All right go back with me to
John 21. I believe I have a brief message
tonight. But usually when I think that
it's a 51 minute message. But I believe I have a brief
message. I believe I have something that
is a help to believers. If the Lord would let us enter
into it and not hear this in a way as though we've heard it
before, but really hear it, I believe this will be a real blessing
to us. We read this story of seven apostles
after the Lord died going back to fishing. Let's read these
seven verses. After these things, Jesus showed himself again. Now, they had already seen him.
He showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. And on this wise showed he himself,
or this is how he showed himself. There were together Simon Peter
and Thomas called Didymus, And I love how Peter is the one who
denied him three times, and God wrote his name first. And Thomas
is the one who said, except I see the prince, I won't believe him.
God wrote his name second. And then Nathanael of Cana in
Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.
That's seven of them in total. Simon Peter said unto them, I'm
going back to 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. 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.
They couldn't get that net back inside the boat. Verse 7, therefore
that disciple whom Jesus loved, that's John the Baptist, the
writer of this gospel. Therefore that disciple whom
Jesus loved said 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. So we understand the story of
what's going on here. Verse six is the verse that caught
my attention and I saw something in this that caused me to see
something through those entire seven verses. Verse six, the
Lord said unto them, cast the net on the right side of the
ship. That's what he told them to do.
Do you have anything? No. Cast the net on the right
side of the ship. I titled this message, The Right
Side. The Right Side. People say things
like, there's always two sides to every coin. There's always
two sides to every story. In this case, there were two
sides to that ship right there. Two sides. And they were on the
wrong side, weren't they? We see their mindset, we see
what's going on. They were on the wrong side.
There is a way that seemeth right unto a man. And here's why I'm
saying, if we could hear this like it's the first time we've
ever heard it. There's a way to a believer in his flesh that
seems right to him, still. There is a way that seems right
unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Every
way of man is wrong. Every single one. Everything
that I do that does not coincide with the Word of God is wrong.
It's just wrong. And the side of things that this
flesh naturally leans towards is the wrong side. It's always
the wrong side. Even though our Lord has called
us sinners, we're here together, and I believe the Lord has called
us to himself, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. We do
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, but we still have to deal with
and fight this flesh. And we're going to have to until
the day we die. In this text right here, our Lord is about
to leave this earth. And he's about to physically
leave their presence in doing so. And he's teaching them some
wonderful lessons before he goes. The end of John 20 closed with
many other signs in verse 30. Many other signs truly did Jesus
in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this
book. But these are written that you might believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might
have life through His name. So He's teaching them some wonderful
lessons before He goes. Many, many, many wonderful lessons.
And if our Lord would teach us these same lessons, we could
finish this course in life looking to and looking on the right side. The right side. Wouldn't that
be wonderful? I pray that this will be an exhortation to unbelievers
and a comfort to believers. That's what I hope this will
be. I want us to see five lessons that are absolute truth and absolutely
right in these seven verses here. Here's the first one. Verse one
says, After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples
at the Sea of Tiberias And on this wise showed he himself. He showed himself and this is
how he showed himself. Verse 14 says, Jesus then cometh
and taketh bread I'm sorry, verse 14, this is now the third time
that Jesus showed himself to his disciples after that he was
risen from the dead. This account right here, he says,
is the third time that our Lord showed himself to the disciples. But that does not mean that our
Lord was only with them three times. Turn with me over to 1 Corinthians
15. Now, in Mark chapter 16, the
last chapter of Mark, it says, Our Lord appeared first to Mary
Magdalene. That's what it says in that chapter.
