1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:05,040 It certainly is wonderful to be here with all of you today and 2 00:00:05,040 --> 00:00:07,560 we thank you for the presence of all that have come to be with 3 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:09,720 us. As Dave mentioned, we have 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:11,640 several of our number that are missing. 5 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:14,440 Several have come in, but we have quite a few that are either 6 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:16,720 traveling or sick and our prayers are with them. 7 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:21,560 But we have a good crowd because you're here and I have enjoyed 8 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:25,600 worshiping with you so far and I am honored to be your speaker. 9 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:27,560 We have visitors that are among us today. 10 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:30,920 We want to say you are honored guest and thank you for coming 11 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:35,000 and welcome. We're continuing our series on 12 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:39,680 the 40 days from the time that Jesus rose from the dead until 13 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:42,280 he was resurrected or ascended into heaven. 14 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:46,040 In Acts chapter one, we are continuing that series. 15 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:49,640 And last time I said that in this lesson at the very 16 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:54,280 beginning, I want to talk about what is the significance of the 17 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:57,440 40 days. In fact, we look in Bible 18 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:01,800 history and we find that the number 40 or 40 days or 40 years 19 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:04,280 actually had a little bit of significance. 20 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:08,720 So we want to notice what those things are, the significance of 21 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:12,160 40 days. First of all, in general, 40 22 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:16,000 days or years in the Bible signified a period of testing, 23 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:21,480 trial, purification, and preparation leading to a new 24 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:26,800 beginning, transformation, or a significant divine action. 25 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:31,120 I guess we could sum it up like this. 40 days in the Bible 26 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:34,760 actually marked a period of time of change. 27 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:38,760 That isn't a general sense. And I got to tell you I actually 28 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:41,080 had heard from one or read from one. 29 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:44,960 It was actually brought to my attention that 40 days marked a 30 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:47,120 period of change. And I thought, you know what, I 31 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:49,040 want to look into that. There's got to be more to it 32 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,400 than just a general change. So we want to talk about some of 33 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:55,360 those significant things. First of all, let's talk about 34 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:59,560 some examples in the Bible regarding 40 days. 35 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:04,000 And I got to say this too, this is not an exhaustive search. 36 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:06,880 There are others, but I just want to notice a few. 37 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:10,600 And the first one goes all the way back to Genesis chapter 6 38 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:14,840 regarding the flood. In Genesis chapter 6, the Bible 39 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:18,880 says the thoughts of man's heart were ever evil continually. 40 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:22,320 Now, just a little side note, as I've said many times over the 41 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:25,200 years, when people think that the world is worse than it's 42 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:28,920 ever been, no, it's not. Because in Genesis chapter 6 43 00:02:28,920 --> 00:02:32,640 says the thoughts of man's heart were ever evil continually. 44 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:34,960 And I look at the world today, and even though there's some 45 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:38,000 negative stuff and even though there are some bad things in the 46 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:41,080 world, I get it. We're not there yet. 47 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:43,680 We're not at that point. There's a lot of wonderful 48 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:46,280 people and a lot of wonderful things that are in the world. 49 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:49,040 What happened in Genesis chapter 6? 50 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:53,680 God had enough and God said, I'm going to destroy the world by 51 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:55,320 wave of flood. He said, I'm going to make it 52 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:57,440 rain. It had never rained before. 53 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:00,000 Precipitation had come up from the ground. 54 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,280 And now God said, I'm going to make it rain. 55 00:03:03,640 --> 00:03:05,600 So he says, Noah, what you're going to do is you're going to 56 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:08,680 build an ark. And it took over 100 years to 57 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:12,680 build this great big boat. And during that period of time, 58 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:16,760 a preacher by the name of Noah, a preacher of righteousness, the 59 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:20,840 Bible describes him preaches to those that were disobedient, and 60 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:23,880 God gave him 100 years to repent, and they never did. 61 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:29,560 So God made it rain for 40 days, 40 days and nights. 62 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:34,520 Regarding the flood symbolized a period of judgment and the 63 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:38,200 beginning of a new world. Here's another one. 64 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:43,480 How about Moses on Mount Sinai? Moses spent 40 days receiving 65 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:47,720 the 10 commandments, and after 40 days after the golden calf 66 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:52,600 incident, indicating A crucial period of divine instruction and 67 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:56,120 reconciliation, here's another one that we all know about. 68 00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:00,840 How about Jonah and Nineveh? God told Jonah, go to the people 69 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:03,920 of Nineveh and you're going to preach to them a sermon of 70 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:06,240 repentance and met. And Jonah says, no, I'm not 71 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:07,680 doing that. Fast forward to the story. 72 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:09,760 We know the story, right? Great big fish swallows him. 73 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:12,040 He prays. And finally when he's in the 74 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:15,520 belly of this great fish, he says, I will do whatever you ask 75 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:18,040 me to do. And then God spoke to the great 76 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:20,560 fish. He spat him out on dry ground. 77 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:24,040 And as an old preacher said one time Jonah hit the beach ready 78 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:26,440 to preach. He preaches. 79 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:31,800 A5 Hebrew word sermon 8 words in English. 80 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:37,480 You know what it is yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 81 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:41,680 God gave Nineveh 40 days to repent. 82 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:45,600 It was a period of judgment leading to a potential 83 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:48,080 deliverance. And by the way, universal 84 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:51,800 repentance had and God spared the people. 