Turn with me to John 21. Before that trial that Peter
went through, our Lord told Peter, the devil has desired to sift
you as wheat, but I've prayed for you that your faith fail
not. When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. Peter had to experience this
fall. He had to. He was too proud. He thought his love was great
and greater than his brethren. He thought his understanding
was greater. He thought he was wise to instruct others. He was
too self-confident. He boasted that these other disciples,
now they don't love you as much as I do, and they might forsake
you, but I won't. That won't happen to me. That's
not gonna happen to me. He protested that he would die
with the Lord, but he never would deny him. The Lord said, Peter,
it is written. It's written in the word of God,
you're going to deny me. It's written about us too, brethren.
There's a lot written that God foreordained that we're gonna
follow. It's written, and it's gonna
happen. It's coming. But the Lord told
him in great detail before it happened what would happen. He
said, before the cock crows twice, you'll deny me three times. Peter
didn't think he was gonna do this. He did not think. I have
no doubt that him going for that soldier in the garden, and Peter
wasn't trying to slice his ear off. The soldier just ducked,
and Peter got his ear. Peter finna kill him a short
soldier and show the Lord, I'm not gonna deny you. But he did
everything the Lord said. He swore, he cursed, he denied
the Lord three times. And here's the thing about it.
Everything he did when he was saying, I'm not going to die,
he was refuting the word of the Lord. He was refuting the scriptures. He was refuting the ordination
of God. And then when he cursed and denied
the Lord and did that three times, all of that was a denial of the
Lord. And all our sin, brethren, is
a denial of the Lord. Every bit of it, everything.
The Lord looked at him when he did it. When he did that the
third time, the Lord just looked at him. And it broke his heart. He went out, he was pierced.
He went out and wept with a piercing bitterness. But oh, just think
about the unchanging, unchangeable love of our God. the unchanging,
unchangeable love of God. Our Lord said, I will arise.
When I'm finished, I'm going to that cross, and when I'm finished,
I'll arise. And I will go before you into
Galilee, and I'll meet you there. I'll meet you there. And when
he sent that word to his disciples, he said, and tell Peter. Tell
Peter. He didn't forget Peter. He didn't
turn his back. He said, you tell Peter, that
one who just denied me, you go tell him. I'm gonna meet him
there. The Lord told him to go to that mountain Galilees, but
here's Peter, all loving, his love so great, all knowing, he
got so much wisdom, all wise. Peter got tired of waiting. So he left the mountain where
the Lord told him to go away. He left the mountain. He went
down to the Sea of Galilee, and he said, I go fishing. And that
word is, in the original language, is final. It means I'm done with
all this. I'm done with being a preacher.
I'm done with being an apostle. I'm going back to my former livelihood.
I'm going fishing. And he not only went himself,
he led six others to go with him. Six others to go with him. Now Peter had already been converted
by the Lord Jesus. This is a believer doing this.
Not acting much like a believer, is he? No, he's acting just like
a believer. Because a believer will do anything
any other sinner will do. Why do we get surprised at our
brethren's sin? Why? Why do we get surprised at our
own sin? It's like, why do we get surprised
when somebody close to us dies? It's coming. It's coming. Peter believed the Lord, but
now the Lord has to convert him. Remember, he said, when you're
converted, strengthen your brethren. Well, he already was converted.
He believed the Lord, but now the Lord's about to convert him
from this trial. He's about to turn him from this
trial. And this was all needful to teach
Peter how the Lord loves so that Peter could be used of the Lord
to strengthen his brethren in the same love. This was needful,
this had to be done for this or he could not minister. It
was needful to teach him love, grace, mercy, long-suffering,
tenderness, gentleness, meekness, lowliness, all the things involved
in love. To teach Peter how to minister
the same love of Christ to his brethren. To minister to his
brethren the way the Lord Jesus ministered to him in love. Now in the way the Lord dealt
with Peter, we see love, and I mean the person. God is love. And we're looking at Christ,
we're looking at God. We see love personified, and we see
him dealing with a fallen believer in love. That's what we see. And he's teaching that fallen
believer how to deal with other fallen believers in the same
love that the Lord's dealing with him. That's what he's teaching
them. Now, I pray the Lord will teach me to love like Christ
loves. We pray for something like that.
