Good evening, brethren. Let's
be turning to John chapter 21. John chapter 21. Now, in John 20, where our Lord John
records the commission that our Lord gave to his church. And the way he concludes chapter
20, it sounds as though he is wrapping up. He's finishing concluding
the gospel that he's written there. And you look at verse
31 where he says in John 20, but these are written that ye
might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that
believing ye might have life through his name. And so it sounds
like he could have finished right then and there. And yet, he's
moved by the Holy Ghost to include another account, one more account. And as the Church of Christ,
we're the better for it. We're the better for it. It's
for our instruction. It's for our learning, because
it teaches the Church It teaches us of our need for the presence
of Christ. And it shows us how that our
Lord prepares His children to fulfill this commission which
he's given to us to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to declare that the Son
of God came in the flesh, that he laid down his life as the
Lamb of God, the promised seed of God, to take away the sin
of his people, to deliver us from death, eternal death, and
ruin. and to give us life in himself.
Without his death, there is no life for us. There is no reconciliation
and fellowship with God apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. He lay down
his life, he was buried, and rose again, declaring our justification,
that God is satisfied. that He is well-pleased in His
Son with all who come to Him in Jesus Christ. The Father is
well-pleased. And we're to declare this. We
are witnesses of these things our Lord said in Luke 24. These
things of what Christ has done. We preach Christ crucified. And
that includes His resurrection. And so we need help, though,
to preach this gospel. We don't have this power or strength
on our own. And that's what the Lord shows
his church here. And he shows his church how he
is ever-present and ever-near, and that he's the one that brings
forth fruit as it pleases him. And he gets all the glory for
it. And so let's see these things.
I've titled this message Preparing for the Commission. That is,
our Lord preparing his people for the commission. So John 21,
verse 1. After these things, Jesus showed
himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias. And on
this wise showed he himself. So our Lord now in John 20, we
see the occasion that John was led to record of our Lord's appearing
to his disciples and giving them the commission, the commission.
And our Lord did this several times. Many times, actually. Many times he appeared to his
people after his resurrection. And here he shows himself to
his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. And this sea is the Sea of Galilee. It's near Galilee. And John tells
us in verse 14 that this is now the third time that Jesus showed
himself to his disciples after that he was risen from the dead. Now I'm not positive how John
counted that, but it sounds like he's saying to his disciples
specifically because we know that he appeared to Mary Magdalene. Another gospel records that he
appeared to the women. on the way, and that he appeared
to the 10, and then to the 11, and that this is now the third
time. So when he appears to his disciples, the apostles that
he's gathered together to give them his commission. So this
is the third time. But it's of note here the location,
that it's at the Sea of Tiberias. For when the Lord said to the
women, in Matthew 28 verse 10, He said, Tell My brethren that
they go into Galilee, and there shall they see Me. And he adds
a little further in Matthew 28, 16, then the 11 disciples went
away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them,
and there he gave him what we call traditionally today the
Great Commission to go and to teach all nations, to preach
this gospel, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost. But he appeared many times. There's many recordings of our
Lord appearing to his disciples. Luke adds in the book of Acts,
chapter 1, verses 3 and 4, he said, to whom also he showed
himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being
seen of them 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the
kingdom of God. And being assembled together
with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem,
but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have
heard of me." Speaking of the spirit that they should receive. And so this instance here, recorded
by John, seems to occur just before the Great Commission that
Matthew records when they assembled in the mount that the Lord had
appointed them to go to before his ascension. And he affirmed
to the brethren there, he said, lo, I am with you always, even
unto the end of the world. Now, these disciples needed assurance. They needed help. You think about
what the apostles were going to endure soon as they preached
this gospel to an unbelieving world, to a world ignorant to
the true and living God. And they would go through trials.
They would go through adversities and difficulties and hardships.
They would be opposed and persecuted. And it would be very difficult,
very hard. They needed to be assured. They needed to know that Jesus
Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, has risen from the
dead, just as he said, and that he is both Lord and Christ. Because they're going to lay
down their lives for this gospel. They're going to lay down their
lives for Christ. They're going to give of themselves.