85 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:56,080 What about this? What about when our Lord was 86 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:59,520 tempted? After his baptism, Jesus fasted 87 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:02,680 and was tempted for 40 days in the wilderness, preparing him 88 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:06,960 for his public ministry. Again, a time of change. 89 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:13,800 And finally, in our series, the post Resurrection 40 Days, Jesus 90 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:17,880 appeared to his disciples during the 40 days after his 91 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:20,480 resurrection and before his ascension. 92 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:24,800 And it was a time of confirming his victory and equipping them 93 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:29,200 for their mission. All right, just a couple 94 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:32,800 examples there. What about the theological 95 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:36,000 significance of 40 days? When I'm talking about 96 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:39,720 theological significance, I'm talking about what is the actual 97 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:43,760 importance or meaning behind the concept. 98 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:48,640 From a theological standpoint, these periods marked a 99 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:53,520 significant transition of change from one state or task to 100 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:58,040 another and a preparation for new life or purpose. 101 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:01,360 OK, so here's my point or my question. 102 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:04,600 If all of these things, and that's the theological 103 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:08,560 significance of it, is there divine action or is it by 104 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:11,280 coincidence? Was there divine action and what 105 00:06:11,280 --> 00:06:13,600 was it? Yes, there was divine action and 106 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:18,760 here it is. 40 day periods are often associated with direct 107 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:23,600 divine action or a major divine event such that the giving of 108 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:28,800 the law or the confirmation of the resurrection, God's divine 109 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:32,760 action. But I got to make this point, 110 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:38,120 OK? Don't put too much significance 111 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:44,560 or too much weight on the significance of a number in the 112 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:47,320 Bible. Give you an example. 113 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,120 There's a lot of people that spend a lot of time on 114 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:55,640 numerology, OK? And it's the idea if you take 115 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:59,520 certain numbers and you put them together, you put it together 116 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:02,840 with mathematical equations and you come up with numerology. 117 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:07,680 And numerology is supposed to represent specific outcomes 118 00:07:07,840 --> 00:07:11,680 based on those numbers. What I'm saying is, is please 119 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:19,120 get this, Sometimes a number is just a number and there's no 120 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:23,600 significance at all in the specific number except what 121 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:25,200 happened during that period of time. 122 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:29,480 Give you an example, but numerology and too much 123 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:31,960 significance about numbers. You might remember this. 124 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:34,880 I was thinking about this this morning, early this morning in 125 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:39,480 my office looking over my lesson and I thought about Tina and I 126 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:42,080 were having our anniversary. We are we are anniversaries in 127 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:45,440 May. So this last May was would have 128 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:48,560 been nine years since this happened, but I remember there 129 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:51,680 was a man, you might have heard his name, his name was Harold 130 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:54,960 Camping and he was from Southern California. 131 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:58,800 And what he did by way of numerology or what he did by way 132 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:03,200 of the significance of numbers, he actually put together various 133 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:06,960 numbers from the Scriptures and he came up with an actual day 134 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:08,680 that Jesus was going to come back. 135 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:11,000 You know, what was going to happen nine years ago, still not 136 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:14,640 back. What does the Bible say? 137 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:17,160 The Bible says nobody knows that time. 138 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:21,840 Jesus says no one knows but my father only. 139 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:25,160 But this was a man that decided, you know what, I've got the 140 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:27,960 mathematical equation. It's going to happen on that 141 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:29,720 day. People sold their possessions, 142 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:34,240 well meaning, wonderful people misled, and they sold their 143 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:35,840 possessions. They went to a mountaintop and 144 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:37,559 you know what happened at the end of the day? 145 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:42,720 They walked back down and the Lord still hadn't come back. 146 00:08:43,520 --> 00:08:48,360 You know what the man said? I was right, but I just missed a 147 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:51,360 couple of numbers. So here's the new date with the 148 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:53,520 new numbers. You know what happened? 149 00:08:55,560 --> 00:08:59,360 He didn't come back where we are today. 150 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:02,680 The man's dead and the Lord still hasn't come back. 151 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:07,520 My point is this, don't put too much significance on the number 152 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:11,280 itself and trying to map out when things are going to happen 153 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:14,920 in the Bible or in life based upon a number. 154 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:20,200 Sometimes a number is just a number including the number 40. 155 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:26,440 So what is significant about 40 then all that's significant is 156 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:31,320 is God made the choice to choose this period of time to 157 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:35,520 accomplish a specific purpose in Bible history. 158 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:40,240 With that being said, as we know Jesus made 10 post resurrection 159 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:43,960 appearances in our series. I'm going to be brief about 160 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:46,320 this. Luke 24 is where it all began. 161 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:49,080 Jesus on the early on that morning. 162 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:53,480 On the resurrection morning, those two disciples are on the 163 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:56,520 road to a mess. Jesus joins them on that road to 164 00:09:56,520 --> 00:09:58,560 a mess. They go to their house 7 miles 165 00:09:58,560 --> 00:10:01,440 later after Jesus preaches A sermon from the Old Testament 166 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:04,120 about himself. They don't know who it is. 167 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:06,520 They don't know that it's Jesus. The Bible actually says in the 168 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,960 King James, their eyes were holding that they did not know 169 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:11,160 him. So there was something 170 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:15,040 miraculous there where Jesus did not reveal it was him, but he 171 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:17,760 preached the word from the Old Testament and they understood 172 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:19,840 about the resurrection from the Scriptures. 