But you know what's going to have to happen? We're going to
fall. We're going to have to experience
Christ's love in the face of our utter denial of the Lord. so that when we're utterly denied
and the Lord is utterly denied by our brethren, we love them
like the Lord loves us. You can't learn this in a book. This is something the Lord's
got to teach you by painful experience in the heart to know how to do
this. Now, one thing we learn here,
and I hope you see this in all of this, and this is not just
a doctrine. Where sin abounds, grace much
more abounds. Now that's how I want to treat
a brother who does something, you know, we like to give our
judgment pretty words like, well, I just don't agree with that.
I don't agree with their lifestyle or whatever. Where sin abounds, Grace does
much more matter. You think the Lord agrees with
you denying Him every day? He doesn't. He doesn't agree
with me denying Him. And that's what I do every day
when I sin. And I sin all the time. In thought, but sadly in act
too. And that's denying the Lord.
That's just all it is. That's not generalizing sin.
I could sit up here and give you details. I thought about
going through the Ten Commandments and saying, I've broken that
one, I've broken that one. And I'd go through all 600 and
say, I've broken all of them. And that's denying the Lord.
Do you think the Lord says, I don't approve of that? Well, he doesn't.
But because He's put away the sin of His people, He deals with
us in love that never changes, that never alters. And I want
to learn to love that way. I want to learn. I failed at
that. I want to learn to love that
way. Don't you? Don't you? Here's the first thing
the Lord does to His redeemed after we've denied Him. Now you
think of what a sin that is. He denied the Lord three times. After he did this and led others
away from the profession, led them away from the church, they
was fixing to leave and go back fishing. And after this happened,
the first thing the Lord did is he came to where they are,
drew them to himself, and fed them. It's the first thing he
did. First thing he did. He didn't
let them catch fish that night. He wasn't going to let them succeed.
Thankfully, if we're running from God, He's not going to let
you get far. He's going to stop you. But then
he drew them and revealed himself to them and fed them. Verse 14
says this is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to
his disciples after that he was risen from the dead. It means
he revealed himself to them by divine revelation. That's what
it means. He revealed him. Now it's the third time he's
done it. So when they had dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, now
despite the denial, despite not waiting where the Lord told him
to wait for him, despite leaving his profession, the Lord came
and drew Peter to himself. What did the Lord say? He said,
I've loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, how have I drawn
you? In loving kindness. In loving kindness. In spite
of all our awful sin, the Lord never stops loving His elect.
And He never ceases drawing us to Him in loving kindness. Never does. He does it first,
when we're turning away and we're denying Him and whatever the
sin is, He does it first by feeding us with His Word, with His Gospel. He feeds us this Gospel, this
meat, this bread, just like He fed them that night on that seashore.
When they got there, verse nine says, they hadn't brought the
net in yet. They had not brought fish in
yet in the net, but there was hot coals and fish laid there
on and bread. In verse 12, Jesus said unto
them, come and dine. There wasn't anything for them
to do. There wasn't a thing. They could just walk up on the
seashore. They got a net full of fish.
And the Lord said, I don't need those fish. I got fish right
here. Come down. It's all done. It's ready. That's
what he's got to teach us first. He's got to remind you and me
when we've fallen and we've turned away, he's got to remind us with
this gospel. I have finished all the work
of redeeming you. I have gone to the cross and
laid down my life. Peter, that sin of boasting that
you loved me more than your brethren did, that sin of boasting that
you'd never deny the word of God, that sin of denying my word
and telling you what you're about to do and being so self-willed,
that sin of denying me, just like I went to that cross and
bore all my people's sins, I bore every one of those sins. and
I bore the judgment you should be bearing for those. But because
I did that, I'm here drawing you in loving kindness, Peter.
