John chapter 15. Each week as
Obi does the bulletin, he tries to have a theme for that week. And he tries to find articles
that kind of relate to one another. And he even tries to pick a song
that goes along with that theme. Puts a lot of work and a lot
of thought into it. I appreciate your effort. But I peaked Wednesday night
at this, today's bulletin, wondering what is topic for today would
be, and I saw that it was love. And I said, well, I would like
to find something to read on that topic. And two verses came
to mind almost instantly. One of them was found here in
chapter 15, verse 13, and the other one was found in Romans
5. Don't turn there. But I read verse 13 and I went
back and read verse 12. And our Lord said, this is my
commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you. And the thought ran through my
mind, well, how has He loved us? And lo and behold, the answer
is in verse 13. Greater love hath no man than
this. that a man lay down his life
for his friends. Romans says, but God commended
His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Greater love hath no man than
this. So let's read down through these
passages, these verses, beginning at verse 7. Our Lord is doing the talking
and all these verses. And he says, if you abide in
me and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and
it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified
that you bear much fruit. So shall you be my disciples.
As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love. If you keep my commandments,
you shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my father's commandments
and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto
you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might
be full. This is my commandment, that
you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath
no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Hear, my friends, if you do whatsoever
I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants,
for the servants knoweth not what his Lord doeth, but I have
called you friends. For all things that I have heard
of my Father I have made known unto you. You have not chosen
me, But I have chosen you and ordained you that you should
go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain,
that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he
may give it you. These things I command you, that
you love one another. Let's pray. Our Christ Holy God, Our Lord, our God, Father of
our Lord and Savior. Father, words fail me to begin
to thank you for your love towards us. Oh, what love, what love
was manifest in your beloved going to the cross in our room
instead. We'll spend eternity praising
him, Admiring Him, thanking Him. Glory unto Him. Father, O that
He may be lifted up and magnified every time anyone stands behind
this pulpit. We're thankful for Him, thankful
for what He's done to us and for us. Increase our knowledge of Him.
May our love grow more and more. Father, I pray for our pastor
as he travels. Pray for his wife as she travels.
Give them both traveling mercies. Give them safe travel and return
them to us safely. May they both enjoy their time. We pray for the men that will
stand here in his stead. Use them mightily, give them
liberty of thought, clearness of mind, clearness of speech. Empower them with your spirit
that they may exalt our Lord and our Savior. Father, I pray for the sick among
us, especially for Jim, for Peggy,
Steve's brother. Oh, that you'd intervene, that
you would continue to bless him, continue to heal Jim and allow
him to come home, return him to his helpful self, if it be
thy will. Father, I thank you that you've
given us a place that is faithful to lift up your
son, a man faithful to tell us the truth, continue to bless
him, that he'd be a blessing to us. These things I ask in
Christ's name. Amen. John 13 again. John 13. Start reading together here in
verse 33. Little children. Little children. Yet a little
while I am with you. You shall seek me. And as I said
unto the Jews, where there I go, you cannot come. So now I say
unto you, a new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another
as I have loved you. And as I have loved you, that
you also love one another. By this shall all know that you
are my disciples if you have love one to another. Simon Peter
said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Our Lord answered
him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt
follow me afterwards. Peter saith unto him, Lord, why
can I not follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy
sake. Jesus answered him, wilt thou
lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
the cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me three times. You know, it's said here in verses
31 and 32 about how our Lord Jesus Christ was glorified. in
his death, glorified in what he's going to do. It says, Now
is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. And he willingly, our Lord Jesus
willingly, gave himself, no constraint on him but the will of God and
love for his elect, and to honor and magnify his Father. And how
did The Father was glorified in the death of His Son. How
was He glorified in the death of His Son? Well, I'll tell you
how He was. We've seen how God could be both
a just God and a Savior at the same time. Now, He could be just,
a just God, and given His own Son. someone equal to himself,
someone with the same merit, someone with God himself manifest
in the flesh. God has to have a sacrifice equal
to himself. That's why all the blood sacrifices
and all the offerings had been made, all the prayers had been
made, all the blood that had been shed until the Lord Jesus
Christ came and gave himself, never put away one sin. And our
Lord Jesus glorified his father and showed us how God can be
just, punished him, punished him in his people's room instead. He's just God. When our Lord
Jesus Christ bore our sins in his own body on the tree, God
was just to punish him, just for him to die. But at the same
time, Since God was satisfied with him and accepted his offering
and his sacrifice, then he can be a savior too and save us from
our sin. Save us from everything that's
against us. And that's how he glorified his
God. And now look what he said here
in verse 33. Little children, little children,
hear for the first time our Lord Jesus called his disciples and
addressed them as little children. The very first time he called
them little children. And what an endearing term, what
a blessed thing, an endearing term that our Lord Jesus called
them little children, little children. Now I'm going to talk
about two types of children here. And the first place I want you
to do, there's the children of God. And then there's the children
of the devil. Now you look with me over in
1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. We're going
to talk about little children. He said little children. Little
children. Look over here in 1 John chapter
3. And look right down here starting
in verse 9. He called them little children,
two different types of children in the scriptures, two different
types. Whosoever is born of God doeth not commit sin, for his
seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born
of God. In this the children of God are
manifest and the children of the devil. Whosoever doeth not
righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his
brother. 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 did he slew he him?
Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.
First he talked about the children of God. There in verse nine,
whosoever born of God, and this is the children of God manifested.
How can we tell the children of God Well, I'll tell you how
we tell them. By election, we were chosen of
God before the world ever began. Chosen in Christ. In Christ before
the foundation of this world. God told Jeremiah, before I formed
you in your mother's belly, I knew you. I ordained you to be a prophet. He told Paul, he says, you know,
Paul said this, he said, when it pleased God who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace to reveal
His Son in me. And I tell you what, God's children
were loved eternally, loved effectually, loved, and our Lord Jesus said,
having loved His own, loved His own. And how do we know the children
of God? Look what it said in verse nine, whosoever is born
of God. God's children are born again,
they're born of God. They're not born of this world,
they're born of God. And I tell you, born of the Holy
Spirit. We have the spirit of adoption
whereby we cry, I'm a father. And look what he said, his seed
remaineth in him, he doeth not commit sin, for his seed remains
in him and he cannot sin because he's born of God. Now what seed's
he talking about? that remains in us. There has
to be a seed. He's talking about a seed. If
you're born, you've got to be born of a seed. We're born of
a natural seed from our father and our mother. And our Lord
Jesus Christ here, God's telling us here that we are born of God
and we cannot sin because His seed remains in us. Now, what
seed is He talking about? Well, I'm going to show you.
Look back over here in 1 Peter. Go back to your left to 1 Peter.
Chapter 1 and verse 23, you see, we're born of God. God's children
are born of God. People talk about all the time,
well, I'm a born-again Christian. There ain't no such animals not
being born again. And being born again is not something
you can do for yourself. The new birth is something God
does for us. We're entirely passive in the
new birth. What did you have to do with
your first birth? Absolutely nothing. When you
was in your mother's womb, you didn't know your mama. You didn't
know your daddy. And you didn't know who they
was till you had a few days life in you. Then you recognize your
mother's voice and your daddy's voice, you understand those.
And that's the way the new birth is. The new birth is a mystery
that God himself comes and does it for us. It's not our faith
that causes us to be born again. It's not our repentance that
causes us to be born again. Because we are born again, because
we have been born of God, that's where faith comes from. That's
where repentance comes from. You got to have life before you
can believe. You got to have life before you
can repent. You got to have life before you
can cry out to God. Is that not right? And look what
he said over here. 1 Peter 1.23. Here's that seed I'm telling
you about. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but
of incorruptible. There's two seeds here. There's
a corruptible seed. That's what we was born of the
first time. But then there's an incorruptible seed. What is
that? The Word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. And that's what lives in us.
Christ, the living Word, Christ, the written Word, that Word is
that seed that's put inside of us. And that's why we pray our
Father, which is in heaven. I didn't know God is my father
until I had the spirit of God in me that started crying out,
my father, my father. People don't never, people talk
about father, you know, and you never hear religious people calling
God father. They always say Jesus this and
Jesus that. But I'm telling you what, when
we automatically, when we're born again, we start saying our
father, oh, our father. Father, father, father, father. It's natural for us to do that.
And we pray our father because we're the children of God. And
he said, he called us over here, my little children. You know
why he called us little children? Because we are little. We are little, huh? Oh, little,
we're little children because we need to be looked after and
cared for. All right, well, you know, we
run after these little fellas, you know, and keep them from
falling and chase their clothes and clean them up and do all
the things for them they can't do for theirself. Well, that's
why he called us little children. He walks after us, takes care
of us, clothes us, washes us, cleans us up when we fall, forgives
us, embraces us, and loves us, and teaches us, and instructs
us, and feeds us, does everything for us that we cannot do for
ourselves. That's why we're little children.
