WEBVTT - Hour 2: Bible Teaching: The Restoration of Peter 0:00:07.730 --> 0:00:11.750 Hello, friends. Welcome to the second hour of Open Line. 0:00:11.750 --> 0:00:15.860 It's a special pre-recorded edition of Open Line with Michael. 0:00:15.860 --> 0:00:19.430 Right Zelnick. No calls this hour because we have something 0:00:19.430 --> 0:00:23.209 unique for you. It's a special Bible study from the 0:00:23.210 --> 0:00:27.170 deck of the Star Clipper. Let me set the scene 0:00:27.170 --> 0:00:33.409 for you. We hosted a moody Bible Institute Journeys of 0:00:33.409 --> 0:00:37.279 Paul tour, and we were on for a good part 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:41.900 of this trip, a four masted schooner called the Star Clipper. 0:00:41.900 --> 0:00:46.010 It was beautiful in the Aegean Sea. The bright blue 0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:49.880 water was just gorgeous. There were the weather was perfect 0:00:50.120 --> 0:00:54.350 and we traveled from site to site. After enjoying wonderful 0:00:54.350 --> 0:00:58.910 dinners and spending the night in beautiful cabins, even going 0:00:58.910 --> 0:01:00.850 out on deck in the evening and looking at the 0:01:00.850 --> 0:01:04.030 stars and the sails hoisted. It was just beautiful. But 0:01:04.030 --> 0:01:08.440 then during the day we'd land, and when we got 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:11.650 to land, we'd go to various sites from site to site, 0:01:11.650 --> 0:01:15.850 and we saw marvellous places related to the journeys of Paul, 0:01:15.850 --> 0:01:18.820 the ministry of Paul, his missionary journeys. Here's some of 0:01:18.819 --> 0:01:28.360 the places we went to. We went to Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea. 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:32.530 We also saw sites from the Book of Revelation related 0:01:32.530 --> 0:01:36.039 to the ministry of the Apostle John. We went to Patmos, 0:01:36.069 --> 0:01:39.730 where John received his vision. We also went to Pergamum, 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:44.170 saw ancient Pergamum, which was one of the letters that 0:01:44.170 --> 0:01:47.770 the Lord Jesus gave to the church at Pergamum. And 0:01:47.770 --> 0:01:50.530 we got to see that site. Well, what was unique 0:01:50.560 --> 0:01:54.490 about this trip is that each site, one of our 0:01:54.490 --> 0:01:58.390 Bible teachers from Moody Bible Institute, would open the word 0:01:58.390 --> 0:02:02.260 of God at that site, relating what was in the 0:02:02.260 --> 0:02:06.310 text about those places to what we were seeing. It 0:02:06.310 --> 0:02:09.910 was remarkable. So doctor Mark Jobe taught at places. Doctor 0:02:09.910 --> 0:02:13.750 Lori Norris, the dean of faculty at Moody, taught Doctor 0:02:13.750 --> 0:02:17.110 Joe Stoll, the former president of Moody was there, and 0:02:17.110 --> 0:02:20.410 he taught as well. I had the privilege of opening 0:02:20.410 --> 0:02:22.600 the word as well in various places. One of my 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:28.240 favorite places was standing at the Bema Seat and in Corinth, 0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:32.769 and teaching about the Bema Seat that Paul alludes to 0:02:32.800 --> 0:02:36.940 in Second Corinthians five. What a what a fantastic time 0:02:36.940 --> 0:02:41.859 that was. We were studying the Bible on site and 0:02:41.860 --> 0:02:44.920 and that was just great. The people who were on 0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:50.140 the trip, 160 of my closest friends or so, uh, they, 0:02:50.139 --> 0:02:53.830 they loved it. And what amazed me more, and I 0:02:53.830 --> 0:02:55.780 think this is true, so many of these people were 0:02:55.780 --> 0:02:59.330 open line listeners and Open line listeners love the Word 0:02:59.330 --> 0:03:02.570 of God. And as a result, as much as we 0:03:02.570 --> 0:03:06.560 were studying the scriptures everywhere, they kept asking for more. 0:03:06.590 --> 0:03:09.290 They were saying, oh, can't we have more Bible study? 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:11.750 I'm like, wow. I mean, when we were on the 0:03:11.750 --> 0:03:16.340 ship on Sunday morning, we gathered for worship. Uh, Lori, 0:03:16.370 --> 0:03:20.480 our our dean of faculty, played the keyboards. And Bruce 0:03:20.510 --> 0:03:25.460 Everhart from Moody Bible Institute, one of our senior vice presidents, uh, 0:03:25.460 --> 0:03:30.169 led worship with her. And doctor Mark Jobe opened the word. 0:03:30.169 --> 0:03:32.900 It was terrific. And people said, can we have more 0:03:32.900 --> 0:03:35.600 of that? We knew that we were going to Rome 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:39.560 after we, uh, got off the ship. We were going 0:03:39.590 --> 0:03:42.110 to do some other sites along the way and then 0:03:42.110 --> 0:03:44.330 go to Rome. So I thought, well, why don't we 0:03:44.330 --> 0:03:48.080 have a special Bible study on our last morning on 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:50.510 board as we were getting ready to leave. And so 0:03:50.510 --> 0:03:53.660 I announced we're going to have a special on deck 0:03:53.660 --> 0:03:56.190 Bible study. It was optional. You don't have to come. 0:03:56.190 --> 0:03:59.670 But if people wanted more Bible, that's what we're going 0:03:59.670 --> 0:04:05.130 to do. An amazing me and amazing everyone on deck. 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:11.160 Virtually everyone showed up. I think about 155 people showed 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:14.490 up on deck for this special Bible study. It was 0:04:14.490 --> 0:04:17.520 about the restoration of Peter. It was titled How to 0:04:17.550 --> 0:04:22.800 Become a Hopeful Failure. It's based on John 21. Remember 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:27.300 what happened? Peter denied the Lord three times and he 0:04:27.300 --> 0:04:32.220 goes back to where he was most comfortable. He thinks 0:04:32.220 --> 0:04:35.670 God can't use me anymore. And he goes back to fishing. 0:04:35.670 --> 0:04:39.450 And there the Lord goes to meet Peter and asks 0:04:39.450 --> 0:04:42.570 him three times, do you love me? Peter responds three 0:04:42.570 --> 0:04:44.909 times with his love for the Lord, and that's what 0:04:44.910 --> 0:04:48.750 this Bible study was about. But can't we all relate 0:04:48.750 --> 0:04:52.140 to Peter? You know we fail the Lord from time 0:04:52.140 --> 0:04:55.000 to time, maybe more than we ever would ever dream 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:58.359 we could. And then we think, God's done with me. 0:04:58.390 --> 0:05:03.460 He can't possibly use me. I am a hopeless failure. 