I don't want you afraid.
I don't want you dying.
I don't want you lustful.
I don't want you, you know, apuppet of the devil himself.
I don't want you in yourmorality.
That's going to pass away.
(32:39):
I don't want you in yourentertainment.
That's going to pass away.
I don't want you worshipingyour idol.
That's nothing.
I don't want you in that.
I don't want you worshipingthat.
I don't want you anywhere indealing with anything, putting
your faith in something that'sgoing to die.
But I want you to be with mebecause all this heaven and all
(33:07):
this earth is passing away.
You look at Sodom, you look atGomorrah, you look at Babylon.
It's all type and a form ofthat.
The old ones, the historicalones.
The world and its system ispassing away.
The world, which is puppeted bythe devil himself, flips at the
(33:31):
end of the book.
There's a new heavens and a newearth.
Sin has no place.
Where does it go, my friend?
That's why Jesus died.
The sin got put on him.
(33:54):
Your sin got put on him.
Whatever that looks like, gotput on him.
Lust put on him, Pride put onhim, all the drunkenness and the
drugs and the idols put on him,and he died, because that's
(34:14):
what sin demands In the eyes ofGod death.
Well, he put himself in yourplace and he died.
Now, if you reject his blood,if you reject his blood, you
answer for your sin.
If you receive him, believe onhim, put your faith in him, his
(34:47):
blood answers for your sin.
That's where the sin goes, oneof two places.
But either way it's dealt withand either way God is glorified.
I'll tell you what the will ofGod is, because he loves you.
And he tells us ironicallyironically through Peter he's
(35:08):
not willing that any shouldperish.
Go read what Peter wrote, whathe would write later on, you'll
find it.
He's not willing that anyshould perish, but that
everybody should come torepentance.
And so we've got to concludetonight Amen.
(35:29):
Peter wasn't the only one there.
If you go down to verse 10, sowas James and John, the sons of
Zebedee.
And there was another message.
Folks called them the sons ofthunder and they were partners
with Simon.
And Jesus said unto Simon.
Here he goes again.
He had said unto Simon, you'regoing to be Peter.
(35:50):
He says unto Simon.
He starts off in a veryfamiliar way Fear not.
Because Simon was afraid, jesussaid fear not.
From henceforth thou shaltcatch men.
(36:12):
If you heard last week's message, peter was the one to take the
gospel to the Gentiles.
Humanly speaking, see, godworked it all out.
You can listen to the messagelast week.
Humanly speaking, god needed aman to go.
Peter was his man.
Before that we saw 3,000 oneday, saw 5,000, another.
(36:39):
Thousands upon thousands andthousands of the people of
Israel heard about Jesus, andPeter was a part of that,
humanly speaking.
Now, peter will be the first totell you it's in the name of
(37:00):
Jesus.
Peter will be the first to tellyou this is the Holy Spirit,
this is Jesus.
He was always pointing name ofJesus.
Peter will be the first to tellyou this is the Holy Spirit,
this is Jesus.
He was always pointing peopleto Jesus.
Humanly, he was given what theHoly Ghost was telling him to
give, and the Holy Ghost waspointing people to Jesus, and so
Peter did that.
But the Lord's word wasfulfilled, and the Lord's word
(37:22):
is fulfilled tonight because,humanly, Peter's a part of this
message.
Humanly, that promise, thattestimony is going on.
Now, my friends, you've heard ofGod's promises to you tonight,
(37:44):
especially for the lost, and Ipray.
Brothers and sisters, the Lordis just flooding you, promise
after promise, after promiseafter promise, word after word
after word after word, wisdomafter wisdom after wisdom after
wisdom.
As he walks you through whatyou're walking through today, as
(38:05):
he walks you through whatyou're walking through today,
I'll tell you he's faithful here, way beyond two broken nets.
That was just a sign, that wasjust hey, I'm the Lord, there's
a faithfulness that far outlaststhe fish.
Amen, far outlasts.
That's you.
(38:27):
You see, I don't some believeit is.
I don't believe it is.
It's not just Simon, james andJohn who are supposed to be
fishers of men, not just them,that's you.
(38:53):
So you go back to the beginningof this message.
God wants it to be natural.
What do you want?
God says well, you go out thereand fish.
You go out there and you castthe net.
You go out there with yourtestimony.
You go out there and fish.
You go out there and you cast anet.
You go out there with yourtestimony.
You go out there with my word.
You go out there filled with myHoly Spirit.
