THE ABUNDANCE OF THE SEA, THE SPHERE FOR THE GOSPEL
[p. 22] THE ABUNDANCE OF THE SEA, THE SPHERE FOR THE GOSPEL
2 Chronicles 8: 17, 18; Mark 1: 16 - 20; Mark 2: 13, 14; Mark 3: 7; Mark 4: 1; Mark 6: 47 - 51
We find the sea mentioned in these scriptures. The sea gives us the idea that there is much to be found beyond what we can see, and much that lies hidden in the deep. In Psalm 104: 25 we read: “Yonder is the great and wide sea: therein are moving things innumerable, living creatures small and great”. When we behold the sea, we are reminded of the immense resources which lie hidden in it. The Lord shows in His service that although the sea in its extent surpasses the knowledge of man, it does not surpass His, for He can bring to light the very fish that had a piece of money in its mouth. This speaks of how the riches of the sea are at the disposal of the Lord Jesus.
We read in 2 Chronicles 8 how Solomon went to Ezion-geber at the sea side to the east of the Red Sea, from whence the sea expanded into unknown, immense oceans. Hiram, king of Tyre, sent, for his help, servants that had knowledge of the sea. Hiram had these skilled servants at his disposal. All this speaks in type of Christ in glory with all the possibilities in His hand to fetch the treasures from the sea. I have read this in order to show the import of Christ’s service according to Mark, where I believe we find Him more often working by the sea than in the other gospels. The sea in Scripture is used in type with several different meanings. I am speaking of it now as the great realm where there are resources and where Christ is active to gain the riches which He is seeking.
We find Him first walking by the sea. The believer knows who Christ is; the Creator of all things, as Jonah says: “The God of the heavens, who hath [p. 23] made the sea and the dry land”. Jonah mentions the sea first, it was in the sea that God then intended to work, and Jonah experienced in the sea what the Lord’s discipline and instruction implied. The sea swarmed with living animals, both great and small, but Jehovah prepared a great fish, which was to swallow Jonah. This fish, which carried Jonah in its belly, testifies to the power of the will of God in the heart of the sea, for God commanded the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land, showing that if the power of man is limited, God’s power is unlimited. His will is carried out in the deep. Jonah says he “went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the bars of the earth closed upon me for ever”. But if the will of God brought him so low down, it also brought him back upon the dry land. The believer knows Jesus as the Creator of the sea. The sea is His, and He made it. How precious to see Him walking by the sea!
Simon and Andrew are casting out their nets in the sea, and as they do, so the Lord says: “Come after me, and I will make you become fishers of men”. We find at the beginning of Mark’s gospel that the thought of the sea connects itself with the fishing for men in all the wide world. It is no question of Jews, Greeks or Romans, but of men. And the sea reminds us that we must not be limited. God is not limited through the sea to any special nation. He has scattered men over the whole surface of the earth, and for that reason this fishing for men continues.
This instruction in connection with the sea liberates us from being limited to some special nation. As those who have received light, we do not wish that the dividing of the world into different nations should cease. It was God who at Babel divided up mankind into nations. As long as this condition of things exists, the world’s power is weakened. The [p. 24] more men are united, the greater is the power of evil. While we who believe acknowledge this, we do not wish to be governed by national feelings. God keeps the nations divided as long as mankind is away from Him, but God maintains unity amongst His people. In new creation there is neither Jew nor Greek; we are all one in Christ Jesus, for we are all God’s sons through faith in Christ Jesus. As believers we are thinking of all men, not of special nations. Paul says, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”.
We see now how Simon and Andrew left their nets and followed Him. They left what seemed necessary for their subsistence and life here on earth. Later on the Lord proceeds and finds James and John; who were mending their nets. Even they had that which occupied them. We find thus, dear brethren, that when it is a question of being labourers for the Lord, we ought to know about the sea; we should be like Hiram’s men, those who had knowledge of the sea. The thought is that we do something, and do it well. The Lord will not use those who are lazy, but such as are diligent, for we ought to be diligent in His service. These two, James and John, left their father Zebedee with the hired servants in the boat. That he had hired servants would suggest a higher position than Peter had, but they left their father with the hired servants and followed Jesus.
In the second chapter it says that the Lord went out again by the sea (verse 13). We have something more to learn in connection with the sea, we need constantly to be instructed as long as we are here. In Luke’s gospel we see the Lord’s patience in instructing us. The Lord went forth and saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the receipt of custom and said unto him, “Follow me”. The Lord, no [p. 25] doubt, passed by many, but He saw Levi. Levi was taken up with the things concerning the earth; he was not occupied with the sea. It is easy for us to become influenced by that with which we are occupied, our business and so on, but the Lord would make us interested in the sea, and will remind us of the greatness of the sphere wherein He is active. Our own little circle is too narrow, it may be our family circle, our business or our native country.
