I was talking to Joyce today
while her and Daryl were on their way home, and she said that after
their brother-in-law up there had passed away, he said, God
wasn't mentioned. You know, that family gathered
around that. They didn't talk about God, didn't
talk about the soul. They just interested in how it
split up things in the house. She said, it's just the, she
said, you know, that's the difference in, you know, God's, the scripture
says God's not at all in their thoughts. There's a multitude
of people go through this world that God's not in all their thoughts.
Not in all their thoughts. They go through a whole life.
And you're like an animal. That's what the, you know, the
old puritans, what they called them, they said it's the animal
nature, the beastly nature of us. And there's men and women,
and we'd be the same way if it hadn't been for the mercy and
grace of God. But they're just like an animal. They just get
what they need, and take all they can get while they're in
this world, and never look up and consider where it comes from,
how it gets here, or anything. But then you get in the believer's
house, and they've heard sickness and that. That's all they want
to talk about. God. Pray for us. Pray for us. Read the Scriptures
to us. Pray for my loved one. Because you see, they understand
God. They've been made conscious of
God. But let me bring you a message this evening on three necessary
questions. Three necessary questions. Unless
you and I look tonight as if Christ is asking me and you these
three necessary questions. You know, he's just got through
Providing these disciples here with something to eat. You know,
they brought fish, but when they got there, fish was already on
the fire. Bread was already baked. He just told them to sit around
here and come and dine. And they had nothing. He had
the fire. He had the food. He had the words of comfort.
So when they had dined, our Savior starts a conversation with Simon
Peter. Look what it says there in verse
15. So when they had dined, They ate the fish, they ate the bread,
they sat around the fire, they had the fellowship, they had
the communion. They knew it was the Lord. They didn't say, is
it you, Lord Jesus? Master, is it you? They knew
it was the Lord Jesus Christ. So when they had dined, he starts
this conversation with Simon Peter. Everybody else gets to
hear. But our Lord starts this conversation. And Simon Peter is representative
of all of us as believers. He is representative of a believer.
You know, he is the one who fell. He fell, and he fell grievously.
And a lot of times people think they have to do something very
bad to fall, something very bad to fall. But I tell you, I feel
like I'm down more than I am up in the sense that my heart
is so cold, that my understanding and desire for the Scriptures
is so little. But let me look at his fall.
Look over here in Luke 22 with me just a moment. Luke 22. Let's
look at his fall. And he's representative of us. In Luke 22, in verse 31, look
what happens. Our Lord starts this conversation
with Simon Peter, and he starts this conversation, the first
thing, he asks him, do you love me? Ask him a second time, do
you love me? Ask him a third time, do you
love me? So three questions that were necessary in light of what
had taken place. In verse 31 of Luke 22, and the
Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired you, that
he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee that
thy faith fell not, and when thou art converted, strengthen
thy brethren. Now watch what he says, and he says, Lord, I
am ready to go with thee both into prison and to death. And
he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this
day before thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me. So that's his fault. Here he
was, the Lord Jesus told him what was going to happen. He
didn't believe Christ. He did not believe the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Lord said, Satan's going
to get you. He's going to sift you like sifting wheat. He desires
to do it, and I'm going to pray for you. He's going to get you. But I'm going to pray for you.
And the only reason your faith will not fail, and this is the
only reason your and our faith does not fail, because we've
got a great high priest at the right hand of God. I mean, that's
the reason, beloved. It's not because we're strong.
It's not because we're not like Simon Peter. He said, Oh, no.
No, you know, I'm ready to go with you to prison. He contradicted
the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm ready to go with you both
into prison and to death if that's what's necessary. And how many
times have you and I contradicted Christ? How many times have we
contradicted Him in our words, in our actions, in our attitude,
in places we go, things we do, things we say, the way we treat
somebody, and we think that we've got to do something real, real
grievous We don't have to do much. Don't
have to do much. But look what happened. Simon,
Simon. Oh, and this is very blessed. Save that salt to sit you. This
is a very blessed and a very solemn. And, oh, beloved, solemn
because if Christ didn't pray for him to keep him from falling,
he would have fell forever. He would have fell forever. And
what a mercy! I know we don't see it this way,
but what a mercy in letting him fall. That was a mercy in letting
him fall. It was as necessary for him to
fall as it was for Christ to restore him. It was necessary
for him to fall. You know why it was necessary?
So he could learn something about the condition of his own heart.
