How to Know If You REALLY Love Jesus (With Greg Laurie)

hey everybody thanks for watching our youtube channel we're constantly updating it with new content and never seen before content so if you want to get the latest from harvest hit the subscribe button all right well let's turn in our bibles now to john chapter 21. john chapter 21 and the title of my message is do you love me by the way that's not a personal question it's something jesus asked and we'll look at it in a moment i don't know about you but my favorite meal of the day is breakfast that's right after lunch and dinner uh no i love breakfast you know i love to wake up to the smell of eggs and bacon and and toast and coffee i just love breakfast that'll get me out of bed faster than anything i can think of let me ask you a question if you could choose anyone in the world to personally make you breakfast who would you select how about jesus because that is what is happening and the story before us it's a story of jesus personally making and serving breakfast to his disciples after he rose again from the dead there's no doubt about it jesus christ the son of god love to eat now we read about it constantly in his ministry he loved to frequent the house of mary and martha we know martha was a great cook and he loved to sit at her table and eat her food we know that jesus after he rose again from the dead i wanted to prove he was in a real physical body by asking for something to eat give me a piece of fish to eat he said he even used the idea of eating to communicate what it was to have a relationship with god when he says in revelation 3 20 behold i stand at the door knock if any man will hear my voice and open the door i will sup with him now that's king james for eat with you and you know back in the first century when they would have a meal it was different than it is today they didn't have fast food restaurants they didn't have you know muk falafels or something i don't know what they would call it mcdavid's who knows but you pull in your chariot yeah you know no it wasn't like that at all uh the meal was the main event of the day you would come home you would uh wash and then you would lay down or sit down and even recline around a table you would have various types of sauces uh that you would dip your food in think uh hummus and pita bread you ever had that or for more of us chips and salsa right same idea where you would dip these little bits of unleavened bread in the various sauces eat different kinds of fish and so forth and that was the big event that was the meal that's where you would let your hair down in my case that would be singular one hair here it's down see ah wait kids back again but jesus loved to eat and so here we see him breaking bread with his disciples but before we get to the story in john 21 let's pick up where we last left off on the greatest stories ever told jesus is on his way to the cross from his birth he lived in the shadow of the cross he knew what was coming he spoke of it constantly but the disciples missed that memo altogether so when he rode into jerusalem on the back of the donkey and they laid the palm branches at his feet and the people cried hosanna our lord knew it was only a matter of hours until the same fickle multitudes would instead be chanting crucify him jesus of course was betrayed he was arrested he was beaten and then he was murdered in cold blood and needless to say his disciples were devastated though he spoke of this constantly they never were really prepared for it and so they scattered so the last time we see simon peter in the gospel narrative he is clearly backslidden he has publicly denied ever knowing jesus christ to the point of even taking an oath and effectively saying i swear to god i never knew jesus so he has crashed and burned and this by the way was the result of a number of steps he took in the wrong direction reminding us that no one falls away overnight i mean if you see someone who has turned their back on their faith i can tell you there were a lot of steps that have led to that that you just may not be aware of no one backslides overnight you don't call up your christian friend and say hey bro you want to backslide with me tonight you know it's a series of steps and surely it was that case for simon peter as he began to boast in the upper room and i think that was his first step down when jesus was in the upper room with his disciples and they were having the last supper together and jesus said one of you is going to betray me and peter thought that would be a great opportunity to boast of his loyalty to christ and said hey i don't know about that but they'll all deny you i will never deny you jesus said well since you brought it up before the rooster has crowed twice you will deny three times that you ever knew me and peter effectively tells jesus he is wrong so peter's first step down with pride and self-confidence and also making himself look good at the expense of others but here's the thing jesus knew peter better than peter knew himself so now we see them making their way to the garden of gethsemane our lord asks peter james and john to stay up with him he just needed a little companionship some friends as he was contemplating the horrors of the cross and dr luke uniquely records that at this moment jesus sweat as it were great drops of blood some believe that that may have been a medical condition that doctors today called hematriddrosis which is a condition that can happen when a person is under extreme stress they will in effect sweat blood uh not pure blood but there will be bits of blood mixed with your perspiration when you're under intense pressure maybe that's what christ was experiencing having complete foreknowledge he knew exactly what was about to happen peter james and john they fell asleep and now here come