The deity of Christ is explored through the Gospel of John, highlighting Jesus' divine nature and his interactions with humanity. The sermon traces Jesus' presentation from his deity in chapter one to his resurrection in chapter twenty, culminating in his post-resurrection appearance to his disciples in chapter twenty-one. This appearance emphasizes Christ's grace, glory, and guidance, particularly through his interaction with Peter, whom he commissions to 'feed my sheep.' The core lesson is that Christ's divine nature underpins his redemptive work and his ongoing relationship with believers, urging a response of love and service.
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John chapter twenty one and verse one we were in chapter twenty for about five weeks I might say these messages that we've been giving entirely new to me I think about six years ago we took up the gospel of John verse by verse it was over a year to go through this gospel but the latter part of this gospel has been enriched for my own soul the last few weeks. That's why we concentrated on chapter twenty. Now chapter twenty-one. After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.
And on this why showed he himself. They were together Simon Peter and Thomas called Didymus and Nathaniel of Canaan Galilee and the sons of Zebedee. and two other of his disciples. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth and entered into a ship immediately. That night they caught nothing. 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 ye any meat?
They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye 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 gird his fisher's coat unto him. He was naked, and he cast himself into the sea. The other disciples came in a little ship, for they were not far from land, but as it were, two hundred cubices, dragging the net with fishes. As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and breath.
Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye 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 die, and none of the disciples there is past them. 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 are dying, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than thee.
He saith unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Be my lamb. 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, Be my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, loveth thou me? He that was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Loveth 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 was young, thou girdest thyself, and walkest witheth thou goodest. When thou shalt be old. thou shalt stretch forth thy hand, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee wither thou wouldest not. This spake he signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he would say unto him, follow me. I'd like you to read the remainder of the chapter next Lord's Day. The Lord has these words, after these things, it's remarkable how this chapter should open in that way. making it very plain, there is a distinct division here, a distinct separation from chapter twenty to chapter twenty-one, and that is true.
Chapter twenty seems to have to do with the press. Chapter twenty-one has more or less a hint to that, which is to come after these things. What's he referring to after these things? What things? You'll notice at the end of verse twenty, or end of chapter twenty, verse twenty-one. But these, after these things, the next chapter opens, but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and the believing ye might have light through his name. The things he'd be putting to, after these things, has given us in the first twenty chapters of John's Gospel.
He begins in chapter one. There in chapter one you have the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. I was in the hospital yesterday. You know what amazes one sometimes how little people know. One of the folks who comes to the chapel occasionally is in the hospital. Another lady was in the next bed. We gave them a little tract of leaf a day or two ago. And when they went in yesterday they said... Please tell us what this word means, and they had it underlined. We don't know what it means. And the word was deity. Can you imagine people around thirty years of age in an enlightened America are not knowing what the word deity means?
Well, it's just the opposite to humanity. Deity belongs to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And so deity is really the Godhead. And so in chapter one of John you have Christ seen in his deity, his association with the Godhead. It opens. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God. The word was God. There's his deity. And the word was made flesh in verse fourteen, and twelve among us. Here is his incarnation, his manhood.
So you have in chapter one and verse one of John his deity. Then you have his manhood in verse forty. So chapter one is an amazing chapter. Then in chapter two of John you have the Lord Jesus mingling with men in that social event when he turned the water in the wine into wine that the marriage in Cana of Galilee. Chapter three you see Christ as the divine teacher. Here he is instructing a master in Israel, Nicodemus, as to how to be born again. Chapter four you see the Lord Jesus Christ as the great soul winner. How he won that fallen woman to himself at Cyprus West.
Chapter five you have the Lord Jesus the great physician bending in compassion over the sufferers at the booth. In chapter six he's presented as the bread which came down from heaven to give life unto the world. And without him men perish with spiritual hunger. Chapter seven you have the Lord Jesus presenting himself as the water of life, that which satisfies the thirst. Chapter eight you see him the defender of the weak. Here's a woman that's been accused. And you recall how the scribes and Pharisees accusing her of our sin? They brought her in.
They didn't bring them any. They were partial in their criticism and in their judgment. And the Lord Jesus came to the defense of the woman and rebuked the men. And beginning at the eldest, they went out and left the woman alone. And then again you have in chapter nine Christ presented as the light of the world. He opens the eyes of a blind man. In chapter ten, he's the good shepherd of the sheep, dying for the sheep, caring for the sheep, eventually coming for the sheep. That's chapter ten. Chapter eleven, you have him as the resurrection and the light when he raises Lazarus from the dead.
