Luke 5:1-11

(5:lOb-ll) The Climax of This Miracle Story

(5:lOb) The Promise of Jesus to Peter

Knowing that Peter and the others now have the kind of mind-set that is required of a true disciple, Jesus answers Peter's confession of sin with this glorious promise, "Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men."

The Relation of

the Miracle to the Promise

The Nature of the

Mission of the Disdples

The Preaching of the Gospel and the Kingdom of God

Time and again Jesus uses the images of fishing and dragnets to denote the preaching of the gospel, Mat.4:19;Lk.5:10. The manner in

. which the fishiflg is done is the focus of Jesus' attention. "First the net is dragged through the sea, and only after this work has been sufficiently performed, do the fishennen go to the shore to inspect the catch and make proper selection. This is an image of the way by which the kingdom comes. Preaching reveals the kingdom, for it is the Christ in whose service the 'fishers of men' are employed. But the kingdom will come in a different

way from what might be supposed. This mystery is the real subject of the parable. Christ, (and the kingdom with Him), first comes to gather, and then afterwards, only after the gathering has been completed, does He make the definitive separation and reveal Himself in His perfect glory."­Ridderbos, pg. 140.

The Significance of Preaching as a Fishnet

Only the Gospel of Matthew contains the parable of the fishnet, Matthew 13:47-50. "This net was about two meters in height and

might be up to a hundred meters in length. The top of the net was held up by corks, and the bottom was weighted down. At times, fishermen fastened one end of the net on shore while a boat pulled the other end into the lake, traveling in a half circle and bringing the net back to shore. At other times, two boats went out from the shore, forming a semicircle with the net, drawing it together to catch the fish and gather them into the boats. The use of the dragnet reqUired the united effort of a half-dozen men or more. --- The net drew in the edible fish as well as the inedible---the good and the bad. All kinds and sizes of fish were

4'1' THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon t November, 1995

flapping their tails as they were pulled to shore. Many kinds of fish were declared unclean according to

Jewish dietary laws ... and had to be thrown back into the water, -- Only fish that were marketable were kept...."- Simon Kistemaker, THE PARABLES OF JESUS, pg. 59f, (Grand Rapids, Mich., Baker Book House, 1980).

The Universal and Indiscriminate Preaching

of the Gospel

The Kingdom of God triumphs in the earth as the gospel of the kingdom is preached with all its

offers and demands, universally and indiscrim­inately, to all people, the elect and the reprobate alike. The blessings of the kingdom are not confined to one ethnic group, race, nationaitty,

etc. The blessings of the kingdom are for the whole world. The disciples are called to nothing less than making THE WORLD'S NATIONS CHRIST'S DISCIPLES; Mat. 28: lSf.

The Mixed Nature of the Visible Catholic Church

The fishnet of preaching catches good fish, (elect), and bad f\sh tl1at will be thrown away, (non~elect, reprobate). The preaching of the gospel attracts, by its very nature, all kinds of people, for one reason or another. The "wicked" in this parable, Mat. 13:49-50, are those "who outwardly adhere to the

church but inwardly have no connection with the true church. They may confess with their mouth the Apostles' Creed, but in their hearts they lack true faith in Jesus Christ." - Kistemaker, pg. 61. They are IN the church but not OF the church.

from feigned confessors, be revealed at last. But that moment has not yet arrived. The last opportunity for repentance has not yet run out, Lk. 13:6-9. Till then, all false zeal must be checked, the field must be left to ripen in patience, the net must be cast widely, and everything else left to God in faith , until his hour comes."- Joachim Jeremias, The Parables oj Jesus, pg. 226[, (New York, Charles Scribner's Sons , 1963).

Until the Day of Judgment,

the jUst. Christ warns us in this parable, says Calvin, that 'it is not enough to be gathered into the fold unless we are His true and chosen sheep.' -- There is only one test, and only one thing can make us certain to be numbered among the people of God. We must receive the Word into our hearts with true faith and full response; then that Word will indeed cause us to be born again into the new life of the Children of God."- Wallace, pg. 36f.

