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Amen. John chapter 21. So this is the second sermon in John chapter 21. So we're ending the study through the 21 chapters of John. We're ending it tonight. And tonight I want to, I don't necessarily want to do a verse by verse study through John 21. I want to capture the overall message that Jesus is giving here in John chapter 21. So last week in John chapter 21, we looked at what Peter had done. We looked at Peter and how he had discouraged many of the other disciples. We looked at how easy it is for us as Christians to, you know, applying that. We looked at how we can easily discourage other people or encourage people in our Christian lives. And it's our choice by what we do, which of those we will do. But tonight I want to focus on the message of Jesus and what he's actually getting across here, why he meets the disciples at this place and what he is actually telling them. This is the last thing, one of the last things he will say to the disciples before he ascends to heaven. And it's an important message. So look down at verse number 5 of John chapter 21 and let's get into this this evening. The Bible says, Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Again, they're fishing. They shouldn't be fishing. They shouldn't have gone back and they shouldn't be doing this. He said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship and ye shall find. They weren't catching any fish. And so Jesus tells them to do something specific. They cast therefore and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loves sayeth unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him for he was naked and he did cast himself into the sea. So they realize that it's Jesus at this point and they quit fishing and they head towards Jesus. And the other disciples came in a little ship for they were not far from the land but it was about 200 cubits dragging the net with fishes. So they were a couple hundred feet off of the shore, you know, over, you know, maybe 300 feet off of the shore and they're dragging these fish in. And as soon as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there and fish laid there on and bred. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty and three. And for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? Knowing that it was the Lord. So Jesus does this great miracle. They catch all these fish, a hundred and fifty three. I mean, how is that for the detail of the Bible? A hundred and fifty three fish and then they drag the fish in and Jesus says, Come down and sit with me around the fire and they're going to eat fish. And Jesus is going to speak to them and give them a message. And that's what we want to focus on tonight is what is Jesus going to tell them? Then he cometh and taketh bread and giveth them and fish likewise. So I want to look tonight at the significance of this meeting, the significance of this meeting with the disciples where Jesus went to the sea of Galilee where they were fishing, did this miracle again for them. What is the significance of this meeting? The first thing I want to point out tonight is the significance of the location. The significance of the location. Turn to Matthew chapter number four, Matthew chapter number four. This was the same place that Jesus found them in the first place. This was the same place. They were fishing on the sea of Galilee. So that's the question that we want to ask ourselves tonight. First of all is where did you come from? Where did you come from in your Christian life? Look at Matthew chapter four and look at verse eighteen. This is when Jesus finds Peter and his brother Andrew and James and John and Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee saw two brethren, Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea for they were fishers and he said to them, follow me and I will make you fishers of men and they straightway left their nets and followed him. And going on from this he saw two other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, John his brother in a ship with Zebedee their father mending their nets and he called them and they immediately left the ship and their father and followed him. So here you have James and John kind of an even more incredible story. Turn to Luke chapter five actually. Turn to Luke chapter five, but you see they were literally in business with their father as commercial fishermen and Jesus comes along and calls them away from their family business, from their father, from their family and they just leave just like that. Alright, so look it's the same place that Jesus is going back in John chapter 21. You think that's a coincidence? I don't think so. Look at Luke chapter five we get another telling of this story with a little bit more detail in Luke chapter five, but look at Luke chapter five and let me point out some irony for you tonight. Look at Luke chapter five and look at verse number one. And it came to pass that as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, which is the Sea of Galilee, and he saw two ships standing by the lakes, by the lake, but the fishermen were gone out of them and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships which was Simon's, this is Peter's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land and he sat down and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a drop. And Simon answered, answering, said unto him, Master, we've toiled all night and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word, I will let down the net. When they had