Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I desire this evening to continue our series with the questions
asked in scripture, with the question that we have sung of
and the question that our Lord three times asked, Peter, lovest
thou me? Those three questions you'll
find in the gospel according to John, chapter 21, and from
verse 15 through to 17. And we'll read those three verses. So when they had dined, Jesus
saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me
more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second
time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea,
Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed
my sheep. He saith unto him the third time,
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved, because
he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto
him, Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my
sheep. So, several times throughout
these three verses we have this question, Lovest thou me? You might say, well in this case
with Peter, why? Why did the Lord ask the question? these three times. We would remember
that Peter had professed that though all men forsake thee,
yet will not I. And this is why the Lord framed
the question in verse 15 as he did, lovest thou me more than
these? Because Peter really had said
that that was the case, though all men were to forsake the Lord,
yet he would not, as if he had a greater love to the Lord than
others. And what followed then was what
the Lord said, Satan hath desired to have thee, to sift thee as
wheat, but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. And Peter then was permitted
to go into Satan's sieve When our Lord was taken and apprehended,
then Peter follows afar off, and he three times denies that
he ever has known the Lord. Three times. And here, when the
Lord meets with them, he gives him the opportunity of three
times testifying of his love to the Lord. We would remember
that Peter in these times is appealing to the Lord, the Lord's
knowledge of knowing all things, and that the Lord does know that
he loves the Lord. We love him because he first
loved us. And the Lord really, instead
of three times saying to Peter, Peter, though you have denied
me three times, I love thee, I still love thee. No, he asked
Peter. Because where the love of God
is shed abroad in the sinner's heart, then the source of it
is from God, and it is in that way that we know that God loves
us. But Peter is very mindful of
this, and he appeals to the Lord, and the Lord never says, well,
Peter, I thought you loved me, but you've denied me these three
times. No, the Lord did know that Peter
loved him because he had given him that love. It also tells
us even one of the choices apostles here that was greatly used in
the Church of God, preaching at Pentecost, and then ten years
later when the Spirit was given to the Gentiles in Cornelius's
house. Yet he has this time when, to
all appearances outwardly, that he doesn't love the Lord. He
left to deny his Lord. And we would be reminded that
Even God's dear people have those times when it seems that they
do not have love. It seems there's no fruits of
that. In temptation, in trial, we think of David, a man after
God's own heart, and yet he commits adultery and murder and does
things very inconsistent with the love of God and the spirit
of the Lord. We are told in the very first
of the letters to the churches in the Revelation, the letter
to the church at Ephesus, that the Lord had somewhat against
them because they had left their first love. The first love of
the church and God's dear people is the Lord Jesus Christ. And they left that. And this
was the reproof. The Lord wasn't casting them
off as a church. but he was reproving them that
their love to him was low. It was not what it once was. And so we would remember that. We have the hymn that we've sung
at the beginning, John Newton's hymn, and the real searching
questions a soul asks itself when they feel all what goes
on, the changes, and the things that they do that seem inconsistent
with love. And then he balances that with
the effects that love does have as well, showing there is love
there. And we would remember, just like
in a natural way, with men and women, husband and wife, or a
parent to a child, That love is always there, but it ebbs
and flows. Sometimes it's very strong and
warm, and sometimes it is not so, but it is always there. And so it is with the Lord for
his people. I've loved thee with an everlasting
love, and therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. But we do have changes, and it
is good for us to acknowledge that and to know that, and to
not judge from one instance or another instance as to our overall
love, but how it is on a general basis, as a continuous basis,
if we even out, as it were, the troughs and the downtimes, the
changes that we have, because we would remember that that love
is not maintained from ourselves, it's maintained from God. Now, when the Lord had told about
the denials that Peter would make before the cock crow twice,
thou shalt deny me thrice, the Lord had foretold that. He said,
when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And we can see
from the epistles of Peter how he does strengthen the brethren,
especially in the face of temptation and trials and Satan's sieve. But here, when the Lord asks
him these three times, lovest thou me, each profession of love,
he gives him this commission to feed, feeding his lambs and
feeding his sheep. A great part of work of the ministry
is to feed the flock of God. What are they fed with? Are they
fed with the law of Sinai? With law and terrors, the wrath
of God? Or are they fed with the love
of God? Fed with the love in Christ Jesus. It really tells us something
of what the Christian ministry is. The gospel of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. It is the gospel of love. It was love that brought the