The parable of the fishnet "shows that a large admixture of hypocrites within the Church is inevitable, and it encourages us to cast the net of the Gospel over a wide area to draw in disciples, even though we know that we are thereby also enclosing those who are "rfJe' eovere;@nty and .om nrpo'te'n?~'.~~i

tfle Kin@of the Kin@dom @uar<l1f!~~~!' i .' .' the euccee6 of theGrea,!; "ill{

making a false profession. We cannot in the process of evangelism be entirely sure

.' .. • ' '" ' , : '_ '.::':. '. _'il L_"! !'!:(,';::;;

The Power fOT the Mission of the Disciples

Jesus, who now was calling them to be "fishers of men," had just performed a miracle of enabling these literal fishelmen to catch an abundance of fish . Jesus is able to provide His diSCiples with all the power they need to do everything

of separating the good from the bad. God will ultimately

Commleeion in the advanac(]fHi6 ,1

Kingdom, by which He, thrql.lgh' Hi~ '~: church, wil/make th~ :WOrl.:li'6' t1Gi7r~~~ i

:,,:.', ' '. ' ". Hie own. 4iIfJ9,iplee.", " :,:'i,;;::l!:~

do the separation: - Ronald Wallace, Many Things in Parables, pg. 36, (New York, Harper &: Brothers Publishers, 1955).

The Separation of All People 011

the Day ofJudgment

Only God on the final Day of Judgment will infallibly and etemall y separate the elect from the non-eJect. And it is this DayofJudgment which is depicted in Jesus' parable of the fishnet. He explains His own parable: "This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wiched from the righteous and throw them into the JielY ju.T11IUe, where there will be weeping andgnashingofteeth, "Mat. 13:49-50. This explanation is almost identical to that given by Jesus in His explanation of the parable of the wheat and the tares, Mat. 13:40-42.

When the Day of Judgment finally arrives, "then, no longer in a

. servant's form, will the holy community of God, purged from all evil men, from false believers, and

"followers of Jesus, go about your daily task: witness to your fellowman, whoever he or she may be; bring them together to the church; constantly remind them of the need [or faith and repentance; and direct their attention to the judgment day at which time the final separation hetween the wicked and the righteous will take place."­Kistemaker, pg. 62.

"Each of us must make sure that we ourselves, in the day of separation, will be numbered among the elect. It is easy to delude ourselves in this matter. Let us not imagine that just because we seem to be caught in the net of the Church and because we rub shoulders daily with those who believe in Christ, we ourselves necessarily have the Divine Life stirring within our own hearts, The Kingdom of God is like a net widely cast, and membership of the Church does not guarantee that we will be numbered in the end among

He has commanded them to do, and to carry out His world mission successfully. The sovereignty and omnipotence of the King of the Kingdom guarantee the success of the Great Commission in the advance of His Kingdom, by which He, through His church, will make the world's nations His own diSCiples.

"The gospel is the spiritual and sovereign power of the kingdom. The gospel is the Word of God which is revealed in Jesus Christ. Because He is the Word of God par excellence, He is also the One Who alone can preach the gospel (effectively-J CMIll). This gospel He

. preaches through the Church which He calls into being. --- Christ is not a powerless agent of the almighty Word of God Who brings a word so weak that it is dependent on man's will for its ultimate effect. This is no gospel at all. The gospel is the

November, 1995 t THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon t 5

POWER of God unto salvation, Rom. 1:16. It is therefore the sovereign and irresistible and efficacious instrument in the hands of the exalted Christ through which He accomplishes all the Father's purpose."- Herman C. Hanko, The Mysteries of the Kingdom, pg. 57f, (Grand Rapids, Mich., Reformed Free Publishing Association, 1975).

The: Meaning ofuDo Not Fear"

Compassionate Savior thatJesus is, He takes note of Peter's fear, and cairns him with the words, "Do not fear .... n In the command to stop being afraid, Peter, who. feels so keenly.his own·sinfulness before the holy Jesus, receives from Jesus the assurance of pardon from his sins.

