We'll begin our worship by singing together in Psalm 25 in the Scottish Psalter version.
We'll find that on page 231 of the Blue Praise Book.
Psalm 25, Scottish Psalter, the first version, and singing there from verse 4 to verse 10.
Words that may be familiar to us, words that teach us to follow Jesus, follow the words that are set before us in the Bible, that we'll be taught by them.
Which will be a theme that we'll have considered in our sermon.
The words there are,
We'll sing from verse 4 down to verse 10.
We'll stand to sing,
Show me thy ways, O Lord, thy paths, O teach thou me.
Amen.
Show me thy ways, O Lord, thy paths, O teach thou me.
Father, thy paths, O teach thou me.
Let in my teaching be.
For thou art, O thoughtless,
Do ye shall be ye shall send.
And I am only all the day,
Expecting to attend.
Thy tender mercy, O Lord,
I may be to remember.
And loving thy kindnesses for thee,
Have ye of hope forever.
My sins and faults of truth,
Do thou art, O Lord, forget.
After thy mercy,
Have ye of me,
And for thy goodness paid.
God, who shall not be,
Thou mayest,
In her soul.
And for thy heart, O Lord.
And for thy grace, O Lord,
The hope has sought the Lord, our true and mercy due.
We'll now join together in a word of prayer. Let us pray.
Our Heavenly Father, we give thanks that we can gather in this place on your day.
The day where we remember the risen Lord Jesus.
And so as we join together, all different people, all different places.
Lord, we pray that you would speak to us.
We pray that as we sing from your word, as we read from your word.
As we call upon you in prayer and as we meditate upon what you say to us.
We pray that we would hear you speaking to our hearts and to our souls.
That we may be guided by your instruction.
That you may lead us and keep us.
And often we confess that we have gone astray.
There are many faults and failings within us.
But Lord, you welcome us to come.
You tell us to come and draw near to you.
And so let us draw near to you, O Lord.
With reverence and honour.
Mindful of whom we are approaching.
Lord, we pray for our children.
We pray for those that will go through into holiday tweenies.
We pray for those that will lead them.
We pray that you would speak to them also.
We pray that you would teach them likewise.
And guide them in their young lives.
We pray for those who have been at camp.
We pray for camps that are taking place.
And we pray that you would be with the leaders there.
And that you may reveal yourself to them in their young lives.
That you may sow seeds in their hearts at such a young age.
And that in your timing they would grow and flourish.
And bring forth fruit for your glory.
So Lord, we pray as we join together in worship and praise.
That you would be pleased to bless your people.
All this we ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.
I'd just like to say a word to the younger ones that are with us.
You may have noticed as you are coming into the building.
There's a few flags tied to the railings.
And if you go into the hall after.
You'll see there will be a few more flags in there too.
That's for next week's holiday club.
And we pray that it will be a time of fun that we have together.
But every country has a flag.
It's what identifies you as a country.
You hold.
I've got a flag here.
It's got lots of different flags in it.
It's still in its packaging.
I hope no one's looking for it.
It was lying on the table in next door.
I was hoping to come out with a flag.
But I've got this one that's got lots of different flags in it.
You see Switzerland there.
There's other ones there that I don't know.
Great Britain's at the top there.
America, Canada.
Korea.
All different flags.
Identify people.
When they go to the Olympic Games that are taking place and have started.
They'll be flying their flag as a team walk in.
It's telling them, this is where we're from.
This is our people.
This is my homeland.
This is my country.
I was thinking about that.
I was wondering, does a Christian have a flag?
We don't have a flag to show the world.
but Jesus says in his word
in the songs of Solomon
God says
his banner over me is love.
The Christian
has his identity
in the love of Jesus.
The Christian's identity
is in love.
The Christian
is from
heaven.
The Christian is going to heaven.
The Christian belongs to their homeland
which is heaven.
And although they don't have a flag
to fly like the countries
of this world
they can fly the flag of love
for Jesus Christ.