the temple guards to apprehend jesus now peter may not have done a great job in the prayer department but here's something he can handle he pulls out his sword and off comes the ear of the high priest's servant and jesus says put that thing away don't you know that i can call right now for 12 legions of angels to come to my aid well peter looked pretty brave at that moment but that so-called courage did not last long they took the lord away we read that he followed at a distance and his short-lived bravery quickly gave way to raw fear leading to that open denial and of course right after he denied jesus for the third time the bible says he made eye contact with the lord so the lord was brought out of this little trial he was facing and as they passed in the night in the glow of the fire peter saw jesus and then we read peter went out and wept bitterly then our lord has taken to the cross he's beaten beyond human recognition the last night simon peter ahead of his lord was hanging on a cross and his whole world came crumbling around him and he never was able to say to jesus he was sorry but the resurrection of christ changed all of that it changed peter and a group of disillusioned discouraged and frightened followers into bold and courageous disciples who change the world imagine peter's shock and surprise when he hears the message of the angels go tell the disciples and peter he's risen i love that tell the disciples and peter not tell the disciples then peter james and john no tell peter specifically he's risen why was that said because peter needed a word of encouragement so peter and john run to the tomb they find it empty john looks in sees the sort of cocoon-like shape the bandages that have been wrapped around the body of christ laying there but the body was gone of course john looks in sees it and believes peter comes in sees the same scene and the word that is used to describe his reaction is could be translated he he didn't quite understand it he was still questioning it well we don't know when this happened but sometime after the lord rose and before the event we're reading about now jesus and peter met together and that is where our lord forgave peter so now as we come to john chapter 21 we find peter really not knowing what to do i mean what did he do for a living he was a fisherman and jesus is risen and that's fantastic but he doesn't know what to do so he goes back to his trade and he starts fishing he probably figured i mean surely god isn't going to use me anymore i know he called me to be a fisher of men earlier on but that must be null and void so i'll go back to what i used to do one thing at least i am an expert on and so he's out fishing and just like before he catches nothing so let's read now john 21 quite a few verses i'm going to read verses 1 to 17 and by the way i'm reading from the new living translation later jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the sea of galilee this is how it happened several of the disciples were there simon peter thomas nicknamed the twin nathaniel from canaan in galilee the sons of zebedee that would be james and john and two other disciples simon peter said i'm going fishing well come too they all said so they went out into the boat and they caught nothing all night at dawn the disciples saw jesus standing on the beach but they couldn't see who he was he called out friends or boys have you caught any fish no they replied then he said throw out your net on the right hand side of the boat and you'll catch plenty of fish so they did and they couldn't draw on the net because there were so many fish then the disciple whom jesus loved this would be john the apostle said to peter it is the lord when simon peter heard it was the lord he put on his tunic for he was stripped for work jumped into the water and swam ashore the other stayed with the boat pulled the loaded net to the shore because they were only 300 feet out when they got there they saw a charcoal fire was burning and fish were frying over it and there was bread bring some of the fish you've caught jesus said so simon peter went aboard and dragged the net to shore there were 150 large fish and the net hadn't torn jesus said come now and have some breakfast no one dared asked if he really was the lord because they were sure of it then jesus served them the bread and the fish this was the third time jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead after breakfast jesus said to simon peter simon son of john do you love me more than these underline the phrase more than these yes lord peter replied you know i love you jesus said then feed my lambs jesus repeated the question this is the second time he asks it simon son of john do you love me notice he doesn't ask more than these this time yes lord peter says you know i love you well then take care of my sheep jesus said once more he asked him simon son of john do you love me peter was grieved that jesus asked the question a third time he said lord you know everything you know i love you jesus said then feed my sheep we'll stop there is that not a great story really one of the greatest ever told as our story begins it's deja vu time for the disciples they fished all night and caught nothing now in their defense as i said earlier they didn't know what to do at this point the lord was risen but they were uncertain about their future so they went fishing this reminds us of the first time jesus called peter it's a lot of similarities both of those occasions happened at the sea of galilee both times peter couldn't catch a single fish on the first occasion jesus asked peter if he could borrow his boat for an impromptu sermon because the crowds were always pressing on him so they pushed out a little from the land the lord stood on peter's boat spoke to the multitudes and peter's just sort of