The Meaning of the Promise: "From Now On You

will Be Catching Men"

The Prophecy of the Promise

Notice the future tense of the verb. This "periphrastic future' is necessary to express linear and continuous future action; the tense is otherwise futuristic and prophetic, foretelling what Peter shall do, and not volitive, telling what he will do." - Lenski. 'The continuity ofthe work is stressed: day by day, week after week, month upcn month, etc., you will be engaged in this great and glorious task." - Hendriksen. When the church works at catching people, people will be caught! Faithful evangelization is successful evangelization.

The Main Verb in the Promise: "Catching Men"

From this moment on the disciple's life vocation will change from catching fish to catching men. The Greek word, DZOGRON , translated, "catching: does not simply mean, "to catch: it means "TO CATCH ALIVE." The contrast is between catching fish to kill them,

and catching men to give them life, (to be an instrument of God in giving them life). "From now on y.ou will be catching men alive, catching men for life." The gospel saves from death, and gives and sustains spiritual life. "What a blessed calling to catch men alive! And what a blessed condition to have been caught alive!" - Lenski

The Meaning of the Promise

The phrase, "fishers of men," is not a mere play on words appropriate to the situation; it means much more than that. To interpret this phrase as a mere play on words "is to fail to appreciate its biblical background and its relevance to the context, which has focused attention on God's eschatological act of sendingJesus. IntheO.T. prophetic tradition it is God who is the fisher of men. The passages in which the image is developed are distinctly ominous in tone, stressing the divine judgment, Jer. 16:16; Ezek. 29:4f; 38:4; Amos 4:2;

Hab. 1:14-17.2 --- It is this understanding which prOvides the key both to the URGENCY in Jesus' summons of Simon and Andrew and to the RADICAL OBEDIENCE they displayed in responding to His call. The summons to be fishers of men is a call to the eschatological task of gathering men in view of the forthcoming judgment of God. It extends the demand for repentance in Jesus' preaching. Precisely because Jesus has come, fishing becomes n~cessary. --- Fishing is the evidence of the fulfillment which Jesus proclaimed, the corollary, (consequence), of the in-breaking kingdom."- Lane, The Gospel According to Mark, Nicnt, pg. 67-68. The call ofjesus to His disciples was a call for them to become the servants of the principal Agent of divine judgment in the earth.

6 ~ THE COUNSEL of ChaIcedon ~ November, 1995

The Function of the Fishers of Men

"The IMMEDIATE function of those called to be fishers of men is to accompany Jesus as witnesses to the proclamation of the nearness of the kingdom and the necessity for men to tum to God through radical repentance. Their ULTIMATE function will be to confront men with God's decisive action, which to faith has the character of salvation, but to unbelief has the character of judgment. n - Ume, pg. 68.

The Method of Fishing and Catching Men3

The Meaning of Fishingfor Men

Instruction ...

Fishing for men is instructing a person or persons that he/they may know the truth of God. "Instruction by the gospel is the commencement of all r~al work upon mer's minds. 'Go ye , therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, 10, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.' Teaching begins the work and crowns it too. n -Spurgeon, pg. 14.

"The gospel, according to Isaiah, is, 'Incline your ear, and come unto Me: hear, and your soul shall live. ' It is ours, then, to give men something worth their hearing; in fact, to instruct them. We are sent to evangelize, or to preach the gospel to every creature; and that is not done unless we teach them the great truths of revelation. The gospel is good news. ...there is informationinit, there is instruction in it concerning matters which men need to know, and statements in it calculated to bless those who hear

it. It is not a magical incantation, or . a charm, whose force consists in a

collection of sounds; it is a revelation of facts and truths which require knowledge and belief. The gospel is a reasonable system, and it appeals to men's understanding; it is a matter of thought and consideration, and it appeals to the conscience and the reflecting powers. Hence, if we do not teach men something, we may shout, 'Believe! Believe! Believe!'but what are they to believe? Each exhortation requires a corresponding instruction, or it will mean nothing?"- Spurgeon, pg. 15.

