Thank you for joining me with today's inspiration. I want to, let me open this up and prayer real quick. Lord God, I thank you Lord God for this network, for this channel Lord God. I thank you for giving me the opportunity in this platform to be able to speak your word Lord God.
I pray that whoever is watching Lord God will be able to hear and hear your word and listen and feed upon the bread that you are giving them Lord God. I pray that you will use me and that you will speak through me. In Jesus name I pray, amen. Thank you for joining me today in today's inspiration.
This will actually be the third segment of what we've been talking about. If you remember it was to call like two episodes ago and then it moved into Do You Love Me? And they kind of go together because we're all talking about Peter. And now here we are the third segment and still talking about the call and Do You Love Me?
Because they kind of go together. Now when you talk about Do You Love Me? You'll understand when I get finished with this. But we talked about when Jesus called Peter at the very beginning of the Gospels of each one of them.
And we talked about the difference accounts. Now we moved to the very end of John when they're back beside this big body of water. They went fishing and they didn't catch anything all not long, which is actually the same as they were fishing all not long at the beginning when Jesus called them into his ministry. They fished all not long and didn't catch anything.
Now here again three years later, they fished all not long and they haven't called anything. And Jesus tells them, and first he knows, he's asking, I mean, there's not a question that when God asks you a question, he already knows the answer. He's just looking to see if you know what the answer is. But he looks at them because they went out and here this is after the crucifixion, the resurrection.
This is at the very end of the days when Jesus was walking the earth. And now he's fixing to be ascended to heaven. And Peter says, hey, I don't know what to do, but I'm going fishing. And so him and a few of his brothers went out fishing.
Now when I say brothers, the other disciples that were following Jesus, they went out fishing. And then when of course, the breaking of the day, Jesus stood on the beach and looked with watching the disciples and he said, children, you do not have any fish to eat, do you? So he's asking a question, but the question is, you don't have any fish, do you? And the answer, no.
And he said to them, cash your nets on the other side and you will find the fish. Now you and I both know, and I said this last week, you and I both know that it doesn't matter what side of the boat you're fishing on, you still have the opportunity to catch fish. But I do know this, that sometimes fish will bed in certain areas that they won't bed in other areas. Why?
I don't know, maybe it's the temperature of the water. But anyway, so they cast it and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great quantity of fish. And then all of a sudden, the people that Jesus loves said to Peter, is this the Lord? This is verse seven of chapter 21 of book to John.
So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment where he was stripped for work, not stripped naked, but he took his outer garment off and threw himself into the sea. Now you recall the last time that we read about him going into the sea, Jesus was walking on the water, and Peter walked on the water, and then he didn't walk on the water. Well, in this scenario, he threw himself into the sea, didn't say anything about him walking on the water, so obviously he more than likely swam. But the other disciples, in verse eight, the other disciples came in the little boat, they were not far from the land, but about 200 qubits away dragging the net full of fish.
So they're hauling in this fish, they're having difficulty. So when they got out of the boat, got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire already made and fish placed on it and bred. Now they didn't ask the question, but I'm asking the question, where did Jesus get to fish? Of course we know really the answer.
Jesus ain't got to go a rod reel out there. He didn't have to wait for the disciples. He has access to whatever he wants, and he wanted fish, he had fish. So Jesus said, bring some of the fish, which you have now called.
So Simon Peter went up and hauled the net to land full of large fish, about 153. And I'm not understanding exactly the reason why there was, it was numbered. Maybe it was to let you know just how many fish there was called. It wasn't five or 10, but it was 153 of them.
And although there were so many, the nets were not torn. So obviously there was a enough fish there that as the fishermen and their professional opinion, there had to have been enough fish that they perceived the nets to be, should have ripped and torn apart, but they didn't. Verse 12, Jesus said to them, come and have breakfast. None of the disciples ventured to inquire of him, who are you, knowing that it was a Lord?
Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus revealed itself for disciples and after he was raised from the dead. Now before I go any further, let me point out, you know what Jesus will provide to you, what you need at the time that you need it. Not anytime before, not anytime after.
He will provide it when it is needed. And right now they needed fish, they needed to be fed. They had to fish, but they needed to be fed because they've been tolling all night long. I know that when I work all day long, and I haven't eaten anything all day long, when I get home, my wife says I could eat, I can eat her at a house and home.
Because if, when I work, I generally work 10 to 12 hours a day, and if I don't eat, by the time I get home, I'm hungry. Now, not really hungry, but hungry. I am hungry. So anyway, these men had been working on not long trying to catch fish, and they didn't, and all of a sudden Jesus shows up.
And Jesus will provide to you what you need it at the time that you need it. Now let's go on to verse 15. Now when they had finished 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, 10 my sheep. Verse 16, he said to him again, second time, Simon, son of John, son of Jonah, do you love me? He said to him, yes Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, shepherd my sheep.
Verse 17, he said to him, the third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? Peter was hurt because he said to him the third time, do you love me? He said to him, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you.
