“Encouraging the Faithful” – John 21:1-14

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Sunday Morning Worship Service from Faith Baptist Church

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Well, good morning, wherever you are, and whatever circumstances you find yourself in this morning for this time of worshiping the
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Lord together. I did see someone this morning was preparing for their church's online worship service, had a picture of them in their, probably their den, family room, and had the big screen
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TV on and all set, ready to go, and the father, grandfather in that case, was reclined back in his recliner, and Grandma's sitting right there, and a couple others there as well, and all just kind of in their
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PJs, you know, ready for the morning service. Well, that's how you are this morning, that's perfectly fine, and I'm just glad you can join us on this beautiful day here in Northwest Illinois.
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Good to see a nice, bright sunshine today. If you're watching on the
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Faith Baptist homepage, to the right side of the video box is a box with some documents in it, and you can open those up at any time on your computer, and each one of those should open up in a separate tab on your browser, and so you have the order of worship, you know, what we'll do through each of the different parts of the service, and then each of the hymns that we'll be using in the service this morning as well.
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Well, the other day, the governor announced that our stay -at -home order and restricted number, or restricted numbers for gatherings continues through May 30th, and unless a successful lawsuit shortens that or opens up further, loosens restrictions further, we'll continue doing this through the first four
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Sundays of May, and that would then bring us together again on the last
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Sunday of May, and it will be a unique fifth Sunday fellowship if indeed we're able to do that.
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In the meantime, I hope you'll be able to take advantage of the daily devotional, devotions
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I do. I do them live at noon, and then they're rebroadcast every day at 6 p .m.,
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and on that document on the homepage, you can see the different venues in which you can see that, the church homepage,
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Facebook, YouTube, and also I'm now doing those on my own personal website, the pastor's page website at brianbice .com,
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so you can see those any day, any time during the day of the week, weekdays, noon and 6 o 'clock, and then, of course,
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Wednesday night at 7, be back here for midweek service time.
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As we worship the Lord together today, Psalm 66, verses 1 and 2 call us to that worship.
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The psalmist says, shout for joy to God, all the earth. Sing the glory of His name.
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Give to Him glorious praise. I want to open this morning with the hymn, Call to Worship.
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Slumbering souls, awake and sing psalms to your exalted King. Join the choir of saints above, joy in psalms of Christian love.
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Give to God a glorious song, hands extended, voices strong.
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Waken souls, an anthem raise. Sing your sacrifice of praise.
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Lift your mind, your heart, your voice. Heed the happy call. Rejoice.
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Give to God a glorious song, hands extended, voices strong.
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Joyful souls, let song take flight. Praise the Father, God of light.
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Praise the Savior, Christ the Son. Praise the Spirit, three in one.
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Give to God a glorious song, hands extended, voices strong.
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Let's pray together. So our Father and our God, we do want to come before you today praising you and worshiping you, exalting you for who you are.
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We thank you today that we can do so in this unique and different way.
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We thank you at this time in history when such restrictions have been placed upon us that we can't gather together, that we can nevertheless unite our hearts and our minds, our thoughts, and even our voices in this virtual way.
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We pray that you would bless these moments together this morning. Bless your word as it encourages our hearts.
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This we pray in Jesus' name, amen. I'd like to read for our psalm reading this morning,
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Psalm 91, verses 1 through 12. 91st Psalm, verses 1 through 12.
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The psalmist writes, He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the
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Almighty. I will say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my
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God in whom I trust. For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.
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He will cover you with his pinions and under his wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
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You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
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A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
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You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the
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Lord your dwelling place, the Most High, who is my refuge, no evil shall be allowed to befall you.
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No plague will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
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On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
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May the Lord add his blessing to the reading of that psalm together. And there is a music, this psalm has been set to music in the hymn entitled
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On Eagle's Wings. And I'd like to share that with you this morning, On Eagle's Wings.
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You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord, who abide in his shadow for life, say to the
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Lord, my refuge, my rock in whom I trust.
