 The title of our sermon this morning is No Turning Back. No Turning Back. We're in John chapter 21. We're in verses one through 14. The last chapter here, the epilogue, so to speak, of John's gospel, John chapter 21 verses one through 14. So I was thinking about this text and the application of this instruction that the Lord gives us in John chapter 21. I thought about the state of Christianity today as we often do. And for multitudes of people today, for multitudes of people today, Christianity is packaged and then pedaled as a get what you want religion. Your life only better, right? You simply add Christ to your life. Live to be the kind of person that makes you happy. And Jesus, of course, wants you happy. And so Christ is in your life to make you happy. Live for your desires, live for your hopes. Live for your dreams, your wants. And Jesus wants to help you attain those things. Jesus is there for the purpose of making you happy to help you attain your desires, your dreams, your hopes. And when your desires, your hopes, your dreams involve sin, well, listen, you're forgiven. Don't worry about it. Why fret yourself over those things? God loves you and God's love conquers all, right? Peace, peace, peace. All you need to do is believe. The word of God teaches something entirely different. For those concerned enough to consider what it actually says, the word of God teaches something entirely different. It's false teachers who preach peace, peace. When God says there is no peace for the wicked. God's perfect love, and it is perfect, amen. God's perfect love does not preeminently serve the hopes and dreams and desires of men. His perfect love preeminently serves his perfect glory. And his perfect glory is also served by perfect holiness, perfect justice, perfect righteousness and perfect wrath. Christianity is not a man-centered, get what you want, religion. Christianity is a God-centered, give up everything you have to follow Christ's religion. You and I live forever. Sinners live forever by dying to themselves in Christ. The invitation of the gospel, the invitation of the gospel is an invitation to come and die, denying yourself. Jesus said, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself. Now the word there deny himself means disown himself. Disown yourself, renounce any claim to himself. Let him renounce himself, let him deny himself, let him disown himself, take up his cross daily, the instrument of his own execution. Take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake, Jesus Christ says, he will save it. What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and he himself is destroyed or lost? Doesn't sound like modern day Christianity, doesn't it? That's what the word of God teaches. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ says. Who is it who desires to come after him? Who would desire to disown himself? Who would desire, who would desire to renounce any claim to himself and die daily? Who's gonna want that? It's that one, it's that one who understands that his desires, his hopes, his dreams will lead him to hell. That's the one, that's the one. The one who desires new desires. That's the one. The one who desires new hopes, new dreams, a new heart. The one who sees his heart as desperately sick, desperately wicked. The one who desires a new heart. The one who acknowledges that he is a sinner, worthy of death. The one who knows that to die in Christ is to live forever in him. It's that one. The Puritan prayer says it well. Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up. That to be low is to be high. That the broken heart is the healed heart. That the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit. That the repenting soul is the victorious soul. And that to have nothing is to possess everything. That to bear the cross is to wear the crown. That to give is to receive. Let me find thy light in my darkness, thy joy in my sorrow, thy grace in my sin, thy riches in my poverty, thy glory in my valley, thy life in my death. John chapter 21 verses one through 14 is in essence a living parable of this fact. It's a living lesson. Life lessons on the sea of Galilee teaching these truths. You have died in Christ. If you have turned from your sin to put your faith and trust in Him, if you have truly turned from your own life to live for Him, then you have died in Christ. Having died in Christ, you are raised to walk in newness of life. The life that you now live in the flesh. You live by faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave Himself for you. You are not your own. You are not your own. I am not my own. We are not our own. We have been bought at a price. And like many who set out to follow Christ, the disciples in John chapter 21 verses one through 14 are tempted to drift back into old patterns, tempted to drift back to their life, quote unquote. Tempted maybe to think that life after His death, life after the death of Christ is just gonna return to the way that it was before He came. We're gonna go back to the way things were before that Christ would somehow fit into their old lives, right? Besides, it's my life. I'm gonna fit Christ in. That's not the way that it works. Their life, their work, their relationships would all carry on now as they did before and somehow Christ would be added in. The lessons learned in John chapter 21 are meant to correct that thinking. It's meant to correct their course. It's meant to prepare them for gospel ministry and it's to correct our thinking, correct our course, prepare our hearts and minds for gospel ministry. After the death of Christ, the shepherd has been struck and the sheep have been scattered. Their faith has taken a serious blow, right? They were discouraged at the death of Christ. They've fallen into despair, fallen into unbelief, but all that was to change after the resurrection and the Lord's personal bodily appearances to them, to the disciples prior to His ascension. And we have eyewitnesses of these accounts now in John chapter 20, John chapter 21. John 21, 14 says that our text now, verses one through 14, records the third time that Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was raised from the dead. The