[0:00] Good morning. And a warm welcome to church this morning. Good to see a few visitors with us today as well. And you're especially welcome.
[0:12] And if you're able to stay behind, please do so. Visitors and those who are not visitors, stay behind. There's tea and there's coffee at the end of the service. And all are welcome to that.
[0:23] You received a notice sheet on the way in, a white sheet. And the intimations have been also on the wall, on the screen, since we gathered.
[0:35] And one or two of these, just to highlight. The first is to say, youth fellowship people, primary sevens are welcome tonight and through the month of June.
[0:46] Youth fellowship is for secondary school age and upwards, the students who are still here with us as well. So, those who are in primary seven, just about to go into first year, please come along to YF and ask your friends.
[1:01] You know anyone who doesn't go to any YF? Well, there only is one at YF in Targwick. But if you know anyone of that age, she doesn't go to church, but may come to YF. Take the opportunity to ask them to come along.
[1:15] Everyone is most welcome. That's half past seven on Sunday evening. Ladies Bible study and road to recovery and prayer meeting, all at the usual times and the usual places.
[1:26] I want to just give a word of encouragement for the prayer meeting. Spurgeon often talked about the prayer meeting being the engine room of the church. And let's be encouraged to give serious consideration to coming to the prayer meeting.
[1:45] Those who are in membership, we should be encouraged to come together to pray. Those who are not and who are just thinking through things from a Christian perspective.
[1:57] If you come to the prayer meeting, don't worry, you're not going to get asked to pray. I'm not going to pounce on anyone. But you can come and sit and listen to God's word and also to those who are leading in prayer.
[2:14] And it's a time where we're able, probably less formally, to think through the issues of the Christian faith. So for those who are not Christians but who are searching, be encouraged also to come to the prayer meeting.
[2:29] There's a holiday club meeting following the prayer meeting on Wednesday night. Is that going to be in the manse of the church in the manse? So those who are able to help in the holiday club, please come up just after the Wednesday night prayer meeting.
[2:44] I don't think we have very many, if any, volunteers actually written down for the holiday club. But the dates of it are the 6th to the 10th of August.
[2:57] And if you're volunteering for that, which I would encourage you to do, doesn't mean you're standing at the front. There's a million different jobs that need to be done. And so please, if you're able to help, speak to Mary or put your name on the sheet that's somewhere at the table at the door.
[3:13] Barbecue this coming Saturday. We joined together with Scalpy and Leverborough Free Church. And we're going to Schillibos Macher at 1 o'clock. And if you're able to help with transport, if you can help transport some folding tables time, please speak to Shona.
[3:31] Shona is over there. Or Amma. And you know Amma. So please take note of that as well. A couple more things. The record.
[3:43] Some of you have been receiving the record. Perhaps whether you like it or not. We ordered a batch of records, which have been going out with your name on it. And just to check whether people want to receive this or not, really.
[3:57] The cost of the record is £18 for the course of a year. And if you would like it, please give that check with the relevant marking on it to the elders at the door for the offering plate.
[4:13] And that will give us an indication of who wants to keep on receiving it and who wants to just draw a line at this time. Insurance purposes, we've been working with the building and lots of people needed access in and out of the building as we were doing the construction.
[4:30] For the insurance brokers, we need to have a list of who has keys. And actually at the moment we're not sure who has keys and who doesn't have keys.
[4:41] So if you have a key, please let Angus Alec or Cammy know so we can have a record of that. Holiday Club looking for some craft supplies. You can see the details of that on the sheet.
[4:55] And please take note of that. Final thing to take note of is the licensing of students for ministry. And there's a fairly lengthy notice on the back of the sheet.
[5:06] It's been on the screen as well. And you can take note of that. And if you're able to go along to that meeting, please do so. These, I think, are all the intimations.
[5:19] So let's begin our time of worship. Let's worship God and sing to his praise from Psalm 139 and the first 10 verses of the Psalm.
[5:31] Psalm 139, the words will be on the screen in just a moment. O Lord, thou hast me searched unknown. Thou knowest my sitting down and rising up. Yea, all my thoughts are far to thee unknown.
[5:44] Down to the end of the verse, Mark 10. To God's praise. O Lord, thou hast me searched unknown.
[6:02] Thou knowest my sitting down and rising up.
[6:14] Yea, all my thoughts are far to thee unknown. My first steps and my lying down.
[6:34] Thou conversest always. Thou ninety- Which means at hand.
[6:47] Thou Brett Installation ips him andverty on them.
[7:01] I think that nothing should be done. And before I speak not any word but me, but all together know, O Lord, it is well known to thee.
[7:29] Behind me for love has beset and laid on me thine hand.
