John 21:1-19 JESUS: THE FRIEND OF THE FALLEN
Intro: After several months, we have finally reached the end of our
journey through John's Majestic Gallery of Portraits of the Lord Jesus Christ. I must say,
that I feel like the Lord has spoken through His Word as we have tried to make Jesus the
focal point of these sermons. In this final chapter of the great book, we find a portrait
of Jesus that is thrilling for the saints of God to behold. In these verses, Jesus is
revealed as The Friend Of The Fallen.
This is a side of Jesus I have become very familiar with over these last
16 years. There have been many occasions when I had to come to the Lord confessing my sins
and failures and seeking forgiveness and restoration. Each time, I have found Him to be a
faithful Friend to those who have fallen by the wayside. While the focus of this chapter
is on the Lord Jesus, there is also major emphasis placed on the interaction between Jesus
and Peter. It is that theme that I would like to zero in on this morning. As I do, I would
like to speak directly to those who aren't as close to the Lord today as you should be.
Maybe the things of God aren't as sweet as they used to be. Maybe there isn't a hot,
burning love for the Lord, His House, His Word and His People like there used to be. Maybe
even your church attendance has become a thing of drudgery and toil. My duty this morning
is to tell you that it does not have to remain that way! Jesus Christ is still the Friend
of the fallen this morning. As we look into what the Lord did for Peter, I want you to
know that He can and will do the same for you if you will respond in the correct manner.
With that in mind, let's take a few minutes to consider together Jesus: The Friend Of The
Fallen.
I. Matt. 26:69-75 PETER'S FAILURE
(Ill. Before we can see how the Lord restored this fallen preacher, we
must first understand what happened to Peter and how he came to be fallen in the first
place.)
A. The Place Of It - Peter was in the wrong
place altogether. In the beginning, Peter had made his boast that he would never forsake
the Lord, Luke 22:33-34. Yet, when the time came and Jesus was arrested, Peter, like all
the others forsook Jesus and fled, Matt. 26:56. However verse 58 tells us that Peter
decided to follow the Lord and see what happened, but that he followed Jesus "afar
off." When Peter found himself surrounded by the Lord's enemies, it became hard for
him to stand by his earlier boast. Now, he takes the low road and denies that he even know
the Lord Jesus, v. 69-74.
(Ill. Essentially, all backsliding begins in the same manner! Instead of
staying as close to the Lord as we should, we begin to follow Him "afar off." It
may begin as simply missing a few services here and there. Maybe you just stop praying
like you should. Maybe the Bible isn't opened and read as frequently as it ought to be.
Wherever and however it begins, it will eventually lead to the same place. It will
eventually lead you into a backslidden and cold condition! Peter's problem was that he
found himself in the wrong place! Dear friends, being just a clear as I can be, some of
you are in the wrong place also! You aren't as close to the Lord as you used to be. You
need to rekindle that old flame and make things right with Him. Being in the wrong place
is dangerous! Just ask David - 2 Sam. 11:1-17.)
B. The Pain Of It - When Peter denied the Lord
that night, the Bible tells us that he went out and "wept bitterly." Peter was
miserable in his new condition. He knew that he had wronged the Lord. He knew that he had
violated something very precious and sacred. He was a miserable man!
(Ill. So it is with every child of God who decides to walk away from the
will of God. You will soon realize that sin brings with it pain, suffering and misery,
Pro. 13:15. Gone will be the peace of God and the sense of God's presence. Gone will be
His power and that joy in the soul that is worth more than gold. Sin is a thief and a
robber! It stills youth and beauty. It destroys innocence and effectiveness. Sin has the
ability to make you into a very miserable person! Ill. The Prodigal Son - Luke 15:11-17.
Was he happy in the pig pen when the friends and the money were gone? No! His primary
thought was of how much better off he had been back in the Father's house. Sin will make
you miserable, and if it doesn't, then you probably aren't saved, Heb. 12:8!)
C. The Price Of It - After Peter sinned, he felt
a definite loss of fellowship, peace and joy. He knew that things were different.
(Ill. I am speaking primarily to those who claim to know Jesus as the
personal Savior this morning. You need to know that when you decide to walk a different
way than the Lord intends that your decision carries with it a very high price tag. If you
are saved, then you can expect to lose much when you walk away from the Lord. You can
never lose your salvation, but you will feel like you have. You can most certainly lose
your fellowship with the Lord. There will be the loss of peace, joy and contentment. There
will be the loss of blessings and rewards. Sin is a cruel taskmaster and it will beat you
silly. By the way, if you persist in your sin and rebel against the Lord's efforts to call
you home, then there is a sin unto death for the child of God, 1 John 5:16, Ill. 1 Cor.
5:5.)
(Ill. Peter failed and he failed big! However, many of us say that we
would never do anything like that, but we are guilty of denying the Lord also! I am
certain that there are several who need to come before the Lord today and make some things
right with Him. If this is you, you still have a Friend!)
