Jesus Appears by the Sea of Galilee - Jesus Restores Peter part 2

Put the chorus of Jesus what a friend sinners invite you to look at that chorus and Look at how relevant these words are to what we've been studying in John 2021 hallelujah, what a Savior Hallelujah, what a friend saving helping keeping loving He is with me to the end. I believe all of those disciples and especially our friend Peter Definitely could sing those words if they knew them Because that's what we see our Lord Jesus doing for his people Thought that was very fitting for where we're going this morning.

I appreciate that worship Well take your Bible and turn back with me to John chapter 21 John 21 now we find ourselves right in the middle of this question and answer This is between Jesus and Peter the Apostle the disciple Peter Jesus is asking the questions and Peter is giving the answers all through these verses Truthfully, there's quite a lot of information here in these questions and answers these going this going back and forth between Jesus and Peter I'm excited About what we're going to learn this morning Now we are still in our familiar Setting right here in verses 15 to 17 We are here with Jesus and the 11 disciples still here on the seashore the Sea of Galilee or the Sea of Tiberius And we've been at this location since the beginning of the chapter chapter 21 And that is when Jesus came a calling did he not he came a calling to his wayward disciples But we've seen a transition in all of these events Jesus has moved from dealing with his disciples as a group and he is directing his full attention to this one named Peter Peter has fallen in spectacular fashion.

He did this when he denied Jesus three times there at Jesus arrest Peter had gone back to his old life his pre-salvation life. He did this in a grand way I say grand way because he even led others down this pathetic path of going back and now starting here in verse 15 Jesus turns 80% of his attention to Peter and that's why I have called Peter the main character in these verses Now before we get back into these verses we need to see that there are two parallel themes in verses 15 to 17 Truthfully these themes run on into verses 18 to 24 as well now all of this centers around Peter The first theme is the theme of correction.

Jesus is about the work of correcting Peter Peter is denied Jesus three times He had gone back to his pre-salvation life and he was in sin and disobedience He was not and I'll repeat not in his proper place relationally or Vocationally, so Jesus is correcting Peter and then this second theme we have the theme of restoration Jesus is about the work of restoring Peter back to a right relationship with himself Jesus is also restoring Peter to his proper vocation or calling Jesus said designated Peter as an apostle not just a disciple and this was Peter's calling This was his vocation not this former life this former life of fishing that he had gone back to so Jesus is restoring Peter As you know in last week's message, we only covered one verse that was verse 15 I think that it was important to give verse 15 all of our attention for two reasons We needed to see the approach of Jesus and the attitude of Peter Jesus approach was very very serious spiritually, Jesus was very sober Jesus would have gotten Peter's full attention not just with the words of his question But with the tone or the feel of his questions the other disciples would have stopped dead in their tracks to see and to hear what was taking place here and Peter's attitude it was totally humble and totally honest.

He did not react in the flesh and the anger He did not try to avoid his circumstances. He did not try to hide from any of the questioning He was honest about himself and he was submissive to Christ's lordship over his life So in taking our time last week in verse 15 We were able to establish a good bit before we get into the rest of the verses This will help us as we examine all three of the questions posed by Jesus all three of the responses from Peter And all three of the charges from Jesus to Peter now This leads us to the title of the message and how we will divide these verses. I Think it's obvious that we're having a part two.

We've carried this this part of the title Jesus appears by the Sea of Galilee because that's what's taking place here in chapter 21, but we're looking at Jesus Restores Peter and this is a a part two Like I said earlier in our scripture reading we will cover verses 15 To 17 let's go back to our verses. I want to read them And then we will get into what I call the body of the message So when they had finished breakfast, this is Jesus and the disciples and Peter Jesus said to Simon Peter Simon son of John. Do you love me more than these? And he said to him.

Yes, Lord, you know that I love you and he said to him ten or feed my lambs And he said to him again a second time Simon son of John. Do you love me and he said to him? Yes, Lord, you know that I love you and he said to him shepherd my She and he said to him a third time Simon son of John. Do you love me now? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time Do you love me and he said to him Lord?

You know all things and you know that I love you and Jesus said to him ten or feed my lambs Now you see how we will break down these verses or cover these verses These are what I call the three points are major truths in our outline We're gonna look at a three-fold question from Jesus a three-fold response from Peter and a three-fold Mission from Jesus now, this is a popular outline.