In chapter twelve, you see him as the king. He's riding into Jerusalem. In other words, Paul's Sunday. Chapter thirteen, you have the condescending servant of Jehovah. He's washing the disciples' feet. Chapter fourteen, you have him as the consoler. He says, In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. And he begins with this, Let not your heart be troubled. So Christ is presented as the consoler. In chapter fifteen, he's the true vine. Without him, without abiding in him, there is no bearing fruit. In chapter sixteen the Lord Jesus Christ is the giver of the Holy Spirit.
In chapter seventeen you find the great intercessor. That's the true Lord's prayer. When the Lord Jesus lifted up his eyes toward heaven, there is his high priestly prayer in chapter seventeen of John. In chapter eighteen you have the model sufferer. Nevertheless not my will but thine be done. Chapter nineteen you have the uplifted Savior. And chapter twenty you have his resurrection. In chapter nineteen I, if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me. Here he is lifted up, and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
But in chapter twenty here is his glorious redirection the victor over death and he ends all those twenty wonderful chapters with these things have i written unto you that believe in the name of the son of god that you may know that you have eternal life they are the things these things easily put in but now coming to this chapter how wonderful You have the Lord Jesus meeting this summer of his oath on yonder shore after the night of labor is passed.
It's very significant. On the shore of that lake, the disciples had been out all night fishing, and they caught nothing. And after that long, hard, dreary night of fruitless labor, cold and wet and discouraged, he meets them all seven on the shore. You know, it's remarkable when you think of those words after these things. Over in John, in the Revelation, where John is the author of the Revelation, he speaks of that which is coming after the church age. It's finished. He says the things which thou hast seen, God speaking to John, the things which are the seven churches in her testimony on the earth, then the things which shall be after these.
And so after John twenty concludes the resurrection of Jesus Christ, he's referring to things that are to be after. Undoubtedly a strong hint as to the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, that is referred to in John twenty one till I come. And you look at it as a picture. Now this morning I'm going to look at it as a picture of what happened. after the Lord comes next Sunday Lord willing to look at it in its practical aspects and how it applies to you and me and so you'll notice the meeting with the Lord on the shore after that long night of labor and would that be a wonderful meeting when we meet him on the on the shore those who have obeyed verse thirty one of chapter twenty these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life.
And this life is in his name. That's our conversion. But oh, to think of that glad day that awaits all who have been born again when we meet the Lord on yonder shore. You'll notice in reading this chapter how he appraised their service. Furthermore, he judged their motives, especially Peter. And then he prepares for them a feast. Although they had caught a hundred and fifty-three fish, great fish, yet the Lord didn't need their fish. And when they got to land, they found that he had fish already, and there they were cooked on the fire. And he had a feast of breakfast already waiting for them.
And he says, come and die. He was independent of it. He didn't need all those. We don't know where he got them. That's simple. Why, he commanded a fish to come up and give Peter a piece of money for Peter took the piece of money out of the fish's mouth. And he who commanded all the fish in that lake to make for that boat and get into that net when they'd boil all around there and caught nothing. Why, it was quite easy for him to have fish on the fire independent of the disciples. You know he's independent of you and me. He doesn't need it. He could get along without it. but he loves our company he loves our fellowship he's giving us the opportunity of working with him and being fellow workers with him and so he prepares a piece in other words you have in this chapter revelation of his grace revelation of his glory and the revelation of his guidance think of his grace his willingness to show himself again to those who had persevered isn't that great For here are seven men, and after the Lord Jesus was
raised from the dead, of course at this time they didn't know, they go fishing. Peter says, I am going fishing. We'll have more to say about that next Sunday. We ought to have all the fishermen in town out here, if we announce this. Going fishing. They toil all nights and they caught nothing. Why did they go fishing? The old pull, the old tug. Peter loved to go fishing. And he seems to have got his mind off the fact that what had happened in recent days, the Lord Jesus and his lucid eyes, they had heard he had been listening. And instead of anxious to see it, he'd give them all their time.
Here's what I'm going fishing. The other said, well, we're going with it. They pursued the Lord in that sense. They went fishing. putting material things first. And yet what grace on his part to shoot himself unto them. Then you see his glory in catching the fish and counting the fish, yet he gave them credit for it. Why, they couldn't catch any fish. They tried all like they'd really combed those waters. And here they are in the very place where you wouldn't expect to catch fish, maybe a hundred feet out from the shore. And it was in the morning. And he says, cast the net on the right side of the ship, and you'll find, what good a width of a boat as to catching fish.
