Well, we come for what I think
is the final message of this look at John's Gospel over the
last few months. So we're coming to John chapter
21, and the title of the message is, The Three Questions of True
Faith. You know I often say this by
way of introduction but I want to keep on stressing it because
it marks out the truth so distinctly from the falsehood of the world
of religion. In Luke's Gospel chapter 8 and
the first verse we read about Jesus went throughout every city
and village preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom
of God. Jesus preached the kingdom of
God. His mission from heaven was not,
as the religion in the world around us will tell you, was
not to deal with sin by improving this world, not at all. No doubt
the world would be improved if the principles of Christ were
followed, but it's not possible in the flesh. His mission from
heaven was not to deal with sin by improving the world. Rather,
His mission from heaven was to accomplish redemption from sin's
curse for His people, for His elect multitude, united with
Him from before the beginning of time, betrothed to Him, His
bride, Heading towards that eternal consummation of fellowship between
a people and their God. Qualified for heavenly citizenship. That's what he came to do, to
qualify his people for heavenly citizenship. To cleanse them
from all sin, because you know, God says, as far as his heaven
is concerned, nothing that defileth entereth therein. Nothing. Oh,
what not just a little bit? You know, I'm trying really hard.
Surely sincere people who slip up occasionally will be let into
heaven. No, no, absolutely not. Nothing that defileth in any
way. It is only by being clean in
the Lord Jesus Christ, only on the basis of what He has accomplished. The redemption that He has accomplished
is the thing that cleanses His people from their sins. You shall
call his name Jesus, said the angel to Joseph, betrothed to
Mary, the mother of Jesus. He said you shall call his name
Jesus. Why? For he shall save his people from their sins. That's his mission, to save his
people from their sins by answering the law's demands that they as
sinners should die. So he died in their place. qualified
for heavenly citizenship, cleansed from all sin, clean for eternal
intimate communion with God in Christ, and inspired by the Holy
Spirit John has recorded in these 21 chapters that which demonstrates
the true divinity of this man, fulfilling Scripture in every
detail, every fine detail. This is what marks out John's
Gospel from the other three. The other synoptic Gospels are
much more from the point of view, or showing, that He was the Son
of Man, that this Jesus of Nazareth was God in flesh, but He really
was a man. This demonstrates His divinity. This shows the divinity. And
now we come to chapter 21, His mission is complete. He's about,
shortly, to return to heaven. Within a matter of days He will
return to heaven. At the start, before he came,
many devout in Israel, there weren't many but there were some,
were looking for his coming. People like Simeon at the temple,
people like Anna at the temple, looking for his coming. There
were others as well. And when they saw him, even as
a little baby, Simeon held him. in his arms, this tiny little
eight-day-old baby, and rejoiced, mine eyes have seen the salvation
of God. For God, the Holy Spirit, showed
to him that this was the promised Messiah become flesh. God become
flesh for the purpose of redemption. And he grew and went into obscurity
just in the village of Nazareth, earning, learning the trade of
his father, his human father, not, he wasn't his father, but
you know, his stepfather, if you like, Joseph in the carpenter's
shop, learning that trade and being seen in the village of
Nazareth as they knew who he was. We know him, we know his
mother and father, we know his brothers and sisters, he had
other brethren. And many, Some were called out of their
worldly existence when his ministry started. Some, like Peter and
the other fishers and the tax collectors and others, were called
out of their worldly existence for close fellowship with him
for three and a half years. And many people witnessed His
completion of redemption's work. They saw Him be taken. They saw
Him die on the cross. And after that, as we know from
what we looked at last week, many witnessed His resurrection.
Five hundred on one occasion all saw Him, the majority of
whom still remained when Paul was writing his letter. And they
saw His resurrected person. They saw these incredible things
that had happened. And they'd been given faith to
believe these incredible things. All of them had had their lives
dramatically changed. These disciples had had their
lives dramatically changed by what they had seen. So what happens
now? We come to chapter 21, it's all
accomplished. What happens now? What happens
now? You know when great events happen
in history, you can think of them. But I remember one just
occurred to me as an illustration. I remember the 11th of September
2001, wasn't it? Commonly known as 9-11. And I
remember working in London And it got to about 2, 2.30 in
the afternoon, UK time, and the internet started to go so mad
that it completely crashed and shut down. But people had seen
horrendous things happening in the United States of America.