[7:45] Such knowledge is too strange for me, too high to understand.
[8:01] From thy spirit whither shall I go, or from thy presence fly.
[8:17] Ascent I am, Lord, thou art there. Let it pin my eye.
[8:33] Take I the morning wings and dwell in the cross parts of sea.
[8:50] In their Lord shall thy hand be lead, thy right and hold shall be.
[9:07] Let's unite our hearts in prayer. Let's pray.
[9:20] Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day and we thank you for this privilege that we have of coming into your presence and uniting our hearts in prayer and raising our voices in praise to you, the one true God.
[9:46] We thank you, Lord, that as we look around ourselves in this part of the world that you have created, we see so many reasons to give you praise for who you are and all that you have done.
[10:03] We thank you that you are the God who spoke a word and everything that we see and everything that we are came into being.
[10:17] We thank you that your word is a word that creates where there was no substance and there was no life. And, Lord, we praise you that you are the God of all creation.
[10:32] you are the God of heaven and earth you are the one who is almighty the one who is glorious and yet Lord we thank you for the words that we have sung you are the God who who holds us by your hand and so Lord we praise you that we can come this morning we can know that you you know us individually you've searched us and you know us there's not a thought that passes through our minds that you have not understood and watched and listened to there's not a word that we can speak that you do not know Lord before it trips off our tongues there's not an action that we can do or something that we can leave undone that you are not aware of Lord you search us and you know us better than we know ourselves and as we bow before you Lord we know that you are the God who not only sees the outward appearance but you know our hearts so we ask Lord with the psalmist that you would search our hearts at the beginning of this your day search our hearts and enable us to see in a measure that we can cope with the state of our hearts before you we know that whenever we look at ourselves whenever we see something of the reality of our hearts we see that we are sinners we see that we fall short in so many different ways we do not meet your standard Lord we do not come up to the calling that we have received and Lord we confess that we confess that we are sinners in thought and in word and in deed and Lord we pray that as we think about that as the Holy Spirit brings to our minds the things that we have said that we wish we hadn't said and the things that we have done that we wish we hadn't done we ask Lord that as we repent that you would forgive us that you would cleanse us in the blood of Christ and you would restore us to that close relationship with you that we can enjoy in and through Jesus and if there is anyone here this morning who does not yet know Christ we ask Lord that they would see the absolute urgency of not neglecting the salvation that has been has been provided for us in Jesus but in calling upon the name of the Lord and knowing the assurance of salvation to hear our prayers Lord as we bow before you search us and know us cleanse us, forgive us and as we seek to draw near to you we pray that you the God of all creation would draw near to us and hold us by your hand we pray for those who can't be here this morning we think of those in hospital we think especially of John Struthers we ask that your hand would be upon him that he would know your healing that he would know restoration in his body and that we would see him back with us here soon we pray for others who are at home and have been for some weeks now we think of KTAC and Neil and others and we ask Lord that you would increase their strength and that we would see them back in the fellowship and in the days to come and Lord for others who are struggling in different ways
[14:32] some with the pressures of work and the responsibilities of life some who are feeling low in their minds and in their hearts and who cannot face going out we ask Lord that you would draw near to each one that you would meet each one at the point of our needs where we are down Lord encourage us where we are under pressure we pray that we would know your help and that freedom that there is in Christ where there is confusion Lord that you would give guidance where there is a a binding to an addiction and a destructive way of life Lord that you would break that in the power that you alone can give and Lord we pray that whatever our needs may be whatever the needs of those who are absent from us as well this morning may be meet each one we pray at the point of our need and draw us on in our walk with you help us we pray as we come together in worship help us we pray as we seek to go out from here to make Jesus known give us courage Lord give us opportunity give us the desire day by day to share Christ for we ask all these things in Jesus name and for Jesus sake
[15:55] Amen boys and girls would you like to come to the front please how are you today how are you today fine how are you today fine some of you aren't even up to your lips I want to see all these Grace McLean included I want to see all these lips moving how are you all fine good good that's good good are you wondering what's in my plastic bag is anyone hungry yes you you know what's in it do you you a packet of crisps no not a packet of crisps chocolate not chocolate not chocolate biscuits biscuits biscuits biscuits cake not biscuits biscuits cakes cake not cake bread cheese bread bread breadenihan closing with bread cake fish ahhh not fully googuther, crowd
[17:25] Not true, Kate. Rose. Who likes Rose? Anyone here like Rose?
[17:39] I feel a bit bad because they can't see me. But if they sit all the way over there, what do they expect? It's got all these seats down here. If anyone wants to just come down to the front here, welcome.