done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes and their net break. The same miracle. It was the same miracle that was done at the beginning as Jesus did at the very end at the Sea of Galilee when they went back to fishing. And then of course, you know, Jesus calls them away. So Jesus was out teaching, he does this great miracle of the fish, and then they all follow Jesus. But Jesus went back to the beginning and at the beginning, we end this story at the same place that it started in John chapter number 21. But the irony is this, the irony is this, yes, Jesus did this miracle at the beginning in Luke chapter five, Matthew chapter four, and I think Mark chapter one is the calling of the first disciples. Jesus did do this first miracle, but you have to understand, just think of how zealous they must have been to just walk away from everything at the drop of a hat, walking away from their business, walking away from everything that they've ever known to just follow Jesus, to follow this man that they believed was the Messiah. But you have to understand that as zealous as they were, and here's the irony, this is before the ministry. This is before all the great miracles. This is before Jesus made the blind see and raised people from the dead and fed the 4,000 and fed the 5,000 and healed all sorts of illnesses and ailments and crippled people. Before they saw with their own eyes Him do these great and just wondrous miracles, they had this zeal for the Lord. They had so much zeal that they were just able to, they were just willing to walk away from anything at the beginning, before they saw those miracles. Yet at the end, they've seen all the miracles, including Jesus rising from the dead, including seeing the risen Christ three times now. And they just, they didn't have the zeal anymore. They just went back to their old lives. I mean Jesus was walking on water, healing the sick. They've seen all this. Go back to John chapter 21, and it says in John 21, 14, this is the third time that they've seen Jesus and they knew it was Him. So the question is, and the question that I would ask you tonight is why is it easier to quit after you've seen the miracles? It's the same with us. Turn to Galatians chapter number six. Turn to Galatians chapter number six. It's exactly the same with us. There is no difference. Turn to Galatians chapter six and look at verse number nine. It's the same with us. You simply grow weary in the Christian life at times. It's such a problem that this is what Jesus was dealing with in John chapter 21 and the Bible talks about it. The Bible says in Galatians chapter six and verse number nine, it says, let us not be weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap what if we faint not. The Bible is saying, you know, you're going to get weary, but don't stop doing well when you get weary. Don't faint. Don't stop because you will reap. You will harvest if you don't faint. So what is Jesus doing here? Jesus is trying to bring them back to the beginning. So that's what we need to do when we realize that we are growing weary and you know what, first of all, don't forget the miracles. Don't forget the miracles in your life and remember, remember the cause that you left that life for. So Jesus is, is at the same place that they, you know, took up the cause and I'm sure it was very quick for them to remember the cause that they left for when they saw Jesus. Look, don't forget the miracles though in your life that you've seen. Don't forget the miracles. They had seen all the miracles. Don't look, turn to Matthew chapter 19, turn to Matthew chapter number 19. Don't dismiss the miracles in your life. You know, I've, I've read so many, I've read so many studies and, and just like secular opinions on this idea and you've, I'm sure you've heard this too, on this idea that, you know, once people are kind of set in their ways, that's just it. That it is just nearly impossible for somebody to change their personality, who they are, the things that they like, the things that they don't like. You know, so many studies and people have said like, hey, once you're, once you're 30, it's set in stone. That's it. And you can definitely see where they get this from, but let me tell you something. The Bible does not teach this. If you are somebody that doesn't believe in anything spiritual and you only believe in secular things, the Bible does not teach this because the Bible says that a person, you know, once they get saved, a person can change. A person should change. And look, the reason that secular science and scientists and people that have studied psychology and all these things will say that, yeah, generally it's just impossible for people to change once they've gotten set in their ways is because the fact that you change after you're saved is a miracle. It is a miracle. Look at Matthew 19. I was reminded when I was thinking about this, I was reminded of this story. Look at Matthew 19 and verse number 23. Matthew chapter number 19. Look at verse number 23. The Bible says, and Jesus said unto his disciples verily, I say unto you that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And then he says this in verse 24, he says, again, I say unto you, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. So what Jesus is explaining here, he's explaining what secular science is saying about whether people can change or not. He's saying it's basically impossible for a rich person to get saved. It's basically impossible for a rich person to change what they care about and instead put God on the pedestal and