I want to read this morning from John's Gospel chapter 21 and we'll read from verse 9. As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus saith unto them, Bring off the fish which ye have now caught. Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty and three. And for all there were so many, yet was not the net broke. Jesus saith unto them, Come, and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask them, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus shown himself to his disciples. After that he was risen from the dead. So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, 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, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved, because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? He said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkest whither thou wouldest. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thine hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldst not. This spake he signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. Amen. We'll end there. Verse 19. And we know the Lord will add his own blessing to his word that we have read. We are considering the seventh appearance of the Lord Jesus after he's risen from the dead. And it took place in Galilee. It was the first of two appearances in this region. Peter and some of the other disciples, six of them, along with himself, making seven, had gone back to the fishing. And in the morning the Saviour stood upon the shore and called to these seven disciples. At first they didn't recognize that it was the Lord, but after a night of fruitless toil, the Saviour directs them to cast the net upon the right side of the ship with the promise that they would certainly find fish to catch. And this enclosing of a multitude of fishes convinces John at least that it is the Lord who is standing on the shore and who is speaking unto them. And we noticed last time, it's a little while ago now, but we noticed that how upon hearing that it was the Lord, Peter girds himself with his fisherman's coat and he casts himself into the sea to go and to meet the Saviour. And we have noticed some things already about this seventh appearance. We noticed Peter going back to the fishing, we considered the Saviour standing on the shore. There's some other matters that I want us to go a little bit further today and to consider here out of these verses that we have read. You'll notice there that there is an invitation to come and die. You have the Saviour's words in verse 12 to these disciples. Jesus saith unto them, come and die. As they haul their catch up to the shore, it tells us that they notice that there is a fire that has been lit on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. There's fish and bread that has been prepared for these disciples. A morning meal has been provided by the Lord and they are without this invitation to them, come and dine. Come and partake of that which I have prepared for you. Leave the fish that you have caught and come and take that which I have prepared for you. And we're told there about the bread and the fish, verse 9. As soon then as they were aware, as soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there and fish later on and bread. And the Saviour takes of this bread and fish, verse 13, and He gives it to them. He dispenses it. He serves them. when they have come around that fire. And they begin the day with food from the Lord. There's certainly there a gospel invitation that is extended to those that know not Christ, those who hunger and thirst spiritually. They are invited to come to Jesus Christ and to die. Is your soul dissatisfied? Is the world to you a broken cistern? Is there no joy or contentment in the things of the world? Then listen to the invitation of the Saviour. Come and dine. Forsake the things that you are seeking after yourself to gain contentment in and satisfaction in. And come and take of that which Christ provides. He provides for you a feast that will satisfy and nourish your soul. Come and receive of Christ himself. He will satisfy you. He's the bread of life to your perishing soul. He will nourish you with meat, the meat of His truth, and you will be abundantly satisfied. And today there goes out that invitation in the Gospel, come and dine, come and partake of these things. You who today are out of Christ and know not to save you, you'll never find satisfaction in the things of the world. They'll always be a broken cistern because they can never minister to the soul. The things of this world are earthly in nature, and they can only minister to the earthly part of us, but you and I are more than just earthly. There's a spiritual part of us. In fact, the spiritual is the major part of us. The earth is just the tent that we live in for a little while. The major part of our being, that which we have been created, is in the image of God. We've got a spiritual nature and the world can never satisfy the spiritual nature. It doesn't matter how much of the world that you may have. You can live all the world, it'll never satisfy. You only have to look at some of those individuals who have much of the world. Whether it's much of the pleasures of the world or much of the possessions of the world, much of the fame of the world, it doesn't satisfy them. There's always something more that they're lacking. There's always something that they want. They're never content to sit down and say, I've got enough. Because those things don't satisfy our nature. Those things can only minister to