Don't be Afraid 1985

It seems the Spirit has taken us back to our theme passage, which is Luke chapter 5, a passage we go into again and again and again and need to be in again today. Luke chapter 5, verses 1 to 11. While the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, the Sea of Galilee.

And he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land, and he sat down and taught the people out of the boat. When he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.

And Simon answered, Master, we toiled all night and took nothing, but at your word I will let down the nets. And when they had done this, they imposed a great shoal of fish. And as their nets were breaking, they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them.

And they came and filled both boats so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished at all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken.

So also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Do not be afraid. Henceforth you will be catching men.

And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. Do not be afraid. Henceforth you will be catching men.

Now we understand that Jesus, in saying those words, do not be afraid, was addressing Peter's fear of the holy. Peter had just seen a sign of the kingdom of God and he was scared. And he was aware of his own uncleanness.

But when Jesus said to Peter, don't be afraid, he was really speaking to more than just Peter's fear of the holy. Because Peter, for all his macho ways, had many fears. In fact, as is so often the case, no doubt the macho image was to cover those fears.

He was afraid in the storm. He was afraid when he saw Jesus coming toward him on the water. And he was really afraid when he found himself walking on the water.

And he was afraid that night in the palace of the high priest when the young woman points at him and accuses him of being one of Jesus' disciples. And he was afraid sometime later to be caught eating with Gentiles when he finds out that some Jewish believers are on their way to town. So when Jesus says to Peter, don't be afraid, he is dealing with a fear in Peter that goes right down to the bottom of his heart.

And with this word, which is a living word, Jesus causes Peter to be delivered. And it happens again and again. Here in this word, don't be afraid, Peter, he is free so that he can answer his call and fulfill the purpose of God in his life and use the gifts that God has given him.

Everything hinges, everything hinges on Peter turning away from fear. Last week, during the prayer time here, it struck me that we were beginning to function as a body in a new way. There was a freedom and there was a certain boldness and there was a patience with each other and there was a confidence to come together into the presence of God.

Looking back on it, you could say that the atmosphere which really came from heaven that descended into our midst and made all those things possible was the absence of fear. The same word who said to Peter, don't be afraid, was now saying to us the same words, don't be afraid. Fear not.

And as we respond to those words, as he enables us to hear them and respond, if we do that and listen to him and really see that as a word right to us, don't be afraid, don't be afraid, we're going to see an impact on this city around us made by this fellowship in the name of Jesus and in the power of the Spirit that will astonish us as much as Peter was astonished when he saw that net coming up loaded with fish. Now this episode of Peter and the fish kind of had a history, there was a background to it. But it began with Peter having a crisis of purpose in his own life.

Peter was making pretty good money, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath, he said his prayers like any other devout Jew. One day Peter woke up and said to himself, is this all there is to life? I know I've got a good business going here and I'm paying my bills and I love God and I love my wife, but there's something missing. There's got to be more than this.

And he begins to move on that. He hears about John the Baptist preaching down by the Jordan River and he closes down his business, shuts it up and goes down to check it out. He's inspired by John the Baptist, he's stirred, his thirst for the kingdom of God increases.

And then his brother Andrew introduces Peter to Jesus. Oh, so you're Simon, the son of John. Your name is going to be called The Rock, Peter.

Sometime later we come to this episode which is recorded in Luke 5 that we just read. And when Peter sees that net coming up loaded with fish, his crisis of purpose is over. This is Peter's burning bush.

This is Peter's call from God. He falls right down in the boat before Jesus. Depart from me.

Get away from me. I'm a sinful man. You don't belong around me.

Don't be afraid. From now on, you're going to be catching men. And when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook everything and followed him.

And so for Peter, there was first a crisis of purpose. Then there was a call. And then finally, there was a putting away of fear and an acting out the moving in obedience.

Now for most of us here, we've already had our crisis of purpose. And maybe for some of us, we're still going through it. It's been going on maybe for some of us for years.

And for most of us, we've already heard the call. And if there are those who haven't, perhaps today's the day for you. A call from God.

Most of us are at stage three. Stage three, which means we put away fear and we begin to act. Don't be afraid.

From now on, you're going to be catching men. So what do we do with that word from the Lord spoken to every one of us in this flock and to this flock as a body? Don't be afraid. From now on, you're going to be catching men.

We're going to do three things. First of all, we're going to put away fear. Secondly, we're going to believe him when he says, from now on, you're going to be catching men.