So he could be brought to the same place where Paul the Apostle
said, I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good
thing. I said, Paul, he's going to have
to learn, beloved, that he has no ability, he has no strength,
he has nothing but pride and confidence, self-confidence,
and hypocrisy, and didn't know the depths of the depravity of
his own heart when he would contradict Christ and say, no, Lord, I won't
do that. In order to show him the worthlessness
of self, if a man has to fall to find out the worthlessness
of himself, And how much we get to thinking that, no, bring us
down. And oh, beloved, to strip him
of his self-confidence, to humble his proud heart. And he needed
to be shifted by Satan, beloved, because he says, I'm going to
go with you to prison. Christ said, no, you ain't. I'm
going to go with you to death. No, you won't. And you're going
to find out just exactly what you're made of. Do you all ever
pray this way? Lord, please remember that we're
but dust. Do you all ever pray that way? Lord, remember that we're dust.
Do you remember how weak dust is? It don't take much of a wind
to cause dust to move around. Huh? And I tell you, if it can
pour down the rain, if the heat comes out just right, you're
back to dust. Will it be necessary for you
and I to have to fall? For God to show us the pride
of our hearts, the confidence of our hearts, our self-righteousness,
our self-confidence? Well, it was necessary for Paul.
Look at 2 Corinthians 12. It was necessary for Paul. Look
at 2 Corinthians 12. And you know, Paul admitted it.
He owned up to it. He owned up to this. He said in verse 7, that lest
I should be exalted above measure, I mean, he had evidently felt
pretty good about himself. He said, lest I should be exalted
above measure through the abundance of the revelations Oh, God gave
him revelations. He wrote 21 books of the New
Testament. 21. There's only 27. He wrote
21 of them. You read Romans and you read
Galatians. You read Colossians. You read
Ephesians. You read 1st and 2nd Thessalonians
and 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. You read these books, Corinthians.
And you see the depth of the knowledge that the man had. And
he says, you know, I learned my gospel. He said, I didn't
go up to Peter, and I didn't go and see James, I didn't see
any of those fellows. I went over to Arabia and I stayed
there for a year, and I learned the gospel Christ Himself gave
me the revelation of the gospel. Christ, I didn't learn it from
him. And I certify you, granted, I didn't sit at a man's feet
and learn the gospel. I sat at Christ's feet and learned
the gospel. So he said, here I've got these revelations, but
all at the same time with these revelations of being used of
God comes this pride. That's what he says, you know,
don't be a novice lest being lifted up with pride thou fall
into the temptation of the devil. And he says, so since I didn't
want to be exalted above measure, and Christ knew my heart, knew
how much there is in me, there was given to me a thorn in the
flesh in my body, in my nature, the messenger of Satan to buffet
me. lest I should be exalted above
measure. God says, you know, Paul, I know
exactly how to keep you where you need to be kept. I know exactly
how to keep you looking to me, trusting me, believing me, having
no confidence in yourself. And for this thing, I asked the
Lord three times. Oh my, none of us want to suffer.
None of us want to suffer in the flesh. None of us want to
have a thorn in the flesh. But I besought the Lord thrice
that it might depart from me. Three times, Lord! Don't let
go. Please take this away from me.
I can serve you better if I didn't have this thorn in the flesh.
I can preach better if I didn't have this thorn in the flesh.
I can travel more if I didn't have this thorn in the flesh.
I can pray better if I didn't have this thorn in the flesh. Oh, and what did he say? What
did he say? My grace is sufficient for you. And oh, this is the key right
here. My strength is made perfect in weakness. Whenever you ain't
got anything, that's when you got everything. Whenever you
have absolutely no strength, that is when Christ gets all
the glory. And most gladly, that's why it
says, well, that's what it takes. That that's what it takes for
Christ to be with me, Christ to be on me, Christ to use me.
Most gladly, therefore, will I glory in my infirmities. I'll
glory in this thorn in the flesh. I'll glory in all my weaknesses
that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take
pleasure in infirmities. That's why he can sing that night
when he was in the Philippian jail. He is in reproaches. In
necessities, oh, to go hungry, to go naked, to be distressed
by men, and persecutions, and distresses, and this is it, for
Christ's sake! Not having trouble for my loud
mouth, not having trouble because I'm exalted, not having trouble
because I'm proud, not having trouble because I'm a hypocrite,
not having trouble because I got a cold heart. Boy, and distresses
for Christ's sake, for when I'm weak, damn strong. Oh, I've become a fool in glory,
and anybody is who starts glorying in yourself, or glorying in anything
you've done. Oh, and he says, I'm not going
to be one of them. So there he was. Will it be necessary
for you and I to have a thorn in the flesh? If that's what
it takes, yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. When we get
like this, oftentimes the false, the only remedy we have to learn,
that is, in our flesh dwells no good thing. It's only when
we're weak that we're strong. Then Bruce Crabtree's talked
about this so many times, God will not, I don't know about
you all, but he will not let his preachers, will not let his
preachers not live by anything but faith. He just won't do it. He just keeps, he just keeps,
he just keeps the props knocked out to And you can tell who he
keeps the crocks knocked out of the most because of the way
God uses them. And Bruce Crabtree is one of them fellas that God
really, really uses. So he must keep the pressure
on him pretty hard. And Henry Mahan's another one.
