I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of John chapter 21. John chapter 21. I ended with this particular
verse, verse 7, last time, made a couple of comments, and I want
to just look at John chapter 21 and verse 7, For just a few minutes, the scripture
says, Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter,
It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that,
it was the Lord. He girt his fisher's coat unto
him, for he was naked, and did cast himself into the sea. Now, amazingly, but Scripture
bears out this to be so, that every believer is liable, there
is that propensity, in every regenerated child of God to stray. from the One who has eternally
loved, redeemed, and regenerated His people. Peter and six other disciples purposed to go back to what they
were doing before the Lord called them out of darkness. Peter said, I go a fishing. And this is what he was saying.
I'm going back to what I was doing. I'm leaving. I'm leaving. I'm going to forsake Him. Listen to Galatians 6 verse 1,
Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault. Ye which are spiritual,
restore such in one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself,
lest thou also be tempted." Is it possible that a believer could
say in his heart, I quit. Yeah. How do you know? I just read it. I just read it. When Peter said, I go a fishing,
I looked up the word. He didn't mean I'm going for
just an afternoon of enjoyment. He was saying, I am, and this
is what the word means, I am departing. I am withdrawing. I am going away. And the other six said to Peter,
we're going to accompany you. Can a man, can a woman regenerated
by the grace of God say that? Yes. Will the Lord ever forsake
them? No. No. I'll never forsake you. Whenever the Lord asked, when
all those others decided that they were going to leave and
follow Him no more, in John 6, I told you this last time, when
the Lord says, will you go away also, the word go, look it up,
same one, when He said, will you go away, just like they're
going away, they're not going to follow Me anymore, you're
going to go with them? That's what the word means. Peter
said, Lord, where are we going to go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life." And they left. And they went fishing. And they
fished all night. And they didn't catch anything.
And the next morning, the Lord Jesus is standing on the shore. The disciples don't know Him.
And He says to them, and He's close enough, to where they can
hear what he's saying. Cast the net on the right side
of the ship and ye shall find. They do. And with one cast, the
scripture says they get a hundred and fifty-three fish. And the
net wasn't broken. And in the midst of that struggle,
trying to get 153 fish into that boat, one of the disciples, the
one that refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved,
all of a sudden recognizes the Lord Jesus Christ. He recognizes
the Master. And he says to Peter, it's the Lord. There upon the shore stood the
holy temple that we just sang of. There was the holy temple
back in Habakkuk 2.20. The capital L, capital O, capital
R, capital D, Jehovah is in his holy temple. All the fullness
of the Godhead, Father, Son, Spirit was standing on that shore. And John said to Peter, It's the Lord. It's the Lord, Peter. I'm telling you, is it not a
blessing when in the midst of our troubles and trials and struggles
and temptations to leave, that we recognize that the Lord is
here? that He's never left, that His
presence is with us. I'll tell you this, God's people
that love Him, those that God's given a new heart, those that
the Lord has everlastingly loved, chosen in Christ and regenerated
by the grace of God, they love Him. They love Him. Is that old
nature still there, that propensity to leave? Yes, sir. Yes, sir,
it's there. And a believer knows it. But do they love him? Yes, they
do. Lord willing, we'll look at that
here in the next week or so, when the Lord asked Peter, do
you love me? And after the third time, Peter said, Lord, you know
all things. You know I love you. He said,
you feed my sheep. You love me, you feed my sheep. You do what I called you to do,
Peter. Love for Christ makes God's people
keen-sighted for Him. They're looking for Him. They're
looking for Him in everything. And John heard the command of
the one that stood on the shore He said to Peter, it's the Lord.
And when he said that, the Spirit of God gave Peter discernment
also. And Peter, when he heard, it's
the Lord, he knew it in his heart. That's the one right there. that
spoke to the wind, quieted the sea. That's the one that fed
5,000 plus the women and children, 5,000 men with five loaves and
two fish. It just told them, cast the net
on the right side and you'll catch. Surely that had Good reason
caused them to think back. That happened before. Look back
at Luke. Look at Luke 5. Hold your place
there. Look at Luke 5. Something like
that. Just about almost identical.
Not quite, but almost. Luke 5, 3 to 6. Luke 5, 3 to
6. And he entered into one of the
ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust
out a little from the land. He sat down and taught the people
out of the ship. And when he had left speaking,
he said to Simon, launch out into the deep and let down your
nets for a drop. Simon answering said, Master,
we've toiled all night, taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy
word, I will let down the net. And when They had this done. They enclosed a great multitude
of fishes and their net break. This time the net didn't break. Now I want us to look at three
very simple points about Peter's return. I've entitled this, The
Recovery of a Believer. the recovery of a believer. What happened in John 21-7? Well, here's the first thing
that happened. Peter heard the message of hope. When he heard John say, John
spoke something. This is what he said. It is the
Lord. And Almighty God blessed those
words to Peter's heart. Here's what I know. Faith. True, saving faith. Faith from above cometh by hearing. By hearing. And hearing by the Word of God.
Is it necessary, I've asked this before, is it necessary to hear
the gospel of God's grace, sovereign grace, where God Almighty gets
all the honor, all the glory, all the praise, and man gets
none? Is it necessary to hear the message
that's concerning God Almighty, the Father, that chose a people
from before the foundation of the world and gave them to the
Lord Jesus Christ? Is it necessary to hear that?
Well, God spoke it in Ephesians 1, so obviously it's necessary
to hear it. Is it necessary to hear that
the Lord Jesus Christ said, I lay down my life for the sheep."