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And he will raise you up on eagle's wings, bear you on the breath of dawn, make you to shine like the sun, and hold you in the palm of his hand.
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The snare of the fowler will not capture you, and famine will bring you no fear.
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Under his wings your refuge, his faithfulness your shield. You need not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day.
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Though ten thousands fall around you, near you it shall not come. For to his angels he's given a command to guard you in all of your ways.
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Upon their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
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And he will raise you up on eagle's wings, bear you on the breath of dawn, make you to shine like the sun, and hold you in the palm of his hand.
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As we pray together this week, we want to pray for Mark and Lynette Heineck and their family serving in Costa Rica, our missionaries of the week.
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We want to pray for the Lord to guide them in terms of a future ministry. Costa Rica, like us, is in a lockdown, stay -at -home situation, so right now they're kind of in limbo, and looking for when things open up for them again in Costa Rica, discerning what the
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Lord would have them to do, and the type of ministry, the place of ministry that he would have for them. I also want to pray for them regarding housing.
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The house that they're living in is currently for sale, and they'll need to find another place to live, and it's a challenging thing in that region, that area.
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So we want to pray for them. We also want to give thanks to the Lord for report answer to prayer.
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We ask you to pray for the sister of a church member who was undergoing some pretty aggressive treatment for cancer, and that has been very effective, and it's a very good prognosis as a result of the treatment she's already received and the
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Lord's answer to prayer. So let's look to the Lord in prayer, shall we? So our
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Father and our God, again, we praise you for the encouraging truths and promises of your word.
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You promise to bear up those who trust in you, to bear them on eagles' wings.
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Though certainly there's a great deal of figurative expression in all of that, the point is very clear, that you preserve and protect your own.
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And we thank you and praise you for that promise and that hope that we have.
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We think of our current situation, the current crisis, and everyone within the sound of my voice is experiencing that in a different way.
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Some of us just merely dealing with the inconveniences of it all, others feeling a greater sense of isolation and longing for connections with others that have been missing and they've been unable to do.
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We pray for them, that you would encourage them in that isolation. And some are, therefore, feeling very lonely in these days.
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And I pray that you would encourage them in their loneliness. I pray that by your grace, those who are your children would particularly sense your presence with them, speak in a special way through your word to give comfort and a sense of your presence in their loneliness.
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Father, I pray for those who are just clearly frustrated in this time because of, oh,
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Father, just the conflicting news reports we get, the unnecessary degree of restriction and restraint.
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Some who are deeply grieving because of being unable to be with hurting, seriously hurting loved ones.
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And, Father, I just pray that you would give a resolution to that frustration.
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And I pray that you would bring a peace of mind as only you can give. Father, we think of the conflicts that this time is already generating, conflicts in our nation, the conflicts within communities, just because of differences of opinion about all of these matters related to this pandemic.
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And, Father, how easily these differences of opinion can degenerate into division.
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And this is exactly what the wicked one would desire. I pray that by your grace, you would keep your people united and give us a sense of camaraderie and oneness and unity in this time.
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I pray, Father, that you would not allow the divisive spirit of the age and the designs of the wicked one in that divisiveness to cause harm and conflict to your people, to your church.
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We pray for those who may be suffering from this influenza, this
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COVID -19. I pray that you would grant relief and recovery. I pray for your people who comprise our local church, that you would continue to supply our needs.
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We thank you for your provision, for your faithfulness. I pray that as we have more than we need, you would give us grace to share and to be generous with that which you've given to us.
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We pray, Father, that you would protect our bodies from illness. We pray that you would protect our hearts from restless anxiety.
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I ask that you would protect our minds from fretful speculation and wasteful obsession over these matters.
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Father, we pray for those who are in authority over us, our lawmakers and those who are making policies.
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I pray that you would grant them wisdom. I pray that there would be honesty and transparency.
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I pray that you would give prudence. Father, I pray that there would be even the humility to acknowledge wrong and error and the willingness to back down from hard things that have been said or done.
