We'll dismiss the little ones if they're awake. And if they're asleep, they can stay. And you can't see my preaching putting them to sleep because they are already asleep. All right, John Checker 21. And it's been a fun week. I enjoy a couple different opportunities to get together with some other people in ministry. One of those was on Wednesday. Don Dillman and I get out and do flyers. My time this Wednesday was to go history. eating and just enjoyed some kosher. We just started talking about reading books, you know, and growing up reading books and Mrs. Dillman said her favorite author or book was Nancy Drew, Mysteries, you know, and for me, it was the opposite. It was Hardy Boy, Mysteries, if you're familiar with those, and just kind of some fun books. Donnie had something else, I forget what he said, but he said a better plot than Hardy Boy. But, um, But there's something even more intriguing about the mystery in our biographies. A true story, as it were. At the Day of Prayer on Tuesday, our missionary that was brought up and murdered in Scotland, Danny Olmsted, was there. It was good to catch up with him. was Operation Entebbe. Anybody familiar with that? Back in 1976, July 4th, it was an Israeli mission to rescue hostages that were taken to Entebbe down in Africa, in Uganda. And it took 100 commandos motorcade for the president of Uganda driving a limousine off of that that they had found and converted and put in the Ugandan flag on an amazing operation that they got in and did this. the grace of God to a small nation, Israel, and an incredible rescue that they affected, killing 40 Ugandan military as well as all the hostage takers and rescuing these people that were being held captive. Amazing story. But I told them about a book I read recently, The Lionsgate. It's about the Six-Day War and men that were it's intriguing to read something like that. You know, when we come to the Word of God, many times we have something as a narrative, and it's a history. It's a story. It's a narrative. It's something that is happening that really happened with real people. It's a story of the meeting of Jesus after his death, his resurrection, with his disciples on the Sea of Galilee. It's the third time that he's meeting them after his resurrection. You remember Peter had denied Jesus three times before his crucifixion. This is the story of Peter's restoration, even though forgiveness had probably already taken place. pre the crucifixion of Christ, in the garden of Gethsemane, all the disciples had forsook the Lord and fled. And only one, John, perhaps because of his youth, and we talked about the youth of John before, but he was there at the cross. Jesus looked down, he saw him standing by, couldn't he love, he said unto his mother, woman, behold thy son, right? He connected John with Mary. It's interesting to think about the youth of this disciple. Several things about that, if you're interested. We've talked about him before, but he rests on Jesus at the Lord's table. There's a reference to it in this book because John is the author of this gospel. So, I mean, that'd be a little awkward, perhaps, if you were thinking Abel, but when we think teenager, it makes it a little bit more sin. They had a little foot race going on. John got there before Peter. Remember, at Caiaphas' house, John wasn't bothered. Peter was. Why? Well, it's possible that was his youth. He's at the cross. Nobody else is there. He's not bothered. Neither were the women. But why? Perhaps, again, because of his youth. He lived longer than the others. We've got his writing the book of Revelation from the Isle of Patmos in the 90 AD. It's interesting to look at the story, consider who's there. So you've got this young man, John, and you've got these older disciples that are there. We know from the story that there's seven of them that are there in this fishing excursion that is taking place. And so as we look at the story this evening, it's Jesus coming to the disciples because they needed something that he had. Now we'll look at three things tonight. that they got from Jesus because Jesus connected with them. And I want to remind us tonight that these three things, what they are, they're things that we need, things that we need tonight from the Lord Jesus Christ. So just think in your heart tonight, do you need something from Jesus? Is there something in your heart that said, no, I need something. I need something from the Lord, something only God can give. Well, these things are found in Jesus. that you get. Father, we stand here tonight in your mercy. Father, we don't deserve the Spirit of God to put his finger on our heart and speak to us. The disciples didn't deserve to have Jesus Christ come to that place and speak with them. But in your mercy, the mercy of God tonight. We thank the grace of God. We ask that the Spirit of God would guide in this time, in Draco's time. We pray that you would have your way. And Father, I pray tonight, there might be somebody that in their heart, as we think about these three things, they recognize, you know what? I need you. Well, praise God. We can have it tonight. We desire it tonight. Father, I pray for liberty in my preaching and teaching. I pray for grace for us not to be distracted. Thank you for the nice praise. And it's comfortable in here tonight. But Father, I pray that our minds would be focused. I pray that we'd sense very much the presence of God. May God be glorified. May He be pleased. May you, Father, look at this time and say, you know, that was a good time. That was a good church service. That was a good time in the Word of God. That's what we desire. We desire to please you and pray that our hearts would do that tonight. God be glorified. