Go with me, if you would, back
to John 21. John 21, our text tonight is
verses 15 to 17, but I want to read up to verse 17. I want to read the first part
of this chapter that our brother just read for us. Let's read
it again. John 21 verse one says, after these things, Jesus showed
himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias. And on
this wise showed he himself. There were together Simon Peter
and Thomas called Didymus and Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee
and the sons of Zebedee. and two other of his disciples. Simon Peter sayeth unto them,
I go a fishing. I'm going back to fishing. This
is after our Lord suffered on the cross. This is after all
the disciples forsook him. This is after Peter said what
he said about him. This is after the Lord looked
at him. This is after they saw him hang there in utter agony. And they couldn't do anything.
Their hands were tied behind their backs and they watched
him bow his head and give up the ghost. And then they took
him down and wrapped him and put him in a tomb. And Peter
said, I'm gonna go back to fishing. Verse three, Simon Peter saith
unto them, I go a fishing, they say unto him, we also go with
thee. We'll all go with you. They went
forth and entered into a ship immediately, and that night they
caught nothing. But when the morning was now
come, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples knew not that
it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto them, children,
have you any meat? They answered him, no. And he
said unto them, cast the net on the right side of the ship
and you shall find. They cast therefore, and now
they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
Therefore, that disciple whom Jesus loved, the one who is writing
this epistle, John, saith unto Peter, it is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that
it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, for he
was naked, and did cast himself into the sea. And the other disciples
came in a little ship, for they were not far from land, but as
it were 200 cubits, dragging the net with fishes. As soon
then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there,
and fish laid thereon in bread, Jesus saith unto them, bring
up the fish which you have now caught. Simon Peter went up and
drew the net to land full of great fishes, and hundred and
fifty and three. And for all there were so many,
yet was not the net broken. Jesus saith unto them, come and
dine. And none of the disciples durst
ask him who art thou, knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then
cometh and taketh bread and giveth them and fish. Likewise, this
is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples
after that he was risen from the dead. Now, when they had
dined, Jesus sayeth to Simon, Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, love
us 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. In those last three verses, our
Lord gave Peter. He set forth to Peter. Our Lord
asked him three times in a row. And that first time Peter heard
the question and he gave an answer. And that
second time Peter heard the question and he gave an answer. And then
that third time Peter Oh, he pondered that question. And what our Lord did in that
was he set forth to Peter in these three verses an if-then,
a very pondering if-then. And the then, the result, was
a commission to go preach the gospel. Go out and preach the
gospel. He said, then go unto all the
world and preach me. Feed my sheep with my message. My word, preach the gospel of
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And that's a glorious commission
to receive. That's one that's given to every
child of God, every single child of God, every child of God. Collectively is given this commission. We all collectively support and
witness the ministry of the gospel of Christ to centers who need
it centers like us. That. Then, the then that he
gave. It's commissioned to all of God's
people. And so is the if. And I started dwelling on the
if. Our Lord asked Peter this if
three times. And you know with each time because
it says it grieved Peter. with each time he more deeply
pondered what the Lord was saying to him. I started dwelling on
this if that the Lord posed to Peter. In that one question,
he got to the root of the whole matter. I'd like for us to look at that
specifically for just a moment, all right? Each one of us can
put ourselves in Peter's shoes. Put yourself in Peter's shoes. Put yourself in this scenario
right here in what's going on. We have the whole scene laid
out for us. Put yourself in Peter's shoes. This question individually goes
out to every single one of God's people. According to verse two,
there were at least six other men here. But the Lord said this to Peter
as though he was the only man there. And I pray he might pose this
question to each one of us as though we were the only ones
here, just the only person here. It's one question, and this one
question, our Lord got to the root of it. Here's the heart
of the whole thing. He said, Peter, do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? What, what a,
what a question. He did not say, this is what
he did not say. He did not say, Peter, do you
obey the law? The Bible. Let's talk about you being mine,
Peter. Let's talk about salvation from
your sin. Let's talk about you going to
heaven. He didn't say, Peter, do you
obey the Bible? He didn't say that. This is the
Holy word of God. These are the Holy scriptures
of God. It says, do this and live. Don't do this and perish
and die in your sins. The Word that God Almighty wrote,
this perfect, holy, true commandment. He did not say, Peter, do you
obey these things? I mean, like root of the matter,
heart of the issue, me and you. One question. He didn't say,
Peter, do you obey this? He didn't say, Peter, does the
way you live your life glorify me? He didn't say, Peter, in your
flesh, are you an example of what a believer ought to be?
