Let us pray. Righteous Father, we are so grateful. So grateful for this opportunity to set ourselves apart from our daily work and ministries, to be able to come here to pray with other brothers and sisters from many different lands, nations, ministries, but we all are one family. We thank you for the grace to know you, the grace to love you, the grace to serve you. And we also thank you for reminding us how important it is to give ourselves to prayer and to preach. So Father, our last request is that so many times before when we've been encouraged to pray more and to dedicate ourselves to the study of your word many of us have gone home with the desire to pray more but yet we confess that there was still prayerlessness so father We admit even now, as the hymn writer wrote, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love, bind my heart like a feather. That's what we ask, Lord. We pray there would be a divine, supernatural work of your Spirit for us not to just go home with with all the zeal and all the desire, but we pray it would be put into action. Help us to organize ourselves, to be committed. Help us to love you, Lord. We ask just as the disciples, help our poor faith. Help our poor love. Help our poor strength. And we ask for a speaker and hearer alike, continue to illuminate us by your spirit. And we ask this, that we may love you more, serve you more, for your glory, in the name above every name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, it seems like we just started the conference and now we've come to the conclusion and this is one of those conferences that I really wish could not end. I wish we could stay longer and be able to be with one another more and as iron sharpens iron, so one man another and for us to continue to encourage one another. But I know I speak on behalf of the other speakers in saying how much we have been edified by being in your fellowship and how much we have been encouraged by your attentiveness to the Word of God and your desire to know more of the Word of God. So may the Lord open the windows of heaven and pour out the fullness of His blessing upon your life. And as you go back, as I will go back to our place of regular service, may the wind of heaven be in your sails and you be propelled along by the mighty wind of heaven and be enabled to serve the Lord with greater strength and vigor and love for God and His people. For this last session, I've been asked to speak on from failure to faithfulness. And I want to invite you to take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of John, to the gospel of John, to John chapter 21. And for this final session, I want us to look into this chapter and to think about how God takes men and women such as we are at times of failure in our Christian journey and how He restores us to His service and replenishes us and recommissions us and sends us back out to serve the Lord. As we have been considering the themes of prayer and preaching, I think there's not a one of us in this room who would say that I pray too much. There's not a one of us who would say, you know, I preach to the lost and witness to the lost too much. And so there is a sense in which we would all feel some sense of failure, which is a strong word, but falling short of the high standard and the mark that the Lord would have for us. And so as we go back, I'd want you not to feel like there are so many extra bricks on your shoulders pushing you down, but that the Lord would come in behind you and lift you up and encourage you and propel you and send you forth back into the vineyard to serve the Lord with renewed vigor and renewed strength in the Lord. So that is my desire for this, and I need this as much as you need this. We all need the fullness of the grace of God moment by moment, day by day, to enable us to live the Christian life and to serve the Lord. So having said that, just by way of introduction, John chapter 21, I want to begin by just reading some of the opening verses. We'll spend our time moving through this passage together. John chapter 21, beginning in verse 1. After these things, Jesus manifested himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. And he manifested himself in this way. Simon Peter and Thomas, called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, that would be James and John, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, I'm going fishing." They said to him, we will also come with you. They went out and got into the boat and that night they caught nothing. But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach, yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. So Jesus said to them, children, you do not have any fish, do you? They answered him, no. And he said to them, cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find a catch. So they cast. And then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish. Therefore, that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, it is the Lord. So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on for he was stripped for work and threw himself into the sea. And the other disciples came in a little boat, for they were not far from land, about 100 yards away, dragging the net full of fish. So when they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire already laid and fish placed on it and bread. And Jesus said to them, bring some of the fish which you have now caught. Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land full of Large fish, 153. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, come and have breakfast. None of the disciples ventured to question Him, who are you, knowing it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them and the fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, tend my lambs. He said to him again a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, shepherd my sheep. He sent to him again the third time, Simon." He's just drilling down on this. Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved as 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 love you." Jesus said to him, tend my sheep. At any given point in our Christian lives and in our ministry, we are either serving the Lord in our own strength operating by our own agenda, doing our own thing, or we are operating in the power of the Lord. It is always one or the other and it is never both. Either we are relying upon ourselves or we are resting in the grace of God. These are the only two possibilities. There's not a third category or a fourth category. These two are mutually exclusive, never mutually inclusive. Either we are relying upon our strength and our insight and our resources with our expectations or we are looking to the Lord and His power. and His plan, and His provision. And this is the challenge that is before us as we serve the Lord. This was the important lesson that Peter and the disciples had to learn before they could be mightily used by the Lord in the ministry that lay before them. Because apart from learning this spiritual truth, they would languish. in powerlessness. But by learning and experiencing this lesson, they would turn the world upside down by the power of the Holy Spirit that would be poured out on the day of Pentecost. At first glance, we would conclude that the gospel of John really ought to be over. Because in the previous chapter, we have the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, just as we see in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And there are the post-resurrection appearances of Christ to the disciples in the previous chapter. First, Jesus to the disciples without Thomas, and then Jesus to the disciples with Thomas, and then really what is arguably the highest apex of the entire gospel, the very summit, Thomas' confession, my Lord and my God. And it's almost as if the curtain begins to fall on the gospel of John, and we read at the end of the previous chapter in verses 30 and 31, really the conclusion. So many other signs Jesus also performed in the midst of the disciples which were not written in this book. But these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing that you may have life in His name, period, paragraph, seal the scroll. But now 21. John continues to write, under the guidance and the direction of the Holy Spirit of God, because the book has not yet ended, because there's some unfinished business that needs to take place after the resurrection. And it is the matter of Peter, who has denied the Lord three times. And it is the matter of Peter, who has been operating in his own strength. Impulsive Peter, always needing an after foot met. Peter operating in his own strength. Peter getting out ahead of the Lord. Peter at times being a loose cannon. Peter needs to learn this lesson. And there needs to be a John 21 in your life. There needs to be a John 21 in my life. Each one of us needs to experience and come to learn this lesson that Jesus will now teach Peter in order that Peter be reinstated and recommissioned as the point man among the disciples, to be the captain at the helm of the ship, leading the other disciples. This needs to take place. And it's something that has to happen in our lives. And it's something that has happened in my life on more than one occasion, repeatedly. And I'm sure you would say the same as well. Sometimes we have to learn this in bone-crushing affliction. Sometimes we learn this in soul-rending adversity, where the Lord just has to humble us. and bring us back to this point. So, I want us to look at this passage as we will see Peter being graciously moved by the Lord from failure to faithfulness. I want you to note first as we begin to look in verse 1, if you're a note taker and jotting down an outline, I want you to note first the spiritual regression because that's what's taking place in Peter's life. As this chapter begins, We see Peter and the six other disciples regressing back really to their comfort zone, regressing back to their former manner of life. What came easiest for them? We read in verse 1, after these things, referring to after his post-resurrection appearances, Jesus manifested himself again to the disciples. The word manifest used twice in verse 1. It'll be used later in this chapter. It represents Jesus revealing himself to the disciples, now for a third time. But it's more than just a physical revealing of Himself. The Lord will open their spiritual eyes to see Him in newer and greater ways. And we read in verse 32 what is really a very unusual ordering of the names of the disciples. Because every other time in the