[17:53] Rose. Rose. Anyone here hungry for a row? There's one.
[18:14] Anyone want a bite? Anyone want a row? No. Don't worry, don't worry. There's much more. There's much more where that came from.
[18:26] Oh, I can't. Another one? No. No.
[18:38] Rose. No. No, no, no, no. No, no, no, no. Oh, no. No, no. Oh! No, no, no, no! No! tell me boys and girls why don't you want one of these rolls right let's one at a time one at a time let's let's figure this one out because because they're disgusting yes but those are not disgusting they're wrong one at a time tell me all give me your reasons one by one tell me why will you not eat one of these rolls it looks like someone's okay no they're all green green is good it's a nice color not to eat do you not eat broccoli no no rose and green they're rotten they're foosie they're rotten they're moldy they're green they're only smell bad they're old they smell bad that's why we don't want to eat the rolls why do you think they're old and why do you think they're foosie and they're green and they're moldy and they're not very tasty because they've been in the bag for ages they've been eating them they've just been sitting about for ages and see if i was to if i was to check i don't i haven't done this but if i was to check this has got to be eaten before the 29th of may and this is now the 10th of june oh and they've been sitting in a bag in the kitchen that doesn't now just so everyone knows this is very important for my marriage this doesn't normally happen but i figured out early in the week that i needed to push the rolls for the children's talk so that i kept them normally they'd be they'd be gone they don't normally you can come to the house for dinner and don't worry you won't get foosie rolls but but uh the reason they're green and foosie and horrible and rotten and smelly is because they have a a best before date they have a sell-by date and it's long gone past so once things are past their sale by date you get rid of them you do that with food don't you um we do that with toys well not sell-by date but toys go in an out fashion don't they yeah they go like in a toy sale they go in a toy sale basket or there's things like phones remember phones when you first got them they were massive things massive like that and now they're much smaller and the old ones we don't use them anymore so they're kind of past their day flares you can imagine all see all the men at the front there the elders and years gone by that all have been sitting there with our flares nowadays their trousers are straight cut and tapered slightly flares are past their date so all these things they can go past their dates do you know what never
[22:40] goes out of date do you know what never goes out of date let's get a few guesses yeah well sin is always there that's right yeah that's right yeah god never goes out of date jesus never goes out of date you all ready the holy spirit that's right the bible you listen john see this here this book here it was written thousands and thousands of years ago and yet it's not out of date and all the stuff that happens in our lives when we read this we see this in the bible over and over again and i'll tell you something else that never goes out of date god's promises when god makes a promise his promise is forever we can never go to god and say remember you promised when we pray lord you promised he never comes back to me he says that was that was that's past his day whenever he makes a promise to us he sticks to it it's always fresh i want you to tell me just before we finish this but we can have some of god's promises to you we're going to think about one tonight and if you can think of a promise i'll give you a chocolate egg i hope is this amazing
[24:32] Bella yeah he said to know that it will not for the world again yeah he's never seen that massive giant blood again what's the thing that reminds us of that the rainbow the rainbow john ronnie's thinking not getting any worse now though john ronnie's thinking come on john come on john you can do it so um some more promises that god has given us right here's your job he promised that he would come back to life jesus and did he he did he promised that he would take our sin away if we what if we said we said sorry and we asked him to he promises there's a good verse if if we confess our sin because he's faithful and just he will forgive our sin and purify us of all the black stuff um john john ronnie he said he'd come back there right last one he promised us he promised us he promised his son for god so loved the world that he said he's promised all the way to the old testament and uh there's more streets than sunday so but i think we're out of time so remember boys and girls you throw out your foosie food but you never throw out god's word which is like the bread of life and we never throw out god's promises because they're as fresh today as the day he first made them close your eyes dear lord we thank you that you love us we thank you that you speak to us we thank you that you have promised so many different things to us we thank you that you thank you that you thank you that you thank you that you thank you that you thank you that you promised lord god that your son would come into this world to save us from sin and we thank you that he did we thank you for the rainbow that reminds us of your love for us and your promise to us never to send a floodlight there was in the days gone by we thank you for your promise lord jesus that you're going to come back again the promise that you would rise from the dead and you did and the promise that one day you'll come back and everybody who knows and trusts you will be with you forever and we pray that we will be ready every day for the the lost strength of the coming back to hear our prayers take away our sin and we ask them if you could turn in our bibles please to john chapter 21 john chapter 21 and we'll read we'll read from verse 7 this is god's word and we see here that uh jesus has appeared on the shore and uh there's that miraculous catch of fish
[28:36] and then john the disciple whom jesus loved verse 7 said to peter it is the lord she sees him on the shore as soon as simon peter heard him say it is the lord he wrapped his outer garment around him for he'd 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 landed they saw a fire of burning coals there was fish in it and some bread jesus said to them bring some of the fish you have 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 ask him who are you they knew it was the lord jesus came took the bread and gave it to them and did the same with the fish this was now the third time jesus appeared to his disciples after he was 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 these 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 because jesus asked him the third time do you love me he said lord you know all things you know that i love you jesus said feed my sheep amen and may god bless that video of his word to us john mcclean will now lead us in a word of prayer and galak please swan jugo
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[35:59] Z We sing again to God's praise, this time from Psalm 51.
