Welcome To Search The Scriptures

1. Welcome • To • Search The Scriptures

2. Regarding The Elections

4. Review • Peter is the acknowledged leader of the disciples • Jesus gave him a new name “Peter”. His original name was Simon • Peter feels invincible as long as Jesus is at his side • Peter is “proud” of his assertiveness

5. Peter (at the last supper) affirms his solidarity with Jesus. “I will never leave you, and will always defend you. You can count on me!” • Luke 22:31-34, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,

6. Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.” • Jesus Prays On The Mount Of Olives • Luke 22:39-40, “And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

7. Luke 22:45-46,“And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” • Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

8. “Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house, and Peter was following at a distance. • And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. • Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.”

9. Luke 22:57-59, “But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” • “And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.”

10. Luke 22:60-62, “But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” • And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. • And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. • And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.”

11. Pause to Reflect • What is Simon/Peter thinking? Feeling? • His best friend, His Savior • The Person he loved more than anyone else • Jesus is in His greatest time of need • Simon/Peter’s fear has overpowered him • He chose to associate with the non-believers around him, not his Savior

12. Will he ever be able to forget the look in Jesus’ eyes as he denied him the third time? • Will Jesus ever be able to forgive him? • What is going to happen to Jesus now? • “Oh no”, “I remember what He told us. He is going to suffer and die!” • “And he went out and wept bitterly.”

13. Bitter tears, repentance, unforgiving of himself, depression, withdrawal, in hiding, perhaps thoughts of suicide? How could he ever recover from this? • Joins with some of the other disciples – remains in hiding • Three days later . . . • The empty tomb – Resurrection

14. Both Maryscame to see the tomb. • Angel rolls away the stone. • Mary M. finds stone removed, runs to Peter, the men investigate, Mary 1st to see Jesus, tells the disciples, they don't believe her. • John 20:16-17, “Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father;

15. (This signifies that there is going to be a different type of relationship between Jesus and His followers.) • “but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’’ • v.18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

17. Jesus appears to the disciples, minusThomas Jesus appears to the disciples, plusThomas • But . . . • There is no recorded time when Peter has a chance to make things right with Jesus • And Jesus has no opportunity to set things right with Peter and the other disciples

18. Now many times in Scripture when the Bible teaches, it teaches by direct word from the mouth of God. That's primary • It also teaches from the Word of God in prophets and apostles. But God also teaches in living illustrations, doesn't He? • Throughout the Old Testament there were great symbolic types of the New Testament truths revealed in Christ and His work.

19. John 21: 1-2 • “After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together.

20. What is different about Christ’s body • Since the Resurrection? • He no longer has a physical body like you and I It is a “Resurrected Body” • He travels instantaneously. Time and space mean nothing • He can disappear and reappear • He can hide His identity at will. He reveals His identity to them when He is ready

21. It is the same way today. No one goes searching for Christ even today. He reveals Himself to them so that they may have saving faith • Their minds are veiled until Christ lifts the veil. • 1 Cor. 12:3, “Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.”

22. Unanswered Questions: • Is Jesus still going to provide for His followers? • What happened to Peter? • What about the future of the disciples? Who will lead? Protect? • Was John going to die or not? • 20:30 talks about many other “signs”. If they are important, why aren’t they mentioned?

23. Unanswered Questions: • Is Jesus still going to provide for His followers?

24. Question #1 • Jesus has a new body, glorified body. And we're not going to know that human physical relationship anymore because He's going to the Father. • Is He still our provider? Is He still caring for our needs? • Is He still the one who's going to give us the power to do things? Or are we going to find some new source? Is He finished with us?

25. The disciples had not received the Holy Spirit yet. That doesn’t happen until Pentecost • For the first time in three years they were having to get their own food, they were having to do their own daily tasks • They were having to just wait for Jesus here, there and everywhere. And they were impatient. • Peter still felt like a failure

26. There was misunderstanding. They weren't sure what was going to go on and they were confused, worried, and scared • John 21:3 • “Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.” • (Peter is thinking, “we have to do something to keep alive.”)

