THE FULNESS OF SUPPLY
Luke 5:3-8
Morning Meditation 8/11/2014
"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 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. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord."
These men had already been saved and baptized by John the Baptist. There were now called out to occupy the office of Apostleship in the Church. These men would receive a course in personal discipleship and would come through it to lead the church in the world-wide commission (Matt. 28:16-20). The Lord's people, through the church still maintain that commission, and will until the end of this age.
Let's notice first,
THE FULNESS OF BLESSING
The Lord's people are a blessed people. It is so easy to slip into a rut so that you don't even have time to take hold of the searing wheel. It will just follow the rut. When God gives us daily supply, we begin to think that the explanation for these things are self earned and the explanation of them are from another source. God no longer gets credit for what He is doing.
Paul states this in Romans 15:29, "And I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ."
The words "I am sure" translates " oida" and it means, "to perceive with the eyes." Paul envisioned the trip to Rome and meeting with them. It is a perfect active indicative verb. The perfect tense represents action completed in the past, and what that action completed, remains true in the present. Paul knew what the gospel would do. It had happened over and over again. So he comes to Rome with the full assurance of the manifest blessing of the gospel. Paul reminds them in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, "And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."
Paul did not put on a show for them. He did not use the high Greek in speaking to them. He wanted their faith to stand in the power of God. To do this one must do it God's way. God is not going to bless "man's way." So we see the fulness of blessing to enrich us.
This world is full of people who don't want God's blessing and they don't want you talking to them about it. Have you ever seen a person like this? Have you ever been a person like this? Next let's look at,
THE FULNESS OF GRACE TO BLESS US
There is no way to measure God's grace or His willingness to bestow His blessings on His believing children.
John 1:16-17, "And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."
What does grace mean in these verses? It means that Jesus made a way of us. First He made a way for our salvation. Romans 3:10-12 says, "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."
This is God's diagnosis of man in his falling state. Read the rest of Roman three and you will find a picture that is not pretty. God says our throat is an open sepulcher. A person like that is not going to come to the Lord. The Lord's holiness makes man in his natural state to draw back in fear, then, flee to make himself a god that he creates. How intelligent men can bow before a piece of marble or wood made into a form representing what they believe God's looks like is beyond me. Have you ever noticed the awful ugliness of the idols of this world. They are all ugly, very ugly.
Jesus came and made a way for us. God's grace is giving sinful man the right to come to Him. Jesus came to die for man so that when man's approaches God, he does it in the righteousness of Jesus. Romans 5:17 says, "For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ)"
When we come before the Lord in the righteousness of Jesus, there is no problem getting there and there should no fear from the one we worship. That is, unless we do not believe that His righteousness will stand up? Next let's look at,
THE FULNESS OF JOY TO GLADDEN US
John 15:11, "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full."
Some people believe that Jesus was a somber person who never really enjoyed His life in this world. But that is false. Jesus said to His disciples that He wanted to bequeath them His joy. When Jesus said, "that my joy might remain in you," He reveals in this statement that the disciples already had His joy. The words, "might remain," means that His joy is conditional. This verb is a aorist active subjunctive. The aorist tense represents a point of time. In this case Jesus is looking at the whole life of each disciple in one snap shot. The subjunctive mood is potential. It is there for us, but it is not compulsory. This means we can have His joy in its fulness. But we must lay hold on it.
What does Jesus refer to when He says, "These things have I spoken unto you?" This looks back on the immediate. Jesus is only hours away from the cross in John 15. He teaches them in the parable of the Vine and branches. This passage is too big for me, in the scope of this meditation, to mention all the things that Jesus said of them. The fulness of Joy is there to gladden our hearts. Next let's look at,
THE FULNESS OF THE SPIRIT TO EMPOWER US
Ephesians 5:18 says, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit."
Jesus gives the comparison of one's being filled with wine to the believer being filled with the Holy Spirit. This happened to the disciples on the day of Pentecost. Things got wild around there. They acted in such a way that some of the bystanders said, "Hey, this is nothing but a bunch of drunks. Peter comes to the defense of the church and says in Acts 2:14-16, "But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;"
Peter says, "You think these are drunk, just look to your Scriptures. Joel prophesied that this would take place."
What does the fulness of the Holy Spirit bring to the Christian's life? It brings the assurance of salvation. Paul clearly brings this out in Ephesians 1:13-14, "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory."
It also brings an Aid in worship. Paul brings this out in Romans 8:14-16, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:"
The words, "Abba, Father," are describing a deep sense of the believers realization of his relationship to the Father in heaven. This is not speaking of unknown tongues. It is speaking of the believers capacity to worship a God that cannot be seen. True worship takes place when one has proper understanding of his relationship with God. This text says, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." Don't let the misuse of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit drive you away from the truth of true worship. God meets with the true worshiper in the Person of the Holy Spirit. It is not worshiping by sight, but it is real worship where one comes into His presence and receives His fulness. When one receives His fulness, he is going to run over. Glory to God someone hold my mules!!!
Jesus said in John 7:37-39, "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified)" The words, "out of his belly," refer to his innermost being. The words, "shall flow rivers of living water," refer to the overflow.
The Lord Jesus is the source from which all fulness comes. Let's keep ourselves from evil in thought and deed. This will enable us to enjoy that fulness that passes understanding. We are living in a sad world. We can either throw up our hands and go with the flow, or, we can throw up our hands for God to fill them with His bountiful supply.
May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
