WEBVTT 00:00:00.340 --> 00:00:03.600 I'm going to invite you to John, chapter 21, where we're going to be today. 00:00:04.220 --> 00:00:09.980 John 21, this is a beautiful section to the end of the Gospel of John. 00:00:09.980 --> 00:00:14.200 Next week, we will end the Gospel of John the day after Christmas. 00:00:14.200 --> 00:00:17.740 We'll end the Gospel of John together, which I have really enjoyed going through. 00:00:17.740 --> 00:00:24.880 This is the longest we have ever taken through a book of the Bible, but I've just appreciated the depth that we have walked through 00:00:24.880 --> 00:00:30.020 John together and being able to discover a relationship with the Lord and what that should look like in our lives. 00:00:30.560 --> 00:00:38.000 And when you come to the Gospel of John, chapter 21 especially, as scholars have studied this chapter, they have found it rather interesting 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:40.500 because John, chapter 20 is really... 00:00:40.500 --> 00:00:42.740 It's just a nice inning to the Gospel of John. 00:00:42.980 --> 00:00:50.190 When you get to the end of John 20, verses 30, 31, the way that the author ends that chapter is to talk about how... 00:00:50.440 --> 00:00:51.000 It says... 00:00:51.460 --> 00:00:58.640 There's many more things that he could have written in the Gospel of John, but he says the reason he chose the stories that he chose is for one simple 00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:02.500 purpose, that you might find life in Christ and live in light of that life in Christ. 00:01:03.080 --> 00:01:03.840 And that could have been it. 00:01:03.900 --> 00:01:05.800 We've seen the resurrection of Jesus. 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:12.980 He gives us the last couple of verses to think about the whole point of why he wrote the Book of John so that you could find life and relationship in Christ for now 00:01:12.980 --> 00:01:15.220 and all of eternity, and done. 00:01:15.420 --> 00:01:22.760 But had he ended there, I think we would've ended the Gospel of John with a strong tension point, and that 00:01:22.760 --> 00:01:30.130 tension point would've been, "Yeah, but what about Peter?" Because if you remember how this story has unfolded, 00:01:30.320 --> 00:01:34.200 Jesus, we studied chapter 13 to chapter 17, in the upper room with his disciples. 00:01:34.920 --> 00:01:36.780 He's declaring he's going to die. 00:01:36.780 --> 00:01:40.980 Peter says, "Over my dead body." And Jesus says, "You think you're big and bad, Peter? 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:47.300 But before this night's over, you're going to deny me three times." And when Jesus goes to the cross, sure enough, Peter does. 00:01:47.360 --> 00:01:49.220 Peter denies Jesus and walks away. 00:01:49.500 --> 00:01:51.600 And so, if you get to the end of John, chapter 20... 00:01:51.660 --> 00:01:58.720 I mean, if you've read the gospels before, Peter is the one where Jesus says, "Who do you say that I am?" And Peter says, "You are the Christ." 00:01:58.760 --> 00:02:00.940 And Jesus says, "You are right, and I am the rock. 00:02:00.940 --> 00:02:08.240 And upon you, Peter, the rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." Now, in that story, Jesus identifies himself as the great rock, and 00:02:08.240 --> 00:02:12.800 he changes or he titles Peter by the name Peter, which means a little rock. 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:20.260 He's saying, "Look, on your identity in me, who is the great rock, you yourself become a pillar for helping lead God's 00:02:20.280 --> 00:02:20.980 people forward. 00:02:20.980 --> 00:02:28.000 And I would say the same is true for you." Peter goes on later in 1 Peter, chapter 2, he tells us, "Jesus is the cornerstone and we're all 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:29.120 living stones in Christ. 00:02:29.200 --> 00:02:36.440 So when your faith is rooted in Christ, who is the great rock, then you become a rock in representation of who Jesus is." But 00:02:36.440 --> 00:02:43.860 Peter, after this incredible proclamation of his faith in Christ and all that Jesus says about him and recognizing 00:02:43.860 --> 00:02:51.470 that he is a rock rooted in the great rock, you look at all this about Peter, and he's the leader of the 12 disciples, 00:02:51.700 --> 00:02:51.820 right? 00:02:52.140 --> 00:02:53.740 And now all of a sudden, he's denied Jesus. 00:02:56.440 --> 00:02:57.610 And what do you do with that? 00:02:59.380 --> 00:03:00.720 And where does that put Peter? 00:03:00.720 --> 00:03:03.190 If you ended with John, chapter 20, it would be unsettling. 00:03:03.820 --> 00:03:04.710 It would create a tension. 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:13.400 But in John, chapter 21, John goes back to the story with Peter, 00:03:13.480 --> 00:03:20.660 and he helps us to begin to understand not only how Peter deals with his failures before 00:03:20.660 --> 00:03:27.690 Jesus, but he also helps us begin, through Peter's example, to understand how we work through our own regrets in life. 00:03:29.740 --> 00:03:34.620 What happens when we mess up, and what do we do in our failures? 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:41.480 Inevitably, when you serve the Lord, you will fail at some point. 00:03:43.080 --> 00:03:43.660 You'll mess up. 00:03:43.720 --> 00:03:45.150 What do you do? 00:03:46.300 --> 00:03:48.320 And how could God use you? 00:03:50.180 --> 00:03:54.900 More specifically, I could say, how do we deal with regret? 00:03:56.380 --> 00:03:57.420 Regret is a... 00:03:57.560 --> 00:03:58.860 It's a difficult emotion. 00:04:00.260 --> 00:04:07.500 As people, we like to handle things on our own, but regret communicates that there's something that's happened within our life that 00:04:07.500 --> 00:04:11.980 now is beyond our control, and we can't change the past. 00:04:14.320 --> 00:04:21.320 We say things like, "If I'd known they hurt that way, I would've done more," or "If 00:04:21.320 --> 00:04:28.400 I had known it was my last time," or "I would've done it different if," or "If I could just go back and 00:04:28.460 --> 00:04:34.100 do it over again, this is the way I would have done it." Regret. 