Well, the Lord said that. So obviously, it's necessary. For whom did Christ die? For
the elect. God said that. God said that. Is it necessary to know that
without a doubt Everyone that the Father has given the Son
is going to be saved. Is there a possibility that any
of God's elect are not going to be saved? Is there a possibility?
No! How do you know? John 6, 37. That's what Bruce
preached on last week. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. All, all, all. Shall. Shall. You hear a message
that does not magnify the electing, redeeming, and regenerating grace
of God. You hear a message that does
not magnify what God has got to say, you've not heard the
gospel. The gospel is the declaration.
It's not an offer. I'm not offering. It's not an
offer. This is a declaration. I'm telling you what God's going
to do. How do you know that Almighty God is going to do this for you? How do you know? You believe
Him. He that believeth. He believeth. God Almighty spoke to Peter. One that had said, I'm going
fishing, I'm leaving, I'm gone. I'll see you. It's the Lord. And when he heard that, God sent
Peter a preacher. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. How are they going to call unless
they've heard? How are they going to hear without
a preacher? God's going to send a preacher.
And He's going to tell you the truth. He's going to tell me
the truth. God sent Peter a preacher. Who was it? John. It's the Lord. Here's the second
thing Peter did. When Simon Peter heard that it
was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, for he was naked." Now, whether or not he had on
a loincloth, a tunic, an inner garment, whatever it was, he
may have been naked. I don't know. They're different
opinions. But there was an outer garment
that he did not have on. And what I'm going to do is I'm
just going to go straight to the spiritual significance of
this fisher's coat. A fisher's coat is something
that was like a big overcoat, you know. that they wore. And maybe with all of the cumbersome,
the scripture bears out that he wasn't wearing it. But here's
the spiritual significance. There was more to it than just
two men talking. When John said to Peter, it's
the Lord. That bore great significance. So does this right here. That
vicious coat. Here is one Going back in just
a second, he's getting ready to dive in. He put that coat
on, but that outer garment, that fisherman's coat, fisher's coat,
beautifully sets forth the believer's knowledge and recognition of
the need of a fit covering before God. That fisher's coat was a
picture of the imputed righteousness of Christ. Every, every man and
woman, every man and woman, lost, saved, every one of them has
got a conscience, a knowledge that they need a covering before
God. The difference is who gives it,
who makes it. Whenever Adam and Eve sinned
against God, before they sinned against God, were they clothed?
No. Were they ashamed? No. It's what
scripture says. They weren't clothed and they
weren't ashamed. But whenever they rebelled against
God, when Adam ate, their eyes were open. When Adam ate, both
of their eyes were open. They were naked. But what did
they do? We need a covering before God.
We're exposed. We're exposed. What are we going
to do? We're going to make us a covering.
What are we going to do? We're going to cover up. I'm
not going to let God see me like this. Well, let's get some fig
leaves. Let's start covering ourselves
up. Adam, where are you? Well, I was afraid. Why are we
afraid? Did you eat? Well, the woman. They had tried to cover themselves
before God with fig leaves. They knew they couldn't. False
religion does everything in the world it can to provide a covering
for itself. How am I going to make a covering
for myself? Well, I'm going to straighten
up and fly right. I'm going to get baptized. I'm going to speak
in tongues. I'm going to make a profession
of faith. I, I will, I will, I will. I, I, I. This fish's coat was a picture,
a type, a shadow, an illustration. Peter had walked away and now
recovered by the grace of God and put a covering on. A type,
a beautiful type, he knew. But a believer knows, I can't
provide the covering before God. He must. His imputed righteousness
is my only hope before God. To stand in Him, covered by Him,
robed in His obedience. That's what righteousness is.
Righteous, the imputed righteousness. Righteousness is obedience. It is God Almighty's law looking
at a man and saying, no charge, no charge. That's justification. I've looked and I see nothing
chargeable. That's his righteousness. This
is my beloved son whom I'm well pleased. That imputed righteousness. His righteousness. God's gonna
have to cover me with that. I can't. So he heard, he put
on a coat, and lastly, he did cast himself into the sea. Where are you going, prodigal? Where are you going, Peter? I'm
going back to Him. I'm going back to the Lord. He
jumped in, remembering without a doubt the words of the Lord
to His disciples concerning those that come to Him, coming to Me. All ye that labor and heavy laden,
I'm going to give you rest. I'm going back to Him. I'm going
to cast myself upon His mercy. Oh, what comfort to one that
had so disrespectfully mistreated the Lord. And to have the words
of the Lord Jesus Christ come back to his mind. Now listen,
and nobody here not guilty. Nobody's not guilty. There's
no one here that's not guilty. But here's what the scripture
says. This is the Lord speaking. Him that cometh to me. How do you come? This next message
I'm going to preach out of Micah. I'm going to hit on this a little
bit more, but I'll tell you this. Him that cometh to me offering
nothing that I've done, in my hands no price I bring, simply
to him. Lord, you that have mercy on
sinners, and I'm a sinner, Lord, I have nothing to claim. I am a rebel against you. I'm
a rebel. That's exactly what I am. I'm
a rebel against you. And you leave me to myself, I'm
gone. I'm gone. And I'm not coming
back. You leave me to myself, I know
what I'm going to do. Why do I stay? The love of Christ
constrains me. I can't go, Frank. I can't. I
just can't go. Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. My friend, let me just stop right here with
this thought. Don't come before God with the
best you can do. Because it'll never hold up. You come to Him as a helpless,
worthless sinner that needs a Savior. And I'm going to tell you something.
He'll receive you. How do you know? He said He would.
Come to Him with nothing but your need of Him that He has
taught you. And you've got some hope. May
the Lord bless these words to our hearts. Amen.