[36:32] And we sing in Gaelic this time. Psalm 51 and at verse 15 to verse 17.
[37:02] And we see something of that as we focus on Peter in this passage here.
[37:13] Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic. We remain seated to sing. Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic.
[37:48] Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic.
[38:18] Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic.
[38:48] Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic.
[39:18] Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic.
[39:48] Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic. Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic. Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic. Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic. Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic. Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic.
[40:00] Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic. Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic. Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic. Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic. Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic. Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic.
[40:12] Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic. Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic. Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic. Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic. Psalm 51, 15 to 17 in Gaelic.
[40:32] Amen. If you could turn in your Bibles please back to John chapter 21.
[41:02] John 21. Let's pray for a moment as we come back to God's Word.
[41:19] Father, we commit this time to you now and ask that you would speak to us through your Word, that we would hear the promises of God, the teaching, the correction, the encouragement that we receive when we come to your Word.
[41:37] Open our ears, Lord, that we may hear. Open my mouth, Lord, that I would speak in accordance with your will. Open our hearts, Lord. We cannot do that ourselves.
[41:47] We pray for the help of the Holy Spirit in doing so. But we pray for ourselves here. We pray once more for the children through the house. We pray for all the other congregations of your people in Tarbert and across the islands and across the nation and across all nations.
[42:06] Be at work, Lord, we pray, building your church and encouraging your people, bringing life into hearts where there previously was no life. We pray for those absent, as we have done.
[42:19] And, Lord, we give you thanks for all who are present. Minister to each one, we pray. We thank you especially for those who are absent for a long period and who are back with us now.
[42:29] We think of Joan McCaskill and others. And we commit them to you, Lord, and ask that you would bless them as we pray that you would bless us and bless the congregations that we're connected with in different places.
[42:41] Be glorified, we pray, here and elsewhere. And draw many people, we pray, Lord, to yourself. We ask it in Jesus' name.
[42:52] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Last Saturday I was heading away to Inverness and I had to catch a plane to Inverness.
[43:06] So I was in Stornley Airport. I was in there for about four hours longer than I expected to be due to delays, but that's another story. And I was in Stornley Airport and I was just heading through security eventually when I bumped into Nurse Marion.
[43:24] She's not with us today. She's away in Canada, I think, at this point in time. But she was heading off for the first leg of our journey. She was just behind me in security. So the usual thing, I went through and emptied my pockets and took off my jacket and took the belt off and put it all in the tray.
[43:43] And surprisingly for once going through Stornley Airport, I got through without a blip. No problem. So I went straight through. But poor Nurse Marion behind me. She went through the gate thing.
[43:55] The alarm went off. She was called off to one side and then her bag was going through the X-ray machine. That set another alarm off. And she got hauled from being searched on this side over to explaining the contents of her bag on the other side.
[44:11] She was gone for ten minutes. I was sitting through there and eventually when she came back through, she was slightly flustered. And she said her bag had been absolutely emptied.
[44:23] They scrutinized everything that she'd packed. She'd been searched and scanned from top to bottom. She was thoroughly searched. She must look very suspicious.
[44:37] Now the verses that we come to this morning in John 21, they involve Peter being searched. And he searched not at any superficial level.
[44:48] He searched at the deepest possible level by Jesus. The one who sees not only the outward appearance, but who knows the heart.
[45:01] And so today I want us to look at verses 15 down to the beginning of verse 18. We'll just read that short passage again. When they finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?
[45:26] Yes, Lord, he said, you know that I love you. Jesus said, feed my lambs. You might wonder, what does it mean, truly love me more than these?
[45:36] I'm not quite sure what Jesus meant there. It could have been that he was taking Peter back to the previous conversation when Jesus said, all these other disciples, they may fail you, they may deny you, not me.
[45:51] I'll stand with you. And it might be that Jesus is saying, Peter, do you truly love me more than all these men? That you were saying were kind of under par.
[46:05] Or it might be that he's looking at the nets and saying, Peter, you picked your nets back up. Do you truly love me and my calling upon you more than these things that you picked back up?
