Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Listening to Jesus beside the Sea Msg 1820 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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Listening to Jesus beside the Sea Msg 1820 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: I want to read for you from the last chapter
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: of the Gospel by John, chapter 21, beginning at verse 12.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: And we'll read down through the 22nd verse. Very intimate
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: scene beside the Sea of Galilee, called by John in
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: the first verse, the Sea of Tiberias. John 21, verse 12.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Jesus said to them, come and have breakfast. None of
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: the disciples ventured to question him, who are you, knowing
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: that it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: bread and gave them and the fish likewise. This is
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: now the third time that Jesus was manifested differently to
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: the disciples after he was raised from the dead. So,
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon,
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: son of John, do you love me more than these?
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: love you. He said to him, tend my lambs. He
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: said to him again a second time, Simon, son of John,
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  Speaker 1: do you love me? He said to him, yes, Lord,
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: you know that I love you. He said to him,
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: shepherd my sheep. He said to him the third time, Simon,
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  Speaker 1: son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: because he said to him the third time, do you
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: all things. You know that I love you. Jesus said
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: to him, tend my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you,
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: walk wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: you and bring you where you do not wish to go.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: Now this, he said, signifying by what kind of death
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: he would glorify God. And when he had spoken this,
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: he said to him, follow me. Peter, turning around, saw
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: also had leaned back on his breast at the supper
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: and said, Lord, who is the one who betrays you? Peter, therefore,
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: seeing him, said to Jesus, Lord, and what about this man?
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  Speaker 1: Jesus said to him, If I want him to remain
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: until I come, what is that to you? You follow me.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: May we bow together. How seldom we are engaged in
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: a time of deliberate quietness before you, Lord, and this
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: is one of those occasions. And it's so needed, so enjoyable.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: No radio blaring in the background. The sounds of commerce
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: are quieted. We're tucked away in this unusual place we
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: have transformed into a worship center. And it's here we've
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: learned to meet and to come before you and to
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: listen and to participate to sing our songs and to
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: tell you from the bottom of our hearts how much
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: we need you and how deeply we love you. We
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: come to a searching section of the Word of God today.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: We all feel a little comforted to know it was
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: Simon Peter and not us sitting in that group where
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: Jesus asked how much he loved him. And this will
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: give us an opportunity quietly and silently and vicariously to
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: enter into that occasion that became the hallmark in Peter's
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: mind in the latter years of his ministry. He never
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: forgot it. May we be so engaged in the act
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: of worship that we will be, as Wesley wrote, lost
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: in wonder and love and praise. May our time be
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: so meaningful that nothing else is quite as important as
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: it has been before we came. Find in our gifts, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: tangible evidence of our gratitude. We are in great need
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  Speaker 1: of your presence in our lives Peter was right you
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  Speaker 1: have the words of eternal life there is none other
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  Speaker 1: and so in our worship Lord we now give gratefully
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  Speaker 1: and full of hilarity as we reflect on your constant
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  Speaker 1: giving to us again and again in Jesus dear name
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  Speaker 1: we pray Anyone who travels to the Holy Land will
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: remember spending time on the Sea of Galilee. I know,
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: I know, when you go to Jerusalem, there's something cultural
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: and theological and historic about that city. Nothing can really
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: take the place of Jerusalem. But there's something about that
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  Speaker 1: sail across the Sea of Galilee that just stays with you.
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  Speaker 1: It just deepens your love for the things of God.
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  Speaker 1: I think part of the reason that I love it
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  Speaker 1: so much is that there's no way in the world
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: they can cover over the Sea of Galilee with a
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  Speaker 1: lot of religious trappings. I mean, you never really know
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  Speaker 1: for sure what level was the birth of Christ when
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  Speaker 1: you're over there because it's so covered up with all
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  Speaker 1: of the religion of the times that have passed over
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  Speaker 1: the centuries. Or was this really the place where he
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  Speaker 1: fed the 5,000? Or can we really say for sure
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  Speaker 1: that this was the tomb from which he was raised?
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  Speaker 1: Or Golgotha, where he was crucified? We just don't know
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  Speaker 1: for sure, and probably it's best that we don't. But,
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  Speaker 1: you know, there's nothing they can do to move the
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  Speaker 1: Sea of Galilee. As it was then, it is still today.
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  Speaker 1: The shore is the same. Seven and a half miles wide,
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  Speaker 1: 13 miles long, 32 miles around in circumference, 650 feet
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  Speaker 1: below sea level. And those waters to this day, especially
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  Speaker 1: on a moonlit night, it's almost as though you can
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: hear the voices saying, from the ancient past. Mark Twain
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: has done a fine book called The Innocence Abroad, dated 1867.