Impression

As we instruct the people we are trying to "catch," in order to catch them, we must impress the truth of what we are instructing him upon his heart and conscience, so that he can "feel" it. "A sinner has a heart as well as a head; a sinner has emotions as well as thoughts; and we must appeal to both . A sinner will never be converted until his emotions are stirred. Unless he feels sorrow for sin, and unless he has some measure of joy in the reception ofthe Word, you cannot have much hope of him. THE TRUTH MUST SOAK INTO THE SOUL, AND DYE IT WITH ITS OWN COLOR. THE WORD MUST BE UKE A STRONG WIND SWEEPING THROUGH THE WHOLE HEART, AND SWAYING THE WHOLE MAN."- Spurgeon, pg. ISf.

Regeneration

Although INSTRUcnON and IMPRESSION are essential to

catching men, they are means to an end, and are empty and powerless means, without the far greater work of God. "A wonder of divine grace must be wrought upon the soul, for transcending anything which can be accomplished by the power of man. Of all whom we would fain,

(hopefully), win for Jesus it is true, 'Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' THE HOLY SPIRIT MUST WORK REGENERATION IN THE OBJECTS OF OUR LOVE, or they never can become possessors of eternal happiness." - Spurgeon, pg. 21£.

The Evidence That Men Have Been Caught

Conviction of Sin

This is an indispensable mark of the Spirit's work in us ; "the new life as it enters the heart causes intense inward pain as one of its effects. --­God never clothes men until He has first stripped them, nor does He qUicken them by the gospel till first they are slain by the law. When you meet with persons in whom there is no trace of conviction of sin, you may be quite sure that they have not been wrought upon by the Holy Spirit; for 'when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.' When the Spirit of the l ord breathes on us, He withers all the glmy of man, which is but as the flower of grass, and then He reveals a higher and abiding glory."- Spurgeon, pg. 24f.

Faith inJesus Christ

Faith in Christ is the bull's eye of the target at which we aim in fishing for men. "The proof to you that you have won the man's soul for Jesus is never before you till he has done with himself and his own merits, and has closed in with Christ. Great care must be taken that this faith is exercised upon Christ for a complete salvation, and not for a part of it. --­Genuine faith trusts a whole Christ for the whole of salvation. --- A faulty exhibition of Christ begets a faulty faith. --- We must urge the trembling sinner to trust wholly and

alone upon the lord J esus forever.. .. " - Spurgeon, pg. 26f.

Repentance of Sin

Repentance is a change of mind regarding everything. "Repentance is to leave the sins we loved before, and show that we in earnest grieve, by doing so no more."- Spurgeon, pg. 28.

"True conversion is in all men attended by a sense of sin, which we have spoken of under the head of conviction; by a sorrow for sin, or holy grief at having committed it; by a hatred for sin, which proves that its dominion is sealed; and by a practical turning from sin, which shows that the life within the soul is operating upon the life without. -­Aim, therefore , at heartbreaking, at bringing home condemnation to the conSCience, and weaning the mind from sin, and be not content till the whole mind is deeply and vitally changed in reference to sin."­Spurgeon, pg. 28.

Real Change of Life

"Another evidence that a person has been "caught" by the gospel is this: there will be found in him a real change of life. "If that man does not live differently from what he did before, both at home and abroad, his repentance needs to be repented of, and his conversion is a fiction. Not only action and language, but spirit and temper must be changed.

There must be a h armony between the life and tlle profession. A Christian professes to renounce sin; and ifhe does not do so, his very name is an imposture."- Spurgeon, pg.28f.

Prayer

Prayer is "the vital breath of godliness. If there is no prayer, you may be quite sure the soul is dead.· ­Spurgeon, pg. 30.

November, 1995 t THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon t 7

Willingness to Obey the Lord in All His Commandments

"It is a shameful thing for a man to profess discipleship and yetrefuse to learn his Lord's will upon certain points , or even date to decline obedience when that will is known. How can a man be a disciple of Christ when he openly lives in disobedience to Him? If the professed convert distinctly and deliberately declares that he knows the Lord's will but does not mean to attend to it, you are not to pamper his presumption, but it is your duty to assure him that he is not saved. --­Mistakes as, to what the Lord's will may be are to be tenderly corrected, but anything like willful disobedience is fatal; to tolerate it would be treason to Him that sent us. Jesus must be received as King as well as Priest .... 'Faith must obey her Maker's will, As well as trust His grace; A pardoning God is jealous still, For His own holiness.'

