Let the words of my mouth and the
meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy
sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.
Amen.
We have been meditating from morning to morning
on scenes from the Resurrection.
I fear that there will not be time.
Tomorrow morning will be the last morning meditation
to complete the series.
So this evening we are going to be
thinking about one of the scenes from the
Resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
I do believe with a very special message
of a practical nature for Christians.
A walking with the risen Christ.
Well, we have it portrayed in this scene
which was brought before us this evening as
the Scripture lesson was read.
We read here in the twenty-fourth chapter
of the Gospel according to St. Luke that
there were two.
One is identified, the other is not.
I'm not sure whether I can pronounce this
name correctly.
I've been trying to learn how to say
these names in Spanish for many years.
We say Cleopas.
Cleopas.
I say one is identified, the other is
not.
The same day, ah, the day of those
glorious events, they went to a village called
Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem, about three score
furlongs.
And they talked together of all these things
which had happened.
And it came to pass that while they
communed together, so it reads here in the
Gospel according to St. Luke, Jesus himself drew
near and went with them, but their eyes
were holden that they should not know him.
A stranger comes, accommodating, adjusting his staff with
these two as they walk, and were sad.
And he said unto them, What manner of
communications are these, that ye have one to
another as ye walk, and are sad?
And I feel sure that with somewhat of
an indignant tone, the answer came, Art thou
only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not
known the things which are come to pass
there in these days?
Can it be?
And he said unto them, What things?
And they said unto him concerning Jesus of
Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty indeed, and
word before God and all the people, and
how the chief priests and our rulers delivered
him to be condemned to death, and have
crucified him, but we trusted.
All hope is gone, they seemed to be
saying.
Ah, that rude cross had shattered their faith.
We trusted that it had been he which
should have redeemed Israel.
That's what we thought.
Ah, how mistaken we were.
And beside all this today is the third
day since these things were done.
Yea, and certain women also of our company
made us astonished, which were early at the
sepulchre.
And when they found not his body, they
came, saying that they had also seen a
vision of angels, which said that he was
alive.
And certain of them which were with us
went to the sepulchre, and found it even
so as the women had said.
But him they saw not.
Now the unknown stranger, who has been walking
at their side, interposes, saying, O fools and
slow of heart to believe all that the
prophets have spoken!
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things,
and to enter into his glory?
And then beginning at Moses, and all the
prophets, this unknown teacher, this stranger, expounded
unto them in all the scriptures the things
concerning himself.
And they drew nigh unto the village, whither
they went, and he made it so he
would have gone further.
You know, the Savior will not force himself
upon anyone.
We must make known our wishes that he
might abide with us.
And they constrained him, saying, Abide with us,
for it is toward evening, and the day
is far spent.
And he went in to tarry with them.
And it came to pass, as he sat
at meat with them, this characteristic manner.
They had observed it in the days of
the Savior's public ministry.
This way of Jesus.
And it came to pass, as he sat
at meat with them, he took bread, and
blessed it, and break, and gave to them.
And their eyes were opened, and they knew
him.
And he vanished out of their sight.
Of course, sleep was out of the question.
They rose up the same hour of the
night.
They said one to another, Did not our
heart burn within us, while he talked with
us by the way, and while he opened
to us the scriptures?
And they rose up the same hour, and
returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered
together, and them that were with them, saying,
The Lord is risen indeed.
And it appeared to Simon that they told
what things were done in the way, and
how he was known of them in breaking
of bread.
Truly, this scene from the resurrection has a
very special message for Christians.
For is it not true that we are
there in the way, walking in the way
of life?
Is it not true that we are often
sad, especially in these days?
Ah, these tremendous days, when it would seem
that the enemy, knowing that his time is
short, has come with great wrath, the atmosphere
of the world charged with the powers of
the pit, men's hearts failing them for fear
of the things that are to come to
pass, circumstances so contrary to faith and to
the Christian life, all about us, day by
day, pressing in upon us?
Is it not true that we walk along
with bowed heads, overwhelmed often with sorrow, discouraged,
fearful, defeated, anxious?
And all the time at our side walks
the risen Christ?
He said it, though I am with you
always, even until the end of the age.
Only, friends, in the case of Christians, in
our case, the intimacy with the risen Christ
is even greater.
This which we have read took place prior
to Pentecost.
The Savior had not yet ascended.
The Spirit, the Holy Spirit, had not yet
been poured forth.
