In this sermon transcript, the preacher begins by expressing gratitude for Jesus, the good shepherd, who gave his life for the sheep. The preacher emphasizes that Jesus continues to be the great shepherd, looking after his flock. The sermon then shifts to discussing the love of God, specifically focusing on the personal and sacrificial nature of Jesus' love for individuals. The preacher also highlights the tenderness of the shepherd in providing for his sheep, using the example of Jesus inviting his disciples to come and dine with him after his resurrection. The sermon concludes by referencing Luke's Gospel chapter 4, where Jesus preached and performed miracles in Galilee, yet was still seen as a stranger by many.

Welcome to Luke's Gospel, Chapter 4 this evening, Luke's Gospel, Chapter 4. And you remember that we looked at the last verse, just a week or two past, Luke's Gospel, Chapter 4, verse 44, and He, our Lord Jesus, preached in the synagogues of Galilee. You know, our Lord Jesus went on a tour of all the covens of Galilee, and He preached in all the synagogues. It was one of those tours of He preached in, in all the synagogues of Galilee. And we must remember this evening that many of His mighty messages were preached in Galilee. And I think that we remember the phrase that many of His mighty works were done there too. The mighty messages and the mighty miracles that the Master both preached and performed in this province of Galilee. And yet in spite of all these messages and all these miracles, it is quite true this evening that to the great majority in Galilee, He was the stranger of Galilee. I want you to get the hold of that. Maybe you would want to take a different view of that, but I can tell you that John's Gospel will put you right. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, yet the world knew Him not. He came on to His own, and remember that Galilee was called His own country. He came on to His own, and His own received Him not. So to the great majority, He was the stranger of Galilee. And that's where we're starting this evening. Oh, we're just looking at the stranger of Galilee for the moment or two, and then we're going up these steps. On your notes they go downward, but in my mind they go upward. So I want you to look at Him as the Son of Galilee, and then as the Star of Galilee, then as the Sovereign of Galilee. And we shall not see His glory in its fullness this evening, until we begin to think of Him as the Shepherd of Galilee. And there are great things in connection with this. Well, that's the pathway this evening, going up this golden staircase to see the Lord in all His glory as the Shepherd of Galilee. You know, it's interesting to note that He was 28 years in Galilee. You remember well that He was born in Bethlehem, and you remember how Herod was determined to destroy Him. And Joseph was directed by the angels to take Him down into Egypt. And we think that He was just a little while there, so that it means that He came back just after two years of age. And He was in Galilee for 28 years. And you know, the Galileans only knew Him as the Carpenter's Son. That's all. He must have stood at the Carpenter's bench. Joseph was the Carpenter. And it seems that when he became a big boy and a young man, that he helped Joseph in the Carpenter's shop. Old Joseph Quinn said to me, there's one thing sure, that if our Lord Jesus made a chair, it was a good chair. I'm sure whatever He did in the Carpenter's shop was well done. And that's the master we follow. But you know, it's almost the same today that He can be present. And He can be doing things. And bringing blessing. And helping lives. And so many are unconscious that the Lord's doing it. So many are unconscious. They almost see the man all the time, or the preacher. And either bless him or curse him. And sometimes they never see the Lord at all. And they don't even know that it's the Lord that's working in their midst. And this is a very sad thing. You see, he was 28 years here. He was just the Carpenter's son to them. But let's get it quite clear that he was the son of Galilee. You remember when God sent Gabriel, the angel. He sent him to Nazareth, a city of Galilee, it says. To a virgin, a spouse, to a man whose name was Joseph, to Mary. And I believe with all my heart this evening that the molecularist conception. And it was molecularist conception, alright. That it took place in Galilee. Our Lord was conceived in the virgin's womb in Galilee. And therefore, from that very point of view, he was the son of Galilee. You remember that it says in Luke's Gospel chapter 4, you remember this. Verse 16 it says, And he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up. This is where he was brought up, you know. So from that point of view, he was the son of Galilee. And when Pilate was examining him, even in this Gospel, go over to Luke's Gospel 23, verse 1. And a whole multitude of them arose and led him unto Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this servant perverting the nation and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ the King. Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? He answered him and said, Thou say'st it. Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man. And they were the more fierce, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place. When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilean. Oh yes, he was a Galilean. You see, through the majority, he was the stranger of Galilee. Yet he was brought up in Galilee, so he was a son of Galilee. He was conceived in Galilee. He was a Galilean. And I think we remember this, don't we? And I'm rushing this first bit. We're at Matthew's Gospel, chapter 4. Do you remember this? And here he was in the wilderness, being tempted of the devil. And you remember after the victory of his temptation in the wilderness, it set him where swells. Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee, and leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zadulan and Nephilim. But it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, the land of Zadulan and the land of Nephilim, by the way of the sea beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people which sat in darkness saw great light, and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up. And so he brought light to many in Galilee. And from that standpoint you can say he was the star of Galilee. And even though he brought light and preached mighty messages and did mighty medicals, yet there were folks who neither saw the light nor knew the Lord. Multitudes of them. You remember I preached the other week about him walking on the sea. And this shows you that he was the sovereign of Galilee, because when we talk about Galilee, we talk about both sea and state. And he was sovereign of both sea and state. You remember that I said he did wonderful things on Galilee. He walked on Galilee. Then he did wonderful things with Galilee. He calmed the storm. Then he did wonderful things on the Galilee. He put the fish into the net. And then he did wonderful things beside Galilee. Now I've got to rush that. It's perfectly true that he was the stranger of Galilee. Perfectly true that he was the son of Galilee. Perfectly true that he was the star of Galilee. Perfectly true that he was the sovereign of Galilee. But it's not until you consider him as the shepherd of Galilee that you begin to see the glory and the beauty and the grandeur and greatness of this great shepherd of the sheep. And that's what we're really after this evening. Now I want you to come away to the last chapter of John's Gospel, please. And we're at John 21. Now I'm quite aware as I come to John 21, that there are many arguments from many so-called scholars this evening about this chapter. You see, when you come to the last few verses of John 20, verse 30, just the last two, and many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name. And there are scholars in the world tonight who believe that John's Gospel ended there, just because the wording goes like this. Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. As if he were bringing the book of the Gospel to the end. And some people won't even touch John 21 because of this, and I can't properly understand it. I'm very sure that John's Gospel is the Gospel that brings forth Christ as the Son of God. I'm sure that the glory of the Son is displayed in twenty chapters. And I could take them one by one this evening and expound them to that end, that you would see the Son of God in all his glory. And these twenty chapters show the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Because you don't only see the Son, you see the sacrifice. And you see him rising again as the Saviour. But do you know there's something very interesting now? Because when the God of Peace brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep. And I believe just the way you put a postscript to a letter, John now was compelled by the Spirit to put another chapter. It's the postscript. He has taken twenty chapters to show us the Son who made the sacrifice, and who rose again to be the living Saviour. And now he seems to just take the chapter to show the great shepherd of the sheep. And I assure you that it shows him as the shepherd of Galilee. I know we're jumping a bit in the footsteps to go to this chapter, but we'll intend to do it because we're thinking of the stranger, and the Son, and the Sovereign, but mostly we're thinking of the shepherd. Now will you see it working out, and it will show you. 21 verse 1 After these things, mind you, we're thinking about Gethsemane and Gabbatha and Golgotha, and the Beryl, and so on. And after all these things, this risen, wonder-working shepherd of ours, the great shepherd of the sheep, after these things Jesus shows himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. And we have already learned in the class that it's just another word for Galilee. The city of Tiberias is right on the edge of the seashore there, and I lived there for some days. And now the Lord Jesus is showing himself, and he's just showing himself in another way to his disciples. They've already seen him as the Son, and as the Sacrifice, and as the Living Savior, but he wants to do something else. And he did