And I invite you to take your Bibles and turn with me to the prophecy of Isaiah for our Old Testament reading. It’s also the basis for the selection of that hymn we just sang, Isaiah chapter 6. And our reading will be verses 1 through 8. Isaiah chapter 6. Verses 1 through 8, listen to this. This is the very word of God. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up. And the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings. With two, he covered his face. With two, he covered his feet. And with two, he flew.
And one called to another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called. And the house was filled with smoke. And I said, Woe is me, for I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said, behold, this has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away. Your sin is atoned for. And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, here I am. Send me.
And our New Testament reading and the text for this morning’s message comes from Luke. And we come this morning to chapter 5. Just by chapter count, we’re now one-sixth of the way through Luke’s gospel. Luke chapter 5, and our reading will be verses 1 through 11.
On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. And he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. And Simon answered, master, we toiled all night and took nothing. But at your word, I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats so that they began to sink.
But 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 when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
That’s the reading of God’s word. Let’s ask him to bless it to us now. Oh, our Father in heaven, as we approach the Holy Scriptures, let us do so with reverence. And we pray that you would open our ears to hear the truth. We pray that you’d minister to us and empower us by the Spirit to profit from the word together this morning. We pray that it will go forth, not in word only, but also in power. And we ask this in Christ’s name. Amen. We’ve done some study in recent months. Our brother David led us in a Sunday school course, a short course on evangelism. We’ve participated in evangelistic events together.
And as we think about our witness, think about evangelism, and as we teach about it, One of the topics that inevitably gets introduced is, what are the hindrances to our witness? What are the things that hinder us or keep us from evangelism? Because we’ve got this message, a gift from God, and there’s a world full of people that need to hear that message. Why do we hesitate? What is it? Or what are those things that hinder us from doing it? And one hindrance to evangelism might be the assumption that any given individual would have to give up too much to follow Jesus.
Not that, as we understand the gospel and the magnitude of it and what it really is and what it really does, we know in our hearts that there isn’t anything that we could give that would be too much. to lay hold of Christ. But we look at the world, we look at people perhaps living quite content in their sin, and we assume they wouldn’t be willing to give that up. Or maybe they’re pursuing a career path that’s morally questionable, and they’re successful in it, and they’re enjoying wealth, and belongings, and they’d probably have to sacrifice such things if they were to become disciples. And we, in our hearts, assume that they wouldn’t be willing to do it. So we’re reluctant, perhaps, to share Christ with them. We think they might have to give up too much.
But the fact is, we know. We know and have examples in the Holy Scriptures themselves. And we’ve seen examples in history, the history of the church, and even from personal experience, that there are many who have forsaken much for the sake of the gospel.
A few weeks ago, when we were looking together at the call of Elisha, You remember Elisha, what he was doing when Elijah laid his mantle on him? He was plowing in this field, which no doubt belonged to Elisha himself and to his family. So they were wealthy landowning people. He was plowing with 12 yoke of oxen. That means 24 oxen. That’s a lot of livestock and that indicates significant wealth. But when Elijah laid his cloak on Elisha, Elisha left everything to pursue ministry.
And we’ve seen other examples in scripture. I made note, I think, in the introduction to one of my recent sermons, that same sermon, I believe, about a man who had a very successful career in corporate law and no doubt was making good money. But he turned his back on it all, and he’s now pursuing gospel ministry.
Many have forsaken much. And they do that. I’m kind of skipping to the end here. This is a spoiler alert. But the reason they do it is because the spirit is working in them. In their flesh, naturally, they wouldn’t give up anything, particularly not wealth and tremendous advantages in order to become a Christian or in order to enter the ministry, but because the Holy Spirit makes them a new creature. Their priorities are all realigned.
Well, as we come to this passage, this beginning section of Luke chapter 5, we read that Jesus was preaching. He was preaching in the synagogues of the Jews. In particular, he was preaching in the region of Galilee. And we know that he preached not only on the Sabbath day, but he preached throughout the week. The Sabbath day and the synagogue ministry that he had were sort of the springboard for additional opportunities. So he was teaching throughout the week. and not just in the synagogue, but everywhere. You’ve heard of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus would go up on a mountain and preach and teach the Word. He would preach on the plain. He would preach in the wilderness.
