When you hear someone talk about a restoration project,
what comes to your mind?
Maybe trying to restore a house, an old house,
or a classic car,
or maybe just a piece of furniture,
an antique piece of furniture.
When you think about a restoration project,
does trying to restore a fallen or broken person come to your mind?
You know, when it comes to restoration projects,
from God's perspective,
He is concerned with restoring people,
fallen and broken people,
bringing them to Himself.
We see a good example of that
in the way that Jesus restored Peter
in John's Gospel, the 21st chapter.
If you would, go ahead and turn to John chapter 21.
As you're turning,
I want to remind most of you and tell some of you,
Peter failed the Lord terribly
as the leader of his disciples.
After Jesus was arrested,
before He was crucified,
Peter actually denied that he even knew Jesus,
not once,
but three times.
After His resurrection,
Jesus reached out to Peter
to restore Him,
to bring Him back into a right relationship with Himself,
and in the process,
with the other disciples.
We see how Jesus reached out
to restore Jesus,
or to restore Peter publicly,
here in John chapter 21,
beginning in verse 15.
Now before we read what happened
in this restoration,
let's put it in context.
Chapter 21 begins with
seven of Jesus' disciples
going fishing on the Sea of Galilee,
and they fished all night
and caught nothing.
But then as day began to break,
Jesus was on the shoreline,
and He called out to them.
They were close enough.
He called out to them,
cast your nets on the other side of the boat.
That's where you're going to catch fish,
and they did,
and they caught 153.
As this was taking place,
they were hauling their nets in,
they recognized who Jesus was.
They recognized it was the resurrected Jesus
calling them,
and so they did all they could
to get there as quickly as they could
to be with Jesus.
Well, when they got to Him,
they found that He had prepared a breakfast for them.
He had a charcoal fire burning
with some fish already on it,
told them to bring some of their fish,
and they had a great time together.
Jesus,
seven of His disciples,
around an open charcoal fire,
eating breakfast,
life was good.
But then,
Jesus looked at Peter
and began
the restoration process
in front of the disciples.
Let's read it in verse 15.
John 21.
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.
He said to him a second time,
Simon, son of John,
do you love me?
He said, yes, Lord,
you know that I love you.
He said to him,
tend my sheep.
He said to him the third time,
Simon,
son of John,
do you love me?
Peter was grieved
because he said to him the third time,
do you love me?
And he said to him,
Lord,
you know everything.
You know that I love you.
Jesus said to him,
feed my sheep.
We're going to begin this morning
a message about restoration.
We're going to come back next week
and then a third week
and see all the dynamics involved
in Jesus reaching out to Peter,
him coming back,
him being recommissioned.
And then the third week,
we're going to learn something
about minding our own business.
But today,
let's look at how the Lord
graciously works
to restore
his fallen people
to loving fellowship
and then useful service.
Our Lord is in the,
first thing I want us to say,
our Lord
is in the restoration business.
This is what we're going
to focus on today.
Our Lord,
the Lord Jesus.
He is in the life
restoring business.
Note that Jesus
initiates
this restoration session.
They're on the shore together,
having breakfast together,
and all of a sudden,
they've eaten,
they're sort of relaxing probably.
Jesus looks at Peter
and says what we've just read.
Peter
had failed Jesus terribly
and there was absolutely
no excuse for it.
You think about it.
Peter has spent three years
living with Jesus,
listening to Him teach.
Peter had had the advantage
of being with Jesus,
being taught one-on-one
in their group
of disciples,
their twelve.
Jesus had chosen him
to be the leader of the band.
Jesus had made Peter
a part of His inner circle
along with James and John.
Peter had all kinds
of advantages
in his own personal relationship
with Jesus,
but it didn't do him any good.
He still failed his Lord
when his Lord needed him most.
Peter failed Jesus,
but Jesus was not going
to fail Peter.
Jesus was going
to restore him,
bring him back,
because that's what Jesus does.
That's how much the Lord
loves and cares
about His people.
You know,
once the Lord calls
someone to Himself
and does this work
of regeneration
to make us His child,
puts His Spirit in us,
He's never going
to let us go.
He's never going
to let anything
take us from Him,
and Jesus emphasized
this Himself
on several occasions,
but here's one good example
in John chapter 6.
Look at it.
Jesus is talking.
All those the Father
give me
will come to me,
and whoever comes to me,
I will never drive away.
