Encouragement from a Fisherman

Anyway, it's always great to be with my good brethren and we trust that God will bless his word and exalt his son and that you might go home encouraged. So that's really what I have before me today. We touched on the fact that one of our great needs as believers and as an assemblies is to seek to encourage one another.

And that's not just a matter of patting them on the back and saying, you know, just keep going. Or I'm thinking about you. No, there's more to it than that.

To build one another up. And so I just want to speak a little bit about a word of encouragement from a fisherman. All right? Now, I know that might sound foreign to you people here in Iowa.

I should speak on the encouragement from a farmer. But sorry, I don't have anything along that line. Encouragement from a fisherman.

So we're going to read in first Peter. First Peter. Peter was the fisherman.

And so I want to read first Peter chapter one and verse number one. First Peter chapter one and verse number one. And this is Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.

Big country, big areas. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the spirit and to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace unto you and peace be multiplied.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again unto a lively or the word there is living, living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, fades not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept or are being kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Weren't you greatly rejoiced though now for a season, if need be, you're in heaviness through manifold various kinds of temptations and trials, that the trial of your faith being much more precious than a gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen ye love, in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Just drop down to verse number 22.

Chapter 1, verse 22, seeing ye have purified your souls and obeying the truth through the spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart, fervently being born again, not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of God, which lives and abides forever. For all flesh is as grass and all the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withers, the flower thereof falls away, but the word of God endures forever.

And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. Chapter 2, verse 1, wherefore laying aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envies and all evil speakings, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby, so be ye of taste that the Lord is gracious to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of man but chosen of God and precious. He also as lively or living stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect and precious, and he that believes on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believes he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of a corner and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word being disobedient were unto also they were appointed. I don't know if you have any favorite books of the Bible.

I think with a lot of us, we likely have one or two books that we just enjoy going back to and they mean a lot to us. I'm not suggesting that all the word of God shouldn't be the scope of our reading and our understanding and our appreciation, but if I'm speaking personally, which I'm speaking personally now, I have to say that many times I go back to Peter's letters and to me they're very timely, they're very personable, and just many times when I read Peter's letter or letters, I just get to the place where I say, I know what he's talking about, I know why he's saying that, I know what he's drawing from, I know the experience that prompted what he's writing about, and so you kind of join the dots with regard to Peter's letter or letters. Of course the person of Peter, the disciple Peter, is a very, very interesting study.

He was one of the three disciples of the Lord Jesus that were involved in some very special mentoring. Now the Lord had 12 disciples and they were in his school, but you'll recall that there were a number of instances, incidents, where the Lord Jesus singled out three of these men, Peter, James, and John, and they were brought on the inside track of some of these mentoring sessions. You'll remember that when it came to the raising of Jairus's daughter, he came to the house and there was a lot of tumult because the little girl had died, and he took, put everybody away, and then he took Peter, James, and John, he says, now I want you to come with me, and so there they were in that bedroom and they were witnesses of the raising of Jairus's little daughter.

You recall that when it came to the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John went up with him to that mount and they were witnesses of Moses and Elijah and the glory of the Lord, where the Lord's face shone as the sun, and you recall that in chapter one of the second pencil, he says, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty, we saw it, we were there. He never forgot what he had experienced there, and then of course you remember the Garden of Gethsemane. The Lord told his disciples, stay here, and then he took Peter, James, and John and went a little further, he says, you stay here, watch and pray, and then he himself went a little further stones cast.

So these three were singled out for some very, what I just call special mentoring sessions, where they certainly learned some lessons. Have you ever noticed all the threes? I just have to watch this clock here, but there's a lot of threes in Peter's life, aren't there? Yes, there were the three denials, and there were the three questions of restoration with regard to the breakfast on the beach. Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me? Peter, are you even fond of me? And there's Peter, and he's responding to the Savior's inquiry.