0:05:03.550 --> 0:05:07.390 And then we study the example of Peter and see 0:05:07.390 --> 0:05:10.300 that even when we flee and we don't think God 0:05:10.300 --> 0:05:14.050 can use us, he comes. The Lord Jesus pursues us, 0:05:14.080 --> 0:05:17.650 gets a hold of us, and says, I absolutely can 0:05:17.650 --> 0:05:22.510 use you still. And that's what this Bible study is about. Okay. 0:05:22.540 --> 0:05:25.720 I want to tell you about an experience I had 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:29.680 in high school. There I was, standing in front of 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:37.750 the entire Hebrew club. That was a afternoon post-class co-curricular activity. 0:05:37.779 --> 0:05:45.700 They had brought in a Columbia University graduate student to 0:05:45.730 --> 0:05:50.680 speak on why Jewish people shouldn't believe in Jesus. He 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:54.440 was a youth leader in a synagogue And there was 0:05:54.440 --> 0:06:00.770 a girl in our high school who was very upset 0:06:00.770 --> 0:06:04.190 about a bunch of Jewish believers in our high school. 0:06:04.490 --> 0:06:07.279 And so she brought in her youth leader to speak 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:11.300 to the Hebrew Club. I had gone to our principal, uh, 0:06:11.300 --> 0:06:14.810 Solomon Levine, and asked him if I could get a 0:06:14.810 --> 0:06:18.800 messianic Jewish Bible teacher to respond. And he said, no, 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:21.440 it's Hebrew club. They can have whoever they want, you know. 0:06:22.550 --> 0:06:24.799 So I thought, well, I'm part of the Hebrew club. 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:37.279 I'll go and I'll respond. This guy was a genius. 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:42.380 And now I wasn't afraid, because I had gone with 0:06:42.380 --> 0:06:45.050 my friends who had become believers to their their parents 0:06:45.230 --> 0:06:46.640 to go to the rabbi. And I'd gone to the 0:06:46.640 --> 0:06:49.250 rabbi when I became a believer, my dad brought rabbis 0:06:49.250 --> 0:06:51.770 to meet with me. And, you know, it had gone 0:06:51.770 --> 0:06:55.260 pretty well. So I thought, well, I can handle this guy. 0:07:02.100 --> 0:07:03.510 I don't know if you ever heard of the term 0:07:03.510 --> 0:07:09.089 flop sweat. That that comedians get when they're telling jokes 0:07:09.089 --> 0:07:12.720 and no one's laughing. Well, I was giving answers and 0:07:12.720 --> 0:07:15.780 no one was. I mean, it was terrible. He did 0:07:15.780 --> 0:07:23.160 a great talk on the the history of Christian anti-Semitism 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:27.480 as the reason. And I stood up in the Q&A 0:07:27.510 --> 0:07:32.130 time and I said, listen, I understand that and I 0:07:32.130 --> 0:07:35.250 agree with you that it was terrible. However, the issue 0:07:35.250 --> 0:07:38.790 is not what Christians did in the name of Jesus, 0:07:38.790 --> 0:07:42.270 but what does the Bible say about who the Messiah is? 0:07:42.300 --> 0:07:48.630 And I started with messianic prophecy. So I started with 0:07:48.630 --> 0:07:53.200 Genesis 315 About crushing the Messiah, crushing the head of 0:07:53.200 --> 0:07:56.500 the serpent, seed of the woman, crushing the head of 0:07:56.500 --> 0:08:01.570 the serpent. He said, don't be ridiculous. That is a 0:08:01.570 --> 0:08:05.410 verse that teaches that humanity will always want to stomp 0:08:05.410 --> 0:08:11.230 on snakes heads, and snakes will always want to bite humanity. 0:08:11.260 --> 0:08:17.320 It's just the perpetual enmity between snakes and humanity. Everyone 0:08:17.350 --> 0:08:21.670 in the room went, yeah, yeah. I said, well, how 0:08:21.670 --> 0:08:25.150 about this verse? And I started working my way through 0:08:25.150 --> 0:08:30.640 the Hebrew Bible. And for every verse he had a good, 0:08:30.640 --> 0:08:36.970 rational explanation about why it wasn't a supernatural prediction of 0:08:36.970 --> 0:08:38.500 the Messiah. By the time I'm getting to the Book 0:08:38.500 --> 0:08:43.120 of Numbers and Deuteronomy, I'm sweating because I had no 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:47.530 answers for him. When I got into the prophets, it 0:08:47.530 --> 0:08:53.569 was worse. It was the worst experience of my life. 0:08:53.929 --> 0:09:02.030 I had been so overconfident. Dare I say, cocky? Unpaid. 0:09:02.690 --> 0:09:06.230 Didn't pray. I just maybe prayed a little bit, but 0:09:06.230 --> 0:09:11.689 not enough. Didn't study enough. Didn't prep enough. I knew 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:15.500 what I was going to do, and I stood in 0:09:15.500 --> 0:09:19.400 front of people, and I felt like I had let 0:09:19.429 --> 0:09:23.450 down the Lord. There I was, in front of all 0:09:23.450 --> 0:09:28.400 these Jewish classmates and students in my high school, and 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:33.020 I was just a hopeless failure. And I thought he 0:09:33.020 --> 0:09:37.760 would never, ever, ever. And he should never, ever, ever 0:09:37.790 --> 0:09:44.210 let me speak publicly for him again. What a loser. 0:09:45.440 --> 0:09:47.990 I don't know if you've ever felt like a failure, 0:09:48.510 --> 0:09:53.610 But I suspect we all do. It may be, you know, 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:56.160 the marriage that didn't turn out the way you expected 0:09:56.160 --> 0:09:59.940 it to, or child that you thought maybe you didn't 0:10:00.270 --> 0:10:04.829 raise in the way that you ought to have. It 0:10:04.830 --> 0:10:07.830 may be a relationship that you had with a parent, 0:10:07.830 --> 0:10:12.120 or a neighbor or a sibling that blew up on you. 0:10:12.150 --> 0:10:16.860 It may be any number of situations at work where 0:10:16.860 --> 0:10:20.940 you may have felt like you didn't represent the Lord well. 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:27.000 And each time something like that happens, what do we think? 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:31.709 God's through with me. And so today, what I'd like 0:10:31.710 --> 0:10:37.110 to do is answer this question. How can we we 0:10:37.110 --> 0:10:43.260 become hopeful failures instead of hopeless failures? Now, the truth 0:10:43.260 --> 0:10:45.030 of it is, I think every one of us can 0:10:45.030 --> 0:10:52.000 look at something in our lives and say I am 0:10:52.030 --> 0:10:57.220 a failure. But can we have hope? I think so. 0:10:57.250 --> 0:11:02.199 So if you have a Bible, turn to John chapter 21. 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:12.190 It says in John 21. Now this is after the resurrection. 