Well, let us turn to God's Word,
and I want to direct you to words that we find in Mark, the Gospel
according to St. Mark, chapter 4. I'll read the passage from verse
14 through 18, but we're going to look in particular at verse
17. But reading here in the fourth
chapter of the Gospel according to St. Mark, and we read from
verse 14 sorry I should be saying Mark
chapter 1 we read in Matthew chapter 4 but I want to turn
to Mark chapter 1 and read the passage from verse 14 through
verse 18 And we're going to consider in
particular the words of verse 17. So turning to Mark chapter
one, verse 14. Now after that John was put in
prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom
of God and saying, the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God
is at hand. Repent ye and believe the gospel.
Now as he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew,
his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers.
And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make
you to become fishers of men. And straightway they forsook
their nets and followed him. So taking for our text what is
said here at verse 17 to these two brothers to Simon Peter and
to Andrew as they were there at their business casting a net
into the sea they were fishers and verse 17 Jesus said unto
them come ye after me and I will make you to become fishers of
men so the theme is simply that of fishers of men fishers of
men and as I said we read the passage didn't we as it's recorded
by Matthew also in chapter 4 of his gospel and it's also found
in Luke chapter 5 and in fact in the opening verses of that
chapter we have a little more detail because in Luke 5 verse
10 the Lord actually says to Simon Peter fear not Fear not,
from henceforth thou shalt catch men. Peter was so overwhelmed
by what the Lord had done. They had, at his instruction,
taken in a remarkable catch of fish. And yet they'd been laboring
all through the night, and it had been fruitless labor. But
the Lord had come and performed a miracle. And Peter felt it. And the Lord says to him so graciously,
Fear not. What we have in the text, of
course, in many ways is a commandment of the Lord. We have the imperative. He calls men. Come ye, he says. Come ye after me. And where the
word of a king is, of course, there is power. There is authority.
As he calls these men. But he doesn't just issue a call. He also adds to that call a very gracious word of promise. He assures them that they're
going to catch something far greater than fish. I will make
you, he says, to become fishers of men. The gracious words of
the Lord Jesus. Yes, it's a commandment, but
there's a promise attached to it. And as I said, there's not
only promise when we look at what's recorded there in Luke
5. there's also that comforting fear not or the fear nots of
the Lord we were looking only a couple of weeks ago at those
words that he spoke in Luke chapter 12 remember when he addresses
his disciples and says there at verse 32 fear not little flock
it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom For they
need not fear, they can look to God, and God in His sovereignty
ever fulfilling His purposes. And so these men who are being
called now to be the disciples, the followers of the Lord, they
can rest assured that their labour will not be in vain in the Lord. Well, as we come to look at the
words that I've read as our text here, I want first of all to
say something of them as fishers. Who are the fishers that we read
of here? As the Lord Jesus comes, he very
much takes account of the manner of their work. He's walking by
the seaside there at Galilee, by the Sea of Galilee, and he
sees Simon and Andrew, and they're doing what they would regularly
be doing, of course. They're casting a net into the
sea, for they were fishers. But the Lord is going to change
the very nature of their work. Rather than fishing for men,
they're going to be those who will in due course, rather than
be fishers of fish, they will in due course be those who are
fishers of men. after me, and I will make you
to become fishers of men." A remarkable little book, some of you may
be aware of it, maybe you've read it. Little book by Thomas
Boston, that great Scots minister back in the 18th century, and
it simply entitled, The Arts of Man Fishing. I do commend
it to you. The Arts of Man Fishing. What is the art of man fishing
then? Well, first of all to say something with regards to the
work of the ministry. Surely we recognize the truth
that it is principally by the ministry of the Word, the preaching
of the Gospel, that men are caught, men are converted. And these
are being called to that work really. These are the men who
will become the Lord's apostles. And this is their call, really,
to that sort of apostleship, the work that they're going to
be doing in future days. There is such a thing as a call
to the ministry of the Word of God, and yet previously we see