They're going to turn from this world to preach the gospel of
the true and living God. And so they're going to know.
They're going to be strengthened. They're going to be assured as
his disciples that he is risen and that he is intimately connected
to them. He is intimately involved in
their very lives in ministry. They're going to know this. And
so this right here, how many times our Lord appeared to his
disciples here, tells us just how much we need him and how
very near he is to us. And we need that. We ever need
His grace and mercy. Every believer has experienced
the grace of God. Every believer has experienced
the grace of God and that miracle of God's grace to them. And we've
prayed We've prayed in many times of great need, and we've received
answers to those prayers. The Lord's showing us that he
is the God that hears prayer, the prayer of his people. And
we've seen how that the Lord does wondrously for his people,
an answer to our prayer, an answer to our need, and giving us the
things that we have need of from him. He doesn't always answer
the prayer the way we set out thinking that he'll answer it.
But every time he answers that prayer, it's perfect. It's for
our good. It's according to his grace,
according to his power, to the glory of his name. And so we
see this. And yet, we also would confess
how forgetful we can be. how easily we forget and grow
cold and indifferent, and we forget just how blessed we were
not too long ago when the Lord answered our prayers, and sometimes
we even begin to think, did I project on that? I was so sure that the
Lord had answered me. I know he has, but we forget
as time goes on, and we become fools when left to ourselves. and we become careless when left
to ourselves. And so the Lord often appears
to his disciples here to keep them. He often appears to them
and he's affirming to them that he is risen, that he has called
them, and that he is the one sending them into this work with
this commission to preach the gospel to all nations, to lay
down their lives for Christ. Now it says in verse one there,
it says, on this wise showed he himself. On this wise. In other words, the Lord had
a purpose in ministering to his disciples in the manner that
he will now appear to them at this time. He has a purpose. for them. And it says in verse
two, they were together. There were together Simon Peter
and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana and Galilee,
and the sons of Zebedee, that would be John and James, and
two other of his disciples. And it's a sweet testimony. You see there how Thomas was
first missing when Christ appeared to the ten. But that second time,
he was there when Christ appeared. And now Thomas is right next
to Peter. He's right there. He doesn't
want to miss that opportunity when the Lord comes, when the
Lord gathers in that season to bless his people, to feed his
sheep. Thomas wants to be there. He
doesn't want to miss that blessing. He doesn't want to miss his Lord.
And so he sticks close to the other brethren right now. And
these men were gathered in Galilee because our Lord told them, that's
where you'll see me. You'll see me in Galilee. And
so here they are gathered. I would imagine that the other
meetings where they were, they were assembled together. When
that ten was assembled together, it's because they were hearing
things from Mary Magdalene. They were hearing things from
the other women that they had seen angels. And Peter ran down
to the tomb and John, and they saw the tomb was empty. The body
of Christ was not there. And they were stirred by this.
And they were meeting together in what we would liken to a solemn
assembly, a time where they were purposely gathered together to
hear from the Lord, to pray, and to seek the Lord about what's
going on, Lord. What's going on, Lord? What word
do you have for us to hear? And so now they're gathered together.