When you see how God uses somebody publicly, you can pretty well
tell what God's doing for them in private. You know, if somebody's just
up popping off, that's a different story, but for God to use them.
And if God's gonna use Paul, gotta make him absolutely weak.
Gotta make him with no strength. If God's gonna use Simon Peter,
he's got to be sifted by Satan. And this is the way for Peter
to be converted this fall. If he don't be converted from
himself, from his self-confidence, from his pride, from his self-righteousness,
from his arrogance, Well, then he's going to have to be sifted. And let me show you this right
quick. I'm going to show you two things. Look in John 18 with
me. John 18 and 18. Now look at this. You know, but Peter, in verse
16, it says in verse 15, And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and
so did another disciple. That disciple was known unto
the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of
the high priest. But Peter stood at the door without.
Then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high
priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in
Peter. Then said the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art
thou not also one of this man's disciples? He saith, I am not.
And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire
of coals. For it was cold, and they warmed
themselves, and Peter stood with them." Now look in John 21.9. There's a fire of coals where
Peter sat. John 21.9. And here they'd been out fishing,
and as soon as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals. Over there, he's warming himself
with a fire of coals. Over here, Christ has a fire
of coals. And fish laid their own in bread. And there was no denying here.
He'd been restored. But look at his restoration. You know, our Lord appeared to
him and appeared to him alone. It says over 1 Corinthians 15
that he appeared to Cephas, Stephens, which was Simon Peter, and then
the twelve, and then up to about five hundred people. But, you
know, of the eleven, he appeared to him alone. He denied Christ
three times. So our Lord asked him three questions
back here in John 21. Oh, look at how our Lord restores
him. He denied the Lord Jesus three times. He's over there
warming himself in a fire of coals, and here Christ feeding
him on a fire of coals. What a great, drastic change.
What a difference. Here he was doing what he would.
Here's what Christ would do for him. What a merciful, gracious
God. Here he was warming at the devil's
fire. Warming at the enemy's fire. Just denied the Lord Jesus
Christ. And over here, Christ has a fire
closed for him. What a difference. What a difference.
Alright, he says here, so when they had dined, verse 15, Jesus
said to Simon Peter, And he says, Simon. Does it call
him Peter here? Peter is the name Christ gave
him. Petra. Rock. Simon. Not Peter. The Lord gave
him the name Peter. And look what he said here. Simon,
son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? And what did
he mean, lovest thou me more than these? Was he, love me more
than you do the fish? Do you love me more than you
do these other disciples? Do you love me more than you
do your life? Do you love me more than these?
I think these other disciples is what he's talking about. He
said he loved these other disciples. He said he loved Christ. He said,
you know, you said that you loved them. But do you love these disciples
here that you're fishing with right now? These disciples that
you took back fishing. And this life that you live.
Do you love him more than you do me? You said, you know, Simon
Peter, remember you said that you'd die with me. Remember,
he didn't say that, but that's what goes through Simon Peter's
mind. And look what he said. He said to him, Hey, Lord, I
imagine he just barely got the words out. I don't believe he
said this real. Yes, Lord. Hey, Lord. No, I believe he said. Yes, Lord. I believe he's a little timid.
I believe he's a little bashful. I believe he's a little backwards.
Yeah, Lord, you know that I love you. You know that I love you. And oh, here he can retract that
sinful boast. And here he does, instead of
saying, Oh, Lord, I know that I love you. Whether you know
it or not, I know it. No, no. That's what he'd have
done before. Before he says, I will. Now he
says, You know. I will, now that you know." Instead
of a sinful boast, it's an utter dependence on the knowledge of
Christ. And oh, he gave a heart confession
here, right out of the depths of his heart. He says, Thou knowest.
