Peter'S Three Calls
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus." John
1:37.
"And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon
called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for
they were fishermen. Then He said to them, Follow Me, and I will make
you fishers of men."
Matthew 4:18,19.
"And when He had called His twelve disciples… the first, Simon, who
is called Peter."
Matthew 10:1, 2.
PERHAPS YOU are aware that there has always been a certain set of
persons who have tried to disprove the Gospel narrative by picking out
what they suppose to be discrepancies, especially in the statements of
Matthew and Luke. Four independent persons have each given us a
separate story of the Life of Christ, each story being written with a
distinct object. Of course, from the fact that each one was written
with a distinct object, it was natural that one Evangelist should give
more attention to certain points in the history of Christ than the
others. And it was natural for his eye to be fixed upon those things
which most concerned the point which he had in hand, and for his ears
to be most quick to catch those words which had a relation to the
object he was driving at throughout the whole of his Gospel.
Now these divergences and differences have been so many pegs upon which
quibblers have hung their quibbles and these men have constantly been
saying, "How do you reconcile Matthew with John in a certain place."
Or, "how do you reconcile Mark, in such another place, with Luke?" It
is not always easy to harmonize the testimony of four perfectly honest
witnesses upon the same subject! I will venture to say that if there
should be a simple accident upon the railway, and four persons present
were to give their accounts of it with rigid exactness, yet they would
each one be likely to mention some point not mentioned by the other,
and, moreover, differ upon the points which they notice in common!
Although we might be morally convinced that they all spoke the truth,
yet it would be difficult to put the story together so as to make a
harmonious whole of it. Sometimes it is not easy to put the stories of
the Evangelists together, and many of the "Gospel Harmonies," so
called, which have been produced by very admirable writers, are not
quite correct–they show at once the difficulty attaching to that which
some Brethren have been trying to attempt, and which perhaps will never
be fully carried out–namely, the making of it into one harmonious
idyll.
It so happens, however, that the difficulty in the case before us is no
difficulty at all! John tells us that Peter was called by Christ
through the preaching of John the Baptist, who bore witness that Jesus
was Christ, the Messiah. Matthew, on the other hand, tells us that
Peter and his brother were fishing, that Christ was walking by the lake
of Galilee, and that as He passed by He saw these men fishing, called
them by name, and said, "Follow me." Now, the key to the whole may be
found in the fact that there was yet a third call, and that afterwards
Jesus called not Peter and Andrew alone, but the whole twelve of His
disciples and set them apart to be Apostles.
And so we gather from this last call that the other two might perhaps
have been different and distinct from each other. Coming to look at the
subject we find that the first call was the call at Peter's conversion,
which called him to be a disciple while still at his daily avocation.
The second was the call of Peter, not to be a mere disciple, but to be
an Evangelist. And the third was the call of Peter, not to be an
Evangelist or a common servant of the Master, but to be a leader, to
take a yet higher grade, and to become one of the Twelve who should be
associated with Christ as the founders of the new system of religion,
and witnesses of the life of Christ Himself.
I. I want you, then, just for a moment, to bear in mind that we have
under our consideration THREE CALLS:
(1) The first is that which Christ gave to Peter when He called him out
of darkness into marvelous light, blessing to him at first the
testimony of John, and then by manifesting Himself to him.
(2) The second is the call by which the servant, already converted,
already willing, is bid to put himself into closer relationship with
his Lord–to come out and be no longer a servant whose allegiance is
true but not manifest–but to show that fealty by following his Master.
(3) And the third call is that which the Savior gives only to a few
whom He has picked out and chosen to do some special work–who shall
have fellowship with Him more closely still, and become captains in the
ranks of–
"The sacramental host of God's elect." We shall speak of these three
calls in the order in which they occur. Very briefly I shall go through
the subject, speaking at length about the second call which Peter
received.
