It is good to be here. It's always
good to be able to fellowship with the Lord's people, the hospitality
that I get to enjoy with the Lord's children. It is a joy. I told Gabe I would do this if
I could be back home on Sunday. He made it happen. I'm going
to try to cut way back on doing conferences and start staying
home more. There's Johnny. I've got to say
it to that. But I do thank you for your hospitality,
for your love and your prayers. I thank you. Turn to the Gospel
of John, chapter 21. Idle this message. Lovest thou
me more than these? As I grow older in Christ, I
am more concerned of loving Christ, I'm more concerned
about love than I am faith. I am. Because I believe if I
truly love Him as I ought to love Him, I'll have no problem
with faith. The problem we have is our affections.
Who has our affections? Who has our heart? Now your homework
assignment is to go home and read chapter 21. I'm not going
to read all of this, but in verse 15, But when they had dined, the Lord fixed them a supper
of fish and bread. When they had dined, Jesus saith
unto Peter, he singled him out among these disciples, said he
there, 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. Whatever or whoever has our love
has our heart. They have our heart. They have
our affection. They have our attention. Whoever has our love
has us. They have me. They have you,
whatever you love. That's what has you. Where your
heart, where your treasure is, your what? Your heart is. If Christ is your treasure, that's
where your heart is. If he's your love, that's where
your heart is. It's with him. We are told to
seek, to set our hearts on things above. not on the things of this
earth. You see, our Lord sits at God's
right hand. He's the object of our love,
and we set our hearts on Him, not on these things. These things
are perishing. They're perishing. And I dare
to say this, there's no one saved who does not love Jesus Christ.
No one. No matter how moral, how charitable,
How religiously orthodox one may be, but without love, there's
no, listen, there's no relationship with Christ without love. There's
no relationship. There's no work of grace in the
soul without love to Christ. And so the Lord asked Peter this
question. He didn't ask him about faith.
He asked him about love. Do you love me more than these? He didn't ask Peter why he denied
him three times. The Lord knew that. He's drawing
Peter's affections out. He's going to make Peter face,
do you love me more than these? You see, Peter just went fishing.
He'd give it up. And so the Lord faces him with
this. Who do you love, me or these? Which one? You can't love them more than
you love me. Our Lord, I'll show you this in a minute. The Lord
goes straight to the heart of the matter. Lovest thou me more
than these? We should be known for our love
to Christ and to one another. By this shall all men know ye
are my disciples, if you love one another. If you have love
one to another. Now this question caused Peter
to examine himself. And the examination started with
love, his affections. Who has my affections? Peter,
who has your affections? What has your affections? And
why is this so important? Here's one of the reasons why
it is so important. No relationship lasts where love
is absent. No relationship. It's a cold,
dead relationship where love is absent. It is a cold, dead
marriage where love is absent. Most marriages fail for one reason.
Love left the room. Love left the room. Why? There
is no serving Christ or worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ apart from
love. If we worship Him tonight, if
we truly worship Him in spirit and truth, it's a spirit of love.
We worship Him because we love Him. We love Him. Our Lord said
this to the Pharisees, they worship me with their lips, but their
hearts, their hearts are far from me. They're saying they
love me, but their hearts are far from me. And our Lord makes
Peter face this because of this, before Peter enters the heat
of the battle, this matter of love to Christ above all else,
above all else, must be settled. This has got to be settled. The
battle is going to get hot. Look over in verse 18, 19. He's speaking to Peter. Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast young, thou girdest
thyself and walkest whither thou wouldest. But when thou shalt
be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall
gird thee and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake
he signifying by what death he should now listen. He didn't
say by what death he should die. What death he should go by God. I want my death to glorify God. However it ends, however it is,
I want my death to glorify God because it's coming and yours
is too. I want my death and your death, every one of you who believe,
to glorify God. The only thing that will keep
Him on the battlefield. The only thing that will keep
God's soldier on the battlefield is a real love to Christ. That's the only thing that will
keep you on the battlefield, is a real genuine love to Christ. Paul said this in Acts, I count
not my life dear to me, that I may finish my course. And the
reason he didn't count his life dear to him, because he counted
Christ as the one dear. Christ is the one dear to him.
Because of his love to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I'll get to
God's love here in a minute. To us. Solomon wrote this. And this is why this is so important.
He wrote in Song of Solomon, chapter 8, verse 6. Set me as
a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm, for love is strong
as death. You know that? Where there's
real love, he says it's strong as death. And our Lord proved
it. He proved it. Having loved his
own, which were in the world. He loved them to the end. He
loved them to the end. He gave everything. You know
that Jesus Christ did not do one thing to relieve himself. He didn't make stone into bread.
