Jesus Restores Peter Fully

Please open your Bibles to Luke 12. Last week we started talking about how Jesus treats people who turn their backs on Him and choose to live apart from Him, doing their own thing in life. We saw that, according vss. 1-6 He provides for them miraculously, and according to vss. 7-14 He receives them graciously. This week we’re going to see what He does with a man who denied Him publicly, and shamed Him openly, but later wept over his decision, and was sorrowful about what he had done. You know there are people today who just wish with all of their heart that they could undo the past, and put the broken pieces back together again and go back to the way things were. But they can’t, and now they feel ashamed and unaccepted, and unloved. How does Jesus treat people like this; like Peter, who shamed Him openly?

Well we know what human beings do. Last week we looked at the prodigal son who left the father’s presence and went to a far country and spent his inheritance in wild living. But he came to his senses, and returned to the father. And while the father accepted him back, loved him and threw a party for him, his oldest brother wouldn’t even come to the party. After all, why should he be expected to forgive when the younger son publicly disgraced the family? He needs to suffer the consequences of his actions. That’s exactly what Dr. Phil recommends. “Tough love!”

And In Jesus’ weakest moment, in the time Jesus needed His friend the most, Peter publicly repeated over and over, that he did not know Jesus. And Jesus went to His death with no support whatsoever from Peter.

Well in our passage today, Jesus has risen from the dead, and what will He do to Peter? Peter heard Jesus say these words in Luke 12:8-9: ⁸ “I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. ⁹ But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God.” Peter could full well expect to be disowned, or forsaken by Jesus. And as if that weren’t enough, Peter also heard Jesus say vs. 47. ⁴⁷ “That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows.” Peter could full well expect a beating. These words may have been ringing in his ears: disowned and beaten, forsaken and beaten.

But here’s what Jesus does: He forgives Peter’s sin and restores Peter’s ministry. This would have shocked Peter. Oh, this kind of treatment of the wrongdoer would give psychologists a hissy-fit. “That will never do, they have to suffer, they have to feel the weight of their choices, etc. etc.” But isn’t Jesus’ treatment of Peter proof of what Psalm 103:10 says, that God “¹⁰ does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.” And Peter got the message. He preached in Acts 10 “^43…that everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” Peter got it, do we? Let’s pray.

Well last week we saw that the disciples decided to go fishing. Peter is the leader, and without any prayer on his part, without waiting on the Lord for direction, he just up and climbed in a boat and went fishing, and the rest followed. In doing so they deserted their calling to fish for men, and returned to their old lifestyle, taking care of their own needs. And they ended up fishing all night, they were tired, worn-out and they didn’t catch a single fish.

And we learned from this, that apart from Christ we can do nothing. That life is not meant to be lived independently from God. That if we choose to go our own way and do our own thing apart from God, we will end up in a long, dark night of the soul, with nothing to show for it.

So here are these disciples, out in the boat from sundown to sunup, having fished all night and caught nothing, no doubt tired and discouraged. But vs. 4 says Jesus stood on the shore, and we noted that when Jesus gets involved things always change. He told them to cast their net on the right side of the boat, and when they did they caught so many fish that the 7 of them couldn’t haul the net in. So Jesus provided for them miraculously. Then Peter got dressed and swam to shore, the rest came along in the boat. And when they got there He had a fire to warm them, bread and fish to feed them, and a heart of love to welcome them. In vs. 10 He tells Peter to bring him some of the fish, and in vs. 11 Peter hauls that net in all by himself. Having just been with Jesus, he could do by himself what 7 of them could not do when they were away from Jesus. And we learned from this that when we’re apart from Jesus we are weaklings, we are spiritually frail and feeble. But we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

So He not only provided for them miraculously He welcomed them graciously. And today we will see that He restores Peter fully. Let’s look at the setting:  We can see from vs. 9 that they are around a fire of coals. And there are only 2 times in the book of John where this phrase “a fire of coals” is used. Let’s look at the other time, it’s in John chapter 18. Here Jesus has been arrested, and is now being examined by the High Priest. And in vs. 17 Peter is asked a question: “¹⁷ “You are not one of his disciples, are you?” the girl at the door asked Peter. He replied, “I am not.” ¹⁸ It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.” This word “fire” is the same exact phrase as used in John 21. And we notice here in vs. 25 ²⁵ As Simon Peter stood warming himself, he was asked, “You are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it, saying, “I am not.” ²⁶ One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the olive grove?” ²⁷ Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.” Thereby fulfilling Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 26:34 ³⁴“this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”

 So Peter is at a fire of coals, 3 questions were asked of him, and He denied Jesus three times. And now he has several reminders of his sin that will be with him for life. Every time he sees a fire, or he hears a rooster crow he will be reminded of his failure and denial of Christ.

And if you and I are honest, we will acknowledge that we also have done wrong, we have failed in many ways. And we might even have painful reminders of our sin, scars that remind us of our fall, or memories that can be triggered that really hurt our hearts. Is there any hope for us who have sinned like this? Who are scarred from the fall and who have many reminders of it?

Look at Luke 22:31-32 because this passage is where Jesus foretells Peter’s failure in advance. He says in vs. 31: ³¹ “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. (But here is the hope) ³² But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Satan asked to sift Peter, like he had sifted Job. Now to sift wheat you take a sieve, which was about a foot across with sides about 2-3 feet tall, and it had a mesh type bottom and you put the harvested wheat with the stalk etc into it and throw it up and down, shaking it, tossing it, so that the wheat is separated from the chaff, and the chaff blows away. This process is very violent, but is a much-needed process for the grain to be of any use.

So we see here that Jesus is telling Peter that Satan is going to shake him and toss him around violently, and the result is that Peter will be turned away from Christ through it all. Why did Jesus give Satan permission to do this? Answer: because Peter was too strong. He said, “even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.” In other words, “I love you more than all these disciples do, and I’m stronger than all of them are.” Peter was like a stalk of wheat before it is sifted: it is strong and tall and proud, and about 99% useless. And so Peter’s self-sufficient, self-confident chaff had to be blown away. Before God ever uses someone mightily that person must be shown how weak he is in himself. For Christ’s strength is made perfect in our weakness.

And so Peter fell by cursing and denying Christ. And the questions no doubt plague him: Has my sin ruined my testimony? Has it disqualified me from ministry? Will I be disowned and beaten?

So just like when Peter fell, they are once again around a fire. And once again there are 3 questions being asked—Jesus is replicating the exact situation of Peter’s fall. In vs. 15 it says “when they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” Notice Jesus calls him Simon his old name, not Peter his new name, because Peter had been acting like his old self. And son of John, not son of God.

Now why did Jesus ask this? Jesus knows all things. Just like Jesus asked in vs. 5 “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” His purpose was to help them see their true condition. Jesus is questioning the superiority of Peter’s love. Peter had earlier said, “Though all forsake you, I never will.” He congratulated himself that he loved Jesus more than all the other apostles. “I love you more than all these and I’ll be strong to the end. Count on me.” And Jesus said, “Simon, do you truly love me more than all these?” In other words, “look at your life, you want to stick by that statement that you love me more than everybody else does?”