Lord from glory to this world, love that brought him to take
his people's cause in hand. Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. God commendeth
his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. And so, I want to, this evening,
look at how we may answer this question from the words of Scripture
itself, and especially in the Gospel according to John, where
we are here. He's termed the Apostle of Love,
the one that leaned on Jesus' bosom. and not only the Gospel,
but also his epistles that have a lot to say about the love of
God. So I want to begin first going
to the epistles of John and particularly the first epistle, General of
John. And in that epistle, there are
several headings I want to look at, and really based upon the
chapters in this epistle. Looking firstly at chapter 2,
1 John chapter 2. And there are things that go
together, words that go together. Verses 4 and 5. We read just those two verses
first. He that saith, I know him, and
keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not
in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in
him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know we that
we are in him. And we have several words that
are all brought together that make up the picture of love. One is not in isolation. The first is knowing the Lord. How can you love someone, really
love them, if you do not know them? So consistent with The love of
God and love of the Lord Jesus Christ is to know Him. We think of the promise, they
shall not say one to another, know the Lord, for they shall
all know me from the least unto the greatest. Whom to know is
life eternal. And then we have the keeping
of the commandments of God and keepeth not His commandments. So keeping His commandments consistent
with knowing Him, that is said, what are the commandments of
the Lord? Really it comprises all of the
Word of God. But with the Lord especially
is emphasised the commandment of love, what He calls the New
Commandment, or Another Commandment, or the Eleventh Commandment,
It would be. And we think of the commandments
and the ordinances. This do in remembrance of me,
the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. Or the commandment, go into all
the world, preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. The ordinances of baptism and
the Lord's Supper. We have all of the word of God,
not in a slavish way, but in the way of the gospel drawn by
love. So we have his commandments,
and then we have the truth, and the truth is not in him. If one
does not keep the commandments, if they say that they know the
Lord, but don't keep the commandments, truth is not in him. So you have
the knowledge of Him, the keeping of His commandments and the truth
as well in that person. Then there's the keeping His
Word in Him. Verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know we that we are in
Him. So we have the love of God perfected
and being in Christ. And all these things you can
say, if the love of God is truly up there, there's keeping His
word, there is knowing Him, there's keeping His commandments, there
is a keeping of His word. And all of these things show
forth the love of God. It's not in isolation, it's not
just on its own. There's a lot of things that
accompany it, that go with it. We think of that in a natural
way as well. If we love someone, then it's
not just saying that we love them. There's many other things
that go with that love, that show it in practical, real ways. And so it is. in the things of
God. And this is what John highlights
in this second chapter. He says in verse 15, as a contrary,
love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in
him. So it's a looking at it from
the the other way as well, attesting of where there is that true love
of God. But then if we move to the third
chapter, then we have the manner of Christ's love that's set before
us. In the very first verse, we have
the word behold. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God. And it is the manner of Christ's
love. And so we have in verse 11, For
this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should
love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that
wicked one, and slew his brother, Wherefore slew he him because
his own works were evil and his brothers righteous? Marvel not,
my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed
from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother
abideth in death. And so the manner of Christ's
love is set before us in this chapter. We go through to verse
16. Hereby perceive we the love of
God because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay
down our lives for the brethren. And then there's a description
of how that is to be so if Whoso hath this world's goods, and
seeing his brother have need, shutteth up his bowels of compassion
from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him. And in verse 18,
My children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but
in deed and in truth. We think of that beautiful chapter
in 1 Corinthians, 13, of charity set forth a practical love. Faith, hope and charity, but
the greatest of these is charity. And the example is set before
us here, really the Lord sees the need of his people, he saw
the need of a saviour, a need of a redeemer, And He laid down
His life for us. And the description is then that
we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. The one that
came to our Lord, and He said that what should he do to inherit
eternal life? And the Lord pointed him to the
commandments and the summary of them, that we should love
God with all our heart, with all our mind, and all our soul,
and our neighbour as ourselves. One that had asked the question,
willing to justify himself, he said, and who is my neighbour?