It is on the day of Pentecost, when
the disciples were baptized, as it is in
the twelfth chapter of the first epistle to
the Corinthians, into the body of Christ, or
as it is in Romans 6, into the
Savior's death, brought into a very real union
with the crucified risen Lord.
Did not Paul say, writing to the Corinthians,
to the Colossians, If ye then be risen
since, then ye be risen, as it is
in the Japanese Bible, and this is a
faithful rendering of the Greek, since then ye
be risen with Christ.
Seek those things which are above, where Christ
sitteth on the right hand of God.
Set your affections on things above, not on
things on the earth, for ye are dead
in the Savior's death to sin, as it
is in Romans 6.
Ye died, the aorist in the Greek, and
your life is hid with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear,
then shall ye also appear with him in
glory.
When Christ, the risen Christ, who is our
life, why friends, he's the soul of our
soul, he's the breath of our breath, he
is the beginning and the end of our
aspirations, the Alpha and the Omega of our
dreams, he is the fountainhead of our existence,
nearer than hands and feet, he is our
life.
This runs through the epistles.
In the epistle to the Ephesians, it appears
in this fashion, But God, who is rich
in mercy for his great love, wherewith he
loved us, even when we were dead in
sin, you know, from the lowest to the
highest, and there are no approximations here, friends.
He doesn't say little by little.
No, even when we were dead in sin,
and beyond that you can't go, nothing lower,
hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace
you're saved, and hath raised us up together,
and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus, the risen Christ, the ascended,
glorified Christ, the Christian finding himself where his
Lord is found.
In the Wymouth translation, as was said here
the other evening, it reads, and thrown together
with him, here it reads, seated in heavenly
places, and thrown together with Christ Jesus, the
Lord.
You know the Savior himself said it, as
we have it in the Apocalypse, the third
chapter, Behold, where we read, Behold, I stand
at the door and knock.
If any man hear my voice and open
the door, I will come in to him
and will sup with him, and he with
me, to him that overcometh.
Now John tells us in the fifth chapter
of his first epistle that overcomers are believers.
Who is he that overcometh?
Well, it's the believer, John says.
This is the victory that overcometh the world,
even our faith.
Overcomers are believers when they're truly believers.
To him that overcometh, to him that believeth,
I will grant to sit with me in
my throne, even as I also overcame, and
am set down with my Father in his
throne.
Or as it is in Romans 6, where
Paul tells us that together with Christ the
old man was crucified, that the body of
sin might be destroyed, and where he commands
us to consider ourselves in Christ Jesus, the
Lord, dead unto sin and alive unto God,
in the risen, ascended, glorified Redeemer, alive unto
God.
So I repeat, the intimacy, the Christian's intimacy
with the risen Christ, oh, it's far greater.
These two lived on the other side of
the Pentecost.
And now the Holy Spirit has been given
whose function it is to take up the
things of the Lord Jesus, to make them
known, whose mission it is to bring the
believer into that absolute oneness with his Savior,
who said, I am the vine, you're the
branches, abide in me, and I in you.
And yet, we walk as these two on
the way to Emmaus, often downcast, perplexed, not
knowing just what to do, sad, discouraged, defeated,
being the participants of the divine nature.
One with the risen Christ, we should ask
for forgiveness.
And we should pray that our eyes might
be opened, even as the prophet, you'll recall,
Elisha, surrounded by the hosts, Syrian hosts, this
lonely figure, triumphant.
And when he saw his servant overcome with
fear, the Lord opened his eyes, and he
saw the chariots of Israel and the horsemen
thereof.
But all that is but a shadow as
compared with our position.
In union with him who said, all authority
is given unto me in heaven and upon
earth, go ye therefore.
Therefore, in view
of the fact that all authority has been
given unto me, and lo, in which you
always go ye, therefore.
We read in the life of David Livingston
that he came one evening to a river
surrounded by a hostile tribe.
It seemed that the end had come.
They were resolved to bear down upon him
with their spears.
And it reads that as night fell, he
was tempted to make an effort to escape
in the shadows of the night, but that
he said to himself, no, no.
I have the promise of the perfect gentleman,
David Livingston's way of expressing it, the perfect
gentleman who said, lo, I am with you
always.
And so he rested upon this fact, and
his morning came.
They fell away, and he was safe and
could go on his journey.