sitting there taking it all in kind of a captive audience and after they're done jesus turns to peter and says well let's go out fishing because if you throw out your nets you'll catch many fish peter said now master we've toiled all night and we've caught nothing nevertheless said your word will do it now we wonder how peter said that because it's interesting the phrase he uses therefore master is a nautical term that means captain of this ship so did peter say it this way well lord we've sold all night we've caught nothing nevertheless captain of this ship that your word will do it or did he see it with sarcasm we've told all night and we cut nothing nevertheless captain at your word will do it i think it was probably the former not the latter but effectively peter was suggesting hey lord with all due respect when it comes to rabbis and teachers you're the top but you are kind of a land lover you know you're from nazareth we've been raised on the shore of galilee we're fishermen our skin is tanned from the sun we know this lake uh i don't think we're gonna catch anything but we'll give it a go well of course they pulled in so many fish they couldn't handle them all and that's when peter falls down before jesus and says depart from me i'm a sinful man in other words lord don't waste your time with me i'm going to disappoint you i'm going to let you down then jesus says to peter from this point on if you follow me i will make you a fisher of men so now here we are back to square one peter's out fishing catching nothing sounds familiar you know sometimes when you've fallen it's good to go back to where it all began let's say your marriage is starting to unravel you say where did it go wrong what's happened well maybe you need to get back to the romance department remember when you first started going out with your wife or your husband to be and how you would actually take a shower before you went out with them and actually try to have some manners and make a good impression on them maybe you even brought them a little gift uh to show your affection for them and now of course you bring a little gift it's dirty laundry or you know you you don't do the basic things anymore that's why i actually think it's a good idea when i hear of married couples having a date night where it's just them going out and keeping that romance alive in a marriage that's something you need to work at so go back to where you were before actually when jesus was talking to the church of ephesus and left their first love he gave them the three hours of getting right with god he said remember from where you have fallen repent and do the first works quickly so the three hours of getting right with god i remember repent and repeat first remember remember how it used to be now repent change your direction thirdly repeat it's good to go back to where you were you know if you get lost retrace your steps go back to where you were in the beginning and then you can find your way and that's effectively what the disciples do here and uh in the same way god wants us all to be fishers of men and so here they are out fishing it's early morning the sun is still rising they see a silhouette on the shore they can't quite make out who it is and a voice calls out children do you have any food now the word that is used here can be translated children or boys now that can be a condescending term if used by someone you don't know you know if someone says to you they're a little bit older well son come here children let me ask you a question boys give me condescending but then if you're close it can be a friendly term you go up and see your buddies hey boys what's up so of course this was friendly this was affectionate but they didn't know it was jesus yet he asked a fascinating question do you have any food did you catch anything did you know that god likes to ask questions back in the garden of eden uh after adam and eaton of the forbidden fruit god comes in the cool of the day walking in the garden and he says adam where are you why did god ask where adam was you think god was oblivious to the whereabouts of adam that's like playing hide-and-seek with a one-year-old you know exactly where they are it's a problem with playing hide and seek with my grandkids they find a good hiding place and after i find them they go back to the same place again god knew where adam was where are you really what he was asking is adam are you ready to come clean are ready are you ready to admit what you've done it was not looking for adam's location it was asking for adam's confession and then he asked some of the questions did you eat of the tree i commanded you not to eat of and then he asked the woman what is this that you have done god wanted acknowledgement in the same way we have the story of elijah who after his great contest with the prophets of baal up in mount carmel heard that jezebel wanted him dead and he freaked out and so he went into hiding and he was in some little cave and the lord comes and speaks to him and says elijah what are you doing here see these are questions to sort of identify the problem the answer would be i'm hiding because i'm afraid lord and so in the same way hey guys did you catch anything how did that work out for you have you been successful do you like the course your life is taking are you willing to admit your failure see before we can find god's forgiveness and his restoration we must admit our need no excuses uh we must acknowledge what we have done he doesn't ask a question to humiliate us but to show us our failure and potentially turn it into a success so jesus says why don't you throw the net on the other side of the boat so here's the point when god tells us to do something we need to do it and there are times when i am certain that god speaks to your heart to throw the net and i think we fail