January 17, 2016
Scripture:
Hymn 350 - I will make you fishers of men
Prayer
We have read about the leprous man and the palsied man from Luke 5. Well, I thought that this week we would take a look at the beginning of this chapter. So today we will read about “When Jesus was here … He went fishing.”
Luke 5:1-11
At the beginning here, we find that the people wanted to hear the Word of God. That is something wonderful. Jesus usually preached in the open air, giving out the Word of God. The setting of the story is by the lake of Gennesaret, also known as the Sea of Galilee. There were multitudes of people crowding around Jesus to hear Him.
As Jesus was going by the lake, He saw two boats that had no one in them. The owners of the boats had spent the whole night fishing and had caught nothing. They used nets for fishing then. These fishermen may have been a little embarrassed. They were supposedly professionals at this, but they had toiled all night and all they had was dirty nets, which they were washing.
One of the fisher men there was named Simon Peter. He had had encounters with Jesus before. Jesus had healed his mother-in-law. And even before that, when his brother Andrew found Jesus he went running to Peter to tell him, and brought him to Jesus. So this is not the first time Jesus and Simon Peter had met.
Jesus stepped into Peter’s boat and told him to thrust out a little. Peter’s boat became a place where Jesus could teach without being in the middle of the crowd. This kind of made Peter a captive. He couldn’t get away.
When Jesus finished His preaching He turned to Peter and told him now to launch out into the deep. Then He told him to let down his nets. Now, you usually fish at night not in the middle of the day. Peter was probably thinking, “This Man is definitely not a professional”.
Jesus also told him to put down his nets, but Simon Peter replied that he would put down his net. He told Jesus, “We’ve been fishing all night, and we caught nothing. But since you’ve told me to I’ll let down a net.” So, they put down one net, and it began to break because there were so many fish in it. He didn’t only have a washing job now, but also a mending job. There was a multitude of fish in his net.
When Peter saw how many fish there were, he called over his partners and got them to help him. They filled the boats up with so many fish that they began to sink.
It was an overwhelming amount of fish; however, Peter doesn’t talk about that, but about himself. He suddenly realized Whose presence he was in. His conscience had begun to bother him. He turned to Jesus and said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.” But he knelt before Him as if also saying, “I need you. Help me.” It’s wonderful; the One who can condemn is also the One willing to save.
It is at this time the Simon Peter is finally saved. He might be trembling and maybe crying. But Jesus told him not to fear, He forgave him, and He claimed him. Simon Peter made the Saviour his Master. All of those fisher men became servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. They served the Lord. This is what the Lord has for us. We can also serve the Master, and be His servants. He has claimed us.
Philippians 1:9-18
When we see the prayers that the Apostle Paul prayed for the saints, it’s like looking right into his heart. Here he prays that the Philippians’ love would abound in knowledge and judgement (sense or intelligence). Love is the greatest Christian virtue, but it’s not easy to live out. It’s characteristic of both spiritual life and natural life; and we can love anything we want, as long as the Bible hasn’t said not to; e.g. “Love not the world.” We can regard the world, but not love it. We have the tendency to love things that have been created by man, for man, and this can do us harm.
On the other hand, Paul wanted us to abound in love to others, just as Christ did. It must be according to knowledge and judgement, though. Knowledge is the database, if you will, and judgement is the wisdom for using the database. They are the two rails which the engine of Love needs to run.
Verse 9 is important, but so is 10. There are good and necessary things—like work and school—that take our time in this world; and God wants us to do those things. However, we must be careful that they don’t distract us from or replace the things of God. When we have to make decisions on how to use our time, we should pray for the Lord’s direction. This will help us be without offence until the day of Christ—when we are done with this world.
Paul also wanted these believers to be filled with the fruits of righteousness. We are made righteous in God’s sight by the work of Christ; but how are we doing in the sight of others? Our righteousness came through Jesus Christ. He accomplished Calvary’s work so that we could be counted righteous and filled with its fruit. Positionally, God’s righteousness is unto all and upon all that believe (Romans 3:22). We are righteous! Practically, though, we need to work out and develop what we actually are. II Corinthians 5:21. It would be wonderful if we could be what we are!
We can squelch the spiritual life inside us if we live wrongly. Instead, we need to let the life that we’ve been given come through. It’s something that we never stop working on all through our lives, and this is what Paul’s praying we will do. Ephesians 5:8-9. As our hymn said, we need to grow as we read the word of God and pray.
Paul then goes on with some personal experiences, telling how the things that had happened to him resulted in the furthering of the gospel. These were Romans 8:28 things. They were persecutions and trials; like being jailed and separated from his friends and ministry, but God had worked them for good. He and the other apostles had laid the foundation for Christianity, but now Paul watched as others built on that foundation, and he sat on the sidelines. This held blessings for us, actually. Because he couldn’t come to Philippi to talk to these believers, he wrote them a letter; and now we can discuss it and find profit today.
Paul could have complained about his situation, but he didn’t. Instead, he said, “The Lord has taken me off the stage, and now others are flourishing.” He wasn’t concerned with how all the trials affected himself, but rather with how they benefited the gospel. He counted the positives, not the negatives. He saw how it all benefited the Philippians and others.
May the things we’ve discussed today benefit us. May the Lord help us love in the right way, and love the right things, and so be filled with the fruits of righteousness!
Hymn 234 — Saviour lead me lest I stray
Prayer