(39:16):
You will have an increase.
You can't lose, because somedays God will give you a fish.
Some days God will give you afish.
Some days God will give you aharvest.
Some days God will allow you towater what, humanly, somebody
else already planted.
(39:39):
Someday you're the first one tobreak ground.
You're the first one tointroduce someone to Jesus.
They might walk away, God'sglorified.
They might persecute God'sglorified.
(39:59):
They might curse you.
Well, guess what Jesus saidBless those that curse you, and
blessed are you when men perseccurse you.
Well, guess what Jesus saidBless those that curse you, and
blessed are you when menpersecute you.
You get to know a little bit ofwhat he went through and what he
goes through on a daily basis.
And, oh, my friend, whensomeone rejoices when someone is
(40:21):
born again, heaven rejoices.
And then, friend, I can maybetry to close again.
When someone is born again,heaven rejoices.
And then, friend, I can maybetry to close again on a
testimony.
It might be helpful for you,but a few years ago I remember
(40:41):
open-air preaching in an oldtown famous in America I don't
know how many people still knowAndy Griffith, but Mount Airy,
north Carolina and met thisolder he was older at the time,
this gentleman and he told meabout how there were other
people before me who used tominister.
(41:01):
There was an old bar and folksused to stand outside the bar
and they would witness to peoplewhen they were coming in and
going out.
And he said well, I rejectedFor years and years and years I
rejected, mocked them, made funof them.
One day I didn't reject.
(41:23):
One day I kn't reject.
One day I knelt down and Iprayed and the Lord saved me.
And then years went by and Imet one of those people years
later who used to be outsidethat bar.
I told him what happened.
(41:44):
He must have jumped 10 feet inthe air and there was rejoicing
and the whole time I'm like,well, some people water, some
people plant, some people water,some people harvest, but we all
rejoice together.
Church Jesus wants that for youand church, the world needs it.
The world needs to meet Jesusand he wants you to do it.
(42:10):
Our musicians will come forwardtonight, amen.
But if you're that persontonight who is lost yet in your
sin and you're here in this room, I want you to come forward and
be glad to pray with you whilethese folks behind me play some
music.
But if you're listening on theother side of that camera, video
(42:34):
or audio, however, you'relistening to this and the Lord's
drawing you and there's a fearof God right now and you know
specifically that you're apartfrom him.
You know specifically thatyou're in your sin, you're a
sinner, you're under thatjudgment of God, you're under
(42:56):
that good judgment of God thatsays I'm holy, you're apart from
me, and then all of a sudden,just like Simon.
God manifests himself, godglorifies himself.
God is raised up and all of asudden, all you see is your sin.
There's good news for youtonight Jesus.
(43:20):
His name is Jesus.
He's your Savior, he's yourLord.
He's your Savior, he's yourLord.
He's your God, he's your King.
His blood is shed for you.
He gave His life for you.
He died in your place and he'sliving and he's alive and he's
saying put your faith in me.
(43:44):
I don't want you to perish.
I don't want you to go away sad.
I don't want you to go awayangry.
I don't want you to go awayhard.
I want you to fall down on yourknees a sinner and get up, a
saint.
I want you to speak to me.
I want you to respond to me andmy friends.
Let the faith that's insidecome out into some words.
(44:07):
Ask Him to save you, ask Him tobe born again, ask Him to put
His blood on you.
Hallelujah, hallelujah,hallelujah, hallelujah.
Anybody who's ever prayed thatin a faithful, honest, honest
heart?
Never in history has he or willhe turn you away.
(44:30):
So trust him tonight and thankyou for being part of this.
Thank you for sharing these, ifyou're listening on the social
media.
Thank you.
A lot of you did this.
That's encouraging to see.
Thank you, a lot of you didthis.
You know that's encouraging tosee.
Thank you.
Like and subscribe.
Might sound silly, but it helps.
(44:52):
It helps us to reach morepeople through the social media,
but please do share thesemessages.
Please do continue to play themfor your churches, for your
friends, for your family members, whether they're saved and born
again and want to hear a wordfrom God, or whether they're
lost and in their sin, and Goduses this to speak to them and
(45:14):
to draw them to salvation.
Please do continue to share.
Get in touch with us, email us,call us, send us a text message
.
Hallelujah and amen.
Please do feel welcome andencouraged to come to any and
all of our services and meet usin person.
We look forward to meeting youand may the lord continue to
(45:35):
richly bless us, amen.
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