to see those opportunities jesus said check this out the fields are white to harvest just look around there's non-believers everywhere but the laborers are few and i think if we would get up in the morning and say all right lord if you want me to share the gospel with someone i'll do it if you want me to engage someone in conversation i'll do it if you want me to ask a person if they want if they want to accept you i'll do it lord i'm willing to do what you want me to do we need to do god's work and god's way in god's timing you know sometimes we're tempted to cut corners maybe a great business deal comes your way the only problem is to get the deal you maybe have to fabricate the truth a little or exaggerate a little bit or misrepresent yourself and if you do this you'll make a lot of money well that's not the way god would want you to go because he wants us to have personal integrity he wants us to be honest james says that we should be men and women of integrity with no weak spots sometimes we will lower our standards in order to extend our reach even in some churches today there's a temptation to maybe water things down in such a way that it will make it more appealing to people and that way more people will come listen i'd rather not do that i'd rather just give it to you as it's presented in scripture and as many people as want to come can come and if they don't want to come they don't have to come but i recognize that one day i'll stand before god and i'll be held accountable for what i have said as his representative and so i think that we want to be very careful and do what god says and the way he tells us to do it maybe you're single how many of you are single raise your hand up how many of you are happy you're single raise your hand how many of you would rather be married who are single raise your hand out how many of you are married raise your hand down how many of you who are married are happy being married raise your hand how many of you who are married wish you were single again raise your don't do not do it but it gets hard when you're single you know you're lonely and you might think about compromising a little well you know i haven't met anyone in church and i'm going to go out with this non-believing guard this non-believing girl and i'm going to lead them to christ it's happened but i've also seen non-believers leave believers away from christ and to be quite honest i've seen a lot more people fall away as they entered into relationships with non-believers and i've seen the non-believer come to christ that is why the bible says don't be unequally yoked together with non-believers for what fellowship does righteousness have with unrighteousness or light with darkness so do god's will in god's way hey jesus says verse six cast out on the right side of the boat and you'll find some fish well of course they found a lot of fish and john always the perceptive one says it's the lord peter you got to love peter impulsively flings himself into the water and swims in they're 300 feet out that's a pretty long swim and verse 9 and as soon as they had come to land they saw a fire of coals there and fish laid on it and bread and jesus said bring some of the fish which you have just caught and jesus said come and eat breakfast isn't this an inviting scene can you see it right now jesus making breakfast i mean think about this he made breakfast he could have just spoken it into existence he could have given him stuff they've never had before captain crunch boom what is this yellow is this mana lord no it's captain crunch or bacon and eggs well good jewish boys wouldn't eat bacon but but in the new covenant we can hallelujah what i love about this he's the creator of the universe in human form he's been crucified and resurrected and he takes the time to make breakfast for his disciples i want you to notice something else he says bring me the fish you've caught did he need the fish they'd caught no no bring me the fish you've caught he says what does that show us he wants to use what we have so we can participate in his working and this is a principle we see constantly in scripture that god takes what we have and uses it does god need what we have no he doesn't when god asks us to invest financially in his kingdom is this because god needs our money poor god i need a loan man no this has nothing to do with the need of god this is about your need not god's need this is about your need to demonstrate your faith in a tangible way by having skin in the game and investing financially and if you're not willing to do that oh i won't give any of my resources to god it's all for me what does that say about your faith because jesus says where a man's treasure is there will his heart be also you want to know what a person is passionate about check out their checkbook check out where their money goes and you'll find it what their focus on life is and if i have no place for god's kingdom that's not about helping out poor god or even helping out the poor church that's about giving me an opportunity to be blessed and lay up for myself treasure in heaven and if that statement makes you tense there's something wrong with you spiritually you should be saying amen that's right you're saying oh no he's talking about money oh no that's your problem your very reaction shows there's a problem because but why because that is often the last thing we turn over to god you know martin luther said we need three conversions the conversion of our mind the conversion of our heart and the conversion of our wallet and a lot of us have never had that third conversion and so i think we should see it as a joy to bring whatever we want because check it out god takes what we give and he multiplies it now you may come to god with very little ability you're not the most talented person you're not the