Maybe the boat was eight feet wide. And they'd been all around. They had all those nets out in that area. All they'd pulled them in. They were dead. They were tired. And he said, now unload all those nets. Take them off your boat. Let them over on the other side. My, there could have been an argument between... these experienced fishermen and that man on the shore, they didn't know yet who he was. Jacob could have got into a good argument, said, well, what does he think? We've been around here all night long. Now we're in close to the bank, and he tells us to let our nets down on the other side, the right side of the ship. There's always a right side in the wrong side.
But here you find the Lord Jesus, he was the one that really caught that message. And yet he gives them credit for it. He's the spring of the fish which he has now caught. Isn't that grace on his farm? To give them credit for doing something that he really did. Catching fish that he really caught. Well, that's true. So you have the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, the revelation of his glory. And catching those fish and then giving them the credit. Then his guidance. feed my sheep, he said, and follow me. The revelation of his guidance, his instructions were up until he comes again.
Now, you'll lose here going back to his grace. Seven disciples. Never stopped to count these men. Seven disciples. The first one is Peter. He heads the list. Peter had said to all men, forsake thee. Yet will not I, Lord. Oh, my he... was really a braggar, wasn't he? In fact, remember at the fire? Prior to that test, he says, Lord, though all men forsake me, I won't forsake me. Along comes the little maid. He said, I believe you're one of his disciples. I'm not. And another says, no, I'm one of his disciples. I speak to you in.
And three times he said, deny the Lord, and once repose and Now he's gone back to the next. Dear the Lord Jesus, his anxious to meet him, looking up this failing follower of him, and in spite of Simon's cowardice and cursing, yet the Lord Jesus said this. When he's met others after his resurrection, he hadn't met Simon yet. He says, Go tell my disciples and Peter. He sing those Peter out from all the rest. because Peter was the one who had fallen the Lord's. He was the one who denied the Lord with those and with him.
That's number one. The second one is Thomas, the doubter, the unbeliever, the absentee, the third fisherman, Nathaniel of Canaan, Galilee. Read all this in verse one of chapter twenty-one. What did the Lord say to Nathaniel back in chapter one? He says, Behold an Israelite indeed of whom there is no God. And Nathaniel was so surprised that the Lord should have seen him sitting under the fig tree, which was heavenly over the hill. Here was a display of the deity of Jesus Christ. You can't bend vision, as we pointed out one time, speaking on Nathaniel.
But the Lord, he can look over the hill. He saw Nathaniel sitting under the fig tree. He told Nathaniel, on the Daniel day. Besides saw you over the hill there, sitting under the fig tree. Friend, the Lord can see you too. He can see you. He used to tell the children many years ago in the aging and children's work. The Lord can see a black ant on a black, black, black night. When I was under the fig tree, I saw you. My Nathaniel was so surprised the Lord could do this. Oh, he says, Nathaniel, thou shalt see greater things in thee. This is nothing to what you're going to see.
And those greater things Nathaniel was a witness of throughout those chapters we reviewed for you. But in chapter one he says you're going to see greater things. Why, Nathaniel saw all those things that we referred to in those marvelous chapters. And at the end... after Jesus Christ was crucified and risen, Nathaniel is one of those that go along with this group of fishermen. I, who are with him, he fled under the pressure of opposition. Nathaniel is the third. Then you have James and John, sons of Zebedee. That makes fire, doesn't it? James and John, the sons of Zebedee.
How ambitious these two young boys You remember one time the Lord Jesus would go into the city of Somalia, one of the cities on the Somatic. And they wouldn't have them. They wouldn't accept the Lord Jesus. James and John says, Lord, will you that we call down fire from heaven? Burn them up. Burn them up. They were quite ambitious. They knew so little of the heart of their Lord. But on another occasion they said, Lord, we'd like to have a little talk with you. How about James and myself? sitting one on your right hand, the other on my left, my king. Can you imagine, you were the disciples doing that?
That's what they asked. Quite ardent, brother. Lord, we like to have that place of calm. Let us sit one on my right hand, the other on my left, in my king. Yes, these are the two. so ambitious on one occasion, so zealot, they wanted to kill those who wouldn't accept their Lord, and they wanted to put one with life handy on them and regret. Now they're both vicious. They're both vicious. Seems as though all they've been listening to for three and a half years hadn't taken very deep root. Then you have two others here. The names of these are not given. They're not distinguishable.