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. I write three things that you gotta get from Jesus. If she wakes up and she wants to go, from Jesus. Do you need something, again, from Jesus today? And if you don't have these three things, you need these. So what's the first? Well, the first thing we need to get from Jesus is we need to get his blessing. we need to get Jesus's blessing and you know God's blessing in the Bible is an important principle beginning to end the Bible has this idea about the blessing of God we see it with Abraham in Genesis 12 verse 2 it begins it says I will make of thee a great nation I will bless thee and make thy name great and thou shalt and it needs you all families of the earth be blessed. Why? Because God is going to bless Abraham. We need again the blessing of God. Genesis 22 17 that in blessing I will bless thee and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the seashore and thy seed shall possess the kingdom of heaven. sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and I will bless thee, for unto thee and unto thy seed I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I swear unto Abraham thy father." So he's probably speaking to his son, Isaac or Jacob. Genesis 26 verse 24, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham is saved. Okay, if we have God's blessing, then there's some measurable prosperity that we can see. Isn't that true? I mean, if I've got God's blessing, it doesn't mean my life's gonna be roses and everything's gonna be great, but it's gonna be obvious to me at some level that I can look at it and say, you know what, I've got God's blessing upon my life. Let me give you a song, song one. In other words, it doesn't mean again that life's just going to be a bed of roses, but it does mean this, that what I'm doing by the grace of God, I succeed at doing it because in verse 1 of that chapter it says, blessed is the man. Not speaking about being in the Word of God, being a Godly person, being that close proximity to God, but it's very much speaking about the fact that God supernaturally is blessing that person, okay? And so what I want us to consider is we need God's blessing even for areas where we may not stop and think, you know, I need God's blessing. And that's what we see in this story. And the first thing is, You know, I like the saying, all ground is holy ground. Every bush a burden. It just means that, you know, whatever we're doing, we ought to do for God. And if that's the case, whatever I do, I need God's blessing upon it, no matter how mundane it is, no matter what it is. It says in verse one, after these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, that's the Sea of Galilee, Tiberias being a village, and it's on that sea. And on this wise show he himself, there were together Simon Peter and Thomas Caldinus and Nathanael and Cana and Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples, seven in total. And Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. Alright, I go fishing. He didn't say I go soul winning. I'm not going door to door. I'm not going to go preach, but I go fishing. Well guess what? Going fishing is secular work. But in secular work, Peter needed God's blessing. Now we know that Peter understood his need for God's blessing when he becomes a preacher at Pentecost. And as they get in that place of prayer, they're in the upper room, and they begin to see a God. And Terry here in Jerusalem would tell you, being a dude with power from on high, we spoke recently about the ministry of the apostles, that the primary ministry was prayer, the Word of God, and getting that out, right? Prayer was a priority. What's that a recognition of? A recognition of man's need for God's blessing. And so, Peter knew that about spiritual work, and I think he probably understood it about physical work as well, but as an emphasis to us, we need God's Again, that Psalm says, whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. When I cut my hair this past week, you might have noticed my hair kind of got shorter. You know, as I cut it, it reminds me of a story. I had a hidden man that was in my youth group in Michigan, and we were coming on our first trip over to the UK back in 2004 or 2005. And the day that we were to leave, he shows up at church. He's got a baseball cap on. His mom comes up to me and says, do not take his hat off. Let him wear it for the trip. Well, the trip was important. I mean, he's going to keep his hat on the whole time. What's up? And she was cutting his hair the night before, and the guard fell off. And he had hair that