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  Speaker 1: And from that book, these words are found. Our thoughts
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  Speaker 1: wander constantly to the practical concerns of life and refuse
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  Speaker 1: to dwell upon things that seem vague and unreal. But
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  Speaker 1: when the day is done, Even the most unimpressionable must
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: yield to the dreamy influences of this tranquil starlight. The
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: old traditions of the place steal upon his memory and
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  Speaker 1: haunt his reveries and then his fancy clothes all sights
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  Speaker 1: and sounds with the supernatural. In the lapping of the
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  Speaker 1: waves upon the beach, he hears the dip of ghostly oars.
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  Speaker 1: In the secret noises of the night, he hears spirit voices.
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: In the soft sweep of the breeze, the rush of
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  Speaker 1: invisible wings. Phantom ships are on the sea. The dead
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: of 20 centuries come forth from the tombs. And in
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  Speaker 1: the dirges of the night wind, the songs of old
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  Speaker 1: forgotten ages ring. find utterance again. In the starlight, Galilee
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  Speaker 1: has no boundaries but the broad compass of the heavens
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  Speaker 1: and is a theater for great events. And so it was.
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  Speaker 1: That's where it all started, Jesus calling his 12. In
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: the first chapter of Mark, we come to that first
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  Speaker 1: scene at the Sea of Galilee where Jesus is walking
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: along the familiar shores. One wonders, since he was a Galilean,
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  Speaker 1: if he may have played along the shores as a
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: little boy. One wonders if he may not have taken
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  Speaker 1: a sail across the sea as a teenager. after his
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  Speaker 1: work in the carpenter shop was done. He knew those waters.
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  Speaker 1: And even though they did not know him, he knew
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  Speaker 1: those men. In Mark 1, verse 16, as he was
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: going along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon
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  Speaker 1: and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in
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  Speaker 1: the sea, for they were fishermen. I've done that. Many
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: of you have done that. I was raised in the
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: Gulf waters of South Texas. And I remember as my
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  Speaker 1: granddaddy taught me to cast a net as we would
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: catch the bait or seining for shrimp. You ever do that?
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  Speaker 1: If you ever do that, you know you don't want
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  Speaker 1: to do it for a living. It's hard work. And
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: these men had worked that day. They were commercial fishermen,
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  Speaker 1: Simon and Andrew. And this stranger came along out of
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  Speaker 1: nowhere into their lives. And he said to them, verse 17,
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  Speaker 1: follow me and I will make you become fishers of men. Remarkably,
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  Speaker 1: we read in verse 18, they immediately left their nets
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  Speaker 1: and followed him. Tell me, would you have done that?
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  Speaker 1: He comes to your desk as a busy executive assistant
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  Speaker 1: and he says to you, I will help you do
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  Speaker 1: a work for me if you will just follow me
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  Speaker 1: and leave this career. Would you stand up and turn
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  Speaker 1: off your computer and walk out the door? You're engaged
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  Speaker 1: in sales and God's using you in a special way
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  Speaker 1: and is prospering your efforts and he walks along your
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  Speaker 1: place of business, and he says, I will provide you
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  Speaker 1: a product that no one could turn down, and I
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  Speaker 1: ask you to leave all of this and to follow me.
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  Speaker 1: Would you turn in your slip that day and resign
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  Speaker 1: and follow him? It's just that kind of thing. The
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  Speaker 1: remarkable part of the story is the word immediately. Immediately.
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  Speaker 1: They don't ask for any kind of job security. There
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  Speaker 1: is no retirement program provided now or later. I often
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  Speaker 1: thought what their wives must have felt when they got
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  Speaker 1: word that night, by the way, I quit my job
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  Speaker 1: today and I'm following this man that came along to beach. Oh, really?
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  Speaker 1: What's his name? I'm not sure. I think it's Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: Where are you going? Well, he didn't tell us. What
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  Speaker 1: are you going to be doing? That's not clear either.
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  Speaker 1: And they left everything and followed him. If that wasn't enough,
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: look at the next little scene. Going a little farther,
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  Speaker 1: that's a little farther down the shoreline, there's another fishing
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  Speaker 1: vessel there tied up to the pier. And Jesus saw James,
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  Speaker 1: the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who were
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  Speaker 1: also in the boat mending the nets. So they're fishermen.
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  Speaker 1: They've got a business. In fact, it's the sons of Zebedee.
