Staying Committed When Quitting Is An Option

Fishing was not going to get him what he was looking for

Confronted past failures

Peter was the first to tell Jesus that he would never deny him yet not only did he deny him, but he did so 3x.

Embrace God’s definition of Love

Jesus ties Love to action for others

, Jesus tells Peter the devil came to sift him as wheat, but He prayed for him that his faith not fail.

***Without faith, it is impossible to please God!!! without faith, you won’t follow.

John 21:1–3 ESV

1 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

John 21:1–15 ESV

1 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. 8 The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. 9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. 15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

If you’re not careful, you will confuse this story with the one found in Luke chapter 5 when Jesus first calls Peter to the minisitry

(quick overview of Luke ch5)…At the conclusion of scene where Jesus calls Peter to become a fisher of men, says, “And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Between that point and what read about in , Peter had seen many of the miracles Jesus performed that we read about: on the day of the transfiguration, the wedding at Cana when Jesus turns the water into wine, when Jesus walked on water or spoke to the storm, winds, & rain (peace be still)

By this point, Jesus has be crucified, buried, and resurrected (prior to his ascension into heaven

Here’s the point: We see Peter turning back to the very thing he left to follow Christ when he first met him.

MUST ABANDON THE OLD WAY

talks about New Wine must be placed in New bottles

FCF: When you come to Christ, there are some things you must leave behind....the way you used to handle conflict, the stuff you would spend your time & money on,…where you honor God (Believers have a mature understanding of the church: people v building)

The bible said he fished all night and caught nothing. EXPOUND when God calls you, the things that used to satisfy you will never be enough.

Continue Summarizing through verse #9...

Reference to Charcoal EXPOUND

Here’s the point:

BE WILLING TO CONFRONT YOUR FAILURES

The last time Peter was near a charcoal fire & Jesus was when they were arresting him and a bystander identified Peter as one of Jesus’ followers (/)

[ILLUSTRATION]

I remember growing up, my sister and I would spend our summers staying with my grandmother in Nashville TN. After I would come in from riding my bike with friends/playing in the dirt, my grandmother would give us baths and she would always use Ivory Soap!

To this day, every time I smell Ivory soap, it takes me back 30+ years to my grandmothers bathroom…to Nashville TN.

[TEXT]

When Peter smells the fire, you gotta believe it took him back to time when Jesus was being beat and he denied even knowing Him.

FCF: God is so gracious to Never abandon us, but sometimes he has to take you back to where you are stuck (where you stop believing, the place where you might have given up....)

The death of Lazarus....”show me where you laid him” EXPOUND sometimes its not about God’s ability but your belief. (john 11:34)

Continue reading in verse 15-17

Be Willing to Follow His Way

Its interesting that Jesus ask Peter the same question 3x.

Some theological arguement suggests that Jesus asked him 3x correlating to the Peter’s denial 3x.

I want to pull your attention to the 17th verse: “He said to him a third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him a third time...”

[EXPOUND]

I believe Peter was grieved because he knew what Jesus was referring to: Peter said Lord, I will never leave you but when the time came, Peter’s faith failed him.

If you read when Peter says Lord I will never leave you, the first part of that conversation reads

Luke 22:31 ESV

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,

Luke 22:31–32 ESV

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

luke

The word SIFT means to seperate…but what is the devil trying to seperate?

Every day seemed to start and finished with purpose, and all I wanted to do was to be in the around the church and the word.

Even though I was on fire/felt good, I never forgot how to get back to the place where God brought me from. What was keeping me from going back started with a choice to follow God/accept Christ…but the avenue was there.

As time went on

Sometimes I think we are waiting for God to do all the work (to miraculously remove the struggle) but how many know that the struggle makes you stronger.

Originally quoted in 1857 by Fredrick Douglass, he said “where there is no struggle, there is no progress”

What makes a struggle a struggle is choice!

[THE TEXT]

The 21st chapter of the book of John opens with “After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas (called the twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, I am going fishing.”

The bible doesn’t tell us how soon after the resurrection this scene took place, but we do know it had to be less than 40 days according to (“appearing to them during forty days...”)

Matt 28:28 (the great commission), Jesus says “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations/”go and be fishers of men”

This was the original calling of Peter in , GO AND FISH FOR MEN.,

The bible said that Peter went back to fishing…he returned to what he knew...

One explanation could have been that had not happen where Peter was empowered with the Holy Spirit…maybe he needed an :”encounter”

…But that is debunked because if you look at a couple verses higher (), the scriptures said “He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

FCF: The disciples had power and purpose, but they tried to keep old habits near…the bible said Peter went fishing and caught nothing.

The scripture says he was trying to seperate Peter from his faith in Jesus.. EXPOUND

says “without faith, its impossible to please God”

FCF: If the enemy can separate your faith, you will never follow gods lead because you will always be relying on signs and wonders.