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Our text this morning is John
21, verses 1-14. Let's stand together for the
reading of God's Word. John 21, verses 1-14. And let us hear the Word of the Lord.
After these things Jesus showed himself again to his disciples
at the Sea of Tiberias, and thus showed he himself. There were
together Simon Peter and Thomas, which is called Didymus, and
Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and
two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said unto them, I
go a fishing. They said unto him, we also will
go with thee. They went their way and entered
into a ship straightway, and that night caught they nothing.
When the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore. Nevertheless,
the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus then said unto
them, sirs, have ye any meat? They answered him, no. Then he
said unto them, cast out the net on the right side of the
ship, and ye shall find. So they cast out, and they were
not able at all to draw it for the multitude of fishes. Therefore
said the disciple whom Jesus loved unto Peter, it is the Lord. When Simon Peter heard that it
was the Lord, he girded his coat to him, for he was naked, and
cast himself into the sea. The other disciples came by ship,
for they were not far from land, but about 200 cubits, and they
drew the net with fishes. As soon as they were come to
the land, they saw hot coals and fish laid thereon and bread. Jesus said unto them, bring of
the fishes which ye have now caught. And Simon Peter stepped
forth and drew the net to the land full of great fishes, and
150 in three, albeit there were so many, yet was not the net
broken. Jesus said unto them, come and
dine. And none of the disciples durst
ask him who art thou, seeing they knew that he was the Lord.
Jesus then came and took bread and gave them, and fish likewise. This is now the third time that
Jesus showed himself to his disciples after that he was risen again
from the dead. And that ends the reading of
God's word, and let's pray. And Father, be with us as we
look here. We pray you would bless us with understanding and
instruct us through the text. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. And please be seated. Now we go back to verses 30 to
31 of John 20, and many other signs also did Jesus in the presence
of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these
things are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is that Christ,
that Son of God, and that in believing ye might have life
through his name. After these things, Jesus showed
himself, okay, and that's how the chapter 20 ends and chapter
21 begins. Now, this text is the object
of textual criticism, and the authorship of John chapter 21
is questioned by the textual critics. The reason claimed is
that John 20, 30 to 31 are able to be construed as the end of
the book, which makes chapter 21 seem like an addition, at
least to their thinking. Now, I don't read it that way
at all, nor do I think there's any necessity in that as a process. Verse 30 to 31 are a reminder
of the purpose in writing the book. before John gives final
instances of Jesus' resurrected acts. So he's just bringing us
self-consciously to this point right before he ends the book. And it's the same kind of a summary.
If you turn back to John 19 in verse 35, you find another place
that's just like this, yet no one says, well, that's the end
of the book. And he that saw it bare record, and his record
is true. and he knoweth that he sayeth
true, that ye might believe it. For these things were done that
the scriptures should be fulfilled, not a bone of him shall be broken.
Now, of course, that verse puts the prior verse in context. So
you see, John is in the business of summarizing certain points
that he's driving home at certain times in his writing. There's
nothing uncommon about that in writers, and there's nothing
uncommon about that in the way that chapter 20 here ends. And also knowing that the chapters
and the verses were added later, they're not in John's letter.
John wrote a letter and people have put chapter and verse to
it. So again, chapter 20 verses 30
to 31 are the same kind of a summary as in John 19.35, nothing strange
about it. And of course, when you go on
in chapter 21, you can tell it's still John. He uses the same
kind of approach to his own identity at verse 7 in chapter 21. Therefore
said the disciple whom Jesus loved unto Peter, it is the Lord."
Who's the disciple whom Jesus loved? Who's the disciple that
leaned on Jesus' bosom at dinner? That's always John. That's the
way John reveals himself when he writes. Or again, let's see, verse 20. Then Peter turned
about and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, which
had also leaned on his breast at supper. And he said, Lord,
which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter therefore saw him. He said
to Jesus, Lord, what shall this man do? So once again, it's the
disciple that Jesus loved. That's John's name that, in one
sense, doesn't reveal his identity, and the reason he writes that
way is because he is the author. He holds his identity until the
end, which we will see later. Again, that's the circumstance
of John's writing. It's the way John writes, and
it's an approach of an author like, I mean, there's others.