I ran across it this outline in several places in my study Quite a few Bible commentators use this language of threefold So in your own study if you run across this type of language Just know that I borrowed that and I kind of made it our own So let's look at our first major truth. Let's look at the three-fold question From Jesus now, this is out of verse 15 16 and 17 now as I mentioned earlier Different commentators use this language of a three-fold question and that's exactly what we have here in these verses Jesus asks Peter the same question three times But each time the question is asked There are variations to the question and we need to examine these variations and this will help us understand The work that Christ Jesus is aiming for in Peter's heart and his life Now I will restate a few things that I spoke about in last week's message But there's a lot more that we will examine so this will all be old this will all build together And these questions come out of verse 15 16 and 17.

So we'll look at three observations first notice Jesus maintains a serious tone Jesus maintains a serious tone all throughout these verses Now last week we examine how Jesus used Peter's I called it a pre Christ or pre Salvation name in the first question that was aimed at Peter. Look at verse 15 What does he say Simon? That's his pre salvation name Simon son of John. Do you love me? Now we know that Jesus had changed Peter's name from Simon to Peter back in John chapter 1 verse 42 That name changed what it was a symbol.

It symbolized Simon's new character and his new relationship with Christ this man Simon Peter would become a rock of a man Strong in character and strong in action for Christ and the church He would become bold for the gospel and bold as one of the New Testament church fathers And this new name spoke of his personality and character traits in Christ Jesus This spoke of his personality traits and also his spiritual giftedness all together in this name Peter It meant a small stone or a piece of a larger stone And this was the type of man that Christ was forming this man Simon Peter to be a rock of a man for Christ Jesus and his purposes Now if we are familiar with how Jesus addresses Peter in John's gospel We know that Jesus most always addressed Peter as Simon Peter Simon was that pre-solvation name Peter was that in Christ Jesus new name, but not right here Jesus reverts back to Peter's pre-solvation name.

He simply calls him Simon But notice two specifics which speak to the serious tone that is set by Jesus Notice that Jesus addressed Peter in this manner two more times Go back and look at the verses verse 16 Simon son of John and then verse 17 Simon son of John So if Peter does not notice that Jesus used this pre-solvation name the first time Well, he most definitely does the second and the third times So Jesus continues to use this pre-solvation Pre-conversion name because Peter was acting more like Simon than Peter But then notice that Jesus uses Peter's full name He uses Peter's full name.

Look at this extended version of Peter's name Simon son of John now this would be seen and understood as Peter's full name This is exactly like using our first and last names in our day and in our time And this would add to the serious nature of the questions which Jesus was asking So we see right away in verse 15 and throughout the rest of the verses that Jesus He asks a serious question in a serious tone Jesus maintains this serious tone all throughout this question and answer period between Peter and Jesus his Lord But then notice our second observation Jesus alters his direction in this questioning Jesus alters His direction in this questioning now we learned last week that Jesus asks Peter a directed question What does he say?

Do you love me more than these that's right here in verse 15 Now we determined that Jesus is asking Peter if he loved him more than his old life More than all of the fishing gear and his old life that was around him This is the life that he had gone back to and I believe this conclusion is right because of the purpose of the entire manifestation between Jesus and Peter Jesus is redirecting Peter back to his calling in life Remember when the disciples went fishing they were going back to their former way of life They were going back to their pre Christ life So the question was directed at Peter going back, but as we continue in the verses we notice a change We see one of these variations that I mentioned earlier now.

Let's look at verse 16 and 17 and notice the variation Simon son of John do you love me? That's verse 16 whereas in verse 15. He says more than these and then verse 17 Simon son of John do you love me so we see how he altered this question Now this leads me to ask us a question Why does Jesus leave out the comparison? Why would he move from comparing? His love for him to his love for his former way of life. Why would he leave that comparison out?

