Good morning. Let's all stand
together and sing hymn number 205. Free from the law, O happy condition,
Jesus hath bled, and there is remission. Cursed by the law, and dead by
the foe, grace hath redeemed us once for all. Once for all, O sinner, receive
it. Once for all, O brother, believe
it. Cling to the cross, the burden
will fall. Christ hath redeemed us once
for all. Now are we free, there's no condemnation
Jesus provides a perfect salvation Come unto me, O hear His sweet
call Come and He saves us once for all Once for all, O sinner,
receive it. Once for all, O brother, believe
it. Cling to the cross, the burden
will fall. Christ hath redeemed us once
for all. Children of God, O glorious calling,
surely His grace will keep us from falling. Passing from death to life at
His call, blessed salvation once for all. Once for all, O sinner,
receive it. Once for all, O brother, believe
it. Cling to the cross, the burden
will fall. Christ hath redeemed us once
for all. Be seated. We'll sing hymn number
288. 288 Far away in the depths of my spirit tonight rolls a melody sweeter than song. In celestial-like strings it
unceasingly falls, for my soul like an infinite God. Peace, peace, wonderful peace
coming down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever,
I pray, in fathomless billows of love. What a treasure I have
in this wonderful piece, buried deep in the heart of my soul. so secure that no power can mine
it away while the years of eternity roll. Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
coming down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever,
I pray, in fathomless billows of love. I am resting tonight in this
wonderful peace, resting sweetly in Jesus' control. For I'm kept from all danger
by night and by day, And His glory is flooding my soul. Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
coming down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever,
I pray, in fathomless billows of love. And methinks when I rise to that Where the altar of peace I shall
see That one strain of the song which the ransomed will sing
In that heavenly kingdom shall be. Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
coming down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit. Forever I frame in fathomless
pillows of love. Ah, soul, are you here without
comfort and rest? Marching down the rough pathway
of time. Call on Jesus, the Lord. Call
on Jesus, the Lord, ere the shadows grow dark. Oh, believe. Oh, believe this sweet peace
so sublime. Peace, peace, wonderful peace
coming down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit Forever
I pray in fathomless pillows of love. Turn with me to John's Gospel,
Chapter 21. While you're turning, let me
make a couple announcements. Jim Fawcett is in rehab. He's not going back much, but
he's in rehab. And Albert Lowe is going to have
surgery next Thursday morning. Got a melanoma right here, and
they're going to cut it out Thursday morning. So I'm sure he'd appreciate
your prayers and concern for him. That serious business, that
melanoma is very serious. He's got a big one, very big
one. I'm going to read the first 14 verses of John chapter 21. After these things, Jesus showed
himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. And on
this wise showed he himself, or in this way he revealed himself. There were together Simon Peter,
Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Canaan of Galilee, and the
sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples. Then Simon Peter saith
unto them, I go a fishing. They said 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 says unto
them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. 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. Therefore that disciple
whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, it is the Lord. Now when Simon
Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girded 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 But they were not far from land, but as it
were, 200 cubits, dragging the net with fishes. As soon as they
were come to land, they saw a fire of coals thereon, a fire of coals,
and fish laid thereon and bred. Jesus saith unto them, bringeth
the fish which ye have now caught. Simon Peter went up and drew
the net to land full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty-three. For all that were so many, yet
the net was not broken. Jesus saith unto them, come and
dine. And none of the disciples dare
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. O great God of heaven and earth, God who is righteous, just, and
holy, just God and a Savior, we are
blessed to be able to come into your holy presence. And Lord, we come, as we always
do, with nothing to offer but our thanksgiving and our praise.
We give you the fruit of our lips, and that's praise and honor
and thanksgiving and blessing your holy name. Lord, we know
you sit on a throne, and we know you have all power in heaven
and earth. We know that you have all judgment committed into your
hand. You, Lord, are the judge of all
the earth, and you'll always do what's right. And, Lord, we
understand clearly that salvation belongs to you, and you give
it to whomsoever you will. And, Lord, you're the only one
that can take a heart and change it, the only one who can do something
for someone that they cannot do for themselves. And Lord,
we pray for those who are traveling, that you'd give them safe journeys
and protect them and preserve them till they come again. We
pray for Jim and Debbie, Lord, in their situation. We pray for
your mercies and your comfort and your strength in that condition.