believe the gospel. That's what he's saying. The disciples immediately make this connection and they say, when the disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed and saying, who then can be saved? Because they're like, we all have, you know, everybody's rich in some way. And Jesus said unto them, with men this is impossible, with God all things are impossible. Why? Because it's a miracle. That's why. So when somebody gets saved and they literally, the Bible says that they become a new creature. You know, when somebody gets saved, Ezekiel 36 says they're given a new heart. They're given a new spirit. And look, you should follow that new spirit. And look, if you get saved and you follow that new spirit and you follow that new heart, look, nobody, you know, not everybody does. But if you follow that spirit that's in you, the Holy Spirit that's given to you and you follow that new heart that the Lord has given you, you will change. So if you've gone into this Christian life, you've gotten saved and then you've made changes in your life and those changes have happened to you, don't forget those miracles. Because that's what it was, it was a miracle. Don't dismiss those things. Don't dismiss, basically don't dismiss the way God moved in your life. As you get going through the Christian life and you find yourself down the road a few years, hopefully, in the Christian life, don't dismiss all the miracles that are behind you. That's exactly what the disciples did. They dismissed all the miracles of the past three and a half years. And Jesus is simply reminding them where they came from, why they left, and that those reasons are just as valid now as they were when they left in the first place. Go back to John chapter number 21. Go back to John, so that's the first thing. Don't forget where you came, look, don't dwell on where you came from, but don't forget where you came from and why you left there. Don't forget the reasons that you left that place and the miracles that God has done for you up to this point. That's why we grow weary because we just dismiss all those things. But if you want to get over that weariness, you remember those things. Those reasons are still as valid as they were in the day that you were zealous and left in the first place. And those miracles, if you're honest with yourself, you know how God moved in your life and you know the miracles that he has done for you up until this point. Look at John chapter 21 in verse number 15. Let me show you the next thing that Jesus was telling them. So then when they had died, Jesus saith unto Peter. Now we get this famous conversation with Jesus and Peter. And look, people kind of make this kind of like a cryptic thing sometimes, but I want to just tell you like what he's actually telling him overall. And I'm not dismissing that, you know, maybe there's some symbolism to why he says it three times because, you know, he says it three times because Peter denied him three times. Well, maybe that sounds good. I mean, it sounds pretty good. That makes sense. But what's he actually saying is what I want to get across tonight. Look at verse 15. So when they had died, Jesus saith unto Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou more than these? And he saith unto him, Yea, Lord, you know, you knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. Verse 16. He saith unto him a second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? And he saith unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He said unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him a third time. I'm sure this is getting disturbing at this point for Peter. He's starting to feel bad. Jesus keeps basically repeating the same question, do you love me, you know, one time, two times. And now a third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved, of course, because he said unto him the third time. It's like he's not believing him, right? It's like he's not believing him. So he says it a third time, lovest thou me? And he saith unto him, Lord, knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee. And Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. Verily I say unto thee. Jesus is still talking. When thou was young, thou girdest thyself, and walkest whither thou wouldest. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. He's basically telling Peter at this point, he asks him three times if he loves him. Peter says, of course I do. He gives him a specific command. And then he tells Peter that you are going to experience a basically a violent death is what he tells Peter in the very next verse. This spake he's signifying by what death he should glorify God, meaning somebody else is going to gird you. He's like, you're going to be tied up, and you're going to be taken where you don't want to go. That means you're going to die a violent death. But look at what he says right after he talks about Peter's death. This spake he's signifying by what death he should glorify God, and when he had spoken he saith unto him, what does he say now? He says, follow me. So what does he say, what has he told Peter so far? He has told Peter basically feed, feed, feed, and follow is what he has told Peter. Then Peter turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved, following, also leaned on the breast and leaned on his breast at supper, this is John, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? John is still obsessed over Judas, he hasn't figured that out yet. Peter seeing him say it to Jesus, Lord, what shall this man do? So he told