 Here we are. We're in John chapter 21. We're going to begin at verse 1. We're going to read to verse 14 and Then we'll pick up after we do those verses in verse 15 and move on to the conclusion of our study so beginning in John chapter 21 at verse at verse 1 and John writes after these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias and In this way he showed himself Simon Peter Thomas called the twin Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee the sons of Zembody and two others of his disciples were together Simon Peter said to them. I'm going fishing. They said to him. We are going with you also They went out and immediately got into the boat and that night they caught nothing But when the morning had now come Jesus stood on the shore yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus Then Jesus said to them children. Have you any food? They answered him no and he said to them cast the net on the right side of the boat and you'll find some So they cast and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter hits the Lord Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord he put on his outer garment for he had removed it and plunged into the sea But the other disciples came in the little boat for they were not far from land about 200 cubits Dragging the net with fish Then as soon as they had come to land they saw a fire of coals there and fish laid on it and bread And Jesus said to them bring some of the fish which you have just caught Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land full of large fish 153 and although there were so many the net was not broken And Jesus said to them come and eat breakfast yet none of the disciples dare to ask him Who are you knowing that it was the Lord? Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them and likewise the fish This is now the third time Jesus showed himself to his disciples after he had raised had been raised from the dead And so what we're going to be looking at tonight as we continue and conclude our study in the Gospel of John is We're going to see that chapter 21 was written with two purposes in mind, and you'll see this clearly in just a moment One of the purposes is to record the restoration of the Apostle Peter Because we remember that the Apostle Peter had denied knowing Jesus Christ And so one of the reasons that we find chapter 21 was written is to record the restoration of the Apostle and secondly it's going to be to to Correct an error concerning John and the error you'll see that error in verses 23 23 a Rumor that had gone out concerning him and we'll see that in just a moment And so as we're about to look into this let's lay a foundation We know that the Apostle Peter had boasted that he would never deny Jesus He had even gone so far as to tell the Lord I will even die for you in John chapter 13 We saw in verses 36 through 38 how it says that Simon Peter asked him Lord, where are you going? Jesus replied where I'm going you cannot follow now, but you will follow later Peter asked Lord, why can't I follow you now and he went on to say this he said I will lay down my life for you and Jesus answered will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth before the rooster crows you will disown me three times I will lay down my life for you the Apostle had said So later that evening Jesus had been taken to the home of a man by the name of Anas and he had been interrogated And Peter and John had been granted entrance into a courtyard and well Peter and John were there when they had entered in when Peter was there. He denied the Lord. He denied Jesus three times Now Luke gives us a little insight into what had happened after Peter denied him the final time because Luke tells us in chapter 22 verses 61 and 62 that after he denied him the Lord turned and looked at Peter and Peter remembered the word of the Lord how he had said to him Before the rooster crows you will deny me three times and Luke tells us Peter went out and he wept bitterly We begin by acknowledging a very simple thing that we need to acknowledge Peter is still dealing with his failure And we're going to be seeing how the Lord ministers to the ones Who have failed? We will be looking at in a moment the restoration of his beloved apostle So as we begin verses one and two tell us that Jesus is in northern Israel, it's interesting that you have here the in verse one the sea of Tiberias The sea of Tiberias is also the lake of Ganeser it is also The sea of Galilee is known by different names. That's where he's at. He's there by the sea of Galilee Now a command had been given to them by an angel through Mary Madeline In mark 16 it says in verses six and seven he said to them don't be alarmed You seek Jesus of Nazareth who is crucified. He's risen. He's not here see the place where they laid him But go tell his disciples in Peter that he's going before you into Galilee There you will see him as he said to you So he had told the angel said go and tell his disciples and Peter Peter is already being singled out But they were they were told that they would see him in Galilee. That's where they are right now They're in Galilee. They're at the sea of Tiberias And the center of this story is going to be the apostle Peter And so as this is taking place here It says that he's there verse two. He's there with several of the other Apostles and all and in verse three he speaks and verse three says Simon