And Peter answers “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Now, this might seem like he’s saying “yep, sure do.” But he’s not. Because Peter did not use the same word for love that Jesus did. Jesus said, “Simon, do you truly agapao me?” That’s the word “agape” meaning a divine, self-giving kind of love. “For God so agapao the world, He gave His one and only son.” And Peter responded, “Lord, you know that I “phileo” you. Phileo means to have affection for. Philadelphia is the city of brotherly love, it is not the city of Agape love. Peter looks back over his failures, he examines his life and he says, “Jesus, I have great affection for you” but he could not bring himself to use the same word that Jesus used, agapao, because his life didn’t show it.

But because he did love Jesus, he did have true affection for Jesus, even though he fell Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Thereby making feeding of the flock totally dependent upon whether or not someone loves Jesus. And what He means is, since you love me, nourish my new believers. Feed the flock. Strengthen your brothers. Wow, this is not sounding like what Peter is expecting to hear. What about the disown and beat? Grace triumphs over judgment.

And then Jesus asks again, in vs. 16 ¹⁶ “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” Now it’s been established that Peter does not love Jesus more than the rest of His disciples do so Jesus drops the “more than these” phrase, and just asks, “do you truly love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Again Peter refuses to use the word Jesus uses, He will not say “you know that I agapao you” but rather “you know that I phileo you, that I have affection for you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” Not just feed them but shepherd them. ¹⁷ The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” This time Jesus changed His word, to match Peter’s word, He said, “do you phileo me?” Do you even have affection for me?

And we need to stop and do some applying right here, because this is the very question that Jesus still asks today. Do you love me? We can be very busy in religion, we can have doctrine that is absolutely right, we can pray, we can minister, and we can give, and yet be dead, if we don’t really love Jesus. There is no life where there is no love. Jesus says, “do you love me?”

So, three times Peter had denied Jesus, and three times the Lord challenged his love. The first question challenges the superiority of Peter’s love. The second question challenges whether Peter has any love at all. And the third question challenges even his affection. And in vs. 17 it says Peter is hurt. Peter is grieved, he is sorrowful. It hurts to remember his fall. It hurts to have his love called into question. But Proverbs 27:6 says “wounds from a friend can be trusted.” Jesus is wounding His friend, getting him to examine his heart; that he might heal.

See the reality is that God desires that we become sorrowful over our sin, to mourn over it, to grieve it, and to fully turn from it. Look with me at James chapter 4: “⁹ Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” And this is what Peter is doing right now, he is grieving his past, mourning his failure. And so we see Peter’s conversion from being a strong man to a weak man, so that he might then strengthen his brothers.

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” John 21:17 And in saying that Jesus fully restored Peter, not merely back to the flock, but to ministry in the flock. What marvelous grace was this? The one whom Satan had sifted, the one who denied Christ publicly, the One Who deserted his calling, who had returned to his old life, the one who may have been expecting to be disowned and beaten. This one was to minister in the body? Yes, because where sin increased grace increased all the more.  

There’s an illustration of this in the Old Testament. Turn to Acts 7. Moses grows up in Pharaoh’s home, as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. But one day he saw an Egyptian hitting a Hebrew, so he looked left and he looked right to see if anyone was looking (he forgot to look up), then he killed that Egyptian. But now he realizes he had committed murder, so he ran, and he ran and he ran and he ended up on the backside of the desert where he remained for 40 years.

It’s wonderful to compare who he was before he left Egypt with who he was after spending 40 years in the desert. Here in Acts Stephen is summarizing the life of Moses. And in Acts 7 he says, starting with vs. 20: ²⁰ “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for in his father’s house. ²¹ When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. ²² Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.” Moses could speak, command attention, could sway a crowd, he was powerful in speech.

But now turn with me to the Book of Exodus chapter 4. Moses blew it. He killed a man, and he ran away and hid for 40 years. And notice what happened to him during that time. It’s now the end of those 40 years, and in vs. 10 “¹⁰ Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” Wow! What happened to the Moses who was strong in speech and action? Moses had developed a speech impediment in the desert. From powerful in speech, to slow in speech. But see this is where God takes a man before He uses him.

What if Moses was still the strong, prideful somebody when God called him to deliver the Israelites. He could say, “you see how I can move a crowd? See how I can get people to follow me? Even the king listens to me.” And Moses would have gotten glory. The reality is Moses could hardly speak. He’d been dropped down a notch or two. What if Peter had remained the strong, self-confident, type A leader? As the church begins to grow all over the world, Peter could say “yep, God chooses strong leaders, visionaries who can cast a vision and move a crowd.” Know who God really uses? Look with me at 1 Corinthians chapter 1: “²⁷ But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things–and the things that are not–to nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no one may boast before him. 1 Corinthians 1:27-29

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” This is the role of pastors in the church. We’ve changed analogies here; we’ve gone from fishing, which speaks of evangelism, to shepherding which speaks of pastoring. These are the 2 essentials of every church; we are to spread out the gospel net and catch fish for the kingdom, and we are also to feed sheep so that our flock is well nourished and our saints are equipped. Now in order to do that we have to know for certain what food sheep will eat. See goats will eat anything. I’ve seen goats eating tennis shoes and tin cans and even gravel. A goat will be happy in a church that has programs and 12-step groups, movies and entertainment, and raffles, and sports, and all kinds of tin cans and gravel. But sheep are more discerning, and they require real food. So let’s think for a moment about what sheep food really is. “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” A true sheep desires every word that comes from God’s mouth and we must minister the whole counsel of God, Old Testament, New Testament, every Word.

But Jesus narrowed it down a little. Look with me at John chapter 6. Here Jesus defines sheep food. He shows us what sheep must eat. In John 6 vs. 53: ⁵³“I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.” In other words, the cross is sheep food. That’s why the families ate the Passover Lamb. That’s why the priests fed on the sacrifice at the altar. It was all a picture, pointing forward to the believer being nourished at the altar of the cross.

So here is what to feed the flock: we feed them the truth that Jesus died for their sins, that His death paid for all their wrongs. We tell people who because of their sins are expecting to be disowned and beaten, that Jesus was forsaken and beaten in their place. We take them to the altar of the cross, where Jesus is punished that they might have peace with God, and we say nourish your souls on that. The cross is sheep food.

So Peter is fully restored. What things can we today learn from this passage? I have 3 things:

1.God restores the fallen. God is gracious to sinners. He welcomes those who have turned their backs on Him. God restores those who have done wrong over and over. Samson, David, Naomi, John Mark.

2. People must humble themselves, or be humbled before God uses them. He uses those who are hurt over their sin, and who probably think they can’t be used. He uses those who have failed. And in fact, let’s go a little farther, and say that humbling is the qualification of true ministry. God has to strip a man of his self-confidence, has to shake the pride right out of him. And then he becomes useful.

3.The only proper motive for ministry is love of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “do you love me? Feed my sheep.” In any true ministry, the work is so labor intensive, the appreciation can often be so small, the response so discouraging, the criticisms very harsh, the attacks of Satan so fierce, that only the love of Jesus can keep us going. “Hired hands” will feed the goats, but only those who love Christ will feed His sheep. To this work the Lord now calls Peter. Not only had Christ restored the disciple’s soul but also his official ministry;

Peter had reminders of his sin: roosters. Jesus gave him reminders of grace. Fish and bread.

Jesus Provides For us Supernaturally, Receives us Graciously, and Restores us Fully

John 21:1-14. How does Jesus Christ treat people who have disobeyed Him, Who have gone their own way, done their own thing, sought to meet their own needs in their own way, and have ended up with absolutely nothing to show for it? How does Jesus treat them?