the earth. Only Christ can satisfy the soul. And today the invitation goes out. Come and dine. Come and partake of that which Christ has prepared. That which he will give to you. It's not that he's reluctant to give. It's not that somehow you have to prise it out of his hand. He's more than willing to give. He'll do to you what he did to these disciples. He will serve you. He will provide for you. A great abundance. And you who know not Christ today, oh come and dine. come and partake of these things. But surely, child of God, there's a very important principle that's laid down for you and I to observe in our lives. We need to begin the day with spiritual food from the Lord. That spiritual nature that we've just been speaking about needs to be nourished, just as much as the physical body needs to be nourished at the start of the day. You're always told that breakfast is a very important meal in the course of the day. Very important. Well, if that's true in the physical sense, how much more true is it in the spiritual sense? We need to find nourishment for our spiritual nature from the Lord at the beginning of the day. We need to begin the day with the Lord, feeding our souls, nourishing our souls, dining with Christ. I wonder today, do we start the day with the Lord? Or do we get up And we go on about other things and the Lord doesn't get a look in at the start of the day at all. Our souls are starved at the very start of the day because we do not nourish them on Christ. We need to feed our souls. We need to feed our souls particularly on Christ. It's not so much religious duty. It's not even so much religious affections or labour. None of those things are a real substitute for nourishing our souls on Jesus Christ. You see, being busy is not an excuse for not nourishing our souls. Being busy even in legitimate things is not an excuse for not nourishing our souls. Being busy even in the Lord's work is not an excuse for not nourishing our souls. We have to feed our souls and we have to feed it on Christ and there is no substitute for that. We can't think, because I've got this or that or the other thing to do today, I'll cut short on nourishing my soul on Christ. Well, we're starving ourselves. Because nothing else is going to make up for that. Not even religious duties, if we want to term them like that. Not even if we were going out to do something for the Lord. That'll take our time and our efforts and our energies and we'll be tired physically at the end of it. That's no substitute for feeding our souls on Christ. It's Christ that we need. It's his bread and fish that we need to feed our souls upon. We are to dine day by day at Christ's table. And here's the Lord saying to these disciples, come and dine. You're my people, you're my disciples. This is what I've provided for you, now come and partake of it. And so it is with us every day, Christian. The Lord has provided much for us in Jesus Christ. He spread a banqueting table for us. Remember those words that are given to us in the Song of Solomon, where the Shulamite there spoke of being brought into the banqueting house and his banner over Her being love, it's Song of Solomon chapter 2 and verse 4. He's brought me to the banqueting house, the place of feasting, the place where we can be nourished. And the Lord has provided for us all that we need in Jesus Christ. And Christian, may we come on down day by day. May we begin the day with the Lord. And if we're not in the habit of beginning the day with the Lord, we need to get into the habit of beginning the day with the Lord. We shouldn't go out the door without spending time with the Lord and seeking his face. It needs to be a practice that we develop in our lives, come and day. And what an invitation it is to come by the King of Kings and to feed on Christ himself. And may we take up that invitation and be those that do so day by day. The second thing and really the major point that we want to dwell upon this morning is the Lord's restoration of Peter to his apostleship. And quite a bit of the verses that we read has to deal with that. You'll notice verse 15, it starts there, So when they had doubt, it's as if everything else that has taken place on this shore is all geared toward what now? is given to us in these verses. It's the Lord restoring Peter to his apostleship. We've already noticed the Lord appearing to Peter after the resurrection on his own. That restored Peter from his backslide, but the Lord had not yet restored him as an apostle. That's what he's going to do now, as we'll come to see. So having got him right in his heart and in his soul, now the Lord restores him to fellowship. And I think it is important to notice there that this restoration took place after they had died. Verse 15 tells us. It emphasises a very important point that no one can serve Christ if they're not feeding upon Christ. You and I can't labour for Christ, we can't live for Him, can't be a witness for Him among friends or family or neighbours or work colleagues. We can't be a witness for Christ, we can't be living for the Lord or serving the Lord if day by day we are not feeding on Christ. If our souls are not nourished by Him, if we are starving ourselves spiritually of Jesus Christ, we'll never be able to serve Him and live for Him. And all of these details that we notice in the Word of God are there for a purpose. We believe the Lord is the author of this book. Right down to the very words. We believe in verbal inspiration. And all the details that the Lord puts in, he just doesn't put it in to fill