In this sermon, the speaker reminisces about his experiences preaching to fishermen on a fishing fleet. He emphasizes the value of fishing nets and the disappointment that comes with losing them. The speaker then focuses on a specific incident where Jesus instructs the disciples to cast their nets into the deep, but they initially disobey. However, when they finally follow Jesus' command, they catch a great multitude of fish. The speaker highlights the tenderness and love displayed by Jesus throughout his visitation, investigation, manifestation, preparation, invocation, revelation, and exhibition. The sermon concludes with the speaker emphasizing the greatness and tenderness of Jesus and urging the audience to follow him.

John chapter 21, please. We're going right through from verse 4, right to the end of the Gospel of John the Baptist. Just for anyone who may not have been present last week, there is a phrase at the end of John chapter 20 that we want to look at once again. John 20, verse 30, And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, is the phrase. In this book. But these are written, that you might believe. You see, when John says, in this book, and these are written, well, many believe that John's Gospel finishes there. In fact, many scholars say, that's where John's Gospel finishes. In fact, there is an argument among scholars of whether John 21 is really belonging to John's Gospel or not. But there is no argument in my mind, and I trust when I finish with John 21 to write, there will be no argument in your mind. You see, I believe this. I believe that John took twenty chapters to show to the whole world the greatness of our Savior. And he took us through all the messages, and all the miracles, all the preaching, and all the performance of our Lord Jesus in twenty chapters, just to show to the world the greatness of our Savior. And I think that when he finished the book, just like any other one might do, writing a letter, he put a postscript. That's another chapter on this occasion. Just to show the tenderness of our Lord. Twenty-one, a very precious chapter. Twenty chapters to prove the greatness of our Savior, and one more chapter just to show the great, the tenderness of our Lord. That's what we're after this evening, and it's a very wonderful chapter. You remember, we set the stage last week. Let's look at it just quickly again. Verse one of chapter twenty-one, After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, that is, the Sea of Galilee, and on this wise showed he himself. Now, he was revealing himself in another way altogether. That's why I'm persuaded, you see, that it's a revelation of the Lord, not an exposition of the Savior. And on this wise. And then we notice the disciples who were together. Watch them again. Simon Peter, and Thomas, and Nathanael, and the sons of Zebedee. Nowhere in the Bible do you get these men split together either before this or after it. When we're reading of the disciples, it's always Peter, James, and John, or not so on this occasion. You get Peter, he was the one who denied. Next to him you get Thomas, he was the one who would not believe. Next to him you get Nathanael, he was the one who despised. Next to him you get the two sons of Zebedee, they were the ones who quarreled for place. And the other two disciples are not named maybe any two of us would fit in for them. And so we are getting failures all placed together, and again they fail. You see, Peter stood up in verse three, Simon Peter says unto them, I do a fishing. A dreadful thing when a leader among God's people makes a decision that leads other people astray. He said, I do a fishing. They say unto him, we also go with them. They went forth and entered into a ship immediately. That night they caught nothing. It was a night of disappointment, it was a night of defeat, because it started with disobedience. You see, at this very spot on the Sea of Galilee, three and a half years before this, our Lord Jesus Christ had walked along the sand, and he had looked into the eyes of Peter, and he said, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And you remember how they laughed all, and followed him. They were called into full-time service for the Lord. But on this particular day, Peter was going back on it all. He was getting the boot out again. He's going back to the fishing. He was disobeyed, and the night was a night of disappointment, a night of defeat. Now that's where we start the revelation tonight. And I want you to notice this fourth verse that we're starting with. But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore. But the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. You know, here he is coming, visiting them. Oh, you know, when he had risen from the dead, and met the woman at the tomb, he said to them, go tell my disciples. I go before them into Galilee, and there shall they see me. And he appointed a mountain in Galilee where he would meet them. These fellows didn't go to the