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Pastor Bob Davis: The faith of a child—just ask God. How do you know what he's going to do and not going to do? Why don't you ask him? "Oh, we don't pray about little things like that." When you haven't eaten in a while, you pray about that. "Lord, I'm not even asking for a meal. How about just a piece of bread? How about just some peanuts? How about, I don't know, chocolate? Anything?" You start to humble yourself, and you don't get so picky.

You say, "It doesn't work for me." Yes, it does. Ask, and you shall receive. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. But it is written in the present imperative, meaning ask and continue to ask, knock and keep on knocking, seek and don't stop seeking. Keep it. "Well, I asked him last Thursday." Keep on until he tells you no.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Apply Within, a verse-by-verse study of the word of God with Pastor Bob Davis of North Country Chapel. We invite you to join with us as we, by the power of God's Holy Spirit, apply his word within our own hearts as we study line upon line, precept upon precept, verse by verse through the Bible. Jesus' disciples are afraid and in hiding behind locked doors as our study of John continues in chapter 20, verse 19. Here's Pastor Bob.

Pastor Bob Davis: Verse 30, John says at the end of chapter 20, "Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this gospel. But these are written so that you might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through his name." John says, by the power of the Holy Spirit, trust what I'm writing because it's the truth. It really happened. I swear to it. And you could believe, too. And that's what he says.

So, we move on now to chapter 21, verse one. "After these things, meta tauta—after what things? After the things that happened in chapter 20 where Jesus appeared to the guys twice, one week and then the following week—after these things, Jesus appeared again. He showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and on this wise he showed himself," or this is the way it happened. They were together: Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee—James and John—and two others of his disciples. Two more were just not named. We would know them if he named them, but they're not named. There were seven of them.

Simon Peter said to them, "I go a-fishing." They said to him, "We also go with you." They went forth and entered into a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing. The Sea of Tiberias—we call it the Sea of Galilee. It was called the Sea of Galilee, but some named it Tiberias. There was a little town on the lake's western shore that King Herod Antipas had built. Because it was such a beautiful city, some people referred to it as the Sea of Tiberias. It's the same place where Jesus walked on water and all that.

Seven of the disciples were there. Peter says, "I am going fishing." And the others said, "We'll go with you." That's what the language says. Now, Peter has a family. The reason I know he has a wife—we never meet his wife, and we will never meet her until we get to heaven. We don't know anything about her, and I'm sure she would like it to stay that way because you get into the spotlight and you get ripped to shreds because Christians are that way, right? So, Peter's wife—we know nothing about her except she had a mother. Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law. That's how we learned he had a wife.

He's got a wife, maybe he's got children, I don't know nothing about kids, but he's got a wife and he's got a home somewhere because they were at Peter's place and his mother-in-law was sick, remember? And Jesus healed her. He was at Peter's house. Peter has a house. So, he's got bills to pay, in other words. Now he's not walking with Jesus. Jesus has risen from the dead. Now, what do they do? They don't know what to do. Peter says, "I've got to earn a living, guys."

I'm paraphrasing because we're just building it from what we learn. He said, "I've got to do something. I'm going to have to do something. I'm going to go fishing. That's what I do." Well, so does his brother Andrew, so do James and John. A few of the disciples were fishermen. All we know is they are going fishing. What else can they do? They're waiting on Jesus is what they're doing, and they don't know what else to do, right? You guys are praying and you're saying, "Lord, what do you want us to do?" and you're not sure.

So, be careful and don't run off and do this, that, or the other. Listen, that night we're told they did go fishing, but they didn't even get one fish. They caught nothing. It wasn't because of their lack of skills. This is Peter's profession—Peter and Andrew. This is what James and John have grown up to do. They know how to fish, and they couldn't catch one. It wasn't because of a lack of experience. I think—I believe—it was because Jesus has called them to something else now.