For I have come down
from heaven
not to do my will,
but to do the will
of Him who sent me.
And this is the will
of Him who sent me,
that I should lose none
of all those
He has given me,
but raise them up
at the last day.
For my Father's will
is that everyone
who looks to the Son
and believes in Him
shall have eternal life,
and I will raise them up
at the last day.
Paul describes this
in terms of
how nothing
can ever separate us
from the love of Christ
in Romans chapter 8.
We're not going to look
at it this morning,
but I'd encourage you
sometime.
Romans chapter 8
is one of the great
chapters of the Bible,
and toward the end,
beginning in verse 31,
Paul writes about
how nothing under the sun
can ever separate
God's child from God.
How nothing can ever
separate us from the love
of Jesus Christ.
Nothing.
It is emphasized.
God loves His children
enough that He's going
to do whatever it takes
to take care of us,
to bring us back
to Himself at some point
if we ever walk away from Him.
God loves us enough
to discipline us.
The book of Hebrews
talks about this.
One of the best examples
is Hebrews chapter 12,
verses 5 and 6.
Look at what the writer
says about God.
My son, do not regard lightly
the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved
by Him,
for the Lord disciplines
the one He loves
and chastises every son
whom He receives.
Here's the thought.
As a child of God,
He loves you so much,
He's not going to let you
ruin your life.
He'll let you mess up
a lot of things.
But sooner or later,
God is so going to work
in the life of His child
to humble you,
to break you,
to bring you to the point
where you will willingly
come back to Him
just as we see
in Peter's life.
Jesus reached out to Peter
in love,
but Jesus didn't make it easy.
This breakfast around
the campfire,
it was not something
like a positive experience
like you have
at some of your camps.
Everybody holding hands,
smiling,
and singing together.
This was tense.
This was a stressful scene.
Here's some reasons
why we should think that.
The fire that Jesus made
would have brought back
terrible memories for Peter.
Look back in verse 9
here in John 21.
It was a charcoal fire.
That's the same kind of fire
that Peter was warming himself by
when he denied knowing Jesus.
John brings that out.
All the Gospel writers
don't bring out charcoal fire,
but John does.
Look in chapter 18,
verse 18.
It says,
Now the servants and officers
had made a charcoal fire
because it was cold,
and they were standing
and warming themselves.
Peter also was with them,
standing and warming himself.
And that's the setting
when Peter denied that he knew Jesus.
Maybe Jesus was reminding Peter
of how he tried to blend in with a crowd
instead of standing out
as a real disciple of Jesus.
Maybe that's why
Jesus made the charcoal fire,
had Peter sitting around it
with the other disciples
to bring back the memories
of the night
when he denied his Lord.
You know,
this is something that
we can identify with
if we'll stop and think for a moment.
I'm talking about failing the Lord.
Aren't there times
when you as a Christian,
you're in some settings,
and maybe there's a discussion
about how God wants us
to live in this world.
Maybe there's a discussion
about some issue,
some matter,
and the Bible's clear
about how a Christian should live,
and there's a discussion going on,
but you purposefully remain quiet.
You don't say a word
because you don't want to call attention
to the fact that you're a Christian.
You don't want people
to start talking about
what the Bible actually teaches
because you don't want
to get their wrath.
You don't want them
to give you a hard time
about that narrow-minded teaching
that they know the Bible teaches.
Sometimes we can get
in situations as Christians.
We don't do exactly like Peter did
and deny Jesus.
We just keep our mouth closed.
We just make sure
that we don't speak up
and identify ourselves
as belonging to Him,
as trusting Him,
as trusting God's Word.
So sometimes,
our just being quiet,
our just sort of backing away
can be just as much
a denial of Jesus
as what Peter did.
Second thing that made this
such a tense situation
is the name by which
Jesus addressed Peter
would have troubled Peter.
Look at it.
In verse 15,
and it's all three,
15, 16, and 17,
all three verses,
Jesus called him
Simon, son of John.
Nothing wrong with that
except this.
Simon was His given name.
Calling him Simon, son of John
was a formal way
of addressing Peter.
The problem is,
that's not the name
Jesus gave Peter.
That's not the name
Jesus usually used
in talking to Peter.
That word Peter,
that name,
that's what Jesus gave him.
His name's Simon.
Peter, though,
we know him by that name.
When Jesus called him
to be His disciple,
His follower,
He gave him this nickname,
Peter,
which means rock.