[46:16] We're not quite sure. Verse 16, 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.
[46:30] The third time he said to him, Simon son of John, do you love me? Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, do you love me? He said, Lord, you know all things.
[46:42] You know that I love you. Jesus said, feed my sheep. The first point I want to note today in relation to these verses is restraint.
[46:58] We know the restraint of Jesus. And it's just an introductory observation here. Note the restraint of Jesus in his dealings with Peter.
[47:11] Now, when we have a problem with someone, when someone has hurt us or someone has offended us, sometimes is it not true that we can lack patience in wanting to deal with that person?
[47:27] So sometimes when we see someone who's hurt us or who has spoken ill of us, when we see them, the first time we see them, whether we're in a meeting or in a crowded room or whatever, we go for them.
[47:45] And we cause a scene. Because we're beginning a conversation when we're still angry. It's no restraint. Now, Peter has caused such hurt and offense in his denial of Jesus.
[48:04] And yet Jesus shows such patience and restraint in his dealings with Peter. Just note the first few words of verse 15.
[48:16] When they had finished eating. That's when Jesus spoke. When he had finished eating. Jesus said to Simon Peter.
[48:28] Simon, son of John, do you truly love me more than these? And with that question, the deep search began. But note the detail.
[48:40] Jesus did not fly at Peter. He then humiliated him in front of all the disciples. Such attention must have been in that room when Jesus appeared.
[48:53] The disciples were likely all looking at each other and especially at Peter. Thinking, what's Jesus going to say? And he says, nothing. Not until they finished eating.
[49:05] Jesus shows a loving, sensitive restraint towards the very fragile Peter.
[49:24] And that's an example for us to follow. Let's be quick to encourage each other.
[49:35] Don't hesitate with that. Let's be quick to encourage each other. And lift each other up. But when we have something hard to say.
[49:51] Let's pray that we have the patience. And the love. And the tenderness. And the gentleness. And the restraint. Of Jesus.
[50:03] That's the first point. The first word is restraint. The second word is reset. Reset. Sometimes when we have devices and computers.
[50:20] These sorts of things that we just can't seem to live without these days. Sometimes they get into a mess. You have a computer. You're working on it. And there's a virus that's attacking the operating system.
[50:33] Sometimes we're just trying to do too many things. We've got too many windows open. We've got too many programs running. All at the same time. And the computer starts to slow down. And eventually the thing crashes.
[50:45] So how do you fix that? Well most of us. The way we fix that. Is we switch the machine off. And then we switch it back on again.
[50:58] We reset it. Now here we find Peter. And he's in a terrible mess. We've been tracking the events of his course over the last few weeks.
[51:14] As he denies Jesus. And as he goes back to his nets. Peter finds one day Jesus appears. And Peter's out fishing.
[51:26] There's no word of the call that Jesus has placed upon him. He's away out fishing. Spiritually speaking. In all likelihood. Peter is struggling. Emotionally.
[51:37] We expect that he's fragile as well. So what does he need? He needs a spiritual reset. And that's what Jesus does.
[51:49] And we hear that even in the name that Jesus uses for Peter. As Jesus addresses him. He doesn't call him Peter. He calls him Simon. Three times.
[52:06] He addresses him. Not as Peter. But as Simon. Son of John. These three questions. Three times. Jesus.
[52:17] Focuses on Peter. Looks him in the eye. And says Simon. Son of John. And that's significant. Because that takes us back to day one.
[52:31] Flick to John chapter one. Just for a moment please. John chapter one. And that verse. We'll read in from verse 40.
[52:50] Andrew. Simon Peter's brother. Was one of the two. Who heard. What John had said. And that was. Behold the Lamb of God. As Jesus is passing. And he had followed Jesus.
[53:01] The first thing Andrew did. Was to find his brother Simon. Tell him. We found the Messiah. That is the Christ. Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. Let's just pause there for a second.
[53:11] Not in my notes. But let's just ask ourselves the question. When did we last go to somebody. As we read here. When Andrew finds Christ.
[53:22] The first thing Andrew does. Is he goes to find the people he loves. To tell him about Jesus. When did you and I last go.
[53:34] To tell somebody. Not about church. It's easy to talk about the church. When did you last talk to anyone. About Jesus. Anyway.
[53:45] That's another sermon. First thing Andrew did. Was to find his brother Simon. And tell him. We have found the Messiah. That is the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him.
[53:57] And said. You are Simon. Son of John. You will be called. Cephas. Which when translated.
[54:08] Is Peter. And he called him Peter. Peter. Peter. Peter. Peter. All the way through the gospels. And now at this point. God. Again.
