(John) the Tenderness of the Lord — Willie Mullan

John 21 and the Tenderness of the Lord

John, chapter 21, please. We're going right through from verse 4, right to the end of the Gospel of John the Baptist. Just for anyone who may not have been present last week, there is a phrase at the end of John, chapter 20, that we want to look at once again.

John 20, verse 30, and many other times truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, is the phrase. In this book. But these are written, that you might believe.

You see, when John says, in this book, and these are written, well, many believe that John's Gospel finishes there. In fact, many scholars say that's where John's Gospel finishes. In fact, there is an argument among scholars of whether John 21 is really belonging to John's Gospel or not.

But there is no argument in my mind. And I trust when I finish with John 21 tonight, there will be no argument in your mind. You see, I believe this. I believe that John took 20 chapters to show to the whole world the greatness of our Savior.

And he took us through all the messages and all the miracles, all the preaching, and all the performance of our Lord Jesus in 20 chapters just to show to the world the greatness of our Savior. And I think that when he finished the book, just like any other one might do, writing a letter, he put a postscript.

That's another chapter on this occasion. Just to show the tenderness of our Lord. That makes 21 a very precious chapter. Twenty chapters to prove the greatness of our Savior, and one more chapter just to show the tenderness of our Lord.

That's what we're after this evening, and it's a very wonderful chapter. Do you remember we set the stage last week? Let's look at it just quickly again. Verse 1 of chapter 21, After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, that is, the Sea of Galilee, and on this wise showed he himself.

The Disciples’ Failure and Jesus’ Visitation

Now, he was revealing himself in another way altogether. That's why I'm persuaded, you see, that it's a revelation of the Lord, not an exposition of the Savior. And on this wise. And then we noticed the disciples who were together.

Watch them again. Simon Peter, and Thomas, and Nathanael, and the sons of Zebedee. Nowhere in the Bible do you get these men spliced together either before this or after it. When we're reading of the disciples, it's always Peter, James, and John.

Or not so on this occasion. You get Peter, he was the one who denied. Next to him you get Thomas, he was the one who would not believe. Next to him you get Nathanael, he was the one who despised. Next to him you get the two sons of Zebedee, they were the ones who quarreled for praise.

And the other two disciples are not named. Maybe any two of us would fit in for them. And so we are getting failures all placed together. And again they fail. You see, Peter stood up in verse 3, Simon Peter says unto them, I go a fishing.

A dreadful thing when a leader among God's people makes a decision that leads other people astray. He said, I go a fishing. They say unto him, we also go with thee. They went forth and entered into a ship immediately.

That night they caught nothing. It was a night of disappointment. It was a night of defeat, because it started with disobedience. You see, at this very spot on the Sea of Galilee, three and a half years before this, our Lord Jesus Christ had walked along the sand, and he had looked into the eyes of Peter, and he said, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

And you remember how they laughed all, and followed him. They were called into full-time service for the Lord. But on this particular day, Peter was going back on it all. He was getting the boot out again.

He'd gone back to the fishing. He was disobeyed. And tonight was a night of disappointment, a night of defeat. Now that's where we start the revelation tonight. And I want you to notice this fourth verse that we're starting with.

But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore. But the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. You know, here he is coming, visiting them. Oh, you know, when he had risen from the dead and met the woman at the tomb, he said to them, go tell my disciples.

I go before them into Galilee, and there shall they see me. And he appointed a mountain in Galilee where he would meet them. These fellows didn't go to the mountain, they went to the sea. And this is the shore of their disobedience.

This is the very shore of their disappointment. This is the very shore of their defeat. How very tender it was for our Lord Jesus to come and stand on the shore of their disappointment. Is there a defeated believer here?

Is there someone here who has disobeyed the word of the Lord, and you're disappointed? Well, somewhere on the shore, you'll find Jesus. People looking for you. I think this was very tender of him. Oh, yes, he could have turned his back and said, let them go there.

But no, he came and stood on the very shore of their disappointment, and the very shore of their defeat, the very shore of their disobedience. And that's where you'll find him. There's a tenderness in his visitation.

Jesus’ Tender Investigation and the Need for Confession

And then look what he said. Verse 5,. Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, are ye enemies? Now, I think there are one or two very tender things here. You see, after all they had disobeyed, after all they had taken the brick between their teeth, and they had gone their own way.

I want to tell you this, that Jesus spoke first. Sometimes, you know, when there's a brick in fellowship, some people are very slow, you know, to speak first. Well, you want to learn from your master.