But in this setting,
after Peter denies Jesus,
Jesus deliberately calls him
Simon three times.
Jesus refuses to call him
Peter three times.
It seems obvious
that Jesus was reminding Peter
of His human weakness
and His inability to be a rock
on His own.
Don't you understand
human weakness?
Don't we understand
that very well?
That's why we give in
to temptation, isn't it?
We do that.
We're tempted.
We know the right thing.
We know what God
wants us to do,
but we just,
we don't seek His help.
We don't seek His way
of escape.
And so we just
sort of do the best
we can,
we think,
and in just trying
to do our best
without His help,
we fail.
Just like Peter,
we find that trying
to live a Christian life
in our own strength,
it just doesn't work
because we are weak.
When my boys were little,
and my grandchildren now,
especially my grandson,
Will,
I tease them about
being weak
and their inability
to beat me
in some of the things,
some of the games
we play.
And I call them,
I used to call my boys,
I call Will sometimes
things like rabbit
or flea
to tease him
because he's weak,
because he can't
beat me.
Now some of y'all
wimpy thinking people,
you're thinking,
oh that's going to
destroy his self-esteem.
Wake up!
Huh?
That's right.
You may be some kind
of manby-pamby,
but my boys
and my grandchildren
aren't.
He can take it
because he knows
I'm playing
and I do that
because I know
the days are numbered
when I'll be able
to ever beat him again.
Just like I can't
even remember a time
when I could beat
my own boys
at anything.
Well when it comes
to living a faithful
Christian life,
if we don't seek
the Lord's help
and strength,
we'll find out
that we are weak
like rabbits
and flees,
we will fail
from our own
human weakness
just like Peter.
Let's look at
one other thing
why this was
a stressful,
tenseful situation.
The presence
of the other disciples.
All this takes place,
there's Jesus and Peter
and there's six
other guys,
six other disciples,
six that Peter
has previously led
and so Jesus
asked him
in front of them,
do you love me
more than these?
Now imagine that.
Here's Peter,
he's already feeling
very uncomfortable,
he has failed Jesus
in front of everybody,
everybody knows it
and all of a sudden
Jesus looks at him
in front of these
other guys,
do you love me
more than these
other guys do?
Why in the world
you think,
would Jesus
say something
like that?
Well not too many
days earlier,
Peter didn't have
a problem
lifting himself
up
as being superior
to his peers.
Jesus
had told Peter,
warned him,
you're going to fail,
you're going to fall,
you're going to deny me.
Peter wouldn't have it,
wouldn't believe Jesus.
Here's what Peter said,
look at it,
it's in Matthew chapter 26,
after Jesus had warned him,
Peter answered,
though they all fall away
because of you,
I will never fall away.
Peter had said that
in front of the other guys.
So now,
this confrontation,
this restoration,
it's got to take place
in front of these
other guys.
But let's be honest,
no one wants to be
called out for their sin,
for their failures
in front of other people.
But when it happens
before others
or against others,
restoration has to
include other people.
Listen,
when we just
blow it
before God,
we can confess
our sin to God,
the restoration
can be just
between Him and us.
But when we sin
against somebody else,
we sin in a way
that's made known,
people know about it,
the restoration
will have to include
those people.
When you've wronged
somebody else
in order to really
be right with God,
you seek His forgiveness
and also,
you go to the person
you've wronged
and you say to them,
I'm sorry.
You ask them
to forgive you.
That is a part
of restoration
when other people
are involved
and Jesus
made Peter
answer His question
in front of these
other guys.
This is an important
reminder that God
takes our sin
seriously.
And if we are
serious about
wanting to be
forgiven,
wanting to be
brought back
in a close
relationship with God,
we've got to learn
to take sin
seriously too.
Peter did.
Here's something
I want us to know,
a new thought here.
Peter actually did
understand all this.
He did have some time
with Jesus
before this encounter
on the seashore
by the fire.
Remember,
after Jesus
was arrested,
he was first
taken to the home
of the high priest
to be questioned.
Well,
the Scripture says
that Peter
followed from a distance
and was just
outside the house
where Jesus
was
when he denied
knowing Jesus
for the third time.
Luke
records what
happened like this.
It's in Luke
chapter 22.
Notice this.
Peter said,
Man,
I do not know
what you're talking
about.
And immediately,
while he was still
speaking,
the rooster
crowed
and the Lord
turned
and looked
at Peter.
You think about that.
Here Peter is.
