It Is the Lord!

October 14, 2020
Drew Segawa
Friendship, Hearing from God, Hearing God's Voice
1 Samuel, John, Matthew

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It Is the Lord!

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He’s often depicted as leaving the ninety nine to go after the one person. If a person slides away from closeness to Christ, they often need to rely on friends to help. A friend who loves us enough to tell us when Jesus is trying to reach us. Friends that will tell you, “It is the Lord!”

We see this with John here.

We also see this with Eli the high priest in the life of Samuel the prophet. See this in 1 Samuel 3.

God also used Eli to detect the voice of God in another person’s life

1Now the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation.
2And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in his place, and when his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see,
3and before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the LORD where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down,
4that the LORD called Samuel. And he answered, “Here I am!”
5So he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.”
And he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” And he went and lay down.
6Then the LORD called yet again, “Samuel!”
So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” He answered, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.”
7(Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, nor was the word of the LORD yet revealed to him.)
8And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. So he arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you did call me.”
Then Eli perceived that the LORD had called the boy.
9Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10Now the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”
11Then the LORD said to Samuel: “Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.
(1 Samuel 3:1-11)

——– WE ALL NEED FRIENDS WHO TELL US “IT IS THE LORD!” ——–

When Jesus was crucified, John was the only Apostle who was at the cross to see Him crucified.

John remained close with the Lord Jesus.

One thing seems certain. At this time in their lives, John seems better able to discern the voice of the Lord than Peter was.

Peter was probably still emotionally and mentally distraught.

He was probably still pondering his own failures. How he had denied Jesus three times, exactly like Jesus said he would.

Then Jesus Resurrects on Sunday and shows Himself two times to Peter and John.

And now we have Peter and 6 other disciples trying to make sense of all of this.

They go back to fishing, which was their worldly comfort zone.

And yet, they fish all night and catch nothing.

——– CATCHING “NOTHING” IN YOUR WORLDLY COMFORT ZONE ——–

In our lives today – when a person moves further away from the Lord, their heart grows cold.

The person stops staying connected with Jesus Christ and the body of Christ.

They can read God’s Words, but refuse to obey the voice of God.

They can pray but their prayers are self-focused and no longer outward-focused.

Humility quickly turns to pride; and God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Peter would soon understand this, but he first had to experience the humbling of self.

Later on, Peter would write about this in 1 Peter 5.

5Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
6Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
7casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
(1 Peter 5:5-7)

——– CASTING ALL YOUR CARE UPON GOD ——–

Peter understood how to cast a net to catch fish.

Here in John 21, Peter would have to understand that Jesus was casting the net to catch Peter.

Jesus was calling Peter back to a life of learning from Him how to catch people for Christ.

In Peter’s own life, he had to learn that this wouldn’t be a “catch and release.” Peter would see the fishing strategies of Jesus.

As in his own life, he finds that Jesus wants to catch and keep people. After all, Jesus wants us for eternity, not just a temporary time.

Peter had to learn that you need to be “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

Peter finds here that he also needed to call others back to a life of living close with Christ.

——– STAY CLOSE WITH CHRIST ——–

Peter found that he needed a friend like John. A person who, at the moment, was more discerning of the voice of the Lord.

A friend who could notice God at work in his life. The friend that will say, “It is the Lord!”

This is because when a person slides away from the Lord, they usually don’t seem to be able to detect the Lord speaking to them.

Their spirit within may slightly detect Him. But their pride won’t let them admit it. (is this you?)

And yet, the Lord still tries to reach out to the person. But the person’s heart may have gotten hard.

Life will be colorless; the person is alive but not quite living how Jesus wants them to be.

They stop keeping a sensitive heart to God and the Good News that He brings. Their heart and thoughts grow negative.

Pursuits will be fruitless. Perhaps like Peter and the guys here. Fishing all night and catching “nothing.”

This is because nobody and no one in the universe can satisfy a thirsty soul like the Lord can.

——– COME BACK TO BEING CLOSE WITH CHRIST ——–

Are you finding that the Good Shepherd is trying to call you back to being close with Him as you’d once been before?

It’s not too late to come back to Him, if this is where you find yourself at.

If so, let me be a voice of reason – like John (John 21:7) and Eli (1 Samuel 3:8-9) and say, “It is the Lord!”

Simply come back to intimacy with Jesus Christ and the body of Christ!

See as Peter wisely directs in 1 Peter 5:6-7. “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”

Turn away from pursuing the temporary and worldly cares of this life.

The pursuit of self is a sure way to detect that you are no longer following Jesus (see Luke 9:23), and Jesus wants you back!

Keep yourself accountable with a strong Christian, or small group of Christians, that are mature in the Lord’s ways.

These are simple Biblical principles, but we’ve seen this at work in dozens and dozens of lives and they work!

In closing see what Peter wrote to you next.

8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
9Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
10But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.
11To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
(1 Peter 5:8-11)