Jesus said to him, 10 to my sheep. Now before I go any further, let me explain to you that we have the aren't English language is a crazy language. It is something that I've actually heard that it is probably one of the most difficult language to learn and understand because we say things and there are sometimes like wood. Would you do that or I would do that?
We use the word wood, but wood is also, well I don't know if this table is made of wood, but paper is made of wood, this paper is made of wood. There's trees are made of wood obviously. So wood, it sounds the same, it's spelled different, it used different, but it still sounds the same. And when you talk about the English language, there is, I think that there are, there's a problem when you try to take the Greek and Hebrew and translate it into the English language that we have.
And for instance, here's one right here that we're looking at. Jesus continued to say, do you love me? And Peter continued to say, Lord, yes Lord, you know that I love you. Well let me explain something.
I love my wife and I keep hitting this microphone and I apologize. I love my wife, but I love my brother different than I love my wife. I love my kids different than I love my wife. My wife has a different love that I have toward her.
My kids have a different love that I have toward them and just regular your neighbor. Where Jesus says love, your neighbor as yourself, you know the second greatest commandment. Love the Lord God and nobody else before that, with all your heart, mind and soul and then love your neighbor as yourself. Love, love, love.
But do you understand that the word love, there's different levels of love. Now in the Greek and Hebrew, there are specific words for love and that's where we fall right here. Now understand when Jesus said, do you love me? In verse 15, Jesus was actually using the word agape.
Agape love. So it would have sounded more like Simon, Son of Jonah, do you agape me more than these? He said to him. In the verse 16, it says, Simon, Son of Jonah, do you agape me?
So he uses the word agape. But Peter does not use that same word agape. So let me use the words how we would perceive it to be. In English, Peter used the word billio and that's the word means like.
That means I like you a lot. That would be, hey, that's my buddy over there. That's my friend. I like that is for other people that's outside of the realm of your wife.
That's the word filio and it's a love word, but it's not at the same level as agape. Agape is a God word. I mean, it's a God love. So Jesus is looking at Peter and says, do you love me?
Do you passionately love me? Do you agape love me? And Peter's response is yes, Lord, you know that I really like you a lot. That's what he's saying.
If you look at the scripture and you take these words and you look at the translation of them, you will see that Peter did not say that agape love you. He says, I like you a lot. And so Jesus then in verse 16 says, a second time, Simon son of Jonah, do you agape love me? And Peter says, yes Lord, you know that I like you a lot.
I like you a lot, but you kind of understand that Peter denied Jesus three times, but understanding that in his denial, his life was at stake. They were killing Jesus. I mean, we deny, we Christians deny Jesus probably, well, we deny Jesus multiple times throughout our walk. I know we have and it's been less than.
I mean, oh, you're Christian? No, I don't know what you're talking about. Well, here Peter denied Jesus, but it was only because his life was at stake. Would you, if somebody threatened to kill you, say you have to deny Jesus, would you?
I mean, I'm sure that there's a lot of Christians that will, wholeheartedly will. But there, I'm sure, I feel in my heart that there are some Christians that if a gun was pointed at him and their life was on the line, that they would deny him all left and right. So here we see Jesus asking Peter, do you love me? I mean, really love me agape love me.
And Peter's response was, Lord, you know, I like you a lot. And finally, and also he says, in Matthew 26, 33, Peter said, even if they fall away because of you, I will never fall away. This is words that Peter has now said, that you know that he's got to think about that. Also, Mark 14 and 29, Peter says, even if they all fall away, yet I will not.
John 13 and 37 says, Peter said to him, Lord, why can I not follow you right now? I will lay down my life for you. I'm sure that when Peter, when Jesus was asking Peter, do you really, really love me? These words probably come back and haunted him.
Here's those words that he said to Jesus, probably slap him in the face. And that's probably the reason why, I'm speculating now. I don't know. That could be the reason why that Peter says, I like you really loud.
I like you a lot. But here now, here we are. And now Jesus is calling him to shepherd. Verse 16, he says, do you love me?
And Peter says, I like you a lot. And then he says, will you shepherd my sheep? You know what a shepherd is? A shepherd is someone that tends to a flock, tend to my sheep, tend to my lambs, shepherd my sheep is shepherd.
And it's taken care of, it's teaching, it's, well, what preachers are doing today. What pastors are supposed to be doing today, shepherding the sheep. I mean, shepherd, the one to look at the true shepherd is the good shepherd, which is Jesus Christ. Now in verse 17, which we're now coming to, he said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?
Oh, wait a minute. If you actually take that love word and see what the translation is, you will see that Jesus is now says, Simon, son of Jonah, do you like me a lot? And because Peter heard this, Peter was hurt because he said to him the third time, do you like me a lot? He said to him, Lord, you know all things, you know that I like you a lot.
And Jesus said, tend to my sheep. Peter has now come to a place in his life that he really wants to love, but he understands and knows the situation. And now he's like backing up and his whole life, his whole heart, everything about him is being revealed to him. And he realized that I really like him a lot, but he's asking a lot.