Gospels, the order is always Peter first and then Andrew, James, and John. And then it works down. In fact, the twelve disciples are always divided out into three classes of four, and they never appear outside of their own immediate circle within the twelve, as if there are circles of close fellowship within the twelve. This is the only time in the entire New Testament where, yes, it begins with Peter, but now Thomas is second. Thomas is never mentioned second. And this is very intentional by John as he records this. Simon Peter and Thomas, called Didymus, these two names are first. And there's a reason why these two names are first. Listen, there's a reason for everything. And it is because these are the two who have stubbed their toe and fallen. Thomas is the one who said, well, I won't believe until I can put my hand into his... I won't believe until I can see with my own eyeballs. That was Thomas. And Peter, we know about Peter, say, aren't you one of his disciples? What? I never knew the man. You talk about just melting into a puddle of nothingness. That was big, strong, burly Peter. And the bigger they are, the harder they fall. And so John now front-loads them first for a reason, because these are two who need to be restored. And please note in verse 2, it's not just Peter, it's Simon Peter. Simon represents, well, that's his old name. And that represents his old life. And whenever Jesus refers to him as Simon, that's not good. That's old Simon. And when he refers to him as Simon, it's like, you've gone back. You've reverted. You're acting like who you used to be. You remember in John chapter 1 when Andrew went and got his brother Simon and brought him to the Lord, we believe he was converted there. And Jesus changed his name because Jesus had changed his heart and Jesus had changed his life. And so he is now a new creature in Christ. The old things passed away. Behold, new things have come. You need a new name because you have a new life. But as we read here, Simon, Peter. That's not good. I used to have some nicknames in college. I played on the football team in college, and I've always had some friends threaten they're going to show up at church and start calling me by my old nicknames. And that just represents a whole other Steve Lawson, just old Steve Lawson. You would have liked me. I was just I won't tell you what I was. I just was. And so this is a gentle hint by John who loved Peter and does a lot to shield Peter. But we understand here that Peter is acting like his old self in this. And so we read in verse 3, Simon Peter, old Peter, old Simon said to them, I am going fishing. Now, that's not as innocent as that may seem. This isn't a sabbatical rest and we're going to go fishing on my day off in the ministry. There's more going on here because when Simon Peter says, I'm going fishing, He, in reality, is tired of waiting for Jesus to show up in Galilee. And he is impetuous Peter. He is getting ahead of Jesus Peter. And he wants to go back. He wants to just do something. He can't wait. He's got to be doing something. He wants to turn right on red even if he needs to go left. Just keep it moving. But there's more than that. He's going back to what comes easy. He's going back to what comes natural. He's going back really to his old job and to his old career. And we'll read later in this verse, they got into the boat, not a boat, the boat. The boat was their boat, their old fishing boat. So he goes back to what he's been successful at. And we have hints of it. For one thing, in verse 5, he calls them children. He might as well have said, you bunch of babies. Or, don't trip over your skirts, ladies. I mean, that's kind of the sarcastic jab there, children. And then later in verse 15, he says, do you love me more than these? It's hard to know whether these refers to these disciples or these fishing boats, and maybe it's both, but this is not good for Peter. And he is so influential, and leadership, his leadership persona casts such a shadow over the others. There's a reason why Jesus had him as the point man. that Peter says, I'm going fishing, and the rest of them just cave in. And they follow. And they said to him, we will come with you. They went out and got into the boat. And that night, they caught nothing. Zero. And that was no mere coincidence. Jesus guaranteed that they caught nothing, because there's a lesson Jesus wants to teach them. That when you go off half-cocked and do your own thing and chart your own course, you're going to catch nothing as it relates to eternity, as it relates to what is important in the kingdom of God. They could have fished for a week. They could have fished for a month. They could have fished for a year. They could have fished for a decade, and they would have caught nothing. We call it the bondage of the gill. The Lord has just rerouted every fish in the Sea of Galilee to the other end zone. God has sent them in the other direction. And the Lord has a lesson. He is teaching them that if you do it my way, and if you wait on me, and you go with me, I can control the fish, and I can fill the net, and I can do more in five seconds than you can do in five years without me. That's the lesson that's going to be put on the table. They caught nothing. And this entire scene should have reminded them of