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As They Went
for you can say, & Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the
sin of the world (John 1:29).
But now comes a sharper test. Ten were leprous; ten called on
the name of the Lord; ten were cleansed. But only one, and he a
stranger of whom nothing was expected, returned to give thanks;
only one cast himself at the feet of Jesus; only one glorified God; and
he was a Samaritan.
And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but
where are the nine? (Luke 17:17).
During the last thirty-five years I have known directly and indi-
rectly of the healing of thousands by the power of God through the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Where are they today?
If they were all like the Samaritan, at the feet of Jesus, I believe
that many of the problems that constantly confront us in Christian
work would be solved.
Shall we not like David who, when men went in jeopardy of
their lives to fetch him water from the well of Bethlehem, refused to
drink it but poured it out unto the Lord (2 Sam. 23:15,16), say of
our lives, redeemed from destruction by His death:
 Love so amazing, so divine,
Shall have my life,
My love, my all.
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Chapter 13
Thrust Out from the Land
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, Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon,
Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
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. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great
multitude of fishes: and their net brake& And Jesus said unto
Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men
Luke 5:1-6,10
Behold this picture painted by the master artist, the Holy Spirit!
The scene is laid beside the lake of Gennesaret, the time is the early
morning and the rays of the sun are making  Blue Galilee glint like
B
a pavement of sapphire. On its shores is a press of eager men, women,
and children. Hungry? Yes, but for more than the bread that
perisheth. Thirsty? Famishing, with a thirst that no earthly fountain
can slake.
There, beside that sea, stands One who is Himself the living
bread that came down from heaven, the dispenser of the water of life
of which when any drink they thirst no more. Mystery of mysteries!
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His Healing Power
He stands, inactive, while masses of people press upon Him, not
only that their sicknesses may be healed and their empty stomachs
filled with loaves and fishes, but that they may hear the Word.
Theirs is a profound hunger, an all-consuming thirst. & man
doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of the Lord doth man live (Deut 8:3). They are dimly,
dumbly conscious of their need of life. Like Bunyan s pilgrim who
ran from the City of Destruction crying:
 Life! life! eternal life!
 Tis life of which our nerves are scant,
 Tis life, not death, for which we pant.
And yet Jesus, who came that we might have life, stands appar-
ently unmoved. He is not even looking at the starving, struggling
mass of humanity that presses upon Him. Why? Because God is not
only going to do exactly what He says, but He is going to do it
exactly as He says. He has tied Himself irrevocably to human coop-
eration in the work of redemption. He has made man s faith a deter-
mining factor in the execution of divine purposes.
We then, as workers together with him (Gk. fellow workmen),
beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain (2 Cor.
6:1). He who has constituted us His fellow workmen is He who hath
said, & My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure& I have
spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also
do it (Isa. 46:10,11).
God cannot fail, so man s cooperation in the work of redemp-
tion cannot fail. Individuals may fail; let us be passionately deter-
mined that, by God s grace, we shall not be among the number. But
God s purposes will still be carried out according to His plan, in
every detail, if He has to raise up from the stones under our feet
 children to Abraham, in other words,  stagger-nots who will,
like Paul, believe God, that it shall be even as it was told them.
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Thrust Out from the Land
What is the Lord Jesus looking at? Study the picture limned by
the brush of divine inspiration. He is gazing at two poor little ships
standing idle on the shore, and a small group of bedraggled, discour-
aged fishermen, who have abandoned them and are washing their
nets, preparatory to hanging them up to dry.
I have toiled all night and for many a day,
They say there are fish in the sea,
But I ve caught nothing, my labor is vain;
There cometh no increase to me.
I will wash out my net and hang it away,
And my fishing boat draw to the shore;
They are useless to me; I will cast out my net
In these barren sea waters no more.
Did you ever feel like that? Did you ever look like that? Do you
feel like that now? If so, it shows in your face, and you look like it.
I was rather dismayed on one occasion by something that
happened. I was walking up a very steep hill from the ocean when a
lady and gentleman in a car stopped and asked me if they might give
me a lift. (I was laden with parcels.) They were strangers to me but
I got into the car most thankfully. We exchanged a sentence or
two I don t remember just what I said but the gentleman replied,
 You must be a Christian. I felt like saying,  Don t I look like
one? For I felt they should have known it the minute they saw me.
Evidently I didn t have on what a well-dressed Christian should
wear, the outshining of the inner glory. Let your light shine; don t
pull the blinds down.
Well, even if we are conscious that we have not been feeling and
looking just as we ought, perhaps we don t look any worse than
Peter and James and John did that day; yet, Jesus headed straight for
their ships and took possession. Let us give Him a royal welcome,
for I am sure He is coming to each of us this very hour!
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His Healing Power
And as He enters, He gives the word of command, which must
be uttered and obeyed, before those poor, hungry souls on the shore
can get so much as a crumb, for we are working together with God
and cannot be dispensed with. Listen to the words: He entered into
one of the ships, which was Simon s, and prayed him that he would
thrust out a little from the land& (Luke 5:3).
The Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, who threw the stars into
their orbits and spheres into space; who swung the earth a trinket at
His wrist; whom the winds and waves obeyed, pleading pitifully
with His creatures to thrust out a little from land.  Oh, believe Me
a little at least. Thrust out from land. Don t hug the shore so tight.
Oh, thrust out from the shore of sensation, sight, sound, feelings,
symptoms, human experiences, and intellectual deductions. Thrust
out from it all.
Oh, it s heaven below to thrust out from land! Then Jesus can
teach from your ship and the poor, starving folks on the shore get [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]