that these men had known another call. There is first of all,
of course, what we might term the call by grace, the call to
conversion, and we certainly see that in what's recorded in
the opening chapter of John's Gospel. What we have here before
us this morning is not the first occasion that these men, Simon
Peter and his brother Andrew, had known any dealings with Jesus
of Nazareth, because we're told here, aren't we, in the first
chapter of John that they were previously disciples of John
the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ. And in verse 40 of that
chapter we're told one of the two which heard John speak, that's
John the Baptist, followed him, that's followed
the Lord Jesus. He was Andrew. Simon Peter's
brother, and we're told what Andrew did, he first hindered
his own brother Simon and said unto him we have found the Messiah
which is being interpreted the Christ and he brought him to
Jesus and then Jesus beheld him and said thou art Simon the son
of Jonah thou shalt be called Cephas which is by interpretation
a stone And what we have in John's account, you see, is really the
first time that these men are confronted by Jesus of Nazareth,
are directed to him by their master John the Baptist, and
now they are converted. The words that the Lord speaks
to Simon Peter are so clear. He was called Simon, but his
name is going to be changed. He's no longer Simon, he's going
to be called Cephas or Peter. And what we have there really
is the account of his first call, his call by grace. And then subsequently, obviously,
they return to their normal business, they're fishermen. But here is
the Lord, He's walking by the Sea of Galilee, and now He calls
them to be His disciples. They're going to be those who
will actually be His apostles. There are these distinctive calls. There is a call to the ministry
that is distinctive to the call by grace. The call by grace will
come first and then subsequently to that there will be a call
to be those who are to be ministers of the Word of God whereby they
will be preachers of the Gospel. the normal way in which the call
by grace comes is in the ministry of the Word and the preaching
and certainly we have some record of that here the Lord Jesus is
very much beginning his own ministry John has fulfilled his work he's
come as the one who is preparing the way for the Lord but John
has been put in prison And there at verse 14 we're told how Jesus
then came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of
God and saying the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent ye and believe the gospel. What a remarkable ministry it
is because we're told out there in Capernaum they were astonished. Verse 22, they were astonished
at his doctrines, his preaching. for he taught them as one that
had authority, and not as the scribes." This is the normal
manner whereby God's Word does its work in the souls of sinners. Where the word of a king is,
there is power, we're told in the book of Ecclesiastes, the
book of the preacher. How God clothes his word with
such authority, that when the Lord speaks, He makes that word
an effectual word, and sinners are converted. But as I said,
there are two distinct callings that we see here in the experience
of these men. There's the call by grace, and
there's the call to the work of the ministry. And we see something
of those two sovereign calls in what's recorded later here.
In chapter 3, for example, and there at verse 13 and verse 14 we're told in verse
13 concerning Christ he goeth up into a mountain and calleth
unto him whom he would and they came unto him there we see clearly
the authority of his ministry and the effect of his ministry
and the word that the Lord speaks is efficacious and he is exercising
divine sovereignty he goes into a mountain and he calls unto
him whom he would and as he calls them they came unto him and then
we're told in the following verse how he ordained twelve that they
should be with him and that he might send them forth to preach
there is a another call Of those whom he has called to himself,
those who have become his disciples, there are those who are the twelve,
the apostles. And he sends them forth to preach. And it's intimated here, of course,
back in our text, when he speaks to these two men, and tells them
that they're no longer going to be fishermen about their normal
trade of catching fish, but they're going to catch men. or the sovereignty
of the Lord Jesus in these distinctive callings. Here we see Him then
demonstrating something of His great power. They were fishermen,
and they would catch fish. And how would they catch the
fish? They would catch the fish in the net, of course. And I
like the simple comment that Boston makes in that little work
that I mentioned at the beginning, the art of man fishing. He says,
in a net there are many meshes in which the fish are caught.
