Turn please to John's Gospel and the chapter 21. John chapter 21. We'll commence with the opening verse. John 21. After these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and on this way showed he himself. There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas Caldidimus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, we also go with thee. They went forth and entered into a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have you any meat? They answered him, No. He said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, it is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, for he was naked, and had cast himself into the sea. And the other disciples came in a little ship, for they were not far from land, but as it were 200 cubits, dragging the net with fishes. As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, and hundred, and fifty, and three. And for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. None of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou, knowing that it was the Lord? Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead. So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yeah, 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? And 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 thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following, which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter saying himself to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that the disciple should not die. Yet Jesus said, not unto him he shall not die, but if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true. And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. Lord, allow this blessing to the reading of his precious word. Let's ask again to stand, just to stretch your legs, and just as we come to the Lord in prayer again. Father, we pray you'd be pleased to come now. You'll help us to shake off the weariness of the flesh, the weariness of the mind, You'll help us to come and to consider thy precious word. Lord, help us to meditate upon the truth of thy word. Lord, we believe there's a word in season for everyone in this meeting tonight, whether they be saint or sinner or backslider. We pray the Lord will be pleased to take thy word, and I will use it, Lord, to speak to hearts even in this meeting. Lord, I don't know the hearts of the individuals before me, but Lord, thou knowest all our hearts tonight. Lord, we can hide nothing from thee. Thou art the one who searches the heart. Thou art the one who knowest all things. The Bible tells us the very hairs of our head are numbered tonight. Thou knowest all about us. We can hide nothing from Thee. And father, if there be any in the meeting who are hiding behind a false profession of faith, hiding behind maybe thinking or letting others believe they are saved when they're lost tonight. Father, we pray that you'll even search their hearts and show them, Lord, they're lost and they need Christ. So, Father, come and take thy word now. Bless us, Lord, we pray in Christ's precious name. Amen. Amen. Could anyone have sunk lower than Simon Peter? He'd been on top of the mountain in spiritual experience. He was a man who had been called from his fishing nets to follow the Lord Jesus Christ as a disciple. He'd been part of the inner circle that walked in great intimacy with Christ. He'd taken part in the miracles. He joined two other disciples in witnessing the resplendent glory of Christ on the mountaintop as he was transfigured before them. What experiences this man enjoyed, experiences that we will never have on this earth. But then he plummeted to the lowest depths in his denial of the Lord. Peter was not a fair-weathered follower of Christ. His intentions were to die for the Saviour if the need arose. At least that was his intention. He spoke boldly of his devotion to Jesus. And how have others left Christ? He wouldn't. He even tried singing handedly to defend the Lord from the mob who came to arrest him in the garden. Yet despite all of this, despite all of his boasting and all his swagger, the words of a little maid brought him so low. As he denied the Lord three times, upon hearing the cock crow, he looked at Christ. He hung his head in shame. He fled the scene of his denial. How could he be restored to fellowship, much less usefulness in God's work ever again? Most of us would have written this man off. He said, that man's a failure. That man is finished in God's work. He'll never be used to the master again. We would say he was a deserter who ran from the battle. A couple of weeks ago, we were in the middle of remembrance, the remembrance service, and you know, there were 306 men who were shot for desertion by the British Army in World War I. Here, Peter was a deserter, ran from the battle, denied his Lord, But Peter's problem is not unusual tonight. You know, there are many who would find themselves identifying with him, maybe even in this meeting, over their own sense of spiritual faltering and failings. How many have made good confessions of faith? How many have committed to firm resolutions of faithfulness and then have fallen into sin, spiritual coldness, or even barrenness in the Lord's work? How often have we done the very thing we said that we would never do? But the encouragement to us all in this passage before us this evening is there's mercy with the Lord tonight. He alone can restore the fallen. Peter wept bitterly over a sin against Christ, but there was not a sense of resolution at this point in the spiritual journey. He publicly boasted of his level of dedication to the Savior, and then he publicly humiliated himself in his denial of Christ. But now by the great mercy of Christ, You find Peter being publicly restored to usefulness in the kingdom of God. You know, the most striking element of this whole scene is we see Christ pursuing the fallen. We read in, I think it's Mark's account of how the women who saw the angel at the empty tomb were told to go ahead and