where they've already been in Luke chapter 5 when they fished all night and they caught nothing. You remember that? And then Jesus says, cast your nets, and they cast their nets, and there were so many fish, the boats began to sink, and light bulbs come on in Simon Peter's mind, and he goes, depart from me, Lord, for You are holy. He suddenly realized, I am in the presence of Almighty God in human flesh. I think we can all relate to Peter in this. I mean, some of our ideas, really aren't the Lord's ideas. And some of our paths really aren't the Lord's paths. And so we need to learn this lesson. So not only the spiritual regression as Peter is just operating in his own flesh. Second, I want you to note the stinging rebuke. in verse 4. It's a loving rebuke but a stinging rebuke. And Jesus now addresses them and confronts them because they have been working independent of Him. And so in verse 4, "...but when the day was now breaking," that means early morning, "...Jesus stood on the beach." He's some distance from them, at least a hundred yards, and they're out in the ocean, or out in the sea, Yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Probably, certainly because of the great distance, and it could also have been that Jesus chose to keep his identity concealed until he would reveal himself closer on shore. So they don't know that it's the Lord. In verse 5, so Jesus said to them, Now, it's possible that's a term of endearment. It's possible that it's a very loving, sensitive term. But I think it has the sting of sarcasm. You're just acting like immature little children. I can't leave you to yourself alone for the weekend. And you've gone off now and done your own thing back to where you were when I first found you." William Hendrickson, the great New Testament commentator, transliterates it this way and says, you've not caught anything at all now, have you? It's not a question. It's a statement. William Hendrickson translates it, without me you can do nothing. He retranslates it, please learn this lesson once and for all. It's the echo of what Jesus just said in the upper room discourse in John 15 verse 5, apart from me you can do nothing. They answered him, no. They probably just mumbled it. It's like after I've played a bad round of golf, come in the kitchen, my wife wants to ask me what I shot with other people standing around. No. How humbling. You didn't catch one thing? You didn't catch a minnow? You didn't catch a cold? I mean, you're 0 for 98? You didn't catch anything? No. And maybe this is what I need to admit to the Lord today. Lord, I hadn't been catching too many fish lately. Maybe this is what we all need to confess. At different times, Lord, I have gone back to my old ways. I have not been doing well. I've not been successful and effective in catching fish. So, verse 6, number 3, the simple request. Jesus now makes one simple request in order to put the lesson plainly under their nose. He says, we read in verse 6, then, He said to them, cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find a catch. This is humbling for professional fishermen. I mean, they could have just as easily said, you stick to the preaching, let us do the fishing. Fishermen don't like to be told how to fish. Fishermen know everything about fishing. Jesus says, cast the net on the right side, not on the left side, but if you'll put it about 10 feet here, just cast it on the right side of the net, then you'll have a catch. And there's a twofold purpose to this. Number one, it's a test of their obedience. Will you do what I tell you to do? And it's all too often we want to understand why. And it's hard for us to realize these lines intersect far above our heads. For the Lord to explain everything that He's doing and putting it into our head would be like putting the Atlantic Ocean into a Dixie cup. I mean, it's just not going to fit. We just need to know what. But it was also not only a test of their obedience, but it was to reveal His sovereign control over their ministry. His sovereign control over the the effects of their ministry, that He alone is the one who governs and controls the circumstances and the events. He is the one who controls the hearts of men. You remember Proverbs 21.1, the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord. Like rivers of water, He channels it whichever way He will. So, cast the net on the right side. This is a test of your obedience, and second, it will be a revelation of who's actually doing the fishing. So, they cast. They still do not know that this is the Lord. So they cast, and then, and the word then implies immediately, in other words, without a delay, not the next day, not the next week, not the next month, then, immediately, then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number, the mega number of the fish. You think that just happened? They fish all night. They can't catch anything. Jesus said, drop the net on the other side of the boat. They drop it down. The net's no more wet than there are so many fish immediately that have swum or swam into this net. They pull it up. They can't even haul it in, the whole team of fishermen. This was intended to teach them two valuable lessons. that Christ honors obedience and Christ desires our partnership. And second, He controls our success. And