most gifted person god can do a lot with a little if you don't believe me ask the little boy with the loaves and the fishes jesus has 5 000 people plus women and children to feed what does he do he takes the lunch of a little boy probably in a little metal lunch box you know and blesses it and multiplies it and feeds all those people we see this principle often in scripture not because god needs us but because god wants us and we partner with him it's worth noting that human labor was involved in almost all of the miracles of jesus by that i mean he had participation on the part of the person that the miracle was happening in by the way this is the last miracle jesus ever performed on this earth and what's significant is how simple yet how profound it was his first miracle was turning water into wine so think about the first and last miracle of jesus the first he turns water into wine the second he materializes fish they both happen in galilee in both miracles they had more than they could handle as a result and of both miracles people played a role with the miracle of the turning of water into wine he said fill the water pots full he didn't have to have that happen he could have snapped his fingers and they would have been full now here's your part now you do your part and i'll do my part and in the case of the multiplying the fish he says throw the net on the other side of the boat now here's where the problem is is we start thinking we're more important than we really are we think it's all about us that's a mistake but when we think there's nothing for us to do that's a mistake as well i mean think about this god wants to reach a lost world what does he need me for why does he need you why doesn't he just open up the heavens and poke his face through it say hi earth i'm god and you're not and i think you all should believe in me right now that'd be pretty convincing or how about an army of angels flying to the heavens proclaiming the gospel no the primary way that god chooses to reach people is through people romans 10 14 says how can they call in him to save them unless they believe in him how can they believe in him if they've not heard about him and how can they hear about him unless someone tells them and how will anyone go without being sent so here's our scene now peter swims in 300 feet he comes in dripping wet yet filled with excitement dragging the net full of fish peter must have been a pretty buff guy to pull one of those giant nuts with all those large fish he's pulling it in and and he plops it down and he sees jesus there with that little breakfast he's made and i wonder if peter had a little bit of a flashback oh right jesus in the glow of the fire where have i seen this before right that's where i denied him that may have occurred to him so then he sits down and how easily jesus could have just you know really put peter in his place peter why did you deny me man he doesn't say that at all because jesus is not there to condemn peter he's there to recommission him notice in verse 15 jesus waited until they were finished eating because this was going to be an intense conversation you know by the way i know that sometimes we like to discuss big issues over dinner can you wait till the food is consumed you know you're all excited hey i want to bring up something indigestion time and by the way can we not have long prayers before we eat i know that makes you feel spiritual but really do we have to pray for everyone everywhere the food's hot could we eat the food so jesus waits until they're done eating the food's digesting i don't know if anything was said up to this point and now jesus breaks the silence verse 15. simon son of john do you love me more than these i want you to notice that jesus does not refer to peter as peter see peter's given name by his parents with simon he's the son of john jesus gave him a nickname didn't he from now on you'll be called peter what is peter me rock he was the rock the original rock before rocky adrian before him before the rock that you see in movies this was the rock you're going to be called the rock jesus doesn't call him that he says hey simon son of john you know why simon's son of john hadn't been behaving like the rock lately see the rock speaks of something stable and something strong peter hadn't been that for a while so he uses his regular name simon son of john do you love me more than these more than what more than the fish i don't think so i think he's referring to the others hey simon son of john do you love me more than these probably gesturing to the other disciples james and john and the others remember peter in the upper room you said the wall deny you i will never deny you how you doing with that attitude is that still the way you see things do you love me more than these and in peter's defense he says lord you know i love you he didn't say i love you more than these he simply said i love you and jesus said feed my lambs listen don't ever boast of your commitment to christ at the expense of someone else well i love the lord more than anybody and my faith is stronger than anyone said you know don't do that just say i love you lord peter had learned from his mistakes and realized he was not as strong as he thought you know sometimes we underestimate how strong our faith is we see somebody going through a hardship you know maybe they get cancer and we say oh man i could i couldn't do that i don't have enough faith for that or we see somebody lose a loved one a child even we say oh man if that happened to me i don't think i could handle it i used to say that quite honestly and i said it as a pastor because i would be called to visit families who lost children many times through tragic accidents and i would be there ministering to them and i would walk away i wouldn't say this out loud of course but