And then he goes on in verse 18, truly, truly, I tell you, when you were young and you used to put on your belt and walk around wherever you wanted, but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will put on your belt on you and bring you where you do not want to go. Now he said to this, indicating by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, follow me. Jesus is calling each one of us to follow him.
Jesus has a calling on each one of our lives. The question I have is, and you gotta understand, following the breakfast, Jesus ascended after the Holy Spirit was promised, the upper room prayer meeting took place, the Holy Spirit had come and Peter was filled. Peter preached his first sermon that night, and in Acts chapter two, the church was birthed. Acts chapter three is where the lame man was healed.
And remember where Peter says, super and gold, I have not, but what I do have I given to you, in the name of Jesus Christ, and now there's a rise up and walk, remember that? This is in chapter three of Acts, which is after the call that Jesus has put on Peter's life. Understand from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Peter was being called, he was being discipled, he was being molded and shaped into a man that Jesus could now birth a church through him. And now Peter is now beside this ocean, this sea, and he's went fishing, feeling probably that all is lost because our Savior is gone, and he's gonna be gone away, he's gonna be ascended, but what has taken place is Jesus has now, now he's called him, but now he is going to send him forth.
So there's a difference in calling someone to me, then sending someone out. And Jesus had been calling Peter to him, and then teaching him, and grooming him, and discipling him. And now he's beginning to send Peter out. And if you read in the first few chapters of Acts, you'll see where Peter begins to do that work.
So I have a question to ask, which is it going to end this segment? Which Peter are you? Are you the Simon Peter when Jesus called you to follow him? Remember Simon accepted the name change to Peter, which means rock, but did he understand the call?
Or maybe you're the Peter that walked on water, remember him? He was, had a lot of faith, but what happened? Or are you the Peter that looked away from Jesus and began to sink? Or are you the Peter that recognized Jesus for who he really is?
Remember that where he says you are the Christ, the Son of the living God? Or maybe you're the Peter that said that you would die for Jesus, only to deny him three times. Or are you the Peter that would hastily chop off someone's ear when they do something that they shouldn't have been doing? Or maybe it was God sent.
Or are you the man of Peter that denied him not once, not twice, but three times? Or are you the Peter that Jesus is now calling you into the ministry, calling you to preach? In fact, to be honest with you, Jesus has called us all to be disciples to disciple. He's called us all to go out into the highways, into the byways and preach the gospel.
Jesus is calling you right now. Maybe your highway and byway is where you work. Maybe your highway and byway is where you go to school. Maybe your highway and byway is at Walmart, your next time you go shopping.
Is there at any point in place that you can, and I know every single person out there can at some point in their Christian walk, identify with one of these Peter's here. Which one do you identify with? And if I could encourage you to do anything, I would encourage you to stand up, continue to move forward. Don't give up, continue to own this journey of following Jesus Christ, because I promise you that Acts 2 is coming.
Acts 2 where the Holy Spirit, where the promise of the Holy Spirit came to him, I promise you that the Holy Spirit is right there to teach you and guide you. I promise you that all of the promises in scripture are yes and amen. Jesus Christ is coming back one day and he's coming back and going to receive all of his believers to him. So I ask you, which Peter do you identify with?
And if I can encourage you to continue to follow him, continue to follow Jesus. I hope you receive something out of this message today, the call and do you love me. Do you hear Jesus calling you today? And do you love Jesus with all of your heart, mind, and soul.
Scripture talks about that. I encourage you to listen and be honest with yourself. And don't and get past that point of, well, I like you Lord, move to the place that I worship you and that I love you. I hope you receive something.
Let me pray with you real quick. Lord God, I pray Lord Jesus, that maybe someone out there will be able to hear your words, hear the call on their life, Lord God, and be honest with themselves and admit that they really do love you, Lord God. And if they don't love you, Lord God, maybe their hearts will turn back to you, Lord God. Lord, I ask you, Lord God, to give them the spiritual ears that they may be able to hear your voice.
I pray Lord Jesus that if they are accepting the call that they continue on. I pray Lord God, if they haven't accepted the call, that you keep asking them, keep knocking. I pray Lord God, because you are the light, you are the door, you are the good shepherd, you are the resurrection and the life, the truth, the way and the life, the vine. I pray in Jesus' name, I pray, amen.
We'll see you later, God bless you. I appreciate you all watching our show this evening. If there's anything, anything whatsoever that you have heard that has spoken to your heart and you feel the need to either rededicate your life or turn your life over to Jesus, I encourage you to reach out to us. We would be more than happy to speak with you either on the phone or via email or however you can reach out to us and it's easy, we can say a prayer for you.
Jesus says to Nicodemus that you must be born again to enter into the kingdom of heaven. So I encourage you to turn your life over. If you need to rededicate, that is also to turn your life back to repentance is simply turning from the direction that you were going to a new direction. You're no longer the old person that you are, but you become a new person through the gift of salvation.
So I encourage you to reach out to us at eagewingsfaith.org. You can click on the tab, contact us, and you can put it through the website or you can email us at ewfmchurch at gmail.com. And we look forward to hearing from you. God bless you and we will see you later.