out a story. It's there for our good. It's there to nourish us. All these things are written for our admonition. And when we just stop there at verse 15 and we notice the Lord began to speak to Peter and to restore him as an apostle after they had died, after they had partaken of that which the Lord had provided for them. And surely there's a spiritual lesson for us there in our lives. We cannot live for the Lord, we cannot serve Christ in this world if day by day we are not being nourished by Him, feeding our souls on Jesus Christ. We can live for Him, then we can serve Him. Only then can we do so. Notice there, first of all, the significance of the fire. There's a fire burning. We have to go right back up to verse 9 to find that little detail. As soon as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there. Is that not going to remind Peter of events not all that long before? It was at a fire in the high priest's palace that Peter denied the Lord and did so with oaths and curses. He was standing beside the fire. The scripture is very clear about that. He was standing in the company of ungodly men and he was challenged by one of the little maids, the servant girls that were there in the high priest's palace and they said, you're one of them. Your voice betrays you. You're definitely a Galilean. And as Peter stood beside the fire, he denied that he was the Lord's. and he did it with those and curses and now he's standing beside a fire and the Lord begins to speak to him and surely the Lord is going to take Peter's memory back to those events that transpired beside a fire there's going to be considerable searching of soul on Peter's part the Lord asks there in verse 15 Peter says Simon son of Jonas love us thou me more than these love us thou me that requires soul searching That requires Peter to stop and consider himself. What is the measure of your love, Peter? Lovest thou me more than these? The Lord's just not asking him, Peter, do you love me? He's going further. The Lord's saying, Peter, how much do you love me? Do you love me more than these? And that's going to require soul-searching on the part of Peter. Love has to do with the heart's affections. It transcends the mind. and they understand. When the Lord speaks about loving him, he's not asking us do we believe the truth of the gospel, although that's very important. He's not even asking us, as he's not asking Peter here, do you believe the truth of the resurrection? You see, we can say yes to all of those. We can say, oh yes, I believe the truth of the gospel. We can say, yes, I believe in the resurrection. Of that I'm convinced there's a resurrection. Jesus Christ rose from the dead. But this question goes beyond all of that. Love us, though me. This has to deal with the heart's affections. It's the measure of our love for Christ. And today it's a vital question, and may it be one the Lord addresses to all of our hearts. Do we love Christ? Not are we orthodox, but we can say yes, we're orthodox. Do we stroke our teeth and dot our eyes? We may do all of that theologically, but what about our love for Christ? Because we can do all of the former and still not love the Saviour the way that we ought. Turn over to Revelation chapter 2 for a moment. Revelation chapter 2, the letter that was written to the church at Ephesus. And in verse four, the Lord says to this church, nevertheless I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love. They did not love Christ the way they once did. They were not as fervent for him as once they were. And the Lord says, I've got something against you. You've left your first love. But I want you to notice the pedigree of this church that the Lord said these things to. Look at verse 2. The Lord says, I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil, and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars, and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee. You have left your first love." The Lord says to this church, you can be all of these things, you can be orthodox, you can put on trial false teachers and find them out and to be able to show how they are preaching a false gospel and not preaching the truth of God and this church have done that. The Lord says, you have done this. He says, you have laboured, you have laboured to the place where you have fainted, almost You're physically tired, you're at the end of your tether, physically speaking, and yet you've gone on, the Lord says, and yet for all of that, he says, you don't love me like you once did. You're doing it out of the energies of the flesh. You're just doing it because it's a duty and it's not out of love for Jesus Christ. And how important that is for us to remember. You see, when we come to talk about loving Christ, it's not, are we orthodox? Can we pick up on somebody who's preaching falsehood? Maybe we can do that very quickly, maybe we could catch on right away and we could take apart something that somebody says or something that somebody preaches and we could say, well that's not right, that contradicts such and such a thing. We could do all of that and still not be loving Christ. That's a troubling thought child of God. that we can do all of that. When you think of what is said there in Revelation 2 and verse 2 and 3 about that church at Ephesus and what they were, every way commendable it would seem. Outwardly you would have thought surely there's a church going on with God, surely there's a church that's right with God and there's a church that will do something for God. They're fervent, they're