Jesus is somewhere
over here
being questioned.
He's arrested.
He's being questioned.
It looks bad.
Peter is over here
warming himself
by the fire
trying to be
incognito,
not be,
wants no one
to notice.
But people notice.
They notice his accent.
They notice
he is one of them.
And they question Jesus.
Not once,
not twice,
but three times.
And all three times
Jesus or Peter
denies.
I don't even know
the man.
Now just think.
Peter's here.
He's mad.
He's afraid.
He's telling people,
I don't know the man.
As he's speaking,
the rooster crows
and as he glances
this way,
his eyes meet
Jesus' eyes.
He's crushed.
Think of the,
think of the shame,
the humiliation.
He has betrayed
Jesus
and Jesus
heard him.
Jesus saw him.
His eyes
were on him.
Peter was broken.
And Luke goes on
to tell us that
in verse,
same chapter,
verse 61.
And Peter remembered
the saying of the Lord
how he had said to him
before the rooster crows today,
you will deny me
three times.
And he went out
and he wept
bitterly.
Peter was broken,
humbled.
He repented of his sin.
Now,
just because he went out
and wept bitterly
doesn't mean
he was repentant.
He could have just had
an emotional breakdown
because he betrayed
his friend
and when he got over it
just went all about his way.
But that's not what happened.
Peter went out
and wept bitterly
because he truly was
broken and repentant.
And after the resurrection,
Jesus appeared to Peter
on several occasions
and at least one time
there's a special meeting
between Jesus
and Peter.
Luke tells us about it
in Luke chapter 24.
Look at it.
Two of the disciples
made this statement.
The Lord has risen indeed
and has appeared
to Simon.
Paul says that Peter,
that Jesus appeared
to Peter specifically
in 1 Corinthians chapter 15
about verse 4 or 6.
What we see here
in John 21
is more like
Peter's public restoration.
Not only to a loving
relationship with Jesus,
a renewed relationship
with Jesus,
but Peter is being restored
to a place
of leadership
among those disciples
again.
Now,
as stressful
and as painful
as this experience was,
we need to note
that Peter,
he didn't hold back
in this situation.
Peter was a willing
participant
and he shows
that he had already
had an encounter
with Jesus
that changed him
by the way he responded.
Look,
Peter did not hesitate
to profess
that his love
for Jesus
was greater
than the other disciples.
Look at it,
verse 15.
When they had finished
breakfast,
Jesus said to Simon Peter,
Simon,
son of John,
do you love me
more than these?
That's hard
in front of these guys.
He said to him,
yes, Lord,
you know
that I love you.
That had to be hard.
Peter had failed Jesus.
He had failed
his friends.
He was a pitiful leader
in their eyes
at this point.
But one of the goals
that Jesus had
for this breakfast
was to restore Peter
to a right relationship
with his fellow disciples
and to this place
of leadership
among the disciples,
which we know
later on
as we read
in the book of Acts,
he did take the lead again.
Even though it would have been
uncomfortable for Peter,
he swallowed his pride
and he cooperated
with Jesus
in this public
restoration process.
Here's what we need
to think.
When the Lord
is working in our lives
to restore us,
we must make sure
that we don't allow
pride to be
a stumbling block
to our being
fully restored.
Lord,
sometimes God
may convict you
to make some changes
in your life
and in making those changes
you've got to talk
to some people.
You've got to admit
some past sin,
some past problems.
You've got to seek
to be reconciled,
to be right with them.
Or you've got to make
some major changes
that you've got to explain
to somebody
why you're making the change.
And your pride is such,
I don't want to talk about it,
this is personal,
this is private,
it's none of their business.
Well, it is
if it previously
involved them.
It is if that's what
the Lord's prompting
you to do.
And Peter did it.
He swallowed his pride
and he spoke up
and listened to,
did what Jesus said
in front of these
other guys.
Peter also demonstrated
his changed life
by the way he
humbly responds
to Jesus'
repeated question.
Look at it.
Verses 15, 16, and 17.
Three times
Jesus asked Peter
the same thing,
basically.
Do you love me?
And three times
Peter responded
the same way.
Look at it.
Verse 15.
Yes, Lord,
you know that I love you.
Verse 16.
Exactly the same.
Yes, Lord,
you know that I love you.
Verse 17.
Lord, you know everything.
You know that I love you.
Peter's showing
a lot of humility here.
Peter does not boast
of his love for Jesus.