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:23.949 It's after the resurrection. And this shows what our failures 0:11:23.950 --> 0:11:26.559 do to us. It's the story of Peter. It says 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:30.459 after this. Verse one Jesus revealed himself again to the 0:11:30.640 --> 0:11:34.270 his disciples by the sea of Tiberius. Let's imagine that's 0:11:34.270 --> 0:11:37.270 the Sea of Tiberius instead of it's the Aegean, okay? 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:46.490 It's the Sea of Galilee. He revealed himself in this way. Simon. Peter. 0:11:46.490 --> 0:11:50.600 Thomas called the twin Nathanael from Cana of Galilee. Zebedee's 0:11:50.630 --> 0:11:55.490 sons and two others of his disciples were together. I'm 0:11:55.490 --> 0:12:00.740 going fishing. Simon Peter said to them, we're coming with you. 0:12:00.770 --> 0:12:03.980 They told him they went out and got into the boat, 0:12:03.980 --> 0:12:11.120 but that night they caught nothing. Mm. Here's what I 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:14.780 think about this verse. Remember, this is after Peter had 0:12:14.780 --> 0:12:22.760 denied the Lord three times and he felt awful. Remember 0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:29.300 how he went out and wept? Our failures, like Peter, 0:12:29.420 --> 0:12:34.730 make us want to quit. Our failures make us want 0:12:34.730 --> 0:12:39.170 to retreat. What was Peter doing here? He was going 0:12:39.170 --> 0:12:41.030 back to what he always did before. Remember what he 0:12:41.030 --> 0:12:43.579 was before he was called to be a fisher of men. 0:12:44.420 --> 0:12:47.480 He was a fisherman. He said, I'm going back to Galilee. 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:50.959 I'm going to get in the boat, because obviously I'm 0:12:50.960 --> 0:12:56.540 washed up as one of these disciples. I'm done. I'm finished. 0:12:56.870 --> 0:13:01.910 And so he's ready to quit. I have to say, 0:13:01.910 --> 0:13:05.330 there are times when you when we all make mistakes 0:13:05.330 --> 0:13:11.689 and we think, ha! God will never use me again. 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:15.740 I have let the Lord Jesus down. And we want 0:13:15.770 --> 0:13:18.319 to go back to where we were before. There are 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:21.770 times in my life I have to say this. I thought, 0:13:21.770 --> 0:13:25.640 why in the world am I teaching at Moody Bible Institute? 0:13:25.670 --> 0:13:28.670 I could go teach in a high school and make 0:13:28.670 --> 0:13:34.640 a lot more money, but it's only when I felt 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:39.140 that I had let the Lord down. You're listening to 0:13:39.170 --> 0:13:42.830 a special pre-recorded open line Bible study on the deck 0:13:42.830 --> 0:13:45.840 of the Star Clipper from the Moody Journeys of Paul 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:47.940 or stay with us. We'll be back with more in 0:13:47.940 --> 0:13:55.770 just a moment. Sometimes we want to read the Bible 0:13:55.800 --> 0:13:58.080 but don't know how to get the most out of it. 0:13:58.110 --> 0:14:02.219 My friend, Moody Professor Doctor Jim Coakley, has written 14 0:14:02.220 --> 0:14:05.040 Fresh Ways to Enjoy the Bible, a book that helps 0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:08.670 us understand the full riches of Scripture by giving 14 0:14:08.670 --> 0:14:12.510 practical principles to bring them to life. Request your copy 0:14:12.510 --> 0:14:14.910 today with a gift of any amount to open line. 0:14:14.910 --> 0:14:24.510 Call (888) 644-7122 or visit Open Line radio.org. Each weekend on 0:14:24.510 --> 0:14:27.480 Open Line with me, Doctor Michael Radonich, we study the 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:30.270 scriptures around our radio kitchen table. You can become a 0:14:30.270 --> 0:14:33.600 kitchen table partner through your monthly support of Open Line. 0:14:33.600 --> 0:14:36.390 Your gifts help me to provide biblical answers to questions 0:14:36.390 --> 0:14:40.260 that many believers have about the Savior, the scriptures, and 0:14:40.260 --> 0:14:43.670 the spiritual life, along with other partners. You're helping people 0:14:43.670 --> 0:14:47.840 receive guidance from God's Word. Become a kitchen table partner today. 0:14:47.870 --> 0:15:01.340 Call (888) 644-7122 or go to Open Line radio.org. And we're back. 0:15:01.670 --> 0:15:04.640 So glad you're listening today because we're going back to 0:15:04.670 --> 0:15:06.920 the deck of the Star Clipper to hear more of 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:11.120 our Bible study on how to become a hopeful failure. 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:15.710 I felt that I had let the Lord down, that 0:15:15.710 --> 0:15:19.010 I wanted to do something like that, or it just was. 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:22.280 The ministry can be a little hard, and I want 0:15:22.310 --> 0:15:25.850 to do that, you know? But there are times where 0:15:25.850 --> 0:15:30.860 we just want to go back. We want to quit. Well, uh, 0:15:30.860 --> 0:15:37.610 it's after failure that we want to retreat, but. What 0:15:37.610 --> 0:15:39.560 I think is really the important part, what I really 0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:46.310 want to focus on is what Jesus response. How Yeshua Jesus. 0:15:46.310 --> 0:15:51.200 That's the Jewish way to say Jesus Yeshua. Uh, how 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:58.400 he responds. He responds completely with restoration. That's what he does. 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:00.980 He doesn't want us to retreat. He wants to restore 0:16:00.980 --> 0:16:04.970 us when we fail him. And here's what it looks like. 0:16:05.210 --> 0:16:11.330 It says when daybreak came, Jesus stood on the shore. However, 0:16:11.900 --> 0:16:16.250 the disciples didn't know it was Jesus. But there he is, 0:16:16.250 --> 0:16:19.850 ready to restore them. And the first aspect of his 0:16:19.850 --> 0:16:25.490 restoration when we have failed him, is he finds ways 0:16:25.490 --> 0:16:30.980 to review our calling. He does something to remember every 0:16:31.010 --> 0:16:33.710 you say. Wait a minute, Michael. You're called. I'm not. No, 0:16:33.710 --> 0:16:37.640 we're all called. We are all called to be his servants. 