The Love of God – The Divine Challenge

[00:00:00] Well, turn with me to the gospel according to John and the 21st chapter. The 21st chapter of the Gospel according to John from verse one. [00:00:27] After these things, Jesus manifested himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberius, and he manifested himself on this wise 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. [00:00:53] Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. [00:00:58] They say unto him, we also come with thee. They went forth and entered into the boat, and that night they took nothing. [00:01:09] But when day was now breaking, jesus stood on the beach. Yet the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. [00:01:19] Jesus therefore saith unto them, children, have ye ought to eat? They answered him, no. And he said unto them, cast them there from the right side of the boat, and ye shall find. [00:01:35] They cast therefore. And now they were not able to draw it with a multitude of fishes. [00:01:42] That disciple, therefore, whom Jesus loved, says unto Peter, it's the lord. So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his coat about him, for he was naked, and cast himself into the sea. But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about 200 cubits off, dragging the net full of fishes. So when they got out upon the land, they see a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. [00:02:17] Jesus saith unto them, bring of the fish which ye have now taken. [00:02:22] Simon Peter therefore went up and drew the net to land full of great fishes. A for all there were so many, the net was not rent. Jesus saith unto them, come and break your fast. And none of the disciples durst inquire of him, who art thou? Knowing that it was the law, jesus cometh, and taketh the bread, and giveth them and the fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples. After that he was risen from the dead. [00:02:57] So when they had broken their fast, jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, lovest thou me more than these? [00:03:10] He saith unto him, yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, feed my lambs. He saith to him again a second time, Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, tend my sheep. He saith unto him, the third time, Simon, son of John, 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. [00:03:54] 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. Now this he spake, signifying by what manner of death he should glorify God. [00:04:16] And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, follow me. [00:04:23] Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also leaned back on his breast at the supper and said, lord, who is he that betrayeth, betrayeth thee, Peter. Therefore seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, and 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? [00:04:47] This saying therefore went forth among the brethren, that that disciple should not die. Yet Jesus said not unto him that he should not die. But if I will, that ye tarry till I come, what is that to thee? [00:05:01] This is the disciple that beareth witness these things and wrote these things. And we know that his witness is true. And there are also many other things which Jesus did the which, if they should be written, every one. I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that should be written. [00:05:24] Now shall we just bow together in a word of prayer? [00:05:32] Our Lord, we do just bow here in thy presence. And we are very thankful to thee that, Lord, thou hast promised that the spirit of truth will lead us into truth. And, Lord, we just want to ask thee that thou wilt cause that ministry of the Holy Spirit to be fulfilled in our midst this evening. Meet us, Lord, we pray, we ask, Lord, for a spirit of quietness to come upon this gathering. [00:06:06] We pray, Lord, for the children. [00:06:09] Wilt thou give the mothers wisdom, and wilt thou give the children quietness? We pray and help us, Lord, to be able to attend to thee. We dont want this time to be wasted or in any way futile. But we pray, o Lord, that thou shut us in with thyself, that we may hear thee. And in hearing thee, something may be done in our hearts and lives for eternity. And we ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. [00:06:47] Now, the burden that has been on my heart for these times in these evenings has been to do with the love of God and came out of that little word of the apostle Paul, as it is recorded in his letter to the church at Philippi in chapter one and verse nine. I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that ye may approve the things which are excellent, that ye may be sincere and void of offence unto the day of Christ. [00:07:31] I pray that your love may abound yet more and more. The Lord Jesus said in some of the most solemn words he uttered, because iniquity shall abound, the love of the many shall wax cold, and no single believer should ever think that he will escape that category. But by the grace of God, all of us, our hearts can grow cold, we can become lukewarm. The love that we had at the beginning may evaporate, and somehow we substitute that devotion and love for the Lord with things, with work, with truth, with teachings, with sacrifice. Even we need to take heed to the Lord's word in this matter, that our love may abound yet more and more far from the waxing cold. It may abound yet more and more unto the day of Jesus Christ. Last night I spoke about the divine command. [00:08:47] Hear, o rishrael, the Lord thy God, the Lord is one. [00:08:54] Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. [00:09:07] And the second is like unto thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. [00:09:16] Upon these two hangeth the whole law and the prophets. Jesus said, tonight I want to speak about the divine challenge. [00:09:29] The divine challenge lovest thou me. [00:09:39] The story contained in this gospel of John in chapter 21 is a very wonderful story. [00:09:50] Its almost an