John

[0:00] May the Lord help us to consider words you find in the 21st chapter in the Gospel according to John.

[0:18] The Gospel according to John, chapter 21, verse 22. Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me.

[0:41] I'm being very pressed in my mind as to what verse of Scripture to bring before you this evening.

[1:01] There were three different passages of truth which seemed to be in my mind. I can but hope that the Lord will bless these words to someone here and make them to be a real help.

[1:21] Often it seems in preaching the word one has to simply venture, venture in hope and trust that the Lord will fulfill his gracious promise.

[1:37] For he has said, Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Well now, these words which we have before us are really in the form of a very gentle and loving reproof.

[1:56] If we look for a moment at the experiences through which Peter had passed, we might be surprised.

[2:09] But if we know our own hearts, we shall not be really surprised. Now why do I say that? Well, simply because, friends, Peter, some short time prior to this, had firmly avowed that he would follow his master to prison and even to death.

[2:33] It was not long, according to God's word, that ere the cock crowed thrice, he had denied his lord and master. And so it was.

[2:47] Unlike Judas, who went out and hung himself, Peter went out and wept bitterly. The earlier part of this chapter shows us how, with tender love, the Lord turned to Peter.

[3:05] Not only, as it were, brought before his eyes again his threefold denial of his master, but three times mercifully assures Peter, but three times mercifully assures Peter that his love for him is as ever it was.

[3:25] I believe that was really the purpose of the Lord Jesus, to draw forth from Peter's lips a new kind of confession.

[3:38] Not the bold confession that he had previously made. Not the, shall we say, the assured confession, the self-assured confession that he had previously made.

[3:54] But now, to draw out of his humble spirit, a humble confession of that willingness and that desire to love and to follow the Lord.

[4:06] Three times, the Lord mercifully confirms to Peter his purpose for him.

[4:18] He saith unto him, feed my lambs. He saith unto him, feed my sheep. Jesus saith unto him, feed my sheep.

[4:34] I can speak, perhaps, with a special feeling in regard to those words, because I believe that they were the first words the Lord used to cause that deep concern in my own soul in regard to the ministry.

[4:55] And I believe that perhaps not in the same way as Peter, I mean literally the same way, but certainly through a path of sin and shame, the Lord brought me to bow before these words and to receive them as from his lips.

[5:15] Well, three times Peter then is reassured of the Lord's love and favor to him, as he, as it were, confirms the position that he had given to Peter as a preacher and teacher of the gospel.

[5:32] Now, very soon, very soon, Peter turning about. Now, that seems to me very significant.

[5:46] I don't know whether it's like this with you, but as I said, we may at first be surprised at the way in which Peter spoke, but if we know our own hearts, we shan't.

[5:59] Because if we know our own hearts, we shall realize this, that though the Lord may bless us with gracious, tender words of love and mercy, though he may draw us by his power in the humble confession of love toward the Lord, which we read of here, yet how quickly we are found turning about.

[6:30] We have painfully sinful natures, and we have wickedly deceitful hearts. And not only that, we have a cunning and a terrible enemy in the person of Satan.

[6:45] And the purpose of Satan is ever to distract the eye of God's people from the Lord Jesus. Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following, which also leaned on his breast at supper and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?

[7:07] Peter, seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Now you might say there's nothing wrong. There's nothing wrong in what Peter did.

[7:20] He only looked at, presumably, John. I've always felt that it was John who was spoken of here. That disciple whom Jesus loved.

[7:34] John ever tenderly covers, as it were, his own person in this way of speaking. Well now, there was nothing wrong in Peter looking at John.

[7:47] There was nothing wrong in Peter making a simple inquiry as to what the Lord's purpose was regarding John's future. But there was something wrong.

[7:59] There was something wrong. He had been distracted. He'd been turned aside in his spirit. For Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?

[8:18] Follow thou me. What is that to thee? Now the Lord discerned in Peter's heart something was wrong. And how quickly it is, friends, in our heart.

[8:33] And how quickly I believe the Lord discerns that there is something wrong. Now what is that to thee, the Lord said? Now you must, if you mix faith with the words before us this evening, you must ask yourself what it is in your heart what it is in your heart which has distracted you from the path which God has set before you.

[8:58] You would have expected, wouldn't you, from a gracious man that having received such a loving and tender commission from the Lord as this, his mind would have been so occupied with what the Lord had told him to do that he would have had no time to be turning himself about and making inquiries like he made regarding John.