0:16:37.910 --> 0:16:41.820 All called to serve him. And sometimes we forget that, 0:16:41.910 --> 0:16:45.540 especially when we fail, we go backwards and he reviews 0:16:45.540 --> 0:16:49.140 our calling. Look what he does with the disciples men 0:16:49.140 --> 0:16:56.370 Jesus called to them. You don't have any fish, do you? No, 0:16:56.370 --> 0:16:59.730 they answered. Cast the net on the right side of 0:16:59.730 --> 0:17:04.080 the boat, he told them, and you'll find some. So 0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:08.340 they did, and they were unable to haul it in 0:17:08.340 --> 0:17:13.139 because of the large number of fish. Therefore, the disciple, 0:17:13.170 --> 0:17:16.800 the one Jesus loved, that's John. That's how he talks 0:17:16.800 --> 0:17:23.130 about himself. Hey guys, I'm the one Jesus loved. In 0:17:23.130 --> 0:17:26.610 case you were wondering, he loved me more than you guys. 0:17:27.869 --> 0:17:33.000 Peter says Jesus always liked you best. He said to Peter, 0:17:33.390 --> 0:17:38.609 it is the Lord. When Simon Peter heard that it 0:17:38.609 --> 0:17:40.810 was the Lord. He tied his outer garment round him, 0:17:40.810 --> 0:17:43.090 for he was stripped. He didn't have his shirt. His 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:46.690 outer garment on and plunged into the sea. But since 0:17:46.690 --> 0:17:49.180 they were not far from land, about 100 yards away, 0:17:49.180 --> 0:17:52.270 the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net 0:17:52.270 --> 0:17:54.640 full of fish. When they got out on land, they 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:57.340 saw a charcoal fire there with fish lying on it. 0:17:57.340 --> 0:18:01.750 And bread. Bring some fish you've just caught, Jesus told them. 0:18:01.780 --> 0:18:04.570 So Simon Peter got up and hauled the net ashore 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:10.270 full of large fish, 153 of them. I think that's counted. 0:18:10.300 --> 0:18:14.500 They're just to say this is not some just so story. 0:18:14.500 --> 0:18:19.149 This is not some fable. We counted the fish. It's 0:18:19.150 --> 0:18:23.470 153 of them. Even though there were so many, the 0:18:23.470 --> 0:18:28.420 net was not torn. Come and have breakfast, Jesus told them. 0:18:29.380 --> 0:18:32.830 None of the disciples dared ask him, who are you? 0:18:32.859 --> 0:18:36.460 Because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and 0:18:36.460 --> 0:18:39.320 took took the bread, gave it to them, and he 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:41.990 did the same with the fish. This was now the 0:18:41.990 --> 0:18:45.650 third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was 0:18:45.650 --> 0:18:50.210 raised from the dead. Okay, he said, what is the 0:18:50.210 --> 0:18:56.990 significance of this? Well, do you remember how it was 0:18:56.990 --> 0:19:01.550 that the Lord Jesus called the disciples Peter, James, and 0:19:01.550 --> 0:19:07.460 John at the outset? Luke five. These were the worst 0:19:07.460 --> 0:19:11.480 fishermen in the history of fishermen. Think about them. They 0:19:11.480 --> 0:19:18.290 were always mending nets, never fishing. And they better mend 0:19:18.290 --> 0:19:20.810 those nets because they can't catch anything with them. They 0:19:20.810 --> 0:19:24.770 were always not able to catch anything. And so in 0:19:24.770 --> 0:19:29.900 Luke five, the story is that he tossed the net in. 0:19:29.900 --> 0:19:33.500 And remember, the nets were full and breaking. This time 0:19:33.500 --> 0:19:38.340 it didn't break, but Jesus did the miracle for them. 0:19:38.369 --> 0:19:41.070 They were out on the Sea of Galilee. They couldn't 0:19:41.070 --> 0:19:44.130 catch anything. They were terrible fishermen. They used to throw 0:19:44.130 --> 0:19:48.420 it out there and they catch the fish. And then 0:19:48.420 --> 0:19:54.960 he says, follow me. I will make you fishers of men. Right? 0:19:55.170 --> 0:20:00.030 That was how he called them. And what does he 0:20:00.030 --> 0:20:06.869 do now? He reminds them, Peter, especially of his calling. 0:20:07.950 --> 0:20:14.820 And that's something so often when we feel like hopeless failures, 0:20:15.060 --> 0:20:20.310 what does he do? He says, I called you and 0:20:20.310 --> 0:20:23.609 you are mine. And by the way, I knew you 0:20:23.640 --> 0:20:26.850 were going to fail me when I called you. And 0:20:26.850 --> 0:20:29.580 I will find some way for you to serve me. 0:20:29.580 --> 0:20:34.530 And he he reminds us of that calling. I felt 0:20:34.560 --> 0:20:38.890 really a clear calling of God as a high school student. 0:20:39.700 --> 0:20:42.910 And yet after that day I thought, I'm done. But 0:20:42.910 --> 0:20:45.940 you know what? He kept throwing me time and time 0:20:45.940 --> 0:20:49.450 again into situations like that. And I had to say, well, 0:20:49.450 --> 0:20:54.040 he still wants to use me. Why? I don't know, 0:20:54.700 --> 0:21:01.600 but he does. Uh, that's, uh, one of the the 0:21:01.600 --> 0:21:08.859 most amazing stories. Uh, what's his name again? Gary. Uh, 0:21:10.090 --> 0:21:12.520 I can't believe he just lost it. Uh, he ran 0:21:12.520 --> 0:21:15.760 for president Gary Hart. That was an amazing story of 0:21:15.760 --> 0:21:21.700 Gary Hart. Uh, that there was a young woman, uh, 0:21:21.700 --> 0:21:28.960 named Donna who? Remember the scandal? Yeah. Right. And. But 0:21:28.960 --> 0:21:31.870 what happened to her after the scandal and the shame 0:21:31.869 --> 0:21:36.230 and all that? The Lord reminded her of her calling 0:21:36.230 --> 0:21:38.959 because she was a follower of Jesus, and she became 0:21:38.960 --> 0:21:45.560 an outstanding proponent of protection of children against pornography. Uh, 0:21:45.560 --> 0:21:50.210 so you just never know what the Lord is going 0:21:50.210 --> 0:21:54.350 to do. He reminds us of our calling because he 0:21:54.350 --> 0:21:57.080 doesn't want us to consider our life, only to be 0:21:57.080 --> 0:22:02.870 measured by our failures. Okay, so he reviews our calling. 0:22:02.900 --> 0:22:08.000 The second way he restores is he renews our commitment. 0:22:08.720 --> 0:22:12.860 It says in verse 15, when they had eaten breakfast, 0:22:12.859 --> 0:22:17.030 Jesus asked Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you 0:22:17.030 --> 0:22:20.510 love me more than these? More. A lot of people 0:22:20.510 --> 0:22:22.640 think that the Lord Jesus is saying, do you love 0:22:22.640 --> 0:22:26.240 me more than these other disciples? No, I don't believe 0:22:26.240 --> 0:22:31.850 that's what he would ask. Remember, even in Narnia. Aslan 0:22:31.850 --> 0:22:36.629 only talks to each child about himself or herself. It 0:22:36.630 --> 0:22:41.280 doesn't talk about others. I can just see what the 0:22:41.280 --> 0:22:45.330 Lord Jesus is saying here and it fits. He pointed 0:22:45.330 --> 0:22:51.690 at the nets, the boat, all the accoutrements of fishing 0:22:51.690 --> 0:22:56.160 and said, Simon Peter, do you love me more than these? 0:22:57.300 --> 0:23:00.330 Do you want to go back to being a fisherman? Really? 