Epilogue: Part I

We now enter the final chapter of this gospel. We began this study in November of 2015 and we now approach the end. Children please come up.

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Christianity has a long history. We have nearly 2000 years of Christianity. The age of our nation is just a bit over 10% of that time. That’s it.

The church was instituted and the cross and was in effect on Pentecost. And from there it grew. The apostles traveled taking the gospel message wherever they went.

Wherever you were from, that was your church. So we have the church in Rome, and the church in Galatia, and so on.

People were member of that church. When Paul wanted to address the church, to the saints in Corinth. Something along that lines.

History tells us that church “service” was nothing like we have it today. It was not very inviting. Not all. And if you were not a member, you couldnt eve witness communion. Closed service unless you prove yourself.

And becoming a member was not a profess my faith… get baptized next week or the week after an become a member. It was you were trained for a year, than baptized, then welcomed as a member.

And the church grew that way. Through persecution and death, the church grew. Some early writers claim that the seed of the church is the blood of the martyrs. While terrible as it was to be murdered the way that they were, it got peoples attention.

Who is this Jesus that those men were willing to take that kind of agony? Do you see how the church can grow through persecution?

And the church continued to grow and while there were many different heresies going around, the church remained together. The heretics didn't branch off and start a new denomination, they were cast out and deemed heretics.

Sometimes heresy had strong influence, but the gospel always came back. By the 6th century, the theology became weak. And people started to give into tradition.

And then tradition became official doctrine. Then it got to the point where the church was playing the role of the Holy Spirit. We will tell you what this means and you will follow.

Fights grew more and more intense and then in 1054AD, the church had is first official split. The Greek east was very upset with the Latin west, and the Latin west was gaining control and the east was being forced to adapt.

The Greek East finally said, after 200 years of fighting, we’re done, we don't agree with you we are doing our own thing. We call this the great schism of 1054. And it was at that moment in history. The Catholic church became the Roman Catholic church and the east became Greek Orthodox.

But the Gospel was still in darkness for the most part. There have been people who would try to bring in out of darkness but were executed in the attempts. Ultimately, you were calling out the church.

We were saying salvation is by Grace alone through Jesus alone. And the church was saying salvation is by Grace but not alone, its by baptism and by the church and by Jesus. So when you questioned the power of the church in salvation, you died.

Then the reformation came and we have talked about that a number of times, no need to do it again, a simple recap, the reformers were trying to get the church back to its original form. They were not successful in that.

So the reformers attempted to be one in Protestantism. They could not do that. It was the meaning of the Lord Supper that kept them from uniting.

So you had the Zwingli movement, which did not last very long, the Lutheran movement, maybe you have heard of them.

And then you had the reformed movement which branched in two not because of a split but it just did. Both branches are still here today, reformed and Presbyterian.

Within the reformed movement came Anglicanism, Puritanism, Baptist.

You also had something called Arminianism which was a movement that confronted reformed, Presbyterian and Lutherans. Out of Arminianism came the Methodist (some prefer to be called Wesleyan) and the free will Baptists.

And the branches seemed to have continued. Splits and divisions. Let me just scratch the surface of baptist movements in america alone, keep in mind, that at one point in american history, Baptists were one;

You have the American baptist church usa, Southern baptists, the baptist general conference (now called Converge), Conservative baptist association, Cooperative baptist fellowship (which was a Split from SBC in the early 90’s)

The American Baptist Association, Reformed Baptist, Primative baptist, regular baptist, National association of free will baptist, Association of reformed baptist churches.

And we can play this game with every other denomination. People have gotten mad about all of these seperations so the non-denominational christian church movement came and people ran to that because it seemed right and good.

But most non-denominational ministires are baptist in some form in theology and controversy tends to surround them because… well some create their own empire with no accountability.

But that can and does happen with denominational churches as well.

That was quick history in a nutshell, let me ask. Do you think that God intended all these divisions? Well many gosple centered ministries agreed that these seperations were driven by sin. We dont stick together because of sin.

John 21:1–2 NASB95

After these things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He manifested Himself in this way. Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together.

Some speculate that John did not write this chapter, they argue it came much later. They think John ended in chapter 20 and someone else came along and added this chapter.

Several reason why we should not consider that. One is that it is fitting that John have an epilogue because after all, the first 18 verses of chapter one are a prologue.