Then of course we come to the day of Pentecost, and here's Peter, changed man now, and he gets up before that crowd, and he begins to preach the gospel. He begins to focus on the risen Christ, and the result was 3,000 souls were saved. What a tremendous start to the day of Pentecost, to the start of God's construction project with regard to the church, and Peter was at the very center of that.

And then of course you fast forward the reels, the wheels, and you come to Acts chapter 10, and Peter is up on the rooftop. Interesting, it was the sixth hour, so it's two times three. It was the sixth hour.

He was very tired, but he grew very hungry, and he fell asleep, and then in his trance, in the state he was in, he saw the sheep coming. How many times did it come down? Three. And each time the message came, Peter rise and eat, and he says, no, I can't do that, I can't do that.

And then there was a knock at the gate, and how many men were there? Three, three. And so it just goes on and on and on. And then of course, if we were talking to Peter, Peter, there was a big catch of fish that you got on that beach side, didn't you? Oh yeah, they were big.

How many did you get? I think there was about 150. No, Peter, you counted them. How many fish did you get that day? Yeah, 150 and three.

Now, I don't know, I don't think that's coincidence, but I just appreciate the fact that there were a lot of threes in his experience as a believer. And you know, it's interesting when you come to his letters, again, there are a number of threes. I'll just, I've appreciated this fact that there were three precious things in his first letter that he wrote about.

He says, unto us, or unto you which believe, he is precious. And I think that that's a truth that we can certainly echo today, this morning. The bottom line was simply this, he is precious to us.

He is preeminent, he should be, he desires to be. Unto us which believe and unto you which believe, Peter says, he is precious. And you know, I've wondered at times why it was Peter, well, he speaks about precious blood, doesn't he? You're not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

And then, of course, what we've read in chapter one, he speaks about precious faith, these trials that were coming. And yet he underlines this fact, that these trials, how does it go? The trial of your faith being much more precious than a gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire. Why does Peter write about these three realities? You know, instead of Judas, Judas knew the price of everything and the value of nothing.

You remember when Mary anointed the Lord and Judas says, huh, 300 pence, a year's wages, an extravagant sum, but he had no value for the Savior. But here's Peter, and he went through the school of hard knocks, didn't he? He'd come to value that which God valued. And I've often thought, and maybe I've meant this here over the years, but I well remember, it was just a tourist trip that we made to the city of Ottawa, not Illinois, but Canada.

And we met one of the believers there, Mr. Ken Prince, who was the administrator at the Royal Canadian Mint. That's where they made all those good Canadian loonies and toonies. Not in those days, they were all bills.

And he said to us, he says, boys, would you like to have a tour of the mint? I said, that'd be great, yeah. He says, meet me at the front gate at two o'clock on Tuesday and I'll take you through personally. So we did.

And we saw where the bills were flying off and where the quarters were rolling out, and he says, now come with me, we're going to go to a different place. And we came to a little office at the back of the mint area, big building, and we had to sign our name because he says, I'm going to take you to the gold refinery. And we were just walking across a little courtyard, it might have been the width of this auditorium, and there was a little lift truck that was coming along with a pallet and a tarp over top.

Mr. Prince stopped the driver, he pulled back the tarp, and on the pallet were, I think, about six or seven bricks. And he reached down and gave my friend one and he took another one and gave it to me. Now, I have handled a lot of bricks in my life.

Most of them are 99 cents or $1.29, but that day I held a brick of, well, you'd say pure gold, 99 point whatever. And it was heavy, it was heavy. But I want to ask you, how do you think I handled that brick that day? You think I just kind of threw it down on the pallet? No, no.

I handle it with care. Unfortunately, we had to put it back. But it just made me aware that we're all handling Christ in our lives individually and personally.

So how do I handle Christ? How do you handle Christ? What's he mean to you? We were challenged that this is not just a Sunday morning deal. This is not just a conference weekend reality. How do we handle Christ through the week? Unto us which believe he is precious.

