Expositions by H. A. Wilson
Taken from Grace and Truth Magazine 1923
Memory Verse — Psalm 51:12-13
When a believer has fallen into
sin and has consequently lost his
fellowship with the Lord and his usefulness in
His service he needs to be restored. He does
not need to have his salvation restored,
for that was not and cannot be lost. He does
not need to be born again, because having
once believed in Jesus he became a
child of God and was born again once and for
all. His sin has not made him any less a
child of God. But how unhappy it has made
him! And how impossible it seems for
him to do service unto the Lord when he
is in that condition. He needs to have
the joy of his salvation and the power
of service restored. He needs to be brought
again into fellowship with his
Saviour. Many find their souls recognizing
this need, but they do not know how to receive
the restoration which they need. Peter
is a man who after believing in the Lord
and serving Him fell into sin and
suffered the loss which is common to all
backsliders. He was graciously restored to
fellowship with the Lord, and to usefulness in
His service. A study of his experiences will
therefore help us to understand how we may
be restored if we have' unfortunately
gotten away from God.
I A SEARCHING INQUIRY
The first tiling which
we learn
is that the Lord is waiting to restore
His wandering children and will do so
when they are ready to be restored. As He
talked with Peter at the sea of Tiberias
Jesus said to him: "Simon, lovest thou me more
than these?" What a searching inquiry
that was. Only a few days before,
Peter had proudly said: "Though all
forsake thee, yet will not I." In that saying
he really had claimed a love for Jesus
which was greater than the love of the
other disciples. And yet when the test came Peter
was the one who most grievously
failed and sinned in denying his Lord. In
this Peter was a fair example of all
backsliders. Backsliding starts in getting
the eyes off the Lord and getting them on
self. It is many times characterized by self
satisfaction, or by self seeking. "The
backslider in heart shall be filled with
his own ways" are the words of Scripture. (Prov.
14:14) Peter began to slip when he
protested that he would never forsake the Lord.
No, His love was not so weak as that!
Why, he would even fight for Him! And
yet he did forsake the Lord and denied
Him like a coward. Perhaps if Peter had
said: "Lord this is a pretty bad fix
we are in, but you will be able to get us out
of it some way," and thus stayed his mind
on the power of God rather than upon
his own strength and love for the Lord
he would not have sinned later. Be that
as it may, Peter did sin, and his sin
started in his thinking more highly of his own
love for Jesus than he ought to think.
Now Jesus asks him: "Simon, son of Jonas,
lovest thou me more than these?" In this
Jesus was practically saying: "Peter, do
you see now how weak and poor your love
really is? Do you realize how you sinned in
such a boastful claim? Are you ready to
confess your sin? Are you willing for me
to teach you what love really means?"
Peter did not need to beg Jesus to restore
him. All he needed to do was to be
willing and ready to confess his sin and
Jesus would do the rest. "If we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness" (I Jno. 1:9). Jesus' inquiry was
a searching one in that it searched the
heart of Peter and laid bare its sin, but
it was also searching in that He was seeking
for repentance and willingness in the
heart of Peter. Luke 15:4-7; Psa. 23:3;
Psa. 103: 8-14.
II A HUMBLE CONFESSION
Peter confessed his
weakness
and sinfulness and willingness to let the
Lord restore him and teach him. When
Jesus asked the question: "Lovest thou
me," He used a word which is very
strong. It is the Greek word "agapao." This
is the word for love which is always
used in the New Testament when speaking of
the love of God. It is the word
translated "charity" in the thirteenth chapter
of First Corinthians, and that chapter shows
what kind of love is meant by this word.