And you may know
of grown-ups who are Christians
that speak to you
and love you like no one
else could love you.
Every Christian
is welcomed
into heaven.
Every Christian
is adopted
into that place
that they call home
because Jesus
died for them.
They are adopted
into this place
of love
because Jesus died
in love
for every single
one of us.
We love
as Christians
because Jesus
first loved
us.
And when we go out
into this world
as Christians
we don't have a flag
to fly
with lots of different
colors in it.
we fly the flag
of love.
We love one another.
We love our neighbors.
We help those
who are poor.
We look after those
who are hurting.
we fly the flag
for Jesus
in the way
that we act.
In the love
that we show.
So that people
meet you
and say to you
why does that person
love me so much?
They can say
well it's because
Jesus loved me.
when we go
into the world
fly the flag
for Jesus.
Love
one another.
That people
would come
and love
Jesus too.
So remember that.
Love one another.
Whoever it is
when you
when you're at school
when you're at college
when you grow up
in this world
keep loving
one another.
Keep loving the people
that you don't know.
And when people ask you
why do you love me
like you do?
Tell them
I'm flying the flag
for Jesus
because Jesus
loves me
and Jesus
died for me
on the cross
at Calvary.
So I pray
these thoughts
would be blessed
to all of us.
We'll join together
in saying the Lord's
prayer together.
Our Father
which art in heaven
hallowed
be thy name
thy kingdom
come
thy will
be done
on earth
as it is
in heaven.
Give us this day
our daily bread
and forgive us
our debts
as we
forgive our debtors.
And lead us
not into temptation
but deliver us
from evil
for thine
is the kingdom
the power
and the glory
forever.
Amen.
We'll continue
in our praise
and our worship
by singing
in Psalm 25
of the Sing
Psalms version.
Psalm 25
of the Sing
Psalms version
you'll find that
on page 33
33.
And for this
Psalm we'll sing
the first verse
and then we'll jump
down to verse
Mark 6
and sing
down to the end
of that Psalm
to verse 9.
So we'll take
verse 1 first
and then we'll jump
down to verse 6.
The words there
are to you
I call
O Lord
my rock
do not be deaf
to my loud cry
I'll be like those
gone down to death
if you are silent
in reply.
And then at verse 6
Praise to the Lord
for he has heard
the plea for mercy
which I made
he is my strength
he is my shield
I trust in him
who sends me aid
my heart uplifted
leaps for joy
my thanks to him
I gladly sing
The Lord God
is his people's strength
a saving fortress
for his king
Lord save your people
your own flock
be pleased
your heritage
to bless
be their good shepherd
carry them
forever
in your faithfulness.
We'll sing these
verses to God's praise
and while we sing
the children
going to holiday
twenties will come out.
So we'll stand to sing
To you I call
O Lord my rock
to love the end
to my love
I use...
is the Lord glory
for all the eis
to the son who are
our service
and war
the ends
on ourчик
we sing
of risk
and the Holz
and the hives
in our life
to bring our eyes
to even
to the rebel
confusing
and host
down to the likeness
alone and staff
the て if you are silent
Praise to the Lord for the matter,
Love thee forever to which I am.
He is my strength, he is my shield,
Iは let him never change me in,
My heart of there be for joy,
I allow me to consist.