if He wants to, He could have all the fish, He could have all the giraffes, all the rhinoceroses, all the elephants, He could have all of everything get into that net. Five seconds in obedience to the Lord is more productive than all night toiling in our own efforts. Five seconds on the right side of the boat is far more productive than all night on the left side of the boat. Five seconds with Jesus is far more productive than all night without Jesus. It was Martyn Lloyd-Jones who said, God can do more in five minutes when His Spirit moves powerfully than man can do in five years or five decades in his own strength. That's the lesson that's coming through loud and clear to a ministry team that desperately needs to learn this because their leader is pulling them in the wrong direction. So I want you to note fourth now in verse 7, the sudden realization. Because in this display, light bulbs come on. In this display, John, who is, in verse 7, the disciple whom Jesus loved, humble John, never mentions himself by name in the gospel of John. He doesn't do it in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd John. He doesn't do it until the book of Revelation, and only then I think he's overwhelmed, like, I, John, have seen this. But in verse 7, "...therefore the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, It is the Lord, of course it's the Lord. No one else controls the fish but the Lord." I mean, we've seen this movie before. We've seen this. And John, with great spiritual sensitivity, with his spiritual eyes opened as well as his physical eyes, he knows that this is the Lord. He's been here before. So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, notice he's not in tune enough to see that it's the Lord, he has to be told by someone else it's the Lord. He put his outer garment on, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea." We've got to love this about Peter. I mean, he's the first to open his mouth, but he's at least the first into the sea. And he doesn't say this, but we're left to assume this. He threw himself into the sea. He just dived into the water and began to swim towards the sea, I mean, to the shoreline without the boat. He wants to be wherever the Lord is. We've got to love this about Peter. Deep down inside, you pull back the layers of his heart and in the very epicenter of his soul is the Lord and a love for the Lord. And so, he swims to shore because he wants to be where the Lord is. Verse 8, then, but the other disciples came in the little boat, I guess they were paddling, for they were not far from the land, but about 100 yards away, dragging the net full of fish." There were so many fish, they couldn't even get them in the boat. They just had to drag it the whole way behind the boat. And what an object lesson for them. What an object lesson for us to see that it is the Lord and the Lord alone who commands the fish to go into the net. And did He not say to them in Matthew 4 verse 19, follow me and I'll make you fishers of men. And if you're not fishing, you're not following. Follow me and I'll make you fishers of men. There's more going on here than just their catching physical fish. This is a giant object lesson for them for how their ministry is to function as they would fish for the souls of men. I mean, they're going to have to get off dry land. They're going to have to go out to where the fish are. They're going to have to cast their nets and preach in the gospel. They're going to have to draw the net and calling sinners to repentance and faith. They're going to have to bring them into the boat of the church. But it is only the Lord who can actually get them into the net. Please note in verse 9 now, the symbolic reception. The Lord now graciously receives them and the Lord now graciously serves them. Notice in verse 9, so when they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire already laid. Light bulbs should have gone on right then in Peter's mind because when he denied the Lord, he did so before a charcoal fire. He denied the Lord three times. That'll be why in verses 15 through 17, he'll ask Him three times. Do you love me? Because three times have you denied me by charcoal fire." And then in the middle, at the end of verse 9, "...and fish placed on it and bread." They've been here as well, because in John chapter 6, this is reminiscent of Jesus feeding the 5,000. Verse 10, Jesus said to them, bring some of the fish which you have now caught. How interesting. I mean, who actually caught the fish? Well, they did, but the Lord directed them into the net. Verse 11, Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land full of large fish, 153." Someone was counting there. It must have been a Baptist right there, counting how many fish were in the net. They went into a building program to put the fish into the building. And although there were so many, The net was not torn. This should have reminded them of Luke chapter 5. This is like a highlight film. This is like a greatest hits album. This is like walking back now through the last three years of ministry and as a collage bringing together all of these different pivotal episodes and the lessons that the Lord taught them all now compressed down into this one panorama. Verse 12, Jesus said to them, come and have breakfast. I