We must see that Jesus is moved from comparing Peter's love for him against his love for his former life to Concentrating on the type of love that he possessed and expressed Jesus is not asking Peter to make a comparison Jesus is taking dead aim at the nature of his love to me. It is like Jesus is decluttering the question At first he asks Peter if he loved him more than his former life But now he directed this question strictly at his love for him So the question is altered it is aimed at a smaller target if I can use that language Jesus is zeroing in on the type of love that Peter possessed and expressed Then the third observation Jesus questions Peter's love now last week we learned the type of love Jesus is talking about right here in verse 15 remember I ask you to underline that word love when he said Simon son of John Do you love me this was that agape love now in that language in that day?

They had three words for love there was Eros love filet o love and agape love now Eros love speaks of a physical Sensual even a sexual love but filet o love it describes a a brotherly love while agape love it speaks of a sacrificial of a love of the will a love that involves a total commitment of the wheel Now in our language we have one word which covers this wide range or broad range of meaning Well if you look at the original language here in verse 15 Jesus asked Peter if a agape loved him This is a sacrificial love this is the highest love which speaks to a total commitment of the heart and will Jesus was the greatest example of this agape love he loved the father with a total commitment He was sacrificial in his love for the father and for the will of the father and for mankind And Jesus was and is the best example of agape love So in verse 15 Jesus asked Peter if he loved him with this sacrificial love that can only come from a spiritual relationship with him Oh, but as we progress things change remember Jesus alters the questions when we progress into verse 16 and 17 We notice that Jesus as asking Peter it seems like the same question But again, we have to go back to the original language in verse 16 What do we see Jesus says Simon son of John?

Do you love me other than the comparison the question in verse 16 is exactly the same Jesus repeats himself? But Jesus here he asked Peter again if the agape loved him So really verse 16 is a repeat. What does he say? Do you agape love me? But oh verse 17 is when he alters even more the English version says Simon son of John Do you love me? But the question seems exactly the same, but there is one major difference Jesus does not use this word agape love He uses the word filet oh love and this is a major major change Because Jesus is lowering the standard in his questioning So in summary, what are we seeing here in this threefold questioning?

Jesus maintains even intensifies his serious tone in the questioning He calls Peter by his pre salvation name in all three questions Jesus then fine-tunes his questioning. He starts off by making a comparison in his questioning He asks Peter if he loved him more than this former way of life But then Jesus alters the question to be more specific He is aiming at Peter's love.

He is revealing the type of love Peter possessed Jesus knows that Peter had gone back to his old way of life because he had a love problem But then the question that sealed the deal in my heart and mind the question that turned over Peter's apple cart The question that was the dagger into the very heart of this man Peter was when Jesus said and if I can put it in My language Peter do you even filet oh love me?

Now what must we see we must see that there was a lot more of this old Simon in Peter than Peter ever knew and Peter's love for Jesus was it quite what he thought it really was these Circumstances brought these realities to the surface these circumstances and oh in our Lord Jesus Questions these were the tools that Jesus used to bring all of this out of the heart of Peter Now question an application How does this take place in our life Now in that day, what do we have we have Jesus physically on earth and we have his people the disciples and then specifically Peter So we see how the Lord Corrects and restores this man Peter.

Well, how does that take place today for you and me on this side of the cross this side of the Resurrection this side of the ascension and the giving of the Spirit see we have as believers the Holy Spirit of God that lives Within us and the Holy Spirit of God takes the word and he takes other Christians Oh and he takes leaders in the life of the church and then he takes the total work of the church to do what to do this very same thing in our lives and Oh, we cannot live disjointed from the word and disjointed from other Christians and disjointed from the leaders that God has given us and Disjointed from the church.

You know what amazes me and how many people profess? To know the Lord and serve God and they have all these Christian decorations in their lives But they are disjointed from the church. Listen, they are not near spiritual as you think they are They're far more carnal and worldly. Listen, it doesn't matter how many Christian decorations they're having their life if they're disjointed from the church and Leaders that God has placed over them and other Christians then they're disjointed from the word and they're disjointed from this work We all need this work far more than we Know now let's continue on us to notice our second major truth and our outline the threefold response from Peter This threefold response from Peter now when I say three four response, I'm speaking of the three statements Jesus asked Peter three questions Peter gives three responses.