R.L. Dabney is an example of that. You know, when he writes
his history of Stonewall Jackson, he has a role in it. He's the
adjutant for Jackson in the Valley Campaign in 1862, and so he's
involved in this a thing that you don't get to
read about until you read somebody else's biography of Dabney, but
he says, at one point, it's at Port Republic when the Yankees
take this bridge and cut Jackson's troops in half, and Dabney writes,
he says, well, but an alert officer gathered together, he had some
cavalry, he had some cannon, he had some infantry, and they
attacked the Yankees that were chasing Jackson's baggage train
down the road and held them off and reversed the circumstances.
Well, it's just an alert officer. He doesn't name the officer.
It was him. And you get that from reading, I think it's Jones'
life, if I'm not mistaken, Jones that wrote Dabney's. So anyway,
that's that kind of a thing. Authors often do this when they
have particular involvement in the circumstance They don't just
say, I was there. one of these politicians giving
a speech. I did this and I did that. When they counted Obama's
speech, how many times does he say I? He gave a five minute
speech and he said I 100 times. That's not the way a biblical
writer writes. So this is John. It's still John. It's got all the telltale marks
of John's writing. Textual critics ought to be dismissed
with scorn and unbelief that labels
them. Before the final disclosure John
makes at the end, he uses this kind of language, you know, the
disciple whom Jesus loved. When you turn to John 21, 24,
this is that disciple which testified of these things and wrote these
things, and we know that his testimony is true. Okay, John's saying, I'm the
one. So, he identifies himself at
the end of the book. If you were building a suspense
to, well, who is writing this book, you know, or who is it
that we're talking about, this disciple whom Jesus loved, I'm
the one that's writing to you. And that's how he ends the book.
It's all quite natural, making any deference to the textual
critics completely unnecessary. Okay, John 21 and verse 1, after
these things, Jesus showed himself again to his disciples at the
Sea of Tiberias. Okay, Tiberias is a sea in the
north in Galilee, also known as Kinneret, Kinnereth, Gennesareth,
or the Sea of Galilee. So the Sea of Galilee is named
for Tiberius Caesar at this point, Tiberius. But it's the same lake,
it's that one up in the north in what was then the Roman region
or the Roman province of Galilee. And this was the intended meeting
place for Jesus and his disciples. If we go back to Matthew 28, verses 1 to 10. Now in the end of the Sabbath,
when the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary came to see the sepulcher. Behold, there
was a great earthquake for the angel of the Lord descended from
heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat
upon it. And his countenance was like
lightning and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him,
the keepers were astonished and became his dead men. But the
angel answered and said to the women, fear ye not, for I know
that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here, for
he is risen, as he said, come, see the place where the Lord
was laid. And go quickly and tell his disciples that he is
risen from the dead. And behold, he goeth before you
into Galilee. There shall ye see him, lo, I
have told you. Now, you see the circumstance
that with the resurrection of Christ, from the beginning of
the angel's appearance, the women are told, tell the disciples,
go into Galilee. And this is now we're in Galilee,
we're at Gennesaret, or we're at Tiberias, or Sea of Galilee,
and that's where Jesus is meeting with his disciples. So, what do you make then of
the road to Emmaus, Jesus appearing there, and the two upper room
instances? Well, they appear to be, and
I'll put this in quotes, provisional. In other words, the fact that
Jesus met disciples on the road to Emmaus, or then appeared in
the upper room where the disciples were gathered together, appear
to be provisional. Now, when I say provisional,
we know that God's decree establishes all things that ever come to
pass, whatever happens in history is by the decree of God. And
God's decree establishes liberty and contingency. So the problem
here is the disciples don't believe the report of the women. And
so Jesus tells the women, tell my disciples, go into Galilee.
And we're told in the scripture, well, they seemed like idle tales.