Some of the believers here, you know, would nearly die before they would speak to somebody. Well, the Lord Jesus spoke first. Yet there are a hundred yards from the shore. We'll measure it when we'll get down to it.

And when there are a hundred yards out, he cries, and there's a tenderness in the first words. Children, didn't say it, but tried it. Children, are ye enemies? So, if there's a tender touch in his visitation, when he stood in the shore, there's a very tender touch in his investigation.

Have you any meat? I would like to say this, you know, because some people don't seem to get this. When the Lord asks questions, it's not because he doesn't know the answer. There's a lot of people who roam teaching a lot of silly stuff like this.

When God came into the garden of Eden, and said, Adam, where art thou? Do you think he didn't know very well? And there are a thousand questions in the scriptures like that. It isn't that God doesn't know the answer.

To bring forth a confession, because when you get out of fellowship with the Lord, the only way... Don't forget that. Lots of people think, you know, that they can say things about other people, behind their backs, and tear them into pieces with a tongue.

And then they can go and suck up with the Lord, when you can't. There is one way of getting into fellowship with the Lord, and it's when we confess. And God won't alter that word for anybody in this place.

That's God's Word. We confess our sins. And, mind you, it doesn't mean this. It doesn't mean that you come at night and you feel you're a miserable creature, and you get down on your knees and say, Lord, Lord, forgive me for what I've done today.

That's confessing nothing. But, you know, if some of you businessmen in this place today have told lies behind the comfort, well, there's one simple word that brands you, you're a liar. That's all about it, you know.

I can't find any other word in the English language. You're a liar. And if you get down on your knees to light in the middle of the night and say, Lord, I'm a liar, it'll help you much. And if any man or woman in this place has put forth their hand in work today and taken something that didn't belong to them, you're a thief.

That's what you are. And when you go crawling into God's presence and say, I'm a thief, and when the believers are taught to drag their sin out in the open and honestly, thankfully confess it, you'll get back in the flesh.

That's what he wants you to know. He says, have you any money? Oh, he knew what the night had been. He knew. Yes, it may well be that he directed the fish away from the net. He knew. But, you know, from out of that misty morning came the charge, no, just confessing the disappointed, defeated life that they had passed through.

That's what he was leading them to, leading them to the place of confession. Now, there's a tenderness in the visitation, and there's a tenderness in the investigation. And now we really come to the manifestation, and that's what we're really after this night.

The Miraculous Catch and Obedience to Christ’s Word

He revealed himself in this way. Now, watch this very carefully. Verse 5 again, Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find it.

They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. Therefore, that disciple whom Jesus loved, now, I don't want to miss the point, but I shall have to miss this one.

Right through this gospel, when John's been writing about himself, this is the very signature that he uses. He always calls himself the disciple whom Jesus loved. You see, he hid behind that. He didn't say, I, I said, or I did.

Now, I don't believe that any other man adding a chapter would have used this particular signature of John. Surely it's John still writing. I think it's quite clear when you see it. It's John still writing.

He's using his own signature. But here's the bit that's most important. Verse seven, Therefore, that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. You know, he wasn't, he wasn't too slow.

The moment the net went over, and it's filled with a multitude of fishes, John says, It's the Lord. Well, he knew who was there, and it's the Lord, mind you. That's why I'm perfectly sure that John is expounding the tenderness of our Lord.

Yes, it's the Lord. It's the Lord. Why did he come to the conclusion so quick a touch? Oh, he'd learned something a long time ago. Let's go back to Luke's gospel just for a moment. Luke's gospel, chapter five, please.

I want you to watch this because there's a great lesson here. We'll read from verse one just to get the proper connection. And it came to pass that as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God.

It's been noted down through the years that where the word of God has been honestly expounded, you always get the people. I believe that's what this class means. I'm not much to look at. I know that a long time ago.

And there are no trumpets blowing here, and we sing two old-fashioned hymns, but here's this place filled with people with their Bibles. You've come to hear the word of God, dear, and I'm delighted that you do.

And no matter where you come from or what denomination you belong to, the word of God is yours. Never belong to the Baptist, you know. Thank God for that. It belongs to the saints. And here is the Lord Jesus, and the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God.

He stood by the lake of Gennesaret. That's the same lake. It's Galilee. Sometimes it's called Tiberias. That's the Roman word. Sometimes it's called Galilee. That's the Jewish one. Sometimes it's called Gennesaret.

Verse two, And saw two ships standing by the lake, but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. He entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed to him that he would trust out a little from the land.

And he sat down and talked to the people out of the ship. And when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a drop. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing.

Nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the nets. And when they had done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fishers, and here's a wee word for it, under their bridge. That's a terrible thing to happen to fishermen.

You know, I used to preach in Porto Vogue for many years. And I'd gone out at night with the Porto Vogue fishing fleet, time and time and time again. There used to be seventy men on the fishing fleet, and they had wireless that they could talk to one another out at sea at night.

And they used to take me out with them to preach a message in the middle of the night to all the fishermen. It was a great delight, and I had the great joy of seeing a great number of them gloriously saved.

But you know, there is one thing that really annoys a fisherman, and that is when he loses his net. You know, today a fishing net would cost you about a hundred and twenty pounds. He says, that's a bad night's work if you lose the net.

And I feel that, in comparison, the nets were just as dear then. And to lose a net was something. Now something must have gone wrong here. What went wrong? Surely the Lord wouldn't break anybody's net.

Well, now you watch it, and you'll find out what went wrong. Watch what the Lord said in verse four. Launch out into the deep and let down your nets. There's a net there. N-E-T-S. Nets. For a God. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have torn all the night, and have taken nothing, never the letter, thy word I will let down the net.

So he told him to take the ass off. And nobody told him. He just did that. Let me tell you this, dear. If you take one letter out of that book, you'll be the loser. That's what the modernists are doing with some of the translations.

They're taking wee bits out, and they'll be the loser. You take one letter from God's word. Don't forget that. Let anybody take one word out of this. And if you're in an old modernistic church where the minister tears up the book of Jonah, says we won't believe this, and the book of Genesis, and the book of Daniel, my dear young woman, get out!

Give your money and your support to somebody who tears up God's word. Don't ask me to come here. I'm just telling you to get out. My, you'll be the loser. And I'll tell you this, your children will be the losers.

And if some of you who aren't supporting, damn your children, so get out. That's what to do, get out. For your children's sake, if not for the Lord's sake, get out. Peter thought he was a big fella. He was a fisherman, he knew all about it.

He'd been out, and he had toiled all night. He'd taken nothing, didn't like to upset the Lord too much. He said, nevertheless, if I were to let down the net, how dare him? If you read it carelessly, you would almost think he was obeying the Lord.

Ah, when you put bitter to God's word, you're not obeying the Lord. My dear believers, watch what happened the moment he let down the net. It was enclosed with a great multitude of fish and a bridge. No, they were very humble men that came in.

You say, are you sure that this exposition's right? My, I'm sure. Watch this, look here. Verse seven,. And they beckoned unto their partners which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them.

And they came and filled both the ships, so that they began to sing. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man. I am a man, a woman, that cuts a bit out of God's word, a sinful man.

I'm not particular what he wears, my dear. But if he cuts God's word in pieces, he's a sinful man. Don't ever forget it. Yes, Peter knew what he'd done then. Now, John never forgot that. Let's go back to where we were.

That's how he knew this was the Lord's. You see, the same thing had happened, only with this difference. Now, watch it now, do you see? Verse six, John 21, verse six,. And he said unto them, Cast the net, they didn't put any F's in this time at all.

Cast the net, last time he said, Cast the net, let go your nets. This time he's just saying, Cast the net, making it easy for them. Wonderful Lord, isn't it? And it says in verse six, They cast therefore and though they were not able to drive for the multitude of fishes, therefore, just because that disciple whom Jesus loved said unto Peter, This is the Lord.

Oh, he knew it was the Lord. Now, here's a lovely wee bit just down here. Let me pass by a verse or two. I'll come back in a moment. See, verse 11, Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land full of great fishes, and hundred and fifty and three, on for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.

Whatever you do with your soul, you'll not lose anything. You see, this time it's the net, and the rule, it includes the multitude of fishes again. When they're doing as they're told, the net doesn't break.

See how carefully it's put in, yet was not the net broken. Now, I'm not too sure about the hundred and fifty and three, why the number's there. It's not there just for fun, you know. I shall try to make inquiries about this.

I'm going to visit the Sea of Galilee in a few weeks time, and I shall try to make inquiries. I've got a lot of inquiries to make, and I want to know this. I'm told by those who know best, that in the Sea of Galilee, there are one hundred and fifty three different kinds of fish.

I don't know. I'm only taking that from those who know better than me. But if that is true, then this was a mighty miracle. The Lord got every one of them and put them into the net, and the rule, the net was full of great fishes, yet it didn't break.

Aren't you doing as you're told? You'll never be the loser. Do you think you'll lose something obeying the law? Well, don't pity your mentality if you think like that. If you obey men, men, you'll be the loser.

