John 21:12-17 (Teaching)

[0:00] Good morning. Back to the Gospel of John and the last chapter. Started chapter 21 in the Gospel of John last week and quite frankly we moved further than I thought we were going to.

[0:21] But that's okay. We got through verse 11 last week. Just a quick recap on that. We read about the disciples on the Sea of Tiberias and of course Peter said, I go fishing and six of the others followed him to go fishing, go do their thing.

[0:47] We talked about that, about how they kind of backtracked really. But Peter ever being a leader of the disciples was the first one to mention it.

[1:01] Mentioned going fishing. He was going back to his old ways really. I mean back to what he used to do. That's what he was doing when Christ first called him and we talked about that last week.

[1:12] About how in the Gospel of Matthew and in Luke chapter 5, this is the very place and the very same body of water that Jesus Christ called Peter to follow him.

[1:27] And here was Peter and the disciples out on the sea and we read that they'd gone out all night, hadn't caught anything much like we read about in Luke chapter 5. And Christ tells them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat.

[1:42] And they do. And they brought in this huge catch of fish. The Bible calls it great fishes. Here in the Gospel of John chapter 21, 153 of them.

[1:55] And we talked last week about, you know, I don't know the significance of that number 153. There may not be any real significance to that. It may just be a huge number of huge fish.

[2:08] We don't know. You know, there's people that try and make a bigger deal over that than what I really think that there is about this number 153. Some people, I've actually read that at that time there were 153 known species of fish.

[2:26] So this would have been symbolic of the Gospel going into all the world and people of every tongue and tribe and nation being saved through and by the Gospel.

[2:38] I don't know that and I can't find anything to corroborate that. And I've tried. So don't know about that whole 153 thing. Some people think that it's significant because of its relation to triangular numbers.

[2:52] You know, if you take, if you go 1 plus 2 plus 3 plus 4 plus 5, so on and so forth, go all the way up to 17. In that order, you come up with 153. Maybe that does have something to do with it.

[3:04] I don't know. But folks, I can tell you that this is the only time in Scripture that 153 is used. Therefore, using it in biblical numerology, I find that difficult to do.

[3:17] And I will give warning again. I know I have here and other places as well. Biblical numerology is a true thing. It's a real thing. But you be careful if you ever get into studying biblical numerology.

[3:30] Because without even knowing it, you can actually wind up in some crazy stuff. I mean, I've read just stupid stuff that people have come up with.

[3:41] You know, some people get so deep into it and they say, well, if you take the six days of creation. And you take the, you know, 40 days that Christ was in the wilderness.

[3:54] And then you divide that by all the, by the number of all the furniture in the tabernacle. You come up with this number and it means this. Folks, that's ridiculous. So, and I've read stuff similar to that.

[4:05] Maybe not that exact thing. But I have seen stuff like that. And it's crazy some of the things people come up with. Number 12, I think that's a thing. Number 40, I think that's a thing.

[4:15] Number 3 is certainly a thing. As far as biblical numerology goes. Number 10 is certainly a thing. And definitely 7. But be careful if you're getting into that.

[4:28] But anyway, again, we ended last week with Peter, with Jesus telling Peter to bring of the fish that they had caught.

[4:38] And we ended in verse 11 with Peter grabbing these fish. In fact, let's just read it here. It says, Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land full of great fishes.

[4:52] It says, 153. And for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.

[5:03] And we talked about this last week. And talked about really the most amazing part of this is this is the same net of fish that the seven of them could not handle.

[5:18] And here was Peter by himself handling this net of fish. And why was that? It was because at that point he was doing what Christ had told him to do.

[5:29] He was doing what Christ commanded him to do. And if Christ commands us to do something, if Christ commissions us to do something, Christ will also give us the power, give us the strength, give us the know-how.

[5:42] He'll give us the extra people if we need it. Christ will give us the provision that we need to accomplish what it is he has commissioned us to do.