They didn't believe the women. Now, that means Jesus has to
send other witnesses of his resurrection. He sends two more, one who were
on the road to Emmaus, and they still didn't believe. So Jesus
then goes himself and appears among them in the upper room
with the doors being locked. And Thomas still doesn't believe,
so Jesus appears another time. And all I'm saying is, well,
we realize that when God decrees all history, every event of history
is decreed, including men's unbelief and what God does in response
to that. So none of this is outside of
the decree of God, but there's a sense in which these other
appearances, Emmaus and the upper room, have to do with men's unbelief. And the design from the beginning
was for Jesus to meet them in Galilee. And so I think that's
what we're seeing here, that the other appearances were provisional
in the sense of reacting to the fact that the disciples didn't
believe. All part of God's decree, and
yet that's the circumstance. So it was foreordained by God
that the disciples would not believe the women's decree. or
the women's report, foreordained by God, and foreordained that
Jesus would have to meet them on the road to Emmaus and meet
them in the upper room, and then they would do what they were
told to do in the first place, and yet that's the reason why
the disciples are in Galilee. So they're there by command,
they're in Galilee by command, seven of the 11 being there,
and that's what we get in verse two where they are listed, seven
of the eleven being there, and we can just suppose that the
others were intending to meet there and had not yet arrived
or weren't part of the fishing expedition, and that's why we
don't have all of them there assembled at the same time. The
occasion of this story is Simon Peter's words in verse 3, I go
a-fishing. And that's an interesting statement
with a variety of possible constructions. Now, in the first place, it is
claimed that Peter had a degree of coldness at this point. Perhaps
it was all done in his mind and he was just going to go back
to his old pursuit, which was fishing. And that has some interesting
possibilities. In other words, you know, as far as cataloging or gauging
the disciple's level of understanding about what they were called to
do and so on. And so, again, they construct
his words as an intention to return to his former occupation. And of course later when Christ
questions Peter saying, lovest thou me more than these, these
is construed as being fish, it can be construed as being fish,
a pronoun for fish, which puts the question in that context. Now the disciples have been told
they would be fishers of men. And so there is the fulfillment
of real fishing in the love of Christ, as Peter will experience. And so anyway, those connections
all work together in sort of painting this as Peter saying,
I'm going fishing. Put this out of my mind, I'm
going fishing. On the other hand, verse seven
seems to mitigate against this. Therefore, the disciple whom
Jesus loved said unto Peter, it is the Lord. When Simon Peter
heard that it was the Lord, he girded his coat to him for he
was naked and cast himself into the sea." Now, what are they,
200 cubits or something? They're about 100 yards from
shore. If he's putting his coat on,
he's not swimming, probably. He's probably walking. on, you
know, with his feet on the bottom, and that's just probably the
circumstance. So he puts his coat on because
he's going to walk to shore, but he's running to Jesus, he's
going to Jesus, rather than saying, oh, it's him, let me hide, you
know. After betraying him by running
away, after denying him, you know, in the presence of people,
you would think that if he was pulling back from Jesus in heart,
he wouldn't be the first to get in the water and get to him.
And so that verse 7 mitigates against this. He's abandoning
his fishing to hurry to meet Jesus, probably walking through
shallow water for 100 yards or more. Matthew Henry makes the
resolution of verse 3, I go with fishing, about improving the
time. They knew Jesus would meet them
in Galilee. They did not know when or exactly
where. And so they were about their
former business, which is of use to themselves and to others.
Most of the disciples had families to feed and a necessity upon
them otherwise, and we have examples. The word tent-making has been
captured in the nomenclature of our day. Now that's Acts 18
and verse 3. Because he was of the same craft,
he abode with them and wrought, for their craft was to make tents. This is Paul, whose craft was
to make tents, and so working while you preach is called tent
making. The nomenclature has been captured
by the example of this in 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 8. Neither took we bread of any
man for naught, but we wrought with labor and travail night
and day, because we would not be chargeable to any of you."