Peter said to them I'm going fishing And they said to him we hope you drown. No, they said to him We're going with you also They went out and immediately got into the boat and that night they caught nothing Now what's happening here? Simon Peter Is returning to his old life The life of a fisherman All the way back in Matthew chapter four verses 18 and 18 through 20 We have the call of the apostle Peter who was a fisherman And so this passage gives us insight into his influence The influence that the apostle Peter wielded over the others Now he's making a statement here notice with me again in verse three when he simply says I'm going fishing What provoked him to return to this old occupation? What provoked the apostle Peter? To return to his old life if you will And there are various questions people have asked there are various things that they have said related to this Was it impatience? And jesus hadn't appeared he got restless It did he forget his commission jesus said in chapter 20 verses 19 through 23 given them He had given them in a a commission. Did he forget that commission so quickly? Did he have practical concerns like making a living taking care of his family? We don't know All we know is that he decided to go to work And we know that as he made the decision his friends followed his lead They also got into a boat They also went to work and they went to work some of them at their old occupations. They were fishermen And this is what happens the the influence that the apostle Peter wields is still very strong And it says in verse 3 it says they went out and immediately got into the boat and that night notice They caught nothing You might want to underscore the words they caught nothing Because When you're not obeying the lord All of your pursuits bear no fruit And it doesn't just affect you by the way When you're not obeying the lord it affects you But it also affects your friends And it also affects your families When I as a believer Who have influence with others When i'm not exercising my influence for good Then I have a tendency of influencing others Away from where they should be going And the apostle peter has a tremendous amount of influence But the influence that's being wielded in the simple statement I'm going to go fishing The influence is to drag them back into their old life And so as this is taking place It says in verse 3 they went out immediately got into the boat that night they caught nothing But when the morning had now come Jesus stood on the shore Yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus They were apparently far enough out to not be able to make him out in the dim light And they didn't know it was Jesus And Jesus said to them children have you any food and they answered him No And he said to them cast the net on the right side of the boat and you'll find some So they cast and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish Think about that one for just a moment How big is the boat? It's not that big If it's the size of the boat that we get on when we're at the Sea of Galilee and traveling across it It's it's good size. It's bigger than a row boat But it's not a battleship So it's probably I can't remember. I'm not good at distances But it's probably from one side to the other as far as being wide It may be about 20 feet wide or so about 20 feet So does that make sense to you? And I'm sure I have some fishermen in this room right now You're in a boat. It's 20 feet. You've been dropping your nets. We'll say on the left side And somebody says well throw it on the other side. Yeah, right 20 feet away. You're gonna I'm gonna you know fishermen That's kind of a joke in some ways. You got to be kidding me You're telling me there's going to be a school of fish on the opposite side of this boat But that's what Jesus says. Do you have any food? And of course they're saying no In essence, he's saying you've been busy laboring all night Do you have any fruit from your labor? And their answer is no So that's when he says cast the net on the right side. You're gonna find some Now, what does that really mean obey me? Obey me and you will bear fruit Listen by obeying him Even when not totally understanding his reasons Will result in blessings Something to always remember is his ways Will always be mysterious to us His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts He's different Trust in the Lord with all your heart And lean not until thine own understanding And all thy ways acknowledge him He will direct thy paths Don't lean unto your own understanding There are times when the Lord has something prepared for you that you simply don't know is there And so what he's saying is I simply want you to move into this area Because when you're in this area, that's where I'm going to meet you. It's a simple act of obedience You have your nets. You've dropped them on one side of the boat Drop them on the other side. How difficult is that? But man's pride being what it is might resist such a command These men didn't and so they simply obeyed a simple command And I'm telling you and some of you know exactly what I mean There are times when the Lord may move you in a certain way to a certain place To do something that doesn't seem to make any sense But in the midst of all of that he shows up in a special way And that becomes one of the memories that you cling to when you begin to realize how God met you And how God moved