And in Luke 5, we find Jesus preaching and teaching the Word of God in close proximity to a man who was very successful in his work. The man’s name was Simon. He was a fisherman. And he owned boats, and he had partners who worked along with him, and he had a very successful business as a fisherman.
Now, you know, even just from our readings in Luke, that this is not Peter’s first encounter with the Lord Jesus. In fact, just in the previous chapter, Jesus was in Peter’s house, Simon Peter’s house. And remember, Simon’s mother-in-law was sick, and Jesus healed her. So if you take just Luke’s gospel, you know that this isn’t the first time they’ve met up. And then if you combine the aggregate witness of the other gospel writers, there were numerous occasions on which Jesus brushed shoulders with Peter. And Peter may have been, to a certain extent, following Jesus, learning from him. But it’s in this passage that he receives his final and formal call to full-time ministry.
And what we see in this text, we can look at it from two perspectives, and we’re going to see two angles on this. First of all, the passage teaches us about Christ’s greatness. But it also shows us something about Christianity. It shows us what authentic Christianity looks like. And that’s going to be our main lesson from this passage. That’s going to be our big takeaway. Authentic Christianity. is hearing, trusting, and following the Lord Jesus Christ. Authentic Christianity is hearing, trusting, and following the Lord Jesus Christ. And the three points will be as follows.
Hearing the word of Christ with a focus and emphasis on his teaching and how his teaching shows his greatness. Secondly, trusting in the power of Christ. because the text shows us that he has dominion over all of his creatures. And then finally, answering the call of Christ, speaks of his authority. But first of all, hearing the word of Christ, Luke describes the scene in this way.
He says in verse one, the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God. So you’ve got a large multitude of people. It’s a crowd. And they’re pressing in. It’s like what you sometimes maybe see on television, where the paparazzi are swarming some celebrity. And they want pictures. They want to hear from them. Or fans at a game, if they see one of their favorite players coming down the sideline. Or fans at a concert, how they throng to these people that they admire so much. Or even just yesterday, I saw on television the President of the United States on the lawn outside the White House and reporters all over the place.
And they were just masked and shouting out questions, hoping that he would answer their question. And of course, they would throw on him. They would press in on him, except there’s this thing called the Secret Service. And they protect him. Well, why in this case were people pressing in on this rabbi, this teacher?
Well, the text tells us they were pressing in on him to hear the word of God. That’s a quick little point of application for us right there. Because although no doubt people came to Jesus for healing. People came to Jesus to be cured of diseases. The text says that in this particular case, the emphasis, the main reason people were pressing in on him is because they wanted to hear the word. And that’s instructive for us. The people were eager to hear it. But their eagerness to hear the word of God and their eagerness to get close to the Lord Jesus created a logistical problem. It created a security problem. And Jesus didn’t have a secret service detail.
So he got into this boat. He gets into Peter’s boat. And he preaches from it. He uses a boat for his pulpit. You see something similar if you’re looking at Mark’s gospel in chapter 3 verse 9. This is evidently something Jesus did on more than one occasion. He was teaching in Mark chapter 3 verse 9. He told his disciples to have a boat ready. I take this to be a different event. But Jesus probably on more than one occasion did this.
Just for His own safety, just for some room, He would get into a boat, go a little bit out onto the water, and then the water even helped project His voice to a large crowd there on the shore so that they could all hear the Word. But we see in this, in the actions of the crowd here, in the testimony of Scripture as it speaks of them, that authentic Christianity entails hearing the Lord Jesus Christ. You can’t call upon Him if you haven’t heard Him. And anyone who is seeking to follow Him, anyone who would call themselves a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, ought to be eager to hear the word of God.