mountain, they went to the sea. And this is the shore of their disobedience. This is the very shore of their disappointment. This is the very shore of their defeat. How very tender it was for our Lord Jesus to come and stand on the shore of their disappointment. Is there a defeated believer here? Is there someone here who has disobeyed the word of the Lord, and you're disappointed? Well, somewhere on the shore, you'll find people looking for him. Oh, yes, he could have turned his back and said, let them go there. But no, he came and stood on the very shore of their disappointment, and the very shore of their defeat, the very shore of their disobedience. And that's where you'll find him. There's a tenderness in his visitation. And then, look what he said. Verse 5, Then Jesus said unto them, Children, have ye any meat? Now, I think there are one or two very tender things here. You see, after all they had disobeyed, after all had taken the bit between their teeth, and they had gone their own way. I want to tell you this, that Jesus spoke first. Sometimes, you know, when there's a break in fellowship, some people are very slow, you know, to speak first. Well, you ought to learn from your master. Some of the believers here, you know, would nearly die before they would speak to somebody, when the Lord Jesus spoke first. Yes, there are a hundred yards from the shore. We'll measure it when we'll get down to it. And when there are a hundred yards out, he cried, and there's a tenderness in the first words. Children, didn't say that title. Children, have ye any meat? You know, if there's a tender touch in his visitation, when he stood in the shore, there's a very tender touch in his investigation. Have you any meat? I would like to say this, you know, because some people don't seem to get this. When the Lord asks questions, it's not because he doesn't know the answer. Well, there's a lot of people who don't teach, and a lot of silly stuff like this. When God came into the garden of Eden, and said, Adam, where art thou? Do you think he didn't know? And there are a thousand questions in the Scriptures like that. It isn't that God doesn't know the answer. My, he's only asking questions to bring forth a confession. Because when you get out of fellowship with the Lord, the only one way that you'll get in again, don't forget that. Lots of people think, you know, that they can say things about other people, behind their backs, and tear them into pieces with their tongues. And then they can go and suck up with the Lord, but you can't. My dear sister, there is one way of getting into fellowship with the Lord, and it's when we confess our sins. And God won't alter that word for anybody in this place. That's God's Word. If we confess our sins. And mind you, it doesn't mean this. It doesn't mean that you come at night, and you feel you're a miserable creature, and you get down on your knees and say, Lord, Lord, forgive me for what I've done today. I've confessed enough. But you know, if some of you businessmen in this place today have told lies behind the counter, well, there's one simple word that brands you, you're a liar. That's all about it, you know. I can't find any other word in the English language. You're a liar. And if you get down on your knees tonight, in the middle of the night, and say, Lord, I'm a liar, it'll help you much. And if any man or woman in this place has put forth their hand in work today and taken something that didn't belong to them, you're a thief. That's what you are. And when you go crawling into God's presence and say, I'm a thief. And when the believers are taught to drag their sin out in the open, and all the great saints fully confess it, you'll get back into fellowship. That's what He wants you to do. He says, have you any meat? Oh, He knew what the night had been. He knew that it may well be that He directed the fish away from the net. Oh, He knew. But you know, from out of that misty morning came the charge. No, it was an honest confession. They were just confessing the disappointed, defeated night that they had passed through. That's where He was leading them to, leading them to the place of confession. Now, there's a tenderness in the visitation, and there's a tenderness in the investigation. And now we really come to the manifestation, and that's what we're really after this night. He revealed Himself in this way. Now, watch this very carefully. See, verse five again, Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered Him, No. And He said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find it. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it from a multitude of pictures. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved. Now, I don't want to miss the point, but I shall have to miss this one. Right through this gospel, when John's been writing about himself, this is the very signature that he uses. He always calls himself the disciple whom Jesus loved. You see, he hid behind that. He didn't say, I, I said, or I did. Now, I don't believe that any other man adding a chapter would have used this particular signature of John. Surely it's John still writing. I think it's quite clear when you see it. It's John still writing. He's using his own signature. But here's the bit that's most important. Verse seven, Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. You know, he wasn't, he wasn't too slow. The moment the net was over, and it filled with a multitude of pictures, John says, It's the Lord. Well, he knew who was there, and it's the Lord, mind you. That's why I'm perfectly sure that John is expounding the tenderness of our Lord. Yes, it's the Lord. Yes, it's the Lord. Why did he come to the conclusion so quick a touch? Oh, he'd learned something a long time ago. Let's go back to Luke's gospel just for a moment. Luke's gospel, chapter five, please. I want you to watch this because there's a great lesson here. We'll read from verse one just to get the proper connection. And it came to pass that of the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God. Now, it's been noted down through the years that where the word of God has been honestly expounded, you always get the people. I believe that's what this class means. I'm not much to look at. I know that a long time ago. And there are no trumpets blowing here, and we sing too old-fashioned hymns, but here's this place filled with people with a Bible. You've come to hear the word of God, dear, and I'm delighted that you do. And no matter where you come from, or what denomination you belong to, the word of God is yours. Never belong to the Baptists, you know. Thank God for that. It belongs to the saints. And here is the Lord Jesus, and the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God. He stood by the lake of Gennesaret. That's the same lake. It's Galilee. Sometimes it's called Tiberias. That's the Roman word. Sometimes it's called Galilee. That's the Jewish one. Sometimes it's called Gennesaret. Verse 2, And saw two ships standing by the lake, but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. He entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed to him that he would trust out a little from the land. And he sat down and talked to the people out of the ship. And when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a drop. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the nets. And when they had done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes, and here's a wee word for it, under their bridge. That's a terrible thing to happen to fishermen. You know, I used to preach in Porto Borghi for many years. And I'd gone out at night with the Porto Borghi fishing fleet, time and time and time again. Used to be seventy men on the fishing fleet, and they had wireless that they could talk to one another out at sea at night. And they used to take me out with them to preach a message in the middle of the night to all the fishermen. It was a great delight, and I had the great joy of seeing a great number of them gloriously saved. But you know, there is one thing that really annoys a fisherman, and that is when he loses his net. You know, today a fishing net would cost you about a hundred and twenty pounds. He says, that's a bad night's work if you lose the net. And I feel that, in comparison, the nets were just as dear then. And to lose a net was something. Now, something must have gone wrong here. What went wrong? Surely the Lord wouldn't break anybody's net. Well, now, you watch it, and you'll find out what went wrong. Watch what the Lord said in verse four. Launch out into the deep and let down your nets. There's a net there, N-E-T-S, nets, for a dart. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have torn all the night, and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, if I were, I would let down the net. This told him to take the ass off. Well, nobody told him. He just did that. Let me tell you this, dear. If you take one letter out of that book, you'll be the loser. That's what the modernists are doing with some of the translations. They're taking wee bits out, and they'll be the loser. You take one letter from God's Word, and you'll pay for it. Let anybody take one word out of this. And if you're in an old modernistic church where the minister tears up the book of Jonah, he says, we won't believe. And the book of Genesis, and the book of Daniel. My dear young woman, get out. Don't give your money and your support to somebody who tears up God's Word. Don't ask me to come here. I'm just telling you to get out. My, you'll be the loser. And I'll tell you this, your children will be the losers. And if some of you who aren't supporting these damnable modernists, you'll damn your children. So get out. That's what to do, get out. For your children's sake, if not for the Lord's sake. Peter thought he was a big fellow. He was a fisherman, he knew all about it. He'd been out, and he had toiled all night. He'd taken nothing, didn't like