tell the disciples and Peter. Not just the disciples, but the disciples and Peter. And here we find Christ pursuing the fallen. You know, that's good news for you tonight if you're a sinner in this meeting. You see, Christ pursues sinners. You see, man has run from God from the very beginning. We think of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. After the sin, what did they do? They hid themselves from the face of God. And man has been hiding from God ever since. Sinners are running from God. But the good news of the gospel is that Christ Jesus came to seek and to save those that are lost. You know, we read there the last two verses, or the last verse in chapter 21, verse 25, but if you look back to the end of chapter 20, if you read verses 30 and 31 of chapter 20, We read in many other signs, truly, that Jesus is in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through his name. As you read those two verses, you think that's the conclusion of the Gospel of John, but you think, that's the book over. Then it seems that it started up again, the narrative starts up again in chapter 21. And then chapter, or verse 25 of 21, is nearly a carbon copy of those verses in chapter 20. And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Now we see here, the book seems to be finished, but here the Lord steps in because There's still a job to do with Peter. He's not finished with Simon Peter. Simon Peter might have thought, yes, it's all over. Deny the Lord, it's all finished. But hear the Lord, the narrative starts up again in chapter 21. The Lord comes here before Peter to restore him to faithfulness again. Christ entered where Peter and the other disciples met to give them assurance and minister to them. And now he confronts Peter in what must be a time of intense pain. As Peter fronts up to the reality of his sin and how he failed the Lord. Yet we find in this a great time of healing and restoration for the fallen. That's what I want to consider tonight. What I consider here, Peter's restoration. You want to get title for the message? Simply, the God question, lovest thou me? Let's explore firstly the question asked. Our text is well known for those series of three questions and Peter's three replies. The question our Lord asked Peter three times are Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me? See the whole issue of Peter's affection for Christ is questioned in the light of his denial of Christ. The Lord could have asked Peter almost any other question and would have not produced the same heart-searching as that of questioning Peter's love for him. He could have said, Peter, do you serve me? Peter could have answered quite easily, yes, Lord, I serve you. He could have said, Peter, do you fear me? And again, Peter could have answered without much heart-searching. But the question goes right to the heart of Peter's life. Could he honestly say that he loved Christ in light of what he's just done? Notice the intention of this question asked. What was Christ doing with his questions? Obviously, as Peter points out, Christ already knew the answer to whether Peter loved him or not. Christ was not seeking information that he didn't already know, but he asked in order to accomplish some distinct purposes. He asked, Peter, lovest thou me over the knees? To question the reality of his own salvation. Yes, Peter needed to question whether or not he had faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He had fallen into grievous, grievous sin. He had been confronted three times of three opportunities to confess Christ as his savior before men, but in all three times, he denied even the faintest knowledge of Christ. Now he's confronted three times of this searching question, do you love me? Why not ask, do you have faith in me? That certainly would have been legitimate, for faith serves as the foundation of our relationship to Christ. But as certain as faith is the foundation, love is the evidence of our faith in Christ. We find it listed first in the evidence of Christ's indwelling in the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. See, many claim to have faith. If you go up the town tonight and ask people, do you have faith in God? Well, many would say, yes, I have great faith. But do they have saving faith? Maybe faith in their good works, or faith in their church, or faith in their self-righteousness. But is it faith in Christ alone? Do they love him? Do they love him? And the question to Peter, and to any of us who struggle with assurance of the relationship to Christ, it's meant to bring us to that, recognizing the reality of the divine love that is placed within us through the new birth. That kind of love is unnatural to the sinner. See, the sinner truly hates God. Maybe you're in a meeting tonight and you're not saved and you say, preacher, how dare you say that? I don't hate God. So I'm in church tonight, I'm listening to the word being preached. How dare you say I hate God? But if you're not saved tonight, you're rejecting Christ. You're rejecting the gospel. You are a hater. of God. The divine love is a gift of grace born by the Holy Spirit within us. So when the Lord asks, love us thy me, he's poignantly asking whether there is a reality of the new birth in your life. Now I wonder tonight, is there? Have you been born again? See that's what it means to be born again, it's a new life. To be born again by the Spirit of God. Has there been a change in your life? Have you been transformed? Have your old desires, your old motives, your old sins, have they passed away? Paul could say, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, old things are become new. Is that a reality in your life tonight? Can you honestly say that you love Christ? We see this question as a humbling question. We can only imagine the depths of humility cast upon Peter when Christ questioned him. Is that not what we need when we fall in pride, we fall into sin, and we rebel against the will of God? Do we not