epilogue. [00:09:53] For if you look at the end of John chapter 20, it seems as if John had finished his gospel. He ended it like this. Many other signs therefore did Jesus in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the son of God, and that believing ye may have life in his name. [00:10:22] And then it seems as if he felt it wasn't finished, and the spirit of the Lord drove him back to writing this epilogue. And he writes the epilogue, which in fact has become a vital part in the whole of this gospel. [00:10:47] I said last night that we must always take note when God ever repeats something. And in the Bible we have certain things which are a repetition. For instance, last night we dwelt on deuteronomy, the fifth book of the Old Testament, and that is in fact a repetition of the law. It is a giving again of the law. One wonders why the Lord should have spent so much time and so many chapters in this precious book we call the Bible. Going over what he's already given us, we would feel there are so many things we would like revelation and illumination on, so many things we would like information on, so many questions we would like answered. But instead, it's as if God goes right back to the beginning, to Genesis, and traces the whole story, story again only with a significant addition. For the first time. Only once before in those four books has he spoken about this matter. He speaks of his love for them lying behind everything, and therefore his only being satisfied if they will love him with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their mind, and with all their strength. [00:12:11] John is also such a repetition in one way. Now we have to be careful because we have three gospels, and we call the three gospels Matthew, Mark and Luke, synoptic gospels. They are the gospels which are histories. They give us the facts. They give us the story of the birth of the Lord Jesus and the life of the Lord Jesus, the anointing of the Lord Jesus, the ministry of the Lord Jesus, the death of the Lord Jesus, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, the ascension of the Lord Jesus. They give us the facts. They give it from different angles. One speaks of him as king, another speaks of him as servant, the other speaks of him as man. But when we come to John, he speaks of him as God. But it is not in the same way as the other gospel. He goes over the whole story again. But his gospel is an interpretation, as if John is saying, now there is something you must understand which underlies everything in these other gospels. You may not fully understand who Jesus is and what is the significance of the Lord Jesus, unless you understand what I am going to communicate to you. [00:13:34] So the gospel of John occupies a very especial place indeed. [00:13:42] And it is as if you come into the holy of holies again in the gospel of John. I think most of us feel that when we read this gospel, it is not without significance that this gospel ends with this story of the Lord Jesus and his first, foremost disciple and apostle, Peter. [00:14:10] Weve read the story. I dont need to go over it, but there are one or two things we do need to say about the questions of the Lord so that we might understand. You see, when Peter said, im going fishing, Peter was this kind of man. We do great injustice to Peter when we think of him as some impetuous, impulsive, empty headed kind of individual. Sometimes you hear Peter described as if he was sort of all fire and emptiness, sort of all emotion, feeling sort of ready to jump in where fools would never tread. [00:14:46] Sort of the one to go ahead of thought, never thinking. I don't think this is true of Peter. I think Peter was a rugged man. He was a real he man. He was a man who had a brain. [00:15:02] He hadn't been to any academy. He was a fisherman, but he had an intelligence. He had a rugged personality. He was as tough as they come. [00:15:16] He wasn't the kind of person who was impetuous, just in an empty headed way. He was the kind of man who. Who took the helm because it was natural to him to take the helm. He was the kind of man who spoke up because it was natural to him to speak up. He did what came naturally. [00:15:37] He was a tough man. [00:15:41] When Jesus met him in this marvelous story and cooked him a meal and the other disciples a meal and had breakfast with them, he suddenly said, simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? [00:16:07] Now, the old Peter would have said, lord, of course I do, much more than all of them. [00:16:18] But this is where we cannot perhaps put it quite in English, because in the original, we have two words used. [00:16:31] Jesus said, do you love me? Completely, absolutely, comprehensively, with your whole being. [00:16:46] And Peter said, lord, you know I have a brotherly affection for you. [00:16:55] He used another word, filio. It's a word beautifully used in the New Testament and with real power. We are to love the brethren fervently. It says, in one place and in other places, too. It uses this word, but it has not got quite the same fullness or comprehensiveness as the word Jesus used. Then the Lord Jesus said to him, tend my lambs. [00:17:27] Then he said, the second time, simon, do you love me with your whole being? [00:17:35] Completely. [00:17:38] And Simon said, lord, you know ive got a brotherly love for you. [00:17:46] Jesus said, shepherd, my sheep. [00:17:54] And then the third time, Jesus said to him, simon, son of John. [00:18:02] And here is the wonderful thing. Jesus said, have you got a brotherly affection for me? [00:18:11] And Peter said, lord, you know everything. [00:18:16] You know I have got a brotherly affection for you. Jesus said, tend my sheep. [00:18:32] The divine challenge this gospel soars into the heavens. [00:18:41] Right from the beginning, it begins like this, just like the book of Genesis, just like the old covenant begins. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. And then it says, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth, and we beheld his glory, glorious of the only begotten of the father. [00:19:18] It was a wonderful revelation of the person, of the Lord Jesus. Not just the son of man, but the son of God. Not just the son of God, but God the Son. [00:19:34] The very mind of God revealed. What does it mean? A word. Do you know what a word is? A word is a thought expressed in a concrete form. Now, what I'm trying to do is, by the grace of God is to communicate thoughts by words. [00:19:58] Now, I don't know whether you're understanding anything but the idea is that these thoughts up here which are invisible, intangible as far as you're concerned you don't see them, you can't hear them. You don't know what I'm thinking. But these words take those thoughts and express those invisible thoughts in a concrete way so that you can understand. It, is a communication. [00:20:25] Jesus is the mind of God revealed. Jesus is the heart of God revealed. Jesus is the thoughts of God in concrete form. Jesus is the manifestation of of God. So that when we see him, we see God. When we hear him, we hear God. When we touch him, we touch God. He is the word. [00:20:53] We would never be able to understand God, comprehend God. We would never be able to taste God, if you know what I mean. Apart from the person of the Lord Jesus. And that's how this tremendous gospel begins. And then by the spirit of God, John begins to take us through all kinds of incredible things. First we come to that great statement of the Lord Jesus. I am the bread of life. [00:21:19] Bread is absolutely necessary to live. We have to eat bread to live. Jesus didn't say, I give you bread. He did give them bread. He broke bread and fed 5000 in one place and broke bread in another and fed 4000 men. Only the women must have been, if we go by the normal congregation at least two thirds more. [00:21:49] I am the bread of life. Not I give the bread of life. Not I break the bread of life. But I am the bread of life. He is the one who is, as it were, the very nature of God in a way that you and I can become partakers of. Not to be too subjective to make Jesus a thing but by him, through his saving work, we become partakers of the divine nature. I am the bread of life. What a tremendous thing it is. And in this gospel we have the story of the feeding of the 5000. And this great statement of Jesus. I am the bread of life. And then a little farther on, we have the next great statement. I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life. Jesus is the light of the world. He doesn't just manifest the light of the world. He said, I am the light of the world. And if we find follow him, we shall have not the light of knowledge, but the light of life. He in us becomes an inward understanding of God, an inward understanding of ourselves, an inward understanding of one another, an inward understanding of the purpose and goal of God. I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. [00:23:26] And then we read of a blind man getting his sight. And then we go on a little more and what do we find? A marvelous statement for anybody, certainly, who has any jewish blood. Before Abraham was I am. [00:23:43] They reeled back on that. How could he be before Abraham was born? But he said, before Abraham was I am. It was as if he were saying, I am the explanation of the history of God's people. I am the significance of all God's dealings with his people. Before Abraham was I am. And then we go on. Oh, we mustn't spend too much time on this. But it is amazing when we really look at this gospel of John, his I ams. You see, God had revealed himself to Moses in that burning bush, as I am. [00:24:29] He said, when Moses said, what is your name? He said, I am, that I am. And Jesus took up that unmentionable name of God and said, I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world. [00:24:49] Before Abraham was I am. We go on just a few more chapters and we come to that wonderful 10th chapter of the Gospel of John. And Jesus said, I am the door. [00:25:07] By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in, and shall go out and shall find posture. I am the door. Not I point to the door, not I introduce you through the door. But I am the door. I am the gateway into the kingdom of God. I am the gateway into the presence of God. I am the door by which you can come in. And you can go in and you can go out and you can find pasture. And then he went on, I am the good shepherd. [00:25:43] The good shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep. [00:25:53] This gospel of John is unique. You don't find any of this in the other three gospels. It's as if John goes right back and says, now you've got all of facts. You've seen him as king, you've seen him as servant, you've seen him as man. But I want to reveal something about the Lord Jesus that underlies the whole. And you will understand that God has not given you things. He's given you a person. God has not given you an it. He's given you a him. His unspeakable gift is his son. He has given himself in the person of the Lord Jesus. And then we go on to that 11th chapter of John's Gospel, and we have that amazing story of when Lazarus died and Jesus wept. And you remember the words? He said, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And he that liveth and believeth on me shall never die. He didn't say, I am the one who will raise the dead and give you life. He said, I am the resurrection and the life. [00:27:04] He that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And he that liveth not believeth and liveth, but liveth and believeth on me shall never die. Death is only a transient experience. [00:27:24] It is just a kind of chrysalis out of which we pass into another dimension of life. Isn't that wonderful? Jesus said, I am the resurrection and life. Sometimes we're afraid if we feel that Jesus is far off and I'm here. But when it comes to the day when we die, if the Lord does not come for us before, what a comfort it will be to know he is the resurrection and the life, even in our dying hour. [00:27:55] And then if you go on, you will find