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I pray that you would work in the hearts of our lawmakers and policymakers. We pray,
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Father, that in this time that truth would triumph. We pray that righteousness would reign.
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We pray that justice would prevail. Father, we pray that your kingdom would come and that your will would be done to the praise and honor and glory of our
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Savior, your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray.
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Amen. I'd like to also have the hymn together,
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Living for Jesus, A Life That is True. Living for Jesus, a life that is true, striving to please him in all that I do, yielding allegiance, glad -hearted and free, this is the pathway of blessing for me.
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O Jesus, Lord and Savior, I give myself to thee, for thou and thine atonement didst give thyself for me.
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I own no other master, my heart shall be thy throne. My life
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I give henceforth to live, O Christ, for thee alone, living for Jesus, who died in my place, bearing on Calvary my sin and disgrace.
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Such love constrains me to answer his call, follow his leading, and give him my all.
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Living for Jesus, wherever I am, doing each duty in his holy name, willing to suffer affliction and loss, deeming each trial a part of my cross.
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O Jesus, Lord and Savior, I give myself to thee, for thou and thine atonement didst give thyself for me.
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I own no other master, my heart shall be thy throne. My life
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I give henceforth to live, O Christ, for thee alone.
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For our message this morning, I'd like to read John 21, and verses one through 14.
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John chapter 21, verses one through 14. I encourage you to have your copy of scripture at hand to follow along as I read.
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Of course, these events are happening after the resurrection. A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated resurrection on Easter Sunday, and there were two different appearances on the two
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Lord's days. First on Resurrection Sunday, and then a week later when the disciples were gathered together.
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We read of that at the end of John chapter 20, where Jesus appeared and showed himself, revealed himself to Thomas.
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And now in chapter 21, it says, after this, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the
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Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas, called the twin,
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Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together.
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Simon Peter said to them, I'm going fishing. And they said to him, we will go with you.
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They went out and got into the boats, but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking,
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Jesus stood on the shore, yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, children, do you have any fish?
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They answered him, no. He said to them, cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.
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So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because of the quantity of fish.
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That disciple whom Jesus loved, therefore said to Peter, it is the Lord.
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When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work and threw himself into the sea.
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The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far off from the land, but about 100 yards off.
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When they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire in place with fish laid out on it and bread.
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And Jesus said to them, bring some of the fish that you have just caught. So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them.
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And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, come, have breakfast.
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None of the disciples dared ask him, who are you? They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish.
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This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
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A brief prayer. Father, encourage us with this passage this morning.
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Whatever our life circumstances may be, whatever you've called us to do and to be, encourage us from this passage we ask in Jesus' name, amen.
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So most of life, as you well know, is made up of some pretty routine, run -of -the -mill responsibilities and tasks that, well, frankly, we just have to do them.
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Some of them we enjoy doing. Some of them we just do them because they need to be done.
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And some, well, we'd frankly really rather not have to deal with. And yet, the
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Lord honors our faithfulness to those mundane, everyday duties that call for our attention.
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I didn't always think this way about this particular passage. I used to view it in a completely different perspective.
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But I've come to believe that what is going on here in John 21, these verses I've just read,
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I believe that they provide an example of the Lord encouraging His disciples for simply being faithful, even in the mundane and the routine.
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Now, other interpretations of this passage don't particularly paint Peter and the other disciples in a very favorable light.
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Instead, they kind of portray them as borderline disobedient, as if they were about to abandon
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Jesus altogether and go back to the lives of fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. But instead of this passage being a rebuke to the unfaithful,
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I see in it that the Lord is encouraging you when you are faithful.
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Let me show you what I mean from this passage. If you're faithful, in the first place, you'll be where you belong.
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We see this in verses 1 and 2. The disciples that are mentioned here in this section of Scripture, they had earlier been sent out of Jerusalem and they obeyed.
