In Texas, a mother lures her three children one by one out of the comfort of their beds and the warmth of their home and stoned them to death. And then when asked why she did it, she said God told her to. A man in California is accused of murdering his pregnant wife and throwing her and the unborn baby into the ocean. Homosexuality is so rampant that is has become common and acceptable. Every two or three months there is a new disease or epidemic to be afraid of. Mississippi ranks 1st in teenage pregnancy. Mississippi ranks 1st in High School dropouts. It is so bad that it makes you believe that we are living in a world that has forgotten God. The problem today is not that people have forgotten Christ. No, the problem is that they never really knew him. Once you’ve met Christ, you can’t forget him. He has a magnetic personality. He will leave a lasting impression in your mind. He affects your life in such a way that you find yourself worshipping him whenever there is an opportunity.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, the world has heard of name Jesus Christ. They know of him, but don’t know him. They know only his biography. They can tell how he was born in manger in the little town of Bethlehem. His momma’s name was Mary. They know he turned water into wine. And that he walked on water. And how he raised Lazarus from the dead. Even how on the third day morning he rose from the dead himself. You see they know biographical information about our Savior. But they don’t know him. They can sing about how Jesus loves the little children. And how Jesus loves me this I know. They can even sing of his amazing grace. But they don’t know him. They can say the Lord’s prayer. And tell you to turn the other cheek. And love thy neighbor. But they don’t know him.
How can you tell? It is by the way they live their lives. You see knowing Jesus makes you do things a little different. You can’t go back to your old ways and things feel right.
You feel uncomfortable, restless when you go near your old life. If you are able to go to the club Saturday night and sing the world’s songs and then come to Church Sunday morning and go in the choir stand and sing God’s songs; and you don’t feel uncomfortable. You don’t know him. Do you know how else you can tell? Those who know Christ want to be around other people who know Christ. I believe you don’t have to beg people who know God, to come to Sunday school. You don’t have to beg people who know Christ to support Wednesday night Bible study. When you know Jesus you want to talk about Jesus. You want to share with other believers how Jesus has affected your life. You ought to be at Sunday school saying, “Guess what he did for me this week.”
After Jesus died the disciples became depressed and distressed. That fire and that zeal they had when Jesus was alive had began to dwindle. And even though they knew he was resurrected and that he had appeared to them twice before, they were still depressed.
So much so they stop doing the work Christ had left them to do and went back to what the use do. Look at verses 2 and 3-Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin (that’s doubting Thomas), Nathaniel of Cana, the sons of Zebedee (James and John) and two other disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him “We are going with you also.” Sometimes when Christians find themselves in situations where things aren’t going right or things aren’t happening the way they think it should, they go back to their old way of living. They began to struggle with their spirituality and they want to cling to an old familiar.
Instead of immersing themselves in the work of the Lord, they go back to the bottle. Instead of doing God’s work they go back the other woman. Or the arms of someone else’s husband. Or to the casinos. Or to just sitting at home feeling sorry for themselves on Sunday morning. They run back to things they did before they knew Christ. Remember we are not talking about men that had forgotten Christ. They knew him. Spent time with him. Ate meals with him. Even laid their heads on his chest. But sometime even those who know Christ back slide. Even those of us who have shared intimate moments with Jesus find ourselves down in the dumps. We know he’s alive. We’ve seen him work miracles in our own lives. But still we may find ourselves heading back to from whence we came. Even the Apostle Paul said when he tries do good, evil is all around him. It is not always outside evil trying to get us. Sometimes it stuff in our past trying seep back into our life.
But once these disciples went back to their old ways, it was not satisfying. There was no joy in it. They toiled all night and could not catch one fish. Professional fishermen and couldn’t catch one little mackerel. When you know Christ, going back to your old life is no fun. There is no enjoyment, no satisfaction, no thrill, and definitely no success. Remember that is why you left your old life in the first place; it was not meeting your needs.