[5:55] So all that being a real quick recap on verses 1 through 11, we'll pick up in verse 12. It says, Jesus saith unto them, come and dine.

[6:06] Now them is not the 11 disciples that are left. Remember, there are seven. Seven disciples here. Where the other four were, Scripture doesn't exactly tell us.

[6:19] But there were seven of them here. So keep that in mind. And Jesus saith unto them, come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, who art thou, knowing that it was the Lord.

[6:32] So Christ here, again last week when we covered it, they saw Christ from a distance on the shore. And Christ hollers at them.

[6:42] And he says, children, do you have any meat? Have you caught anything? They say no. He tells them to throw the net to the right side. They do. And they bring in this huge haul of fish that we read about last week.

[6:57] And so Christ tells, now they, and Peter grabbed his fisherman's coat according to the Scripture. According to the Scripture, Peter was naked while he was out there on that boat.

[7:08] And I told you all last week, I have no idea why that would have been. He may not have been completely naked. He may have been loincloth or something along those lines. But he was scantily dressed, we'll say.

[7:20] But he clothes himself in this fisherman's coat, jumps into the water to make his way towards Jesus. And he's the only one that I read about in this account that did that.

[7:32] So at this point here in verse 12, they're all within close proximity to Jesus. They've all made their ways toward or to the land. And Jesus says, come and dine.

[7:45] It's an invitation that Christ gives to his disciples. Now, folks, we talk about invitations all the time. We talk about invitations to repent and to believe the gospel all the time.

[7:57] This is such an invitation. But it's for those that Christ has handpicked that have followed him for over three years at this point.

[8:09] But what have they done? They've all gone back to what they did do. Again, last week we talked about how Peter said, I go fishing. And the other six that were with him, they went with him out onto the Sea of Tiberias.

[8:23] They had gone back. What we popularly call backsliding really is what the seven of them had done. But Christ didn't just discard them.

[8:34] That's the beauty of this whole thing. He didn't just throw them to the side. He didn't say, you know what, I sent word that you were supposed to meet me in Galilee and that you were supposed to go there.

[8:47] You were to wait upon me. And where are you? Maybe you're in Galilee, but you're not up in the mountain that I told you to go to. You're out here on the sea fishing. But, folks, he didn't just toss them to the side.

[9:01] He didn't throw them in the garbage. He didn't say, you know what, forget it. Forget you seven, I'm going to find me another seven. Nothing along those lines. It's much like Moses in the Old Testament when God says, I'm going to wipe them all out.

[9:15] Talking about the entire tribe of Israel. Talking about all the Israelites. And Moses, please, on behalf of those Israelites. He stood in the gap and here is Christ himself.

[9:28] And he's saying, come and dine. Come and dine. And, folks, we have that same invitation as followers of Christ. Do we backslide?

[9:39] Absolutely. Do we go to the right or the left off of the straight and narrow way? Absolutely. Every one of us do. Every one of us are guilty of that. But Christ still stands there and he still says, come and dine.

[9:52] What is dine? We talked about this when we were going over the Last Supper a few chapters back. Folks, it was a form of fellowship.

[10:04] And that's another beautiful part of this. Christ desired fellowship with them. What did he say to the disciples according to Luke's Gospel in Luke 22? He said, with desire, I have desire to eat this Passover meal with you.

[10:18] He desired to eat it with them. And, folks, Jesus shows up here on the shoreline because he desired to have fellowship and communion with his followers. And I find that quite amazing considering everything that we're reading here.

[10:35] Everything we've read for the past really couple of chapters. From the arrest of Christ and the disciples, they disperse in all different directions. They disappear.

[10:46] They hide. Even after the resurrection, we find the disciples, they're all hiding.

[10:58] And when Mary comes to tell them of it, they're all in hiding. When Christ comes, when he appears to them, where are they? They're in hiding. Even after all that, the cross still says, come and dine.