0:23:00.359 --> 0:23:04.200 Or do you love me more than being a fisherman? Personally, 0:23:04.200 --> 0:23:06.389 I would love the Lord Jesus more than being a 0:23:06.390 --> 0:23:09.390 fisherman any day of the week. But you could see 0:23:09.390 --> 0:23:11.970 what he's saying. Do you love me more than these? 0:23:13.020 --> 0:23:17.670 And of course, Peter's answer is, you know that I 0:23:17.670 --> 0:23:20.220 love you. Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. 0:23:21.720 --> 0:23:25.410 Then a second time he asked him, Simon, son of John, 0:23:25.440 --> 0:23:28.710 do you love me? Yes, Lord. He said to him, 0:23:28.710 --> 0:23:32.410 you know that I love you. Then in verse 17 0:23:32.440 --> 0:23:37.030 he asked him the third time, Simon, son of John, 0:23:37.060 --> 0:23:41.410 do you love me? Peter was grieved that he asked 0:23:41.410 --> 0:23:44.469 him the third time, do you love me? He said, Lord, 0:23:45.220 --> 0:23:51.520 you know everything. You know everything. You know that I 0:23:51.520 --> 0:23:57.790 love you. Three times Peter affirms his love for the Lord. 0:23:58.750 --> 0:24:04.030 He renews his commitment. Now, I know a lot of 0:24:04.030 --> 0:24:06.160 people have heard. Tell me if you've heard this, that 0:24:06.160 --> 0:24:10.000 the Lord Jesus is asking, do you agapao unconditionally love 0:24:10.000 --> 0:24:13.689 me in the finest, strongest way? And Peter answers each 0:24:13.690 --> 0:24:19.090 time saying, I phileo you. I love you. I friend you. 0:24:19.119 --> 0:24:23.379 You're my friend. How many have heard that? And then 0:24:23.380 --> 0:24:26.650 after three times the Lord gives up on Peter. Apparently, 0:24:26.650 --> 0:24:30.160 he doesn't get it. Okay, let's move on. I don't 0:24:30.160 --> 0:24:32.780 think that's right. I don't think that's a good interpretation 0:24:32.780 --> 0:24:35.090 of that verse. Because by the time you come to 0:24:35.119 --> 0:24:41.149 first century Koine Greek, the words agapao or agape and 0:24:41.150 --> 0:24:47.540 phileo mean exactly the same thing. There's no difference. No 0:24:47.540 --> 0:24:53.450 difference whatsoever. So what's going on here? Think about it. 0:24:53.480 --> 0:24:57.650 How many times did Peter deny the Lord? How many 0:24:57.650 --> 0:25:04.100 times does he reaffirm his commitment of love? Three. He 0:25:04.100 --> 0:25:10.490 allows him to renew his commitment to start all over again. 0:25:10.490 --> 0:25:15.410 To undo the denials. That's what he does with us. 0:25:16.670 --> 0:25:19.430 I think one of the most important issues when we 0:25:19.460 --> 0:25:22.970 failed the Lord, we need to come back to him 0:25:23.359 --> 0:25:27.439 and reaffirm that commitment. He invites us to do that, 0:25:27.470 --> 0:25:32.220 to say, yes, Lord, I love you more than all 0:25:32.220 --> 0:25:35.430 these other things in my life. You're listening to a 0:25:35.430 --> 0:25:39.150 special pre-recorded open line Bible study on the deck of 0:25:39.150 --> 0:25:42.210 the Star Clipper from the Moody Journeys of Paul tour. 0:25:42.240 --> 0:25:42.780 Stay with us. 0:25:42.780 --> 0:25:45.000 We'll be back with more in just a moment. 0:26:07.770 --> 0:26:10.859 Welcome back to Open Line with Michael Radonich. So glad 0:26:10.859 --> 0:26:14.190 you're with me today. It's a special pre-recorded Bible study 0:26:14.190 --> 0:26:17.250 on the deck of the Star Clipper. It's about how 0:26:17.250 --> 0:26:21.360 to become a hopeful failure. Stay with us right now 0:26:21.480 --> 0:26:25.440 to say, yes, Lord, I love you more than all 0:26:25.440 --> 0:26:28.780 these other things in my life. And I'm going to 0:26:28.780 --> 0:26:31.570 do whatever you want me to do, whether it's big 0:26:31.570 --> 0:26:36.730 or small, I'm going to serve you. We have to renew, 0:26:37.090 --> 0:26:46.420 reaffirm our commitment. Okay. And then, third step of restoration. 0:26:47.350 --> 0:26:51.430 He reaffirms our commission to serve him after we renew 0:26:51.430 --> 0:26:56.200 our commitment. He reaffirms our commission. You're still called. Go 0:26:56.200 --> 0:26:58.659 do this. Look what he does each time after Peter 0:26:58.660 --> 0:27:01.450 says I love you. What does he say back to him? 0:27:01.480 --> 0:27:07.720 He says, feed my lambs. Verse 15. Then he says 0:27:07.720 --> 0:27:13.510 in verse 16, Shepherd my sheep. And then in verse 0:27:13.510 --> 0:27:17.709 17 he says, feed my sheep. You know what he's 0:27:17.710 --> 0:27:21.639 telling Peter? Peter, you're not going to be a fisherman anymore. 0:27:21.670 --> 0:27:23.740 You're not even going to be a fisher of men. 0:27:23.920 --> 0:27:26.139 Now you're going to be a shepherd of the flock. 0:27:27.680 --> 0:27:32.060 Such an interesting thing because Peter in first Peter five 0:27:32.090 --> 0:27:37.340 talks about when the chief Shepherd appears, how we shepherds 0:27:37.340 --> 0:27:41.030 will have to give an account, and he tells the 0:27:41.030 --> 0:27:44.570 elders that he's writing to shepherd the flock of God 0:27:44.570 --> 0:27:47.900 among you. Peter took this to heart. He didn't say, 0:27:47.900 --> 0:27:52.220 go catch fish. He said, Shepherd the flock of God 0:27:52.220 --> 0:27:54.890 among you. And when the chief shepherd appears, he will 0:27:54.890 --> 0:27:56.540 have to give an account, and he'll give us a 0:27:56.540 --> 0:28:02.180 reward for faithful shepherding. He got it, and he became 0:28:02.180 --> 0:28:08.270 the leader of the first congregation. Remember in Pentecost you think, 0:28:08.270 --> 0:28:13.040 how could anyone follow this guy? I mean, what a loser. 0:28:13.070 --> 0:28:16.250 He always says the wrong thing. Does it three times. 0:28:16.730 --> 0:28:20.660 You know, he's the one that. Oh, you're the Messiah, 0:28:20.690 --> 0:28:23.660 the son of the living God. And he says, the 0:28:23.660 --> 0:28:25.660 Lord Jesus says he's going to go to Jerusalem. He's 0:28:25.660 --> 0:28:28.870 going to be crucified. Oh no no, no, no, you 0:28:28.869 --> 0:28:31.449 haven't read those messianic texts. Lord, you don't understand what 0:28:31.450 --> 0:28:37.239 you're supposed to do. I'll straighten you out. Good grief. 0:28:38.020 --> 0:28:42.820 But he's reaffirmed here in his commission to serve God. Okay, 0:28:42.850 --> 0:28:45.790 so I was serving with Chosen People Ministries, and I 0:28:45.790 --> 0:28:49.930 was there summer training and evangelism program director, and we 0:28:49.930 --> 0:28:52.360 had applications. People would come and they would come and 0:28:52.360 --> 0:28:56.620 study and serve for the summer, about eight weeks with 0:28:56.620 --> 0:29:02.530 Chosen People ministries. And, uh, this is a true story. 0:29:02.530 --> 0:29:07.690 I get a phone call from a guy, oh, I 0:29:07.690 --> 0:29:11.080 got an application and it was sent from prison. He 0:29:11.080 --> 0:29:14.050 said he was getting out just before the program, and 0:29:14.050 --> 0:29:18.280 he wanted to be part of our program. I thought, 0:29:18.310 --> 0:29:21.400 that's highly unusual. You know, we hardly ever get people 0:29:21.400 --> 0:29:25.330 out of federal prisons and put them in our training program. 