And that word wrought, or worked, to rot, you know, rot is again
a figurative word, you know, you have rot, iron, you have
iron, it's worked. Okay, and so when the Bible says,
the King James Version or in this case, the Geneva Bible talks
about we rot, that means we worked for our sustenance. Even at night
and day, we worked during the day to feed ourselves and we
worked at night in the preaching and in the communicating of the
gospel to you. So, the idea of We wrought, or
the idea of tent making, captures this on the part of the disciples. It's most likely true of the
other apostles as well. I can find it in Paul in Acts
18 and 2 Thessalonians 3 and 8. And when Paul in 2 Thessalonians
says, we wrought, that's Paul and the entire company that was
with him. So it's not just Paul, it's the others that were in
his company who were ministering the gospel who also worked. Now what's true of Paul as an
apostle, I think is probably true of the other apostles at
least at various times. And while they may have had a
ministry and a church large enough at Jerusalem, to support them
when they were at Jerusalem. We have examples of Peter traveling
to different places, and what is it we expect or would anticipate
took place? Probably he worked. So again, it's most likely true
of the other apostles, particularly respecting their travels. So,
one thing I think then we can notice is there's no flaunting
of the position of these men as a professional class. But
in humility and diligence, we find them laboring, and that's
the construct on verse 3 that I prefer at this point. So while, you know, you may find,
you may try to paint lessons about coldness and about returning
to an occupation or something like that. Out of Peter's words,
I go fishing. While you may find that there,
I prefer the construct that says, look, they're improving the time. They're in Galilee like they're
supposed to be. Jesus is going to meet with them.
They don't know when or where they're there, so let's go fishing. That's of use to ourselves, our
families, and others. Alright, in verse 4, the resurrected
Christ stands on shore and calls to the men. And once more, he's
not immediately recognizable to the disciples. Now, the commentators
try to explain that in various ways. By a fog, for example. And well, if Jesus was okay,
it was foggy or misty or whatever, and they couldn't see him exactly,
wouldn't they have recognized his voice? Or, you know, there's
on the road to Emmaus, it says their eyes were holding that
they wouldn't recognize him. But that's not stated here. And
I think one thing we can note is that the resurrection body
seems to have differing properties that add to this circumstance. Because even when they were unsure,
it says no one dared ask him who he was. Okay, so now you're
in his presence, forget about the fog, now you're unsure, you're
in his presence, you're looking right at him. You're not sure? You don't recognize
him exactly? Well, again, this resurrection
body seems to have different properties. If you turn to 1
Corinthians 15, beginning at verse 35, But some man will say, how are
the dead raised up, and with what body come they forth? O fool, that which thou sowest
is not quickened except it die. And that which thou sowest, thou
sowest not that body that shall be, but bare corn, as it falleth
of wheat or some other. But God giveth it a body at his
pleasure, even to every seed his own body. All flesh is not
the same flesh. There is one flesh of men, another
flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are
also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the body of the heavenly
is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is
another glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and
another glory of the stars. For one star differeth from another
star in glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead. The
body is sown in corruption. It is sown in dishonor. It is
raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is
raised in power. It is sown a natural body. It
is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there
is a spiritual body and so it is also written the first man
Adam was made a living soul and the last Adam was made a quickening
spirit. Hell be it, that was not first,
which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward,
that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth,
earthly. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. As is the earthly, such are they that are earthly. And
as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
As we have borne the image of the earthly, So shall we bear
the image of the heavenly. This I say, brethren, that flesh
and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither doth
corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a secret thing. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at
the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall blow, and
the dead shall be raised up incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For
this corruption must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruption hath
put on incorruption, and this mortal hath put on immortality,
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death
is swallowed up in victory." Now that's Paul describing the
whole situation, but the points are applicable to the circumstance
here. It is sown a natural body, it's
raised a spiritual body. So what the disciples are encountering
is a resurrection body. It's a resurrection body we in
the future will share in, but it's that resurrection body in
Jesus who has been transformed from the image of the earthly
and he is the image of the heavenly. And he is something different
than what they are as they are witnessing him. And so again,
There is a difference in the body of Jesus before he was crucified