Peter, feed, feed, feed, follow, and Jesus saith unto him, if he will tarry that I come, what is that to thee, follow thou me. So he's saying, look, it doesn't matter what he does, I told you to follow, is what Jesus tells Peter again. So he says, feed, feed, feed, follow, follow. Then with this saying abroad among the brethren that the disciple should not die, yet Jesus saith not unto him, he shall not die, but if I will, that he will tarry till I come, what is that to thee? So again, the Bible there is saying, you know, that John will not be killed. Turn to 1 Timothy chapter number six, 1 Timothy chapter number six. Here is what Jesus is saying to Peter. Jesus is telling Peter a very specific thing as he meets Peter in the same place that he found Peter at the beginning. And what he is telling Peter is he is telling Peter that this must become your war now. This must be yours to carry forward. Look at 1 Timothy chapter six and verse number 12. This is exactly what Jesus is telling Peter. He is telling Peter, fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called and has professed a good profession before many witnesses. He's telling Peter, you have to make this yours now. This is the final time, I mean, Jesus has told Peter so many times and Peter has misunderstood so many times, but he is finally telling Peter, this is yours now. This must become your fight. It must become your war because I'm not going to be here anymore. Always to remember the cause that you that you left for in the first place, but this must become yours. So that's the lesson. That's the lesson tonight. The lesson is, remember why you started fighting in the first place. Remember why you started to fight the good fight of faith in the first place. If you do grow weary. But the lesson here is that the Christian life and for every man, woman and child listening to this sermon, listening to what Jesus is saying in John chapter 21. He is saying this Christian life must become yours. That is the message that Jesus is delivering to Peter. I mean, look, there's times in the Christian life where everybody, everybody is going to say, why am I doing this? Why am I doing this thing? Not every moment in the Christian life is glorious. There have been times in just this short ministry where it was not fun. It was not. I mean, there have been times where there was been extended periods of months that were not fun. Now it's fun. I'm in fun zone now. But there are times, there have been times where even for me as the pastor of the church and for my family, it was not fun. So in those times, you have to remember the cause. You have to remember the cause. Look, it must become yours. If you don't make the Christian life your war, none of it will work. It will not last. This is what Jesus is telling Peter. The doctrines must become your war. They cannot be my doctrine. They cannot be you sitting and this is why you're flipping to Bible verses. This is why you take a Bible and you're flipping to verses in your Bible when I preach a sermon because I want the doctrine to not be because pastor said. I want the doctrine to be yours. I want you to see the Bible in front of you, see that I am simply preaching what the Bible says, simply expounding God's word, not mine, explaining it in a way that can be applied to your life and making that doctrine yours. The doctrine must become yours or it will not stay with you. Let me rephrase that. The doctrine must become your war or you will not stay with it because you will grow weary. If it's not yours, if it's mine, you will abandon it. The standards, the standards that come from doctrine must be your war. They must be your fight. They cannot be these are my standards because of my friend does that or because pastor says that. They must become your standards because of the doctrines that were yours and that you then applied to your household, applied to your life. Look, if your standards are not yours, they will not last. You will not stay with those standards if they are not yours. This is what Jesus is telling Peter. The entire Bible has to be your war. It has to be your fight. Everything in the Bible must be yours. You should be reading your Bible yourself, not just listening. If the only time you ever hear the words of God is when it comes out of my mouth, it's not your war. The Bible must be personal to you. It was written to you personally. It must be your fight. It must be your battle. It must be your war. This is the message to Peter. Finally, he says to Peter, he lists some very violent things and some very bad things that are going to happen to Peter after he tells them, feed, feed, feed. He's like, it's your turn. You must take control now is what he is telling Peter. Then he tells him some very bad things are going to happen. You know what he's telling him? He's telling him the persecution must be yours. The persecution that's going to come from this. How many people do you think are going to stand and continue to get persecuted for somebody else's idea? For something that they're not really all in on. For something that they're like, well, as long as there's no trouble here, but there's going to be trouble. That's what Jesus is saying. He's saying, feed, feed, feed, follow, follow. There's going to be trouble. There's going to be trouble. The persecution must be yours. You must own that. And here's the thing that you need to understand. Turn to 2 Timothy chapter 3. Turn to 2 Timothy chapter number 3. Turn to 2 Timothy chapter number 3. Here's the thing that you need to understand. The persecution will stem