And third, we're going to bring our boats to land, leave everything, and follow Jesus. First, we're going to put away fear. Don't be afraid.

Those words are a command given to us by the only one in the universe who can give us the power to obey them. Perhaps you can still remember when you were a child. You woke up one night from a terrible nightmare, not nightmare.

You were in a cold sweat. You were scared to death, and you were crying. Then your mother came into the room, put her arms around you, and said, don't be afraid.

And just like that, the fear was gone. The disciples in the boat. It's a storm.

And as the lightning is flashing, they can see Jesus coming toward them. They think they're looking at a ghost, and they're scared. Until Jesus says, don't be afraid.

It is I. And their fear is gone. And really, that word that Jesus spoke to Peter and to the disciples repeatedly, he repeated it as a lesson to them. Don't be afraid.

Don't be afraid. Don't let your hearts be troubled. Neither let them be afraid.

He kept repeating this to them until it became part of them, until they began to respond to it. And now it became possible for them to live in this seething, troubled, boiling, absurd world with their fear put away. Now these words come to us, likewise, as a command.

It's not just a word of comfort. It's a word of command. Don't be afraid.

I'm with you. And that command covers every kind of fear that we experience. Don't be afraid of failure.

Don't be afraid of danger. Don't be afraid of rejection. Don't be afraid of looking like a fool.

Don't be afraid of dying. Don't be afraid of anything. I am with you.

Live in my presence. Peace be with you. Live in my peace.

Secondly, we're going to believe him when he tells us, afresh in the Spirit, right now, today, from now on, you're going to be catching men. The whole purpose of his gathering us together as a body of believers, under the name of Jesus, flooding us with his Spirit, feeding us with his body and blood, is so that we can lift people, draw people, living souls, men and women, with all their pain, and all their trouble, and all their sin, and all their fear, and all their... the sickness that is upon body and mind, and bring them into the presence of the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, that they can get to know him, and knowing him, can have life. As a body of believers, and as individuals, this is what we're here to do, to fish people out of the sea of despair, and bring them up into the life of God, for real.

You're going to bring that man who's been wandering the back alleys of this world for years. You're going to bring that woman who's lived in luxury all her life, and still has nothing. You're going to bring that youth who hates everybody, including himself.

You're going to bring these people to the banquet table of the Lord, and they're going to be changed there. They're going to find real comfort, and they're going to be... they're going to be healed. And we're going to do that.

Believe it. Know it. And finally, we're going to bring our boats to land, leave everything, and follow Jesus.

When they had brought their boats to land, they forsook everything, and followed Jesus. Now Peter's in fellowship. The whole thing is in the plural now.

As soon as Peter responds to the call, does something about the call, he's no longer alone, he's in the body. When they brought their boats to land, they forsook everything, and followed Jesus. The instant we act on the call, the instant we respond to it, we are no longer alone, we are in fellowship, we are part of the body.

That's always the way it is. For instance, think of Moses. Moses spent the first 40 years of his life in isolation in the palace of the princess of Pharaoh, Pharaoh's daughter.

Spent the next 40 years of his life in isolation in the wilderness of Midian. And finally he comes to the burning bush, and when he responds to the call of God at the burning bush, the first thing that happens is that his brother Aaron is dispatched from Egypt to come and meet him. And they come together, and Moses never works alone ever the rest of his life.

Everything he does from that point on for the next 40 years is done in body, in fellowship, all the time. He doesn't have to make one decision all by himself anymore. And that's exactly how it is with us.

There is not one of us who has the first idea of what it means or how it can be done to forsake everything and follow Jesus. We only learn that together. That only becomes real as we function as members one of another in the body.

Together he will show us how to forsake everything. He'll teach us what we need to know. He'll give us the power to do it.

Alone we never can, but together we will. Now we didn't do much of that before as far as forsaking everything to follow Jesus because we were scared. The bottom line is fear.

And so everybody kept, you know, some of the issues of commitment at a distance because we were afraid of the consequences. What will happen if I do that? But now we're being called and we're going to do it to put our fear away and to take a step as a body into what he wants us to be as a body of believers. And so we're going to bring our boats to land and our fish and our possessions and our dreams and our ambitions and our vanity and our ethos and everything else.

We're going to leave it at the shore and we're going to follow Jesus as never before. Don't be afraid. From now on you're going to be catching men.