Are you an example of what a believer ought to look like, and ought
to act like, and ought to sound like, and ought to talk like,
and ought to think like? He didn't say any of those things.
He got right to the heart of it when he said, Peter, do you
love me? Do you love me? He said in verse
15, do you love me more than these? When they had dined, Jesus
saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me
more than these? Do you love me more than these?
What was he referring to? What was there? Well, Peter's
boat was there. Peter was the first one who said,
I'm going fishing. Peter's net was there, everything
he used. Peter's brethren were there,
possibly even his own fleshly brother, Andrew. The end of verse
two just says, two other of his disciples, one could have been
Andrew, his own brother. So even though it was just a
few little words, this great question, was a soul searching
question. This was a root of the matter,
heart of the issue question. He said, Peter, do you love me
even more than these? Now put yourself in Peter's shoes and see how soul searching this
question is. Just see, obviously, the first
answer is, yea, Lord, thou knowest I do. All right, and then the
question comes again. And the question comes again.
See how soul-searching this question is. It's a stark question. It's
an eye-opening question. It honestly is. This is an eye-opening
question. This is a fearful, fearful question. Because he said in Matthew 10,
Our Lord said, he that loveth father, mother, son, daughter,
anyone, anything more than me is not worthy of me. Do you know the first thought
and the first emotion that comes to me when I hear that? I am not worthy of him. That's
the first thing that comes to me. I am not worthy of him. I mean it. Based on what I see
in myself, based on how I see myself to be, I don't believe
for one minute that I'm worthy of him. We shouldn't take this, this
question flippantly at all. He said, do you love me? Do you
love me? We shouldn't just answer that
flippantly at all. We should consider that fearfully
because the apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 16, 22, he said,
if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be cursed
when he returns. Is that not piercing? I mean,
is that not absolutely piercing? As we slip Peter's shoes on for
just a minute, do we realize the weightiness of what the Lord
asked him? The eternal weightiness. This
was a hinging question and the same question that was brought
to Peter must be brought to each one of us. And as it's brought
to each one of us, and as we ponder this, I believe we can
all relate to this right here. You know this so well, I've quoted
it to you so many times, but this is what John Newton wrote.
He said, "'Tis a point I long to know, oft it causes anxious
thought. Do I love the Lord or no?" Now
the common answer is, yea Lord, thou knowest I do. But once we
see him seated on his throne, making every decision that is
to be made according to his own will and purpose, knowing that
he is doing what he wants to do. You know, sometimes things don't
go the way we want them to go, but they're still going the way
he wants them to go. Once we see that He sovereignly
controlled everything pertaining to us and all men and women.
Once we see that He chose who He would show mercy to. Once
a person gets a hold of His sovereign right to choose who He would
save. Taking no thought and no consideration
for what man has done or what man has earned, because man hasn't
earned anything. Once we see that Christ shed
His blood on a particular people, once we see God as He is for
who He is, not the way we've made Him up to be in our minds, do we love Him? Do I love the
Lord, the Lord God, Jehovah, the God who is God over me, the
God who has me in His hand, I don't have Him in mind. Do I love the
Lord or no? Am I His, John Newton said, or
am I not? Tis a point I long to know. Oft
it causes anxious thought. Do I love the Lord or no? Am
I His or am I not? He said, it hinges on this. He went on to say, if I love,
why am I thus? Why this dull and lifeless frame? Hardly sure can they be worse
who've never heard His name. Could my heart so hard remain? Prayer, a task and burden proved. Do you ever struggle to pray?