No judgment whatsoever." Aren't you thankful? Aren't you thankful? He doesn't judge you. He doesn't
condemn you. He never deals with his people
that way. When he chastens, he doesn't
deal with us that way. This is his correction. It's his gospel, it's his word
reminding you it's finished. He's put away our sin, brought
in righteousness for us, and Christ is our meat, he's our
bread, he's our life. He said, except you drink my
blood and eat my flesh, you don't have any life in you. And He
draws you to Himself and makes you have life in Him. This is the first thing He does.
Now, He does this to restore us in every trial. Every trial. And that's unchanging, unchangeable
love for Him to do that. Now brethren, if we're going
to ever be used to the Lord, to strengthen our brethren, He
said, when you're converted, Peter, strengthen my brethren.
Here's the first thing He taught Peter. You're gonna have to do
it through my word, through my gospel. That's how you're gonna
have to do it. Imagine if I stood here and just
started giving y'all my opinion on what you ought to do and ought
not to do and how this is bad, not bad, and the other thing.
You'd say, I didn't come here to hear that. Well, when we're in a trial,
We don't need to tell each other that. We need to hear this good
news. Is this not what turned us in
the first hour? Is this not what broke our heart
in the first hour? Is this not what brought us to his feet in
the first hour? It's what does it in every trial. His loving
kindness wherewith he draws us is his gospel. It's not him coming
and whipping you that's going to turn you. It's the goodness
of God that leads you to repentance. You've never been made obedient
by the law, and neither have I. And nobody's ever been made
obedient by the law. Oh, they might sit down on the
outside, but they're standing up on the inside. But the love
of God and the gospel is how he gives you that word. That
will make you obey him. That'll make you turn. That'll
make you turn. The Lord reminded Peter here
of his unchanging love by how he addressed Peter. Look in verse
15. So when they had dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son
of Jonas, that got Peter's attention. I guarantee you it did, because
that's not the name the Lord gave Peter. When he called Peter,
his name was Simon, son of Jonas. He changed his name to Peter,
Cephas. He got his attention with that
name. What's he doing? Well, there was another time
he used that name, The Lord said, on one occasion he asked, who
do you say that I am? I've heard who men say I am,
who do you say I am? And Peter answered and he said,
thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. And listen
to what the Lord said. Jesus answered and said unto
him, blessed art thou Simon bar Jonah. That means Simon, son
of Jonah. Blessed are you. Flesh and blood
hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
And he's reminding Peter the same thing that night by that
Sea of Galilee. He was reminding Peter of where
he came from. When I found you, you were dead
in trespass and sin. I gave you life. I regenerated
you. I sent forth the Spirit. I called
you out of darkness into light. And he's reminding him, I'm right
now doing the same thing for you again. I'm calling you out
of darkness into light. I'm converting you all over again,
just like I did in the first hour. This is what we have to
have the Lord remind us of. I'm nothing. I can do nothing. And if God takes his hand off
of me, I'll do what any other sinner will do. And so will my
brethren. And he has to show you this over
and over how he's called you out of darkness by his unchanging
love so that we will not change in our love toward one another
in giving them the gospel and trying to be used of the Lord
to bring them out. Then secondly, I want you to
see this. The Lord restores Peter's love for the Lord. He restores
Peter's love for the Lord. And how did he do it? He does
it by reminding Peter of the Lord's love for him. Now let
me show you this. I never saw this in this passage,
and I'm excited about this. Verse 15. So when they had dined,
Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, lovest thou me
more than these? He saith unto him, yes, Lord,
thou knowest I love thee. Now, the Lord did not ask him.
He didn't say, Peter, why'd you deny me? He didn't say, have
you repented, Peter? Have you mourned enough, Peter?