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Back in John 20, verse 21, Jesus had told them, now this is not the same as the
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Great Commission that we're going to read about later, but He said in John 20, verse 21,
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Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, even so I am sending you.
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Jesus is sending the disciples. And again, as I said, this is not the Great Commission.
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That's going to come later. We're going to see that here in just a minute. In fact, if you have your
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Bible, you can turn to Matthew 28. And in Matthew 28, where that Great Commission appears, at the very end of the chapter, look earlier.
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Look earlier in the chapter at verses 7 and 10. And notice that Jesus directed the disciples to go to Galilee.
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So in verse 7, Matthew 28, it says Jesus is speaking to Mary.
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He says, Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead and behold,
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He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him.
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See, I have told you. That was the angel speaking to the ladies. And then in verse 10,
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Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee and there they will see
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Me. So Jesus had directed them, sent them, to go away from Jerusalem.
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And here in Matthew 28, before the Great Commission is ever issued, He directs them to go to Galilee.
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And the thing is, that's where they went. We come to John chapter 21. This is now sometime after that second appearance of Jesus in the upper room.
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They were finally had gone to Galilee. And they are there at the Sea of Galilee. And they're going out fishing on that Sea of Galilee or Sea of Tiberias as John has it recorded for us here in verse 1.
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So they are where they belong. Jesus told them to leave Jerusalem. They left Jerusalem. He told them to go to Galilee and they went to Galilee.
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And I want you also to notice how they remain bound together as a group.
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And they stayed that way. Earlier at the cross, well before the cross frankly, when
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Jesus was arrested, we read that the disciples scattered and fled.
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And they all forsook Him. It's like they went their different ways. And yet, here they are back together again.
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Just as they had come back together in the upper room in Jerusalem, that's where they were on Resurrection Sunday and the week later they were there again.
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Here they are, bound together. They stayed together. And they did not reject their identification as disciples.
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Verse 1 tells us that this is who they are. They are the disciples.
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Jesus revealed Himself again to the disciples. And He revealed Himself in this way. In verse 2, there were two others of His disciples who were together.
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Now I think that's significant because if you remember, back in the initial place where Jesus was being examined in the courtyard of the high priest, in John 18 .25,
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we read that Simon stood, Peter stood and warmed himself by the fire with the soldiers.
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And they said to Him, Are you not one of His disciples? And He denied it and said,
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I am not. He was denying His identity as a disciple of Jesus.
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But here, by the Sea of Galilee, they accept this designation, this identity as the disciples of Jesus.
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So here they are where they belong. They're where Jesus told them to go. They're in Galilee waiting, waiting, doing what they know to do.
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They are where they belong and they're doing what they know to do. When you're faithful, you will be where you belong and you will be doing what you know to do.
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Notice how Peter says in verse 3, I'm going fishing. I'm going fishing.
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Now this is a statement that Peter makes that has provoked some problems in interpretation for some.
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They read that statement and they assume that there's some not so noble motives on Peter's part.
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As if he's giving up following Christ to go back to being a fisherman.
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I acknowledge that that's possible, but I wonder if it isn't just simply because they're hungry.
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I mean, here they are. These guys have gone up to Galilee. I mean, they have to eat.
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There are no grocery stores for them to run to and to fill up their shopping carts and find food to eat.
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So while they're waiting, where Jesus told them to go and wait, what are they to do to eat?
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I think Peter and the rest of the disciples are just hungry and this is how they feed themselves. This fish is a staple of the diet.
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So Peter just simply says, I'm going fishing. This is what he knows to do.
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Now this may not be what you planned to do and I'm sure it wasn't what Peter and the disciples had planned to be doing.
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They had planned to have some kind of position in the kingdom as they perceived it weeks ago, weeks earlier as they brought
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Jesus into Jerusalem on the colt's back and they were shouting Hosanna and glory to God in the highest and all that and here's their king and they expected the kingdom was coming in a particular way.
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They thought they would have positions in that kingdom and yet things haven't turned out the way they expected them to be.