That brings up a teaching point, perhaps an application point that we see in this text, the actions of Jesus show us the priority that the word has and should have in our lives and in the work of the church. And I’ve as I was reflecting on this passage in particular, and then thinking back on earlier things we’ve seen in Luke’s gospel, things we’re going to see later on in Luke’s gospel, and then even comparing it to other gospels. I think we see a pattern that’s instructive for us. We see it in all the gospels, especially though in Luke, and that is first Jesus teaches, then he performs signs.
Has that ever crossed your mind? Have you ever picked that out? He goes into a town, he teaches in their synagogue. The teaching comes first. Then he performs miracles, signs and healings and so forth that validate the things that the people have heard. He doesn’t go in performing miracles to get everybody’s attention and then teach them.
The pattern seems to be, biblically speaking, teaching first, then signs and wonders. which explains, I don’t know if when you’ve read Exodus chapter 3 in the past, or you’ve heard it read, if you’ve ever thought about that sign that God gave to Moses.
Remember God told Moses, go to the Pharaoh, tell him, let my people go. Moses immediately begins asking questions, he’s not sure if he’s the man for the job, he’s not sure if it’ll work, he doesn’t think Pharaoh will listen to him, and God says, gives him a sign. In Exodus chapter 3 verse 12, God says to Moses, I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you that I have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.
Have you ever scratched your head and thought, well, some sign that is. Give me a sign that I can see now to confirm that I need to go do this job. No, God says, do what I told you. And then I’ll confirm it by this sign. Obey me and you’ll receive confirmation.
He wants us to listen to his word. Hearing the word of Christ is part of what authentic Christianity is all about. So the principle is believe and trust God’s word, and he’ll confirm it. He’ll confirm it to you, too, because that’s one of the things that the Holy Spirit does for us. It confirms to us in our hearts the truth of God’s word, the truth of Christ as Savior, and the authority of Christ as Lord.
In our gospel labors, that’s what we do. We proclaim Christ. We preach the gospel. We share the good news with others. And it’s the Holy Spirit who makes it effectual in the lives of men and women and children. Hearing the Word of Christ is part of authentic Christianity. But then secondly, trusting in the power of Christ, which implies believing in His dominion. He’s a great King. He is God in the flesh. He is Lord of all. And faith goes beyond mere knowledge, doesn’t it?
You’ve probably heard at some point that there are these three components of true, authentic Christian faith. It’s not just knowing something. Faith involves knowledge, and then assent, and then trust. You can’t be saved unless you know Christ and you come to know him through the scriptures, through the message of the gospel. You have to have that knowledge. But it’s possible to have the knowledge but not believe it’s true. We all know people who know something of the content of scripture but don’t believe any of it.
So faith has to not only know but has to believe. But then it has to go further than that. True, authentic, saving faith trusts in those things that are known and believed. Authentic Christianity entails trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting in his power. And the way that comes out in the text for us today is simply this.
Jesus was not a fisherman. He had a trade. There was something he’d learned to do in order to make a living. You all know what it was, and it wasn’t fishing. Simon Peter, on the other hand, humanly speaking, he was the expert. He’d been doing this all his life. He owned his own business. He knew how to fish.
Now people don’t generally like to be corrected, do they? Most of us don’t. Hopefully we have teachable spirits. And if someone gently and in love corrects us on something related to the faith or something related to anything else, we’d be willing to receive correction from someone. But naturally, in our flesh, we don’t like correction. We don’t like to be told we’re wrong. We don’t like to be schooled by someone, especially when we’re presumably being schooled by someone who is in some way our inferior. Less experienced, less knowledgeable, less educated.
And because of that, Simon Peter’s faith is on full display when we get to verse five. Look at it with me again. After Jesus told him, put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch, Simon answered, Master, we toiled all night and took nothing. But at your word, I will let down the nets. That word is translated toiled in your ESV Bible.
The Greek word means specifically to work to the point of weariness or kind of work that involves a struggle. They worked hard, in other words. And they worked hard all night. They gave their all. They drew upon all their capabilities. They utilized all the experience and knowledge that they had acquired over careers as fishermen. And the net result was zero, not a single fish caught. Now some think, if you try to interpret, you know, what was the spirit with which Peter said these things? Was he maybe even talking a little bit condescendingly to Jesus? Like, you’re kind of a know-it-all, mister. I know what I’m doing here and we worked hard, but I’ll let him in the nets down. No, I don’t think that’s what it was. Let’s give Peter a more fair shake than that.
