Thanks Al.
We have, and I know this for a
fact, you guys can, this is bankable, we
have the best pastor in the whole world.
For this simple reason that he desires to
follow God, he desires to love God, and
he desires to lead us, and protect us,
and shepherd us, and help us, and love
us.
And that's what makes him the best pastor.
And the church down the road might have
the best pastor too, if that's his desire.
But for us, this is a gift from
heaven.
This is a gift from the throne.
And I just want to welcome John as
he comes to share the word with us.
Thank you Pastor Brad.
Wow.
That's possibly the best introduction I think I've
ever had.
You know when I would come home when
I was playing soccer as a young fellow,
and I'd come home and say, You should
have seen me dad, I scored this goal,
and I did this, and I did that.
And my dad was a pretty level-headed
sort of guy, so he would always say,
I'll get the joiner to come on Monday,
that's a carpenter.
And I'd say, Why do we need him?
He'd say, So you can get your head
through the door.
Anyway, let's take our Bibles and turn to
John chapter 21 this morning.
And we're just going to read the first
25, well there is only 25 verses in
the chapter, so we'll read the whole chapter.
And while you're turning there, I'll just say,
Bryce, that was awesome.
Thank you.
That was marvelous.
And I don't have a musical bone in
my body, but I sure enjoy it.
I sometimes have a struggle to turn the
radio on in the right channel.
A little bit like a Baptist pastor I
saw down in Florida one time, his congregation
was giving him a hard time, and they
said, Why don't you clap when we're singing?
And he said, You want me to clap?
I'll clap.
You want me to sing?
I'll sing.
You want me to do both together?
I can't.
John chapter 21 says, Afterward, Jesus appeared again
to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias.
It happened this way.
Simon Peter, Thomas, Calditimus, Nathanael from Cana in
Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other
disciples were together.
I'm going out to fish, Simon Peter told
them.
And they said, We'll go with you.
So they went out and got into the
boat, but that night they caught nothing.
Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the
shore, but the disciples did not realize that
it was Jesus.
He called them out.
Friends, haven't you any fish?
No, they answered.
He said to them, Throw your net on
the right side of the boat and you'll
find some.
When they did, they were unable to haul
the net in because of the large number
of fish.
When the disciple whom Jesus loved said to
Peter, It is the Lord.
As soon as Simon Peter heard him say,
It is the Lord.
He wrapped his outer garment around him, for
he had taken it off and jumped into
the water.
The other disciples followed in the boat, towing
the net full of fish, for they were
not far from shore, about a hundred yards.
When they had landed, they saw a fire
burning.
Coals were there with fish on it and
some bread.
Jesus said to them, Bring some of the
fish you have now caught.
Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net
ashore.
It was full of large fish, 153.
But even with so many, the net was
not torn.
Jesus said to them, Come and have breakfast.
None of the disciples dared to ask him,
Who are you?
They knew it was the Lord.
Jesus came, took the bread and gave it
to them.
He did the same with the fish.
This was not the third time Jesus appeared
to his disciples, after he had been raised
from the dead.
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to
Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you
truly love me more than me?
Yes, Lord, he said.
You know that I love you.
Jesus said, Feed my lambs.
Again, Jesus said, Simon, son of John, do
you truly love me?
He answered, Yes, Lord, you know that I
love you.
Jesus said, Take care of my sheep.
The third time he said to him, Simon,
son of John, do you love me?
Peter was hurt.
Have you ever noticed that?
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the
third time, Do you love me?
He said, Lord, you know all things, and
you know that I love you.
Jesus said, Feed my sheep.
I tell you the truth, when you were
younger, you dressed yourself and went where you
wanted.
But when you are old, you will stretch
out your hands and someone else will dress
you and lead you where you do not
want to go.
Jesus said this to indicate the kind of
death by which Peter would glorify God.
Then he said to him, Follow me.
Peter turned and saw that disciple whom Jesus
loved was following them.