When the morning was now come—remember, they fished all night and got nothing—Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not know it was Jesus. And Jesus said to them—he cried out to them, they're not real, real, real far from shore it looks like—"Children, have you any food?" They answered him, "No." They don't know who they're talking to. Some man just yells out from the beach, "Children, friends, dear friends, did you catch anything?" And they said no.

He said to them, "Throw the net on the right side of the boat and you'll catch something." That's a promise. That's a command with a promise, isn't it? They don't know it's Jesus, though. So they cast, therefore. They threw their net out on the side he told them to. Now they were not able to draw it back into the boat. There were too many fish. They couldn't get it back inside the boat. Therefore, that disciple that Jesus loved—remember we learned that's John, the one writing this gospel—the one that Jesus loved said to Peter, "That's the Lord. I know it is. That's the Lord."

Now, when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him. He put on his outer garment. They would strip down to almost like their undergarments while they were out there working and getting soaked with waves. So, he puts on his outer garment and he cast himself into the sea. He's going to go to Jesus. The other disciples came in a little ship, for they were not far from land but about 200 cubits. That to you and me is around 300 to 350 feet out. So, they were on their way back in already and hadn't caught a thing.

They were dragging that net full of fish. It's early morning. Jesus is standing at the shore. Jesus got up early a lot. He rose from the dead before sunrise. He's up, he's just up, he's got to get moving. He stood on the shore and he called out to his disciples, "Dear children, dear friends, did you catch any fish? Did you get anything?" And listen, the question is asked in the negative. So, the language, the way you and I would say it, is "You didn't catch anything, did you?"

So, Jesus tells them now, "This is Jesus. If you want to serve God, begin to listen to him. Read your Bible, begin to listen. Listen closely to God." Jesus told them to throw the net out now. Do it now, and do it on the right side of the boat this time. Why? Because he is God and he knows where the fish are at all times, right? We don't. We're out there moving down some, and you just don't let them see your shadow, don't cough, and don't make ripples. You're doing all these tricks and everything, and God's going, "It's right there, Bob. It's just right there. Reach down, you could pick it up." But I'm not listening. That's for you fishermen.

They did it, and they caught so many fish they couldn't get the net back into the boat. It was John who realized instantly. He was there at the cross. He's sensitive. He went to the tomb. He couldn't figure out what happened, but he was sensitive. John believed in miracles. "It's Jesus. It's our Lord. That's our Lord. I know it is. I can't tell from here, but look." Peter does not hesitate for a second. He grabs his outer garment, throws it on, jumps in the water, and heads to Jesus.

The rest of the guys are there to drag the boat back and the fish. Now, had you been Peter and I'd been Peter, in modern-day Christians, they'd have said, "Yeah, you leave and you leave all the work for us, loser." They wouldn't even think about you wanting to get to Jesus. They'd just complain that they had to bring all these fish. "We didn't catch one, we're bummed. Okay, now we've got 153 and now we're mad at you. Why don't you stay and help us?" Stop it, everybody! Lighten up! Jesus is here!

And everybody reacts differently. They're doing what he told them to do. They're not going to let the fish go. They're going to bring them in. Remember, they think they're working for their livelihood, right? Some of them are professional fishermen, and "What a load we got! Whoa!" All they had to do was ask God where the fish were. Now, who thinks of that kind of thing? That's so simple even children wouldn't do it unless they're little bitty, then they try it. "Let's ask God."

I remember a little girl. When her fish died, she said to her dad, "Let's ask God to heal him." And the dad said, "No, we'll just get you another one." "I love my fish," she was nine years old. "Let's ask God to heal him." And when the guy was telling me the story, he said, "I was embarrassed because I thought I'm not going to pray for a dumb goldfish." But he couldn't say that to his little girl. So he said, "Okay, honey, you pray." They held hands and prayed. That thing was belly up, it was gone. And they held hands and prayed. When she quit praying, the fish is swimming. You know the faith of a child—just ask God.