And oh, beloved, because we are little, you know how little we
are? I'm gonna tell you how little we are. How little knowledge
do we have of our Lord Jesus Christ? How much do we know about
Him? I'll tell you what I know about
Him. I know He's my Savior, and I know I'm a sinner. I know that. I've told you this before, but
when Mary got sick, Larry Simpson asked her, and she was about
three or four months away from dying, He says, Mary, what is
your hope? And she said, because I'm a sinner,
a real bonafide sinner, and Christ died for sinners, and I'm going
to face Him on that basis right there. And that's what he's saying here,
a little chill. Little we know about Him. I know
this. I know that I'm a great sinner, and Christ is a great
Savior. I know that it took the blood
of Christ to put away sin. I knew it takes the power of
God to give man a heart and a life to believe. I know it takes the
power of God to raise us from the dead and quicken us in life
in Christ. I know that. I know it takes
the power of God to cause you and I to walk and talk and live
to his glory while we live in this world. I know that, that's
what I know. And I know something else about
us while we're little children. We're all little in our own eyes.
Anybody want to stand up and tell all the things they've done
for the Lord? Anybody want to stand up and tell how dedicated,
how committed? We're little in our own eyes.
Isaiah said, cry, why shall I cry? All flesh is great. I'm looking at a bunch of grass.
That's what the Lord said. And the Spirit of the Lord blows
on it. But the next thing he tells all that flesh, it's grass.
You know what the next thing he says to them? Behold your God. We know we ain't nothing. And I'll tell you another way
we're little. The world views us as little. The world views
us as little. We absolutely, as far as the
world's concerned, we are of no consequence to them. None
whatsoever. Not none whatsoever. And that's
why the Lord said, little children, you shall seek me. And what he
meant by that, when he says you shall seek me, he tells of their
love for him. They're going to seek him. Little
children seek their father. Little children. My little children. My son's 45 years old, Friday,
and he still seeks me, still calls me. Huh? My grandkids seek me. Poppy,
would you hold me? Poppy, would you do this? Poppy,
would you do that? And we shall seek him because
that tells of our love for him. We gonna seek him. Old Barnard
said, when I die, I shall put on my tomb. Here lies a lifelong
seeker after the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he says, as little children,
that expresses his love for us. Little children, that expresses
his love for us. Now look here again, and back
over here in 1 John, seeing the children of God. Now look at
the children of the devil. There's a great difference in
them. In verse 10, in this the children of God are manifest.
What? That they're born of God. That his seed remains in them.
In this the children of God are manifest and the children of
the devil. Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God.
And listen to this, neither he that loveth not his brother.
For this is the message that you've heard from the beginning,
that we should love one another. not as Cain, who was of that
wicked one, and slew his brother. Why did he slay his brother?
Because his own works were evil. God said, I don't want your works.
I don't want the fruit of your ground. I don't want anything
you got. If you ain't got blood, don't
come. And Abel brought a lamb and all children of Belial. And
now John said over here in another place, he says, try the spirits.
for not ever spirits of God. Try the spirits, whether they
be of God or not. You know, and I'll tell you something
about that. Now, Lord Jesus says, those Jews, he told them, he
says, they said, we're not, we're Abraham's children. We'd be not
born of vindication. And our Lord said in John 8,
44, you are of your father, the devil. And the works of your
father, that's what you're going to do. Said he was a liar from
the beginning, he was a murderer from the beginning. And the works
of your father, that's what you'll do. And what is the children
of the devil? They can't love the truth. Cain
didn't love the truth. Cain rejected the truth. They
can't stand for others to be accepted. Oh, Cain couldn't stand
that his brother would be accepted of God, that his brother had
a righteousness not of his own making, that he was taught of
God, that he needed to come to God with a sacrifice, one that
God himself appointed. And Cain He couldn't bear that
his brother would be accepted. That his brother was righteous
in God's sight. That his brother was something
that God done something for. And he brought the best that
he had. He brought the works of his hands
and God said, I don't want it. I won't accept it. That ain't
fair. Well, he found out what fair
was. He found out what fair was. And oh, beloved, they can't stand
for others to be accepted, to others to receive honor. And
oh, that's like Saul and David. Saul was the king and everybody
started praising David because David's winning all the battles
and God had anointed him king. And Saul despised David. Why? Because David, everybody
loved David. And they bragged on David. They
didn't talk about the king, they talked about David. And Saul
said, I got to do away with this fella and tried to kill him three
times with a javelin in his own house. Ah, listen. And all the Jews, the scripture
says, were moved with envy. But I'll tell you something about
it. Look back over here in John 13. Our Lord Jesus, Our Lord
Jesus addressed these children, addressed them as little children
after Judas had gone out. You know why? Because you don't
call people like Judas little children. He only addresses Judas. Unbelievers are not to be addressed
as God's children, never to be addressed as God's children.