They're waiting for the Lord's appearance in Galilee. He told
them that they'll see him there, but the way this next verse,
verse three, is worded, perhaps some time had gone by. When the
Lord appeared to the ten, it was eight days later before he
appeared to the eleven when Thomas was gathered. Maybe now the Lord
had let more than that time passed before he appeared to them in
Galilee. And they were gathered together,
and they would come together and pray, and still the Lord
didn't appear to them. And it says now in verse three,
Simon Peter saith unto them, I go fishing. I go fishing. And they say unto him, we also
go with thee. And they went forth and entered
into a ship immediately. And that night they caught nothing. They had seen no sight of Christ
before they went fishing, and now having gone fishing, doing
that which they know and are familiar with was their livelihood,
they can't catch a thing. The Lord doesn't appear to them,
and they can't do anything themselves. They can't catch anything. They're
unfruitful. And it's at this point, away
from the solemn assembly, out on a seashore that the Lord appears
to his people at a time when they're not even looking for
him. They've left that. They think this is how the Lord
comes. He didn't come. I'm going fishing. And they don't
think they're going to see the Lord. And I want to show you
five encouraging things about the body or the church of our
Lord Jesus Christ and how that he ministers, even now, to his
people. This is for us to know. You that
are fellow laborers in this ministry, to declare this Gospel according
to the commission of our Lord. to preach the gospel to all nations. To declare this word to sinners,
to the lost sheep of Christ, because that's how he gathers
his sheep in, is through preaching Christ crucified, being witnesses
of these things, which Christ has done and accomplished for
his people. So five things. First, Christ
led his disciples to Galilee. He led his disciples to where
he would appear to them. The Lord brings his people where
he will have them that he may teach them and prepare them and
instruct them and grow them in the grace and knowledge of our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It's clear that he's preparing
them for this commission, to fulfill what Christ has given
them to do in preaching the gospel. After that, he gives them the
Spirit, and he sends them forth. And they go in the power of the
Spirit, declaring the Word, declaring this Word. And so they're being
drawn here. Because the Lord has a useful
purpose for them in His body. He brings them here for their
good and for their instruction. And that's what the Lord does
for us. He gathers together His sheep. He gathers us together as a body
of many members. because he has a purpose to send
forth, to establish the gospel and to send it forth among the
people that he may be gracious to them, to those people to whom
he will gather together under this gracious word. Now it says
in verse four, John 21.4, But when the morning was now come,
Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples knew not that it
was Jesus. Well, here's a blessed thing.
It's the morning. It is the season. The season. The picture here is that this
is the season, the breaking of light, the season when Christ
will manifest himself to his people. Remember, they're not
even looking for him at this time. But Christ has drawn near. He's drawn near to his people. They've been fishing all night. They've been fishing in darkness.
They've been feeling about and going about and trying to do
what they know, and they've garnered nothing. They've gained nothing,
nothing to show for their efforts. But the Lord had not forsaken
them. He didn't leave them. They didn't
know it, but He didn't leave them. He had gathered them for
a purpose to bless them. To bless those who are unable
to bring forth any fruit by the labors of their own hands. Christ
has gathered them for the purpose of blessing them. Turn over to
Lamentations 3. Lamentations 3, that's after
Jeremiah. Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentations,
so it's right after Jeremiah and it's right before Ezekiel.
Lamentations, just a little five chapter book. In Lamentations 3, verse 22 through
24, Jeremiah says, it's of the Lord's
mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail
not. The prophet Jeremiah had been
taught, it's not because of my works that God doesn't destroy
me. It's not because of what I have
done or not done that God is merciful and gracious to me.
It's because of who he is. His compassions fail not. That's
why we're not destroyed. That's why we're not destroyed.
If we're honest with ourselves, We know that in me, that is in
my flesh, Paul said, dwelleth no good thing, no good thing. I have nothing to boast of before
you. And so all our glory is in Christ,
who is our very righteousness, and that we're not destroyed
because he is compassionate and gracious and merciful to whom
he will be merciful and compassionate. He's very kind. And he says of
his compassions, verse 23, they are new every morning. Every morning when Christ will
appear to you and reveal himself to you in that time of refreshing. You may go a long time in the
dark night, but in that morning when Christ appears, it is very
encouraging, very blessing. He raises the spirits. He lifts
up our head. He raises us up to behold him,
to hear his voice again. And we know he's gracious. He's
gracious. He's very merciful to me, a sinner. The Lord, he says, is my portion,
saith my soul. Therefore will I hope in him. We don't know that by nature.
That's taught to the sinner saved by grace. God teaches sinners
that, and He's gracious to them to show them that He's merciful
and compassionate. I didn't earn this. I didn't
work for this. God isn't gracious to me because of what I've done.
He's gracious to me because of Christ, for Christ's sake. And
in him, I'm righteous and accepted of him. Now, back in our text,
John 21, Jesus stood on the shore. But they didn't know that it
was the Lord. They didn't know that their Lord was so near.
And he led them there. And they didn't even know for
what purpose they were led there. All they knew is that he would
show himself to them. But they didn't know where exactly.