I was visiting some time ago in the
city of Queretaro, there in central Mexico, you
will recall where Emperor Maximilian was shot.
The pastor there of the church told me
this story.
He said, in a village nearby, a group
of fanatical folk broke into the chapel and
destroyed benches, pulpit, Bibles, hymn books.
These things happen in Mexico.
A dear friend of mine, Rafael Garcia, was
taken out of a place where he had
been preaching and taken to the mountain and
murdered.
This same group was waiting for the pastor,
who was wont to appear in the village
once a month.
They knew when he would come, and they
were waiting there at the corner where the
bus stopped.
And as the pastor stepped down from the,
we say, camion, this crowd fell back in
utter amazement.
Well, the pastor didn't understand.
He knew nothing of what had taken place.
He went on his way, but one of
the group followed him.
And upon arrival, coming up alongside of the
pastor, he said, Oh, pastor, tell me, who
was that, who was that who came with
you?
Who was it, pastor?
Oh, I came alone.
No, pastor, tell me who it was that
came with you.
I came alone.
He was not alone.
He was not alone at his side.
Ah, his life.
The risen Christ.
Here is the secret of victory, friends, in
these days.
Oh, let us remind ourselves, all through the
day, that we are the participants of the
power of the Redeemer's resurrection, that he is
our life, that all authority has been given
unto him.
This is the secret of victorious Christian living,
even in such an hour as this.
A life of fullness, rivers of living water,
according to the Savior's own word, flowing from
our innermost being.
A life of fullness and of perennial victory
springs from the realization of this fact.
May I, as I close, tell you of
an experience I had some years ago down
in Colombia.
I'd been with a group of young people.
Every year, close by Cali, some 400 or
500 young people from all over Colombia come
for their annual spiritual retreat called Embajadores del
Rey, Ambassadors of the King.
At the close of one of the meetings,
a young man who had come to the
retreat approached me and asked if he might
speak with me alone.
Of course, I was only too glad to
have the young man come to my room.
And then he laid bare his heart.
Ah, what a confession.
He had reason to bow his head in
shame.
He said, if the young people knew how
I'm living, they wouldn't permit me to be
in their presence.
But he said, I am a Christian.
He said, I love the Lord, but I
can't.
Well, I said, that doesn't surprise me.
Paul couldn't.
Well, what do you mean by that?
And then I read to him Romans 7.
Paul couldn't.
Oh, wretched man that I am.
The good that I would do, I do
not.
The evil that I would not do, I
do.
Who will deliver me from the body of
this dead?
I went through Romans 7 with him.
That brought a certain degree of comfort to
his heart.
Then I said, young man, you haven't understood.
You've been proceeding on the basis of struggle,
self-effort, and trying to imitate the Savior.
Now, you must come to understand what the
Christian position is.
And then I opened up to him these
passages that have to do with the union
of the believer with his crucified, ridden Lord.
You must accept by faith what the Lord
says about your position, that you've died to
sin, that you've been raised up, that you've
been made to sit with Jesus in heavenly
places.
Are you ready?
Yes, he was ready.
We knelt down.
What happened didn't surprise me in the least.
He began to beg for help.
Oh, Lord, help me.
No, no, I said.
That'll never do.
And then I went over the ground again.
He said, you must accept by faith this
position.
Believe what the Lord says as to your
position.
The fact that in your Redeemer you died
to sin and with him were raised up.
To reign in life by one, even Jesus,
you must believe and give thanks.
It's already yours.
Are you ready?
Yes, he was ready.
We knelt again.
Oh, he just begged.
He took the position of the beggar before
the Lord.
He just begged.
I stopped him again.
No, I said.
I went over the ground a second time.
You must believe and receive what is yours
in Christ.
Just give thanks for the position, for it's
already an accomplished thing, only you haven't believed,
you haven't understood.
Well, he was ready.
We knelt.
No, he begged.
And I stopped him.
I said, how long have you been doing
this?
Oh, I've been doing this for years.
Where has it gotten you?
No, I said, I'll offer the prayer.
You repeat it.
Then we knelt again.
A very simple prayer of thanksgiving.
Just a few words for the position of
the Christian.
Thank you, Father.
That according to your word, the risen Christ
is my life, that I've died in him
to sin.
Thank you, Father.
Thank you.
Oh, this man.
The young man arose overwhelmed with wonder.
All aglow.
During the rest of the conference, I just
look around to see his face.
And now comes the interesting point, friends.