Do you ever struggle to pray? Do you ever struggle to do it? And then once you start to do
it, you can't get through it and you have to keep starting
over and you say, I'm sorry, Lord. And you start over and
you, I'm sorry, Lord. Do I love the Lord or no? He said, could my heart so hard
remain prayer a task and burden proof? Every trifle, that's a
thing of little value or little importance. Every trifle give
me pain if I knew a Savior's love. When I turn my eyes within,
all is dark and vain and wild, filled with unbelief and sin. Can I deem myself a child? You know, the more we, the more
the Lord reveals Himself to us, the more we see Him, the more
we see ourselves. The more He shows Himself, the
more He shows us. The brighter He gets, the darker
we get. Everybody's kind of on the same
playing field until God reveals Christ. And when He does, down
we go. Down we go. Oh, when I turn my eyes within,
all is dark and vain and wild, filled with unbelief and sin. Do I love the Lord? Can I deem
myself a child? If I pray or hear or read, sin
is mixed with all I do. You who love the Lord indeed. John Newton said, I believe y'all
are believers. I'm worried about me. But he
said, you who love the Lord indeed, tell me, is it thus with you?
Do I love him? Peter, do you love me? Do I love
him? Do I love him? You know what
Peter's ultimate response to that question was? It was John
Newton's response, same response. It will be the response that
every child of God has to this question. This is what Peter
said. Lord, thou knowest. You know. Only you know the true
answer to that. Lord, only you know what you
have done for me. Lord, that all hinges on you.
This is the hinging question. Do you love me? That hinging
question all hinges on you. Lord, I don't trust myself to
answer that question before you. I believe it's time I put my
hand over my mouth. I only trust you to answer the
question. I only trust you from the start
of the work in me all the way to the end of the work in me. Lord, I'm looking to you. That
answer is of you. John Newton went on to say, yet
I mourn my stubborn will, find my sin a grief and thrall. That word thrall means I'm a
slave to it. But He said, should I grieve
at what I feel if I did not love at all? Could I joy His saints
to meet, choose the ways I once abhorred, which is what? His
way and not mine, His work and not mine, His glory and not mine. Could I joy his saints to meet,
choose the ways I once abhorred, find at times the promise sweet,
if I did not love the Lord? He said, Lord, you decide this
doubtful case. Thou who art the people's son,
sense upon thy work of grace, because it's all grace, because
it's not me and all you, because it's not my work, it's all your
gift. Since upon thy work of grace, if indeed it be begun,
He said, let me love you more and more. If I love at all, I
pray, if I have not loved before, help me to begin today. Do you love me? Lord, only you
know. Only you know, because only you
can put that love in here. Only you can create true love
in the heart for Christ and Christ alone. I mean Christ alone. Only you can make a sinful, dead,
wicked heart cry. I love Christ alone. I love hearing Christ alone. And I'm begging Lord, if I've
never truly loved you before, help me to start right now. If
I did not love you yesterday, Lord, let me start today. Let
me love you. Let me love you more and more
because I do grieve. I grieve over what I am. I do
joy your saints to meet. I do find your promise sweet,
so let me love you. Please, Lord, please let me love
you. I'll tell you this, if God does
create love in the heart of a sinner for Christ, everybody will know
it. Everybody will know it. When
a man or a woman falls head over heels in love, everybody knows
it. It can't be hid. It cannot be
hid. Did Peter love the Lord? Did
he love the Lord? Look at verse three again. Simon
Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, we also go
with thee. They went forth and entered into
a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing. But
when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore, but
the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto
them, Children, have you any meat? They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the
net on the right side of the ship, and you shall find. They
cast their fore and now they were not able to draw it for
the multitude of fishes. Can you envision the violence
of that scenario? It says they were gray fishes,
they might have caught some tuna or something. It was going to
sink the boat. They were afraid the boat was
going down. The amazing thing is that the net didn't break,
just violence, violence. Therefore, verse seven says,
that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, it's the Lord. Now, when Simon Peter heard that
it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, for he
was naked and did cast himself into the sea. Heels over head, whatever that