[11:14] And he does the same thing with me. And he does the same thing with you. Folks, just because we fail Christ, and we do, and we will, and we'll continue to do so every day of our lives in one way, shape, form, or fashion, we will fail our Savior.

[11:31] But in that failure, Christ invites us, come and dine. Come and fellowship with me. Come and commune me. Come refresh yourself. Refresh yourself in my word.

[11:43] Refresh yourself in my grace. Refresh yourself in my strength. What were the disciples doing here? They were doing things the way that they knew how to do them. They were fishing. That's what they knew how to do.

[11:55] And they have fallen back into that. Folks, when we come to the end of ourselves, and we see that our strength is nothing as compared to Christ, that will draw us back to Christ.

[12:07] That will draw us to this communion with him and this fellowship with him. Again, Jesus saith unto them, come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, who art thou, knowing that it was the Lord.

[12:20] Now, we know from this account, we read it last week, that John is the first one that recognized Jesus from out there on the water when he was on the shore and they were seeing him from a distance. And John is the very one that said, it's the Lord.

[12:33] It is the Lord. But now, none of them ask who it is because they're all very well aware of who it was. This was no stranger there on the seashore saying, come and dine with me.

[12:46] This was their Savior. This was their Savior that they had followed. For three plus years. Verse 13, Jesus then cometh and taketh bread and giveth them and fish likewise.

[12:58] Yet another amazing verse in all of this. Not only is Christ desiring to commune and to fellowship with his disciples, Jesus then cometh and taketh bread and giveth them and fish likewise.

[13:15] Fish also. Christ is still serving. Christ serving his disciples here. And folks, Christ serves us right now.

[13:26] And we don't deserve it. The disciples did not deserve to be served right here in this account that we're reading now. And we don't deserve to be served right now. But even now, Christ is serving as our intercessor.

[13:41] He is serving as our mediator. He is serving as our great high priest. Christ is still serving all of his believers. All of those that follow him.

[13:51] All of those that have repented and believed the gospel of Jesus Christ. Christ is serving them. Amen. Even after the resurrection. Amen. Even after everything that Jesus Christ has been through.

[14:03] He hung there on the cross. The only disciple that we read about in the scripture that was anywhere close by was John. And there was a bunch of women that were gathered there close to the cross as well.

[14:16] And Christ died. Christ was buried. Christ was resurrected. Even after everything Christ has been through. Everything that he has overcome. He did not look and say they don't deserve this.

[14:29] He said I will still serve them. And he does the same thing with us. He invites us to come and commune with him. And he serves us in the process.

[14:40] And we don't deserve any of it. No more than these disciples here deserve the servitude of Jesus Christ. He gave them the bread and of the fish likewise.

[14:52] Verse 14. Now is the third. This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples. After that he was risen from the dead. This is the third time that he has shewed himself specifically to his disciples.

[15:08] But specifically to those whom as I said before. He had handpicked a few years before all of this. But folks this shows the persistence of Jesus Christ for his own.

[15:21] The persistence of Jesus Christ to his own. This is three times. Three times he has exposed himself after the resurrection. To specifically to the disciples.

[15:35] Now I find it hard to believe that Jesus had been hanging out for the past few weeks. After the resurrection. Which is about where we're at here in the scripture. And not showing himself to other people.

[15:49] And you know we find it at the end of this chapter. Elsewhere in scripture that you know many other things that Jesus do. That aren't recorded in the gospel of John.

[16:00] Or in the Bible for that matter. But this is the third time according to scripture. That he specifically showed himself to the disciples. Showing that you know he didn't just show them once.

[16:12] Without Thomas around mind you. He didn't show them the first time. And then say okay y'all are on your own. He didn't show himself the second time. When Thomas was there.

[16:23] And say okay now all eleven of you have seen me. Now you're on your own. No. He goes to them in their failure. He goes to the disciples where they were at.

[16:37] And he does the same thing with you and I. As I've already said. We do fail. We will fail. Jesus Christ. But Jesus stands there. Ready to forgive.