Four years later, I was preaching again in
Columbia, in Cali.
In walked a young man with a princely
air.
I think I know that lad.
Who's that boy?
To close the service, he came forward to
greet me.
Are you the young man of the conference
four years ago?
Are you the young man?
I am the young man.
How goes it, lad?
Victory when we believe what the Lord says.
And receive by faith.
Even as the sinner, you know, he has
to do the same thing to be saved.
He just has to believe that the Savior
bore all his sins in his body on
the tree.
He has to believe what the Lord says.
Regarding the Redeemer's redemptive work consummated on Calvary,
and so it is with a Christian, he
must believe what the Lord says regarding his
position in union with the crucified, risen Lord.
Now, the Father says that Christians are all
there.
I could go on.
There are other passages.
If one died for all.
That great passage in the 2nd Epistle to
the Corinthians, chapter 5, the 13th verse, if
one died for all.
I'm glad it's been corrected in more recent
versions.
It's a mistaken translation here in the King
James Version.
Then we're all dead.
That's not the thought of the Apostle.
Then all died.
All died in the Savior's death, in whose
resurrection you have been raised up and made
to sit together with him, the risen, ascended
Lord.
That's the Apostle's thought.
Will you believe it?
Will you believe?
This will not come to you by struggle.
This will not come to you because you
prayed all night with tears.
No.
This will come to you when you believe
what God says in his holy word.
But God, who is rich in mercy for
his great love, wherewith he loved us, even
when we were dead in sins.
Now, you can't get beyond that.
Pardon me for repeating it.
That's the lowest place you can get.
That's quickened us together with Christ.
It's already been done.
In the economy of God, it's already been
done.
And it's raised us up together by grace.
We are saved.
It's all of grace.
Don't turn in on yourself and try to
find the necessary merit.
In a billion years, you would never have
them.
Nor permit yourself to be overwhelmed by your
unworthiness.
After all, neither merit nor demerit has anything
to do with the matter.
But God, who is rich in mercy, that
he might in the ages to come, show
forth the exceeding greatness of his riches toward
us.
In Jesus Christ the Lord.
Shall we just bow our heads for a
moment of silent prayer?
That each one, looking away from his self,
unworthy self, or it could even be worthy
self, looking away from self to Jesus, the
risen Christ.
May we have a moment of silent prayer.
That each one might give thanks for the
position.
It isn't a matter of feeling, that'll come.
You can leave that with the Lord.
Just give thanks because you have his word.
What sure foundation could you wish for?
That together with Christ, in whom you died
to sin, you've been raised up to reign
in life by one.
Even Jesus.
Father, it's all so simple.
Jesus the Lord stood in our shoes.
Now we stand in his.
He identified himself with our lot.
Now we are identified with his.
Thou dost say it in thy word, that
together with him we've been raised up and
have been made to sit in heavenly places.
Accept our praise, his father, in that blessed
name which is above every name.
In the name of Jesus, our Savior and
Lord.
Amen.
Very precious sister.
And that's our prayer.
Praise the Lord.
I wonder if you would join me in
a prayer this morning.
I'm going to ask Brother Eater to voice
it.
I phoned my wife last night, and all
is well.
But the girl that helps her had to
leave, and she's alone.
And I could tell having a rather tough
time.
But the Lord will stay.
His grace is sufficient.
May we just stand, and I'm going to
ask Brother Eater to voice this united prayer
of our hearts.
I know you will all join me in
this prayer through Brother Eater's lips.
Go ahead.
There is one remaining scene from the resurrection
of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, that
we must consider this morning, found as it
is in the closing chapter of John's Gospel.
Now, it would seem that John placed the
period closing his Gospel
with verse 31, chapter 20.
It's very apparent as he writes, beginning there
in verse 30, that he is coming to
the close.
He has just spoken of the Savior's appearance
to Thomas, and then he writes, And many
other signs truly did Jesus in the presence
of his disciples, which are not written in
this book.
But these are written, that ye might believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
God, and that believing ye might have life
through his name.
Now, I'm not going to be dogmatic, but
it does seem that it was John's thought
to bring his Gospel to a close at
this point.
However, he adds another chapter.
Some feel that it was added later.
It's John inspired by the Holy Spirit, even
as he was when writing the preceding chapter,
so there's nothing to shock us in this
thought, if it be true.