The Qualifications of Fishers of Men'

Jesus spelled out the qualifications for catching men in Matthew 4: 19--"Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.' In these words two important points are made: (1). Jesus gives us a duty: "Follow Me." The object of "Follow" is "Me," i.e., the Lord Jesus Christ, "the chief fisher of men, who was sent by the Father to gather the lost sheep~ of the house of Israel, who was and is the infinitely-wise God, and so knew the best way to catch men, and can instruct men how to be fishers of others." - Boston, pg. 7. The verb is "Follow" or 'Come after," meaning to leave behind everything to follow Christ's call and to do His bidding. (2). Jesus gives us a promise: "and I will make you fishers of men." The promise is fixed to the duty. Notice two things about this

promise: (a). The benefit promised: to be made fishers of men, ''which is not only an investing of them with authOrity, and a calling of them to the office, but also a promise of success they should have, that fishing of men should be their employment, and they should not be employed in vain, but follOwing Christ, they should indeed catch men by the gospel", Boston, pg. 8; and (b). The cause of the success of the promise: Christ Himself will MAKE Hi~ disciples fishers of men. Noone can make you a fisher of men but Jesus Christ.

So how do we become fishers of men? The way to become a fisher of men is found in faithfulness to the duty, "Follow Me." "FOLLOWING CHRIST IS ALL THAT CAN BE DONE IN BECOMING A FISHER OF MEN, for as the last part of Christ's promise shows us: "the Christian's actual becoming a fisher of men is not something that he himself does, but it is something that Christ does according to the promise."- Boston, pg. 8.

What does Christ do to make us fishers of men? (1). He makes us successful in fishing for and catching people with the gospel, by the power of His Holy Spirit accompanying the gospel they proclaim, I Cor. 1:18;IThes.1:5 "It is He that brings sinners into the net which ministers spread; and if He is not with them to drive thefish into the net, they may toil all the night, and all day too, and catch nothing."- Boston, pg. 9. Therefore, pray earnestly for the presence of God in your witnessing and preaching, and for His power that will bring change to your hearers, Psa. 110:3. (2). He calls, equips and motivates Christians to be fishers of men, holding forth the word of life to a dark and perverted generation.

8 ~ THE COUNSEL of Chalcedol! ~ No"Vember, 1995

(5:11) The Response of the Disciples to Jesus' Promise

"And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him." The disciples broke all otherties to follow jesus as their Master as His servants. "Even the large draught of fish does not detain them. They are sure that He who has given them such marvelous returns from their usual business will be ready to provide for them when, at His summons, they abandon their business."- Plummer

"Having left everything" (Mat. 19: 17) means exactly what it says. The disciples left everyt!hng: their boats, fish, work, families, homes. "Note that they followed of their own accord. jesus issues no call as He did in Matthew 4:21 and in Mark 1: 17 . There the call drew them, here the promise." - Lenski

Conclusion

Be encouraged by this story from the life ofJesus to give him gladand unquestioning obedience

"We need not doubt that a practical lesson for all Christians is contained under these simple circumstances. We are meant to learn the blessing of ready, unhesitating obedience to every plain command of Christ. The path of duty may sometimes be hard and disagreeable. The wisdom of the course we propose to follow may not be apparent to the world. But none of these things must move us. We are not to confer with flesh and blood. We are to go straight forward whenjesus says, 'go,' and doa thing boldly, unflinchingly and decidedly, when jesus says, 'do it.' · We are to walk by faith and not by Sight, and believe that what we see not now to be right and reasonable, we shall see hereafter. So acting, we shall never find in the long run that we are losers. So acting, we shall find, sooner or later, that we reap a great

reward."- John Ryle, ExpositDlY Thoughts on Luke, Vol. I, pg. 132.

