Lovest Thou Me: Unpacking Peter’s Redemption

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Greetings friends and new listeners and welcome to the Sound of Faith. I’m Sharon Knotts thanking you for tuning in today because we know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Today’s message is one we can all relate to. Lovest thou me? This is the question Jesus asked Peter three times after Peter’s three denials of him at his trial before Pilate and his subsequent abandonment of his calling to preach the gospel and go back to his old life of fishing. Have you ever failed the Lord? I know I have. But Peter’s relatable and teachable experiences encouraged me to receive forgiveness and go forward. And you can too in this poignant message, lovest thou me. Now let’s look at this, lovest thou me, that the fact that Jesus asked him three times, and the fact that he answered three times, and the third time he was grieved or broke down and started to cry. So what is going on here? In the very beginning, I mentioned the word agape. The word agape, it means love. But it is the strongest, most intense form of love there is in the Greek language. It was never used outside of the Bible. Because, really, there was no call for it or no need for it. But in the New Testament, it began to be used because it signifies or it symbolizes the love that God had for us. Because it’s like John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Agape love will sacrifice itself for the one loved. Even at great personal cost. at tremendous personal cost, the one who possesses agape love will sacrifice their own desires and needs in order to meet the needs of the one or the object of his love. And that’s the kind of love that God has for us. Amen? So when Jesus said to Peter, Peter, lovest thou me? Do you love me? Jesus used… Agape. Do you agape love me, Peter? And Peter answered, Lord, you know I phileo love you. Well, what is phileo? Phileo is more like fondness. Friendly love. We’re buddies. You’re my friend. I’m fond of you. Amen? It’s a little greater than just an acquaintance, but it’s not agape. Amen? You married people, you may have friends, even of the opposite sex, that you’re really good friends with, and you like to talk to, and you like to be around, and you’re fond of them. But you don’t agape them. You agape your husband. You agape your wife. Amen? And so when he said, lovest thou me, Jesus said, agape. And Peter answered, phileo. And Jesus said, well, feed my lambs. In other words, he was saying, prove it. Show me. Feed my lambs. And then he asked them a second time. Now he did say the first time, do you love me more than these? How many know that the first time he said that? And there is a lot of different opinions amongst scholars who the these or what the these refers to. Was he saying do you love me more than these as meaning the other six disciples sitting there? Or does he mean something else? I am of the opinion that he meant something else. I’m of the opinion that he meant, do you love me more than these? The 153 fish. Because they represented what Peter was going back to. Do you love me more than you love your old lifestyle? Do you love me more than you do going back, being your own boss, doing your own thing, having your own business, running your own show? Do you love me more than you love these? And I believe that’s what he meant because then Peter Bout choked. He could not say agape. How could he say agape? I love you more than these. When he’d just been caught red-handed going back saying, I go fishing, I return to my old way. So Jesus asked him the second time, do you agape me? And the second time Peter said, I phileo you, Lord. You know I do. I’m sure by now he was getting a quiver in his throat. Amen. And then the third time Jesus asked him, do you philo me? In other words, the third time, Jesus actually took Peter’s words and threw them back at him. Oh, do you follow me? Do you follow me? Are you fond of me? Really, Peter? Are you really? And that’s what made Peter break down and cry. Amen? Because he realized that he was not demonstrating that he truly loved the Lord because he had failed him. Amen? He was going back. Amen? Going back to his own ways. So he publicly reinstated Peter, and it’s very important that he did this publicly in front of the other guys for three reasons. First of all, the devil would not be able to accuse Peter and say, you can’t preach the gospel. Look what you did. You quit on God. You went back to your fishing ministry, your fishing occupation, so you can’t preach anymore. That’s not scriptural. The devil is a liar. Amen? So he was letting him know, don’t listen to the devil when he comes. And the devil has no more reason now to accuse you to God because I’m telling you, I’m restating you and ordaining you to get back out there and preach. Secondly, the other disciples would be able to accept Peter as their leader, which he became. This is important. Because how many know once somebody has failed miserably, you don’t want to be under their leadership? Right? You figure, you’re not telling me what to do. Who do you think you are? You’re going to tell me what to do? I remember. I remember. But see, Jesus was in front of the rest of them saying, I want you to know my hand and my anointing and my call is still on Peter. So this allowed the other disciples to be able to accept him and receive him again as their leader. Amen? Because you can try leading people but if they’re not with you, they’re not with you. And if you ever lose the confidence of people, the Bible says that that’s harder to win the confidence of one offended brother than to win a whole brand new city. Amen? So this was important. And last but certainly not