Just never do it. That's why after Judas went out,
that's when he says little children. Judas wasn't going to be addressed
as one of God's children. No, no. Not going to be doing
it. And that's why, you know, that's
why we cannot go out here and indiscriminately tell people
that God loves them and Christ died for them. We can't indiscriminately
do that. Judas is one of the twelve, and
he wasn't. Jacob I loved, Esau I hated. You know when we know we're addressing
to Jacob? Whenever they confess faith in Christ and embrace Christ
and acknowledge Christ and come to Christ and rest on Christ
alone. And you know when that happens?
After God gets ahold of them and wrestles with them all night
and throws a hip out of joint. And all look what our Lord said
here now said down there in verse 33 little children Yet a little
while I'm with you And he said you shall seek me You shall seek
me Yeah, you'll seek him. You know when they start seeking
him. They started seeking him at his tomb Mary went to the
tomb Peter and John went to the tomb and You know when they first
start seeking Him, you know how you'll seek Him? You seek Him
with your heart. How can they do anything else
but to seek Him? How can we do anything else but
seek our Lord Jesus Christ? And our Lord Jesus says this
about Him. He says, And I said unto the
Jews, Whither ye go, ye cannot come. So now I say unto you. Here He isn't talking about His
return to the Father. But he's going to the cross and
there they could not come. There they could not come. Now
what he said to the Jews and what he said to these here is
two different things. He told the Jews in John 8, 21,
he says this. He said, I'm going where I go. You cannot come and you'll die
in your sins. You'll die in your sins. Now
these people ain't going to die in their sins. And our Lord was
talking about you can't have any part in what I'm doing. But
His disciples here, He says, you know, you can't go where
I'm going now, so I say to you. And He's not really talking about
His return to the Father like He told the Jews, but He's talking
about going to the cross. And there they could not come.
They could come and do the outward thing. But they couldn't bear
the burden of it. They couldn't bear the guilt
of it. They couldn't go to that cross with him. They couldn't
go into the sufferings with him. They couldn't go into that furnace
of affliction with him. In his great work of redemption,
he was alone. Look over with me in Isaiah 63. He was alone. He by himself purged our sins. He had to go to that cross alone. He had to be alone. He had to
be forsaken of God. Lots and lots of people was at
the cross, but nobody was with him at the cross in and of itself. What was accomplished at the
cross. He went to that, as that high
priest went behind the veil once a year, and offered the blood
there once a year. Our Lord Jesus Christ went to
that cross by himself, entered into this business of transacting
for our sins by himself. Nobody could go with him. Peter
couldn't go with him. John couldn't go with him. And oh, listen, look what it
said here in Isaiah 63. Who is this that cometh from
Edom with dyed garments from Basra? this that is glorious
in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength,
I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Who is he? Wherefore art thou red in thine
apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-flat?
Listen to what our Lord says here. I have trodden the wine-press
alone, and of the people there was none with me. For I will
tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury, and
their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I'll stain
all my raiment. What's he talking about? He started
trampling down, trampling down sin, everything that's against
us. And all the blood of our sins,
the blood of our death is gonna be on him. For the day of vengeance,
is in my heart, and listen to this, and the year of my redeemed
is come. He had to do this all by himself,
all by himself. Now look over here again, whether
I go you cannot come, so now I say to you, now listen to what
he says, and Gary mentioned this earlier, a new commandment I
give unto you, now he's talking to his little children a new
commandment John 1334 I give unto you that you love one another
as I have loved you that you also love one another and he
says this is a commandment I give unto you a new commandment what
makes it new to love God to love his neighbor our Lord said on
those two things hang all the law and the commandments is that
not right the law and the prophets but he says a new commandment
What is this new? What is it talking about new?
