I commence our service this afternoon
by singing hymn number 614. The tune is Franconia, number
31. The Lord the righteous tries,
yet will adore his name. He never will their cause despise,
nor put their hope to shame. He brings them to the test and
tries them by his law, then leads them to the promised rest from
whence they comfort draw. In number 614, tune Franconia,
number 31. O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the
bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag
was still there. ? No good there was to shame ?
? He great and dear was their song ? ? And my true love is
gone ? ? I'll need to wait a moment less ? ? For a second more to
come ? When we wish they could see us,
And we turn away, ? From thy mystery to reveal ?
? The death of Cain of Sin. ? ? Peace to Israel, God of men,
? O come, O come, O come, O come,
O come, to Bethlehem. ? Look in my holy eyes ? ? I will
truthfully plead ? ? It's time to be close and kind ? ? O come, let us adore Him ? ?
O come, let us adore Him ? ? I do surrender to Jesus ? ? And
live and be with Him ? ? To Jesus we bow to Him ? Thy praises, Jesus, heard, all
the world turned to Thee, all their grief and sin There are two parts of God's
Word I would like us to read. Firstly, in the Gospel as recorded
by Mark, chapter 6. And we'll commence to read at
verse 30. And then from the Gospel as recorded
by Luke, a part of chapter 5. We begin with Mark chapter 6
and commencing at verse 30. And the apostles gathered themselves
together unto Jesus and told him all things, both what they
had done and what they had taught. And he said unto them, come ye
yourselves apart into a desert place and rest a while. For there were many coming and
going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. And they departed
into a desert place by ship privately. And when the people saw them
departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of
all cities, and out went them, and came together unto him. And
Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with
compassion toward them, because they were as sheep, not having
a shepherd. And he began to teach them many
things. And when the day was now far
spent, his disciples came unto him and said, This is a desert
place, and now the time is far past. Send them away, that they
may go into the country round about, and into the villages,
and buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat. He
answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they
say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred penny worth of
bread, and give them to eat? He saith unto them, How many
loaves have ye? Go and see. And when they knew,
they say, five and two fishes. And he commanded them to make
all sit down by companies upon the green grass. And they sat
down in ranks by hundreds and by fifties. And when he had taken
the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven and blessed
and break the loaves and gave them to his disciples to set
before them. the two fishes divided he among
them all and they did all eat and were filled and they took
up twelve baskets full of the fragments and of the fishes and
they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men
and straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the
ship and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while
he sent away the people. And when he had sent them away,
he departed into a mountain to pray. And when even was come,
the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the
land. And he saw them toiling in rowing,
for the wind was contrary to them. And about the fourth watch
of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would
have passed by them. But when they saw him walking
upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried
out. For they all saw him, and were
troubled. And immediately he talked with
them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer, it is I, be not
afraid. And he went up unto them into
the ship, and the wind ceased, and they were so amazed in themselves
beyond measure, and wondered. For they considered not the miracle
of the loaves, for their heart was hardened. And when they had
passed over, they came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew
to the shore. And when they were come out of
the ship, straightway they knew him and ran through that whole
region round about, and began to carry about in beds those
that were sick, where they heard he was. And whithersoever he
entered into villages or cities or country, they laid the sick
in the streets, and besought him that they might touch, if
it were but the border of his garment. And as many as touched
him were made whole. And if you would turn on to Luke
chapter 5 and we read the first 11 verses. Luke chapter 5. And it came to pass that as the
people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by
the lake of Gennesaret and saw two ships standing by the lake. but the fishermen were gone out
of them and were washing their nets. And he entered into one
of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would
thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught
the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking,
he said unto Simon, launch out into the deep, and let down your
nets for a draft. And Simon, answering, said unto
him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word, I
will let down the net. And when they had this done,
they enclosed a great multitude of fishes, 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 both
the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw
it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I
am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all
that were with him at the draught of the fishes which they had
taken. And so was also James and John,
the sons of Seberty, which were partners with Simon. Jesus said
unto Simon, Fear not, for from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their
ships to land, they forsook all and followed him. May God bless
these parts of his own holy word to us and help us all to pray. Heavenly Father, once again,
in thy mercy, we have another time set apart for worship, time
set apart to come together in fellowship. We trust with thee
and with one another. Lord, to have thy word set before
us. Lord, we pray that we may understand
what a privilege it is to us to be able to come in this way. For others that may be able to
listen in to the service from other places, Lord, may we not
come just out of duty and just out of custom, just to avoid
questions about where we are if we weren't here. Lord, we
do pray that we may come of a willing spirit indeed, come, with a hunger
and a thirst for the things of God, Lord, and that as we have
just read with that feeding of that great multitude, that they
did all eat and were filled. Lord, we pray for such a blessing