I think that's pretty obvious That is why I call this earlier a question and answer between Jesus and Peter but truthfully There's a lot more than three simple responses We will examine Peter's responses and more and we will discover how Jesus his questions had a great impact on Peter now, there are three ways. I want to examine Peter's Response to Jesus and just like when we saw the variations in Jesus questions, we will see variations in Peter's responses First I want us to see that Peter affirms Jesus as God He affirms Jesus as God go back to verse 15. What does he say? Yes, Lord What does he say in verse 16?

Yes, Lord, and then what does he say in verse 17? Yes, Lord Peter always addresses Jesus as Lord now last week I mentioned that the responses were very similar to Thomas in his response to Jesus earlier after Jesus revealed himself to Thomas Thomas immediately said my Lord and my God so in Peter we see that three times he is affirming Jesus and his lordship and for Peter Jesus is Lord there is no mistaking it Peter plainly affirms Christ and his lordship But there is more in verse 15 and 16 Peter also makes a statement.

He says, you know This speaks of Christ Omniscience Peter knew that Jesus knows the condition of his heart, but there is more again in verse 17 We see a variation of this statement Peter adds to this you know statement by saying you know all things and If there is a question of Peter saw Jesus as the omniscient God Well this statement here in verse 17 it dispels that question So Peter clearly is affirming Jesus as Lord and the all-knowing God But then second we see that Peter was grieved Peter was grieved now here John finally gives us evidence that Peter was beginning to break if I can use that language Remember Jesus is correcting Peter for a serious sin and a serious heart problem Now there are two things which grieve Peter one is obvious and one is a little hidden First we see that Peter is broken because Jesus question him a third time look at verse 17 Simon son of John do you fall a oh love me Oh Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time.

Do you love me? It seems that Peter is reminded of his earlier threefold denial When the disciples were in the upper room Jesus told Peter that he would deny him three times Luke the gospel Luke goes on to record Peter's denials Shortly after Jesus arrest but before the trials were done Peter denied Jesus three times Exactly how Jesus had predicted and here when Jesus asked Peter a third time. Do you love me?

Oh Peter was broken because he was reminded of those three denials But second Peter was broken because of the change in Jesus Vocabulary in the first two questions Jesus asked Peter if he a gop a loved him What does he say do you a gop a love me do you a gop a love me? But here in verse 17 Jesus lowers the standard He asked Peter if he fall a oh loved him It is as if Jesus is saying and again, I'm using my own words Simon you have been saying you fall a oh love me But are you sure that you fall a oh love me as you say you do So we see that Peter is grieved.

He is broken our Lord's questioning and our Lord's work has done its job But then the third observation Peter affirms Jesus as Lord go back to verse 17 Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time Do you love me and he said to him Lord, you know all things you know that I? fall a oh love you and Peter's first two responses Peter says to Jesus Lord You know as I've said Peter is affirming Jesus as Lord and he is omniscience But here in verse 17 Peter offers here's response.

He says Lord, you know all things You know that I love you here It seems that Peter is placing an emphasis on his trust in Jesus Peter is saying that he knows that Jesus knows his heart Even when he doesn't know his own heart and this is a tremendous affirmation of his lordship So in all three responses Peter affirms Jesus in his lordship But in verse 17 Peter adds a layer to this affirmation So in summary, what are we seeing here?

Peter is broken The third question breaks him when Jesus lowered the standard in questioning Peter's love it broke him The third question was the charm when Jesus fine-tuned his question and took dead aim at Peter's love Problem he was a broken man again the third question spoke about the third denial We must see that Peter responded perfectly He was humble he was honest he acknowledged Christ's lordship all the way through Even when he did not know his own heart he trusted that Jesus knew his heart and he could accept that Now for you and for me, what can we learn here in this brokenness of Peter?

Oh We must see that we as born-again Christians We can be hard-headed and we can be stubborn and we can hold on the language like that But many times we're not hard-headed and we're not stubborn. Oh, we're just prideful. We're not humble like Peter We're not honest before the Lord and the word and what the Spirit is trying to do in our lives Listen, we must be willing to be broken and I have a question for you When was the last time you were broken before the Lord?

When was the last time you were broken because he revealed your heart and your actions in your motives in your Intentions in your behavior when was the last time the Lord Jesus did whatever he had to do to break you and break you And break you and when he wants to do this work. Do you embrace it? See church? You can never have sanctification until you will embrace brokenness Remember Jesus is all about sanctifying his people and they all had to be broken According to their own disobedience and their own personal wall.