The planes flying into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center
in New York, and into the Pentagon, another one being brought down
and crashing out in the countryside. huge loss of life as a result
of that. And I remember the effect that
that had. It was such a momentous thing
that happened. I remember the mood in the office
in central London, and that evening going home, how absolutely shocking
it was. A state of shock fell on everybody. We were all expecting planes
to start flying into buildings in London. We all had no idea
what was happening next. What's going to happen now? Something
momentous had happened. I know it's a very poor illustration,
but you get the point I'm making. These people had had their lives
dramatically changed. They'd seen things which were
amazing. They'd seen God walk this earth,
and God perform miracles that no man can do, and They're now
back in Galilee, by the lake, where he'd called them from.
What happens now? Is that it? Is that the end of
it? What happens now? Look at verses two and three.
There were together Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, the twin,
Nathanael, remember Nathanael was sitting under a fig tree
when Philip went and got him and said, we found the Messiah.
you know, an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile, the one
who said, you are the son of God to Jesus in the end of John
chapter one, the sons of Zebedee and two other, seven of them
I think it was, all in all. Simon Peter says to them, I go
a fishing. I'm going to go fishing. What
have we got to do? What do we do now? I'm going fishing. They
say unto him, well, we'll go with you. They went forth and
entered into a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing. They caught nothing. Seven disciples
by Galilee, the Sea of Tiberias, Galilee, from whence they had
been called to follow Jesus three and a half years before. They're
in a bemused state, you might say. They're wondering what they
had experienced with Christ. The ups and downs, the rollercoaster,
how much they'd been enthralled with Him. They'd been utterly
committed to Him, and yet they'd seen Him taken and crucified. They'd seen their own desertion of him in that hour,
but they'd seen him risen from the dead, and they'd heard his
promises to them, and they're wondering What had they experienced
with Christ? And where had it left them? What is it that's coming next?
You know, three and a half years, beholding, as John says in the
first chapter of his Gospel, he says, we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. This man, whom
the world in general looked on and saw no comeliness that we
should desire him. That's what Isaiah says. And
yet John says, we beheld his glory. The glory as of the only
begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. The glory
of God that God said, I will not share with another. So who
is this that is displaying this glory? It's Christ, who is God
in flesh. They had seen amazing miracles
that only God could do. Don't be fooled by any of this
charismatic nonsense today. Nobody's doing miracles like
that. Not at all. The apostles did, as signs of
the apostles. They did the works that Christ
did, but nobody since. They'd seen these amazing miracles
that only God could do. But even at this point, I'm sure
they were not quite certain what had been accomplished. The only
testimony we hear from the lips of those that saw Him was like
in Luke 24, the disciples on the Emmaus road when they reported
to the other disciples that they'd walked with Christ and they didn't
know it was Him, but what gracious words fell from His lips, and
they said, didn't our hearts burn within us as we talked with
Him along the way? And we have Thomas' testimony
in chapter 20 recorded, when he sees the nail prints, when,
you know, he who wouldn't believe unless he saw, and Jesus appears
and shows him, come here, Thomas, and put your finger into the
nail prints and your hand in the wound in my side. And Thomas
then professes, my Lord and my God. What are we going to do is what
they must be thinking. Do we go back to the way we were
before all of this started? You know, it's been such an amazing
experience. Do we just go back to the way
we were and Peter takes the lead? You know, these were fishermen.
They were by the Sea of Galilee where they did all their fishing
and Peter takes the lead and says, well, if nothing else is
happening, I'm going fishing. It's what we can do, isn't it?