He got to the heart of the matter. He asked him the great thing
from which all that must come from, or it's of no benefit whatsoever. Do you love me? Do you love me? Now, that's the issue. He didn't
ask his creed, he didn't ask his theology, he didn't ask him
if he had faith, he didn't ask him anything. Paul said, I could
have faith move mountains, but if I don't have charity, I'm
nothing. He said this, do you love the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you? Do you love the Lord
Jesus Christ? That's the issue. That's the
issue. Now, if we love Him, we're going
to love Him as all our salvation. Period. If we love Him, we're
going to love Him as all our redemption, all our sanctification,
all our redemption, all our righteousness, all our wisdom. He's got to be
everything or He's nothing to us. We're going to love that
every aspect of our salvation is of the Lord. And if we love
the Lord, He's going to get the glory for that too. Scripture
says we love Him because He first loved us. You see, if the Lord
had left Peter alone here, do you think Peter would have gone
on loving the Lord? Peter was leaving. He was headed
as far as he could get away from Christ. And if the Lord would
have let him go, He'd have gone. He'd have kept going. He wouldn't
have come back. How's Peter gonna be brought to love the Lord?
The Lord loved him first. And the Lord came to him first.
The Lord drew him in loving kindness. The Lord reminded him of his
works that he did for him. And now the Lord is gonna show
him how he loves him. And that's gonna stir up Peter's
love for him. Now here's what he says to him.
Pay attention here. The Lord asks three questions
here and gives three answers, and they're all a little different.
And his answers are all a little different, and there's a reason
for it. Because he's teaching Peter how he loves Peter, and
teaching Peter how he's going to have to love his brethren.
Now let's get this. First, the Lord asked, lovest
thou me more than these? Now, the Lord might have been
referring to the boats and the nets. He very well could have,
because scripture says we can't serve God and mammon. We're gonna
love the one and hate the other. We can't serve them both. We
can't serve our occupations and our riches and our ambition and
our careers and serve the Lord. You can't do both. You're gonna
love one and hate the other. Sooner or later, the riches of
the world's gonna choke out the word and you're gonna fall away.
That's just plain and simple. You can't serve them both. My
work, my career, my ambition has got to serve the Lord. That's got to be first. But here's
what I believe, or what I'm convinced, this is what I know the Lord's
saying to Peter. Remember the pride and the self-exaltation
in Peter's boast? When he was speaking of his brethren,
he said, these may leave you. In one of the gospels, he uses
the word these. These may leave you, but I won't
deny you. And so the Lord asked him now,
lovest thou me more than these disciples love me? Do you, Peter?
You see, Peter was exalting himself over his brethren. He was saying,
Yeah, I can see where John will leave you. I can see Andrew leaving
you. I won't ever do it. You see the
right self-righteousness in that and the self-exaltation and just
the boasting in that? But now Peter knows I'm no different
than they are. The best thing that can happen
to us is when we start talking about another brother and And
they ought not do that, and this, the other. And he says, Lord
brings it to our house. I've seen that happen. Because our tune goes 180 every
time. You know, David was going, who
is this rich man that stole the poor man's lamb? He's going to
pay fourfold, and we're going to pour out the extent of the
law on him. You are, David. Lord, have mercy on me. Whole
different tune. And if we're ever gonna be that
way toward others, we have to know what it is to need mercy. Mercy's not deserved. Grace is
not deserved. The love of God's not deserved. And so, we find out we're not
better in anything than others, or we're not any We don't love
more. We don't sin less. We don't do
more acts of righteousness. We don't serve or worship better
than another. None of us do. We have all sinned
and come short of the glory of God. That's the end of that.
That's so of me and you and all of us. You know, we talk about
sin and I think we think about sin in too general of terms. I really do. I don't want to know your specific
sin because I'd never be able to look at you the same again.
And you don't want to know mine either. You wouldn't either.
But I'm saying we ourselves need to recognize how awful our sin
is and how constant it is before God all the time. We're not better
than each other. We're not better than anybody.