[16:49] And ready to restore. And that's what we're going to get into in the next three verses. But Jesus stands ready to do all that. He stands ready to invite us into communion with him.

[17:03] Or back to communion with him in this case. And in our case. He invites us back to fellowship with him. He serves us. And he is persistent. And consistent.

[17:14] In doing so. Christ has never failed me. He's the most consistent being I've ever met in my life. And he will ever be the most consistent being.

[17:26] That I will ever know. Verse 14. Or I'm sorry. Verse 15. So when they had dined. Jesus saith to Simon Peter.

[17:37] Simon. Son of Jonas. Lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him. Yea Lord. Thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him.

[17:48] Feed my lambs. So. When they had dined. This is after the fact. I don't know how long they sat there on the seashore. I don't. I don't know how many pieces of fish each one of them had.

[17:59] Or how many. How many pieces of bread each one of them had. We don't know. But we know that it is after the fact. It is after the fellowship. And the communion that they have had. Including Peter. That they have had.

[18:10] With Jesus Christ. Jesus. Says to Simon Peter. He singles Peter out. He says to Simon Peter. Lovest thou me more than these?

[18:21] Now what is the these? That is the great question here. In the theological realm. What is the these that he is talking about? Is he talking about the disciples? Is he talking about the fish?

[18:33] Is he talking. I mean. What is the these? Folks. I can't tell you for 100% sure. Scripture does not tell us. But given the context that we are in. I will give you Spencer's opinion.

[18:44] On it. I believe he is talking about the fish. Because I don't believe that. He is going to pit one disciple. Against another. Or one disciple. Against a group of disciples. Saying do you love me more than they love me?

[18:56] But the context here. Is what Peter was doing. Going back to his old ways. Going back to fishing. And he had sent Peter. To haul all these fish. Of these great fish. And there was a huge catch of them.

[19:07] And the net didn't break. And all these other things. Are playing. Are playing into the picture. So when he says. Do you love me more than these? What could that be?

[19:19] A symbolism of. Could be a symbolism of. Do you love these. More than your past life. Or do you love me? I'm sorry. More than your past life.

[19:30] Do you love me more. Than what you were just doing. And folks. We need to ask the same question. Christ will ask the same question. To us.

[19:41] Through the scriptures. Do we love Christ. More than anything else. Because we must. We must love Christ.

[19:52] More than anything else. I love my wife. To no end. I love my sons. To no end. I love my grandbaby. To no end. But. I love Christ.

[20:03] More so. And it should be that way. Because my wife. Didn't save me. My sons. Can't save me. My grandbaby. Can't save me. Nobody else I know. Can save me.

[20:13] But Christ saved me. Thank God. Christ saved me. Amen. And those. To whom much is forgiven. They love much. And there was a lot.

[20:23] Forgiving with me. And there's still a lot. Forgiving with me. Peter. Or. Jesus asked the question. Peter. Lovest thou me. More than these. I said. Me personally.

[20:33] I think he is talking. Specifically. In this context. About the. About the fish. And about. Peter's life. And what. He is doing here. When they die.

[20:45] And Jesus saith unto. Simon Peter. Simon son of Jonas. He doesn't call him. Peter. John called him. Simon Peter. In his narrative. Leading up to this.

[20:56] But Jesus did not call him. Peter. He called him. Simon son of Jonas. This would have been. The same thing he said. When he called him. Simon Barjona. When. When. Peter made. The declaration.

[21:06] Thou art the cross. The son. Of the living God. Barjona. Just means. Son of John. So. But. He calls him. Simon. Son. Son of Jonas.

[21:18] Lovest thou me. More than these. He saith unto him. Yea Lord. Thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him. Feed. My lambs. Folks. This is the gospel. In action. Y'all have heard me.

[21:29] Say. There have been many. Many people. Hear me say. That I need the gospel. Just as much now. As a. Born again. Child of God. As I needed it.