He's on the cross. He said, I thirst. He didn't.
The water of life thirsted. There's a mystery. The water
of life thirsted. He didn't relieve his thirst.
He did not relieve himself of any suffering, any pain, because
everything he suffered and went through, I deserve. I deserve
it. He didn't make that stone into
bread because I can't do it. He suffered what I suffered.
He suffered what I suffered. Paul wrote this, For the love
of Christ constrains us. What constrains you? Is it Ten
Commandments? It's real love for Christ. What
constrains you to go to work and take care of the family?
It's your love for the family. It's your love. The love of Christ constrains
me. It keeps me faithful. It keeps me coming here. Nobody
forces me to show up. I mean, I'm the pastor, of course. It's love that causes his children
to show up. It's love. The reason we're here
is love. This service is because of the
love of Christ. I don't know any place I'd rather
be than here. I don't know any place. We are to preach the truth
in love. And you know the only way that
we can do that, the only way you can preach the truth in love
is to love the one you preach. That's the only way you can do
it. A person who loves Christ has a heart to preach with. I learned this some time ago. And I say this to every young
preacher here. Ask God for this. Ask God to
give you a heart to preach with. Ask Him to give you a heart to
preach with. A true love, preaching the truth
in love is because you love the one you're preaching. There's
a real difference between preaching the truth in love and preaching
the letter. Some get a hold of doctrine but
they never lay hold of Christ. And I believe this, a man can
preach the letter of the gospel just like you can preach the
letter of the law. And the spirit of love not be there. not be
there. I'd rather have that spirit of
love. Lord, let me love the one I'm preaching to. Let me tell
them about you. Enable me to tell them about
you. You know, Paul, Paul standing there before was a gripper. Almost thou persuades me to be
a Christian. He said, I would to God that you were almost,
not only almost, but altogether such as I am, except for these
bonds. What love? Standing there before that king
and his heart aching to tell the truth to this man and preach
the truth to him in love. Oh, God give us a heart like
that to preach with. I want a heart to preach with.
That's what I want. The Lord takes Peter by the heart.
And He has Him to compare His love to Him to these things,
whatever these things may be. It's the way of life, your way
of life. In verse 3, He said, I go fishing.
I go fishing. You know what the dangerous part
of this? I looked at it, it just jumped out at me today as I'm
looking over it. In verse 3, Simon Peter says
unto them, I go fishing. They say unto him, we're going
to go with you also. Oh, my soul. Be careful. Somebody's going to follow you.
Somebody's going to follow you. He asked Peter to compare his
love. He's going to make him look at his love to these things
and his love to Christ. It may be with the family. He
that loves mother, father, sister, brother more than me is not worthy
of me. My father, my father believed the gospel, but in their old
age, you know, I moved away. I moved down to North Carolina
and they were old. It was mid eighties. And dad
said to me, he said, are you going to leave us in our old
age? I said, dad, you know, better than that, you know, better.
I said, you know, the Lord said, he that loves mother, father,
sister, brother is not worthy of me. I said, I can't stay here. I said, I have four sisters and
two brothers. They can take care of you. He that loves mother, father,
sister, brother more than me is not worthy of me. He that
takes not up his cross is not worthy of me. The only way you're
gonna really take up the cross, follow Christ, is to love him.
It's to love him above all others. You know... Our Lord's not jealous of us
loving one another as much as we love Him. Just as long as
we don't love Him more. I ought to love you as much as
I love Him. Just not more. Because then you
become the idol. You become the object. Just not
more. You know, it... I've got two
boys, and it thrilled me to death. They love one another as much
as they love me. It thrilled me to death. Now, this is a personal question.
It's a personal question. Peter, do you... Boy, you're
talking about shooting at the heart. Do you love me? It's not a general question for
the group. There's disciples sitting there. It's personal. Let me ask you this. Is there anything
that you would change about the Lord Jesus Christ? No. And you know why? Because
he's altogether lovely. He's altogether lovely. You know
when that Shulamite woman described, they said to her, they said,
what is your beloved more than others? She's like, okay. You
opened that door. And she described him and there
wasn't a flaw in him. There's not a flaw in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's altogether lovely. Now you take Peter's name out
of this and put your name in it. John, do you love me more
than these? Just put your name there. And
then this question is a heart question. This question, it goes
beyond academics. It goes beyond theology. It goes
to the heart. It goes to the heart. This has
to do with a relationship. You see, love is a relationship. That's what love is. It's a relationship
with the Lord Jesus Christ. It's like the vine and the branch.
They're joined together. Joined together. They're one.