We're just a bunch of worms. And all fighting and feuding
is, is one worm saying, I'm a little better worm than you are. Well,
so what? We're both worms. Ain't that
right? That's how it is, brethren. That's
so of me, that's so of you, that's so of all of us. And that's what
Peter's learning here. Look how Peter'd answer it. He's
broken, he's contrite, he's penitent. He said unto him, yes, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee, and he left it right there. He
didn't say, this time he didn't say, yeah, I love you more than
that. He said, you know I love you, Lord. That's brokenness,
that's meekness, that's lowliness of mind. And so what did the
Lord say? Feed my lambs. You know what the lambs are? The lambs are the babies in Christ. They're the little newborn babies
in Christ. But see, the lambs in spirit,
the lambs in grace, they're not like cute little lambs out in
the field. The lambs in grace are arrogant
and self-willed and haughty and boasters because they don't yet
know their sin, like an aged sheep does. And so don't get
the idea that the Lord's saying, oh, I'm gonna be gentle and meek
and lowly to somebody that's being gentle and meek and lowly.
I'd be gentle and meek and lowly to somebody that's being just
the opposite to me. Arrogant and haughty and bombastic
and self-righteous and judgmental. Because that's how we all are
when we start out in grace. There's a lot of people that
get a hold of the doctrine of election and they wanna beat
somebody else to death with it. When you're younger and the Lord
finally teaches you Christ of the election and you quit trying
to destroy people with it. It comes about him rather than
about a doctrine. You know what I mean? So babies
are not like cute little cuddly things, not in the spiritual
realm. They're still, you know, as we
grow, we grow down. in estimation of herself. A baby
still got a good estimation of himself. Peter really was a baby
before in saying all those things he was saying. He was a baby. And so the Lord is telling him
now, I didn't deal with you after your sins, Peter. I dealt with
you in lowliness. I dealt with you in meekness.
I'm coming to you now. I'm not rewarding you according
to your iniquities. I'm not giving you judgment back. I'm not reviling back. I'm coming
to you and I'm showing you great mercy as high as the heavens
are. I'm pitying you like a father
does his little child. That's how he deals with us. And when he's dealt with you
that way, it makes you lowly in mind. It makes you want to
deal with others in lowliness of mind, esteeming the other
better and yourself the least. That's unchanging love. The meekness
of our Lord. Remember he said, come to me,
I'm what? I'm lowly and meek. And I'll
give you rest. And that's how he teaches us
to deal with his little babies that are arrogant and haughty
and big and bad. in meekness and lowliness. The
second question, the Lord leaves out more than these. Look at
this, 16. He said to him again the second time, Simon, son of
Jonas, lovest thou me? He didn't say more than these
this time. He said unto him, yes, Lord, thou knowest that
I love thee. He said unto him, feed my sheep. The Lord left
out more than these because the Lord knew Peter's heart. He knew
he's broken. He knew he's contrite. He knew
the heart he made new, he knew the heart he had renewed, he
knew the heart he had cleansed, he knew the heart he had broken
and made contrite. And this shows the love of our
Redeemer and how he restores us. Listen to this, James 1 5,
if any of you lack wisdom, that means you don't know what to
do, you're embarrassed, you're ashamed, you've fallen into sin,
whatever, you just, you feel awful. Let him ask of God, that
giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall
be given him." When Peter said, Lord, you know I love you, he
didn't say I love you more than they, he said, Lord, you know
I love you. The Lord saw humbleness. He saw meekness. He saw lowliness. He saw Peter was broken and contrite. And so the second time, he didn't
ask that same question again, because if he'd have done it
again, he'd have been throwing it back in Peter's teeth. He'd
have been upbraiding him. He'd have been reproaching him.
He'd have been reviling him. Well, are you sure, Peter, that
you love me more than these? He didn't do that. He didn't
do that. He left off upbraiding. And he received him. He received
him. And the answer was the same.
It was, Lord, you know, you know. And he said, now you feed my
sheep. There's lambs, there's babies,
there's young men and women who are sheep. If Peter's gonna be
a bearer of his brethren's burdens, he needs to know, they need to
know that they can come to Peter and he won't upbraid them. You know, you go to the Lord
and you can tell the Lord every sin you got in detail. And the Lord's not going to upbraid
you. He's not going to throw it back on you. He's not going
to reproach you for it. He's going to forgive you for
it. Do we do that to our brethren? Or do we become shocked and appalled
and I never and you shouldn't have done that. Guess what, if
we keep doing that, they won't come to us anymore. Because they'll
feel judged by us and condemned by us. And they'll be scared
to let us know about it. Let the wicked forsake his way
and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord
and he will have mercy on him. And to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon. God says, for my thoughts are
not your thoughts. Neither of my ways your way,
saith the Lord. He said, let the most wicked man, the vilest
man, come to me, return to me, and I'll be merciful to him.