He appeared first to Mary Magdalene. And then in Matthew 28, it says,
He appeared to the women. And we know that He appeared
to the two on the road to Emmaus. In Luke 24, He walked with two
as they went to Emmaus. And right here in 1 Corinthians
15 verse 3 says, For I delivered unto you, first of all, that
which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose
again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he
was seen of Cephas that's Peter Simon Peter and that's in Luke
24 verse 34 it says the Lord by himself appeared to Peter
verse 5 says he was seen of Cephas then of the 12 he was seen by
the 12 without Thomas And then he was seen by the twelve with
Thomas and now he was seen of seven of the twelve in the text
that we're in tonight. Verse six says, after that he
was seen of above five hundred brethren at once. Five hundred
brothers and sisters saw the Lord after his resurrection at
one time. And then verse seven says, after that he was seen
of James. the Lord's brother, he was seen
of James. And then verse 7 says, of all the apostles, when he
was in Bethany on the Mount of Olives, remember he blessed them
and he rose up, parted from them, he ascended back to his father. Verse 8 says, And last of all,
he was seen of me also as one born out of due time. He was
seen of the Apostle Paul, Saul of Tarsus, on the road to Damascus.
And it's actually recorded that he saw the Lord four times in
the Scripture. Now let me show you something
that will bring us to our first lesson here. Go to Acts chapter
1. Acts chapter 1 verse 1 says, The former treaty have I made,
O Theopolis, that means lover of God, of all that Jesus began
both to do and teach until the day in which he was taken up
after that he had through the Holy Ghost had given commandments
unto the apostles whom he had chosen. to whom also he showed
himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being
seen of them forty days." And speaking of the things pertaining
to the kingdom of God. He was here for forty days, and
that right there says he was seen of them for forty days. Now, Arthur Pink, we know who
that commentator is, Arthur Pink, this is what he said. He was
visible and invisible. He appeared in one form or another
according to his own pleasure. He was with them and they saw
him whether they knew it or not. That's the part I'm trying to
get to. He was with them and they saw him whether they knew
it or not. He came up to Mary Magdalene and she said, Are you
the gardener? Where have you laid him? She
sat there and talked to him for a while. And he went on the road
to Emmaus with those two. And he was with them long enough
to expound all the scriptures concerning himself. And they
had no idea who he was until he sat down and broke bread with
them. Mary Magdalene had no idea who he was until he said, Mary.
And now the seven in our text, he's standing right there on
the shore. And they're not far from the shore. And he's talking
to them. You have any meat? They don't
have any idea who he is. He was with them and they saw
him whether they knew it or not. Here's our first lesson to learn.
He is always with us. He is always with us. Do you ever think he's not with
me right now? If you don't, you will. I promise. I promise. He's just not with
me right now. If you don't, you will. I think
that. I think that. I need him. You need him. We
need him. When we think that, though, we're on the wrong side
of things. We're on the wrong side of the
truth. Our Lord said, I'll never leave you in the conditions that
seem so bad, in the conditions that we don't have a solution
to, in the condition that is just, oh, man. He said, Lo, I
am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Whether
you can physically see him or not, he's with you. He was with
them, and they saw him, whether they knew it or not, for 40 days.
He was with his people. He is with his people. Peter
had all those apostles convinced, he's not with us, I'm going back
to fishing. They all went with him. And the Lord said, cast
your nets on the right side. Get back on the right side. And
if we could just get a hold of that, man, He'll never leave
us. He will never ever leave us.
All right, here's the second lesson. Verse 2, back in our
text, John 21, verse 2 says, 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 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. How did they enter into a ship
immediately? The Lord said, when you go out, don't take a purse,
don't take bread, don't take money in your purse. Peter, Andrew, James, and John,
maybe some of the other apostles, were all fishermen by trade.