00:04:37.100 --> 00:04:42.720 The message spoken into your heart in the moment of regret is critical. 00:04:44.860 --> 00:04:49.720 And if you take, for example, even at the end of Jesus's life, there were two people that denied Jesus. 00:04:51.440 --> 00:04:59.080 One of them, Judas, found death, and the other, Peter, finds 00:04:59.080 --> 00:05:01.840 forgiveness in life. 00:05:03.720 --> 00:05:08.440 And if we could perfectly follow God's word, we definitely wouldn't have regrets as people. 00:05:08.440 --> 00:05:14.940 However, because we're human, we all have regrets, because at some point, we will disobey the Lord. 00:05:14.960 --> 00:05:17.970 To be human is to carry regret. 00:05:18.080 --> 00:05:21.000 And if you battle regret, it shows that you're normal. 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:28.220 I think it is completely healthy to have some experience of regret in your life because it's showing that you're wrestling 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:34.500 within your soul in how to move away from the kind of decisions that lead you down that path. 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:38.000 And not just that, if you've walked that path, how do you deal with it where you are? 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:47.360 And so, we all experience it to a degree, and I don't think regret in itself has to be wrong, but rather, I think holding on 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:51.600 to regret is where it becomes dangerous. 00:05:54.700 --> 00:06:01.760 And you think in terms of our relationship to the Lord, what Satan would love for us to do is to live 00:06:01.760 --> 00:06:02.200 with regret. 00:06:04.280 --> 00:06:06.440 Regret tends to trap us in our past. 00:06:06.620 --> 00:06:11.700 It tends to keep us from moving forward and enjoying life around us. 00:06:13.060 --> 00:06:20.160 And so, when you think about how do we deal with regret and how to move forward in that way, our goal isn't to excuse it, 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:23.700 our goal isn't to compensate forward, our goal isn't to ignore it. 00:06:23.780 --> 00:06:27.420 Our goal is to find a healthy way to move forward. 00:06:29.320 --> 00:06:35.780 And so, in this passage this morning, that's what I want to talk about is, four points in dealing with regret. 00:06:37.560 --> 00:06:45.000 Point number one, if you grabbed notes this morning, is this: Holding on to regret moves me 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:47.660 further from Jesus. 00:06:48.480 --> 00:06:51.880 Holding on to regret can move me further from Jesus. 00:06:51.880 --> 00:06:57.020 We might even say, at the very least, it will distract you from your relationship with the Lord. 00:06:57.420 --> 00:07:04.500 And in John, chapter 21, verses 1 through 3, it says this, "After these things, Jesus revealed himself again 00:07:04.500 --> 00:07:11.800 to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias." And he revealed himself in this way: Simon Peter, Thomas, 00:07:12.100 --> 00:07:17.480 who was called Didymus, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the son of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples were together. 00:07:18.200 --> 00:07:25.260 And Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." And they said to him, "We are also coming with you." And they went out and got into 00:07:25.260 --> 00:07:25.640 the boat. 00:07:25.940 --> 00:07:27.730 And that night, they caught nothing. 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:32.840 Now, I think sometimes we overstate Peter's reactions here. 00:07:33.840 --> 00:07:38.260 Sometimes, people will say that Peter has given up on Jesus and he's completely abandoned Christ. 00:07:38.280 --> 00:07:40.040 Now, I don't think that this is true at all. 00:07:40.040 --> 00:07:40.990 You see Peter in this story. 00:07:41.020 --> 00:07:48.200 He's definitely focused on going back and fishing, for sure, but I think people sometimes will take Peter's actions 00:07:48.200 --> 00:07:55.640 too extreme and try to proclaim that once Peter had forsaken Jesus, as Jesus was going to the cross, Peter completely abandoned 00:07:55.640 --> 00:07:56.200 Jesus. 00:07:56.200 --> 00:07:57.980 Now, I don't think that that's true. 00:07:57.980 --> 00:08:01.900 I think what Peter is going to who is towards something that's familiar in his life. 00:08:02.080 --> 00:08:04.840 He was a fisherman before Jesus at this moment in his life. 00:08:04.840 --> 00:08:05.980 He's not sure what to do. 00:08:06.220 --> 00:08:09.960 And so, he heads back towards what he was familiar with, which was fishing. 00:08:10.620 --> 00:08:17.720 In fact, just to be a little more gracious to Peter, in Mark, chapter 16, verse 7, at one of Jesus's resurrection appearances, he told 00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:20.200 his disciples he was going to meet them in Galilee. 00:08:21.460 --> 00:08:28.500 And so, the disciples are in this region now and they're going back to fishing because that's what they're familiar with in order to, I think, pass the time in 00:08:28.500 --> 00:08:31.600 waiting for what Jesus's next instructions might be. 00:08:32.620 --> 00:08:40.100 But the reason I say within the context of this story that Peter is dealing with regret isn't so much about what's happening in verse 1 to 3, though I think he's starting to demonstrate 00:08:40.100 --> 00:08:47.140 this in his action, I think you start to discover that Peter is wrestling with this in his life, because when you get to verse 15 to 17, the 00:08:47.140 --> 00:08:53.880 way that Jesus chooses to deal with Peter, in fact, it'll use this word in verse 17 that Peter was grieved. 00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:00.940 Peter was grieved showing that within his soul, he was dealing with a turmoil. 00:09:02.700 --> 00:09:09.430 And I think that turmoil is pointing to the regret that Peter had for denying Jesus. 