it all this way, showed he himself. Now here's the setting for the whole scene. There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called him up, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. And I assure you, you never get a list of names of the disciples just like that again, nor do you have it before that. It was never before, it's never again. Just look at them. Simon Peter. Well that's the man that denied him. Thomas, that's the man that disbelieved him. Nathanael, that's the man that despised him. Can any good thing come out of Nazareth is what he said. What a group you're getting together. And of course the sons of Zebedee were the two boys that were looking for their own glory. One of either side. It's a great crowd that's gathered, isn't it? And I think that the Holy Ghost has been very careful about this. He named Peter, and Thomas, and Nathanael, and the two sons of Zebedee, and then he said two other of his disciples, and only two of us could fit in there. It was very carefully done. Because it leaves room for you and me. Here they are, they're all up there at Galilee. Simon Peter says unto them, I go up fishing. He'd got fed up waiting for the Saviour to come. Because he'd been called away from the fishing a long time before this. Three and a half years before this, the Lord Jesus had called him into full time service, and he had left all. He'd left the fishing. The call of Jesus. Because you know he's just taking the bit between his teeth now. Just sort of saying, look I'm fed up walking up and down here. Waiting for the Saviour to come. I go up fishing. I'm back to the fishing. And you know when the leader makes a mistake like that, or blunders, I can assure you that he takes somebody with him. That's why leaders must toe the line. Because you just make a blunder and you'll take some of the other ones with you. No mistakes about that. Simon Peter says unto them, I go up fishing. They say unto him, we also go up fishing. There they are all the way now. Yes they're into the boat with Peter. I went forth and entered into a ship immediately and you could almost forecast this that night. They caught nothing. You know what they're doing? They're going in to buy palmettos. They're doing something the Saviour never wanted them to do. He had called them away from this. Wanted to get the hold of this. The moment the first sheet went through the hole in the hedge, how will the rest of them follow? They're all straying now. A whole bunch of them. Of course if you stray away from the Saviour, you know, you're going to find out that you have to pay for backsliding. They caught nothing. You need to keep close to the Saviour if you're going to catch fish, I assure you. By just taking your whims, or leaning on your own understanding, or going your own way, you'll never catch anything. You're not a fisherman at all. But here's the thrilling thing, first of all. But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore. You know who's on the shore, do you? The risen Christ. The great shepherd of the sheep. You know, this is a visitation he's making here, and the tenderness of the shepherd is revealed in the visitation. My, he knew what they had done. He knew they were in bypass meadows. He knew they were doing things they should never have done. And yet the shepherd is coming to seek the sheep. You know, this is the most wonderful thing about our shepherd, it's this. When you've done the thing you shouldn't do, and because of what you've done, you're disappointed, and you're downcast, and you're depressed, because there's no doubt that when they toiled all night and caught nothing, they were disappointed. And there's no doubt that they were downcast. And there's no doubt that when the boot was coming in in the morning, every one of them standing up, huddled together, cold, they were depressed. Oh well, the shepherd is seeking them. You know, he's so wonderful that he would come and stand on the shore for pure disappointment. Or he could let his shoe in it for a day or two, and all about that. He doesn't mind. And the tenderness of the shepherd you've seen here in the presentation, standing on the shore in the morning, looking out across the water, probably appalled on the water, he's watching for them, he's seeking his sheep. That's what he's doing. Now watch this very carefully till you see. And when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. I think there was a bit of a mist about. They saw the figure in the fog. They didn't know who it was. And then he shouted out across that little distance that separated them and said, Children! Have you any meat? You know, there's a tenderness revealed in his investigation. Because one of the things that a shepherd is most anxious about is feeding the flock, not flogging it, feeding it. And there's a tenderness in his vegetation to the shore, and there's a tenderness in his investigation. Have you any meat? And you know the moment that he works out of them an honest confession, because I think the whole bunch of them answered back immediately, No. And that's exactly what he wanted them to say. And then he said this to them, and I want you to watch this very, very, very carefully. He said unto them, Cast the nets on the right side of the ship. And mind you, he said that this time. Maybe somebody wasn't up to class when we were doing this before. He'd never look at Luke's Gospel chapter 5 again. Because there was one other occasion when they had toiled all night and caught nothing. And the Master said this to them. Master said, verse 4 chapter 5, Luke chapter 5, verse 4. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep. Mind you, the Master is directing affairs there. And let down your nets. And he did say nets. Now Simon, there's a net on it. And you remember how Peter looked at him. And I think Peter remembered that he was the carpenter's son and that he wasn't brought up in the fishing industry. And Peter said Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing. In my times the proper times to fish. And now it was midday. He said, nevertheless of thy word I will let down the net. And so many people seem to think that he's obeying the Lord when he's bluntly disobeying. Because if the Lord says nets you better keep it nets. But he said I will let down the net. As if just to please you. I'll let down the net. And it says when they had this done they enclosed a great multitude of fishers on the net bed. So if you don't obey the Lord you're going to be the loser. Now just watch the wording here very carefully this time. We're at John 21. And he said unto them, cast the net. And he just meant net this time. On the right side of the ship and ye shall find. They cast therefore and now they were not able to draw it from the multitude of fishers. And it says in verse 11, Simon Peter went up and drew the net to a land full of great fishers. And a hundred and fifty and three. And for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. It won't break no matter how many fishers in it if you obey the Lord. I think he did this purposely. I think he was going to manifest himself here. You see I think there's a tenderness of the shepherd in the visitation to try to find these lost sheep and bring them back into the fold. And I think the tenderness of the shepherd is seen in this investigation. Have you got any meat? And it's certainly seen in this manifestation. Just let down the net and they immediately obeyed and they took as many fishers before a great multitude of fishers. But this time it's put in very carefully here. Yucks! Was not the net broken. When I was at Tiberias one morning I walked down to the shores of Galilee and the fishermen were down there in the boat and there was one fellow with a big straw hat you could see it the way out of here it was. He'd only trousers on, no shirt on the bare feet. Then I walked down the steps and into a boat and sat down. And immediately he sat down. He says nice morning sir. I said thanks. I said you know I'm an old preacher. And I love Galilee. And I love the man who was known as the stranger of Galilee with all my heart. And he said sir so do I. And he took off the hat and laid it down. An old believer he was. I said to him you know I began to show him this about the net. He'd never seen this before and I took my time to explain it to him and he got the truth of it. He said there's one thing that puzzles me here in John 21 it says Simon Peter went up and drew the net to lands full of great fishers and hundreds and fifty and three. What's this hundred and fifty and three about can you tell me. He said I believe I can. He said you know it was the great medical because they had soiled all mountains and taken mountains. And immediately the master said drop the net on the right side of the ship you know they get this multitude of fishers. But he says we who fish in this lake we believe that there are one hundred and fifty three different kinds of fish in here. And he says the miracle is bigger than what some of you preachers think. Because the Lord didn't only sell the net. He took one of every kind and put it in the net just to let the boy see who he was. And I was learning. I'm prepared to learn anyway. I'm sitting at a fisherman's feet now. And he's teaching me something. And if this is true then this was almighty manifest proof of what the shepherd can do. Yes. He was bringing all the fish. One of every kind. Stuffing it into the net in a split second. You know the moment that he did this it says in verse seven Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter it is the Lord man he knew didn't he. You see that's the whole idea you see. You can see the tenderness of the shepherd in this vegetation. Came to the shore that morning looking for these lost sheep of his. You can see the tenderness in the investigation. Have you any meat? You can see the tenderness in the wonderful way he manifested himself in the manifestation. And John got the message. John had Peter with himself and said it's the Lord. He got the message. And I wanted to note a verse a little bit. It says verse nine As soon as they were come to land they saw fire of coals there and fish laid thereon and bread. You know what that is? That's preparation. Because he was showing himself as a