[21:40] Before I was saved. Or that I needed it. The day that I did get saved. I still. Need. The gospel. What is the gospel? The gospel. Is. Is. Of course.

[21:50] The death. The burial. And the resurrection. Of Jesus Christ. But folks. What all does that entail? And it entails. So much more. And it entails. Christ. Christ. Coming to fallen sinners.

[22:01] Telling them that they're fallen sinners. Showing them that they're fallen sinners. But that he. Is a marvelous savior. And this is the gospel. In action. What we're reading here.

[22:12] In verses 15 through 17. I have something else to bring up here. When. Jesus says to Simon Peter. Simon. Or.

[22:23] When he says. Simon. Son of Jonas. Lovest thou. Me. More than these. He says. Lovest thou me. More than these. Christ is using.

[22:36] Two different. Or. This verse. I should say. Is using two different words. Christ uses the word. Agape. Agape. Agape. Or. As we know it as. Agape. He's using that word.

[22:48] For. A selfless. A sacrificial. A divine. Type. Of love. That's what Christ is getting at. But Peter answers him. Peter says.

[22:58] Yea lord. Thou knowest that I love thee. But Peter doesn't use that word. In the Greek. He uses the word. Phileo. Or. Philea.

[23:09] Which. Is. A brotherly. Type of love. Or even a love to a friend. Something along those lines. That ain't what Christ was getting at.

[23:21] Christ used. Agapeo. But Peter. Reduces it. In his answer. To Jesus here. He. He. Reduces.

[23:31] It down. To something else. Something lesser. Than what Christ. Was getting at. But Christ. Nevertheless. Doesn't say.

[23:41] Okay. You answered that wrong. You didn't answer it. The way I wanted you to. Christ still. Commissions. Peter. He says. Feed my lambs.

[23:52] He says. Feed my lambs. Here in the next two verses. We see. Christ. The Christ. Say. Feed my sheep. He is. Commissioning. Peter. To something here. What's he. Commissioning. Into. He's. Commissioning him.

[24:02] To the spread. Of the gospel. He's. Commissioning him. To preaching. The word. He's. Commissioning. Commissioning him. Really. To pastorship. He's. Getting. That. That deep.

[24:13] With this commission. That he is. Giving. To Peter. He says. Feed. Feed. My lambs. If you love me. Feed. My lambs. And folks. That goes. For every one of us.

[24:24] I'm not saying. That every one of us. Are called to preach. Or pastor. Or. Or. Even. To teach. Or whatever. But we are all. To care for. The lambs. And the sheep.

[24:34] Of God. We are all. To care for the church. You cannot love Christ. And not. Love. His church. It is an impossibility. Bless him Lord. And if we love the church.

[24:45] We need to care for the church. And we need to. To help provide. For the church. And we need to help provide. For the individuals. Within the church. He says. Feed. My.

[24:56] My lambs. Verse 15. So when they. Or I'm sorry. Verse 16. He saith to him again. The second time. Simon. Son of Jonas. Lovest thou me. He kept something out of this.

[25:09] That he didn't mention. The first time. The first time. He said. Lovest thou me. More than thee. These. But Christ doesn't even. Go there. With this. He completely drops.

[25:19] The more than these. And he just says. Lovest thou me. But he still uses. That same word. Agapai. Which is. Again. A divine type of love. A godly. Type of love.

[25:29] This is the type of love. That we read about. In John 3. 16. The word agape. Is used. There as well. When God. So loved the world. God. Loved the world. With a godly love. Because that's the only kind of love.

[25:40] Of God's God. Is a godly. Divine love. He says. Simon. Son of Jonas. Lovest thou me. He saith unto him. Yea. Lord.

[25:50] Thou knowest. That I love thee. He saith unto him. Feed. My sheep. And again. The exact same thing. Happens here. But Christ reduces. Reduces. Reduces.

[26:01] His part. Down to. From. Lovest thou me. More than these. To just. Lovest thou me. Do you love me. Peter. Do you love me. That's what Christ wants to know. Do you love me.