We're good at it. We used to be good at it. We
made a reasonable living from it. So, surely we can do it again,
can't we? Let's go and try something. Let's
go and try fishing again. You know, we know how to go fishing,
don't we? We'll work out what all of this
has meant to us. you know, these appearances,
we'll work out what all this has meant to us and what we're
meant to do later. But for now, let's just return
to what we were doing. Better than sitting around doing
nothing, wondering what next, we need to earn a living, we
need to get some food. And so they go, these expert
fishermen. I'm sure you see television programs
about the fishing communities around the Cornish coast and
the emotional and economic rollercoaster that they go through, depending
on the weather and the shoals of fish and where they cast their
nets and using all the technology they can. And sometimes they
fish all night long and they catch nothing. But other times,
they're absolutely overwhelmed. Well, these fished all night
long. Best time to fish. You know,
they went out with their lights and the fish would come looking
for the lights and they would get caught. They fished all night
long and they caught nothing. And the reason they caught nothing
was because God controls all things. Especially for his people. He controls all things. in all
the world, but especially for His people. Don't we know that
all things work together for good to those who love God, who
are called according to His purpose? Don't we know when we look back
down a long life how He has directed our steps, how He has brought
us to the place where we heard the true gospel, how He gave
us the faith to believe it, how He's kept us when the flesh has
been so weak that we would have fallen away, but He has kept
us. He's caused all things to work together for our good. He's
caused the sun to shine and the rain to fall on all, but especially
for those He has called to eternal life. He orders the steps of
His people. God worked all things so that
they, expert fishers, caught nothing. Why did he do that?
What was God's purpose in making sure they caught nothing? There's
a lesson for them, and there's a lesson for us. Having intimately
encountered Jesus Christ, things can never be the same as they
were. Do you know that verse in 2 Corinthians
chapter 5? I know we know several verses
there, but verse 17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. And all things are of God, who
has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given
to us the ministry of reconciliation. All things are new. Nothing can
ever be the same again. And he, God, sees all our affairs. Think of your situation. And
He orders all things in accordance with His eternal purposes of
grace. You may say, this doesn't feel good for me now in this
life. No, but it's for your eternal good, whatever it is. Is it financial
difficulty? Is it ill health? Is it family
problems and issues? Whatever it is, all things work
together for good for His people, according to His eternal purposes
of grace. And so in verse five, they've
caught nothing. Jesus is standing on the side
of the lake, on the shore, and in verse five, Jesus says to
them, children, have you any meat? Have you caught anything?
And they answered, no, we haven't caught anything. Look back to
Luke's gospel, chapter five, Luke gospel chapter five, and
verse four. This is early on in the ministry
of the Lord Jesus Christ. When he had left speaking, he
said unto Simon, that's Peter, launch out into the deep, and
let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering, said unto
him, Master, we've toiled all the night, and have taken nothing. There again, early in his ministry,
they'd fished all night and caught nothing. Nevertheless, because
you tell me at thy word, I will let down the net. And when they
had done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes and
their net broke. And they beckoned to partners
to come and help them. And jump down to verse eight.
When Simon Peter saw it, he saw who this was. He fell down at
Jesus' knees, saying, depart from me, for I am a sinful man,
O Lord. In other words, you won't find
anything good in me. I am a sinful man, O Lord. Of
course, the Lord didn't depart from him. And what's he saying
here? Do you remember that incident,
Peter, three years and more ago? Do you remember that incident?
When you caught nothing all night long and I told you to go out
again and put the net down and what happened, do you remember
Peter? And they realise, this man standing
on the shore, who they hadn't realised who it was, they realise
it is the Lord. John shouts out, it is the Lord.
The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, it is the Lord.
Once again, yet another appearance, another resurrection appearance.
Things can't just return to how they were. They can't. But here
they are again, in the physical, resurrected presence of Jesus.