And Jill, that will affect our worship, that will affect our hearts, that will affect our adoration. Precious blood, yes. I am not a hunter and I think there's some good hunters here.

And you know when you bring down the animal, whatever it is, Newfoundland is moose. Here it might be deer. But what do you do? You release the blood because you don't want the meat to be tainted, to be spoiled.

One of the most corruptible things in human life is blood. And some of the most precious things in human life are silver and gold. But the scriptures just turn it around, don't they? We're not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.

Eternal value. And when we understand the preciousness of that blood and that sacrifice, it will affect our service. We're reminded again today, we don't belong to ourselves.

We have been bought with the price. May we never forget that. I've been saved 55 years, but I need to be reminded of that because it's so easy to veer off and begin to invest and plunge into things that have very, well, really no eternal value.

And for young people starting out, I trust you will appreciate the fact that you have been purchased, you've been bought with a tremendously expensive price. You belong to him. And here's Peter, and he wrote about precious blood.

Precious faith, yes, precious faith. And so Peter writes about precious things. Just one more comes to mind.

He writes about being sober three times in this first letter. And you might say, well, why did Peter write about sobriety? Well, I think I know. Because there were times in his life, in his experience, when he lost perspective, when he was unaware of what was happening around him, when he misjudged what was inside of him, and when he failed to understand about the enemy.

And so he writes in chapter one, you'll notice in verse number 13, he says, wherefore, gird up the loins of your minds, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace as he brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And you know, as you read that first part, that first portion of this, of this wonderful letter, you understand that Peter is amazed and overwhelmed at the greatness, the greatness of salvation. He says, angels were trying to figure this out.

They were seeking to look into it. Prophets were writing about it. And, you know, we just take the words of Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 so much for granted.

But to me, when I look back and think of Isaiah, Isaiah, do you understand what you're writing? I think he had a hard time joining the dots. He was writing amazing truth, despised, rejected of men. He was going to be wounded for our transgressions and on and on it goes.

They wrote about the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. So he says, wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and hope to the end, hope perfectly for the grace that's going to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Brethren, sisters, we have been brought into a very wonderful salvation.

The greatness of salvation should allow us to be well awake, wide awake and sober in view of what God is doing. Of course, when you come to chapter 4, he says the end of all things is at hand. Wherefore, verse number 7, be therefore sober and watch unto prayer.

And when I think of that, I can't help but go to the sleep. He was asked to pray, but he missed it. He missed it.

And now he's writing about this. And then, of course, you come to chapter 5, a verse that you all know, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, seeking whom he's walking about, seeking whom he may devour. Peter, what were you thinking? What was I thinking about? I'll never forget.

I'll never forget that awful night when I was put through Satan's sieve. I never thought it happened to me, but it did. And so we need to be sober because of the greatness of our salvation.

We need to be sober because of the lateness of the hour, the end of all things is at hand. Therefore, don't fall asleep. Be sober.

Watch unto prayer. We need to be sober because of the boldness of the enemy. He's still walking about seeking whom he may devour.

He's an avid student of all that belongs to God. He's not omniscient and omnipresent. He's certainly not omnipotent.

But he's watching, he's scrutinizing, he's evaluating. He's not dumb because your adversary, the devil, is walking about seeking whom he may devour. And none of us are at the finish line yet, are we? We're walking by faith.

So we need to be wide awake, be sober. And so here's Peter, and he says, I'm not talking, I'm not writing theory. I'm writing from actual real life example.

And I don't want you to make the same mistake that I made. And so he writes about these triads, about precious things, about being sober and so on. Well, we've read about three other realities today.

And I just couldn't help but think that these are foundation stones, foundation truths for spiritual preservation. One of the things we need, we need the Lord's presence, we need his guidance, we need his power. Whether we're living in Newfoundland or Malawi or Garnavillum, regardless of where we're coming from, we need his presence, we need his preservation.