One Bible commentator feels that the chapter was
added later to clear up a doubt that
had come to the hearts of many believers,
a certain sense of confusion regarding the Apostle.
For it seems that it was rumored about
that the Savior had said to him that
he should not die.
Now, John very clearly states here that that's
a mistake.
He did not say that.
He said that John would continue, would not
die, until he should see him again, and
that was fulfilled, we know.
For on the island of Patmos, the Redeemer
revealed himself to John, and the prophecy was
fulfilled.
It seems that that idea took root and
extended itself.
It's come all the way down to our
own day.
A doctor down in San Luis Potosi, Mexico,
years ago, asked me very bluntly, Is it
true that John never died?
And it does appear, friends, that this chapter
being added later, that John was aided to
a degree in the writing.
He may have become infirm.
The thoughts are his.
But there were those about him, beloved in
the Lord, for he writes here in the
closing verses of the chapter, This is the
disciple which testifieth of these things.
It's John, and who wrote these things.
Yes.
And we know.
Well, there's another hand there.
We know.
And Emmanuel sees that his testimony is true.
And there are also many other things which
Jesus did, which if they should be written,
everyone, I suppose that even the world itself
could not contain the books that should be
written.
Amen.
However it may be, having written the closing
chapter later or not, we have here from
John, moved by the Holy Spirit, a very
lovely scene from the resurrection.
And after these things, Jesus showed himself again
to the disciples, and there were many other
scenes, it would appear from the verse that
we've just read.
At the Sea of Tiberias, and on this
way showed he himself, there were together Simon
Peter and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of
Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee,
and two other of his disciples.
So here we have the seven that Brother
Ehlers has been talking about.
Simon Peter and Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael of
Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, five,
and two other of his disciples.
Simon Peter says unto them, I go a
-fishing.
They must have been standing there beside the
sea, observing how others took their ships, their
wives no doubt at their side, bidding them
glass beads, to press out into the sea
as night was coming on.
And then this longing.
Well, something of the old life.
We see from this where they yet stood,
the disciples, before Pentecost.
Oh, that baptism of power made all the
difference, infinite.
Just think how Peter was until that hour.
It seems that even after the resurrection, the
Savior, so to speak, was loath to call
him Peter.
He said, Simon, tellest thou me?
Having changed his name, thou shalt be called
Peter, a stone, Cephas.
And yet he did not call him Peter.
I go a-fishing.
It would seem that the great transformation in
Simon took place on the day of Pentecost.
Oh, this unstable, this
boastful, this impetuous Simon disappears, and
now Peter comes on the stage of history.
You know the Peter that moves in the
book of Acts?
Well, had he met Simon on the street,
they wouldn't have known each other.
This Simon who could boast, Oh, even though
all should leave thee, I will go to
prison, I will die for thee.
And then a few hours later, because a
maid had pointed the finger and said that
he was a follower of Jesus, could deny
his Lord and then plunge into such shameful
depths, denying for a third time his Lord
with cursing.
I say, we see where these men still
stood.
Ah, yes, the great events are all fresh
in their memory.
They know that he has risen.
The cross is before them, but they have
not yet received the baptism of power.
It has not yet been made real.
The living, risen Christ has not yet been
made real in their experience.
Baptized as they were into his death and
resurrection.
I go a-fishing.
They say unto him, well, he was the
leader.
I have no doubt he took the helm
while the others rowed.
We ought to go with thee.
They went forth and entered into a ship
immediately.
And that night they caught nothing.
And we can be sure that this was
of the Lord.
They caught nothing.
And no doubt they resorted to all the
means, every fishing device that they knew of,
visiting all the old resorts.
It was in vain.
They caught never so much as a chiver.
But when the morning was now come, oh,
how very significant this seems.
When the morning was now come, Jesus stood
on the shore.
But the disciples knew not that it was
Jesus.
The misty morning.
And then that great change of which we
have already spoken, yes, it is the risen
Christ the same, handled me, he said to
his own, to his eye, and he ate
before them.
And yet a great change.
Then Jesus said unto them, My 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.
Now this was the only miracle the Savior
wrought after his resurrection.
This, oh, with what force it must have
brought home to their hearts those days when
they walked with Jesus the days of his
humiliation.
That seemed, for this is a repetition, we
have it in Luke 5, of how they
had fished all the night and caught nothing,
and of how the Savior had them launch
out into the deep and to cast forth
their nets.
And then the nets, we read, broke.