And they come ashore with their great haul of fish, and there
is a fire prepared, and fish cooking on the fire, and bring
some more fish and put it on, and they're in the presence of
Jesus, eating fish and communing with Him at breakfast time. Peter,
who had denied Him three times, having said how The others might
desert you, but I will never desert you. I will be with you
forever. I am more devoted to you than
all of these. Peter, who had denied Him three
times, and the others who had fled in the weakness of their
flesh, yet He graciously gives them breakfast and quietly communes
with them. Isn't this an amazing scene. You know, when you think of the
stupendous events that had happened, with the death of Christ and
his resurrection, and the shock that it had on them, and world
history's carrying on, and the Roman Empire's continuing to
do its thing, but here they are wondering, what's this all about?
And here on this lakeside, these disciples are there with the
risen Lord Jesus Christ, with the God of the universe, with
the God who created all things, and they're eating breakfast
together. And what are they thinking, I wonder? Just imagine, what
might they be thinking? Are they thinking shame? They've
seen him before resurrected, but this is such an intimate
scene. Are they feeling shame at deserting
him, at his crucifixion? Are they feeling fear of the
rebuke that might be coming to them? Apprehension of what He
might say to them? Anticipation of His direction
to them? All we know is what Jesus asked
of Peter, probably quietly and probably separately from the
others. Look at verse 15. So when they had dined, Jesus
saith to Simon Peter, 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 unto 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 said 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 said unto him, feed my sheep. Three questions to Peter
and three questions to all professing believers, do you Do I claim
an interest in God's Kingdom? You know that when I die I go
to be in eternal glory with my God, with my Creator, with my
Saviour. Do I claim to have that interest
in God's Kingdom? We who have so little strength
in the flesh We know that in me, as Paul said, that is in
my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing. Don't think for one minute
you're getting better and better, you're not. In my flesh there
dwelleth no good thing. But do I claim to have an interest
in the kingdom of God, that I will go to be with him when I leave
this body? The Lord Jesus asks Peter three
times, do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?
They say the three most important factors in selling a house are
number one, location, number two, location, number three,
location. Well, it might be said of a professed
believer, the three most important marks of their faith are love
for Christ, love for Christ, and love for Christ. Note, Jesus
did not ask about Peter's denial. He denied three times. Before
the cock crows, you shall deny me three times. No, Jesus does
not ask about Peter's denial, though he does give him an opportunity
three times to affirm his love. He doesn't ask Peter about whether
his works are fit for our acceptance by Christ and for use in his
kingdom. Not at all. Doesn't ask that.
It's legalistic religion that asks that. You know, you go and
look at the creeds of the churches that might be near you. They
ask for signs of your good works. Do you remember Happy Jack? You
know, the elders interviewed a Happy Jack to see if he was
a suitably upright and decent character to join their church,
and his answer constantly was, I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all, but Jesus Christ is my all in all. No, he doesn't ask
about his good works. He doesn't ask about his ambitions.
Are you going back to fishing, Peter? No, he doesn't ask about
that. He doesn't ask about what qualifies him for anything. The
acid test of relationship with God in Christ is love for Him. It's love for Him. Do you claim
to have an interest in the Kingdom of God? Do you love the Lord
Jesus Christ? In 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse
8, Peter speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ, he says, Whom having
not seen, you haven't seen Christ with your physical eyes, none
of us have here. Whom having not seen, ye love.
in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory. These are the three
questions he asks of Peter and of you and me if we claim to
be believers with an interest in the kingdom of God, the eternity
of God. Question number one, You who
professed greater devotion to me and my kingdom than all the
others, these around you, you know, I'm thinking of Peter sitting
there, you, Peter, who professed greater devotion than all these
around, do you love me more than these? You said you wouldn't
deny me, but you ended up doing so. He doesn't say that, but
you can imply that. Do you, and the Greek is interesting,
because it's agapas me, which is, do you love me unconditionally? Do you love me unconditionally?
You said you would love me unconditionally. Do you love me unconditionally?
Yes, Lord, comes the reply. You know, Peter knows that God
knows the secrets of our hearts. Peter knows that God knows everything. You know that, he replies, Philo
say, which is, I love thee dearly. That philanthropic love, that
brotherly love, I love thee dearly. I love you as much as this weak
flesh can love anything. You know that I love you. Well,
says Jesus, this is my commission to you. You who are just about
to go back to a life of fishing, as if nothing had happened, don't
return to catching fish. I once told you that I would
make you fishers of men. Go back to feeding my sheep. That's what is the commission
to you. Question number two. Agapus me, again. Do you love
me unconditionally? Here's another opportunity to
affirm it. Lord, you know, philo sei, that I love you dearly. Do you love me unconditionally?