And so here's Peter, and he begins to write. And he reminds these believers about a living hope, a living hope, because he was writing to scattered saints. He reminds them about a living seed, living word in chapter two.

And that involves those that are on the pilgrim life. That's where we are today. We're just passing through, but we're pilgrims and strangers.

We need the living seed. And then, of course, for those that were going through fiery trials, he said, listen, there is a living rock. It's really the rock of ages.

And he said, you can stand on that. You can find refuge in that. And so he's writing to these dear believers.

You know what marked these believers? I think a couple of things very quickly. They were scattered. They were scattered believers.

Now, we would have a difficulty with that, because we're not scattered. We haven't been driven from our homes. We're very locked in.

And by six o'clock, we're all heading home. But here were believers, and they were being scattered. And you'll notice that it was a very large area, Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia, huge areas.

And here were believers, and they were being pushed out. They were being scattered. You know, I couldn't help but appreciate the fact that in recent years, we've had a number of Ukrainians, well, plane loads of Ukrainians that have come to St. John's, Newfoundland.

And these dear people have been scattered. I met a dear interpreter just last week. He's living in Dublin.

I said, what takes you from Ukraine to Dublin? He says, war, war. That's why I'm there. And so here were believers.

It wasn't war that was scattering them. It was just the fact that they were Christians. They had received Christ.

And this tremendous persecution had been affecting their lives in a very dramatic way. And they were scattered. But it's interesting.

I should mention this. The word scattered is not just kind of a negative thing. It really means sown.

Now, you farmers can understand that. That's S-O-W-N, sown. And it's a picture of a man going out, not with their big combines and all the whatever you call your equipment here, but it's just a sense of a man going out with a bag of seed and he's spreading it around.

You know what's happening? These believers were being sown as they were moving out. They were going to areas that they had never been in. But as they were going, they were carrying the gospel with them.

They were telling others about Christ. And the attempt of the enemy to try and thwart the work was just having the opposite effect. One man said rather than nipping it in the bud, the enemy was unwittingly pruning it for healthier growth.

And so the work was spreading. They were being sown. They were being scattered.

And that's not a bad thing, is it? Sometimes we just get so localized and we just can't see very much just I, me, my, we, you know, just where we are. Well, plug into where you are. But don't forget that sometimes God desires to advance the work.

And here were believers and they were going out. And that's why when God moves you, and I'm not suggesting that you've got to move to Newfoundland, but as God moves you even with regard to your vocation, your work, take Christ with you. Pass on the good news.

Share the gospel. And here were believers and they were doing exactly that. But then they were strangers.

They were strangers. They left home. You know, it's one thing to work away from home.

There's a number of believers and they work two weeks on, two weeks off. They head up to the Canadian North or wherever you go. But they're going to come home again.

It's not a great schedule, but it's just the way it is. But these believers weren't coming home. They were strangers in every sense.

They had left it all. They'd been pushed out and pretty hard to work from a base that you're not really sure of. They were pilgrims and they were strangers.

And so Peter was writing to them. He has a concern for them. His heart, like they knew some of these believers, he says, I want to encourage them.

I want to strengthen them. I want to tell them about what God has done and what God is doing in their life. And it's interesting that as he writes, and I just maybe mentioned this, that of course, Peter had been given the keys of the kingdom and he did open up the door to the Jewish nation.

And so you understand it was Peter that preached at the day of Pentecost and so on. The gospel of circumcision was committed to his stewardship. And so as he's writing, you'll be able to appreciate that he's kind of drawing on some of the Old Testament experiences.

And so you can almost, you can certainly see the Egypt to Canaan experience in his letter. And when you look at chapter one through to chapter two, verse 10, that's where he starts in Egypt. We've been hearing about Egypt and Moses.

And it reminds them, he says, wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and hope to the end. Peter, I think I remember something about Passover and they were told not just what to eat, they were told how to eat it. Remember that? I think brother Clark mentioned it yesterday.

