Ask me not, while thou art calling. Oh, calling. I owe somebody saying that from
the heart, especially someone who doesn't help the cause particularly. All right, let's turn back to
John 21. Let's just dive right into these verses,
OK? They have a lot to cover. It reads, After these things
Jesus showed himself again. That is, this is the third time that Christ had appeared
to his disciples after he had risen from the dead. After these
things, he showed himself again to the disciples at the sea of
Tiberia, and on this wise, or on this manner, showed he himself. Now, they were together Once again, Christ had promised that where
two or three are gathered together. He said, where? Where? Two or
three of them, where? It doesn't have to be a fancy
building. Where were these fellows? In a boat. where two or three were gathered
together, he said, in my name. And I'm just certain these fellows,
Rick, I know they were talking about the Lord. These were his disciples. You
don't get God's people together for any length of time at all
until they start talking about Christ and the gospel. Right? Especially these preachers. And look who else was in the
boat. Thomas. I knew he'd be there. Didn't
you? We looked Wednesday night at how Thomas was missing from
that other appearance, and oh, how he missed. And after the
Lord appeared to him again, Bennett, we concluded that If they won't
get together again, Thomas is going to be there. He's not going
to miss it again, and he did. Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael
of Cana and Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, two other of
his disciples. It doesn't mention them. So they
were gathered together in this boat, going fishing. I thought
about this. I thought about how much we need
to assemble ourselves together. And I dwell on this quite a bit,
don't I? We dwell on this quite a bit
because everywhere I look in the scriptures, when Christ really
blesses and really reveals himself, it's where two or three are gathered
together. And I believe that's a precedent,
that's a principle. Heaven is a congregation. Isn't that right? A congregation. A number which no man can number.
Now God, he speaks and he blesses and he is present with his people
individually, one on one. Yes he is. And quite often in
a very special way. But most often he blesses supremely. when there are two or three of
them gathered. It gets more glory that way. They feed off of one
another that way. They tend to rehearse these things.
If nobody's around, and the Lord's blessed you. There's been so
many times that I've been sitting in that study down there, preparing
this, thinking, I wish somebody was here to tell this to. And
I do. I call up Todd or somebody, you
know. And he does the same thing. He'll call me on the phone. in with us, you know. A little
John will drop by. We'll have a good old time, won't
we, John? He forgets to vacuum and I don't
finish my message. We'll have a good time together.
Two or three are gathered. That's the way it is. That's
heaven. Congregate sheep. That's what sheep do. That's
the nature of the animal. They're gregarious. That's where
the word congregate comes from. congregate together. They have
to have one another. They get love from one another.
They get fellowship with one another. Those animals I have,
a couple of horses, you know, they just love to eat nose to
nose. You see them out there standing nose to nose eating. It's like they're both saying
it's good. Yeah, it's good. Oh, look, try this over here. That's what sheep do. And they
were talking about the things of Christ. I know they were.