[9:27] But oh, friend, as I said, if you know your heart as I know a little of my own heart, you won't cast stones at Peter. I'm not justifying Peter for the Lord didn't.

[9:41] He graciously and lovingly reproved him. No, you won't cast stones at him. But I believe these things are left on record as a warning.

[9:52] Now what is that? You ask me what that is this evening. I should have to say, well, may the Lord by his Spirit enable you to put the meaning to that word.

[10:07] What is that? You must ask yourself, what is it that has turned your spirit away from the path which God has directed you in?

[10:18] What is that to thee? You may be sure that Satan will be constantly striving to turn your spirit away from the path which the Lord directs you in.

[10:32] Now I have painfully and sadly proved that this is so. It is a painful and distressing experience through which I believe many of God's people pass more than once to be sadly distracted.

[10:49] Oh, they may be on the surface perfectly lawful things. I have often thought, you know, the Lord's parable of the sower.

[11:02] There were some of that seed which fell amongst thorns and the thorns sprang up and choked it. The Lord interprets this for us.

[11:13] He says, the cares of dislike and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word that it becometh unfruitful. Now the cares of this life are many of them perfectly legitimate concerns.

[11:30] We can't pass through this life without being rightly concerned about many things. The family, the home, the business, your occupation and many other things that you could add to that list.

[11:47] We have many concerns in this life. Many of them perfectly legitimate. Many of them inevitably in the way which God has appointed for us in life.

[11:58] But he says, now the cares of this life, the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word. Now that may be your distraction.

[12:09] It may be that as the Lord has spoken to you in the past, these other things have gradually and subtly crept in. You know, thorns don't grow up overnight, do they?

[12:23] These things gradually growing up, gradually having that weakening, sapping effect upon the spirit until the gracious, profitable effect of God's word has been choked in your soul.

[12:41] Ah, friends, how easy it is to drive from us, I must speak carefully, I was going to say drive from us the Holy Spirit.

[12:52] Now I mean really by that the gracious, sensible presence of the Holy Ghost in our soul. You know, tender hearts and tender consciences can be very quickly seared, very quickly hardened.

[13:10] And I believe, friend, that the Lord looks jealously upon his work in the soul. And if we, in our lives and in our legitimate concerns in life, have turned aside from that narrow path which God has laid down for us in the word, then it won't be long before we feel the effects of it.

[13:34] these things choke the word. Now, Peter became concerned about something which was not directly to do with him.

[13:46] He didn't need to know. He didn't need to know. It wasn't going to make any difference really to his ability to walk in the way that God had appointed for him to know the answer to this question.

[14:04] It wasn't going to be of any help to him really to know what John was going to do. His concern should have been what his path was and what God had commanded him to do and what grace he would need to walk the way that God had directed him in.

[14:24] Now, what is that to thee? Follow thou me. If I could just interject a little reminiscence of an experience I had in my early days at Coventry, there was a young person there who was very much concerned and exercised about the ordinances to follow the Lord in the way of baptism.

[14:56] baptism. And that young person said to me one night, I can't understand why so-and-so isn't a member.

[15:07] I feel so small, so young, so ignorant compared with that person who I believe is a very gracious and godly person.

[15:20] And why should I be concerned about these things when apparently he isn't? You know, friends, I felt the Lord gave me only one answer.

[15:32] I said to that young person, what is that to thee? Now that man must stand or fall before his own God. To our own master we stand or fall.

[15:47] And what the Lord is teaching Peter here is that our concern should be between our souls and God. We are accountable to the Lord for the way in which we personally receive his words, the way which we personally walk in this life.

[16:09] Not that we shall be indifferent to the way in which others behave and live. We shall have a prayerful concern for those about us. We shall not be like wicked Cain who said I'm my brother's keeper.

[16:24] No, I leave all that aside friends. But the point I'm trying to emphasize is this, that the matter stands between your soul and your God.

[16:36] And so long as we permit these other things to enter in, so long as we are found turning about, asking these questions, so long as our souls are distracted like that, so long shall we as it were put stumbling blocks in our own path.

[16:56] Now the Lord is very kind but very firm with Peter. He really says to Peter, Peter, this is a stumbling block in your path.

[17:07] Now what is that to thee? What is that to thee? Follow thou me. well, if we go on a step further in this verse, leave that point for a moment.

[17:30] The Lord says follow thou me. I've often looked at this word, my mind goes back frequently to those early days in the Lord's dealings with me.