Pray for Albert, Lord, that you would enable the doctors to do
what's necessary. And Lord, bless him and keep
him. and preserve him, see him safe through this surgery and
the things that's going to come to pass. And Lord, bring glory
to yourself today. And we need to remember our children
and grandchildren. And Lord, we pray again for Dottie
and Mike and little Kayla. Lord, please have mercy on them,
continue to strengthen them for what they've went through. And
we pray for these things in Christ our Lord's name. Amen. Let's stand together and sing
the hymn of the day in the bulletin. Christ bears the name of all
his saints deep on his hiding grave. Attentive to the state and wards
of all his love. has saved. In him a holiness complete, light
and perfection shine, and wisdom, grace, and glory be, our Savior,
all divine. The blood which as a priest he
bears for sinners is his own. He insists of his prayers
and tears perfumes the holy throat. In him my weary soul has rest,
though I am weak and foul. I read my name upon His breast
and see the Father smile. I hope you're still in John chapter
21. It says in verse one, after these
things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the
Sea of Tiberias, and on this wise, or in this way, he showed
himself. Our Lord's showing himself. And
when you say after these things, you gotta go back and read chapter
20 to see the things that happened after his resurrection, the things
that were said, how he dealt with Mary, how he dealt with
his disciples, how he dealt with Thomas. But I'll tell you something,
after the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, after his
resurrection, no one, no one could see him just out of mere
curiosity or by chance. The only way one could see him
was by revelation. And I'll tell you something else
about after his resurrection. He revealed himself only to his
own people, only to his disciples, only to Simon Peter, only to
certain people, all of his elect. And that's the way it is today.
Christ reveals himself, but he reveals himself only to his people. Now, how can you know I'm one
of his? Has he revealed himself to you? Has he made himself known
to you? Has he showed himself to you?
Has he? Oh, not none but the disciples
ever saw him after his resurrection. You know, look what it says down
here in verse 14 of chapter 21. Now, this is the third time that
Jesus showed himself to his disciples after that he was risen from
the dead. That's the third time. Third time. And he was resurrected 40 days
before he ever ascended back to glory. Look back over here
in John chapter 20 with me. I'm going to show you something
here, you know. He showed himself to his disciples. This idea that
Jesus is just standing there waiting, ready to receive men
and women, knocking at the heart's door, begging them to accept
him is as far from the scriptures as daylight from dark, as far
as east is from the west. Look what he said here in verse
14. And when she had thus said, she
turned herself back and saw Jesus standing, and listen to this,
and knew not that it was Jesus. And said, Jesus saith unto her,
Woman, why weepest thou? Who you looking for? Who you
seeking? She supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him,
Sir, if thou have borne him or carried him from this place,
tell me where you've laid him, and I'll come take him. Jesus
saith unto her, Mary, Right then and there she knew who it was.
And oh my, she turned herself all master, master, master. Thomas, you know, you remember
Thomas said, I'm not gonna believe until I can, I know he was crucified. I know he's got scars in his
hands and I know he's got scars in his feet and I know he's got
a rip in his side. And I'm not gonna believe until
I myself can stick my fingers in those hands. About the time
that no sooner got out of his mouth than there stood the Lord.
Where'd he come from? He can be where he wants to be
when he wants to be. He can come to you by yourself,
or he can come to a whole bunch at one time. But he comes and
said, here Rick, go ahead. Go ahead, Thomas, if that's what
it takes you to believe. Go ahead. Go ahead. But oh my,
let me show you again in John 14, 19. I want to show you some
things here before I get into the message about how that Christ
only shows himself to his disciples after his resurrection. Look
here in John 14, 19. Look what our master said. Yet a little while and the world
will never see me again. You notice how he said the world
will never see me again. But you'll see me, you see me. Because I live, you're gonna
live too. Look over in John chapter 16,
down verse 16. Our Lord's telling these disciples,
you know, that I'm going away, but I'm telling you what, you're
gonna still see me. You're gonna still see me. John
16, 16. A little while and you shall
not see me. and again a little while you
shall see me. You know a little while you're
not going to see me and after a little while you'll see me
and you shall see me because I go to the father. Look what
he says down to verse 22 here in this same chapter. And ye
now therefore have sorrow but I will see you again and your
heart shall rejoice and your joy no man taketh away from me. But I'll see you again." He said,
I'll see you again. When? After the resurrection.