And we need each other. Believers need one another. We
feed off of the gospel. We feed off of one another. We
need each other. And this world has nothing to
appeal to the new, that new creature in Christ. This world has nothing. Has nothing. They have nothing
for us. My wife and I went to a movie
last night. If that offends someone, I'm
sorry. I'm sorry. If it does, I wish I hadn't said
it, but it's a good illustration. But I tell you, after a while,
as it just began to sink in, as it began to vex us, the things
they were doing and saying, the people all around us, they were
really enjoying it, weren't they? Laughing, carrying on. We need each other. We need each
other. We have nothing in common with
this world. We have all things common. Believers
have all things common. They have been talking about
the things of Christ, and it had been a few days since Christ
had last been with them, a few days. He was on the earth forty
days. He was on the earth forty days
after he arose from the grave. Forty days. Eight days after
he rose, that's when he appeared the second time. Eight days. Now, no telling how long it had
been. Rick, no telling. It may have been two weeks. He'd
been there forty, he stayed altogether forty days. It may have been
a couple of weeks. So, and he told them, I'm going
to make you fishers of men. And and that they were in the
left. And so what you know after a
couple of weeks of not being with the Lord himself though
he was with. I believe they got a little uncertain
about what. That's what happened here all
right. And the same thing is true with us. If we go without
hearing from Christ or without hearing of Christ, without hearing
the gospel for any length of time, we'll grow troubled and
uncertain, too, that way. All right, look at verse 3. So
these apostles, Christ had been away at least a few days, and
Simon Peter said, Simon It figures he's the one to speak up, doesn't
it? Simon Peter, he was a leader, but, boy, he often led them astray. Simon Peter said unto them, I'm
going fishing. And like we noted the other night,
he wasn't quitting the gospel, not at all. I have wrongly interpreted
this before. Christ in the gospel, he just
said, what are we going to do now? And Peter said, well, I'm going
fishing. And here's what they said, verse
3. They said, we also go with faith. And they went forth. And
it says, that night, that night they caught nothing. And then
in the morning, when the morning was now come, they fished all
night long. And if you're an avid fisherman
you'll do that won't you? People ask me at times, fellas
that are fishermen, do you like to fish? I say, well, if I catch
something I do. But a real fisherman, I ask that
to Cody Groover. If you ask Cody Groover, Rick,
he'll say, yeah, I love to fish. Well, what if you don't catch
anything? It doesn't matter. I just like to sit on the creek back, you
know. I like to sit in the boat. I just like it. You like that,
don't you? John, you like that? It doesn't matter if you catch
the big one or not, does it? And these fellows went all night
long without catching anything. They've done that many times.
One time in particular, I'm thinking. All right? And they went all
night without catching anything. And isn't that providential? Isn't that providential? This
was their first love. Isn't that providential, Rick? Fishing was their first love.
And now Christ had created a love for him in them, and now they
said, well, let's go back fishing. And they didn't catch a thing.
They didn't get any satisfaction out of that. They did not, did
they? Huh? If they'd been successful,
what if they had caught bubba? You know who Bobby is. Who would
have thought that the big one, huh? It would have rekindled
that old spark, wouldn't it? And they thought, hey, let's
go tomorrow. But they didn't. I told you before about myself,
my own personal experience, how that when the Lord was bringing
me here, how that I went fishing. I went fishing. Not this way,
but I went fishing for occupations. I was going to go to school. I tried to apply for several
jobs and all that. I went fishing, but I caught
nothing. Nothing. The doors were closed. Why? The Lord had other things for
me. And then, too, along these same
lines, sometimes the Lord, are you with me? Stay with me. Sometimes the Lord won't allow
believers, most of the time the Lord does not allow believers
to be too successful in this life. Right, Henry? He lets them just go all their
lives pretty much scraping to make ends meet. Why? Not so that you won't find your
satisfaction here. Brother Henry, I mentioned him. He's worked, what, a hundred?
How long? A hundred years at the service station. You feel
like it was that long, don't you, huh? Well, I guess by now
you've got a million dollars in the bank, don't you, Brother
Henry? Half a million? Three hundred thousand? Well,
you sold that station for $200,000. Now, Lord, I'm not called someone's
name, but someone every now and then puts a dollar in the lottery,
you know, plays the lottery. I'm not saying who it is, but
their initials are J.S. I put a dollar in the lottery
every now and then, I say, forget it, forget it, you're not going
to win it. No, Lord, if you're one of his
own, he's not going to let you get filthy rich. Like Solomon
said, keep me from riches, lest I forget thee. Success here, lest I forget thee. We have nothing
here. Look over to Ecclesiastes chapter
7. This is a verse worth marking
in your Bible. Ecclesiastes chapter 7. Right after the book of Proverbs. Ecclesiastes 7. This is well
worth marking for future reference. I look at it in verse 14. Ecclesiastes 7 verse 14. He says, the preacher says, in
the day of prosperity be joyful. Enjoy it. That's what this whole
book of Ecclesiastes is basically saying. There's nothing wrong
with enjoying things. Just remember who gave it to you. Don't forget
God. Don't act like you've got it
yourself. What do you have that you have not received? Nothing
wrong with enjoying things as long as you don't set your heart
on it. as long as it doesn't get a hold of you. We enjoy it. We enjoy our children, though.