need to be humbled and broken in conviction concerning our own sinfulness? Spurgeon wrote, he said, it is well, especially after a foul sin, that the Christian should well probe the wound. It is right that he should examine himself, for sin gives grave cause for suspicion. And it would be wrong for a Christian to live an hour with a suspicion concerning his spiritual estate, unless he occupy that hour in examination of himself. Self-examination should more especially follow sin, though it ought to be the daily habit of every Christian and shall be practiced by him perpetually. I wonder tonight, child of God, is there unconfessed sin in your life? Are you living close to Christ? Maybe there was a time when you walked with the Master, you were in close fellowship and communion with him, but tonight you're far from him, you're in Bypath Meadow, you've wandered astray, you're cold, you're barren. Yes, you may be here, Through the formalities of a meeting just here out of duty, but there's no true devotion. Notice the effect of this question asked to Peter. Lovest thou me, Christ asked him. He sought through this question to arouse, to awaken, to stir Simon Peter to see the gravity of the sin while at the same moment resting in the greatness of Christ's mercy. You see, when we fall into sin and come to that place of admitting our wretchedness, it should serve to keep us out of that same quicksand again. Peter realized his own weakness as the Lord questioned him. For so long he thought he had no weaknesses, at least not in comparison with the other disciples. He thought he was the greatest. So Jesus could ask him after Peter denied him, lovest thou me more than these? That is, do you love me, truly love me more than all these other disciples that you have professed of earlier? You've boasted, you'll love me, you'll die for me. Has that been proved out by your behavior, Peter? Do you not see that instead you're weak and the only good that comes from you is a result of my grace that is implanted in your soul? Maybe perhaps tonight you find yourself in Peter's position. You've professed great love for Christ, great commitment to him, but now you find yourself spurs a cold distance, committing sins that you thought were long gone in your life, but they've come back. If so, do you see that in your own strength and power you're weak, and that your propensity is to fall away if Christ does not uphold you by his grace? I remind you of those wonderful words that Peter heard the Lord speak on an earlier occasion in John 6 and 37. He can restore you tonight. He pursues you as he did Peter. bring you back into the joy and fellowship and usefulness in his kingdom, but it does not come without pain. In this searching question, love us, though me, causes you to wring out your heart before the Lord tonight, to see your own unworthiness, to feel the horror of your sin, and yet to know that in spite of it all, he has given grace to you to love him. The question asked, but notice secondly, the answer received. The answer received. Peter's response on all three occasions of the question is in the affirmative. Yes, he had denied the Lord. Yes, he had fallen from usefulness. Yes, he was unworthy even to be called a disciple of Christ, but he could say with all integrity of heart, yeah, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. Had his performance indicated his love for Christ? Certainly not. My friend, if we keep our eye on our performance, instead of the grace of God that has been given to us in Christ, we will be disappointed. Notice what transpires in his answer here. There's no excuses offered. Our Lord does not give Peter room for excuses. He's confronted with a yes or no answer to this probing question. There's no room for offering, well, maybe, Lord, or I don't know, or I'm not sure. Lovest thou me was the question. And put yourself in the position of Peter for a moment. How do you answer this question tonight in this meeting? The Lord is asking you, lovest thou me? What is your answer tonight? What is your answer to the Lord? Some in our midst may have been waffling when it comes to answering this question. When we come to reading the word of God here, Christ himself is asking each of us this pointed question, lovest thou me? Can you look into the face of the one who died to save you and say, I don't know? I honestly don't know. Some have been putting off maybe this answer. You don't want to examine what is in your heart. You've made your excuses, you've put off answering. But hear the word of the Lord tonight. Lovest thou me? You have to answer him. You must give an answer. Maybe you might say, oh, well, Jesus, I admire you. I have great respect for you. Or can you say with Peter, yeah, Lord, Thou that knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee. You see, Peter knew that he was speaking to the omniscient Lord. He could not give excuses at this answer. The eyes of the Lord were upon him. The eyes of the Lord are upon us tonight. Do you love him? Do you truly love Christ tonight? As you search your heart, can you answer honestly and say, yeah, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee? What is your answer to this most certain question before him who sees all and knows all? Not do you love this church, not do you love to hear the gospel being preached, not do you love to read your Bible, not do you love to pray, not do you love the minister, but do you love Christ? As you ask this question, you can have one intention in your heart and offer another on your lips. I won't know. Others in the meeting won't know. But remember the one you are given the answer to. The answer's not to me. The answer's not to anyone else in this meeting. The answer is to Christ. How do you answer before him? He sees all and he calls for your response tonight. Do you love him? It's not an easy question to answer when we realize that we are offering the answer to one who knows what is in our hearts already. And I realize that every