[54:19] Jesus. Looks at him. And three times. He says. Simon. Son of John. In a sense. He's going back to. To day one.
[54:31] He goes back to the day. That he first called Peter. And he calls him afresh. One of the commentators. Johnson. Says this. Jesus. Does not address Peter.
[54:41] By the name. By which he'd been known. For much of the past three years. But reverts to his original name. Simon. Son of John. It is. Though Jesus. Is taking him back.
[54:52] To the beginning. And starting. Afresh. It's a reset. He just hits.
[55:04] Peter's reset button. Peter might have thought. There was no way back. He thought that through before. Maybe that's why. He's out fishing.
[55:16] Maybe he thinks. He's done. After so many. Failures. And so many. Mistakes. Maybe he thinks. Jesus is coming. Just to. Sever the link. And cut him off. And say. Peter you're done.
[55:29] But instead. Jesus comes to hit. The reset button. And sometimes. That's what you and I need. Sometimes. We get into such.
[55:41] A mess. That we. We need a complete reset. And the Lord. He. He almost takes us. Back to day one. To the texts. That we. First came to know him through.
[55:53] And the places. That we. We first. Think such. Intimacy with. And Jesus. Takes us back there. And he. He hits the reset button. Sometimes. He takes us back. To that place.
[56:03] And it can be painful. As it was for Peter. And we see that. In verse 17. And it's always humbling. But it's necessary. And Jesus.
[56:16] Insists on it. At times. Not to hurt us. But to heal us. So there. Is that restraint.
[56:27] With which Peter. Is approached. Is approached by Jesus. There. Is that. Reset. As Jesus. Addresses him. On the way. He first addressed him.
[56:39] What comes next. And what's. Involved. In this reset. Well the third thing here. Is Peter. Needs to repent.
[56:52] Peter. Needs. To repent. Repent. He has sinned. And he needs to repent. What does it mean to repent?
[57:04] It's a word we often use. It's. Repeatedly used in scripture. What does it actually mean? Well. The Greek word is. Some of you will already know. Is the word.
[57:14] Metanoe. Which means literally. To turn around. To go in one direction. You need to turn around. The other day.
[57:27] I was in the car. Between Perth and Edinburgh. The driver. Was going along. One of these wee slip roads. In a diversion. We weren't quite sure. Where we were going. And as we. Travelled along.
[57:37] He's looking around. And he's looking at the signs. And he suddenly said. He says. We're heading north. When we should be heading south. So what did he do? Well.
[57:48] He stopped the car. Well. He turned around. Changed direction. And to repent. Is to change direction. And that's what Peter needed. He had been in sin.
[58:01] He had been. In a. Place. Where he was. Turning away from Jesus. He had been turning back.
[58:11] To his nets. And that's. Not the direction. That Jesus had called him to. Turn around. And Jesus.
[58:24] Comes. To call him. To turn around. And just a few days earlier. Luke. Records. For us.
[58:34] That. Jesus. Had this conversation. With Peter. Luke. Chapter 22. You don't need to go there. I'll just read out. These two verses. This is the conversation.
[58:46] Before Jesus. Goes to the cross. And. He's speaking with. Peter. Again. Note the significance. Of how. Jesus addresses him. Simon.
[58:57] Simon. This is Luke 22. And at verse 31. Simon. Simon. Says Jesus. Behold. Satan. Demanded to have you. That he might sift you like wheat.
[59:09] But I have prayed for you. That your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again. Strengthen. Your brother. And so Jesus.
[59:22] Here. Is calling Peter. To. To turn again. To turn away from sin. To. To turn back to Jesus. He's calling him to repent.
[59:32] What does it. Look like. For you and I. To repent. Well. It involves. Us agreeing. With Jesus. That we did wrong. It involves us.
[59:44] Agreeing with Jesus. That. For some time. We have been. Traveling. In the wrong direction. To repent. Means. Acknowledging.
[59:55] Our sin. Not brushing it. Under the carpet. Jesus would never. Allow that. Repentance. Involves. Confessing. Our sin. And Jesus.
[60:09] Obliquely. Takes Peter. Back. To that night. Where he sinned. In order that. He will remember. And confess. Repent.
[60:22] On that night. That Peter. Denied Jesus. There were coals. Burning on the fire. We noted before. And on this morning. When Jesus comes.
[60:33] To minister. To Peter. We have. Verse. Nine. A fire. Out of burning coals. Jesus is taking. Peter. Back to the.
[60:44] The point. At which. He began. To stray. On the night. That Peter. Failed. That sin. Came. In response. To three questions.
[60:54] Concerning. Whether. Or not. He. He knew. Jesus. And was with Jesus. And three times. Peter. Denies his word. And now.
