So when they have 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. Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, when thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkest
whither thou wouldest. But when thou shalt be old, thou
shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee,
and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying
by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this,
he saith unto him, follow me. Then Peter, turning about, seeth
the disciple whom Jesus loved following, which also leaned
on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that
betrayeth thee? Peter, seeing him, saith to Jesus,
Lord, what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, if I will
that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou
me. Then went this saying abroad
among the brethren, that that disciple should not die. Yet
Jesus said not unto him, he shall not die, but if I will that he
tarry till I come, what is that to thee? This is the disciple
which testifieth of these things and wrote these things, and we
know that his testimony is true. And there are also many other
things which Jesus did, and which, if they should be written, every
one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain
the books that should be written. Amen. Divide these verses tonight
into three parts. First, let's consider the Lord's
questions to Simon Peter in verses 15 through 17. Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou
me? Now it goes without me saying
that the Lord never asked the question for information, never
did. The first question in the scriptures
that we know that the Lord asked of man was in the Garden of Eden
when he cried and said unto Adam, where art thou? He didn't ask
for information. He knew where Adam was. He knew that Adam was attempting
to hide himself among the trees, to hide himself from the Lord's
presence, saying that he was naked and afraid. The Lord would have him confess
where he was and what his situation was. When he asked his prophet
Elijah in the mouth of the cave, what doest thou hear? He knew
that he was there because of his fear of wicked Jezebel. So here the Lord knew that Simon
loved him. As Peter said in verse 17, Lord
thou knowest all things. Lord knew that Peter loved him,
then why does he ask? Well, I see several things that
our Lord accomplished by asking these questions. First, the Lord
gave Peter the opportunity to show that he had learned a very
important lesson. The Lord gave Peter the opportunity
to show that he had learned an important lesson. You know, before
this, though all men shall be offended
because of thee, yet will I never be offended. And then, at that same time,
when he was especially warned by the Lord of Satan's attack,
he just brushed it off. Peter did. He just brushed it
off with saying, Lord, I'm ready to go with Thee, both into prison
and into death. And you notice the first time
that the Lord Jesus asked Peter this question, Simon, son of
Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? And he doesn't mean by
that, as some people have thought, do you love me more than the
fish? Do you love me more than the fishing boats and making
a living by fishing? Do you love me more than these? No, it had to do with his boastfulness. Do you love me more than these? He had said that he did. And
so now the Lord gives him the opportunity to show that he had
learned a lesson. He no longer boasts of his love
and faithfulness as being greater than the other disciples. And
all he can say is, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. You
know, some of us are slow learners. In fact, I think most of us are.
We are slow learners. And the Lord teaches us Now we
don't begin, when we are born of the Spirit of God and come
into the family of God, we're not full grown. And we grow in
grace and knowledge of the Lord. Some of us, I'm sure tonight,
I for one, I can look back and see some of the things that I
thought, some of the things that I believed when the Lord first
began to reveal himself to me. And as my old pastor used to
say, if ignorance was heavy, we'd all weigh two tons. And I know that's true about
me. The Lord gave Peter an opportunity to show that he had learned a
very valuable lesson. And it is a valuable lesson when
we learn that we're able to say like the Apostle Paul said, I
am what I am by the grace of God. That's it. I am what I am by the grace of
God. A second thing that I see here,
the Lord testified to Peter and all the others that the work
of the ministry is to feed his church. Three times he said,
feed first my lambs and second my sheep. Now both the Apostle
Peter and the Apostle Paul later would write and speak to men
who were charged with the ministry. And Peter, for instance, writing
to the elders in 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 2, he said, feed
the flock, feed the flock, the flock of God, which is among
you. And Paul to the elders of the
church at Ephesus, take heed therefore, unto yourselves and
to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made thee overseers
to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own
blood." You know, as a preacher, as a minister, it's not my business
to try to straighten out the world of politics. You wonder,
men who claim to be ministers of God, called of God to preach
the gospel, how they could ever lower themselves to be engaged
in trying to straighten out this wicked world, this fallen world
that we live in. You remember William Carey. He's
considered the father of modern missionaries, missions. He went
to India and of course he had children there. He had a son
born there and his son became a missionary. And then the Queen
of England asked him if he would become her ambassador. And when the dad heard that his
son had accepted that ambassadorship, he said, my son, he's left the
highest calling for a low calling. The work of the minister, you
see this here in this passage of scripture, don't you? So,
so well, he didn't tell Peter to, to straighten out the world,
to lead marches and demonstrations and all of these things that
people get involved in. And I tell you something, over
the years there's been a temptation on my part, and I'm sure every
pastor experiences the same thing, to get sidetracked, to get off
the message. The message is Christ. The message is Christ. The Lord
Jesus told those of his day, religious leaders, he said, search
the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life,
but they are they which testify of me. And to feed the lambs,
to feed the sheep, we use sheep's food. And that's found in the
word of God. And the message is Christ and
Him crucified. Paul said to the church at Corinth,
you know, I determined. And a man has to make this determination
because he's going to be tempted, I know from experience, he's
going to be tempted to get off track, to get off message. Paul said, I determined to know
nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Feed my lambs, feed my sheep. That's the ministry. And the
Lord also, I believe here, reveals two very important graces needed
in those who he calls to feed his church. And those two graces,
first of all, humility. Don't you know Peter was humbled?