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Not what they were planning on doing particularly to be up there again at the
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Sea of Tiberias waiting for Jesus to show up. They had planned in fact that their fishing career would be over.
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Remember in Luke chapter 5 we read that there were James and John the sons of Zebedee who were partners with Simon so the same individuals who are here in this passage.
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Jesus said to Simon, Peter do not be afraid, he says from now on you will be catching men and when they had brought their boats to land they left everything and followed him.
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What they thought they would be doing was in somehow, some way catching men whatever that meant they didn't fully understand that when they left their boats they didn't expect to be making, plying their trade as fishermen but here they were they were back in Galilee they're by the
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Sea of Tiberias their stomachs are growling they don't know what their next assignment is to be they're where they belong and they're doing what they know to do to provide for their needs at that particular time.
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Well as they do what they know to do have you also noticed that it doesn't produce what they expected to produce.
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They fished and they caught nothing. They went out all that night fishing verse 3 tells us and they caught nothing.
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They expected a catch of fish. They expected that that outing would provide something for them a meal maybe multiple meals maybe enough fish to have something to eat and then generate a little bit of income so that they could you know sell the fish and then have the income to take care of their needs until they got that next assignment whatever it was but it didn't produce what they expected it to produce and this doing what they know to do and doing what you know to do may not be your ultimate task.
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Peter is going to find out here very shortly in verses 15 and following what his ultimate task is to be.
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Jesus is going to confront him. We'll probably look at this next Lord's day Lord willing where you know the
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Lord confronts Peter and says Peter do you love me? Do you love me more than these other disciples in all of your claim and loyalty?
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Do you really love me? And Peter is going to say yes and Jesus is going to give him assignment to feed his sheep and the other disciples were going to find their task their ultimate task likewise and it was going to be made clear to them eventually and there would be in this in this revelation if you will of their ultimate task there would nonetheless be an open -ended waiting period before that task is ever engaged in.
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You turn a page in your Bible to Acts chapter 1 you read in verse 4 that while Jesus was staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the
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Father which he said you heard from me. So okay here in John 21
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Peter hears what his ultimate task is to be and what his life is to be like and what he's supposed to be doing the other disciples are going to get their instructions as well sooner or later but then there comes this instruction to just wait wait for how long until it's kind of an open -ended waiting period but for now but for now they're doing what they know to do that's faithfulness so if you're faithful you'll be where you belong and you'll be doing what you know to do then thirdly
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I would have you to notice if you're faithful you'll be humbly open to counsel and advice you see this in verses 4 through 6 verse 4 tells us that as day was breaking
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Jesus stood on the shore yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus and I think that's an important point to realize that as the disciples are out there on the boat they see this man on the shore and they don't realize that it's
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Jesus it's just a man on the shore to them but faithful disciples are not going to be afraid to acknowledge failure you see this in verse 5 don't we
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Jesus said to them children do you have any fish King James translates it do you have any meat and the word that is translated fish here is actually talking about like the meaty part of the fish do you have enough significant sized fish to provide food for yourselves is what the question is what the question is for how the question is framed and the question is framed here to highlight their failure have you caught anything that's going to provide you with something to eat is
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Jesus question and it's kind of like it's kind of like taking a little walk along the
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Hennepin feeder canal you know if you've done that before over there in Rock Falls by the bridge and you're walking along it's a very popular place for people to to fish seen it many times many people there fishing it'd be like walking along and seeing somebody who's got an empty basket you know no fish in it and they got their line in the in the water and they're they're kind of impatiently waiting there and you you see there you know a little frustrated and you walk by and ask them hey catch anything you can see they haven't caught anything you know they haven't caught anything and how different that question is from something like not biting today are they you see now the question that Jesus the way
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Jesus frames this question is a it's framed to highlight the failure they have to answer no no now they could have just ignored him pride would do that pride would answer with something like none of your business or what do you think look at look at what did you see any fish you know somebody at the you're walking by the
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Hennepin canal you see a fisherman there and he's got an empty basket and you walk by and say catch anything as you're looking in his basket he could look at you and say what's the matter with you can't you see no
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I haven't caught anything you know that would be a proud kind of angry way to reply or perhaps perhaps pride would tell about all the big ones that got away
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I mean we got one that was but it got away you know one of those kinds of things no no you will find some now those who are stubborn would say no way my way or no way where are the pros were the experts we've been we've been fishermen all our lives this is this was our career until we left it a few years ago we know what we're doing we know where the fish are who are you you're some guy standing on the shore how would you know from out there now we're not going to we're not going to listen to you
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That would be the way of stubbornness and pride, the way of rebellion.
