for nought and in vain,'.' may have been often on hie lips.I Bnt he handed on the elements of success to his successors. They reaped the harvest of which his apparent failure and early deat.h were the seed. The whole arraugcment reflects glory on the consideration of the Master. III. THE _EFFECT OF THE SUOOESS UPON TIIE FISHERMEN, (V ers. 8-10.) They were all filled with astonishment. This is the prime effect of a miracle. It astonishes people. It brings t~em suddenly face to. face with snpcrhum~n power. 'l'hey stare, But. after the astom~hment comes, and 1t may be very swiftly, sober thought. It w~s s_o h_ere. Peter is broken down a~ the sight, Goodness has led him to repentance. His sm 1s now uppermost, and he cnes, "Depart from me; for I am o. sinful man 0 Lord." Did Peter wish to be separated from the Master? Nay ; but he felt he deser~ed to be.. And here we may notice how prayer is answered. Peter cries to be separated from his Saviour; but in heart he hopes to remain beside Jesus still. Hence Jesus answers the heart, and heeds not the literal meaning of his prayer.' The Lord does not depart from him, but abides with him; nay, more, arranges for Peter being alwayu with him. Goodness is meant to break sinners' hearts (Rom. ii. 4). Success of all kinds should have this effect. It is sad when "Jeshurun waxes fat and kicks" (Deut. xxxiL 15). It is blessed when, like Peter, in presence of unexpected good fortune, we humble ourselves before him who bas sent it, acknowledging that we do not in any wise deserve it. 8 IV. THE CALL OF THE FISHERMEN TO THE MINISTRY. (Ver. 10.) Peter was not the only penitent on board the sinking ships, we may be sure. He was first and chief; but the sons of Zebedee and Andrew were, we may be quite sure, penitent too. Fear pre- dominates; their notion is that they might justly be cast from Christ's presence for ever. This is just the spirit in whicb special work for God begins. - And now let us see how Jesus dee.ls with them. He says to Peter first, but the result shows that the others were included in his call, "Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men." They a.re to be promoted from being fi8hermen to be "fishers of men." It is a call, not to the apostolic office which comes later, but to the ministry. 1. It is a call away from a worldly occupation. For the ministry is an order of men set apart from tem- poral concerns for spiritual work. Worldly occupations are incompatible with it. A minister cannot do hi~ work well if compelled to dabble in business. 2. It is a call to catch =· Now, the fisherman uses every art and artifice to get the fish into his net. He toils during the night, that the fish may not see the net nor evade bis wiles. In the same way the minister is to nse every art, and even guile itself, as Paul confesses, to get souls into Christ's net. We may object to the methods some people employ to promote the gospel. They may be worldly arts-advertising, mudic, paraphernalia of all kinds. But, before condemning enthusiastic men, we should ask ourselves the question-Have we left "no stone unturned" t-0 bring men, even by moral compulsion, under the power or Christ and his truth (cf. cb. xiv. 23)? But: 3. The instr_uction is to cat;;h men alive ((c.rypio11). It is here the fishing fails us as a figure. Fish are caught and, as a rule, in the catching a.re kille<l. They lose their lives in the proc~ss. But when souls are taken in the gospel net, they are taken alive-are taken to enJoy Ji1e abundantly. In truth, the greatest kindness we can confer on souls is to get them into the net. We never live in earnest till we have been brought to him who is the Life of men. Such, in brief terms, is the meaning of the ministry. V. THE AOCEPTANCE OF THE l\HNISTEllLAL CALL. (Ver. 11.) We would say, at first sight, that the success was singularly out of place. Why grant a shoal of fish, if the fishermen are to leave them without a momeut's hesitation or delay? The purpose was to assure them that temporal success was Christ's gift; and secondly, that spiri- tual success must be preferred to the temporal, even when the latter is at its height. It was a greater surrender when they had been so successful at their fishing. But the noble men did not hesitate. They brought their ships to land, and then forsook all their "st<:ck io trade" that they might follow Jesus. The fellowship with Jesus dnring his ministry was more precious than the worlcl's wealth could ever be. He 1 Of. Beraier's 'Sermons,' tome ii. p. 351.
• Cf. Arndt's 'Leben Jesu,' zweiter theil, s. 88. ' Cf. Rohertaon, ut suvra; also Martine-.u's 'Endeavours oft.er the Cliristinn Lifu,' ltl, cd ,t.., p. 147. 011. v. 1-,,\J.) 'l'llE OOSl'EL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. 135