I'll see you again. Now you remember, go back over
to our chapter now, you know the two disciples on the Emmaus
road walked with him for seven miles with the Lord Jesus Christ. Had no idea who they was talking
to. had new idea what in the world
was going on, had a great conversation with the Lord. And the Lord told
him all about that happened and all that. And you know, when
he said, come in and have supper with us, he come in and had supper.
And when he took the bread and gave thanks for it, they knew
right then and there it was the Lord. And then he is gone. They
run back seven miles to tell him, we've seen the Lord. We've
seen the Lord. Oh, many, many saw our Lord when
He was on this earth. Many, many saw and heard His
words, saw His miracles, yet they didn't believe on Him, didn't
trust Him. Now, if anybody sees Him at all in this world, it'll
have to be by a revelation. It'll have to be Christ will
have to reveal Himself to that person. And I tell you, He reveals
Himself to believers. Would you see the glory of God
in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ? Believe, and you'll see. Believe, and you'll see. And
on this wise, or in this way, he reveals himself. Now let's
look at the time that he revealed himself. Let's go down through
these verses. At the time, it was after a night of failure.
Simon Peter said in verse 3, it says this, Simon Peter saith
unto them, I go efficient. I say unto him, We'll also go
with thee. They went forth, and entered
into a ship, and immediately, and that night, caught nothing. You know when our Lord made Himself
known to them? After they labored, and labored,
and labored, and labored, and didn't catch nothing. And here's
another thing about this. Simon Peter said, I go fishing.
That's not like me and you say, well, let's go fishing together.
When Simon Peter talked about going fishing, he's going back
to his old profession. He's going back to the job that
he had before. He's not going to walk by faith.
He's going to walk by sight. He's going to walk. He said,
I've got to make a living. You know, I've got to make a
living. I've got to go back out and do
what I was doing before. And when he decided he was going
to go fishing, seven other disciples said, well, we'll just go with
you too. We'll just go too. Seven people agreed with him.
Seven people said, well, we'll go back to our old profession.
We'll go back to our job. We got to make a living. We got
to know what, this is all we know how to do is to fish. And oh my, and I go fishing. Oh my goodness. This is, he's
going back to his old, old ways. Going back to what he did before
the Lord ever called him. They wasn't living by faith.
And Peter, all he been and who he is, he takes the lead. He
always took the lead, ever true to his nature. And the scripture
says they went forth immediately. Let's get out this business.
We can't fool around. We got to make a living. We got
to go catch some fish. We got to have fish to sell.
And you remember, our Lord called them to be fishers of men. He
went by, Simon Peter and them were working on their nets. He
said, follow me. He stopped right then and followed
Christ. John and James were with their father, men to nest. Follow
me. And he told them, I'll make you
fishers, fishers of men. And all by, and I tell you, they
went back to the reasoning of their nature. And all those disciples
said, we'll also go with you. And they went laboring. I'm going
to tell you something. They labored in the night. They
labored in the darkness. We're not children of darkness.
We're children of light. We don't live in the darkness.
Christ saved us from darkness. But these fellows went out at
night laboring in the dark. And our Lord didn't appear to
them when they was laboring in the dark. He left, you know,
you want to be in the darkness, you want to go back into the
darkness, you want to go back and do something like you used
to do. God said, go ahead on, go ahead on. And he left them
to themselves to do what's natural for them to do. And you know
what happened? They labored all night long. Caught nothing. Caught nothing. And there were
seven of them fishing. Not one of them caught one fish. Not one of them caught anything.
And oh my, they had to learn. And our Lord said, without me,
you can do nothing. And they had to learn that by
experience. And you'll have to learn it by
experience. Without me, you can do nothing. Without me, you can't pray. Without
me, you can't understand the Bible. Without me, you got no
salvation. Without me, you don't have a
righteousness. Without me, you don't have grace.
Without me, you don't have anything that needs to be done for you.
You're just zero, zero, zero. You know, I used to take a piece
of paper and write down on it three zeros. When you got three
zeros, what do you got? Then you put a little comma in
there and do three more zeros. What do you got? Then put three
more zeros. What do you got? But when you
put Christ, put one in front of that, it becomes valuable.