and now after he is resurrected. That difference is what the disciples
are dealing with. And so we have other things in
the Gospel accounts that seem to be otherwise inexplicable. Luke 24 and verse 31. Then their eyes were opened,
and they knew him, and he was no more seen of them." So here
he is breaking bread with these disciples that he met on the
road to Emmaus. He's known by them in the breaking
of bread, and their eyes are opened, and he vanishes. He vanishes
out of their sight. He's no more seen of them. Or
John 20 and verse 19, the same day Then at night, which was the
first day of the week, and when the doors were shut, where the
disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus
and stood in the midst and said to them, Peace be unto you. Again,
the commentators wrestled wildly. Did he unlock the doors himself
or did he open the doors? It says, he came when the doors
were shut and stood in the midst of them. Again, this is a resurrection
body. Now maybe, maybe this is the
God-man. Maybe the God-man in a resurrection
body has properties unique to him and he can pass through doors
or he can vanish and come back and you know, and so, okay, very
possibly. But the ability to recognize
him in appearance and in voice is compromised by the resurrection. We're dealing with a spiritual
body here, not a natural body. Now, that means we might not
ourselves expect to share in mobility or anonymity. Nevertheless, both of these are
evident in the resurrected Jesus. And he's recognized when he wants
to be recognized. And when he doesn't want to be
recognized, he's not. Well, the success of the fishing
expedition was a means then of Jesus revealing his identity. Jesus would hear the answer to
his question from the mouths of the disciples. Children, have
ye any meat? You tell me. Now, Jesus knows. that they fished all night and
haven't caught anything. He's on shore with fish on the
coals. He's making breakfast for them,
okay? And he knows that they haven't
caught anything, but that's providential in the hand of God. Jesus is
using the circumstance to reveal himself. They can't otherwise
recognize his voice or recognize his appearance after the resurrection
unless he does reveal himself. And he's using the circumstances,
the providence of God here, to bring the disciples into recognition
that it's him. So he's asking a question he
already knows the answer to, but he makes them self-conscious
of the situation before instructing them. Children, have ye any meat? No. Cast the net on the right
side of the boat. And again, 6 and 7, cast out
the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find.
So they cast out, and they were not able to draw all of it for
the multitude of the fishes. Therefore said the disciple whom
Jesus loved unto Peter, it is the Lord. And you can capture
the circumstance, that's Jesus. John tells Luke, that's Jesus.
Okay, it is the Lord. So that's a revelation. John
himself is the interpreter. And this continues down actually
to making the hall in verse 11. You know it's a divine action. You know it's God at work. When
they drew the net to land full of great fishes, 150 and three,
albeit there were so many, yet was not the net broken. And that
is to say that the net may have torn in places, but it was still
capable of bringing the fish in. And so for the multitude
of fish, they were captured, and that was remarkable in itself,
that the net didn't tear and the fish escaped. Now on the
shore, Jesus already had breakfast ready with fish and bread on
the coals. And that reminds us of Jesus
feeding the 5,000 with five loaves and two fishes. And again, it's
not that the quantity here has to be multiplied. He's only feeding
seven disciples and himself. So if you know how big certain fishes can get.
In fact, the text says they were great fishes, that is, they were
large, okay. Now let's see, they drew the
net with fishes, full of great fishes, verse 11. Simon Peter stepped forth and
drew the net to land full of great fishes, great meaning large. So the fishes they grew were
not only 150 whatever, three, they were large fish at that.
And so it's not the quantity here of fish that's the problem. Jesus has fish on the coals already. Was he fishing? Where did he
get them? And he built a fire and he's
got fish on the coal. And so everything's ready for
breakfast when they get to land. That's something that he did
in his divine power. But you remember, just like on
the road to Emmaus, he was known to them in the breaking of bread.
Here it is, he's got breakfast ready and he's using loaves and
fishes again. And so it reminds one of the
circumstances they all experienced in his ministry. And again, I'm
reading commentators that are saying, well, you know, you know,
there weren't, he must have multiple, he must have done a miracle to
feed the disciples. Now, anybody that, that has done
some fishing and understands, you know, knows that a good size
fish might feed eight people. You know, salmon, you know, those
things are, the fillet is this long. You know, you're going
to get two of them out of the salmon. So it's that kind of
a thing. Nevertheless, the disciples are told to bring some of their
catch in verse 10. Jesus said unto them, bring of
the fishes which ye have now caught. Now he's got them on
the coal already, on the coals already. And he says, bring some
of them. And again, I interpret that as an example with Psalm
128 and verses 1 to 2. Blessed is every one that feareth
the Lord, and walketh in his ways. When thou eatest the labor
of thine hands, thou shalt be blessed, and it shall be well
with thee. So Jesus has got fish on the
coal. He says, bring some of those.
Bring some of your catch. And if they have to pick from
153, I mean, there's a variety probably in the net that they
can choose this one and this one, you know. You know, I like
flounder, I like cod, I like salmon, I like, you know, whatever.