Sunday, across this land, many will sing the hymn we sang earlier, My Jesus, I Love Thee, and will have sung lies. And maybe in this meeting, you've sung that hymn, but you could not sing it truly from your heart. Do you love him? Maybe you're putting on an outward show tonight. Everyone's dressed and looks the part and looks like a Christian. But that is not the question. The question is not, do you look like a Christian? The question is, do you love Christ? Do you truly love him? Do we love him? That is the question that must be answered. Notice the answer received brought a rekindling assurance to Peter. What does all this have to do with restoring the fallen brother, you might ask? Well, at the heart of it all is the glorious truth that we're saved by grace, that Christ loved us before we ever loved him, and that his love for us is not rooted in our performance. So often when Christians struggle with assurance of salvation, they cast themselves into a frenzy of service and good deeds, hoping that such efforts will merit the love of Christ and gain divine approval. But here Peter had nothing, he had absolutely nothing to offer Christ after his fall. He was empty, he was bankrupt of all merit. He could only search the depths of his heart to see if there's any lingering evidence of grace that remained. And there it was. As he searched his heart, he could truly say the love of Christ born into his heart by the Holy Spirit was still there. And he could truly answer, yeah, Lord, thou knowest, thou knowest that I love thee. He was reminded that his acceptance of Christ was not based upon his performance, but upon the merits of him who died in his place and bore his own sin in his body on the cross. Dear sinner tonight, if you're looking to your merits, If you're looking to your performance to earn salvation, let me tell you, you have nothing to offer God. You're spiritually bankrupt tonight. You're penniless. You're like a pauper. You have absolutely nothing to offer Christ of yourself. All you can do is fall before him and cry out for mercy and say, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner. Peter needed fresh confession of love for Christ to rekindle within him a new sense of assurance of belonging to Christ and being in fellowship with him. You see, our love for Christ is a reciprocal love. That is, we love him because he first loved us. And this truth refers not to the general love of Christ for humanity, but a special love shown in saving grace. He showered his great love upon us so that we responded to him in faith and repentance. Now love for Christ is born in our hearts, but it did not originate in our own personal affections. It's a gift. It's a gift of grace. J.C. Ryle expressed this reality of Christ's question and Peter's response like this. He says, ask Peter whether he is converted. Ask him whether he is a believer, whether he has grace, whether he's justified, whether he is sanctified, whether he is one of God's elect, whether he is a child of God. Ask him any one of these questions after what he has done. Perhaps he might reply, he does not really know. But ask him whether he loves Christ, and he'll reply, I do. He might add that he does not love him as much as he ought to, but he will not say that he does not love him at all. Wherever there is true grace, there will be a consciousness of love towards Christ. I wonder, is that love evident in your heart tonight? Do you love him? Can you look into the face of the Savior as we have gathered in his name and declare without any doubt, yes, Lord, I love thee. If so, then rejoice, my friend, as I am sure Peter rejoiced on that special day in his life. Rejoice to recognize that in spite of your performance, in spite of your sin, in spite of your failings, your love for Christ is because he first loved you. If you can't truly answer yes to this question, if you've never trusted Christ as Savior, well, the good news of the gospel is that Christ has shown his love for you upon the cross. His love for you cannot be doubted tonight, cannot be doubted. As you gaze upon Calvary, you cannot doubt the Savior's love. He took the place of the sinner. He suffered divine justice. He suffered and bore the wrath of Almighty God, paid the penalty that the sinner deserved. What a sacrifice. He died that you might live tonight. We read in Romans 5 and 6, for when we were yet without strength and due time, Christ died for thee ungodly, for scarcity, for a righteous man will one day yet perventure for a good man. Some would even dare to die, but God commended His love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, much more than being justified by His blood. We shall be saved from wrath through Him. Are you saved tonight? Can you honestly say that you love Christ? The question asked, the answer received, finally the command given. I believe we know that Peter was honest with the Lord and his response by the way that he followed through at this turning point in his life. He did not just profess love for Christ and crawl back into the hole of his denial. The confessions of love for Christ which rekindled Peter's assurance of faith was followed by the command of Christ here in these verses and joy of assurance should always give motivation to press on in the Christian life and obedience to our Lord. Those who claim assurance yet have no desire to obedience and to follow the commands of Christ well The Bible tells us aren't truly saved. We read in John 14 and five, if you love me, Christ said, you will keep my commandments. It's not a question of whether or not we decide we obey Christ. Our Lord says we have no alternative. If we love him, we will keep his commandments. So Peter here has been given this command upon profession of his love for Christ. Firstly, feed the sheep. The command calls upon Peter to exercise the role of a shepherd with the precious flock of the Lord, and here's one who'd fallen into sin, yet now he's restored to fellowship again, and he's