We enjoy our homes. There's nothing wrong, nothing
sinful about that. Don't let these ultra-pious religionists
make you think that it's sinful to have a good time. People think fun is sinful. Well, it is if you forget God,
but it's not if you know who it and give him thanks for it.
Right? Read this checkbook for yourself.
He says, In the day of posterity be joyful, but in the day of
adversity consider it. Think about this. God hath set
the one over against the other to the end. But you should find
nothing after you. See that, John? You see
what that says? We have nothing here. We have here no continuing
city. You know what we have? You know what is about all we
end up with when this life is over? A six-foot hole in the ground. That's what the Lord said, dust
you are, and that's what you're going to return to. And that's
what everything you lay your hands on is going to turn to,
dust and ashes. We have here no continuing city, but if we're
in Christ now, we have an eternal habitation, an eternal inheritance
that fadeth not away, reserved in heavenly years. Unsearchable, isn't it? So these
apostles, turn back to the text now, these apostles, their failure
and our failure is good. that we might see and that we
might have our unfailing portion in Jesus Christ our Lord. Do
you see that? Can you rejoice, Brother Henry,
in not making a great success in
business? Well, you must be about your
father's business. And there's great riches to be
had. All right, look at verse 4. Now,
when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore, but
the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. After toiling all
night, and I'm sure they were tired and a little discouraged,
perhaps, and if they're like me, they were irritable. And
they've been talking of these things, I believe. And then Christ
appeared, where two of them were gathered. He said, I'm right
in the midst. Christ appeared unto them. Verse
4, he stood on the shore. The disciples knew not that it
was him. They knew not. That passage of
Scripture says, Am I God afar off, God at hand, God afar off? Am I not both? Huh? You think I'm far off? I'm really
near." Huh? They knew not it was Him. It
was Him. Well, He'd already said, I'll
never leave you. But they knew not that it was
Him. He said, I'll never leave you. And though we don't always
see Him, it's Him. It's the Lord. Whatever's happening,
it's the Lord. He's leading, He's guiding, He's
directing. He's moving, he's sovereignly
working all things together for his purpose concerning us. It's
the Lord. We don't know it. It's the Lord. We're in his hand. The same one that was in the boat
before was controlling the boat now. Now he's on the shore directing
the boat. Get that? He wasn't actually
with them. He was on the shore. He was still
directing the boat. Our Lord is seated at the right hand of
the majesty on high, isn't he? He's still moving the boat. Verse 5, it
says, Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, Why did he say that? They said, Paris, children? Why did you say that? Just an
immediate reminder of how weak and helpless and dependent they were, and young
and immature, you know, that they were. The Lord reminds his
people of that constantly, how weak and that we are, we know
nothing. He said, children, do you have
any meat? Have you any meat? The Lord doesn't ask questions
for information, does he? Huh? He knew they didn't have
any meat. He's the one that withheld it.
He knew of their failure. He's the one that caused it.
Right? So often with Well, every time
when the Lord asks a question of a man, it's not that he doesn't
know. It's because he's going to make
them give an account of themselves. He's going to make them see themselves,
where they are and what they're doing and how they're a miserable
failure. Like Adam, when he asked Adam,
where art thou? It was in this way. Where are you now? Adam, look
at you now. He knew where he was. He's all-seeing.
He knew that they hadn't had any meat. He's all-powerful.