That can all come. And so, again, the disciples,
having fished all night, get to eat the labor of their hands. That's the blessing of God. And
that's evident. And so in a variety of fish might
add to the enjoyment of the meal. Now at this point, verse 12,
none of the disciples durst ask him who art thou seeing they
knew that he was the Lord. I mean, they knew by evidence
is the point. They're still not sure except
by the evidence. Now John makes it clear this
is Jesus and as the events go on, as the story follows, it
is clear that this is Jesus. John makes that clear. And not only by the events that
followed, but finally at verse 14, counting the appearances.
This is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples
after he was risen again from the dead. John is counting, but
he's counting only the appearances to the disciples, not to the
women, not to the small group, the two or three that were on
the road to Emmaus. only the appearances to the body
of disciples, which now are three. Twice in the upper room and here
at Tiberias, three times Jesus appeared to the group of the
disciples. And so much for the story, the
fishing expedition. Well, we'll take it, we'll stop
there, but in application, In the first place, John does tell
us the reason that he is writing in verse 14. Now, this is the
third time Jesus showed himself to his disciples after he was
risen again from the dead. His goal has been, throughout
the gospel here, the refutation of the doctrine of Antichrist,
to prove that Jesus is the Son of God and the Son of man, God
and man in the flesh, who died on account of sin and was raised
the third day from the dead. So the resurrection of Jesus
is critical to this gospel and John is proving this on the basis
of witnesses. It is verification of the truth
of the resurrection that's one of the purposes in John's writing. And so on the basis of the biblical
requirements for evidence. Deuteronomy 17 and verse 6, at
the mouth of two or three witnesses shall he that is worthy of death
die, but at the mouth of one witness he shall not die. Now
Jesus interprets that law, that commandment in John 8 and verse
17 when he says, also it is written
in your law that the testimony of two men is true. And so we
have to have that in our mind. The testimony of two men is true. At the mouth of two or three
witnesses, every word shall be established. This is the third
time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples after that he
was risen again from the dead. He made these seven witnesses
for the third time. And so we have it on biblical
evidence. We have the biblical requirement
for truth being met by God, and that's in John's mind as he writes
and finishes the gospel story. Now, as the story develops, the
disciples did not believe two, three, or more women. And so they're made witnesses
themselves two or three or more times. So, again, this unbelief
on the part of the disciples explains the number of appearances
we have of Jesus after the resurrection, John's sin, or Jesus' sins. Women? Another woman? Two, three, four women? And the
disciples still don't believe they seem to them as people telling
tales. And so he brings them into the
knowledge of direct, now you're the witnesses. You didn't believe
the witnesses I sent you, now you are the witnesses. Now for
us, our faith is grounded then on lawful evidence. and the testimony
of God in terms of his own law. And that's something we can embrace
as we think about the gospel. You say, well, is the gospel
true? Well, God reveals the law, and God tells us that he has
met the law, kept the law, with respect to testifying the resurrection
of Christ. Again, that's central to John's
reason for writing the gospel. OK, secondly, we can focus on
the disciples here, on diligence and labor, even among those that
are called to preach. Think of the text, 2 Thessalonians
3 and verse 11. For we hear that there are some
which walk among you inordinately and work not at all, but are
busybodies. or 1 Timothy 5 and verse 13. And likewise, also being idle,
they learn to go about from house to house. Yea, they are not only
idle, but prattlers and busybodies, speaking things which are not
comely. Again, this discussion of people,
sometimes men, sometimes women, as busybodies, tattlers, telling
stories, speaking. That's not the apostles. That's
not these men who we are seeing here. Diligence and labor is
evident even among those that are called to preach. These men
are not busybodies. If anyone could have made a career
of talking about Jesus after his death, these would be the
ones. Well, we were with him. We were
with him when this happened, you know. And so if they intended
to go out in a career as a busybody, they had plenty to talk about. I mean, we've got that same thing
in the group that was with Martin Luther King. They're able to
write books. Or let's see, JFK, Martin Luther
King. What's the book? I Was With Such and Such at Such
and Such a Time. I can't think of what the circumstances,
but you understand, people that are surrounded or that surround
people who are renowned and have a story to tell, they can write
that story and sell that book, or they can go to this house
or speak in this place. There's all of that. These disciples
didn't intend any of that. So they're not going to capitalize
on their connection with Jesus. No one has designed to build
a lifestyle out of their former connection with him. And I'm
saying this about those who were disciples before the resurrection,
before they knew that he had risen from the dead. There's
no plan of this. There's nobody that's about to
do this thing. They're awaiting instructions.