i would say i hope this never happens to me because if it does i don't think i could handle it see i didn't realize how strong my faith given to me as a gift from god would be because it did happen to me and it has been the hardest thing that has ever happened to me and continues to be yes six years later the hardest thing that has ever happened to me but god has been there with me seeing me through it so we often underestimate how strong faith will be listen god will give you what you need when you need it uh not necessarily before and never after he'll give you the strength to help in time of need so when you see a fellow christian going through some hardship and you say i could never do that well you're not there so god doesn't give you that faith that you need but he gives it to them and the grace as well but then sometimes on the other hand we overestimate how strong our faith is we overestimate someone falls into sin and we say i'd never do that really you sure about that buckaroo let me say this to you you have the ability to do that if you were to lower your guard you very well could end up doing that david never thought he would fall into sin like he did but he did and it could happen to us so let's not underestimate how strong our faith is let's not over estimate it let's trust in god and this is a probing question christ asked do you love me he's still asking it today do you love me you know what does it really mean to love the lord a lot of people are running around today saying oh i love the lord i read an interesting little quote uh in the paper a supermodel miranda kerr i think you pronounce her name said in an interview she's a christian she said i'm a christian i pray every day beyonce recently posted a note in her facebook or instagram page here's what beyonce wrote uh quote lord i lift up every one of my relationships to you and ask you to bless them i pray that each one would be glorifying to you help me to choose my friends wisely so i won't be led astray give me discernment and strength to separate myself from anyone who is not a good influence okay and then kim kardashian recently tweeted women of christ jesus is my top priority justin bieber tweets about his faith constantly now here's my point am i in a position to say if these people are or are not christians absolutely not in fact if i were to say they aren't christians that would be doing exactly what jesus told me not to do and judging them you see understand i know that everyone loves to quote judge not lest you be judged by the way that's a non-believer's favorite verse they don't know any other verse on the bible amen judge not let you be judged that does not mean i should not evaluate or be discerning as a christian what it means better translation condemn not let you be condemned i'm in no position to condemn any other person and say oh they are not a christian how do i know i don't know them personally but can i judge fruit or a lack thereof in their life yes i can do that so how do we know if a person is really a believer we look for evidence in their life not mere words now here i'm going to give to you in closing six litmus tests to see if you love the lord or not and by the way don't worry about beyonce kim or justin apply this to yourself ask yourself is this true of me it's very easy to say well they don't love the lord and what do you love the lord let's get down to that how can you tell if you love the lord we love to say i love the lord what does that mean i'm a christian okay six litmus tests let's see how we do number one a person who really loves the lord will long for personal communion with god again a person who really loves the lord is there on the screen if you're taking notes we'll long for personal communion with god listen when you love someone you like to spend time with them if you're someone you know and you dread being with them and you say you love them one would question if you really love them because if you really love someone you like to be with them right and i mentioned my wife and i have been married for 40 years i like to hang out with my wife because i love her okay now in the same way if we love god we'll want to be in fellowship with god that's how it was for adam and the lord every day in eden the lord would show up and they would talk about the day together and it was sin that severed this beautiful fellowship and friendship if you long for god you long for communion and fellowship with god you'll look forward to praying you'll long to open your heart to the lord psalm 63 2 the psalmist says my soul thirsts for you my whole body longs for you and that's parched in weary land where there's no water your unfailing love is better to me than life itself i praise you lord i lie awake thinking of you meditating on youth of the night do you do that if you love the lord you will number two a person who loves the lord will in turn love the things that he loves you'll love the things that god loves and we know why what he loves by what he declares in his word the psalmist declares how i love your word it's my meditation all day long do you love the word of god or do you dread reading the word of god is it a drudgery is it a duty oh all right just read it or do you long for it the job said i've esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food do you love the church that brings me to number three if you love the lord you'll love other christians if you love the lord you'll love other christians first john 3 14 if we love other christians it proves we pass from death to eternal life but a person who doesn't love other christians is still spiritually dead anyone who hates another christian is a murderer at heart and you know murderers don't have eternal life within them i've heard people say well i love christ i just don't love christians then you