00:09:11.700 --> 00:09:18.250 Peter hadn't given up in his relationship with Christ, but Peter needed reconciliation. 00:09:20.660 --> 00:09:22.970 I think Peter, in this moment, felt aimless. 00:09:24.300 --> 00:09:28.640 He felt somewhat like a black sheep to the rest of the disciples. 00:09:31.300 --> 00:09:34.540 And you know what that's like, because you've had regrets. 00:09:36.840 --> 00:09:40.880 You feel maybe the guilt and the shame. 00:09:43.040 --> 00:09:50.300 And maybe when you compare yourself to other people in relationship to God, you see yourself as the one who deserves less, the 00:09:50.300 --> 00:09:51.240 one who should be loved less. 00:09:52.560 --> 00:09:54.260 After all, you're the one that messed up. 00:09:54.280 --> 00:09:57.140 And if you're like Peter, maybe even messed up publicly. 00:09:59.920 --> 00:10:03.100 And how do you move forward? 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:13.080 Because regret, regret can certainly hold you back, make 00:10:13.080 --> 00:10:17.220 you feel like you're not a part, make you feel distant from God. 00:10:19.260 --> 00:10:26.900 But what you find in this story is not only incredibly healing for Peter, but very powerful 00:10:26.920 --> 00:10:29.820 for our lives as well. 00:10:30.900 --> 00:10:37.940 What you learn in point number two is that while regret moves us or distracts us from our relationship with God, God's 00:10:37.980 --> 00:10:40.780 grace is greater than my regret. 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:42.020 That's point number two. 00:10:42.020 --> 00:10:44.220 God's grace is greater than my regret. 00:10:44.220 --> 00:10:51.260 And in verse 4 to 6, look at this, "But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the 00:10:51.260 --> 00:10:51.440 beach. 00:10:53.560 --> 00:11:00.720 Yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus." So Jesus said to them, "Children, you do not have any fish 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:07.780 to eat, do you?" And they answered him, "No." And he said to them, "Cast the net on the right hand side of the boat and you will 00:11:07.780 --> 00:11:15.680 find the fish." So they cast it, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great quantity of 00:11:15.680 --> 00:11:16.060 fish. 00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:25.660 And one of the beautiful things that we find in God's grace in the midst of this story is, notice Jesus is not showing up 00:11:25.800 --> 00:11:27.280 on the beach to yell at Peter? 00:11:28.380 --> 00:11:31.580 He's not appearing as like, "What were you thinking?" Right? 00:11:31.620 --> 00:11:33.980 It's like, that's not what he chooses to do in this story. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:41.100 And just his demeanor here is proving to us the kind of character that God carries, the kind of patience, the 00:11:41.100 --> 00:11:46.540 long-suffering the Lord has towards us in our inadequacies, in our failures, in our sins. 00:11:46.580 --> 00:11:53.720 Rather than show up and yell at Peter and giving him a tongue-lashing over how Peter just publicly disgraced 00:11:53.720 --> 00:12:00.720 himself in denying Christ, Jesus shows up and performs a 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:00.960 miracle. 00:12:04.280 --> 00:12:06.460 He doesn't ditch Peter for ditching him. 00:12:07.820 --> 00:12:13.700 And I think if anyone had an excuse to say, "It's about time I give up on you," it's got to be Jesus, right? 00:12:13.700 --> 00:12:14.980 I mean, Jesus never sins. 00:12:15.100 --> 00:12:15.560 Jesus is perfect. 00:12:16.140 --> 00:12:23.320 Jesus went to the ends of the earth, to the entire extent of giving his life, becoming a 00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:28.340 servant of servants in order to show his love for Peter. 00:12:28.340 --> 00:12:32.230 If anyone had an excuse, it was Jesus. 00:12:34.280 --> 00:12:41.420 But instead, Jesus teaches us that his grace is greater than our regret, and I can't help but think 00:12:41.420 --> 00:12:48.640 that it's this kind of experience that led Peter in 2 Peter, chapter 3, verse 9, to say to us, "God 00:12:48.640 --> 00:12:57.280 is long-suffering towards you, not wishing that any perish, but all come to repentance." God's 00:12:57.280 --> 00:12:58.920 heart is not for your failure. 00:13:00.640 --> 00:13:02.660 God's heart is for you. 00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:11.180 And so, if I could just say one thing that if you held on today, if you remember nothing else, it would just be to say 00:13:11.180 --> 00:13:16.700 this: The thing that will stop you from moving forward in Christ isn't Christ. 00:13:19.100 --> 00:13:19.440 It's you. 00:13:20.840 --> 00:13:21.640 It's me. 00:13:23.900 --> 00:13:30.980 It's our pride, when we fail to not see the opportunity that rests in a God 00:13:30.980 --> 00:13:37.020 who is long-suffering and patient towards us, who is working to transform our hearts into his image. 00:13:37.020 --> 00:13:44.460 It's not taking the opportunity to come to him, because you see in verse 4 to 6, the grace that Christ carries 00:13:44.460 --> 00:13:51.740 to Peter, even after Peter denied him, even when Peter walks in this world with regret. 00:13:51.740 --> 00:13:57.130 And so, our hope in seeing this type of story is that our behavior would become much like Peter. 00:13:57.760 --> 00:14:05.020 In John, chapter 21, verse 7, he says this, "Therefore, 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:12.360 the disciples, whom Jesus loved, said to Peter, 'It is the Lord.' So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself 00:14:12.360 --> 00:14:13.360 into the sea. 00:14:13.400 --> 00:14:20.900 But the other disciples came in a little boat for they were not out far from the land, but about 200 cubits away dragging the net full 00:14:20.900 --> 00:14:28.020 of fish." When you see this story, some people have asked the questions and see how 00:14:28.020 --> 00:14:28.720 Peter just... 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:33.760 He sees Jesus and recklessly abandons everything just to get near to Jesus. 