faithful, they're earnest, they're all of those things and yet the Lord says, you've left your first love, you don't love me like you once did. And could that be the testimony of us? And I address it to myself as much as I say it to you today. Could that be the case with us? Oh we can say we stand here and we're not going to move of this position, we're going to hold to that doctrine, we're going to hold to that truth, we're going to maintain that position, and yet all the time we just do it out of a sense of duty, maybe out of a sense of pride that we're holding ground, but not out of love for Christ. And today may the Lord take these words that he addressed to Peter and apply them to our hearts today. Love us thou may more than these. May the Lord deliver us from a dead orthodoxy. Give us a love for Christ in our souls. I want you to notice there as well the use of the name that the Lord employs for Peter. Because you'll notice in those three verses, verses 15, 16 and 17, that the Lord doesn't address him as Peter or Cephas. He says, Simon son of Jonas or Simon Bar-Jonah as we have it elsewhere. The word Bar means son, son of Jonas, that's what the Lord is saying here. Simon Bar-Jonah or Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me. The Lord is taking Peter back to even prior to his conversion because the name Peter was given to him the day he came to be a follower of Christ. Turn back to John's Gospel chapter 1 and verse 41 John chapter 1 verse 41 speaks of Andrew he findeth his own brother Simon and saith unto him we have found the Messiah which is being interpreted to Christ and he brought him to Jesus and when Jesus beheld him he saith thou art Simon the son of Jonah thou shalt be called Cephas or Peter which is by interpretation a stone So the Lord employs a name that in a sense he had taken away from Peter because he says Simon, you're not going to be called Simon Bar-Jonah anymore, you're going to be called Cephas or Peter, you're going to be called the stone and yet in John 21 when the Lord is speaking to him here he doesn't say Cephas or Peter, do you love me? He says Simon, son of Jonas, do you love me? The Lord is taking him back you see to his first love That's what the Lord is doing here with Peter. He's taking him back to his first love. He's taking him back to that day that he stood in Galilee. Maybe even on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Maybe on the very same spot that they're gathered now, many years later. And the Lord is saying, Simon, do you love me? Do you love me like you did a way back those days ago when you became a follower of me the first time? Christian, do we love the Lord like we did the day we were saved? Is there the same yearning for the Lord today as there was then? Or we'd have to be honest and say it's not what it once was. I need to put it right. May the Lord take us back to our first love for Jesus Christ. But I want you to notice here as well that not only was it a test of Peter's love but it was a test of his humility. Lovest thou me more than these more than these?" That question is going to draw from Peter a response along those lines. Peter, do you love me more than these? Now the word these can refer either to the disciples or to the fishing equipment that's lying on the shore. Remember the net is there, the boats are there at the water's edge and the word can refer to either of It can either be the disciples, because remember Peter said, Lord I love you more than anyone because I'll die for you. Let all men forsake you Lord, Peter says, but I'll die with you. And he was professing then when he spoke those words, he was telling the Saviour, I love you more than these disciples. They can fail you, they can deny you, I'll never deny you, I'll go to death with you. So Peter had already declared, Lord I love you more than these disciples. Peter has already declared, as we've noticed, I'm going to go back to the fishing. Now the Lord called him from the fishing. A number of years ago the Lord said, you're going to be fishers of men. But Peter has gone back to the fishing for the fish in the sea. And the Lord comes to him and the Lord says, Peter, do you love me more than these? Now what's Peter's response going to be? It's bound to have brought back his boasts. But it shows us that Peter is a man who has grown in grace. He's not going to boast of his love for the Lord more than his fellow disciples. He's not going to do that. Because if you look at the answer that he gives in verse 15, He saith unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. And Peter just finishes it at that. In a sense he doesn't answer the rest of the question. Lovest thou me more than these?" Peter says, Lord, I love you. I'm not going to boast that I love you more than the next person. I'm not going to boast that I love you more than all of the disciples. I'm just going to say, I love you. Peter's learning his lesson. He's growing in grace. He's not boasting of the measure of his love. He just says, thou knowest. He's not even saying Lord, this is what I think. This is how I think my love is. He says, Lord, you know. You see my heart. You can see right in. You know all things. I love you. You know the measure of it. And there's humility. There's humility on Peter's part. Question how important it is for humility. Great professions of devotion to Christ can come crashing down very quickly. They can come crashing down very quickly. It behoves us to walk humbly with God, not to boast of what we know, not to boast of how much we love Christ, because