upon our souls this afternoon. Lord, that we all might feed
upon thy word, but not only that, but to be filled, Lord, to be
satisfied with thy favour and full with the blessing of the
Lord. What a privilege we have to come
freely without any outward hindrances and prevention. We thank thee,
Lord, that we have a place of peace and quietness to come to,
that we don't have any expectation of disturbance. These are great mercies. May we not take them for granted,
though in thy love to us, we have not really known anything
very different, certainly not for a sustained period. So Lord,
we would come thankful to acknowledge thy goodness toward us. Lord, we all have something to
thank thee for in providence at least, Oh Lord, we pray that
there may be those things of the soul, spiritual blessings,
those things that outweigh even providential kindness. Oh Lord,
to have that work of the Holy Spirit in our heart. Oh Lord,
may we come and give voice to our thankfulness to Thee for
that, that Thou hast begun work. Lord, we feel to be very far
from, as it were, the finished or complete article. But O Lord,
where Thou hast once begun Thy work, Thou hast said it will
be performed until the day of Jesus Christ. It will be perfected. O Lord, do help us then to come
rightly before Thee. We feel our sin and Lord, we
feel the the burden of that and our unfitness to come. And yet,
Lord, where else can we go? Thou only hast the words of eternal
life. Lord, may we not say with that
apostle, we believe and are sure that Thou art the Christ, the
Son of God. Lord, this is why we come before
Thee. We come because we have some
knowledge of God Lord, we would know thee more. We pray for that
growth in grace and in our knowledge of thee, our Lord and our Saviour. Lord, we need so much teaching,
even as the apostles of old. Lord, we can be very slow learners. We need much revision and repetition
of thy teaching. Lord, we pray that we may not
be like those who are willingly ignorant. Lord, we wish we did
know more and understood things better, but we have that desire
to know. We're not willing to be ignorant,
to remain out of that secret. Oh, Lord, do bless each soul
that comes then with that seeking spirit, seeking to know, seeking
for some word for their situation, for their experience at this
time. Oh, Lord, Thank thee for thy
wonderful word which has something to say for every circumstance
that we come into. Lord, do open our eyes, open
them, even this afternoon, to behold those wondrous things
out of thy law. Lord, do bless thine own word
to us. As a friend has said, Lord, we
want a message from thee, we don't want one's own thoughts
or considerations. Lord, we want thy word. It is only thy word that will
really make a difference to us, change our heart, guide and direct
us infallibly. Lord, we do pray that we may
trust thee for that guidance, to truly believe in our heart
that thy ways are best, thy way indeed is perfect, and though
we cannot always see it, and though our heart might have many
objections to the way that is appointed, Lord help us to faithfully
obey thy words and thy commands, and Lord help us to realize that
when thou dost speak, it is that voice of authority, it's not
as we might offer to one another some gentle advice that may or
may not be taken, Lord, when thou speakest, we must obey. And we pray, Lord, for that submission
to thy will and my purpose, even if we don't know that purpose,
but to trust that there is one, that thy word, even as it works
out in our lives, will not return unto thee void and shall Prosper
and accomplish thy purpose and prosper in the things of which
thou hast sent it. Oh Lord, do help us then to hear
thy word and not just to hear it, but to heed it, to put it
into practice in our lives. Lord, may we be truly changed
by thy word. We need that, Lord. We cannot
go on just as we are in that depth of darkness and unbelief
Lord, even when we're quickened into life, we have such a spirit
of rebellion at times, and Lord, we may sometimes dwell in a dry
land as a result. Lord, do bring back any souls
that are wandering from thee, maybe not outwardly, maybe nobody
has noticed that they're drifting away, but in their heart, Lord,
that they've grown cold and feeble, that the things of God are no
longer uppermost in their thoughts. Lord, it's so easy for us to
drift incrementally in that way. Lord, we, if there are any such
before thee, Lord, we pray that thou wilt stir them up, bring
them back, show them that right and proper way wherein they must
walk, that thou wilt speak to them, this is the way, walk ye
in it. We often turn this way and that
way and we cast about for some direction in our own strength
and our own wisdom. Lord, do prevent that, we pray. May there be much prayer in our
hearts. What wilt thou have me to do? But Lord, when thou hast spoken,
when we know what thou wilt have us to do, give us that faith
to put it into practice, we pray. Lord, do look down upon each
one then in thy mercy and supply the need of each though they
may be varied needs we we pray that some part of the service
will touch each soul and those that are part of the service
but but not physically here we commend to thee those we understand
are unwell at this time or perhaps having the care of those who
are unwell or do remember them visit them where they are. Lord
we know they are not limited by their inability to come to
a particular place at this time. Lord thou canst go to them where
they are and we pray that they may truly feel to be a part of
this fellowship this afternoon and blessed in their souls, their
needs supplied as well. Lord we think of the The dear
pastor here and those so far away in America, Lord, we commend
him to thee and pray that thou wilt heal him from his injuries
that he sustained in a fall. Lord, do strengthen him and help
him. Lord, do enable him to continue
while he's there, to preach thy word to the friends there. Lord,
their needs are the same, their souls are the same, as ours,
they need to hear thy word. And Lord, we do pray for that
power in the word that he shall bring to them. Again, Lord, that
he may be thy messenger, whatever thou lead him to speak to them. Lord, do grant my blessing upon
those services and the word he has spoken already in the earlier
part of his visit. Lord, we commend him to thee
bringing him home in peace and safety on Wednesday. Lord, do go before him in all
that long journey and do strengthen him again as he arrives back
home and in his future labours here and elsewhere. Lord, do
grant that continuing blessing upon my work. Lord, we do commend
to thee the word that has been spoken here this morning. Lord,
we pray that again there may be a diligence to give heed to
what has been set before the people. They may know that whoever
it is that has delivered it, that this is the word of God
to their souls. Lord, we know that by the power
that we feel in it. Never man spake like this man.