[61:05] On this morning. In this meeting. Jesus is asking. The questions. Of Peter. And three times.
[61:16] One. For each denier. Jesus. Asks. Peter. If. He loved him. Verse 15. 16.
[61:26] 17. Three times. Do. You. Love me. Peter. And in doing so.
[61:36] Jesus. Gives Peter. The opportunity. To. To repent. Of his sin. And to profess. His love for.
[61:47] And his faith in. The Lord Jesus. And with that humble. And contrite spirit. Of. Of Psalm 51. Which we.
[61:58] Which we sang. Of. Peter. Does repent. And he is restored. That's our fourth point. To the strength of Jesus.
[62:09] As he approaches Peter. And secondly. There. Is. That. Reset. That Jesus. Insists on. In Peter's life.
[62:21] There's that. Repentance. That's needed. There's the repentance. That Peter. Readily. Gives. And then. There's that restoration. He's restored. Now.
[62:32] Was this Peter's conversion? Was everything prior to this. Leading up to. A point. Where. Where Peter. Is now going to be converted.
[62:43] Is this the point. That he saved? Well. I don't believe so. No. This is not the point. At which Peter. Is converted. He already is a believer.
[62:54] He already is. In relationship. With Jesus. If we go back. To John 13. We've got more than. Enough evidence. To see that. Remember. Jesus. Is washing. The disciples feet.
[63:05] In John 13. He comes to Peter. And Peter. Says. You're not going to wash. My feet. And Jesus says. If I don't wash your feet.
[63:16] You have no part. No relationship. With me. And Peter says. Well. Not just my feet. Wash the whole thing. Wash everything. And Jesus says. No. A person.
[63:27] Who's had a bath. Only needs their feet washed. And Peter. You are clean. You're already clean. You are mine.
[63:39] You are a believer. You are a Christian. You've been. Cleansed in my blood. So Peter was a believer. He was a Christian. He was saved. Way before this.
[63:53] And in a sense. Peter's sin. Even the sin. That Jesus. Is addressing here. It was already forgiven. It was paid for at the cross. He was clean.
[64:05] So why does he need to repent again? Why does Jesus come. And go through this painful process with Peter?
[64:16] Why does Peter have to repent again? Well the reason he had to repent again. Was because his communion. His fellowship with the Lord.
[64:27] It was marred. It was marred. By his sin. Peter had known such intimacy. Such a special close relationship with Jesus.
[64:41] But sin. Had spoiled that. He's still saved. But now there's an awkwardness.
[64:54] There's a distance between Peter and his Lord. The relationship was damaged. Through all Peter's denials. And Jesus comes in order to restore that relationship.
[65:11] And that's what being a Christian is. It's not so much religion. It's a relationship with God. Where we don't just know about him.
[65:23] But we know him personally. And we love him. And we love him more than these things.
[65:34] In this world. And that's why Peter asks. It is asked by Jesus. That's why Jesus asks Peter. Do you love me? Because of the relationship.
[65:48] It was a love relationship. And the question that Jesus asks. Three times. It gets to the epicenter of what it is. That Jesus is seeking to restore.
[65:58] It's the relationship. J.C. Rowe says this. J.C. Rowe says this.
[66:09] Do you love me? May seem at first sight. A simple question. In one sense it is so. Even a child can understand love.
[66:19] And can say whether he loves another or not. Yet do you love me? Is in reality a very searching question. We may know much. And do much.
[66:30] And profess much. And talk much. And work much. And give much. And go through much. And make much show in our religion. And yet.
[66:41] Be dead before God. From lack of love. And at last go down to the pit. Do we love Christ? Says Ryan.
[66:51] That is the great question. Without this. There is no vitality. About our Christianity. We are no better.
[67:03] Than painted wax figures. Lifeless stuffed beasts. In a museum. Sounding brass. And tinkling cymbals. There is no life.
[67:15] Where there is. No love. And so Jesus asks Peter. Peter do you love me?
[67:31] How is your relationship with Jesus? Do we have a relationship with Jesus? Do we love him?
[67:43] Not do we know about him. Not do we sit in these chairs. Not do we do all this stuff. But do we love him?
[67:59] What has this got to do with repentance? Well. The relationship. That God offers. To us. Through the gospel.
[68:11] It begins. On the day. That we repent. This relationship. This relationship. Begins. On the day.
[68:21] That when we. See our sin. We confess it. And we acknowledge it. And we turn from it. And we turn to Jesus. That's the day.
[68:32] That's the point. At which this relationship. That Jesus. Is. Ministering to here. That's the day. That that relationship. Begins. For the relationship.