shepherd again. You know he had the food ready for the sheep. This is how the shepherd does. He has it all prepared before he gathers them. Don't come round after the meeting and ask me where he got the coals. Because I don't know. But I know that he knows where all the coals happen to be in this world. He knows all the coal mines. But that morning before he came to the edge of the shore and revealed himself he had made a fire. He had got fish before he'd ever seen them. He had the fire lit. He has coals and fire and fish and bread. The feast is spread. It's like the shepherd isn't it? I wonder why the wonderful this chapter of. I don't think they think properly. Because this is a post script of the book and it shows us the tenderness of our shepherds. And you know it's their fists. I like this bit verse 12. Jesus said unto them come and dine. Oh I think this is really tremendous you know. I think shepherds should learn from this you know. When a little fellow strays when he goes where he shouldn't go and he does what he shouldn't do. You know you just don't stick him in the corner and wrap his knuckles and give him What are you doing for? You prepare a feast for him. And you say come on. Come and dine. Somebody told me about somebody who's in this meeting now and we don't want to go into it too much. He was away doing something he shouldn't do. I said now just you leave it alone. Just leave it alone. And the other night the man came in and grabbed me by the hand and said you know you're really drawing me nearer in these meetings. Yes he's feasting. You're sure this is the way you do it you know. The two going down the road to a nest. They're going their own roads. They're going away from the Lord. Going away from the assembly. Going away from Jerusalem. I'll tell you what the Lord did. He drew me under a little. I think he got in between them. Put an arm in that one and this one. And beginning at Moses and all the scriptures he expounded unto them the things concerning themselves. And the testimony of these two at the end of the day with this did not our heart put within us. You feed the flock you know. That's what you do. And I think you can see this chapter now comes through. You know the tenderness of the shepherd is revealed in his dedication to the shore. In his investigation about their food. In the manifestation through the nets. In the preparation of the breakfast. And in the invitation to come and dine. The Lord stares at you out of the chapter somehow. Makes it a thrilling one. And it says this. Verse 12. Jesus saith unto them come and dine. And none of the disciples asked him who art thou. Knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then cometh and taketh bread and giveth him and fish likewise. It is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples after that he was risen from the dead. So when they have dined. I love that bit. You know I went one of my summer holidays to a brethren meeting one morning. And I wasn't very sure whether I was going to get in or not. But I saw one of the old elders going in and I turned the car in this big car park and I said to him hello. He said hello Willie. How are you? I said look I'm in this district. And I would love to remember my Lord this morning. Can I come in? He said you know you're welcome. You'll come up and sit beside me at the table. And he was very nice to me. Put his arms on me and it was tight to the door. Took me right up to where he sat at the table. And as we sat down he gave me a hymn book and said if you'd like to say something to us this morning don't be backward we haven't many gifted folk around here it would be nice for us. Just before the breaking of bread I got up and preached to the assembly from the steps thy love to me was wonderful. Talked about David thinking about Jonathan and Jonathan Glass. How it was wonderful because it was exceptional. It was the love of the king's son for the shepherd boy. And then speak to the assembly about the great king's son loving us to ourselves. It's not only wonderful because it was exceptional it was wonderful because it was personal thy love to me. And remember the eternal son of God loved me. It's wonderful because it was exceptional. It's wonderful because it's personal. It's wonderful because it's sacrificial. Loved me and gave himself for me. Wonderful because it's eternal. The love that he set upon me will never end. And I went through this morning meeting very carefully and I felt that God was blessing this word and when I looked at every face that I could see everybody was crying. There was a whole movement in the meeting. And I felt that I had done what the Lord wanted me to do and I sat down and we broke bread and we sang another lovely hymn. And then in the silence this old elder by my side got up and said something I suppose was never said in a brethren meeting before and may never be said again. He said I think that the Lord sent Mr. Mullin here this morning and I think that all of us agree that God has been speaking to us and we've been helped and blessed. And I wouldn't like any one of you to spoil this meeting. So I'm asking him to preach