00:14:34.060 --> 00:14:40.440 But the way it describes him in this story is, he put on his outer garment for he was stripped for work, and people read this and they're like, "Is Peter naked? 00:14:41.040 --> 00:14:46.300 Is Peter naked in this story?" And I will just assure you that Peter is not naked in this story. 00:14:46.360 --> 00:14:49.280 Peter is not the kind that likes to flash while he works, okay? 00:14:49.400 --> 00:14:56.600 That's not what it's saying, but rather, what it's saying is, most likely, either Peter has on a type of garment in order to handle the fish, 00:14:56.640 --> 00:14:58.490 and he knows he's about to jump in the water. 00:14:58.820 --> 00:15:03.340 And so, it could translate that what Peter does is, he doesn't put on his outer garment. 00:15:03.460 --> 00:15:10.560 Rather, he puts up his outer garment, meaning he kind of tucks everything in to be able to jump out into the water and run to Jesus, or 00:15:10.560 --> 00:15:11.940 Peter is in... 00:15:12.360 --> 00:15:19.530 He's in something modest, but he's only clothed enough in order to work with fish so he doesn't destroy his clothes. 00:15:19.920 --> 00:15:26.960 And so, Peter, then realizing that he's going to be on the shore with Jesus, turns and grabs maybe something to put on his shoulders as he walks back to 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:30.070 the shore and he can put on his full clothing when he gets to Christ. 00:15:30.300 --> 00:15:38.100 Either way, he's not working naked, but one thing for sure, when he sees Jesus, the only thing Peter can think of is, "What 00:15:38.100 --> 00:15:45.360 I need in my life right now is Jesus." What Peter saw by the appearance of 00:15:45.560 --> 00:15:47.400 Christ is hope. 00:15:50.110 --> 00:15:57.340 Guys, can I tell you in your regret and the things that you might be ashamed of in 00:15:57.340 --> 00:16:04.340 life, if you don't think Jesus can forgive you, can I just tell 00:16:04.340 --> 00:16:05.720 you graciously, kindly? 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:14.100 You think too much of yourself and you think too little of God. 00:16:17.720 --> 00:16:22.840 What we need in a story like this is to understand God's grace is far greater than my sin. 00:16:26.880 --> 00:16:33.980 When we deal with regret, we have plenty of reasons within our hearts to say, "Look, here's why I feel unworthy or why I think I might be 00:16:33.980 --> 00:16:42.160 unworthy." But when we hold on to that regret, what we're communicating is 00:16:42.160 --> 00:16:47.540 that in that moment, we think too much about ourself and too little about the Lord. 00:16:49.940 --> 00:16:57.120 Jesus is showing up, I believe in this story, to communicate just to the extent of how far his grace will go for you and 00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:04.280 for me, and how important it is to see Jesus this way, which brings me to point 00:17:04.280 --> 00:17:05.339 number three in your notes. 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:12.220 A moment with Jesus can transform my life forever. 00:17:14.619 --> 00:17:15.660 Verse 9 of the story. 00:17:16.980 --> 00:17:23.520 So when they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire already made and fish placed on it and bread. 00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:31.660 And Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish which you have now caught." So Simon Peter went up and hauled the net to land, 00:17:31.980 --> 00:17:33.080 full of large fish. 00:17:33.420 --> 00:17:35.700 And although there were so many, the net was not torn. 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:43.340 Jesus said to him, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples ventured to inquire of him, "Who are you?" Knowing that it was the Lord, and Jesus came and took the bread and 00:17:43.340 --> 00:17:44.990 gave it to them, and the fish likewise. 00:17:45.880 --> 00:17:51.280 This was now the third time that Jesus revealed himself to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. 00:17:52.540 --> 00:17:56.950 And Jesus, as part of the world, to be invited to dinner, is communicating something. 00:17:58.580 --> 00:18:02.200 It's important to find fellowship and identity. 00:18:02.200 --> 00:18:09.260 And when you read the New Testament, especially in terms with Jesus, you see that really, most anything 00:18:09.260 --> 00:18:12.740 great that happens in the Gospel happens around a meal. 00:18:14.800 --> 00:18:19.900 You start in John, chapter 2, when Jesus begins his public ministry, it's at a wedding feast. 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:28.590 At the end of Revelation, John writes the Book of Revelation, the last thing John talks about in Revelation is a wedding feast with Jesus. 00:18:29.620 --> 00:18:35.240 One-fourth of the Gospel of John is one meal in the upper room with Jesus. 00:18:36.660 --> 00:18:43.880 Everything great that happens in the gospels tends to happen around a meal, but the idea of a meal is 00:18:43.880 --> 00:18:51.520 communicating the importance of relationship and communing with God, and it's to say to you, because 00:18:51.520 --> 00:18:58.600 when we deal with regret, the most important thing to do is to not look deeper within you, but 00:18:58.680 --> 00:19:01.020 to look to the goodness of who Christ is. 00:19:01.300 --> 00:19:07.320 Commune with God and see his greatness to take our eyes off of ourselves and look to him. 00:19:08.380 --> 00:19:15.380 And the Bible communicates over and over the greatness of God because we need him to be great, because as people, we fail in our nature and we 00:19:15.380 --> 00:19:22.500 fall and we stumble and we sin and we carry shame and regret and guilt from all of that, and the Lord, he doesn't stop in 00:19:22.500 --> 00:19:26.240 his love and his grace and his forgiveness that he desires to offer. 00:19:26.260 --> 00:19:33.460 It's why Malachi, chapter 3, verse 6, he says, "I am the Lord, and I do not change," meaning his character is always 00:19:33.460 --> 00:19:36.050 consistent when we in ourselves are not consistent. 