And the Lord then told the parable of what we would term the Good
Samaritan, how that there was a man travelling from Jericho
to Jerusalem, and how that he fell among thieves who stripped
him, wounded him, and left him half dead. And there came by
the Levite and the priest that just looked on him and passed
by the other side. And then there was the Samaritan
that came, saw him, came down where he was and dressed his
wounds, pouring in oil and wine, put him on his own base, took
him to an inn, took care of him and paid for further care to
be had. And Our Lord asked that question
then, which one was neighbor to him that fell among thieves? And the Lord illustrated then
the practical effect of love, love to the brethren. And it
is because of the love of God in one's heart that there is
that effect to the brethren. And laying down our lives, putting
aside what we were doing, putting that off to another time so that
we can help those that are in need. Our Lord laid his glory
by. He came to this world and he
suffered, he bled, he died for his people. And it is in that
way that the love of our Lord was shown to his people. greater love hath no man than
this." We've already quoted that, that man should lay down his
life for his friends. And so in this third chapter
in John's first epistle, he is showing the manner of Christ's
love and the effect that it'll have upon us to mirror that love. so that we will do the same. And I may say on this that it
is God that works in us to will and to do of His own good pleasure. He brings us, He constrains us
to walk in these ways. It's not put on by us at all. And the Lord shows us the way
that we are to walk in that. And I'd say in every way that
we look at the love of God, we're not looking at what we are by
nature. By nature, we do not have the
love of God. By nature, we do not have it
from ourselves. But it comes from the Lord. The
Lord is the source of it. And when that love is shed abroad,
that then kindles ours and brings us to walk in those same ways. But then we have, if we go to
the fourth chapter, the next chapter in the same epistle,
then we have the source of love that is set forth before us. The source of it is set forth,
we are of God in verse 6. He that knoweth God, heareth
us. He that is not of God, heareth
not us. Hereby know we the spirit of
truth and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is of God. There's the source of it. And
everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God, for God is love. And these are the words that
were in the early chapter two, where there's the knowledge of
God and the love of God that is put together. And here, the
apostle is pointing to the great source of the love of God. Herein is love, in verse 10. Not that we love God, but that
he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our
sins, the wrath-ending sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, if God
so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man has
seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth
in us, and His love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we
dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit. And so that the source, that
is, the source of love that is given to us, that then has the
fruits of love to another. And the Apostle is tracing this
out and making very clear, and in verse 19 he says, whom he hath not seen. This commandment
have we from him, that he who loveth God, love his brother
also. We'd remember where our text
is. Where our text is, is the gospel
according to John. And John heard and recorded all
that the Lord said to Peter. And I believe that it has left
a real impression upon John. And so throughout his epistles,
he is dwelling very much on the love of God and what it is to
actually love God and the fruits and effects of it. It's not just
in word, but it's in actual deed. It is outwardly shown. It's very easy just to use words
and say, oh, I love God. I always loved God. But then when we view that person's
life, they don't love the brethren, or they're in bitterness or hardness. The Word of God points us all
the time to the fruits and effects of the love of God in the heart. And so this is the source that
John points us to here. I want to go now back to the
Gospel according to John, and back to the 14th chapter The
Gospel according to John, and chapter 14. And in verse 15, we have a beginning
of a passage that speaks of the love of God. And again, it is
centering on the commandments. If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, He
will give you another comforter that He may abide with you forever. And then we have in verse 21,
He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, He it is that
loveth me. And he that loveth me shall be
loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself
to him. So this word very clearly identifies
those that actually do love the Lord. Our Lord clarifies this
further in verse 23, Jesus answered and said unto him, if a man loved
me, he would keep my words and my father will love him and we
will come unto him and make our abode with him. He that loveth
me not keepeth not my sayings. And the word which ye hear is
not mine, but the Father's which sent me. And so we have in the
Word of God some very clear tests, very clear ways that we may know
whether or not we really do love the Lord. Now I want to be very
clear in this, because we mustn't think, well, if we are then to
know the love of God, we must be able to demonstrate this by
going back to the law, the Ten Commandments, and our hope for
heaven is now based upon our observing of them. But in the
Gospel, the Lord says before us, His work, His sacrifice,
and what He has accomplished at Calvary are laying down His
life for His people. Why? Because they cannot, by
their own deeds and by themselves, fulfil the law of God. Sin is
in everything that we say and do, What the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son
in likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh. And so it is the showing forth
of the love of God and the commandments in the people of God, not sending
them back to the law, but sending them to the Gospel, sending them
to believe in Him who has done for them what they could not
do for themselves. The fruit of realising what Christ
has done for us will be a constraining influence. It won't be a doing
the commandments under the law with the thought of inheriting
eternal life from that, nor will it be a doing it with thinking
of proving that we actually love the Lord. It will be under that
word, the love, of Christ constraineth us. Paul, when he writes to the
Galatians, he said, for all the law is fulfilled. In one word,
even in this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The two tables of the law. One was toward God, and the other
one was to the neighbor. The two influences, if you like,
of fulfilling or obeying the law of God or anything, all of
the word of God. One driving principle is to achieve
heaven and God's favour by our own works. The other is a constraint
by love. Because the Lord has suffered
for us, because we know Him, because we believe the Gospel
and believe what He has done for us, then that constrains
us to desire to do what is pleasing in His sight, for love's sake,
not for any other sake at all. If we had in our household, say
if we had our children, and then we had some servants, and we
wrote some rules or things, duties that needed to be done for the
servant. And they went through and they
did exactly what was required of them and they ticked off each
one. And they just did that which was their duty to do, what they
were required to do. If they didn't do that, then
they'd be cast out as a servant. But the children that love their
parents, The parents loved them. They also were asked to help
and do things, but many things they didn't even have to be asked. They just did it for love's sake,
and went further than what the servant was asked to do. If the
children didn't do it or didn't do it well, they wouldn't be
cast out and not be a child, because they were a child. But
they were never then doing things with the threat of being evicted,
with the threat that if they failed in one point, then they'd
be cast out. A very distinct difference between
a child and a servant. And when we're talking about
the love of God, lovest thou me, it is the love of a child,
a child of God. not the love of a servant, not
a slavish love, but a constraining love, a love that has an effect
towards the brethren, to the Lord's people, to the Word of
God, to the house of God, to the commandments of God, to what
the Lord loves, and to hate that which He hates. is a very different
principle that actually motivates that love. It comes from heaven,
given sovereignly in the heart of the people of God. They have that love to Him whom
they know, bled, suffered, laid down His life for them. And in
turn, they have that love for the people of God and love for
the Lord himself. It's a sad thing if one was to
say, well, I understand what Christ has done. I understand
the love that he's shown me in suffering upon Calvary's tree,
but I'm not going to join his church. I'm not going to sit
with his people at the Lord's table. I know the Lord has said
this during remembrance of me, but I'm not going to do that.