to the saints now. I don't think it was ever done in a brethren meeting. And he took me a bit by surprise you see. I didn't expect this. And the only thing that I could remember was this text here. So when they had dined and I went back to John 21 Luke and I said alright we've been feasting at the Lord's Feast and we've been talking about his love to us, thy love to me. Now when he had dined watch this. It said so when they had dined Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon son of Jonas lovest thou me? And that morning I talked before the table about his love to us. And after the table I questioned the assembly about their love for him. One of the mornings I shall never forget. And you know this is the Lord interrogating Peter isn't it? Because you know when the shepherd comes and gathers the flock and feeds it He may want to say some things to you you know. Lovest thou me? Oh what a pointed question it is. If not do you love the assembly then it's not do you love the place or love the party or love the pastor or love the people. The Lord looks into your eyes and says Do you love me? Do you love him this evening more than the pastor? I hope you do. He looked at Peter and said lovest thou me more, more than these. And I don't think that he looked at the rest of the disciples when he was saying that and said lovest thou me more than these love me. I don't think he ever compared them like that. And he didn't say lovest thou me more than you love these. Because that would be comparing them again. I think that he looked at the sea and at the boats and at the nets and at the fish and said are you going to make up your mind today? Do you love me more than these? Can you give them up for me? Wonder what he would have to talk to us about. Wonder what creeps into our lives. Wonder what he would look at when he would be saying lovest thou me more than this or these or that. Wonder what it would be. And I think that Peter answered correctly you know. Peter did love them. Like the hymn writer says, it is my chief complaint that my love is weak in faith yet I love thee and adore all for grace to love you more. I think that's it all the time. And the reason we're here tonight is because we love him. Just a wee bit. All for grace to love him more. And you can see why the chapter was written you know. It's the shepherd. He's risen. The great shepherd of the sheep. He's risen from the dead. And this visitation to these wandering sheep shows his tenderness and the investigation and the manifestation through nets and the preparation of the breakfast and the invitation to dine and the interrogation to his heart now. Lovest thou me more than these. And he went a bit further with this. He said this to Peter. Verse 18. He said verily, verily I say unto thee, when thou wast young. So that would tell you that Peter just wasn't a young man then. He was past boyhood and early manhood days. He says when thou wast young thou girded thyself and walketh where thou wouldest. And I think that would be a good picture of Peter in his early days. He would just do as he liked. I'm sure that was Peter. But when thou shalt be old. My that must have been a heartwarming moment you know. Because I'll tell you this. If you were in your early manhood or middle manhood and the Lord looked into your eyes and said when thou shalt be old. You couldn't die young after that could you? No fear of him. So from that day Peter knew if he knew anything that he would be an old man when he would die. Some people say that night when he was chained between the two soldiers and Herod had all dreamed that the next morning his head would be taken from him. Some people say he was in a terrible state because he was sleeping. Oh you may be completely wrong. He may have been resting on Christ's word. And he knew that if he could go to sleep these boys won't be able to kill me in the morning. For my Lord said I would die when I was old. At least that's the way I would have walked about. Now I want you to get this. The Lord's talking to Peter. But when thou shalt be old thou shalt stretch forth thy hands. What do you look like when you stretch both your hands? Well I'll tell you. Stretch them forth do you see. That's what the Lord's saying to him. When you're old thou shalt stretch forth thy hands. And another shall get thee. They're not only going to be out but they're going to be tied out. Yes. Carry thee whether thou wouldest not. This speaks he signifying by what death Peter should glorify God. You know he's telling him just how he's going to die. He's going to die on a cross. I'm sure he must have studied this over. I think that this revelation is a revelation to Peter to let him see that the shepherd knows every step of the journey of every sheep. Knows how you'll die. Knows when you'll die. Where you'll die. If you must die. Knows everything about me. This really encourages me. He's got the keys of death at the giggle this evening. And he can see the whole corridor of time. And he knows by what death I shall glorify God. When it comes and come it may. I'll just know you know that that's the death he prepared for me. And be it what