00:19:36.540 --> 00:19:44.080 In Hebrews, chapter 13, verse 8, "Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever." In Philippians, chapter 4, 00:19:45.080 --> 00:19:53.560 verse 19, "He will supply all that you need." And 00:19:53.560 --> 00:20:00.860 our tendency as people when we fail, our tendency has 00:20:00.860 --> 00:20:04.360 been to create religion to sort of compensate. 00:20:06.060 --> 00:20:08.100 But can I tell you one of the great fallacies of religion? 00:20:10.280 --> 00:20:15.620 Religion is often invented for those who have an inadequate God. 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:19.910 God can't forgive. 00:20:20.320 --> 00:20:21.200 God is not capable. 00:20:21.660 --> 00:20:28.860 Therefore, I must create something in order to show myself worthy of God, and therefore, man invents religion. 00:20:29.180 --> 00:20:35.560 But the whole point behind religion is to elevate who you are to impress God, but that's not Christianity. 00:20:37.740 --> 00:20:40.560 The point of Christianity is not to impress God with who we are. 00:20:40.780 --> 00:20:43.860 The point of Christianity is for us to be impressed with who he is. 00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:47.420 God is not impressed with us as human beings. 00:20:47.820 --> 00:20:51.780 And you think about what it means to create religion and then try to impress God. 00:20:51.960 --> 00:20:54.460 God is the one who gave you all the talent that you have. 00:20:56.200 --> 00:21:03.400 God already knows what you are going to say or what you're going to do before you ever do it, and there's nothing that you can do within 00:21:03.400 --> 00:21:06.040 yourself that God can't do for himself anyway. 00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:15.420 Christianity is not about impressing God. 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:22.860 But rather, Christianity is about being impressed with God, and people tend to create religion in order to 00:21:22.860 --> 00:21:26.740 compensate for a God that they find inadequate to meet their needs or manipulate him. 00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:30.360 I'll do this, God, so that you owe me. 00:21:31.860 --> 00:21:39.030 And therefore, the idea behind religion is, I will behave so that I can become something, and therefore, God will love me and I can belong, 00:21:41.780 --> 00:21:42.490 but that's not Jesus. 00:21:44.540 --> 00:21:51.740 If it were Jesus, Peter would have no position in John, chapter 21, and none of us ultimately would really ever have any hope because all 00:21:51.740 --> 00:21:52.940 of us at some point will fail. 00:21:54.880 --> 00:22:02.280 But Jesus rather is this way: Jesus invites us to belong so that we'd become, and 00:22:02.280 --> 00:22:03.590 ultimately, we'd behave. 00:22:05.700 --> 00:22:12.780 Meaning the motivation behind my living in this world isn't so that God would love me, but my motivation in living in this world is because God 00:22:12.780 --> 00:22:13.440 loves me. 00:22:15.620 --> 00:22:17.160 I don't behave in order to be accepted. 00:22:17.380 --> 00:22:19.140 It's because I'm accepted that I behave. 00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:25.990 Meaning when I see the type of love that God has for me, what wells up within my heart is to love him in response. 00:22:27.860 --> 00:22:33.720 It's the only justifiable action for seeing a God who cares for us so greatly that he would become flesh to give his life for us. 00:22:35.960 --> 00:22:44.660 It's because of that relationship that Jesus continues to offer when he shows up to the shores of my own life when I fail that 00:22:44.660 --> 00:22:46.720 I can respond in love. 00:22:49.220 --> 00:22:56.470 Point number four: God can redeem my regrets and free 00:22:56.470 --> 00:22:58.800 me in him. 00:22:59.750 --> 00:23:06.670 One of the things I love about the end of this, and I'll read this verse to you in just a second, is Jesus just doesn't do a nice thing for Peter. 00:23:08.110 --> 00:23:14.170 Jesus, while he's doing something gracious for Peter, also deals with the elephant in the room, which is their relationship. 00:23:15.510 --> 00:23:22.590 But I love the way that Jesus initiates dealing with the tension in their relationship, and the 00:23:22.590 --> 00:23:24.980 reconciliation that has to take place. 00:23:26.010 --> 00:23:33.050 What Jesus does in order to get to that conversation is he just offers nothing but grace and love towards Peter in a way that 00:23:33.050 --> 00:23:38.130 communicates from Christ to Peter is that, "I'm not here just to shame you. 00:23:38.130 --> 00:23:44.490 I'm not here to guilt you, but rather, I'm here to love you, and I am here because I am for you. 00:23:45.410 --> 00:23:46.630 I'm not fighting against you. 00:23:46.730 --> 00:23:49.750 I'm fighting with you and I'm fighting for you. 00:23:49.830 --> 00:23:57.210 My interest is in your heart and your wellbeing." That's why when you start this story, Jesus doesn't start off combative, he doesn't start off yelling at Peter, but rather, he 00:23:57.210 --> 00:24:04.010 starts off building relationship with Peter in order to get where Peter is struggling in his walk with Jesus. 00:24:06.230 --> 00:24:11.050 And Jesus then approaches the conversation that he and Peter need to have in verse 15. 00:24:11.050 --> 00:24:11.310 He says this... 00:24:11.570 --> 00:24:19.250 Now, when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon, "Peter Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" And 00:24:19.250 --> 00:24:20.290 he said to him, "Yes, Lord. 00:24:20.970 --> 00:24:28.110 You know that I love you." And he said to him, "Tend my lambs." He said to him again a second time, "Simon, 00:24:28.330 --> 00:24:32.190 son of John, do you love me?" And he said to him, "Yes, Lord. 00:24:32.630 --> 00:24:39.670 You know that I love you." And he said to him, "Shepherd my sheep." And he said to him a third time, "Simon, son of John, do 00:24:39.670 --> 00:24:46.850 you love me?" And Peter was hurt because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know 00:24:46.850 --> 00:24:56.930 all things, and you know that I love you." And Jesus said to him, "Tend my sheep." It's 00:24:56.930 --> 00:25:04.130 interesting, in this story, Jesus asks Peter three times, "Do you love me?" First time he asked, "Do you love me more than these?" 