As the Lord asked him three times over, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest
thou me? Don't you know he was humbled
as the Lord asked him that before his brethren, the seven who were
with him? I know he was. And that's a very
important part. A very important grace for anyone
in the ministry. And the second is love. Feed
my lambs, feed my sheep. The third thing that I see that
the Lord accomplished in asking this, the Lord testified to the
other apostles that Peter, yes, he was restored to the ministry. Now John overheard and he recorded
these words to Peter, but also the other five apostles, they
were there, they heard this. in case any thought, just in
case any thought, that Peter had somehow, because of his sin,
because of his fall, because of his denial, that somehow he
was no longer qualified as an apostle of Jesus Christ. That was not the case. The Lord
confirmed his apostleship. You know, some of the writers
They have made an issue out of the fact that the Lord Jesus
Christ addressed him here, not as Peter, but as Simon, son of
Jonas. Simon, son of Jonas. Simon, son
of Jonas. Some of the writers make an issue
out of that and say that that is important, that he didn't
call him by his name Peter. But you know the greatest confession
that the Apostle Peter made in Matthew chapter 16 and verse
16, when our Lord said, whom do men say that I the Son of
Man am? And they responded, well, some
say you're Jeremiah, some say you're John the Baptist. Yes,
but who do you say that I am? And Peter said, thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God, and our Lord How did he
address him that time? He had already changed his name.
He changed his name to Peter when he first came, didn't he? But when Peter made that greatest
of all confessions, the Lord addressed him, Simon, son of
Jonas, blessed art thou, Simon, son of Jonas, for flesh and blood
hath not revealed that unto thee, but my father, which is in heaven. So I wouldn't put any stock in
the fact that our Lord now addresses him as Simon, son of Jonas, and
not addressing him as Peter. And number four, the fourth thing
I see here is the Lord testifies that the church, the lambs, the sheep,
They're his. Feed my lambs, feed my sheep,
feed my sheep. Three times he refers to his
people as mine, my sheep. You know, his sheep were his
first by God the Father giving them to him before the foundation
of the world. He said, my father which gave
them me is greater than all. They're my sheep because my father
gave them to me. Second, his sheep are his because
he betrothed them unto himself. His promise to take those given
to him by the father into a marriage relationship with himself. You
know, this is a great mystery. This is what Paul said. It's
a great mystery. But just as there was a union
when God created Adam and then out of Adam made Eve and brought
them together. And Adam said, now this is bone
of my bone and flesh of my flesh. The Apostle Paul tells us that
that union which exists between a man and his wife is a type,
it's a picture of the union which exists between Christ and his
church, Christ and his bride. He betrothed us unto himself
before the foundation of the world. And Paul said we are members
of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. A great mystery,
yes. The mystical union which exists
between the head and the members, the husband and the bride, the
shepherd and the sheep. The mystical union that exists
between Christ and his people. They're my sheep. They're my
sheep. And third, his sheep were his
by him purchasing them with his own blood. Remember, the scripture
says he purchased the church with his own blood. And fourth,
his sheep were his by conquest. There's different words that
could be used to explain this. But you know, man by nature is
not going to come to Christ. He's just not going to do it.
