Sunday
Morning Bible Study
April
1, 2018
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid
to die? Does it speak to the broken
hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Is the church loved? Regular: 2900
words Communion: 2500 words Video=75wpm
I’d like to talk about an incident that took place about two weeks after
the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
Jesus had given
the disciples instructions to meet Him in Galilee. The disciples had made their way up north,
but Jesus had not yet showed up.
Peter was the
one who came up with the idea to go fishing.
The guys all
got into a boat and spent the entire night fishing. They didn’t catch a thing.
Early in the
morning a lone figure stood the shore and called out to the men, asking if they
had caught any fish. He suggested they try
casting their nets on the other side of the boat, and when they did they couldn’t draw it in
because they had caught so many fish.
They realized it was Jesus on the shore.
When they got
their boat to shore, Jesus had a breakfast prepared for them.
The smarty pants think it was pita bread and broiled fish. I think it might have been pancakes.
(John 21:15–17 NKJV) —15 So when
they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of
Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to
Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” 16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah,
do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes,
Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to
him, “Tend My sheep.” 17 He said to
him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was
grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all
things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said
to him, “Feed My sheep.
Lesson
Forgiveness
Jesus’
resurrection is tied to the forgiveness of our sins.
When Jesus died
on the cross, He died as a sacrifice for our sins.
Isaiah wrote,
(Isaiah 53:5 NKJV) But He was
wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His
stripes we are healed.
But how do we know that He actually paid for our
sins on the cross? Because death could
not hold Him down. He came back to life
because He had paid for all our sins.
Paul wrote,
(1 Corinthians 15:17 NKJV)
And
if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your
sins!
But Jesus did rise from the dead, and our sins have been paid for.
When Jesus
meets Peter on the beach, He asks Peter three times if he loves Him.
Why three times? Because of something that had happened a few
weeks earlier, the night that Jesus was arrested.
(John 18:15–17 NKJV) —15 And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another
disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and
went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. 16 But Peter stood at the door outside. Then the other disciple, who
was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and
brought Peter in. 17 Then the
servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not also one of
this Man’s disciples, are you?” He said,
“I am not.”
(John 18:25–27 NKJV) —25 Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. Therefore
they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not!” 26
One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of
him whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the garden with
Him?” 27 Peter then denied again; and immediately
a rooster crowed.
Why was Peter
so grieved when Jesus asked him three times if he loved Jesus?
Because
he had told Jesus that he would never deny Jesus, yet he did it not once, not
twice, but three times.
Do you feel
like you’ve failed Jesus?
Do you feel like you’ve sinned one too many times? Or maybe three hundred too many times?
There is
forgiveness today because of the resurrection of Jesus.
Jesus
is here today to ask you, “Do you love Me?”
He doesn’t ask because He questions it. He asks because He knows you do, and He has
forgiveness for you.
If you love Him, then stop running from Him, turn around,
and receive the forgiveness that He has already paid for.
Lesson
Back to work
Very early in His ministry, Jesus saw two men fishing.
(Mark 1:16–18 NKJV) —16 And as He
walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for
they were fishermen. 17 Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and
I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
Simon would become known as “Peter”.
They had been fishers of “fish”, but Jesus would make them
fishers of “men”.
They left their nets and followed Jesus.
Yet now after
having failed Jesus so utterly, Peter has gone back to fishing for fish.
He’s even persuaded some of the other disciples to follow him.
When Jesus asks Peter three times if Peter loves Him, and Peter says “yes”,
Jesus responds three times with basically the same thing.
(John 21:17b NKJV) Jesus said
to him, “Feed My sheep.”
Peter had gone from fishing for “fish” to fishing for
“men”, and now back to fishing for “fish”.
Jesus wants Peter to get back to the people, His “sheep”.
Forgiveness
takes us from the fish and sends us back to the people.
Peter had left the ministry of working with people to work
with “fish”.
Jesus is calling Peter to get back to the original
calling.
Perhaps some of
you have strayed from what God has originally called you to do.
For some of
you, it’s sin that has messed up your life and made you feel like God was done using
you.
You need to rethink that.
God wants you to get back to the business of reaching out to
this world and touching the people He died to save.
For some of
you, things got a bit too messy at church.
Somebody caused you trouble.
Somebody hurt your feelings.
Somebody opposed what you were doing.
My question to you is this, are you going to let people
stop what God is wanting to do through you?
It might not be the same shape or size of what you were
doing before, but God
still wants to use you.
Get back to work.
Every person God has ever used has been a sinner saved by
grace, and you’re no different.
Do you love Jesus? Then feed His sheep.