0:29:25.480 --> 0:29:30.370 So I called him at the prison. He's a Jewish believer. 0:29:30.370 --> 0:29:32.560 And I said, okay, tell me your story. Well, he 0:29:32.560 --> 0:29:37.060 was in prison for white collar crime on Wall Street, 0:29:37.540 --> 0:29:42.850 and he went to a minimum security prison and there. 0:29:42.850 --> 0:29:46.480 And I won't use his name, but he was a 0:29:46.510 --> 0:29:55.450 famous scandal ridden televangelist also in that minimum security prison. 0:29:55.750 --> 0:30:00.160 And this guy who. If I said your name, you'd think. Ah. 0:30:00.190 --> 0:30:08.020 Good night. What a loser. No, God couldn't possibly use 0:30:08.020 --> 0:30:15.160 that scandal ridden televangelist again. Well, while he was in prison, 0:30:15.160 --> 0:30:17.500 he said that he was wrong. He confessed all the 0:30:17.500 --> 0:30:20.770 wrong things he did. And there were many financial, sexual, 0:30:20.770 --> 0:30:25.970 all sorts of terrible things. He did. He renewed his 0:30:25.970 --> 0:30:28.580 commitment to the Lord, and the Lord reaffirmed it that 0:30:28.580 --> 0:30:33.740 wherever you're at, you can represent me. And he started 0:30:33.740 --> 0:30:37.730 a Bible study. They were so upset with him for 0:30:37.730 --> 0:30:40.280 starting a Bible study that they kept trying to get 0:30:40.280 --> 0:30:43.610 him to stop teaching the Bible. They put him in solitary, 0:30:45.080 --> 0:30:50.150 let him out of solitary Bible study. He found out 0:30:50.150 --> 0:30:53.240 this Jewish guy was there, said, oh, God has a 0:30:53.240 --> 0:30:56.360 special plan for Jewish people. He has a real concern 0:30:56.360 --> 0:30:58.790 for Jewish people. Let me show you Messiah. In the 0:30:58.790 --> 0:31:05.750 Old Testament, the televangelist goes to this disgraced Wall Street 0:31:06.020 --> 0:31:10.550 criminal and shows him messianic prophecy. I said, how did 0:31:10.550 --> 0:31:12.650 you feel? He said, wow. I thought if God could 0:31:12.650 --> 0:31:19.880 forgive that guy, he could forgive me too. And that's 0:31:19.880 --> 0:31:25.920 how he came to the Lord. I'm just shocked because 0:31:25.920 --> 0:31:28.260 I thought yes, God was through with that guy may 0:31:28.260 --> 0:31:30.180 not be through with me, but he's definitely through with 0:31:30.180 --> 0:31:36.780 that guy. But he reaffirmed his commission to be a 0:31:36.780 --> 0:31:43.020 prison Bible teacher and evangelist rather than on TV. He 0:31:43.020 --> 0:31:46.890 was in prison. If God can do that with him 0:31:46.890 --> 0:31:51.930 and Peter, can't he do it with you? With me? 0:31:52.290 --> 0:31:57.300 I think so. He could use us still. Well, how 0:31:57.300 --> 0:32:05.190 does Yeshua restore? He reviews our calling. He renews our commitment. 0:32:05.580 --> 0:32:14.459 He reaffirms our commission. And then, fourthly, he restores our confidence. Because, 0:32:14.490 --> 0:32:18.660 you know, when we fail, we lose it. We think 0:32:18.660 --> 0:32:23.290 I'll always fail. I'm a perpetual loser. I am a 0:32:23.290 --> 0:32:31.120 hopeless failure. Look what he says after he tells them. Uh, 0:32:32.200 --> 0:32:35.050 after he tells Peter to feed the sheep. Feed the lambs, 0:32:35.050 --> 0:32:40.420 write verse 18. I assure you, when you were young, 0:32:40.420 --> 0:32:43.570 you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. 0:32:44.020 --> 0:32:47.170 But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, 0:32:47.170 --> 0:32:50.140 and someone else will tie you and carry you where 0:32:50.140 --> 0:32:54.190 you don't want to go. He said this to signify 0:32:54.220 --> 0:32:58.660 by what kind of death he would glorify God. After 0:32:58.660 --> 0:33:03.580 saying this, he told him, follow me. Now that seems 0:33:03.580 --> 0:33:07.690 like a bummer, doesn't it? By the way, used to 0:33:07.690 --> 0:33:10.060 be free. You went wherever you wanted. But there's going 0:33:10.090 --> 0:33:12.070 to come a time where you're going to be bound up. 0:33:12.070 --> 0:33:13.780 They're going to take you where you don't want to go. 0:33:13.780 --> 0:33:17.980 And by tradition, we know that Peter was crucified upside down, 0:33:17.980 --> 0:33:22.970 feeling unworthy to be crucified in the same manner as 0:33:22.970 --> 0:33:27.530 his Lord. So he was crucified upside down, and he 0:33:27.560 --> 0:33:33.080 he died a martyr's death. And the Lord predicted this here. 0:33:34.280 --> 0:33:39.530 I don't know how that restores his confidence. Think about it. Oh, well, 0:33:39.530 --> 0:33:43.760 that's good news. I feed your sheep and you tell 0:33:43.790 --> 0:33:48.050 me I'm going to die a brutal death. Here's how 0:33:48.050 --> 0:33:53.210 it is. What did Peter do? He was afraid of dying. 0:33:55.160 --> 0:33:59.090 And he denied the Lord. And here's what the Lord's 0:33:59.090 --> 0:34:04.190 saying to him. You'll have other opportunities to take a 0:34:04.190 --> 0:34:09.470 stand for me. And I guarantee you you won't fail 0:34:09.500 --> 0:34:16.850 me next time. You indeed will stand for me and 0:34:16.850 --> 0:34:24.120 die a martyr's His death. But nevertheless, you follow me. 0:34:25.200 --> 0:34:30.899 What a way to restore confidence. It's just amazing. And 0:34:30.900 --> 0:34:36.270 Peter did that. He becomes the leader of the. Continues 0:34:36.270 --> 0:34:40.140 to be the leader of the apostles. He preaches at Pentecost. He. 0:34:40.170 --> 0:34:43.620 He's released from prison in acts 12, you know, after 0:34:43.620 --> 0:34:48.840 being thrown in. But in the end, he's martyred and 0:34:48.840 --> 0:34:52.410 he followed the Lord to the end. I think it's 0:34:52.410 --> 0:34:58.050 essential that we remember this, that, uh, the Lord will 0:34:58.050 --> 0:35:00.720 find a way to tell us you may have failed 0:35:00.719 --> 0:35:04.980 me before, but there will come a time where you'll 0:35:04.980 --> 0:35:10.290 have another opportunity and you won't fail me. That's. I 0:35:10.290 --> 0:35:12.600 love that about the Lord. That we have lots of 0:35:12.600 --> 0:35:16.200 opportunities to serve him. And he keeps giving us time 0:35:16.200 --> 0:35:18.080 after time. And you know what happens if we fail 0:35:18.080 --> 0:35:21.710 him again? He's going to restore us again. And then 0:35:21.739 --> 0:35:25.759 what will he do? Give us another opportunity and another 0:35:25.760 --> 0:35:30.020 opportunity in the end. He wants us to. He doesn't 0:35:30.020 --> 0:35:33.680 want us to fail. He wants us to follow. He 0:35:33.680 --> 0:35:36.230 wants us to be the ones who follow him to 0:35:36.260 --> 0:35:39.859 the end. Uh, what's the opportunity he's given you? I 0:35:39.860 --> 0:35:43.370 had a friend who I think was wrongly accused of 0:35:43.370 --> 0:35:46.489 wrongdoing in ministry and was removed from his position, and 0:35:46.489 --> 0:35:51.259 he was with a denomination and sent to another congregation, 0:35:51.530 --> 0:35:58.190 and he was out of ministry, and he was in services. 