don't love christ how can you love god let me restate that how can you say that you love god who you can't see when you won't love people who you can see the bible asks this question now i know christians aren't perfect and i know some christians honestly are more lovable than others you know i mean if everybody was attractive and funny and intelligent and we love them which would that come as a surprise i think the fact that we can love the unlovable shows we pass from death to life jesus says by this shall all men know you are my disciples that you have love one for another if i just love cool people because i think i'm a cool person that doesn't say anything it's when i can love someone that's different than me someone that maybe even rubs me a little bit the wrong way but i can love them because they're a fellow brother or a fellow sister so don't say to me well i love the church but i i love jesus but i don't love the church i'd be like coming up to me saying greg i love you but i hate your wife hey you want to get punched that offends me so don't you dare come to god and say i love you lord but i don't love your church if you love the lord you'll love the church and you'll love christians and you'll be an active part of the church and you'll love what god is doing in the church despite its flaws and so that's number three number four if i really love god listen to this i'll hate the things that god hates did you know that part of love is hate oh no we should never hate oh yeah we should we should hate we should hate those things that are offensive to god because his nature is becoming my nature listen to psalm 97 10 you who love the lord hate evil for he protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked if i love the lord i'll hate evil god hates sin and i should do the same the bible tells me to abhor that which is evil and cleaved to that which is good and a lot of times you think well no i don't want to hate no we hate the things that are offensive to god the problem is often we're drawn to evil first as an observer then a participator listen don't flirt with evil run from it here's another number five if you really love the lord as you claim to you'll long for the return of jesus christ paul rejoiced that in the future second timothy fourth there is later for him a crown of righteousness which the lord the righteous judge would not only give to him listen but to all who love his appearing if you love jesus you'll love his appearing what does that mean that means that i live in a sense of readiness to meet christ and if jesus comes back tonight i say i'm ready and if jesus comes back a month from now or 10 years from now that's up to him only he knows the day of the hour i'm looking forward to it i'm ready for it and i would say if you dread the idea of the imminent return of christ that is a spiritual indicator you're not right with god because when a person is right with god they'll say with the apostle john even so come quickly lord jesus it's easy to say you love the lord it's another thing to show it the way that you live and number six and lastly if you really love the lord you'll keep his commandments if you love the lord you'll keep his commandments jesus said why do you call me lord lord and not do the things that i say in john 14 21 he said he that has my commandments and keeps them he it is who loves me and he that loves me will be loved by my father and i will love him don't tell me you love god and then go out and break his comments yeah i love the lord man the love of jesus so much says get drunk now okay what yeah no be not drunk with wine the bible says but be filled with israel i love the lord so much and i love my girlfriend that i'm sleeping with too what don't tell me you love the lord who are you to judge judge not i'm fruit inspecting buddy it's not looking too good now i'm not going to make the final evaluation but i'm telling you if you love god you'll do what god says and if you're not doing what god says one has to question how much you really love him what if i walked up to you and i said i loved you and slapped you across the he'd say well you have a strange way of showing your love yeah that's just the way i express it okay then i apologize i'm sorry what was i thinking i shouldn't slap you in the face sorry man i love you okay boom i punch you in the summit what was that about i don't know man i love you i love you forgive me okay and then i kick you in the shin see what you're gonna start doing when i say how much i love you you're gonna like keep distance from me because my actions contradict my words don't they so we say oh lord i love you i love you i love my hands to you lord i praise you lord but i blatantly disobey you i do things i know your word says i should not do but i say i love you no you don't if you love him do what he says show it tangibly as well as in your affection and so now jesus says peter do you love me more than everybody else no lord i just love you let me ask you again peter do you love me yeah lord i love you well feed my sheep hey peter let me ask you one last time do you love me peter's like a little irritated kind of cracks me up he's irritated with jesus like that he asks him again yeah peter count buddy three one two three he asks you a question three times how many times did you deny him all right three maybe he just wants you to be really clear and then jesus recommissions him see peter was going from a fisher of men to a keeper of sheep that was an upgrade hey buddy you've fished for men up to this point now i'm going to use you to tend to my flock and he was recommissioned to serve the lord you know when we mess up we think god could never forgive someone like me god could never use someone like me god could never recommission someone like me oh yes he could and yes he can all