purpose of these post-resurrection appearances of Christ is primarily threefold. First purpose is this, to reveal Himself as the Christ, the Son of God. Having been raised from the dead, Jesus Christ reveals Himself as the one sent by the Father to save His people from their sins. He is the risen Christ, victorious over death, victorious over the grave, victorious at the cross, and so too His people will be raised in Him. First is to reveal Himself as the Christ, the Son of God. Secondly, the purpose of these post-resurrection appearances of Christ were to strengthen the weak faith of the disciples, to encourage them, to ground them, to establish them as we come to this text today, to correct them, to prepare them for ministry. And thirdly, the third reason is to commission them for ministry, to send them. They will be sent into the world to preach the gospel. Just like it took three drops of the sheet, right in Acts chapter 10, to convince Peter to share the gospel with the Gentile, it's taken three visits now in the gospel of John for the risen Lord to comfort, instruct, and prepare these beleaguered disciples for ministry. And they've been set apart. The disciples have been set apart to the Lord Jesus Christ. They need to come to grips with what that means. They don't fully understand all the implications of that and they need to understand to prepare them for ministry. So Jesus is here again. John chapter 21, verses one through 14, dealing again with the weak faith of the disciples. They need to be moved from double-minded, double-minded in doubting, to single-minded in sent. And for the first time in three years, these disciples are now faced with the reality of laboring in ministry without the physical presence of the Lord Jesus Christ with them. And they're tempted to divert. They're tempted to trail back. Out of fear, out of faithlessness, they could easily slip back into old patterns, right? They're old lives. That's not foreign to us in the Christian life, is it? When someone comes to Christ and the persecutions begin, the difficulties begin, the fear, sometimes the faithlessness is a temptation for even the genuine believer to trail back, to slip back. We cannot shrink back. We must press forward and the true believer will. Genuine faith is not a fragile faith. Genuine faith will persevere because it's God behind that faith preserving the believer. So they're tempted here. They could slip back into old patterns or they could step out in bold faith, die to themselves, take up their cross and follow the Lord. And we know from the Bible exactly what happens and what they do, what they choose, so to speak. They trust him for power. They trust him for provision. A clear direction is going to come for these disciples on the beach at Galilee through the means of an encounter with the risen Christ and some important life lessons here in verses one through 14. The first life lesson we're gonna learn is point one on your notes. Following Christ requires undivided devotion. Following Christ requires undivided devotion. We see that beginning in verse one. After these things, right? Sometime after the events of chapter 20, after these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias and in this way he showed himself. Now the Greek word there for he showed means literally that he revealed himself to them. In other words, this isn't mere sight. Hey, I saw Jesus at the beach, right? This isn't mere fellowship. These appearances have a revelatory function. They have a revelatory purpose to them and the text is going to reveal that purpose to us. In verse one says here that he reveals himself at the sea of Tiberias. Tiberias was the Roman name for the sea of Galilee or the sea of Genesoret. The Romans named the sea after the city of Tiberias. Tiberias was a city on the western part of the sea of Galilee, was built by Herod Antipas in honor of the emperor Tiberias. So they named the city Tiberias and the sea of Galilee became known to the Romans as the sea of Tiberias. So the disciples then after chapter 20 have then made the 80 mile trip north and are now in Galilee. If you remember from our previous studies together in Matthew 28 and in Mark 16 Jesus had instructed them go to Galilee. He told them to go in Matthew 28, 16. Interestingly enough, verse 16, Matthew 28 specifies a mountain. Go to that mountain which has been appointed and I'm going to meet you there. There to go north to Galilee, there to go to the mountain and interestingly enough, if you look at our verse two we have only seven disciples together here in Galilee and they're not on the mountain. They're down at the beach about to go fishing, okay? Look at verse two. Simon Peter, Thomas called a twin, Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee which were James and John and two other of his disciples were together, seven in total, seven in total and they're not on the mountain. We're not told who the other two disciples were. Often it's Andrew and Philip that's associated with this group, okay? So at the end of the day we simply don't know but there are seven here together and there should be 11, okay? And they're down by the sea and they should be at the appointed mountain. That's interesting in verse two. Who's leading the list? Simon Peter. Simon Peter, the one who denied him three times after his arrest. Who's second on the list? Thomas, the one who denied his resurrection and refused to believe and here they are together in Galilee. Now, I can't help but find a little encouragement in that when you read that list of names and Simon Peter heads the list, Thomas is right behind him. These are the men through whom the Lord Christ will build his church and you have Simon the Denier and Thomas the Unbeliever, first and second on the list. Not the high and mighty. These aren't, as Paul would later say, the noble. These are weak, fallible, sinful men redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Amen. These are the ones who serve the Lord in his work. Simon Peter and Thomas, these are the ones who serve the Lord in his work today, right? X adulterers, X drunkards, X drug dealers, X liars, X thieves, X cheats, X fornicators, X idolaters, X homosexuals, X