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  Speaker 1: He's in business with his boys. Verse 20, immediately he
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  Speaker 1: called them, James and John, And they left their father, Zebedee,
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  Speaker 1: in the boat with the hired servants. They've got quite
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  Speaker 1: a business. They've got a number of people working the nets.
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  Speaker 1: And we read again that they left to follow him. Remarkable.
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  Speaker 1: And it all started there. The beginning of calling of
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  Speaker 1: 12 men who would walk with him for these three
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  Speaker 1: and a half years. And what a three and a
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  Speaker 1: half year ride was. All the things that they saw
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  Speaker 1: and learned and experienced, all the things that they suffered,
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  Speaker 1: the feeling of being misunderstood, and those times when they
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  Speaker 1: found themselves in the limelight of attention and they were
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  Speaker 1: just fishermen. Those occasions when Jesus would work miracles and
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  Speaker 1: heal the sick and calm the troubled and give sight
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  Speaker 1: to the blind. And all those things were theirs to remember.
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  Speaker 1: And then he died. And then he died. We read
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  Speaker 1: in Mark 14, 50, as the torture continued and as
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  Speaker 1: they nailed him to a cross, they all forsook him
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  Speaker 1: and fled like rats on a sinking ship. It was over. Done.
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  Speaker 1: We've left all this to follow him to these things?
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  Speaker 1: He's dead. He's dead. Some must have watched from a
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  Speaker 1: distance as they sealed the tomb, having prepared him for burial.
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  Speaker 1: And if the death wasn't bad enough, the sealed tomb
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  Speaker 1: was sort of the last straw. It was over. I know,
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  Speaker 1: I know. That first Easter morning, he arose and presented
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  Speaker 1: himself to the women who came first. And they told them,
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  Speaker 1: the men and some of them went to the tomb
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  Speaker 1: and they saw the empty tomb. And a few were
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  Speaker 1: visited by Jesus on a couple of other occasions. But
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  Speaker 1: it was all sort of over. It was over. You see,
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  Speaker 1: our problem in the 20th century is that we know
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  Speaker 1: how the story unfolds and we see the end from
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: the beginning, at least in their relationship with him. We
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: don't appreciate, we can't appreciate that sense of limbo as
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: they're caught in the backwash of shattered dreams and broken
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  Speaker 1: hopes and... Peter's denial, three times he said, I don't
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  Speaker 1: know him. He even cursed to prove it or swore
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  Speaker 1: that he didn't know him. And so when we get
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: to chapter 21 of John, we're back at this old sea,
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: back in the familiar haunts, the reveries, as Mark Twain
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: put it. We're back with a group of those fellows who,
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  Speaker 1: You wonder what they talked about, don't you? You must
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: wonder how many of their sentences began with, remember when?
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: Remember when we were here on the boat? Maybe James
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: and John's dad has died since they left. Maybe Zebedee's gone,
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  Speaker 1: just his mother. Their mother remains. Remember how bright the
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: horizon seemed? Ah. Verse 2 tells us in John 21
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: that there were together Simon, Thomas, who is called the twin,
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: Nathaniel of Cana, the sons of Zebedee. We met them,
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  Speaker 1: James and John, and there were two others who were
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  Speaker 1: not named. There are seven in all, and they're back
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  Speaker 1: at the sea. Not surprisingly, Peter says, I'm going fishing.
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  Speaker 1: If you love to fish, you understand that. Tension mounts,
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  Speaker 1: concerns grow. Your worry list is longer than your prayer list.
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  Speaker 1: You got things sort of sideways in your mind. You
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  Speaker 1: can't figure out how life's supposed to be put together.
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  Speaker 1: And if you've got the sea available and if you
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  Speaker 1: can find your rod, you're going to go fishing. I've
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  Speaker 1: been there dozens of times in my life. Let's just
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: go fishing. And the others went along with him and said,
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: we will come with you. They went out and got
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: in the boat. That night they caught nothing. I've been
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: there too. I mean, night fishing is pretty good fishing.
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: If you can get a torch and the light's bright enough,
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: the fish will come up and you can catch them
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: with the nets that they used in the Sea of Galilee.
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  Speaker 1: These old fellas knew how to use the nets. They
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: were commercial fishermen, remember. But they caught nothing. I've cast
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: a net enough to know that that's hard work, especially
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: when it gets wet. And you're hauling in and throwing
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: out and hauling in and throwing out and hauling in
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  Speaker 1: and throwing out that same bell-shaped net and you just
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: can't catch them. You just can't even catch a bait.