Peter does not even
respond to Jesus
with a simple,
yes, I love you.
Peter appeals
to the all-knowing mind
of Jesus.
Peter doesn't have this
boastful confidence
in himself anymore.
So he looks at Jesus
and he says,
you know
that I love you.
And Peter is emphasizing
the you part,
you, Jesus, know.
See, Peter's actions
lately had not revealed
any love.
So he can't point to that.
So Peter,
listen to this.
You think about this
personally.
Peter actually says
to Jesus,
you know my heart.
So you know
that I love you.
How comfortable
would you be
to answer that question
as Peter did?
If the Lord
just asked you
right now,
do you love me?
Would you feel
comfortable,
confident
to say to Jesus,
Lord,
you know
that I do.
You know what's in me.
You know how I think
and feel.
You know
that I love you.
Truth is,
the Lord does know
everything about us.
He knows right now
if we truly love him,
how much we love him.
He knows if we love him
more than anything
or anyone.
Here's something
we cannot forget.
If we don't love Jesus
more than everyone
and everything
in our lives,
we have a problem.
It's a sin problem.
You see,
there's one thing
Jesus made clear
throughout his ministry.
I've got to be first.
You've got to love me
more than your parents,
your children,
your spouse,
even your own life,
Jesus said.
And Jesus even said,
if you don't,
you cannot be my disciple.
Look it up in Luke chapter 14,
beginning about verse 25,
if you have any doubts.
Our love for Christ
must be first.
It must be supreme.
Or there's something wrong.
Right now,
let me ask you,
is there something
that you love more than him?
If there is,
just be honest
and admit it.
But admit to the Lord
that's not right.
That it's sin.
That you know
it's not pleasing to him.
And ask him
to change your heart.
Ask him to so work in you
that you want
to love him
more than anyone
or anything.
I want us to be honest
as we wind this up.
If Peter could experience
spiritual and moral failure,
so can we.
Peter had a lot more advantages
than we do.
He was actually
with the Lord.
Peter saw more,
heard more.
But he failed.
But the good news is
just as the Lord
restored Peter,
the Lord will restore us.
God does not,
never gives up
on his broken
and fallen people.
God will work
in all kinds of ways
to bring us
to a point
of humbling ourselves,
confessing our sin,
and coming back to him
in a renewed faith,
renewed commitment.
If you are away
from the Lord
right now,
I want you to know
he wants you
to come back.
If you are
a child of God
and there's something
in your life
that you know
it's not pleasing to him,
maybe there's something
you've been dealing with
for a long time
and you just sort of
try and put it to the side.
It could be
that the thing
that's bothering you
is so much
bothering you
that you can't sleep.
It may be
it's so bothering you
that you're
you're just so
eaten up with guilt
you're mean as a snake
to everybody around you.
If you're a Christian,
if you are truly
a child of God
and dwell by the Spirit
of God
and you're separated
from God,
you will never
rest easy.
you will never
know real peace
and contentment
in your life
until you come back
to him.
God wants you
to come back.
God's making your life
miserable to the point
it's like discipline
to bring you back.
My question to you is
will you come back?
And you can come back
right now.
Just admit to God
whatever it is
he's dealing with you about.
Confess your sin.
Grieve over it.
Turn from it.
Say yes
to whatever
he's telling you
to say yes to.
Make a new commitment
of your life
to Jesus Christ
as your Savior,
your Lord.
You're trusting him
that he paid the penalty
for your sins.
You're trusting him
that his perfect
righteous life
has been credited
to you
because you're
trusting in him.
Come back
to a right relationship
with God
based on your
relationship with Jesus.
Your renewed
commitment to Jesus
as the Lord
of your life.
If you're not
a Christian
admit that
to God
that right now
you don't have
a relationship
with him
but if you want one
turn from your sin
put your trust
in Jesus.
Have confidence
when he died
on the cross
he took your place
paying the penalty
for your sin
so call upon him
to save you now.
Our Lord
loves
to restore people.
If you are broken
fallen
or away from him
for any reason
he would love
to restore you
now
if you will come
to him.
Let's pray together.
Dear God
show us
what we need
to do
personally
right now.
Help us
to do that.
and in an attitude
of prayer
you listen
to the Lord
and you just
obey him
do whatever
he's telling you
to do.
I would be happy
to pray with you
here in front
in the next few minutes.
Let's listen
to the Lord
and do what
he's telling us
to do
right now.
good
and