cowards, X revilers, X deniers, X unbelievers. It doesn't Paul say in such war some of you that you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God. The church is made up of a weak, sinful men and women redeemed by grace. X sinners, so to speak, brought to faith in Christ. Doesn't mean that you don't struggle with sin, but that sin doesn't characterize your life anymore. These are those who have given up those sins to follow him. These are those who have given all to follow him. Peter and Thomas, top the list in verse two. Now Paul, Paul would later confess to be the chief of sinners in 1st Timothy chapter one, verse 16. And here's what Paul said. Paul said there, for this reason, I obtained mercy that in me first, Jesus Christ might show all long suffering as a pattern to those who are going to believe on him for everlasting life. In other words, Paul saying, listen, I'm the chief of sinners. He persecuted the church. And if Christ saved me, Paul said, the chief of sinners, he will certainly save you if you will turn from your sin and entrust yourself to him. Hear it all the time, don't you that? I know I need to get my life cleaned up. I know I need to get back to church. I need to start reading my Bible. I need to pray. Listen, you will never, never, you will never clean yourself up enough for Christ. Never. You have to come to Christ for cleansing. That's exactly what Peter and Thomas did. They cleansed in the blood of the Lamb, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, by the grace of God, made what they are. And God used these weak, fallible, sinful, normal men in gospel work. Peter's redeemed, but Peter's not yet glorified. He may be tired of waiting around. He may be just hungry, whatever the case. Verse three, Peter said to the others, I'm going fishing. I'm going fishing. I'm going back to what I know. I'm going back to what I know how to do. Then, verse three, they, the others, following his lead said to him, we're going with you also. They went out and immediately got into the boat. Notice it's the boat, not a boat. And that night they caught nothing. You remember James and John, sons of Zebedee? Zebedee owned a boat on the Sea of Galilee that the men used for fishing. Let's put verse three in its context, right? Let's put verse three in this decision of the disciples in proper perspective. This decision is not as innocent as it may first appear, just reading through the gospel of John. Verse three reflects a problem in the heart and mind of the disciples. And I want to make this case for you. Go back to John chapter 16. Flip a few pages back to the left, John chapter 16, and in the Lord's interaction with the disciples prior to his arrest, he says this to them in verse 32, warning them, John 16, verse 32, indeed the hour is coming. Yes, has now come that you will be scattered, here it is, each to his own and will leave me alone. And yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. Each to his own is the Greek word there, idios, idios. It means more than merely his own house, each one scattered to his own house. Some of your translations actually provide the word house. But in context, without an object, idios means more than just house. In first Thessalonians chapter four, verse 11, that very same word is used to translate mind your own idios, mind your own business, right? Mind your own personal affairs, mind your own business. So now that it may be without an object supplied here, a better translation of verse three might be referring to your own personal affairs. John chapter 16, verse 32, each will return to his own affairs, each to his own business, each to his own work, each to his own personal affairs. In the case of John chapter 21, verse three, their own work, their own interests. Look with me now at John chapter 21. The Lord Jesus Christ warned them, John 16, that each one would abandon him, each to his own affairs. Look at John chapter 21 and drop down to verse 15. After this little fishing excursion, we find in the first 14 verses of John 21, Jesus is sitting with Peter on the shore. His intent of sitting with Peter here is to restore Peter and refocus him for gospel ministry. We'll look at this text next week. But he does this by asking Peter a question, verse 15. So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon, Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these? Now the word these there in this context can refer to one of three things. Think with me, okay? He could be saying to Peter, asking Peter, do you love me more than you love these other disciples? Peter, do you love me more than you love these other men? Essentially is what he would be asking. Another option is this. Do you love me, Simon, more than these other disciples love me? Do you love me more than these men love me? And neither one of those seems adequate or seems like it fits the text. The third option seems more clear. Peter, do you love me more than these things? More than these nets, more than this fishing gear, more than this boat, more than this life, Peter, do you love me more than these things? Lord was calling Peter, the Lord was calling Peter to an undivided devotion in John chapter 21. Peter, do you love me more than these things? Do you love me? You can't go back to your former life, Peter. Following me is going to require of you an undivided devotion. A thirdly, John 16, 32, each one returns to his own. John 21, 15, do you love me more than these? Thirdly, it's difficult to imagine any of this going on after Pentecost in Acts chapter two, isn't it? We consider the response of the disciples here in John 21, verses one through 14. It's difficult to imagine them responding this way after Pentecost, after the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter two. If you remember from Acts chapter two, when the Holy Spirit comes, what's the very first thing that Peter does in Acts chapter two? He stands up and he preaches, that's right. He stands up and he preaches the gospel, the very first thing that Peter does. When the Spirit comes, you're gonna receive power, the Lord Jesus Christ says, and you will be my witnesses. What they display in the church, in the city of Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and the uttermost ends of the earth after the coming of the Spirit of God in Pentecost is an undivided devotion to ministry, an undivided devotion to preaching the gospel. John 21, 3 here, and their decision to go back to fishing is not yet a picture of sold out, spirit-empowered disciples, right? They're not yet a single-minded people. They're not a single-minded group with a sense of mission, a sense of unity. There's no sense of urgency. There's no all or nothing commitment. In John chapter 21, verse three, the disciples want to go back to their fishing. They want to go back to their fishing. However, fishing for fish is not what the Lord has called them to do. It's not what the Lord has called them to do. He called them to be on that mountain, and they weren't on the mountain. They're down by the beach. He called all 11 of them. The 11 of them aren't together, there's seven of them there. He called them to be fishers of men, and what are they doing in John chapter 21, verse three? They're going back to fishing for fish, okay? In Matthew chapter four, Jesus Christ was speaking to them in verse 18. Matthew records that Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea for they were fishermen. Then he said to them, he said to Peter, said to Andrew his brother, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. Then what was their response? Matthew tells us they immediately left their nets and followed him. Verse 21 continues, going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother. Are you getting the picture here in Matthew? This group who first left their nets, left all to follow Christ, it's the same group we see here on the beach at Galilee, encountering Jesus now after his resurrection. Verse 21, Matthew goes on, going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets and Jesus called to them and immediately they left the boat and their father and they followed him. That was their response to the gospel. That was their response to the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord calling them to gospel ministry and what do we see here in John chapter 21 verse three going back to their fishing, going back to their fishing. That's how they set out. They set out leaving everything to follow him. It was an undivided devotion and now the going has gotten tough. There's difficulty, there's discouragement, there's doubt. They don't know how to do ministry apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. They need help but they're tempted to draw back now to fishing. In verse four, back in John chapter 21 verse four. But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore. Yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. They're a hundred yards offshore. There's early morning light, probably dusky outside. It's difficult to see him a hundred yards away. They didn't know that it was Jesus. Verse five, then Jesus said to them, children, have you any food? The word there for food was a word that came to be known for fish. Primarily in that area, if you mention little bits of meat to eat, which is what the word originally meant, they understood that to be fish, came to be synonymous with fish. You say essentially, you got any fish? And they answered in verse five, no. If you look at verse five, the word there for children can sometimes be translated as friends or boys. We might translate that way today. We might say, hey guys, right? It's a friendly term. The question is very interesting. There's a negative in the Greek. And so the question in verse five assumes a negative answer. Verse five, it's like, hey guys, have you caught anything? And he expects them to answer back, no. Hey guys, have you caught anything? The Lord knows the answer to the question. The Lord is sovereign over the answer to the question. And there's a bit of sarcasm in there, isn't it? If you put the negative in the question in verse five, it introduces a tone maybe of sarcasm in the question to the disciples. Hey guys, have you caught anything? He asks the question to make a point. He doesn't need the answer to the question. He knows the answer to the question. The question is to make a point. And it's to make a point to them. He asks the question to point out their need. He asks the question to point out their failure. They've caught nothing. They answered verse five, no. In other words, disciples, apart from me, you can do nothing. Apart from me, you can do nothing. You think you're going back to your old life. You think you're going fishing. Listen, apart from me, you can do nothing. This is a life lesson, right? This is an object lesson. This is a living parable designed by the Lord Jesus Christ to teach a tough lesson. It's got to sink into their heads. It's got to sink into their hearts. They're about to go back into Jerusalem, the place where Jesus Christ was crucified, and they're going to preach the gospel to a hostile people, a world that hates them. They need to know, they need to understand that apart from Christ, it will all be doomed to failure. It will come to nothing. Apart from me, you can do nothing. One commentator noted that there is never a time if you read through the gospels, there's never a time in the gospels when the disciples ever catch a fish apart from Jesus' help. He always has to help. These are fishermen once before. Now, every single time they need help catching a fish. The Christian life demands, the Christian life demands an undivided devotion, an undivided dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't go it alone. You certainly can't go it alone and expect to prosper. If you go it alone, you can expect to fail. You can expect to wind up in hell one day. God didn't design lone ranger Christians. God didn't intend for you to go it by yourself. God saved you to a community, didn't he? Saved you to his body, the church, to his people. The Christian life demands an undivided devotion to Christ. Why? Because we can't do anything apart from him. We must cling to Christ if we are to prosper. Cling to Christ if we are to live the Christian life. The question he asks them in verse five is intended to provoke them to face the