And then he likens that to the Gospel and he says in the Gospel
there are invitations and promises to sinners. These are the meshes
wherewith their souls are caught. Or they're caught by the gracious
words, the invitations. and the promises that we find
here in the Gospel of the Grace of God. There is to be that preaching
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that setting forth of Him who is the
only Saviour of sinners. Remember how The Apostle Paul
gives charge to Timothy with regards to his ministry. Preach,
he says. Preach the Word. Be instant,
in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering
and doctrine. The ministry, the preaching then,
of the Word of God. And Paul himself, he tells us
what was the very subject matter of his preaching. It's not just
a proclamation of the the promises of God and the gracious invitations
not just God addressing men and telling them not to be fearful
but to look to Him and trust in Him not just calling men to
repentance. Now Paul's ministry very much
centers in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and in that
great work that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished for sinners
And he reminds the Corinthians again and again, I determined,
he says, I determined not to know anything among you save
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We preach Christ crucified, he
says. And there it is really in a nutshell.
We preach Christ. There is the person who is the
Christ. Why Jesus of Nazareth? And Jesus
of Nazareth is another than the Son of God. And Peter confesses,
doesn't he, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. We
preach Christ and Him crucified. There is the work that He came
to do, His obedience. And His obedience not only in
life, but His obedience unto death, even the death of the
cross. And when Paul is writing to the
Galatians, he reminds them quite clearly what his ministry was
amongst them, he says, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath
been evidently set forth crucified among you. He so set forth the
Lord Jesus and spoke of who he is, the very person of God manifest
in the flesh, but he set Christ before them as that one who was
crucified. How he preached the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ and as through that ministry as Christ
was so central to it so they were hearing the Lord Jesus they
were not just hearing of him there at Ephesus but through
Paul's preaching they heard the voice of Christ he says doesn't
he there in chapter 4 and verses 20 and 21 you have not so learned
Christ he's writing to the Ephesians Christ was never in Ephesus ye
have not so learned Christ, if so be ye have heard him, and
been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus. Why? They heard the voice of Christ.
All my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, says Christ, and
I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
So it was there in Ephesus, and wherever the apostle was, And
Paul was but one of the apostles. These men, Andrew and Peter,
they were also apostles, as were James and John that we read of
subsequently in the passage. And in the preaching of these
men, the gospel comes not in word only, but the gospel comes
in power. And it comes in the Holy Ghost,
and it comes with much assurance. How are they to fish then for
men it will be done by the ministry of the Word and the preaching
of the Gospel. Oh, this is the call to discipleship,
is it not? They have been called by grace,
they've returned to their normal business, but now they're called
to be followers, they're going to actually be the apostles,
the ones that He will ordain to go forth and to preach the
Gospel. But there is also a more general application of these
words. We're not just to think in terms
of the work of the ministry and the preaching of the gospel. There is also the witness of
every disciple of Christ, and every true believer, of course,
is a disciple of the Lord Jesus. We might say that the apostles,
at this point, are representative of the whole church. What is
the church of Jesus Christ? Why it's built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone. And these men in that sense do
represent to us the church that will be. Do you remember at the
end of his ministry how the Lord Jesus gives that commission to
the apostles? the end of Matthew's gospel,
go into all the worlds and preach the gospel to every creature
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you and lo, I am with you always even to
the end of the world it is a charge, a commission that is given in
the first place to the apostles they are the ones who go and
preach the works and so it is we see it particularly in the
ministry of a man like the Apostle Paul as he goes forth there in
the record that we have in the Acts of the Apostles but we also see what happens
as these men are engaged in that ministry how there is a scattering abroad
We see it there in the opening verses of the Acts. Acts chapter
8. The opening verses of that particular
chapter. There's a scattering and they
went everywhere, it says, preaching the words. It's an interesting
portion. It's the persecution that is
very much a result of Saul of Tarsus. and his zeal for the
religion of the Jews and his hatred of this new sect of Christians. In Acts chapter 4, I'm right, let me get the right
portion, I think I've got the wrong portion again, it's not
chapter 4, it's chapter 8. Acts chapter 8, it's after the
martyrdom of Stephen. Acts chapter 8 chapter 7 we have
the martyrdom of Stephen and of course Saul of Tarsus is very
much involved there they stone him and we've told
how the witnesses laid their clothes at the young man's feet
whose name was Saul And they stoned Stephen, calling upon
God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled
down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their
charge. And when he had said this, he
fell asleep. That's the end of Acts 7. And then we have this. And Saul was consenting unto
his death. And at that time there was a
great persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem.