And God said, and that's totally unlike you and totally unlike
me. Don't you want, I want to be
like him. I don't, man, I want you to be
able to come to me and tell me whatever. I don't, I want to
point you to the Lord, but if you feel like you need to come
and talk to me that you're in trouble or some night you're
in trouble somewhere, I want you to be able to call your pastor
and I'm not going to come get you and pick you up, bail you
out of jail and, and ring me out on the way home. It ain't
gonna happen, because I'm not any better than you. I'll just come get you, and I'll
point you to the Lord, and I'll remind you what the Lord's done
for you, and I'll have mercy on you, and I'll trust the Lord
to do the rest. And I'll bet you if you get thrown
in there again, you'll call me again. But the day I stop having
mercy on you, that's the day you'll stop calling me. Just
imagine if God didn't have mercy on us when we came to Him and
confessed our sins. Would we ever come to Him? No. He's so unlike us. So unlike
us. Then He asked this third time.
Now watch this. He said unto him the third time,
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? And Peter was grieved because
he said unto him the third time, lovest thou me? Now I don't think,
I gotta quit saying that. We were just talking about that.
Y'all didn't come to hear what I think. You come to hear what
I know. I know that Peter was not just aggravated that the
Lord asked him this three times. That wasn't what this grief is.
It was the third denial that made the cock crow and that's
when Peter saw the Lord look at him and Peter wept. But you
know what also happened on that third denial? That's when Peter
remembered the Lord knew everything he was gonna do. The Lord had
told him before everything he was gonna do, and he did exactly
what the Lord said he did. The Lord knew him. And so Peter,
thinking of that bitterness of what he did and how he denied
the Lord, but then remembering how the Lord knew him. Peter
says this, Lord, you know all things. Thou knowest that I love thee. You know, there's a bitter sweetness
with our sin. There's a bitterness in remembering
it, in remembering just the gall and the wormwood, but there's
a sweetness with it in remembering His mercy and how He didn't leave
me. and how he knew everything I
was going to do and still loved me. And that makes you go, Lord,
you know my heart. You know me. And that's a joyful
thing to a believer. That's a joy. You know me when
I don't know me. You know me. You know the heart
you've made. You know the heart you've cleansed.
You know the heart you're keeping. You know the love you've put
in my heart. You know I love you. You know
everything, Lord. And he says, feed my sheep. There's
babes who are lambs, there's young men and women who are sheep,
and there's age believers who are sheep. And the longer you're
in the faith, the more you see your sins in everything you do. And the more comforting it is
to be assured the Lord knows all things. He knows you love
him. And the Lord's showing Peter.
He's reminding Peter, I know everything, Peter. I knew what
you were going to do, and I knew what I was going to do for you.
And I know you love me, and my love hasn't changed for you.
Now, Peter, you go to my aides' sheep when they're seeing what
sinners they are, and they're nearing death, and they're wondering
if they're the Lord's or not, and you remind them, the Lord
knows all things. The Lord knows you're His. The
Lord knows His people. My grandmother took a fall this
week and she started having seizures and she had a seizure and fell
on a door jamb or something and she's got a big bruise on the
back of her head and she was fine for a couple of days and
then all of a sudden it's like you flipped a switch. She don't
know herself, she don't know anybody, she just didn't know
anything. But the Lord knows her, and that's
what matters. That's when you're thankful.