This is the one who had leaned back
against Jesus at the supper and said, Lord,
who is going to betray you?
When Peter saw him, he asked, Lord, what
about him?
Jesus answered, If I want him to remain
alive until I return, what is that to
you?
You must follow me.
Because of this, the rumor spread among the
brothers that this disciple would not die.
But Jesus did not say that he would
not die.
He only said, If I want him to
remain alive until I return, what is that
to you?
This is a disciple who testifies to these
things and who wrote them down.
We know that his testimony is true.
Jesus did many other things as well.
If every one of them were written down,
I suppose that even the world would not
have enough room for the books that would
be written.
Let's pray together.
Father, as we come before you this morning,
thank you that we can come to the
very throne of God because of Jesus.
And thank you that the Spirit of the
living God is here in our midst this
very morning.
Thank you, Lord, that it is your purpose
to encounter each one of us today, to
touch us and to lift us, that we
might know your glorious presence and truth afresh
all over again.
Lord, as your people, we worship you.
We thank you for all of your mercy
and grace and goodness.
Lord, in these moments, we ask that you
would take the written word and through the
ministry of your Spirit, cause it to live
in our hearts, that we might be changed
because of these moments together.
Before we come to meet you at your
table, Lord, we ask that you would come
and meet us in your Word.
For we ask it in Jesus' name.
God's people said, Amen.
I am thankful that we don't discover all
of God all at once.
One thing, I couldn't take it all, all
at one time.
But I'm so grateful when you look at
the Scriptures, and as we saw last week,
when you begin to think about the reality
of the people and the things that are
happening in their lives and how the Lord
talks to us through His Word.
I really want to focus in this morning
for a few moments before we meet at
the communion time, just to think about one
word.
At the beginning of this chapter in the
NIV, it says afterward.
Some of the other versions say after these
things.
But you get the same idea, afterward.
You see, that gives me tremendous hope.
And I think one of the things that
the church needs to be strongly responsible for
is to bring the message of hope into
lives and hearts and homes in these days
and times.
And as we think about this word, afterward,
aren't you glad that there's an afterward?
That Jesus comes again and again, afterward.
And this is the third time it says
that He met them after the resurrection.
We are a week only after Easter now,
but it's a good time to focus in
on that risen Lord Jesus and the things
that He is doing and saying and working
in the lives of His people.
So let's first of all just explore a
little bit, when did they see Him?
Well, we come back to that one word,
afterwards.
I wonder what's going on in our lives
and hearts today that we need to see
Him afterward.
It's then that they see Him, after His
resurrection.
You know, what a glorious thing to go
to the grave and it's empty.
I mean, that's a real whoo-hoo!
Don't you think?
I want a glorious thing as the word
starts to spread amongst His people that Jesus
is risen.
And yet, after the resurrection, it continues to
happen.
In 1 Corinthians, we read that more than
500 people saw the risen Lord Jesus.
And it is after His resurrection and the
third time now in this text.
And it is after He had breathed the
Holy Spirit on them.
You look at chapter 20 and verse 22
with me for a moment.
And you see, it says, and with that
He breathed on them and said, receive the
Holy Spirit.
So even after they have received the Holy
Spirit, He comes afterward.
I like that, don't you?
Because you know, sometimes we, if we're honest,
come to the place of saying, is this
all?
Is this all there is, Lord?
Am I going to have to fight my
way through this?
Is this all there is, Lord?
I've had the blessings in the past of
seeing the Lord come and work.
Is this all?
But it's after He breathed the Spirit.
Then again, they see the Lord Jesus afterward.
Oh, you know, this is a word that
gives me hope.
And it gives me hope for the circumstances
of life.
And after He has dealt with doubting Thomas.
Don't you love the story of Thomas?
In chapter 20 and verse 20 through 28,
you find that passage.
And could I say this?
I think we're pretty hard on Thomas.
I sometimes have said, you know, people will
say, well, how could he doubt?
I mean, all the other disciples have seen
the Lord.
How could he doubt?