facts. Anything you attempt in your own strength is doomed to failure. And I think about it with me, right? It's often that when we are confronted with our own failure, our own inadequacy, when we're confronted with our weakness, it's often that confrontation that leads to poverty of spirit, a brokenness of heart. It's that failure, and our confrontation with failure that often produces in us the contrite heart with which God is well pleased, right? That humble spirit, brokenness over sin, you need to face your failure. You need to, and I need to, cry out with these disciples, Lord, apart from you, I can do nothing. Apart from you, Lord Jesus Christ, I have made a wreck of my life. All that my life has led to is sin, and sin, and sin, and rebellion. I hurt the people around me. I've made nothing of myself. I fail at everything. Apart from you, Lord, I can do nothing. The woeful, and disgraceful, and shameful condition of the lost person is that they can't acknowledge their need. They don't see their condition in their state before God. When do they come to the Lord? Head in their hands weeping over their sin. They don't because they simply can't see it. They don't acknowledge their need. They don't acknowledge their failure. Who is that one who does? That one who's been confronted with the worthlessness of their own life apart from the Lord Jesus Christ? You are taking up airspace in God's kingdom apart from him, and one day he's gonna rectify that condition. Acknowledge your need, confess your sin, face the truth of your own life, face the reality of your own condition, and face your need for a savior. Face your need for forgiveness. Face your need for cleansing. Face your need for strength. Face your need for God's power. Hey guys, haven't you caught anything? Nothing, no, nothing. Hey guys, how's the battle with your sin going? Do you think you're doing that without me? How's that going for you? Hey guys, having difficulty over there? Hey guys, sister, where's your joy? Hey sister, where's your joy? I'm over here on the shore, you're out in the boat. How's your joy going in your Christian life? Where's your contentment? You got any contentment in your Christian life? Hey brother, how's your marriage working out for you? How's it going on your marriage, brother? In other words, face your inability and depend upon him, right? Seek me first, Jesus Christ says, and my kingdom and all these things will be added to you. Through the question in verse five, the Lord is essentially making a statement to his disciples. Through a question, he's making a statement. He says to them, listen, the just shall live by faith, by faith. Apart from faith and dependence upon me, you can do nothing. Follow me, obey me, trust me, and trust yourself to me. Apart from me, you can do nothing. Following Christ requires an undivided devotion. Faith, that faith is a subject of point two on your notes. Point two, following Christ requires undeterred faith. Following Christ requires undeterred faith. The disciples are forced by the question to face up to their failure, right? These are experienced fishermen. They know what they're doing. They're out of the right time, they've been out all night. By this point, they're probably hungry. They're probably tired, they're probably frustrated. And so when the question comes, have you got anything? They have to answer him, no. We haven't caught a thing all night. Often in the Christian life, it is the experience of need that precedes the blessing. They see their need, they see their failure. Hang on, by God's grace, blessings coming. Verse six, faith, faith in Christ, trust Christ. He said to them, verse six, cast the net on the right side of the boat and you'll find some. This is typical of a lot of fishermen, isn't it? If you fish, no fishermen, no several brothers in here do. No, no, you're not gonna catch them over there. If you just go around that bend, that's where you're gonna catch them, right? Typical, cast the net on the right side of the boat and you're gonna find, what does that mean, right? We have the net down on the left side of the boat, we've not caught anything. Just by switching sides of the boat, now we're gonna catch fish. They could have said, hey, listen, buddy, mind your own idios. They didn't say that. They're probably tired. So they cast, verse six, they cast, they cast the net and now, verse six, they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish. Fish have been scared away from the boat all night long and now, at the right time, there's just a whole school of fish just off the right side of the boat. It's a miraculous catch, right, a miraculous catch. So much so, that the seven of them together couldn't pull in the nets. Disobedience had brought utter failure. A simple act of obedience, they don't even know that it's Jesus at this point, but a simple act of obedience brings blessing and John, the insightful one, right, John recognizes in an instant where that blessing came from, verse seven. Therefore, that disciple whom Jesus loved, we've already talked about that before, that's referring to the apostle John here, that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, it is the Lord. John, as usual, demonstrates perceptive insight. Peter, as usual, demonstrates impulsive action. You can imagine Peter, can't you, sort of hunched over the side of the boat with the net, trying to, you know, you've got this big catch of fish, they're trying to drag a fish or struggling, flopping, you know, doing what a fish do. Peter's trying to drag the net in and John, when John puts this together in his head, he leans over to Peter, it's the Lord, you can imagine Peter just, you know, instantly letting go of the net, right? When Peter heard that it was the Lord, verse seven, he put on his outer garment for he had removed it and plunged into the sea. Having removed his outer garment to fish, Peter was likely in a loincloth. Gumnas, the word there means naked, the Jews were extremely sensitive about that. Peter wouldn't have been totally naked, Peter likely would have been wearing a loincloth. Either way you stack it, it wasn't appropriate garb in which to go meet the Lord on the shore. So Peter