Wasn't there a tenderness in the manifesting? Think of them taking the net to let them see who he was. That was the why, the way, on which he revealed himself. And this why, he took the net. Oh, if there's a tenderness in the visitation of his children ashore, and there's a tenderness in the investigation when he cried, children, how do you know me?

There's a tenderness in the manifestation when he took the net. How wonderful is the law. That's my law. He just knows what to do to reveal himself to you. Now, there's a lovely wee bit here that we need to notice.

I don't want to pass it by. Verse 7, therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said unto Peter, it is the Lord. Now, when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he took his sacred scoot onto him, for he was naked.

Now, that naked is not in the absolute sense, of course. You see, these fishermen on Galilee, while working with these great nets that they've got to cast in around Jericho, they can't work with these long eastern robes on, so they simply take them off and they're wearing a loincloth.

But the moment that Peter heard it was the Lord, and he's going to go onto the shore to meet him, it was a kudos, because a lot of them would need to read this wee verse two or three times over, because their preaching at the shores these days were no clothes on.

They have no reverence for the Lord, but Peter had. He was a man, of course he was, but he wouldn't go to meet the Lord with no clothes on. And some of us are poor sanctified ladies, to stand at the beach with our bare backs.

So, Peter didn't. And your books instructing you now, if you're running a boat half-naked on the shore, you have very little reverence for the Lord. But just let it, that's all. Just let it. So, we beg for you.

You can see it, can't you? Now, let's get the next bit in, verse nine. As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. You know, that's lovely, isn't it?

That's preparation. You know, the Lord knew all about them. He knew that he had told them to go to one of the mountains, and they'd gone to the shore. He knew that in disobedience they'd gone back to the fishing.

He knew they'd been out all night and disappointed and defeated. And yet, in tenderness, he thought about their physical shape. How lovely he is. Wonderful Jesus he is. He said, oh yes, you've been out.

You've done the thing you shouldn't have done. You've run all night in the cold. You shouldn't have been there. Well, I laid a fire for you. And there's no beach. But he got the fish, all right, and bread.

Now, when this meeting's over, don't tell me you young ones come and ask me where he got the coals. I don't know. It would teach me that there must be coal somewhere about the Sea of Galilee. The master who put all treasures in the earth, he knew.

He should find them, all right. And in the middle of the night, when they have turned their backs on him, and gone the way they shouldn't have gone, he kindled the fire, and put the fish, and prepared the bread.

Let me say this to you, he was acting like a lord. And you big fellows come home from your work these nights cold. And you know, he has the fire flaming up for him, and the food on the table. And it was the man that wasn't playing the game that he did it.

Wonderful Jesus. There was a tenderness in the preparation, wasn't there? Very lovely. Now, I've already done verse 11. Look at verse 12. Jesus saith unto them, Come, and dine. You know, that's invitation, isn't it?

I think there's a tenderness in the invitation. You know, this is the last time that we get the word, come. This gospel is staying calm. You see, he wants them back into fellowship with himself again, that's the idea.

You know, the Lord just won't go on with you out of fellowship. And how very tender all this was. Think of the tenderness in the visitation, how he's stood on the shore. Think of the tenderness of the investigation.

Children! The enemies! Think of the tenderness of the manifestation when he used the old neck over again. Think of the tenderness of the preparation. He felt the fire. Think of the tenderness of the invitation.

Come, and dine. You know, we were dealing last Sunday morning in the church here, with the church of the lair to see it. What a miserable crowd they were. You remember how they they were neither cold nor hot.

Oh, they were not that cold, you know, that they took themselves absolutely from the Lord. Oh, no, no, no. They were not that hot that they gave themselves absolutely to the Lord either. Oh, no. They were just lukewarm.

You know what they really were? They were a bunch of hypocrites. That's what they were. And they could stand up and say, we have needed nothing. And the Lord had to look into their eyes and said, thou art wretched for Jesus to use to a believer.

Thou art wretched and poor and miserable and blind and naked. That was good preaching. And when he put his finger on their hypocrisy and put his finger on their poverty, then he said, here I am. I'm still standing beside you.

Open the door and let me take the hold of your right and we'll stop together. Isn't it the same thing? Oh, he was standing at the door and he's standing on the shoulder. He says, come and die. Come and let's put things right.

Come back into fellowship with me. Come and let us stop together again. Oh, there's no place so sweet as when you sit at the table with Jesus. There was a tenderness. Then this invitation. See verse 15?