And about three years before this, our Lord walked up to those
men And he called them unto himself at that same sea. The sea of
Tiberias, which is where we were this morning, is also called
the Sea of Galilee. And the Lord came up to those
men, and here they were with their boats and their nets and
all those things, and he said, Follow me. And they left their
boats and their nets and followed him. What happened to their boats
and nets? They sat right there, tied up
on the side of the shore. And there they've been sitting,
just floating in the water. And now here they are back at
the same spot where they started. And I'm going to tell you, the
Lord will bring us back to the same spot where we started. We get
up there and think, I'm finally getting this. So here they are at the same
spot they started. And clearly they had it in their
mind, if it ever came to it, they had something to fall back
on. Well, at least we still have our boats and our nets. Let's
hang around by the Sea of Tiberias, just in case. As it turns out,
they did not have anything to fall back on. Nothing. They caught nothing. They went
out and they caught nothing. When this flesh believes that
it has something to fall back on other than Christ, and dear
believers, it happens all the time. I don't see how this is
going to work out, so I think I'm going to take matters into
my own hands right over here. instead of God-given faith saying,
ìWait on the Lord. Heís with me. Trust the Lord. Wait on the Lord.î When this
flesh starts to believe it has something to fall back on other
than Christ, itís on the wrong side of things. Itís just the
wrong side of the truth. Look at John 21, verse 15. ìSo when they had dined, Jesus
saith to Simon Peter, ìSimon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me
more than these?î When he said these, he was not talking about
the other apostles. He's talking about Peter's boat
and Peter's nets and all those fish. You love me more than these. He said unto him, Yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. The Lord said unto him, You feed
my lambs. Feed my lambs. In verse 22, the
Lord said to Peter, If I will that John tarry till I come,
what is that to thee? Follow thou me. You just follow
me. You just follow me. Here's our
second lesson in this. Here's our second lesson in this.
And I didn't, but I should have put Gabe Dash. Here's the second
lesson. Leave it all and follow Christ. Leave it all and follow Christ. This is a lesson for me as a
pastor. This is a real lesson for me as a pastor, a dear, wise
pastor, one that the Lord greatly blessed over the last 70 years.
And I think you know who I'm talking about. I'm not going
to say his name, but that man is a sweet, sweet, kind, happy,
smiling man. But when he has something to
tell you, he has something to say to you. And I've told you
this before, but when I was coming here, we were sitting in his
living room, and he looked at me and he said, when you get
down to Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, you get in that study,
and you preach to those people, and don't you ever teach another
guitar lesson in your life. And I said, okay. You know, we
were coming down here with a handful of people, you know, and the
question is money. What am I going to do? He said,
don't you go back into teaching guitar lessons for money. Leave it all and follow Christ. This is a lesson for me as a
pastor. This is a lesson for all of us who do currently believe. This is a lesson for all who
have not yet believed on the Lord. Leave it all and follow
Christ. Follow Christ. If something is
standing in the way of you following the Lord Jesus Christ, leave
it and sell it. Peter, you love that boat more
than me? No. Then sell it and get in the ministry. Follow me. Feed my sheep. We have nothing to fall back
on. When it comes to our salvation, we have nothing to fall back
on. Nothing. The blood of Christ is all we
have. It's all we need. There's nothing else to fall
back on. leave everything, if that's what it takes to lay hold
of Christ and follow him. That leads us to our third lesson.
Verse 3 says, 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? They answered him,
No. Here's our third lesson. Without
Him, we can do nothing. And we know that. A believer
says that's exactly right. When it comes to salvation, without
Him, I can do nothing. And with that being said, for
the rest of our days, no matter what is in front of us, no matter
what fork in the road comes, If God would let us get a hold
of the fact that without Him, whatever decision I have to make,
start by running to Him. Call on Him. Fervent prayer to
Him. Without you and your purpose
and your will shining in my heart to know what you would have me
to do, I'm about to mess up. Without him, I can do nothing.
I can do nothing. You go to him, you talk with
him, because without him, we can't do nothing. It doesn't
matter how long we've lived in this world. It doesn't matter
how long we've been under the gospel. The flesh has to constantly
be reminded of that. Constantly. Without him, I can
do nothing. You go to him. He asked them,
have you any meat? He knew they didn't. He knew
they didn't. He wasn't asking for his own
sake. He was asking for theirs. He was asking, this was the choice
they made? He let them go. How did it turn out for you?