would be. Did he love him more than these? Even after the Lord, our brother
went on and read the rest of the chapter after the Lord told
him the horrible death he would suffer, all the suffering he
would endure. This is what he wrote to God's
people. This is what Peter wrote to God's
people in his epistle. Turn with me over to first Peter
chapter one. First Peter 1. Verse 1, it says, Peter an apostle
of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia, and Kingsport. Elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father, Through sanctification
of the spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ, grace unto you and peace be multiplied. He said,
I'm crying this to every elect child of God that the father
chose before the foundation of the world and plunged in the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who I'm speaking to. Verse
three, he said, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten
us again unto a lively hope. by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled,
and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time, wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for
a season, If need be, you are in heaviness through manifold
temptations, that the trial of your faith being much more precious
than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire
might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ. Now watch verse eight. He said,
whom having not seen you love. in whom though now you see him
not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation
of your souls. Knowing who you are and knowing
what you are, and knowing who He is and knowing what He has
done to redeem you from all your sin. He said, even though you're
enduring seasons of great heaviness, manifold trials, He said, because
your hope is in the praise and the honor and the glory that's
gonna be revealed at the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
said, even though you haven't seen Him yet, you love Him. You love Him. Aren't you so glad
the Word of God answered that question for you? Peter said,
Peter, Peter said, on the authority of God Almighty, if you're in
Christ, you love Him. That's a declaration, not a question. That's a declaration. He said,
if you are in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, this is how
it is, you love Him. If He chose you, if He covered
you, if He washed away all the filth from you, you love Him. Your heart will skip a beat at
the thought of being with Him. Every time the Word of God is
opened up to you, I mean truly opened up by the Spirit, And
as a side note, I would encourage all of us to pray for that. Ask
Him, as we meet like this, Lord, open my heart to these things.
Lord, send Your Spirit into my heart. Feed me, speak to me. Every time the Spirit does, every
single time, You will say, did not my heart burn within me? Peter said, you take my word
for it. I'm speaking on behalf of God almighty. If the father
is safely keeping you in Christ, even though you haven't seen
him yet, you love him. You do, you loved him. And the
fact that you love him, that is the evidence that he loves
you. The fact that you love him, the
apostle John said, we love him because, He first loved us. He said, herein
is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent
his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Knowing who we
are, knowing who he is, knowing it all had to come from him,
all of it. If we can honestly say, Lord,
thou knowest, you know, you know that I love you, then it means
he loves us. If we love Him, that's the evidence
He loves us and He gave Himself for us. You know, the grace of
God to His people, it is so, it's so glorious. He honestly
did everything. You know that? Everything pertaining
to us, He did all of it. Peter, do you love me? Gabe, do you love me? Oh, if I turn
my eyes within, it's not looking good. But if I look to you, if
I look to Christ, by the grace of God, I do. By the grace of God, I do. I
do. To have and to hold from this
day forward, we do. He says, all right, now that
you know that, go preach it to everybody. Go preach it to everybody. My word will create love for
Christ in the heart of every sinner that I have loved and
chosen to save. Do I love the Lord? Lord, you
decide this doubtful case. Thou who art the people's son,
since upon thy work of grace, if indeed it be begun, Let me
love thee more and more. This is my response. You decide,
this is in your hands, but if indeed that work of grace has
come to me, let me love thee more and more. If I love it all,
I pray. If I have not loved before, help
me to begin today. Lord, help me. Create a love
for Christ in me. If you create it, it'll be there.
If you put it there, do you love me? Lord, if you put it there,
I do. Let me, help me, more love to thee is my prayer. All right,
let's all stand together.