28. A perfect example of “Self-Will” • Rather than waiting to see what Jesus would have him do, Peter takes things into his own hands • He’s forgotten that Jesus had called them to be “Fishers of Men” • Peter and the rest don’t trust Him and His provision. Only when they can see Him in their midst, do they trust Him.

29. Self Effort Success Disobedience Intimate Fellowship Failure Obedience Loss of intimate fellowship Divine Effort

30. Going fishing, earning your livelihood is a wonderful thing unless it is not the priority that God has given you to do. Then it becomes sin. • It's always good to earn your keep. It's good to work. It's good to earn your toil by the sweat of your brow, etc. But when God gives you a higher priority than what you're doing, then that becomes a sin. • And so it was disobedience because God wanted Peter to fish for men, not for fish.

31. Because of a lack of faith and because of weakness in their own minds, they had begun to fall from their original commission. And they were going back to the only thing they knew. • And Peter was going back to what he knew he could do to provide for himself, and the rest were too.

33. vv.4-5 • “Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” • What does John 15:5 say? • “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing”.

34. The word “children” in the original language means “sirs, or fellows, or lads, it's a term of distance, not a term of intimacy” • Self-effort leads you away from the intimacy of real full fellowship with Jesus Christ • John 14:21, “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

35. Do they know that it is Jesus on the shore? • They are only about 100 yards out • But Jesus hasn’t revealed Himself to them yet • In the original language, Jesus is saying, • “You don't have anything to eat, do you?" • Before He ever gives you the strength, He wants you to recognize your weakness.

36. "I confess, I'm not making it. Lord, I'm not cutting it." And that's the beginning of the change, isn't it? • Self-effort is disobedience, results in failure, ends in a loss of intimacy • Let’s look at the other way of doing it

37. Self Effort Success Disobedience Intimate Fellowship Failure Obedience Loss of intimate fellowship Divine Effort

38. Every Christian goes one of those two ways and most of us jump back and forth. • The mature Christian is the one who has the increased frequency on the upswing • The Christian life is a matter of frequency. It's not a matter of perfection • It isas you grow in Christ that obedience begins to outweigh disobedience

39. He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. • That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.

40. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. • When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.”

41. So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn.

42. How do you succeed in the Christian life? • You succeed in obedience, that is how you gain spiritual power. You find great success. Obedience, brings blessing • God works through your own effort • Jesus could have had every fish in the Sea of Galilee jump into the boat • God works worksthrough your own effort

43. John 21:9-14, “Jesus said to them “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord • Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead

44. Fellowship Restored! • Not only did He provide the catch for them but He had His own thing right there ready with the cake already made • Jesus will supply your needs, • Phil. 4:19, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

45. Sometimes Jesus spoke in parables, did He not? Jesus often expressed Himself in illustrations rather than direct statements. • And here we have such an occasion. Jesus doesn't tell an illustration, He acts one out. • Here is a vivid, historical event that teaches a profound spiritual truth about the provision of Christ for His own and the empowerment of His own.

46. And it shows us by vivid, living illustration that Jesus does care, that He is loving, that He is sympathetic, that He continues to minister to His own, even in His post resurrection glory. • There is a contrast between fleshly effort and spiritual effort, or spiritual power. This is what the whole Christian life really boils down to. As a Christian, you can go two ways. As a Christian, you can go down, you can go up, it's your choice

47. Self Effort Success Disobedience Intimate Fellowship Failure Obedience Loss of intimate fellowship Divine Effort

48. Unanswered Questions: • Is Jesus still going to provide for His followers? • What happened to Peter? • What about the future of the disciples? Who will lead? Protect? • Was John going to die or not? • 20:30 talks about many other “signs”. If they are important, why aren’t they mentioned?