Turn back with me to John 21. John 21, it has been quite a
few weeks since we've been in the book of John. So I want to
recap what is taking place right here. I want us to enter back
into the whole scene down to verse 19. And then after we look at these
verses, I have a very important question to ask us. I have a
very, very important question to ask us. John 21 verse 1 says,
After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples
at the Sea of Tiberias, and on this wise showed he himself. The disciples were on the Sea
of Galilee, that is the Sea of Tiberias, the same name. And that is the exact spot where
the Lord found them the first time. Okay, they're in the exact
same spot. And look at the last two words
that we're going to read tonight, the end of verse 19, those words
say, follow me. Now isn't that what he said to
them the first time? Three and a half years before
that? Simon, Andrew, James, John, follow me. Follow me. Our Lord is so faithful, isn't
He? He is so faithful. We sing that
song, prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the
God I love. He is so faithful. These men
had been with him for three and a half years. They heard him preach. All right, now, you all have
heard me preach. They heard God preach for three
and a half years. And to put it into perspective,
I have now been here three and a half years. And it's not very
long. It's not very long. But they
heard God preach. And they saw His miracles. I mean, they saw Him stick His
finger in a man's ear, touch his tongue and say, Ephetha.
And all of a sudden, that man could hear and speak plainly.
They saw crippled men take up their bed and walk. They saw
Lazarus come forth. I mean, they saw the miracles. They knew that he himself had
risen from the dead. The chapter before this is where
he came and appeared to them. He said, Thomas, touch my scars
right here. They knew this at this point.
And still, after all that, they needed Him to give them the same
exact call that He gave them on day one. Follow me. Now, are we any different? Are we any different? We hear
that and it's like, where have I been? It's like we're hearing
it for the first time. We're just saying, Great is thy
faithfulness, O God our Father. There is no shadow of turning
with thee. Aren't you so glad? Verse 1 says,
After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples
at the Sea of Tiberias, and on this wise showed he himself. There were together Simon Peter
and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee,
and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Simon
Peter saith unto them, I'm going fishing. Now, we just said Peter knew
the Lord had risen. All right? Peter knew that he
had risen, but Peter knew how far his fall was. He denied the Lord. After walking with God and talking
with God and preaching this gospel, he denied it. He absolutely denied it and cursed
God. Peter was convinced in his heart,
there is no way that God will reserve any mercy for me. There's no way. There is no way
that I can be a child of His. I cannot belong to Him. I can't. I know He's risen. But
I don't, there's no possible way, not after what I've done.
I might as well just go back to fishing. Verse 3, Simon Peter
saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, we also go
with thee. They went forth and entered into
a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing. But
when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore, but
the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto
them, Children, have you any meat? And they answered him,
No. Our Lord is always there. He's
always there. He is always there in our time
of need. How often do we have a time of
need? He is always there, even when
we don't know it. Here he is standing on the shore.
They have no idea who he is. And he speaks so sweetly and
so tenderly to them, and that's what he does to us. He said,
children. so sweetly and tenderly. Verse 5, He said unto them, Children,
have you any meat? They answered him, No. And he
said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship,
and you shall find. They cast therefore, and now
they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
Our Lord is reminding them of something in this. On purpose,
He made it so they wouldn't catch any fish. And then He told them
now. And boom! And He's reminding
them of something. Go with me to Luke chapter 5. Now this is the same location
three and a half years before. This is when our Lord first came
to the disciples. Luke 5 verse 1 says, And it came
to pass that as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of
God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw two ships
standing by the lake, but the fishermen were gone out of them,
and were washing their nets. 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, And he sat down and taught the people
out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking,
he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep and let down your
nets for a draft. And Simon answering said unto
him, Master, we have toiled all night and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word I will
let down the nets. And when they had this done,
they enclosed a great multitude of fishes and their net break. And they beckoned unto their
partners which were in the other ship, that they should come and
help them. And they came and filled both
ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it,
he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I
am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all
that were with him, at the draft of the fishes which they had
taken. And so was also James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear
not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had
brought their ships to land, they forsook all and followed
him." Now in Matthew and in Mark's
account of that, this is his exact wording, he said, I will
make you to become fishers of men. But with that, He continually
reminds us, without Him, we can do nothing. Without Him, we can
do nothing. We leave the glory where it belongs. Oh, do we go out and fish? Yes. But we leave the glory where
all of the fish are at His command. And we leave every ounce of it
at His feet, all of that glory. That gospel net can only be thrown
at His command. That's it. And His people are
only going to be taken by His command. Peter said, We've toiled
all night and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at Thy word, at
Thy word, I'm going to throw this net. I think about that sometimes.