You are the searcher of hearts. Oh, my. He didn't appeal to his
own way. He didn't say, Lord, if I know
my heart, I love you. And Lord, I know my heart, and
I know my heart loves you. I know my heart, and I know that
my heart just wants to do everything you want it to do. He didn't
appeal to his own way. He didn't even appeal to what
he knew of his own heart. He'd done found out he couldn't
trust it. He'd done found out he'd been a fool, and only a
fool would trust in his own heart. He didn't say, Thou knowest if
I love you. He says, You know that. I love
you. He rested on the Lord's knowledge
of his love. Now, there's two things here
that's already changed. First of all, humility. He ain't
going to trust himself anymore. Oh, no, no, no, no. And confidence, not in himself,
but confidence in what Christ knew. Confidence in what Christ
knew about him. In spite of my awful failure,
in spite of my awful weakness, in spite of my popping off at
the mouth, In spite of my bragging about what I do, Lord, you do
know I love you. You know that. You know that.
And look what the Lord Jesus said to him. He saith unto him,
Feed my lambs. You're talking about condescending
grace. You're talking about grace. When
God said there are sins and iniquities, I will remember them no more,
you notice Christ does not mention Simon Peter's fall here. He does
not mention anything Simon Peter did. He does not say, you've
done this, you've done that, you went here, you went there.
Did not mention, you know when he says, your sins and iniquities,
I will remember them no more. Truly, he did not. And what did
he say? Feed my lambs. Why wouldn't he
say that? If he's forgot his sin, done paid for his sin, put
his sin away by the sacrifice of himself, he's made accepted
in the beloved. He has the righteousness of Christ.
But he says, feed my lambs. What grace! For Christ the One
has fallen so far to turn around and commit His lambs to this
land. Commit His lambs to Him. He didn't
say, Simon, I know you love Him. Instead, He said, feed my lambs. You know, the lambs are the weakest
and the feeblest of the flock. I want to show you something
in Isaiah 40. Look with me in Isaiah 40. Do you think Christ
don't care for His lambs? Look with me in Isaiah 40. Oh,
feed my lambs. And what He said is, they're
my lambs. They're not your lambs. They're His. They're His. They're weak. They're feeble.
My lambs are His. And He appoints who feeds them,
who cares for them, who protects them. He don't turn just His
lambs and sheep over to anybody. Look what it says here in verse
10, Isaiah 40. Behold, the Lord God will come
with strong hand, and his arms shall root for him. Behold, his
reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his
flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs in
his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead
those that are without. And oh my, you know how he does
it? He gets preachers to do it. He
said, Peter, I tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to
put you on trial. I'm going to give you an opportunity. I'm
going to give you a chance to redeem yourself. I'm going to
give you a chance to make amends for your awful sins. No, no,
he just said, Simon, just feed my lambs. Feed my lambs. And the second question. Oh,
my. And he asked the second question.
He saith in verse 16 here in John 21. He saith to him again
the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him. I think he got
just a little bit louder this time. Yea, Lord. Yea, Lord. Thou knowest that I love thee. Oh, my. He didn't ask him, do
you love me like these? He'd already asked that question.
And you know, he didn't ask him to compare his love to anything
else again. He confines himself to love itself,
love asthame. What a searching question for
him to ask all who profess faith in him. I mean, if you profess
faith in him, you know, In John 20, when Mary went, she was the
first one at the tomb. Early that morning, just coming
daylight, she was at that tomb. You know why she is the first
one? Because she is the most sinful. And the sinful love the
most. The one's most sinful. Mary Magdalene
had seven devils cast out of her. She loved her master. And she wanted him even if she
did have nothing but a body. If she didn't have nothing but
a body to take. Nothing but a body to look at. Nothing but a body
to sit with. Because it was her Lord. And that's why it says
here, you know, what a searching question. All who profess faith
in Him. That's why I ask disciples, we
also go away. How can people go away from the
gospel? How can people do without the gospel? How can people do
without Christ? How can people do without the
fellowship of the saints? How can people do without the
Word of God? How can people do without the
love of Christ manifested in His people? Manifested when we
gather here and open the Scriptures? And that's why He asked this
question. Lovest thou me? I'm not asking you if you love
these over here. You done told me that. Do you love me? Not comparing it to anything
else. He doesn't ask, and let me tell you some things he don't
ask. He don't ask, do you know very much? Do you do very much? Do you talk much? Do you give
much? Did he say, do you go through
much? Do you make much? Do you make a great show in religion?
He asked one question. Lovest thou me? He didn't say how much knowledge
you got in your brain, how much work you do for me, how much
money you make, how much you give me. He just said, do you
love me? Do you love me? I want to know
about how much you talk about me. I want to know if you love
me. I don't want to know how much you read about me. I want
to know how much you love me. And look what he says. He falls
right back to the same thing. Yea, Lord, thou knowest that
I love thee. Yea, Lord, thou knowest. Then
he said, feed my sheep. He didn't say, feed thy sheep.