173 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:22,840 They get to Emmaus. Jesus acts as though he's going 174 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:25,680 to keep on going by. They compelled him to come into 175 00:10:25,680 --> 00:10:28,080 their home. They invited Jesus into their 176 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:30,160 home. He reveals himself in the 177 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:32,560 breaking of bread to them and now they know it's Jesus. 178 00:10:32,680 --> 00:10:35,440 What happens? Jesus vanishes from their sight, 179 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:38,640 He disappears, they get up immediately and they go back to 180 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:42,640 Jerusalem, 7 miles, and they meet with 10 disciples. 181 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:44,200 Why? Why 10? 182 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:47,440 There were 12 apostles. Judas is now dead, He hanged 183 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:49,920 himself and Thomas was not present. 184 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:56,280 What happened next? One week later he meets again in 185 00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:58,840 Jerusalem. Jesus does, he appears and now 186 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:01,840 Thomas is present. And finally, the last time in 187 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:06,240 our series, Jesus, is there an unspecified amount of time 188 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:08,800 between this occurrence and this occurrence here. 189 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:13,680 All of a sudden, Peter and six others were on a fishing boat 190 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:16,880 and Jesus is on the shore and he calls out to them. 191 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:19,440 You got any fish? They've been out there all night 192 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:22,040 and they caught nothing, right? Remember, remember that lesson? 193 00:11:22,560 --> 00:11:25,320 The net was on the left side. Jesus says put it on the right 194 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:27,840 side and they and they catch 153 fish. 195 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:33,920 When Peter recognizes Jesus, he puts on his outer garment 196 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:36,880 because his T-shirt didn't have T-shirts but his undergarment. 197 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:39,720 He didn't feel like it was appropriate to go meet the Lord 198 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:42,720 with only his undergarment. So he throws on his over garment 199 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:46,080 and he dives into the water and he swims 100 yards to shore. 200 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:50,120 They have breakfast at the sea, same setting. 201 00:11:50,680 --> 00:11:54,280 And now we come to our lesson today where Jesus is going to 202 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:58,960 restore Peter. Before we get into the rest, the 203 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:04,640 restoration of Peter, though, let's talk about his denial. 204 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:11,160 Peter was very bold. And if you look at all the 205 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:12,920 Gospel accounts, there's a lot of detail. 206 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:14,720 And we're not going to get into the detail. 207 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:18,720 I'm going to give you 4 general things, or three actually three 208 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:23,760 general things here in the denial of Peter, when Peter 209 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:29,640 denied Jesus. But just remember, Peter was 210 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:34,480 very bold and he told Jesus, I don't care who will deny you, I 211 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:41,760 will never deny you. And Jesus, said Peter, before 212 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:43,840 the rooster crows, you'll deny me three times. 213 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:50,800 We all know that Peter is following Jesus from afar. 214 00:12:51,560 --> 00:12:55,440 The King James says, the new King James says he followed 215 00:12:55,760 --> 00:13:01,360 Jesus from a great distance. By the way, let me just kind of 216 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:06,040 slip this in as a little aside. It's dangerous to follow Jesus 217 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:10,320 from a distance. Jesus wants us to follow him 218 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:13,000 close up and not from afar. And yet a lot of times people 219 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,760 follow Jesus kind of on their own terms and from a distance. 220 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:20,480 It didn't work well with Peter, but I got to say this about 221 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:22,720 Peter, though. Let's give him a little credit. 222 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:27,360 At least Peter was the one guy that had enough love for the 223 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:30,000 Lord and concern from the Lord to at least follow in the 224 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:32,720 direction of the Lord when everybody else forsook him and 225 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:35,720 fled. He's already been arrested in 226 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:39,480 the garden and now all of a sudden here's Peter from a 227 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:42,080 distance. Jesus said you'll deny me. 228 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:47,840 Notice what happened to Peter? First there was a servant girl. 229 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:51,280 And by the way, He was ready to come and fight when he took out 230 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:54,680 the sword and he cut off Malchus's ear, and that was in 231 00:13:54,680 --> 00:13:55,920 the garden when they came to arrest him. 232 00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:57,760 He's ready for that one. But what about this little 233 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:00,040 servant girl here? She says to him. 234 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:05,200 She says the word. She says you were with Jesus of 235 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:07,920 Galilee. In other words, you are one of 236 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:09,720 them. Notice the progression of his 237 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:11,280 denials. You know what he says first 238 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:13,360 thing, I don't know what you're talking about. 239 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:17,960 I'm going to tell you something. If you think and you're all 240 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:22,440 honest with yourself and we're all all honest with ourself and 241 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:25,560 I think we can see the progression and the human side 242 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:27,000 and how this really could happen. 243 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:33,360 Maybe not necessarily with regards to the Lord, but maybe 244 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:36,920 with regards to telling the truth, maybe with regards to 245 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:40,640 holding things back, maybe with regards to not being having the 246 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:43,040 courage and the conviction to do what's right. 247 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:45,240 Sometimes we fall into this category. 248 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:46,720 We can. It's just a human thing. 249 00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:50,400 The first thing he says is I don't know what you're talking 250 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:51,480 about. I don't know what you're saying. 251 00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:57,120 The second time the Bible says there was another girl and now 252 00:14:57,120 --> 00:14:59,920 he's in the gateway. Before he was outside in the 253 00:14:59,920 --> 00:15:02,560 courtyard, still following from afar. 254 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:05,400 Now he's in the gateway and here comes another girl. 255 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:10,160 And the girl says you were with Jesus of Nazareth. 256 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:13,120 This one said you're a Jesus of Galilee. 257 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:15,360 This one says you're a Jesus of Nazareth. 