Lord, do so. speak even the world over at
this time with all of those who now are sent out to preach the
the gospel or they're all Insufficient for it. Lord. We pray that their
sufficiency may be of they will bless that word with power to
all that have heard it or will hear it later on during this
day or do help the in that work of translating thy word into
different languages and its distribution among the nations. Lord, we know
that in many places there's a hunger for the word that we don't really
experience in this country. We've grown so complacent and
feel like the Laodiceans to be in need of nothing. Oh Lord,
do grant that there may be a real desire for thy word in our own
land also. that souls shall be constrained
to come. And as we've prayed, Lord, for
those that are here, Lord, we would pray for those that are
not here, those many that pass by, those many that clearly have
the opportunity to turn in, the health and strength to turn in,
but no desire, Lord, or in thy mercy, do constrain others to
come. out of a new necessity felt in
their heart, that need of Christ, the need of forgiveness for their
sin. Lord, perhaps they've never confronted
their sin before, never really understood what it is to offend
a holy, a pure, a just God. Lord, if there are any even inside
that have not confronted that, in thy mercy, Lord, do teach
them their need Thy salvation, O Lord, that souls may be gathered
in to come and praise and worship Thee from their heart for all
that Thou hast done for them, to trust in Thee for their futures,
be that for many years or just a short while. O Lord, in Thy
sovereignty we pray, Lord, that we may see Thee working building
up thy church, sending prosperity where there is so much leanness.
Lord, thou hast said, we plead it before thee, Lord, I will
build my church. Lord, we know thou art continuing
to build it, but all that we might see in our own land, amongst
our own congregations, that spirit of the Lord moving upon the face
of the waters. Oh Lord, to pour out that blessing,
we pray. We ask that thou would use the
texts that are on display at times, and oh Lord, those that
pass by may not pass by, as it were, looking down, but look
up and see the word of God, and that thou would use that in their
hearts to speak to them. Oh Lord, we thank thee that we
can still display thy word in that way in public and we pray
that that may not be taken from us but Lord that they will use
it and it may not just be as it were a word of condemnation
that says here is the word of God and you have ignored it oh
Lord we pray that souls may not just ignore it that they may
not go on with God not being in all their thoughts but that
they will change them turn them to thyself. Lord we do pray for
our national leaders, we pray for the king and his family,
we pray for those in high office in government over us. Lord do
give them wisdom in all the decisions that they have to make and Lord
that there may not be so much confusion but that there may
be clarity of purpose, and that that purpose may be according
to the will that's revealed through the scriptures. Lord, we see
constantly that desire for popularity, to conform to what men are shouting
for, as it were. And yet, Lord, we know these
things are not good. We pray there should be courage
given, strength given, to turn against that tide. and lead the
people back to thyself and to thy word. Lord, even Joshua had
to have that repetition of be strong and very courageous. So Lord, we pray that our leaders
might be strong and very courageous in this way. Lord, that there
might be that prominence and influence of those that do fear
thy name. We thank thee that Parliament
is not entirely without those that stand fast for the truth.
Lord, they don't seem to have much influence and often are
ignored. Lord, do give them the strength
to continue that witness and do bless it in constraining others
to follow according to thy teaching. Lord, how much better, how much
more truly prosperous the land would be if we walked according
to thy precepts. Lord, in mercy, look down on
us, we pray. We pray for peace where there
is hostility and war and conflict. Lord, again, these things are
beyond the power of man to end, but Lord, they're in thy hand.
We pray that there may be an end to these things and that
souls who have lost so much, bereavements and injuries and
loss of possessions might be brought to turn to thee. O Lord
thy word speaks of those, thy people that have that treasure
in heaven that cannot be stolen away, cannot be destroyed, cannot
become corrupted. O Lord may souls be directed
to that treasure when they have lost all here below. Lord to know that they have actually
gained from these things by thy work in their soul. Lord, it's
easy to say when we are not under immediate threat of being in
that position, but Lord, we do pray for sanctification of those
trials and difficulties. And our trials, they may be small
in comparison to that, but Lord, that we may have that grace to
be exercised in these things, to realize they don't come by
chance. There is a purpose in them. Oh
Lord, that they may have that threshing effect of separating
that which is precious from the chaff of all those other things. Oh Lord, help us to retain that
which is good, that we pray. So Lord, we ask that Thou help
us as we turn to thy word. Lord, do shine upon it with light
and warmth and power into our hearts, we pray. We ask that
thou hear the silent prayers, Lord. We are always conscious
that we may not have prayed for the particular need that some
soul has felt in their heart and in their prayer, but Lord,
thou hast heard it. Though we haven't, but Lord,
do send them answers also, we pray. We seek all these things
in the name and for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Continue our service by singing
hymn number 893. The tune is Tudor, number 252. If guilt pursue thee with its
cry, and would to prison hail, To Jesus Christ the surety fly,
and he will give in bail. If hope that used thy soul to
cheer, now leaves thee dark as night, And neither sun nor morning
nor stars appear, yet wait. for Morning Light, hymn number
893, tune Tudor, number 252. God save the Queen of Peace!
God protect the Queen! ? And he will, he will, he will,
he will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he will,
he will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he will,
he will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he will,
he will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he will,
he will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he will,
he will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he
will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he
will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he
will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he
will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he will, he
? And my exultant sons obeyed ?
? Let me go holy night ? ? Let me go holy night ? ? The Lord be with you today ?