from the fact that you have made all those other things that I've already mentioned yours. It will stem from the fact that you made the doctrine yours. It will stem from the fact that you took a personal attachment and the Bible is personal to you. The Bible is God speaking to you through the Holy Spirit and connecting with the whole same Holy Spirit that is within you. Once you make that personal and once you decide, hey, this is my fight, this is what I'm doing, and you start moving in that direction, you start creating those standards and walking this Christian life, look at 2 Timothy 3.12. The Bible says, yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. It's not talking about all that will think godly in Christ Jesus. It's not saying all that will feel godly in Christ Jesus. It's talking about all that will live godly, all that will take those standards that are theirs, those doctrines that are now their war, all these things that they have now made personal to them, this is my fight, this is my battle, this is mine, and they put them into play in their life and they start to live godly, that's what they'll persecute you for. Those are the things. Look, you're not going to get people that persecute you and just, I mean, maybe some of you will, but it's rare to have somebody come up to you and say, we're persecuting you because we hate the Bible. They're going to persecute you because you are living godly. They're going to persecute you for those details. They're going to persecute you for your deviation from their status quo. That's what they're going to persecute you for. Let me tell you about the status quo. My wife and I were talking about this, we were reflecting the last couple days, as our 25th anniversary is today, we were just kind of reflecting past through the years, and my wife mentioned to me in one of our conversations, we were talking about the status quo. What is the status quo? I have so much experience with the status quo. I have so much experience breaking the status quo. The status quo is the, what does it mean? It means the state of things. The current state of affairs. That's what the status quo means. And my wife said to me, we were talking yesterday at dinner, she's like, you forget how powerful that status quo is, and you're like, yeah, I do forget. I've been breaking the status quo for years. But it's powerful to people that are in it. Once you get outside that status quo, people are going to be upset with you. The people that are in the status quo are going to be upset with you. Let me just give you some secular examples of this. I was in research and development for many, many years. And it was literally my job, I love doing it. I love doing it. But it was literally my job to go to facilities, to go to power plants, and break the status quo. Figure out another way. Figure out a better way, a different way. And let me tell you something. Every single time I went with that goal, people were upset with me. Every single time. Why? People that are in the status quo, they don't like people that are outside of it. And look, and I know a lot of you that are maybe raising children are going to identify with this and you're going to have had this thought. All status quo thinkers are like this, whether it be secular or spiritual, and we'll get to the spiritual in just a second, but they can't stand that people are outside the status quo. I've had some wild ideas, man. Wild ideas. And we've tried in just secular experimentation some wild stuff. And some of that stuff worked and some of it didn't. I remember one time, I remember one time I had read all kinds of papers and research on this one idea that this one gas, it was a poison gas. It was hydrogen sulfide gas. That if used in the proper way, could remove a certain pollutant. But the problem is, in all these papers and these research, it was all theoretical. Nobody had actually been bold enough or some would say stupid enough to actually try it. So I was, let's try it. Let's run an experiment. So I literally brought a tanker of hydrogen sulfide gas, poison gas, onto a facility. Look, it was all safe and we made sure everything was done correctly. Let me tell you something, there's a lot of people, like this guy's an idiot. This guy's a fool. This guy's going to kill us all. There's a lot of outside, I mean these are the status quo people. What do they want? They want things to stay the same. They want what is there to stay there. They want the original idea to stay. And guess what? When it didn't work, they were like, see, we told you he was a fool. We told you. But guess what? Then we went and we tried. You say, well, if you have a good idea and it does work, then all the naysayers will be silenced. Wrong. Wrong. Because I've taken some wild ideas and we had some crazy successes, man. We had some successes that were game changers, that literally we had major breakthroughs with this type of outside the status quo thinking. And you know what they said? Jerk. Just talking all kinds, just lying about you, persecuting you, talking trash about you. What's the point I'm trying to get you to see? The point I'm trying to get you to see is that being outside the status quo, it comes with persecution, it just comes with the territory of hanging out out there. Of outside that status quo. Of being outside that way that everybody else does things. Turn to First Peter chapter number two. First Peter chapter number two. It comes with the territory. Now let's apply that to your spiritual life. Now let's apply that to your Christian life. So