0:35:58.190 --> 0:36:02.000 And his wife was just heartbroken. And again, I think 0:36:02.000 --> 0:36:06.680 he was even wrongfully accused. But the very first week 0:36:06.680 --> 0:36:08.750 he was in that other congregation, he went and grabbed 0:36:08.780 --> 0:36:12.859 bulletins and started to give them out. His wife said 0:36:12.890 --> 0:36:15.940 to him, what are you doing? He said, says. I'm 0:36:15.940 --> 0:36:19.299 doing whatever I can. I have an opportunity to give 0:36:19.330 --> 0:36:23.560 out bulletins. Say hello to people. That's my ministry now 0:36:23.560 --> 0:36:26.980 and that's what I'm going to do. He was not 0:36:26.980 --> 0:36:30.879 a hopeless failure. He's he's doing quite well in ministry. 0:36:31.330 --> 0:36:35.830 He was ultimately vindicated and not, uh, it's not it 0:36:35.830 --> 0:36:38.890 was not true. And it was vindicated. But what I 0:36:38.920 --> 0:36:41.530 loved about what he was doing was he saw every 0:36:41.560 --> 0:36:44.650 opportunity for what he could do, and he took advantage 0:36:44.650 --> 0:36:48.790 of it and gave out those those pamphlets, those bulletins 0:36:48.790 --> 0:36:54.310 and welcomed people. And God used that. Okay, so here's 0:36:54.310 --> 0:36:58.900 the main message of this main idea of this. When 0:36:58.900 --> 0:37:03.580 we fail the Lord, we want to retreat. But the 0:37:03.580 --> 0:37:09.520 Lord does everything he can to restore us. What does 0:37:09.520 --> 0:37:13.360 he do? He reminds us of our calling. He reaffirms 0:37:13.360 --> 0:37:19.580 our commitment right? Uh, he renews our calling. And then 0:37:19.580 --> 0:37:23.750 what does he do? Give us. He restores our confidence. 0:37:24.770 --> 0:37:28.550 You're listening to a special pre-recorded open line Bible study 0:37:28.550 --> 0:37:31.160 on the deck of the Star Clipper. From the moody 0:37:31.190 --> 0:37:33.350 journeys of Paul to stay with us. We'll be back 0:37:33.350 --> 0:37:33.980 with more. 0:37:33.980 --> 0:37:35.150 In just a moment. 0:37:38.660 --> 0:37:42.020 We're so glad that Febc partners with Open Line with 0:37:42.020 --> 0:37:46.610 Doctor Michael Radonich, bringing the Febc mailbag every week. Learn 0:37:46.610 --> 0:37:49.520 how Far East Broadcasting Company is taking Christ to the 0:37:49.520 --> 0:37:54.020 world at febc. Org on their weekly podcast. Until all 0:37:54.020 --> 0:37:56.930 have heard with Ed Cannon, you'll hear stories of lives 0:37:56.930 --> 0:38:00.770 changed by Messiah all across the globe. Again, you can 0:38:00.770 --> 0:38:06.770 hear the podcast when you visit febc. Org that's Febc. Org. 0:38:13.560 --> 0:38:16.650 Welcome back to Open Line with Michael Radonich. So glad 0:38:16.650 --> 0:38:19.980 you're with me today. It's a special pre-recorded Bible study 0:38:19.980 --> 0:38:23.040 on the deck of the Star Clipper. It's about how 0:38:23.040 --> 0:38:27.630 to become a hopeful failure. Stay with us right now. Okay. 0:38:27.660 --> 0:38:29.730 So you want to know the end of the story 0:38:29.730 --> 0:38:36.300 about that horrible experience I had? I spent the next, uh, 0:38:38.070 --> 0:38:45.510 30 years or so longing for an opportunity to make 0:38:45.510 --> 0:38:48.060 it up and have another opportunity with that guy to 0:38:48.090 --> 0:38:51.480 debate him. I don't even believe in debates, but I 0:38:51.480 --> 0:38:55.200 thought because I think they're uncomfortable. But I wanted to 0:38:55.200 --> 0:38:59.009 debate him. I went to school. I learned a lot more. 0:38:59.010 --> 0:39:01.350 I felt a lot more confident that I could do 0:39:01.350 --> 0:39:03.630 this because I had put in the work, you know, 0:39:04.050 --> 0:39:07.110 not a thing. In fact, there were some radio stations. 0:39:07.110 --> 0:39:09.360 One TV station tried to set up a debate with 0:39:09.360 --> 0:39:12.880 me and this guy because he had become a famous 0:39:12.880 --> 0:39:21.280 writer and radio host. And he would always say no, 0:39:21.280 --> 0:39:24.700 because he was trying to build bridges with evangelical Christians 0:39:24.700 --> 0:39:27.969 and didn't want to do. Not that he remembered me 0:39:27.969 --> 0:39:29.680 or knew me. It's just he didn't want to do 0:39:29.680 --> 0:39:35.080 those kind of debates. I was really disappointed. So, uh, 0:39:35.080 --> 0:39:39.610 but I always wanted to do it again anyway, about. 0:39:41.860 --> 0:39:45.310 I guess 2005 or 6, I had written a book 0:39:45.310 --> 0:39:50.529 called understanding the Arab-Israeli conflict, and I was out in 0:39:50.530 --> 0:39:56.440 California doing a workshop at a messianic congregation. And it 0:39:56.440 --> 0:39:59.109 was about the understanding the Arab-Israeli conflict. And so I'm 0:39:59.140 --> 0:40:04.540 getting set to do this. Uh, I don't know what 0:40:04.540 --> 0:40:07.180 you would call the PowerPoint and all this. I was 0:40:07.180 --> 0:40:09.460 going to teach it in Shabbat school at a messianic 0:40:09.460 --> 0:40:15.260 congregation And I felt miserable that weekend. I felt again, 0:40:15.260 --> 0:40:18.920 like a hopeless failure because that weekend, the day before 0:40:18.920 --> 0:40:22.790 I left for California, I had heard that a woman 0:40:22.790 --> 0:40:24.350 I had led to the Lord right on the campus 0:40:24.350 --> 0:40:27.410 of Moody, a moody, uh, a Jewish, not a Jewish student, 0:40:27.410 --> 0:40:29.779 but a Jewish woman had come to campus and asked questions. 0:40:29.780 --> 0:40:31.820 I led her to faith. Even I had worked with 0:40:31.820 --> 0:40:34.670 her to disciple her, and her cousin came from Israel 0:40:34.670 --> 0:40:38.090 and convinced her to abandon the faith. I thought, I 0:40:38.120 --> 0:40:41.840 am such a loser. I can't even ground people well. 0:40:41.840 --> 0:40:45.200 And then a guy I had discipled in New York 0:40:45.200 --> 0:40:50.270 had just been arrested for, uh, molesting a child. And 0:40:50.270 --> 0:40:53.960 I thought, once again, this is the quality of my disciples. 0:40:53.960 --> 0:40:58.670 Why am I even in the ministry? I felt horrible, 0:40:58.700 --> 0:41:01.430 and I'm out there teaching, trying to get the power 0:41:01.430 --> 0:41:04.550 point to come up on the with my computer, you know, 0:41:04.580 --> 0:41:07.640 and there's a guy out in California with a thick 0:41:07.640 --> 0:41:10.950 New York accent, and he's talking to me. And I 0:41:10.950 --> 0:41:13.080 just want to say, shut up, will you? Can't you 0:41:13.080 --> 0:41:16.710 see I'm having trouble with the computer? But. Oh, yeah. 0:41:16.739 --> 0:41:20.430 Just one moment. But inside I was saying, shut up. 0:41:24.210 --> 0:41:31.290 You don't understand how that feels. No. Anyway, also, the 0:41:31.290 --> 0:41:34.680 screen comes alive. It's working. I see I've got about 0:41:34.680 --> 0:41:36.959 5 or 10 minutes before class, and now I turn 0:41:36.960 --> 0:41:38.610 my attention to him. I said, hey, where'd you get 0:41:38.610 --> 0:41:43.290 that New York accent? He says, honestly, I'm from Brooklyn. 