Enjoy the roast lamb, but have the loins of your garments fastened up, staff in the hands, shoes in your feet. They were supposed to be ready for the road. And now Peter is saying, look, gird up the loins of your mind because you're leaving.

And then of course, he speaks about the fact that we've been redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. And of course, that goes right back to Exodus chapter 12, isn't it? The lamb made the difference. The blood brought deliverance.

And so he reminds them. And then, of course, he goes on to the wilderness experience. He says, now you're strangers, you're pilgrims, you're going through barren land, enemy land.

And you just need to have instruction. You need to have guidance. And then of course, you come to the last part from chapter four, verse 12 on, and he's anticipating the land now.

And it's interesting, he says, but the God of all grace who has called you into his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you've suffered a while, make you perfect, establish strength and settle you to him, be glory and dominion forever and ever. And so he's looking ahead to that experience of being in Canaan land, not heaven, no, Canaan land. And of course, he's thought about elders and spiritual leadership and adversaries and so on.

And so Peter is drawing a lot from the Old Testament scriptures. But ultimately, he brings them to the place where he wants to encourage them in a very personal sense. You know, this is a timely letter in my mind, a very relevant letter, because Peter was well aware of the way things were going.

And I don't think it's any surprise, and this is not new truth, but we are facing a tremendous moral landslide in our nations. I'm not just talking about the US of A. Canada is likely worse. The world is heading downward very, very fast.

And we need to be aware of that. You know what's happening? Somebody said it this way. He said, first of all, people overlook evil.

Well, we're not going to get too concerned about that. And then secondly, instead of just overlooking it, we permit evil. And then we legalize evil.

And then we celebrate evil. And then we finally persecute those who still call it evil. Is that not 2026? We're living in a moral landslide.

And I don't know what you think, but this world is not getting any better, is it? It's going down. And that's why, brethren and sisters, we need to pray for our leaders. One of the things of 1 Timothy chapter 2, pray for those that are in high places and the authorities, kings and so on.

We need to pray for them that the fear of God might mark them and that evil might be somehow held back as long as it can be. But we're living in this moral landslide. And of course, it's affecting a lot of our lives.

I might as well tell you that I'm concerned. And I'm not saying this from any experience here in Iowa, but I am concerned about the caliber of gospel preaching these days. Many times we preach about an experience, and yes, salvation is an experience.

But sadly, many times we just mention Christ the last three minutes of the message. And somehow that's wrong. Something is missing.

The gospel is Christ. No, we need to touch sin. We need to make people aware of the wages of sin.

Yes, we do need that. But if we miss Christ and Calvary, we've missed the gospel. And I'm concerned about that.

It is where I'm living. It's sometimes we almost minimize all you have to do. And then we have this one liner.

We need to be made aware that many times the enemy seeks to erode and attack the clear ring of the gospel. Well, boy, I don't know. Let me just very briefly touch these three realities.

This is what was on my mind today. We have read about a living hope for scattered saints. We've read about living seed for traveling pilgrims.

We've read about a living stone for persecuted saints. Why did Peter start with hope? Why did he talk about love, faith, courage? Why hope? Well, life without hope is a very grim existence, isn't it? And you know, as you look at the world we're living in, we're living in a very sad world, a very hopeless world. And I'm saddened when I read about young people and they come to the end of the reason for their existence and they pull a trigger.

This is far better to be out of this because there's no hope. Now, that's the sad reality of our life. But even as believers, sometimes we can get to the place where we fail to understand that we are linked with a living hope, not this kind of a hope.

Oh, this is a reality that touches our lives. And again, as I read this, I understand that Peter is not writing about theory. It's not something that he's kind of thought about in his little study.

And then he writes, no, no, no. Peter says, I know what I'm talking about. He says, I will never, never forget that awful night.