He has a fallen nature. The scripture says his mind is
enmity. The carnal mind is enmity to
God. It's not subject to the law of
God. And listen, neither indeed can
be. the carnal mind, that fallen
nature that all of us bring with us into this world, we would
never, this is what is so concerning about those who teach that man
has a free will, a free will to choose or to come to Christ
at his own whim or discretion. No, man is a fallen creature
and no man would ever, ever, come to Christ unless He came
to us first. The Holy Spirit is the one in
the Godhead who does this. The Holy Spirit, He comes and
He makes His people willing in the day of His power. Every believer, every child of
God comes to Christ willingly. You see, some people get the
idea, well, you're saying that God just yanks people up and
they're fighting and doing everything they can not to come to Christ.
No, no. That's the way we all are until
God comes and does the work in our hearts. When he gives us
a new life, regenerates us, and then we come running. We come willing to Christ. You're not willing to be saved.
We're willing to be saved on His terms. What are His terms? Surrender. Absolute surrender. He makes
us willing. In the day of His power, the
psalmist said, thy people shall be willing in the day Jacob of
old and you see this all the way through the scripture. There's
not a new teaching Jacob when he was blessing his children
he was almost on his deathbed and He said this unto him Speaking
about Judah his son Judah That's the tribe from which the Lord
Jesus Christ came the seed of David That Judah His people, unto Him shall the
gathering of the people be." In other words, until this seed
that sprang from Judah. Remember, Abraham and thy seed
shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. And then that
was renewed. That was a covenant blessing.
It was renewed to Isaac and then it was renewed to Jacob. And
now Jacob is dismissing himself and blessing his children. almost
on his deathbed. And he said this about Judah,
that unto him shall the gathering of the people be. And that's
Shiloh. Until Shiloh, the peacemaker,
until he comes. Who is it who has made peace
with God for his people? Christ. He's the peacemaker. And unto him shall the gathering
of the people be. And God, the Holy Spirit, he
gathers us unto Christ. And he said, he that cometh unto
me, but no man can come unto me. And yet these are both true. No man can come unto me, except
the Father which hath sent me draw him. And he that cometh
unto me, I will in no wise cast out. No man can except the Lord,
as I said, conquers and makes a person willing. And every person
who willingly comes to Christ, he said, he would in no wise
cast out. Here's the second thing that
I want to mention here. So we see the Lord asked Simon,
son of Jonas, three times this same question, basically, and
I believe it accomplished those four things. Now, there's other
things I'm sure that we could include here, but let's go on.
First, or second, the Lord's revelation to Peter concerning
how he would glorify Christ in his death. Now Peter, in that
last response, when the Lord said, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest
thou me? Peter said, Lord, thou knowest
all things. What is he confessing? He's confessing
he's God. Only God knows all things. He's
confessing his omniscience, that he knows everything. Thou knowest
all things. And now we see the Lord is demonstrating
his omniscience. Because he tells Peter how he
would die when he is old. How he would die. And they say
that Peter died under the reign of Nero. So this means that the
Lord is telling Peter something that would be accomplished in
about 40 more years. Now, at this point, Peter was a young man. He wasn't a
teenager. He wasn't probably in his twenties,
but he was a young man compared to the age that he was going
to live. And our Lord told Peter that
now you can gird yourself. You can gird yourself. In verse
18, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast young, thou
girdest thyself. That particular day, And for
many days after, Peter girded himself. And I thought about
the fact he girded himself walking about, preaching the gospel. Where God led him, where God
directed him, he girded himself. On the day of Pentecost in Acts
chapter two, he girded himself and went and stood there along
with the 11 and preached Christ. The next time we see him in Acts
chapter three in the temple, going up to the temple, and that
man who was there begging, and Peter said, silver and gold have
I none, but such as I have given unto thee. And remember, when
that man was raised, that just brought Peter and John into a
lot of trouble. It brought them into a lot of
trouble. And yet Peter had girded himself, and when those Pharisees
Those rulers of the Jews accused him. He made that tremendous
statement. Neither is there salvation in
any other. There's none other name under
heaven given among men whereby you must be saved. Only in Jesus
Christ. In Acts chapter eight, he girded
himself and walked to Samaria. Philip had gone there before
him preaching the gospel, but only an apostle could lay hands
upon those to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In Acts chapter
10, he girded himself and went to the house of Cornelius, opening
the door of faith to the Gentiles. But our Lord tells him, the day's
going to come, Peter. After a life of you girding yourself
and walking where you will, preaching the gospel, someone else is going