Well, I'll tell you what's new is that here you love one another
like I loved you, like I did. And it's a new commandment. It's
always new because it's always new in how excellent it is. And
he says, when I give you this commandment, and it's a commandment.
And what he's talking about, you love one. He set us a new
example. He gives us a new motive. And
he says, keep loving one another as I have loved you. And what
does this mean? Love as brethren in the same
family. We're brethren. We are brethren. We're in the same family. And oh, you got any brothers
or sisters that you don't love? That you don't care about? And
he says, oh, love is brethren in the same family. We're children
of the same father. We're born of the same father.
And forgiving one another, forbearing one another in love. And how
do you love as another as our Lord did? Preferring one over
another. Preferring somebody else above
yourself. And love freely, nothing constrains
you but to love freely. And to love notwithstanding our
weaknesses and our imperfections. How did our Lord love us? What
are we like right this minute, sitting here right now? Our Lord loves us, sitting here,
in our weaknesses and our imperfections. And our minds wonder. And us
planning on what we're going to do tomorrow, or next week,
or where we're going to go, what are we going to do? And you think
our Lord just because our mind wonders, I'm going to ignore
that bunch. No, no. He loves us in all of
our imperfections. And that's the way we do. I know for a fact that you all
have to overlook a lot of imperfections and weaknesses in me. And if
you love me, you have to love me freely because I cannot possibly
possibly do anything cause you love me. So if you love me, you
do it because Christ did. And Christ put love in you for
me and me for you. And then he says a new commandment
that you love one another. And I tell you something about
how our Lord Jesus Christ loved. He loved his own. He loved his
children. And it made no difference who
they were. made absolutely no difference who they were. You
know, Peter and James and John, they were ignorant and unlearned
men. That's the conclusion they had
about them. But it made no difference whether
they was rich or poor, whether they was 12 years old or an old
man, whether they thought they was weak or strong, greater or
lesser. And our Lord loved not only in word, but He actually
loved in deed and in truth. And that's what he says, you
love one another as I loved you. And love is Christ. He says,
love one another as I've loved you. Love is Christ loved, had
never been seen or revealed before. The love that like Christ showed
his disciples and his people, that kind of love had never been
seen in this world before. You know that? Nobody had ever
seen the love that Christ manifested towards his people in this world
before, until he came into this world. Nobody ever seen that
kind of love before. Nobody ever seen it. Nobody ever
seen loving somebody that would deny you. Nobody would ever figure loving
somebody after they told you, you know, you're not going to
do something. Nobody would think on loving
somebody if you told them, you know, I want you to watch with
me for just a little while and they go to sleep. And oh, and I tell you what,
our Lord Jesus Christ, how could he, you know, he loved them and
there's arguing which one was the greatest. He loved them. When they didn't have any faith
and they said, oh, Lord, save us or we'll perish. He loved
them even then. So next time you know you say,
oh Lord, I'm going to perish if you don't come, He's going
to love you and He's going to come. He's going to come. And love
had never been revealed like Christ's love had ever been revealed
before. He was love personified. And
His love was superior to the faults of all of its objects. Nothing in the objects of whom
Christ loved never kept Him from loving. Purely, powerfully, eternally,
continually, always loved Him. Never once does it ever fail.
