The Healing Word

Announcer: The Healing Word Ministry on One Place is brought to you by the generous donations of people like you. At any time during today's message, feel free to send a prayer request or make a donation using the links provided. Now, I pray you will be blessed as Pastor Jack Morris delivers a message from the word of God that will encourage and strengthen your faith in Him.

Pastor Jack Morris: Have you given your heart? Have you surrendered all? Now the blessing of God will come. Now the joy of the Lord. Now the peace that passes and transcends all understanding, it will come. God will make you into a rock Christian, not a reed that is shaken in the wind.

Welcome to the Healing Word with Pastor Jack Morris. Today's message, Our Love for Jesus, takes us to the tender moment when the risen Christ asks Peter, "Do you love me?" It's a question that reaches every heart. As you listen, open your life to the Lord in prayer and renew your love for Him.

I love hot dogs, and I love my mother. I love my country, I love football. Not really in that order, but what is the one word that I kept saying? Love. There's only one word for love in the English language and that's the word love. But in the Greek, there are at least three words for love. The words are eros, phileo, and agape.

There they are on the screen. Eros: physical love, erotic love. Phileo: brotherly love, deep affection, fondness. Agape: unconditional love. Now, when we speak of love in the English language, I'm not comparing hot dogs to my mother, but I say I love both, don't I? I'm not comparing my love for country to my love for football. I think sometimes football outweighs love for country, and maybe hot dogs to their mother, I'm not sure.

But when I use the word love in the English language, I have to define its intensity and place it within the context that I'm using it. I have to let you know how I'm using it and describe it. But when a Greek uses the word love, a Greek doesn't have to express the intensity or the context. The Greek just has to take the word, either eros, phileo, or agape, any of those words that expresses the intensity and fits into the context. He just takes that word and puts it in there. But when I use the word love, as I've already said, I have to explain and describe and refer to the context. It takes me a little bit of time to get there, but not so with the Greeks.

Now, we're going to see a conversation and listen in to a conversation that Jesus had with Peter. Jesus is speaking Greek and He uses these Greek words, at least two of the three Greek words Jesus uses. Here's the setting. Jesus was crucified. The disciples were confused. They were nonplussed. They even had all the appearance of depression.

And Peter says to the other disciples, "I'm going to go fishing." Now, fishing is hard work. Fishing is laborious. But fishing is also good, or hard work or any kind of labor for a person that is sad and depressed. To get up, to get moving, to get doing something. And so Peter said, "I'm going to go fishing," and the other disciples said, "I'm going to go with you."

So they all went out one night, and that's when the people of Israel who were fishermen did their fishing. They did it in the evening at night. Fish always bite better when the sun is down. When the sun's up, the fish will hide behind rocks. But when the sun goes down, they come out and they swarm in schools throughout the sea and the rivers.

And so they went fishing, but they didn't catch anything. They toiled all night, and it was hard work. But they got their mind off of Jesus and off of the crucifixion and on all that had gone on and all of their troubles and all of their confusion and dismayment. They got their minds off of all of that.

Early in the morning, they started to pull for the shore. And there was a figure standing on the shore, and this figure spoke, this person spoke and said, "Friends, have you caught anything?" One of them spoke up and said, "No, we haven't caught anything. Nothing." Jesus says, "Cast your net on the right side of the boat," and when they did, the net was just filled with fish. Actually, 153 in all.

At that time when Jesus spoke, John, who wrote the book of John, recognized Him. Oh, I pray this morning, I truly pray that as I speak the words of Jesus, that you will recognize Him. That His words will come to your heart, touch your life. But more than anything else, that you will recognize hearing the word of God brings you into the presence of God.

So listen, that's why we prayed a moment ago: Give me ears to hear and a heart to receive. When Jesus spoke, the beloved disciple recognized Him. Not by His appearance. We don't see Him here this morning. He's invisible. But His word is coming forth. Recognize Him. Hear it and be blessed and be made whole.

"It's Jesus!" Peter jumps out of the boat, comes to the shore. Jesus already has charcoal going and He says, "Bring me some of those fish," and He said, "We're going to have breakfast together." Wouldn't that be something, to have breakfast with Jesus? Well, I do every third Saturday. You guys don't have any idea what I'm talking about, do you?

You ladies, every, what is it, fourth Saturday? Is that it, Coretha? She said yes, every fourth Saturday. Then I'm told that every Saturday morning up at the Bob Evans, there's a group of guys from the Largo Community Church that gather and they have breakfast with Jesus.

When I say having breakfast with Jesus, I mean having breakfast with Jesus' word. He's there. Wherever His word is, you can be sure He's there to breathe it into your heart and to do something beautiful and wonderful for you. Listen to the word of God. Turn your attention away from the word of God, neighbor, you're in a terrible situation. You're lost, you're hopeless. Your prayers aren't going to be answered because faith comes by hearing the word of God. Isn't that the truth? Isn't that the word of God? Are you listening this morning to the word of God? If you do, you will hear it, you will be blessed, and you'll be helped.