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  Speaker 1: I've seen times when I've eaten the bait because I
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: didn't have any fish to eat. That's how bad it's
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: been for us. They caught nothing. Light dawns on the
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: horizon and a shadowy figure walks across the shoreline and
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: they don't know who it is and The day is breaking,
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: verse 4, and John tells us, because he's had 60
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: years to think about it as he writes this story,
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  Speaker 1: Jesus therefore said to them, Hey, fellas, you don't have
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: any fish, do you? They answer, No! You know how
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: you do when people say the obvious. I mean, you've
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: been fishing all night. I mean, there's not a lot
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: of diplomacy in the no. No! No! He calls them fellas.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: It's paideion. We get our word pediatrics or pediatrician from
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: the Greek word. He calls them fellas or guys or
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: men or not really men. Boys is a good way. Boy,
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  Speaker 1: hey guys, you don't have any fish, do you? Nope.
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  Speaker 1: Cast your net on the right side of the boat.
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  Speaker 1: You know what's impressive to me in the story? They
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: don't argue. with him. They don't know who he is.
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  Speaker 1: But believe me, if somebody's got an idea, you try
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: it when you haven't caught anything. Try it over there.
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: And the text tells us that they had so many fish,
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  Speaker 1: they were not able to haul it in because of
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: the great number. In fact, verse 11 numbers them for us, 153.
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  Speaker 1: You know that was an eyewitness. Fishermen always number their fish.
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  Speaker 1: They never say, oh, we got about a dozen. They say,
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  Speaker 1: we got 13. Then they'll tell you the big one
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  Speaker 1: got away. But here, the big one they caught, they
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: were large fish. If I figure this correctly, if they
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: were three, three and a half pounds each, we got
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: a quarter of a ton of fish. We got a
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: net full of fish. And the remarkable thing also is
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: that the net doesn't break. So they can't even get
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: this net into the boat. It's so full of big fish.
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: Now here's where it really gets great. You can almost
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: hear it when you visit the Sea of Galilee these days. Peter.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: John says, it's the Lord. It's Jesus. Peter grabs his
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: outer garment. See, he's down to his underclothes by now.
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  Speaker 1: He's been working, getting those fish. And he grabs his
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: outer garment. He plunges into the sea. I love that
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  Speaker 1: about Peter. Isn't it great to be with a few Peters?
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  Speaker 1: You have a Peter as a friend. I mean, you're
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: standing there thinking how nice the water looks and your
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: buddy dives in. He's already on his way swimming to
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  Speaker 1: the shore. If that's Jesus, that's where I want to be.
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  Speaker 1: Who cares about the fish? And doesn't it tell you
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  Speaker 1: something about their relationship that Peter doesn't hesitate? Doesn't say, oh,
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  Speaker 1: if only I hadn't denied him. If only I'd built
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  Speaker 1: a relationship back with him, I think he might want
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  Speaker 1: to talk to me. He just grabs his outer garment
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  Speaker 1: and plunges into the sea and starts swimming toward the shore.
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  Speaker 1: It's a great setting. Verse 9, when they got upon
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: the land, this is so like Jesus, they saw a
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: charcoal fire already laid and fish placed on it. Where'd
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: he get his fish? Well, see, when you make fish,
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: you got them trained. Hey, fish, get on the fire. No,
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: that's enough. That's enough. Don't all you guys come out there.
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  Speaker 1: So he's got a fire full of fish. He's got
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: smoke curling up above and he's got the smoke curling
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: from the fire. This is a great scene. If you
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: love the outdoors, you love this setting. You just pay
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: big money for this kind of setting. In fact, I
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: have a friend who guides us when we hunt in Alaska.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: I've only done it a time or two. He said,
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: sometime I have people come to Alaska thinking they're going
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: to save money. By hunting big game up here. And
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: I always tell them the first night, look, if you
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: wanted to save money instead of coming to Alaska to
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: hunt and fish, you should have gotten in the shower
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: with a handful of $ 20 bills and start tearing them
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: up as fast as you can tear them up and
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: let them drain right down out in the shower for
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: about 30 minutes. And you'll save money. Just stay home,
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: tear up $ 20 bills, and it'll all work out right.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: Isn't that a funny line? When you love the outdoors,
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: you kind of live for the campfire. This is a
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: great setting. Seven of his closest, all good friends. They've
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: been together for three years and more. And Jesus with
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: his scars. This is early dawn. Charcoal broiled fish. Little
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: bread that you've heated over the fire. It just doesn't
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: get any better. This is really life is beautiful moment.
