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Feb 19, 2023

Simon Peter: Transformed by Grace

Simon Peter: Transformed by Grace

Passage: John 21:1-12

Speaker: Alan Folsom

Series: The Transformed Life

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: church, worship, faith, jesus, god, sermon, christian, bible, christ, gospel, hope, grace, doubt, believe, jesus christ, the bible, lord, christianity, spiritual growth, peter, transform, bible study, inspirational, face to face, transformed life, simon peter, bible stories, walk on water, do you love me, believe in god, change your life, burnt hickory worship, burnt hickory baptist church live stream, how to change your life, encounter jesus christ, inspirational stories, jesus grace

We conclude our sermon series called the Transformed Life this week by looking at Simon Peter. We dive into scripture to look at Simon Peter’s face-to-face encounter with Jesus that changed his life. What we see as Simon remembers, is restored by, and eventually recommissioned by the grace of Jesus Christ, we learn that we should follow Him and not compare ourselves with someone else. When we do follow Jesus, our lives will reflect Him through faithful obedience, unwavering love, and a passionate commitment to Him. Jerry Bridges puts it like this - “You are loved and accepted by God through the merit of Jesus… Nothing you ever do will cause him to love you any more or any less. He loves you strictly by His grace given to you through Jesus.” Have you accepted Jesus? Are you following him? Do you have questions? We’d love to connect with you, answer any questions you have, and take time to pray with you. Reach out today. You can always take the next step in your faith journey by visiting burnthickory.com/next

Well good morning. It's good to see you and have you here on winter break. We're glad that you're here. I appreciate Pastor Matt allowing the opportunity to preach this morning. And he's he's one of the mission trips. And so, the mission trips we have are there in Kenya and Guatemala. And Eli left off the Sanibel Island group. So there's a group in Sanibel Island, Florida, serving this week as well. And so I appreciate Matt's invitation to do that. You know, this past week was what was the big day on Tuesday? Valentine's Day. You know, I didn't know this until, well I didn't know there was a whole love week leading up to Valentine's Day. So I get to preach on Love Week. Pastor Chip Paul; Student Pastor, he always get Shark week to preach on, and I get the love week. So, we're going to follow that theme a little bit on love into this message this morning. You know, Valentine's is all about romantic love and sweethearts and that type of thing. We're going to look at some Greek words for love from Jesus and from Peter. But the Greek word used for the Valentine's romance is Eros. It's a romantic love, you know, sweetheart, love, courtship, love. And you know, when we were small, at least when I was small, some of you might be the I don't know. They don't do it these days unless it's digital. You know, we'd write the little love notes. Do you love me? Check yes or no? George Strait's even got a song about it, check yes or no. And then the contours. This is going to take you back some. They've got a song entitled Do You Love Me?

Well, they actually asked the question, Do you love me three times? And to the answer after the third, after the third one was conditional. He said, Do you love me now that I can dance? And so we're going to look at three questions from Jesus to the apostle Simon Peter this morning, where Jesus asked Simon three times, Simon Peter, do you love me? And so this is going to be a sort of a tail end, or a piggyback on Pastor Matt's Transformed Lives series, where he did a phenomenal job of walking us through five individuals' callings or experiences with Jesus. I want you to notice that there were all different occasions. Jesus treated them all differently. He didn't have the same pattern when he dealt with individuals where he healed them or he forgave their sins, he called them to follow him. And so we're going to piggyback on that transformed series. And the title of the message Simon Peter Transformed by Grace. And so the importance of grace and being changed by grace in our lives. And so just a little background on Peter, if you're new to the church or if you're new to the Bible. Simon Peter was one of the first disciples that Jesus called in his public ministry. And so what we're going to look at in John is just some highs and lows of that life where he also, excuse me, Jesus, arrest and crucifixion. Peter denied Jesus three times. And so that was his biggest failure. But he did have some highlights on that. He was allowed to join Jesus during the miracle of walking on the water. Jesus come approaches the boat with the disciples in it, and he's walking on the water and Peter says, I want to come. Jesus says, Come on.

