It has been our absolute delight
and pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed being with you
all so much. I've enjoyed having my family
here with me. I believe the Lord has blessed
us. I have been blessed, too. And
I'm so thankful. I'm just so thankful. It is really
an honor, truly an honor, to be gathered with the Lord's people
and gathered around His Word, just to have the privilege to
open the Word. There have been so many believers
throughout the ages who didn't have the Word, and we have it,
and He's given it to us, and we can rejoice in it and thank
the Lord for it. I'm truly thankful for all of
your work to do this, and I'm thankful for last night very
much, all the food and just everything, just thank you so much. Turn
with me, if you would, to John chapter 21. John chapter 21, and I'd like
for us to read the first 17 verses together. After these things, Jesus showed
himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and on
this wise showed he himself. There were together Simon Peter,
and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee,
and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Simon
Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, we also go
with thee. They went forth and entered into
a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing. But
when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore, But
the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto
them, Children, have you any meat? They answered him, No. He said unto them, Cast the net
on the right side of the ship, and you shall find. They cast
therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude
of fishes. Therefore that disciple whom
Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon
Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto
him, for he was naked, and did cast himself into the sea. And
the other disciples came in a little ship, for they were not far from
land, but as it were 200 cubits, dragging the net with fishes.
As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals
there, and fish laid their own in bread. Jesus saith unto them,
bring of the fish which you have now caught. Simon Peter went
up and drew the net to land full of great fishes, and hundred
and fifty and three. And for all there were so many,
yet was not the net broken. Jesus saith unto them, come and
dine. And none of the disciples durst
ask him, Who art thou, knowing that it was the Lord? Jesus then
cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. This is now the third time that
Jesus showed himself to his disciples after that he was risen from
the dead. 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 to him again the second
time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, yea,
Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, feed
my sheep. He saith unto him the third time,
Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because
he said unto him the third time, lovest thou me? And he said unto
him, Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee.
Jesus saith unto him, feed my sheep. In those last three verses,
Our Lord set forth a question to Peter three times. The same question, three times. And in Him doing that, He was
saying to Peter and He was saying to all of His people, this is
the root of the matter. We know what the question was. Peter was grieved the third time
he heard it because he understood the Lord was telling him, this
is the heart of the matter. What I want us to do today is
I want us to step into Peter's shoes. And I want the Word of our Lord
to ask us the same question that He asked Peter. And I want us
to truly examine the question. I want us to truly examine our
answer. I don't want us to just assume
on it. We already know the question and we already know the answer.
We will spout it off as fast as Peter. Peter was quick to
spout off, wasn't he? So let's not do that, just for
a minute. I want us to, with sincerity
of heart, Find out the honest truth of
our answer. There were other men here with
Peter just like we are all here together right now. But our Lord
said this to Peter as though he was the only one there. And I pray that the Lord will
let me Hear this, think about this, ponder this, answer this. I pray He will let you ponder
this and answer this in the sincerity of your heart, your own heart,
as though I was and you were the only one standing in front
of Him. And He was looking you right
in the eye. And He asked you this question. Our Lord now, at this point,
had already been to the cross. He had already endured the suffering
agony of bloodshed to redeem His people. He had already endured
the separating death of the grave. He had already brought life and
hope through His resurrection. And He has already revealed Himself
to them two other times. This is now the third time that
the Lord revealed Himself to His people. And on this third occasion, He
looked Peter right in the eye and He said, Peter, do you love
Me? Now you talk about strip away
all the fluff. and get to the heart of the issue. The Word of God poses that question
to every single one of His people individually. Do you love me? Forget about, as you sit there,
as I stand here, forget about whether or not your wife loves
him. Or your husband loves him? Or
your parents love him? Or your pastor loves him? Do
you love me? And I don't want to assume on
it. I really don't. It doesn't matter if we're old
or young. It doesn't matter if we've been under the gospel 30
years or 30 minutes. Do you love me? Peter was a man
who had been physically walking with the Lord for three and a
half years. After everything he'd seen, after everything he'd
heard, after everything he'd been through with the Lord, after
all that, the Lord posed this question to him. Do you love
me? The Lord put him in a place where
he couldn't assume on himself. So I don't want us to assume
on ourselves. Do you love me? Can you hear
him asking you that question? Do you love me? That's the heart
of it all. That really is the heart of it all. Now to clarify what is actually
the heart of the matter, he did not say, Peter, do you obey the
law? The holy law of the holy scriptures,
the word that I have given, The perfect, right, true commandments
that I have given, do you obey them? He didn't say that. He didn't say, Peter, does the
way you live your life glorify me? He didn't say, Peter, in your
flesh, are you really an example of what a believer ought to be? What a believer ought to look
like and act like and sound like. He didn't say any of that. He said, do you love me? Now when you really take a minute
and get to this, this is an alarming question. This is a very alarming
question. Even though it's just a few little
words, it's a soul-searching question. He said, Peter, do you love me
even more than these? More than your brethren like
you said you did before you denied me? Well, they all may leave
you, but I love you more than they love you. Do you? Do you love me more than that
boat and those nets you went back to? The things of the world that
you went back to? Do you? Put yourself in those shoes.