to upset the Lord too much. He said, nevertheless, I would have let down the net. How dare him? If you read it carelessly, you would almost think he was obeying the Lord. Ah, when you've got bitter to God's Word, you're not obeying the Lord. My dear believers, watch what happened the moment he let down the net. It was enclosed with a great multitude of fish and a bridge. And oh, there were very humble men that came in. You say, are you sure that this exposition's right? My, I'm sure. Watch this bit. Look here. Verse 7. And they beckoned unto their partners which were in the other ships, that they should come and help them. And they came and filled both the ships so that they began to sing. When Simon Peter thought he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, depart from me, for I am a sinful man. I am a man, a woman, that cuts a bit out of God's Word, a sinful man. I'm not particular what he wears, my dear. But if he cuts God's Word in pieces, he's a sinful man. Don't ever forget it. Yes, Peter knew what he'd done there. Now, John never forgot that. Let's go back to where we were. That's how he knew this was the Lord's. You see, the same thing had happened, only with this difference. Now, watch it now, do you see? Verse 6. John 21, verse 6. And he said unto them, cast the nets. He didn't put any s in this time at all. Cast the nets. The last time he said, cast the nets. Let go your nets. This time he's just saying, cast the nets, making it easy for them. Wonderful Lord, isn't it? And it says in verse 6, they cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw up for the multitude of fishes. Therefore, just because of that, that disciple whom Jesus loved said unto Peter, this is the Lord. Oh, he knew it was the Lord. Now, here's a lovely wee bit just down here. Let me pass by a verse or two. I'll come back in a moment. See, verse 11. 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. Well, if you do as you're told, you'll not lose anything. You see, this time it's the net. And the Lord imposes the multitude of fishes again. When they're doing as they're told, the net doesn't break. See how carefully it's put in. Yet was not the net broken. Now, I'm not too sure about the hundred and fifty and three, why the number's there. It's not there just for fun, you know. I shall try to make inquiries about this. I'm going to visit the Sea of Galilee in a few weeks' time, and I shall try to make inquiries. I've got a lot of inquiries to make, and I want to know this. I'm told by those who know best, that in the Sea of Galilee there are one hundred and fifty-three different kinds of fish. I don't know. I'm only taking that from those who know better than me. But if that is true, then this was a mighty miracle. The Lord got every one of them and put them into the net. And the rule of the net was full of great fishes, yet it didn't break. Now, if you're doing as you're told, you'll never be the loser. Do you think you'll lose something obeying the law? Well, God pity your mentality if you think like that. If you obey men, men, you'll be the loser. Wasn't there a tenderness in the manifesting? Think of him taking the net to let them see who he was. That was the why, the way on which he revealed it. And this why? He took the net. Oh, if there's a tenderness in the visitation of his children ashore, and there's a tenderness in the investigation when he cried, children, how do you know me? There's a tenderness in the manifestation when he took the net. How wonderful is the law. That's my law. He just knows what to do to reveal himself to you. Now, there's a lovely wee bit here that we need to notice. I don't want to pass it by. Verse 7, Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said unto Peter, it is the Lord. Now, when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he kept his faithless coat unto him, for he was naked. Now, that naked is not in the absolute sense, of course. You see, these fishermen on Galilee, while working with these great nets that they've got to cast in around Churchill, they can't work with these long eastern robes on. So they simply take them off, and they're wearing a loincloth. But the moment that Peter heard it was the Lord, and he's going to go onto the shore to meet him, he put the coat off. There's a lot of them would need to read this wee verse two or three times over, because their preaching at the shores these days were no clothes on. They have no reverence for the Lord. But Peter has. He was a man, of course he was, but he wouldn't go to meet the Lord with no clothes on. And some of his support sank to Pyrenees, and stranded the beach with a bare back. Well, Peter didn't. And your books instruct you, you know, if you're running a boat half-naked on the shore, you have very little reverence for the Lord. But just let it, that's all. Just let it. So we bet for you. You can see it, can't you? Now, let's get the next bit in. Verse nine. And as soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. You know, that's lovely, isn't it? That's preparation. You know, the Lord knew all about them. He knew that he had told them to go to one of the mountains, and they'd gone to the shore. He knew that in disobedience they'd gone back to the fishing. He knew they'd been out all night and disappointed and defeated. And yet, in tenderness, he thought about their physical state. Oh, how lovely he is. Wonderful Jesus. He said, oh, yes, you've been out. You've done the thing you shouldn't have done. You've run all night in the cold. You shouldn't have been there when a later fire soared. And there'd no fish. But he got the fish, all right, and bread. Now, when this meeting's over, don't tell me you young ones come and ask me where he got the coals. I don't know. But it would teach me that there must be coal somewhere about the Sea of Galilee. The master who put all treasures in the earth, he knew. He could find them, all right. And in the middle of the night, when they had turned their backs on him, and gone the way they shouldn't have gone, he kindled the fire, and put the fish, and prepared the bread. Let me say this to you. He was acting like a lord. Don't you big fellas come home from your work these nights cold. And you know, he has the fire flaming up for you, and the food on the table, thinking about you. And it was the man that wasn't playing the game. There was a tenderness in the preparation, wasn't there? Very lovely. Now we are, I've already done verse, verse 11, look at verse 12. Jesus says unto them, come and dine. You know, that's invitation, isn't it? I think there's a tenderness in the invitation. You know, this is the last time that we get the word come. This gospel is saying come. You see, he wants them back into fellowship with himself again, that's the idea. You know, the Lord just won't go on with you out of fellowship. And how very tender all this was. Think of the tenderness in the visitation, how he stood on the floor. Think of the tenderness of the investigation. Children, the enemies, think of the tenderness of the manifestation when he used the old neck over again. Think of the tenderness of the preparation, he built the fire. Think of the tenderness of the invitation. Come and dine. You know, we were dealing last Sunday morning in the church here, with the Church of the Laodicea. What a miserable crowd they were. You remember how they, they were neither cold nor hot. Oh, they were not that cold, you know, that they took themselves absolutely from the Lord. Oh, no, no, no. They were not that hot, but they gave themselves absolutely to the Lord either. Oh, no. They were just lukewarm. You know what they really were? They were a bunch of hypocrites. That's what they were. And they could stand up and say, we have needed nothing. And the Lord had to look into their eyes and said, thou art wretched for Jesus to use to a believer. Thou art wretched and poor and miserable and blind and naked. And when he put his finger on their hypocrisy and put his finger on their poverty, then he said, here I am. I'm still standing beside you. Open that door and let me take the light. And we'll stop together. Isn't it the same thing? Oh, he was standing at the door and he's standing on his shoulder. He says, come and die. Come and let's put things right. Come back into fellowship with me. Come and let us stop together again. Oh, there's no place so sweet as when you sit at the table. There was a tenderness in this invitation. See verse 15? So when they had dined, you know, they got down into fellowship and they stopped together. Now, when they had dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonah's, lovest thou me more than thee? This is an interrogation. And I think there's a tenderness here. You know, Peter was the one who said, I'll go fishing. Actually, he was to blame for taking all these fellows into that night of disappointments. And now when the Lord has put a lot of things right, he's looking into his eyes and he's asking one question. He's interrogating Peter. It's a powerful question. He says, lovest thou thee, and the emphasis is on the more, more. It's a very hard question for exposition, mind you. There are three ways you can look at it, and I'll tell you which one I believe in the moment. You see, he could look into the eyes of Peter and he could say, lovest thou me more than your lovely fellows that you went away with. Actually, I mean now, there is no difficulty in the Greek there. He could have said, do you love me more than the fellows you ran away into the night with? Or he could have said, lovest thou me more than these fellows love me. And there is no difficulty in the Greek there either. And he could have said, lovest thou me more than these fish, nets, boats. And I believe that's the one he said. I believe it was the lure of the chain. I believe it was the love of the fishing. I believe it was the touch of the net. I believe it was the old boat that took Peter away from the Lord. Do you love