[68:44] We have. With Christ. Is restored. And deepened. Day by day. As we continually. Repent. Of sin.
[68:56] And turn. In faith. To Jesus. Peter's sin. As he's splashing around.
[69:06] in the water. Peter's sin as he picks his nets back up, it's still weighing heavily on him. His relationship with Christ was not what it once had been.
[69:23] But Jesus comes to him. Jesus comes to him. And he enables him to repent. And as he repents, Jesus restores him. He restores his dry, thirsty, lifeless soul.
[69:46] And he restores the relationship. I want to ask the question here, is there anyone this morning that needs to repent?
[69:59] Is there anyone here this morning who needs to repent? And I'll tell you the answer to that question. The answer is yes. Everyone in this church this morning needs to repent.
[70:15] Some perhaps need to repent for the first time so that their sin will be forgiven and a relationship with God can begin.
[70:26] repent. And others of us need to repent for the millionth time. Because sin so easily entangles us.
[70:40] So we have to keep on repenting so that our relationship with Christ will not decay, but it will continually be restored.
[70:53] The final R, I'm just about finished, is reinstated. As Peter repents, Jesus forgives him, the relationship is restored, and then Peter is reinstated.
[71:10] One of the commentators, Johnson, says, for God's children, failure is never final. Sin is never swept under the carpet.
[71:20] That's very clear here. God doesn't turn a blind eye to Peter's sin. Jesus doesn't say to Peter, listen, we all know what happened on that night, and it's a bit awkward for you, and it's a bit awkward for me, so let's not talk about this.
[71:34] Let's not pretend it, let's just pretend it didn't happen. Jesus doesn't do that. That's often the way we approach difficult things, but Jesus needs to get to the heart of it. Sin always has to be faced.
[71:47] It always has to be repented of, and Peter, with his very public denial, his repentance follows a similar track, because we're still reading about it all these years later. But, the good news is, where there is repentance, there is forgiveness, there is restoration, and there is reinstatement.
[72:08] To Christian usefulness. And that's what we hear Jesus do here with Peter. He doesn't send him off to the scrap heap of failed apostles. He doesn't exclude him from Christian service.
[72:21] He says to Peter, I want you to go and feed my lambs. These weak, fragile Christians, you understand, Peter, what it's like to be weak and fragile, don't you?
[72:35] Feed them. strengthen your brothers. And these sheep, these steadier ones, take care of them.
[72:48] Feed them with the word of God. Jesus reinstates Peter to leadership. He says to him, in the words of Luke, now that you've turned, now that you've turned back, go and strengthen your brothers and sisters.
[73:11] Montgomery Boyce says this, Peter had been a leader and then had fallen. For Jesus to come to him mercifully and tenderly to restore him was the height of graciousness.
[73:28] If having restored Peter, he had said, all right Peter, you can go home now and do the best you can as an active layman. You're one of mine. I do not reject you. But of course, I can never use you in a place of leadership again.
[73:40] If he had said that, says Montgomery Boyce, who could blame Jesus? Jesus would not, would be entirely within his rights to answer like that. But this is not what he does.
[73:51] Instead, he tells Peter to feed my sheep. What is the prerequisite for such service, that's boys?
[74:03] What is the only acceptable motive for leading and teaching others? It is not the moral perfection in the teacher. Otherwise, there would be no teachers. There's not an academic degree.
[74:15] It is not an overwhelming urge to bring in Christ's kingdom. Not the ability to raise more money than the man before or build a bigger cathedral than the former minister. There is only one prerequisite.
[74:29] It is love for Christ issuing in the desire to serve him. And Peter here has reinstated the service.
[74:46] But the process here is the key. Let's see the process. Repentance comes before restoration. And restoration to a right relationship with Jesus comes before being reinstated to useful service.
[75:11] So if we have broken down, if we have failed and fallen and made a mess, we repent, we repent, we agree with Jesus the mess that we are.
[75:30] We ask for his forgiveness and his promises he will give it to us. He will bring us back into right relationship with him and when we are in that right relationship, then he says, this is what I want you to do for me day by day.
[75:51] Serve me. Last quote. Useful service to God depends upon a vital relationship with God.
[76:02] The only way that vital relationship can be established is not through what we can do for him but only through what he has done for us in Christ.
[76:16] We don't clamber our way back into God's good books by the things that we do. We get back to the cross where we see what God has done for us.
[76:33] His suffering, his dying, his rising so that repentant sinners like Peter and repentant sinners like me and you can be forgiven and restored and reinstated by the grace of Jesus and for the glory of Jesus.
[77:04] That was Peter's testimony. my fear is that it will be errors also.