in your life and that's what's taking place here. They didn't understand all the reasons But by obedience a simple obedience to the simple command There was a blessing And so it says in verse seven therefore That disciple whom jesus loved which is john said to peter it's the lord Now when simon peter heard that it was the lord he put on his outer garment before he had removed it and he plunged into the sea So this disciple whom jesus loved said to peter it's the lord now It may be that that there was a memory of what had taken place that was recorded in the gospel of luke in chapter five Where early on in the ministry jesus was there and he was at the sea of galilee and And the apostle peter and and some of the men were there After a night of fishing and and a whole multitude of people had surrounded christ And they wanted to hear him as he brought forth the word and because there were so many he turned to the apostle peter And he said to peter he said I want to use your boat cast out a little bit from the shore so i can speak And uh and so peter you know willingly Willingly did that and and we know the story we know how jesus was there and he ministered And then he turns to the apostle peter and he says to him You know let's cast out your nets into the deep and and peter looks at him and and i i love that story You know it's it's a great story and peter looks at him and and you can almost see this great fisherman As he's looking at the master and he's trying to explain to this carpenter turned preacher What fishing is all about? and he says you know We've been out all night And we've dropped our nets and we've caught nothing You don't drop your nets during the day when the fish can see the net coming down It just causes the fish just to move away from the net So we fish at night because they don't see the nets Let me explain to you fishing 101 jesus you know and and that's how it works and so You know we've been fishing and laboring all night and we've caught nothing But this is where it's beautiful and it's something to learn you can see this in in luke 5 1 through 11 But it's when he says nevertheless at your word And he dropped the nets and when he drops the net The nets are so full And you can see the excitement taking place on that ship as they're pulling in this heavy catch of fishing That's when the apostle peter Looked at jesus and it seems that it was one of those moments when he realized this is not just a Carpenter turned preacher. This is something greater than that and that's when he looks at him and he says Lordy depart for me. I'm a wicked man He saw himself when he saw jesus is what happens and depart for me I'm a wicked man. He saw himself and maybe this is helping them Because it may be reminding them of how jesus had done that before cast out your nets You'll catch a draft of fish and oh my it's the lord It's the lord Well as this is taking place I mean it says in verse 8 the other disciple came in The little boat they were not far from land about 200 cubits Dragon the net with fish a cubit is usually measured at 18 inches Well as soon as they had come to land they saw a fire of coals there and fish laid on it and bread and jesus said to them Bring some of the fish which you have just caught Simon peter went up and dragged the net to land full of large fish 153 And though although there were so many the net was not broken and so This there's so much here that you could see and i'm not going to touch on but A couple of things that i'd like to point out here He says In verse 11 that peter dragged the net to land full of large fish 153 Peter dragged it it doesn't that doesn't seem to indicate that there were others helping him And if he did this alone, can you imagine how much weight that would have been 153 fish? And so that's why people when they refer commentators will speak of peter this way. They'll say that burly fisherman You know thick. He was thick. Why did they say that? Well, I can't pull in 153 goldfish And this And so he dragged them up to land And second thing one of our one of our guides pointed this out He said, do you know there's a significance to the number 153? And when we're in israel one of our guides was saying that he said during the time of christ That's how many nations they believed were in the world 153 nations and so what you're getting a picture of is peter Becoming once again a fisher of men Going to all the nations To bring them to saving knowledge of christ. That's what we're going to be looking at in just a moment And so as this is taking place here Jesus I want you to see this in when it says in verse 10 when he said Bring some of the fish which you just caught. I want you to notice Jesus provided for them But they added to what they had been given They added To it from his increase Because we only give back what we've received One of the scriptures that I like And there's so many but this one's Romans 1135 you might want to remember it There's a question who has ever given to god that god should repay him Who is first given to him that he owes you anything in return? All I have ever been able to give to god is out of the substance. He's already provided for me It already belongs to him the cattle on a thousand hills everything belongs to him And so all you ever do when you give to the lord is give to him that which already belongs to him Who has ever given to god that god should repay him In first Corinthians