The Lord's body is in the same
As taking our prayer for his king
Lord, Savior, leave a new
Throne of the Lord's body
Lord, Savior, leave a new
As taking our prayer for his king
Lord, Savior, leave a new
And we'll turn now to read from Scripture
We'll have two readings this morning
And our first reading will be from the Gospel of Luke
Chapter 5, the beginning of that chapter
And afterwards we'll turn to John chapter 21
So firstly, the Gospel of Luke
Chapter 5, from the beginning of that chapter
Down to verse 14
Sorry, down to verse 11
Let us hear God's word
On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him
That's Jesus, to hear the word of God
He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret
And he saw two boats by the lake
But the fishermen had gone out of them
And were washing their nets
Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's
He asked him to put out a little from the land
And he sat down
And he taught the people from the boat
And when he had finished speaking
He said to Simon
Put out into the deep
And let down your nets for a catch
And Simon answered
Master, we toiled all night and took nothing
But at your word
I will let down the nets
And when they had done this
They enclosed a large number of fish
And their nets were breaking
They signalled to their partners in the other boat
To come and help them
And they came and filled both the boats
So that they began to sink
But when Simon Peter saw it
He fell down at Jesus' knees
Saying, depart from me
For I am a sinful man, O Lord
For he and all who were with him
Were astonished at the catch of fish
That they had taken
And so also were James and John
Sons of Zebedee
Who were partners with Simon
And Jesus said to Simon
Do not be afraid
From now on
You will be catching men
And when they had brought
Their boats to land
They left everything
And followed him
Let's now turn to the Gospel of John
Chapter 21
Again we'll read from the beginning
Of that chapter
There's a resurrection appearance
Of Jesus
To the disciples
On the shore
Chapter 21
Verse 1
After this
Jesus revealed himself
Again to the disciples
By the sea of Tiberias
When he revealed himself
In this way
Simon Peter
Thomas called the twin
Nathaniel of Cana and Galilee
The sons of Zebedee
And two others of his disciples
Were together
Simon Peter
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
Just as day was breaking
Jesus stood on the shore
Yet the disciples
Did not know
That it was Jesus
Jesus said to them
Children
Do you have any fish?
They answered him
No
He said to them
Cast the net
On the right side
Of the boat
And you will find some
So they cast it
And now they were not able
To haul it in
Because of the quantity
Of fish
That disciple
Whom Jesus loved
Therefore said to Peter
It is the Lord
When Simon Peter
He heard that it was the Lord
He put on his outer garment
For he was stripped for work
And threw himself
Into the sea
The other disciples
Came in the boat
Dragging the net
Full of fish
For they were not
Far from the land
But about a hundred yards off
When they got out
On land
They saw a charcoal fire
In place
With fish laid out
On it
And bread
Jesus said to them
Bring some of the fish
That you have just caught
So Simon Peter
Went aboard
And hauled the net ashore
Full of large fish
A hundred and fifty three
Of them
And altogether
There were so many
The net was not torn
Jesus said to them
Come and have breakfast
Now none of the disciples
Dared ask him
Who are you?
They knew
It was the Lord Jesus
They knew it was
The Lord Jesus
Came and took the bread
And gave it to them
And so with the fish
This was now
The third time
That Jesus was revealed
To the disciples
After he was raised
From the dead
Amen
May the reading
Of God's word
Be blessed
To those who have
Heard it
This day
Let us join together
Again in prayer
Let us pray
Our Father in heaven
As we come near to you
And draw near to you
And read your word
We pray that we would
Have a mind upon you
That is not distracted
That is not led to and fro
By the thoughts of this world
And we pray that as we come
To this passage
And your resurrection appearance
To the disciples
We would learn from it
And that you would teach us
From your word
Lord we pray that you would
Humble us
As we come before you
And we acknowledge
That we come before
The Lord God almighty
The creator of all
And the sustainer
Of our very lives
That we would humble ourselves
And be reverent
To worship you
And give you
All glory
Honor
And praise
And as we do so
Drawing together