The Lord calls us away from every circle in order to link us together with the sea. And Levi follows Him; he leaves his place by the custom table, which all belongs to the earth, and follows the Lord. He even makes a feast for the Lord and invites such as the Lord would wish to meet. He invited many, as we find “there was a great crowd of tax-gatherers and others who were at table with them”. We find that Levi had caught the Lord’s thought. It was this kind of people the Lord had come to seek. Levi understood how the Lord, so to speak, was fishing for men, and Levi gathered them in his house. Thus we see that the Lord had won a valuable workman in Levi, for he had a house, and this house was at the disposal of the Lord. He had not invited his associates, but publicans and sinners, and they were many. In this incident we see how the Lord in Mark’s gospel draws us to His side in connection with what He is doing. I need not say that the Lord even here will lay it to our hearts to gather souls to listen to the gospel. Not only I myself but also my house should be at the disposal of the Lord.
The third scripture I read is in chapter 3: 7. As we are thus evangelical and like Levi we open our houses, we have another lesson to learn; that is, to be separate. It says the Lord withdrew with His disciples to the sea. A condition of deadly opposition had arisen against Christ. In verse 6 it says “the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took [p. 26] counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him”. When opposition arises the only thing to do is to withdraw. So that while we are evangelical and think of all men, we could not continue with a world that is at enmity with Christ. The Lord Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea, and it says that a great multitude followed Him from Galilee and from Judaea. Although the Lord withdrew with His disciples from the Pharisees, His place is continually by the sea. The abundance of the sea is in view. If some rejected Christ, others should receive Him. We need not fear that when we separate from evil, that the work of the Lord will cease.
At the end of chapter 4 the Lord exhorts His disciples to pass on to the other side. We all remember the passage and how a storm arose on the way. We are instructed here as to the power of Christ over the agitated sea. In chapter 3 we see the conspiracy of the Herodians against the Lord. The Herodians constituted a certain party amongst the people. In chapter 4 a great storm of wind arose. There is not only a certain class of people who withstood Christ, but men as a whole, driven by evil spirits. It is a very solemn consideration, that in spite of all men being in view in the gospel, they are all at the same time capable of being influenced by the power of Satan. In that way a general opposition to the truth may arise, not only from the religious leaders, but all men may be opposers. In chapter 4 we have the power of Christ over such a condition of things. He did not work any change in the Pharisees or the Herodians, but He rebuked the sea, so that its riches could afresh be fetched from it.
We find in the first part of chapter 4 that the Lord once more begins to teach by the sea. “And a great crowd was gathered together to him, so that going on board ship he sat in the sea”. We find in this [p. 27] teaching of His another deep instruction; that is, about the sower who went out to sow. Of all the different grounds where the word of God was sown, only one bore fruit, but this latter yielded much fruit, and for this reason was very encouraging. It brought forth some thirty, and some sixty, and some a hundredfold. In the gospel of Mark we find the result of sowing is increasing, and in spite of the opposition, God’s work in souls bore fruit. In Mark’s gospel we are drawn to the Lord’s side in this wonderful service, and how great is its result!
In chapter 6 we find a last instruction. In verse 46 we see how He departed into a mountain to pray, and when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and He saw them being in trouble, but He was praying for them, and about the fourth watch of the night He comes to them walking on the sea. They were in distress on the journey, for the wind was contrary. This last instruction is that we are now on the sea alone, and the Lord is on the mount praying. They laboured hard in rowing, toiling to get along, for the wind was contrary. I believe that all who have something to do in the service of the Lord know about this labour, to work when the wind is contrary. It is not like what we have in the fourth chapter where a sudden storm of wind arose, but here the wind was contrary, and at the fourth watch of the night, the Lord came walking on the sea. He is a pattern for us. He shows how we might go on and be superior to existing opposition and reach the other side.
I believe that what we have considered together corresponds to Solomon’s enterprises in the sea; we see what riches he fetched from it, and this will encourage us in the little service we might take on in connection with the sea in a sphere where everything is against us, so that the Lord might have gain through it. We either make progress, dear brethren,
[p. 28] or we go backward in our souls. Spiritual riches are the result of the brethren making progress in spite of hostile influences; they go on in the light of the present dispensation, which speaks of God having blessing for all men and that God’s desire is that His house may be enriched by new material being brought in. If no new riches or new material are brought into the house, we shall decrease and die out. But the abundance of the sea is endless. In learning from the Lord how He worked by the sea, we should by His help gain riches for the house of God.