puts back on his customary outer linen robe, not something you would ordinarily do when you jump into the water, but he does that because he's going to meet the Lord. He tucks that up around his waist, around his legs, and the word for plunged in verse seven means that he literally threw himself into the sea. I can't imagine Peter, you know, diving. We sort of see as Peter just flinging himself out of the boat toward the shore and he left the other disciples there to deal with the fish. The fish were no longer his concern. His concern was standing on the shore. Verse eight, but the other disciples came in the little boat for they were not far behind, or not far from land, about 200 cubits, about 100 yards. They were dragging behind them the net with fish. Now in verse eight, the narrator here, John, is still on the boat, still dealing with the fish. So we don't know what was said. When Peter got to shore and he met the Lord there, we don't know what was said between Peter and the Lord prior to the boat getting there. However, Peter, as he is swimming, must have remembered in his mind, must have been considering a very similar incident that happened just a few years prior. Look with me at Luke chapter five, Luke chapter five. Peter struggling with the net of fish. John calls to his attention, it's the Lord. That must have just brought memories flooding back for Peter of this very incident, this account in Luke chapter five. Incidentally, this is the account in Luke chapter five where Peter is called to be a disciple. If you look at Luke chapter five, verse one. So it was, as the multitude pressed about him to hear the word of God that he stood by the lake of Genesoretic, and that's the Sea of Galilee. It's another name for the Sea of Galilee. Where so many people, so many people pressed against the shore, he's losing ground, got the water behind him, the people are pressing in. They can't really see him, he's on the same level with him, can't really hear him most likely because the people are crowded around. And so the Lord decides he's going to go into one of the boats, push off a little bit from land in order to preach and teach to the people. So in verse two, he saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then he, the Lord Jesus Christ, he got into one of the boats, which was Simons, and asked him to put out a little from the land and he sat down and he taught the multitudes from the boat. And when he had stopped speaking, he said to Simon, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. Notice the similarities now, verse five. Simon answered and said to him, Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing. Nevertheless, he's like, you're almost here, and it's like, okay, I'll do what you're telling me to do. Peter being somewhat gracious here to this person that he just heard teaching recognizes him as a good teacher at this point. Peter's going to obey his word. And so at your word, he says, verse five, I will let down the net. Verse six, when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them and they came and filled both, these were large boats, large boats, they filled both the boats so that the boats began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, verse eight, he fell down at Jesus' knees saying, depart from me for I am a sinful man, oh Lord. Peter came to an understanding there of who it was that he was dealing with in the boat. He acknowledged that he was unworthy of the grace of Christ's presence in the boat with him. I am a sinful man. In the presence of this miracle, this glorious act, this act of grace, the Lord Jesus Christ had done in the boat, Peter sees his own wickedness. Right, it's like Isaiah in his vision of the temple, he sees the Lord high and lifted up and Isaiah says, I am undone. Woe is me, I'm a man of unclean lips. I live amongst the people of unclean lips. Peter sees the Lord here and he instantly recognizes and acknowledges his own unworthiness. Matthew Henry says this, he says, those whom Christ designs to admit to the most intimate acquaintance with him, he first makes them sensible that they deserve to be set at the greatest distance from him. Peter saw it, Peter saw himself as unworthy. Lord Jesus Christ desires to bring him in. Right, desires to bring him in. Going to call him into gospel ministry, he's gonna be one of the 12, one of those closest to Christ. And bringing Peter into that close, intimate relationship with himself, he causes Peter to see his unworthiness of that and more in fact that he is worthy only to be cast the farthest distance from him. Depart from me Lord, I'm a sinful man. Verse nine, he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken. So also were James and John the sons of Zebedee who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, do not be afraid, from now on you will catch men. So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed him. They forsook all and followed him. They forsook all and followed him. They could have clung to the blessing, right? Wow, look at all these fish. Thank you Lord, we're off the market. We're gonna go sell these fish. That's what they did for a living. They were fishermen. They could have clung to the blessing. What did they do? They chose rather to cling to Christ. They chose rather to be employed with him, for him. In John chapter 21, verse seven, it was faith that put Peter in the water, right? Peter flung himself out of the boat in faith while he's swimming. It had to be in his mind, didn't it? He had just denied Christ after his arrest. He had just denied the Lord. But it's faith that's propelling him to the water, right? The Lord is forgiving. He is merciful. He's gracious. He served with the Lord in ministry for three years. He had experienced forgiveness. He experienced hope and grace and mercy. And so he leapt. But it was also in Peter's mind, likely a reminder, wasn't it? As he's swimming confronted with what he had done, listen, you're not here to fish for fish. You left this. You forsook all to follow me. You're not here to fish for fish. You're here to fish for men. Luke says there of Peter again in verse 11, they forsook all and followed him. To follow Christ is to trust Christ. Following Christ requires an undeterred faith, a persistent faith, a persevering faith. If you're in Luke chapter five there, just turn over to Luke chapter nine. Luke chapter nine, we don't have time to go through all these texts, but I'll just bring them to your consideration here. Luke chapter nine, verse one. He called his 12 disciples together, gave them power and authority over all demons to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. And he said to them, take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money, and do not have two tunics apiece. Whatever house you enter, stay there. From there depart, whomever will not receive you. When you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them. In other words, you trust me to provide for you. The Lord will provide, the Lord will provide. You go out and do what I've called you to do. Preach the gospel and I'm going to provide. Look at chapter nine and drop down to verse 57, verse 57. This is gospel ministry. This is what it means to follow Christ. This is the high call to discipleship, a high cost to following Christ. Verse 57, now as it happened as they journeyed on the road that someone said to him, Lord, I will follow you wherever you go. Peter would have likely said something similar, right? I'll follow you wherever you go. Jesus said to him, we'll just go to church on Sunday and spend that hour in church that's all I require, right? No, in matter of fact, make sure that it's nice and cool, not too hot, not too cold, make sure the coffee, we need Starbucks coffee, we don't need that other, right? No, Jesus said to him, verse 58, foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay its head. In other words, it's not going to be comfortable. Put it out of your head that you can follow Christ and never endure persecution. It's coming. It's coming if you open your mouth for Christ. If you're a so-called silent Christian, in other words, you're ashamed of him and you're ashamed of his words, then no, you won't be persecuted and you'll wind up in hell. Lord, Jesus Christ says, I'll be ashamed of you then when you stand before my Father who's in heaven. He said to another, verse 59, follow me. But that other one in verse 59 said, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. And Jesus said to him, let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God. And another one said also, Lord, I will follow you, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house. Jesus said to him, no one having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. These disciples cannot look back. They've got their hand in the plow, they're going to be expected to follow through, right? Look at Luke 10, Luke 10, verse one. Again, the Lord appointed 70 others also, send them out two by two before his face into every city. He tells them in verse four, carrying neither money bag, knapsack nor sandals, and greet no one along the road. Whatever house you enter, first say peace to this house. In other words, you're going to have to trust me in gospel ministry. I am going to provide. He says, doesn't he? Great commission, Matthew chapter 28. And lo, I am with you even to the end of the age. John chapter 14, I will not leave you orphans. I'll not leave you orphans. I'm going to come to you there to trust Christ. Look at John chapter, or Luke chapter 14, Luke chapter 14. These texts describe the Christian life. Luke chapter 14, dropped down to verse 25. Great multitudes went with him. He turned to the multitudes and said to them, verse 26, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Where do you hear that in a vast majority of churches today? They don't even know where to begin with that. What in the world is he talking about there? Jesus Christ is preeminent. He is superior. There is no one that comes between you and Christ. You have an undivided devotion and yours is an undeterred faith. Look at Luke chapter 18, another example. Here with the rich young ruler. Luke chapter 18 beginning in verse 18. Certain ruler asked him saying, good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? No one's good, but one that is God. You know the commandments, do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother. Rich young ruler said, all these things I have kept for my youth. He's not acknowledging his condition. So when Jesus heard these things, he said to him, he put his finger on the spot, on the point, on his sin. He put his finger on that which the rich young ruler refused to give up. If you do not forsake all, Lord Jesus Christ has said, you cannot be my disciple. So what does the Lord do here? To show the rich young ruler his need? He puts his finger on that thing the rich young ruler would not forsake. He said to him, you still lack one thing, sell all that you have and distribute to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me. When he'd heard this, he became very sorrowful for he was very rich. Forsake your sin and trust Christ. Forsake your life, forsake your life and trust Christ. Forsake your desires, your dreams, your hopes. Listen, if you turn and follow Christ, his dreams for you, his desires for you, become your desires, your dreams and your hopes and you will delight in them because he changes, transforms your heart. Back in John chapter 21, this is a picture of the faith of a genuine disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some, like Peter, throw themselves into the sea, others come along a little more slowly dragging a catch behind them, you know, working on the boat. Both are following the Lord. Peter here just flings himself into the water. The lesson is this, the lesson is this, don't be sidetracked, don't be sidetracked. Don't turn from following hard after Christ. Following Christ requires an undivided devotion. Following Christ requires an undeterred faith. Thirdly, following Christ requires an undeserved grace. All grace is undeserved, but it had to match up at the point so you can, you know, helpful to remember. Following Christ requires undeserved grace, verse nine. And as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, fish laid on it and bread. Jesus said to them, bring some