and they were scattered, they were all scattered abroad throughout
the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. And devout
men encouraged Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation
over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of
the church, entering into every house and hailing men and women
committed them to prison. Therefore, they that were scattered
abroad went everywhere preaching the word. preaching is not a reference
to the official ministry of the words. I like the comment of
Lenski, an evangelical Lutheran commentator, and he says it's
to be understood not in an official sense to preach, but an ordinary
sense simply to tell the good news. That's what the literal
meaning of the word is, simply to tell the good news. It's a
word that's based on the Greek word for gospel, the evangel, the Evangelion, the
evangel. And those who are scattered,
wherever they go, they're simply telling the good news. They're
witnessing, they're witnessing, that's what they're about. And
you see that really is the charge to every child of God. We're
to be witnesses. We're to be ready to give an
answer to every man that asks, to reason of the hope that is
within us. We're to so live our lives that
we we commend the Lord Jesus. People take account of the sort
of people that we are. because we seek to be those who
are truly the followers of Jesus of Nazareth and we're to tell them we're
not to go around button-holding people be ready to give a reason
to every man that asks a reason of the hope that's in us maybe
we have to look to ourselves and say why is it that people
don't ask? is it because our lives are not
what they should be? Is it not so often the case that
we're not as different as we should be? We're not to be conformed
to this world, are we? We're to be transformed by the
renewing of our mind. We're to understand what the
will of the Lord is. We're to live lives of obedience. Godly lives. We're to conform
to the image of Christ. Then people will notice the difference,
maybe. But here we see quite clearly
that It's not just a matter of the official ministry, the preaching
of the word, but believers are to be those who would simply
be ready to tell the good news, to declare what God has done
for them. Come and hear all ye that fear
God, and I will declare what he has done for my soul. In a sense, yes, the apostles
are the ones who are being spoken to and spoken of primarily. But
as those who are part of the foundation, they represent the
Church, we are all to be those who in some measure are fishers
of men. For the Lord says to them quite
clearly, Come ye after mine, and I will make you to become
fishers of men. Well, having said something of
what it is to be fishers of men, we see here also that those who
are fishers are followers come ye after me says the Lord and
so I want in the second place to say a little with regards
to what it is to be a follower of course in in the account that
we were reading in Matthew 4 at verse 19 it actually says follow
the Lord says there follow me follow me and I will make you
fishers of men it's only as we're followers of the Lord Jesus that
we're, in any sense, vicious. But what does it mean to follow?
What is involved in following the Lord Jesus? Well, I want
to mention some three things with regards to this following.
First of all, there needs to be some urgency about the work.
And certainly here, this was the case with these men. The
Lord says, come ye after me, verse 18, straightway. Straightway they forsook their
nets and followed Him. There is an urgency here. Oh,
are we those who want to be urgent in the work of the Gospel, the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember what the Psalmist says,
I will run the way of thy commandments when they shall enlarge my heart. Oh, we need to pray that God
would give us such a large heart. that we want to run the way of
this commandment, we want to be fishers of men, we want to
see sinners being converted to the Lord Jesus Christ. To pray
that the Lord would enlarge our hearts, give us a large heart,
a loving heart, a desire to see sinners being converted. I know
there are many apocryphal stories told of C.H.Burgeon, and maybe
this is apocryphal, but We read somewhere, I can't remember now
where it is, but he was certainly a man who believed in the sovereignty
of God and the doctrines of grace. But we're told he would pray
that the Lord God would save all the elect and then elect
some more. Well, of course, that's not strictly
correct. But you see the large-heartedness
of the man. He had such a longing and yearning to see sinners converted. So he once got to save all the
elect but all the elect some more. I wish I had such a large
heart as that to so yearn after the salvation of sinners. I will
run the way of thy commandment when thou shalt enlarge my heart,
says the psalmist. Now we have to recognize how
short the time is. There needs to be urgency. The
time is short. The Lord Jesus recognizes that
in John 9, I must work the works of him that sent me whilst it
is day. The night cometh when no man can work, says the Lord. How important it is that we recognize
the time is short. Behold now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation."
Oh, it's now. It's His present time. We're
to be those then who would be redeeming the time. That's what
the Apostle says, isn't it, to the Ephesians there in Chapter
5? Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. And the word
that he uses, of course, to redeem, it means to buy up the time.
Because the days are evil, the time is short. And the days are
evil, the devil is active. How active Satan is. Always to be sober and vigilant.
Always abounding in the work of the Lord. The devil, as a
roaring lion, is going about seeking whom he may devour. How important it is then that
we're urgent. And isn't that an important part?
of the child of God's witness in the world. The sinner needs
to see that salvation is something that requires some haste. There's
not to be delay, there's a need to be urgent here. And the Lord
himself, in his ministry, the word that we have there at the
end of Luke chapter 9, Verse 59 We're told how the Lord
said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me
first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the
dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of
God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee, but let me
first go bid them farewell which are at home at my house. And
Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough,
and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Isn't the
Lord himself teaching us the importance of this urgency? How
we can be guilty of that awful sin of procrastination. Or think of the ministry of the
Apostle there in Acts 24 before Felix. What does Felix do? Oh, I'll call it some more convenient
season. I haven't time now, this isn't
the season. Men need to be aware how precious
the time is, and how awful is the sin of procrastination. Christ
says, you will not come unto me that you might have life.
And we need to tell men that they need to be aware of the
great need, urgency, from the days of John the Baptist until
now we're told the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and
the violent take it by force we have to do business with God
and we have to do business with the sinners or wrestling with
the sinners causing them to see the urgency of the whole matter
and as there is to be urgency So there is also to be diligence.
There's to be diligence. What does the Lord say in the
text? I will make you fishers of men. I will make you. It's not easy. It's not easy. We have to recognize
that the Lord Himself must do the work. He makes the fisher, just as
he makes the Christian. It's all of God, it's all of
grace, we know that. It's the one who made the world,
only he that made the world can make a Christian. I think that's
what Joseph Hart says. John Newton has a sentence similar
to that. John Newton says only he that
made the world can make a minister. All the time these men recognize
him. Our God must do the work. We can't do it ourselves. Certainly
Paul recognized that. I have planted a pot of water,
but God gave the increase. Therefore neither he that planteth
anything, neither he that watereth, but God. That give us the victory. And so we have to do the work
and we have to leave the consequences with the Lords in that account
that we have in Luke, and it is somewhat more detailed. We
may come back to it next week. The account that we have in Luke
5 is far more detailed, but it's interesting, the context, because
as I intimated earlier, the Lord performs a remarkable miracle
at the time of the calling of these men. And look at the circumstances
described there in Luke 5. Verse 3, 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 draught. 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 broke. And they beckoned unto their
partners which were in the other ship, that they should come and
help them. And they came and filled both
the ships, so that they began to sink. That's the circumstance. A little more detail than we
have in Mark or in Matthew. These are synoptic Gospels, as
you're aware, so there are similarities, but we find in different ones
certain details that are quite specific. And that's interesting,
what we just read there in Luke chapter 5. How they'd been laboring,
and it was a great endeavor, and it was all fruitless. But then, at the word of Christ,
they let down the net and there's a great raft of fish. You see,
the church of Christ, the people of God are to be so diligent
and constant and persevering in their witnessing. We simply
leave the outcome, the consequence in the hands of the Lord. We're
to labor, looking to His Word, to His command, to His promise,
to His power. It's the Lord's work. It's the
Lord's work. There, at the end of Jeremiah
16, we have this word, Behold, I will send for many fishers,
and they shall fish there. We don't have time to go and
look at the context there. He's speaking of the restoration
of the Jewish from the Babylonian captivity, but at the end of
the chapter it also goes on to speak of the calling of the Gentiles.