1. Notice the personal call to be a disciple. These three calls are
given in a certain order. Observe where it begins. Peter was not called
to be an Evangelist before he was called to be a follower. Christ
begins by first teaching us our own need of Him, and our own sin, and
then, revealing Himself to us as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin
of the world. It is a presumption–what if I say an accursed
treason–against the Majesty of the great Head of the Church, if any
man pretends to reverse this order!
You must first be called, yourselves, into Christ before you may dare
to even so much as think about being called into the ministry or into
the service of Christ. You cannot serve Him until first of all you have
learned to sit at His feet. Before you can serve God you must have a
new heart and a right spirit. The blind eye is not fit for the service
of Christ. The eye must be illuminated. The understanding must be
instructed. That stubborn will of yours cannot bear the yoke of
Christ–it must be subdued. "You must be born again."
Should there be some among you here tonight who are teaching in Sunday
schools, distributing tracts, or in any other way are trying to serve
God, and yet are not, yourselves, saved, I would very affectionately,
but with great earnestness, entreat you to consider that you are
reversing the natural and proper order of things. Your first business
is at home, in your own soul and your own heart!
I will not apply to you the words of the Prophet, "Unto the wicked, God
said, What have you to do to declare My statutes?" But I think there is
a spirit in those terrible words which might well have an application
to you. How can you be a guide until you are first able, yourself, to
see, for "if the blind lead the blind, they shall both fall into the
ditch." How can you, diseased and leprous, begin to heal others, for it
shall be said to you, "Physician, heal yourself"? How can you, when the
beam is in your own eye, go abroad to point out the beams and the
specks which are in other men's eyes?
Oh, take care, take care lest this very service to Christ, as you think
it to be, is an injury to you–for you may serve Christ after a sort
till you begin to think that you do so much, and do it so well, that
you must be a Christian! You may spin for yourself a robe which shall
seem sufficient to cover you, and you may go and dress in this cobweb,
this mere figment of a fictitious righteousness, and persuade yourself
that you are wearing the robe of Christ's righteousness, whereas you
shall be found at the last to he naked, and poor, and miserable!
Oh, I pray you to understand those words, "Behold the Lamb of God."
Behold Him for yourselves! See Him for yourselves! Do not talk about
being a fisher of men–do not speak of being a servant whose loins are
girt, and whose lamp is trimmed–until first you have become as a
little child. Unless you so become you cannot enter into the kingdom of
Heaven.
2. But, dear Friends, after the first call has been received, it is
very delightful to observe the Christian receiving the second. He is
called into active service. Simon Peter became a disciple, but all that
he meant by that was, "I acknowledge Jesus of Nazareth to be the
Messiah," and he went away and continued with his good brother in the
fishing business! It never, perhaps, entered into his head that he was
to do anything more than to cultivate a quiet peaceful faith, and walk
in a life consistent with that faith.
But all of a sudden he sees this famous man of Nazareth walking by the
seaside, who addresses him by name, and says to him, "Follow Me." And
in a moment, putting down his net, and leaving his family, he left all
to follow Christ with his two companions James and John, equally famous
in the battle-roll of Christian heroes. Now, I may have some here
tonight who are saved. You are the disciples of Jesus, and I regret to
say that He has not yet been seen by you as calling you into His
service.
You have joined the Church and you have been baptized into the faith of
Christ, and so far it is good. But as yet it has not struck you that
you are to be actively engaged for Christ. Now, it is not in my power
to call you to the service, nor to indicate to you what special form
that service shall take. But, my dear Friends, I do pray that you may
have another revelation of the Lord Jesus yet more full and bright, and
that He may say to you, "Come, Man, you are not your own. You are
bought with a price. Serve Me. Arise, gird up your loins, and wait upon
the Lord." I trust that He may lay His hand upon you tonight, and say
to you as He did to the assembled twelve, "As My Father has sent Me
into the world, even so send I you."