I think, this old poor sinful flesh right here, it gets to
me. It gets me down and I think, oh man, why am I even doing this? But necessity's laid on me, therefore
I'm going to throw the net. Throw the net. Just throw the
net. Now, knowing that the Lord told
Peter, this is what he was telling him right here, you catching
fish is an illustration of you preaching this gospel. And this
gospel laying hold of my people and drawing them out. That's
what this is illustrating. Calling them out. Now, knowing
that, let's all go back to the text, John 21. Verse six, and he said unto them,
Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and you shall find.
They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it
for the multitude of fishes. 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. And the other disciples came
in a little ship, for they were not far from land, but as it
were two hundred cubits, dragging the net with fishes. Now a man
named Arthur Pink made an observation on this that has encouraged me.
I just cannot tell you how much it has encouraged me. Do you see how it says in verse
8 that they were not far from land? They were in the shallow water. All right? They were not out
in the deep. They were in the shallow water. They were very
near that golden shore. Now, nobody knows how many souls
God has purposed to save. I know that I can't count them,
but nobody knows how many that is. And nobody knows when He
has purposed to call them out. Nobody knows that. Nobody knows if He has many more
to save or just a few more to save. I don't know. I have no
idea. And it does appear that we are
in the last days. I believe our Lord will be coming
back soon. I don't know how long, but it
does appear we're in the last days. It appears that we are
very near the heavenly shore. But we have no reason to believe,
none at all, no reason to believe that our God will not throw His
gospel and gather a multitude so great
they're just going to have to be drug in by the ship right
before his return. Would that not be wonderful?
Would that not be like our God to come back in a glorious way? I mean a glorious way, not a
however he does it is his good will and purpose. But I have
no reason to convince myself that throwing this gospel net
will not engulf a number so great. This thing's not about numbers,
is it? Not about numbers. This is about mercy. And it's
about God being kind to men and women's souls and sparing them
from eternal hell's fire. And that's why I'm preaching
the message. And my prayer is that the Lord would save as many
as He's willing to save. And I believe he's going to save
quite a few. I really do. By his mercy, his grace, his
doing without me, I believe he's going to save quite a few in
all the places he's raised up his gospel. The only way we're
going to make it into glory onto that heavenly shore is being
drug in by a ship. That's it. The fishermen are
not going to get us there. Don't look to the fishermen. We're
going to be drug in by the ship. Verse 9 says, As soon then as
they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and
fish laid thereon and bred. We cannot provide one thing for
our Lord. What are we going to bring? In
my hand, no price I bring. We don't have one thing that
he needs. They finally, through much tribulation,
made it to the shore, and the Lord already had a fire going,
he already had fish laid on it, and he already had bread. You know what that reminds me
of? We read in Luke 5, the Lord said, I'm going to make you fishers
of men. All right? Here's the illustration. We're
thinking about this illustration. This great multitude of fish
made it to the shore. And you think, well, they're
not supposed to be there. They'll die. That's right. I'm going to tell
you what, if we try to get onto that heavenly shore without a
miraculous work from Jesus Christ, we'll die. No man can stand in
his presence and live. But if God makes us able to be
there, we'll live. All right, and these fish, they
all make it to this shore, but not one of them had to suffer
that fire. Not one of them. And the reason is because Christ
had already provided everything that was required. Everything