As soon as they had come to the shore, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish were already on the fire cooking. And there was bread, oh, fresh bread. We're going to have a fish sandwich. For some of you, that's probably a thrill. I'm happy for you. I'd take a gallon of tartar sauce and be right there with you. I said, "I kind of like this kind of fish." My wife says, "No, you don't. You just like tartar sauce." Half a gallon of tartar sauce will get anything down. So, there it is, the fish are on the fire. There's bread. And Jesus said to them, "Bring of the fish which you have now caught. Come on, bring them on out."

Simon Peter went up—now notice, he's just on the move, isn't he? What did Jesus say to do? "Get those fish in here." And Peter goes right over and he's just pulling them out. They drew the net to land of great fishes, 153. 153! And for all there were so many, yet the net didn't break. There were too many for that net to handle, too much for their equipment, yet it didn't break. It didn't rip, it didn't tear. They're used to mending those nets all the time. When Jesus called John and his brother James, they were sitting on the boat after having been fishing, repairing the nets, remember? Because you've got to fix them to go out again tonight. But the net didn't even break!

And then we read this: Jesus said to them, "Come and eat." Now, that's Jesus right there. I can hear him. "Come and eat." "Okay, you don't have to tell me that twice." And none of the disciples dared to even ask him—they didn't even bother to ask, they knew, they just knew—knowing it was the Lord. And Jesus then came and he took bread and he gave them fish likewise. Jesus fed them breakfast. This is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples after he had risen from the dead.

The disciples then, as they're getting to the shore right there, they're pulling the boat out of the water so to speak, and there's a fire going and on the fire, there's fish being fried already. And there's bread there too. And they're hungry. They've been working all night. They toiled. It is a job. You don't just throw it in once and say, "Oh, we didn't catch a fish." They spent the night. That's the best time to catch fish there in the sea of Galilee. So, all night they're working, and they're working hard. And now they're tired, and I'm sure they're hungry, having been going all night.

There was bread and there was fish. We're not told how the fish got there. All we're told is it was there when they hadn't pulled theirs out of the water yet. Now, how did that get there? The Bible doesn't tell me. I don't know. Maybe Jesus, being out there early watching them struggle, just threw a little pole in there and caught four or five or six fish while he's waiting, or however many. I don't know. Maybe they were miraculously half-cooked already, just right there. Maybe he said, "Pfft," and a bunch of them jumped out of the water onto the fire. I don't know how he did it, and it doesn't matter.

You know what's key here? This is why I listen to Bible studies and they say, "I think that Jesus did an amazing miracle." Listen, you're missing the point. The point is Jesus did it. And who really cares how he gets you your breakfast? If you're having breakfast, you say, "Thank you, man, I was hungry." Now, we're going to fight over how many fish were really on the fire. How many did he make? Did he make the bread? Did he have old bread? Was it stale? Where? What? Stop it!

Either way, no matter how the fish got there, we see that Jesus doesn't need their help to get fish. They went out fishing. He said, "I'm going to make you fishers of men." "Okay, but I don't know where you are right now. I'm going back to the only thing I know." "I'm telling you, we're going to do something different, guys." So, either way, no matter how those fish and that bread got there, we see that Jesus doesn't need our help to get it. He will allow me to serve. He will use me if I'm willing. He will use you, he will use Peter and James and John, all of them—Thomas.

He will use every one of them if they are willing. But listen, he can get his own fish. He could preach his own gospel. I think that you know that the truth is right now in the Middle East, Jesus is appearing to Muslims in their own homes, and they're receiving Jesus Christ with no one preaching them the gospel. And you say, "How could he do that? He's got us." Well, that may answer that. But the truth is, God could do anything he wants, right?

And he is doing anything he wants, but he still called us, and we're still serving, and we can still serve right now if we're simply willing. And look at us. It's not like he went and he chose the most brilliant and the most—it's like he said, "Who wants to do this?" "I don't know what it is, but I'll do it." Come on! And here we go. And he starts molding us and making us into his image. And somebody somewhere, when you get to heaven, will probably come up and say to you, "God used you that I would come into the kingdom. So, thank you. Thank you for listening to God."

