“AT YOUR WORD” – Charles Spurgeon
AT YOUR WORD
“And Simon answering said unto Him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” Luke 5:5.
Introduction: The Power of Simple Obedience
How very much can simple obedience partake of the sublime! Peter went to take up the net, and let it down into the sea, saying as naturally as possible, “At Your word I will let down the net.” But at that moment, he was appealing to one of the grandest principles which rules among intelligent beings and to the strongest force which sways the universe—“At Your word.” Great God, it is “at Your word” that seraphs fly and cherubs bow! Your angels, which excel in strength, do Your commandments hearkening to the voice of Your word. “At Your word,” space and time first came into existence, and all things that are. “At Your word”—here is the cause of causes, the beginning of the creation of God. “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made,” and by that word was the present constitution of this round world settled as it stands. When the earth was formless and dark, Your voice, O Lord, was heard, saying, “Let there be light,” and “at Your word,” light leaped forth. “At Your word,” day and night took up their places, and “at Your word,” the waters were divided from the waters by the firmament of heaven. “At Your word,” the dry land appeared, and the seas retired to their channels. “At Your word,” the globe was mantled over with green, and vegetable life began. “At Your word” appeared the sun, moon, and stars, “for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” “At Your word,” the living creatures filled the sea, and air, and land, and man, at last, appeared.
Of all this, we are well assured, for by faith we know that the worlds were framed by the word of God. Acting in conformity with the word of our Lord, we feel ourselves to be in order with all the forces of the universe, traveling on the main track of all real existence. Is not this a sublime condition, even though it is seen in the common deeds of our everyday life? It is not in creation alone that the word of the Lord is supreme, but in providence too, its majestic power is manifested. The Lord upholds all things by the word of His power. Snow, vapor, and stormy wind are all fulfilling His word. His word runs very swiftly. When frost binds up the life-floods of the year, the Lord sends forth His word and melts them. Nature abides and moves by the word of the Lord. So too, all matters of fact and history are beneath the supreme word. Jehovah stands at the center of all things. As Lord of all, He abides at the saluting point, and all the events of the ages come marching by at His word, bowing to His sovereign will.
The Sovereign Power of God’s Word
“At Your word,” O God, kingdoms arise and empires flourish. “At Your word,” races of men become dominant, and tread down their fellows. “At Your word,” dynasties die, kingdoms crumble, mighty cities become a wilderness, and armies of men melt away like the hoarfrost of the morning. Despite the sin of man and the rage of devils, there is a sublime sense in which all things from the beginning, since Adam crossed the threshold of Eden, even until now, have happened according to the purpose and will of the Lord of Hosts. Prophecy utters her oracles, and history writes her pages, “at Your word,” O Lord.
It is wonderful to think of the fisherman of Galilee letting down his net in perfect consonance with all the arrangements of the ages. His net obeys the law which regulates the spheres. His hand consciously does what Arcturus and Orion are doing without thought. This little bell on the Galilean lake rings out in harmony with the everlasting chimes. “At Your word,” says Peter, as he promptly obeys, therein repeating the watchword of seas and stars, of winds and worlds. It is glorious to be keeping step with the marching of the armies of the King of kings.
A Life of Obedience to God’s Word
There is another way of working out this thought. “At Your word” has been the password of all good men from the beginning until now. Saints have acted upon these three words and found their marching orders in them. An ark is built on dry land, and the vulgar crowd gathers about the hoary patriarch, laughing at him. But he is not ashamed, for lifting his face to heaven, he says, “I have built this great vessel, O Jehovah, at Your word.” Abraham quits the place of his childhood, leaves his family, and goes with Sarah to a land of which he knows nothing. Crossing the broad Euphrates, and entering a country possessed by the Canaanite, in which he roams as a stranger and a sojourner all his days. He dwells in tents with Isaac and Jacob. If any scoff at him for renouncing the comforts of settled life, he lifts his calm face to heaven and smilingly answers to the Lord, “It is at Your word.”
Yes, and even when his brow is furrowed, and the hot tears are ready to force themselves from beneath the patriarch’s eyelids as he lifts his hand with the knife to stab Isaac in the heart, if any charge him with murder or think him mad, he lifts the same placid face toward the majesty of the Most High and says, “It is at Your word.” At that word, he joyfully sheathes the sacrificial knife, for he has proven his willingness to go to the utmost at the word of the Lord, His God.
The Power of God’s Word in Action
If I were to introduce you to a thousand of the faithful ones who have shown the obedience of faith, in every case they would justify their acts by telling you that they did them “at God’s word.” Moses lifts his rod in the presence of the haughty Pharaoh, “at Your word,” great God! Nor does he lift that rod in vain at Jehovah’s word, for thick and heavy fall the plagues upon the children of Ham. They are made to know that God’s word returns not to Him void, but fulfills His purpose, whether it is of threat or of promise.