And may you have Divine Grace to obey the mandate–and though it may be
something which has been distasteful to you, some Christian engagement
in which you have never been occupied before–may you have Grace to
say, "Here am I, Lord, send me, whatever the business may happen to
be." Ah, what would a Church be if it consisted altogether of persons
of this sort? What vigor should we have in the Christian army if every
soldier felt called to fight! But some of you do not realize your duty
in this respect. I would that you would take a farther step. I would
that the spirit of service fell upon you so that you did not merely
wear the robe of righteousness but the mantle of service, too!
Oh, Brothers and Sisters, by the love which–
"Saw you ruined in the Fall, Yet loved you notwithstanding all," by the
love which gave up its honor and its glory, and took upon itself the
form of a servant for your sakes–by the love which sweat great drops
of blood in the garden, by the love which emptied out its heart that
you might be redeemed from ruin–I pray you, hear Jesus saying to you,
"Follow Me"! And do follow Him–follow Him in active, industrious,
persevering consecration.
And from this day forth, if you have up to now been but a sleeping
partner in the great Christian firm. If you have been content to ride
upon the Gospel chariot instead of drawing it or adding an impulse to
its wheels, may you say, "My Lord, fill me with the zeal which
possessed You. Kindle in me the same spirit of service which burned so
brightly in Yourself. And as You did call Peter, and Andrew, and James,
and John, so call me, and say, "Follow Me."
You notice, then, that this second call follows the first call, and it
is a blessed thing when it does thus succeed and is obeyed.
3. But in the third text which I gave you, you find Peter called to
another service above that of an ordinary worker, that is to say, he is
called to be an Apostle. I will venture here to trace an analogy
between this and the calling of the Christian minister. You will
observe that this call comes last. The call to the Apostleship does not
come first. Peter is first the catechumen or disciple, secondly the
Evangelist and thirdly the Apostle. So, no man is called to be
specially set apart to the ministry of Christ, or to have a share in
the Apostleship until he has first of all, himself, known Christ, and
until, secondly, as an ordinary Christian he has fully exercised
himself in all the duties which are proper to Christian service.
Now, some people turn this topsy-turvy. Young men who have never
preached are set apart to the ministry. Those who have never visited
the sick, never instructed the ignorant, and are totally devoid of any
knowledge of Gospel experience except the little of their own, are
supposed to be dedicated to the Christian ministry. I believe this to
be a radical and a fatal error. Brothers and Sisters, we have no right
to thrust a Brother into the ministry until he has first given evidence
of his own conversion, and has also given proof not only of being a
good average worker but something more.
If he cannot labor in the Church, before he pretends to be a minister,
he is good for nothing. If he cannot, while he is a private member of
the Church, perform all the duties of that position with zeal and
energy, and if he is not evidently a consecrated man while he is a
private Christian, certainly you do not feel the guidance of God's Holy
Spirit to bid him enter the ministry! No man has a right to aspire to
come into that office until, like the knights of old, he has first won
his spurs and has shown that he is really devoted to Christ by having
served Him as others have done.
Let me say that it would be a very great mercy for this Christian
Church if some persons would not take this last place at all, but would
be content to stop in the second one. There are many men who, when set
apart to the Christian ministry, are a drag and burden to the churches
as well as to other people. If they had but given up themselves as
ordinary members to Christian service they might have been a very great
blessing and honor to the Church. One of the kindest pieces of advice I
could give to some of our ministerial friends would be, "Go home,
Brother. Take off your black coat and your white tie, and put yourself
into some honest way of getting a living. Just think about whether you
were not more serviceable to the Church when you were a carpenter or a
tradesman–when you were earning a considerable sum of money at your
own ordinary avocation–than you are now, when you are necessarily
dependent upon the gifts and liberality of God's servants without
having the ability and the talent which are necessary to make you a
leader in the Lord's host."