As your people
As different families
From around the surrounding area
Visitors that are here with us
We pray that we would know
The power of your spirit over us
Guiding us
In our understanding
Helping us to see
And see Jesus in a new light
That we would be taught
From his words
That our ears would be unblocked
To hear something new
And fresh this morning
That you would continue
To instruct us
And guide us
As the good shepherd
In our lives
That we as your flock
Would continually draw near
To be gathered together
But to be ultimately
To rely on you
To follow you
To go with you
To where you will lead us
And so
Lead us with your promises
O Lord
In our lives
Let us hold fast
To the promises
That we have
That you go
And prepare a place
For your people
That you will hear
Our prayers
That you will not
Forsake us
So many
That we can hold fast
On to
Give us confidence
As we do so
That we would not
Disbelieve
But believe
In the risen Lord
Jesus
Who lives
And ever will live
And if we believe
In him
Though we die
Yet we shall live
Lord we pray
That the gospel message
Would be proclaimed
Across this nation
With faithfulness
And you would
Turn your people
Back to you
Knowing
The plight
Of the situation
And where sin
Has left them
Knowing that they
Are in need
Of a saviour
That they are in need
Of being rescued
Knowing that they
Need the Lord
Jesus Christ
In their life
That in him
They can have
Peace and purpose
Lord
Pray that you would
Teach our nation
Teach our
Leaders in government
That they
Would come
And trust in you
And lead
Our nation
Our country
In the ways
Of God
That we would
Fly the flag
For Jesus Christ
And his word
As truth
Lord
We pray
For those
Who proclaim it
We pray
That you would
Give them the power
Of your spirit
We pray
That you would
Bring many more
Men to
Come and
Devote their lives
To you
Consecrate their lives
To the gospel
And not just men
That needed to
Proclaim it
But women
Boys
And girls
That consecrate
Their lives
To the Lord
Jesus Christ
That you would
Give them
Understanding
In their hearts
That they would
Cry out
Knowing
To whom else
Can we go
So let us
Come
And sit at the
Feet of the
Lord Jesus
This morning
Like Mary did
That we would
Not busy
Ourselves
Like Martha
And lose out
On teaching
But give us
Peace in our
Hearts
As we come
To your word
We pray for
Our people
That we know
That are
Finding life
Difficult
That are
Anxious over
Their health
That are facing
Great changes
In the future
People that are
Mourning
We pray that you
Would draw near
To them
For your word
Tells us that you
Are near to the
Broken hearted
And lord
We just pray
That you would
Be our
Guide
Ultimately
In this world
That we would
Come back
To your words
That we have
In scripture
That we would
Understand them
As truth
And instruction
For us to
Follow
Be with us now
As we come
To your word
And consider it
Guide us
And keep us
From the evil
One
And all this
We ask in the name
Of the lord
Jesus Christ
Amen
We'll continue
In our praise
Before we come
Back to the
Passage
In John
Chapter 21
And we'll sing
In Psalm
145
Of the
Sing
Psalms
Version
You'll find
That on page
190
For time
I think
If it's okay
We'll just
Sing from
Verse Mark
17
To 21
17
The lord
Is just
And good
In all his
Ways
He shows
His love
To all
That he
Has made
The lord
Is near
To all
Who call
On him
To all
Who call
In truth
To him
For aid
We'll sing
These last
Three
Verses
To god's
Praise
We'll stand
To sing
The lord
Is just
And good
In all
His ways
The lord
Is just
And good
In all
His ways
The Lord
Is just
And good
In all
His ways
The lord
Is just
The lord
Is here
To all
Who call
Him
To all
Who call
Him
To
Him
Come
And good
God
The Lord protects all those who love His name,
A special to knock His wickedness.
Thy lips will fade as some of the plans to go,
I will be forever in His face.
Let every preacher magnify the Lord,
And may still slowly live now and always.
I will turn back to the passage that we have read there in John chapter 21.
I am reading there at verse 7.
The last few times that I have been with you here and preached with you,
We have looked at the importance and the impact of the resurrection appearances of the Lord Jesus in the Gospel of John.
We have looked at the account of Mary.
We have looked at the disciples in the locked room.
We have looked at the account where he appeared to Dante and Thomas.
And now this is the fourth appearance that John records.
This is the appearance on the Shoah.
And chapter 21 in John's Gospel is the conclusion.
This is his final sign of.