was about that long everywhere, except for that stripe. that long up the side of his head. Well, I mean, that might be okay if he's got a reason for having something like that, but he didn't have a reason, and so he's going to keep the ball cam on. When we got to New York City, we were spending the night there, and I said to Vito, I said, look, we've got a pair of hair clippers here, let me cut your hair. But I might have made him a little nervous, because as I went to cut his hair, I said to Vito, before we cut hair, let's pray. And the reason is, And you know what? It might have made him nervous, but it was the best thing that we could do. Why? Because we need God's blessing in that. I'm not being too facetious. It might scare you to let me cut your hair and you want me to pray as well, but we need to pray. We ought to pray about mundane things. We ought to pray about things that, you know, it's just secular. Well, let's pray about it. Why? Because we need God's blessing. Get his blessing for all work. Secondly, get his blessing for familiar work. Familiar work. What's he saying? I go fishing. Well, I mean, that's Peter's bread and butter. He was a professional fisherman. We've watched him fishing online recently in the States, professional bass fishing. And I mean, these guys are in tournaments. Peter wasn't in a tournament. Peter was in his back garden, the Sea of Galilee. He grew up in Capernaum, the village right there on the water. This was familiar, this was home turf, this was home area. But as Peter looked at that aspect of going fishing, Peter needed God's blessing upon him. You know, sometimes when things are familiar to us, we may think, I don't really need to pray about it. It's normal, that's what I do. I've shared before that we love agate hunting. It's something we enjoy. I got into it when I was in high school. Agates are a semi-precious stone. The windows in heaven are going to be made out of agates. It's a beautiful stone. I found out that they're here in Scotland. Benson found one. If you were to go out with us agate hunting, it takes you a little while to get used to recognizing what an agate is. But it's familiar to me. We got a skypest to some very lucrative agate areas one time, to an area the size of an Olympic-sized swimming pool that was for irrigation, that the rock that was crushed and dug out just had agates all through it. It was like volcanic rock, so it's black, except for these white agates that were everywhere in it. Beautiful, beautiful stones. You know, and it's just the St. Des. If you ever look at something in a light St. Des I do that every day. But you know what? I recognize today, I need God's blessing now. If God doesn't prosper, it doesn't matter how familiar it is to me, I need God to help me with that. Get His blessing for familial work. Get His blessing for all work. And the third, get His blessing for group work. Group work. They stand to Him, we also. Many hands make light work, right? I mean, they're gonna get in their harness together. I mean, they're gonna give just their strength together. But you know, the Bible says this, except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain, men, no. Now, praise God, there might be a group. There might be a group that, there might be people that are talented, there might be people that are able. And human nature is this, because there's others, because there's capable people, because there's more people that I trust in them, rather than trusting in God. My mom, I've shared the story about being in New York City after 9-11 and her saying to me, you know, be safe. And I said to her, what can happen? I've got, it's daylight, beautiful daylight, this, and I've got my brother-in-law with me. My brother-in-law can pitch press at that time beat up in the middle of this intersection in New York City. I get accosted by a guy that shoves me, and I'm looking over his shoulder going, where's Jason? Right? It's easy to trust in people. But you know, it doesn't matter that nothing is my brother-in-law there. He was fine. He laughed about it with me. It's okay to look at people and say, you know, they're capable. You're able. But you know, it's good for us to recognize tonight that even if we have the most capable of person, that we ought not put our confidence in that person, because the Bible, in the sense of trusting them to get something done, that determines and needs God's blessing. Psalm 60, verse 11 says, give us help from trouble, for vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do valiantly, for he it is that shall tread down our enemies. See, it'd be easy for us to say, well, if this person is with me on this, if this person comes along with me on this, then that's going to help me. But our dependence ought to be on, hey, God, I need your blessing. It doesn't matter. I praise God for our attendance tonight, and everybody that's here. But you know, as a church, we're entrusting ourselves. We ought to be somebody that says, you know what? Praise God for each person in our congregation. But you know what we need tonight? forth get his blessing for diligent work. Diligent work. It says they went forth and