I pray the day may come when we shall all see this, and never think of
giving ourselves to the ministry before conversion, and even then
aspire not after special work until first of all we have proved that we
can serve the Lord in our ordinary life. Occasionally I have Brothers
come to me asking to be received into our College, and one singular
reason which some of them give me why they believe that they are called
to the ministry is this: "You see, Sir, I could not get on at anything
else, and therefore I thought Providence must have ordained me to be a
minister."
I never say a word about that, but I am very clear that if a man is
such a fool that he can do nothing else but preach, it is a great pity
that he should be allowed to do that! And when a Brother tells me that,
I sometimes venture to ask him if he thinks that God wants only the
biggest fools to serve Him. I question him as to whether there should
not be given up to God's service the very pick, and prime, and flower
of the Christian Church–those men who, if they had addicted themselves
to commerce, might have taken the lead–or who, if they had given
themselves to the bar or to the profession of surgery or medicine,
would have stood in the front rank?
I believe, Brothers and Sisters, we need strong men to take such a
position, and that the Lord Jesus Christ has a keen eye, and when He
does call a man He calls him to something that he is fit for. Take the
cases of Peter and Paul. Peter was a fisherman, it is true, but a
fisherman of such a peculiar breed that it would be well if God would
find us more of the same sort who would become fishers of men! And as
for Paul, he was one well-skilled and learned in all matters, and just
fitted and adapted to the work which the Master gave him to do.
II. I have thus noticed these three calls. And I want now to direct
your earnest and particular attention to the second call, because of
the lessons to be learned from the CHARACTER OF THE MEN CHOSEN, AND THE
NATURE OF THE WORK entrusted to them.
The second call is recorded in the fourth chapter of Matthew and the
eighteenth verse, and it deserves our attention because we perceive
that these Brothers were called to the service of Christ while they
were engaged in their ordinary avocations. It seems to have been early
in the morning, for Peter was just starting on his work, and was
casting his net into the sea. And in the twenty-first verse we find
that James and John were mending their nets, so that they were all
industrious in their ordinary calling.
There is a notion abroad among some persons that they cannot serve God
unless they neglect their ordinary work. This used to be a complaint
brought against the Methodists in the olden time. I believe it was a
great falsehood, but it was stated that they were so earnest in
listening to sermons that they made bad servants and bad trades people.
If it were so it was a very grievous fault, but I do not think it ever
was the case. However, let none of us fall into it. If I were a
Christian and a fisherman, I should like to catch more fish than
anybody else. If I were a Christian and a shoe-black, I should desire
to clean people's boots so that they shone better than any other
shoe-black could make them shine. If I were a Christian master, I
should desire to be the best master, and if a Christian servant the
best servant.
Our Christianity, I think, shows itself more, at any rate to the world,
in the pursuits of daily life, than it does in the engagements of the
House of God. "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as
the manner of some is." I scarcely need give that exhortation here, but
when you do assemble yourselves together, come not up to God's House
having the blood of other duties upon your spirits.
You are a mother with little children, and it is probably your duty to
be at home rather than to be at the Prayer Meeting. It may sometimes be
your business, as a husband, to take turns with your wife and let her
come out to the House of God, instead of always taking the privilege
yourself. It may be the case with some of you that your trade may
absolutely require you to be behind the counter both on lecture and on
Prayer Meeting night, and though I would have you here if possible, and
if you do go anywhere, go to the House of God, yet do not let it ever
be said, or even whispered that you did not attend to your business,
and that you came to grief because the things of God were cared for,
and your business, in consequence, neglected!
I think it never should be so. I like to remember that after Jesus
Christ had gone away–after He was crucified, died, had been buried and
had risen again–where did He find Peter? Why, He found him fishing
again! That is right, Peter. Follow Christ by all manner of means when
He bids you, but when there is nothing to do in the service of Christ,
come back to fishing again. Oh, but some people seem to think that hard
work in attending to ordinary business is not spiritual-minded in a
Christian. Nonsense! Out with that difficulty, if any of you are
troubled by it. Just ask the Lord to clear your brains and brush away
such cobwebs as these, for we shall never have genuine Christianity in
the world while such nonsense remains–nonsense about giving up the
world–meaning thereby living in laziness!