? Still on earth with God be ye blessed ? ? God bless ye,
Bethlehem ? Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave Christ, the Lord our God, is
now born in us, in thee, the Lord. ? His righteousness to elevate
? ? And constantly praise ? ? In eternity proclaim ? Independence upon the Lord for
as much needed help. turn for our instruction
to Luke chapter 5 and in particular verse 5. Luke chapter 5 and verse
5. I'll go back to verse 4 just
to give us the context. Now when he had left speaking,
that is when Jesus had stopped speaking to the multitude, he
said unto Simon, launch out into the deep and let down your nets
for a draught. And Simon answering him said,
Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word, I
will let down the nets. Simon answering said unto him,
Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing. Nevertheless at thy word I will
let down the nets. What we have before us this afternoon
in a very simple summary really is this grace, and as we shall
see it doesn't come naturally to us, it didn't come naturally
to Peter, but this grace of submission to the Lord's command, and I
hope we shall notice that really it is a command, as I said in
prayer, the Lord doesn't just offer us advice, he commands
us, and the need to be obedient And especially, it's in my thoughts,
the Lord knows why, but to bring this out, it's obedience to God's
command, even when we've got natural objections to that in
our heart, we've got our reasons. And they may be, humanly speaking,
they might be valid reasons, but they need to disappear in
the face of the Lord's commands. isn't good enough to come up
with a human response that really essentially we hesitate to say
it but really it says the Lord's got this wrong. I know a better
way. I can see something here the
Lord hasn't seen and that means I can't do this. That can never
be the right spirit can it? Now really I think the The key
to our understanding here is Peter's opening word, Master. Master. As soon as we say that,
as soon as Peter said that, there is an implicit understanding
that he has a right to command, a right to direct us, a right
to govern over us. We are his servants. And as soon as Peter says Master,
really that submission should follow. I say should, we'll look
at where it doesn't always, but it should follow straight away. Now Peter was a very experienced
fisherman, he knew these waters of Galilee very well, especially
in the northern part of the lake where they were near the city
of Bethsaida. He no doubt had come to that
conclusion that the conditions weren't right for fishing. For
whatever reason, it was just not worth continuing. They had
toiled all the night. And again, that's a word that
we want to try to bring out. They toiled. It wasn't easy.
They had been laboring at this for the hours. And they were
hours of darkness. It hadn't been a very pleasant
toil. They weren't enjoying the beautiful
sun and the warmth and so on. It was a real labor. And it had
got them nowhere. And Peter would undoubtedly have
concluded, and I think it's implied here as well, that James and
John and Andrew would have been here as well, involved in this.
There is no point in continuing. We've toiled all night and we've
taken nothing. We know it's not going to happen. We know these conditions, maybe
they'd experienced similar conditions previously. We know it's pointless
to let down the net. There's a human logic and a human
reasoning behind this, isn't there? And if we only look at
that, we probably can't really fault Peter because he was probably
right in that. But, don't we read in Isaiah, the
Lord's thoughts and the Lord's ways are not our ways, for my
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,
saith the Lord. I don't think it takes any faith
to believe that. That is really just a simple
statement of fact, isn't it? That God's thoughts and God's
ways are often not the same as our ways and our thoughts. Faith
is required to go on though, isn't it? For as the heavens
are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways. my thoughts than your thoughts. As I say we can see it's obvious
that the two things are different but do you and I really have
the faith to believe that God's ways are always higher that is
better superior to our ways. God's thoughts in any matter
whatever the matter is they're always superior to ours and it's
not He sets there a picture, doesn't he, in that word in Isaiah.
It's infinitely better. I was thinking as I was just
coming along this morning, man has many wonderful inventions
and much wisdom given and we can measure all sorts of things
about how high the clouds are above the earth. We can say that the cloud base
is at 8,000 feet or 20,000 feet or whatever, that can be measured. But that's not the analogy that
the scripture uses, is it? It doesn't say for the, my ways
are as high as the clouds are above the earth. It says the
heavens. It's an infinite distance. Man, for all his abilities, can't
measure that distance. Now, do we really understand
that? Do we always in our mind link
those two verses together, not just different but infinitely
better? Now in this particular instance
here, this is clearly the spirit that was given to Peter, isn't
it? Peter acknowledges Christ has
the right to command and although his human reasoning and logic
tells him this is pointless you might as well give up it's been
hard work and you've not achieved anything nevertheless I'm not
Peter saying I'm not going to rely on my wisdom I'm going to
accept thy word you see that again is critical at thy word
I will let down the net I will be obedient I can't see the point
but faith believes there is a point there is a purpose as we read
on we find Peter was astounded and his partners in that fishing
business they were astounded by what did happen but I think
we can be safe to say Peter understood there was going to be a purpose
he didn't know what it might be but because it was a command
of God command of Jesus that voice that speaks with such power
and authority, I will do it. I will be obedient. We don't
need to see the purpose. We don't need to understand it
all, do we? But we do need to be obedient.
And I do want to stress that. The Lord isn't obliged in any
way to open up to our understanding why he has commanded that. In
this case, clearly, He did show Peter a wonderful blessing, but
he's not obliged to do that. But you and I are obliged, because
he is our master, to be obedient in all things. Now, my thoughts
went, and probably yours have done, to a later time, many years
later, when Peter, sadly, was in a very different spirit. In
the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 10, know the account I'm sure
of that vision that Peter had of the great sheet let down from
heaven with all manner of different animals in it and the command
was given again just like here let down the net rise Peter kill
any a very clear distinct command that there cannot be and this
demolishes one of our immediate arguments, doesn't it? I didn't
understand what the Lord was telling me. Well, you can't misunderstand
this. Peter couldn't misunderstand
that, could he? Let down the neck. Rise, kill
and eat. All words of one syllable. I
know it wasn't in English in the original, obviously, but
it's very simple, isn't it? And the Lord commands, and we
know what the Lord has commanded. And much as we might say, well,
I'm a bit unclear, I'm a bit uncertain, I think very often
that is not the case. We're not dealing here with a
situation where there are two valid alternatives and we're
seeking guidance for which way to go. That's something very
different. Here, the Lord has spoken. The Lord has given a command.