So he walked on the water with Jesus. Another high point. He was used by Jesus to perform healings in miracles, in the Gospels and in the Book of Acts. And He was the first to confess Jesus as Christ. He said, Your people said, Jesus said, Who do people say that I am? And Peter was the first one to respond.He said, You are the Christ, the Son of a living God. And Jesus told him on that confession, on that confession, I'm going to build my church. And so later or later in Acts, we see Simon Peter as the great preacher at Pentecost, where he preached, and 3000 people became believers and were baptized. And that was the beginning. That was the launch of the church. And so Peter's confession, he was allowed to be included in that when the church actually started. So that, well, those were just some highlights. And then some of his lowlights on that. I've already mentioned the main one is his denial of Jesus three times before he was crucified. He cut off Malchus' ear. You know, the Roman soldier in the garden when they came to arrest Jesus. And then on the walking on the water, that was a high point, but it's also a low point because he began to sink, he sank down low under the water, almost under the water, because he took his eyes off of Jesus. In John 21, is where we're going to be today. John 21 is the last chapter in the Gospel of John. And it's a very important chapter because without this chapter 21, if it had been cut off in 20, we would not know about Peter's restoration to ministry. We would not know about Jesus' call for him to, you know, do you love me and what he wants him to do with his life?

And so we've just gone from the denial and the appearance of Jesus after the resurrection straight to him preaching Acts. And we wouldn't have understood what was going on. And also, John 21 is the significance there's the importance of the number three in this one chapter. This was the third appearance of Jesus to the disciples, to the resurrection, three times in this encounter with Jesus and Simon Peter. Jesus asked Simon Peter three times. Simon Peter, do you love me? Peter has an answer to each of those questions. Basically, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. And then Jesus has three charges after each one of those proclamations of love of what He wants, Jesus of what he wants Peter to do. So today we're going to look at the powerful theme of being transformed by Grace and Peter, Simon Peter was transformed by Grace and he was restored by grace. And so we're going to look at just the importance of grace in our lives and in the church. And the grace is defined as the unmerited favor and loving kindness of God toward undeserved sinners. It's not deserved. There's nothing we can do on our own. It's a free gift from God that cannot be earned. It's not deserved, and it's made possible through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross for us. Grace is God's response to humanity's need for salvation. That's why the grace is there. Without grace, we don't have salvation. It enables believers to be reconciled to God and experience a new life in Christ. So have you experienced the grace of Christ in your life this morning? And the title, Peter, Simon Peter Transformed by Grace. Jerry Bridges in his book Transforming Grace, he defines transforming grace as this the grace that not only justifies us, but also works in us to make us more like Christ. So that's what we're always being transformed into the likeness of Christ. We never arrive until we reach glory, but it's a constant. But we're not transformed once and that's it. The Christian life is a constant matter of being transformed into the likeness of Christ. So that transformation comes through grace, and it's not something that we can achieve on our own. So in John 21, Jesus extended grace to Peter by restoring him after his failure in denying Christ and Jesus met Him where He was and extended His grace to him.

Now, I don't know if you've experienced a failure like Peter in the denial, but you may have been disobedient or you may have walked away from your call that Christ placed on your life and haven't come back to that yet. So I'd encourage you to do that this morning. My experience, my personal experience, I am you know, I became a Christian, baptized in August of 1969 when I was seven years old and went through, you know, grammar school and high school and then went off to college. And it was after my junior year in college at Georgia State University, I went on a trip with Baptist festival singers to Europe and was on that trip that God began tugging at my heart or leading me that, Hey, I want you to be a minister. I want you to be a full time minister, a pastor, a preacher of the gospel. And I didn't know what to do with that. I was very resistant to that. And so I came back from that trip and played golf with my dad, who was a pastor and my three brothers. I just asked my father, I said, Daddy, how do you know when the Lord's calling you in the ministry? And he said, Well, you'll just know. He said the Lord will open doors for you to serve, he'll open doors for you. And he did. He was faithful in that. And then the next I got home and I got an application for the next year to go to Southeastern Seminary and that sat in my drawer for a year. As I finished my last I was a quarter more of a senior, so I had one more year to go plus a quarter. And that next summer I was a Baptist Student Union or it's BCM now. I always call it BSU. I was a summer missionary and they sent me to Botswana, Africa for the summer. It was on that experience that the Lord really affirmed His call on my life to be in the ministry. And so I came back and had one more quarter at Georgia State, and made plans to go to the Southeastern Seminary. And ya'll, that transition from college to master's degree, especially the seminary, almost broke me. And I had a bad first experience. My first semester in seminary, the courses were great, but I just didn't I didn't do well in them. I was on academic probation after my first semester in seminary, and so I began to doubt my call. God, do you really know what you were doing? Why am I here? Why am I in seminary? Why have you called me to be a minister? I don't think thats for me. And so we can reconcile that a little bit. I went back after Christmas to the next semester and had a Spiritual Formations class taught by Dr. Clemens. And part of that part of that course, we had to have what's called a silent retreat, where you're by yourself for a whole weekend.