least, Peter then would not allow self-condemnation to make him feel unworthy to minister. And this is important for some people. There are some people that once they fail God, it’s like they can’t get over it. They say that they get over it. They repent. They believe Jesus loves them. They believe God accepts them. They believe God receives them. But really, if you look at their demeanor, they walk around depressed with their head down, and they’re always down on themselves. They don’t get that spark and that joy back because they keep dwelling on the fact and how bad they failed God. Amen? And as long as they’re that way, they’re never ever going to grow and go beyond that point. So when you’re able to realize, you know, I failed, I messed up big time, I know it. But God has forgiven me and I have learned from it. Amen? I have learned from it and I’m going on with the Lord. That’s what you got to do. I’ve tried to minister to people that are like that. And after so many times of exhorting them and ministering them, I get exhausted. Because they get hung up on what they did. Hung up on that sin. Hung up on that, you know, the adultery they committed. Or, you know, whatever it is. A lot of times it is that. And they just beat themselves up forever. You’ve got to get over it. Even if your marriage did dissolve, even if that was the end of your marriage and you never got it back together, that doesn’t mean that you’re over with with God. Amen? I mean, if the other person says, no, I’m done, that is their biblical prerogative. But you need to go on with God. Amen? You can’t lose your soul over it. It’d be like Judas going out and hanging himself. And so Jesus went on to tell Peter, he said, you’re young now. And you know when you’re young, you think you can do anything. Don’t you? I don’t need nobody. I’ll just do it myself. I don’t need you. But when you get older, you need help. Come on. He said, right now when you want to go somewhere, you put on your own shoes. You put on your own robe and you gird yourself up and out the door you go. But Peter, the day is coming when you’re going to put out your arms. You’re going to do this and let somebody else put your clothes on. That’s what he’s saying. You’re going to let somebody else tie your girdle on. Put your shoes on. You’re going to be like this and trying to get your shoes on. He said, and they’re going to lead you where you don’t want to go. Amen? He said, but I’m telling you, you need to follow me. That’s what I’ve got to tell you, Peter. Follow me. He was telling him, signifying that he was going to die a martyr’s death. That’s what he said there, signifying that he was going to bring glory to God and that he was going to die a martyr’s death. It’s not in the Bible about Peter’s death, but we know that tradition says that during the time of Nero, that Nero was after Peter because Nero saw Peter as the ringleader. as God’s ringleader of these Christians. And so he wanted, you know, get the ringleader. That’s what they’re doing with terrorism today. Try to get the ringleaders and then hopefully everybody else will fall apart. So Nero was after Peter. But the saints and the Christians were trying to protect Peter. They did not want Peter to die. And I get that. I understand that. They wanted to keep Peter as long as they could so they would protect him. But finally the time came when God obviously said, this is your time. Remember what I told you? Back there on Galilee, well, this is the time. And they say that they led Peter into the Colosseum and that they said they were going to crucify him. He said, I am not worthy to be crucified like my Jesus. And they crucified him upside down. That’s what Jesus was talking about here. But just to show you, before we close this chapter, just to show you how hard it is sometimes to get over that competitive spirit of self. It’s so hard. Selfish ambition. Look what Peter says after it. The Lord’s untold him, you’re going to die a martyr. So what does Peter say? Then Peter, verse 20, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved. Who’s that? John. John following, which also leaned on his breast at supper. And he said, Lord, well, he said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? And then Peter said to Jesus, Lord, what shall this man do? Can you believe Peter? I mean, the Lord has raked him over the coals three times, embarrassed him, scolded him. told him, okay, now get back out there and preach and feed my people. And by the way, the day is coming when you will be, someone’s going to lead you where you don’t want to go and you will glorify God. You will glorify me in a martyr’s death. Now you would have thought that that would have been so, that all Peter could be thinking about is that. And he says, well, what about John, Lord? What about him? It’s that competitiveness that was amongst those disciples. Amen? It’s hard to get over it. And Jesus said, what is that to you? Or in other words, that is none of your business. In fact, it goes on to say that Jesus says, suppose I decide that John will never die. Is that any of your business? He said, you follow me. Now because of that, John went on to explain that some people went out and said that Jesus said John was never going to die. But he said Jesus didn’t say that. He said, what if I said that? In other words, Jesus was giving Peter a scenario saying, is it any of your business what I give John to do? No, it’s not. Your business is to follow me. Amen? So that was how that ended. Now, I know that Peter never, ever got over this. And we can prove it by going to see what he wrote. And we’ll finish with this in 1 Peter, the fifth chapter. 