jesus wanted peter to do was to confess his sin which peter did and that's all he wants us to do he is in effect saying to us come and have breakfast then let's come and have fellowship together let's come and get to know one another you come to me but admit your sinfulness don't make excuses for it don't rationalize it don't justify it come and maybe there's some here that have joined us that have never come to jesus yet you know you've gone to church before but you can't remember a moment in your life where you have asked jesus christ to forgive you of your sin and you've not asked for him to take residence in your heart and jesus who died on the cross for your sin and paid the price for every rung that you and i have ever done rose again from the dead and as i said earlier he stands at the door of your life and he knocks and says if you'll hear his voice and open the door he'll come in would you like jesus christ to come into your life right now would you like your sin forgiven then we're going to close in prayer and i'm going to give you an opportunity to believe in jesus let me add one last thing moment we're going to receive communion together and by that i mean we're going to take the bread and we're going to take the cup that symbolizes his broken body and his shed blood and we're going to do that in remembrance of him as christ asked and this is for christians only it says not for non-believers now we're not going to walk around like the gospel gestapo or something and you know interview you first you're going to have to decide what you're going to do but i would say to you if you're not a christian and have no intention of becoming a christian do not receive these elements of communion that we will distribute in a few moments it's for believers only but if you are a christian by all means join us but here's something to think about if you're not a christian you can become one right now and join us for communion by believing in jesus and if you've fallen away from the lord if you're one of those people that's living a compromised life and you've been saying you love the lord but you've been living in contradiction to that here's an opportunity to make a re-commitment so let's all pray together father we've heard your word now now i pray for every person here that shall help them to know you as they need to or help them to come back to you if they should and we just pray you'll work by your holy spirit in our midst and while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying how many of you would say tonight greg i want jesus christ in my heart i want him to forgive me of my sin i want him as my savior and my lord and my god and my friend i'm ready to say yes to jesus pray for me if that's your desire if you want jesus to come into your life and forgive you of your sin would you raise your hand up right now wherever you're sitting and i'll pray for you if you want christ to come into your life god bless you god bless you lift your hand up for i can see it if you would please there in the back god bless you anybody else you want his forgiveness lift your hand up i'll pray for you now god bless you god bless you up here in the front anybody else you want us forgiveness he's ready to forgive you and pardon you there in the corner there god bless you guys god bless you god bless you in the middle god bless you too and god bless you god bless each one of you well our heads are still about maybe some of you would say you know i made a commitment to christ at one point but i have been living a compromised life i've been saying i love the lord but i've realized tonight i haven't been living as a christian i need to recommit my life to jesus if that's you raise your hand up right now let me pray for you god bless you anybody else raise your hand up god bless you raise it up or i can see it god bless you now i'm going to ask every one of you if you would please if you've raised your hand i want you to stand up and i'm going to lead you in a prayer of commitment or recommitment you that raise your hand just stand to your feet right where you are stand up that's right others are standing stand up god bless you with understanding stand up don't be embarrassed you're among friends and family here tonight you need to make this commitment a re-commitment hey if you mean it you'll do it you don't want to make it don't make it i'm not pressuring you just giving you an opportunity anybody else you want to make this commitment or recommitment to christ stand to your feet and receive his forgiveness one last moment anybody else stand now or pray together god bless you god bless you there might be a few more stand up now and we'll pray together god bless you anybody else one last moment if you're gonna stand stand now anybody else all right you that are standing i want you to pray this prayer out loud after me right where you stand again as i pray you pray this prayer out loud okay pray this after me now lord jesus i know i have sinned but you died on the cross for my sin and i turned from that sin tonight i'm sorry for it forgive me now i choose to follow you jesus from this night forward as savior and lord as god and friend as master and king thank you for loving me and accepting me and forgiving me in jesus name i pray amen god bless all of you guys [Music]

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

Views: 41,449

Rating: 4.8826404 out of 5

Keywords: harvest, greg, laurie, Harvest Christian Fellowship, Greg Laurie Sermons, bible study for me, bible study, youtube sermons, john 21, john 21 sermon, john 21 explained, john chapter 21 explained, why did peter deny jesus, simon peter do you love me, greg laurie live, bible study with me, bible study for women

Id: cUGpzCRwF0A

Length: 54min 20sec (3260 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 30 2020