entered into a ship immediately. You know Peter's theory says I go fishing. It's like he's stepping into the boat and all the guys are there and they're like we're going too. And the Bible says immediately. They get it. That's diligent isn't it? That's get right at it. It's gonna get something done. You know you think that you could get something done of being diligent. Some people are very good organizers. You might be. My brother-in-law is a good organizer. And he's the lead on that. He's going to go to college. And my sister was saying about him, he's got his laptop with him. And he's got his schedule out into the autumn. He's got all the planning done. He's very organized. He just puts on spreadsheets. and that's good, maybe you are. But can I say this tonight? Being diligent and being well organized doesn't substitute for God's blessing. See, we could get real pro-rater oriented as a church. And we could be diligent at it. And we could really be serious about it. But the thing is, if we don't have with that God's blessing, it's not gonna happen. So diligence itself is a great thing, it's a good thing, but without it, it doesn't matter without God's blessing. So get His blessing for diligent work. And then get His blessing for hard work. Hard work, you're really straining. It says, that night they caught nothing. Now when it says that night, I think, well that's crazy. When's the last time you went fishing and you fished all night? I mean, they're not giving it a half-hearted effort. They're not giving it a partial attempt. I mean, they're into that harness, straining that, and saying, we're going to get this done, right? But again, all that effort, all that hard work, without God's blessing, didn't get it done. Remember the story of AI? Jericho has just fallen, great victory. When it comes to AI, they said, oh, this is easy. and they go up, but Achanan sinned against God, because Achanan sinned against God, they don't have God's blessing, they try to take Ai, what happens? They fail. But after they get right with God, Achanan's sin is dealt with, they go up to the battle, they've got God's blessing, what's the difference? Ai falls. See, it doesn't matter, again, we could say, know how to do it, it's common, it's easy, there's a group of us, let's do it. But the thing is, without God's blessing, even diligent hard work isn't sufficient. The last thing I want to consider at this point is to get his blessing for impossible work. Impossible. It says in verse 4, when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore, but his disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said to them, children, have you says no, and I think period. I think I would read into it just a little bit and say it might be no exclamation point. They didn't know it was Jesus, and the guy, the man, and I want to be respectful because it is the Lord, but he cries out, he said, have you got any meat in the bowl? And I think after toiling all night, there's going to be a resounding no. They had worked hard in it, but it didn't matter. They've been diligent. There was a lot of them. It was familiar, all these things. So what do we know about this situation? It's impossible. Why? Because they've thrown everything at it. But the Bible says, verse six, Jesus said unto them, cast thy net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. Now let me ask you a question. Why had God withheld his blessings? to reveal Jesus to them, to make them recognize that they needed God's blessing, that God's blessing manifested the fact that God was present. So we might think, it might be a situation where it's not that, you know, Pastor Ben, I recognize God is God that is able to work even at this at this moment at this lightweight stage when it's impossible casting them on the right side of the ship and ye shall find it says in verse 6 they cast therefore and now they were not able to draw it You know, praise God, tonight, as we look at our life, I think it's impossible. It's impossible. I want God's blessing, I recognize it, I need God's blessing, but it's impossible. Praise God, God is able to work in impossible situations. You know, salvation is impossible. It's impossible tonight for us to see a Scot saved. It's impossible for us to see a minority saved. It's impossible for us to see an adult saved. It's impossible for us to see a child saved. The Bible speaks about it. Matthew 19, verse 24, the Lord said about the rich man, again, I say to you, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly But Jesus beheld them and said unto them, if men, this is impossible. What did he say? It is impossible. That's what he said. He said there is no way. But then he said, look with God, all things are possible. I would suggest this, that we're less likely to ask God for his blessing when we look at it and say there's no way. But that tonight, by God's grace, we gotta look at it and say, it's impossible. I need God's blessing. I need God to do it. And that we look to the God of the impossible for his blessing. I would just remind us tonight, as a church, we can't do it because it's glare. We can't do it because it's a group effort. We