You know, there are those that will say things like this: "I love church. I love the choir." I hope some of you will say, "I love the preaching." "I love all of these things." Now, we are religiously inclined. We're not going to go out there and do something bad in the world. We love the church. We love the people of God. We love to sing the hymns. We love to hear the choir. There's a lot of things about church that we do love.

But listen, friend, listen. Jesus is not asking you this morning, "Do you love the choir? Do you love your pastor?" He's not asking you any of these questions. He's not asking you, "Do you tithe your income?" He's not asking you that. He's not asking, "Do you give and clothe the poor? Do you feed the hungry?" He's not asking that.

What's He asking? "Do you love me?" Because if you love the Lord, all these other things will fall in place. But if you don't love the Lord, you're going to have a rather phileo, and at the worst, an erotic type love for the Lord. Do you love me? Come on, let's get down to the bottom of this. Let's get down to brass tacks. Let's get down to where the rubber meets the road. Do you love me? Or are you just fond of me? I wonder if I stopped the sermon now, how we might go forward with the examination of our own hearts.

Now, look at point B in your outline. Jesus asks the same question again. Come on, let's read it. It's on the screen in verse 16. "Jesus asked, 'Simon, son of John, do you truly love me?'" Do you truly love me? Really, do you truly love me? Truly love me. Jesus was asking Peter basically this: "Do you love me for a lifetime? Do you love me in a cross-bearing way? Do you love me when it's not convenient to serve me? Do you love me more than your own agenda and your own calendar? Am I truly first?"

I hear more people speaking about "Seek first the Kingdom of God," and then it just doesn't work by saying it. It only works by behaving it and doing it. Do you truly love me? Jesus is digging deep. The Holy Spirit is breathing the word into Peter's heart and into our hearts also. Do you truly love me?

Okay, Peter's response: "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said phileo you. Nothing has really changed. Everything is just about the same. But one thing is true here, and that is Peter is honest and he's making a confession. He is honest and God loves honesty. But I'll tell you, we sometimes are dishonest with ourselves. We will so commend ourselves that we will actually begin to believe that we are really that nice person that we think that we are, only to dupe ourselves.

But the Lord knows. Do you truly love me? And then He said, "More than these." What's He talking about? More than these other disciples, because only a few days ago, you were the one that was boasting that you're the strongest pillar in the church. Remember Peter? "Although all will betray you," says Peter, "I'll never betray you." Man, anybody can talk the talk, can't they? "I'll never betray you. I don't know about these fellows, the rest of these disciples, but Jesus, you can count on me."

So Jesus didn't want to make him feel bad, but Jesus didn't want him to think that he was fooling Jesus. We don't fool Jesus, do we? And Jesus said, "Peter, before the rooster crows in the morning, you will have denied me three times." Let's just leave it at that. We'll talk about this later. Basically, that's what He was doing. We'll just move on from that.

And that's exactly what happened. Peter thought he had the goods. He thought he had the religion. He thought he had the commitment. He had the words, but words only. It just wasn't there. It wasn't consistent in his heart. "Will you love me a lifetime?"

Look at verse 16, Peter's response. Let's read it again. It's on the screen. "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Phileo you. What was happening was that Jesus was actually meeting Peter where Peter was. Now, I want you to go right on. Let's go to verse 17. This is the third time Jesus asks. Come on, read it. "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"

Peter's response. Come on. "Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you," phileo you. Now, in verse 17, Jesus used the same word that Peter was using. The first two questions, Jesus asked Peter, "Do you agape me? Do you love me unconditionally? Will you love me to the end? Will you now never leave me nor forsake me? Will you love me in a cross-bearing way?" Agape love.

But now, three times Peter responds, "I have deep affections for you. I'm fond of you. I like being a nice person in the neighborhood. I like going to church. I believe in church membership. I believe in supporting my church." But Jesus said, "I'm not asking those kind of questions." Jesus is saying, "I'm calling for a commitment of your heart. Do you love me?"

What about you and me? We're connected to the church. We're connected to the church people. We're connected to church services. We're connected in that fashion. But Jesus says that's not what I'm asking. Where am I in your life? You have a throne in your heart. Am I on that throne? Do you truly love me more than these? Do you love me above everything else? Am I first in your life? This is what He was calling: agape love.

"Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you." Well, here again, when Jesus used the word love, He now leaves the word agape and He goes to the word phileo, the word that Peter was using. He is saying, "Peter, are you fond of me? Do you have deep affections for me? If that's where you are, that's where I'm going to come and I'm going to meet you where you are. But I'm going to not leave you there. I'm going to take you from phileo love to agape love. I'm going to move you on up closer to Heaven, closer to my heart, closer to me."