You know what that is. You know perfectly well what
that is. But you see we find with Peter,
all those totally illogical words, not so lords. You see Peter there as he did
even with Annette here, he's got his own thoughts, his own
wisdom as it were about this situation. But in one he says
nevertheless I'll be obedient, in the other he says no I'm not
going to do that. I know better. There's a mistake.
I can't eat these unclean animals. I'm much more righteous than
that. I wouldn't condescend to lower
myself to doing that. There's a mistake. But you see,
you cannot say, not so, Lord. The two things are mutually exclusive. If we are saying Lord, then we've
got to be obedient. If we're saying not so, then
at least at that moment, he's not our Lord, is he? In the sense
we're not treating him as our Lord. We're saying, no, I'll
govern my own life. Don't tell me what to do. Very, very sad, isn't it? And
what struck me when I was thinking about this is the order that
these things happen. You see, I think it would be
easier to understand if That episode or that account of the
great sheet and Peter's rebellion came first. And then we could
say, well, Peter learned his lesson. And then when the Lord
next said, let down the net, then he was obedient. But it's
not in that order, is it? Oh, don't we learn something
here of the human heart? And I don't think if we have
learned anything we will say well I'm better than Peter. I
think we all have to plead guilty. Sometimes the Lord does overcome
our natural spirit and he gives us grace to do what is right.
Other times he leaves us to display that sin is still there. Sin
is still in our heart mixed with what we do and say and there's
rebellion. When we're called by grace it
doesn't immediately rid us of that old sinful nature does it
those two things have to coexist in this life but just as Peter
was overcome the Lord overcame that spirit and showed him that
he was wrong so the Lord will have the victory the Lord will
show that his ways are superior to our ways infinitely better
than our thoughts. So beware of saying not so Lord. It's very stark isn't it when
we read those words on a page and maybe we like to think that
oh I'd never say that my heart's better than that and yet if you're
honest you do know the Lord's commands and you haven't obeyed
them. It's very difficult to get out
of this argument, isn't it? Have we obeyed God's commands? Do we always obey God's commands? We have that very powerful parable,
don't we, that the Lord spoke. He begins with that really unanswerable
question, doesn't he, at the end of Luke chapter 6. Why call
ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say. I say it's unanswerable. The
only possible answer is because I'm a sinner. Because I'm not
what I ought to be. I'm not being obedient where
I know that he is my Lord. I know that he has said this
to me and I will not do it. There's no valid answer. to this
question is that why, why? Call ye me Lord, Lord and do
not the things which I say. And then there follows that parable
and again I'm sure we're all familiar with it of the two men
building, each of them building a house. The one building it
upon the rock, the one building it upon the earth or Matthew
I think says the sand. Now Often that parable is misapplied
and people try to use it to say, well our faith must build upon
the rock that is Christ. Well, absolutely our faith must
build upon the rock that is Christ, but that's not what that parable
is about. It does distress me because I think the reason that
it's misinterpreted is because it's actually so very clear and
it condemns us. Because we are saying, Lord,
Lord, and not being obedient and we want to seek some other
interpretation that's a bit well it means we're not so guilty
you look at that parable again it's about two men that both
heard the word of God so there's no difference there
they both had a task to perform there's no difference there it
was going to involve a lot of toil a lot of labor, it's not
an easy, I've never tried to build a house but I'm sure it's
not an easy thing to build a house. So they're in an identical situation. But there is one very great difference,
isn't there? Whosoever cometh to me and heareth
my sayings and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like.
He's like the one building upon the role. Now there's another
identical situation between these two men, they both faced trials
and troubles, they both had storms, they had the rainstorm if you
like, they had the flooding, the stream rising up, they both
experienced those things. But there's a vast difference
in the outcome, isn't there? One his house stood, endured
that storm and remained. Because it was founded upon the
rock of his obedience to the word of God. And the other one,
his house fell. And Luke says the ruin of that
house was great. Matthew expresses it as great
was the fall of that house and that seems so very solemn and
so very powerful to me. Remember this is the person that
heard the word of God, knew what God had commanded and refused
to do it. And his ruin was great, his fall
was great because he wasn't obedient. We can't dilute these things,
we can't saying well obedience doesn't really matter. Go back
to that parable. It matters very very much. It's the question of standing
or falling. There's no grey area is there.
It doesn't say the one that was disobedient he slipped or he
tripped or something. The whole thing fell apart. It
was a tremendous fall because he didn't obey. what God had
said to him through his words. Now we read of another occasion
didn't we when the disciples were crossing the lake and came
into a great storm and I think there the fact that we read Jesus
had to constrain his disciples to get into the ship. I don't
want to read too much into that but that word constrain, it does
seem to me to suggest that his disciples weren't entirely convinced,
if you will, that that was a good idea. As I've already said, they
knew these waters very well perhaps. It was obvious to them by the
signs of nature that a great storm was going to come. They
could at least see the direction of the wind and knew that it
would be a headwind, it would be contrary to them. I think
that word constrained means Jesus had to overcome some initial
resistance, but they were obedient. They did it. So that was very
good. They really said, nevertheless,
at thy word, we will cross over the lake. We've got some human
objection to that, but that will be submissive to the command
that you have given us. And so they set out. They didn't get an easy journey,
did they? This has been so much in my thoughts
for some many weeks now. The Lord does not promise us
an easy path, does he? In the world ye shall have tribulation. Some people seem to be surprised
when there are difficulties. I don't think we should be surprised.