Well we know how society treats them; “you made your bed, now just lie in it.” “You’ve messed it all up, now you need to experience the consequences of what you’ve done, and maybe then you’ll learn to change.” And if we should whisper, “but I need help now”, we’ll hear back from society, “you should thought of that before you went off and did your own thing.” That’s pretty much how society treats people who have messed things up.

But how does Jesus treat people who got it all wrong? Well according to the passage today He provides for them miraculously, He accepts them graciously, and He restores them fully. And that is a summary of John chapter 21. There are really three sections in John 21. Jesus provides for them supernaturally, He accepts them graciously, and He restores them fully. Does this mean that there were no consequences to their actions? There is always consequences, but what this shows us today is that there is grace available to all who do it wrong. Let’s pray.

Well in John chapter 20 Jesus had appeared to the disciples twice, and in our passage today He appears a third time. Notice the names of those He appeared to in vs. 2. There are 7 disciples here, we do not know where the others are. But notice the two who are listed first: Peter and Thomas. Peter the denier and Thomas the doubter are listed first. You see in God’s kingdom the first are last, and the last are first, because where sin abounds grace much more abounds. Those who have stumbled and failed, those who have faltered in their faith are often restored to a place of prominence, simply because God is a gracious God, a restoring God.

So let’s look at the setting of our passage today. Peter has decided to go fishing, and 6 other disciples joined him, and they began fishing but they caught nothing the whole night. Can you imagine? These men have fished all night, they’ve seen the sun go down and the sun come up, they’re tired, and discouraged, the whole night is wasted and they have caught nothing.

The famous missionary William Carey worked in India for 6 years, and had preached the gospel from one end of Malda to the other, and he had not made a single convert. In describing his feelings, he said: “I feel like a farmer does about his crop; sometimes I think the seed is springing up, and then I have hope; but a little time blasts it all away, and my hopes are gone like a cloud.”[1] I thank God that William Carey persisted, and won much of India to Christ. But his first six years and he had not caught one single “fish”.

And let’s ask ourselves, what are these disciples doing here fishing? Jesus had not told them to fish for anything other than men. At the beginning of His ministry, in Matthew chapter 4, He said “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” That was their calling. They were supposed to leave their nets behind, and follow Jesus and use the gospel bait of forgiveness to catch men for the kingdom. These disciples, right now, are disobeying Jesus, ignoring their calling, they have gone back to their old life, the life they were called out of. In essence, they are doing things their own way, deciding to meet their own needs, independent of God, in disobedience to what He has told them to do. They are now putting priority on their physical needs, ahead of the spiritual.

And vs. 3 tells us it was night. It was dark. John often draws out a double meaning in this word. When Judas went out to betray Jesus “it was night”. And here the disciples had forsaken their calling and gone back to their old life, and it is night. In other words, they are not walking as children of light, nor living as children of the Day. No, it’s night. And Jesus is not with them that entire night. They have been left to themselves. And they are unsuccessful in what they do because they do not have the Lord’s blessing.

Let’s apply this to ourselves for a minute: any time we disobey God, anytime we choose to go our own way and do our own thing, independent of God, we end up in a black night of despair, without God’s presence and with nothing to show for our lives. I invite you to turn with me to Luke chapter 15 as we illustrate this principle. In Luke 15 Jesus tells the story of a man who had two sons. And we pick it up in vs. 12:

¹² The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. ¹³ “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

A universal truth, as certain as the Law of Gravity, is that if we leave the Father’s presence, if we celebrate our own independence, and go do our own thing, our lives end up in a famine, and we have absolutely nothing to show for it.

Even as Christians we want to minister, we want to catch fish for the kingdom. But if we run when we’re not sent, if we choose the time and the manner of our ministry, if we think we have certain gifts therefore we should have a certain ministry, we may have nothing to show for it. ⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

So here are the disciples, having fished all night, tired and sweaty, worn out, having caught nothing. But surely we have noticed a theme by now in the Book of John. And that is, whatever difficulties people are going through, whatever trials people are experiencing, Jesus changes everything. Mary is at the tomb weeping, Jesus comes and she begins worshipping. The disciples are in the upper room fearing the Jews, Jesus comes and their fear is replaced with joy. Thomas is doubting, Jesus comes and doubting Thomas becomes worshiping Thomas. This is a theme: Jesus changes it all. He gives grace to the sinful, He gives hope to the despairing, He gives joy to the fearful. Oh how I love Jesus. So notice what He does here:

The end of vs. 3 says ³ “that night they caught nothing” but look at vs. 4: “⁴ Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore…” This is the Bible’s way of creating anticipation. “they caught nothing”…. “Jesus stood on the shore!” Something was about to happen. It’s early in the morning, and weeping only endures for a night, joy comes in the morning. For the Christian, all problems, struggles, trials and difficulties are temporary. And Jesus is the solution. Something is about to happen here.

Vs. 4 says “But they didn’t realize it was Jesus.” Why not? Look at vs. 1, it says “He appeared to His disciples” and that word “appeared” is the Greek word “phaneroō” and it means “to reveal oneself plainly”, or “to make oneself known” or “to show yourself clearly.” Paul uses it in Colossians 4:4 when He asks them to pray that he would “proclaim the gospel clearly”, or “make it manifest.” So Jesus made Himself known and showed Himself plainly and clearly, but they didn’t recognize Him. It could have been because they were a little ways from shore. Or it could be that when you return to your old life, when you live and work apart from Christ, when you focus on physical needs, you can hardly recognize Jesus. Our spiritual eyesight has gotten dim. You can’t make Him out in His Word, you can’t experience His power in the body. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 4: “¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” We are not to focus all our attention on meeting our physical needs. We are to learn to place the priority of our lives on spiritual things. So Jesus Phaneroo them, revealed Himself, but they couldn’t recognize Him.

So in vs. 5 He asks them a question in vs. 5: “⁵ He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered.” Now why did Jesus ask that? He knows everything! You see this question was so they would acknowledge their failure. In essence Jesus is saying to these disciples, “consider your efforts. How’s it going? Look at your life, what do you have to show for it?” It’s the same thing as when God came to Adam and Eve in the garden, after they had sinned, and He asked a question “Where are you?” God knew where they were, He asked them to get them to consider where their choices had taken them: into guilt and shame and hiding. Just the same, He wanted these disciples to acknowledge that their own plans and their own efforts had gotten them absolutely nowhere. He brings us to the point of examining ourselves and seeing what following our own plans has gotten us. “⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Then He says in vs. 6 “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” Now notice what they did not do. They did not say, “Hey wait a minute, mister, we are professional fisherman, and if there are no fish here, there certainly won’t be any fish a few feet away.” No, they didn’t stop to consider if His instructions were logical, they just obeyed Jesus. And when they did, the Bible says “they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.” Wow, they went from nothing to abundance, in one moment. Isn’t this proof that “¹⁹ ..my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”  

Now, let’s stop and acknowledge for a moment that Jesus is sovereign over all the fishes of the sea. Jesus had been directing those fish away from the disciples all night long, and at the right time He tells them, “guys, I need you to go over to the right side of the boat, right now.” And they obeyed. Jesus is sovereign over all the fish in the sea, all the birds in the air, all the animals on the earth, and all the people in the world. And one day this King will say to those on His right (on the right side of the boat), “come you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

These disciples acknowledged they had nothing, they had failed, they did it wrong, and He gave them everything. They turned their backs on Him temporarily, and He provides for them supernaturally. He poured out such a blessing on them that 7 men were not able to haul the net in. Their net is overflowing with fish. They are abounding with fish.