How could he say that, Thomas?
You ever read John chapter 11?
In John chapter 11, Jesus says at the
beginning of the chapter, let's go back.
And the disciples are saying, hey, Lord, if
you go back into Judea, they're going to
kill you.
Who is it that makes this statement?
Let's go and die with Him.
It's Thomas.
You can check it out in John 11
for yourself.
It's Thomas who's the one who is so
sold out to Jesus that when the Lord
says, I'm going back into Judea, and they
know that there's a plot to kill Him,
it's Thomas who says, I'm going.
Let's go and die with Him.
Talk about commitment.
Wow.
I mean, this is doubting, Thomas?
I love the characters of the Bible because
I see some things in them that I
see sometimes in me and sometimes in us
as the people of God.
What was the problem when Thomas said, unless
I can put my finger in the nail
holes and into the spear wound in His
side, I will not believe.
What was it?
Well, you see, he had been so sold
out to Jesus, and when he saw Jesus
die on that cross, and when he saw
Jesus laid in that tomb, and when he
saw that rock cover it, every dream, every
desire, every hope that he ever had in
his heart was gone.
And so Thomas is really saying, I don't
want to be hurt again.
I trusted.
And I got hurt, and I got disappointed.
And it's going to take something major to
change that.
I'm not going to get hurt again.
I would suspect that I'm not the only
one in church this morning who knows a
little bit about being hurt.
You see, that's the very nature of relationship.
Sometimes we hurt each other without even knowing
or thinking about what's going on.
Thomas.
Doubting Thomas.
But Jesus stood in the middle of that
room, and although Jesus wasn't there when Thomas
was saying, it's going to take something really
major to move me, because I'm hurt.
What was it that changed him?
It's when Jesus himself, the risen Savior, stands
there.
It wasn't when the other disciples gathered around
and said, oh buddy, you know, let's lift
you up a little bit.
Come on along with us.
Come on, we'll try, we'll get you there.
Somehow, we'll get you there.
It's not too weak for an old man,
is it?
Okay.
But it was when Jesus stood in the
middle of that room, everything changed.
It was when Jesus stopped there and said,
Thomas, don't be disappointed.
Don't be hurt.
Don't be wounded.
Here.
Here's the nail prints.
Here's the spear mark.
You go ahead, man.
Touch it for all it's worth.
Know that the resurrection is powerfully true.
Know that in all things, I am King
of kings and Lord of lords.
It's afterward.
There's so many deep hurts in these days,
in relationships and in churches and so on.
And you know, friends, I'm Irish and there
are sometimes things I need to say just
in an Irish way, so let me do
it.
We look for all our answers in all
the wisdom that we can find in man
and all the programs and so on that
we can develop to address it.
And really what we need is afterward that
Jesus just stand there and say, let me
heal you.
That's what that table is about.
He's a savior.
He's a sanctifier.
He's a healer.
He's a coming king.
It's about the one who afterward comes when
he had dealt with Thomas.
After that, after many miraculous signs and strong
involvement in people's lives, after calling them, after
training them, after saving them, after cleansing them,
after all of this, Jesus comes again.
I love this passage in the Gospel of
John.
So many times the Lord has used it
in my own heart.
Afterward.
What is it?
As he comes to them, what did he
teach them?
Let's look at that.
He taught them that under human leadership and
using self-will, they'd be empty and fruitless.
Have you any fish?
Well, you'd think a fisherman could come up
with one if he fished all night.
And it was more than one fisherman because
James and John were fishermen as well.
Peter, you know, that's what happens when we
try to do it.
I like old Peter.
I'm sure he is the Irish disciple.
Enough of this sitting around already.
I'm going fishing.
We'll go too.
Jesus is saying, you can do that if
you want.
You can live in your own strength if
you want.
But it's fruitless and it's empty and it
brings no hope whatsoever.
He taught them that serving under his leadership,
surrendered to his will and his word, that's
where the fruit is.
That's where fulfillment lies.