We're one with Christ. When my father passed away, my
mother took it so hard, she never could get over it. And I said
to her one day when she was just so stressed out, and I said,
Mom, you know the word of God says that when two are married,
they become one flesh. And I said, when he took daddy,
cut you in half. And I said, that hurts. The dead
hurts. That's how one we are with Christ. We are one with Him. We are one
body with Him. We are the body of Christ. Love is a relationship. Love
starts in the heart, the new heart. It's the work of the Holy
Spirit shedding forth the love of God in your heart. That's
where it comes from. Don't talk about loving someone
or something else if it has your heart. Don't talk
about loving Christ if something else has your heart. Christ has
my heart. He has my heart. I tell you this,
love to Christ is the clearest evidence of a new heart. It's
the clearest evidence of salvation. It's a revealing question. It
reveals if one is lost or saved, you know that? Love, love, love
to Christ. Peter, do you love me? It reveals if one is lost or
saved. If God were your father, if God
were your father, you would what? Love me. You'd love me. If God's your father, you'd love
me. There are a lot of people in hell that believe election,
particular addiction. Every devout Jew believed these
doctrines. They believed they were it. They believed they were
the chosen. They believed that the sacrifice was only for them.
They believed these things. But there's no one in hell who
loves Jesus Christ. Not a one. Not one. It reveals spiritual health or
spiritual sickness. Turn over to, let me read to
you out of Revelation chapter 2. Now this sounds really good,
this, listen, the church of Ephesus. Unto the angel, in chapter 2
verse 1, unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write, These
things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right
hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.
I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and thou that
canst not bear them which are evil, and thou hast tried them
which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them
liars, and hast borne, and hast patience, for my name's sake,
hast labored, and hast fainted." That's a pretty good list there,
isn't it? That's a really good list. Nevertheless,
there's a problem. Nevertheless, there's a problem.
I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first
love. Your heart's not in it. Your heart's not in it. You've
left your first love. It reveals whether one is healthy
or sick. reveals if we are walking in
the spirit or in the flesh. And then it's a repeated question.
We need to face this question every day. Because our love grows
cold, doesn't it? Isn't that sad? It grows cold. It's sad. We are repeat offenders. We are
repeat offenders. You know one of the sad things
to me in reading this? The Lord asked Peter three times
before it really grieved his heart. It should have grieved
his heart the first time he asked. If our wives ask us, honey, do
you love me? It ought to grieve us the first
time. It shouldn't take three times before it really grieves
me. Why do I love Christ? Why do
I love Christ? I love Christ, you love Christ,
why? Why? Here's the number one reason.
Because he first loved me. Because he first loved me. His first, his love was first.
Here's a second reason. Because of born of God, Born
of God. A new birth. A new birth. With that new birth comes a new
heart. With that new heart comes the love of God, shed abroad
in it. And it's gonna come out. It's coming out now, I'm telling
you. It's coming out. John 4, 7, Beloved, let us love
one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is what?
Born of God. You've been born of God. That's
why you love him and know with God. And here's another reason
why you love him. You can't help it. You can't
help it. You cannot help falling in love,
can you? My dad didn't want my older sister
to fall in love with the one she married. He did everything
he tried to, not to, but she married him anyway. She fell in love with him. She
fell in, you can't help, when you fall in love, you fall, that's
why it's called falling. When you fall in love, you're
falling. And you can't help but fall in
love with the Lord Jesus Christ when he makes himself known to
you. Love to Christ is a response
of His love shed abroad in the heart. That's what it is. It's
just a response. It's a response to Christ. Now
here's love's duty. Here's love's proof. Peter, do you love me? He said,
Lord, you know I love you. He said, he didn't say, well,
you didn't prove it back there. He just said, feed my lambs.
Only listen to them. Peter had such a personality
about him that he would have been fighting those Pharisees
tooth and toenail, and the sheep would have starved to death. Remember this. False religion
will be false all the way to the end. You're not going to
change it. But the Lord has some sheep out there in false religion. He's going to call out of it.
And the only way he's going to call them out is this. If I be
lifted up, I'll draw all men to me, all types of men, all
sorts of men and women, all sorts of sinners. If I be lifted up,
don't get caught up. In my early years, I was a little
more guilty of getting caught up of what's wrong with this,
what's wrong with that. Christ is our ministry. Jesus
Christ is our ministry. From Alpha to Omega, He's our
ministry. Christ said, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. Our Lord said that. Feed my lambs. Love is proved
by what we do more than by what we say. Love is proved by our service
and our attitude. Is this not what we're doing
here, what you do here, Gabe, what he does here, is this not
a labor of love? And you who support the ministry,
you're here, you're here faithfully, is it not a labor of love? It is. It is. Love not in word, but in deed
and in truth. Now, what's the test of God's
love to me? I've been talking about, Peter,
do you love, looking at that question. But what's the test
of God's love to me? First of all, I have to say this,
that God's love to me and to every one of his children is
an everlasting love. I didn't love my wife until I
met her and saw her. But God has loved me with an
everlasting love. There's not a time He didn't
love me. And because of that, our Father, our Heavenly Father
made a covenant concerning us. Before we even had an existence.