our feelings could come very much to the fore. It's very beneficial to read the letters of Peter in the light of what he learned. And particularly in what we read here in John chapter 21 of his experience. Because some of these things you will find that in Peter. You'll find references to humility in Peter's letters. You'll find those words in 1 Peter 5, humble yourself. Peter learned by bitter experience the need to humble himself, not to boast. Not to boast that he followed the Lord better than somebody else. May we love the Lord more than anything, but may we not boast about it. May we not be one of those individuals that wear their heart on their sleeve. Everybody has to know. And it's more by their words than it is by their actions. May the Lord give us that humbleness. But I want you to notice here as well, the words that Peter employs. What does Peter say in response to the Lord? Three times this question is asked. That's immediately going to tie in with the threefold denial that Peter made. The Lord's going to ask him what seems to be the same question three times over. Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? More than these. And each time's going to be a reminder of those three denials. that Peter made of the Lord. But it is interesting to take notice of the fact that there is a change of word here that's not immediately obvious in our English Bibles. There's different words that are used for love. On the first two occasions when the Lord asks Peter the question, he uses the word agape for love. And that's a word that denotes the strongest type of love. It's the word, for example, that's used in the Bible to talk about the Father's love for the Son. It's the same word that is used in the Bible to talk about the Saviour's love for sinners and how strong those loves are. The love of the Father for the Son. This is my beloved Son. The love of God for sinners. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. That's the word that is used on the first two occasions. It's the strongest of words that there is in the Greek language for love. But when Peter answers those first two times, he doesn't use that word. In verse 15 and verse 16, when Peter says, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee, Peter uses a lesser word, the word phileas. It's a less intense word that Peter employs. You see, it indicates just the depth of the work that has gone on in Peter's heart. The Lord says, Peter, do you love me? Do you love me with the highest love that's possible? Do you love me with a love that's equal with God's love for his son, God's love for sinners? And Peter realises, Lord, I can't reach that height. I can't reach that height. I love you, but I can't reach that height. I know my failings, and I know my shortcomings. Peter, dare not use that word that denotes the strongest type of love. And surely it is indicating to us how much this man has learned by the bitter experience that he has gone through. Our love may not be as strong as we think. It may not be as strong as we think. The first serious sign of opposition in our love for Christ could well be. And here's a man who's illustrating that point that he's learned a lesson. he won't use that strongest of words. But you also have an example of the tenderness of the Lord, because in verse 17 when the Lord comes to ask the question a third time, the Lord employs the word that Peter used this time. So the Lord sets aside the strongest word for love, agape, that he's used on the two previous occasions, and this third time he takes up this lesser word, this weaker word, and he says to Peter, Do you love me in the lesser sense? If you can't use the stronger word, if you can't say you can reach the heights, can you say you love me at least? Can you use the lesser term? And Peter can. And that's why you'll notice in verse 17, Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, love us thy me. Because the Lord changes the word you see. And Peter picked up on that. Peter realised what the Lord had done. He had taken now the lesser word and he says, Peter, can you love me with the lesser word? And do you notice what Peter says, verse 17? Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee. There's a man just opening up his heart to the Lord. He says, Lord, you know my heart. You know all about me. You know the measure of my love. Christian today, what's the measure of our love for Christ? How much do we love Him? Surely it illustrates for us there the importance of sincerity in our love for Christ. That's a very important ingredient in love. There has to be sincerity. If there's not sincerity, if there's not honesty behind our professions of love, then What can be said about love? There's nothing worse than a love that is characterised by insincerity. Turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 12. 