in the 14th chapter of John another marvellous thing. Dear Philip said, lord, we don't know the way to the Father. Show us the way. And he said, have I been so long time with you and you still don't understand? [00:28:12] I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the father but by me. He didn't say, I point to the way. I preach the truth or give the truth, and I produce the life. He said, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man cometh unto the father but by me. [00:28:39] And then, perhaps the most remarkable and most mysterious statement of all, in John 15 and verse one, I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman. Now, any good jew, hearing the Lord Jesus at that time, knew what he was talking about, because on the coins at the time of our Lord Jesus was stamped a vine leaf. And everybody knew that in Herod's temple, one of the most amazing sites, Josephus says, was the great filigree golden vine that was in the porch of the temple and which every child of Israel could see. When he brought his sacrifices, he looked up beyond the head of the priest to the porch of the temple, he could see that golden vinegar. If you had said to any good jew in those days, what does the vine symbolize? He would have said, us. [00:29:38] We are the vine, we who are the covenant people of God. We, who are the chosen people of God, we are the vine, and God is the husbandman. [00:29:50] Of all the things Jesus ever said that must have caused those apostles minds to reel, it was this. He said, I am the true vine. As if he were saying, I am the nation. I am the people of God. I am the bride of God. I am the nation of God. I am the covenant. How could he be? If he said, I am the messiah of the people, we could understand it. If he said, I am the high priest, we would understand it. If he said, I am the messianic king, we would have understood. But how could he say, I am the true vine. [00:30:26] I am the vine, you are the branches. He never said, I am the trunk, you are the branches. That's how we all mentally understand it. He's the little trunk, we're the big branches. If you've seen the vine vines grown in the old way, not the italian way, but the old way, as they still are in many parts of Israel today. [00:30:49] In Judea and Samaria, you will see that there is very little trunk and great branches. And many people say, ah, we understand, jesus. He said, I am the trunk, you are the branches. [00:31:03] Abide in me, and you shall bear much fruit. He didn't say that. He said, I am the vine, you are the branches. As if he were saying, I am the whole vine. I am the totality of the vine. I am the root and the trunk and the branches and the leaves and the tendril and the blossom and the fruit. And you're in me. [00:31:26] You're not as big as me, but you're in me, you see? Abide in me, and I in you, and you shall bear much fruit. [00:31:34] Oh, what a revelation. What a revelation. [00:31:40] We don't realize just how tremendous these things are here. We've got this book, and many of us have never understood. I am the vine, my father is the husbandman. It just washes off us. [00:31:52] Wonderful. Wonderful. He's the bread of life. Wonderful. [00:31:58] He is the resurrection. Oh, wonderful. [00:32:03] He's the light of the world. Marvelous. [00:32:09] I am the tomb. I know. What a lovely thought. [00:32:15] Union. [00:32:16] Union. Lovely. It's lovely. [00:32:23] Oh, this gospel of John. It's fathomless. [00:32:27] It is fathomless. It is an ocean of spirit, spiritual meaning and experience, unexplored. [00:32:37] And this is all that Jesus said, and then after that 15th chapter, we enter into the last account of his passion, his anguish, his death, his burial, his resurrection. And it's as if John came to the end and said, oh, I've written these and many other signs which I could have told you about that you might believe and that believing you might have life in his name. [00:33:12] And then I suppose, like some of us writers, he thought, well, that's it. [00:33:20] And then I suppose I don't know how it happened, he must have felt uncomfortable. He went back and looked at it and said, theres something missing. And I suppose the Lord Jesus said to him, yes, theres another incident. [00:33:37] You remember when I met you all when you went fishing with Peter? John, John, dont lead that gospel where you finished it. It's not finished. [00:33:55] You have not yet come to the heart of the matter. [00:34:02] The heart of the matter is not that you have knowledge of all mysteries, not that you understand my person and the fullness which the father has pleased to center in me for you. [00:34:27] The key is, do you love me? [00:34:45] Do you love me with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength. [00:35:08] What is the greatest need amongst the people of God today? [00:35:13] Some would say, oh, if they could only have more knowledge of the things of God. I think wed all say, yes, we wish there was. There is a dearth of understanding. [00:35:26] But dear people of God, you can have a great understanding and still miss the mark. [00:35:36] You could even, and no one has yet fully, you could even understand the gospel of John and somehow miss the whole point. Were it not for this 21st chapter of John, which is not an afterthought but which brings us right into the very heart of the matter. [00:35:55] Lovest thou me? [00:36:05] Do you love me fully, completely with your whole being? [00:36:25] Just note for a moment, it's not things, it's not truth, it's not teaching. [00:36:40] He didn't say, do you love the truth I've given you? [00:36:47] It's a good thing to love the truth. [00:36:50] The psalmist said, o Lord, I love thy truth. [00:36:54] It's a good thing. [00:36:56] It's a good thing to have sound doctrine in a day when there's very little it's a good thing to have pure doctrine in a day when there's very little pure doctrine. [00:37:08] But that is only part of the matter, the essential matter, the heart of the whole, is, do you love me with all your being and if you do, feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep, we're back again and you'll find in these few evenings I have. I'm really saying the same thing again and again. I hope it doesnt boring you stiff. [00:37:51] What are the two great commandments? Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself lovest thou. Me. Lord, you know that I have a real affection for you. [00:38:10] Feed my lambs. [00:38:19] Everything of eternal value comes out of our relationship to the Lord Jesus, out of our love for him. [00:38:28] You can have all the knowledge and all the understanding and all the zeal and all the energy and be immersed in work for him. But if this relationship to him of love is missing, it profits you nothing. [00:38:50] Nothing goes through into the city of God. There is no gold, no precious stone and no pearl. [00:39:02] That's why this greatest of the four gospels ends with a do you love me? [00:39:10] Tell me, do you love me? [00:39:20] Or are you preaching out of duty, preaching mechanically, working for self satisfaction somehow or other, just simply going through the motion, do you love me? [00:39:46] What a revelation of the grace of God. In this last chapter he understood that apostle, you know, the Lord Jesus could have said the third time, do you love me? With your whole being. And he would have known that poor Peter would have just simply nearly gone under. [00:40:08] Something had happened to Peter. We'll come to that in a moment. [00:40:12] He couldn't say what he would have said a few months or weeks before. [00:40:18] He said, lord, you know everything. [00:40:22] But the third, 3rd time, Jesus didn't say, do you love me? Completely, fully, with your whole being. He said, peter, simon, have you got that brotherly affection for me? [00:40:46] And Peter said, lord, you know, you know everything. You know ive got it for you. [00:40:54] And then he said, feed my sheep. [00:41:05] You know, the Lord Jesus comes to you tonight. [00:41:08] I dont know how moved you were this morning, or whether God has been able to get anything into you in the last two days. [00:41:21] But I do know this, that it's not your tremendous understanding of truth, even of church truth, even of the purpose of God, that finally counts in eternity. [00:41:41] It is whether tonight you can answer this question of your Lord, your risen and glorified Lord, do you love me? [00:41:57] It is an inescapable challenge. [00:42:05] Now, the consequence of such love, as I've already pointed out, is not that we shall be closeted with him and forget the world around us, or forget everybody else, and somehow live in a wonderful atmosphere of meditation and reflection. [00:42:24] The Lord says, feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep. Now, this kind of love for him, this relationship to him and not to things, must result in a service, a sacrificial loving service toward the flock of God. [00:42:56] Sheep are not easy creatures, I used to think, before I knew just a little bit more about sheep in asking various questions of sheep farmers whenever I've come into contact with them. And in the Middle east, where, of course, we have sheep going back to the capital twice a year, it is one of the funniest sights in Jerusalem to see in the spring and in the autumn, whole flocks of sheep going right through, through the high streets on their way from the south to the north. And then half a year later on their way back again down to the Bethlehem area. Those scraggy old sheep. The oriental kind, the kind they have in China as well. Not the western kind. The kind with the big old tail, fat rump tail they have at the back. And those round faces. Sheep are strangely. I used to think they were the dumbest of all creatures, creatures with a sort of. Well, really, you could do anything with a few sheep. You sort of sat down under a tree all through the day and let the sheep get on with it. And somehow or other, they brought you some kind of livelihood. I don't know how many other people have considered that is how you can keep sheep. Nice, easy way of making a subsistence livelihood without making a fortune. You just have a few sheep and they go out, they find their own pasture, and you don't have to bother your head about them. You can sit there playing a flute. That's the sentimental picture of a shepherd sitting on a rock playing a flute while his sheep wander all over the mountainside. [00:44:33] I have found out since then that sheep are not quite so easy. [00:44:39] A sheep farmer told me that to really have healthy sheep, you must inspect them every day personally. Each one, they have such a capacity for foot rot, such a capacity for sores in their coat that they need to be inspected each day. Now, this explains the relationship of the shepherd to the sheep. He has to inspect them every day, gets to know them. To me, the sheep all look alike, tell you. But to the shepherd, he gets to know their little idiosyncrasies. He can tell one from another. I have always found this relationship of shepherd to sheep quite remarkable. I remember one day going walking down from where I was staying on the. Near the mount of olives down into the city, the old city. I saw a whole lot of flocks. I knew that there were four large flocks, each numbering about 100 and 5160 sheep. And they were all mixed up together. And I knew that there must be some way of telling them and then one day I saw a most extraordinary sight. I saw a little short shepherd, an old white haired gentleman with an enormous sheep in his arms. He just scooped her up out of the midst of a whole seething mass of sheep. And took her across and dumped her in another flock. [00:46:12] Now, of course, you may think I'm dim. I am when it comes to sheep. Because I thought to myself, how did he know that there was no dye on it as in modern things? How did he know that sheep wasn't his yet he sorted it out. They all looked the same to me. They all looked scraggy. They all looked silly. They all look dumb. [00:46:31] They all had the same color pattern. They've got the same