They didn't know when, I should say. They knew it was in a mountain
appointed but they had ceased looking for him and they didn't
expect to see him here now. They thought they wouldn't see
him. But he's leading his church according to purpose. And our Lord shows himself to
his people in unexpected ways. He will flip us upside down and
turn our lives around and show us just how gracious and merciful
and mighty and wonderful he is. He doesn't stay in the box of
our imaginations as we think he is. He's greater. He's much
greater. He's much greater. When we're in the flesh and when
we first sought the Lord, He was in a little box. He was in
a box about yea big. And then the Lord revealed Himself. And He exploded past all the
boundaries that we had put upon Him because He is God. He's God. And we are but men. We are little. little men, and God is wonderful,
wonderful, that he should take thought of us. Now, verse 4,
John 21, verse 4, But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood
on the shore, and his disciples knew it not. Sorry, let's go
down to verse 5. Then Jesus saith unto them children,
Have ye any meat? And they answered him, No. No. And here's the second thing that
the Lord teaches his people. He reveals himself to his disciples
gradually. He does teach us gradually. I
mean, we learn a lot. There's times when the Lord reveals
himself magnificently, and it overwhelms us, and it teaches
us much. And we think, I don't even know
if I was saved before he showed me this. And he just expands
our understanding of Christ. And we fall at his feet. thankful
to him for who he is and what he's revealed to us and how all
that time in my ignorance he was patient and kind and is now
revealing this to me and showing me his love, showing me his grace,
showing me how patient he is. And so here they still don't
even know who he is. He's revealing himself to his
disciples gradually. gradually. And this is how the
Lord teaches us. We don't know everything there
is to know about the Lord. We are finite creatures. We are
finite creatures. Everything we need to know is
in Christ. Everything that is relevant to
us is in Christ. But even that understanding we
see and grow more and more and more just how Christ really is
all in all, and everything that the child of God needs. We think
we know it, and then we see it even more. And then we think
we know it, and then we see it even more, just how sufficient,
how all-encompassing. how everything Christ is. Christ
is all and in all. And so they didn't know him on
the shore, but he asks them this question. And that question is
ultimately going to lead to their discovery that this is the Lord.
This is the Lord who is speaking to us right now. And so we see
here how the Lord shows his disciples in a very patient way. They couldn't bring forth of
their own strength. They're out in the wilderness, so to speak,
out on the ocean there, nothing around them. They're doing things
that they think they know, that they have strength and wisdom
for, and they bring forth nothing, nothing, nothing of themselves. And they labored a long time,
a long time, but the Lord taught them this lesson, that without
Him, they could do nothing. And I'm sure it was frustrating
for them as they labored. I can only imagine the various
thoughts. I don't know if they said anything to one another.
Can't believe we're not catching nothing. I don't know if they
complained out loud to one another or if they just thought in their
hearts, nothing's going right for us. Nothing's going right
for us. The Lord said he'd meet us out
here, that we'd see him here, but nothing seems to be going
right, and we can't even fish anymore. We can't do anything
right. I would imagine a number of things
went through their minds, and yet we see here how the Lord's
grace is sufficient, because he will teach them. The Lord's
grace is sufficient. While he's teaching us, we sin
in ways we don't even know that we're sinning. But the Lord's
grace is sufficient because he's teaching his people. He said
that to Paul. Paul prayed Paul knew the Lord
could heal him. He's seen the Lord heal people.