The truest Christian is the working man who so labors for God that he
does not neglect the common duties of life. The best form of
Christianity is found in the Christian who is a Christian behind the
counter, a Christian in the street, a Christian in the marketplace, a
Christian anywhere–and who, wherever and whenever he may be found, is
like his Master–"diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the
Lord."
I think no man will ever serve Christ aright who does not show some
energy in other things. I think the Savior chose these two men, not
only out of Sovereign Grace unto salvation, but also because He saw
about them a zeal in the pursuit of fishery which seemed to mark them
out as being the very men to be made useful in His own cause. Notice
the character of the men who were thus called to work for Christ! They
were active, diligent men, engaged in their own calling. Notice what
their occupation was. When Christ called them He said, "You are
fishers, and you shall be fishers all your lives. But now you are
fishers of fish, and I want you to be fishers of men."
He mentions their vocation, and the work He is going to give them. O my
Brothers and Sisters, if you are saved I pray that Jesus may give you
that second call, so that you may be earnest "fishers of men"! There is
a great deal in that sentence, "fishers of men," a very great deal more
than we can bring out now. A fisherman, you know, must be acquainted
with the sea. Peter knew the Lake of Galilee. I dare say there was not
a creek or an inlet in it with which he was not acquainted. He knew the
deep places where some kinds of fish were to be found, and the shallow
places where others could be caught.
And so if you would serve Christ you must know a good deal about men.
You must study human nature and you must watch your opportunities of
doing good. You know there are some places where you can meet with more
sinners than in others, and there is a certain way of dealing with one
disposition and quite another way of dealing with another. If you are
to be a "fisher of men," you must take good stock of the neighborhood
where you live. If you would be a "fisher of men" in the Tabernacle, I
hope you will know the people near whom you sit, for as you know them,
and their pursuits in daily life, and their characters and
dispositions, you will be more likely to be blessed, by the help of
God's Spirit, in bringing them to a knowledge of the Truth of God.
A fisherman must be acquainted with the locality where he has to work.
A fisherman must also know how to allure the fish. I saw on Lake Como,
when we visited Bellagio, some men fishing. They had torches burning in
their boats, and the fish were attracted to them by the glare of the
light. You must know how to get the fish together. You know there is
such a thing as the bait for the fishes. You must know how to allure
men. The preacher does this by using images, symbols, and
illustrations.
You must know how to catch the fish, throwing out first, perhaps, not a
remark directly to the point, because that might be unwise, but a side
remark, which shall lead to another, and yet another. If you are to be
a "fisher of men" you will need your wits about you. It will not do to
blunder over men's souls. Fish are not caught by every boy who chooses
to take a pin and a piece of cotton and make his way to the pond. Fish
need a fisherman, and there is a sort of congruity between the fish and
the man who catches them.
I do not wonder that Isaac Walton could catch fish. He seems to have
been born and made on purpose for it, and so there are some men who are
made on purpose for winning souls. They naturally care for their
fellows, and they have such a way of putting the Truth of God that as
soon as they speak men say, "Here is a man come who knows all about me,
and knows how to deal with me," and they at once yield to his
influence. Oh that I had hundreds of such in this Church! I have a good
share of them, and I bless God every time I remember them. God has
called them, and has made them true fishers of men–they know about
men, and also how to allure them.
The fisherman must be a man who can wait with patience. Oh the patience
of a fisherman! "We have toiled all night," said the disciples, "and
have taken nothing." You cannot be a fisherman unless you are willing
to sit and watch, especially if you angle. There you may sit for hours
and hours together, and at last, when the float begins to move, you
think you have got your fish, but probably it is only a weed or a frog.
And you may watch, and watch, and watch again, and nothing will come of
it.
