The notice which we have of our apostle, in John i., is very brief
indeed, though, doubtless, there is much wrapped up in it. "Andrew
first findeth his own brother, Simon, and saith unto him, We have
found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he
brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, He said, Thou art
Simon, the son of Jonas: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by
interpretation, A stone."
Now, we have no record here of any deep spiritual work in the soul of
Simon. We are told his name in the old creation, and his name in the
new; but there is no allusion whatever to those deep exercises of soul
of which we know he was the subject. For these we must ask the reader
to turn for a few moments to Luke v., where we have a marvelous piece
of divine workmanship.
"And it came to pass that, as the people pressed upon Him to hear the
word of God, He stood by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw two ships
standing by the lake; but the fishermen were gone out of them, and
were washing their nets. And He entered into one of the ships, which
was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the
land. And He sat down, and taught the people out of the ship."
Mark especially the moral grace that shines here. "He _prayed_ him
that he would thrust out _a little_ from the land." Though Lord of all
creation--Possessor of heaven and earth--He nevertheless, as the
lowly, gracious Man, courteously owns Simon's proprietorship, and
asks, as a favor, that he would thrust out _a little_ from the shore.
This was morally lovely, and we may rest assured it produced its own
effect upon the heart of Simon.
"Now when He had left speaking, He said unto Simon, Launch out into
the deep, and let down your nets for a draught." Simon was about to be
well paid for the loan of his boat. "And Simon, answering, said unto
Him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing;
nevertheless, at Thy word, I will let down the net." There was power,
as well as grace, in that word! "And when they had this done, they
enclosed a great multitude of fishes; and their net brake. And they
beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they
should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships,
so that they began to sink." Neither their nets nor their ships were
able to sustain the fruit of divine power and goodness. "When Simon
Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me;
for I am a sinful man, O Lord."
Here, then, we have the great practical effect produced in Peter's
soul by the combined action of grace and power. He is brought to see
himself in the light of the divine presence, where alone self can be
truly seen and judged. Simon had heard the word of Jesus addressed to
the multitude on the shore. He had felt the sweet grace and moral
beauty of His way towards himself. He had marked the display of divine
power in the astonishing draught of fish. All told powerfully upon his
heart and conscience, and brought him on his face before the Lord.
Now this is what we may call a genuine work of conviction. Simon is in
the place of true self-judgment--a very blessed place indeed--a place
from which all must start if they are to be much used in the Lord's
work, or if, indeed, they are ever to exhibit much depth or stability
in the divine life. We need never look for any real power or progress
unless there is a deep and solid work of the Spirit of God in the
conscience. Persons who pass rapidly into what they call peace, are
apt to pass as rapidly out of it again. It is a very serious thing
indeed to be brought to see ourselves in the light of God's presence,
to have our eyes opened to the truth of our past history, our present
condition, and our future destiny. Simon Peter found it so in his day,
and so have all those who have been brought to a saving knowledge of
Christ. Hearken to Isaiah's words, when he saw himself in the powerful
light of the divine glory. "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a
man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips: _for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts_." So also
in the case of the patriarch, Job. "I have heard of Thee by the
hearing of the ear; but now _mine eye_ _seeth Thee_. Wherefore _I
abhor myself_, and repent in dust and ashes."
These glowing utterances reveal a deep and genuine work in both the
patriarch and the prophet. And surely our apostle occupied the same
moral ground when he exclaimed, from the very depths of a broken
heart, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." If Simon is to
be called Cephas, he must be thoroughly broken up, and brought to the
end of himself. If he is to be used to catch men, he must learn, in a
divine way, man's true condition. If he is to teach others that "all
flesh is as grass," he must learn the application of this great truth
to his own heart.
Thus it is in every case. Look at Saul of Tarsus. What mean those
three days of blindness, during which he neither did eat nor drink?
May we not confidently affirm that they were serious days, perhaps the
most serious in the entire history of that remarkable man? They were,
doubtless, days in the which he was led down to the most profound
depths of his moral being, the deepest roots of his history, his
nature, his character, his conduct, his religion. He was led to see
that his whole life had been a terrible mistake, an awful lie; that
his very career as a religious man had been one of mad rebellion
against the Christ of God. All this, we may feel assured, passed in
solemn and soul-subduing review before the soul of this deeply,
because divinely, convicted man. His repentance was no superficial
work; it was deep and thorough; it left its impress upon the whole of
his after course, character, and ministry. He, too, like Simon, was
brought to the end of himself, and there he found an Object that not
only met his deepest need, but also perfectly satisfied all the
cravings and aspirations of his renewed being.