can't do it because we're diligent. You must get Jesus' fellowship, his fellowship. Okay, they're in the boat, Jesus is on the shore, but they need to get to him, and the fact is, tonight we do too. We need to get to Jesus as badly as we see the disciples in need of getting to Jesus. So how does that take place in our story? Well, first of all, they recognize Jesus. If I'm gonna get to Jesus, I gotta recognize Jesus for who he is. It says in verse seven, therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, it's the Lord. Children have been to me cast like that on the other side, and they cast it out, and poof, you know, full of fish. And John goes, this reminds me of something. He's thinking back to that day where three and a half years earlier, Jesus Christ had passed by near that very spot. He had talked from Peter's gall after a fruitless night of fishing. The circumstances were so similar. And then Jesus says, go out, drop down your net per draw. And so John looks at it, he goes, I recognize, I recognize a Jesus. And I think I could just say it like this, Jesus will make himself known. You'll know when Jesus is passing by. Just like John goes, man, that's Judas. I went to Sodan this week on Monday in Ann Arbor. His name's Andrew, he's an atheist. And as I'm speaking with him, I mean, he's antagonistic to the things of God. He keeps saying, give me proof, give me proof. And then he said something, and I'm speaking to him about the Bible, and I'm saying the way to come there's gotta be a God. You look in the Bible and say, that is the Word of God. We're talking about that. And he says, I've been listening to the audio Bible in the evenings. I thought that's interesting, because this guy is so antagonistic. And I said to him, I said, Andrew, I said, you want proof? Well, here's proof for you. A Baptist minister is standing on a street corner, speaking to you. about Jesus Christ, and you've been listening to an audio file. Don't you think that's prudent? And I'll just say this to you, about him, I'm praying, I said to him when I left, Andrew, I'm gonna pray that God convicts you of sin, because you feel fine cursing God, you feel fine blaspheming God, you feel fine taking God's name in vain. If there's a conviction in your heart against it, and by the way, the Holy Spirit is a convictor of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, know Jesus is passing by. You know, you need to recognize tonight Jesus. Why? Because if you don't recognize him, you're not going to get to him. You have to identify him by tonight. It could be somebody that's on stage looking at him and saying, I see Jesus passing by. But secondly, there's got to be in our heart a desire to cover Because if Jesus is passing by, then Jesus sees the nakedness of our sin, and it's shameful. Look at this story. It says, Now, when I read that, I don't think that he was actually naked. I think he was bare-chested. I think he's got his coat off, that he's out there working hard all night. before going to God. And I think it's a great picture. What's it a picture of? It's a picture of the shame of our sin. It's a picture of the naked shame, embarrassment. The Bible says this about God. All things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. What's it saying? It's saying that God's penetrating gaze sees into the very hidden most parts of our heart, right? We see the same idea connected in Genesis 3. In Genesis 3, man sinned against God. Innocence is lost. What did they recognize? They recognized the naked sheen they have before a holy God. Genesis 3, verse 10. He said, I heard the voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself. Why does he understand that he's naked? Here's why. Innocence is gone. A child, an infant can run around without clothes, doesn't bother them. because they're innocent. But when man sinned against God, innocence was lost. They recognized morality and because of that they understood the shame of their nakedness before God. God said, who told you that? And praise God tonight, if anybody in their heart, Jesus is passing by, anybody in their heart begins to look at their life and say, my sin is grievance in the eyes of the Holy God. You know, I'm praying that for you. And that in their heart, they begin to look for a cover. Now, praise God, begin with that. Genesis 321, unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and he clothed them. See, God wants you to come, but you can't come when you're sinning, right? Somebody has to get interested in that. Now, see this, New Testament, what is it? The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Is somebody recognizing, you know, there's Jesus, I wanna get to Jesus, what do I do? God, forgive me of my sin, right? God, cleanse my heart from my sin, right? And it's such a great picture. Peter puts that coat on. He dives into the water as we look at the third point. The third thing is get to Jesus. You need to recognize Jesus, cover your shame, and then third, get to Jesus. It said he did cast himself into the sea. They're in the boat, fishing. John goes, hey, that's the Lord. Peter grabs his coat and in he goes. He grew up in the Sea of