0:41:43.320 --> 0:41:45.870 And I said, oh, really? What brings you out here? 0:41:45.870 --> 0:41:48.840 I'm a teacher. I've been out here ten years. I said, great, what? 0:41:49.020 --> 0:41:53.400 Where'd you teach in New York? And he said, John 0:41:53.430 --> 0:41:59.790 Dewey High. I went to John Dewey. He said, really? 0:41:59.790 --> 0:42:03.989 I said what? I said, when did you teach there? 0:42:03.989 --> 0:42:07.560 He says, from the day it opened in 1972 till 0:42:07.560 --> 0:42:10.209 ten years ago when I moved out here to California, 0:42:10.510 --> 0:42:12.910 I said, so you were there when I was there. 0:42:13.210 --> 0:42:15.730 He said, I guess I said, what did you teach? 0:42:16.570 --> 0:42:20.980 And he said, music. And all of a sudden I 0:42:20.980 --> 0:42:25.000 looked at him and I said, You're Vic Zolotov. You 0:42:25.030 --> 0:42:29.739 are my guitar teacher. And he said, oh, wow. Remember 0:42:29.739 --> 0:42:32.530 when you spoke here last year? I told you, you 0:42:32.530 --> 0:42:35.560 reminded me of someone. I said you did. He said, yeah, 0:42:35.590 --> 0:42:51.069 you reminded me of you. I couldn't believe it. So 0:42:51.670 --> 0:42:57.250 I said, well, I can't believe this. I had to teach. 0:42:57.550 --> 0:42:59.620 I couldn't even talk to him. So after I taught 0:42:59.620 --> 0:43:02.830 that lesson, I actually had a break. I called my son. 0:43:02.830 --> 0:43:05.739 I said, my guitar teacher is a Jewish believer. He's 0:43:05.739 --> 0:43:08.490 here at the congregation and he said, is he the 0:43:08.520 --> 0:43:11.069 guitar teacher you liked or the. Guitar teacher you didn't like? 0:43:11.100 --> 0:43:18.150 He said what I liked. And so after the the lesson, 0:43:18.150 --> 0:43:20.460 I said, tell me how you came to the Lord. 0:43:20.460 --> 0:43:23.219 He said, well, there was a teacher in the high school, 0:43:23.219 --> 0:43:26.040 a Jewish teacher, who had a bumper sticker about Jesus. 0:43:26.040 --> 0:43:27.540 And so I went and talked with him. And it 0:43:27.540 --> 0:43:29.370 was he actually had been my history teacher. I had 0:43:29.370 --> 0:43:33.240 no idea that he was a believer. And so he says, 0:43:33.239 --> 0:43:36.330 I talked to Steve, who was this other teacher, and 0:43:36.330 --> 0:43:41.400 he told me about how it was that he came 0:43:41.400 --> 0:43:43.140 to believe in Jesus. And I was kind of struck 0:43:43.140 --> 0:43:45.900 by that. And then just a few weeks later, it 0:43:45.900 --> 0:43:48.060 was announced that the Hebrew club was going to have 0:43:48.060 --> 0:43:50.339 this guy come and speak about why Jews shouldn't believe 0:43:50.340 --> 0:43:51.989 in Jesus. And I thought, well, I better go talk 0:43:51.989 --> 0:43:55.650 to listen to what he has to say, too. And 0:43:56.010 --> 0:43:58.020 he says, you may have heard of him. He's become 0:43:58.020 --> 0:44:00.750 quite famous now. He's on the radio. He's written books. 0:44:00.780 --> 0:44:06.090 I said, yeah, I've heard of him. He said, I 0:44:06.090 --> 0:44:08.760 have no idea what he said. I just remember when 0:44:08.760 --> 0:44:13.110 it was all done, some student got up and started 0:44:13.140 --> 0:44:17.010 talking about the Bible and he had an answer for everything, 0:44:17.010 --> 0:44:21.299 this speaker. And. But this kid wouldn't stop. He answered 0:44:21.300 --> 0:44:23.820 one thing. He could say, okay, how about this? And 0:44:23.820 --> 0:44:26.400 for like 30 or 40 minutes, this kid kept going 0:44:26.400 --> 0:44:31.260 on with another question. Another question. And he says he 0:44:31.260 --> 0:44:33.450 mentioned the guy's name. He had an answer for everything. 0:44:33.450 --> 0:44:37.590 But I thought, that kid has a lot of verses. 0:44:38.040 --> 0:44:41.760 I'm going to get a Bible and I'm going to 0:44:41.760 --> 0:44:45.480 read it for myself, and I'm going to see if 0:44:45.480 --> 0:44:50.700 Jesus is the Messiah or not. I said, wow. And 0:44:50.700 --> 0:44:53.910 then he said, do you know who that kid was? 0:45:00.330 --> 0:45:03.450 And truly, I was awed by the grace of God. 0:45:04.780 --> 0:45:12.010 My worst failure. He could use. He could use it 0:45:12.010 --> 0:45:15.940 for his own glory. And I never, ever wanted to 0:45:15.940 --> 0:45:22.750 debate that famous radio guy again. I'm telling you, never 0:45:22.780 --> 0:45:27.760 be a hopeless failure. Our Lord can make us hopeful failures. 0:45:27.760 --> 0:45:31.419 He can even take the failures and turn them into 0:45:31.420 --> 0:45:36.310 the greatest joys of our entire lives. It was like 0:45:36.310 --> 0:45:39.069 God pulled back the curtain of Providence, and he said 0:45:39.070 --> 0:45:41.259 to me, yeah, I know about the girl who denied 0:45:41.260 --> 0:45:43.029 the faith, and I know about the guy who did 0:45:43.030 --> 0:45:45.790 something really wrong. And I know about the quality of 0:45:45.790 --> 0:45:54.819 your disciples. They're bad, but you follow me. Father in heaven. 0:45:55.510 --> 0:46:00.100 Every person here has felt the same way I did. Lord, 0:46:00.100 --> 0:46:02.590 thank you for calling us into your service and reminding 0:46:02.590 --> 0:46:04.850 us that you're not letting let go. Thank you for 0:46:04.850 --> 0:46:09.290 forgiving us, for our failures and still wanting to use us. Lord, 0:46:09.290 --> 0:46:12.410 you are better than we ever, ever could have imagined 0:46:12.410 --> 0:46:15.290 or dreamed. We're so grateful for it, and we just 0:46:15.290 --> 0:46:17.870 want to thank you for that. In the name of Jesus, 0:46:17.870 --> 0:46:22.940 our Messiah. Amen. Thanks for listening to this special pre-recorded 0:46:22.940 --> 0:46:26.570 Journeys of Paul edition of Open Line, recorded on the 0:46:26.570 --> 0:46:29.690 deck of the Star Clipper. I'll be back with you 0:46:29.690 --> 0:46:33.740 live next week for our Bible study across America, answering 0:46:33.739 --> 0:46:37.129 your questions about the Bible, God, and the spiritual life. 0:46:37.160 --> 0:46:39.710 Till then, check out our web page, Open Line Radio. 0:46:39.860 --> 0:46:43.009 Org that has everything you're looking for, even a link 0:46:43.010 --> 0:46:47.479 to our upcoming November 9th summit opposing anti-Semitism. Open line 0:46:47.480 --> 0:46:50.930 with Doctor Michael Dolnick is a production of Moody Radio, 0:46:50.960 --> 0:46:53.930 a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.