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: This is the great moment. They're kicking back. Unannounced, unexpected,
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: Jesus focuses in on Peter's eyes like a laser. He
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: calls his name. Simon, do you love me more than these?
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: All right. Imagine being Simon. Your failure is known by
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: all of your peers. You've not blown it once. You've
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: blown it three times. They know that. They forsook him,
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: but they never denied him. You've gone a whole nine
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: yards and then some. Bad track record. He calls your name.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: You don't want that. And of all things, he asks
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: a comparative question, more than these. Could have meant more
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: than you love fishing and all that goes with the career.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: Probably didn't mean that. It could mean, do you love
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: me more than you love these men? Probably didn't mean that.
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: That's a little remote. I think it means just the
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: way you feel it means here. You love me more
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: than you love these. Hmm. I don't want to read
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: into this more than I should but John wrote in
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: common Greek. They didn't speak Greek. These are Galileans. They
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: spoke Aramaic which explains why Jesus on the cross screamed
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani. That's an Aramaic statement. That's why
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: they didn't understand him. The Romans thought he was calling
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: for Elijah. He was of Aramaic tongue and that's what
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: they spoke. But When John records it, God leads him
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: to record it in Greek. And the Greek is such
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: a precise language that even the inflection or the tones
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: of Aramaic could be communicated in Greek so they can
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: almost feel like you're hearing the words that were said.
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: He uses agape. That's the word Christians today understand. We
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: use it sometime. Agapao, supreme love. Do you have a
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: supreme commitment to me that would cause all other commitments
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: to be eclipsed? Would fade in significance. Is your love
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: for me so great that it's greater than any other
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: love for anyone else, regardless of your own needs or
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: wants or desires? It's that kind of love. It's a
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: one-way love. It's not a reciprocal love. That's phileo. That's
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: a fondness. Do you have supreme love for me, Simon?
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: Doesn't call him Peter. That word means rock. And his
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: character wasn't very rock-like. He calls him by his name,
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: which some suggest means vacillating one, shifting one, moody. You
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: have a supreme love for me. Well, he's on the spot.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: Verse 15 gives us his answer. Yes, Lord. You know
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: that I'm fond of you. It's not agape. This is phileo.
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: This is phileo. This is a friendship love. You know
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: that we're friends. If I were to pick a friend,
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: you'd be one of them. And maybe more than any
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: one of these. I have a fondness for you, Lord.
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: You know what I believe? Forgive this preacher's imagination for
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: a moment. I believe several months ago he would have said,
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: do I love you like nobody else in the group? Remember,
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: he's the one who said, all others may turn away
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: from you. I will never turn away. That's Peter three,
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: four months earlier. But this is Peter after the denial.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: This is Peter after the bitter weeping. This is Peter
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: and all the embarrassment and vulnerability of his fall. This
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: is Peter at his best, unguarded, not trying to impress anyone.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: not putting his foot in his mouth. He's had enough
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: of that. Lord, I'm fond of you. You know that, Lord.
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: We're friends. You had no idea what Jesus would say.
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: Jesus could have said, well, shame on you. Or that's
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: about the level I expected after all I've done for you.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: That's the best I can get. No, Jesus doesn't do that.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: Being the Savior of grace that he is, he's got
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: a plan for Peter. Peter's going to be involved in
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: the establishment of the beginning of the church. Peter knows
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: nothing of that. He said, Simon, tend my lambs. Tend
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: my lambs. Let's go from here. Let's go with fondness.
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: It'll grow. But he doesn't stop. And so he says
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: to him a second time, Simon, I don't know if
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: you've ever been in class in a school where the
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: teacher asks a hard question. And you feel on the spot.
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: It's one of those tough questions that you, you know,
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: you dig down deep to get the answer and you
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: kind of blurt it out and it's right. And you think, boy,
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: that's done. It's somebody else's problem. Then the teacher says, now,
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: let me ask you this. Oh, don't go there. Second time.
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: If the first question was embarrassing, imagine the second question.
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: But what makes it even more embarrassing is it's the
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: same question without the the comparative part. Simon, do you
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: love me? Let's not try to compare it to James
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: and John or to Twin or to Nathaniel. Let's just
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: make this between you and me. Do you have a
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: supreme love for me, agape? Agape. Peter's answer is identical.
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: I appreciate the fact that he's unintimidated. I appreciate the
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: fact that he is honest to the core. And he
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: says exactly the truth. I'm fond of you. Yes, Lord,
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: I'm fond of you. It's the best I can do.
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: And he said to him, then shepherd my sheep. Understand,
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: Jesus is never looking for perfection. He's looking for integrity.