And surely we can apply this to ourselves today. If we will just acknowledge where our lives apart from God have gotten us, if we will just confess what we’ve done and where we’ve been and what that’s gotten us, and look to Jesus. He will pour out a blessing on us that we will not be able to contain it. Psalm 68:19 says “¹⁹ Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily loads us with benefits”. And look with me at Romans chapter 5. This passage contrasts Adam’s sin with God’s grace. “¹⁵ But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!” The gift of God’s salvation to sinners is one that overflows us. It nearly sinks our boat, it almost breaks our net. God gives grace abundantly. Hallelujah!

So Jesus provided for them supernaturally. But He also welcomed them graciously. In vs. 7 John recognizes the Lord first, and Peter jumps in and swims to him while the rest come in the boat. And then notice vs. 9 “⁹ When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.” What a warm welcome. What a gracious welcome. For those who are cold and hungry, Jesus has fire and food. To those who are tired of their long dark night, tired of trying to make it work on their own, Jesus has a warm welcome and will meet all your needs. The reality is He gave His own body and shed His own blood to warm us and nourish us. To forgive us and pardon us. You see Jesus can welcome us this same way, because He has already paid for our sin through His death.  

And what an amazing change Jesus makes. I want to share something with you now that can absolutely change the life of anybody. This is powerful. Notice in vs. 10 Jesus tells them to bring some of the fish they caught and look at Peter in vs. 11: “¹¹ Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn.” Now wait a second, just a short time ago all 7 men could not drag this net in. Remember vs. 6? Imagine 7 men out in a boat, that’s 14 hands pulling the net. If each fisherman weighed 180 pounds that’s over 1200 pounds of man power. And they could not pull that net in. But now, Peter is doing it all by himself. One man is doing the work that 7 men could not do.

Here’s the lesson. When we are away from Jesus, making our own choices, we are weaklings. But if we draw near to Jesus He draws near to us, and our lives will have spiritual power and authority. We will feel the truth that “I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.” One man walking with Jesus, fellowshipping with Jesus can do miraculous things. Because He’s with the miracle worker.

²⁹ He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. ³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; ³¹ but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:29-31 They will be able to do more work than 7 men.

³² It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. Psalm 18:32

¹⁴ Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. Psalm 27:14  

⁹ O my Strength, I watch for you; you, O God, are my fortress, Psalm 59:9

³⁵ You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God! Psalm 68:35

²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26

⁷ They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion. Psalm 84:7

And now let the weak say “I am strong” because of what the Lord has done for me. And so if we will just be with Jesus, if we’ll just get near Him, we will have spiritual strength to fish for men and bring them to Jesus.

Vs. 11 tells us there were 153 fish, as God knows those who are His, and it says “even with such a large number of fish, the net was not torn.” They didn’t lose one fish. Jesus prayed to His Father and said, “I have not lost one of those you gave me.” John 18:9

And then Jesus ministers to His tired disciples. In vss. 12-13 He feeds them breakfast. “¹³ Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.” “³⁷ he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.” Luke 12:37

And so here we have this story. What we can see in this story is our lives as Christians. We have gone our own way, done our own thing, not depended on Christ, and now we’re tired. And with horrible results. We ended up in a dark night, without the presence or the blessing of God. With nothing to show for our miserable lives. And then we hear the word of Jesus. And we can barely make Him out, but we obey what we hear. And He provides for us miraculously, and He receives us graciously. And He ministers to us powefully. He gives us His body and His blood. “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” And we are warmed and nourished and strengthened in His presence. So this is really our story.

And I’d just like to close with 3 things we can learn from this story:

First, we cannot live our lives properly without Jesus. It will be a dark night, and we will look back at the end of it and say, “what a waste.” We will be powerless, and we won’t have anything to show for it.

Secondly, after we’ve messed it all up, Jesus will receive us graciously. He will provide for us. He will minister to us. He will warm our hearts with the gospel, feed our souls with His Word. With God there is grace and forgiveness.

And finally, we are supposed to learn that the key to supernatural power is to be near Jesus. Learn to get alone with Him. Learn to sit as His feet and learn of Him. Learn to draw near to Him throughout the day. And we will discover that when we’re weak, He is strong.

OK, fine I have one more principle to learn here, for those who are in ministry, which is every Christian. Here it is: Success in ministry is not due not to your eloquence, your power of persuasion, or your earnestness, or your anything. It is due alone to God’s sovereign drawing-power. He drew the fish to the right side of the boat where they would be caught.

So here we have this story, and this is the last miracle Jesus did on earth. It’s much like His first miracle. His first miracle was at a wedding, and they had no wine, and Jesus supernaturally provided wine for them. They had no wine, Jesus was the solution. Now they have no fish, and Jesus supernaturally provided fish for them. Jesus is the solution. You got a problem? Any problem? Jesus Christ is the solution.

One of the children here today told me that the name Jesus can be an acronym. J.E.S.U.S. He said it stands for Jesus Equals the Solution that is Utterly Satisfying.

Only Appropriate Response to the Cross of Jesus Christ

John 20:24-31. I want us to consider a question this morning: what is the only reasonable response to the cross of Jesus Christ? Some people ignore the cross (it has no meaning for them, their life is no different because of the cross), some people mock and ridicule the cross, some people wear it as jewelry, but what is the only appropriate response? And there is only one. Well what we see in our passage today is that Thomas refuses to believe the report that Jesus has risen from the dead; his heart had become hard, and he was self-willed. He said to the other disciples in vs. 25, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”  

And so in vs. 27 Jesus appeared to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” And in that moment, doubting Thomas became worshipping Thomas. He said in vs. 28, “My Lord and my God.” And so we learn that one sight of the suffering of Jesus for Thomas, one view of the hands and side that were pierced for his transgressions, put worship into the heart of Thomas. The fact is that doubters become worshippers when they “see Jesus’ hands” and remember Jesus’ sacrifice. And worship is the only appropriate response to the cross. We’re going to study this. Let’s pray:

Now we’ve seen up to this point in John chapter 20 that Mary Magdalene was bent over looking into the tomb, and was weeping. She was crying because she was viewing her circumstances by sight rather than by faith. And then last week we saw 10 disciples in the upper room and they locked the doors for fear of the Jews. You can picture them all huddled in a corner with the doors all locked because they’re afraid. They were living in fear rather than living by faith. And today we see Thomas who is life is characterized by doubt rather than living by faith. This chapter presents people living by sight, by fear and by doubt rather than by faith.

And to each one of these people-groups, Jesus came with such grace, and the very presence of Jesus changed everything. Jesus came to Mary and she fell at his feet and worshipped Him. And Jesus came to the disciples and their hearts were filled with joy. Jesus came to Thomas and Thomas worshipped Jesus. And all of this tells us that the presence of Jesus Christ changes us. None of these people had their circumstances changed, but each one of them had their hearts changed, just by the presence of Jesus.