1 Peter, chapter 5. Peter is an old man now when he writes this. And let’s see what he says in this letter. Verse 1. The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. What I love about the New Testament is wherever you see sufferings, glory is attached to it. Sufferings for Christ always comes with the attachment of the promise of glory. Amen? Now listen to what Peter says. Feed the flock of God, which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint. This is a throwback to what we just read in John. where Jesus told him three times, feed my people, feed my lambs, feed my sheep. And he was constraining Peter because Peter had quit the ministry and gone back on his own. And now Peter is saying, you elders, you pastors, you bishops, you are in charge. You need to feed the flock of God. That is your number one priority. is feeding the flock of God. Whatever else you do in your ministry, if you’re a minister, your number one priority is to feed the flock of God. That’s my number one priority. I have a lot of things that I do, a lot of things I do for the ministry. And some of them, you know, are just things like, you know… paying bills and bookkeeping. But the fact of it is, the most important thing that I have to do is make sure that I stay in the Word of God so I have something to feed you. And that’s why I spend hours every day, most time, doing that. When I’m alone during the day, that’s what I do. I don’t get on the phone and talk. I hate to get on the phone and talk. I only do that when it’s absolutely necessary. And that is nothing against you, brother. but when the Lord tells me to, because sometimes the Lord will speak to my heart, like he did, and says to me, correction, Sharon, correction. This is like, Sharon, what is ministry? Well, it’s feeding your people. Okay, ministry is people. Is that right, Sharon? Yes, Lord, ministry is people. Okay, right now I want you to minister to one of my people. One. One. Right now, you need to do one-on-one. I couldn’t do one-on-one every day, then I would never get time to do anything else. So then I have to say, yes, Lord. And sometimes I’ll spend the whole day writing letters, notes, and cards to people. That’ll be my, that day, to maybe five, six, seven people. Amen? Because the Lord says, I want you to minister to sister so and so. I want you to minister to brother so and so. And you are not so busy and you are not so spiritual that you can’t take time to minister to this person if I tell you to on the phone or in a letter, etc. Amen? So he had done it by constraint. He said, feed the flock of God. That’s your number one thing. And taking the oversight or taking your authority thereof, but not by constraint. It’s that God has got to get on you. Amen. And also that you are not overbearing on the people, but willingly, willingly. See this word here? Peter’s remembering that day on Galilee. And then he goes on to say, and boy is this up to date for this generation of preachers. Not for filthy lucre. How many know what that is? What is it? Money. No, it’s not just money, it’s filthy money. Amen? Filthy money. He said, you’re not preaching to make money. Now those who preach the gospel should live by the gospel. They are entitled, amen, to be taken care of. Muzzle not the mouth of the ox and treadeth out the corn. But that is all that you’re supposed to be doing. You’re not supposed to be doing it so you can get rich. and have a couple million dollar house, and have a bunch of cars, amen, and drive, you know, Bentleys and whatever. That’s not what preaching the gospel is about. I don’t care how prosperous your ministry is. Turn around and take that money and put it back in the gospel. If all your bills are paid and your TV bills are paid, your radio bills are paid, all the ministry’s bills are paid, you done built your building and it’s all paid and you still got excess money, well, give it to Samaritan’s Purse. Give it to some other worthy cause that’s preaching the gospel and feeding the hungry and the poor overseas. Locally give it to somebody like Fishes and Loaves Pantry or others. They are always in need of funds. As long as there are poor people, they will need money. He said you’re not doing it for filthy lucre. And do it of a ready mind. If you’re a minister, you ought to be ready, willing and ready. You should be so excited about ministering, it ought to just, you know, it just sets off something in your spirit. Neither as being lords over God’s heritage. Wow, now he’s getting really stern here. Who made you Lord? You’re not a lord over God’s heritage. They are his sheep. They are his flock. They are his people. Yes. Amen? And he’s given you the authority and the privilege to feed them. Verse 4, and when the chief shepherd, notice that’s a capital S there, and when the chief shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Give me my glory then. Amen? Give me my glory then. I receive sanctified compliments, but I don’t receive glory of men. Amen? Amen? I’ve received sanctified compliments. If somebody says, Sister Sharon, your message really helped me and your teaching helps me, I receive that. And I reflect it right back on the Lord. But give me my glory when I get to heaven. Likewise, you younger, submit yourselves to the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another and be clothed with humility. This is important. For God resisteth the proud and gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time. How many know that due time means the right time? God’s time is always the right time. How many of you have ever looked back in your life and seen where you were fretful and impatient and you wanted God to do something and he didn’t do it? And then later he did, and you thought, I am so glad he didn’t do it then because I really wasn’t ready for it. I thought