Do I? These things that I think are
so important that just constantly steal me away from the Lord,
steal my attention away from the Lord, steal my affection
away from the Lord. Do I? It's an alarming question. It's
a fearful question. And the reason is because our
Lord said in Matthew 10, He that loveth father, mother, son, daughter,
Anybody, anything more than me is not worthy of me. Now, honestly, do you know the
first thought and emotion that comes into me when I hear that?
I'm being honest with you. This is what comes into my heart.
This is what I have to say. I'm not worthy of him. I'm not. If I am truly honest about this
before God, I mean before God, based on what I see in myself,
how I see myself to be, I don't believe for one minute that I'm
worthy of the Lord Jesus Christ. We should not answer this flippantly. We shouldn't answer this flippantly
at all. We should consider this fearfully. Because the Apostle
Paul said, If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him
be cursed when the Lord returns. This is serious. It's in reference
to the Holy God who knows everything and sees everything. He sees
the reality of the truth. As we slip Peter's shoes on here
for just a minute, do we realize the weightiness of the question
the Lord asked him? The eternal weightiness. Everything
hinges on this. Everything hinges on this. This
is a hinging question. And the same question that was
brought to Peter has to be brought to all of God's people. As it is brought to us, and as
we ponder this, I believe we can relate to this right here.
I believe all of God's people will be able to relate to this
right here. John Newton wrote, "'Tis a point I long to know. Oft it causes anxious thought."
It doesn't matter how long you've been sitting under the gospel.
Every time this question comes, every time the line is drawn,
God's people will very fearfully say, wait a minute, do I? "'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?" There
are a lot of people who are going to go stand before Him assuming
that they belong to Him. They're going to say, Lord, Lord,
wait a minute. Oh, let's not assume. Nobody. Let's not assume. John Newton said, it all hinges
on this. Do I love the Lord or no? Am
I His or am I not? He said, if I love, why am I
thus? Why this dull and lifeless frame? Hardly sure can they be worse
who have never heard His name. God's people can enter into this. What is wrong with me? He said, could my heart so hard
remain? Prayer a task and burden prove. It's just so hard to pray. Every trifle, that means every
just thing of little value or little importance, just every
little thing, give me pain if I knew a Savior's love? When I turn my eyes within, all
is dark and vain and wild, filled with unbelief and sin. Can I
deem myself a child? If I pray or hear or read, sin
is mixed with all that I do. Do you ever start praying and
your mind wanders off and you say, I'm so sorry, Lord, and
you start over and your mind wanders off again? Last time
you went to the movies, how hard was it for you to stay focused
on the plot of that movie? And how hard is it for you to
stay focused on the plot of the gospel while we sit in here for
just a few minutes? If I pray or hear or read, sin
is mixed with all I do. You who love the Lord indeed,
tell me, is it thus with you? Do I love him? Peter, do you
love me? Do I love him? Does he have my affection and
my desire? Do you know what Peter's response
to that question was? It was John Newton's response
to that question. It will be every child of God's
response to that question. Peter said, Lord thou knowest. Only you know the true answer
to that question. Only you know what you have done
for me and in me. Therefore, I don't trust myself
to answer that question before you. That's all I know to say.
I don't trust myself to answer that question before you. I only trust you to answer that
question to yourself in me. That's my only hope. I only trust
you from the start of the work in me to the end of the work
in me. I'm looking to you. I'm looking
to you. That answer is of you. This is
what John Newton went on to say. He said, yet I mourn my stubborn
will. He's asking himself, do I love
the Lord or no? He said, well, I mourn my stubborn
will. Find my sin a grief. Enthrall,
that means I'm a slave to it. I find myself being a slave to
it and it grieves me. But he said, should I grieve
at what I feel if I did not love at all? Could I joy his saints to meet? Choose the ways I once abhorred. Find at times, at times, the
promise so sweet, if I did not love the Lord. Lord, You decide this doubtful
case, Thou who art the people's son. Sense upon Thy work of grace,
if indeed it be begun. Let me love Thee more and more. If I love at all, I pray. If I have not loved before, help
me to begin today. Do you love me? I don't know,
but you do. And this is by grace. It has to start with you and
end with you. You have to do it all. So if I don't, like David
said, would you search me, oh God, and know my heart? Would
you try me and know my thoughts? And if all that's in there is
sin, would you get rid of it? Get rid of this old stony heart
and would you put in a heart of flesh? And would you make
me love you? Would you let me love you? Starting
today. Yesterday is over. Help me to begin today. Do you
love me? Lord, only you know because only
you can put it there. Only you can create true love
in the heart for Christ. Only you. I mean true love for
Christ. Only you can do that. So I'm begging. This is what
God's people will say. I'm begging. If I've never truly
loved you before, help me to start right now. Help me to start
right now. Let me love you today more and
more because I do grieve over what I am. I do. I acknowledge it before God,
my sin is ever before me. And I do joy your saints to meet. When one believer, one lover
of the Lord Jesus Christ meets another lover of the Lord Jesus
Christ, that's it, they're sealed. I mean their family, their blood
brothers and sisters. And every now and then, in your
good time, whenever you overrule my mind and my heart and everything
about me, every now and then, just for a moment, you do let
me find the promises of this Word so sweet. The promises of
your blood. So please let me love you. I
tell you this, if God does create love in the heart of a sinner
for Christ, if God does do it, everybody will know it. Everybody
will know it. When a man falls in love with
a woman, and when a woman falls in love with a man, everybody
knows it. Everybody knows it. Peter, do you love me? Did Peter
love him? Did Peter love him? Look with
me at verse 3. Simon Peter saith unto them,
I go a fishing, They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth and entered into
a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing. But
when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore, but
the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto
them, Children, have you any meat? They answered him, No.