that was needed. These fish get there and they
look up and they see, Christ has provided me a substitute. A fish was laying there. One has already suffered. And those fish, they were safe
in that gospel net. If that net was gone, you know
what they'd do? All being kept by that gospel
net, looking at that fire, saying, But for the grace of God there
go I. That was going to be me right
there laying on that fire. But Christ provided me a substitute. When we reach that heavenly shore,
that's what we're going to be crying for all eternity. That
was supposed to be me right there, but Christ provided me a substitute. Verse 9 says, ìAs soon as they
were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there and fish laid
their own in bread. Jesus saith unto them, ìBring
of the fish which you have now caught.î Simon Peter went up
and drew the net to land full of great fishes, and hundred
and fifty and three, and for all there were so many, yet was
not the net broken.î Now, think about this. Before they reached
that beautiful shore, Peter jumped out of the boat, and everybody
else is dragging these fishes in. And before they made it to
the shore, the Lord was standing there waiting on them. He already
had everything prepared for them that they needed. But before
they reached the shore, that gospel net was full of a great
number but no number was given. A great multitude and no number
was given. But after that multitude made
it safe to land, every single one of them were counted. The exact number was known. And in this great and glorious
day, our great and final day when
the last child of God steps foot on the shores of paradise. Jesus
Christ himself is going to count his sheep. The exact number will
be known and then he's going to cry, Father, all that thou
hast given me I have kept and none of them is lost. None of
them? None of them. Every one of them
are here. Every single one of them. Verse
12, Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. Can you at all envision the marriage
supper of the Lamb? Can you at all envision it? I'm looking so forward to it.
I'm looking so, Irene loves to put on dinner parties. I'm looking
so forward to it. Come and dine. All things are
made ready. Serve the wine. My bride is here. Verse 11 says, Simon Peter went
up and drew the net to land full of great fishes, a hundred and
fifty and three, and for all there were so many, yet was not
the net broken. That net is the gospel of Christ
and Him crucified. That's what that net is. And
God the Father said concerning God the Son, He shall not fail. That net is His Word, and the
Scripture says, not one word of it shall fail. That great
multitude of fish, they were all brought all the way to the
shore, and that net never failed, never failed. So verse 12, Jesus
saith unto them, Come and dine, and none of the disciples durst
ask him, Who art thou, knowing that it was the Lord? Jesus then
cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. This is now the third time that
Jesus showed himself to his disciples after that he was risen from
the dead. I can see them just quietly sitting there in awe. I see these men sitting around
this fire. gladly taking their bread and gladly receiving their
fish, just looking at each other. No man had to say one word. They
knew this is the Lord. We are back with the Lord, in
communion, reunited with our Lord. There's a verse of scripture,
and don't turn to it, I'm going to read it to you. This is Philippians
4. And it does not matter whether
it's spiritual need or physical need. For His sheep, we all have
a spiritual need, but we also have physical needs. In this
verse of Scripture, this is Philippians 4, verse 19, says, My God shall
supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. He'll supply all your need. What
do you need? He'll supply it. I could use a meal. Some fish
and some bread. He'll supply that too. He will
supply all your need. That applies to us right now
just as much as it did to them. Here they brought all their stuff
and he had it all ready. He'll supply all our need. You
know what we need more than anything? Mercy. We need mercy. You cannot imagine the riches
of His mercy. You just cannot imagine the riches.