Pray Daily for Ministers of the Gospel Whom Christ Has Placed in the Office and Life Vocation of FishingfoT Men

Pray that all true ministers of the gospel will be the true successors of Peter and the apostles, in that they will preach boldly and clearly "the same full and free Gospel which they preached, and live the same holy lives which they lived. These are the only ministers who will ever provesuccessfulfishermen. Tosome of them God may give more honor, and to others less. But all true and faithful preachers of the Gospel have a right to believe that their labor shall not prove in vain. They may often preach the Word with many tears, and see no result of their labor. But God's word shall not return void. The last day shall show that no work for God was ever thrown away. Every faithful fisherman shall find his Master's words made good: "Thou shalt catch men."'- Ryle, pg. 134f.

"'Ministers,' saidJohn Owen, 'are seldom honored with success unless they are continually aiming at the conversion of sinners.' The resolution that in the strength and with the blessing of God he will never rest without success, will insure it. It is the man who has made up his mind to confront every difficulty, who has counted the cost and, fixing his eye upon the prize, has determined to fight his way to it---it is such a man that conquers ."­Horatius Bonar, Words to Winners of Souls, pg. 10.

'''Periphrastic'' means "of the nature of or characterized by periphrasis ," i.e., the expressing of something in a roundabout way, (circumlocution) .

'Jeremiah 16: 16-17---"'Behold, I am going to send for many fishermen,' declares the Lord, 'and they will fish for them; and afterwards I shall send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and from the clefts of the rocks. For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes. '" Ezekiel 29:4---"And I shall put hooks in your jaws, and I shall make the fish of your livers cling to your scales .... " Ezekie138:4---"And I will tum you about, and put hooks into you jaws ... . " Amos 4:2---"The Lord God has sworn by His holiness, 'Behold, the days are coming upon you when they will take you away with meat hooks. And the last of you with fish hooks.''' Habakkuk 1:14-17---"Why has Thou made men like the fish of the sea, like creeping things without a ruler over them? The Chaldeans bring all of them up with a hook, drag them away with theirnet, and gather them together in their fishing net. Therefore, they rejoice and are glad. Therefore, they offer a sacrifice to their net. And bum incense to their fishing net; because through these things their catch is large ... ."

' These comments on THE METHOD OF FISHING AND CATCHING MEN are based on and taken from Charles Spurgeon's The Soul Winner, (New York, Fleming H. Revell Company, 1895).

' These comments under THE QUALIFICATIONS OF FISHERS OF MEN are taken from Thomas Boston's, The Art oj Man Fishing, (Tyndale Bible Society, reprint, P.O. Box 6006, MacDill, A. F. B. , Florida). Q

Biblically Correct (B. C), Not Politically Correct (P.C)

Christ College Christ College teaches

Reformed/ Calvinist theology, God' s law, limited civil gov­ernment~ free market eco­nomics, literal 6.day lIyoung earth" creation, America's Christian roots, and a lot of other things that drive the modern storm troopers of "political correctness" crazy. We are offering many new as well as existing programs:

• G rowing, already established residential program in Greenville, Sc. Emphasis on Theology/Bible and Christian Worldview.

• NEW! Correspondence program (Fall 1995 start-up)

• NEW! "Great Books" program (Possible start-up Fall 1996)

• NEW! Partnership with the new Patrick Henry Institute for the Study of Law, Government, and Christianity. MA and non-traditional law study planned.

For more info on new programs: Christ College or the Patrick Henry Institute P.O. Bo, 11135, lyn<hburg, VA. 24506 Contact: Kevin L. Clauson, M.A.,j.D., President

For more info on existing programs: Christ College, P.O. Bo, 9084, Greenville. Sc. 29604 . Contact: Jerry Cric~, Th.D., Executive Vice President

HeI~ Christ Col~ nor the Prstr1ck Hmry IfUtitute dlscrlmlMltf5 on tIM bfuls of roa,

cohK, ~ or IIfttIonQI origin.

November, 1995 t THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon f 9