No names. Two others decide. Only trying to use your imagination we don't know, but the point is there were seven. A perfect number, you know, seven is the number of perfection. And so you have a perfect number of imperfect men. What a picture of the whole church of Jesus Christ from Pentecost to now. For in Revelation, two and three, you have the seven churches of Asia, and in a panoramic view, God gives us in one sweep, the whole church has to recondition and decline from Pentecost until he comes. from Ephesus to Laodicea. It's very significant how there are seven. Now for them in a second, you would have spoiled it.
If there were an eight, you would have spoiled it. But there are seven men, who on this morning or this evening, I'm going fishing. Let's go back to the old job. Let's go fishing. Yes, how to of the church today. And all down the age, we have these aggressive keepers, these argumentative Thomases. You have the Artemis and the Panthers and the Art of James and John and all the unknown saved by him. And what a failure God's people have been. What a failure God's people have been.
Yet here is the Lord Jesus. And on that morning he met him. He met them on the on the shore. Do you not see yourself among these men? You're saved even by faith? He has not dealt with us after our sin. He's not rewarded us for thought in this life. They may forget, says God, but I will never forget. Though we believe not, I abide faithful. Their gifts from the callings of God are without you. And God gives a thing he never takes it back. The gifts and the callings of God.
God has called it by His grace that we have obeyed that call and accepted Jesus Christ. God does not change his mind. He does not repent. God repented in the Old Testament, but not once in the New Testament. Do you read it? God repenting or changing his mind. The gifts of God and the callings of God are without repentance. God is never so. If he saved any precious soul, he may be disappointed in. It grieved him that he made man on the earth in the beginning. But since he gave his son and paid such infinite price to save sinners, God has never repented.
He never did not. Have he ever saved any? The gifts and callings of God are without repentance. Saved. These were saved, but they were not faithful. They were saved as you read in the Bible. So as by fire. so as by fire. Saved by grace, but as to their life, the Apostles speak of it. It's all lost with the gentleman seated at length. If you're born again, you'll be saved by the sin of your feet. Saved so as by fire. Like a man, he's got everything in his home. The home kept his fire, and he gets out, just saves his life.
Everything else was up in smoke. You know that's going to be like a lot of Christians? saved by grace. God will be faithful to his promise, but they've lost everything else. Their life has gone up in the smoke. That's what you read about. In the word of God, the wood, the hay, and the stubble of a Christian that's lived his life out of punishment. Only the gold, the silver, and the precious stone is going to abide. Gold, the silver, and the precious stone. You know, I thought of some this week. but the only gold, silver, and precious stone that some Christians are going to have, the gold and silver's in their mouth and precious stones on their fingers.
And after gold and the silver, the precious stones of the fruit of the Spirit will be rewarded in that coming day. So you see, how gracious the Lord Jesus was, a revelation of his grace. Then you have a revelation of his glory. strong hint of events following this present age. Did you notice all seven meet the Lord on that morning? Although not all the same way. What do I mean? Peter goes through the water to meet the Lord.
The other six came over the water. The very moment that John picked Christ out, he said, it is the Lord. Peter dined in. He went through the water to meet his Lord. The others came in the boat. But all seven men on the shore that morning, they know all God's people are going to be in heaven. They're not all going to go exactly the same way. Some are going to go through the water today. The majority of God's people are already in heaven. They've been passing away, falling asleep in Christ. But you know some are going to be alive and remain when they are on earth.
Jesus. They're not going through the water. They're going to be alive and remain. The Bible tells you that in First Thessalonians chapter four, the dead in Christ shall rise first. There's Peter going through the water, the waters of death. But we which are alive and remain, here's the rest. But the judgment will be. He which are alive and eventually caught up to meet them in the air, and so shall we forever be with the Lord. How wonderful, how lovely it all is to see these little types of the rapture of the sick.
Whether we live or whether we die, the Bible says with the Lord, whether we die at our very waking that glad morning, whether we're alive we belong to him if we've been born again we do belong to him so you'll notice how he reached them on the shore and then they brought their fish with them the same they came bringing their catch with them when they gone on shore they were kept with the Christian let me tell you this when you step on heaven's shore let it be my way of death going to come to the Lord they're going to bring their catch with you they're going to bring their neighbors along let you say in Revelation fourteen blessed are the dead which die on the Lord from henceforth they do rest on their neighbors what they're working to call this what are you going to take with you the judgment seat of Christ that on this occasion he praised their labors.