That's what produces abundance.
Look at verses 6 through 11.
Throw the net on the right side.
Now, it doesn't say it here, but I
think Peter must have thought to himself, I've
heard that somewhere before.
Because in Luke chapter 5, that's exactly what
Jesus told Peter.
Go put the net out on the other
side and you'll find the fish.
Oh, my friends, don't you love what John
says to Peter?
It is the Lord.
When that net catches, it is the Lord.
It's nobody else who can do this.
There's not another one, there's nothing at all
that can touch this except it is the
Lord.
I love it.
Oh, so many times I've gone into situations
and said to myself, somehow things have to
change.
You ever said that?
If we could just change this relationship, if
we could just change this circumstance and you
can beat yourself to a frazzle, there's a
good Irish word, trying to accomplish it, it
doesn't happen.
It is the Lord.
The lesson, you know, is to put away
the self-life.
Brian said it so well a few minutes
ago, if only there wasn't so much flesh,
I'd be able to really worship Him.
That's what Jesus is teaching them here.
He's teaching them that self-life gets in
the way of living the Spirit-controlled life.
And it really does, doesn't it?
Afterward.
I think that's the lesson that comes to
me afterward and afterward and afterward.
When I've tried something in my own strength
and I get so frustrated with it and
I'm ready to blow up and nothing seems
to happen and afterward Jesus is sort of
tapping on the shoulder and saying, can I
do it?
He's teaching them.
The nets are empty after fishing all night
until at His Word we put them down.
I used to sing a little song years
ago.
It said, ere you left your home this
morning, did you think to pray?
It's a song about the fullness of the
Spirit and just surrendering all the issues of
life to Him.
This past week I accomplished something that had
been a while in the doing.
As the director of Canadian Revival Fellowship, I've
had two gold cards.
Woo-hoo!
A Visa gold and an American Express gold.
Woo!
The money I could have spent.
Have you ever tried to cancel one of
those?
It's not so easy.
I mean, you could get Irish and frustrated
with it.
Well, you'll have to call this number.
Or for service in English, touch one.
To speak to a real person, touch zero.
On and on it goes.
I said to Roberta on Thursday, I think
it was, I'm just going to pray before
I phone them because I know I'm just
going to go around and around and around
and around inside this circuit and eventually I'll
almost lose my sanctification over it.
I couldn't believe it when I actually surrendered
this little thing to Him.
I talked to a real person and she
helped me to cancel it.
Wow!
And somehow, you know, we just think about
the big things and Jesus wants to be
involved in it all.
Every part of it.
What else did He teach them?
He taught them that He provides for His
servants in verses 12 through 14.
There's food there.
There's fire there.
There's fellowship there.
There's growth there.
As He interacts with them, He provides for
His servants.
It's a lesson I've been trying to learn
for 40 years.
And every time another major need comes up,
it's like I've never learned it.
But He provides.
After we stop trying to sort it all
out, after we come to the place of
just saying, Oh God, only You can sort
this out.
A couple of years ago, Jim Sinclair from
the congregation here came to Ireland with me
and a young man called Andrew Gilkinson from
Nippawin Bible School.
You know, we were in a church in
a very dangerous area of Belfast, right in
the hot spot in the days of the
trouble.
And I had a few copies of my
little booklet, The Battle is Not to the
Strong, and we'd given them to some people.
And this lady came up to me after
the second service and she said, I read
your little book.
You mention a commander in there called Sammy
who was trying to kill you.
Would that be Sammy Murphy?
I should have been smart enough to change
the names to protect the innocent.
I said, yes.
She said, John, that's my brother.
I said, Ruth, how's he doing?
She said, Sammy died from cancer two years
ago.
And three months before he died, he phoned
me and he just said, Ruth, I'm not
very far from the end and somebody needs
to know everything's all right between me and
Jesus.
Do you know how many years I prayed
and wondered?
I spoke to that man once after my
friend was assassinated and had no opportunity after
that ever to interact with him.