It has an application to this day of the Gospel and the ministry
of the Word. And God says there in Jeremiah
16, 16, Behold, I will send for many fishers and they shall fish
there." God will ever bless that ministry of His words. Yes, the
official preaching of it, that's what He has ordained. Faith cometh
by the hearing of the Word of God, we know that. And Paul's determination to preach
Christ and Him crucified, God works by the preaching. but God also works by the witnessing
of his people and we know not what the consequence might be
all but there's a need for us to be diligent though it all
seems at times to be so pointless we might say it all seems so
very fruitless but we simply are those who continue and persevere
at the command of the Lord Jesus Christ Using another figure,
we have that in the Gospel, don't we? In Matthew 9, the harvest
truly is plenteous, the laborers are few. Pray ye, the Lord of
the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest
field, that he would thrust forth those who will labor in the Gospel. Be ye steadfast, unmovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that
your labour is not in vain in the Lord," says the Apostle.
The end of 1 Corinthians 15. And then the words of the Psalm
is the words of Moses at the end of Psalm 19. Let thy work
appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, And establish
thou the work of our hands upon us, yea, the work of our hands,
establish thou it. We have to look to the Lord.
The work is His. And so, ultimately, where there
is that diligence and that urgency that we spoke of previously,
so there will be a blessed success. It will not be in vain. It will
not be in vain. We're told there in Luke 5, 6,
aren't we, they enclose a great multitude of fishes and their
net break, and they have to call their fellows. And all that in
the context, you see, there's the assurance the Lord has given
them that they will not labour in vain when they seek to fish. Man and Peter were so overwhelmed
at what he witnessed, what he sees of Christ, and sees so clearly
something of his deity. How later he is the one, isn't
he, there at Caesarea Philippi, who makes that great confession,
thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. But there,
right at the beginning, when the Lord is giving him his call
and his commission as a preacher, what does he say? Strange words
depart from me. Oh, depart from me, for I am
a sinful man, O Lord. He feels it, you see. And yet,
this is the amazing thing, what does the Lord do? He uses sinners
to make known the gospel. He uses sinners. He doesn't put
the work into the hands of the angels. Oh, think of those angels. Think of those seraphim, the
burning ones, the pure ones. Well, the work of the ministry,
the work of witnessing is not committed to them. No, it's sinners. It's sinners and they are to
be fishers. And where are you to fish? They are to fish in
places where there's nothing but death and deadness. We have those words, as we close,
those words in Ezekiel 47, remember, the accounts of the waters that
proceed out of the temple. and the waters grow deeper and
deeper and eventually it's a river to swim in and it shows forth
something of the great glorious reading of the gospel as it goes
forth from the temple of the Lord and then we read these words
in verse 10 of that 47th chapter it shall come to pass that the
fisher shall stand upon it from Engidae even to an eglam. They shall be a place to spread
forth nets, their fish shall be according to their kinds as
the fish of the great sea, exceeding menon." Where are they engaged
in this work? From En Gidi even on to an eglam. Now, we're told that En Gidi
is on the banks of the Dead Sea. and Eglam is also in that same
region of the Dead Sea. And here they are, you see, the
waters issue forth, the pure waters of the Gospel, the waters
of life, and now they're fishing even in that sea that was dead.
And so it is, is it not, with the Gospel. And we have to take
that Gospel into a world that is dead, and sinners who are
dead in trespasses and in sins. And this is the call of the Gospel. This is the work principally
of the apostles, yes, but of all those who are called to minister
the Word of God, to preach the Gospel. But also of all those
who are the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh God help
us, God have mercy upon us, that we might be found faithful ministers
and faithful witnesses. and that we might see the blessed
success of that gospel of the grace of God. Those words that
the Lord speaks there to Simon Peter in Luke's account, fear
not, fear not, or maybe we're filled with fear. Could this
really be something we could ever properly engage in? Fear not, says the Lord, from
henceforth thou shalt catch men. well the Lord be pleased to bless
his word to us we're going to sing a closing praise in the
hymn 194 and the tune is Tibetan 248 Hail mighty Jesus how divine
is thy victorious sword The stoutest rebel must resign
at thy commanding word. 194.248.