258 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:20,840 And what does he say this time? He says with an oath, I do not 259 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:24,320 know the man. Wow. 260 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:33,400 My father taught me so many times, be careful of the man 261 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:35,360 that you want to be. You just might be it. 262 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:40,800 And #2 you got to decide in advance what your decision is 263 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:44,240 going to be in advance if you want to make the right choice. 264 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:47,520 Because when you're confronted with something that's difficult 265 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:50,000 and you're not prepared, you may make the wrong choice. 266 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:53,680 First one, I don't know what you're saying. 267 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:56,800 Second one, with an oath, I don't know the man. 268 00:15:56,960 --> 00:16:00,760 Third time, here's another. Matthew's account says, but when 269 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:03,240 you put all the Gospel accounts together, you know what we find? 270 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:07,160 There was another guy, and he's a relative of the guy Malchus, 271 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:10,400 that Peter cut off his ear. He's a relative. 272 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:12,440 And you know what that person says? 273 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:16,880 Your speech betrays you. You are one of his. 274 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:24,760 They got him dead to rights and notice with cursing and 275 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:30,840 swearing, he says. I do not know the man. 276 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:42,400 Then the rooster crowed, and then the Lord took turned and 277 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:48,840 looked at Peter. I don't know what that was like, 278 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:52,520 but I'm setting something up here. 279 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:56,680 I'm setting something up that's very important. 280 00:16:56,680 --> 00:17:01,800 Let me ask you a question. Don't you think that Peter, 281 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:05,319 right now, Right then the rooster crowed. 282 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:10,520 The Lord looked at Peter. Let me ask you, do you think he 283 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:14,960 was overcome with grief? Do you think he was overcome 284 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:20,319 with tremendous regret? The Bible says that's exactly 285 00:17:20,319 --> 00:17:23,400 what happened in Matthew 26 and 7 and 75. 286 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:28,600 Notice and Peter remembered, You know what I thought about. 287 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:34,520 And by the way, we're all human, we all make mistakes. 288 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:38,120 We all have things in our life that sometimes we make the wrong 289 00:17:38,120 --> 00:17:39,040 choice. I get it. 290 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:42,800 But sometimes isn't it true that we can kind of get ourselves 291 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:46,000 derailed and get off into something and we're not thinking 292 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:48,520 about the Lord? We're doing something we know is 293 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:53,160 not right, but the last thing we're thinking about is the 294 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:54,480 Lord. We're thinking about the 295 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:56,560 pleasure of the sin that we're involved in. 296 00:17:56,640 --> 00:17:58,800 We're thinking about the decision that we're making. 297 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:00,480 We're thinking about the joys of it. 298 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:04,000 Whatever it is, you plug it in. We're just thinking about 299 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:10,320 something else. Then something happens and we 300 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:17,200 remember and we remember, and it's like we got hit in the face 301 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:20,560 with a ton of bricks. You ever have that happen? 302 00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:29,040 I have. What did he remember? 303 00:18:29,360 --> 00:18:33,560 The word of Jesus, who had said to him before the rooster crows, 304 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:38,400 You will deny me three times. What happened as a result? 305 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:41,640 He went out and he wept bitterly. 306 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:45,520 Please get this. This was genuine sorrow. 307 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:51,840 You know, the word wept in the Bible is found in a number of 308 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:56,560 different places. Sometimes weeping is described 309 00:18:56,560 --> 00:19:01,440 in one way, like an outward sign or a wailing, like those 310 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:04,120 professional mourners that came when Lazarus was raised from the 311 00:19:04,120 --> 00:19:07,640 dead and Jesus was disgusted with their hypocrisy. 312 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:11,720 It was the outward wailing. Some cultures do that when they 313 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:15,600 mourn, they wail out loud. Or how about the word wept? 314 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:19,160 The shortest verse in the Bible. Beautiful, beautiful verse. 315 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:20,480 And you know what's beautiful about it? 316 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:24,000 Jesus knew he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead all along. 317 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,520 And yet when you saw Mary and Martha weeping and in pain, 318 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:29,400 that's the friend of Jesus that we have. 319 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:35,440 By the way, Jesus wept that word. 320 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:38,640 Wept different word. It means to shed silent tears. 321 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:43,320 That was heartfelt tears. What about this one? 322 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:52,480 He wept bitterly. You ever do that? 323 00:19:55,640 --> 00:20:00,520 Have you ever ugly cried? We were talking about that the 324 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:03,440 other night. Ugly cry. 325 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:05,640 You know what that means? When your face is distorted, 326 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:09,560 you're so overwrought. Sometimes there's no sound at 327 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:12,760 all. Just your face is distorted and 328 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:15,800 you're just crying and you're just in such agony and pain. 329 00:20:16,360 --> 00:20:19,360 That's kind of how I picture this phrase. 330 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:24,000 He wept bitterly. Here's the point. 331 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:28,040 It was genuine sorrow. There's a difference between 332 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:31,120 genuine sorrow and not so genuine sorrow. 333 00:20:31,120 --> 00:20:33,920 Let me show you what I mean. The apostle Paul said this 334 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:38,320 Second Corinthians 7 verse 10 for godly sorrow produces 335 00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:41,200 repentance leading to salvation. That's beautiful. 336 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:44,760 And then he says, by the way, that kind of godly sorrow that 337 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:48,760 produces repentance that leads to salvation, it's not to be 338 00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:51,360 regretted. You will never regret that kind 339 00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:54,800 of sorrow. Godly sorrow, hold that thought. 340 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:56,720 We'll get to how you actually do. 341 00:20:56,720 --> 00:21:00,200 Godly sorrow, hold that thought. But let's lose this one. 342 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:03,680 But the sorrow of the world produces death. 343 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:06,840 What is the sorrow of the world? I'm going to give you 2 344 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:12,360 examples. Both are referring, by the way, 345 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:16,680 whether it's godly sorrow or the sorrow of the world is referring 346 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:21,040 to the same thing, sin. So two things. 