Oh, I had told the Lord, the Lord had told us he was going to be suffering and he was going to die. I just disregarded that. I said, Lord, that will never happen.

He said, I actually told the Lord I would go with him to prison or even to death. And I meant it. And the Lord says, Peter, before the cock crows twice, you're going to deny me three times.

No, no, that'll never happen, never. You can trust me. I'm true blue.

If everybody else fades out, if everybody else doesn't go the distance, you can count on me. I'm committed. But you know the story.

It happened. It happened. And the maid confronted him and then another one came and another man says, oh, I know who you belong to.

I can tell just by the way you speak. He said, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know the man.

And then the scripture says in Luke, Luke 22, the Lord turned, turned and looked at Peter and Peter remembered the word that the Lord has spoken. And Peter went out and he wept bitterly. No word from the Lord.

He just, he just turned and looked. You know, when I think of Peter at that moment, I think all he could see was that look, the face of the Savior. It was burned into his memory, burned into his conscience, the look of Christ.

And he understood I failed. I, I, I'm no longer able to be a disciple. I've come to a place of absolute hopelessness.

I denied him three times and now I'm out of the race. And you know, as one man wrote one time, he said the Savior's subsequent death by crucifixion must've been like a nail driven into Peter's heart. You know why? Could never be remedied now.

He could never go back to the Savior and say, look, I'm really sorry. He's died. And here's Peter, who's without hope.

What did he need? He needed hope. He needed something to, to buoy him up, to strengthen him, to make him aware that he's failure is not final. And of course, when you come to Mark chapter 16, the angel said, he's not here as risen.

He said, go tell his disciples, go your way. Tell his disciples and Peter and Peter. And all of a sudden those two words changed everything.

As Peter came to understand that the Lord's hand was still upon him. Now my time is gone, but I just want to ask you, what does the living hope? What does the living hope mean to you today? Now we believe Christ has been raised from the dead. We believe Christ is coming.

This is a living hope. It's a blessed hope. But what does it mean to you on a Monday morning? What does it mean when the skies are gray? What does it mean when they, the trials crush you? And I'm well aware that there are believers and they are going through hard times and none of us know what tomorrow is going to bring.

What does the living Christ mean to you? Well, as the old Gaither hymn says, because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone because I know he holds the future and life is worth the living just because he lives. And as you look at the risen Christ, you understand that he is the answer.

He's the answer to all of our tears. We were reading this morning, John and Esther's place about Mary and she was standing up at the grave. She was weeping.

And just one word from the supposed gardener, Mary. She understood and I don't think she stopped crying, but I think they they turned from tears of sorrow and hopelessness to tears of joy or a bone high. He's the answer to all of our fears.

Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. He's the answer to all of our doubts and unbelief. My Lord and my God, Thomas could say, he's the answer to all of our barrenness.

And you know, we have been begotten again unto a, this living hope and to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, fades not away, reserved in heaven for you. That's our inheritance. The best is yet to come.

Now, just suppose my time is gone. Just suppose one minute of grace. Just suppose you knew without any shadow of doubt that your uncle Oscar is has left you an inheritance of $5 million.

Now, would that affect your life? I don't know about you, but it affect my life. I don't have an uncle Oscar, but it'd be, it'd be quite transforming, wouldn't it? If you knew at the end down the road, you were going to get an inheritance of, it would open up a lot of options, wouldn't it? You might not pinch as many pennies as you do now. Do you still have pennies here? You do.

Okay. I think they're going out of business, but anyway, but, but you might, you might weigh things up a little differently. And you know, here we are.

The inheritance is reserved in heaven for us. And the best is yet to come. We're, we have divine protection.

We're being guarded by the presence of, by the power of God through faith unto salvation. And so I trust you can add some more to the triad of living things, but we have a living hope, living hope, and I trust we might, it might affect our lives, that we might appreciate more of Christ and that we might enjoy his presence along the pilgrim pathway.