The Lord Jesus is the one here with a proper count made of the fish. They brought their labors of the fruit of their labors with them. There it is on the shore on that morning. A risen glorified Christ is looking at it. A hundred and fifty and three big fish. A count has been made. Not one more, not one less. And on that resurrection morning, when the saints are gathered home, the Lord will look and he will review all that we did for him after we were saved. Our count will be made. And old fishermen are great exaggerators.
And you see a motto sometimes, all fishermen, liars, of all liars, fish. You know we can exaggerate. You know, it's always the big ones that get their way. That's true. The big ones get away. And some people, you know, when they come home from fishing, they tell you, how many they caught, and I've had them tell you, how big were they? Oh, big is my hand. I went by the sheep and about that size. Oh, how we can exaggerate. You know, that's true in our work for the Lord. We can exaggerate. I've asked some preachers, how many of you have out your meaning? For we had about five hundred.
That's ministerially speaking. Actually, they had about two. So many got saved, did they? And the individual Christians. My, how we can exaggerate our work for the Lord. But the Lord will shift it in us on that day. A hundred and fifty-three, not one more. Not one less. The Lord counts everything. It'll all be in the balance of the sanctuary. No bragging there, no boasting, no braggadocia there. Ah, no. Listen, it's only the gold, the silver, the precious stone that's going to stand in that day.
Everything else that you did for yourself, to glorify yourself, to exalt yourself, to promote yourself, everything you do that's not done with a single life of the glory of God. is growing up in wood, hay, and stubble. My, what a contrast. There's a big pile of wood, tons and tons of wood. There's a huge stack of hay, stack of hay, possibly fifty tons of hay. Stubble, there's another huge pile. Put a match to it. Oh, the size of bog, it all goes up in smoke. You can have enough gold and silver and precious stone in your little hand the paper all that this is worth more than all that the gold and the silver and the precious stone is small the wood the hay and the stubble is large you can say oh how much of the gold the silver and the precious stone you could throw that gold and that silver and that precious stone onto that hay, the stubble, the
wood. And if you were fortunate enough, after all the others gone up in smoke, you could find the wood, you could find the gold and silver and precious stone. It abides the fire. That's true. What I've done for Jesus Christ will abide the fire of His presence. Oh, there's so much in our lives that wood, hay. so little, gold, silver, and precious stone, that which is the fruit of the Spirit and fruit of fellowship with God. Searching lesson, isn't it? That's how wonderful our Lord is.
He says, He gives them credit for this. Jesus, bring of the fish which He has now caught. And they said, what they should have said, they said, Lord, don't give us credit for this. You did it. We had toiled all night. We had combed those waters. We had given up. You told us to put the net on the right side of the ship, and we had fined them, we did. Lord, there weren't any fish in those waters. You must have commanded them to go in. Yes, the Lord really did. And yet he gives them credit for it. He shall spring up the fish which he hath now caught.
let me say this Christian whatever you have done for the Lord has been a success after all he did it through you he didn't have to save you to begin with he didn't have to use you Lester Wilson hasn't done anything in himself and I've said it many times and I say it again everything the Lord has gotten out of me in my thirty-four years preaching he squeezed out of me I just had to do it. And he'll get the glory because he did it through me. Sometimes I was willing and sometimes I was not. But I know when he saved me, he put a burden on my heart to preach the gospel.
He put the burden there. He gave me the ability to speak. He gave me what I know of his word. Whatever I've done, the physical health and strength he has given it to me. When I get to heaven, friend, he'll get the glory for it. Whatever we do for Jesus Christ, it's with his strength that we do it. Yet how gracious. He saves us for nothing, for salvation is a gift. Yet he pays us for everything we do for them afterwards. Jesus, you bring the fish that you've caught, I'm going to be the catch for them. That's where our rewards are coming in.
He'll reward us in that glad day. But you'll notice in Revelation what they did with those rewards that he gave them. They cast them at his feet, saying, Lord, our Lord, any rewards that we get in heaven. That day we'll see things in the light of eternity. We'll realize then as we don't realize on earth that what we've done, He gave us the strength and ability to do it. We'll give it back, we'll say, Lord, you. help me to do this. If I had a gift, you gave it to me. If I had the physical strength to do it, you gave me that physical strength. And after all, this really doesn't belong to me.