Jesus has said it. But be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world. Here in our text you see, yes
Peter, at one level, I don't want to be misunderstood there,
but at one level he had a valid point. We've toiled all the night
and have taken nothing. But you see, the Lord would overcome
that. The Lord would bring that great
multitude of fish into the net. So they had a catch the like
of which they'd never seen before. They were astonished at it, at
all of them. For all their years of experience,
he was a blessing above what they'd ever seen before. I've
overcome the world, I've overcome your thoughts, I've overcome
your natural reticence to do my will, to be obedient. Now, they were, Even in obedience,
they came into that time of darkness, and as I say, the storm, but
he saw them toiling in rowing. I love that expression. It's been precious so many times
when we felt not literally to be rowing across the lake, but
toiling with all our many responsibilities many difficulties that arise
and situations that we go through. But he saw them. They couldn't
see him, he was left alone on the land and they'd set out to
sea. If you look at where they were
crossing, they weren't crossing the whole width of the lake there,
it was only a fairly narrow bit, but it was still about four or
five miles that they had to row into the headwind. They clearly
could no longer see Jesus, but he saw them. Not only did he
see them, but he knew what they were passing through. He saw
that they were toiling in rowing. He saw, he knew that the wind
was against them. He knew they were in darkness,
but the darkness didn't prevent him from seeing them. But not
only all of those things, but he came to them. He didn't, as
it were, and again, one wants to speak carefully, but he didn't
just say, yes, I'm completely aware of their situation, and
that's too bad. He said, understand what they're
going through, and I will come to them. In their very hour of
need, I will come to them. And he came in a most unexpected
way, didn't he? Walking upon the sea, doing that
which was impossible. Again, it defies an explanation,
doesn't it? We can't come up with some plausible,
credible explanation. How could the Lord walk on the
water? It would be impossible anyway,
but it wasn't just a calm, flat piece of water, was it? It was
a boisterous storm. The waves were going up and down. How could he do that? Well, they'd
forgotten the miracle of the loaves, hadn't they? How could
he do that? humanly that couldn't be done either could it five
loaves and two fishes not only and i do love that not only just
that everybody partook a little bit but remained hungry because
it was inadequate no they were all films how could he do that
it was a miracle the power of god that jesus displayed there
but they'd forgotten that we read that don't we explicitly
They considered not the miracle of the loaves, but their heart
was hardened. Oh, do you pick up the stones
ready to throw at them? Or do you have to say, Lord,
forgive the hardness of my heart? I've seen in my life, I've experienced
impossible things, miracles, I know. We might not want to
say that word because maybe it sounds a bit fanciful, but we
have, haven't we? And if you've been born again,
you've experienced a miracle. These things are beyond our explanation,
but they're the work of God. Sometimes we have to plead, don't
we, Lord? I'm so hard-hearted, I've forgotten. I've forgotten
what I've experienced. I've forgotten what I've seen. And now Jesus appears to them
again. But even then, they were afraid,
weren't they? Thought it was a spirit. What
does he say again? Similar to those words I've already
quoted, be of good cheer. That's exactly what they were
not. But he says, no, be of good cheer. I've been thinking about this
a lot recently as well. Be of good cheer, be not afraid. I don't think that's a word of
just friendly advice, is it? That is also a command. Because
when we are despondent and when we are fearful, we're not giving
glory to God, are we? So that's sinful. Whatsoever
is not of faith is sin. Look at the case of Abraham,
I thought to mention him, but as we read of Abraham in the
epistle to the Romans, he staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief, but was strong in faith, and this is it, giving glory
to God. So if you and I are not strong
in the faith, we're not giving glory to God. We're saying this
is impossible. I can't really believe that even
God can deliver me in this particular situation. That's not right,
is it? People, I've had it recently,
complaining at me saying this. I hope nobody here feels they
need to complain. We should be strong in faith. I know we're not. I'm not setting
an impossible bar and saying I'm better than you or anything
of that sort. We're not, but the reason that
we don't attain to it is because we're sinners. There's nothing
to glorify God when we're filled with fear and filled with doubt. It does not glorify God because
we're saying really, you wouldn't want to put it in words, but
you are really saying in your heart, God can't do anything
for me here. I've reached the limit of God's
power. a terrible thought, but that's
really what's in our heart isn't it? You see, Jesus came to them
and he commands them, be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. So whatever your human response
to this situation is, whatever knowledge you might have about
a similar circumstance just like Peter had about the conditions
that made for good fishing, they're not to be entertained. Because
the master has spoken. At thy words. This is wonderful,
isn't it? As we've already looked at, Peter
wasn't always in this spirit. But here, it's very wonderful,
isn't it? Master, we have toiled all the
night and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, look at that carefully. That means not in any way diminished. Even though, I've got this experience
of toiling and not getting anywhere, not in any way diminished by
that experience, at thy word I will let down the net. I will be obedient even when
I cannot see what is going to take place. All that matters
is the Lord has spoken. The Lord has issued a command,
I will obey. The future, as it were, take
care of itself. If you understand what I mean
by that, God will take care of the outcome of that being obedient. In Matthew's account of what
we read in Mark, he adds there, doesn't he, the experience of
Peter Peter answers the Lord and says,
Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he
said, come. Not a word of advice, is it?