People are going to come up and you're going to go, "I don't know who you are, I never knew." "Well, yeah, but you helped support that missionary and he came way on over to that little village I lived in and I got saved. So, I just wanted to thank you." And you'll go, "I didn't do anything." Yes, you did. God used you, and God is using us if we will just let him. Listen, he will allow us to serve him, but he doesn't need our help to get the job done. In his kindness and mercy, he allows us to be a part. And that's his plan, to allow us to do that.

Jesus told them, "Bring the fish on over that you caught. Bring them." When they pulled it back up, Peter goes running over there. They counted 153 fish. 153 fish. Now, they had labored all night and they caught nothing. But in obeying Jesus—that simple little obedience which seems like nothing to anybody, nothing to anybody I should say—they labored all night, got nothing. Jesus says, "Throw that net back out onto the right side of the boat." And they did, and they caught such a huge amount of fish they couldn't get them all in the boat.

You know there are entire books written trying to explain the number 153. I read one—I didn't read the book, I just read the little section what the book was all about—and he said, "Well, that's miraculous because there are 153 different types of fish in the Sea of Galilee. So God got them one of each." And I go, I don't need to read the rest of the book. Thank you very much, but don't pay 2.95 for that baby. But people are saying it's a mystical number. 153—it means something. You've got to study through the Bible and find 153. They try to make it mythic or mystical about the fish and the numbers.

But basically, all it is to you and me, it's not a secret, it's a fact. John boldly writes, "We counted them and they're 153." The only one that could say that would be what? An eyewitness, an eye hand-counting witness. That's why it's 153, so that we would know it really happened, so that we would say it really did. John remembered the exact number of fishes in the net and he said it was too much for the net. And another, he says, "I'm an eyewitness. The net didn't break."

Jesus said, "Come and get it." If you will, "Come and dine," King James. "Come and get it." If you will, you could say, "Guys, breakfast is served." Now, if you've ever been around men's retreat or men's breakfast or anything, you don't even have to say—before the sentence is over, people are already in line and sitting down eating. And I'm telling you, that's what those guys just did. "Come and get it." And they did. And Jesus served them, sat right there. "I know you're tired," and he gives them some fish and bread.

He serves each one of them. Our risen Savior suffered on the cross of Calvary, became flesh and dwelt among us, lived a completely sinless life, God Almighty in the flesh, goes to the cross, suffers between heaven and earth for six straight hours hanging on the cross, shedding the blood of God, paying the price for all sin—mine and yours. And yes, you've sinned, too, not just me. All of our sins. He paid for all sin. And then he gave up the ghost. He died and was buried. Three days later, he rose again. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and he takes time to make breakfast for seven guys that are—unless Matthew was there—all those seven are completely uneducated. They're poor. They're going to scratch out a living just like all of us try to do. Scratch out a living is all they're trying to do. And the God of all creation stoops down to make them breakfast.

Guest (Male): Thank you for listening to Apply Within with Pastor Bob Davis. Apply Within is a radio outreach ministry of North Country Chapel. Our Sunday morning Bible studies are at 9:00 and 11:00 AM. We also have a Friday evening Bible study at 7:00 PM and a Monday evening Bible study at 7:00 PM. You can download today's message in its entirety at northcountrychapel.com/studies. That's northcountrychapel.com/studies.

If you would like a copy of today's message, write to us and ask for the message with today's date. The address is: Apply Within, 2281 West Seltice, Post Falls, Idaho 83854. Or call us at 1-800-572-8851. That number again: 1-800-572-8851. Our mobile app is available for iPhone and Android. Download it to listen to full-length studies, watch the live stream of our services, or to find out more about church events. If you have been blessed by the teaching or have prayer requests that you would like to share with us, write, email, or call us as well. Please join with us every Monday through Friday as we study together verse by verse on Apply Within, sponsored by North Country Chapel. God bless you.