It belongs to you. They cast their crowns at his feet. How wonderful all this is. Then you'll notice how he judges their motives. My, this is searching. He says to Simon Peter, Simon, lovest thou me more than He's going to judge our motives. That'll be a searching time one. Judging our motives. Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than thee. A little while ago before I was crucified, you said, Lord, though all men forsake me yet will not I, you were claiming you loved me more than the other disciples did.
How about it now, Simon? You had a good lesson of your own weakness. Your failure. You denied me. And then you've gone fishing. You've besought me. And you took others with you. When you should have been waiting on me. Looking for me in my resurrection. Lord. Now do you love me more than anyone else loves me. Simon Peter says, Lord. You know I do. Then he could have referred to the fish. Why, how that appealed to a fisherman. A man who would fisherman all his life. Fifty-three big fish. My. That's the old pool, you know.
The old tug. Diamond, do you love me more than me? Do you love me more than the disciples? Do you love me more than your old job? These fish? Is that kind of pull you back to the next? Lord, you know I do. You know I do. That prize catch means nothing, Lord. I'm embarrassing you do. All right, he says, if you do, feed my lambs. If you do, feed my sheep. And he asked them the third time, Coding thee, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me. Peter was grieving.
We'll point out next Sunday why he was grieving. Why they're stuck home. And why the Lord on three occasions asked them this question. The first time the Lord, when he says, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me, he used Agabus, a Greek word meaning a divine love. The second time he used the same word. Do you love me with divine affection, Simon? Peter in his reply, thou know'st that I love thee. He used a different word in the Greek, which means I'm fond of you, Lord. I won't say I love you with the love that you love me. I will say, I'm fond of it.
So on the third occasion, the Lord comes down to Peter's level, and instead of using that Greek word agape, he uses Peter's word, filio, well, all right, Peter, you won't boast. Are you even fond of Peter? Peter says, yes, Lord, I'm fond. I won't go beyond. And thus he probes at Peter's heart. And he finds the motives of his own. First, he questions even the superiority of Peter's love. More than these. Second, he even questions the existence of divine love. Third, he even questions whether there's even ponderous in Peter's heart.
Peter says, Lord, you know I do. I love you. Oh, I wonder if If our precious stones are alloyed with our own desires, our own glory, and our own rewards, or are we doing what we are out of love with Jesus Christ? We love this and gave himself for us. I'm speaking mostly to those who claim to be Christians this morning. What about you who are not saved? You know nothing of Christ. I'll tell you one thing. God speak of Baal. the Lord's going to take them to heaven and earth. That's one thing I am happy about.
I'd give unto my sheep eternal life to the Lord Jesus. They'll never perish. I'd be on tiptoe every day or on the pins and needles, as they say, if I could lose my salvation. I wouldn't be able to rejoice. I'd be afraid to rejoice. I don't know yet whether I'm going to be in heaven. When the Bible's so plain... We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. You do have everlasting life. You never fail. When I see the grace of God to his own who have failed, like these seven, yet how wonderful he was to show himself unto them and bless them and have a peace prepared for them on that wonderful morning.
Oh, the grace of God, that will provoke more glory and praise than anything else. a part of christian think that the lord should have saved me and used me but i was such a mistake that we will promote and promote our praise to the lord on that glorious one that you haven't come to christ at all you're still the sinner in your sins on the way to hell haven't opened your heart to the savior you don't know won't you come to him this morning you don't know what your mission Come to Christ. Receive him right now as one who died to you on that cross.
You do that. And you'll be safe. You'll have the best of masters. Serve him the rest of your life. Will you come to Christ? I'll come right this minute. We'll all tell you to say I do it. That is right. Our Father in heaven in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ we ask thy blessing upon thy word. May it reach all of our hearts, and may we realize, Father, that those of us who are saved, what mistakes we are, what failures, and yet we thank thee, we read in thy word thou fail us not. Blessed thy word to all of us, best we remember unsaved one's sins for thyself.
We ask, in thy precious name, amen. Let us sing two hundred forty-three. Two hundred and forty-three. Stopped in tenderly Jesus calling, calling for you and for me. See on the portals he's waiting and watching. Watching for you and for me. Come home, come home, ye who are weary. Come home. Earnestly, tenderly Jesus, calling, calling, O sinner, come home. Will you come to Christ as we stand and sing this?