mean, this should have reminded them of John 1. When they first came to Jesus, they sat down and had a meal with Him in John 1, 37 to 39. And by the way, you know how Jesus makes breakfast? He just says, breakfast. And there it is. None of the disciples ventured to question Him, who are You, knowing that it was the Lord. They understand they've taken their eye off the ball. They understand they've been in the wrong place at the wrong time doing the wrong thing. They're too stunned to talk. Peter's never been too stunned to talk. Their mouths are shut. They're feeling uneasy. They're feeling guilty. They're like children caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Verse 13, Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them and the fish likewise." What an act of grace. I would have given them something else. I would have given them a sermon. I would have given them a scolding. I'd have given them a spanking, whatever other S words I can come up with. I mean, I would have given it to them. But instead, the Lord serves them. The light's still on the front porch to receive them, to receive us. And He serves them, the fish and the bread, just like He did when He multiplied the fish and the bread. And there was more left over for them than when they started, as you'll recall in John 6. And the point is, He is still their source, He is still their supply, He is still their sufficiency, and whatever they have in their hand, it is the Lord who has placed it there. He is ready to restore, and He is ready to replenish. Verse 14, this is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples after He was raised from the dead. If in any way you feel on the perimeter and on the outside of ministry looking in, just know that the Lord is standing on the shore ready to receive you. and ready to restore you as you would come to Him. Now notice in verse 15, number 6, the supreme requirement. How will Peter be restored to where he needs to be? It will need to be with the Lord and it will need to be in front of the others. That's a part of this painful restoration process for Peter. This is not done in a back room with no one else seeing or hearing, but this will be done in front of the other disciples. For they must know that as Peter will lead out in ministry that the Lord has put His hand upon Peter and that He is their point man. So in verse 15, so when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John. Old Simon. Impulsive Simon. Fleshly Simon. Self-directed Simon. Do you love me more than these? This is the diagnostic question to peel all the way down to the very epicenter. Do you love me more than these? And as you know, the word for love, agapeo, superior love, a wellspring of love for Christ, necessary for ministry. Do you love me more than these?" And it's been debated down through the centuries. What is the these? Is it the fishing nets, the fishing boat, the fishing enterprise? And a case can be made for that. There's many other verses I could have brought to bear on this. Or is it then these other disciples? For Peter did say, well, listen, they may deny you, but I'll never deny you. Peter, do you really love me more than these? He said to him, Peter said to Jesus, yes, Lord, you know that I phileo. I love you. In reality, I like you a whole lot. It's a lesser level of love. And Peter cannot even add the words more than these. He's probably just too convicted and he contracts the sentence down to, Yes, Lord, you know I love you." It can't even come out of his mouth more than these. And Jesus said to him, tend my lambs. It's a metaphorical analogy for shepherding the flock of God, to be a pastor who would lead and feed the flock. the flock, and how gracious of the Lord to so quickly restore Peter and put him back in the ball game. Not sit him on the bench, but put him back out on the 50-yard line. But Jesus needs to drill down a little deeper. Verse 16, a second time he said to him again, he said to him a second time, Simon son of John. Peter is probably loathing hearing his old name being mentioned so many times. Simon son of John, do you love me? And now Jesus drops the more than these from the previous verse. In other words, do you even love me, period? Forget the others and forget the other things. Forget the comparison. Just you and me, one-on-one, do you love me? And he said to him, Yes, Lord, You know that I," and he uses the lesser word now, phileo. I think it's intentional. I think it's purposeful. I think in the very presence of the Lord, Peter cannot play church. He cannot play games. He's got to come clean. You know that I have a lot of great feelings for you. He said to him, shepherd my sheep." You're not out of the game, you're in the game. Shepherd my sheep. It's in the imperative mood. It's a command. But Jesus must drill down a little bit deeper. This is a severe mercy. This is a painful coming clean with the Lord. Verse 17, he said to him, the third time. Peter feels like he's on the witness stand and under a cross-examination. Said to him a third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? And now Jesus uses the word that Peter has been using, phileo. It's a less demanding word. It's a fond affection. And how gracious of the Lord to come down to where Peter is and I will take you where