Anybody gets any, he gives it. And they say it. Now, all the
pride is gone now. Well, most of it. Somebody was preaching one time
in a Bible conference and said, They were preaching, and they
said, Nobody will take the pride out of you. And Brother Scott
Richardson was back there somewhere, and he said, Not all of it. Well, most of their pride was
gone by this time, you know. They were mixed up and confused,
and they were his children. But they had gotten down. They didn't know where to go,
where to turn, and all that. And here the Lord is. bringing
them to himself. Have you any meat? Believer, you've toiled a little while
in this earth, haven't you? Some of you thirty years, some
of you forty years, some of you fifty, some even more. Do you have any meat? Meat is satisfying food, and
meat is filling food, and it fills you up. Meat does. After
working all this time, living all these years in this world,
have you found any satisfaction in it? Do you have any meat? No. No. Do you see that? Can you readily
say that? No. You don't have any. Look at verse 6 now. And he said unto them, cast the
net on the right side of the ship, and you shall find. Cast
the net on the right side of the ship, and you shall find.
Oh, so many scriptures came to mind when he said this. Cast
your care upon him. He cares for you. Set your affection,
cast your affection on things above, where Christ will sit
the right hand of God, and you'll find. Cast your soul on Christ,
who is everything, and you'll find. Cast yourself on Christ, who
is at the right hand of God. and you'll find rest for your
souls." And they cast, it says, they
cast their form, and now they were not able to drop it for the multitude to fish. Went out fishing on their own,
went their own way, and they didn't get to that. It's miserable. And the Lord comes along and
directs them and tells them, and they do what he says, and
they are filled to the full. Didn't we study that recently?
Oh, that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will. Oh, that you might be filled.
And when you, by his grace, if I by his grace cast my sinful
soul on Christ, will come away forgiven. Did you hear that? You cast your empty heart on
Christ, you'll come away full. You cast your poor soul at his
feet, you'll come away rich. I love the story of Joseph's
brethren who went to Egypt, you know, and took their little baskets,
took their little bread baskets, you know, up to Joseph to get
filled, and Joseph gave orders to fill up their wagons. They
went with baskets. They went empty. They knew they
weren't going to get anything. They were going to get it from Joseph.
And they went home with wagon loads. Oh boy. Now, this is not the
only time this happened, is it? Huh? This very same thing happened
before. Do you remember it? You better. We've studied it together. Turn over to Luke chapter 5.
This is not the only time. Luke chapter 5. So often the
Lord revealed himself in and around the sea. So often he appeared
to them and revealed himself in a special way, in and around
the ocean or the sea. I thought about this. I thought,
why did he do that? Why did he do that so often? Because the ocean. If you've
ever been around the ocean, any of you been on the ocean? I know probably most of you have
been on the shore. The ocean is a vast thing. It's a vast, incomprehensible—what's the word?—unfathomable
thing, the ocean. Isn't the majesty of it just—doesn't
it overwhelm you? You sit on a—just everything
about the ocean. Some of you have been out to
sea. You ever out to sea? I have been
150 miles offshore, 150 miles. Buddy, I was at the mercy of
the sea. You remember that story? I told
you about being in that little sailboat with those fellas and
10-foot waves crashing. Man, I was at the mercy of the
sea. Well, people, the sea is at the
mercy of Christ. Then nothing could reveal, nothing
revealed, while on this earth, nothing revealed his power and
his majesty and his deity and who he was any more than his
mastery over the sea. He's the master of the sea, but
does his will obey. One time he was on the boat,
you remember, asleep in the back and they woke him up and he came
out and he hushed that sea like a made that sea sit down like
a farm pond. Now these fellas had been in
many a storm, or many a squall, and this was the squall that
beat all squalls, and they thought, this is it, we're going down,
and Christ comes out, and I'm telling you, the boat was filling
with water, and he said, hush! And that thing laid down like
a puppy dog at his feet. a farm pond. And they concluded
and said, what manner of man is this? One time he came walking on the
water. That is enough. One time they
were out in this stormy ocean. He come, I'm going to show you
my ultimate mastery over this vast unfathomable thing that
you call the ocean, walk on it." This is the Lord. This is my
God. This is who this is. Well, he
first began to reveal himself in this way over in Luke chapter
5. Look at verse 3. It says, He
entered into one of the ships. Now, he had just recently called
his disciples. They were young, they didn't