You're studying God's word, praying, meditating, talking with, with God. But on the Saturday morning of that and, you know, being, you know, just wondering, still wondering why am I here or what are you doing? I read John 15-16. I believe it is in John where Jesus says, I have not chosen you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you to go and bear much fruit. And the Holy Spirit used that verse, really to knock me upside the head and God affirmed me. He said I have called you, I have chosen you. I want you to be in the ministry. And so that affirmation that is commissioning, so to speak, or recall on my life is one of those spiritual markers I look back on that experience with Jesus. That he did call me in the ministry and I, I wanted to be disobedient, I wanted to back away from it. But the Lord called me and He re-commissioned me to do that. And I did it. By the way, I graduated from seminary. I did better those other two and a half years. But I had a struggle thinking I let God down or even accusing God of, you know, you don't know what you're doing. I'm going to go back, you know, get a job in the business world. But he reaffirmed me and that was transforming grace on my part where he stuck to his call on my life. And I'm just so glad that I was obedient to that. But another example of a transition of a person that saved is John Newton. He's the one that wrote the words to Amazing Grace, the hymn Amazing Grace.

And this is what he says about his former life and his current life. He said, I'm not the man I ought to be and I'm not the man I wish to be. And I'm not the man I hope to be. But by the grace of God, I am not the man I used to be. How about you? Can you say that I'm not the person I used to be before I met Christ because of that transforming grace that we've received from Christ. And Jerry Bridge is also in that book The Transforming Grace, he says this. He says you're loved and accepted by God through the merit of Jesus. Nothing you ever do will cause Him to love you any more or any less. He loves you strictly by his grace given to you through Jesus Christ. Isn't that powerful? Nothing we can do can make Jesus love us any less. Make God love us any less. We may reject him. We may run away from him. But He loves us because of His grace through Jesus. And so there's three main sections in John 21, and I want to break those down real quick for you. But the first part here, the first point is, remember Christ's grace in your life. We are to remember how Christ has worked in our life through grace. And so verse one through 12 says, After this, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberius, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas called the twin, Nathaniel from Cana of Galilee, Zebedee's sons and two other disciples of Jesus, were together and Jesus. And Peter said, I'm going fishing. And the other disciples said, We're coming with you. And they went out and got into the boat. But that night they caught nothing. When daybreak came, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not know it was Jesus. Friends, Jesus called to them, you don't have any fish, do you? They said, No. So Jesus said, Cast the net on the right side of the boat. He told them, and you'll find some.

So they did. And, they were unable to hold it. And because of the large number of fish, the disciple, the one who Jesus loves, said to Peter, it is the Lord. And when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord He lept. He tied his outer garment around him, for he had taken it off and he plunged into the sea since they were not far from land about 100 yards away. The other disciples came in with the boat dragging the net full of fish. When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there and fish lying on it and bread and bringing some of the fish you just caught, Jesus told them. And so Simon Peter climbed up and hauled the net ashore full of large fish, 153 of them. And even though there were so many, the net was not torn. Come and have breakfast, Jesus told them. So none of the disciples dare to ask, Who are you? Because they knew it was the Lord and Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them. And he said and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead. You know, memory, certain things, isn't it amazing how certain things jog your memory or certain scents, or smells, or music, or songs. They remind you of something in the past. It may be the smell of your best friend's home or the smell of your home. You know, going back always reminds you, or a certain smell reminds you of home. Or a song reminds you of a special occasion or just one of your favorite songs. Remember where you were when you heard it the first time. Or your memory of what you were doing, when something significant happened in history.