You know I love you dearly. And here's the commission. Repeated. Feed my sheep. The third question,
and slightly different. The agape, the do you love me
unconditionally, is replaced with phileis me. Do you love me dearly? The word
with which Peter's been replying. Do you really love me dearly?
And Peter was grieved because he thought, why does he find
it necessary to ask me this three times? I've already replied twice
that of course I love you. And Peter, being grieved, he
replies, Lord, you know all things. I can't hide anything from you.
You know my heart better than I know it myself. Everything
that I am in relation to you is because of you and not in
me. Think about that. Believer, do
you claim to be a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you
acknowledge this, that there is nothing that you bring to
the party, as it were? Everything that you are, in preparation
for God's kingdom, is in the Lord Jesus Christ, and nothing
in you. You know me. You know me. You
know my weaknesses. And I know I am very weak, but
you do know this because you can see into my heart. You know
that I love you dearly. Well then, the third time, the
commission. Feed my sheep. Preach the bread
from heaven. to the citizens of my kingdom',
is what Jesus is saying to him. As Peter himself wrote to other
elders later in his first epistle, chapter 5, verses 1 and 2, he
says, you elders, feed the flock of God which is among you. Feed
the sheep of God, the people for whom He laid down His life.
I lay down my life for the sheep. Peter says, having had that commission
from Christ, he passes that commission on to others. The elders among
you, feed the flock of God which is among you. Do you, do I, claim
an interest in God's kingdom? Well, here's the question. Do
I love Him? Is my heart devoted to Him? Is
He prominent in my life, in my affections? Is He preeminent,
even, in my life and my affections? Listen to Scripture. In John
chapter 8, verse 42, Jesus is speaking with the Pharisees who
were claiming that God was their Father. And He said to them,
if God were your Father, you would love Me. Do you claim to
have God as your Father? Well, if you do, you love the
Lord Jesus Christ. disciple of mine. Do you love
me? Do you love me?' 1 Corinthians 16 verse 22 says this, If any
man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha. That means eternally cursed.
The people who are going to heaven love the Lord Jesus Christ in
sincerity and truth. Their hearts are set on Him.
He fills their emotions. There are all sorts of things
that take our emotions and draw our attention. But for the child
of God, you know, it's always imperfect, but nevertheless,
you really do know you love the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians
6 verse 24, grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus
Christ in sincerity. You love him sincerely. Really,
you do, you love him. And look at the passion of Song
of Solomon. We read it to start with in chapter
five and verse eight. Here is the Shulamite, the woman,
which pictures the church, the people of God. And I charge you,
O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you
tell him, I'm lovesick. My being, my emotions are churning
over because of love for Him. I'm lovesick. Tell Him that I'm
lovesick. This isn't some higher state
of devotion to Christ for those that are really serious. It's
a mark of those who are the people of God, that we love Him in sincerity
and in truth. It's a mark that endures into
eternity. Like marriage, You know, this
is why when Paul's writing in Ephesians chapter 5 about marriage
and husbands and wives, and he says, but I'm speaking about
Christ and the Church. Marriage is such a good picture
of Christ and the Church. That devotion of true marriage,
which has been so devalued, in our society. It's a whim that
you can fall into and fall out of and you do prenuptial agreements
so that when the inevitable breakup comes along you know how to divide
up the spoils. What a dreadful concept. That's
not marriage as it was intended by God. No. For this cause shall
a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and they
too shall become one flesh. The idea is that it's not a temporary
thing, it's for life. There's Newton's hymn, and I'm
thankful to Don Faulkner when I was preparing to point this
out. There's a hymn that we have sung occasionally, it's in Gadsby's
hymn book, and this is what the first verse says. "'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?" And you
sort of think, yeah, that's just being honest about the weakness
of the flesh in respect of this love for God, but you know, it
shouldn't be like that. And to show why it shouldn't be like
that, substitute your spouse's name for the Lord. You know,
if I was to say, "'Tis a point I long to know, "'oft it causes
anxious thought. "'Do I love Christine or no?