queer phase. And yet he died into the midst of about 15 sheep and lifted one out and went over. Once I was down in the south of Sinai. And I wandered off on the others. They were looking at the coral and diving down to see the under sea water world. And I walked round to where there was a Bedouin village right next to the Red Sea. And there was a woman with an enormous flock. And she was watering them. [00:47:07] And then I suddenly saw her turn round. [00:47:11] And she looked into this seething mass of at least a hundred creatures. And then she bent down, took a stone and she flung it with deadly aim and hit one on the back. And it jumped and belted out of the flock and went over to another. [00:47:30] No, I couldn't speak a language, so I couldn't say. How did you know? [00:47:35] To me they all look alike. They were all fighting to get to the water. And yet she spotted one sheep out of that hundred that wasn't her flock. And she sent a stone with deadly accuracy. Which is it? The back. And out it went to its own flock. [00:47:58] Sheep are incredible creatures. [00:48:02] Not only had they a tendency to disease, they must be looked, they must be tended. But you see, the shepherd has to look for pasture. It's not like here where you have plenty of green or plenty of hay in, in the Middle east. The shepherd has to have four foresight. He has to think where he's going to lead those sheep the next week. Because he knows it can only enable them to live for a few more days. He's got to think of some other pasture. [00:48:34] When Jesus said to Peter, who was a fisherman, lovest thou me? And he said, lord, you know I have an affection for thee. He said, feed my lambs. [00:48:48] Simon, do you love me? Lord, you know I have an affection for you. [00:48:54] Shepherd, my sheep. [00:48:58] Simon, do you have an affection for me? Lord, you know everything. You know I've got this affection for you. [00:49:08] Feed my sheep. [00:49:12] Sheep have a tremendous tendency to get into trouble. I have been working amongst the Lord's people for some years now and I can well understand why the Lord calls us sheep. [00:49:25] We have a terrible tendency to disease. [00:49:30] We have a ten. A terrible tendency to get into trouble. And sometimes we lead one another into the trouble. I remember years ago when I was young and in England, hearing Alan Redpath tell a story where he was on holiday in Scotland and he said that as the ferry came into a place called Rothesay and the western highlands, all these sheep were coming in and they were going on to the quay. But the men on the. On the quayside had left some great crates. And as the first sheet came to the crate, it didn't go round. It hesitated for a moment and then it went back and it leapt over. And so the next one hesitated and then it leapt over and then it said, to my amazement, all these hundreds of sheep didn't go round. They all leapt over. [00:50:28] Then one of the men on the cave was so shy for the sheep, he went and he pulled the thing away. And what do you think happened? They all leapt over an invisible crate. [00:50:45] You know, the Lord's people are amazing. We have amazing people. [00:50:52] We follow one another and we do things. And, you know, sometimes a 100, 100 years later, we're following a method which is long outdated. [00:51:02] We're doing evangelistic work as if we're living 150 years ago. We dress like it, we speak like it, we do all kinds of things as if we're living in a time of great revival. 200, 300, 400 years ago. We're jumping over the invisible crate. [00:51:24] Sheep. [00:51:29] Now, I know you're a sheep, but it's sometimes hard to recognize that I'm a sheep. [00:51:39] Do you understand what I mean? [00:51:42] We all say, oh, so and so is just like that. [00:51:47] Just like they need so much care, so much attention. But of course, I mean me. Well, I'm not like that. [00:52:00] But we all are. [00:52:02] We are all sheep. [00:52:05] We've all turned to our own way. [00:52:08] But the Lord has laid the iniquity of us all on him. [00:52:13] Sheep, the work, the service. Even the sheep must never come in the place of the Lord. [00:52:28] Isn't it interesting the Lord Jesus didn't say, Simon, Simon, son of John, do you love my lamb? [00:52:45] Simon, Simon, son of John, do you love my sheep with your whole being? [00:52:57] He didn't even say, simon, do you have a brotherly affection for the sheep, a feeling for them? [00:53:08] No, he said, do you love me with your whole being? [00:53:18] Lord, you know I have an affection for you. [00:53:23] Feed my land. [00:53:28] That's the right way round. But we are always putting thee the other way. [00:53:34] Were always getting wrapped up with the work, with the service, with the people, with the saints. [00:53:41] The first thing is our relationship to the Lord Jesus. [00:53:46] It is not for nothing that the apostle Paul said, hold fast the head. From whom? The whole body. [00:53:54] In other words, when we hold fast the head, we find the body. When we try to hold fast the body, we lose the head. [00:54:02] Whole movements have gone off the rails because they've held to one another instead of holding to the head. [00:54:10] Our great safety and security is our relationship to the head, not just holding fast the head, but a real, true, total love for him. [00:54:25] Now I must draw this time to an end. But there is something else I want to say. I've talked about the challenge of the Lord. Do you love me with your whole being? [00:54:42] And I've talked about the consequence of that love. [00:54:46] Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. [00:54:51] Feed my sheep. [00:54:57] I want to speak about the necessary experience. [00:55:03] We must not overlook Peter's experience, which lies behind all this, or we will miss the whole point. [00:55:13] Did you notice what the Lord Jesus said to him the first time? [00:55:18] Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? [00:55:25] The Lord knew just what he was saying and what he was doing, because the old Peter would have said, you