So
when they had dined, JESUS saith to Simon Peter,
Simon, son of Jonas,
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+ ?
All pictures Courtesy of https://www.slideshare.net/pegbaker/gospel-of-john-21
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+ ?
All pictures Courtesy of https://www.slideshare.net/pegbaker/gospel-of-john-21
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.
John 21:15-17
+ + +
All pictures Courtesy of https://www.slideshare.net/pegbaker/gospel-of-john-21
Have we ever denied JESUS before men
?
Yes we have, if we have refused to
separate ourselves from others who are mocking or rejecting CHRIST JESUS as
LORD.
If we have remained silent when
others are taking the LORD'S NAME in vain, we have denied JESUS before men.
All pictures Courtesy of https://www.slideshare.net/pegbaker/gospel-of-john-21
We deny HIM+ when we partake of
gossiping tongues or gossiping ears, itching to hear the "latest"
derogatory reports about
never-do-well-ers. This behavior denies His+ LORDSHIP over our hearts,
minds, and lives, including our spirits. We are hardly able to refrain from
clucking our tongues at such unseemly "behavior".
Worse, we do this with others.
The spirits -- both good and bad -- see us make this denial …a denial of
CHRIST’S rule in our hearts.
In NOT DENYING our fleshly nature, we have DENIED
our New Birth.
We have DENIED being that
"New Creature" in CHRIST JESUS before the face of men. We have DENIED the vows of our Baptism ---
that our old, Adamic man be buried with CHRIST.
All pictures Courtesy of https://www.slideshare.net/pegbaker/gospel-of-john-21
What did The LORD do for Peter by
asking Peter to RE-STATE publically his LOVE
for HIMSELF+ . . . three times ?
The LORD JESUS
reclaimed
the ground.
HE+ addressed the wound that Peter
held within his heart for denying The LORD publically three times.
The LORD had already told the
Temple guard ( and a Roman soldier, a chiliarch, John 18:12 , who was in their
midst ) coming to take HIM+ in the Garden that " I+ AM HE+ ; let them go." John 18:8.
Of course, they OBEYED the Word of
The LORD. They NEEDED to, for HE+ knocked them all to the ground with just His+
identity a few minutes earlier. John
18:6.
Regardless of the supernatural
strength The LORD evidenced by His+ spoken Word, Peter was still frightened. He
next drew his sword and "defended" his KING+ by trying to slay
someone in the Temple guard.
Thankfully, he missed and cut of
an ear --- which was RESTORED by the LORD JESUS ( Luke 22:51), yet another
miracle to show HE+ was in charge of the events.
In all cases that night,
The LORD was testing His+ Disciples.
The LORD JESUS said earlier that
HE+ knew what was in the heart of men. HE+ tested His+ Disciples for them to
see themselves.
HE+ wished them to
see if they would deny HIM+ in front of others.
HE+ wanted them to see if they
would trust HIM+ and His+ Word that HE+ had spoken and with great power : "Let these go."
HE+ wanted them to see their lack
of trust --- even though they had seen His+ power in saying " I+ AM HE+ " --- and
how they reverted to hiding and denying HIM+.
Peter did not forsake the world's ways with either his sword or his
mouth, in the time of trial.
This TESTING was of Peter. The
LORD'S TESTING was fought and won in the
Garden , with great drops of sweat falling as Blood to the ground.
In His+ great heart of love for
Peter, The Resurrected LORD JESUS singled out Peter on the seashore in order to
heal Peter's self-inflicted wound.
HE+ RECLAIMED the ground
Peter had lost to the satan.
HE+ did not allow satan to
"sift" Peter, to grind him down, any further. Peter won the victory
because he submitted to the LORD'S questioning, although grieving about its
continuance.
Peter did
not run away, hide, nor ignore the point of the questioning, even though filled
with pain.
The LORD JESUS confronted those
painful denials, those self-inflicted wounds, that Peter was carrying in his
heart.
Yes, the Resurrection was
glorious to Peter;
but who would want a TRAITOR ?
JESUS did. HE+ offered Peter His+ LOVE once again and
showed him the painful, yet healing , path of Truth in order to
RECLAIM THE GROUND.
When we deny CHRIST, the immediate
response is not to go fishing. We cannot hide our sickening reaction to having
denied The LORD before men and spirits.
We MUST immediately RETURN to
JESUS for an honest evaluation of our own sinful, not-yet-dead Adamic nature.
We do not let the satan retain a foothold in our spirit.
Immediately we return to The LORD
JESUS and repent. We return to Our LORD
and re-affirm our love for HIM+ and our re-dedication to walking His+ way.
We AGREE with JESUS in every part
of our body, mind, soul, and spirit.
His+ Word is TRUTH. It sets us
free if we ADHERE to it.
But, we must adhere to it through
all the workings of satanic spirits trying to make us deny CHRIST.
Like with Peter, The LORD JESUS will enable us
to reclaim
the ground.
. . . and this time,
to deny HIM+ no more.
+ + +
All pictures Courtesy of https://www.slideshare.net/pegbaker/gospel-of-john-21
No comments:
Post a Comment