And I know the Lord has commanded his servants to preach and to
baptise believers, but I'm not going to be baptised, I can dispense
with that. If someone has that attitude,
you've got to question, do they really love the Lord? I believe
there have been, I know there have been those that truly have
loved the Lord, that haven't walked in his ways. But I believe
it cannot be on the basis that they've truly known the Lord's
will and really realised. May we never use as an example
the Lord's dear people who have not walked according to the Word
of God and the Lord's commands as a reason why we should not
do so. It should be a real concern to
us whether we really do love the Lord if we can lay aside
the Lord's sweet New Testament commands. It's a lesser thing
when that love is shed abroad in our hearts and we say, like
the eunuch, see, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptised? And there is that constraining
love of God. And to love the brethren as well. It's not something that we feel
welling up in our hearts every day of our lives. You know, I've
had some very sweet, sacred times when, unexpectedly, the Lord's
shadow brought in my heart such a love to the brethren. For the
Lord's sake, it really profoundly affected me. And we love them
because they are the Lord's. And you can see the Lord's image
in them. and they are part of that same
living family of God. You see it sometimes through
the scriptures. You see the love that Jonathan
and David had, a spiritual love, a love together, not any way
in an inordinate way, but a real bond. You see that with Naomi
and Ruth as well. How that Ruth claimed to her
mother-in-law, thy people shall be my people, thy God my God. Where thou dwellest will I dwell,
and there will I be buried. She didn't want to be part of
it. The dear disciples being let go, they went unto their
own company. You think of the effect when
our Lord died. Yielded up his life, his body
hung upon the tree. And there comes Joseph of Arimathea,
a secret disciple. And there he is constrained to
come and ask the body of our Lord. And there is Nicodemus
who came to the Lord by night. And he also, he comes and he
helps take down the body. What was constraining them? What
was moving them at that time to do that? But love to the Lord. And it's a blessed thing when
we have that moving upon us to do what we would not do ourselves,
could not do ourselves. But as the Lord sheds abroad
His love, then it has an effect, it moves, and it is shown outwardly. So this question that Lord asked
Peter these three times, how many times have we found it really
searching for ourselves? Some of the Lord's dear people,
it's a very searching question, and it should be, do we really
love the Lord? But how is that love seen? How is it shown? Is it just in
word? No, not a real love. It's indeed
also. Is it based on something? Yes
it is. On a knowledge of the Lord. And
a knowledge of His word, His will, His commandments, His ways,
what is pleasing to Him, what is not. Love is joined to all
of these things. And so may we be able to understand
what Peter's been asked here, love us thou may. It may be a
searching word for us too, because if we are like that church at
Ephesus, where our love is cold and faint, where the love of
the world has grown strong, where we find it hard work, hard work
to obey, hard work to walk in His ways, hard work to show love
or to lay down their lives for the brethren. May our prayer
in His eye be that the Lord would rekindle in our hearts that love
of God, that He would grant us that gift and all that flows
from it, all the constrainings that are joined with it and are
bound with it. Lovest thou me? Dear Peter, he could appeal unto
the Lord, and may we also be able to appeal unto the Lord,
and where it is not clear, ask the Lord that he bring about
those situations in our lives, and that he would prove it to
us, show it to us, of the effect that the love of God has had
upon us, or does have, or maybe years ago had, but now is not
the same, when it really affected what we did in our lives. Changes
that it made, crosses that we took up, things that we did to
the brethren, and it was the effect of love to the Lord. Lovest thou me, the Lord that
is blessed.