know much, they were following Christ. Simon was one of them,
verse 3. And he entered into Simon's ship
and prayed him, or asked him, that he would thrust out a little
from the land. And he sat down a little two
yards out from the shore, because there were so many people. swarming
around him. He got a little way from them
to teach them. Verse 4, And when he had left speaking, when he
quit teaching, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep. Let's
go on out here into the deep water. They that go down in ships do
business in deep water. And he launched out into the
deep. Launch out. And lay down, let down your nets
program. And Simon answered and said he
didn't know much here. He knew something about fishing
though. I thought he did. He thought he was a pretty good
one too. And so Roberta he said teach her. I really think he
said this. You know he rebuked him later
on. You're a teacher and I'm a fisherman. We've toiled all night. We have toiled all night and
have taken nothing. Now that right there, his own
words condemned him, didn't they? He should have stopped right
there and thought, Maybe I don't know as much about fishes as
I think I do. Oh, he toiled all night, and
hath taken nothing, nevertheless, at thy word. Now, he may have
been trying to prove, you know, something here, or he may have
been doing this in faith. I don't know. But he did. Nevertheless,
at thy word, verse 6, And when they had this done, they enclosed
a great multitude of fishes, and their net break. Are you with me? There's a lot
of distractions going on this morning. Walter Groover would like it. You remember when he was here,
and some fellow was cutting the grass out here? You remember
that? Walter said, he just settled right down, didn't he, Rick?
Remember that? He said, now I feel like I'm back in Mexico, you
know. Now I can preach. Got through the distractions,
and people are used to it down there. Listen up, all right? You're going to miss a blessing. All right, listen up. Their net
broke. They caught all these fishes
in their net broke. All right, verse 7. They beckoned
unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they
should come and help. And they came and filled both ships, and
then they began to sink. Then verse 8, When Simon Peter
saw this, now this is when the Lord is
first revealing himself to old Peter, Timah, son of Jonah, fisherman. When Simon Peter saw this, now
we've been toiling all night and caught nothing. You do what
I say. All right. Catch that net broke
and they kept bringing them in. The boats were sinking. And Simon
Peter fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, Lord. Depart from me, I'm a sinful
man. Why did he say that? The Lord was revealing himself
to him, who he was. If you see a sight of the sovereign
God, you'll see yourself as a chief
of sinners. Every single disciple Jesus Christ
reveals himself to, sees himself as a hell-deserving, unworthy,
no-good sinner that God doesn't need. It's not like these soul
winners say, God needs you. That ain't God speaking. If God's speaking, if God's revealing
himself to a sinner, the first thing he reveals to them is that
they're nothing. He's sovereign. He's holy. Bow down. That's the first way
he reveals himself to them. not a God of all love and wants
to and can't, but the Sovereign Lord. And that sight of that
Sovereign Lord, that Omnipotent One, make them see their sinful
self. And they'll say like Peter, Oh,
Lord, why do you want to have anything to do with me? When you see his power and glory,
you'll see your own helplessness, sinfulness. Even the seas obey
his voice. You'll realize he rules over
you. He who knows the fish in the ocean, you'll realize he
knows my very thoughts. And he said, And they begin to sink. You know,
God's power, when it's first revealed to you, will give you
a sinking feeling. Yes, it will. You'll think, you'll
say like Isaiah, Where is me? I'm undone. I'm going down. That's the way the Lord reveals
himself to people. I'm going down. Like the prodigal
son of old, huh? When the Lord began to work on
his heart, would he come to the conclusion, Look at me! I'm in
a pigsty! Not I'm somebody, I'm of worth,
that God needs me. Boy, I'm going to really add
two things. I'm an asset to the church. No! You come crying in
thinking, Boy, I sure hope they'll have me! Or like the public and
in the temple. Well, I don't belong in this
place, but I sure hope you'll have mercy on me." Huh? That's who God says, and
that's how God says it. Bar none. Bar none. Bar Jonah. Simon Bar Jonah. And they're net broke. You'll lose everything. you come
to Christ, when he reveals himself to you, you'll realize you'll
suffer the loss of all your ties, everything. We said that this morning, didn't
we? Lose old friends and reputation
and so forth. Look at verse 11, But when they
brought their ships to land, When Peter knew who this was,
and they came to land, what did he do? What did he do? What does it say? April shook
it all. I followed him. If you couldn't
have the nets, boys, I found him. Huh? Now, once again, he
appears again in the end in the same way. Isn't that remarkable?