I was. I thought I was, but I realize now I wasn’t. I’m so glad that the Lord reigned me in. Amen? So he said you’re to be an example to the flock. You can’t just preach this is what you got to do. You will not receive the respect of people unless you do what you say. They want to look at your life and see the fruit of your life. Amen? He told us to be clothed with humility. Because God resists the proud, he gives grace to the humble. And let me tell you something, without God’s grace, we all would fall. We all would fall. Amen? And he will exalt you in due time. Humility does not work in the world. And I say that because in the world, people will walk all over you. They are wolves and they will walk all over you. They will mistreat you, manipulate you, etc. But we’re talking about the laws of God’s kingdom on this earth. Amen? We humble ourselves not to men… but to God, to the Lord, because we know that he’s the one who promotes. He’s the one that takes down one and lifts up another. Amen? He’s the one that can open doors no man can open and no man can close. And in God’s kingdom, humility comes before honor. Amen? So don’t think about the way it is in the world. That means that you’ve got to have faith. Listen to this. It takes faith to humble yourself. It takes faith. Because inside you’re thinking, if I humble myself, they’re going to walk right over me, and I’m not going to let them walk all over me. You’re thinking, if I humble myself, then they’ll just pass me by. I’ve got to stand up for myself. But God’s saying, humble yourself to me. Humble yourself to me and have faith in me that I’m the one that’s in control and I can control the situation. Amen? And I can move because saints, God assists the humble and he resists the proud. Look at somebody and say, God assists the humble but he resists the proud. Amen? Amen. And God wants to bless us. All right. God assists the humble. God assists the humble. But he resists the proud. But And when he assists you, he assists you with his super abundant grace. Amen. That Paul said that when he had that talk with God about this is more than I can bear. Get this messenger of Satan out of my life. And God said, no, I’m going to leave him there. I’m going to leave him there. He’s good for you. He’s keeping you humble. But guess what? My grace is sufficient for you. Because in your weakness, my strength is made perfect. And I love the idea that my weakness, of which I have much, is a showcase for God to show off his strength. Hallelujah! And when I am weak, I am strong. Stand on your feet. Say, when I am weak… I am strong. Hallelujah. Because his strength is made perfect in our weakness. Father, we thank you. We thank you that you are our strength. We thank you, Lord, that you give us grace. That you always causing all grace to abound unto us. That we always… having all sufficiency in all things, may abound unto every good work. I pray this for all of us, Lord. I pray, Lord, that we will just learn to be patient in our trials, learn to be patient when we feel the mighty hand of God upon us, that if we will humble ourselves, it will go quicker and it will go better. And the glory of the Lord will rest upon us as you servant Paul said. Lord, if there are any here that are in a great trial, in a great affliction, and they feel like it’s never ending, they don’t see that it’s ever going to end. I know what that feels like, Lord. I’ve been there. I was there so long. But I know that you are faithful. Amen. And your grace is sufficient. And Lord, I know that you’re no respecter of persons. That what you’ve done for me and done for many others, you’ll do for each one in this place today. Lord, strengthen your people. Strengthen them with all might in their inner man. Strengthen them in their hearts, Lord. And let the word of God rise up strong in them. And give them, Lord, that peace. to know that whatever assignment you’ve given them to do, you have also given them the resources that they need to complete that assignment with excellence and with glory and honor to your name. In Jesus’ name we pray and let the church say, Amen. Hallelujah. Amen, what an inspiring and relatable word for us all. Lovest thou me. Peter had great zeal and passion for the Lord, but he also had a tendency for self-boasting. And Satan, recognizing this potentially fatal flaw, demanded to put Peter to the test. But oh, the difference the intercession of our high priest, Jesus Christ, can make in our time of testing. It’s true, Peter failed the Lord three times. Yet his faith did not fail because unlike Judas, he did not hang himself. But discouraged, he quit the ministry and went back to fishing, and six other disciples joined him. The gospel was at a crisis. If these hand-picked men, who had been personally trained by Jesus, quit, who would take up the baton to preach the gospel? Jesus had to handle this situation quickly and personally, and he showed up on the Galilee where they had gone back to their old profession. They were guilty, caught red-handed, deserting their calling to be fishers of men. Addressing the ringleader, Peter, Jesus asked him three times, Lovest thou me? But the Greek words for love that Jesus used revealed the true conditions of Peter’s heart and forced him to make a fresh start to fulfill his ministry. Lovest Thou Me is available on CD for a love gift of $10 or more for the radio ministry. Request SK-176. Mail to Sound of Faith, P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Or order online at soundoffaith.org, where it is also available on MP3. But to order by mail, send a minimum love gift of $10 to P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. And request SK176. Until next time, this is Sharon Knott saying, Maranatha.