Second, it ties some loose ends such as, what happens with peter. And third, John draws back to his thought that we read last week in the last 2 verses of chapter 20.

The scene we are looking at in this chapter takes place sometime after the events in chapter 20. How long, we do not know. But afterwords Jesus manifested himself again to the disciple and John really seems to emphasize these manifestations.

And we see who are all together. There are 7 disciples present. The sons of zebedee are James and John and then we have 2 unknown disciples.

John 21:3 NASB95

Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.

John

It is kind of odd that Peter says I am going fishing. This takes place after he had seen the resurrected Jesus and after Jesus breathed on him. So it is odd that he decided to go fishing.

We dont know how long it has been since the last time they seen Jesus. Maybe he was discouraged like, it has been too long since we last seen him.

It could be because that was his source of income and it was time to get back to work, after all, he was not given the missional task to go and make disciples yet. He was not told to wait for the Holy Spirit.

Whatever the reason, He decides to go fishing. And the those who we just named decided that they will go too. So they went out and got into the boat.

That night they caught nothing. It was not uncommon for fishermen to fish at night, if the night was right. What was uncommon was to fish all night and not catch one thing.

This is not just one line in the water waiting; it was a net. They caught nothing. We will circle back to this.

John 21:4–5 NASB95

But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. So Jesus said to them, “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” They answered Him, “No.”

We again do not know why they did not know it was Jesus. Perhaps they were too far or perhaps for the sake of point our Lord is trying to get across with these men, he again, shielded their eyes from seeing Him.

So Jesus is on the shore and he said, Children, you do not have any fish, do you?

Now some people would say stop, how could have the disciples not known that was Jesus? He called them children, who would call them children.

We are again faced with one of those funny yet difficult Greek to english word. It is usually translated as children, some translations say friends. But the best way to explain this word, it would be like the British word lads, or in America, Guys, fellas, boys.

So, fellas, do you have any fish? They answered no to a man who appeared to be a friendly stranger. And keeping with the friendly stranger image;

John 21:6 NASB95

And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.” So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish.

Jesus is not giving them a command to follow. It is a friendly suggestion. Who here likes to fish? Sometimes when you are out fishing, you find that fishing enthusiast. And he knows where all the fish are and what they are biting on.

Similar to that, its a friendly suggestion from someone who appears to be that fishing enthusiast. So they took the suggestion and bam, filled net. So heavy, they couldnt haul it in.

John 21:7 NASB95

Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for work), and threw himself into the sea.

John is quick in thought and Peter is quick in action. If Jesus in fact did shield these men from reconizing him, it is in this text that may give us a clue why.

Because he wanted the disciples to see him with eyes of faith. He wanted them to see more than just appearence but know when he is present in times that may seem like he is not.

So John is the first to realize this, through faith, and Peter is the first to react, I believe also through faith. Peter had his outer garment off, probably in a loin cloth, some commentators say he was completely nude.

I find that silly. His outer garment removed lets us know that Peter worked very hard all night to try and catch fish. It also lets us know that it was probably a nice night.

So Peter puts the garment on and jumps into the sea. He didnt have time to think about the consequences of anything, he needed to get to Jesus.

John 21:8 NASB95

But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about one hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish.

John 21:8

The Others were not as dedicated to get to Jesus as Peter. They still wanted to get to him but tey will just take a boat instead. Dragging the fish.

We give peter a hard time. We laugh at some of the things he does. How he is quick to react. We all know a guy like Peter and if you are sitting there going I dont know a guy like peter… thats because you are him.

We relate a little to Peter. He is almost a comfort because we know so many like him. But if there is anything we can learn from Peter in the gosples is that he is a man of great zeal and we should not ignore that.

We should be motivated by that. Lets contiinue;

John 21:

John 21:9–10 NASB95

So when they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire already laid and fish placed on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have now caught.”

John 21:9 NASB95

So when they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire already laid and fish placed on it, and bread.

Breakfast is on Jesus guys. He has food ready for them. In his glorified state, Jesus is still serving the disciple, still providing for the disciples, A lot of comfort should be taken in that.

Jesus has fish and bread ready and then he tells Peter to bring some of the fish they caught.

Guys, this narritive is a little diffrent, so I am rushing through it and then we will go back and highlight certian parts that expand more on this text and it will paint a better picture for you on what taking place here.

John 21:11 NASB95

Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.