[26:13] Using that word. Agapeo. And Peter answers the same way. Using the word. Phileo. Again. Reducing that love. Down to. To.

[26:23] A brotherly love. Or a friendly love. I know we've talked about love in here. I don't remember what it was. I was teaching. But we've talked about. How there's four. Greek words. That describe.

[26:35] Love. Agape. Which is. Godly love. We've got. Phileo. Which is. A brotherly love. Or a love we might have. Towards a close friend. We've got. Eros. Which is. Love.

[26:46] That is. Between a husband. And a wife. Which all. In all honesty. A husband and a wife. Need to be loving each other. With an agape love as well. That's just a little side note. And then we've got. Poneo.

[26:57] Which is. Purely sexual. Which honestly isn't love at all. If that's all there is to it. But. Two of these words. Agape. And phileo.

[27:08] We find in the scripture. We find. Hints of it. Of eros. And the septuagint. But not the word itself. We find. We actually find it a couple of times.

[27:19] In the song of Solomon. As far as eros goes. But. Anyway. Four different Greek words. Two of them are used in scripture. And Peter. Is using the word phileo.

[27:30] Or phileia. To answer Christ. When he's saying. Do you love me? Then Christ. Finally in verse 17. It says. He saith unto him.

[27:40] The third time. Simon. Son of Jonas. Lovest thou me? Peter was grieved. Because he said unto him. The third time. Lovest thou me? And he said unto him. Lord.

[27:51] Thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus said unto him. Feed. My sheep. Now here in this. In this verse. Again.

[28:02] Christ says. The third time. Simon. Son of Jonas. Lovest thou me? But here. Christ uses the word phileo. Instead of agape. What's he asking?

[28:14] Why did this grieve. Peter so bad? With the change. The change of the verbiage. That is used. Peter is. Or Jesus is asking Peter here.

[28:26] Do you even. Have love for me. As a friend. Or as a brother. Because he wouldn't answer. With agape. So here. Jesus.

[28:37] Uses the exact same terminology. That Peter. Has used the previous two verses. Do you love me? But he uses that word phileo. Do you even have love for me.

[28:48] As a brother. That is exactly. What Jesus was asking here. And of course. We've got. The three times. They're being asked here. And a lot of people. Will. Say that's because. Peter denied the Lord.

[29:00] Three times. And I can. I can kind of run with that. I can go with that. And agree with that. To an extent. You've got three denials. You've got three affirmations.

[29:10] Of Jesus Christ. And three commissions. That Christ gives Peter here. To go and feed his lambs. And to feed his sheep. But here. Christ says.

[29:21] Do you even have. The love of a brother. Or a close friend. For me. It says. Peter was grieved. Because he said. And then the third time.

[29:32] Lovest thou me. And he. Said unto him. Lord. Thou knowest all things. Thou knowest. That I love thee. Jesus saith unto him. Feed.

[29:43] My sheep. Lord. Thou knowest. All things. What's Peter doing here? He answered him. In the affirmative. Of the previous two verses. He said.

[29:53] Lord. You know. I love you. Both times. That Peter asked him. Or. That Jesus asked him. He said. Lovest thou me. More than these. Peter said. You know. I love you.

[30:04] He said. Lovest thou me. Peter said. You know. I love you. And here. He's answering. In the affirmative too. But. Peter. Adds something here. Lord. Thou knowest.

[30:14] All things. After. Christ. Has probed. His heart. Really. Christ. Has wrenched. Peter's heart here. When he's. When he. When he said.

[30:26] Lovest thou me. This go around. Because. Christ. Reduced it down. To show. Peter. What kind of love. Peter. Was talking about. To Christ. And this.

[30:36] Tore Peter up. The scripture says. He was grieved. Because. Christ. Had asked him. The third time. He said. Thou knowest. All things. Folks. We must. Recognize.

[30:48] The omniscience. Of Jesus Christ. And when we recognize. The omniscience. Of Jesus Christ. We recognize. That he is God. Because only God.