[17:48] And I believe that this was one of those parts of Scripture which caused me deep and real soul concern. And I believe it is a simple word which the Lord does often use in the hearts and experiences of his own.

[18:09] It is very striking to see how often the Lord said this. Very striking to notice how many of his disciples heard these as the very first words from the lips of the master.

[18:26] There is something very blessed about the sovereign claim of God that he makes in these words. Friend, it may be the Lord has spoken such words as these in your soul.

[18:41] Now if he has, I believe he has sovereignly laid claim, laid claim to you. He has laid claim to you as rightfully his own.

[18:54] And when he says follow thou me, may it be with you like it was with those fishermen. They left their nets. Don't read those words quickly and carelessly, friends, think about what it means.

[19:12] They left their nets. They left their livelihood. At that time, there was nothing that distracted them from following him.

[19:26] They left their nets and they followed him. Now friends, this is a very testing point. And I believe that these words, as God by his spirit, speaks them in the soul's experience, will bring you certainly, most certainly, into the test.

[19:47] These words will be rather like the balances of the sanctuary and you'll be weighed by these words. Now is our heart right before God?

[19:59] Is our spirit right, friends? If you have a heart and a spirit made right by divine grace before God, and these words are spoken, why then, I believe, you will walk in the way which he commands.

[20:17] You will turn your back upon other distractions. You will turn your back upon those things which might otherwise have lawfully filled your time, and you will have to turn away from them, and walk the path that Jesus trod.

[20:35] Follow thou me. Friends, I believe this has to do with that doctrine of God's words so plain and clear of separation.

[20:50] To follow the Lord and Master is a very solemn thing. The Lord, you know, when he says follow thou me, demands life and soul and time.

[21:06] I'm sure of this, that if we are truly called by divine grace, if we are amongst those who are truly converted by the power of the Spirit of God, then we can never live the life that we used to live again.

[21:22] We may backslide, and some have sadly backslidden, for some considerable period of time in their life. But leaving aside those sad aspects of the truth, I believe what I say is right.

[21:39] When God has begun a real and spiritual work in our souls, if it is real and if it is of God, then we shall never finally return to the life that we once lived.

[21:52] he which hath begun a good work in you, says the apostle, shall perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. And if God has begun a good work in your heart, then it is a good work begun by the power and instrumentality of the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Ghost is a sanctifier, a sanctifier of God's people.

[22:15] And it is impossible, friends, that those whose hearts are possessed by the Holy Ghost shall ever live, that same life again. It is impossible, surely, for those of whom the apostle says, ye are no longer under the law but under grace, to live a life identical to the life that they once lived.

[22:39] No, friends, if God by his grace has quickened us, then he has by his grace implanted in our hearts a new principle, a new principle of life. Why now, the Lord Jesus says, follow thou me.

[22:57] Peter had made some sad falls and slips already, in his comparatively short experience of God's grace and mercy to him.

[23:09] You know, Peter never finally and utterly returned to the life that he used to live. God had marked this man out for his own.

[23:23] And I believe as the Lord goes on to teach you step by step of what he has done for your soul, he will lead you to this point. At least in measure, you will see this, you are not your own, you are bought with a price.

[23:39] The Lord says that through his servant Paul when he writes to the Corinthians. There were some people who had sadly backslidden from the purity of the faith.

[23:52] They had sadly returned in spirit into some of those paths at least from which the grace of the gospel had called them. Now this is the word the apostle uses.

[24:06] You are not your own. You are not your own. You are bought with a price. And when God says follow thou me.

[24:18] Why friend you may be sure that you are never going to be your own again. No. The Lord has then sovereignly laid his hand upon your soul and he will never let you go.

[24:34] You will never in that sense be left to turn aside finally and fatally back into the world. He says follow thou me.

[24:46] And what a wonderful effect those simple words had on these disciples. Peter and others. Peter particularly. The blessed effect these words had in Peter's subsequent life.

[25:02] There was enough in Peter's past experience surely to bring him into such darkness and depression of mind as to think that he was so utterly worthless and faithless so easily deceived so easily distracted from the path that God sets before him that surely the Lord would have no further purpose for him.

[25:25] Now you may be tempted this evening for all I know to think that because of the way you have turned this way and that way that the Lord as it were will become impatient and cast you off.