I. Peter's Failure
II. V. 3 PETER'S FOOLISHNESS (Revealed in:)
A. His Choices - After the resurrection, Peter
must have assumed that his ministry was over. He had denied the Lord and so he decided to
return to the old way of life. I am sure that he might have tried to justify it by saying,
"Well, I have a family to support." Whatever the motivation, Peter had been
called to forsake all those things and to follow Jesus, Matt. 4:19. The Lord's call had
been a call to come and be a fisher of men!
(Ill. People who are out of God's will always make the wrong choices!
They always base the decisions on fleshly motives rather than spiritual ones. This is what
Peter did and he was foolish because of it! There may be some here this morning who have
started to go back to the old life. You may even be able to justify it to some degree, at
least to your own satisfaction. But, you need to know this morning that if you are not
following the Lord and loving Him like you should, like Peter, you too are backslid and
out of God's will! That may sound harsh, but those are just the facts!)
(Ill. Your spiritual condition shows on you! It shows in the priority
you place on the things of God. Don't think for a minute that you are fooling anyone. No
one, that is, but yourself!)
B. His Companions - When Peter went back to the
old life, he took others with him. These other Disciples weren't as sold out to the Lord
as they should have been either! If they had been, they would have been waiting for their
marching orders. After all, Jesus had told them to go into Galilee and wait for Him, Matt.
28:10.
(Ill. Have you noticed that sin loves company? When a person backslides,
they usually aren't content to go it all alone and they will try to drag others down with
them. You see it in families all the time! One will get cold on the Lord and before long
everyone in the family is out of God's will. What a shame it is when we feel the need to
drag others into the same foolish pit into which we have placed our self! What's equally
sad is the fact that there always seems to be those who are willing to follow the wayward
child of God! Why are things this way? Because we like to surround ourselves with people
who are on about the same level as we are. If we are right with God, we want to be around
others who are right with God. If we are out of God's will, we feel rebuked by the lives
of those who are living for the Lord and seek out those who are like we are. Sadly, we
will often try to reproduce our spiritual temperature in the lives of those who are close
to us. This is merely an effort to make self more comfortable.)
C. The Consequences - Peter and his cronies
fished all the night long and did not catch a single fish! Most of these men had been
professional fishermen before they met the Lord and this must have been a devastating
thing to have to deal with. They toiled and labored all the night and produced nothing of
value!
(Ill. This is just the way it works for those who are out in sin. No
matter what they try to accomplish in their own strength, it always comes to naught! The
Prodigal Son found this out as he sat in the pig pen and watched the hogs eats those
husks. He couldn't even fill his own belly through self effort! I would like to remind
every person in this room this morning that you are totally dependent on Jesus Christ for
everything, John 15:5. You can produce nothing of lasting value in your own effort! Some
might argue that they have been living a slack Christian life and that they are still
thriving and prospering materially and physically. May I remind you that both of those
things are temporary and will soon pass away. In the final analysis, all that lasts are
those things you do through Jesus, 1 Cor. 3:11-15. Many Christians will see their entire
lives go up in flames before their very eyes! What will happen when you face Jesus?)
I. Peter's Failure
II. Peter's Foolishness
III. V. 4-17 PETER'S FRIEND
(Ill. Even though Peter had wandered into sin, he still hadn't gone so
far that the Lord had stopped loving him! Peter still had a Friend in a very high place.
That Friend made all the difference for Peter and He will for you also.)
A. V. 4-7 He Found Him - After the sin, after
the return to the old life, after a long night of failure, Jesus stepped onto the scene
and in a few minutes turned everything around and made things like they ought to be. What
made the difference? There was a change in Peter. Notice three things that changed when
Jesus came by:
1. V. 5 Peter was forced to admit his failure - This is
the first step in coming back home. There must be an acknowledgment of sin and wrong
doing, 1 John 1:9. (Ill. The Prodigal recognized this also - Luke 15:18.)
2. V. 6 Peter started to obey Jesus again - He stopped
doing things Peter's way and started doing them the Lord's way. This brought success where
there had been only failure!
3. V. 7 Peter has a renewed desire to be near the Lord
- He wasn't willing to wait for a more convenient time but went to meet the Lord
immediately. (Ill. This was also true of the Prodigal Son - Luke 15:20a)
(Ill. If you are one of those who has wandered away from the Father's
house and are presently walking in the far country, then you need to know that you still
have a Friend in Jesus. He hasn't forgotten you. He hasn't forsaken you. He still loves
you as much right now as He ever has. He just wants you to come to the place Peter came
to. He wants you to be willing to confess your sins, begin again to follow Him and just
love Him like you ought to. By the way, no matter where you run, the Lord will find you.
He will not let you get away. He has too much invested in your life. Why not come home
right now before things really get tough? Why not repent while there is still time to
serve the Lord this side of the grave?)