347 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:26,400 What is the soul of the world #1 when you're not really sorry, 348 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:29,440 you're just sorry. You got caught. 349 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:34,280 There was no other way out. You got, you're dead. 350 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:36,560 The rights, you kind of regret it, but you're sorry you got 351 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:37,640 caught. That's number one. 352 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:41,160 But #2 maybe you haven't thought of this one. 353 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:45,680 Number two, you have great regret for what you've done. 354 00:21:46,360 --> 00:21:47,720 You're not just sorry you got caught. 355 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:52,840 You have tremendous regret, but you do nothing about it and 356 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:55,680 there is no repentance. Perfect example. 357 00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:00,120 Judas Iscariot. You know the story. 358 00:22:00,120 --> 00:22:04,280 I'm not going into it. What happened to Judas Iscariot? 359 00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:06,280 Tremendous regret. He took the money back. 360 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:08,400 He said I can't take the money. I betrayed it and said blood. 361 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:10,320 You know what they said? That's your problem. 362 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:15,280 You see to it. Notice what happened. 363 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:17,520 It led to what it produced, death. 364 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:20,400 He went out and hung himself physically. 365 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:23,560 It produced spiritual death, which means, by the way, the 366 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:27,480 Bible says about Judas. Then he went to his own place. 367 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:31,200 That is figurative language, meaning he got exactly what was 368 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:34,120 coming to him. Why? 369 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:37,800 He had the sorrow of the world. He had regret, but he never 370 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:40,040 repented. OK flip side, here's the good 371 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:43,840 thing. God be sorrow is when you have 372 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:49,440 sorrow over your sin, when you realize you have sinned against 373 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:54,480 God. How about David when he sinned 374 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:58,280 with Bathsheba? How about the whole story of 375 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:00,080 David's sin? Remember what David says, he 376 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:04,200 prays to God and he says, Father, he says against you and 377 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:08,960 you only have I sinned and done evil in this, in your sight. 378 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:11,360 What happened to David? He repented. 379 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:14,160 It was godly sorrow. It led to salvation. 380 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:21,880 See the difference? Knowing that, let's Fast forward 381 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:26,800 from the denial to the morning of the resurrection. 382 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:31,280 I love this passage. Remember when those precious 383 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:34,560 women just couldn't stay away? The Sabbath was now over and 384 00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:37,040 they went back early that Sunday morning to the sepulchre. 385 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:41,360 And when they became first hand eyewitness testimony of the 386 00:23:41,360 --> 00:23:45,000 resurrection of Jesus, there is no that was on purpose. 387 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,320 God did that. They had no axe to grind. 388 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:50,360 They had no agenda. Those precious women, here they 389 00:23:50,360 --> 00:23:52,320 come. It wasn't the men. 390 00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:54,320 The men chickened out. They all forsook them and fled. 391 00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:55,360 They had no clue what was going on. 392 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:58,360 But the women went back. Beautiful, right? 393 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:02,760 Do you remember when the Angel spoke to the women? 394 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:15,560 Mark 16 and 7. But go tell his disciples and 395 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:24,280 Peter, you know, I've heard this interpreted like this when I was 396 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:29,360 a kid, somebody said, well, what Jesus was doing is he was saying 397 00:24:29,360 --> 00:24:32,760 go tell my disciples. And then and Peter, meaning 398 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:34,880 Peter wasn't one of the disciples anymore because of 399 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:36,960 what Peter did, That is not what he's doing. 400 00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:41,800 Peter had denied the Lord three times. 401 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:46,840 Peter had gone and wept bitterly. 402 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:54,840 If Peter was overcome with the sin that he committed, if there 403 00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:57,640 was anybody in the world that needed encouragement, it was 404 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:01,240 Peter. If there was anyone that needed 405 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:06,200 divine assurance, it was Peter. And that assurance, I think, is 406 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:09,640 threefold. Number one, that Peter, you are 407 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:18,040 not forgotten #2 you're still part of God's plan and #3 and 408 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:22,720 most importantly, you are forgiven. 409 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:27,960 I'm going to tell you something, folks. 410 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:36,440 Sometimes our guilt can be incapacitating and sometimes we 411 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:39,920 are so guilty about things that we do and we can't turn loose of 412 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:45,480 it that it actually stymies us or keeps us from moving forward 413 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:51,080 in a positive direction. You know what the Angel of the 414 00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:53,200 Lord said? He said exactly what Jesus 415 00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:54,960 wanted him to say on behalf of Jesus. 416 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:57,360 You go tell his disciples. And Peter. 417 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:05,920 Peter was mentioned specific. OK, but remember please, there's 418 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:09,680 a difference between forgiveness and reconciliation. 419 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:15,800 In Mark chapter 16 and verse 7 it shows that the Lord had 420 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:23,040 forgiven Peter. OK, he forgave him, but in John 421 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:27,960 chapter 1 Jesus restored his relationship with him. 422 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:31,560 Please notice. Remember Peter declared even 423 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:33,600 though others would deny Jesus, I never would. 424 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:36,880 He was the first one to do it. Jesus forgave him, but when 425 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:42,640 Peter was restored, notice how the Lord did it in John chapter 426 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:47,000 21 and verse 15. So when they had eaten 427 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:51,760 breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon son of Jonah, do 428 00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:56,720 you love me more than these? You love me more than these. 