Let’s read verse 4-But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Isn’t God good? When he knows we’ve been struggling all night. Losing sleep over a problem. Trying not to go back to old ways. In the morning he is standing on the shore waiting for you. When the doctors tell you they’ve done all they can, he is standing on the shore waiting for you. When the family is telling you “you need to get a divorce”, he is standing on the shore waiting for you. When the school says your child is incorrigible, he is standing on the shore waiting for you. You know in Church we spend a lot of time talking about waiting on the Lord. When the fact is 95 percent of the time he is waiting on us. When a certain Samaritan woman came to the well, who was there waiting on her? Jesus. The Lord is always where you need to be. He already knows your problem and already has a remedy. He is waiting for you on the shore. But sometimes even when you know Jesus, you don’t always recognize him. Especially when you have drifted off a distance from him. When you have allowed yourself to miss every Sunday school. When you can’t seem to make it to bible study. We allow the fog and mist of the world to cloud our vision of Christ. We’ve been toiling all night and our tired eyes can’t see clearly. That’s why you need to stay close to him. Don’t drift so far that you can’t recognize his face. You can’t hear his voice.
And so this man whom they could not recognize told them to cast their net on the right side of the boat and they will find fish. They’ve fished all night so logically they have tried their net on every side of the boat by now. But when God blesses you he will take you to sources that you thought were dried up. And bring forth a blessing that you are going to need some help to receive. You are going to be able to live off of that blessing for a while and he’ll do it without breaking your net. Other folks might get blessed just because they were on the same boat with you. Just because they were standing next to you.
Now get this, when you know God, and he blesses you, even if you can’t see his face, you are going to know it is him. Even if the blessing comes from and unfamiliar source. Even if comes from an unlikely source. Cause nobody can bless you like Jesus. His blessing are patented. No matter where it comes from you are going to know it’s him. No matter who is standing in front of him, you are going to know its Jesus. No matter what noise is going on while he is speaking to you, you are going to know it’s Jesus. No matter how many people try to take credit for your miracle, you are going to know its Jesus. But only if you know him. Verse 7-Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved (that’s John) said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it) and plunged into the sea.
John knew the Lord. He didn’t need any further proof. He didn’t wait to see if anyone else thought it was Jesus. He didn’t care if anyone agree with him. When you know the Lord, all he has to do is speak to you and you will believe.
And you see Peter knew the Lord, too. Because when you know the Lord you can’t come to him dressed any old way. You can’t come to him half-naked. You respect him to much for that. When you know the Lord your skirt is a little longer. When you know the Lord your dress is not so tight. And fellows this applies to us too. When you know the Lord you pants don’t sag so far in the back. Peter said I know him well enough to know I better throw my clothes back on if I’m going to be in his presence. What you wear when you are with your buddies isn’t necessarily the same thing you wear we you are meeting the Lord.
And you know what I like about Peter. Peter will jump out of a boat in a minute. He has a history of getting off the boat to go to his Lord. But see how he’s grown. In Matthew Chapter 14 verse 28 Peter said “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” This time he knew for sure. This time he recognized Him. He knew Him. He wasn’t waiting for an invitation. He wasn’t waiting for another miracle. He wasn’t even waiting for everybody else to come along. He said, “Ya’ll can row the boat in if you want. But I’m going to be with my Lord.” “I know it is him. So while ya’ll are trying to set the sail and make sure the net don’t break and all of this stuff, I’m going to be on the shore with Jesus.” Folks are so caught up in other stuff in their life and expect Jesus just to keep waiting on them. They wonder why other folks are getting blessed while they are still struggling. It’s because those who know Jesus are swimming toward Him and you are afraid to get wet. When you know Jesus you can’t wait to get to him. When you know Jesus, you’ll leave folks who are slowing you up behind. When you know Jesus, you’ll forget what you used to do. When you know Jesus, you’ll leave behind your old life. When you know Jesus you’ll love him more than your job. More than your possessions. Even more than your family. When you know Jesus.
Do you know him? Do you know him? Do you know him? When I sit down the Pastor is going to open the doors of the Church and the first question he is going to ask is “Do you know Him?” Not do you know of him. Everybody knows of him. Satan knows of him. Do you know Him? If you don’t know him you better get somebody to introduce you quick. You better sit down and eat with him. You better come to Sunday school and you better come to Bible Study. You better get in the Word. Get to know Christ. Do you know him?