chapter 4 verse 7 paul said it like this Who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you didn't receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast? And so you did not So simon peter went and he dragged this this net to land. It's filled with large fish He brings it And in his fleshly effort he's strong enough to drag a heavy net But spiritually He's become unable to fish for one man And so as he's there in verse 12 Jesus said to them come and eat breakfast And none of the disciples dared ask him. Who are you? Knowing that it was the lord Jesus then came and and took the bread and gave it to them and likewise the fish This is now the third time Jesus showed himself to his disciples after he was raised from the dead So jesus is still giving them the example of service There he is serving them And this by the way gave left a great impression on the apostle peter because in ax chapter 10 verses 40 and 41 The apostle said him god raised up on the third day and showed him openly Not to all the people but to witnesses chosen before by god even to us Who ate and drank with him after he arose from the dead And verse 14 says this is now the third time jesus showed himself to his disciples after he was raised When he says this is the third time this is the third time recorded in the book of john You see it in john 20 verse 19 chapter 20 verse 26 and then here And so now we begin to move into the restoration of the apostle peter verse 15 When they had eaten breakfast Jesus said to simon peter simon son of jonah Do you love me more than these? He said to him yes lord, you know that i love you He said to him feed my lambs He said to him again a second time simon son of jonah Do you love me he said to him yes lord, you know that i love you He said to him tend my sheep He said to him the third time simon son of jonah Do you love me Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time do you love me And he said to him lord You know all things You know that i love you And jesus said to him Feed my sheep We'll spend some time now looking at restoration Because this section is a section in john's gospel that deals with that subject This section deals with the apostle peter's restoration To fellowship with jesus and service to the lord The word restoration it's a word that we use we speak about that when we're talking about furniture that's been restored and all Restoration speaks of bringing something back to its original condition And what we're having here is the story about jesus restoring the apostle peter To full fellowship with himself He's restoring him to original condition So in viewing the passage we get insight into how the lord Ministers to us how the lord our shepherd cares for us Remember in psalm 23 verses 1 through 3 how it says the lord is my shepherd I shall not want He makes me lie down in green pastures He leads me beside the still water He restores my soul the word restores in the hebrew He refreshes he repairs my soul Your soul cannot be repaired through any human agency I want you to I want you to know this I want every believer in this room to understand this tonight You cannot be talked in just Just through conversation You cannot be talked into health You can be given You can be given great insight you can be given great wisdom from people But it takes the power of the holy spirit United with the word of god Received by faith to have a refreshed soul That refreshed soul comes through the gospel of jesus christ And the purpose of the church Today as it has always been Is to bring the word of refreshment to thirsty souls So we can create a climate of morality And I believe that a climate of morality that's good is a is a good climate I would prefer having Cities that are filled with goodness Much more than cities that are filled with evil all of us agree to that But goodness in and of itself Is not salvation And sometimes and I'm I'm going to be real with you guys You know, I'll be gone for a week. You can get over it I I get concerned For the church in this day because it seems to me that the church is forgetting the message of the gospel is to restore souls And it seems to me that sometimes we're sidetracked to try and restore america I want america to be restored god knows I do All of us do I love the united states I loved it enough to volunteer for the draft to go into the military and serve my My country I love my country. I don't think anybody would ever think I don't But the country needs more than moral goodness guys. Don't forget this the country needs jesus christ Don't forget that In all the goodness that we do i'm Trying to be i'm trying to be not careful, but clear The thing that concerns me is I really suspect that That we're we're the church is in danger Of trying to reform america Instead of bringing america to christ And that concerns me Because we're busy busy and I think we should be concerned and and that's why i'm trying to be careful I think we we should be concerned about all the issues that we're concerned about But i've also seen that the more we hear about the evil the angrier we get at evil people And the angrier I get at evil people the less love i'm going to have for them And sometimes even the less less willingness I might have to go out of of my way to try and win them to I'm telling you i'm concerned for our nation right now Because we're we're moving to try and create an artificial goodness