429 00:26:57,080 --> 00:27:04,720 OK, By the way, what's these? Some scholars say that these 430 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:08,680 meant the other disciples, that Jesus is sitting there eating 431 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:10,920 the meal with them and they just got through eating all of a 432 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:15,280 sudden, hey Peter, do you love me more than these guys? 433 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:22,160 That's one interpretation. Second interpretation is that 434 00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:26,880 Jesus was asking him, Peter, fisherman, big fisherman Peter 435 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:31,080 that just caught 153 fish, do you love me more than your 436 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:35,080 fishing business? That's another interpretation 437 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:37,400 about this. Lot of discussion about what 438 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:40,120 he's talking about regarding that and the reason for the 439 00:27:40,120 --> 00:27:43,160 fishing business goes back to Matthew chapter 4, beginning in 440 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:46,520 verse 18. And Jesus walking by the Sea of 441 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:49,440 Galilee, saw two brothers. Simon called Peter, Andrew's 442 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:52,560 brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 443 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:56,720 Then he said, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. 444 00:27:56,840 --> 00:27:59,600 What happened? They immediately left their Nets 445 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:03,480 and followed him. So the interpretation of this is 446 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:06,960 supported by the fact that they were fisherman, Peter was a 447 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:10,760 fisherman, they had just got through fishing all that, and he 448 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:13,000 wants to know, do you love me more than my fishing business? 449 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:19,240 And while that is included, I think there's a little bit more. 450 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:26,720 One scholar said it this way. We are sure from the structure 451 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:30,600 of the sentence, both in the English and in the Greek, that 452 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:34,520 the word these refers to the fishes and things of light 453 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:37,520 character. So in other words, Jesus was 454 00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:42,400 asking Peter if he loved him more than he loved the things of 455 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:46,560 the flesh. That's pretty specific, isn't 456 00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:52,360 it? I got to ask you, do you love 457 00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:55,960 Jesus? Don't answer out loud, answer 458 00:28:55,960 --> 00:29:02,360 inside, but by the demonstration of what you do in your life by 459 00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:04,400 way of your choices. Let me just ask you one 460 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:06,040 question. Let me ask all of us this 461 00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:12,160 question. Do you love the Lord more than 462 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:18,800 these, or is the Lord secondary? Is he third? 463 00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:23,520 I remember a famous football coach, Bill Parcells. 464 00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:26,520 He said, look, I understand that in people's lives there's three 465 00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:29,280 things. Faith, family, football. 466 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:31,640 If you're a professional football player, he said, I 467 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:34,160 don't care what order that they're in, but football better 468 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:38,200 be one of the three. Here's what I'm saying. 469 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:40,000 I don't care what two and three are. 470 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:41,080 It doesn't matter. Actually. 471 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:43,440 Family needs to be #2 and then after that, I don't really care 472 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:48,960 what that is in your life, but #1 needs to be the Lord. 473 00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:53,240 And that's demonstrated, and Jesus is going to prove it. 474 00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:59,720 So in our passage, the question is asked, Peter, do you love me 475 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:02,320 more than the things of the flesh? 476 00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:06,480 He said, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. 477 00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:10,160 So that was a verbal profession of his love. 478 00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:14,640 Here's the big point here. Peter professed his love for the 479 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:18,960 Lord three times equal to the number of times he denied the 480 00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:21,640 Lord. That's not by happenstance or 481 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:25,520 that's not by coincidence, but the Lord gave three ways to 482 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:28,200 demonstrate it. So in other words, it wasn't 483 00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:32,280 enough for him to say, I love you, Lord, He says, Jesus says 484 00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:40,240 this, OK, He said to him, prove it, feed my lambs, OK? 485 00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:47,760 Some commentators say that there's really not a significant 486 00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:54,080 difference between lambs and sheep, but in my study of it, I 487 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:56,040 think that there is a little bit of a distinction. 488 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:04,160 Lambs seems to emphasize spiritual youth or the tender 489 00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:06,480 ones of the flock, as one scholar put it. 490 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:11,520 In other words, he said, do you love me more than the things of 491 00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:12,960 this world? Do you love me more than the 492 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:14,920 things of the flesh, which include your business? 493 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:16,640 He said, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. 494 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:18,000 He said, I'll tell you what you're going to do. 495 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:24,400 You're going to feed or teach my lamps, teach my little ones, 496 00:31:24,920 --> 00:31:28,520 teach my new Christians, teach the spiritual youth or the 497 00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:35,120 tender ones of the flock #2 He said to him a second time, 498 00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:36,880 Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? 499 00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:40,720 He said, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. 500 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:46,560 He said, tend my sheep. So what's the word tend mean? 501 00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:48,000 What's it mean to tend the sheep? 502 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:51,520 From a spiritual perspective, Kaufman says it means taking 503 00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:55,000 care of and nurturing the spiritual body of Christ. 504 00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:57,600 In other words, he says, do you love me? 505 00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:01,280 Prove it, feed my lambs, do you love me? 506 00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:08,480 Prove it, tend my sheep. And #3 #3 He said to him a third 507 00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:12,680 time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? 508 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:16,680 And Peter was greed, because he said to him a third time, Do you 509 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:18,400 love me? And he said to him, Lord, you 510 00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:20,480 know all things. You know that I love you. 511 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:23,520 And then Jesus says, feed my sheep. 512 00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:27,840 I want to notice this phrase or this, these two words. 1/3 time. 513 00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:32,640 We already talked about the significance 3 * 4 three times. 514 00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:35,720 We get that Kauffman says it this way, though. 515 00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:40,680 Grievous as this was for Peter, it wiped out all the guilt of 516 00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:45,640 his denials, and the Savior's total forgiveness is implicit in 517 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:48,640 the threefold charge to care for the members of the Lord's 518 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:52,520 Kingdom. OK, now remember this, please. 