Do you feel like coming, or when you feel strong enough, or when
you can see exactly how you're going to walk on the waves, then
you can go. No, he says, come. Do it right
now. Now again at first Peter has
a very good spirit, doesn't he? He comes down out of the ship
and he walks on the water. He does what's impossible because
it's obedience to the Lord's commands. He doesn't stop to
think, nobody can walk on water. The Lord's asking me to do some
impossible thing. He didn't stop for that, did
he? The Lord says come, so he came. Very wonderful. But sadly, you see, he was left
to look away, away from Jesus. Clearly, he took his eyes off
the Lord, didn't he? And so when he looked at the
waves, it says he saw the wind, but of course it means he saw
the effect of the wind making the sea boisterous. The waves
were big. When he looked at that, he was
afraid. And you and I will be afraid.
the moment we take our eyes off the Lord. You see, we're looking
in the wrong place. We're looking at the problem.
We're not looking at the Lord who has the solution to that.
And so, he cries out, Lord, save me. And immediately, Jesus stretched
forth his hand and caught him. Notice where the power is, notice
who is the object And who is the subject? Peter didn't save
himself by catching hold of the Lord. The Lord reached out his
hand and caught Peter. And he doesn't say, oh, don't
worry, it's quite understandable that you're fearful, even though
I've just told you not to be afraid. He doesn't say, don't
worry that you haven't got much faith, even though I've told
you to be strong in faith. He rebukes him. O thou of little
faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And again, that's an unanswerable
question, isn't it? Because the only thing we can
say is because I'm a sinner. Because I don't have the faith
that I should have. I'm not at this moment in this
spirit of saying, Master, at thy command, I will let down
the net. I will do exactly what the Lord
has told me. Oh, these things are here for
a witness to us, aren't they? It's no wonder that the apostle,
as he writes to the Hebrews, has to say this to us. Wherefore, seeing we also are
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, that includes
Peter and Peter's experiences, let us lay aside every weight
All those hindrances, they may not be sinful in themselves.
Human logic and reason isn't in itself sinful, but it can
be a weight. It can slow us down in the way.
We can use it in a wrong way. So we've got to lay aside every
weight and the sin. That certainly is going to be
a problem to us. And the sin which does so easily
beset us. Let us run with patience. The
race that is set before us looking unto Jesus. Yes, looking unto
Jesus. Peter was fine walking on the
water while he was looking unto Jesus, wasn't he? It was when
he looked somewhere else that he began to sink. The author,
the beginner and finisher of our faith. And then it goes on
to say this, Just want to come to this for a few moments. Consider
him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest
ye be wearied and faint in your mind. If all this toil, this
toiling all the night in fishing, toiling all the night in rowing,
toiling in whatever it is, that is so occupying you and is so
weakening your strength by the way, consider him, consider Christ,
that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself. That includes Peter saying not
so Lord, doesn't it? That's a direct contradiction
of a sinner against God, against the Lord who said rise Peter
Killeney. Not so Lord. Direct contradiction. Consider him. And why are we
told, why are we commanded to consider him? Lest ye be wearied
and faint in your minds. So that this toil doesn't overcome
you. So that the weariness and The
faintness that arises because of that toil doesn't have the
victory. Are we going to give in to that? Are we going to say, well, my
life is going through a lot of toil at the moment. I'm so wearied
with this, I can't be obedient now. Wait till I'm strong. Wait till I'm feeling a lot better,
then I will obey. It's not what the scripture says,
is it? We can understand that. I can't
stand here before you and say I haven't said and done exactly
that myself, but it's not right. Lest ye be wearied. Where does
our strength come from? We read of that, don't we? I
haven't thought of it, but in Isaiah 4, I think, He giveth power to the faint,
and to them that have no might, he increaseth strength. Even
the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall
utterly fall. Those who are a byword for strength,
but they haven't got sufficient strength to run this race, but
they that wait upon the Lord, they shall renew their strength.
They shall mount up with wings as eagles, They shall run and
not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint. Looking unto Jesus, considering
Him, considering what He has endured, not, as it were, adding
to that contradiction of sin against Himself, but being obedient,
saying, Lord, if that's Thy will, just give me the strength to
do it. Enable me to run that race. Have
it in mind, I may have said this to you here before, forgive me,
I hope it won't be a vain repetition, if it is a repetition, but I
always think back to my primary school days, the primary school
in Oakington was only very small. When I was there, only about
60 pupils, it's now about 120 I think, We used to, we didn't
have a proper running track, but in the summer, somebody would
come with one of those machines with a little trundle wheel that
runs through a container of whitewash, and they would paint on the grass
a running track. And it would be there for our
sports day. And I can remember so often,
even then, I suppose, well, I went there from the age of five up
to 11, I can remember though that the teacher at the beginning
of every race, or certainly when we were practicing anyway, used
to say, you must stick in the lane that I've appointed to you.
You can't run somebody else's lane. You can't cross over into
their lane. Run the race that is set before
us. I didn't know anything about
the spiritual application at the time, that has always remained
in my thoughts. You see, we might have thought
this was just a straight track, but if you think about a proper
athletics track, some runners prefer the inside, don't they?
They can run around a tight bend. Some prefer to be on the outside. They're better where the curve
isn't so steep. But none of them have any choice,
do they? When the lineup is drawn out, they are appointed to a
particular lane. It's no good saying, well, I
prefer the middle or I prefer the outside or I prefer the inside.
That was, again, that was Peter's mistake, wasn't he? When the
Lord set before Peter the death that he should die glorifying
God, that he would be bound and he would be carried where he
didn't want to go. But Peter says, no, I think John's got
a better lane than I've got. John's race looks a bit easier
than mine. What will he do? Can't I swap
places with him? No, said the Lord. What is that
to thee? Maybe John's race is easier.