Ah, but it is harder work, still, to wait in Christ's service, to
preach twenty times and have no conversions, perhaps to go on teaching
in a Sunday school and to see no heart-breaking work done, no sinners
crying "What must I do to be saved?" You have to go to your knees and
say, "Who has believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed?" You will need something within to help you to wait thus–you
will need the Holy Spirit of Grace Himself dwelling in you to supply
you with Divine patience, or else you will throw up your work, give
away your nets, and say, "I will do something that pays me better than
this!"
A fisherman, too, is one who must be able to take risks. Especially was
this so on the Lake of Galilee, for that, like many other lakes, was
subject to fierce storms. The winds sometimes came rushing down from
the mountains, and before the fisherman could take in his sail his boat
would be upset. And truly every worker for Christ must expect squalls
and stormy weather. Do not think, dear Friends, to serve Jesus Christ
in those kid gloves and in that nice dainty style of yours! That is not
the way in which fish are caught out at sea! It is rough work and
requires a man who can let the wind howl about him without being afraid
of his fine curls, or of having the perfume taken out of them.
It needs a man that has a bold face and a brave heart, and who, when
the storm comes, looks up to the God of Storms and feels that he is on
his Master's service and may therefore count upon his Master's
protection. May the Lord call many members of this Church to such work
as this, and when the Master shall drag home our net full of big
fishes, we shall have a rich reward for all the toils of Christian
labor!
The fisherman, once again, must be one who has learned both how to
persevere and how to expect. The fisherman goes on, and on, and on, and
fishes, not sometimes but continually. As Christ's good sower must take
the precept, "In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening withhold
not your hand," so also must His fisherman. "We have toiled all night
and taken nothing, nevertheless, at Your command we will let down the
net." But I said he must also learn to expect. He must have twinkling
in his soul, like a bright particular star, the hope that he shall drag
his net to land full of fishes at the last!
Beloved, we shall not labor in vain. We shall not spend our strength
for nothing. We may not live to see the result of the Truth which we
proclaim, but–
"The precious seed shall never be lost, For Grace ensures the crop."
We must learn to believe in the indestructibility of every truthful
testimony, in the immortality of every good deed, in the resurrection
of every buried word to live in the sight of God. We must–
"Learn to labor and to wait."
There are three words which have been running in my mind for the last
few days, and have seemed to work themselves into me, and I hope I may
long keep them. One word is Work, another is Wait, and the other is
Pray. Work, work, work! Wait, wait, wait! Pray, pray, pray!
I think that these three words will enable a man to be, under God, a
true and successful fisher of men. I have thus described the sort of
men who were called, and the work which Christ gave them to do over and
above the work in which they were engaged. I now want you to notice the
prompt obedience of Peter to this call. I wonder how it was that Peter
came directly. Christ said, "Follow Me." We know that Peter was a
disciple, and consequently, his heart was ready to receive the word
which called him to be a servant. It is of no use for me to call some
of you to follow Christ, and work for him as "fishers of men"–for if
you were to obey, you could not do it acceptably–because you are not
the children of God.
But you who are saved have something in your hearts that will echo to
the exhortation, "Follow me," so that I think you need only to have a
good work set fairly before you, and to know what it is that the Master
requires of you, and you will say at once, "Lord, I will do it," for–
"'Tis love that makes our cheerful feet In swift obedience move."
When the heart loves Christ, then the path of duty, which before was
rough and rugged, becomes straight and smooth, if not flowery, and the
soul says–
"Help me to run in Your commands, 'Tis a delightful road. Nor let my
heart, nor feet, nor hands, Offend against my God."
Beloved Friend, very much of the excellence of our service to Christ
will depend upon the instantaneous way in which we do it when we know
it to be a duty. I believe that debating with oneself about duty is a
very dangerous thing. David said, "I made haste, and delayed not to
keep Your Commandments." Peter did not say, "Lord, let me stop and dry
these nets, and hang them up, and bring the boat to shore, and then
cast anchor and leave it right." Nor did James and John say, "Master,
let us go home and kiss that dear mother of ours, and let us see that
Zebedee has somebody to take our place." No, immediately they left
their nets and followed Christ.
