Luke 5:8-11
When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men and women." And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
Simon Peter's reaction to this unexpected catch of fish brings to mind the story following Jesus' resurrection told in the gospel of John 21:1-14. Again, Peter is fishing with his companions and again they didn't catch anything. Only this time Jesus is waiting for them to come-a-shore.
John 21:4-6
Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, do you have any fish?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some."
They realized because of this miraculous thing that this is the lord and he has breakfast waiting for them on shore. And so, they didn't question that it was indeed him, and he served them.
Standing in the presence of The Lord is a humbling and powerful thing. Seeing The Lord at work in our lives is always going to make the Spirit filled disciple penitent and humble. Simon Peter is so humbled by these fishing trips with Jesus that he can't even stand. He cannot even stand himself.
Luke 5:8
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"
Whether Christian people like it or not, conviction is a primary work of the Holy Spirit. In fact everything about being Christian has to do with this in some manner. Let's look at prayer for instance. When we pray, it's about adjusting our will to the Lord’s will. So often we pray, "if it is your will oh Lord..."
"Your will be done..."
Prayer is always the molding of our will to the Lord’s will. And even if we don't say those words, when we give sincere thanksgiving, we are thanking the Lord for his will over our lives. Even Jesus said, "but not by my will Lord, but your will be done" at the end of his prayer in the garden on the eve of his trial.
The point of this lesson is that submission of one's will and reverence for the will of God are the posture of the penitent people of God and his purpose for them.
For instance, following this fishing trip with the newly appointed disciples, Jesus encounters a diseased man.
Luke 5:12
While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."
So again, we can see the reverence and submission to God's will. "if you are willing" he says.
Luke 5:13
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him.
Some would call this man's submission, "faith". I suppose it is indeed. We don't know what the leprous man believed about Jesus. We don't know what sort of doctrine of acceptance to Jesus' Lordship this man had worked out in his own mind and heart. But we do know his posture. He has the posture of a penitent man. And a man willing to submit his will to the Lord's will. We know that he believed Jesus could make him well. And later on we come away knowing that Jesus linked physical healing with the forgiveness of sins.
So, there are many things we can learn about how the Lord operates in his ministry among the people. But the first thing we should notice is the diversity of ways in which the Lord operates. We should notice that there is no fixed pattern to how he heals or forgives people. And I believe that's on purpose. I believe this because the propensity of human nature is to seek patterns so that they can be repeated and reproduced and eventually evolve into human traditions. And even in the Christian communities, we see this happening all the time throughout the history of the Christian church in fact. We see Christian people always looking for a formula, as if faith was something you could package in a supplement pill. Faithfully take these supplements and you will achieve sanctification. The people want a workout program. And they need workout coaches. And we seek after these things because we mistakenly think that God test us in order to have us pass or fail these tests so that he can discover what's in our hearts. But if you think about that just for even a second, you realize God already knows what's in our heart. So why then would he need us to be tested in anything? Well of course the simple answer is that the test isn't for him to discover what's going on in our hearts, the test is for us to discover the condition of our own hearts.
God is demonstrating to us what's already happening in us. He's showing us what we are truly made of. Sometimes it's painful. Sometimes it's demonically driven. Sometimes it's sloth and laziness that's afflicting our soul. Sometimes it's anger and depression. All these trials of life have their roots dug in down deep in our hearts. And no one, not even the Christian is exempt from these trials and hardships.
"God had one son without sin, but no son without a cross."
- Thomas Manton (puritan writer)
There's a great example of this in 2 Chronicles 32:31b
"God left him [speaking about Hezekiah] to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart."
God already knows what's in Hezekiah's heart. So this test set before Hezekiah is for Hezekiah's own sake, so that he would know his own heart. The Spirit is assisting Hezekiah in figuring out his weakness of faith. His trials are helping him to inventory his strengths and weaknesses of faith. And one of the most amazing fruits of this work of The Spirit is rejoicing and praise comes from it. The tests bring about in us a humble faithfulness and a rich love for God's blessings. It brings about confidence and contentment, even though it comes with conviction. God allows these things to keep us humble and to wean us off of our worldly ways of thinking.
As the Spirit works on our lives, he's burning off our dross. He knows those things aren't making us truly happy. He knows they hold no lasting value for us. So, he puts them to the test so that WE finally know what he already knows about us. All these things are just holding us back, and he knows it.
The Spirit also uses these trials to call us. They cause us to reflect on our ways which calls us to eternal hope in Christ by showing us the bankruptcy of our ways. This is the power of conviction.
Habakkuk 3:17-18
"Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fails, and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation."
Habakkuk sings praise through the testing. He moves along in his faith with humble joy. And this is the value of trials and tests, to keep us from becoming self-important...
2 Corinthians 12:7
"So, to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited."
Just in case you're thinking of yourself as a superhuman Christian because of your amazing ministry, here's a thorn in your side to keep you humble. And notice with Paul, it's a message that harasses him. It sounds like it's the first century version of social media. Paul is doom scrolling through the letters he's getting from his churches. And he's buffeted by these people and their obsession with foolishness and heresies. These people he loves, like a father loves his children, are misbehaving and it's making him insane and it's sickening at times. It's challenging to his self-control. But he's learning patience and contentment from it.
Deuteronomy 8:2
"And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not."
Testing who to know?
God? Of course not, God knows already.
The test is for you to know your own heart.
Romans 8:16-16
"The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him."
We're troubled in order to be glorified in Christ. We're called to a heavenly hope in Him. And this reveals what we truly love in our hearts.
Deuteronomy 13:3
"You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul."
The Father wants you to know what he knows. He wants you to see what you're doing the way he sees it. Conviction comes, exhortation comes, rebuke and correction come to teach us to value God's word and his favor. Faith teaches us through trials the blessing of obedience.
Psalm 66:3
"Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you."
Jesus is our example of this...Jesus in the flesh...
Hebrews 5:7-9
"In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him"
What happened to Jesus in the flesh?
"He learned obedience through what he suffered."
He's in the garden weeping and crying out in anguish and he's being revealed in it as perfected in his obedience to God's trials.
Suffering comes, [and this brings us full circle now back to our beginning scripture focus], to help us and equip us to help others. We are prepared by suffering to make us fishers of men and women.
Strengthen your brothers and sisters.
Luke 22:32
"I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."
The worth of a solider is never known in times of peace. Your endurance makes you more useful in Christ's kingdom. The trials strengthen us and calls us to strengthen others. ALL for the glory of God to the praise of Jesus Christ.
God is making these things happen so that your faith will do the things he has willed for you.
Amen.