me more than these fish? I wonder what's yours? Oh, there are so many besetting things. I've had so many confessions in my life that I could sort out a string of them now and it wouldn't be fair to this congregation. If anything that's confessed to me is a secret forever. But you just sort out the thing, the thing that you love, the thing that grips your heart, the idol in your life, and let the Lord look into your eyes and hear him say, lovest thou me more. Mind you, he was getting down to the spot now. I honestly believe that the touchstone of Christianity is this, when Jesus Christ looks into your faith and says, lovest thou me more. Mr. Mung, do you love me more than the message? Mr. Mung, do you love me more than the doctrine? I can say, praise the Lord, I do. Mr. Mung, do you love me more than the place? Mr. Mung, do you love me more than the crowd? Eric Clark at the back there, do you love him more than the crowd? Oh, I could tighten up the whole congregation. I could. Oh, it would be possible for me, Dr. Clark, more than possible. You just sit down in your seat and answer for yourself. Lovest thou me. And you know the word that our Lord used there is the word for divine love. And you can't see this in the English at all. Because Peter answered back in verse 15, he said, yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. And he used a different word when he answered back. There are two different Greek words. The one the Lord used is, do you love me with divine love? And the one that Peter used is the one for affection. He says, you know that I have affection for you. He was afraid to use the other one. And the Lord said, feed my lambs. And I always like to think that when he looked into Peter's eyes and said, feed my lambs, and then again the next time he said, feed my sheep, that if the Roman Pope would just listen for a moment, my he, he's the post of the following people. And he says the sheep belong to him. Well, the Lord was teaching Peter something different from that. He thinks that all the lambs and all the sheep belong to him. He says they're mine. The Lord says they're mine. Very careful. He says, Peter, feed my sheep. Feed my lambs. Look, friends, let's get this down to verse 16. He says to him again the second time, Simon, son of Junius, lovest thou me? He says unto him, yea, Lord, thou knowest that I have affection for thee. He says unto him, feed my sheep. He says unto him the third time. It almost seems that he's putting Peter over those very times when he denied him, three times. And Peter comes right out of the opening here. Peter was grieved, and the word there that rendered grieved would have been better rendered touched. It doesn't mean he got cross or was angry. It's a Greek word that means his soul was stirred. He was touched. He was moved. The master should not get into his faith for three times. Lovest thou me? He was really touched. He comes out in the open, and he says, Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus said unto him, feed my sheep. I think there was a tenderness in that interrogation, how lovely the Lord was. Now, following that up very closely comes something that's very important. He says, verily, verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast young, thou dreaded thyself, and wanted whither thou wouldest. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt set forth thy hands, and another shall judge thee, sorry thee, whither thou wouldest not. Let speak he signifying by what death Peter should glorify God. Now, this is a revelation, and it's a very tender one. You know what he's telling Peter? He's telling Peter, you can't die young. Oh, that must have thrilled Peter, you know, in a certain sense. He says, when thou shalt be old, and when our Lord says, you shall be old, you won't die young, you know. You know, some of us, when we turn to Acts chapter 12, and we find Peter in prison, and Herod, Herod says, this very night I'll bring him forth, and I'll put him to death. We find Peter fast asleep, and we say he's not concerned. He's just lying there like a dead sinner. He doesn't know his danger. It may be the old way round. It may well be that Peter knew, or he had come to me this way, for the Lord says, I'll be old. It may be that he believed the Lord's word and went to sleep. We should go slow in condemning. You see, the Lord was telling Peter, when thou art old, and he actually signified the death, he says, another shall take me, and stretch forth thy hands. Just look at me on the platform, do you see? He says, another shall take me, and stretch forth thy hands, signifying what death he should die. And Peter died on a cross, crucified. And I'm told from historians that when they were nailing him to the cross, he said, don't just let me die like the Saviour, turn the cross upside down. And he died on a crucifix upside down. But the Lord knew why he would die. But where do we all you old ones listening? This said he, signifying by what death? Listen to