It is the strong, unfailing,
self-sacrificing love of God. Men know that kind of love
only as God teaches them. But it was
a fit word to describe the love which
Peter had even though my love is poor and
weak."
so boastfully claimed. "Simon,
son of Jonas, do you love me with that,
strong, unfailing love which you
thought you had for me?" was the real meaning of
Jesus' question. In his reply Peter
humbly confessed that he saw his
presumption and sin. He said: "Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee." But he used a
weaker word than that used by Jesus. He
used the Greek word " phileo,"
which may mean love but which is also used to
mean fondness or friendship. The weakness
of this word may be seen in Matt,
6:5
in which it is said that the hypocrites
"love to pray standing in the synagogues and
in the corners of the streets that they
may be seen of men," and in which the word "phileo"
is used. Peter was practically
saying, Yea, Lord I do love thee, but I
realize that my love is not the strong love
which I thought it was. I really am afraid to
call it anything more than friendship when
I think how I failed in the hour of
testing." Three times Jesus repeated His
question. Twice He used the strong word, but the
third time He used the word which
Peter had used. "Peter are you sure that
you are really friendly to me? Do you
love me even with that kind of love?"
Each time Peter's reply was the same.
"Yes, Lord, I do love you, but I am afraid of
the strong word which you have used. I do
love you even though my love is
poor and weak." When a soul gets to the place
where it is willing to confess its sin and
we knew and its need of God's loving
instruction then that soul is in a place in which
it can receive rich blessings from Him. I
Jno. 1:9; Lu. 11;11-21, especially verse
20. III A WONDERFUL COMMISSION
After Peter's confession Jesus
gave him
a wonderful commission. He
said: "Feed my lambs." And afterward He
repeated the same commission, saying
twice: "Feed my sheep." Peter had confessed
his sin and had humbled himself before
the Lord. He had signified his distrust of
self and his confidence in the Lord. He
had shown a spirit of willingness and
yieldedness to His will, and he was in a
condition in which God could use him. How
good it is that God did not insist
on Peter's measuring up to the
strong, unfailing love which was expressed in the
word used by Jesus. Even though Peter felt
that he could not measure up to that
high standard, still God could use him,
and thank God He could teach him the other
kind of love! It is significant to study
Peter's life in the light of
this little scene. He was afraid
to claim the strong,
self-sacrificing love which was
described in the word "agapao," but his
whole life
after that time reflected the
glimpse which he had caught in
his Saviour of just that kind of
love. He had failed the Lord once
through fear, but as we read the record
of his life following this time we find that
it is marked by a holy boldness. He
was willing even to defy the leaders of
the people, and to preach the Name of Jesus
with threats of death ringing in his
ears. Tradition tells us that at last he
died a martyr to the faith, and that
when
they came to crucify him (for it was by that
means that he died) he asked to be
crucified head downward, feeling unworthy even
to die in the same position in which
Jesus died. What a wonderful love for
the Lord he manifested. When he
confessed his weakness God could
work in and
through him and He did this most
blessedly.
How it
should encourage us that even
when Jesus had come down to Peter's level
in using a weaker word for love, still He
gave him the commission: "Feed my sheep."
The way in which we may show our
love for Him, whether it is weak or
strong is by "feeding the
sheep." We should constantly
seek to minister to His children
the things of His Word. And surely
that man who has known the joy of
forgiven sin and of renewed fellowship is
in a position effectually to do this. Psa.
51:12-15
IV. AN EXCLUSIVE PURPOSE
After we have been restored and
our lives have become useful in His
service there are dangers which threaten
us and against which we should guard.
One of the chief of these is that we
should fail to make it our exclusive purpose
to follow Him but rather that we should
get sidetracked through jealousy or
ambition, or some other sinful thing. After
Peter had been so wonderfully commissioned
to feed the sheep of God he was
threatened with this sin. Jesus had said to him:
"Follow me." But perhaps a little spark
of jealousy or ambition remained in his
heart and he asked concerning the
beloved disciple John: "Lord what shall
this man do?" Jesus rebuked him and
repeated His command: "What is that to thee?
Follow thou me." The believer in Jesus
Christ needs to have as his exclusive
purpose in life the following of his Lord.
When we make this our sole purpose and
refuse to be side-tracked, turning a deaf
ear when the old nature tries to put
jealous or ambitious thoughts in our hearts
then we are in a position in which God can
use us and bless us most richly. May
God help us to do this. Matt. 4:19; Phil.
3:13-15.
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