00:25:04.230 --> 00:25:11.330 People debate what exactly the "these" might be, but whatever the "these" are, "Do you love me more than these?" I think it's intended to 00:25:11.330 --> 00:25:14.070 be seen as a distraction from his ultimate love for Jesus. 00:25:15.110 --> 00:25:15.630 "What do you love more? 00:25:15.810 --> 00:25:16.830 Me or this? 00:25:17.010 --> 00:25:17.760 Is it about the fish? 00:25:17.870 --> 00:25:18.320 Is it about others? 00:25:18.550 --> 00:25:19.250 What is it about, Peter? 00:25:20.430 --> 00:25:21.750 What takes priority in your life? 00:25:21.810 --> 00:25:29.050 Do you love me more than these?" And he asks Peter this question three times, and why would Jesus ask Peter 00:25:29.050 --> 00:25:33.040 this question three times, and why after the third time then as Peter grieved? 00:25:33.170 --> 00:25:36.790 Well, I think the answer becomes obvious when you just study the recent history of Peter's life. 00:25:37.570 --> 00:25:39.830 It was Peter who denied Jesus three times. 00:25:41.830 --> 00:25:48.830 And it's as if without Jesus even having to say, "Remember when you denied me three times?" Without even having to say that, when has asked the question three times, I think Peter 00:25:48.830 --> 00:25:50.210 knew what Jesus was getting at. 00:25:50.410 --> 00:25:57.810 "Peter, I am completely aware that you denied me, but 00:25:57.810 --> 00:25:58.410 I still love you. 00:26:00.350 --> 00:26:07.490 Do you love me?" When you study this word for 00:26:07.490 --> 00:26:08.410 love, you'll know... 00:26:08.410 --> 00:26:14.730 In Greek, there's three common words that's used for love, and two of them are expressed in this passage. 00:26:15.570 --> 00:26:18.050 The first type of love is agape love. 00:26:18.310 --> 00:26:22.950 The first two times Jesus says, "Peter, do you love me?" He uses that word, agape. 00:26:22.950 --> 00:26:24.950 This unconditional, sacrificial love. 00:26:25.230 --> 00:26:32.310 "Peter, do you have that kind of love for me?" And then the third time when Jesus asks him, verse 17, he uses a different word for 00:26:32.310 --> 00:26:32.610 love. 00:26:33.010 --> 00:26:36.600 He uses the word phileo, which is where we get the word for... 00:26:36.630 --> 00:26:38.850 If you know the city, Philadelphia, it's the city of what? 00:26:40.430 --> 00:26:41.190 Brotherly love, right? 00:26:42.010 --> 00:26:46.990 And the third time that Jesus asks Peter, he uses the word phileo, which is brotherly love. 00:26:47.890 --> 00:26:48.430 And it's kind of interesting. 00:26:48.870 --> 00:26:50.350 I tend to think that it probably should go... 00:26:51.150 --> 00:26:58.310 Flipped with that Jesus should start off with the brotherly love before he gets to unconditional, sacrificial love, because that's called costing 00:26:58.310 --> 00:26:59.490 your life, right? 00:26:59.630 --> 00:27:00.970 Are we brothers in love? 00:27:00.970 --> 00:27:01.610 Yes, we're brothers. 00:27:01.610 --> 00:27:01.730 Okay. 00:27:01.730 --> 00:27:03.030 But will you die, right? 00:27:03.610 --> 00:27:09.590 That's how I would typically think of it, but I think what Jesus is doing here, it's important to recognize. 00:27:10.330 --> 00:27:17.510 What I think Jesus is getting at is to say this, "Look, Peter, are you willing to give your life for me in the cause, 00:27:17.550 --> 00:27:20.910 the mission for which I call you to in this world to represent me as your king? 00:27:20.950 --> 00:27:22.210 Are you willing to do that?" "Yes, king. 00:27:22.350 --> 00:27:31.130 I will die for you." "But Peter, are 00:27:31.170 --> 00:27:37.790 we friends?" Sometimes, we can get so task-oriented in life. 00:27:38.630 --> 00:27:45.120 Even in ministry, you can get so focused on accomplishing some sort of job that you forget the whole point of it. 00:27:45.790 --> 00:27:47.570 It's not about what you do. 00:27:50.300 --> 00:27:52.160 It's about who you're becoming in Christ. 00:27:55.470 --> 00:27:56.970 It's about your relationship with the Lord. 00:27:59.630 --> 00:28:06.890 Now, Peter could have gone on from this moment all day long and served and continue to serve and tried to serve to make up for his inadequacies in 00:28:06.890 --> 00:28:08.290 how he rejected Jesus. 00:28:10.890 --> 00:28:15.290 That's not ultimately where Jesus wanted to end the conversation, is it? 00:28:16.300 --> 00:28:18.900 "Look, Peter, I'm glad that you want to serve. 00:28:20.130 --> 00:28:25.190 I'm glad you love me to the degree that you'll give your life in that service, but here's what I really want to know. 00:28:27.910 --> 00:28:28.310 Are we friends? 00:28:32.090 --> 00:28:41.210 Are we friends?" When you mess up in a relationship with someone else, it's 00:28:41.210 --> 00:28:42.870 hard to look them in the face, isn't it? 00:28:45.970 --> 00:28:53.330 To experience that closeness that you had previous before you messed up, and 00:28:53.330 --> 00:28:55.530 the only thing that really reconciles that is forgiveness. 00:28:58.030 --> 00:28:58.910 It's grace. 00:29:01.430 --> 00:29:04.850 And this is who Jesus is communicating to us that he is, right? 00:29:07.070 --> 00:29:07.870 "I am for you. 00:29:09.410 --> 00:29:16.850 I want to see you thrive." I mean, Jesus indicates that by the way he talks to Peter after the 00:29:16.850 --> 00:29:21.220 question, "Do you love me?" because then he says, "Look, there's still a place for you in this kingdom. 00:29:22.370 --> 00:29:22.930 Feed my sheep. 