[25:40] Now remember the Lord says again to Peter follow thou me. That verse I quoted from the Psalms in prayer has often been on my mind and in connection with things like this God hath spoken once now so far as Peter was concerned God spoke in eternity past so far as Peter was concerned God spoke in an eternal covenant of love regarding Peter there was an unalterable purpose in the heart of God regarding this dear man he had a place appointed and a path appointed by God and there was no power in earth or hell that could withstand the appointment of God regarding Peter God hath spoken once but then says the psalmist twice have I heard this

[26:44] God conveyed the word of his purpose into the heart of the psalmist twice now I think that sets before us a very tender gracious view of the Savior twice and friends how often you will have to say I have needed the Lord's word twice I have needed his word twice as a reproof sometime I have needed his word twice as an encouragement at other times twice have I heard this now what was it he heard power belongeth unto God now when God speaks then there is power with his word with the word of a king there is power there is authority certainly there is authority but there is a commanding authority with the word of the Savior and blessed be God these words come echoing into the hearts of sinners sweeping away obstacles overturning these difficulties fixing the attention again and drawing them away from those things which have distracted them and fixing the attention again upon the

[28:05] Lord and upon his word and upon the way which he has spoken of to you follow thou me it goes without saying friend that I firmly believe this and I'm sure that you will believe it if you are taught of God that nothing but a heart renewed by divine grace will ever follow the Lord Jesus there needs a power beyond natural reason and human emotions to draw the feet of God's people in such a path follow thou me what is the constraint then which I believe will draw a person in the ways of the Lord the ways of gospel obedience and all that that means why friend the apostle Paul gives us the answer from his own experience he says the love of Christ constraineth us the love of Christ constraineth us a sense of his expiring love into my heart conveys says the hymn writer that will do it friend

[29:21] Peter had lived to see the Lord suffering and bleeding on Calvary's tree he lived to understand by divine teaching the great depth and wonder of what the Lord had done for him how much he understood at this time I just don't know and couldn't tell you I don't think anyone could but we know this but that by the time he wrote his epistles the Lord had very clearly and deeply taught him of the precious atoning work of the Saviour and what does he say there to you therefore which believe he is precious now there you see a man under a strange and blessed constraint something which is strange to the world it can't understand you know I read not so long ago that in the heathen world in the early days of the church it was a common saying regarding

[30:25] Christian believers why do they love so much why do they love so much ah now friend the Lord answered that didn't he to whom much is forgiven the same loveth much now that's the truth friend when you catch a glimpse of what the Lord has done for your soul when you see something of his redeeming love and mercy and something of the awful cost at which our souls are saved and there is conveyed into our heart a sweet persuasion of his divine grace and mercy to us why then we shall say how much he has done how great is his love and how unworthy is the one that he has loved the love of Christ constraineth us what would you think if someone had given their life to save your life scarcely for a righteous man would one die maybe for a good man one would even dare to die but now says the word

[31:43] God commendeth his love this is the constraining love God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us neither good nor righteous and nothing about us that would ever have drawn the saviour's favour to us nothing but his sovereign love moved him like that and it was while we were yet sinners he died to save sinners never forget it friend he died to save sinners I believe those words if I might just mention another incident that the Lord put in my way I believe those words were used of God to bring into gracious liberty a young man who I know well he died for sinners all that opened his eyes to a wonderful truth because he knew that in himself there was no good thing he was in the depths of darkness and despondency in his soul because he felt there was not a single mark of grace that he could find anywhere and he sadly felt that he didn't even really feel his own sinfulness as he ought to now you see

[33:09] Jesus said he died for sinners he commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us and he says follow thou me now friends there I believe you have the secret of the power of the constraint of the words of Christ if we follow the Lord Jesus for any other reason we may be sure that we follow him for the wrong reason love he says is the fulfilling of the law in the chapter we read faith hope charity the greatest of these is charity now friends I believe that it is under the gracious influence of the love of Christ that sinners are drawn in the ways of gospel obedience or if you feel your feet very slow to move in those ways which Jesus has commanded may your heart be burdened like this

[34:21] Lord may that love be shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Ghost and all friends don't rest content until you find that love is shed abroad in your heart quicken thou me says the psalmist according to thy word I will run in the way of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart our friends a gracious desire after these blessings especially the blessing of the love of Christ shed abroad in our heart will surely be answered almost surely the Lord will answer this follow thou me oh may your heart friends be moved like that to follow him in the way that he commands and then notice also in these words he says follow thou me if there is real love between two persons just think for a moment of someone you love most dearly imagine that that person was soon to be taken from you and you went to the deathbed of that person and listened to them speak and they gave you one last request now I believe friend that that's the spirit in which we are to look at these words it is one last request that Jesus makes of