519 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:57,160 When we sin, we don't sin against the list of rules. 520 00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:00,320 We don't sin against the code. We sin against the Lord. 521 00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:12,120 And when we sin, sin separates. It separates our relationship. 522 00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:16,440 And the beauty of it is when it comes to sin and our 523 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:18,440 relationship with the Lord, it doesn't have to be permanent 524 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:23,480 when our relationship gets severed by way of sin. 525 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:26,880 Like David when he prayed against you and you only have I 526 00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:29,200 sinned and done this evil in your sight. 527 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:34,640 His repentance made it made him be reconciled back to God in his 528 00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:38,800 relationship. So when our relationship gets 529 00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:43,720 severed with God because of sin, we need to be reconciled and 530 00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:48,320 that requires repentance. Jesus wanted to assure him of 531 00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:51,160 his full and complete forgiveness, but for that to 532 00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:54,560 happen, Peter had to repent. Peter did repent. 533 00:33:54,680 --> 00:34:00,480 So in summary, do you love me more than the things of the 534 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:02,360 flesh? He said yes, Lord, you know that 535 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:06,160 I love you. He says prove it, show me, teach 536 00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:09,719 the youth of the flock. The spiritual youth asked a 537 00:34:09,719 --> 00:34:11,560 second time, in general, do you love me? 538 00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:13,880 He said, you know that I love you. 539 00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:17,280 He said, show me, nurture the spiritual body of Christ, take 540 00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:19,719 care of them. A third time in general, do you 541 00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:21,320 love me? You know that I love you. 542 00:34:21,320 --> 00:34:28,040 He says then teach the body, notice, teach the spiritual 543 00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:33,000 youth, nurse the spiritual body, and teach the body of Christ. 544 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:37,840 He gave him three ways to demonstrate his love for him. 545 00:34:41,239 --> 00:34:43,239 Three times Peter had denied the Master. 546 00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:46,360 Three times the Master questioned his love. 547 00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:48,920 Three times it gives him courage concerning his work. 548 00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:53,440 The question was painful. Peter was grieved, but the grief 549 00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:56,480 was wholesome, and Peter's subsequent life bore proof of 550 00:34:56,480 --> 00:35:00,920 the discipline. His rashness was forever gone. 551 00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:06,160 I love that. Now I'm going to tell you how 552 00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:12,400 many times in our life now, let me just say it like this. 553 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:21,760 How many times in our life have we known someone that turned 554 00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:26,920 their back on the Lord and stop following Jesus because life got 555 00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:30,680 hard? I've known a lot of people 556 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:35,840 because life got difficult, so they decided to turn their back 557 00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:39,440 on the only one that can help. I've seen that all my life. 558 00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:45,040 Jesus had Peter confess his love for him. 559 00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:48,080 Then he gave him a threefold responsibility, and then he said 560 00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:49,880 this in the next verse. Please get this. 561 00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:58,400 Most assuredly I say to you, when you were younger, you 562 00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:01,480 girded yourself and walked where you wished. 563 00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:05,040 In other words, there was a time when you were physically strong 564 00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:08,920 and you know, no doubt Peter was strong and athletic. 565 00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:11,200 Athletic prowess. By the way, remember when they 566 00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:14,600 ran and sprinted back to the tomb? 567 00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:19,880 Athletic guy, when you were younger, you did whatever you 568 00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:21,440 wanted. And by the way, those of us that 569 00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:26,000 are getting a little older, OK, I'm going to be 59 next month. 570 00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:33,520 I am slower than I've ever been and they tell me all the ones 571 00:36:33,520 --> 00:36:36,280 that have silver hair, it gets worse. 572 00:36:37,360 --> 00:36:42,840 It's coming, I get it. But I remember when I was 573 00:36:42,840 --> 00:36:44,160 younger, you do whatever you want, right? 574 00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:48,640 With regards to Peter, what Jesus was saying is there was a 575 00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:51,280 time when you were younger that you were willing to go and able 576 00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:54,960 to go anywhere you wanted, even to the point of even defending 577 00:36:54,960 --> 00:36:57,400 yourself. That's what your life was. 578 00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:03,280 But there's coming a time when things are going to change. 579 00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:07,120 Notice. But when you are old, you will 580 00:37:07,120 --> 00:37:12,880 stretch out your hands. By the way, Greek writers and 581 00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:16,440 early Christians all referred to that phrase stretching out your 582 00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:20,120 hands as a form of crucifixion. That's what the verbiage 583 00:37:20,120 --> 00:37:23,840 actually means. Now, I wasn't there, so I don't 584 00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:26,000 know for sure, but I'm just going to say we all know what 585 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:30,560 tradition says. We all know that tradition holds 586 00:37:30,560 --> 00:37:36,040 that during the reign of Nero that Peter was crucified, and 587 00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:39,680 writings of ancients have written that he was crucified 588 00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:42,880 headlong or head down or upside down. 589 00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:47,320 Because he said I'm not worthy to be crucified like my Lord, so 590 00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:52,040 crucify me upside down. Tradition tells us that. 591 00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:56,840 Well, regardless of that or not, because that doesn't say in the 592 00:37:56,840 --> 00:37:58,960 Scriptures. What we do know is this. 593 00:37:59,960 --> 00:38:02,880 You will stretch out your hands. That's a form of crucifixion. 594 00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:06,000 That's what that means. And another will gird you and 595 00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:10,320 carry you where you do not wish. What's it mean? 596 00:38:10,720 --> 00:38:13,960 This He spoke signifying what? Death. 597 00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:21,040 He will glorify God. You're going to glorify God even 598 00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:25,760 in your death. So when we think that maybe 599 00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:30,440 we're going to have some hard stuff, Peter's told this is what 600 00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:32,080 you're going to do. This is what you're going to 601 00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:33,640 sacrifice. This is how you're going to 602 00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:35,760 demonstrate your love for me. And by the way, when it's all 603 00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:37,960 said and done, you're going to die of violent death for it, and 604 00:38:38,120 --> 00:38:40,480 you're going to glorify God in that very fact. 605 00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:46,000 Then he said this. The Lord said it doesn't matter, 606 00:38:47,080 --> 00:38:50,680 follow me anyway. Follow me. 607 00:38:50,680 --> 00:38:52,560 Anyway, let me ask you a question. 