And I'll tell you something else about His love that His love
never varied. His love never varied. Our love
is like this, but his love never varied. When he told Simon Peter,
you're going to deny me, you know that he loved him then as
much as he ever loved him? When Simon Peter was in there
telling that woman, oh, I don't know that man. Our Lord Jesus
Christ's love for him never varied. When Paul was persecuting his
children, God loved him before the foundation of the world,
and because God loved him, God's love never varied for him, and
that's why God put him down on the Damascus Road. He said, you're
gonna love me too, and I'm gonna love you enough, I'm gonna put
you down. It's a rare, rare, rare, rare,
love is a rare thing. I mean genuine love that Christ
showed and Christ puts in his people's heart. That is one of
the rarest things that you'll ever come across in this world. Would you all not agree with
that? And I tell you what, his love
regarded no sacrifice too great. And that's what he said over
here in John 15, 12 and 13. Look at that again with me. This
is my commandment. He over there, he said, it's
a new one. This is my commandment, that you won't love one another
as I loved you. And greater love hath no man
than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Oh,
bless his name. Bless his holy name. Now, go
back over here in verse 35 of John 13, look what he says. And he's talking about love and
he says, by this shall all know that you are my disciples. How
are you going to know? If you love, have love one to
another. You know what most folks would
have said? If you know the five points of Calvinism, then that's
the way people are going to know you're going to be his disciples. If you have this incredible knowledge
of the scriptures, then that's how people's going to know you're
my disciple. Huh? Oh, when they understand and
they see all the works you do, and all the soul winning you
do, and all the witness you do, and all the track passing out
you do, then everybody's going to know you're my disciple. You know how he gonna say by
this all men gonna know you're my disciples? If you have love
one to another. Love is the badge of a believer. It's not knowledge, it's not
orthodoxy, it's not flexly works, it's not zeal. But love is what
identifies a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. The difference
between somebody that knows Christ and somebody that don't. Religious
people are always talking about how much they love Jesus. And
how much they do for Jesus. But he teaches us to love one
another. You love one another. Just like
I loved you. You love one another. And if
you love one another, you know what you're going to prove? That
you belong to me. That you're mine. He's done a wonderful thing.
And I'll tell you something, what he tells us to do, he gives
us the power to do it. Whatever He commands us to do,
He gives us the ability to do it. He told a fellow one time,
and his arm was all drawn up, he said, stretch forth your arm.
He could stretch forth his arm. Never had to do it before. But
our Lord said, stretch forth your arm. His arm went out. Because
with the command comes the power, the ability to do it. Do you
think our Lord would command us to do something and not give
us then the power to do it? Oh my. You know, the Pharisees'
disciples were known by their broad phylacteries and their
long robes and prayers in the street corners. John's disciples
were known by their baptism. But the mark, the evidence of
a true believer is love, genuine, active love. Being, seeing you
have purified your heart with a true love for the brethren,
purified your heart. And that's why he says, though
I speak with the tongues of men and angels, and have not charity,
I'm become as a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. Though
I give my body to be burned at the stake and all my goods to
feed the poor, and have not charity, have not love, it profits me
nothing. And though I have faith to move
mountains and understand all mysteries and have all knowledge,
and yet, if I have not charity, if I have not love, I am nothing. You know what it says, love is
kind, love is gentle, love is forbearing, love borneth not
itself, love envieth not. And I know, I can sit here tonight
and tell you all the evidences and the times that you've proved
your love to me over the years. But oh my, that's how they're
going to know. That's how they're going to know. That's what's
wonderful about being a believer. You can go to another, you know,
another congregation of believers like us, and you know how you
just go and you fit in, you know, and you just rejoice and you
know and you visit and you talk and you worship. You know why
that is? Because you're all in the same
family. You all have the same love. You know, strangers can't come
into your house and say, listen, I'm going to come in and make
myself at home. No, no. The family comes in and makes themselves
at home. That's the way we are wherever we go. That's the way
wherever we go. But now look here in verse 36.
Look what a question. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord,
where are you going? Where are you going? Where are
you going? They hadn't grasped the fact
that their beloved master, their Lord Jesus, is going to be taken
from them. He had spoken of his death over
and over and over, but they didn't understand the real meaning of
it. They didn't grasp it. They didn't get it. And you know
what this teaches us? This teaches us that men may
receive much religious instruction. and yet take very little of it
in, very, very little of it in, especially if it doesn't fit
into our perception, preconceived perception. And these disciples
missed all the things that our Lord said about, I'm going to
die. And it was coming upon them and they didn't get it. They
didn't understand it. And our Lord says to him, old
Peter says, where were you going Lord? And our Lord said, where I go,
you can't follow me now, but listen, you'll follow me later,
you'll follow me afterwards. Why can't thee follow me now? And look what Simon Peter, why
cannot I follow thee now in verse 37? Why can't I? Why can't I
follow you now? I will lay down my life for thy
sake. Simon Peter says, oh listen,
why can't I follow you? Wherever you go, I'll follow
you. Why can't I follow you? I'll lay down my life for you.
And I'll tell you something, Peter really meant this. He really,
really, truly meant this. He really meant, I'll lay down
my life for you. He knew and really loved the
Lord Jesus Christ, but you know what his problem was? He didn't
know himself well enough. And the Lord's gonna teach him.
And it was right, it was natural for him to feel the Lord's absence.