know, lord, I love you far more than them all. I'm ready to go with you into prison. I'm ready to die for you. At least with you. [00:55:49] That was the old Peter of a week before something had happened to Peter. [00:56:02] You see, Peter had a self manufactured christian life. [00:56:09] He had a kind of self manufactured service. [00:56:16] He had been three years with the Lord Jesus. I can't think of any theological seminary like that. [00:56:24] Three years, not under some great godly tutor, but under the tutorship and training of the Lord Jesus, Jesus himself. Three whole years with the master. He had lived with him. He'd slept in the same room with him. He'd eaten with him. He had been involved in miracles and signs and wonders. He had personally heard the sermon on the mount. He had heard these great discourses. He heard Jesus say, I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world. He'd been with the Lord Jesus in all these things. He was the one who was up on the mount of transfiguration with two of the others, when suddenly the Lord Jesus was transfigured in glory. [00:57:15] He was one of the four that was taken in and saw Jairus daughter raised from the dead. He was one of the inner circle of the twelve. He'd been in on everything. He was not only with the Lord. He not only knew the Lord firsthand. He'd not only heard the Lord. He'd not only experienced the authority and power of the Lord. He was the first with revelation. He was the one who, when Jesus said, whom do you say that I am? Said in answer, thou art the Messiah, the son of the living God. And Jesus said to him, Simon, son of John, flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you, but my father, who is in heaven, he was the first in revelation. [00:58:08] It was to this peter that Jesus said to you, will I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven. [00:58:17] This peter had been on evangelistic campaigns where when they came back, Jesus said to them, I saw Satan falling out of the heavens like lightning. [00:58:31] And they came back and they said, master, the dead have been raised, the lepers have been cleansed, the sick have been healed, the demon possessed have been made sound. [00:58:51] I would have thought if you'd had three years like that, you might feel that you had a right to speak for God. [00:59:00] You might feel you had a right to be a leader amongst the people of God. You might feel that you had a right to communicate truth to them. You might feel that you had a right to somehow organize campaigns or whatever. [00:59:17] But there was a fatal weakness in Peter, and that fatal weakness is in every single child of God. [00:59:28] We find it best described in the gospel of Luke and chapter 22 and in verse 31, in the words of Jesus. Simon. [00:59:42] Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you a sweet. But I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not. And do thou, when once thou hast turned again, establish thy brethren? And he said unto him, Lord, with thee I'm ready to go both to prison and to death. [01:00:10] And he said, I tell thee, peter, the cock shall not crow this day until thou shalt thrice deny that thou even knowest me. [01:00:28] Simon, Satan hath obtained thee by requesting. The new american standard. Bible puts it simply, Satan has demanded permission to have you. What a wonderful word. [01:00:46] So Satan can never get a believer without permission. [01:00:54] No one who's been given by the father to the son can ever be tampered with by Satan. But thy permission. [01:01:08] And what was the aim? Satan hath demanded permission that he might have you, that he may sift you as wheat. [01:01:29] I think God always uses Satan to sift us. [01:01:39] In many, many ways. [01:01:42] It's Satan who is the agent, God gets the grain and Satan gets the chaff. [01:01:52] And Satan is so self centered that he still goes on and on and on and on. He doesn't seem to realize that God uses him to do something in a believer. Satan hath obtained thee by request that he may sift thee as wheat. Now I would have thought, thought that if we take the story of Peter's denial and collapse, there was no grain. [01:02:24] It was all churf. Everything was chough. [01:02:29] He said with oaths and curses, I don't know this man. [01:02:35] And not before the high priest. Why, I would have thought if the high priest appeared in all his regalia and confronted Peter and said, now you've been with this, this impostor Jesus. And Peter had quivered and said, oh, never. I don't know him. I might have just understood it, but it was a little servant girl, a slip of a thing. [01:02:57] She came up and she said, you were with Jesus. [01:03:02] And that great rugged man quaked and he said, I don't know him. [01:03:13] Three times. [01:03:21] Obtain thee by request and here is divine love in action. Listen, I have prayed for you that your faith fail not. Do you know why I stand here tonight? Because Jesus has prayed for me many times. [01:03:38] Do you know why you're here tonight? Because he ever lives to make intercession for us. O the times unbeknown to us, when Jesus has said to the Father, Father, don't let her faith fail. [01:03:53] Don't let that which is of myself in him be destroyed. Bring him through with what is of eternal value. The rest Satan can have. [01:04:09] Thy faith may not fail. How would you have described, if I may say, how would you have described this chapter in Peter's life? Wouldn't you have called it the collapse of his faith? I would have thought if someone had said, I don't know, the man with oaths and curses, you would have thought, oh, that's the collapse of his faith, not the Lord Jesus. [01:04:33] He said, I prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. So all that failed was the superficial self manufactured stuff. [01:04:43] It was the surface stuff. The real faith, which was the gift of God deep within his heart was there. [01:04:51] It never failed. Jesus only had to look at him with one glance. And in that moment his God given faith broke out