And I think the church sometimes forgets That that that we are so yes, we are like yes We make our our voices known and in this country we're capable of doing that in a variety of ways Including our vote and I think every believer ought to vote I believe that with all of my heart We ought to vote I vote I voted every election I vote because it's my moral obligation I want to vote I do vote so i'm not opposing that and and i'm trying to be careful because I don't talk about this subject and And and there's reasons for it I just want to be careful to remember That a soul is restored Not by moral laws A soul is restored By the power of the holy spirit through the word of god and cultures are transformed Not by bringing in you know great presidents or You know great supreme court justices thank god for those things and I believe we need those things and I don't want to be misunderstood And I think that what we're going to see is we're going to see a huge battle that's going it's already starting There's so much anger out there and there's so much intimidation And uh, and I know that we all know that i'm not saying something we're not aware of And if trump should win again, just be ready Because if all of this anger for four years has been built up to this moment, it's going to continue I would think into the next four I'm trying to be careful not to go into political things with you not because I can't but because I want to be careful To make sure i'm clear with what i'm trying to say We're looking for a revival. We sang this today revival Is an awakening The nation can't be revived because unbelievers are dead It's the church that's revived It's the church that's awakened because we're alive in christ Before you're born again Ephesians chapter two go home and read it if you'd like it's very clear Speaks concerning those who don't know christ are dead in their trespasses and sins They're spiritually dead So it's like me trying to get a corpse To do good things They're spiritually dead revival Is when the church wakes up Comes back to life So the question has to be what is a revival We we sang about it tonight bring revival It's simply the awakening of the church to the first things And what are the first things come back to the first things the things that we did when we first got saved Worship the lord serve jesus christ loved him with all of our heart The first things got into his word Prayed Shared his gospel the first things walked in the spirit manifested the gifts of the lord Those are the first things served him with all of our hearts. And that's what he wants us to do when the church Awakens to that the church is reviving is awakening But the thing that brings that reviving Is not political rallies It's the gospel It's the message of transformed lives And the culture is transformed Not because we have great judges and a great president will say or a great cabinet or Whatever it that the the the culture has changed because the people who make up the culture are transformed And the people in the culture who are transformed are transformed Through the power of the holy spirit the renewing of their mind according to romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2 As they offer themselves living sacrifices to god And so the transformation takes place as god washes us by his blood our minds are cleansed Our lives are changed the culture is transformed and it's not because we did something physically It's because god did something spiritually And so with the apostle peter He's received a commission jesus already breathed on him said receive you the holy spirit Whosoever sins you remit they are remitted whosoever sins you retain they've retained they're retained of them What's that mean? He's already given him a commission and yet he has to restore him Because the apostle peter is there eating a meal at a at a fire around a fire And it's got to be tense Have you ever had a problem with one of your brothers or sisters some of you love very much? Maybe your dad or your mom for that matter or maybe granny your grandma and it's Thanksgiving And you show up and you and you tell you i'll take it from a male perspective You just tell your wife, you know what my brother's mad at me. It's going to be tense at the table It's going to be tense at the table And she says well, you know it ought to be you're a punk. No, she says You got to deal with it and have you ever done anything like that? I know all of us. It's human You know, there's something between us Let's talk it out. We've got to talk it out. We can't just let it separate us We got to talk it out But you're there at the table and and and everybody's aware that there's there's you know, there's a problem here I I I see in my mind's eye the apostle peter there. He's eating at a at a eating you know Eating some fish with the guys and jesus And jesus breaks the silence peter But notice how and i want to develop this with you Again in verse 15 When they had eaten breakfast jesus said to simon peter Simon son of jonah. Do you love me more than these jesus breaks the silence now This is at the first time that peter's been in contact with the lord. He'd already Seen the lord on a couple of occasions But with all the activity that's going on He's living with the knowledge of his denial He is spiritually active But he has unfinished business He's got a wound and this wound hasn't been healed And if that wound