Now, we must confess we delight in contemplating a spiritual work of
this kind. It is truly refreshing to dwell upon conversions of this
type. We greatly fear that in much of the work of our time there is a
sad lack of depth and spiritual power, and, as a consequence, a lack
of stability in the Christian character, of depth and permanency in
the Christian course. It may be that those of us who are engaged in
the work of evangelization are feeble and shallow in the divine life
ourselves, that we are not near enough to Christ to understand how to
deal with souls; that we do not know how to present the truth from
God's side of it; that we are more desirous of showing out how the
sinner's need is met, than how the glory of God is secured and
maintained. We do not, perhaps, sufficiently press the claims of truth
and holiness upon the consciences of our hearers. There is a want of
fulness in the presentation of the truth of God, too much harping upon
one string; there is a barrenness and dreary monotony in the
preaching, arising from lack of abiding near the fountain head, and
drinking into our own souls from the inexhaustible springs of grace
and truth in the Person and work of Christ. Perhaps, too, we are more
occupied with ourselves and our preaching than with Christ and His
glory; more anxious to be able to parade the results of our work, than
to be a sweet savour of Christ to Godward.
We cannot but feel the weight and seriousness of these considerations
for all who take part in the work of the gospel. We certainly do need
to be more in the presence of God in reference to our service, for we
cannot, by any possibility, hide from ourselves the fact, in reference
to the preaching of this our day, that the fruit is small in quantity,
and poor in quality. We desire to bless God for any display of His
grace and power in souls; though we are by no means able to accredit
as genuine much that is boastfully paraded in the way of conversion.
What we long for is a deep, genuine unmistakable work of the Holy
Ghost; a work which will prove itself, beyond all contradiction, by
its permanent results in the life and character. It is one thing to
reckon up and publish a number of cases of conversion, and quite
another to see these cases made good in actual fact. The Holy Ghost
can, and does, tell us at times in the page of inspiration the number
of souls converted. He tells us of three thousand on one occasion. He
can do so, because He knows perfectly all about it. He can read the
heart. He can distinguish between the spurious and the genuine. But
when men undertake to count up and publish the number of their
converts, we must receive their statements with considerable reserve
and caution.
Not that we would be suspicious. God forbid; yea, we would earnestly
cultivate a hopeful temper of soul. Still, we cannot but feel that it
is better, in every case, to let the work speak for itself. All that
is really divine is sure to be found, even though it be after many
days; whereas, on the other hand, there is immense danger, both for
the workman and his work, in an eager and hasty reckoning up and
publishing of results.
But we must return to the lake of Gennesaret, and dwell for a moment
on the lovely grace that shines forth in our Lord's dealing with Simon
Peter. The work of conviction was deep and real. There could be no
mistaking it. The arrow had entered the heart, and gone right to its
very centre. Peter felt and owned that he was a man full of sin. He
felt he had no right to be near such an one as Jesus; and yet we may
truly say he would not for worlds have been anywhere else. He was
perfectly sincere in saying, "Depart from me," though we cannot but
believe he had an inward conviction that the blessed One would do
nothing of the kind. And if he had, he was right. Jesus could never
depart from a poor broken-hearted sinner--no, never. It was His
richest, deepest, joy to pour the healing balm of His love and grace
into a wounded soul. It was His delight to heal the broken heart. He
was anointed for that work, and it was His meat and His drink to do
it, blessed forever be His holy name!
"And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt
catch men." Here was the divine response to the cry of a contrite
heart. The wound was deep, but the grace was deeper still. The
soothing hand of a Saviour-God applied the precious balm. Simon was
not only convicted, but converted. He saw himself to be a man full of
sin, but he saw the Saviour full of grace; nor was it possible that
his sin could be beyond the reach of that grace. Oh, no, there is
grace in the heart of Jesus, as there is power in His blood, to meet
the very chief of sinners. "Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch
men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook
_all_, and followed Him."
This was real work. It was a _bona fide_ case, as to which there could
be no question; a case of conviction, conversion, and consecration.