2 Corinthians chapter 1. And verse 12, For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you, Word. And there's Paul saying, this is the testimony of my conscience, with simplicity and godly sincerity. That's how it ought to be with us. Simplicity. Godly sincerity. When it comes to professing our love for Christ, when it comes to the measure of it, there's something ought to characterize it. Simplicity. Godly sincerity. Because that's what the Lord would have. You see, the Lord wasn't wanting Peter to confess something he didn't have. As I've pointed out, the Lord using that stronger term, He didn't want to press the matter and get Peter to confess something that Peter knew in his heart wasn't the case. The Lord uses the lesser term, and he says, Peter, can you employ the lesser term? Can you profess your love for Christ in those terms? Peter says, yes, Lord, thou knowest. Thou knowest all things. Thou dost see my heart. And surely, Christian, it underscores the importance of sincerity. honesty, truthfulness in our love for Christ. Be honest with ourselves. Don't pretend to be something that we are not. May the Lord give us that honesty today before even as we consider this matter, the measure of our love. But then you have the Lord recommissioning Peter with those words that appear again in those three verses, feed my lambs, feed my sheep, feed my sheep. the end of verses 15, 16 and 17. There's some important details there to notice again. There are two different words that are used for feed in those statements. The one that is used in verse 15 and in verse 17, the first and the third, refers to nourishing the lambs and the sheep, to providing food, taking care of their welfare. having a concern for their good. That's the meaning that lies behind that word. And you can picture the shepherd looking after the sheep, leading them out to pasture, taking them to the place where they will drink and get the water, and taking care of them at night, bringing them down to the sheepfold, even lying down and being the door of the sheepfold, as it was often the case in the land of the East. That's all contained in that statement that appears in verse 15 and in verse 17, feed my lambs or feed my sheep. But the one that's in the middle, verse 16, is a different word. And the word there has the idea of ruling, governing. It's the word that is used in Matthew chapter 2 and verse 6 where it talks of the Saviour's entrance into the world and what would characterise His work among His people. quoting from the Old Testament, but it says in Matthew chapter 2 verse 6, Thou Bethlehem and the land of Judah art not the least among the princes of Judah, for out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel. And if you've got a margin in your Bible against Matthew chapter 2 verse 6, it will tell you in the margin, seed, seed, against the word rule. So this middle word of the Lord, employs here in this exhortation, to feed my sheep, is a different word. It has to do with ruling. It has to do with authority. And see, this is Peter being recommissioned as an apostle. The Lord is setting out the two aspects of being an apostle. He has to feed the sheep, has to nourish them, has to teach them, has to lead them in the right paths. Then he also has to rule over them as an apostle. So there's two different words that are used. It's important therefore to notice where the emphasis lies. The first word is used twice, the second only once. The command to feed and to nourish, the sheep is doubled, the one to rule is only given once. Surely it emphasises that Peter's primary task is to feed and to teach. and to exercise a concern, have a thought for the welfare of the sheep. Peter, that's your primary responsibility. Secondly, yes you must rule the sheep, you must govern them, you're an apostle and there's responsibilities in that area, but you must realise where the emphasis is. The emphasis is on feeding them, the emphasis is on nourishing them. I think you have the Lord pre-empting that corruption of Christianity that takes Peter and puts him at the head of that system. Romanism. Because they invert the order. They do the very opposite. They put the emphasis on ruling and on priestly rule and priestly governance of the people. There's not the emphasis on preaching the word and feeding and nourishing the people. That's forgotten in Romanism. And they take Peter and they put him at the head of that wicked system and they invert the order that the Lord gave Peter in John chapter 21 when he recommissioned him. I was just looking up one of the quotes of what the Pope claims, and he claims to follow Peter's line. As you well know, they claim that Peter was the first Pope. But let me just read to you the Roman Catholic New York Catechism of what it says about the Pope, and it'll just illustrate the point of where the emphasis is, and you'll see that it's the very opposite of what the Lord was emphasising to Peter. This is what the Roman Catholic New York Catechism says of the Pope. The Pope takes the place of Jesus Christ on earth. By divine right the Pope has supreme and full power in faith, in morals, over each and every pastor and his flock. He is the true vicar. the head of the entire church, the father and teacher of all Christians. He is the infallible ruler, the founder of dogmas, the author of and the judge of councils, the universal ruler of truth, the arbiter of the world, the supreme judge of heaven and earth, the judge of all, being judged by no one, God himself on earth." That's what they say in their catechism about the Pope. And I'd suggest to you that that's the very opposite of what The Lord says to Peter, the emphasis should be, Peter, Peter, you're to concentrate on feeding the flock. Yes, there's an aspect of rule and authority, but you're to concentrate on feeding the flock. That's where your primary task lies. And it was an emphasis that wasn't lost on Peter. If you go back over towards the end of the New Testament, 1 Peter chapter 5, And very quickly I want you to notice what he says, because Peter, he doesn't hold on to this authority that the Lord has given to him as an apostolic one, but he passes it on to elders. 