[36:00] Peter I know it's a command as well he says follow thou me it wasn't long before he was taken up from them into heaven follow thou me I believe this friends that those words of the saviour would rest and abide in Peter's heart right down to his dying day now if I heard words like that then from a dying friend how powerfully they would affect me and how I would seek every possible means to answer the request of one who had asked like that now friend I've put it poorly I know you could criticise the way I've put it but think of it like that and may God help you to answer in your own soul this searching question is your spirit right is your spirit right in the face of the words of Jesus

[37:02] Christ follow thou me he says I've done everything for you I've finished the work which the father gave me to do I've died in the place of ruined sinners to redeem their souls from an eternal hell which they richly deserve I've set before them a precious inheritance with the saints in light I'm just about to go and to prepare a place for them I've promised that I shall come again and receive them unto myself I've assured them that there is nothing in this life that can separate between them and the Lord and Saviour I've undertaken all that is necessary for their souls for time and for eternity now friend what a light to view these words in follow thou me follow thou me

[38:08] I don't know whether I've ever told you a word which I believe the Lord graciously moved my heart with on one very special occasion I had a letter in my inside pocket which I knew had either got to be posted that day or burned and it seemed as though there was something really in the balance in my own heart that morning as I drove to work and I begged as I drove along that the Lord would give me one last testimony and blessing in my soul that it was well and right and that that letter should be posted you know I can't explain the feeling of the power of God's word that came into my soul it just seemed as though the Lord says behold my hands and my feet now friends you look at that behold my hands and my feet ah that will settle matters you'll see then the nail prints in his hands and the scars in his feet and you'll say

[39:25] Lord whatsoever thou wilt command whatsoever thou has spoken ah follow thou me you know friends there is something also graciously assuring in these words Jesus never says go in this particular way he says follow follow follow it's often like that with a father you know and a child isn't it the father says come on that means the father's in front and he draws the child along now it is so with the Lord Jesus he says follow walk in this way a way in which I've gone before you ah friends the Lord has I can't understand the mystery of that it is not that the

[40:27] Lord has walked as it were literally and physically my life before me here in the world but there is a blessed spiritual sense in which I believe the Lord has walked this path and he says follow thou me you see the high priest was to be taken from amongst men and Jesus is manifest here on the earth amongst men and he is tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin and he says follow me and the path that you are to walk is the path that I walked when I came not to do mine own will but the will of him that sent me the path that you are to walk is the path that I have been you know when the Lord first laid the burden of the ministry in my heart and after a long time I had to confide in my father my mother got to know about it and she was very upset because she knew what it meant you see she had seen things in a way which of course

[41:40] I couldn't see them and she said to me on one occasion don't you think you're too young I could read her heart you know I knew what she meant and I have since then proved that there was good reason for her to speak like that but you see the Lord says to his own dear mother wished ye not that I must be about my father's business ah friend there's something very pressing about the father's business something that brooks no delay something which will not allow obstacles then to rest in the way like that no I must be about my father's business follow thou me and I believe this friend the words are graciously encouraging because as your trembling and fearful heart may venture in the way that

[42:46] God has commanded you have this assurance from him that you will never be without his gracious help and presence now don't misunderstand me I don't think I'm not trying to suggest to you that I live every day uninterruptedly in a sense of the Lord's gracious powerful presence with me I sometimes indeed often mourn a sense of the loss and the lack of the Lord's favour and presence with me my sins have often separated between me and my God but friends I have proved this in times of trial in times of deep tribulation in times of great sorrow and perplexity the Lord has not finally left me yet to utter confusion and darkness and time and again he has helped and he has delivered he never is before his time he never is too late my mind went back a year ago as I drove along that beautiful road alongside your hills here and the white horse along to wanted and the

[43:59] Lord I believe dropped that word into my heart that I again mentioned in prayer it seemed to bring it so fresh to my mind again today though my house be not so with God yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things unsure oh you know I could hardly believe that that was so in the circumstances that I was in it didn't seem possible but I believe it was friend now he says follow thou me follow thou me will when it is most necessary and most pressing upon your spirit and you feel the utmost weakness and helplessness in your soul he says follow thou me one last thought before we close regarding this word the way in which we follow him will be a way characterized by a certain spirit now there are many who claim to follow the Lord