So we left off last week with Jesus coming to the disciples in the upper room, but according to vs. 24 Thomas was not there with them. Why? Well if we remember reading through the gospel of John we discover that Thomas was an eternal pessimist, he found it hard to believe anything good. He was very much like Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh, just this constant melancholy attitude. In John chapter 11 Jesus is going to Jerusalem where the people are who want to kill him, and Thomas says, “let’s go to Jerusalem that we may die with Him.” He just had a knack for finding a dark cloud in every silver lining. But Thomas did love Jesus. He would rather go to Jerusalem and die with Him that live without him.

And Thomas right now may have felt alone, betrayed, forsaken. His hopes were crushed, the One He loved so much was gone, and Thomas’ heart was torn, and he may have just wanted to be alone. And Thomas’ own words help us understand why he was not there. When the disciples came and told him they had seen the Lord, in vs. 25 he says: “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” And that statement earned Thomas the title “Doubting Thomas.” But it’s more than mere doubting, Thomas refused to believe, he had become prideful and self-willed when he was away from fellow believers. He said “I will not believe it.” His heart had grown cold, hard, defiant. And so he refused to come to the assembly with his brothers.  

And notice for a second what he lost by not joining with his brothers: According to vs. 19, he lost Christ’s presence and Christ’s peace, according to vs. 20 he lost the joy that the other disciples had. According to vs. 22 he lost the gift of the Holy Spirit.  And in addition, he had a whole week spent in discouragement and doubt. Surely we can learn a very important lesson from this: we lose a lot when we are not in the assembly. Because it was the gathering together of the disciples where Jesus first came, and the gathering together of believers today is where Jesus still comes. “Where 2 or 3 are gathered in my Name, there am I with them.” Paul writes, “when you are assembled together, and the power of the Lord Jesus is present”…and for that reason Hebrews 10:25 says: “²⁵ Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching”.

Vs. 25 says,^“25 …the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” That’s what Mary said to these disciples, in vs. 18 she ran to them and said “I have seen the Lord.” Luke chapter 2 vs. 17 talks about the shepherds that went to see Jesus’ when He was born and it says “when they had seen him, they spread the word…” And just 2 weeks ago right here in this church, little Ramie Hogan came right up to our girls and gave them a card that she had made, and inside it said, “I have seen the Lord.” People who see Jesus just want other people to see Him too.

And notice that these brothers loved Thomas. They went and found Thomas and told him the good news. They didn’t just say “if he had been where he belongs, he would have seen the Savior, and received the Spirit; but he wasn’t here; let us leave him alone.” They did not say “Oh he can’t be a believer, he’s gone away from the fellowship.” No, the love of Jesus constrained them to love their brother and to go to him. Paul writes to the Galatians: “¹ Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.”

So here is Thomas and he is surrounded by all these witnesses, you can picture Thomas in the middle surrounded by 10 witnesses, telling him they have seen the Lord, and encouraging him to believe. And I want us to compare Hebrews chapter 12 and see some similarities. Hebrews 12:1 starts with the word “therefore” and that reminds us of chapter 11 where the writer showed us numerous people who lived by faith. He brought in, as it were, many people who lived and died by faith, to show us their lives and show us the reward they gained from living by faith. And then he says in chapter 12: “¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” So in context the sin that easily entangles all of us is unbelief. And we are admonished to listen to the great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, the witnesses who lived by faith, and we are to throw off our unbelief. And likewise Thomas was surrounded by 10 witnesses calling him to believe.

Then we come to vs. 26 and we see that ^“26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Jesus said to Thomas, the one who had deserted the fellowship, the one who had grown cold and hard, “Peace be with you.” Not “shame on you” but “peace be with you.” Listen to this statement from Bishop Ryle: “Let us never say that people who are struggling with doubts and discouragements are graceless or godless, simply because their faith is feeble and their love is cold. Let us remember the case of Thomas, and be very gracious and of tender mercy toward our brothers. Our Lord has many weak children in His family, many slow students in His school, many raw soldiers in His army, and many lame sheep in His flock. Yet He bears with them all. Happy is that Christian who has learned to deal with his brothers the same way that Jesus dealt with Thomas.”

Jesus said “peace be with you” and He invited Thomas to touch His wounds. But let’s notice for a moment that Jesus showed Thomas the very thing Thomas said he needed in order to believe. Thomas said I need to see His hands and side, Jesus came and showed him His hands and side. God is gracious to those who want to believe but who need some evidence to believe.  

But wait a minute, how did Jesus know that’s what Thomas needed? Nobody had come to Jesus and said, “Oh Jesus, you might want to go to Thomas and show him your hands and your side. He told us that would help him believe.” Jesus already knew that. Jesus was there when Thomas made that statement, Jesus heard Thomas say that. This is proof that Jesus is Omniscient, He is all-knowing. The One who died on cross was “God in the flesh.” And being God, He not only sees everything we do, but He hears every word we say. Psalm 34:17 says, “¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.” Psalm 69:33: “³³ The LORD hears the needy and does not despise his captive people.” If our eyes could be opened today, we would literally see Jesus right here with us, in this room. He is seeing everything we do and hearing everything we say.

Jesus says to Thomas, “peace be with you.” Well this is now the third time that Jesus says these words, “Peace be with you” and each time Jesus uses them with a different purpose. And I want us to look at these 3 times Jesus uses these words. The first, in vs. 19, tells of the results of the cross: vs. 19 says “¹⁹ Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side.” In other words, “Peace be with you, because I died for you.” The punishment that brings us peace was upon Jesus. So the first time Jesus says “Peace be with you” He is telling them the results of the cross.

The second in vs. 21, is His provision for service. “²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” In other words, Jesus provides us with peace so we go to the world to witness. So the second time Jesus says “Peace be with you” He is giving them the provision for service.

But the third “Peace” is the method of restoration. In vs. 26 Jesus says “Peace be with you” and in verse 27: “^27…he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” In essence Jesus said, “I bring you peace through my death, now believe it and come back”. So that the reminder of the cross was for the very purpose of restoring this brother.

Now this is such an important concept that I want to reinforce it today. Please turn to Job chapter 33. In this chapter, a young man by the name of Elihu is speaking, and at the end of Job God says “Elihu spoke what is right.” And Elihu is going to describe a man who was healthy but then becomes sick, in pain and in distress. And Elihu shows us what will restore this man to health.

¹⁹ Or a man may be chastened on a bed of pain with constant distress in his bones, ²⁰ so that his very being finds food repulsive and his soul loathes the choicest meal. ²¹ His flesh wastes away to nothing, and his bones, once hidden, now stick out. ²² His soul draws near to the pit, and his life to the messengers of death. Job 33:19-22

 This is the problem of all mankind. Sin and sickness have brought sorrow and suffering. You might picture all of humanity on a huge conveyor belt and each day we draw nearer to the pit of death and hell. Well how can we be restored? Is there a way for us to get off the conveyor belt?

²³ “Yet if there is an angel on his side as a mediator, one out of a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him, ²⁴ to be gracious to him and say, ‘Spare him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom for him’—now here is the Solution: a messenger who would intercede, and would show that a ransom has been paid; a price has been paid for the condition of mankind, and this ransom spares us from going down to the pit. “²⁸ the Son of Man came…to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28

Well what is the result? Vs. 25 “²⁵ then his flesh is renewed like a child’s; it is restored as in the days of his youth. ²⁶ He prays to God and finds favor with him, he sees God’s face and shouts for joy; he is restored by God to his righteous state.” You know what it is that restores a man to righteousness? It is the ransom paid, the price paid for our condition. It is the Atonement that Jesus made on the cross. This is what Jesus is doing with Thomas. Thomas, look, there is a ransom made for you, I paid a price for you. And Jesus is restoring Thomas to his righteous state.