This is the last thing he has to say to the reader.
We have this closing purpose at the end of chapter 20,
Where he says he has written all these things so that you may believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
And have life in His name.
But he has got one last thing to say.
He has got one last thing to write.
In order to believe.
He has got one last thing for you to hear this morning.
And the restoration of Peter falls through in this chapter and forms an important part of this chapter.
But John clearly segregates this resurrection appearance in the way he writes.
John wants you to notice this appearance of Jesus.
You look at verse 21.
He starts off by saying,
After this, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.
He revealed himself in this way.
He's emphasizing this revelation.
And then at verse 14, he breaks it and says,
This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
The third time he revealed himself to the whole of the disciples.
The gathered disciples.
So what's the significance of this passage?
What does John want us to notice?
Because John is the only writer that records this passage.
And if he wants us to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, why is he recording this?
Well, Jesus is distancing himself from the people.
Jesus cannot stay in the world any longer.
His appearances seem to become less frequent.
Jesus cannot stay in the world.
He's instructing them how to live their lives without him.
So the disciples are here.
Thankfully, they're not in the locked room anymore.
They've opened the door.
They've faced the world.
They've faced whatever doubts they had in their hearts.
They've placed their trust in the Lord's words.
And I am sending you, as we have seen previously.
But we see them here.
They've gone out.
But they seem to be a bit lost.
They seem to be struggling to figure out what the next steps are in their lives.
And as we look at this passage here, there are three expressions that really shape this appearance.
And the first of these expressions that are said by the character Peter is,
I am going fishing.
The first thing to consider.
What Peter says, I am going fishing.
I'm sure there are many men in here that have exclaimed that.
I am going fishing.
Whether it's out of frustrations or maybe just to get a break.
But how does Peter say it?
He's speaking to the disciples there, those that are with him.
And there's seven of them there.
The passage lists them at the beginning.
They're at the Sea of Tiberias.
This is also the Sea of Gennesaret, that we read of in Luke 5.
It is also the Sea of Galilee.
It's the same place with three different names.
Peter is here saying, I am going fishing to the seven disciples that are with him.
And you might ask, well, why are they here at the Sea of Galilee?
What has left them here?
Well, if you look at the other Gospels, Jesus tells them to go to Galilee.
You'll find that in Matthew 26 and Mark 16.
He instructs the disciples, I'll see you again at Galilee.
So the disciples here, they're on the right path.
They're doing the right thing at this moment in time.
And for these fishermen to return to Galilee, it would have been natural for them to return
to their place in where they had worked.
They would have probably delighted to come back to that place that they had left,
to come back to the shore of the Sea of Galilee,
to come back and see the people whom they were familiar with,
to come back and tell them all that they had seen.
But as they come back, they start going off course.
They start to wander back into their old way of life.
You can just imagine, you can almost see them there, these seven men,
sitting at the banks of the shore, wondering, what are we going to do next?
Jesus has told us to come here.
What's next?
They have no real plan set before them.
They don't really know how to carry out the work of Jesus
and how to continue it.
They fall back into their old work.
You can see them just sitting on the shore,
watching all the other fishermen heading out to a night of work.
That was the most opportune time for catching fish.
Peter's just sitting there, and you can just see impulsive Peter just exclaiming,
I'm going fishing.
Whether it was for food, whether it was just for something for him to do, we don't know.
But he's off.
And others say, we will go with you.
And the end of verse 3 sums up that endeavour that they went on.
They went out, they got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
They all followed Peter back into their old way of life, back to fishing.
And surely deep down within themselves they knew fine that Jesus had not sent them to Galilee
to go back to being fishermen.
From day dot when Jesus had called them, as we saw in Luke 5,
he called them to be fishers of men, to leave the fishing boat.
They're at exactly the same place in which he first called them.
But Peter here leads them astray.
He leads them back into their old lives.
They maybe think this is the best thing to do.
And the disciples all follow the wrong voice.