Galilee. He's a swimmer. It'd be like this tonight to put it in a New Testament context. It'd be like preaching a service where the conviction of God is so great that somebody's interested they don't wait for the invitation, they cry out and say, what must I do to be saved? Right? I gotta get to Jesus, and I gotta get to Jesus. Now, that's Peter in his heart. He just, man, I gotta get there. Verse eight, the other disciples came to a little ship, and they were not barred from land, but as for two hundred cubits dragging the net of fishes, and as soon then as they were come to the land, they saw a fire of foals there, and fish laid there on, and bread. The other guys get there as quick as they can. They didn't dive in like Peter, but they get there. Why? Because Jesus is there. You know, tonight in your heart, is there anything in you that says, man, I just want to get close to God. I want to get close to Jesus. You know, very sadly tonight, let me just say, there's a lot of things that eclipse our desire for Christ. There's a lot of idolatry. You know, Euro 2021 is taking place. I mean, it's on everything. It's a big thing. It was halted last night, if you saw, because of health need on the field. And, you know, I mean, this is big news. People are more interested in having their crimes. They're more interested in work. They're more interested in their life. My flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is. To see thy power in thy glorious presence, I've seen thee in the sanctuary." He said, you know, I just want to get close to God. Song of Solomon puts it like this in chapter 1, verse 7. Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon. Song of Solomon, chapter three, verse one. By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth. I sought him, but I found him not. I will rise now, go about the city in the streets and in the broad ways. I will seek him whom my soul loveth. I sought him, but I found him not. In your heart tonight, God helping you, is there someone that's saying, man, I just wanna get to Jesus. And again, very sadly tonight, I think in our heart, we can't say with John, even so Lord Jesus come quickly. I mean, we want our life, we want this about our life, this about our life, but we ought to come tonight and say, you know what? The main thing that I need is to get to the mountain of life, the Lord Jesus Christ, to get into his presence, to know him. You know, the church in Ephesus, Jesus said to them, I have so much against thee, They got into doctrinal correctness, but they forgot it's a relationship. And it's good for us tonight to say, you know, what do I need? I need to get Jesus's fellowship. How do I do that? Well, I got to recognize Jesus. I got to cover my shame. I got to get to Jesus and then forth feast with Jesus. It says in verse 10, Jesus said unto them, a handful of great fishes, 153, and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken, Jesus said to them, come and die. And none of the disciples were asking, who art thou, knowing that it was the Lord. At our camp, family camp, in Wisconsin, Camp Clearwater, every meal, we had sang that hymn, come and die, and the master called, come and die. You may feast at Jesus' table any time. He who fed the multitude, turned the water into wine. Come and dine. That's what we're called. Come and dine. You know what eating is about? It's about what took place today at our house. We enjoyed having some company over. It's fellowship. It's a great thing for your family to sit down around a table. Sadly, modern life has limited that in a lot of ways, but it's good for us to remember that's good to do. Why? That's fellowship. COVID-19 has hindered that, but that's fellowship. I want us as a church as soon as possible to have a fellowship. just to be with Jesus and say, Jesus, I just wanna fellowship with you. I wanna be in church and fellowship with you. I wanna be in the Bible and fellowship with you. I wanna be in prayer and fellowship with you because that is what it's about, feasting with Jesus. Then fifth, partake with Jesus. You wanna fellowship with Jesus, partake with Jesus. Verse 13, it says, Jesus then cometh and taketh bread and giveth them. Do you think it tasted good? The master chef is cooking the man, Christ Jesus, that created it. There's no doubt that he's the best cook ever. He knows every herb. He knows every spice. It's going to be delicious. It's going to be amazing. You know, Michelin has their rating system for restaurants and whatnot. I read a little bit about it. And the guy who was originally developed in 1900 to show French The rating system was first introduced in 1926 as a single star, with the second and third stars introduced in 1933. According to the guide, one star signifies a very good restaurant. Two stars, excellent cooking. is you gotta go out of your way to get to two. You plan your way for number three. Let me say this. Jesus cooking is a five star. It's worth quitting your job. It's worth selling everything that you have to buy a fuel. It's worth everything, like it's what he's preparing is eternal. It's everlasting life. Partake in Jesus. It's what the Bible says when