you are at your point with me. Do you have strong affections for me?" And Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me? Peter is cut to the heart. Peter is pained. Peter is shamed. This is not cheap grace. This is a loving discipline of sorts. And Peter said to him, What a great answer this is. Lord, You know all things. And it's too painful for Peter to lay it all out. Lord, You know where I have been and where I am. Lord, You know all things. You know my heart. You see into me. You see through me. You read me like an open book. He says, you know that I love you. And Peter cannot even use the word agapeo, supreme, unconditional love. You know I phileo you. I have great affections for you. And he acknowledges that the Lord knows all about him. And please note, Jesus now does not give him the Heisman Trophy stiff arm. He doesn't push him away. Jesus said to him, "'Tend My sheep.'" This is what Jesus says to us. We who have been called by God and chosen by God to serve in ministry, He is calling us into the center of His love. He's calling us back to the place where He can restore us and use us in ways that we cannot even imagine. And Jesus prioritizes the greatest requirement for the man of God to be used. is that he loved the Lord as God with all of his heart and all of his soul and all of his mind and all of his strength. Do you love the Lord Jesus Christ? I mean, there's not one of us here today who could say we've maxed out. That's why we must grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let me conclude verse 18, the suffering revealed. Jesus now reveals the future to Peter concerning his life and ministry, and it will not be all clear sailing. Just because he is now put into the ministry and will be the great preacher on the day of Pentecost, it doesn't mean that he's going to be walking on the sunny side of Hallelujah Avenue every second of every moment of every day and there's not going to be any storms and no adversity and no difficulty. To the contrary, verse 18, "'Truly, truly, I say to you,' in other words, underscoring the very importance of this, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever In other words, you dressed yourself, you went as you pleased, you had strength. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you and bring you to where you do not want to go. You're going to become old and not be able to care for yourself. And this may even be an allusion to being stretched out upon a cross and suffering a martyr's death. It's possible. Now, he said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. Probably the biggest shock for me coming out of seminary is the resistance and the difficulty that I would find in ministry of people not wanting to hear the full counsel of God, no matter how nice, no matter how gracious, no matter how wonderful my wife is, not was, is. that there would be a path of paying a price in ministry and to have to stick your nose out there. And when I was in high school and when I was in college, everyone cheered for me at the pep rallies and at the football games and they gave me trophies and people wanted to wear my letter jacket and on and on and on. It was a pretty fun trip. I go off to seminary, I'm thinking there's going to be pep rallies on Saturday night before church. I'll be on bumper stickers, you know, for the church, you know." And then you begin to preach the Word of God and there begins to be a resistance that is extraordinary. This is part and parcel for every one of us in ministry. We're out on the front lines now. The red laser beams on our forehead and we're the spokesmen. And we're the preachers of the Word of God. All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And that is what the Lord is saying here to Peter, you are restored and you are to shepherd the flock now, but as you go out to shepherd the flock, just know in advance that Satan prowls about as a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. and He has sown His tares among the weak, and there are Judas's among the twelve, and there will be great difficulty that you will face in the ministry." As we bring this to a close, I need to just stop here. The Lord just says to Peter, Peter says, what about John? Isn't that just like us? I'm all in, but what about John? I'm totally with you, but tell me about John. Tell me about his retirement plan. Tell me about his pension. Tell me about how many people he has in his flock. Tell me about his elder board. Tell me about his budget. Tell me about... Jesus says, just follow me. Keep your eye on me. Follow me. And as he says, follow me, he's not speaking literally like Christ takes one step, he takes one step, he stops, he stops. No, it's metaphorical. You follow my leadership. You go where I send you. You say what I tell you to say. You love like I've shown you how to love. You imitate me. You follow me and leave. the directing of the fish into the net to me. We just need to be faithful, and we just leave the success with the Lord, whatever that ends up being. Whether it's 153 fish or whether it's just three fish, you be faithful to cast your net on the right side of the boat. If that's where the Lord says, cast your net. And if you cast it on the left, you're not going to catch a thing. I'm not going to catch a thing. And what a lesson for us to learn here, that we can do more with the Lord in five seconds than we'll do in five decades without Him. May the Lord bless you. May the Lord keep you. May the Lord cause His face to shine upon you. May the Lord give you much grace. May the Lord strengthen your arms to cast the net on the right side of the boat. And may you love the Lord with an agapeo love. And don't be looking to John or Andrew or Nathaniel. Fix your eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. All these other things will be added unto you. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, what a lesson. We need to be continually learning and applying, learning and applying. Thank you that you take us from the sea and call us to the shore. Thank you that you serve us breakfast. Thank you for the way you command the fish to come into the net. Thank you for the way you restore us when we stumble and fall. Thank you for the invitation to follow you. May you work all of this out in our lives. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, I've asked Dr. Conrad Mbewe to come and close out the entire conference in prayer. But before he comes, I've just got a few things that we need to talk about. Those of you who brought your luggage, we've got it in the back. It's lined up back there. Just grab your bags before you go. The guys at Banner of Truth have packed up everything, but there are 20 copies or so left of that book by Eric Alexander on prayer. If you'd like to take one for a friend, they don't want to take them back with them, so they said come and take an extra copy. Some of you are going to be leaving directly from here for the airport. Some of you will be leaving tomorrow morning from the hotel to the airport. If you are interested in doing a cab fare split, once we're all done, maybe up here in the front of the church, if you're interested in that, just kind of gather up here. Once we clear out, we're going to do a group photo right after we're done, so that's first. We're going to have everybody line up here if you would, and we just want to take a quick snapshot just to kind of remember this event. It's been special. We've really enjoyed it. You know, we set out a year ago. to plant a conference that would strengthen the hands that hang down. I'm sorry, to lift up the hands that hang down, to strengthen the feeble knees, to bind up the broken or bruised reed, and to fan again into flame the flax that is smoking. And we hope that you will leave here changed, that you'll leave this place just a little bit more alive than when you came in. But in saying that, I want to say that the encourager has become the encouraged. You have greatly encouraged us. And we want to thank you because you have been a tremendous source of encouragement to the entire Sermon Audio staff during this event. So thank you. Brother Conrad, would you please come and close us in prayer? Let's pray together. Eternal and gracious God in heaven, we thank you for the few days that you have given us in this place. Many of us have come from contexts of struggle, contexts where the battle has been thick, contexts perhaps of discouragement, And even as we think of the wider ecclesiastical scene, we are mindful, oh Lord, of the downgrade that continues. The way in which the church has become a faint echo in the background of society and all that is taking place round about us. Instead of it being that powerful voice that represents God, the creator. And Lord, we thank you that we've been taken back to the foundations in the last few days. To be reminded of the fact that we don't need any new methods. We simply need to get back to the good old ways of preaching in the power of the spirit, of indeed seeking God genuinely with integrity, and waiting upon you to see you rend the heavens and descend. Thank you for the encouragements that we've received from your word. Thank you for the encouragements we've received from history as we have surveyed the Puritans, individuals like Jonathan Edwards. Lord, we thank you. And as we now prepare to head back to the trenches, Lord, how we pray that the practical lessons we have learned here may not be left behind, but that each one of us may, like Jonathan Edwards of old, resolve. And may we carry out and review those resolutions. so that in the coming year, 2016, and further ahead, we may not only be different, but that we might be the means of bringing in a better day in your kingdom for your glory. Lord, we thank you for SEMON Audio. We thank you that they are not just a website where SEMONs are uploaded, but that they form a team whose heart is after the heart of God. We thank you for each one of them. from Steve Lee all the way to whoever it is that serves at the very least within the team, we pray for them and their families that they will continue to know your grace and your mercy. Lord, you have said that he that gives a cup of water, cold water, to one of your servants will share in your servant's reward. We pray that that might be the case with them in time and also in eternity. Now, Father, we pray that your love, your grace, your fellowship, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit may go with each one of us as we go our separate ways. For it is in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.