May I urge upon you the habit of falling into the line of duty
instantly. When soldiers are being drilled I like to see the way in
which the word of command is obeyed the instant it is given. "Right
about face!" and the whole line turns right about at once. The thing is
done, we say, mechanically. It should be so with us. But I know how it
is–we get a right good thought of something we ought to do, but we
stop and say–"Now, shall I do it, and when shall I do it?" And for the
first hour or two we mean to do it, but by the next day we think it
possible that we will decline it, and perhaps when a week is over we
give it up altogether.
I believe that this is so with many, many Christians in the matter of
Believers' Baptism. To give one instance out of many, they say, "Well,
I used to think of it when I was young, and I then believed it was my
duty, and I guess I think it is my duty now if I really came to consult
the Word of God about it. But I have put it off so long–well, perhaps
I may see to it one of these days." While there is another and far more
likely "perhaps," namely, that having procrastinated so long over that
one duty, they will suffer it to go by default. Do not toy with
Christian service, Brethren! There would have been more earnest
Whitfields in the world, more Wesleys, more devoted Brainerds and
Martyns, if men obeyed the call of God instead of taking counsel of
flesh and blood and considering this, that, and the other, and then
resolving not to obey.
Remember, it is possible for us to have Divine Grace in the heart, and
yet to be disobedient. We have many such mournful specimens. We cannot
but hope that they will enter Heaven, for they are washed in the
precious blood, and clothed in the Savior's righteousness. But they do
little, if anything, for Christ because they have tampered with His
calls, they have violated convictions, and have started back from
duties in the exercise of their unbelief, instead of pressing forward
in the glory and the majesty of a simple faith in Christ Jesus. If you
feel that you have anything to do, do it immediately!
If God calls you to preach before you go home, do it in the street! And
if there is anything which claims your immediate attention–if there is
a poor person you ought to relieve, if there is anyone to whom you
ought to speak before leaving this place–I beseech you do not trifle
with the conviction! As faithful servants of Jesus Christ, being saved,
and professing to love Him, I pray you, at once, to do whatever you
feel you ought to do for Him. I have heard of the question being asked
in a school, what was the meaning of the text, "Your will be done on
earth as it is in Heaven." One said, it meant that it should be done
truthfully. And another, that it should be done unanimously. But a
third said, it meant that it should be done without asking any
questions. That answer was a good one, for we who know and love Christ
should be willing to do His will without asking any questions.
I must not, however, keep you much longer. I will notice, lastly, that
when the call came to Peter in the shape of "Follow Me," it must have
suggested to him many thoughts–for it contained, in addition to mere
service–privilege as well as duty. There was a book written not many
years ago by an excellent Divine, to which I cannot quite subscribe. I
mean Dr. Bushnell's "Higher Life." I cannot subscribe to all that is in
it, but I believe that there is a period in the life of some Christians
when they rise to a platform elevated above ordinary Christianity,
almost as much as ordinary Christianity is elevated above the world.
I think that in addition to the first call by which we are brought out
of nature's darkness into God's marvelous light, there does come to the
Christian, when the Spirit of God works mightily with him, another call
by which he is brought into greater familiarity with the Lord Jesus,
taught more of conformity to Him in His sufferings, and made to be more
fully a partaker of the height, and depth, and breadth, and length of
that love which passes all understanding. Such a call seems to me to be
imaged in this call of Peter.
Have you been living, my dear Sister, at a distance from Christ? Have
you been obliged to sing the hymn–
Tis a point I long to know, Oft it causes anxious thought– Do I love
the Lord, or no? Am IHis, or am Inot?'"
I do pray for you, as one of the greatest privileges I could ask God
for on your behalf, that Christ may come to you afresh now and be
formed in your heart anew, the Hope of Glory, in such a way that you
may follow Him into close practical fellowship and earnest,
unstaggering faith. Believe me, it is life to believe in Christ,
however little–but it is life in health and vigor to believe in Christ
with a faith that does not flinch!