This text keys us in on how strong Peter was, and a fisherman would be a really strong man. Jhon gives us the ammount of fish there were and you would be suprised on how many published works there are just on the number of the fish right here.

I am with John Calvin on this one. The number of fish doesn't mean anything other than the fact that it is another detail to let the reader know that the person writing this gospel was in fact there.

The speculations on the number given are endless and at the end of the day, they are speculations at best.

John 21:12 NASB95

Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples ventured to question Him, “Who are You?” knowing that it was the Lord.

Jesus invites, as He always does, the disciples to breakfast. And John makes an interesting note, the disciples dared not to question him.

He gives us the question that they dared not ask. It seems odd to say this then add because we knew it was the Lord. It could be that their eyes were still kept from reconizing him and they had no choice but to see our Lord in faith.

that seems to be what makes the most sense out of this text.

John 21:13–14 NASB95

Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead.

Jesus broke the bread like he did at the last supper and gave it to the disiciples, he also gave the fish. Some people, early on in church history, have used fish at the Lords supper because this text.

You have to be careful how you approach a text and it must be in context or else you are slipping into heresy. This is a historical narrative and not a theological statement. Paul unpacks the Lords supper for us and he does not add fish and he is making a theological statement.

John adds that this was the third time Jesus manifested himself before the disciples. Jesus is called the seeking savior and John most certainly paints that picture for us. Jesus manifested himself to the disciple and it seems it was miraculous the way John writes it.

Some argue that it was a little less than miraculas, divine yes, but not exactly miraculous as was stated the first time Jesus manifested himself to the disciples, but this is language you cannot just get over.

Now that we have gotten through todays text, we need to reflect on what this means and how does it apply. There are two major lessons we need to draw from this, we can point out more than two, but two I want us to focus on.

And the reason why I want us to focus on them because it applies to mountain Crest now more than ever.

Take note of the last two chapter of this Gospel. Last chapter mary tells the disiciples that Jesus is gone when she sen the empty tomb. Which means the disciples were together.

During the darkest moment on earth, when all of creation felt the Fathers wrath and pain, the disciples stuck together.

and it was worth it for that moment they got to witness. The next Sunday, the second time Jesus apeared to the disciples, the disciples were (get them to say it) together.

And today we looked at the third manafestaion and the disciples are.... together.

So the first lesson is that the church must stick together and that is a reality in this ministry here and now. You must stick together. You must be the church.

I get it guys, This is not the happiest time. Its discouraging and why do we have to go through this again.

Let me be open with you all. Let me share me, something I don't typically do in my sermons. I’m lonely right now. I am not built to be away from my family and I am.

My family is not here with me today and I hate it. When I leave this church today, i come home to an empty house. My kids even took the hamster away from me.

At night brittany and I leave the bathroom light on so if the girls wake and need to use the bathroom they can see. I find myslef leaving that light on when they are gone just so I can fall asleep.

I know you are discourged, I know many of you, hopefully all you, are saddned at me leaving. Guys i am discourged right there with you. Believe me when I say I feel like I got the worst pain in this.

Feel free to disagree. I am hurting too, I am sad too, I feel a little lost as well. I promise you, you are not alone.

Mountain Crest, you cannot let those feeling beat you. You cannot let those feelings beat you. You have to stick together and fight your way through. retreat is not option, not for the redeemed. not for you.

People need mountain crest to step up and be apart of this pastor search because they feel the discourgment too. And right now you need each other. Only cowards run.

The second point I want to draw from this is notice how the disiciple worked all night with no reward. We have to understand that God is soverign during this time and kept the disciples from catching the fish.

Why, because of the miracale that takes place. If they had caught fish that night, the impact of Jesus telling them to cast their net out again would not have been as big.

So while the disciple are sticking together, they worked all night with no reward. None. And it is a foreshadow of laboring and patinece with no reward.

But what does Jesus do when the disciples are most tired and ready to give up. Jesus provides for them. He not only gave them so much fish they couldnt get it in the boat, he nurshied them from working so hard.

Contrast Luke fisher of men and this account. In luke the net broke, here it doesst

Mountain crest, you must unite and be mountain crest.

So all these gospel centered minsters said, ok we are convicted by the word of God to hold our position but we can no longer be devided. So gospel centered organizations came out of that and we untite in those organization.

So the Gospel coalition, 9 marks ministries, acts 29 network, they all unite diffrent denominations for one goal, advancing the gospel.