B. V. 9-14 He Fed Him - When Peter, and the
other Disciples, reached the shore, they found that Jesus had a fire prepared with fish
already cooking. They found there, with the Savior, all the things they needed after being
out on that boat all night long. They found food, warmth and fellowship. They found a
Savior who loved them and who had all the provisions in place that they needed. Everything
they lacked out on that boat, they found when they came to Jesus!
(Ill. Dear friends, some of you have toiled and labored since you have
been away from the Lord. You are miserable, thee is no peace and no joy in your life and
you need to get right with the Lord. Let me encourage you this morning to come back to
Jesus. When you do, you will find that He still loves you and that He has all the things
you lacked while you were away from Him. This is illustrated very well in the parable oft
he Prodigal Son. When that boy, who had squandered the family fortune, disgraced the
family name and allowed himself to wallow in the depths of sin, came home, he found a
father who had everything waiting for him that he had lacked in the far country. He found:
1. V. 20 A Waiting Father
2. V. 20 Compassion
3. V. 20 Love
4. V. 20 Forgiveness
5. V. 22 Cleansing
6. V. 22 Total Restoration
7. V. 23 Food For His Hungry Soul
I am here to tell you this morning that if you will return to the Father
today, you find all this and more waiting on you in the Lord Jesus. He loves you and
desires to have close fellowship with you. Why not come home today and find out for
yourself that there is a Friend for the fallen.
C. V. 15-17 He Freed Him - In these verses, we
find the Lord Jesus re-commissioning Simon Peter for service. I am sure that Peter felt
that his work and ministry was forever gone, but Jesus came to call him back into the
fight! This was a time of unique fellowship and restoration between Jesus and Simon Peter.
In these few verses, Jesus freed Peter from the bondage of his sin and failure and set him
back about the business of serving the Lord and His church.
(Ill. The same will be true for every backslidden child of God who
returns to the Father's house today. Not only will He forgive your sins, but He will
restore you to that place of service you once held with Him. He will put you back on the
battle field. He longs to meet with you this morning and to put you back into that place
of service. You still have a Friend in Jesus regardless of how far you have fallen!)
I. Peter's Failure
II. Peter's Foolishness
III. Peter's Friend
IV. V. 18-19 PETER'S FUTURE
(Ill. What would the future hold for this restored man of God? These
verses tell us the answer to that question. Notice:)
A. V. 18-19a One Of Sacrifice - Peter would
eventually give his life for the Lord who had saved him and who had restored Him. Peter's
call was literally to follow Jesus unto the death. Tradition states that Peter was
eventually put to death by crucifixion and that at his own request, he was crucified
upside down because he did not feel worthy to die like his Lord.
(Ill. If you decide to come home this morning and make a renewed
commitment to the Lord Jesus, you need to know that this things is serious! God expects
you to be serious about your decision and He expects you to follow Him in a sacrificial
lifestyle that places His will above your own. That is the only formula for true success
in the Christian life!)
B. V. 19b One Of Service - Peter is told that
his life, from this moment forward, is to glorify the Lord! He is no longer to live for
self, but in everything, he is to live for the glory of God.
(Ill. God's plan is the same for every born again child of God! His will
is that you and I live lives that are pleasing in His sight and that bring glory and honor
to His wonderful Name, 1 Cor. 10:31. There are no doubt many who need to come today and
repent of living for self, make a change and get up to live for Jesus!)
C. V. 19c One Of Surrender - The last things
Jesus does is to give Peter this command, "Follow Me!" The last call is the same
as the first. When Jesus found Peter and called him the first time, this was His command.
When he re-commissions Peter, He issues the same call. This tells us that the Lord hasn't
changed His mind about Peter, or about Peter's duty before the Lord.
(Ill. Regardless of how deep you may have fallen into sin, please know
today that the Lord hasn't changed His mind about you! You might want to repent and come
home to Him, but feel that if you do, you will be some kind of second class saint. That is
hogwash! God gives the same command to you today that He gave to Peter then, "Follow
me!" All Jesus wants from you is a surrendered life. One that is lived for the glory
of God. One that exalts Him and one that is lived in His will and service. He simply wants
you to follow Him!)
Conc: I would like to bring this message to a close by asking,
"What does your future hold for you?" Does it hold chastisement, misery and
difficulty? Or, does it hold joy, peace, blessing and glory for the Lord? The answer all
depends on what you do right now.
Some of you, like Peter, may be toiling while Jesus stands calling out
to you today. Please understand that you do not have to remain at a distance from Him this
morning. If this message has found you lost and on your way to Hell, then I invite you to
come to Jesus right now. He loves you and wants to save your soul. I know I have preached
primarily to saved people, and what they will face if they do not repent is bad. But, dear
lost friend, if you do not come to Jesus, you are eternally lost and are headed to Hell
with no hope. Forever lost, forever doomed and forever damned. Do not let that happen to
you. If this message found you backslidden, then I invite you to come back to the Father's
House right now. He stands ready to receive, to forgive and to restore, if you will only
come back home.
I have delivered the message as it was delivered to me. Now, the final
decision is yours. What will it be? Blessing or cursing, you decide!