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: That's a terribly important point to make. We tend to
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: put people into molds where they must produce perfectly. And
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: when they fail, they're out. Only one is perfect, and
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: that's the one asking the questions. Here, this failing, broken, humble,
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: vulnerable vessel still wet from the sea, answers over that campfire,
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: best I can say is I'm fond of you, as
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: far as I can go. Well, I have a plan
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: for you. I want you to shepherd my sheep. 17. See,
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: you know too much. If you've never seen the story,
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: it would all be such a surprise. Peter's never read
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: John 21, so he doesn't know what's coming. And out
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: of the blue... To his amazement, there's a third question,
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: but it is not the same as the first two.
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: Jesus says to Peter the third time, Simon, are you
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: just fond of me? Now he uses Peter's word as
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: John records it. Philly. Philly. You just have a friendship
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: with me? Now Peter... squirming his way into the sand, says, Lord,
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: you know all things. You know that I'm fond of you.
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: The first K-N-O-W is the word for intellectual academic knowledge.
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: The second word is the word for experiential knowledge. I
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: know in my mind, academically, I know there is electricity
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: in this room. I know it because the lights are on,
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: sound system is working. I know because I know when
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: they build buildings, they put wires in the buildings and
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: the electricity is there. I know the Greek word is oida.
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: I oida the electricity in the building. Now, if I
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: reach into my notes here and pull out a paper clip,
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: and find an electric outlet and stick this paperclip into
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: that electric outlet, if I live to tell the story,
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: I know by experience that there is electricity in these walls.
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: That's the second word, ginosko. Lord, you are omniscient. You
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: know all things. Peter said that twice already. You know everything.
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: You know. Now he says, you know all things. You
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: know by experience. You know I've denied you. You know
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: I've failed you. I have to say to you, Lord,
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: I stay where I started. I'm fond of you. And
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: Jesus very graciously says, tend my sheep. Then he adds... Truly, truly.
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: Whenever you come across this, the old words are verily, verily.
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: From the King James. Verily, verily. Truly, truly. Some renderings
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: are amen, amen. Pay attention at that point. Listen up.
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: It's Jesus' way of saying, listen up. I say to you, Peter,
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: walk wherever you wished. You dressed yourself. You determined your direction.
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: You would go with the kind of human passion that was,
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: you know, second to none. You made up your mind.
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: You had a will, and you exercised it, and you
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: moved in the direction you wanted to go. But, Peter,
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: you need to know that a change is in plan.
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: A change is in motion. When you grow old, you
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: will stretch out your hands, and someone else will gird
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: you and will bring you where you do not wish
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: to go. John, having had 60 years to think on this,
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: states in the next verse that Jesus was telling him
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: about his death. Did you know that Peter died a martyr, crucified?
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: Did you know that just minutes before his crucifixion, he
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: was forced to watch his wife crucified? And he told her,
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: remember the Lord as she died. And then he said
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: to his captors that he didn't deserve to die like
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: his Lord. And he requested that he be crucified upside down.
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: And they girded him and they took him where he
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: would not have wished to go. And he died a martyr,
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: upside down, crucified. John had lived to know of Peter's death.
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: John outlived him by two decades. So John adds that
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: little comment in verse 19. He said this signifying by
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: what kind of death he would glorify God by the way.
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: By the way, you and I have no idea what
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: the ultimate future holds for us. By God's grace, it
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: will not be as shocking and painful as was Peter's,
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: but it will be surprising. You and I can't imagine
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: what the next four or five or more decades would
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: hold for our lives. Isn't that an intriguing thought? But
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: depending on where your love is for him will have
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: everything to do with going where he wants you to
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: go rather than where you determine to go, which is
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: what this passage is all about. And that's why Jesus says,
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: verse 19, in the middle of the verse, when he
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: had spoken this, he said to him, follow me. It's
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: a present imperative in the Greek language, and it's the
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: idea of continuing to follow me. G. Campbell Morgan renders
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: this travel with me. I like that. Get on the
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: road with me, Peter. Come on back. Let's go together.
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: Remember when I first called you from the boat and
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: you dropped your net and we traveled together? Peter, I
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: know a lot has happened. A lot of water under
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: that bridge for these last three and a half years,
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: but Peter... My plans are for you to shepherd my sheep.
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: Come on, travel with me. And I think at that
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: point he pushed himself up from the sand and brushed
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: himself off and started in. And I want him to
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: go and never turn around. But Peter, well, he's not perfect.
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: And so he gets a couple of steps on the
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: way and he turns around and there's John. John's pushed
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: himself out of the sand, and he's walking along with him.