Not on this occasion.
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.
Oh, there's no doubt, friends, that in the
miracles of Jesus there's a great, overwhelming note
didactic he teaches.
Follow me, and I will make you fishers
of men.
And now he is illustrating.
Therefore, that disciple whom Jesus loved, oh, it's
John, saith unto Peter, It is the Lord.
Now when Simon Peter heard that it was
the Lord, he girded his fisher's coat unto
him, for he was naked, and did cast
himself into the sea.
Forgetting nets and fish and companions and boat,
he cast himself into the sea.
He must knees come immediately into the presence
of his Lord.
And the other disciples came in the little
ship, for they were not far from the
land, but as it were two hundred cubits,
dragging the net with fishes.
As soon then as they were come to
land, they saw a fire of coals there,
and fish laid thereon, and bread.
The breakfast was already ready.
Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish.
Well, they are allowed to add.
Brother Healer's been talking about the dessert and
the other dishes on the side.
They were allowed to add their little dish.
Bring of the fish which ye have now
caught.
Simon Peter went up and drew the net
to the land full of great fishes, a
hundred and fifty and three.
Some have thought that there is something symbolic
here.
These are biblical numbers, you know.
The hundred of the parable of the sower
and the seed.
Some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred fold.
Fifty, Pentecost, three, Trinity.
Surely there must be something very profound in
this number.
And for all there were so many, yet
was nothing that broke him.
Jesus saith unto them, Come and die.
And none of the disciples durst ask him,
Who art thou, knowing that it was the
Lord?
Jesus then cometh and taketh bread, and giveth
them, and fish likewise.
This is now the third time that Jesus
showed himself to his disciples after that he
was risen from the dead.
So when they had dined, ah, now comes
for Simon the solemn hour of reckoning.
But in what tender fashion it is done.
You know, the Savior couldn't pass over what
had taken place there in the palace of
the high priest.
He couldn't do that.
Neither can mothers pass over the mischief of
their children, their faults, there must be reckoning.
But how tenderly it is done.
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more
than these?
One commentator sees this in the Savior's question.
Simon couldn't wait, the rest waited in the
ship.
Simon plunged into the water immediately, for he
could not wait.
He must be at once beside his Lord.
The others came later.
Lovest thou me more than these?
But there seems to be something deeper, friends,
in the question.
You will recall how Simon had boasted, though
all should leave thee, I will never, Lord.
I'll die for you.
It's very apparent that the Savior here is
looking back and pointing Simon to his denial.
Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.
He saith unto him, Feed my land.
He saith to him again the second time,
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?
We are told that in the original, you
know, there are two Greek words, one a
little weaker than the other.
There is agape, isn't it, and filiteo, well,
that the Savior uses the stronger term.
And Peter replies with the weaker.
He must be honest, Simon.
He saith to him 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.
Oh, surely he hears the key, the third
time.
Three denials.
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.
And it's wonderful, isn't it, that though often,
even as it was in the case of
Simon, our actions seemed to deny the fact.
Yet in our deepest soul, we know that
we love the Lord, and from our deepest
selves we can say, Lord, you know I
love you.
Yes, Lord, I remember.
It doesn't seem to be true, Lord, but
you know that I love you.
You know, there was a great difference, after
all, between Simon's sin and Judas' sin.
Though it might appear on the surface that
Simon was just as guilty, but there was
this difference, infinite.
Judas' sin was a deliberate, cold-blooded, day
-by-day scheming.
Peter, in a moment, it didn't really represent
him.
Simon, a moment, taken off his guard.
Well, it didn't represent him what he did.
Suddenly, it comes.
He denies his Lord.
There was a great difference.
That wasn't planned, friend.
That didn't represent Simon.
That wasn't Simon.
After all, Lord, I know I said I
loved him.
Feed my sheep.
And now we have him restored.
It appears that from the very beginning he
was forgiven.
You will recall what the angel said to
the women when they commissioned them to go
to the disciples and to tell them.
The disciples, and you will recall how the
angel said, and Peter.
So you see up there in heaven, oh,
friend, the whole machinery of heaven was at
work to hold on to Peter.
You see?
Oh, what that must have meant to him
in that awful hour of shame when he
must have thought it's all over.
The Lord may forgive me, but the disciples
never will.
What it must have meant to him.
Word from heaven, expressly for Peter.
And now the Savior takes him from the
past and then points him to the future.
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.