isn't healed he'll never be fully used You see there there was a an open failure There was an open denial And because of this there needs to be an open confession And an open restoration peter had sinned in full view of witnesses And because he had as a leader That sin has to be dealt with openly because everybody's aware of it later on in first simon the 5 19 and 20 Paul said do not entertain an accusation against an elder Unless it is brought by two or three witnesses And those whose sin are to be rebuked publicly So that the others may take warning The sin was open the rebuke is open Again only three weeks or so earlier. He had denied christ and peter hadn't forgotten his own words Though all were to forsake you I never will I will die for you So he hasn't forgotten what he had said and and there's no doubt in his mind. They're being replayed These words are haunting him It's like when king david was writing concerning his moral failure with bass sheba in psalm 51 when he said in verses one through four Have mercy on me. Oh god According to your unfailing love According to your great compassion blot out my transgressions Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin For I know my transgressions my sin is always before me Against you you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight So that you may be proved right when you speak And justified when you judge My sin david said is ever before me. You see sin can't be swept under the carpet and forgotten It can't be excused. It can't be renamed Sin isn't something you ignore it remains with you it haunts you it accuses you You can't deny its existence by saying others do the same thing therefore. It's okay You can't call it a mistake an error a mental lapse a culturally acceptable action You can't blame it on your parents or your friends or boss circumstances the government You can't rename it. You can't call it a disease a preference. You can't legalize it It's still a sin To be healed And to have peace and restoration Sin must be brutally dealt with It needs to be recognized It needs to be acknowledged It needs to be named It needs to be confessed It needs to be repented of And it needs to be forsaken And when that happens restoration to god and restoration with others is possible You see peter's restored to fellowship with jesus And then he's going to be restored to his ministry And there jesus is making this meal. He has his disciples with him It's been eaten like i mentioned a moment ago probably in uncomfortable silence Peter led the disciples back to their former occupations. They've been fishing The tension must be growing There they're quietly with the lord alone on the shore But jesus in verse 15 breaks the silence simon son of jonah. Do you love me more than these? More than these what? Do you love me more than these things more than fishing? Do you love me more than your boat? Do you love me more than your business? No Do you love me more than you love your friends? No I don't think he's asking that I think he's saying do you love me more than these other men love me Because that's what you said You said they'll all deny me yet. You never would you said you would die for me And the words of christ by the way and let me say this very briefly When jesus is speaking do you picture him screaming at him yelling at him foaming at the mouth at him angry at him You don't see any evidence of that at all do you? You see him speaking softly and gently to him because frankly that's how the holy spirit normally works with the gentleness And as he's asking this question Do you love me more than than these do you love me more than the others it must have Must have torn into simon's heart Because he had insisted he loved jesus more than them So what do we find it? Well, we find that jesus is stirring two memories that peter would have had one Perhaps he thought of when jesus called him and had given him a promise remember in john chapter 1 verse 42 He had said simon your new name is seafus Which means a stone But it also reminds him of a denial because he had said he loved jesus but denied him And those two memories would encompass like bookends peter's life with jesus christ and as he thinks on those things He's being gently brought to a place of restoration notice again I want you to see this jesus speaks of him and calls him simon son of jona That gives you insight into what's going on simon bar jona Is what he originally was known as The word simon the name simon means the one who hears or the one who listens It's fairly common name But what is interesting is that he is simon bar jona Son of jona bar jona speaks of being the son of Jesus spoke of him in that way in the past When jesus was there and cesarea filipi and And he was with his men and he began to speak to him make speak to them. It's found in matthew 16 Verses 13 through 17 how jesus was there and in this area cesarea filipi and and they're together as jesus says Whom do men say that I this and a man am Well, some say that you're john the baptist some say you're elijah some say you're jeremiah Some say that you're one of the prophets So he already knew jesus knew that that these people were Were speaking about him harrod had been making some comments about him and the word has come to christ He knows these things. So how are you being infected by these things? What what are you thinking now that you're hearing that people are saying