You also should remember, you should remember when you became a Christian and some memories that go along with that. So I want to look at this first part of Chapter 21 and you'll notice some similarities, really some strong similarities between this passage, John 21 and Luke Chapter 5 verses one through 11 on the similarities of the call and the great catch fish and and the call of the first disciples. And so I can just imagine that Simon Peter and John and these other disciples, they were sort of feeling like, you know, the great theologian Yogi Berra at one point said it was like deja vu all over again. It's happening again. And they were remembering that. So Jesus was using their memory, their first call and experience with Christ to what he wanted to reaffirm the call on their lives. So the first similarity there is they were fishing, they had gone back to fishing, which was their livelihood before they were called as the disciples. These are the fishermen, I'm assuming, that were disciples that were with him. Some of the other ones they could have learned to fish, especially those that weren't named here, but they were they were fishing.

And so that's what they were doing in Luke five when Jesus came upon them, Peter and Andrew and James and John, the partners in the fishing business, he called them. They were fishing or had been through fishing. But Jesus tells them to go out into the deep water to catch. You know, such a great catch. You know, they had to call for help. And the other was the other men had to come and help them. So it reminds them of that. But they were also fishing. They were fishing by themselves. They were waiting on Jesus. Jesus told them to go to Galilee and wait for him. Wait for him for that next appearance. And so they were together as a group. They were waiting together. They didn't scatter, you know, as as they did right after Jesus died. They all left. They all left except for Peter who stayed close, even though he denied him, he stayed close to him. But they stayed together. They were fishing together. They were fellowshipping together. They were having, you know, they were eating together. And so this is a side note. This is a good example of a small group. And so they're doing life together. They're eating together. They're sharing together. So if you have not made your connection with one of our life groups in children or students or adults, I encourage you to have that group experience, that connection for relationship and study in God's word together. So that's a commercial. Thank you. The next was a great catch of fish. I've already mentioned the great catch in Luke five. There's such a great number. They couldn't, you know, they couldn't bring it in, they had to have help. And then Jesus calls Peter as a disciple.

It says They left everything. They left the fish on the shore, left everything, and followed him so that was his calling experience. Here, they catch a great number of fish, but they're numbered. Here's 153 specifically. And what gets me on this it said that they, the other you know Peter jumped in the water and the other other fisherman they were bringing the catch a fish in with the boat. But then when Jesus says, come and eat breakfast, Peter goes and gets the net of the fish off and carries it up to the fire himself. And so that's an experience there. He wanted to be close to Jesus. He couldn't wait to get there. The next similarity or a reminder is the charcoal fire. It says they got out. They got out and went to Jesus. He had cooked them breakfast on a charcoal fire. And that that term charcoal fires used one other place in John or in all of scripture. And that is in John 18:17-18, right after the first denial of Simon Peter. It says this. It says, the servant girl who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, you are one of this man's disciples, are you? I'm not he said, And now the servants and officials had made a charcoal fire because it was cold.

They were standing there warming themselves and Peter was standing with them, warming himself. And so I'm sure that that charcoal fire, he had a tinge of remembering that he had, you know, that last time he saw a charcoal fire or it's referred to in scripture, was right after he had made that first denial of Christ. And so on that charcoal fire Jesus, he cooked them breakfast. So here, Jesus, the resurrected Christ is still serving those men that He called as His disciples. He said, Come have breakfast. I've cooked it for you. So He fed them. And so it says, Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish. And what's that remind you of? Think about on the Thursday when they had the Lord's Supper with the disciples. What did he do? He said the same thing. He broke the bread and gave it to them. Mark 14:22 says this way as they were eating, he took bread, blessed it, broke it, gave it to them and said, Take eat, this is my body. So the Lord's Supper reminded them of that last meal that they had with Christ before He was crucified. And Jesus also said, We're to remember at the Lord's Supper, he said, Remember me, this is my body, this is my blood given for you. Remember that. And so I'm sure they remembered, they remembered that instance. The second part of this John chapter one. The second point is that it is restored by grace. We've been called by grace and maybe even restored by grace. Simon Peter was restored by grace. In verse 15 it says when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said. He asked Simon Peter, Simon son of John. Do you love me more than these? Yes, Lord, he said to them, You know that I love you. Feed my lambs. Jesus told him. The second time he asked him, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Yes, Lord, he said to him, You know that I love you. Shepherd my sheep, Jesus said. Verse 17, said he asked him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? And Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time, Do you love me? And he said, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. Feed my sheep, Jesus responded. So not only did Jesus extend grace to Peter here, he also demonstrated his love for him by asking Jesus how, how he loved him. Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him. Three times. Would that annoy you? Some of us don't like questions or go that deep with questions. But he had an opportunity to answer and to express his love to him.