This man was broken and it was a part of his sanctification And our third major truth in our outline We see a three-fold commission from Jesus We see this three-fold commission from Jesus now last week. I used the term charge That's what we have here. Jesus is giving Peter a charge But there's a lot more than a charge.

This is a commissioning or a recommissioning So I'd like you to write those words down a charge of commissioning or recommissioning Peter had been commissioned earlier as apostle as an apostle But due to his sin he was out of sorts in two ways Remember relationally and vocationally we have seen Jesus was restoring Peter Relationally here we will see that he is restoring Peter Vocationally now there are two ways.

I want us to see this recommissioning First Peter was called to a task He was called to a task we explored this calling Some last week when we divided verse 15, but there's much more that we need to see When we examine verse 15 and 16 and 17 we see that Jesus uses two words He uses the word ten and shepherd. What do we see?

If we look at the verses verse 15 10 my sheep verse 16 Shepherd my sheep verse 17 a repeat of verse 15 10 my sheep Both words need to be examined to grasp the task that Peter is being called to first this word 10 This word is found in two places verse 15 and 17 now We learned that this word comes from a common vocation of their day that was shepherding or caring for sheep Now this word 10 can be translated feed and it spoke of a shepherd putting his sheep in good pasture so that they would have the food and nourishment that they need and this word was in the Present tense meeting Jesus was calling Peter to this continuous work of tending and feeding But the second word this word shepherd is found only in verse 16 This word is similar and it comes from the same vocation as shepherding But there is a difference this word is more comprehensive or multi-sided It speaks of tending or feeding the sheep but more it also speaks of governing the sheep of ruling the sheep even Disciplining the sheep out of love it speaks to all the shepherd would be called to do and caring for his sheep So we see the task which was before Peter.

This was a part of his vocation. This was his calling and then second Peter Was called to a people he was called to a people now if we go back to verse 16 15 16 and 17 and all three verses we see that Jesus uses the same personal pronoun my Now this does not refer to just any sheep or any people this refers to God's people These are those that God would redeem through Jesus his son These are those who are presented to Christ Jesus in Salvation so we see that Peter was called to tend or to feed and to shepherd God's people his sheep So in summary, what are we seeing here? Jesus is recommissioning Peter.

He is recalling Peter to his life's work to this vocation Now what does this say to you and me? What can we learn from Peter in his re commissioning? Listen folks, we need to be reminded over and over that our commissioning is to serve in the New Testament Church Yes, our commissioning our calling is to use our gifts and our talents and our spiritual gifts Within the life of the New Testament Church again the idea of a Christian being disjointed from the church It is foreign to the New Testament.

It is antithetical to what's taught Jesus could not allow Peter to be disjointed from that calling could he and We must see our commissioning our calling if we are born-again Christians We have spiritual gifts that are imparted to us by work of the spirit We have talents and abilities and we have resources and all of that is to be used for his work.

I Have a funny illustration that might help some of you There are some people who wave the banner of loving the Lord there's some people who say oh, I love Jesus I'm a Christian, but they need to be reminded that they ain't Bo Jackson Y'all remember who Bo Jackson is Bo Jackson was probably the most famous athlete for successfully playing two sports professionally baseball and football I Never forget I saw a Special on his life and they interviewed people athletes who played professional football with Bo Jackson They said he would go play baseball in the summer and he would come back and he would be late for a training camp things Like that and they said the first day of practice second day of practice He'd be a little rusty and then after that the rust was knocked off and he was at a hundred percent Now how many professional athletes can do that? very few See, here's the problem.

There are a lot of people they say they're Christian They say they love God, but they think they can play two sports They can serve all of these other things out there in the world and be disjointed from the church Listen, we have one sport Christian. It is the work of the New Testament Church God saves us and he equips us and he imparts spiritual gifts to us and Everything we have and everything that we will be that has been given to us by God to serve him in the local church Peter could not Serve God outside of his calling and there are always a thousand and one things that will beckon us away from the church and I'll tell you if you have a friend if you all know a neighbor or a loved one who is not Plugged into the life of a local church a biblical church Then you need to help your friend or your loved one or your neighbor because they're just like Peter disjointed from the word Now I want to take a step back Occasionally I'll do this.