00:29:25.570 --> 00:29:26.530 You need to get back up. 00:29:28.610 --> 00:29:30.690 There's a race that you've been called to run. 00:29:32.490 --> 00:29:39.770 There's gifts that I've given you to make a difference, and here's what I'm telling you is, we can put this in the past so that you can live 00:29:39.770 --> 00:29:47.530 for the reason for which I have called you to live." And I love Peter's response here at 00:29:47.550 --> 00:29:47.870 the end. 00:29:49.290 --> 00:29:56.710 He said to him, "Lord, you know all things, and you know I love you." He's saying to Lord, "Look, 00:29:56.810 --> 00:29:59.860 Lord, I can't hide my shortcomings from you. 00:30:00.970 --> 00:30:08.110 I mean, you've identified that you've recognized that I failed by asking me if I love you three times because you know I denied you three times, and you know 00:30:08.110 --> 00:30:09.750 where I am. 00:30:12.010 --> 00:30:19.390 But God, you also know I love you." God redeems 00:30:19.390 --> 00:30:21.190 our failures and regrets. 00:30:22.870 --> 00:30:26.310 And not only does he just redeem it, he works all things together for good. 00:30:26.350 --> 00:30:31.830 It's one of the beautiful things that is so important to understand about the greatness of our God. 00:30:32.770 --> 00:30:36.590 In fact, Romans 8:28 is one of those famous verses we go to for that. 00:30:36.610 --> 00:30:43.750 It says, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose." And when I think Paul is writing this 00:30:43.750 --> 00:30:46.330 in Romans, he's writing this to people that mess up. 00:30:47.950 --> 00:30:55.750 And in the midst of our mess-ups in life and our sin, we have a God who is more than capable and promises too 00:30:55.750 --> 00:30:59.410 to work all things together for good for those who love God who are called according to his purpose. 00:30:59.490 --> 00:31:06.770 So let me just say this to you as a way of encouragement: If you've got regret in your life, you have a God who is big enough to redeem it all and promises to 00:31:06.830 --> 00:31:07.170 do so. 00:31:08.690 --> 00:31:10.050 And there's a few ways that he does it. 00:31:10.090 --> 00:31:15.410 There's ways that he can do it practically now, and there's a way ultimately, he will bring all things together in the end. 00:31:16.680 --> 00:31:17.620 Practically, let me give you an example. 00:31:18.530 --> 00:31:25.630 I cannot think how many people in life have gotten to John, chapter 21 and watch Peter fall in his face and say, "Thank God, I'm not 00:31:25.670 --> 00:31:26.670 the only one." Right? 00:31:27.250 --> 00:31:28.970 I mean, that's why this story's here, isn't it? 00:31:29.110 --> 00:31:31.430 So that we can relate to this and be like, "Oh, thank God. 00:31:31.450 --> 00:31:36.490 I felt like I was just the one that was out there that kept screwing up in life, but it's not. 00:31:36.490 --> 00:31:41.070 If Peter can do it, now then I know that I'm vulnerable and I'm susceptible as well. 00:31:41.090 --> 00:31:48.130 And if Peter can get up from this, then I know that I can get up from this too, because I serve the same God and I love this Jesus 00:31:48.130 --> 00:31:55.140 as well." So practically, our failures can be an encouragement to other people. 00:31:56.210 --> 00:31:57.740 God can redeem it. 00:31:59.130 --> 00:32:04.300 But ultimately, he's more than capable of redeeming all of our pasts. 00:32:06.330 --> 00:32:11.930 And the way that I know that, my example to my life is always the cross. 00:32:14.890 --> 00:32:22.010 When I think about the importance of the cross, as I look at the emblem of the cross, and I recognize that was the darkest day in 00:32:22.010 --> 00:32:22.370 history. 00:32:24.670 --> 00:32:29.310 People at their worst, beating up God in the flesh to the point that they'd kill him. 00:32:31.230 --> 00:32:34.750 And yet, Jesus turns that into the emblem of victory. 00:32:36.230 --> 00:32:41.170 If he can do that on the worst day of history, he can do that with my life too. 00:32:44.090 --> 00:32:50.210 God can work all things together for good to those who love God who are called according to his purpose. 00:32:52.070 --> 00:32:59.090 So when you think about regret, guys, I think the more important thing for us, rather than to get fixated 00:32:59.090 --> 00:33:06.090 on regret, is to think about repentance, because I think there's a distinguishing point between those two words 00:33:06.090 --> 00:33:08.550 that are very significant to understand. 00:33:09.890 --> 00:33:16.910 When we deal with regret in life, the reason that we oftentimes hold on to it and not 00:33:16.910 --> 00:33:21.510 let go is because our primary focus is on us. 00:33:23.090 --> 00:33:30.430 We deal and battle with regret because we're fixated on us, but we can make the transition 00:33:30.430 --> 00:33:35.670 in our life to deal with repentance when our hearts are fixated on him. 00:33:37.830 --> 00:33:44.890 So I said to us just a few more months ago that people create religion because they see a 00:33:44.890 --> 00:33:47.970 God that they think is inadequate to meet their needs. 00:33:49.210 --> 00:33:52.610 And we deal with regret in life that tends to be how we view God. 00:33:53.490 --> 00:33:58.410 "Yes, God, you can forgive all of them, but not me." Right? 00:33:58.410 --> 00:34:06.430 "God, all the verses that you write in the Bible about the greatness of your grace and the ability to overcome and how you've died for all people's 00:34:06.430 --> 00:34:08.230 sins and said it's finished on the cross. 00:34:08.270 --> 00:34:11.270 That was good for them, but not for me. 00:34:12.429 --> 00:34:19.530 I'll hold on to this regret because my focus is on the magnitude of my sin." But 00:34:19.530 --> 00:34:25.330 repentance, repentance is a focus on the greatness of who he is. 00:34:28.150 --> 00:34:33.489 "God, I messed up over here, but Jesus, your grace is more than enough. 00:34:35.550 --> 00:34:41.110 God, I fell on my face, but God, thank you that you did not stop loving me. 00:34:42.610 --> 00:34:44.690 I thank you that you show up on the shores of my life. 00:34:46.370 --> 00:34:52.969 Thank you, God, that you are long-suffering and unending towards your goodness to me all of your days. 00:34:52.989 --> 00:34:58.350 And in this moment, I can turn to you." That's the beauty of this passage in Lamentations 3. 