[45:16] Jesus many who have claimed to be his disciples but in what spirit have they followed him there have been some who have followed him in a proud spirit they have been proud of their understanding of God's word there have been proud ministers in the gospel who have been proud of their ministry they have been proud members in churches who have been proud of their understanding and proud of their experience and proud of the depth of their knowledge of things divine and they have walked in a way of pride and self assurance and self confidence now friend we may be sure that they never followed him in that spirit if we are left to our own spirit a proud hard and bitter spirit we can be sure we're not in the footsteps of Christ we have like Peter and in a worse way really than

[46:19] Peter we have turned about we have turned about I'm not suggesting that Peter had a wrong spirit toward John I don't think that at all well we may have been in that sense in a much more sinful path than Peter we may have been in a wrong spirit altogether in a wrong spirit Jesus says follow thou me and that is in the spirit in which I have walked in the world a spirit of humility a spirit of tenderness the spirit of the fear of the Lord the spirit of charity the spirit of meekness ah friend that chapter we read is a very searching chapter if we just turn to it for a moment I believe that chapter has one secret and that secret friends is Christ charity is not an occasional act of kindness it's not an intermittent sort of thing where we we give a little away to certain charitable organizations charity friends is the whole spirit of a man's life it's the way he lives it's that thing within which animates him and moves him to behave in certain ways now the apostle in the early part of the chapter says there are many things which do not prove a man to have this spirit you might think that they were very wonderful things to speak with the tongues of men and of angels to have the gift of prophecy understand all mysteries and all knowledge and have all faith so that you could remove mountains and to bestow all your goods to feed the poor and to give your body to be burned the world would doubtless recognize you as a remarkable man and a wonderful martyr the Lord views the matter in this light he says it profiteth me nothing through the lips of the apostle it will profit us nothing now those wonderful things that may stand high in the esteem of men the Lord sweeps aside and he says unless there is an underlying principle an underlying spirit then all this is vain a man may make the most remarkable claim especially in religion but if he has no charity then friends all his claim may be discarded he has got to begin to learn to follow

[49:15] Jesus he has and then he goes on to show us what this charity is and you will see by what he says that it cannot be referring to occasional acts of kindness which the world is capable of we can thank God that many in the world do show great kindness to their fellow creatures great self sacrifice where there is no grace of God and we can be thankful it is so I've often walked in our hospital at home in Coventry and been thankful that there are young women there who devote themselves to looking after the sick and the suffering and much they have to do is most unpleasant well we can be thankful it is so but now the apostle drives very deep doesn't he with this word charity he says it suffereth long and is kind it envieth not vaunteth not itself is not puffed up doth not behave itself unseemly seeketh not her own is not easily provoked thinketh no evil rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things that is all things that are good endureth all things charity never faileth now friends if in our hearts there is the love the true love of

[50:47] God from that will spring a true love to our neighbour from that precious root will spring a life which will bear fruit in real acts of true charity for Christ's sake we shall see sometimes friends by faith the Lord Jesus walking before us now friends if you are tempted to act in any particular way to ask yourself a simple question according to the testimony of God's word what would Jesus have done what would Jesus have done because he says follow thou me in what spirit would Jesus have acted and how would he have spoken oh I know this may cause us much concern and we may not come to any answer in some matters for a long time it may stop us all together in something when we ask a question like that it staggered me more than once friend to ask myself and what would

[52:01] Jesus do follow thou me he said follow thou me whose whole life life whose whole life and spirit was one of perfect charity he loved his father and he loved his people indeed he did good unto all men those in an eternal covenant of love and those who were not who came to him as he was here on earth he did good unto all men indeed the scripture speaks of him as being the savior of all men we shouldn't forget the kindness in providence that God shows to all his creatures he is the savior the preserver that is of the life of all men here on this earth or else we could not live here ah but friend what a spirit this is do good unto all men especially unto the household of faith follow thou thou may may the lord add his own blessing amen lord will mr.

[53:28] wood a preacher on tuesday evening next week and disclose with hymn number ten hundred and fifty tune six nine when shall thy love constrain this heart thine own to thee when shall the wounded spirit gain the feeling rest in me ten hundred and fifty june six nine rest two um team benefits but'll have to come trance to them

[54:31] Indonesians else tell y dentro love SONG CONTINUES SONG CONTINUES

[55:47] SONG CONTINUES SONG CONTINUES SONG CONTINUES

[56:49] SONG CONTINUES SONG CONTINUES SONG CONTINUES SONG CONTINUES SONG CONTINUES SONG CONTINUES