entrusted with shepherding the people of God. What a change in this man's life. He's brought back into fellowship, brought back into usefulness in God's kingdom. The reality of Christ's acceptance of Peter so that he was entrusted with tending the lambs of Christ's flock gave Peter that motivation to press on in obedience to Christ. See, in just a few days, he would no longer see Christ face to face. So his fondest expressions of his love for Christ would be to the flock that Christ had purchased with his own blood. Peter's restoration here involved his continuing relationship to others in the body of Christ. He was involved of exercising particular responsibilities for the church's welfare. He was not to go around in self-pity, bemoaning his failures as a Christian, but he was to give himself in untiring devotion to shepherding the flock of Christ. Maybe you struggle in this area. Maybe there was a time when you walked well of the master. Maybe you were involved in God's work, and then you backslid, you fell into sin. And yes, you have been restored. but you've wrestled with your own failures in your walk of Christ. You've cried for mercy, but rather than believing in the great mercy you've received and the forgiveness that Christ has given to you, you continue to feel sorry for yourself that you would have done such a thing. Satan would seek to keep you there. Satan would seek to rob you of your joy. Once we're born again, we can never be lost. The devil can never have our soul. He seeks to rob us of our joy so often. He seeks to bring before your mind those old sins that you were involved in, those things that you've done, brings them before your mind, casts them before you, says, you're a Christian? How can you serve the Lord? How can you pray in the prayer meeting? How can you do this when you have committed such sins? Christ has forgiven you. Peter has been forgiven. Christ has given him a command here, Peter, you're forgiven, get involved in the work, feed my sheep. I don't believe that Peter ever forgot that he was weak and vulnerable to falling into sin. His experience in his denial kept his conscience warned, but he learned that he could not live in his failure. There were sheep that needed to be fed. He could not spend his time thinking of his failures when Christ had forgiven him and charged him with a new responsibility. Learn that lesson tonight, dear Christian. With forgiveness and restoration to fellowship comes the charge of being a servant for Christ. He was also commanded here to be faithful unto death. The Lord unveiled for Peter that he would die a violent death as an older man. Peter had shrunk from death in the time of his denial, but he would one day face it again. I read there in verse 18, Throughout the ages, we have recorded for us the testimonies of men and women who faced violent deaths for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Some were burned to death, others were drowned, still others faced the executioner's axe. In our day, there are many tonight who are facing torture, imprisonment, even death because of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is our lot as God's people. But the death of the believer is never in vain, but is always to glorify God. For in the death of a believer, he's ushered it from this life into the glories of eternity with Jesus Christ. And the message to Peter and to all of us who know the Lord is to be faithful, to be faithful unto death. Peter was informed he had faced that violent death. According to tradition, he was crucified, reportedly upside down at his own request. he remained faithful, faithful unto death. Why we do not know what might befall us in the future, that is the exhortation given to us to be faithful unto death. Notice his final command, Christ give him, follow me. The end of verse 19, and when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, follow me. After telling Peter he'd face a violent death as an older man, The Lord gave him a clear instruction for the rest of his life. Follow me. What were the first words Christ spoke to Peter when he called him to be a disciple? Follow me. Follow me and I will make thee a fisher of men. Comes to Peter again and says, Peter, nothing's changed. Same word for you is follow me. I have a job for you to do. Yes, you have failed me. Yes, you have fallen into sin. Yes, you have denied me. Yes, you may have thought you were finished and others may have thought that was it gone. Your service for me was over. But Peter, I have a job for you. Follow me. Follow me. Nothing has changed, Peter. Nothing has changed. Dear Christian tonight, don't become despondent. Christ has saved you. Maybe you were in Baxter and stayed for years. I know how you feel. I was there myself for many years before the Lord restored me. And he had a plan for me. Even to call me to college many years after, originally calling me previous years before. The Lord has a job for you, dear believer. You may have failed him, but he is a merciful God. Maybe you're still living in sin tonight. Maybe you are in Bypath Meadow. Maybe you're cold at heart and you're not once where you once were. Come back to the Lord tonight. Backslider, it's the most miserable life you'll ever live. The most miserable place to be is to be in the place of a backslider. Come back to the Lord tonight. He'll have mercy upon you. Are you a follower of Jesus Christ tonight? You can only follow Him when you truly love Him. So let me finish with this question again. Do you love Christ? Can you honestly say, yeah Lord, thou knowest that I love thee? What will your answer be tonight? All must respond. What will you say to Him who knows all about your heart? Do you love Him? If not, come to Him tonight. You can experience His love. You can come and know Him firsthand tonight. You can know Him as your Lord and as your Savior and as your Redeemer. Then you can truly say, I'm a child of God and I love Him. The Lord write His word upon our hearts tonight.