I ask us to take a step back from what we've been looking at and I want us to look at big picture How Did our friend Peter? Jesus is calling Simon. We know who he is Simon Peter How did Peter fare after this event? I'm being John 21 Now we know that a few days later the spirits poured out in Acts chapter 2 But how did Peter fare after this event?

Previously he had failed miserably Totally and if we follow the ministry of Peter from this time forward we see that Peter was totally committed to his calling And near the end of his life and his ministry notice what Peter wrote It's one of my life verses first Peter verse 5 chapter 5 verses 1 2 and 3 What does he say? So I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ as well as a partaker in The glory that is going to be revealed. What does he say? Shepherd the flock of God that is among you Exercising oversight. What is he saying?

Oh you elders I've been functioning as an elder and an apostle and all these years I have been exercising Oversight I have been in shepherding the flock of God do as I have done after this work He did a pretty good job And look if you look at this language here in first Peter it really comes right out of John and what Jesus says to him So Peter did a pretty good job After the Lord corrected him after the Lord broke him and after the Lord reinstated him Now in conclusion, I want to ask you a question What is the key to fulfilling our calling? What's the key?

If we look at how Jesus dealt with Peter we see the key If we pay attention to this question and answer Which is a work of correction and restoration. We'll see the key You'll notice Jesus did not start with Peter's denials Jesus did not start with Peter's abandonment. He had abandoned everything He did not start with his disobedience or is going back to his old life Jesus started with his love for him He forced Peter to examine the type or quality of his love that is exactly what he did in verses 15 to 17, that's the key and Listen, I want to say to you If you can attend church faithfully But if your love for Jesus isn't exactly like what we have seen here in these scriptures, you are nothing You can be active in our Sunday night Bible studies for adults or small groups But if your love for Jesus isn't exactly what we have seen here, you are nothing You can teach Bible study or vacation Bible school or Sunday school But if your love for Jesus isn't exactly like what we have seen here, you are nothing You can be devoted to your spouse and work and have the best marriage on earth But if your love for Jesus isn't like what we have seen here, you are nothing You can work hard to discipline your children and even bring them up in the things of God If you do not have a love like we have seen here, you are nothing Sir, you can work very hard to provide for your family and even lead your family But if your love is not exactly like we have seen here, you're nothing Ma'am, you can work very hard in the home.

You can nurture your children and you can desire to have a godly home But if your love isn't exactly like we've seen here, you are nothing You can study your Bible. You can memorize scriptures You can know the Word of God inside and out But if your love isn't exactly like we've seen here, you are nothing You can read the best books You can listen to all kinds of sermons by the greatest of preachers You can go to conferences here, there, and everywhere But if your love isn't exactly like what we've seen here, you're nothing You can witness to the lost and even be used of God to bring folks to Christ But if your love isn't exactly like we've seen here, you are nothing You can love the poor.

You can sacrifice for widows and orphans But if your love isn't exactly like we have seen here, you're nothing You can sacrifice for missions and you can give much to the work of the church and the cause of the gospel around the world But if your love isn't exactly like we've seen here, you are nothing And I, I can work hard in the life of the church I can study to preach.

I can teach the Word of God faithfully And I can even work hard in my family and with my wife and my children But if I don't love the Lord like we've seen here, I am nothing Paul dealt with this key in 1 Corinthians 13 "If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but I have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge And if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but have not love, I am nothing And if I give away all that I have and if I deliver up my body to be burned but have not love, I gain nothing" Brothers and sisters, we must possess this type of love And there are far more of us in here.

We need to work just like Peter than we know We need to be broken. We need to be turned inside out. We need to be changed. We need to be examined I'm telling you, we need to go through the ringer, call it the meat grinder, anything you want to call it We need a work just like Peter so that we could possess this love that Jesus speaks of And then we'll be something. Oh, we won't be something. We'll be something because he's something in us What are we looking at this morning? Jesus appears by the Sea of Galilee He's correcting Peter but ultimately he's restoring Peter.

We're seeing this restoration work right before our eyes Let's pray and then we'll move on to the rest of our service. Let's pray over what's before us