of the fish which you've just caught. It's interesting here that there's only two places in the New Testament where that word for fire of coals is used. The first fire of coals had provided a backdrop for Peter's denials, if you remember that. This fire of coals provides the backdrop for his restoration and the Lord's gracious forgiveness. One, the darkness of night, one, the dawn of a new day. Right, one cold, another warm and inviting. Begs the question, doesn't it? What kind of fire will the Lord have kindled for you when the day of his judgment comes? Peter was a big guy, verse 11. Simon Peter went up, dragged the net to land full of large fish, 153. And although there were so many, the net was not broken. You know, much has been made of the number of fish, crazy interpretations of that. Basically, in verse 11, someone's standing there, right, one of the men, Peter, drags that catch up on the shore, right? Drags that catch up on the shore. And one of them says, wow, look at all those fish. I wonder how many there are in there. And so they counted them. That's what happens in verse 11. Beyond that is wild, allegorical speculation. There's a lot of fish. It was a miraculous catch. And one of them wanted to know how many there were and they counted them and there was 153. It has nothing to do there with, if you know Dematria, it's just a lot of, we'll leave it at that. A lot of crazy interpretations of that 153 number. Don't be caught up in that, right? The Lord graciously and abundantly provided for them. That's the lesson. Those fish would have lasted them several days for their own food. They could have turned and sold all those fish at market and provided for themselves for weeks. This is a living parable. And the living parable, the life lesson taught is that the Lord Jesus Christ will provide for them. It's the Lord's sovereign power, the Lord's sovereign provision for them. Paul, Paul who said in Philippians chapter four verse 11 that I've learned in whatever state I am to be content. Paul who said I know how to be abased. I know how to abound. Paul said I've learned both to be full. I've learned to be hungry. I've learned to abound. I've learned to suffer need. It's that same Paul who in Philippians chapter four verse 19 says and my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. What is left for us is to trust him for that. To trust him for that. He will supply all your need. This is the lesson from verse 11. Verse 12, Jesus said to them, this is gracious, isn't it? Come and eat breakfast, come and eat breakfast. Yet none of the disciples dared ask him, who are you knowing that it was the Lord? Lord continues to be gracious with him despite the weakness of their faith. They're still grappling with the resurrection. We, it's difficult for us because we see the resurrection now on this side of it, looking back, all the revelation that we have in the Bible. For them, it must have been strange. It must have been just, their minds, they had difficulty getting their minds wrapped around it. So they dared not ask him. It doesn't say that they did not ask him. It says they dared not ask him. It means that they wanted to, but they weren't going to, right? The disciples had great evidence. They knew it was the Lord. These disciples know it's the Lord. Yet they're so uneasy, uncertain, still grappling with the reality of the resurrection. They apparently wanted to ask him, Lord is it really you? But they dared not ask him that. It just reveals their weak faith. The Lord's still working on them. So in verse 13, Jesus then came, took the bread, gave it to them, likewise the fish. This is now the third time Jesus showed himself to do his disciples after he was raised from the dead. Again, showed himself, showed himself, same word, means revealed. This time it's passive, meaning that he was revealed to them. The Lord revealed the Lord Jesus Christ to them. Once again, Jesus assures him in this as he did in Luke 22. I'm among you as one who serves. I'm going to take care. He once washed their feet, showing that he loved them, showing that he would take care of them. And now he's here, serving them breakfast by the sea. This is a display of glorious grace. Christ on the short daybreak, preparing a place for his fishing disciples, knowing that Christ is away now, having prepared a place for us, right? And one day we'll join him at the marriage supper of the lamb. After the call of Peter, James and John, the others on the Sea of Galilee, what would the disciples then forever link with fishing, evangelism? After their call, right? I'll make you fishers of men. After their call, in the way that the Lord called them, the disciples would forever link that picture of fishing with evangelism, making disciples for the glory of God. The very same connection is being made here on the Sea of Galilee in a sort of living parable, life lessons. These life lessons intended to prepare them for gospel preaching ministry in a world that's going to hate them, that hates them, hates Christ, and will hate them too. As the torch has been passed down to UNI, the torch of faith passed down to UNI now through the generations, it comes to us with the same charge, go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, teaching them to observe all things that I've commanded you. That charge comes to every single one of us who claim the name of Christ. You're given that commission, I'm given that commission. It also comes to us with the same grace, loaded down with blessing. It comes to us loaded down with warnings, don't divert from this call, don't divert from your ministry, make disciples, but it also comes loaded with the same blessings, the same promises, low I'm with you even to the end of the age, I'm gonna take care of you, I'm gonna provide for you. And we like them must acknowledge that apart from him we can do nothing. Following Christ requires an undivided devotion, it requires an undeterred faith, it requires an undeserved grace. All glory, honor, praise and worship to the one who provides and empowers Amen, may there be a great catch in his net for the glory of his name and may we have the joy of dragging some of it to shore, amen. Let's pray.