Before anything had an existence, He made a covenant. A covenant
of grace. concerning us. He made His Son
sure of it. You know what that means? He
is responsible to bring me home. He's responsible for me. There's
no better news in the world than this. Jesus Christ is responsible
for this sinner. I'm not even responsible for
myself. I'm not. He is. He's responsible
to bring me home spotless. Blameless, and set me down before
the Father. That's good news. The Father proved His love by
sending His only begotten Son to be the propitiation for my
sins and your sins, you who believe, and all His children. You know, when every one of God's
children arrive in glory in a little while, Every one of them, the
first thing I think everyone's going to notice, and this struck
me so strong some months ago, that when I stand there, I had
nothing to do with it. Zero. Zero. I'm standing there on that new
earth, in a new body, worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ with the
saints of glory and the angels, the elect angels. And I did nothing
to make that happen. I did everything I could to make
it not happen. God, it says in Romans 5, 8,
but God commendeth, and that's the whole Godhead, the Father,
Son, and the Holy Spirit. But God commendeth His love toward
us that while we were yet sinners, a bunch of God-haters, Christ
died for us. When we were at our worst, He
was at His best. And then secondly, Christ the Son proved His love
by coming into this God-hating world to redeem a God-hating
people by producing a righteousness for them by thirty-three years
of living under the law. Keeping the law. Every jot and
till. The law of the home. The civil law. Pay the taxes.
Told Peter, go down there and get the money out of that fish's
mouth to pay our taxes. He was His perfect obedience. I was telling the people, I think,
last week, you know, for years I had heard about Christ dying
on the cross for sin, and I never heard anything about those 33
years Him living and producing the righteousness that I needed.
His 33 years of life is every bit as important as His death
on the cross. That's our righteousness. That's our righteousness before
God. Then he went to the cross, and
he died. He died. He died. He tasted death for
everyone he represented. I'll never taste death. He that
believes in me shall never die. I'm not going to die. I am not
going to die. This body's going to die. I'm
not going to die. You're going to lay this clay
pot in the ground, but I'm going to ascend to glory. I won't taste of death. That's good news. My Lord tasted
it for me. But he's gonna die, he's gonna
rise for them, he took possession of heaven for them, he prepared
a place for them, he intercedes for them, and he's coming for
them. Now I can't give you any better news than I'm giving you.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his
life for his friends, who used to be his enemies. I added that part. having loved
his own which were in the world, he loved them to the end. He
gave his all. He'll back nothing. Then the
Holy Spirit proves his love by regenerating us, by revealing
Christ in us, giving us an interest in Christ, guiding us in the
path of righteousness, keeping us by his power through faith,
interceding for us with groans which cannot be uttered. The
whole Godhead has proven their love to us. soul. To be loved of God? I can't put
that into words. I'm gonna close with some, wait
a minute, I'm gonna close with some words
from my pastor Henry Mayhem. These I got from him some years
ago. How do I know that I love the
Lord Jesus Christ? Number one, you cannot help thinking
about him. You do not have to try to think
of someone you love, you just think of them. Don't you? Secondly, you love their presence,
their company. Don't you love it when they come
over? I tell you, we all piled in on my parents every Sunday.
I never even thought about it. We were seven kids. We got married
at 14. Then they all had grandkids.
There's 20-some of us. And nobody brought anything.
Mom cooked everything. I thought to myself, what were
we thinking? She's cooking for 25 people every Sunday. And they
never complained one time. Love. You love their company. Then
you love to talk about them. You love to talk. Ask somebody
about their kids or their grandkids. And just take a break and listen. That's what that was. She said,
what's your love more than the other loves you? OK. And she
described it in the Song of Solomon 5, 9 through 16. And then, in
closing here, you long for their company. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Can you say that? Can you honestly
say that? Come quickly, Lord Jesus. And
I'll tell you this, it's not hard to submit to someone you
love. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto
the Lord. It's not hard to submit to someone
you love. And listen, it's easy to be faithful to the one you
love. Whom have I in heaven but Thee?
There is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee. And Peter
made a statement that I find very comforting. Lord, Thou knowest all things. You know I love You.