608 00:38:54,280 --> 00:38:59,240 Do you love the Lord today, or do you just love the Lord when 609 00:38:59,240 --> 00:39:01,160 things are going as you would like it to go? 610 00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:06,880 Do you love the Lord even if he says no? 611 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:13,440 Do you love the Lord? When things in your life are not 612 00:39:13,440 --> 00:39:17,680 the way that you have planned them out to be, and you are met 613 00:39:17,680 --> 00:39:20,440 with catastrophe and you're met with hard times and you're met 614 00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:23,440 with suffering, will you still love him? 615 00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:28,720 You know what Jesus said? It doesn't matter all this 616 00:39:28,720 --> 00:39:33,920 stuff, Peter, that's a command. Follow me. 617 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:37,200 I think the Lord's saying the same thing to us today too. 618 00:39:38,120 --> 00:39:41,880 Even if you're persecuted, even if you suffer greatly, follow 619 00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:43,800 me. It's kind of like the words that 620 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:47,880 were given to the persecuted church in Revelation 2 and verse 621 00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:50,040 10. Smyrna, do not fear. 622 00:39:50,040 --> 00:39:52,480 Jesus said any of the things that are about to suffer. 623 00:39:52,680 --> 00:39:55,440 Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, 624 00:39:55,600 --> 00:39:58,880 that you may be tested and you will have tribulation 10 days. 625 00:39:58,880 --> 00:40:03,240 But be faithful until death, and I will give you a crown of life. 626 00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:08,200 And as you know, that phrase, be faithful until death means be 627 00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:10,600 faithful even if it means your death. 628 00:40:12,040 --> 00:40:13,240 That's what he was telling Peter. 629 00:40:14,400 --> 00:40:18,200 Be faithful and follow me. It is going to mean your death, 630 00:40:19,360 --> 00:40:21,640 but do it anyway. Oh, and I love it. 631 00:40:21,640 --> 00:40:24,920 Peter wasn't perfect, but he never looked back. 632 00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:28,640 This is often times called the second conversion of Peter. 633 00:40:28,680 --> 00:40:29,960 And I'm going to tell you that's beautiful. 634 00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:33,320 You know why? Because that shows me that it 635 00:40:33,320 --> 00:40:35,320 doesn't matter what happens in your life. 636 00:40:35,320 --> 00:40:39,000 You can turn it around. Anybody can turn it around. 637 00:40:39,840 --> 00:40:43,080 He wasn't perfect, but he never stopped serving God. 638 00:40:43,400 --> 00:40:46,760 And let me just say this to all of us and let this be an example 639 00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:49,480 of encouragement for every one of us today, OK? 640 00:40:49,720 --> 00:40:54,360 And I say this in in closing, it doesn't matter what you did in 641 00:40:54,360 --> 00:41:03,480 the past. All that matters is what you do 642 00:41:03,480 --> 00:41:07,800 now. That's it. 643 00:41:10,440 --> 00:41:13,840 All that matters is what you do now. 644 00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:20,040 And when you've been forgiven, you have a clean slate like it 645 00:41:20,040 --> 00:41:21,800 never happened. So move forward. 646 00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:24,760 And if God has forgiven you of something that you hold and you 647 00:41:24,760 --> 00:41:26,800 still have guilt over, lay it down. 648 00:41:28,480 --> 00:41:31,000 If the Lord's laid it down, you lay it down, and you move 649 00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:32,960 forward and be better in the future than you've been in days 650 00:41:32,960 --> 00:41:34,960 gone by. And if you've made some bad 651 00:41:34,960 --> 00:41:38,280 choices, then use those choices to go talk to other people. 652 00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:41,480 Use those examples from your life, and go help somebody else 653 00:41:41,640 --> 00:41:46,680 be better, be better. All right, Finally, this is the 654 00:41:46,680 --> 00:41:49,160 7th post resurrection appearance. 655 00:41:49,840 --> 00:41:55,840 This was now over #8's coming in an unspecified amount of time 656 00:41:55,840 --> 00:41:58,120 frame. Later it's going to happen back 657 00:41:58,120 --> 00:42:02,320 in Galilee again, and Jesus will give the Great Commission. 658 00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:06,600 That was the 8th post resurrection appearance. 659 00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:09,320 Thank you so much for your kind listening today. 660 00:42:09,320 --> 00:42:11,480 You've been a wonderful audience and I appreciate that so very 661 00:42:11,480 --> 00:42:14,160 much. My hope and prayer is that 662 00:42:14,160 --> 00:42:17,040 something was said that was edifying and encouraging to you 663 00:42:17,040 --> 00:42:20,400 in some way. And I hope that we can leave and 664 00:42:20,400 --> 00:42:23,000 courage realizing that, you know, sometimes in our life we 665 00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:26,720 can really relate to Peter. Peter was a human being that 666 00:42:26,720 --> 00:42:30,520 made a mistake. But when he was forgiven, the 667 00:42:30,520 --> 00:42:32,600 Lord didn't hold it against him forever. 668 00:42:32,600 --> 00:42:34,680 Again, he laid it aside. It was over. 669 00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:38,280 I love that. Are you here today and you're 670 00:42:38,280 --> 00:42:40,440 not a child of God? The steps to become a child of 671 00:42:40,440 --> 00:42:42,800 God are very simple. We always extend an invitation 672 00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:44,480 to someone that's not a Christian. 673 00:42:45,560 --> 00:42:47,880 We never know the hearts and minds of those that are present. 674 00:42:47,880 --> 00:42:51,720 The plan of salvation is simple. Romans 10/17 says you got to 675 00:42:51,720 --> 00:42:54,720 hear the word of God. So then faith comes by hearing 676 00:42:54,960 --> 00:42:58,640 and hearing by the word of God. Then we have a choice to make. 677 00:42:59,040 --> 00:43:00,320 We got to believe with all your heart. 678 00:43:00,520 --> 00:43:03,240 Hebrews 11 and 6. Without faith it's impossible to 679 00:43:03,240 --> 00:43:06,840 please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and 680 00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:09,800 that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. 681 00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:12,200 Then what? Here's that word we talked about 682 00:43:12,200 --> 00:43:14,280 today. You got to repent of your sins. 683 00:43:14,280 --> 00:43:16,360 Make a change. I'm not going to follow the way 684 00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:18,000 I'm going anymore. I'm going to turn to follow the 685 00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:21,080 Lord. Truly these times of ignorance 686 00:43:21,080 --> 00:43:24,600 God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent. 687 00:43:25,400 --> 00:43:29,320 Then we must be willing to make the great confession that Jesus 688 00:43:29,320 --> 00:43:32,520 Christ is the Son of God. Acts 837 that Philip said, if 689 00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:34,000 you believe with all your heart, you may. 690 00:43:34,400 --> 00:43:38,160 And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the 691 00:43:38,160 --> 00:43:41,400 Son of God. All of these steps point towards 692 00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:45,640 salvation, but the point of salvation is by being baptized 693 00:43:45,840 --> 00:43:48,600 for the remission of sins. Mark 1616. 694 00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:53,200 He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does 695 00:43:53,200 --> 00:43:57,840 not believe will be condemned. Finally, is it necessary? 696 00:43:57,960 --> 00:44:02,720 First Peter 321 the like figure where the even baptism does also 697 00:44:02,720 --> 00:44:07,760 now save us, not the putting away the filth of the flesh, but 698 00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:11,320 the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection 699 00:44:11,760 --> 00:44:14,000 of Jesus Christ. If you've never taken those 700 00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:16,240 steps of obedience, we would love to assist you in that 701 00:44:16,240 --> 00:44:18,240 today. Maybe there is someone that has 702 00:44:18,240 --> 00:44:20,560 taken those steps, but there's something that's on your heart, 703 00:44:20,760 --> 00:44:23,520 something that's in your life that is not what it should be. 704 00:44:23,520 --> 00:44:26,120 Then repent of that. Confess that we'll pray with you 705 00:44:26,120 --> 00:44:27,880 and for you and God will forgive and restore. 706 00:44:28,080 --> 00:44:30,880 If you want to be the class, come forward while we stand and 707 00:44:30,880 --> 00:44:31,360 while we sing.