[30:59] Knows all. Amen. And this is. A lot of what this scripture. Is getting at here. But the most amazing part. Of any of it.

[31:10] Is that. The creator. Of the universe. The creator. Of you and I. The creator. Of Peter. Whom Peter. Yes. Indeed. Had denied.

[31:20] Three times. Is standing here. With Peter. After they've dined. After they've had fellowship. With one another. And he is commissioning him.

[31:31] To go. And to feed the lambs. To feed the sheep. Of his church. Of his people. He's commanding him. Go. Go. Really.

[31:43] Make disciples. Of all nations. Go. Make these disciples. And feed them. Feed them what? Feed them the word. Feed them. The word.

[31:53] Because folks. That's where we're going to grow. And that goes for you and me. Just as much. As it does these lambs and sheep. That Christ is talking about here. When he said.

[32:03] Feed my lambs. He's saying. You're going to have some young Christians. That I want. Around you. And you're going to encounter. Some young Christians. Those that. That aren't real strong. In the faith.

[32:14] Those that don't know the word. Real well. Those that. Those that. That I have saved. But you know. They've still got a lot of questions. And so on and so forth.

[32:24] These are the lambs. These are the ones that are still. On the milk. And Christ is commissioning him. You go. And you feed them. Because you've had a lot of experience. With me Peter. You've had a lot of experience.

[32:36] With me. From the time that I called you. To our course. Over the past three years. Everything that we've done together. Every meal that we've shared. Every time we've slept out.

[32:46] Underneath the stars together. Every town that we've visited. Every miracle you've seen me perform. All these things. You've got a lot of experience with me Peter. Including this restoration.

[32:58] That I'm giving you now. And I want you to feed the young ones. And then he said. Then he changes it. To sheep. And in the Greek. It changes from. From the young sheep.

[33:09] The lambs. To the adult sheep. The Greek. The adult sheep. In the Greek as well. You say. I want you to feed them all. They're all mine.

[33:21] They're my sheep. They're my lambs. And I want you. To tell them. Of me. Peter. The one that denied Christ.

[33:33] Three times. Y'all have heard me over and over say. I wish I could say. I'd only denied him three times. Yes. And folks. This. He is. Peter here.

[33:45] Is. Professing his love for Christ. He is. He is answering Christ. In the affirmative. And folks. That's exactly how we need to do it. But when we do it.

[33:55] We. We need to make it. Actionable. I mean. James. James says. In James chapter one. Be ye doers of the word. And not hearers only. That's right.

[34:06] And if we are doing the word. We are loving the church. And we are caring for the church. I'm not talking about the building. I'm talking about the people. That make up the church.

[34:17] And if we love the church. And we care for the church. We will be feeding them. Feeding them what? With the word of God. With our own personal experiences. With God. With the time that God saved us.

[34:28] With the time that God. Times that God has delivered us. With the times that God has restored us. We feed the church. With these things. Folks. That is encouraging.

[34:39] To fellow believers. It's encouraging to me. When I. When I. Hear. Of someone that's been praying. For a deliverance of some kind. Or been praying. For a healing of some kind. For someone else.

[34:50] Or for themselves. And then God answers that prayer. It encourages me. And when God. Answers prayer for me. I try and make that known.

[35:00] Not nearly as often as I should. Not nearly as often as I should. But I do try and make it known. At times. But Christ here. Is restoring Peter.

[35:12] Regardless of his past failure. Regardless of his current failure. To do what Christ said. Christ is still restoring Peter. And he is commissioning him.

[35:24] To go out. And to feed his lambs. And to feed his sheep. And. I would go on. But I'm not going to. Anyway.

[35:35] We'll wrap that up. For right now. Next week. Lord will. And we should be able. To finish up that chapter. Anybody got any questions. Or comments. On any of that. God bless you.

[35:48] I appreciate you. You know. You know. You know. You know.