As Thomas looked at the nail prints in Jesus’ hands, Thomas could remember that “by Jesus’ wounds, he was healed.” As Thomas looked at the gaping hole in Jesus’ side, a hole big enough to put his hand through, he would remember that Jesus was pierced for Thomas’ transgressions. It was the sight of the Savior’s wounds that removed all Thomas’ doubts, overcame his self-will, and brought him to the feet of Christ as an adoring worshipper.

When we have gone astray, what is it that calls us back? It’s a reminder of Jesus’ dying for us. It is not being taught the importance of keeping the Law, it is not focusing on prophecy, or arguing the finer points of doctrine, although doctrine is very important. Know what brings us back? The great truth of the Atonement. Being reminded that no matter how far I’ve gone, no matter what I’ve done, Jesus died for me then and He loves me now.

I want to give you an example of this. I want to read to you something somebody in our body, right here, sent to me through email two weeks ago, because I want you to notice the connection between the cross and worship. This person writes, “For the first time in many years, I am really alive in Christ … I can honestly say that He has restored my soul! I am growing in grace and knowledge of Him, and I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ for it is the power of God (unmistakably, unequivocally, and without any reservation) unto salvation. To say that he has invaded my heart and has completely flooded my soul with his joy would be a mild understatement.” Notice the connection between the gospel and worship. The cross of Jesus Christ is so very powerful, it recovers people and restores them.

So just as a reminder: the first time Jesus says “Peace to you” it was to show the results of the cross. “Peace be with you, and He showed them His hands and His side.” The second time Jesus said those words it was to show the provision for service. “Peace be with you, as the Father sent me, so I’m sending you.” The third time is to show the method of restoration. “Peace be with you.” I died for you Thomas, now come on back.

So Jesus shows Thomas His hands and His side, and Thomas in a heart erupting in worship said in vs. 28: ²⁸ “My Lord and my God!” He calls Jesus “Lord,” “Kyrios”, meaning Master, the Supreme Authority, Lord over all. My Lord, and my “God”, “Theos” meaning Divinity, Almighty God. Thomas says Jesus You are Immanuel, “God with me.” He is now giving up all his doubt, letting his pride go. Turning away from all his self-will. Surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus. He goes from “I will not believe” to “my Lord and my God.”

And Jesus did not rebuke Him. He did not say “Thomas, I am but a man like you, don’t worship me.” No look at vs. 29: “²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed.” “You’re right Thomas, you have believed correctly. Well done.”

And then Jesus stops, and He look down through the corridors of time. He sees you and He sees me. He sees our struggles with believing a message that goes entirely against evolution, against all modern philosophy, against everything our culture would tell us. And He sees the sin in our hearts that hardens us, He sees our rebellion, our self-will, and our pride. And He says directly to you and to me, “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” And this word “blessed” carries with it the idea of being accepted by God. When you and I see the cross and believe, against all odds, turning away from our own internal rebellion and pride, we are accepted by God and so we are blessed.

And John closes this chapter by saying in vs. 30: “³⁰ Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.” Isn’t it amazing to consider that this Book records the healing of a man who was sick for 38 years, the feeding of 5,000 people with a sack lunch, the opening of a blind man’s eyes, the raising of a dead man, and this is just a sampling of all He really did. This is just a small portion. It’s like when Abraham sent his servant to a distant country to get a bride for Isaac, the servant took just a sample of the wealth, the jewels and rings, etc. to show to the prospective bride, just enough to draw her to the son. And here John records just a sample, just enough to draw us to the Son. Why? Vs. 31 answers:

³¹ But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”  Now just compare vs. 29 with vs. 31. In vs. 29 Jesus said, “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Vs. 31 shows the blessing you get by believing. You get life. You escape the conveyor belt of death. You get life right now. Abundant life, and eternal life.

And so chapter 20 ends.  And I just want to close with the reminder of the only appropriate response to the cross of Jesus is worship. As Thomas was reminded of the cross He worshipped Jesus. And as we by faith go to Mt. Calvary and we see Jesus suffering, we hear the mocking of the crowds, we see His blood-stained body and we see the soldier stabbing His heart, we should remember that He is taking our punishment so that we can have peace with God. He is covering over our sins in His blood. He is literally dying to forgive us. And what should we do? We should worship. The only appropriate response is “oh my Lord and my God. This is love vast as the ocean. This is God kissing a guilty in world in love.” And as we have been reminded of the cross today, let’s stand and lose ourselves in worship just now.

It was for this very reason that Jesus established the Lord’s supper for His church. It’s like the scars. It is a reminder of His broken-body and the poured out blood that should move our hearts, and quicken our spirits, and thrill our souls, and rekindle the joy which we had when we first looked by faith upon His hands and side. A remembrance of the cross should produce worship in our hearts, and we should express that worship in praise to Jesus.

Fearful to Forgiven, Filled to be Fruitful

This morning I want us to consider what our message to the world is supposed to be. Well we are to preach the gospel. Yes, but what is about the gospel specifically that attracts people to God and calls them to repent and believe and be saved? In other words, what message can we take out of this place today, and give to our world tomorrow to draw them to Jesus Christ? And the Bible makes it clear that the central message of the gospel has to do with the forgiveness of sins. In this passage the risen Christ appears to His disciples, He commissions them for ministry, and gives them the Holy Spirit. Right after He commissions them for ministry He tells them what they are to say in vs. 23: “²³ If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” The central message of the gospel has to do with forgiveness. We’re going to talk about that today, but first let’s pray.

Just as a reminder, last week we saw Mary Magdalene at Jesus’ tomb, and we noted that she was responding to what she saw. The Bible says she was bent over, looking into the tomb, and weeping, wondering if someone stole the body. She’s thinking, “oh no, the tomb is empty” and she is weeping. And we suggested that there was another way for her to understand what was going on, and that was by faith. She could have believed Jesus’ words that He was going to die and rise again, and if she lived by faith she would understand that Jesus is alive, and she would have been rejoicing instead of weeping. “Oh yes, the tomb is empty! He’s alive!” And we said that in our lives we always have two ways of looking at things, either by sight or by faith. If we live by sight, often we sorrow because we don’t understand things correctly, but if we live by faith sometimes the very things that would cause us to weep give us reason for great joy as we see God working them out for His glory and for our good.

And today we come to our passage and again we see people who are not understanding things correctly. In vs. 19 it says “¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews…” now stop right there. Here are 10 strong men, hiding in a room with all the doors locked because they are affffraid. They are ssssscared of the Jews. This is “the Church of the Locked Doors”. And so we see these disciples as fearful.

But there is another way these men could have understood things. They could have believed Jesus’ words, that He would rise from the dead, and they could have believed Peter and John who said the tomb is empty. And then they would have thought, “Wow, Jesus overcame death. Satan bruised His heal, but Jesus rose from the dead and crushed Satan’s head. What do we have to fear? And living by faith would have empowered them to unlock the door and go witness to others that Jesus is alive. Please don’t hear me say we shouldn’t lock our doors at night.