that i'm these people Who do you who do men say that I am because you're going to be influenced by By the things they say about me because my disciples always are Going to be affected by what the world says so Who do men say that I the son of man am well you're john elijah jeremiah one of the prophets Then he said you know the story who do you say that I am? Thou art the christ the son of the living god And then jesus said blessed are you simon bar jonah? For flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but my father This is this is a heavenly revelation. You didn't find this by just seeking it out God had to reveal this knowledge to you, but he called them simon son of jonah No After saying that he said You're peter and upon this rock this confession. I will build my church well I find it interesting that he refers to him simon son of jonah here Why? Well, all you need to do is ask yourself a question. Who was jonah? Now it was his father obviously, but is there another jonah in the bible? And obviously there is What is jonah known for jonah's the prophet who tried to run away from his ministry simon son of jonah simon seafus rock You're trying to run away from your ministry In your denial and in your shame You're forgetting who you are and you're going back to your old occupation fishing When I said to you I will make you to be a fisher of men You're going back to fishing for fish simon you need to be restored Because there's something greater than having a business that is profitable 153 fish. It's a lot of fish There's something better than being profitable. It's reaching Fishing for men catching them alive and setting them free simon son of jonah. Don't run from your ministry Don't run from your calling Don't run from what I called you to I wonder if I have any simon by jonah's in this room right now Or any who are watching right now God called you to use you and you're running Going back to the old life one step at a time The disappointment or denial some failure Where the lord could speak to you right now and say simon by jonah Why are you running? How far do you think you can go? simon Jesus could say I came and sought you out when you were going back I'm on the shore looking for you. You weren't looking for me. I prepared a meal for you You brought some fish, but I already had prepared some you're only giving to me something that I've already given to you And simon you need to understand who you are You've been called You are a rock And the confession that you confessed That's what I build my church on and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Simon you're a preacher of grace. You've got to receive it yourself So when I read this story, I I do not see jesus angry at simon I see jesus fishing for a fisherman Bringing him back He's reminding him of his original call He's reminding him also gently of the failure But jesus is meeting him where he is And he's confronting him But he exposes him only to heal the pain that he's suffering that he might restore him So he says it simon. Do you love me? now simon is a man whose pride Has been dealt with and so jesus begins to ask him now when it says simon son of jonah Do you love me the word love those all of you probably already know this but in the original language The word love there is the highest form. It's called agape Do you love me? Do you have a copy for me? Do you love me more than in anything? Do you have that sacrificial love for me? Do you love me more than these? And he says you know that I love you the word that peter uses is not the word agape when he responds The word peter uses is the A softer version of love. It's the phileo which speaks of a deep companionship of friendship love of brotherly love And so jesus is saying do you have an intense passionate self sacrificial love for me peter because you said you did do you? You know that I have a phil hail for you I can't say that I have that agape that self sacrifice and I can't I've already failed And then he says to him I'll feed my lambs take care of my little ones Then he said to him again a second time simon son of jonah. Do you love me? Do you agape me? He said yes lord, you know that I love you. You know that I have phileo for you Ten my sheet He said to him the third time simon son of jonah. Do you love me? Now notice peter was grieved because he said to him the third time. Do you love me? You know why he was grieved because the third time jesus used the word phileo Twice before do you have a copy? Do you have a copy this time? Do you have phileo? That grieves the apostle peter Because Jesus is meeting him where he's at but he knows that where he's at isn't where he's supposed to be But you know what? peter Now how many times did you deny me? three times And peter how many times did I ask you if you love me and then commission you? three times For every denial There's a restoration You denied me three times and I've restored you three times Take care of my sheep Take care of my lambs And by the way you can now here's something for you here's a little spiritual thing You can feed them and you can't care for them Because you're broken The one That god will use in ministry Is the broken one the most valuable vessel in the hands of the master is the broken one His sin had been great But jesus's forgiveness is greater Psalm 51 12 and 13 restore to me the joy of your salvation uphold me by your generous spirit Then