But he should receive thy Lord's comforting words. You can't follow
me now, but you're going to follow me afterwards. And you know how
he followed our Lord afterwards? Look over here in John 21, verse
18 and 19. You can't follow me now, but
you'll follow me afterwards. Look what our Lord told Simon
Peter here. Verily, verily, I say unto you, when you was young,
you put your clothes on, and you walked just wherever you
would, but you're going to be old, and you're going to stretch
forth your hands, and another's going to gird you and carry you
where you would not. And look what he said by that.
This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify
God. And when he had spoken this,
he saith unto him, follow me. He said, you can't follow me
now, but you'll follow me afterwards. You're going to go just the way
I went. You're going to go. And oh, listen, beloved, God
helped us to lay to heart our Lord's words. We see the consequences
of Peter not laying our Lord's words to heart. And he eventually
did lay down his life for the Lord Jesus Christ, but oh, the
failure he had at first. He had to learn by experience.
what Christ knew of him all the time. And our Lord answered him
in verse 38, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Will you
do it, Simon Peter? Will you really? He said, Truly,
truly, I say unto thee, the cock shall not crow till you've denied
me three times. Oh, Peter, I know you say you're
going to lay down my life, but this is what's really going to
happen. This is what's going to happen. And here our Lord
manifests His omniscience. He's foretelling the fall of
one of His own, and an apostle. And oh listen, oh Simon Peter,
and he did it just exactly like our Lord said. How unlikely would
a real believer deny his Lord, and then continue doing it? He
said, you're just gonna deny me three times. He won't deny
me no more than that. If a man denies Christ and keeps
on denying Him in the pulpit and denies His power and His
sovereignty and His blood and His effectual redemption, he
denies Christ every time he's in the pulpit. But all listened. He knew that Peter would play
the coward instead of dying for Christ. And yet our Savior didn't
cast him out. He loved him and He loved him
unto the end. And this is the love He talked
about. Now look in Mark 16, and I'm going to quit. Look in Mark
16. You know the story about Simon
Peter denying the Lord Jesus Christ. Look here in Mark 16.
They had went to the tomb. They had went to the tomb where
our Lord Jesus Christ was. It says about early in the morning,
Mary Magdalene married the mother of James, Salome. They all went
down very early in the morning, the sacrifice at the rising of
the sun. And they got down there, and the stone was rolled away,
and they entered into the grave, and they saw a young man sitting
on the right side, clothed with a white garment, and they were
afraid. And he said unto them, Be not
afraid. Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified. He's risen. He is not here. Behold the place
where they laid him. Look at it. But he said, This
is what I want you to do. but go your way, tell his disciples
and Peter. Tell his disciples and be sure
and tell Peter that he goeth before you into
Galilee And there shall you see as he said unto you. Oh my. You go tell, you go tell
Donnie. You go tell James. That I'm going to meet him. With
all her faults and all her imperfections. I'm going to meet him over there.
I'm going to meet them up there when they worship. I'm going
to meet them when they pray. I'm going to meet them when they
need me. I'm going to meet them when they seek me. I'm going
to meet them when they fail me. I'm going to love them. I'm going
to love them. Oh, our Savior. Oh, our blessed,
blessed, blessed Savior. What a day. What a blessed day. What a gracious day. What a day
of the love of God and the love of Christ manifested to our hearts
and minds and souls. Oh, Lord, I bless you, praise
you, and thank you. Oh, Lord, you take us all. You
embrace us all. You know us all. And Lord, with
all that's wrong with us, you love us and you keep us and you
perfect us in one of these days in your wonderful power and grace.
Lord, we'll be just like you. Be just like you. Just like you. And Lord, as I go away for a
few days, bless this body of believers. Oh God, bless them. Strengthen them, encourage them,
keep them, preserve them. Those that are sick in Body Restore,
Jim, Peggy, Steve's brother, And Lord Jesus, as these dear,
dear men, these men who know the gospel, these men who know
Christ, these men who love the gospel, desire to preach the
truth and honor you in their lives and in their message. God
bless them. Oh, Lord, use them. Lord, open
their hearts, open their minds, open their understanding. I thank
you for them. Thank you for the wonderful fellowship
we enjoy together in our Lord Jesus Christ. And God, as others
travel about, I pray that you would see them safely. And we
ask these things and bless you for these things in Christ our
Lord's name. Amen. Amen. See you in a couple
of weeks. Good night and God bless you.