I think the reason those words are recorded in scripture is for our instruction. It’s so that as we approach this text, we’ll know they worked hard all night. Those words are there for us. They weren’t so much for Peter to inform Jesus, but for scripture to inform me and you. So we know the extent of the effort. And so here’s Peter’s faith. He said, we worked. But at your word, Lord, I will let down the nets.
So as it regards fishing, Simon is the expert. And in his humanity, Jesus here, with respect to fishing, is the novice. But Peter’s faith was in Jesus, the God-man. Humanly speaking, Jesus didn’t know anything about fishing. But as to his divine nature, Jesus not only knew exactly wherever his fish was in the Sea of Galilee at that very moment, but he had the power to direct them to go exactly where he wanted them to be. Because he has command over the winds and the waves and the fish of the sea.
It makes me think of Jonah. And a particular word that appears again and again in the book of Jonah, the word appointed. And how God appointed a fish to swallow Jonah. And God commanded the fish to vomit Jonah up on the shore. And when Jonah gets to Nineveh, and he proclaims God’s word in Nineveh, God appointed a plant to grow up over Jonah to shade him. Then he appointed a worm that attacked the plant and it died.
Then he appointed a scorching east wind and Jonah became faint because of the heat. God appointed all those things. The forces of nature, all the creatures of nature obey him. God is Lord of all of his creation and Jesus is God in the flesh. So he could summon all the fish in the Sea of Galilee.
Just as the crowds were pressing in on Jesus, the fish would press in on Peter’s nets and fill them to the point that they were breaking. You remember, one of the other Gospels describes Jesus’ encounter with James and John. It says they were mending their nets. I wonder if it was after this. They needed some fixing.
Authentic Christianity trusts in the power of Christ. And brothers and sisters, you and I must trust in His power. if we would be his disciples. And trust in Christ means trusting in his appointed and ordained means for the advancement of the gospel and for building his church.
Do not come up with their own gimmicks, not come up with their own tactics and ideas and inventions to bring people in, but to simply do what he told us to do. And what did he tell us to do? He should go and make disciples, teach them, baptize them. In other words, Jesus is saying, you do that, and I’ll build my church. You just follow the instructions. Let me take care of the rest.
That’s Jesus’ message to him. And in order to do that, we have to trust in his power, not on our own cleverness. Jesus is Lord. It’s our duty to the Lord Jesus to obey his word and to obey his word even when his commands seem to be opposed to our own sense and reason.
What kind of faith did it take for Peter to let his nets down again after he’d worked hard all night and caught nothing? In his fisherman’s mind, it didn’t make sense. That’s not where you fish. This isn’t the time of day for fishing, certainly not in the deep.
But Jesus said, do it. And so he did. This catch of fish proves the greatness of Christ. It shows His power. It shows His dominion over all creation, over everything that His hands have made. And that is power in which you and I can trust. Well, then finally, authentic Christianity is answering the call of Christ because He has the authority to call.
Simon Peter’s initial response after this catch of fish, he was overwhelmed, and he fell prostrate before Christ. The text says he fell down at his knees. Jesus was sitting in his boat, no doubt. And so Simon in this boat, surrounded by fish, sinking down in the water, getting dangerously low in the water because it was so laden with this massive catch. He falls prostrate. He’s overwhelmed. And as I said earlier, he’s overwhelmed by two things. He’s overcome by a sense of his own sin, but also by this powerful understanding all of a sudden of Christ’s holiness and of the holiness of this one who is sitting right there in his boat before him. And both of those things are components of true saving faith.
We have to perceive our sinfulness. And it’s not just a matter of saying, yeah, I’m a sinner. I’ve sinned, sure, I admit that. Our catechism even teaches, because the scripture teaches that real repentance means we hate our sin. And we grieve over it. It’s not just a mere acknowledgement of, yeah, my bad, I sinned. It’s a hatred of sin. It’s a grief over it. There has to be that. And that’s what Peter was sensing that day in the boat. But then with eyes of faith, we have to perceive the holiness of Jesus as well. That we’re sinners, but he is altogether sinless and pure and holy.