And this is a point that we must all come back to again and again in our lives.
Personally asking ourselves, who am I following?
Am I following my own voice?
Am I following what I think is best?
Am I following someone else?
People in this world chase after having followers online.
They want to have as many people following them.
But what are they saying?
What are these people doing?
Who are we following in our lives?
And truth be told, it can look far more attractive than following what Jesus has set aside for us.
Because the devil will tempt you.
Certainly tempt you.
To divert you from following Jesus at all.
You read Pilgrim's Progress and you see Christian there and the battles he had.
Trying to follow the path that was set out for him and follow the light.
And they're diverting and they're getting themselves into all different trouble.
The devil will tempt us away with things that look attractive and things that look easy in this life.
But who are you following?
And where is that person taking you?
Tomorrow?
In the week ahead?
In the year ahead?
Into eternity?
Who are you following?
This is a lesson here to keep following the right voice.
To keep reminding the disciples here.
Listen to my words and remember my words that I taught you.
Follow me.
Do not follow man.
Do not return into your old ways even when they do look attractive to you.
Be faithful to me and what I have called you to.
It's even evident when you go through this chapter.
You can read it in your own time.
Jesus says to the disciples when they're questioning and asking one another what will happen to them.
Jesus says, what is that to you?
You follow me.
Who are we following?
These seven disciples went out into the sea of Galilee with great efforts, with great diligence.
We learn from this passage that they fished all night long and now day is breaking.
Peter was stripped naked, making every attempt to succeed in the work that he wants to do.
But he's getting nowhere.
They've got nothing.
They're exhausted.
They're tired.
They're empty handed.
But Jesus stands at a distance on the shore.
The disciples could not make out who he was.
And we have this conversation recorded between them.
And he addresses them as children in verse 5.
Do you have any fish?
And they say that this address as children is more like an informal address to shout lads or guys.
Guys, do you have any fish?
Fish.
But if you go to the Greek, it puts a different slant on that phrase.
It translates really, do you not have any fish?
There's a negative in it.
That makes a bit of a difference when you're asking someone that.
If I ask you, do you have sweets in your pocket?
Yeah, I've got sweets.
It's like, do you not have any sweets in your pocket?
You know, the second one with a negative in it, it's like, you're not expecting it.
Do you not have any sweets in your pocket?
It's implying you've got nothing in your pocket.
Jesus is speaking to them, asking them, guys, do you not have any fish?
And when he says fish, it's not even a full fish.
It is the smallest bit of fish that you could imagine.
Do you not have anything at all?
He's asking them.
And they say, nothing.
As a fisherman returning to port with absolutely nothing is embarrassing.
And Jesus is asking them to admit their complete failure.
We don't have a bean to show for all the work that we have done.
You see, what following the wrong man left them with?
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
So it's a lesson for us to consider who we are following,
and what we will be left with when we follow.
We must follow Jesus.
So that at the end of our day, we'll not be left empty.
You can exhaust yourself chasing after the things of this world,
trying to gather as much as you can.
But at the end of the day, what's it going to give you?
Nothing.
Follow Jesus.
The second phrase that I want us to consider is,
it is the Lord, in verse 7.
This is a phrase that John exclaims to Peter when he recognizes,
it must be the Lord.
He says, it is the Lord to Peter.
Have you ever thought how you would react if someone said that to you?
And someone said, if you were about your day-to-day work,
and someone said to you, it's the Lord.
The Lord is here.
The Lord has come.
On the day when the Lord will come, people will exclaim that.
When it is, we do not know.
But we must consider how we will react when the Lord does come.
And it is interesting that when you come back to this passage,
and you see how the Lord Jesus is revealed to them,
it is not made by his voice, as it was to Mary.
It is not made by his sight, as it was to the disciples.
But it is made by his work, and what Jesus does for them.
And in our lives, we desire to see Jesus in the flesh.
We wish we could hear his voice speaking to us so clearly.