In the same way. That's how they knew it was Him. In the same way, once again He
appears and John, now John recognized Him. Why? Why did John recognize
Him first? Those that are closest to Him
will recognize Him. Huh? Huh? John never left the foot of that
cross. John was there when He appeared.
waiting on the Lord, and he knew the Lord's voice. He heard it. John said, look at, oh, I love
this. John said, in verse 7, Therefore that disciple whom
Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It's the Lord. He had to sit there with a smile
on his face, didn't you? on the right side, you're fine. It's the Lord. Now, when Simon Peter—now, here's
a good instance for us to stand when he goes first. Simon Peter—who's
this? Who is this fellow? He's a rough, gruff, crude, sinful
Simon, who this is. Impetuous, impulsive, faithless. Careful of an adjective to describe
this poor, pitiful fellow. Simon Peter. When Simon Peter,
you can make the mistake he made it. Didn't tell me a record, Miss
Bella. When Simon Peter heard, "'It's
the Lord!' what did he do?" Now this time he doesn't fall down,
he doesn't say, "'Oh, I'm not—' He took that coat off and threw
it in the sea, and swam with all of his men. Huh? If you're Simon Peter, you
know what I'm talking about. At first, when Simon Peter came
to Christ at first, he said, No, you won't do anything to
do with me. You don't need me. I can't add
anything to you. I'm just a worthless, no-good
sinner. And then after three years or
so of him revealing himself as the Savior of sinners, That this
is why He came to save the chief of sinners. And when He issued
that call, He said, talk to my disciples. And Peter, the very
one who first denied Him, Peter said, this man is a friend of
sinners. He doesn't need me, but Lord,
I need Him. Oh, I wish there was a Peter
in here this morning. Well, I don't know. I'm swimming
right now. Sink or swim, Peter says. I'll
come to him. Sooner though I am, Lord, I come. He doesn't need me, but boy,
I need him. Huh? It could be a Simonette, a female,
a Mary Magdalene. She's in the boat. She'd have
done some swimming, wouldn't she? Peter was the—oh, my. This reminded me of that story
in the Old Testament. where those fellows, those kings,
those enemy kings, were captured by the king of Israel. And they were doomed. They knew
that the king was killing all his enemies, and they knew they
deserved to be killed, too. And it says that they talked
among themselves and said, I've heard that the king of Israel
is a merciful king. And so one of them said, well,
let's do this. Let's put ropes around our neck and cast ourselves
on the mercy of the king and see if he'll do us good. That's what old Peter did. Put a rope around my neck and
I'll come sink or swim. If I don't, I'm going to die. He's a merciful king. Those kings got mercy. Those
fellows got mercy. And Peter didn't care about anybody,
did he? Huh? He jumped out of the boat, Polly.
Wait, Peter, help us out! I've got more important things.