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But, what do they do? What do they do? They cast their net.
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Faithful disciples will follow through on the help that is given. So, if you're faithful, you'll be humbly open to counsel and advice.
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And then, I would also have you notice that if you're faithful, you'll be quick to respond to the
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Lord, to the Lord Jesus. And notice how He shows Himself in this passage. He shows
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Himself seasonably, at just the right time. He shows up at just the right time.
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Isn't that fascinating? He could have shown up the day before, the evening before, when the disciples came to the conclusion,
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You know what? We're getting hungry. We don't have anything to eat. We better go fishing. We better go out fishing.
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Jesus could have shown up before that. And, you know, if He can feed the 5 ,000,
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He can take care of this group of seven disciples gathered here together. He could have done that.
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But He had a point to make. He had a lesson He wanted to teach. We'll say more about that in a moment. And He shows up at just the right time.
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At just the time when the disciples are most likely to be disappointed, or frustrated, or discouraged.
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Can you imagine how they might have been feeling? Here at, what, 7 o 'clock in the morning, perhaps, after fishing all night, doing what they knew to do, knew how to do it, experts in the trade.
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And yet it turned up nothing. And they're still hungry, still have nothing to eat, making their way back to shore.
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Discouraged. Disappointed. And, perhaps, even a bit frustrated.
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Jesus shows up at just the right time. Listen, be faithful to what
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Christ has called you to do at this season in your life, where you are, doing what you know to do.
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And when the frustrations come, be open to counsel and advice. And when the frustrations come, and the disappointments come, and the discouragement comes, the
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Lord will show up at just the right time. Just the right time. Doesn't mean you won't experience those things.
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They certainly did. But He will show up, seasonably. And He also shows up gradually here.
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And what I mean by that is, the disciples didn't recognize Him at first.
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They saw Him. It was Jesus there on the shore. They heard
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Him speak. But He didn't say, Hey, fellas, this is
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Jesus. It's me. Look at my hands. Can you see from there? See those wounds in my hands?
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Yes, it's me. Let me tell you what to do. That's not what He did. He chose to reveal
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Himself to them gradually. But then, He also reveals Himself compassionately.
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Compassionately. You see this in His question. He treats them with the tenderness of a father.
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When He says here in verse 5, Children, do you have any fish?
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This word is really a term of endearment. It can refer to little children, young children, in and of itself.
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But when used in this kind of a context, it's a term of endearment, where it's as if Jesus is saying,
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My dear friends, my dear friends, have you caught anything? My dear ones.
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Compassion. And He's expressing this question not in a, you know, like,
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I don't have anything else to ask a fisherman when you're walking by, a guy who's fishing. Hey, catch anything today?
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Nor is He asking it to kind of cajole them because they failed.
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Hey, you guys catch anything today? Knowing full well that they didn't know. My dear friends, my dear friends, do you have anything to eat?
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This is what He's asking. Do you have anything to eat? Have you provided enough in your outing to have a meal?
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This is a question of compassion. So Jesus shows Himself seasonably.
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He shows Himself gradually. He shows Himself compassionately to His own, and then notice how
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He shows Himself powerfully to them. Shows Himself powerfully with powerful authority.
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They said no, and His reply is, cast your net. He's telling them what to do.
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Again, put yourself in this scene. Put yourself on the boat. Hearing the command, the voice of authority, telling them what to do.