Maybe it's more difficult. And you just don't understand
that. But either way, you've got to run the race that I have
set before you, looking unto Jesus. How essential that is,
isn't it? I was so encouraged as I came
up the steps to the chapel to see the text that you have on
the outside, because it was already one that was marked up, that
I wanted to draw your attention to. I hope you've noticed it. Proverbs chapter 3 and verse
5. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto
thine own understanding. Leaning isn't a great movement,
is it? It's an inclination. But it's
an inclination out of the true, isn't it? If you think that the
true position has got to be perpendicular, it's got to be absolutely upright.
So any leaning is taking you away from the true position. It doesn't say it's a massive
swing, does it? It doesn't say swing to some
extreme of your own understanding. It says don't even be inclined.
Don't move one degree out of the truth. Don't lean even to
your own understanding. Because my thoughts are so superior
to your thoughts. My ways are infinitely better
than yours. So the opposite of leaning to
our own understanding is trusting in the Lord, isn't it? With all
thine heart. It's not a compromise between
the Lord's command and our earthly wisdom, is it? It's being wholeheartedly
taken up with what God has commanded. Don't even be inclined to think
of an objection to doing something different or being disobedient. Don't even begin to entertain
that thought. Don't even divert for one degree
out of the way. Trust the Lord. And do we not
also read, commit thy way unto the Lord and he shall bring it
to pass. You see here, in our text or
in the context of what we have here. Peter didn't know that
he was about to experience this enormous catch of fish. As I've said, clearly it was
something beyond that they'd ever experienced before. And there they were in the region
of Bethsaida. You probably know that that name
of that town means the house of fish. and no doubt because
there was a large fish market there. And they just had this
huge catch of fish. Now, human logic would say, well,
at least let's delay and let's sell the fish because we can
make a fortune, as people say, out of this catch. It's so valuable. Let us wait while we just sell
it. Let's wait for the next morning.
We'll sell this great catch of fish We'll provide lots of money,
we'll have lots of money in hand and then we will follow the Lords. But that isn't what they did,
what is it? Verse 11 tells us very clearly,
when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all and
followed him. Later on, Peter would be able
to say that to the Lord, wouldn't he? No, we have left all and
have followed thee. Oh, but I don't think they ever
went without any necessary thing, did they? The Lord continued
to provide for all their needs. They didn't have to apply that
human wisdom that says, well, I need to take all my savings
with me. I need to maximize all my Prophets, if you like, I need
to sell my assets, sell this catch of fish, then I won't be
quite so dependent upon the Lord. It's not the right spirit, is
it? Looking unto Jesus. They forsook everything. They
left that behind. They didn't spare a thought,
what's gonna happen to that? Because they needed to follow
the Lord. They needed to be obedient. They knew what his command to
them was. But you see, we also read this,
don't we, in the epistle to the Galatians. Let us not be weary
in well-doing. And especially here, I'm thinking
of the well-doing as being obedient. Let us not be weary in well-doing. And here is a wonderful promise,
isn't it? Or in due season. We shall reap
if we thank not. If we don't allow the thought
of all this toil to be a weariness and a hindrance to us, if we
don't interpose all these reasons of our own mind, but if we simply
do well, if we simply do the thing that the Lord has commanded,
there will be a reaping. Not to say that that will be
in providential things, but a spiritual blessing, especially. Now, Peter
had that as they saw the Lord's wonderful power. And the Lord
does reveal himself in these ways to us as we follow him,
as we are walking obediently in the way. Oh, his goodness,
he will make to pass before us in the way. Well, may the Lord
give us this spirit, not the spirit Peter had on other occasions,
but the spirit that by grace, by the grace of God, he had here. Simon answering said unto him,
Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word, I
will let down the nail. our service by singing hymn number
993. The tune is Chorley Wood, number
827. O Zion, afflicted with wave upon
wave, Whom no man can comfort, whom no man can save, With darkness
surrounded by terrors dismayed, In toiling and rowing, Thy strength
is decayed. Now roaring, the billows now
nigh overwhelm. But skillful's the pilot who
sits at the helm. His wisdom conducts thee, his
power thee defends. In safety and quiet, thy warfare
he ends. Hymn number 993, tune Shirley
Wood, number 827. Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet you. ? May God be so kind as to let
us stay ? ? May God be so kind as to let us stay ? ? How glorious the sound of the
harp! ? ? As to those on high the hymns
which they have sung, ? ? This is our God-forsaken land
? ? It shall be our home forevermore ? ? It shall be our home forevermore
? O hear the prophet's devastating
promise, Thy promise, my truth, all the night and all the day,
? Still, still, my God, hear me
? ? My prophet shall stand ? ? Winter, winter, fall, spring ? ? I'll bring you
to the land ? Oh, every eye will know thy power,
oh, thy name. Every heart, thy heart shall
know thy name. ? Welcome to the land of the rising
sun ? ? Where winter is here, and summer in the morning ? I will at my God do what's right
for my cross. The power to save me I wish I
might. ? In all thy distractions ? ? Thy
help is offered ? ? Then to the world's people ? ? Let our prayers
be heard ? When justly and meekly I hide
in secret, My wisdom is hardened to preach my hope. ? Till thou, my Lord, again ? ?
My children revive ? ? Till my people again ? ? My children
revive ? Gracious God, when we think of
Thy likeness, Thy perfect obedience to the will of the Father, notwithstanding
all the toil and the smart that was involved in that. And yet,
Lord, it is applied unto Thee, I delight to do Thy will. Oh, my God, so Lord, to make
us shine in that same likeness, we pray. Now may the love of
God the Father, the grace of Christ the Son, the fellowship
and communion of the Holy Spirit be with us each. Amen.