There's somebody I've got to see. And boy, the Lord dealt with
Peter personally, didn't he? Sitting by that fire. Eve at
his first. And he that believeth shall make
haste. Forsake all. If you really need
Christ, folks, you'll dive. You'll cast yourself. Christ
said, cast the net, and Peter cast himself. Didn't he? Peter put that rose around him,
didn't he? All right, John, wrap yourselves up in the robe of
Christ's righteousness and cast yourself in the sea of his mercy,
buddy. All right? Come on. Just wrap up, and we're
centered yet, but we've got a robe that Christ has provided of righteousness. Wrap up in it. Dive in the ocean
of his mercy. He'll receive you safe to shore. And verse 8 and 9, and I'll close,
it says, the other disciples came in a little ship, and they
were not far from land, as it were 200 cubits, dragging the
net with fishes. And as soon as they were come
to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish lay there on. And Jesus said unto them, Bring you the
fish which you have now caught. See, you know who was doing the
fishing here, don't you? We say when you bring a fish
in, where you set it, you land him. You understand what I'm saying? Fisher of men is doing the fishing
here, and he brought them all the lamb. It's not a want that
our Lord does not whom he sends that gospel net out to. It's
not a want that he doesn't bring the lamb. They all made it go. They all made it. What did they
say when they made it? They said it saw all things provided. They saw all things provided,
already ready for them. You see, don't you, John? I know
that you're smiling now. You see Christ as your all, don't
you? How all things in Christ, who
is at the right hand of God, who is moving, directing all
things concerning you. You see that he's made all things
unto you, don't you? Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
redemption. coal, altar, fire. It's our God who's a consuming
fire. There was an animal laid on it. Bread, the bread of life,
the Word of God. And this is important here. Look
at this, verse 10 and 11. Jesus said unto them, Bring ye
the fish which ye have now caught. Simon Peter went up and drew
the net to a land full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty-three,
and there was some in it yet. was not broken. And it did before. And it did
now. Why? Huh? Well, listen to me. When we first
come to Christ, he says, He says, seek ye first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness, and then what? And all these
things will be added unto you. Isn't it? You remember when Peter
said, he said, Lord, we've forsaken all for you. What will we have? He said, we've forsaken all.
What are we going to have? He said, a hundred fold. Didn't he? They lost all their fish before
Deborah. How many do they have now? A hundred and fifty three. A hundred fold. Like the story
of that young man I was telling you about this morning. Forsook
it all for the gospel sake. He said, I'm going to sink here. I'm going to sink here where
there's no gospel." So did everything. He moved where the gospel was,
and he was tough for a while, but, oh, the fish started coming
in. He found Christ. That's what
he's looking for. And all Christ and his righteousness,
and all these things were added to him. Isn't that wonderful? And that's a picture of the gospel
net, too, Stan, the gospel net. It's full, but it wasn't broken.
John, this gospel net, buddy, it'll contain us. It'll contain
us. It won't break. You get in the
ark, the doors are open. Come to Christ, there's room.
Jump in the net, it won't break. We haven't exhausted the mercy
of God. The ocean's full. Verse 12, he
says, Come and die. Come and die. Come, all things
are ready. And none of them, it says, have
asked him, Who are you? They shall all be taught of God. And every man that hath heard
and learned of the Father cometh unto me. And every one of them
know who he is. He's the master. He's Lord. You've heard this. Foolish argument
about Lordship, salvation? There's no argument. Not with
God's people. That's the first lesson they
learned. The first thing they learned,
he's Lord, and later they learned he's Savior. Coming back, and Christ serves
them. You see that? Christ served them.
What did he serve them? Good food. They all ate the same thing, didn't they? Dan, back there when he
fed the 5,000, what did they eat? Fish and bread. He prepares a table for all his
sheep, doesn't he? The Lord is my shepherd. He prepares
me a table. What did we eat? What did all
his sheep eat? The broken body and shed blood
of Christ. Christ crucified. Same thing. It's good news. All right, Joe,
you have a... 235. 235. The stand is the same. The first, the third, and the
fourth stand. 1st, 3rd, and the 4th. ♪ Sing our praises high ♪ ♪ Hail,
hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail,
hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail,
hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail,
hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail,
hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail,
hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail,
hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail,
hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail,
hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail,
hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, We are living by the day, where
our deeds are laid. We are living by the day, where
our deeds are laid. Day to day. ♪ I am your father ♪ ♪ I am your
father ♪ ♪ I am your father ♪ Thank you for being here with
me.