He's probably healed them of other things. And Paul prayed
three times for this thorn in the flesh to be removed. And
the Lord said, no, my grace is sufficient for you. It's good
for you to have that thorn. It's good for you to have that
weakness that you might know my grace is what's keeping you,
that you would be gracious to your brethren and patient with
your brethren instead of cutting them off so quickly. He broke
from Barnabas. He was upset with John Mark for
a time. Paul was a very passionate man. And he broke, but the Lord taught
him, no, you're going to have a thorn in the flesh to teach
you that you might know you need me just as much as they need
me. And so he's very good at humbling
his people in that way that we have need of being humble. And
so we can begin to see here how beneficial it was for these experienced
fishermen to catch nothing. It was for their good. It reminds
me of what Sarah said to Abraham in Genesis 16, verse 2, when
she said, behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing. The Lord has done this. And we
need grace to know that. To know that it's the Lord that
brings forth fruit and it's the Lord that restrains us from bringing
forth fruit and it's good for us to know that we need to wait
on Him. We need His grace always because
we can't just put our muscle to it and put our mind to it
and put our might to it and expect that we're going to bring forth
abundantly fruit unto the Lord. because it's going to be the
Lord's work. It's going to be to His glory, to His praise,
and to His honor, and we're going to learn to wait on the Lord. Turn over to Romans 5. Look at
Romans 5, and let's look at the first six verses there. Romans 5, verse 1, Therefore
being justified, By faith we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we have access by
faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in the
hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory
in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience,
and patience experience, and experience hope. and hope maketh
not ashamed. Because the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
For when we were yet without strength in due time, Christ
died for the ungodly. And yet when we're without strength
in due time, it's the Lord that appears to his people. It's the
Lord that leads his people. It's the Lord that blesses his
people and brings forth fruit abundantly to the glory and praise
of his name. we can see just looking back
I remember even when I was in in darkness
and didn't even know the Lord but the Lord stirred me up and
I began to seek the Lord and I would the Lord would answer
prayers very quickly very quickly and then after a time they weren't
so quick Then it might be a whole day or a whole week. And then
it seemed like it was weeks and sometimes months that I would
be praying and the Lord wouldn't answer it. But then it would
come. And then it began to be years, years. And I think, I
look back, and I wonder, what's wrong? What am I doing wrong?
Because that's what we do. We look in the flesh. What am
I doing? What aren't I doing? Or what do I need to be doing?
And we get focused on us. But now I see in the ministry,
it's good. Patience is good, because it's
going to be long times sometimes before you see fruit. And we
wait on the Lord, and the Lord uses that to stir us up, to bring
us to pray, to bring us to our knees, to bring me to see it's
not me, it's you, Lord. And give me what I have need
of, Lord. And he does that for his people.
That's why he's growing us in that manner, to give us patience,
to give us experience, to give us the hope in the Lord, and
not lose that hope, but to trust him and see his love for us Even
so, even so, because he's making us fit and useful in his kingdom,
in the body that he has assembled us in and put us together in.
He's done that, as it's pleased him. He assembles us together.
So in the season of his visitation, he asks this heart-searching
question, children, have ye any meat? And they answered him,
no, no. And that's good. We've got nothing
to boast of in ourselves. Christ is the one whom the Father
has made unto us wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption. The Father is the one who makes
our boast and our glory in the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you any
meat? No. No, I have nothing of myself. I have nothing to boast of, nothing
to bring to you, Lord. I come an empty sinner. in need of your grace and mercy,
of your forgiveness. And the Lord shows us that. And
that can take time. And we think we know it, and
then we learn it again. We learn it again to see our
need, and that's good for us. It's painful to the flesh. The
flesh doesn't like it. The flesh doesn't want to go
through trials. But it's good when we have learned the Lord
and learned our need of The Lord. And it was a kind question. Notice He calls them children. Children, have you any meat? Because He gathers together His
children and He does this for our good. He's showing us that
He's all, that He's everything. And His purpose is to instruct
us and to show us that our labors are not the cause of our fruit,
but through patient instruction, He makes us to see our need of
Him. Paul said to the Philippians in 3.3, he said, for we are the
circumcision. We are those who are circumcised
with that circumcision made without hands in the heart where only
God's hand reaches. If it was us, we'd cut away everything. We'd be ripping out the wheat
along with the tares. We'd tear everything up. Just
keep going at it. But not with the Lord. He's patient.