So love transformed Peter's heart and he went from being the disciple who was prone to make mistakes and put his foot in his mouth to a disciple who loved Jesus with all his heart. So each one of these questions, you know, that there was a question from Jesus. There was a response from Simon Peter. And then there was a charge from Jesus to Peter. And let's look at those real quick, because they're each a little they're each a little bit different. The first question, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? The Greek word for love that Jesus used here is agapaō or agape. There's a different form of that. And that's a sacrificial love, a selfless, unconditional love that seeks the highest good for another person. It is the highest form of love. And so the same word is used for love, agapaō in the Great Commandment in Matthew 22, where Jesus responds to the lawyer, to the person, teacher says, You know, what's the first and greatest commandment? Jesus said, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and second is likened to it, to love your neighbor as yourself. So we're to love God wholeheartedly and love our neighbors unconditionally. That same word for love is used in the great commandment, and so it involves giving our complete devotion to Christ and surrendering our will to Christ. And so looking at this, Jesus is asking him, Do you really love me, Peter, at the highest possible level? Do you really love me unconditionally? Do you really love me in the fullest sense? And so he says, Do you love me more than these? There are three possibilities for that. What these mean here. The first one could mean, Do you love me more than these things that you've gone back to? Do you love me more than your fishing vessel? Do you love me more than fishing? Do you love me more than this or that? Whatever. You fill in the blanks. What do you love more than these? What are these that you love more than you love Jesus, it could be your family or it could be sports. It could be your pursuit of a career. It could be another person, a teacher, or a leader that you give more devotion to them than they do, than you do to Christ. What are these things that have taken the place of the highest form of love for you? They've taken, they've knocked Jesus off the throne as Lord of your life, and they've taken the place as the most important thing in your life, your passion, your desire.

What are the things that you love more than Jesus is what he's asking. Another possibility. Number two is Do you love me more than these other disciples? Do you love me more than you love these other men that you've given your life for the last three, three and a half years? Is your relationship with them? Do you love me more than you love these guys? And so Jesus, Jesus' word is agape, the highest form of love. And in Peter's response to that is phileo. But that goes to the third, to the third question is probably the correct thing. Most theologians and commentators agree with this. But do you love me more than these other disciples love me? Do you really have a heart? Do you love me more than these other friends, these other disciples love me? Is that what you're asking? So it's a tough question. And Jesus and Jesus asks the question and Peter responds. He says Lord, you know, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. That's the first response. But here. Simon Peter doesn't use the same word for love that Jesus does. Simon Peter uses the word phileo, which is a brotherly love, an affectionate love, warm affection or friendship love. And Peter's basically saying yes, Lord you know that I have strong affection for you. Not that highest love, but I have strong affection for you. And so Jesus responds to him. His charge to him is to feed my lambs. This is what I want you to do. And he's referring to the young Christians, not the actual animals. He's talking about the flock of God, the young lambs, and then the sheep. So these are what I want you to do. I want you to feed and take care of the most vulnerable, the youngest, the smallest, the most vulnerable in life, the most prone to wander, the most delicate. That's what I want you to do is take care of my lambs. The second question is pretty much the same as the first from Jesus Simon. Son of John. Do you love, do you agape, agapaō me? Do you love me with the highest form of love possible? In the second response, as Peter said again, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.

Yes, Lord, you know I have strong affection for you. Yes, Lord, you know I love you like I love my friends. I'm loving you as much as I can offer. I'm not going to claim to have the highest love for you, because that's where I failed when I denied you. I'm not going to make that same mistake. This is all I can love you. This phileo is what I can love you with. That's the highest I can go. And Jesus says, You know, it doesn't bother me. He says, The second charge is to shepherd my sheep. So it says, Feed my lambs for the first time. Then he says Shepherd my sheep. Again, that's the flock of God. Take care of them, guide them, and lead them. And you say that's going to be your calling. So no more fishing from now on, I want you to shepherd my sheep. The third question, very similar, but it's a different word used for love. Jesus, says Simon, Son of John, do you love me? And this time, Jesus went down to Peter's level where he could connect to him, said, Do you really phileo me? Do you really have strong affection for me? And Peter said, Yes, Lord. His response, Yes, Lord, do you know that I have strong affection for you. And Jesus said, Jesus said, feed my sheep. So feed my lambs, shepherd my sheep, and feed my sheep. Jesus still loved Peter, but he made a connection with him that he was restoring him from that failure where Jesus experienced the grace of Jesus in that giving him a recommission or a restoration of what he wanted him to do, for he was forgiven, restored, and given a new purpose in life.