And he said unto them, cast the net on the right side of the
ship, and you shall find. They cast therefore, and now
they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes."
Can you envision that scene? It is dead, they are dead in
the water. And all of a sudden they cast
on the right side of the ship and violence breaks out. as these
fish are fighting to get into the net. Can't you see white
spray and these professional sailors are trying as hard as
they can to get that net in the boat and it won't come. And they're
dragging it down and it's loud and it's violent. And as they
are trying with all of their might to get this into the ship,
John, verse 7, Therefore, that disciple
whom Jesus loved, while they were fighting and wrestling,
he looked over at Peter and he said, Peter, he was hollering
this to him, that's the Lord. Therefore that disciple whom
Jesus loved saith unto Peter, it is the Lord. Now when Simon
Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto
him, for he was naked, and he did cast himself into the sea. He dropped it all. Head over
heels. Head over heels. Did Peter love
him? Head over heels. And even after the Lord told
him, at the end of this chapter, the Lord told him the horrible
death that he would die. That's what the Lord told him
right here. The horrible death he would die. All the suffering
that he would endure. After all that, this is what
Peter wrote to God's people. From his heart, inspired by God,
this is what he wrote. Turn with me to 1 Peter chapter
1. 1 Peter 1, verse 1, it says, Peter,
an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification
of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ, grace unto you, and peace be multiplied. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time, wherein you
greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be you're in
heaviness through manifold temptations. that the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than of gold, that perisheth, though
it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor
and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." Verse 8 says,
"...whom, having not seen, you love. In whom, though now you
see Him not, yet believing, You rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the
salvation of yourselves." He said, being elect, being redeemed,
being regenerated, even though you have not seen this man, you
love Him. You love Him. knowing who you
are, knowing what you are, knowing who He is, knowing what He has
done. Even though you endure seasons
of great heaviness, manifold trials, because of your hope
in the praise and the honor and the glory of the appearing of
the Lord Jesus Christ, He said you love Him. Aren't you so thankful
that the Word of God answers that question for you? Peter said, trust me, if you're
in Him, you love Him. On the authority of God Almighty,
if you're in Christ, you love Him. If you are in His blood, if God
the Father put you in His blood, you love Him. If He chose you, washed away
all your wretchedness, your heart will skip a beat.
It will honestly skip a beat at the thought of being with
Him. When you have those moments where
that promise is sweet, every time the Word of God is
truly opened up to you, there are moments when it's truly opened
up and every time that the Spirit of God opens it up, you will
say, does not my heart burn within me? Peter said, take my word for
it, because I'm speaking on behalf of God Almighty as His Apostle.
If the Father is keeping you, if He is safely keeping you in
Christ, even though you haven't seen Him, you love Him. You love
Him. And the fact that you love Him,
that is the evidence that He loves you. If you love Him, if the Spirit
of God causes your heart to say, I do love Him, I do want to be
with Him, I do cast my all on Him, that's your evidence, that's
your down payment, that's your earnest, that He loves you. John said we love Him because
He first loved us. That's the only reason. If something
inside of you loves Him, it's only there because He first loved
us. Herein is love, not that we loved
God, but that He loved us and gave His Son to be the propitiation
of our sins. So knowing who we are, knowing
who He is, and knowing that everything had to come from Him. All of
it. If we can honestly say, Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love
Thee, He loves us. He loves us. He loved us and gave Himself
for us. I love this poem right here. It says, Could we with ink the
ocean fill? And were the skies of parchment
made, where every stalk on earth a
quill, and every man a scribe by trade, to write the love of
God above, would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain
the whole, though stretched from sky to sky. Oh, the grace of God to His people.
Peter, do you love me? gave do you love me? By the grace of God, I do. I do. By the grace of God, I do to
have and to hold from this day forward. I do. We do, don't we? We do. This is what he told to
Peter. Okay, now that you know that,
go tell everybody. That's why he said, go tell everybody.
Go preach it to everybody. You go feed my sheep with the
good news of my love for you, creating a love in you for me.
You preach my word, and as that word goes forth, it will grab
the hearts and souls of my people. It'll create love for the one
who saved them. Do we love the Lord? Lord, you
decide this doubtful case. Thou who art the people's son,
since upon thy work of grace, if indeed it be begun, let us
love you more and more. If we love it all, we pray. If
we have not loved before, help us to begin today. Help us, Lord. Please help us make it to be
so, make it to grow more and more. Thank you, Brother Darwin.