He says, just let it be. Let it be, and I'll divide. I'll do my work. You don't worry
about that. You just minister the gospel. You hear me. And he said, we're
the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and rejoice
in Christ Jesus. Not man. We rejoice in Christ
and have no confidence in the flesh. And I can tell you from
experience, and you know this as well, that comes through instruction. That comes through the patient
teaching of the Lord convincing us of that. It's one thing to
know it in the textbook, it's another thing to know it by the
experience of His grace. that we're nothing, and he's
everything, and to have no confidence in this flesh, and to lean on
the Lord wholly, completely. Third, he then reveals to us
how that he brings forth an abundance of fruit exactly when it pleases
him to do so. Verse six, John 21, six, and
he said unto them, cast the net on the right side of the ship,
and ye shall find. They cast therefore and now they
were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. And so the Lord is showing us,
he teaches us, he's able to bring in that fruit, to bring a harvest
of fruit exactly when it pleases him. He brings it forth exactly
as it pleases him. Now it'll be difficult. Just
because he brings it doesn't mean it's easy. It doesn't mean
that it's easy for us. It says they were not able to
draw it for the multitude of fishes. The labor is hard. The labor is difficulty. But
it's the Lord holding us up. It's the Lord who does it. And
we labor in the strength of the Lord. And we see the leading
of the Lord. We see the fruit of the Lord. And that's because the Lord always
gives what He promises. He never comes under what He
promises. He gives abundantly above all
that we can ask or think because He's the God of all grace. He's
able to do all things. And now as a result of this miracle,
fourth, there was no denying who did this work. Verse seven,
it begins, and therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved, that's
the disciple John, saith unto Peter, it is the Lord. It's the
Lord. When the Lord does a work of
grace, he's able to perform it such that his people will know
the Lord has done this. We didn't do this. We didn't
bring this to pass. The Lord brought this to pass.
Glory to his name. Praise the Lord. Give all the
glory to him because he is God. And he's done this gracious work
to bring forth this fruit in and among his people. And so
a little more of what we see here is something of the Lord's
body. Not all the disciples saw or did the same thing the same
way. And that's a reminder for every
one of us not to conform to one another. We're conformed to Christ,
but the Lord takes of whom it pleases, of whom he's pleased
to bring together into that body. Just as the members of your body
are not all the same thing. You have a hand, you have two
hands, you have feet, legs, a body, a torso, eyes, ears, a heart. mind you have these things that
all function and do different things because the Lord does
that and it's for our good and that doesn't mean there's always
a perfectness because we learn to bear long with one another
we learn to be gracious with one another to to suffer the
little children and to bear long with them and that's what the
Lord tells his people and be ye kind one to another tender
hearted forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake,
hath forgiven you." The Lord is very patient with us, very
kind to us. It's like It's like Jacob when
he was going back to meet Esau with his family and the children
could not be pushed hard each day. There were some that could
be pushed hard, but there was a lot of children, a lot of young
flocks and others and elderly that couldn't be pushed hard
like that. And so Jacob went slow. He went slow. And that's
what the Lord does for his people. But they all come together. when
it pleases the Lord. They all see the same thing.
So John, here as an example, he's a disciple that was very
sensitive to see the Lord's work. He recognized the Lord's work
very quickly. He was the first one to see,
it's the Lord. And when he opened his mouth,
he was very convincing. He just said to Peter, it's the
Lord. And Peter was convinced. He believed. His word was made
effectual in his heart. And it says now in verse 7, a
little further, it says, now when Simon Peter heard that it
was the Lord, he gird his fisher's coat unto him, for he was naked,
and did cast himself into the sea. And so now we see the passion
and the zeal of Peter, who abandons all sense and carnal reasoning
and just launches himself into that very same sea, that back
in, was it John 5 or 6, I guess 6, there where he said, Lord,
if that's you, bid me come to you. And he came to him on this
very sea of Tiberias here, until the waves and the winds picked
up and he began to sink. He took his eyes off Christ and
cried out, Lord, save me. And now he jumps into that same
sea with reckless abandon because he wanted to see the Lord. He
wanted to get to the Lord as quickly and as efficiently as
he possibly could. And so he went. He went in. know you look at that and you
might think well he's kind of leaving his brethren behind there
he's just leaving them in the dust just to get to the Lord
himself to fend for themselves but they all did what they could
they all helped and they came as quickly as they could to get
to shore to see the Lord it says verse 8 and the other disciples
came in a little ship for they were not far from land but as
it were 200 cubits dragging the net with fishes each one laboring
as they had And maybe now Peter realized, wait a minute, let
me go back and help them pull in this net. And this brings
us to the fifth thing, the fifth and final thing that we see here.