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Cast your net on the other side of the boat. And He expresses in that command not only powerful authority but powerful knowledge.
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But He says cast your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.
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You will find some. Now, maybe there'll be some fish over there. Or not, but I hope there'll be some fish over there for you.
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But He says you will find some. This is powerful knowledge. And then
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Jesus reveals Himself powerfully with powerful provision.
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When they cast their net on the right side of the boat, they did find some. They found a multitude of fishes.
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A multitude of fishes. So as Jesus graciously shows Himself, you will respond.
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If you're faithful, you will respond. Look at the different individuals here and the different ways of response.
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Some understand who Jesus is more readily. John recognized right away.
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It says in verse 7, the disciple, this is John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, he said to Peter, therefore, he said to Peter, when they caught the multitude of fishes,
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John, his eyes opened. The light went on. He made the connection.
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And he said, it is the Lord. So he responded readily.
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He understood readily. And some, when they are met with the
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Lord, they will act more swiftly. Peter hears and he jumps ship.
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Nothing on but the garment around his waist. They're working hard, toiling all night.
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And when he hears that it's the Lord, he throws garment back on and cast himself into the water and swam to shore to get to the
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Lord quickly. And then some will be more reserved.
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They'll hold back and be more patient. The rest of the disciples are still in the boat, dealing with this net full of fishes that they've just caught.
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They linger, they work. It's not that they don't believe that it's
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Jesus. It's not that they don't want to run to Jesus. It's just that they're going to get there, but they're going to get there and take a little longer.
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But all of them, no matter how they responded to Jesus, and this is what I want you to see, no matter how they responded, immediately, swiftly with action, holding back reservedly and patiently, all of those responses are legitimate and they all reach the same conclusion that we read of in verse 12.
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Verse 12, it says, none of the disciples dared ask them, who are you? Because they knew it was the
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Lord. They knew it was the Lord. Jesus graciously shows himself and they respond, the faithful, faithful respond.
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And so in your faithfulness, in your faithfulness, you will be encouraged by the
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Lord. Your faithfulness in the mundane, routine, everyday stuff, being where you belong, doing what you know to do.
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As the Lord comes to you and reveals himself, he instructs you, he guides you along the way and reveals that this is him.
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And you respond to him in your faithfulness. In that faithfulness, the Lord will encourage you.
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And he encourages the disciples in this passage, first of all, by his personal presence. He came to them.
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He conversed with them. He shared a meal with them. Now the
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Lord Jesus isn't going to do that with you in a physical way. Please, please don't expect that at your dinner time today,
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Jesus is going to walk through the door and you're physically going to see him and see the wounds in his hands and so forth.
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He's going to sit down and have a meal. No. But you will sense his presence.
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You will hear his voice through his word. You will fellowship with him around the table.
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And he gives them, furthermore, practical attention. He encourages them with his practical attention in verse 10.
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He tells them, bring the fish that you've just caught. Bring the fish that you've just caught.
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You could imagine in their excitement they might just leave the fish behind. It's the
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Lord, John says, that Jesus says, no, don't leave the fish in the net.
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Bring them on to shore. Practical thing. Very simple practical thing. But Jesus encourages with practical attention.
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And Jesus, furthermore, encourages you with gracious provision. Gracious provision.
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In verses 11 to 13, he provides their short -term needs, doesn't he? In verse 11.
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Verse 11 says, Peter went aboard and they caught, they brought this haul of fish, a net full of large fish.
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And they were told that there were 153 of them in verse 3. Verse 11.
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153. There's been some pretty fanciful interpretations of what that 153 is all about.
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Some of the ancient Bible interpreters thought that that 153 stood for all of the species of fish on the planet.
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That there were 153 species of fish and there was one for each of those species.
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Of course, that isn't so. Another interpretation was, this is the sum of the numbers 1 from 1 to 17.
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1 through 10 for the Ten Commandments and 11 through 17 for the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. You add those all up, you get 153.