it says, taste me and see that the word is good, right? That's what it's about. If you want the best food spiritually in the world, it's Jesus Christ. And then the last thing, I'm at this point, gaze on Jesus. Gaze on Jesus. This is now the third time, verse 14, that Jesus showed himself to his disciples. After that, he was risen. said Jesus. I imagine this, Christ had been crucified, he'd been taken from them, they go, I go fishing, but when Jesus is there, fishing is set aside, they're sitting there eating, and they can't take their eyes off of him. It's the third time that he showed himself to them. And again tonight, I would say this, John 14 through John 16, Christ wants to manifest himself. He desires to reveal himself to us, but we gotta take the time to say, you know what, when Jesus comes and Jesus is present, I just wanna be there. I just wanna look at him and bask in his presence, because if you could have been there, where would you be looking? At Christ. The same thing is saying tonight, Pastor Ben, if I was there, I'd just be looking at Jesus Christ But we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. We ought to be hitting in our Bibles and looking at Jesus. We ought to be getting in prayer and seeking the face of Jesus. We ought to be getting in the house of God and preaching the word of God and saying, sir, I would seek the face of Jesus. I just want to be there to gaze at him. Why? Because we need to fellowship with him. We need to spend time with him. We need his blessing. And then the last thing tonight, you must get Jesus' commission. So we need his blessing. We need his fellowship. We need his commission. Think about Peter. Peter had his blessing. And tonight we need that as well. So Jesus' commission begins with this to Peter. He says, care for my children, my little ones. Verse 15. So when they had died, Jesus said to Peter, Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? Okay, what's he asking about? Well, fishing, fishermen, sea and gaffing. He's talking about the things that were there around him. Do you love me more than these? He said unto him, yea, Lord, thou knowest better about me. He said unto him, feed my lambs. You know, lambs are immature in the flock of God and the children. You know, tonight my wife has the kids. You know, that's a very important ministry. But it's a ministry that a lot of people can get involved in. I got involved in it when I was a teenager at my church, you know, doing puppets and helping out in Holiday Bible Club or other opportunities like that. It's a very important ministry. In fact, the Word of God has a lot to say. Jesus has a lot to say about ministering to children. This is all Christ thinks that he said. Matthew 10, 42, whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones. a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple. Verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. Matthew 18 verse 6, But whoso shall offend one of these little ones, which believe in me, it were better for him to be drowned. Okay, to paraphrase. Matthew 18 verse 10, Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones. For I say unto you that in heaven there are angels to always behold the face Even so, it's not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these, let alone two here. So tonight, that would be a primary thing that God would say to us through commission, feed my lambs. Take care of the children that I send. Help the children get to church. Help them in the church to be taught in the church. Secondly, Jesus says, care for my church in Paul, verse 16. Jesus said to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He said unto him again, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He said unto him, feed my sheep. Well, the sheep are the flock. They preach the word. All right, verse 17. He said unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus said unto him, feed my sheep. Now let me say, Peter denied Christ three times. And three times the Lord asked him, Peter, do you love me? If you love me, what's the command? Keep my command. Peter, feed my sheep. Peter's gonna be the preacher at Pentecost. Peter's gonna be a pillar and ground of the truth in the church, the apostles' doctrine, and the strength of that. Feed my sheep. You know, again, tonight, God would say to us, you know what? Feed my sheep. If you love me, keep my commandments. Get in there, do something for God. Get in there, do something for the church of God. Care for my church. And then thirdly, with a commission, carry my cross, carry my cross. Verse 18, he said, verily, verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast young, thou girdest thyself. all thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee and carry thee, whither thou wouldst not this fake heed signify, by what death he should glorify God. Now Peter, remember, pre-crucifixion of Christ, he said, if everybody forsakes you, I'll not forsake you, right? And he denies Christ. You're gonna be faithful. You know, you may feel tonight, you know, I've really let God down. I failed God in some regard. You know, just like Peter's night, the Lord would just