Now, that's what Jesus wants to do. He doesn't want to put anybody down. He doesn't want to condemn anybody. He doesn't desire to rebuke anybody. He just wants you to know if that's where you are, then tell Him. "Lord, I'm not quite measuring up. I didn't quite realize it, but I think I'm not, and I pray that you'll meet me where I am." And that's exactly where Jesus will meet you, not condemning you, but He'll just envelop you, embrace you, and He'll move you on up to phileo love if you're honest, as Peter was honest.

But don't brag on yourself. Don't think more highly of yourself than you are. Jesus says some there's going to be a day when people are going to stand before me and say, "Haven't I done this for you? Haven't I done that for you? Haven't I even cast out devils for you?" And He's going to say, "Depart from me, you and I really never got connected. You got connected with the church, you got connected with service, you got connected with the community. You did a lot of good things, but you and I never got connected."

So Jesus says to Peter, it's a phileo love, that's where you are. You were honest enough to confess it and to acknowledge it. And when Peter did that, Jesus steps down to where Peter is, not condemning him, but now to lift Peter up to agape love. Peter is restored.

I want you to look at verse 18. John chapter 21, verse 18. There it is. Okay, now would you read that with me? Look at the screen. Jesus is speaking now. "I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go."

Now, remember when Jesus spoke to Peter before the crucifixion and said, "You'll deny me three times." It happened exactly like Jesus said it was going to happen. Now, Jesus has restored Peter because Peter was honest. Peter acknowledged, "Lord, I love you but I don't love you like I should be loving you." Jesus never said anything but just asked him a few questions, that's all.

And then we know now that Peter's restored. And this is what Jesus says to Peter. He said, "I tell you the truth." He said, "When you were young, you used to do a lot of things that you wanted to do. You would go and come as you pleased." But He said, "There's coming a day, Peter, when you're older and you'll stretch out your hands like this, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go."

Peter was crucified just like Jesus, but not quite like Jesus. Peter was one of the martyrs of the church. He became a rock foundation at the Jerusalem church. He was an apostle to the Jews, and he lost his life. He didn't lose his agenda, his money. He lost his life for Jesus.

And when they were crucifying him, Peter said, "Don't don't stand my cross up like Jesus' cross." He said, "I'm not worthy to be stood upright." He said, "Turn me upside down. Let my feet be up. I'm not worthy to be crucified like Jesus." And this is how he died. This was the prophecy, and Peter died the death of true commitment to Jesus Christ.

Now, I don't know, of course I don't know what God's going to call me and call you to do in our lifetime. But I'm asking you to do this: Be honest with God and be honest with yourself and tell the Lord, as you understand it, where you are in your relationship with Him. And if you're not where you should be, then tell Him. He'll love you for it. He'll restore you. He'll put you on the solid rock. He'll make you a new person. He will do something great and wonderful for you and me as we open our hearts and are honest with Him.

So the question is, do I really love the Lord? If I love Him with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my strength, with all my might, or do I just say, "I love you, Lord"? When I sing that song, and I do it often, I look at those words, "I surrender all, I surrender all to Jesus." I wonder every time I sing it, have I truly surrendered all, or am I just a lot of wind? Am I singing something that is a lie and not the truth?

And yet I want truth in my heart. I want Jesus in my heart. I want the blessing of God in my heart. When I pray for my loved ones, I want Him to heal my mother. I want Him to heal my sister. I want Him to heal my dad. I want Him to heal me. I want Him to take care of my finances. I want a lot from Him.

But I'm careful what I give back of myself, that is. Friend, have you given your heart? Have you surrendered all? Now the blessing of God will come. Now the joy of the Lord. Now the peace that passes and transcends all understanding, it will come. God will make you into a rock Christian, not a reed that is shaken in the wind.

There are too many of us who are not very dependable. But God wants to depend upon us. We're the only witness that He has, and people aren't looking at anything but our lives and our behavior, and that's what they see. I want Jesus to be able to depend upon me.

Peter said, "You can depend on me. I don't know how dependable these other fellows are, but you can depend on me. I surrender all to you. I love you." Jesus is saying, "Peter, Peter, Peter. There's not much to you right now. You think more highly of you than you really are. Peter, I see your heart and you're a coward. Peter, it's not going to work. Between now and tomorrow morning, the test will come and you will fail it. Big time."

But in the end, when it was all said and done, Jesus went looking for Peter. And He found him. And He set him down. And Jesus talked to Peter one-on-one. Well, like everybody else, Peter, you know, we have a way of comparing ourselves to others. "I'm so consistent. I'm so dependable. I'm so stalwart." I don't know that any of us would say that.

Announcer: You've been listening to the Healing Word with Pastor Jack Morris. We hope today's message has encouraged you and strengthened your faith. Join us next time as we continue to study God's word together. If you'd like to support this ministry or have a prayer request, please visit our website at One Place dot com. May God bless you and keep you in His perfect peace.