But it is often his hands at work that enables us to say, it is the Lord.
Because Jesus is unnoticed in this passage.
Which is interesting, because the disciples have already met him twice already.
And when you go to verse 12, they are sitting with Jesus on the shore.
The disciples dare not ask him, who are you?
Jesus doesn't seem immediately obvious to them.
They have a question in their mind.
Who is this man?
But they know fine.
Deep down, it is really Jesus.
There seems to be something different about his appearance.
And if anything from this, it is Jesus instructing them to not rely on the visual.
Thomas was there in this group.
Thomas was the doctor that said, I will not believe unless I see him and touch him.
But Jesus is...
Jesus' identity isn't so clear here.
We can't say exactly why, but we don't know.
He is hidden.
He said, don't rely so much on the visual and my appearances.
I will be with you.
I will continue with you.
But you will see me in the works that I do.
You won't physically see me.
You won't audibly hear my voice.
And that work that he told them to do was to cast the net on the right side of the boat.
And it kind of sounds ridiculous for them to do.
They have been fishing all night.
They have not cost anything.
Jesus gives them a promise to that word.
You will find some.
It emphasizes their complete inability, I think, that they listened to this man and they did not question it.
Like they did in Luke's Gospel.
He questioned, we've toiled all night.
But they're here with nothing.
They've got nothing else to try.
This stranger saying, cast your net on the right side.
Well, let's give it a go.
What other options do we have?
Time is running out.
They try it and they receive a net full of fish.
Time is running out.
What option do they have?
To whom else can they go to?
We must follow Jesus.
What other option do you have?
Are time is running out?
John is the first.
He has to put two and two together.
Maybe he remembers that account in Luke.
And when he says it is the Lord impulsive Peter jumps straight into the sea.
But before he does that, he puts on an outer garment.
Which is a strange thing to do if you're going to go swimming.
To put on a jacket, a coat, a covering.
But it is believed that he did this because he didn't want to appear before the Lord in his nakedness.
In his shame.
He came before the Lord Jesus with reverence when he knew it was him.
And we must come before the Lord with reverence as well.
In Luke 5, when Jesus was revealed in the catching of the fish, Peter said,
Depart from me.
He realized who he was before the Lord.
And we must realize who we are when we see the Lord in our lives.
It is the Lord.
And the final saying that shapes this passage is,
Come and have breakfast.
I am going fishing.
It is the Lord.
Finally, come and have breakfast.
This is a great phrase to hear if anyone ever says it to you.
You're lucky enough to get that offer.
Come and have breakfast.
Come, it's provided for you.
Come and enjoy it with me.
This is what Jesus is saying to them.
I will provide for you.
And you will come and be with me.
And although there was fish on the fire already prepared for them,
he tells them to bring something of what they have.
And though these disciples went off track, they went back into their old ways in life,
probably knowing themselves the foolishness of what they are doing.
We know you didn't call us to be fishermen.
Jesus used this lesson to feed them, to instruct them, to guide them.
They themselves were nourished by the results of their own mistakes.
It was used for their own building up.
Jesus cannot stay with them.
But they find a lesson in the works of Jesus in their lives.
And I'm sure there are many of us here who have seen Jesus work in our lives and have learned great lessons from it.
You can look back in your life, and it's often when you do look back,
and you say to yourself, well, it was the Lord.
The Lord was there.
But you learn from it.
And maybe it was that you had made a mistake in doing so.
You look back and the Lord has restored you and taken you and guided you.
It's a lesson for the future.
Now, we can't see him physically.
We can't hear him audibly.
But he is at work in your life.
The Lord Jesus is at work.
Maybe you have to look back to when he first called you.
That's what he did with the disciples here.
He took them right back to where he first called them,
to be fishers of men.
And they learned a lesson from it.
To trust in the words of Jesus Christ.
To follow him.
Not to try and earn things for themselves.
For Jesus will provide for them.