There’s that ad campaign. I don’t know if it’s still going on, but on television, there are these ads running ostensibly trying to get people to think about Jesus. But the campaign’s theme was, he gets us, or something like that. Maybe you’ve seen some of those ads.
He gets us. But I’m not sure I approve of the whole basis of that ad campaign. But let me tell you, he does get us. Does Jesus get us? Oh, yeah. He gets us. He knows every thought. He knows every word we’ve ever spoken. He sees and knows everything we’ve ever done.
That’s what overwhelmed Simon. His sinfulness in the presence of one who is completely holy. Now the text says that everyone was astonished, including James and John. They’re mentioned by name there. Everyone was astonished at this astounding catch of fish, and understandably so. But the spotlight here is mainly on this transaction between Jesus and Peter and the godly fear with which Peter responded to Jesus after that.
And seeing and knowing his fear, Jesus gives him a reassurance. And he issues a call. First, he says those wonderful words that we read many times in scripture and they’re so consoling and should be consoling to us as well. Jesus says, do not be afraid. How many times have we seen those words? Even it’s just in Luke and the parts that we’ve looked at together. Flip back with me to Luke 1. When an angel appeared to Zechariah, Zechariah was troubled, says in verse 12, when he saw the angel, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard.
Or in the same chapter, verses 28 and following, when the angel appears to Mary, And she, too, was afraid. He came to her and said, Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary. Or in chapter two, those poor shepherds, overwhelmed by the vision of an angel out in the fields at night, glory of the Lord shown around them, it says in chapter two, verse nine, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, fear not, we could go on. But that’s what Jesus says to Simon Peter.
And that’s another reason we read Isaiah six is our Old Testament reading. Because when Isaiah got a sense of the holiness of the one who was seated on the throne, the Lord as he was high and lifted up and his own sinfulness, what was his response? I’m undone. Woe is me. It’s the exact reaction that Peter was having in the boat that day. And Peter and Isaiah were reacting to the same person.
The same Lord. because John in his gospel says, you know when Isaiah was writing that chapter, writing Isaiah six and spoke of the angels and the holiness, he was speaking of Christ. That was our savior sitting on the throne. That was Jesus who humbled himself and was made man and dwelt among us and it was compassionate and went about doing good and healing. That was Christ that Isaiah saw on that throne. Christ being worshiped by seraphim whose voices shake the temple when they speak, saying he was holy, holy, holy.
And there he is, veiled in flesh, sitting in Simon Peter’s boat and telling him, don’t be afraid. From now on, you’ll be catching men. And there’s the call. Become a fisher of men. Peter’s been commissioned by Christ. And you notice it does not say, from now on, you’ll be fishing for men. Look at your Bibles. From now on, you will be catching men. Now, there are English versions that translate that you’ll be fishing for men.
But that’s not what the text says. That’s not what the Greek says. It’s a word that means to catch. And it specifically means to catch alive. Because fishermen catch fish not to keep them as pets or to throw them back usually, but to kill them and sell them for food. That’s not what Peter’s going to be doing when he catches man. He’s going to be catching them alive. He’s going to be catching them for life in Christ Jesus. That’ll unfold later. But you’ll be fishing, not fishing for men, but catching men.
And those words, those words in connection with the catch of fish is the basis of hope for the gospel message. isn’t it? The basis for hope for the success of the gospel. Now that catch of fish could possibly be seen as prefiguring the day of Pentecost, we saw in Acts chapter two, where Peter preached on that day and 3000 souls were added to the church. One commentator writing about this said, the great catch of fish symbolizes the many who will come to the Lord through Peter and his fellow disciples, and that they will come to faith because of the Lord’s power, not the wisdom or the strength of the disciples. That catch of fish that we read about in this passage is, it’s an emblem of Jesus’ intent for the success of his gospel. for the growth and the expansion and the triumph of the church.