He made them confess their utter failure and their inability before
God and man. And our Lord, before He fills
us, He's going to show us our emptiness. He will. And before
he gives us strength, he is going to show us our weakness. Without
him, we can do nothing. We can do nothing. Here's the
fourth lesson, verse 6. 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. It's the Lord. I can see those
two men trying as hard as they can to get that net back in the
boat. They're so excited. This was their livelihood. I
mean, you know, how many we got in the net? Two. How many we
got in the net? A hundred and fifty-three. get
them in the boat. They couldn't even get the net
in the boat. And here they are struggling
and trying, you know, their work, their will, their way, and all
of a sudden it's not coming, and it's not coming, and all
of a sudden John goes, Peter, That's the Lord. That's who that
is. It is the Lord. They toiled all night. And when
the Lord said, cast the net on the right side, I'm just spinning
my wheels out here. I feel like I'm not doing anything
right. I feel like I'm not doing anything good. I feel like I'm
just a failure. He said, cast the net on the
right side of the ship and you shall find. At that moment, all
those fish just swarmed into that net. Here's the lesson every
soul on this earth needs to learn. Everything is by his power and
his command. Everything. Everything. Again,
Arthur Pink said, what a striking line is this picture of Christian
service. Here, these apostles are about
to go out into the ministry. He said, I'm going to make you
fishers of men. He's teaching them something in this, too.
He said, what a striking line it is, this picture of Christian
service, how he tells the servants that success in their ministry
is due not to their eloquence, their power of persuasion, or
their anything. but do alone to His sovereign
drawing power. The minute we believe we take
any part in anything, I mean anything, the delivering of the
Word, the blessing of the Word to the hearts of His people,
the opening of our eyes, ears to Christ, the minute we believe
we have any part in it, we are on the wrong side of the truth. We're on the wrong side of the
truth. I tell you, I have somebody that I'm really worried about.
I want him to come to know the Lord, and I don't want him to
hear this true preacher. I want him to hear this true
preacher, because I think that true preacher could save him.
I'm on the wrong side of the truth. I'm on the wrong side
of the truth. Everything is by His sovereign
drawing power. The only right side is this.
It is the Lord. It is the Lord in everything. It's by His power and His command.
All right, now here's the last one, last lesson. Verse 7 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. I love that. Here's the last lesson. Cast
all your care on him. for he careth for you." Here
Peter is so depressed because of what he's done. He denied
the Lord. Oh, he denied the Lord. Oh, and he can't get over and
he hates himself. He's not going back to fishing
because he's tired of preaching the gospel of grace. He's going
back to fishing because he hates himself and he said, I can't
do this anymore. I'm not worthy to do this anymore. And here
he is out there fishing and he's struggling and they're trying
and not catching anything and all of a sudden they do catch
something He doesn't know what's going on, and John says, it's
the Lord, and as soon as he heard that, boom, boom. Don't you want
to row? Wait, we're all coming. No. Just
dive in. Dive in. Cast all your care upon
Him, for He careth for you. If a believer, I mean a sinner,
if a sinner does not yet know the Lord, And if a man or woman hasn't
yet believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, but if the Lord has shown
that sinner his sin, His emptiness, His nothingness, His failure. And if He's shown him the fullness
of Christ, the absolute fullness of Christ, if He's shown you
that without Him you can do nothing, I mean nothing, if He's shown
you that without His blood you're going to die in that sin, if
He's shown you that you have nothing else to fall back on
but Him. We all believe that, don't we?
We don't have anything else to fall back on but Him. And if
He's given you a heart to leave all and follow Him, then cast
all your care upon Him. He careth for you. If a sinner
gets to a place where they see those things, if God has opened
a sinner's eyes to those things, then I can say with full assurance,
if God had that much mercy on you to show you that, show you
your sin and show you His glory, then you dive in. You just dive
in. Don't wait. Don't hold back.
He careth for you. Peter was a believer, you know,
and he fell. And that's us. That's us. Every one of us. We are sin,
we're failure, we're wrong. But thank God, here's the right
side of the ship. Here's the truth we hold to.
Number one, He is always with us. Always. Number two, we can
leave it all and follow Christ. Wouldn't you love to just leave
it all and follow Christ? We can. Number three, without
Him, we can do nothing. Number four, everything is by
His power and His command, so let's cast all our care upon
Him, for He cares for us. And that's just what Peter did.
That's what he did. He's our example. I've got to
have Him right now. You know, today is the day of
salvation. What that means is right now. Right now, I've got
to have Him right now. The Lord said, ask and you'll
have him. You'll get him. All right, let's all stand together.