look, don't get this idea. You just got to be ready for that. That's all I'm trying to get you to see. You just need to be ready for that. Status quo people are always going to be upset at people that are outside the status quo. And that's what the Bible is talking about in First Peter chapter two and verse number nine. They're always going to be upset. And it doesn't matter if you succeed or you fail, they'll still be upset. So don't get this idea like, oh man, in 20 or 30 years, they're going to see. No, they're not. Just realize that being outside the status quo is going to come with persecution. But what's the other choice? Being in that box? No, thank you. I don't want to be in there because the people in that box are so blinded to everything. No way you could force me inside that thing. Look at First Peter chapter number two. Look at verse number nine. I just love this verse right here. This is exactly, this verse encompasses what I just told you. It says, you're a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. This all sounds pretty good. A chosen generation. It sounded like I'm Israel here, right? Like oh, I'm better than everybody. Royal priesthood and holy nation. Look at us. Look at all these great things that the Bible is saying. It's like a peculiar people. You're like, what? Which of these things doesn't belong? You know what that means? You're going to be outside the status quo. Is it people, most people that are in the status quo are going to look at you and be like, that's weird. You're going to be outside the status quo going, these people are crazy that are in there. But they're going to look at you and they're going to say, you're peculiar. The Bible is just pointing it straight out for you right there, especially when you start making moves, when you start living that Christian life. You actually start trying to live godly. You start throwing off things like, well, you know, maybe we don't want to do day care at day one out of the hospital. Maybe we don't want to have somebody else raise our children. Maybe we don't want to put our kids in public school. And look, people are going to take that the status quo people, just like in the technical applications. Look, going out and trying to find a better solution had nothing to do with the guy that developed the original solution 20 years ago. I wasn't mad at that guy. I didn't even care about it. I was just out there to solve a problem in a better way. That's all. And you go out there and you say, you know what, we're not going to do the public school thing. The public school people are going to be upset at you. They're going to think you're judging them. You're like, I don't care what you do. Do what you want to do. And I'm going to do what I want to do. It doesn't matter. They're going to be upset. They're taking it as a judgment on themselves and they're going to persecute you for it. You know, you don't want the results that everybody else is getting. That was me. I mean, it was obvious. If I did everything the same way as everybody else, I was going to get the same results. I'm like, I don't want that. The drinking, the drugs, the fornication. You come up and you start saying that you would like your children to grow up and be pure and walk to their wedding day, you know, pure. And people look at you like you're crazy. You idiot. You fool. You fool! You have to experience life. What are you in a cult? To operate outside this box, people are going to persecute you. That's what you need to understand. But the point is this, folks, and this is what Jesus is getting across to Peter. This peculiar Christian life has to be yours or you will not survive. You will not stick with it. The war must be yours, Peter. That's what Jesus is saying. No matter what happens, feed, feed, feed, follow, follow. Remember the cause. Remember why. I mean, I get weary going out soul winning. I say I get weary going out soul winning and I go out soul winning and, you know, maybe it's 114 degrees and I really don't feel like going out soul winning that day. And maybe I've just had a hard few weeks in things going on in the church and life and work and whatever it is, maybe that's the case. We all get to those places, but guess what? What's the cause that I started soul winning? Has that changed? What's the original reason? What's the original reason that I decided that, you know what? I need to learn to preach the gospel to people. I need to learn what the gospel is. I need to learn how to clearly communicate the gospel and I need to go out and I need to present the gospel. I need to be an ambassador for Jesus Christ. Has that changed? Has the fact that there are lost souls out there every single day, every single hour, has that changed? Does that matter on how I feel that day? It does not. The cause has not changed. And this is what Peter was reminded of. It's just as valid now as it was then. And if we're honest with ourselves, we can look back and we can look at all the salvations that we've gotten since that first time we went out and preached the gospel and we can realize that we've seen the miracles. And that should rejuvenate us all. Just that mental thought experiment right there. But this must be yours for this to work. Turn to Judges chapter number 2. And look, this is the last thing I want to leave you with tonight. But this is the real point of John chapter 21 right here. If you can't make this Christian life yours, Christianity would only be one generational. It would just be one and done. If nobody was able to make the Christian life their war and