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: And Peter turns around and says, Lord, what about this man?
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: See how it reads here? Verse 20, Peter turning around
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: who also had leaned back on his breast at the
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: last supper and said, Lord, who is the one who
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: betrays you? Peter, seeing John, said to Jesus, Lord, what
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: about this man? What about John? Don't say that, Peter.
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: I just want to— Don't do that. You've got so
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: much going for you now. Don't stop and ask about
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: somebody else. But this is Peter. This is you and me.
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: I mean, if you're going to ask this hard thing
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: of me, what about Shirley? What about Frank? Now look, listen,
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: I've gone all the way through seminary. I mean, I've
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: really sacrificed. I helped him with his grades. And here
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: I am on the middle of mission field, knocking myself
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: out for Jesus. And I read in the school paper
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: that he got to be president of the school. And
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: he wouldn't have even graduated if it hadn't been for me. Lord,
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: what about this guy? We do that kind of stuff
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: all the time. Lord, I graduated magna cum laude. He
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: graduated laude, how come? And how in the world did
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: he get to where he's going? And I'm supposed to
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: follow you in this way. Lord, Lord, what about this man?
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: See yourself there, don't you? We're all on the pages
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: of the scriptures. Verse 22, Jesus said to him, if
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: I want him to remain until I come, what is
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: that to you? You, me, follow. Literally, it reads that way.
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: They're in juxtaposition, these two pronouns. You, me, travel. Get
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: at it. Peter. Get your eyes off John. See you, Galilee.
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: What a great place. Next time you're there, remember the scene.
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: Remember the conversation happened right there. But wait. This is
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: all about them then and there. What about us now?
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: I never know why the Lord leads me in my
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: putting together thoughts for a message, but I always know
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: he has somebody in mind. Usually it's me. Sometime it's
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: someone else. Maybe you today. There are three lessons today.
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: as I think through the scene of what happened that
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: ancient day on the Sea of Galilee, and I'd be
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: so bold as to ask you to write them down.
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: You've got a half sheet there to write on. You
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: may not think you need them today, but when you
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: get fired next week, you're going to wish you had
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: those things. Or, you know what I'm saying, when things change,
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: as they say around the office, when they downsize. When
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: the Lord's tapping you on the shoulder, saying, you know what?
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: You think you've been here too long? So do I.
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: Or maybe you think you're really going to be here forever.
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: Let me give you another word. Here are three lessons
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: for all of us at some stage of our lives.
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: Number one, when the Lord offers an opportunity to change futility,
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: into fruitfulness, be open. Be open. Remember they had fished
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: all night, kept casting those nets until dawn, and it
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: was futile. Every net was empty, maybe a few fish,
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: maybe a little bait now and then, but nothing really, nothing.
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: Stop and think about your life. The Lord is willing
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: to change your futility into fruitfulness. But you've got to
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: be open. You've got to be open. I'm not saying
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: it's miserable where you are. I'm not saying nothing is
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: being accomplished. I'm just asking, is it really fruitful? Is
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: it as fruitful as it could be with you doing
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: your best, exercising your gifts? Carrying out your responsibility. Is
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: it in the mainstream of his plan for you? Or
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: have you stopped to think lately? If he's moving you
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: from futility to fruitfulness, be open to a change. Second lesson.
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: When his plan is to move you into a new
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: and challenging direction. expect a period of deep soul searching.
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: When his plan is to move you into a new
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: and challenging direction, expect a period of deep soul searching. Susan,
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: do you love me more than these? Barb, do you
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: love me Kim, do you love me? Bill, do you
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: love me more than these? Herschel, do you love me
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: more than these? Hank? Chuck? Expect your devotion to be analyzed,
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: your whole rooted habits to be pulled loose from around
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: The soil. Expect deep soul searching. Be vulnerable. Be honest.
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: Expect it. We're talking change. And it won't come without
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: deep soul searching. Number three. When he makes it clear
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: that you are to follow him, focus fully on on him.
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: Focus fully on him. Refuse to be overly concerned about
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: others outside that calling. Refuse to be overly concerned about
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: others outside that calling. What's my boss going to do
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: if I up and leave? He's not a part of
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: the calling. What are my neighbors going to do? This
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: sick lady that I've been a part of, whose life
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: I've been helping all these months, she's not a part
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: of the calling. It's the calling. It's the calling, men
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: and women. It's Jesus. moving you away from a comfort
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: zone into a realm unexpected, full of unfamiliarity. It's not
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: about a boss, a neighbor, someone outside the circle of
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: the calling. Get that! I would never have found myself
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: in the state of Texas if I had hung on
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: to the familiar and the comforting and the fulfilling and
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: the enjoyable and all I have another half dozen adjectives
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: I could use. All of them wonderful. I'm not the
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: example to follow. Jesus is the example. But I found
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: myself most confused in the process of struggling through that
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: six and more years ago because I brought others into
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: the situation and it muddled the message. They weren't a
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: part of the calling. Peter If I wish that John
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: stay until I come, you, me, follow. I'll take care
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: of John. I don't know how you raised your kids,
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: but this is the way we raised ours. Soon as
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: some of them reached the age where they thought they
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: should be in charge, maybe you didn't have that problem.
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: Let's go with our oldest, Kurt. Every once in a while,
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: Kurt sort of felt like others had died and left
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: him in charge of the world. And I would say, Kurt,
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: I'll tell you what. You take care of Kurt. We'll
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: take care of the rest of the family. Or if
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: I say to Colleen, when she got a little older,
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: she was going to take charge. Colleen, you take care
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: of Colleen. We'll take care of the rest of the kids. Peter,
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: you take care of Peter. I'll take care of John.
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: I'll take care of your neighbor. I'll handle your boss.
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: Don't worry. That'll only confuse you. After all, when you
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: stand before his presence and you give an account for
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: your life, you will never give an account for your
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: wife or your neighbor or your boss, no matter how
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: godly they may be. This is one-on-one, baby. This is
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: you and him. That's how it works. This is a
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: hard saying. My job isn't to make it easy. My
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: job is to tell the truth. I'm not here to
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: tell you what you want to hear. I'm here to
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: tell you what you need to know as best I
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: can understand it. That's how we need to listen to
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: Jesus beside the sea. His words echo through the centuries.
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: And they're still relevant and they're still true. Let's bow
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: our heads together, please. Normally we give our closing thoughts
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: to those without Christ, and certainly today, if you don't
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: know the Savior who met these men beside the sea,
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: this is a great day for you to meet him
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: in the gymnasium at Collin County Community College. A little
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: place we meet called Stonebriar Community Church. This is a
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: great place. Sitting there on that white plastic chair. None
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  Speaker 1: of the religious trappings. None of the other stuff you'd
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  Speaker 1: normally find in cathedrals of worship. Just you and him.
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  Speaker 1: Just you and him. Just come to the cross. He
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  Speaker 1: met them by the sea. He'll meet you here in
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  Speaker 1: this place. But my main thoughts are for you who
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  Speaker 1: know the Savior. We've had a little fun together, but
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  Speaker 1: this is oh so serious. This is you and your walk.
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  Speaker 1: This is your following him. This is your being willing
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  Speaker 1: to give up all the stuff, if necessary, to travel
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  Speaker 1: with him, to obey him. Going where he wants you
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  Speaker 1: to go, doing what he wants you to do. that's
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  Speaker 1: what this is about I'm going to tell you there's
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  Speaker 1: no satisfaction like it it's the most fulfilling experience on
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  Speaker 1: earth may he give you the grace and the courage
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  Speaker 1: to obey whatever it may mean. It may mean stay
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  Speaker 1: right where you are. It may not mean that. Our Father,
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  Speaker 1: at this epical moment of this message where you take
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  Speaker 1: over as the sermon ends, I pray that all who
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  Speaker 1: have listened so well during the message will now listen
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  Speaker 1: just as well to the still, small voice of as
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  Speaker 1: you communicate to the heart. And I pray that your
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  Speaker 1: spirit will make it altogether clear to those hearts that
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  Speaker 1: need to be nudged away from what is comfortable and
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  Speaker 1: settled and moved into the realm of challenge and opportunity
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  Speaker 1: and new things, whatever you may have, whatever those lands
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  Speaker 1: may be, that they're to tend, are sheep, they're to shepherd,
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  Speaker 1: find us faithful, find us willing, find us available. And
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  Speaker 1: now unto him who is able to guard us from
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  Speaker 1: stumbling and to present us faultless before the presence of
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  Speaker 1: his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God,
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  Speaker 1: our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power ever.
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  Speaker 1: both now and forevermore. In His strong name we pray.
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  Speaker 1: And everybody said, Amen. Amen. The preceding message, Listening to
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  Speaker 1: Jesus Beside the Sea, was copyrighted in 1999, 2000, 2008,
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  Speaker 1: and 2023. And the sound recording was copyrighted in 2023,
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  Speaker 1: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
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  Speaker 1: commercial use is strictly prohibited.