I invite you to look with me at Colossians chapter 4. I want us to see how Paul responded differently than these disciples. Paul is in prison here, and he is facing death. He could have lived in fear. Notice vs. 3: ^“3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ⁴ Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.” Instead of “lock the doors” he prays that God would “open a door” of ministry, so that He could proclaim Christ. He knows His purpose here, it’s to save the world, by proclaiming Christ.

And we can learn from this, too. Today our world is filled with fear. We have bio-terror threats, we have nuclear threats, we’re at red alert and orange alert and purple alert. Everybody’s on alert. And the language of fear is “lock the door”, what can we do to keep ourselves safe? But the language of faith, is “pray for an open door.” The man who lives by faith sees every situation as an opportunity to minister, to proclaim Christ, and seeks to make the most of every opportunity. If we get captured by the Muslims fine, pray for open doors to preach the gospel. Put us in a prison and we’ll have a captive audience, and we’ll pray for an open door of ministry. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, and power and a sound mind. David says in Psalm 56:11 “¹¹ in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Your God has overcome the world, has defeated the devil, has broken the bonds of death, has conquered the kingdom of darkness, has defeated evil powers and principalities of the air, what have we to fear? Instead, let’s pray that every day God would open doors of ministry for us.

So there they are in that room with locked doors, and they’re fearful, but notice the rest of vs. 19, it says, “¹⁹ …Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Notice, that He just came in right through the locked door. He walked right out of His sealed tomb, now He walks right in to this sealed room. I want to show you something we can learn from this. If you would, look with me at 1 Corinthians 15, and notice what Paul says about our resurrection bodies. Now when Paul here talks about the body being “sown” he means buried in the ground, like a farmer would sow seed by burying it in the ground. “⁴² So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; ⁴³ it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; ⁴⁴ it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.” One day we will have imperishable, glorious, powerful, spiritual bodies that can never get sick, will never get old, will never die. This is what Jesus’ body was like.

As we go back to John 20, I just want us to notice the grace in Jesus’ communication to these men in John chapter 20. Now remember, these are the men who deserted Him, Who left Him in His time of need. Peter denied Him, the rest forsook Him. And they were now under shame because they had run away. Does Jesus tell them it’s all over for them, that they no longer have any part with Him? No! To these men He says “Peace be with you” or peace be on you. What grace, what forgiveness of their sin. Jesus here is removing their fear, easing their consciences.

And you know what? This is exactly how it will be when we meet Him face to face — if we are genuine Christians, even with all our miserable failures, with all our sins, with all our controversies, His greeting will not be “Shame on you” but “Peace be on you”. How do we know this? Because He is “The same yesterday and today and forever.”

And now notice vs. 20. “²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side.” He showed them His scars, the wounds He received on the cross. And I want to suggest 2 reasons why He showed them His wounds so that we can understand what He is doing here.

1—He was proving that it really was Him. This was no imposter, no ghost, this was the same Jesus Whose hands and feet were nailed to a cross, and whose side was pierced with a spear. He is proving His identity to them by showing that even though His body is now spiritual instead of physical, it is the same body. He is the same Person. He has risen, just as He said. You remember Acts 1:3 says “³ After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive.”  

2—But there is a second reason. Notice vs. 20 says “After he said this…” That connects us back to the previous verse where He said, “Peace be with you.” After He said “Peace be with you” He showed them His hands and side. He was showing the basis of our “peace” is His death on the cross. He’s saying, “Peace be with you, and here’s the reason why” as He reminds them of His death. What He really did here is to show that our enmity with God has been removed at the cross, Jesus made peace between God and man. Through Jesus’ death God has been pacified, and we have been reconciled. We now have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  And Revelation 5:6 tells us that these marks are still on His holy body, John saw a Lamb looking as though it had been slain”. These marks our great High Priest shows to God as He prays for us.

Charles Wesley helped us to look up to heaven and see Jesus before God. Imagine the scene in heaven as Jesus prays:

Five bleeding wounds he bears, received on Calvary,
They pour effectual prayers, they strongly plead for me
“Forgive him, oh forgive” they cry
Don’t let that ransomed sinner die.

The wounds proved His identity, and they also are the basis for our peace with God, the basis of our forgiveness. These disciples were fearful, now they’re forgiven. They have peace because Jesus was punished.

Then vs. 20 says, “The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.” Oh their fears were all gone, their hopes and dreams had come true, they were filled with joy. Just like Jesus said. Look back to John chapter 16 and notice what He said. In vs. 22 Jesus said as He faced the cross: “²² Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” Jesus made good on His promise as they were overjoyed when seeing Jesus.

But I want us to notice a distinction here this morning, and here is the secret to experiencing joy in our lives. Notice this distinction: first He said, “Peace be with you and He showed them His hands and His side” and then it says “they were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.” So peace comes from Jesus’ work on the cross, and joy comes from seeing the risen Jesus Himself. Joy comes from seeing Him, being preoccupied with Him.

Now don’t take this lightly, because this is a secret that many Christians do not know, and that we all sometimes forget. Many times we think if we’re in difficult circumstances we can’t rejoice. If we’re fearful we can’t rejoice. If we’re grieving a loss we can’t rejoice. But that’s not true. If we see Jesus in the circumstances we will be overjoyed. Notice Jesus did not change their circumstances, they were still locked in the room. But they rejoicing now. Because they saw Jesus in the midst of their circumstances, and He raised them above their circumstances, and they were filled with joy in seeing Him. This then is the great secret of joy, to be occupied with Jesus, to see Him in every circumstance.

I had a dear brother write me this past week, someone who is really growing in Christ; and this is what he said, “January 25th is said by scientists to be “the most depressing day of the year“. Something to do with the mid-winter gloom, and all that. Anyway, I thought: must I be doing something wrong? I wasn’t depressed like the “scientists” said I should be! What’s the “matter” with me?” What’s the matter with him is that he is in the Word of God, he is seeing Jesus and so he is filled with a joy in the midst of difficult circumstances.

Remember something: when Mary saw Jesus she was turned from a weeper to a worshipper. And now when the disciples see Jesus they go from fearful to joyful. This is the secret to experiencing joy in the Christian life.

And now we get to vs. 21 where Jesus gives these disciples their mission, their purpose, what they were here for: “²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” Their mission was the same as Jesus’ mission. They were to do what Jesus was sent to do. So let’s just examine what Jesus was sent to do, if you’ll turn to John chapter 3 we’ll see it. ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Now combine that with John 20:21, “as the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

So if you look at the cross you see Jesus’ mission. He was sent to save the world. That’s what He is doing hanging there on that cross, He is saving men and women from their sins. Through His death He saved all who will repent and believe. When we believe, His pain becomes our gain. His punishment is our peace. His death is our life. He was sent to save the world.

And Jesus says, we’re sent just as He was sent. Now we can’t atone for the sins of people but we can proclaim the atonement. And just like Jesus we are called to suffer to promote the gospel, to die to ourselves in order to bring life to others. Look with me at Colossians chapter 1, and let’s notice Paul’s suffering in order to save the world. Paul says in Colossians 1:24 “²⁴ Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.” So our purpose is just like His, to save the world by bringing them the gospel. Wherever we are, we are to engage people, we are to talk about Jesus, we are to speak about forgiveness for repenting sinners. Doug Eades has purchased a whole bunch of tracts for us to hand out, they’re over there on the table. Pick some up, give some out. Our commission is to reach people. As God sent Jesus, so Jesus sends us.