Should we not pray that Christ will similarly bless our labor? Does it seem a little unrealistic to think that God might bring that 3,000 souls to faith through the ministry of Westminster OPC? Well, maybe. We’re only allowed to have 299 in here. Can God fill these pews? Yes, he can. Do we believe that he can? I think so. Do we believe that he will?
Well, if you ever doubt or if you ever become discouraged, remember this passage. Remember those nets that were so full they were starting to break. And a catch that sank not one but two boats came near to sinking them. Be optimistic about your ministry. Hope in God. Pray that Christ will fill our gospel nets with a tremendous catch of souls. Now, that statement that Jesus made to Peter, those words were spoken specifically to Peter.
You will be catching the verbs in the Greek. They are singular. But the application is to all the disciples. How do we know? We look at verse 11. When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. Not just Peter, but James and John, probably Andrew as well, who’s not mentioned by name, but he was no doubt there. They left everything. They followed him.
And of that, Leon Morris said, and again, think about this. Think about this in relation to their career. Think about this in relation to the successful business in which they were engaged together. Morris wrote, they left the greatest catch they had seen in all their lives. That catch was not as important as what it showed them about Jesus. So they followed him. They became disciples in the fullest sense. That’s what authentic Christianity does. Authentic Christianity follows the Lord Jesus Christ.
So, this passage shows forth the glory and the greatness of Christ. It shows the efficacy of his teaching. People were crowding him, pressing in on him, throwing into him. It shows the extent of his dominion over all things, including the fish, It shows the authority of His call to men, women, and children.
And it gives us a living example of what authentic Christianity really is, what discipleship is, what it looks like. Authentic Christianity listens to the Word of Christ. It trusts in the power of Christ. It answers the call of Christ. Peter, James, John, Andrew left everything and followed Him.
And that’s what every one of us must do. if we would be his disciples. Now, if that makes anyone a little uncomfortable, let me add the caveat that doesn’t mean in every case that a Christian must leave his job or leave his home. Doesn’t mean that in every case a Christian has to forsake all of his or her goods or whatever else. But what it does mean is that for anyone who wants to be a disciple of Jesus, everything has to be on the table. Everything’s on the table.
Anything that the Lord Jesus may call upon you to give up for his name’s sake, you must give up. Hold everything he has given to you with an open hand. You can scour either one of our hymnals. Both of them, if you’re so inclined, look, and you will not find a hymn called 95% for Jesus. That’s not what we sing, is it? All for Jesus. You won’t find the hymn, I Surrender Some. or I surrender most, I surrender all.
And when the gospel call goes forth and when the Holy Spirit accompanies that call with power, you and I and others become willing to surrender all. We become willing to offer up all to Jesus. In our hearts, from our hearts, we say, take my life, everything, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee. He makes His people willing in the day of His power. I think that’s what the psalmist was talking about, at least one of the things. He makes us willing in the day of His power.
When the effectual call comes, we’re willing to give it all up, anything He requires of us. That’s why these men in our text left everything and followed Him. And the Holy Spirit still does that work. so that you can surrender everything to Jesus and follow Him, and you can confidently call others to come to follow Him, no matter what trouble you may think they’d have giving up things for the sake of Christ, for the sake of righteousness. Because naturally, not one of us would give up a single thing for the sake of following Him, but we proclaim a supernatural gospel, don’t we?
We proclaim a Christ who has power to raise the dead. We proclaim and work through the power of a Holy Spirit who is almighty and who regenerates us and who brings us to God. And this is the work that our triune God, God in three persons, does for everyone, every single one that the Father has given to his Son.
Let’s pray. Father in Heaven, we are grateful for the gracious work of Your Spirit. We thank You for our Savior, Jesus Christ. We thank You for His words, and we desire to be better and more diligent students of those words. We thank You for His power and that we can trust in it, and that He’s sent His Spirit to be with us and to be in us and to remain with us. Lord, we pray that You’d give us continuous grace that we might follow after Jesus. no turning back. O Lord, may that be the prayer and the cry and the desire of our hearts and of many others. We ask this in His name. Amen.