to gird you. Someone else is going to fasten
you to what we believe was the cross. And they're going to carry
you whither thou wouldest not. Now, there's something to consider
in those words of our Lord. Whither thou wouldest not. Peter
would gladly lay down his life for his master. But you know
the body, the body naturally draws back from suffering and
death. I was reading this past week
of one of the English martyrs, Bishop Ridley. When he was being
chained to the stake to be burned, it is reported that he looked
at the man who was driving the chains together, however it was
they were going to make sure he didn't leave the stake. He looked at that man and he
said, good fellow, knock it in hard, for the flesh will have
its way. In other words, when the fires
begin to consume my flesh, the flesh itself will have its way,
will try to escape, knock it in well. One writer commented,
we should note how even our Lord intimates that suffering is painful
to flesh and blood. He speaks of it as a thing that
Peter would naturally shrink from. Thou wouldest not. Our Lord doesn't expect us to
enjoy bodily pain and suffering, though he calls upon us to be
willing to endure it for his sake. But our bodies are just
constituted such that we don't like suffering. None of us do. None of us like pain. And so
our Lord is telling Peter here that his death, when he was girded
and carried where he would not, his flesh would not desire that,
but he would glorify God in his death. And when you think about
that, as a child of God, I think we all have a desire to glorify
God in our death. We should pray and ask the Lord
to give us that grace when that time comes, that we might give
a good testimony if we lay on a bed of suffering, that we not
complain and murmur. And when the time comes, if God
allows that we're able to speak, that we're able to testify, Is
this dying? As some believers ask, is this
dying? The joy, the fellowship that
they experienced at that time, is this dying? And it was. But it wasn't a time that did
not have the joy of the Lord for God's people to testify. Remember Brother Ralph Barnard
telling the story about a preacher that was dying in a hospital in Tennessee. I think it was Memphis, Tennessee.
And he invited the people. He said, ask the people to come
and see how a believer dies. And he died confessing the Lord. He died singing praises unto
God. He glorified God in his death. And that's what all of us should
desire and want. In the meantime, our Lord said,
Peter, follow me. You know, this is what he had
called Peter to do years before, when Peter and John were in the
fishing boat and the Lord came by and he said, follow me and
I will make you to become fishers of men. And this is what he says
to all, you and I, everyone who would be his disciple. He said,
whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself and take
up his cross and follow me. Peter, follow me. But you know,
Peter, he looked around and he saw John. And he asked the Lord,
and what about this man? What about him? And the Lord
said, what's that to you? That's a good lesson, isn't it?
What is that to you? I told you, follow me. If it's
my will that he remain till I return, what is that to you? Now, John
tells us that the saying went abroad that our Lord had said
that he was not going to die. You've all heard of the wandering
Jew. That's where this comes from, right? The wandering Jew,
that he never died. But our Lord didn't say that.
He said, if, if I will, that he remain till I come again.
He didn't say that he would remain. But the main thing is, Peter,
what is that to you? And the last thing, John testifies
to the faithfulness of this gospel in the last two verses when he
says, This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and
wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true. And
there are also many other things which Jesus did, and which, if
they should be written every one, I suppose that even the
world itself could not contain the books that should be written. All of the miracles which the
Lord Jesus Christ wrought are not recorded, not in the Gospel
of John, not in the other three Gospels, because there were so
many. Can you imagine the size of the
book if all of the miracles that our Lord wrought were all recorded
and recorded in such detail as these miracles are that are recorded
in the Gospel of John. Take his first miracle when he
turned that water into wine. You remember how many details
are recorded about that miracle, how he was there, how his mother
was there, how there were four pots of water purifying, all
of those things. What if every detail was recorded
about all of the miracles about the blind and the lame and those
that couldn't hear, all of those things. We'd have a book so large,
if it could be in one book, you couldn't carry it around. That's
what John is saying. But everything that is needful
for us to know is recorded. Enough is written to testify
to us that Jesus Christ is God. We have that testimony, we have
his incarnation, we have some of his miracles, we have his
doctrines, we have his sufferings, we have his death, we have his
resurrection, and we have his ascension recorded. Enough, enough
is written that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, and that believing we might have life through his
name. Enough. All that we need is recorded. And I know we're thankful tonight
for all of God's word, which testifies to us of the Savior. May the Lord bless his word to
us here this evening.