Those three things. He is no longer defined by his past failures, but his love for Jesus and his commitment to serve Him. In the third section here Simon Peter was recommissioned by grace. He was recommissioned by grace. Verse 18 through 22 says, Truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you to where you don't want to go. And he said this to indicate what kind of death Peter would glorify God. And after saying this, he told him, Follow me. So that's his charge, that's his recommission. Follow me like he did when he first was called in Luke 5 or in Matthew and Mark at the first calling, follow me. And then verse 20 gets sort of sidetracked here. So, Peter turned around and saw the disciples. Jesus loved following them, the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and asked Lord, who is the one that's going to betray you? When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, Lord, what about him? What about John? What's going to happen to him? And I think Jesus' response is pretty. I mean, very sarcastic. I think, pretty humorous, if I want him to remain until I come, Jesus answered, What is that to you? That is none of your business. You follow me. You don't worry about anybody else's call on that. Then Jesus recommissioned Peter in his call to follow me. What He's talking about in this passage about Peter says, You're going to grow old and you're going to be tied up and taken to where you don't want to go. Jesus was telling him, you're going to die for me. You're going to have you're going to live to an old age, but you're going to die for me. You're going to be crucified. In the early church, fathers and historians and theologians confirm that Peter indeed was crucified, you know, for Christ's sake, in Rome. And that he was crucified, but he requested, tradition is he requested that he did not want to be crucified in the manner of his Christ, because he was unworthy. He asked to be crucified upside down in tradition. That's what happened. So Jesus here again he was recommissioned and told by Jesus to follow him. And so they remember that.

And that was a recall because back in the early days of the calling, Jesus said, follow me. Luke 9:23 Jesus puts this way, he says, If anyone would come after me, let Him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. And David Platt, according to that scripture, says, This is a summons to lose your life and find new life and ultimate joy in him. Jesus says If any man desires to follow me, he's got to deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. And that cross is not a burden to bear. That cross is where you come and die. You give yourself, you die to self and you follow me. And then it goes on. And he says that about John. It says, you follow me. Don't worry about him, you follow me. We need to focus. That's the focus that our Lord wants. Follow me. Don't compare yourself with somebody else. Well, I'm doing better than they are or what's going to happen to them. You have to be obedient to the call that Christ has put on your life and not worry about if somebody else is doing theirs or not. You've got to be obedient to the call of Christ put on your life, and our lives. So the application here, what does it mean to follow Christ really three, three areas for that. One is we follow Christ with faithful obedience. An unshakable obedience. Immediate obedience, not delayed obedience, but faithful immediate obedience to follow Christ and His call on our life. So we've got to be obedient to the commands that He puts on us. The second characteristic of a follower of Christ is unwavering love for Christ. Unwavering love. You don't lose your love for Christ. You don't doubt your love for Christ. Christ loves you unconditionally, and you're to love Him with your whole heart, mind and strength. So an unwavering love for Christ. And then the third one is a passionate commitment to Christ. You're passionate about your commitment to Christ. Your passion for Christ lets you have a passion to commit yourself to Christ. Peter's commitment to Jesus was unwavering and passionate, even unto death. So it's a different Peter Simon Peter in Acts than it was in the Gospels. And so Jesus predicted, he said You'll live to be an old man, but you're going to die. You're going to give your life. You're going to die for my sake. So having a passionate commitment for Christ and and I want to close with this illustration from pastor Jan Hettinger, in his book, Follow Me. He shares an experience about a gentleman he had been counseling, had come to him frustrated and had the following conversation with him.