in bitter tears. [01:05:04] So it is with every true child of God. [01:05:11] Jesus has only to look. [01:05:14] He doesnt even sometimes have to say anything. [01:05:18] When weve gone through this kind of experience, he looks at in that moment we are back with him. [01:05:34] What happened to Peter has to happen to every true servant of the Lord. In some degree, we all start out when we are first saved to serve the Lord. But so much of it is self manufactured, isn't it? Our faith, which we think is so great, is really superficial. Our confession. We say, Lord, I will go anywhere for you. Lord, I'll do anything. We stand up in meetings and dedicate ourselves to the Lord. But, oh, the Lord's not taken in by any of it. But he loves us so much that he takes us on. [01:06:11] It's as if he plays along with us and says, okay, okay, I take you. But he knows. Just like Peter. He never kept on saying to Peter, every time Peter said something, Peter, you'll all win. [01:06:27] You're all wind. Peter. Empty, noisy, gong clanging cymbal. That's all you are. You'll come to it. [01:06:37] No. The Lord Jesus went along beautifully. He encouraged what there was of the Lord. He said, flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you. My father revealed that to you. He commended him. He encouraged him. He comforted him. Sometimes he rebuked him. Get thee behind me, Satan. You don't savor the things which are of God, but the things which are of men. [01:06:58] But the Lord Jesus was never taken in. He knew that all that so called christian character and christian and work and service was all a facade. [01:07:11] It would all collapse in a moment of time. [01:07:14] And he had prayed for Peter, that he would not fail. Now, many of you, this message will only be for some of you. I'm afraid all of you, if you go on with the Lord, will have to come to it in some degree. [01:07:27] But some of you may have come to this place. [01:07:30] Seemingly you've lost your faith. [01:07:34] Seemingly you are devastated. Seemingly you are desolated. [01:07:40] All that you once knew has just evaporated. All that you once held so zealously and forcefully has somehow it's got a question about it. [01:07:57] It's as if God has blown the whole superstructure of your christian life to pieces. [01:08:04] Don't be afraid. [01:08:06] Jesus has prayed for you. You have got to go this way. [01:08:12] Because only when you come through will you hear the lovely words of your Lord. [01:08:18] Do you love me with your whole being. [01:08:24] If Jesus had said that earlier to Peter, he would have said, as I have said, two or three. Of course I do, Lord. I love you with my whole being. I'll die for you. Jesus would have known it didn't mean a thing. Now he said it twice. [01:08:38] And those words of Peter, you know I've got an affection for you, Lord, meant more to Jesus than if he had said in months before, I love you with my whole heart, for this time, Jesus knew it was real. The man was in love with him. The man had a devotion for him, but he was afraid to go beyond and use the words that he would have used a few weeks before his whole superstructure was blown sky high. [01:09:08] God had got him down to basic foundation. [01:09:13] You know I've got an affection for you. Jesus didn't let him get away. Simon, do you love me? With your whole heart, master, you know I I have a feeling for you. I have an affection for you. [01:09:31] Shepherd my sheep. [01:09:34] And then it was as if Jesus said, with a gentleness and a tenderness in his eyes, Simon, have you got an affection for me? [01:09:47] And Peter said, you know everything. [01:09:51] You know I've got an affection for you. [01:09:55] And Jesus said, feed my sheep. [01:10:00] I'm with you, Peter. We're on the basis of reality now. You're going to be the man who opens the door first to the jew and then to the gentile. [01:10:15] I am with you. [01:10:17] Oh, dear people of God, isn't it an amazing thing when we consider that this love of God has to lead us in the end to laying down our lives for him and for one another? [01:10:32] Do you notice how the words end? [01:10:36] Do you love me? [01:10:38] Follow me. [01:10:44] It was not for nothing that Jesus said to him, you will be carried where you would not. [01:10:51] For he spoke of Peter dying a death that was actually physically like his Lord's, only if we believe church today. In addition, at the last moment, Peter asked for one thing to be granted to him, and it was granted to him. He said he wanted to be crucified upside down because he wasn't worthy to be crucified in the same way as his Lord. [01:11:20] Follow me. [01:11:25] You can give your body to be burned, and it will, will profit you nothing. You can give all your goods away to feed the poor, and it means nothing unless there is love. [01:11:41] Do you love me? The Lord says, lord, you know I love you. [01:11:47] Then he says, feed my sheep and follow me. [01:12:00] And that will mean you will have to lay down your life. [01:12:04] And the love of God leads us just to that, that we might lay down our lives for him and for one another. [01:12:16] I don't know what the response of your heart is tonight to the words of Jesus. [01:12:22] I pray that you cannot escape it, that God will somehow keep you to this matter. [01:12:31] Not do you understand? [01:12:34] Not do you know? [01:12:37] Not are you ready for sacrifice first? [01:12:40] Not even are you ready to serve first. But do you love me? [01:12:49] May God give us grace to love him with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength. And to love our neighbour as ourselves. [01:13:07] Shall we pray, dear Lord, we pray that we may hear. Hear thy voice in the quietness of our own hearts, speaking to each one of us. [01:13:20] And help us, Lord. We pray to respond to thee. Don't let us escape. We pray, Lord, from this challenge of thine. [01:13:31] But grant, we pray, Lord, that we may be enabled to face up to it and may be enabled to seek thee. [01:13:45] We ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.