To have Christ and not to see Him is salvation, but to have Him and to
see Him is salvation rapturously enjoyed! To be saved and not to know
it is a small privilege, but to be saved and to know it, no, to know
Him who is the Resurrection and the Life–to sit with Him, and sup with
Him, and to feel that His shadow yields a great delight, and that His
fruit is sweet unto one's taste–this is a way of living which angels
might almost envy the favored men who possess it! May the Master call
you in that sense now! Pray that prayer which Watts has put into
rhyme–
"Draw me away from flesh and sense,
One sovereign word shall draw me thence;
I would obey the voice Divine,
And all inferior joys resign."
May you get a call from the Master, "Follow Me unto the Mount of
Transfiguration to see My Glory, and share in it, and abide with Me in
sacred, rapt, secret fellowship which the world knows nothing of."
But this was not merely a call to fellowship, but to practical
fellowship. It seemed to say, "Peter, put down your net, and take up
the cross. I am to be despised, come and be despised with Me. I am
going outside the camp, I shall be scorned, and cast out from society.
Come, Peter, come outside the camp with Me." Oh may Christ give you
such a call as that! You are saved, but still, to a great extent you
are in the world. Oh that you might have a separating call–"Come you
out from among them; be you separate; touch not the unclean thing."
May you feel now as if you had got a new life over and above the life
you have already! May you have fresh blood poured into the veins of
your piety that you might rise to something better! Come out and
confess your Master! Confess Him by nonconformity to the world in all
respects.
To conclude. When Christ said, "Follow Me," did He not mean that Peter
was to follow Him in everything and in all things? May the Master call
you and me to follow Him in that consecration to His Father's will
which made Him say, "My meat and My drink is to do the will of Him that
sent Me." Oh, there are so many of you professors whose meat and drink
are found in trade, or the making of money, or the reading of books, or
the study of this and of that. May He call you to make Himself the
first thing! To make His honor your grand object, and to make His
Church your true mistress, the lady of your heart reigning in your
spirit!
Oh, to be wholly given up to Christ! To be a sacrifice upon the altar,
smoking, burning, utterly consumed–a living sacrifice which is your
most reasonable service. No, you need not shut up your shop! Oh no, but
you will go and make money for Christ, and give it to His cause. No,
you need not give up your daily labor, but you will be a priest unto
God even while you are wearing the garments of your trade. No, you must
not dare to think of such a thing as withdrawing from your present
position and your little ones round about you! You must stay where you
are and glorify Christ there. Feeling now that you have been called to
the work of God, that service is to be done just where you are–you are
not to be stargazing and looking aloft for some great thing, but to
stand and do a day's work in a day in the sphere where Providence has
called you, and where Divine Grace has blessed you.
Now, you see, I have put all this on the right footing. I have told
none of you to serve Christ till you are saved. But when you are saved,
I hope and pray that you and I may see Christ calling on us to be
"fishers of men." May the Lord call some who have never been called at
all. May it come to pass that this very evening some may look to the
Lamb of God, dying, bleeding, and suffering. Sinner, He is the
Sin-Bearer. He came to seek and to save that which was lost! That face
was marred with sorrow, and there must you find your hope. Look to Him!
That bleeding Man is also the immortal God! Trust Him and you are
saved! That one act of trust is the means of eternal salvation to
everyone that exercises it. Then, being saved, may Christ call you,
fishermen or whatever you may be, to serve Him until He comes to take
you unto Himself–
"Teach me, my God and King,
In all things You to see,
And what I do in anything,
To do it as for You!
All may of You partake–
Nothing so small can be,
But draws when acted for Your sake,
Greatness and worth from You.
If done beneath Your laws,
Even servile labors shine!
Hallowed is toil, if this the cause,
The meanest work Divine."