And when you, Christ is the only thing that makes us worth anything
in this world. We don't amount to nothing by
ourselves. We don't amount to nothing in
our own strength. We don't amount to nothing unless
Christ does something for us. Paul says, though I be the greatest
of least of the apostles, though I be nothing. This is an apostle says, though
I be nothing. And then we as just old worms
in the earth, we want to try to be something. When these fellas
taught nothing. Nothing. They're gonna have to
learn that. I'll tell you something, without Christ, I'll tell you
what, everything's a failure without Christ. It's bound to
fail. Already failed. And I'll tell
you, don't attempt a moment, moment in this world without
Christ. After once you know the Lord
Jesus Christ, you cannot ever live a moment without Him. You
got to have Him. And you know you got to have
him. And not only do you have to have him, but you want him.
You want him. You want him. And how many will
think their life has been such a success, will find out in that
day that it was nothing but a failure. Nothing but a failure. A lot
of successful people in this world, but whenever they face
God, nothing. Zero, nothing. But oh, look what
it says here in verse 4. But, but, I love you, but, big door
swing on little bitty hinges. And oh, but, when the morning
was now come, daylight come, sun's coming up, the night's over, And Jesus stood
on the shore. He's standing over there on the
shore. They're out there laboring. They're out there trying, got
nets down, trying to catch fish. But listen to what it says, but
the disciples do not that it was Jesus. How could they not
know him? They spent three years with him.
Do you know why they didn't know him? Unless he makes himself
known. And oh, here we go again. But
when all was a failure, when they caught nothing, after everyone
had followed impulsive in Petra's Simon Peter, the morning was
now come. Weeping may endure for the night,
but joy comes in the morning. He was there and the disciples
knew him not. What a sad, sad, sad state of
heart. not recognize their Master, to
not recognize the Lord Jesus Christ. Look over here in verse
19 of chapter 20. Oh, my. Oh, listen to what it
says. Then the same day at evening,
being the first day of the week, that's the Sunday morning, when
the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled, listen
to this now, for fear of the Jews, Jesus stood in the midst
of them and saith unto them, Peace, peace be unto thee. Oh my, that's the second time
he appeared to Mary and the second time he appeared to them, first
time he appeared to them. But oh my, they were hid for
fear of the Jews, scared of the Jews, Afraid for their lives,
afraid what would happen to them, afraid of what was going to go
on. But when we have failed miserably, when we have stumbled, when we have sinned, when we're cold, when we've labored
all night and we've worried all night and we've been anxious
all night, not been able to sleep because of things that's on her
mind. Our Lord brings the morning. He always brings daylight with
Him. He always brings the light with
Him. He always brings that light with Him. Mary, when she was
before the Lord, Jesus Christ made Himself known to her. Her
heart was immersed in sorrow, occupied with her with death,
occupied. She didn't recognize our Savior.
And these men returned to their worldly callings, occupied with
their bodily needs, and didn't recognize the Savior. Too occupied
with what was going on in this world. What was going on in this
world. And look how He made Himself
known to them. On this wise showed He Himself. Oh my. Look what he says down
here in verse five. Then Jesus saith unto them. Now,
you know, they're out in the sea of Tiberias now. They're
out there fishing. And so Jesus had to speak pretty
loud. And Jesus saith unto them, children,
have you any meat? What did he say? No. No. We ain't got nothing. No, we
don't. No, we don't. We're hungry. We're
tired. We're cold. Got anything to eat? No. No. You know, our Lord has
his own way of showing himself and showing his doctrine. You
know what the first thing he makes him do? Makes them own up to what a mess
they've made out of the night. What a mess they've made out
of their lives again. Have you got anything to eat? You've worked
all night. You know, when a fella goes to
work, either he takes his lunch with him, or else he goes out
and buys his lunch. Well, these fellas didn't take
anything with them even to eat. They thought, boy, we got it
made. We're going to do all right. But our Lord Jesus Christ said,
have you got anything to eat? No. We've taken nothing. We failed. And He knew that they
had taken nothing. You think this surprised our
Savior? You think this surprised the Lord? You know, our Lord,
when He asked a question, He doesn't ask for information.
He asked to make us know something. Adam, where are you? He knew
exactly where Adam was. He knew exactly what Adam did.
He knew that Adam was naked. He knew that he put on fig leaves. He knew all of that. He knew
that these fellows labored all night and didn't take nothing.
But why he asked questions is to make us know something about
ourselves. He asked questions, where are
you? Where's your heart? Where's your soul? Where's your
mind? Where's your salvation? Where's your righteousness? Where's
your strength? Where's it at? He asked those
questions. He wants us to know something
about ourselves. He wanted Adam to admit that
I am naked. And he wanted these fellas to
know that you ain't got nothing. You ain't got nothing to eat.
I'm the bread of life. I'm the water of life. I'm that water that you drink,
you'll never thirst again. I'm that bread. When you eat,
you eat my flesh and drinking my blood. And that's what we're
doing. We're eating on Christ this morning
and having a fellowship with him on the case of his blood.
Oh, he knew they hadn't taken nothing, but oh, he wants us
to reveal something to our own hearts. If he asked you this
morning, what is your life amounted to without me? What has your life amounted to
without me? That's a good question, ain't
it? My life had consisted of nothing
but sin and rebellion and hatred for God and awful things I said
about Christ and said about God. And I had to admit that. I had to admit that my whole
life was nothing but sin and rebellion. And God in sovereign
mercy made me admit that and say, I don't have nothing. And without you, I'll go to hell,
I'll perish without you. And I need mercy, mercy. I don't want justice, because
I already feel what justice is going to do for me. I already
know what sin is going to do to me and what it's done to me.
But oh, Lord, I need mercy. I got nothing. I have got nothing. I got nothing to eat, nowhere
to go. I don't have nothing. Oh, my. And there was no use them pretending
that they did. These fellas never said, oh,
well, Listen, we're going to keep on trying, though. We're
going to keep on working. We're going to keep on trying,
no. There's no use pretending that they had something. No use
pretending that they was going to misrepresent themselves and
say, well, we missed it now, but I'll tell
you what, we'll take another shot at it. We'll keep on. And
Lord, beware of misrepresentation and exaggeration. And let me
show you a little picture here. We're the disciples. We're out
here in this world. We're out here on the ocean.
We're out here by ourselves. And our Lord Jesus Christ is
on the shore. That means that Christ is there,
standing, watching us on this sea of life, and he calls us
and makes us admit that we got nothing. Oh my. Christ in glory, us in this world,
Christ on the shore, Christ in glory, and blessed be his name,
he speaks to us from the shore. He speaks to us from the shore. And oh my, then look what our
Lord says to them now. They said, no, we don't have
nothing. Well, he said unto them, well, I'll tell you what to do.
I believe I can tell you exactly what needs to be done. Cast the
net on the right side of the ship, and you shall find. They cast therefore, and now
we're not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. Cast your net on the right side.
Isn't this the sovereign of the seas? Isn't this the one that
came walking to them on the water and the ocean one night? Walking
on the sea? Is this not the sovereign of
the sea? Is this not him? Isn't this the God-man who knows
all, that has all power? Cast your net to the, not to
the front, Not to the back, not to the left, but to the right
side. Right side. Oh my. You know, and this is the only
miracle recorded after our Lord's resurrection, when they caught
all the 153 fishes. Now you keep this, keep John
21, go with me to Luke chapter 5. Go with me to Luke chapter
5. This same thing happened once
before. in Luke chapter 5. This happened once before. Here in Luke chapter 5, you know,
a great multitude of people came to hear the Lord Jesus, and they
were on the Lake Jessar. And he saw, in verse 2, he said
he saw two ships standing by the lake. But the fish were going
out of there 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
net for a draft. And Simon answering said unto
him, Master, we've toiled all night. We just
got back, was cleaning our nets. We've toiled all night and have
taken nothing. Same thing happened over there.
I took nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word, I'll let down the
net. And when they had done, had this
done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes so much that their
net broke. And they said, beckon the partners,
come and help us, help us. And they came and filled both
ships so that they began to sink. And look what happened to Simon
Peter when he seen that he was going to dispute with the Lord
about fishing. And oh, when Simon Peter saw
it, they're in the boat now, they're out in the sea. And he
fell down at Jesus' knees. Depart from me, Lord, I'm a sinful
man. For he was astonished, and all
that with him, at the draft of fishes which they had taken."
Boy, when you understand that you would ever question our master,
it'll break your heart. And that's what he did. He fell
down at his knees. Lord, depart from me. I'm so
sinful. How could you ever have anything
to do with me? Oh, how could he? How could he?
But oh my, cast your net on the right side and you shall find.
These men had fished all their lives, toiled all night, caught
nothing. But they heard the voice of certainty
and the voice of authority. You know, our Lord didn't say,
if you fellas want to, you can cast your net over here. If you
fellas would like to, you can cast your net over there. If
you think it might work, you can cast your net over there.
No, our Lord don't do things like that. He said, cast your
net. He told them what to do. He didn't
ask them if they wanted to. He didn't inquire of them if
they thought it was the right thing to do. He said, cast your
net on the right side. Our Lord tells men what to do.
And I tell you what, I'm grateful He does that. Oh, I'm grateful
he does that. And look what he does now. Down
here in verse 6. Again. Cast your net on the right
side and you'll find. They cast that for and now they
were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. It was
so heavy they couldn't drag it. And oh my. They were not able. Ain't that what it says? They
were not able. They were not able. You know what happens?
What this means is that our Lord is exceedingly abundantly to
do more than we can ask. We can ask for some big things
and do more than we can even think. And that's what he said. Now,
listen, you're talking, he could have let him caught four or five
fish if that's what, but he wanted to have so much. He wanted, and
that's the way our Lord does. He gives us so much. He always
gives us more than we ever thought that He could give us. He always
gives more grace when we need it, always gives more than we
want or need or could even ask for. Ain't that the way He's always
done us? Huh? And oh my. They obeyed His rewards. You know, He created a world
out of nothing. And He brings good out of something
out of nothing. And, oh, they were not able to
draw it to land. He created a world without nothing.
And out of nothing, He takes nothing. And they obeyed His
word. And look what it says next, verse
7. Therefore, that disciple whom
Jesus loved, this is John, saith unto Peter, he said, it's
the Lord. It's the Lord. How do you know
it's the Lord? Nobody else could do what he
just did. Nobody else could tell him what,
I remember he done me this way one time, and he said, oh, listen,
John said, it's the Lord, it's the Lord. This can only be the
Lord who could do this, take our failure, take our labors
all night long and turn it around and give us more than we've ever
caught together all of our lives, gives us so many fish that we
can't even drag the net. Oh, he can give, you know, this
is, you know what this means? Our Lord takes the weak to confound the mighty. He takes the nobodies to confound
the people who think they're somebody. Oh, my. Oh, it takes the weak to confound
the mighty, the foolish to confound the wise. And, oh, he said, this
is the Lord. This is the Lord. And we have
failed miserably. When we have failed miserably
in our life, for our Lord Jesus to reveal himself and show himself. And, oh, sinner, this is just
like our master. Quit laboring for nothing. Believe
His Word. Believe His Word. Look what it
said over here in John 20 and verse 30 and 31. John 20, 30 and 31. And yet 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, that believing you
might have life through his name. There's no other name given among
men where you might be saved. And all back over in our text
here again in verse 7, John recognized him. John recognized him. Oh, my. John said, that's the
Lord. That's the Lord. And look what
Peter done. You know, Peter just always does
something that just you'd never expect him to do. But yet at
the same time, he always done something because true to his
nature. Look what he does. And when Simon Peter heard that.
Heard what? That John said, that's the Lord.
That's the Lord. Simon Peter heard that it was
the Lord. He gird his fisher's coat unto
him for he was naked. And oh, listen, look what happened
to him. He jumped off the ship and got
in the sea. I can't wait for this boat to
get to land to see my master. I can't wait for this boat to
get to the land. I can't wait till them fellas
drag these fish in. I've got to go to my master. I got to go to my Lord. I went
back fishing. Now I've got to go and confess
to Christ. I got to get to Christ. And he
was naked before. He wasn't ashamed to be a naked
boat. He's gonna get an apprentice of the Lord. He's gonna put on
his fisher's coat. And oh, he jumped in headfirst. Just like when I, Lord, walked
to him on the water one night when that storm was coming on
and Simon Peter thought they saw a ghost. And Simon Peter
said, Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you. He stepped
off that boat, set out, stepped on that water, started walking
down through there. till a big wave come up and scared him to
death and he started sinking. And the Lord Jesus back on the
ship and he said, Lord, save me! Save me! I'll perish! Our Lord was stretching and got
him. Stretching and got him. And that's why Simon Peter said,
I got to get to my master. I got to get my master. He went
fishing, left the fish to get to the Lord whom he loved. Forget
those fish. It's like the woman with the
water pot. When our Lord went and sat by the, on the Jacob's
well, John chapter four said that he was weary with his journey,
sat down on that well, and that woman said, oh listen, he said,
give me a drink. She said, oh, you're a Jew, and
I'm a Samaritan, you know that. You know we don't have no dealings.
Go ahead and do it. And our Lord Jesus Christ revealed
herself to herself, and you know what she did? She left her water
pot on that well. She forgot about water. She forgot
about getting water and taking it back to the house. She forgot
about the water she needed. She said, oh, she run into town,
left her water pot on that well, and run into town and said, come
see a man. What about him? He told me everything
there is to know about me. Is not this the Messiah? Is not
this the Christ? And that's what happens to people
when he makes himself known. You've got to get to him. You
won't settle for anything less. You won't do it. Oh my, there
was no reserve in Simon Peter. He had to get to the master whom
he loved. Now look what happens here. Look
what else happens. And the other, in verse 8, And
the other disciples came in a little ship, for they were not far from
land, and as it were, two hundred cubits, dragging the net with
fishes. Soon as they were come to land,
they saw a fire, and coals thereon, and fish laid on them, and bread.
Now let me ask you something. Why didn't they see that fire
before? Why didn't they see that fish
on the fire? Why didn't they see that bread there? Lord done that while they was
on their way. Where did our Lord get this fire
from? Where did our Lord get this fish
and this bread? They got there and they said,
they saw a fire and coals there on and fish laid there on and
bread. Why didn't they see that before? This is one of those things that's
why you cannot describe the Lord Jesus Christ as he really is.
You imagine, you know, if God appeared to Moses out of a burning
bush, don't you think he could start a fire? Where'd that fire come from?
Where'd them fish come from? Where'd that bread come from?
Where'd them coals come from? You think our Lord got two sticks
and started rubbing together? You have some matches, you know
it. No, no. When our Lord can create
a world out of nothing, all he's got to do is set fire. I want
fire. I want some bread. I want some
fish. And he did not fix these for himself. Our Lord did not fix these for
himself. Oh, my. And oh, he reveals himself as
the provider and the sustainer. Where'd this fire and bread come
from? But oh, my. Jesus said in verse 10, saith
unto them, bring her the fish which ye have now caught. Simon
Peter went up and drew the net to land full of great fishes,
a hundred and fifty-three. Great fishes, big fish. And for
all that were so many, yet the net was not broken. Oh, my. You know, it wasn't a great feast
here that our Lord prepared for them. But he knew they were hungry,
knew they were cold, and he being the shepherd going to take care
of his sheep, he sees that they shall not want. And you remember,
he fed the multitude two times with bread and fish. One time
he took two fish and one loaf of bread, and fed 5,000 people
and then took up 12 baskets full of fragments left over. Done
that twice. But now look what he tells them
now. Then he has fellowship with them. He said, Jesus saith unto
them, verse 12, Jesus saith unto them, come and dine. Oh, Lord, come dine. Come and eat. I've got you some
fresh fish. I got you the best bread that's
ever been baked. I bet this was the best fish
they ever ate, and I bet it's the best bread they ever tasted. You know why? Because the Lord
Himself made it and fixed it. Could you imagine eating a meal
that Christ fixed? He ate meals that other people
fixed, but to eat a meal that Christ fixed? that Christ made? Come over here. Come on. Come
by this fire. Warm yourself up. Take you something
to eat. Take you something to eat. And
oh, look what it says now. And look what it says. Come and
dine. None of the disciples darest ask him who art that Lord, knowing
that it was the Lord. And oh, look what it says next.
Jesus cometh in, and he takes the bread. Notice what happens
here. He takes the bread. And he takes
the fish. And he gives it to him. He gives
it to him. He wants to understand everything
you get, you're gonna have to give it to me. I'm gonna have
to give it to you. I've got bread here, and I've got fish here.
But I'm gonna give it to you. He took the bread. Here's you
some, Peter. Here's you some, John. Here's
you some Nathaniel. Here's you some Thomas. Here's
you some John. Here's you some James. Here's
you some fish. Here's you some fish. Here's
you some fish. Yeah, that shows us that anything we got, he's
got to give it to us. He got to hand it to us. You
know, that's why we come with empty hands. Every time I come
to a service, every time I do anything, I always have to come
with empty hands. And I've never left without them
having something in them. Oh, our Lord has a way of giving.
And they didn't ask him, who art thou? Knowing that it was
the Lord. Who else? Who else could act
this way? Who else could fill our nets?
Who else could take care of our hunger? Our Lord has a way of
giving, which he himself is made known. The law demands but grace
gives Christ gave himself for us now. I want you to see something
else down here in verse 20 You know These fellas wanted to ask
him some questions Then Peter turning about see
a disciple whom Jesus loved following and which also leaned on his breast
to supper. So John was following the Lord
Jesus Christ, and our Lord Jesus Christ, they ask, who betrayed
you? You know, John asked him, who
betrayed you? Lord, which is he that betrayed
thee? And then Peter says in verse 21, saith to him, Jesus,
Lord, and what shall this man do? They were all just, just
got through getting fed, just got through catching 153 fish, And they're already worried about
what somebody else is going to do. Who betrayed you, Lord? Who betrayed you? And what's
going to happen to this fellow? What's going to happen to him?
What shall he do? They forgot what a sad state
they're in, now worried about what the Lord's going to do to
somebody else. And look what our Master said. Jesus saith
unto him, If I will, If I will that he tarries till I come again,
what is that to you? What business is that to you?
Look what he said, follow me. Quit worrying about who betrayed
me. Don't worry about what I'm gonna do with him. My will's
what's paramount in this business. You follow me. And ain't that what he says?
Follow me. And then I'm gonna show you one
other thing real quick. Back over here in John 19 and 20. He revealed himself
also as their substitute, as the one when they saw, John 20, 19, Then the same day at evening,
being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where
disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus
and stood in the midst of them and saith unto them, Peace be
unto you. And when he had so said, he showed unto them his
hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad
when they saw the Lord." Look at them. These wounds are for you. This
side, this rope opened up was for you, for you. And when you
see him dying for you, you'll be glad, too. You'll be glad,
too. Our blessed Savior, our blessed
Lord, thank you, O Lord, that you make these things known to
us in your word. We wouldn't know anything about
you if it wasn't for your word. We wouldn't know anything about
how helpless and hopeless and how that our life amounts to
nothing without you. Lord, we thank you that you reveal
these things to our heart. And Lord, I pray you continue
to reveal it to people's hearts. Lord, make yourself known. Lord,
you make yourself known to people who realize they have nothing,
realize that they're helpless, realize that they're hopeless,
realize that they need you, and that they can do like Simon Peter
did. Jump in headfirst. Dive in to
get to Christ. throw yourself at Christ, come
and bow at his knees like Simon Peter did. And, oh, Lord, if you say depart,
you never depart from your people. You didn't depart from Simon
Peter. You'll never depart from us. You'll never leave us, never
forsake us. And thank you for feeding us
fish and bread and giving it to us, giving it to us. We didn't deserve it, but you
gave it to us. And we thank you for it, in Christ's
name, amen, amen. Get your course book. Turn to
number 16. Turn to number 16. Let's stand together saying this,
and then you'll be at liberty to go. Jesus has a table spread where
the saints of God are fed. He invites his chosen people. With his manna he doth feed,
and supplies are every need. Oh, tis sweet to sup with Jesus
all the time. Come and dine, the Master calleth,
come and dine. He who fed the multitude turned
the water into wine. To the hungry calleth now, come
and dine. The disciples came to land with
obeying Christ. Master called unto them, come
and dine. There they found their heart's
desire, bread and fish upon the fire. Thus he satisfies the hungry
every time. Come and dine, the Master calleth
for him now. He who pays to Jesus' table all
the time He who fed the multitude, turned the water into wine. For the hungry calleth now, come
and dine. Soon the Lamb will take His bride,
to be ever at His side. All the host of heaven will assembled
be. O't will be a glorious sight,
All the saints to spotless white, And with Jesus they will feast
eternally. Come and dine, O Master call
it, come and dine. You may feast at Jesus' table
all the time, He who fed the multitude turned
the water into wine. To the hungry calleth now, come
and dine. See you tonight, 6 o'clock, God
will. I'm going to start on the book of Galatians tonight, if
it's the Lord's will.