His mercies cannot be exhausted. New every morning. We need grace. We need grace. You could never
imagine the riches of His grace. Never. John 21 verse 15, So when
they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas,
lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He told Peter, If you love me,
forsake it all and preach the gospel. Verse sixteen, he said
to him again the second time, Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou
me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. Peter, if you love me, comfort
ye, comfort ye my people. If you love me, feed them, nourish
them with the word of this gospel. Verse 17, he saith unto him the
third time, Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved
because he said unto him the third time, lovest thou me? And
he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest
that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, feed my
sheep. Now before Peter denied the Lord
three times, the Lord told Peter that Satan was going to sift
him. But the Lord gave Peter this
promise. He said, I'm not going to let you go. I'm going to deliver you out
of this sifter. And when you are converted back,
I'm going to bring you back. I promise. I'm going to bring
you back. And when you are converted back, strengthen your brethren. Strengthen your brethren. Peter,
you see what I've done for you. Now if you love me, feed my sheep
at all cost. I mean at all cost, feed my sheep. Verse 18, he said, Verily, verily,
that means this is the truth, this is the truth. I say unto
thee, when thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkest
whither thou wouldest, But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt
stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and
carry thee, whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying
by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this,
he saith unto him, Follow me. Follow me. He said, Peter, you're
going to die for this gospel. You're going to die for this
gospel. They are going to bind you and stretch out your hands
just like they did mine. Peter was crucified. That's how
he died. The history says most believe
upside down. They believe he was crucified
upside down. But the Lord told him that's
how you're going to die. Turn over with me to John 13. John 13 verse 36 says, Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord,
whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I
go, thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me
afterwards. You are going to follow me in
this death, Peter. But look what he says in chapter
14 verse 1. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God,
believe also in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself,
that where I am, there you may be also. The Lord told Peter,
let not your heart be troubled. Just follow me. Just follow me. Don't fear. Just follow me. He said, Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me? Do you
trust me? Peter, do you trust me? Follow
me. Now here's the question I want
to ask tonight. And this question needs an answer
in my heart tonight. And this question needs an answer
in your heart tonight. Not tomorrow. Tonight. Do I love the Lord? Do I love the Lord? John Newton wrote, Do I love
the Lord or no? Am I His or am I not? Do I love
the Lord? Do I love the Lord? The Lord did not ask Peter a
deep doctrinal theological question. He asked him, Peter, do you love
me? That's what he asked him. Do you love me? After I cut through
all the enticements of this world, all the doubts and the fears
of this world, there's one question I need to know the answer to.
Do I love him? Do I love the Lord? The reason
I need to know the answer to that question is because if I
love him, then it means he first loved me. If I love him, then it means
he first loved me. The only way I can love him is
if he has first loved me. If I love him for who he is,
and if I love him for what he has done, then that's my evidence
that he has loved me and given himself for me. That's my evidence. If I have no heart for him, that's
an evidence too. Take him or leave him, that's
an evidence too. Lord, do I love you? That's a question I need
to ask tonight. Lord, do I? Only He knows the
answer to that. John Newton said, Lord, decide
this doubtful case. It's dependent on you. You have
to love me first. Lord, decide this doubtful case. Thou who art the people's son,
shine upon the work of grace, if indeed it be begun. If you've
given me grace, Would you shine on it? Would you show it to me? I want to burn in here. Salvation
is not a feeling, but I want to feel something for Christ.
Do I love you? He went on to say, Let me love
thee more and more. If I love at all, I pray. If I have not loved before, help
me to begin today. Do I love you? Do I love you? Can we say with Peter, Yea, Lord. Thou knowest all things. You know that you put that love
in here. You know. Can we say that? I
heard a story one time, and I'm going to close with this. I heard a story one time about
a missionary who was asked by a native man, why have you traveled all this
way to talk about this man Jesus Christ? Why have you crossed
land and sea? Why is he all you talk about? He's all you talk about. The
native man said, Why do you love him so much? Why do you love
him this much? And that missionary didn't answer
him. He didn't give him one answer. All he did was he stooped down
on the ground and he raked up some leaves and some sticks and
he made a little circle on the ground out of leaves and sticks.
And he took out his pocket knife, and he started digging over here
in the dirt until he found a worm. And he pulled that worm out of
the ground, and then he struck a match, and he lit those leaves
and those sticks, and he dropped that worm right in the middle
of them. And that worm went this way, and the worm went this way,
and everywhere that worm turned, he met the fire. until finally
that little worm just curled up in the middle of that ring
and waited to die. And that missionary reached down
and he picked that little worm up and he put him right back
in the dirt and covered him up. And he said, that's why I love
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he did for me. That's
what he did for me. Our Lord is going to whisper
to every single one of His children. He's going to whisper in the
ear of every child, Do you love me? Do you love me? And do you know
what every single child, the heart of every single child is
going to cry? He's going to show them what
He has done. And then the heart of every child
of His is going to cry, Yes, I do. Not like I want to,
not like I'm going to, but yes, I sure do. Yay, Lord. By your mercy, by your grace,
by your work, you know I love you because you're the one who
put it there. You're the one who put it there.
Yay, Lord. All right, let's stand together.