00:34:58.350 --> 00:34:58.830 Listen to this. 00:34:58.830 --> 00:35:05.910 It says, "Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed." But God has all the excuse in the world to be done with 00:35:05.910 --> 00:35:09.310 you, because we're not perfect and he is. 00:35:10.510 --> 00:35:16.910 But because of his great love, we're not consumed, for his compassion, look at this, never fails. 00:35:17.630 --> 00:35:18.850 They're new every morning. 00:35:18.850 --> 00:35:20.130 Great is your faithfulness. 00:35:20.190 --> 00:35:23.990 When I am unfaithful, I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion. 00:35:24.470 --> 00:35:27.650 Therefore, I will wait for him." You know what I need? 00:35:29.730 --> 00:35:31.310 I need to commune with God. 00:35:33.270 --> 00:35:40.610 I need to stop looking at me, and I need to look at the greatness of who he is, because 00:35:40.610 --> 00:35:43.130 his grace is more than enough. 00:35:44.670 --> 00:35:51.730 If we had to live in our past regrets, not one of us could do a thing for Jesus, but 00:35:51.830 --> 00:35:58.760 don't let the pride of those moments keep you from where God calls you in him. 00:35:59.210 --> 00:36:06.810 That's why Peter says, 1 Peter, chapter 1, verse 13, "Set your hope fully on the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of 00:36:06.810 --> 00:36:13.990 Jesus Christ." And when my identity rests in the presence of Christ, it leads me to hope and freedom forevermore because 00:36:13.990 --> 00:36:15.850 he redeems it all. 00:36:18.150 --> 00:36:25.350 It's to say stop telling yourself how big your sins are and start telling your sin how big your God 00:36:25.350 --> 00:36:25.710 is. 00:36:27.790 --> 00:36:35.190 In 1904, there was a young man named William 00:36:35.190 --> 00:36:42.190 Borden, and William was the heir to the Borden Dairy, whatever that 00:36:42.190 --> 00:36:43.250 is, product, right? 00:36:43.250 --> 00:36:50.350 If you know the little milk cow on the side of dairy products, it was his family 00:36:50.350 --> 00:36:51.310 that ran that. 00:36:51.310 --> 00:36:54.130 In 1904, he graduated high school in Chicago. 00:36:55.170 --> 00:36:58.180 And by the time he graduated, he was already a multimillionaire. 00:36:59.930 --> 00:37:05.110 And in 1904, I don't even know what that would be today, thanks to inflation, a quadrillionaire or something. 00:37:05.130 --> 00:37:09.270 He's a multi-billionaire by now, but he was a millionaire graduating high school. 00:37:09.270 --> 00:37:10.200 And if I could take his job... 00:37:10.430 --> 00:37:11.000 No, I'm just kidding. 00:37:11.710 --> 00:37:13.330 He was a billionaire coming out of high school. 00:37:13.650 --> 00:37:21.370 And part of his graduation present from his parents was what you give all 18-year-old kids when they graduated high school: It's a world 00:37:21.370 --> 00:37:22.010 trip. 00:37:22.050 --> 00:37:28.390 He got to go on a world trip and go around all over the world and seeing different things. 00:37:28.470 --> 00:37:35.090 And as he went on this world trip, he ended up writing home to his parents because on that world trip, he saw a lot of brokenness around him. 00:37:36.750 --> 00:37:44.390 And he wrote home to his parents and he said, "I am not going to take over the family business, but rather, I 00:37:44.390 --> 00:37:52.510 want to be a missionary." And when he made that decision and he wrote that letter to his parents, he opened up to the back of his Bible and 00:37:52.510 --> 00:37:57.940 he wrote those words, "No reserves." I mean, he's not holding anything back. 00:38:00.290 --> 00:38:02.070 And then he went on to an Ivy League school. 00:38:02.070 --> 00:38:03.510 I believe he graduated from Yale. 00:38:03.510 --> 00:38:10.650 And when he graduated from Yale, he had all these job opportunities where it would've been very lucrative for him to take, but he rejected them 00:38:10.810 --> 00:38:12.610 and he chose to go on to seminary. 00:38:13.810 --> 00:38:21.010 And while in seminary, he then opened up to the back of his Bible and he wrote these words, "No retreats." He is not 00:38:21.010 --> 00:38:23.410 turning back from what the Lord's called him to. 00:38:23.490 --> 00:38:28.970 And so, he goes on a seminary and then he ends up on the mission field. 00:38:28.970 --> 00:38:32.350 Once he graduates seminary, he takes a trip onto the mission field. 00:38:32.350 --> 00:38:34.030 I think he was ultimately going to India. 00:38:35.130 --> 00:38:42.610 And one month after he left home, before he even reached the land that he wanted to serve as a missionary, he contracts meningitis, 00:38:43.970 --> 00:38:44.400 and he dies. 00:38:47.530 --> 00:38:54.750 When his Bible is returned home to his family, they open the back of it and they notice below, those words, "No reserves, no 00:38:54.750 --> 00:39:02.230 retreats." He had written one more word, "No regrets." No regrets. 00:39:04.490 --> 00:39:11.630 When you study a life like his by our worldly standards, we may look at a person like this and what happened to him and say, "You know what, 00:39:13.550 --> 00:39:21.250 it's not a very successful life by worldly standards," but you don't measure success, at least in God's eyes, by longevity 00:39:21.250 --> 00:39:22.130 of life. 00:39:22.130 --> 00:39:24.330 You don't measure it by wealth. 00:39:24.450 --> 00:39:25.660 You don't measure it by accolades. 00:39:26.690 --> 00:39:28.790 You don't measure it by how good you look. 00:39:31.830 --> 00:39:36.510 The success of life is measured by your dedication to the Lord. 00:39:38.570 --> 00:39:46.110 And guys, the only reason that's possible is not because of us, but because of his faithfulness 00:39:46.110 --> 00:39:47.710 to you and to me. 00:39:49.430 --> 00:39:51.530 His mercies are new every morning. 00:39:53.390 --> 00:39:55.520 Great is your faithfulness. 00:39:57.990 --> 00:40:06.050 No matter how many times in life you fall on your face, the beauty of what we have every day is 00:40:06.050 --> 00:40:13.250 that we have an opportunity to come before the Lord as he meets us on the shores of 00:40:13.250 --> 00:40:20.510 our lives, and continues by his grace to transform us, not because we've impressed him 00:40:20.550 --> 00:40:25.630 with us, but because our lives have the opportunity to be impressed with him.