And often we do not know how Jesus will provide for us.
Often we have to, often we go, often we make the mistake of trying to do it all ourselves.
But Jesus went before them.
There was fish already on the fire there.
But Jesus used this lesson.
To build them up, to instruct them.
What a catch they had.
They had 153 fish.
And everyone asks, what does this mean?
Why 153 fish?
And I don't think anyone really knows.
Everyone's, people have tried in all sorts of mathematical things in order to reach the significance for the 153.
But I think it just simply means that the Lord provided for them abundantly.
And the Lord will provide for you abundantly too.
Whether it be in this life, or certainly will in the next life.
The Lord will provide for you.
And he will welcome you with warmth.
When you come to him today.
And when you are welcomed to be with him.
In his glory.
In heaven.
Come and have breakfast with me.
Come and dine with me.
Come and enjoy what I have provided for you.
He has provided for you the most wonderful salvation.
It is already done.
We must come to him.
We must not resort back to following our old lives.
We must come before the Lord.
That we would see him.
And understand what he has done for us.
And this passage.
It's all about fishing.
But it's not really about fishing at all.
It's not really about the success of the catch that they had.
It's a lesson on how to go on in the Christian life.
To trust in him and his words.
To follow Jesus no matter what.
To honour him.
To trust that he will provide for you.
We all want to be successful in life.
Success.
Is found in Christ.
True success is found in Christ.
the world will leave you empty.
The world might pat you on your back
and say you're successful.
But are you really?
What have you got to show it?
What will you have to show it
when you hear them say it is the Lord?
Following the world
will leave you empty handed
but following Christ
will bring an abundance to your life.
He will provide for you.
So let us follow him.
Let us trust in him.
He is the resurrection
and the life.
Do you believe this?
Amen.
May these thoughts be blessed to us.
We'll conclude by singing in Psalm 23
of the Scottish Psalter.
Find that on page 229.
Psalm 23.
Words that are familiar to us.
Psalm 23.
The psalmist says that the Lord is his shepherd.
I'll not want.
He makes me lie down in pastures green.
He leadeth me the quiet waters by.
He also says,
My soul he doth restore again.
And me to walk doth make
within the paths of righteousness.
Here and for his own name's sake.
and yea though I walk in death's dark vale
yet will I fear none ill
for thou art with me and thy rod
and staff me comfort still
my table thou hast furnished
in presence of my foes
my head thou dost with oil anoint
and my cup overflows
goodness and mercy all my life
shall surely follow me
and in God's house forevermore
my dwelling place shall be
what a provision by such a shepherd
that we can follow
let us stand together and sing these words
to God's praise the Lord's my shepherd
I'll not want
Lord's my shepherd's name
it makes me down to life
and pastures be
he leadeth me
the quiet water shine
thy soul be done
restore again
and me to hope
doth may
within the paths
of righteousness
and me to hope
and yea though I walk in death's dark vale
yet will I fear none ill
yet though I walk in death's dark vale
yet will I fear none ill
for thou art with me
and thy door
and staff me come for still
thy table
has furnished
thy table
has furnished
shed
in rest
of
thy woes
my
end
The Lord with oil and oil
And my cup overflows
Goodness and mercy
All my life
Shall surely follow me
And in the sun forevermore
My dwelling place shall be
Concluded prayer
Lord Jesus
As we depart from one another
We pray that you would be our shepherd
And that we would follow you
Into the uncertainties of this life
Lord we pray that you would correct us
And provide for us
And that we may see your hand at work within us
So that we may proclaim to one another
It is the Lord
He is still at work
He is still alive
And he still reigns
And will reign eternally forever
May we hold on to the resurrection promises of Jesus
That he has provided life for all who believe in him
So let us believe in the Lord Jesus
Watch over us as we part
Be with us as we gather later in this evening
And may you bless the gathering of your people
Amen
Oh
Amen
Thank you
Amen
Thank you.