The Lord is the one who brings all his people together. And that local body, that local
assembly, he brings all his people together to see and to experience
that blessing, that he's purposed for that body. He brings them
all to see it together as one. Look at verse nine. As soon then
as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and
fish lay thereon and bred. And so we see here how that the
Lord grows his people together as one. John, Peter had extraordinary
gifts, were made very useful in the church and were very prominent
in the church and had things, very visible gifts in the church.
And yet all of the disciples were led together to that same
place and are described as seeing that blessing. of the Lord being
there with that fire and those fish and bread. And they all
came and saw it together. They saw that blessing and fed
on it together as one body. And I'm reminded there of what
Paul wrote also to the Philippians in chapter 3, verses 14 through
16. He said, I press toward the mark. I've got one goal in mind. I'm
pressing toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus. And he encouraged him. He said,
let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded. But he added, and if in anything
ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. The Lord will teach you. Nevertheless,
whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule,
let us mind the same thing." And it's the Lord that works
that grace in his people, to go as one, to be patient, to
bear long, to suffer the little children, to receive those unto
the Lord in grace and mercy, teaching them, patiently instructing
them, and trusting the Lord to bring forth abundantly his fruit
for the good of his people." And I'll just add one other thing
about this. I wonder now if in seeing the fish and the bread,
they realize, you know, we're very close to where we were when
the Lord fed the 5,000 with bread and with fish, because that's
where they were. It was in Galilee. It says in John 6, 1, after these
things, Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea
of Tiberias, which is where they are right now on the Sea of Tiberias.
And he performed that miracle of feeding the 5,000 there. And
now they see the Lord has gathered us together. And he's feeding
us with the bread of heaven. He's strengthening us. making
us fit and ready to be fishers of men, to go out and fulfill
this great commission that the Lord has given us to preach this
glorious gospel of the one Savior that God has sent, that the Father
has sent to save his people, to gather us together in one,
the Lord Jesus Christ, to give us that hope and that excitement
and that passion and glory and to trust him and to do it together
as a body, as one body. the body gathered together by
the Lord. And so he, our Lord, it says
how many times he appeared. Well, we don't know how many
times, but it says it was over the course of 40 days. He did
miraculous things and appeared to them over and over again to
strengthen them, to strengthen them for this commission, to
believe the Lord, to trust him and to labor fervently in the
Lord. But no, it's the Lord doing it.
And he gives them here five essential lessons for their strengthening
to fulfill that commission, the trust that the Lord is leading
you. He's leading his people together.
to patiently wait upon Him, or rather to know that He patiently
reveals Himself to His people. He shows us. In that patience,
He's showing us our need of Him. He's bringing us to depend upon
Him. He's making us to know it's of grace. It's of grace, and
not of my hand, but of the Lord's hand. It's of His grace and mercy
in Christ. Third, He brings forth fruit
when it pleases Him. And that doesn't mean it's easy.
There's difficulties and hardships for us, but it's all for our
good. It's all for our good. But the
Lord does it when it pleases Him. And when he does it forth,
there's no doubt that it's the Lord's. It's the Lord's glory. We rejoice in him. We give him
all the thanks and praise for what he has done. And fifth,
the Lord brings this local body of his church to seeing his blessings
together as one. It'll be as one. If we get ahead
of each other, the Lord can slow us down and humble who he needs
to. and he can catch up who he needs
to and he brings his people together as one. Now as I prepared this
message I was made mindful of Isaiah 30 verse 18 and I'll close
with this verse. Isaiah 30 verse 18 says, and
therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto
you. And therefore will he be exalted,
that he may have mercy upon you. For the Lord is a God of judgment. Blessed are all they that wait
for him. I pray the Lord, encourage your
heart, strengthen your hearts, and bless you in Christ in that
world.