You ain't got no sheep. You feed my sheep. They're my
sheep. My sheep. And then the third
question is this. And he asked him a third time. saith unto him the third time,
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?" Now, Peter had a different
reaction here than he had ever had before. He had a different
reaction. Now, he was grieved, deeply sad,
great sorrow in his heart. Oh my, his heart was quickened,
he was contrived, he was grieved. Three times our Lord had denied
the Lord Jesus Christ, and three times our Lord Jesus challenges
his love. And three times he confesses.
But this time, his confession is altered. He's grieved. He
said, Lord knows something about me. He knows something about
me. Why does he keep asking me this
question? Why does he keep keeping me hemmed
up here? These fellows are listening. What is it, Lord? What is it?
And he began to be grieved and so sorrowful in his heart, because he said to him the third
time, Lovest thou me? But this time his confession
is different. Just watch what he says this
time. Lord, thou knowest all things. All things. Before, he said, Lord, you don't
know what, you don't know me. You don't know how tough I am. You don't know how committed
I am. You don't know how... And now he says, Lord, Lord, thou
knowest all things. You knew me when I was in bed. You knew your hurt ever did bow. Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest. that I love thee. And, O beloved, how grace transformed
his true conversion, no more boasting of his love being superior
than others. Instead, he cast himself on the
Lord's omniscience. O Lord, thou knowest all things."
Then when they looked at Simon Peter, they couldn't see any
signs of love. They could not see any sign of love at all.
Now John, they could look at John, they could see signs of
love. John went to the cross, stood there and talked to the
Master. Mary went to the cross, stood there and talked to the
Master. But Simon Peter didn't. You couldn't see any signs of
love. And oh, I know that I didn't give any signs of love when I
denied you. That's what he's thinking. But Lord, you can read
my heart. You look beyond the appearance
and see the depths of where I'm at. My lips said one thing, but
Lord, my heart said something else. It said
something else. Well, what did our Lord Jesus
say to him? He said, feed my sheep. You love me? Here's the way you're
going to manifest it. Here's the way the world is going
to know it. Here's the way the church is going to know it. Here's
the way the other brethren are going to know it. You're going to feed my sheep.
You're going to feed my sheep. They're my sheep. Sheep have
to be fed. I'm the good shepherd of the
sheep that laid down his life for them. I'm that great shepherd of the
sheep who rose again from the dead and entered into everlasting
covenant with them. I'm the chief shepherd that's
going to come back and receive them unto myself. He said, but
while I'm, you feed them. And beloved, just as sure as
God's on his throne, Christ. Can you imagine how Simon Peter
felt when the Lord never brought up any sin to him? Just ask him
this one question over and over and over again. He's freely forgiven,
freely restored, fully restored to his apostleship. But the Lord
commands him to do what's the dearest thing to him on this
earth. You know what the dearest thing to the Lord Jesus Christ
on this earth is? Me and you. That's why I said,
he that touches you touches the apple of my eye. He said it'd
be better for somebody to hang a millstone around a man's neck
and let him drown, be drowned, suffer drowning, than he should
offend one of these little ones. Oh, he gave his life for the
sheep. He knows His sheep. He calls His sheep by name. And
to trust His sheep? Oh, you take care of the dearest
thing to me on earth, my sheep. You know, they're mine. I bought
them and I paid for them. But I'm going to let you feed
them. I'm going to let you care for them. I'm going to let you
take my word and get some food out for them and feed them. And that's why old Simon Peter
says, you know, that He has made us overseers over the flock of
God. That's all we are, just overseers.
Overseers. It's His flock. He's the head
of it. He bought it. We're just overseers. Feed it.
Feed it. That's all we do. O Lord Jesus, our blessed, blessed
Redeemer, our God, our Lord and our God, in the name of the Lord,
in your name, we come to thank you. Thank you for such a great
salvation, so freely given, so freely given. No mention of our
sin, no mention of our failings, no mention of our denying you.
The Lord, you asked us the question. Do we love you? And will all
every one of us together have to say, Lord, thou knowest all
things. And because you loved us, because
you first loved us, and you loved us with an everlasting love,
and at the time of love you passed by and spread your skirt over
us, and because you know all things, We can say, yes, Lord,
Thou knowest, Thou knowest that we love You. Blessed be Your
holy name. Meet the needs of these dear
saints as they go home to their jobs. Bless the Burgesses, Obie
and Station, little Audrey and the family. God make her to be
well and to go home. Strengthen her little heart and
touch her little body. We ask these things in Christ's
name. Amen.