But the Lord provides an answer for prayer
and the Lord provides a healing for relationships
and the Lord provides the things that are
necessary on a day-by-day basis.
And there is nothing to which we cannot
come to Him and bring to Him.
He taught them in verses 15 through 17
that love alone can be our motivation.
Simon Peter, do you love me?
Yes, Lord.
Simon Peter, do you love me?
Yes, Lord.
You know why he asks a third time?
Because he had to break Simon Peter.
Just like he has to sometimes break John
and Brad and Johnny even from our own
foolishness.
Broken, touched, and healed.
Oh, afterward, Jesus came.
What else did he teach?
He taught Peter not to fear the future.
Look at what he's saying to him.
Peter is saying, you know, Lord, what about
this guy?
Don't you worry about him.
You just follow me.
You do it.
He taught them not to compare themselves with
others, but to follow Him.
Now, you know what?
It's so often a comparison, isn't it?
We're doing alright.
Doing as good as so-and-so.
Not as tall as so-and-so.
Not as wide as so-and-so.
There's all kinds of comparisons that go on.
But Jesus, afterward as He comes, He's just
saying, Peter, forget about that other servant of
mine.
I've got a plan for him.
I'll look after him.
But Peter, you.
Just you.
Lord, where are we going?
Just follow.
Peter, just follow.
Lord, who's coming with us?
Peter, just follow.
Lord, where will we get the resources?
Peter, just follow.
If you don't hear anything else that I
say this morning, just hear this little thorn.
That's exactly what Jesus Christ is calling you
and me to do today.
Just you.
Follow Him.
If I keep going, this is going to
turn into a sermon.
So, let me work on that for a
bit.
What is He teaching us?
The people of God here at Glencairn Alliance
Church.
If we're sidetracked, afterwards He comes to speak
to us again.
I ask Him, do you have that singular
focus on Jesus?
We can get our thoughts on all kinds
of things.
How can we reach Glencairn and Regina for
Jesus?
You know what?
That's a great thought, but the only way
it's going to happen is when you and
I follow Him and just have our eyes
on Him and allow Him to be Lord
of it all in every way.
If we're trying to do something in our
own strength, it can't happen.
It will not happen.
We need a word from Him.
If we're concerned for ourselves and our needs,
He still holds the resources.
I was looking at a Baptist church in
Tennessee the other day and I said to
them, how old is the building?
Two years.
Wow, that's nice.
They said, before you ask, 32 million.
I said, oh, was that for the building
or the parking lot?
It's the parking lot, it's huge.
But the thought came to me, whose resources
is with it?
Not the church's, but the Lord.
He still calls us to come and dine
and that's what we're going to do in
just a few moments.
Just at this table this morning would be
about meeting Him, the Lord Jesus.
And He'll guide us into the future in
His own will and way and plan.
So let me just wrap things up.
As we think this morning in the Word
of God, do you need to meet Jesus?
Is there an afterword going on in your
heart, your mind, your life?
Just quietly before we move to the Lord's
table, in your heart, speak to the Lord
Jesus.
You can say to Him, Lord, just as
afterwards you came and you met those disciples
in the midst of their busyness, and you
healed the relationship of their hearts, and you
loved them beyond anything that they had ever
experienced, you know the needs of my heart
this morning, and my greatest need is a
fresh encounter with You, Lord.
You know the sin that so easily besets
me.
Lord, as we would come to the table
in a few moments, search my heart.
Show me the things that I need to
confess and forsake.
And let my eyes and my heart focus
once again only on You.
And if you're here this morning, and you're
not sure that Jesus is your Lord, you
can make sure this morning.
From your heart, you can call out to
Him and say, Lord, after all the things
that life has handed me, I hear You
calling from the shore this morning.
Come and die.
Lord Jesus, forgive me for my sin.
Cleanse my heart and my life.
Fill me with Your Holy Spirit.
And in all of the afterwards, let me
know Your touch.
In Jesus' name we pray.