say, look, I've got a job for you to do. Just get back on the horse. My mercy is sufficient, my grace is sufficient. Get back in. You know, that's what he's doing with Peter. Carry my cross, and then two last things, he says, come after me. He said, and when he had spoken this, he said unto him, Follow me. And as he says, follow me, the second thing he says with regard to that is it doesn't matter what anybody else is doing because Peter looks at John and he says, Lord, what about him? In verse 22, Jesus said unto him, if I will, that he tarry till I come. What is that to mean? follow thou me. And tonight, it doesn't matter what God has called pastor Ben to do, it doesn't matter what God has called others in this congregation to do, what matters is tonight, what has God called you to do? Because the Lord says, follow me. Andrew Bonner, I'm reading his memoirs in his diary, but he wasn't a human writer like his brother Horatius. He wasn't a revival evangelist like his friend William Burns. He wasn't a great, pious man, like his good friend, Robert Raymond Cheney, that had such a glorious testimony for the Lord. And a lot of times you look at his life and you think, you know, I want to do these great things, but you know what he did really well? He just did God's will for his life. God used him as an offer. reading his memoirs. The thing for us tonight is saying, you know, I don't have to be somebody else. What do I have to do? Follow me. Follow me. And for some that might be missions. For some that might be ministry. Follow me. Follow me. You know, tonight, as we stop and just consider the truth that we consider tonight, do you have Jesus' blessing? You know, it's amazing. You ought to be able to look at it again. I'm not saying that we always have it because we want it, but we ought to understand tonight that as a church, it doesn't matter if it's familiar. impossible. But we gotta stop today and say, you know what? I need, I need God's blessing. I need that. We gotta go to God and say, God, I need your blessing. I have toiled all night. I have caught nothing. Children have any need? No. No. But we can look to the Lord and He says, if I make you fishers of men, we can look to God and say, you know, God, we expect blessings spiritually and physically and emotionally, but we need it. Secondly, As we think about it tonight, do you have Jesus' fellowship? Is Jesus passing by? Even tonight, I hope tonight, if you preach in the Word of God, in the consideration of the story, that there's some sense that the Word of Jesus Christ is here, that the Word of Jesus Christ is passing by, but do you recognize His Holy Spirit? Do you? Feel convicted. If there's shame or sin in your life, do you feel naked in the eyes of God? Is there a desire to cover my shame? I need the blood of Christ. Are you getting to Jesus? Are you ready to jump on the boat? I mean, if it's getting on your knees before God saying, God, I need to get saved. God, I need to get baptized. God, I need to join the church. God, I need to get involved. God, I need to, I need to do this, that. There's that earnestness to say, hey, I'm just gonna get there and get to Jesus. Is there a partaking of Christ? to see that the Lord is good and that fellowship with God, that recognition of that need for God and just looking at Jesus. And then as we just consider, do you have his commission? Is there any sense in your heart tonight, again, that Jesus has passed by and has tapped you and said, come on, come on, follow me. We need fellowship, and we need God to direct us and guide us. And so tonight, if the Spirit of God is going to your heart, you gotta pray about it and say, God, I need something there. Please, please, I need Jesus to pass by. Let's pray. Ask the Spirit of God to bless the Word of God. Father, would you do that tonight? nor do I want to act as if it's not important and just pass over it. So I used to pray, Lord, there might be somebody in their heart tonight, and they think, you know what, I don't have Jesus as a blessing. Sin has separated me from God. I'm not saved. The Savior, you pass by because you want to bless. You desire to give it. Certainly, you've got to recognize your need tonight. Father, it might be somebody that they're not really fellowshiping with you. It wouldn't make a difference if you were silent or not, because as far as they know, you are, because they don't hear your voice. They're not close to you. Father, I know I did the fellowship with God tonight. I desire it very much. Father, I pray that I'm somebody that'll jump out of the boat and say, man, I'm just gonna get to Jesus. I need Jesus. I pray for you in our hearts tonight. And then Father, We need you to direct our church. We need you to direct us individually and as a group. And I just pray that some in our church, even tonight, it might be the Spirit of God tapping the heart of your person about ministry and saying, hey, follow me, follow me. Feed my sheep, feed my lambs. Spirit of God, would you speak to our hearts. Bless us, we stand and sing a hymn of invitation. God, be glorified in this. It's in Christ, in your credit. Amen. Let's stand, please, we'll sing.