Now this, you have to admit is an impossible task for these men. They’re behind locked doors for fear of the Jews, and they’re supposed to go win the lost? So let’s notice what Jesus does next in John chapter 20. Vs. 22 says, “²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Jesus entered His ministry anointed by the Spirit, and now He gives them the Spirit.

Now you can imagine Jesus breathing on them, and His Spirit coming into them, and this was a very intimate act. He breathed on them, giving to them what was His, His very life, His air, His Spirit, given to make them fruitful in ministry. When the Holy Spirit is given to you it is an act of love, of intimacy, of closeness, of union. And He comes by believing the Scriptures, according to Galatians 3:2. We receive of the same Spirit as Jesus, in an intimate encounter, where we place faith in Jesus, and He places His Spirit in us.

Of course by now you know there are several pictures of this in the Old Testament. Let’s look at the first one in Genesis chapter 2. This is after God made Adam. So here is this dust made into a body. And notice vs. 7. It says that God “⁷ …breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” God breathed into Adam and he came to life. Because of the Breath of Life Adam could fulfill the great commission God gave him in chapter 1 vs. 28: ²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” But he needed the spirit of life to be able to multiply and spread and conquer.

And so Jesus in John 20 breathes the Spirit of God into these disciples so that they might multiply and spread and that the gospel might go forth with power and conquer the earth and subdue it. So these disciples were fearful, then they were forgiven, then they were filled with the Holy Spirit, so that they might be fruitful in ministry.

And finally, the Holy Spirit filled them so that they could go out and proclaim one main message. This is the central message of Christianity. It’s in vs. 23: ²³ If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Jesus gave them authority to proclaim the message of forgiveness, because this is the most important message ever. People come into the kingdom of God directly through the forgiveness of their sins. This is the greatest benefit we have is forgiveness. And so David writes in Psalm 103: “² Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits– ³ who forgives all your sins…” In Romans 4 Paul picks up on this blessing and says, “⁸ Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” “⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” Ephesians 1:7  This is the central message of the Bible, and if anyone ever becomes a Christian he does so because he receives the message of the forgiveness of his sins.

Now they had to be discerning because they were not to give forgiveness to those who would not repent, because they are not forgiven. Jesus said, “If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Those who stubbornly rebel against God, who refuse to submit to His requirements, those who will not embrace the Savior, who choose sin over Jesus, they will not be forgiven and we have no business telling them that they are. That would be speaking peace where there is no peace. But to those who enter through the narrow way, those who leave their own self-righteousness and their own works and who trust only in the cross of Jesus Christ, they are completely, entirely forgiven of all sins.

Now the Catholic church has misused this statement. They say that you must go to a priest to receive forgiveness, but they are forgetting that every Christian is a priest. Every Christian has authority to give the gospel with its central message of forgiveness.

And so look at these disciples. In the period of just one meeting with Jesus they have gone from fearful to forgiven, to being filled with the Spirit to be fruitful in ministry, using the message of forgiveness.

Now I want to see this as a picture of the entire life of a Christian. First, there is fear. We fear man and we fear our sins will keep us out of heaven, we fear that we are not in the family of God. And at some point Jesus comes. The risen Jesus comes to us through His Word, and says “peace be with you” and He shows us the cross and the scars He bears in His resurrection body. And we believe. And when we believe Jesus leans over very close to us and in an act of intimacy gives us His own Spirit to live within us. He breathes spiritual power into us for the purpose of us being fruitful in ministry. And it’s all done through the powerful message of forgiveness that we have authority to take to those who repent. That’s the whole life of the Christian.

Where are you in that process? Maybe you’re fearing the consequences of your sin, and are covered with shame because of them. Then you just need to look to Jesus and see that He died to remove your sins and make you new. You just need to believe the good news about Jesus. Or maybe you are a believer but you’re not being fruitful and multiplying. You need an infilling of the Spirit, and what you can do is just get alone with God and His Word, or come to church and hear it preached, and receive the gift of God’s Spirit so that you might be sent out to save the world. Or maybe you’re a Christian who has believed and been filled with the Spirit and you’re witnessing, but you have some other message that you’re presenting than forgiveness. Then it’s time for you to come back to the central theme in all the Bible, and simply tell people there is a way they can be forgiven if they will repent and believe.

Here’s our lives: from fearful to forgiven, filled to be fruitful, taking the message of forgiveness to the world.

Victory over Cancer Through Jesus Christ

Dear friends,

Walking with Jesus Christ and living by faith in Him changes our entire lives. Below is a the story of a precious lady who works in our ministry with us, who was diagnosed with cancer. What a joy it is to share this with you, and is once again proof that “faith overcomes the world” (including cancer, and depression, and everything else).

I was diagnosed with breast cancer on 26 November after feeling a swollen gland under my arm. I didn’t think there was anything to be concerned about but when investigated the consultant found the gland to be cancerous and discovered 3 lumps in my breast.  Much to my shock he told me I had to have my left breast removed and also all glands in my left arm. I felt quite numb from that Thursday until the Sunday when my husband and I decided to ask our Pastor to tell the Church so we could be covered in prayer.  He brought me up to the front and I broke bread with the whole church praying for me as my Pastor anointed my head with oil.   From that instant the fear and shock lifted off me. Everyone I met was crying, except me! I was patting them on the back, saying it would be okay, all the time with a huge smile on my face. I came home amazed at my reaction as it seemed crazy in the light of my recent news, but I know it was not me, it was supernatural. The Holy Spirit, my Comforter, was working in me. 

I had my mastectomy on December 9th, smiling as I went under the anaesthetic (asked the surgeon just to double-check the area before using the knife just in case God had healed me before the op). I know God is my Healer and that sometimes we have to go through “stuff” to strengthen our faith or to help others. I know people saw Jesus shine in me at the hospital ward and I had the opportunity to give out “The Fathers Love Letter” to unsaved women. I felt like the whole thing has been a dream and God has protected me in like a bubble or something. I got out of hospital on the Sunday and a few hours later I was in Church, literally bouncing, worshipping and praising God for His goodness to me. Some people thought I hadn’t had my op yet.  Again not on my own strength, but supernatural  strength.  

I love God so much and know He has plans to prosper and not to harm me. I love the Book of James and believe that if we speak positive loving words, we shall bear fruit. What we say can bring blessings or curses. I read the healing scriptures every day and trust in God’s promises, this is how I know I am healed. I will be starting chemotherapy in a couple of weeks time and the Bible says that Jesus bore the curse for me and so am trusting in Him to take all my sickness and pain. The Life of God is within me, flowing through me, and will strengthen my immune system. The Bible doesn’t lie!

God led my husband to Setting Captives Free, He entirely set him free from sin, restored our marriage, and healed my broken heart. He has blessed us with 3 beautiful daughters to train as they should go, He came to give abundant life and the devil will not kill, steal or destroy any of these things. “I will not die, but live to proclaim the works of God!”.

I could go on and on and on, as I get so passionate when I start talking about God’s love for me.  I hope I have given you enough information and that you will still be able to use it to help others.

Love and God Bless you all

Janice