I will teach transgressors your way sinners shall be converted to you And he brings them back He restores him there needs to be an awareness of who you are What you have done a rejection of those things a repentance And then the restoration comes and jesus is saying you denied me But now i'm recommissioning you you have been restored your sin Is forgiven you one of the things that i'll say and then we're going to close in a moment here is I don't I don't the the lord The lord deals with sin But he he's not the one who reminds you of it He exposes it so you can confess it and forsake it, but I'm trying to find a way to say this when when my kids were young and they did something wrong We would sit and have a conversation and when they would come to the point of saying I was wrong dad forgive me I would say to them This conversation's over It's over this will not be brought up again It's done and I don't bring it up to this day to this day Once we're reconciled I don't bring it back up You know some things need to just remain under the blood Why bring it up and remind you know, I love a quotation By billy grams a wife ruth belgram when she said every cat knows that some things need to remain buried Think about that one for a minute Every cat knows that some things need to remain buried Your sins are under the blood of christ You're not supposed to go back and dig them back up again and look at them again They're taken care of Go forward Because god has restored you He's not going to be reminding him. He dealt with it. It's dealt with Move on take care of my sheep. Take care of my lamps He recommissions him And then most assuredly verse 18 I say to you that when you were younger you girded yourself And walked where you wished But when you're old you'll stretch out your hands and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish This he spoke signifying by what death he would glorify god and When he had spoken this he said to him follow me So he told him you're going to be taken and you're going to suffer martyrdom But he said Follow me well after hearing oh, by the way, you're going to die peter Turning around Saw the disciple whom jesus loved john following Who had leaned on his breast at the supper and said lord who is the one be who's who betrays you and and peter seeing Him said how about lord what about this man? Oh, I love that I love that And jesus said if I will that he remained till I come what is that to you you follow me If there's if there's something that we need to learn in in in I think our spiritual life guys It's it's learn your own lessons and stop asking god about why he isn't dealing with somebody else's You know because we do that. You know. Oh, look at me. How come I'm getting beat up by you that guy. How come Yeah, I want to deal with this lordy. Okay. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Okay. I'm sorry But what about that man? You just told me I'm gonna die. What about that man? And jesus says to him mind your own business That's what he's saying. Listen, I've got a work to do in you You take care of yourself and you let me take care of him You allow me to take care because what is that to you? You follow me What I do in his life is of no concern to you mind your own business Your call in life is to follow me Concentrate on pursuing me and let me lead him It's hard enough following jesus for yourself Let alone check in on how others are doing But some people seem to think that they can live the christian life on behalf of somebody else What are they doing? Where are they going? What are they saying? Why aren't they doing? And so he's saying I'm not going to satisfy your curiosity I'm going to rebuke you. What is that to you? I'm going to do enough in your life to keep you busy for the rest of your life And you need to be faithful to your own commission And you need to mind your own business. Let me work with him in the way I do now notice in verse 23 The same went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die yet. Jesus didn't say to him He wasn't going to die. He said if I will they to remain till I come what is that to you? So a rumor went out began to fly about john. He's never going to die They took what he said out of context. They spread this to others And so john is correcting this rumor And that's why he wrote that and then finally verse 24 This is the disciple who testifies of these things and wrote these things We know that his testimony is true And there are also many other things that jesus did which if if they were written one by one I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written My concluding words are simple You can trust my testimony As an eyewitness he's saying I speak emphatically Of the life of jesus christ And by the way my gospel scratches the surface Of what jesus did and who jesus is There is so much more that you can know And so spend your life discovering more about him Follow him I've discovered something and so have you That the more I think I've grown to understand him the more I become aware of how little I really do It's a lifetime pursuit It's a lifetime of growth. It's a it's a it's a sense of layers of experience that you have I've learned the lord in this way and then he takes you a layer Deeper and then a layer deeper and then when you finally say now I now I get it you die That's got to how it works So did you guys enjoy the gospel of john I sure did Amen