"'Am I hers or am I not?' What do you think she would think
of that? And vice versa, you know, think about it. What do
you think the other party would think? Of course, you know, if
it's a true marriage, if it's a proper marriage, if it's as
marriage was intended by God, Of course, it's utter devotion. Utter devotion. There's only
one to whom there's greater devotion, and that's God himself. That's
the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Put your name in the place of
Simon Peter's. Simon, do you love me? More than
these. Simon, do you love me? Your name. Do you love him? Do you love
him? What is it that marks out true love for Christ? Now, Of
course, the analogy of marriage doesn't hold here, because we
don't have a physical relationship with Christ. It is in spirit
and in truth. But there are some similarities
that apply to both, and they're good tests that you can mull
over to yourself. So ask yourself. When he asks
you, disciple, do you love me? Do I think on him? Number one.
Do I think on him? On his glorious person? On his
redeeming grace, as it's shown to me? Do I, do I, not all the
time. You can't, obviously, because
your mind's occupied with all sorts of other legitimate things.
But is it a frequent thing that you go, oh, the glories of Christ,
who's done what he's done for me, in saving me from my sins. Secondly, do I love to hear about
him? Do I love to hear about him?
Or am I inside, in the depths of my inner being, shouting,
boring, boring, let's move on, let's move on. Do I love him? Do I love him? He's your God.
He's your Lord. He's your lover. He's your bridegroom.
He's your brother. He's your master. He's your friend.
Do I love him? Do I love him? Do I love to hear
about him? Do I love to read about him?
You know, when you think of the entertainments that we pass before
us, do I love to read about him? Because there's so much good
material of saints that have gone before, that have written
down their experience, and it can be such a blessing to us.
Fourthly, do I want to please him? You know, spouses want to
please each other. Do I want to please him? Fifthly,
do I like the company of his friends and brethren? Other believers,
other true believers. You know, when we know our true friends
in Christ, whether we're separated by thousands of miles, you know,
there are people I've never seen face to face with whom I communicate
by email. I know that if I was to spend
a few days with them, there wouldn't be the slightest problem. We'd
immediately fall into that easy, easy communicating friendship
of those who are brethren in the Lord Jesus Christ, because
we love the same Lord with the same type of love. Sixth, am
I jealous for his honour? Do I talk to him in prayer? Do
I yearn for unended, uninterrupted fellowship with him? Well, the
answers obviously to all these questions are nowhere near enough. But yes, yes, I know it's weak
and it's frail and it's full of faults, but I do love him.
I do love him. So pursue those things that bring
me closer to him. What are those things? Look in
Song of Solomon chapter 6, the first few verses. Look in Solomon
chapter 6, verse 1. Whither is thy beloved gone?
Where's he gone? O thou fairest among women, O
you believer, where's your beloved turned aside, that we may seek
him with you? Answer, my beloved is gone down
into his garden. to the beds of spices, to feed
in the gardens, and to gather lilies. I am my beloved's, and
my beloved is mine. He feedeth among the lilies."
That's speaking about the fellowship of his church, of his brethren,
of his church and the teaching ministry, the feeding, all of
that is speaking of those things that bring him and his glory
and his love and his presence to my mind and to the forefront
of my experience. Go where he is. Listen to good teaching ministry. Read about him. fellowship with
others about him, share experiences of him. Go down to his garden
where he's feeding amongst the lilies. Don't look for strength
to seek him and find him within yourself, but ask him to show
you, to reveal to you, to give you that light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in his wonderful face. Look full in that wonderful
face. It's there in scripture presented
to us. Well, what a blessing we have
in him. Do you love him? Christ's true disciples truly
do, imperfectly but nevertheless truly, they do love him and they
long for his presence. Amen.