He said he tells of one even after leaving a singles men's Bible study, that one of the men followed him into the office, into the office obviously upset with himself. And he quotes the guy. He says, You probably wouldn't understand the shock of this. But tonight I realized that I was a believer, but not a follower of Christ. Intellectually, I don't have a problem with what Scripture says or what the material in Scripture is. Well, permitting it to actually change me. Well, that's a different matter. That's a different story. And pastor Hettinger responded to him and said Brother Believing is a spectator sport. Following is what makes you a player. Following is where the cost of commitment shows up. Following means not my will, but thine be done. It means submission to our Lord's leadership of our lives, and that always means dying to self control. So are you following Christ? Or are you just a spectator? Are you following Christ? And then you're letting His words, you're letting the truth of the Gospel penetrate your life and help and experience the transformation of grace.

This guy says, he says, but the matter of letting it change me, well, that's a different matter. What does Christ need to transform in your life this morning? Have you experienced transformational grace in your life? Is Christ sufficient for you? Or are you pursuing these other things that you may love more than you do with Christ? So let me ask you a question. Have you been transformed by the grace of God? Do you love Jesus more than anything else in your life? If you haven't today, I would plead with you to surrender your heart to Christ, to surrender to the love of Jesus, to the grace of Jesus. Have you realized today that maybe you're a believer, but not a follower? We're going to have a response time. And as you consider that, one have you, have you trusted Christ as Savior? As a little sister was baptized, that's the first act of obedience. After you become a Christian. To symbolize that you're a follower, you're a believer in Christ and you've surrendered your life to him. How are you living your life through transformed grace? Are you living a defeated life? So we're going to have a response time. I'll be down here by the next steps banner, and we've got deacons and decision counselors and also a prayer team. And the same up in the class with pastor Chip and deacons and prayer are up there. What is your response to the grace and love of Christ today? Father, we're grateful for the power of your love. We're thankful for your grace in our lives. And Father, help us to know with confidence that we love you with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. And Father that we are a follower. We've accepted the call to surrender our lives to die to self and to follow you. For it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.

Follow Along with the Message

 

Simon Peter: Transformed by Grace

February 19, 2023

“As I am not the man I ought to be, I am not the man I wish to be, and I am not the man I hope to be, but by the grace of God, I am not the man I used to be.”
— John Newton

“You are loved and accepted by God through the merit of Jesus… Nothing you ever do will cause him to love you any more or any less. He loves you strictly by His grace given to you through Jesus.”
— Jerry Bridges

3 Main Sections of John 21

1. Christ’s grace in your life.

John 21:1–14
1 After this, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called “Twin”), Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples were together. 3 “I’m going fishing,” Simon Peter said to them. “We’re coming with you,” they told him. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4 When daybreak came, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not know it was Jesus. 5 “Friends,” Jesus called to them, “you don’t have any fish, do you?” “No,” they answered. 6 “Cast the net on the right side of the boat,” he told them, “and you’ll find some.” So they did, and they were unable to haul it in because of the large number of fish. 7 The disciple, the one Jesus loved, said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tied his outer clothing around him (for he had taken it off) and plunged into the sea. 8 Since they were not far from land (about a hundred yards away), the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. 9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. 10 “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus told them. 11 So Simon Peter climbed up and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish—153 of them. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 “Come and have breakfast,” Jesus told them. None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

2. by grace.

John 21:15–17
15 When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.” “Feed my lambs,” he told him. 16 A second time he asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.” “Shepherd my sheep,” he told him. 17 He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” “Feed my sheep,” Jesus said.
Matthew 22:37
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment.
3 Possible “These” to Consider

1. Do you love me more than these ?

2. Do you love me more than you love these other ?

3. Do you love me more than you love these other disciples ?

3. by grace.

John 21:18–22
18 “Truly I tell you, when you were younger, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don’t want to go.” 19 He said this to indicate by what kind of death Peter would glorify God. After saying this, he told him, “Follow me.” 20 So Peter turned around and saw the disciple Jesus loved following them, the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and asked, “Lord, who is the one that’s going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” 22 “If I want him to remain until I come,” Jesus answered, “what is that to you? As for you, follow me.”
Luke 9:23
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

“A summons to lose your life and find new life and ultimate joy in him.”
— David Platt

Matthew 4:18–20
18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

JESUS’ FOCUS: “Follow Me! Don’t yourself with somebody else.”

3 Characteristics That We Are Following Christ

1. Faithful to Christ.

2. Unwavering for Christ.

3. Passionate to Christ.

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Additional Notes

 

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