TREASURY OF SERMONS
1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003
The Progression of Peter's Faith
By Rev (Dr) Timothy Tow
(Preached at Life BPC, 10.30 am service, 29 April 2001)
(Inexperienced faith, experienced faith, and
faith that needs no experience)
Matt 8:23; Lk 5:4-9; Jn 21:15-17
The Sea of Galilee is a fresh water lake 13
miles long and 6 miles wide. It is shaped like a harp. In all our 10
Pilgrimages to the Holy Land we have always sailed across it. And we
have always experienced a calm crossing. We would never have known
how boisterous it could be until we read the short but vivid account
of the disciples’ terrifying experience. "And, behold, there arose a
great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with
the waves. . ." (Matt 8:24). Mark says, "and the waves beat into the
ship, so that it was now full" (Mk 4:37). To make it more trying,
Jesus was fast asleep. The disciples had to wake Him up, "Lord, save
us: we perish." The ship would be totally submerged in a minute.
In one of our Pilgrimages we arrived at the
hotel we were staying, which was perched on the Lake. Upon our
arrival, the wind rose to a storm that would be like the one raging
over the disciples’ boat that Jesus sailed. It would be a most
traumatic experience if we were on a boat that afternoon.
Jesus arose and rebuked the waves and the sea,
and there was a great calm.
The Bible concludes, "But the men marvelled,
saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea
obey him!" Jesus is no ordinary man. He is the Son of God. He is the
Lord of heaven and earth.
I would pick out Peter, the spokesman of the
Twelve who marvelled, "What manner of man is this, that even the
winds and the sea obey him!" He is the one above all others who rose
to a new understanding of who his Lord was. He has progressed from
his inexperienced faith. He now believes Jesus, indeed, is the Son
of the living God.
During the Japanese War we took shelter in our
Uncle’s country house at Ah Hood Road, deep inside Toa Payoh, where
it was a farmland. In the last stages of the War, Japanese shelling
of Toa Payoh was thick and fast. We all crawled into the sandbagged
shelter to hide, crying to God for deliverance. As for grandfather
he stayed at an open corner of the house and he kept to his open bed
unperturbed, praying. Ours was an inexperienced faith, his faith was
far above ours. He had experienced many deliverances from great
danger in his life in China.
What is your reaction when you meet with any
traumatic experience? Do you become fearfully desperate like the
disciples who rushed to wake Jesus up to save them? I had such an
experience crossing the Atlantic on my way to America in 1947. How,
as I clung to the railing of my bunk-bed when the ship pitched and
rolled alarmingly, I also cried, "Lord, save me!" After a storm that
held on for one week and we were delivered I progressed in my faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He had heard my prayer. He had saved me.
The second step of Peter’s faith is in his
fishing experience. The whole night he had caught nothing. Now when
it was broad daylight, when it was less likely to catch anything,
Jesus told him to launch out into the deep. As the Master commands
he is obliged to obey. To his utter amazement he caught two
boatloads and the fish nets broke. How much would the two boatloads
of fish cost? In today’s calculation perhaps $3,000? This would be a
year’s pay earned in a day. Peter was so overwhelmed by this
experience that he fell on his knees and worshipped Jesus. "Depart
from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" He felt so humbled for his
half-doubting and half-believing that he confessed himself unworthy
of His grace. But his faith was greatly strengthened by this
experience. His inexperienced faith has progressed to experienced
faith.
Have you experienced such a transformation as
Peter in the matter of earning your livelihood? Oftentimes, in our
Weekly Paper we have members who offer their salary to the Lord.
Whether it be for that extra month’s bonus on top of sudden
promotion, whether it be quick recovery from a cancer operation,
whether it be for deliverance from death in a motor accident, it is
a testimony of the progressing of their faith. Having experienced
God’s goodness, their faith has developed to experienced faith.
During my study in America, God supplied my
needs in a wonderful way by giving me odd jobs when I needed them,
or by Christian hands mindful of me. Henceforth I had no worry of my
future needs. This is my experienced faith. Will you, young people,
learn to trust in Him more?
The third and last episode in Peter’s life is
his fishing experience with his six friends on the Sea of Galilee
after the resurrection of our Saviour. Again they caught nothing. In
the early morning hours when they were cold and shivering came
Jesus. He directed them to cast the net on the right side (for they
were casting on the wrong side). In no time they pulled in 153 great
fishes. On top of this big catch Jesus prepared breakfast, steaming
hot fish and bread for them.
Then Jesus tested Peter. "Do you love me more
than these?", meaning the good catch of fish. Peter loved his Lord
who gave him a good catch this second time. He is doubly convinced
his livelihood is assured. His faith is so strengthened that he
needs no more such experience. This is double, yea triple faith.
Peter is now completely sold to his Lord. Whatever He requests of
him, he will gladly surrender, even life itself. Jesus wants Peter
to be a pastor of His flock. And Jesus wants Peter to remain
faithful, even to death. "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou
wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou
wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy
hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou
wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should
glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow
me" (Jn 21:18-19).
Every disciple chosen by the Lord and so much
loved by the Lord should follow Peter’s example. Another who served
God like Peter is the Apostle Paul. Paul and Peter both died a
martyr’s death for their Saviour. Their faith was so strongly
fortified that there was no question to what extent they would serve
their Lord.
We who are His servants, whether full-time or
part-time, should be willing to suffer and die for Him. But there
are so few who will answer Jesus’ call today to serve Him as a
pastor.
From inexperienced faith, Peter progressed to
experienced faith and from experienced faith he attained to such a
solid faith that it needed no further experience. Can you say that
of yourself?
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