The Glory of Obeying God’s Word in Small Things
See Moses lead the people out of Egypt, the whole host in its myriads! Mark how he has brought them to the Red Sea, where the wilderness does shut them in. The heights frown on both sides, and the rattle of Egypt’s war chariots is behind. How came Moses to play the fool and bring them here? Were there no graves in Egypt that he brought them forth to die in the Red Sea? The answer of Moses is the quiet reflection that he did it at Jehovah’s word, and God justifies that word. For the sea opens a wide highway for the elect of God, and they march joyfully through, singing unto the Lord who has triumphed gloriously.
Simple Acts of Obedience in Faith
If in later days you find Joshua compassing Jericho, and not assailing it with battering rams, but only with one great blast of trumpets, his reason is that God has spoken to him by His word. And so right on, for time would fail me to speak of Samson, Jephthah, and Barak—these men did what they did at God’s word, and doing it, the Lord was with them.
Is it bringing things down from the sublime to the ridiculous to talk of Peter and the net which he casts over the side of his little boat? Oh, no. We are ourselves ridiculous when we do not make our own lives sublime by the obedience of faith. Certainly, there may be as much sublimity in casting a net as in building an ark, lifting a rod, or sounding a ram’s horn. And it is clear that if it is done in faith, the simplest action of life may be sublimely great. The flash of the wave as it covers Peter’s net may be as sublime before the Lord as the glory of the Red Sea billow when it returned in its strength. God, who sees a world in a drop, sees wonders in the smallest act of faith.
Do not, I pray you, think that sublimity lies in masses, to be measured by a scale, so that a mile shall be sublime and an inch shall be absurd. We measure not morals and spirituals by rods and chains. The common act of fishing at Christ’s word links Peter with all the principalities, and powers, and forces which in all ages have known this as their only law—“He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” We too shall have fellowship with the sublime if we know how to be perfectly obedient to the word of the Lord. This ought to be the rule of all Christians for the whole of their lives—“At Your word.”
Applying “At Your Word” in Our Lives
This should direct us in the church and in the world. It should guide us in our spiritual beliefs and in our secular acts, “At Your word.” I wish it were so. We hear boasts that the Bible and the Bible alone is the religion of Protestants. It is a mere boast. Few Protestants can honestly repeat the assertion. They have other books to which they pay deference, and other rules, other guides, beyond and above, and even in opposition to the one Word of God. It ought not to be so. The power of the church and the power of the individual to please God shall never be fully known until we get back to the simple yet sublime rule of our text, “At Your word.”
Application to Ordinary Life
I. “At Your word” should apply to all the affairs of ordinary life. I mean, first, as to continuance in honest industry. “Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.” Many a man in the present trying crisis is half ready to throw up his work and run away from his business because he has toiled all night and taken nothing. Truly, the financial darkness has lasted long and does not yet yield to the dawn. But yet Christians must not murmur or leave their posts. Oh tried ones, continue to be diligent in your business, still provide things honest in the sight of all men. Labor on in hope. Say as Peter did, “Nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”
Trusting in God’s Provision
“Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.” You know that truth full well. Know this also, that the Lord will not forsake His people. Your best endeavors will not of themselves bring you prosperity. Still, do not relax those endeavors. As God’s word to you is to quit yourselves like men, and be strong, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and stand fast. Throw not away your shield, cast not away your confidence, but stand steadily in your rank till the tide of battle turns. God has placed you where you are; move not till His providence calls you. Do not run before the cloud. Take down the shutters tomorrow morning, and display your goods, and let not despondency drive you to anything that is rash or unseemly. Say, “Nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”
Perseverance in Faith
If I am speaking to those who are out of work just now, searching for a place where they can provide bread for themselves and their families, as is their duty, let them hear and ponder. If any man does not do his best to provide for his own household, he comes not under a gospel blessing. It is the duty of us all to labor with our hands for that which is good, that we may have to give to the needy as well as to those dependent on us. If after having gone about this city till your feet are blistered, you can find nothing to do, do not sit at home next Monday sulkily saying, “I will not try again.” Apply my text to this painful trial, and yet again sally forth in hope, saying with Peter, “We have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”
Application to Spiritual Profiting
II. In matters of spiritual profiting, we must at the word of Christ let down the net again. I put this first to those who have been up to this Tabernacle a great many times, hoping to find salvation. The way of salvation is open to you at this very moment, and it is “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.” You have nothing to wait for, and all your waiting is sinful. At Christ’s word, let it down again—“My Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”
Application to Life’s Business: Soul-Winning
III. The great principle of our text should be applied to our life’s business. And what is the life business of every Christian here? Is it not soul-winning? Our method of catching men is by letting down the net of the gospel. We have learned no other way of holy fishing. Men with great zeal and little knowledge are inventing ingenious methods for catching men, but for my part, I believe in nothing but letting down the gospel net, by telling out the story of the love of God to men in Christ Jesus.
May we be faithful in this great work, knowing that it is at Christ’s word that we are called to labor. May we press on, at His word, to bring the gospel to those around us, bringing glory to His name. Amen.
Charles Spurgeon