us. Peter should glorify God. Oh, what are you all worried about? Do you not know that you can die to the glory of God? A lot of people get annoyed about that. What's exciting? Dear, you can die to the glory of God. Yes, you can, you know. That's what Peter did. He died to the glory of God. Mind you, I've seen this on more than one occasion. Oh, I couldn't take this meeting through the days that I've been. But I sat one night, in the middle of the night, beside a wee woman, and she was dying with not two ounces of flesh on her bones. Her very bones were rattling. And yet in that hour, when she couldn't see and couldn't breathe, she was whispering, soon I'll see his face. Oh, I never, I came home and said, I said to the Lord, Lord, if ever I must die, let me die like that. Dear friends, don't let the devil scare you too much, you know. You know what death is? It's a passing out of this body, and you enter into the presence of the Lord, to see his lovely face, and to be with him forever. I went to see a sister in a hospital some years ago. She'd got cancer, through great lumps, and I said to her, I said, I know what's wrong with you. She said, I know, I know. I said, what am I going to do? I said, well, as far as I understand this oracle of death, my dear, this is your last act of faith down here. Oh, no more faith after that, you know. That's the last act of faith. I said, you should make it as bright as you can, and from that little simple word, you know, she got a grip of it, and my friend, she just brightened up, my sister brightened up, and she was determined to die for the glory of God. I'll tell you what happened. You know, the Lord came in in the middle of the night and removed the lump, and she's still living yet, in spite of all the professors of the day. She's on the hospital floor again. I'll let you learn lessons here. Wasn't there a wonderful tenderness in this revelation? He said, Peter, you'll not die young, you'll die old, and you'll die for the glory of God. I said, and when he had said that, he put this behind him. Verse 19, This spake Jesus, signifying by what death Peter 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. There it is again. John writes it. Seeth John, following, which also leaned on his breast at supper. Now, make sure that it's John. The one that said, Which is he that betrayeth thee? There's no doubt about it now that it's John. My, it's all there. The one that Jesus loved, the one that leaned on his breast, the one that said, Which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter, seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he die till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou thee. That word coming out like that is exhortation. Do you know what he said to Peter? You see, Peter was one of these fellows who always got into trouble. You know, just as soon as he'd got this revelation from the Lord that he would die old, and the Lord said, Follow me, he turning around, he saw John. He says, Lord, what will this fellow do? Do you know what the Lord said? In every day language, he said, You mend your own prison. Do you follow me? What is that to thee? They're always desperately fond of getting to know what the other fellow said. I know people, and they could tell everybody in the world the will of God for them, and they've never been able to find out the will of God for themselves. They knew to enter every... Just mend your own prison. But how tender it was to him. He said, If I will that he die till I come, what is that? A wonderful book, isn't it? A wonderful Lord. Did you see the tenderness? All there was a tenderness revealed in his visitation. He stood on the shore. There was a tenderness revealed in his investigation. He said, Children of the enemy. There was a tenderness in his manifestation. He used the nets. There was a tenderness in the preparation, the fire, the coal, the fish, the food. There was a tenderness in his invitation, come and die. There was a tenderness in his interrogation, lovest thou me. There was a tenderness in his revelation, you'll die all for the glory of God. There was a tenderness in his exhortation, follow me. And twenty-one chapters, half lifted up before us, the greatness of our Saviour, and the tenderness of our Lord. And is the great, tender, wonderful, muchless, marvellous Christ stands before you tonight. The last word in a great bouquet, follow me. May God bless you. Let us pray. Let us just be still. We'll not say any more. Precious Lord, we bow before thee. We feel that thou hast searched us, and touched us, and taught us, and moved us this evening. And as we lift our eyes of faith to gaze upon the glory, and beauty, and majesty that belongs to thee, Lord, draw us through confession into fellowship with thee again, that the whole world might know that we really love thee. And as we love thee, let us neither fear death nor enemies, but let us follow thee all the days of our lives. Pass this meeting with thy blessing for thy glory.