They're awaiting a meeting. And they are working in the meantime. And that's a good example that
we can take home from what the disciples do after the crucifixion,
you know, in that time between the crucifixion and his meeting
with them, or the resurrection and his meeting with them at
Tiberias. And another way we can say this
is work is the foundation of success in Christian testimony. And that's, I think, the take-home
point here. If you want to have a Christian
testimony, be one who is diligent in his work. It's not the talker
who is believed, but the one who is seen as diligent, serious,
excellent in the things that he does. And that is as true
in the preacher. The foundation of respect in
the ones who are watching is carefulness and diligence in
your work. If you want to have a testimony
with men, you've got to be faithful, diligent, hardworking, reliable,
excellent, and in all of those things. And then you will have
a testimony. Whereas the lazy, the slothful,
the one whose home is a wreck, who is disheveled, he's not going
to have a testimony with men. Because he's not good at what
he does. So if he's not good at what he does, what good is
his opinion about that thing or about anything? Whereas, again,
the one who's good and careful and diligent in what he does,
he's to be respected in that thing. And we ought to listen
to him in this other thing over here when he has something to
say. And whether it's spoken or not,
that's the understanding of men, who you listen to. So you can
know all mysteries and have all that you would say fall on deaf
ears to a watching world if you're not diligent in your work. And
again, we're taking that from the disciples here, from their
example. Now we might also account for
the providence of God in blessing our work. You know, just like
the disciples are fishless, As breakfast time comes until Jesus
tells them where to cast their net, it's not in the power of
man to prosper apart from God, and yet what we have are the
promises of God for diligent labor. Proverbs 14 at verse 23. In all labor there is abundance. But the talk of the lips bringeth
only one. Now again, if you're going to
talk, you're not going to earn anything. But if you labor and
you're diligent, you will have abundance. Proverbs 21, verse
25. The desire of the slothful slayeth
him, for his hands refuse to work. Or Proverbs 10 and verse
4, a slothful hand maketh poor, but the hand of the diligent
maketh rich. And then Proverbs 12 and 24,
the hand of the diligent shall bear rule, but the idle shall
be under tribute. And there you have an example.
So again, The Scripture is teaching us that you labor diligently
with your hands and you will have abundance, you will have
plenty, and you will bear rule. Whereas if you are slothful,
you will have scarcity and be under tribute. and not have enough,
in other words. And so again, the example of
the apostles here can instruct us on that. Providence can be
read in fulfillment of all of these, because these things,
when God says, the hand of the diligent shall produce abundance,
that's because he makes it to be that way. It doesn't have
to be as pronounced as Jesus telling you where to cast the
net, what side of the boat to cast the net on after a night
of not catching anything. It doesn't have to be as pronounced
as that, but be sure that when God says in His Word, the hand
of the diligent makes rich, or there's abundance that flows
from it, be sure that he is the one watching over his word to
perform it. He is the one that sees to it
that his word is fulfilled in the life of the one who is self-conscious
in obedience to him. And the same thing is true on
the side of penury. If you don't work, you won't
have abundance, you'll have scarcity, and you'll be under tribute.
And so that is, again, God's providence read into the situation. Let's pray. And Father, we do pray that you
would help us in our thinking, in our lives, to put into the
proper context our calling to work before you, that the gifts
that you have given us might be used for your glory, and that
by diligence and faithfulness in our labors, in our callings,
you would glorify yourself and give us a testimony to men, and
that what we see here in the disciples in their fishing expedition
might be our experience in life, that we might receive your blessing
providentially, and that you would exalt your son and give
us a testimony about the gospel, even as we work to your glory
diligently and faithfully. And so accomplish those things
in our lives, we pray in Jesus name. Amen.
The Fishing Expedition
Series Gospel of John
| Sermon ID | 615212348567562 |
| Duration | 49:55 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | John 21:1-14 |
| Language | English |
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