When you're in a place where you don't know if you're His,
you don't know you, much less know Him. The foundation of the
Lord stands sure. He knows them that are you. That'll
comfort an aged believer. The Lord knows all things. He
knows you love Him. He knows you. O Lord, Thou searched
me and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting
and my up-rising. Thou understandest my thought
afar off. You've compassed my path, my lying down. You're acquainted
with all my ways. There's not a word in my tongue,
but, O Lord, You know it all together. You beset me behind
and before and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too
wonderful for me. It's high. I can't attain unto
it. Where am I going to go from Your Spirit? Whither shall I
flee from your presence? If I go to heaven, you're there.
If I make my bed in hell, you're there. If I take the wings of
the morning, they'll dwell in the uttermost part of the sea.
Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall
hold me." You know all things, Lord. That's comforting, isn't
it? You can comfort. Now Peter can
comfort the babies because he knows how the Lord came meek
and lowly to him. He can conquer the young men
and women. that are going to be sinning
constantly and falling into sin because He knows how to receive
them like the Lord received Him without upbraiding them and throwing
it in their face. And He can comfort to age believers
by reminding them too that when you see nothing but sin and you
don't see anything you've ever done and you wonder, do I even
know the Lord? The Lord knows all things. He
knows them and He is. Now I got one more thing to show
you here and I'm gonna be done. This is a message in itself,
but the Lord told him here, he said, now when you were young,
you girded yourself. He's saying you were self-willed
and you were impetuous and you were presumptuous and all these
things. And he said, and you said, I'll
die with you, Lord. And no, you couldn't. And he
said, but when you're old, you're gonna be girded, and you're gonna
be crucified, and that's how you're gonna glorify God. And
he said, but Peter, follow me. Follow me. Our Lord submitted
to the Father's will. He said, not my will, but thine
will be done. He said, Peter, before you were
self-willed, he said, now follow me. Do what I did. I bowed to
my Father's will, now you bow to my will. Christ faced the
cross, knowing all would forsake him, but he knew, I'm not alone,
the Father's with me. And he said, now Peter, you follow
me in that. You know I'm with you all the time. You cast your
care on me, you know I'll exalt you in due time. Our Lord overcame
the devil's tempting by looking to his Father. He said, Peter,
you follow me. You look to me in faith now,
and I'll deliver you. And Christ waited on the Father
to raise him when the work was accomplished. And the Lord said,
now Peter, you follow me. When this suffering is over,
I'll take you out of here. Well, was Peter cured after this
trial? Was he cured now? Was he never
going to have another problem since he's been through this
trial? Well, the next verses said they're walking along there
and Lord had taken him out from the crowd. He wasn't trying to
shame Peter in front of his brethren. He walked off with Peter and
was talking to him. And they look around and here
comes John walking behind them. And Peter has just heard this
and he turns around. He goes, Lord, what about John? And John said, the Lord said,
if I will, that he tarry till I come, what is that to you?
Follow thou me. And here's what we need to hear.
I need to stop worrying about your sin. I'm not gonna answer
for your sin. You're not gonna answer for mine.
You're gonna answer for yours. You need to follow the Lord.
And I need to follow the Lord. You can't make me follow him,
I can't make you follow him. And that's not our business.
The Lord's saying, are you meek and lowly? Don't worry about
somebody else being meek. Are you meek and lowly? He said,
have you been someone your brethren feel comfortable confiding in
and that can call on you when they've fallen and you won't
upbraid them? Are you one that trusts the Lord's wisdom rather
than your own and the Lord's will rather than your self-will?
Are you one that's made low and made to lay down your life in
submission to his will for the good of your brethren? There's
all these things the Lord is to us, his love, his mercy, his
kindness, and all his sacrifices for the sins of his people. He
did all this for us. He says, now you follow me in
all this. He's saying, don't worry about
your brother, whether he's walking like I walk, you do it. Isn't that good instruction?
Isn't that good instruction? You go home tonight, you read
1 Peter 5, read the whole chapter. You'll hear Peter, in his later
years, he got the message. He got the message. He wrote
that epistle. Feed the flock, submit to one
another, cast all your care on Christ, resist the devil through
faith in Christ, and in a little while, after you've suffered,
the Lord will strengthen you, He'll perfect you, He'll settle
you, He'll deliver you. He got it. Amen.