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 1, The elders that are among you I exhort, who also, who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and a partaker. of the glory that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, not as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd shall appear, he shall receive a crown of glory that saideth not away. And there's Peter passing on what he had learned, what he had been taught by the Lord. And here he's writing to these believers and he says, look, the elders that are among you, here's your responsibility, feed the flock of God. Yes, there is an aspect of taking the oversight, but you're not to be lords over God's heritage. You're to be examples to the flock. Peter's a man who's learned much from what the Lord has to say to him. There's no potpourri there. There's no episcopacy either. rule of bishops as an Anglicanism, it's the rule of the elders and the emphasis is feeding the flock, nourishing and where do we get nourished? Well it really takes us back to where we began the day, come and dine, come to Christ, come and feed of Jesus Christ as he's presented in the word. That's how we're nourished, that's how we're fed, that's what the work, the primary work of the eldership is about. But one final thought I want you to notice from John 21 before we finish, and that is, it is the lambs that are first and then the sheep that are to be fed. In those three exhortations that the Lord gives to Peter, we have already dealt with the middle one, emphasised there the difference in them. But if we think about the terms that he uses here for the flock, he says, feed my lambs, that's the first thing Peter, feed my lambs, then feed my sheep. You see, the emphasis is upon the lambs. If you don't look after the lambs of the flock, you'll not have any sheep. Any farmer knows that. If you don't look after the young, well, soon the flock will die out. It'll grow old. And there'll be nothing coming along behind to replace it, and soon the flock will be decimated if the lambs are not looked after. And the Lord says to Peter, Peter, feed my lambs. Feed my lambs. Now we can take the lambs in two ways. You can take those that are young in age. We must look after the children. We must raise them up in the fear and nurture and admonition of the Lord. There has to be great care taken in that, that we train up our children and that we nourish them and we admonish them and we teach them the things of God and we feed the lambs. That's the responsibility of the whole church. I know parents have particular responsibility towards their children, but it's the work of the church. All of us collectively as a congregation, we have a responsibility to the children that are among us. We'll answer for the children that are among us. Yes, parents will answer for their own children, but we will answer for them as well, collectively. Do we feed the lambs? Do we nourish them? Are we interested in their welfare? Do we seek to take care of them? You know, what would you think of a farmer if he never thought of his sheep? never thought of the lambs. Come lambing time and there's some of them in the physical world when lambing time comes they hardly get to bed if there's a lot of sheep continually out looking after the newborn lambs because they're so delicate, so much in danger and we must remember that about our children. There's so much in danger in this wicked world and we need to be active, taking care of the But then there's those that are young in the faith, they're likened unto lambs. Likewise they need to be taken care of, they need to be nourished. Those who have just come to the Lord need to be strengthened, need to be fed, particular care needs to be given to them that they grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord and that they're strong in the Lord and in the power of his name. And the Lord says to Peter, Peter, your first duty is to feed the lambs. If you feed the lambs, well then you'll have sheep. I just want to finish with 1 Samuel chapter 17. Words that are spoken in regard to David, spoken actually by David, gives us an example of a true shepherd. It's in the physical, but I think it's easy to see the illustration as it applies to us 1 Samuel chapter 17 verses 34 and 35. David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock. And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth. And when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Is there somebody that was interested in the lambs? David didn't say when the lion and the bear came and took the lambs, it's only a lamb, let it go on. David says, I went after it. I went after the lion and the bear. I smoked the lion and the bear. Even when it rose up against me, I killed it. He was a true shepherd. And the Lord is saying to Peter, Peter, feed my lambs. Look after the children and the young people. and those that have newly come to Christ. May we even take on board what the Lord is saying to Peter, individually and collectively as a congregation. May the Lord bless his word today to all our hearts. Let's bow in prayer. Father, write thy word upon our hearts, we pray. Oh, may we learn. Lord, we have noticed today how Peter learned and how he could even pass on that instruction. And today we pray that we might learn of Thee and be the better for it. May we love Thee, O Lord. O Lord, may there be true love, love and sincerity in our hearts this day for Thee. Bless us now as we come to a close in this part of our service. And as we carry on, around the table abide with us, be with those who leave. Lord, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.