people would just be Christians for two or three years or whatever and they were not able to pass that on to anybody, Christianity would have died 1900 years ago. Making it your war is just the first step. Look at Judges chapter number 2 and look at verse number 8. Making it, making the Christian life your war is the only thing that makes it possible for the next generation to make it their war. Right, man, so many things have to go right. You're right. You're correct. They do. Look at Judges chapter 2 and verse number 8. The Bible says this. It says, in Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord died being 110 years old and they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timathrenes in the Mount of Ephraim on the north side of the hill Gash. And also all that generation were gathered under their fathers. This is all of Joshua's generation, the entire generation that went in there and literally went to war in the promised land. All that generation were gathered under their fathers and there arose another generation after them which knew not the Lord nor yet the works which He had done for Israel. So those guys, Joshua's generation, they made it their war but they did not pass it on to the next generation. They did not pass that idea that this, they did not have the conversation that Jesus had with Peter. They did not have that conversation with their sons and their daughters. Because with our sons and our daughters we need to have the same conversation that Jesus is having with Peter. And it's not just a conversation, it's an example. We need to show them that hey, this needs to become yours. This spiritual life needs to become yours. You better be watching as your children grow up and see are they making it theirs or is it just yours? Are your 8 and 9 and 10 year olds, are they coming to church? Are they going soul winning? Are they doing the things that you do just because that's what dad does? Are they starting to understand the reasons behind it so they can make it their war? Because that's exactly what needs to happen. We need to remember the cause, we need to remember the cause when we start to grow weary because that cause will never change. And the miracles only give credence to the original cause. We need to make the war our own but we need to pass that same cause and that same war to the next generation and we need to make sure that they are making it their own. If they're not, we got teenagers that are not starting to make this battle their own and start picking up battles themselves and get a desire to serve the Lord themselves. There's a problem there and we need to understand as parents why that is happening so we don't end up with this next generation that came after Joshua in Judges chapter number 2. In short, in John chapter 21, Jesus was simply showing Peter and the disciples how Christianity needs to work, how it needs to be passed forward and how to sustain it. How to always remember the miracles, remember the cause, those things will never change. I said that many times during COVID. One thing about the Christian life, you look at all these rules and all these different things that were happening and this is that and you can do this and now can I walk in my yard, can I sing a song or whatever the stupid rules they were passing is like hey the Christian life it may not always be easy but it's very simple. The cause always stays the same, super easy to not forget the cause. So remember the place that you came from and remember what that cause was because that cause as long as you're breathing on this earth will never change and that's what will keep you going in this war. And the hardest thing, look if you quit the war there's no chance that your children will pick up the sword and fight, there's no chance. But there's also if you stay in the war there's also no guarantee that if you live a hypocritical life and you don't walk with your children and live godly with your children that they will pick up the sword and fight. We must make sure, we must walk with them, teach them that same cause. That's really the key. That's really the key. Kids can understand at a very young age, 11, 12, 13 years old, especially kids that have been out so willing to understand like hey you know who's going to get these people saved? Who's going to get these people the gospel if it's not us? Who's going to get these people passed from death to life if it's not us? I don't see anybody else out there preaching the truth. It's because there's not anybody else out there preaching the truth. That's what Jesus was showing the disciples and it's how Christianity works and hopefully how we here, look you folks right here, this is another thing my wife and I talked about the last couple days. You folks right here, you're looking a generation out, you parents in this room. You are so far ahead of the curve. By looking a generation out and thinking about these things and reading the bible and applying the bible in your home and thinking about your children's marriages, thinking about your children's children, you are so far ahead of the curve. Most parents today, they're thinking about where they're going to put their kids tomorrow and that's the truth. You're thinking about their entire lives and how you can do things according to the bible to get them to serve the Lord with their entire lives and pass that on to their children. You're so far ahead of the curve compared to everybody else that's stuck inside that status quo. So praise God for that. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.