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That takes a little bit of mathematical juggling.
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And then another interpretation is that this 153 is the numerical value in Greek.
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The Greek language, you didn't have numbers. Letters had value. It was the numerical value of Simon's name, 76, plus the numerical value of the word fish, 77.
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Add those together, you get 153. Another interpretation was, this stands for the
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Trinity. 3 times 50 plus 3. Well, like I said, fanciful interpretation.
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What's really the point? What's the point of this number of 153? The point is this.
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These guys had a background as commercial fishermen. And commercial fishermen count their fish.
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And when they counted their fish, they counted 153. That's it.
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There were 153 fish that they could take to market and they could sell at the marketplace and provide a little bit of income for a short period of time.
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This is Jesus' gracious provision for their short -term needs. And He also provided for their immediate need.
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In verse 9, when they came to the shore, they saw a charcoal fire.
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And on that charcoal fire, there was fish laid out and bread.
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And Jesus says to them, come and have breakfast. You don't even need to eat the fish that you caught.
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I've provided here for you. Come and have breakfast. And in verse 13,
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Jesus took the bread and He gave it to them and the fish. Jesus encourages with His gracious provision.
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Listen, be faithful to Him and He will provide, graciously provide that which you need.
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And then finally, Jesus encourages with subtle instruction.
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With subtle instruction. What is Jesus teaching here in this passage?
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He's teaching His disciples. He's teaching us. My presence is indispensable.
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Remember what He said earlier, just a couple of weeks earlier in that upper room in John chapter 15.
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Jesus said, he that abides in me and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit.
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For without me, you can do nothing. Here were the disciples doing the mundane routine stuff of life that they knew to do.
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They were where they were supposed to be. They were doing what they knew to do and it was fruitless.
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Jesus came along. He gave a simple word of instruction. They did what He told them to do and there was fruitfulness.
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Jesus is communicating to His followers, my presence is indispensable and your trust and obedience are vital.
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Here's His second lesson. Your trust and obedience are vital. And with this combination of trust and obedience, regardless of your calling, regardless of your calling, you will know the
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Lord's encouragement and His blessing. Now, you know, in all my years of pastoral ministry, nearly 40 of them here,
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I've never pastored the rich and famous. I've never had anyone in any church where I've served whose name would be recognized beyond their community.
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Sometimes not even much in that community, really. Mostly, people I've ministered to have been common, ordinary, everyday people working regular jobs, providing for their families.
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A lot of stay -at -home moms caring for their children, homeschooling their children. Some juggling work and home responsibilities just to make ends meet.
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Nothing glamorous. Nothing much substantial in the eyes of the world.
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But many, many simple, faithful believers who sought to live for Christ, to trust
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Him, obey Him in their mundane, everyday lives, seeking to fulfill the calling that the
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Lord has for them. And they, and you, who are faithful, are richly blessed for it.
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Father, encourage us with this truth and encourage us to be faithful, to trust and obey, and to be confident of our
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Lord's faithful presence with us. This we pray, in Jesus' name, amen.
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So I'd like to close with the hymn, Before You I Kneel. Before you
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I kneel, my master and maker, to offer the work of my hands. For this is the day you've given your servant.
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I will rejoice and be glad for the strength I have to live and breathe, for each skill your grace has given me, for the needs and opportunities that will glorify your great name.
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Before you I kneel and ask for your goodness to cover the work of my hands, for patience and peace to shape all my labor, your grace for thorns in my path.
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Flow within me like a living stream, wear away the stones of pride and greed till your ways are dwelling deep in me and a harvest of life is grown.
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Before you we kneel, our master and maker, establish the work of our hands and order our steps to seek first your kingdom in every small and great task.
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May we live the gospel of your grace and serve your purpose in our fleeting days.
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Then our lives will bring eternal praise and all glory to your great name.
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And now may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
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May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. I pray it in Jesus' name, amen.
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May the Lord go with you and may you be faithful in the place where he's called you.