it may I'll look at him in the face. I'll just know my Lord did that. If I must lie on a bed where my body is ravished with cancer until there's not an ounce of flesh left I shall know. That's what he picked out for me. What a revelation this was. What a revelation it was. I'm so glad that the Lord is my shepherd. That he's just marching up the path. And the day that I sail into the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil. He was claiming Peter Locke. He claims us all. You know you would think the way we look at death sometimes that we couldn't glorify God in death. He was signifying by what death he shall glorify God. Oh what a wonderful thing. What a shocker. This thick he's signifying by what death he should glorify God. And then he'd spoken this. He just said follow me. Now you leave the boat and the fish and the moon now Peter. You just follow me. That's all you need to do. You can see the shepherd here can't you? Because all you need to do is follow. My Lord knows the way through the wilderness. All I need to do is follow. There's Peter like the rest of us. Peter just turning about. Look verse 20. Then Peter turning about seeeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following. That was John. He was coming along behind. You see Peter and the Lord together and John's just behind. Which also leaned on his breast at supper. That's John. That proves it's John. He always finds his name in this book. The disciple whom Jesus loved. He was the one which leaned on Christ's breast at supper. And Peter said and said, John said Lord which is he that betrayeth thee. See these three things prove it was John. The disciple whom Jesus loved the one that leaned on his breast. The one that said Lord which is he that betrayeth thee. And Peter seeing himself to Jesus. Lord what shall this man do? Now I don't think that that was any of Peter's business at all. And you always get somebody who knows What does it mean to honour people's business in the Christian assembly? It is no business of an ounce. They are always trying to judge people or do something. Let me say one word to you for good and for all. Who are not all the judges? Another man's servant. You just mind your own business. Just what he does and the way he does it has got nothing to do with you. They tried to judge Paul you know a coach. And he looked up and he said it's a small thing that I have judged of you. You know we are taught to judge not. All you need to do is mind your own business. It's got nothing at all to do with you what somebody else is doing for the Lord or how he does it. Nothing to do with me. And this is what the Lord said. Peter seeing John says to Jesus. Lord what shall this man do? Jesus says unto him. If I will that he shall eat till I come. What is that to me? Got nothing at all to do with you. You just follow me. All that we could get this this evening that the great shepherd of the sheep in his tenderness comes and visits us on the shore of our disappointments and our defeats. That he reveals himself to us. That he investigates the depths of our being to see where our love lies. That he has every step of the journey paved out and it's all cut and dried. And all he simply says is follow me. Do you see this? That's why the chapter was added. That's why I thought when we were dealing with the stranger of Galilee and the son of Galilee and the star of Galilee and the sovereign of Galilee that we would go on to the shepherd of Galilee. And the shepherd revealed himself in this visitation and in this investigation and in this manifestation through the nets and the preparation of the breakfast and the invitation to dine and the interrogation about love and the revelation of the end of the journey and the expectation to mind your own business and follow me. That's a wonderful chapter. I don't know what they were grumbling about. The 23rd Psalm 562 The Lord's my shepherd. I'm not want he makes me down to lie. In pastures green he leadeth me. The quiet waters by my soul he doth restore again. Me to walk doth meet within the paths of righteousness. In for his own in sick. And we'll sing the last three verses yea though I walk in death doth kneel. 562 For I am he hath my love and hath me not to change. I praise the Father I'll never be there In bed with my wife I'll never doubt With my eyes And my troubles will be gone And mercy from on high Shall follow me And in compassion I will follow I will follow Dear Lord, we are so glad that thou wast the good shepherd that gave his life for the sheep And we are so thankful that today, just now thou art the great shepherd thou art looking after the sheep And when we get into by-path matters you come to our shore to restore our souls And we thank you most of all that thou art the chief shepherd One of these days thou wilt come again And the battle will be over forever Lord, we thank thee for this great chapter that was put as a postscript to this book It lets us see the glory of the great shepherd of the sheep Now Lord, part us in thy fear and with thy blessing And take us to our homes in safety Through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen