10th September 2023
TEXT : JOHN. 21
READING: 1 After these things, Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself.
2 There were together Simon Peter and Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.
3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.
4 But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
5 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.
6 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.
7 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.
8 And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes.
9 As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread.
10 Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught.
11 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.
12 Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.
13 Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise.
14 This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.
15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
18 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.
19 This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.
20 Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?
21 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?
22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.
23 Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?
24 This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.
25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.
INTRODUCTION : In John 21 ( which takes place after Jesus’ resurrection ), we find Peter making a decision to go fishing, six other of Jesus’ disciples said ” We’re going with you ” They fished all night and caught nothing. Jesus stood on the shore in the morning and told them to cast their net on the other side of the boat.
They did and caught a great number of fishes! When Peter realized it was Jesus, he jumped in the water because he was ashamed of how he was dressed.
Jesus prepared a meal for the disciples, and they ate together after coming to land. Jesus then had a talk with Peter to teach him some important things.
The focus of this chapter is the Apostle Peter. I believe Jesus is teaching Peter some things he will need to have in order to serve God and do His will.
If we are going to serve God and do His will, then I believe we also need to have the things that Peter needed.
Today, I want to give you 4 necessities in serving God, 4 things we will need in order to serve God acceptably and faithfully .
Read vs. 3 of John 21 : 3.
(1) FAITH THAT GOD WILL MEET MY NEEDS.
In the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, as He walked by the Sea of Galilee. He saw Simon Peter and Andrew in a boat fishing, He called to them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men, ” And straight away they FORSOOK THEIR NET, and followed him.
They left ALL! How would they survive? What would they eat? They did not worry themselves with these questions.
THEY TRUSTED JESUS TO MEET THEIR NEEDS.
Now Jesus isn’t going to be on the earth much longer, He isn’t taking care of them like He used to do, Peter says, ” l’m going fishing ” I believe he was saying, ” I need to take care of myself, This is what I know I can do, Jesus isn’t here to provide for me anymore “
Jesus miraculously provided 153 big fish to show Peter that God can take much better care of him than he could take care of himself. Jesus had given Peter a job to do —– BE A FISHER OF MEN, Yet, Peter wasn’t doing it because he was busy trying to meet his own needs.
- If you and I are going to serve God, then we must have faith that God will meet our needs!
We may get support and help from men, but we need to keep in mind that it is God who supplies our needs. We must develop a strong faith in God that says, ” God, I will do Your will no matter what, because I KNOW You will take care of me, “
We need to have these mentality in mind.
This is what Peter needed, and this is what we need.
Read vs.15-17.
(2) LOVE FOR GOD THAT MOTIVATES TO SERVE OTHERS.
I believe Peter had a degree of love for Jesus, but his love for Jesus was not what it should have been.
Jesus was saying, ” Do you love Me more than these fish? Do you love Me enough to take care of my sheep? Do you love Me enough to do what I have trained you to do? Peter, do you love me?”
I believe each of us today have a degree of love for Jesus, just like Peter did, However, if Jesus was here today, I wonder if He would say:
Do you love Me more than you love money?
Do you love Me more than you love pleasure?
Do you love Me more than you love yourself?
Do you love Me more than you love the things of this life?
O, that we would have a great love for God! O, that we would love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength!
O, that our love for God would motivate us to serve others, to feed His sheep, that the care of others would be so much more important to us than our own well-being and comfort.
Many people work 6 days a week, 12 or more hours a day to earn the money they need, I don’t want to serve God and others with less dedication than they have.
I will wake up early so that I can pray for others, I will work hard all day long so that I can serve others, win souls, and make disciples of Jesus Christ.
WHY? Because I love Him!.
If we are going to serve God, we must have a love for God that motivates us to serve others!
Read vs. 18-19
(3) COMMITMENT TO PERSEVERE THROUGH TRIALS AND DIFFICULTIES.
Jesus was explaining to Peter that he was going to be persecuted and killed, He was telling Peter that the will of God would involve hardship.
Peter would need commitment to serve God. We will also need commitment to serve God.
A missionary society wrote to David Livingstone and asked, “Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to know how to send other men to join you,” Livingstone wrote back, ” if you have men who will come only if they have a good road, I don’t want them, I want men who will come if there is no road at all “
Serving the Lord is not an easy path without trouble and pain.
History tells us that Peter ended up dying by being crucified upside down.
Hebrews 11 tells of heroes of faith who “.. were tortured,… and in dens and caves of the eart. “
Sometimes, the will of God includes suffering. We must be committed to persevere no matter what we face.
Peter went on to write in his first epistle, “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;(1 Peter 4 : 1)
When the going gets tough— KEEP ON GOING! Don’t quit! serving God requires strong commitment.
Read vv. 20-22.
(4) FOCUS ON DOING GOD’S WILL, NOT ON OTHERS.
Peter just got told by Jesus that he would face persecution. He then turns and sees John and asks what he is going to do.
Isn’t that how we are? We look around and see how others live and say,
” What about them, God? Here I am suffering,
No one has it as bad as I do. It’s not fair. “
Jesus doesn’t want us to focus on others, He told Peter not to worry about what John did or what His will was for John. He said to Peter, ” Follow thou me.”
2 Corinthians 10:12 “For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise”.
We need to stop comparing ourselves with each other and focus on doing God’s will!
CONCLUSION ; Let’s serve God faithfully! Remember, He is a rewarder of good things.
He rewards each and everyone according to the way we serve Him, Your faith in Him, Your love for Him, Your commitment despite in trials and difficulties, and your focus . Who are you looking up to?
Psalm 121: 1-2 ” I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
I PROMISE:
I WILL TRUST GOD TO MEET MY NEEDS.
I WILL LOVE GOD MORE THAT I MAY SERVE OTHERS WELL.
I WILL COMMIT TO PERSEVERE THROUGH TRIALS.
I WILL FOCUS ON DOING GOD’S WILL, NOT ON MAN.
Amen!!!