Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. We read the account of
the Lord standing on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias waiting
for his disciples to finish their labor. He has already prepared
a fire, broiled some fish, and baked fresh bread in anticipation
of their coming to shore. He knew exactly what these men
needed. I suspect this was a welcome sight for bone-weary men who
had fished all night and caught nothing. Yet at the very end
of their labor they harvested more fish than they had perhaps
thought possible. Then remarkably the Lord served
them with the bounteous feast He had both supplied and prepared.
As we ponder this beautiful setting, let us make a few observations.
He watched over them from afar, even though they saw Him not.
They fished all night, and now as morning breaks the Lord is
standing on the shore. The scripture says that when
they got to shore, they found there a fire of coals. Now anyone
who has done any outdoor cooking knows that it takes a while for
a fire to burn down to coals, which can be used for cooking.
Prior to that, wood has to be gathered and a suitable spot
picked for the fire. Then once the coals are ready,
it takes a fair amount of time to cook on them. The likelihood
is that the Lord Jesus had been on that shore for quite some
time, perhaps even all night, watching his disciples toil and
grow weary in their unsuccessful attempts at fishing. No doubt
they were a disheartened lot, but even in the midst of our
discouragement, the Lord never forsakes His children. He is
only preparing them for greater blessing. The failures we endure
in body, mind, and spirit are just as much a part of the Lord's
purpose for us as the successes are. He knew the exact spot where
these men needed to be to reap a great harvest of fish. I am
somewhat amused by those who balk at the doctrine of the absolute
predestination of all things when I see the unfolding of events
such as those in this account. Those fish had to be in the right
place at the right time for him to tell his disciples where they
would catch them. The God of heaven and earth leaves nothing
to blind chance or fate, but wisely determines the course
of all things. Charles Spurgeon once said, The
grains of sand, which are stirred by the crashing of the ocean
waves upon the shore, move in just as much a prescribed orbit
as do the planets of our solar system. If God is not in direct
control of all events, then all events would be out of control.
Each event is ordered in the exact way in which God sees fit,
and all things must come to pass according to His sovereign will
and in keeping with His unwavering purpose. Well has Solomon said,
he hath made everything beautiful in his time. Though Peter had
much skill as a fisherman, he had no success until the Lord
brought the increase. Paul said, For who maketh thee
to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? Men love
to take credit for their achievements while shirking the responsibility
for their failures. How easy it is to consider that
our success in our earthly endeavors can be traced to our own abilities,
wisdom, or tenacity, yet in reality the accomplishments and subsequent
blessings which we enjoy are ours because of the direct action
of the Lord. The word of the Lord causes us
to realize our barrenness. The Lord said to them, Children,
have ye any meat? They were forced to admit that
they did not. We sometimes hear people delighting to have the
Ten Commandments as their rule of life. When the Spirit of God
teaches a man about the holy nature of the law, the law can
only convince him of his inability to keep that law. The law is
a schoolmaster, and a hard one, I might add, to bring us to Christ. All of our perfection and obedience
is in Him. As a hymn writer has said, Thou,
O Christ, art all I want, more than all in Thee I find. Thou
of life the fountain art, fully let me drink of Thee. Spring
Thou up within my heart, rise to all eternity. The Lord commands
his children to eat of those things which his hands have both
provided and prepared. Nothing in my hand I bring, simply
to thy cross I cling, naked come to thee for dress, helpless look
to thee for grace. Foul, I to the fountain fly.
Wash me, Savior, or I die." The biggest stumbling block of the
gospel is that the grace of the gospel is free and cannot be
bought, earned, or merited by anything the creature can do
or think. He says, come and dine to hungry souls who know themselves
unworthy to stand in his presence. He feeds those who have no food
to eat with bread that the world can know nothing of. The righteous
perish while sinners eat from a bountiful table, to which they
have never added one thing. The Lord Himself serves them
with heavenly manna and living water, and they neither hunger
nor thirst. For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net.