Peter’s Restoration and Love for Christ

So when they hard dined, so they got down into fellowship. They stopped together. Now, when they hard dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, said, Simon, son of Jonah, lovest thou me more than thee? This is an interrogation.

And I think there's a tenderness here. You know, Peter was the one who said, I'll go fishing. Actually, he was to blame for taking all these fellows into that night of disappointments. And now when the Lord has put a lot of things right, he's looking into his eyes and he's asking one question.

He's interrogating Peter. And it's a powerful question. He says, lovest thou me, and the emphasis is on the more than thee, more than thee. Very hard question for exposition, mind you. There are three ways you can look up at, and I'll tell you which one I believe in the moment.

You see, he could look into the eyes of Peter and he could say, lovest thou me more than your lovely fellows that you went away with? He could have said that. It could actually mean that. There is no difficulty in the Greek there.

He could have said, do you love me more than the fellows you ran away into the night with? Or he could have said, lovest thou me more than these fellows love me? And there is no difficulty in the Greek there either.

And he could have said, lovest thou me more than these fish, nets, boats? And I believe that's the one he said. I believe it was the lure of the sheep. I believe it was the love of the fishes. I believe it was the touch of the nets.

I believe it was the old boat that took Peter away from the Lord. It's been tested now. The Lord says, do you love me more than these fish and these nets? I wonder what's yours? Oh, there are so many besetting things.

I've had so many confessions in my life that I could swat out a string of them now and it wouldn't be fair to this congregation either. Anything that's confessed to me is a secret forever. But you just thought of the thing, the thing that you love, the thing that grips your heart, the idol in your life, and let the Lord look into your eyes and hear him say, lovest thou me more.

Mind you, he was getting down to the spot now. I honestly believe that the touchstone of Christianity is this, when Jesus Christ looks into your faith and says, lovest thou me more. Mr. Mon, do you love me more than the message?

I can say, yes, yes, Mr. Mon, do you love me more than the baptism? I can say, praise the Lord. Mr. Mon, do you love me more than the place? Mr. Mon, do you love me more than the crown? Well, I could take not the whole congregation.

I could. It would be possible for me to love the message more than the master, and Eric to love the song more than the trivial, and you to love the praise more than the passion. That's possible. You just sit down in your seat and answer for yourself, lovest thou me more.

And you know, the word that our Lord used there is the word for divine love, and you can't see this in the English at all, because Peter answered back in verse 15. He said, yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.

And he used a different word when he answered back. There are two different Greek words. The one the Lord used is, do you love me with divine love? And the one that Peter used is the one for affection.

He says, you know that I have affection for thee. He was afraid to use the other one. And the Lord said, feed my lambs. And I always like to think that when he looked into Peter's eyes and said, feed my lambs, and then again the next time he said, feed my sheep, that if the Roman pope would just listen for a moment, my he, he's the post of the following Peter.

And he says, the sheep belong to him. The Lord was teaching Peter something different from that. He thinks that all the lambs and all the sheep belong to him. He says, well, mine, the Lord said, they're mine.

Very careful. He says, Peter, feed my sheep, feed my lambs. They belong to the Lord. Look, friend, let's get this down to verse 16. He says to him again, the second time, Simon, son of Junius, lovest thou me?

He says unto him, yea, Lord, thou knowest that I have affection for thee. He says unto him, feed my sheep. He says unto him the third time. It almost seems that he's putting Peter over those very times when he denied him, three times.

And Peter comes right out of the open here. Peter was grieved, and the word there that's rendered grieved would have been better rendered touched. It doesn't mean he got cross or was angry. It's a Greek word that actually means his soul was stirred, he was touched, he was moved.

The master should look into his face and say for three times, lovest thou me? He was really touched. He comes out of the open and he says, Lord, thou knowest all things. Jesus said unto him, feed my sheep.

I think there was a tenderness in that interrogation, how lovely the Lord was. Now, following that up very closely comes something that's very important. It says, verily, verily I say unto thee, when thou wast young, thou dreaded thyself and wanted whether thou wouldest, but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt set forth thy hands, and another shall judge thee, tyring thee whether thou wouldest not.

Peter’s Death and Glorifying God

This be a key signifying by what death, Peter, should glorify God. Now, this is a revelation, and it's a very tender one. You know what he's telling Peter? He's telling Peter, you can't die young. What fulfilled Peter, you know, in a certain sense?

He says, when thou shalt be old, and when our Lord says, you should die young, you know. You know, some of us, when we turn to Acts chapter 12, and we find Peter in prison, and Herod, Herod says, this very night I'll bring him forth and I'll put him to death.

We find Peter fast asleep, and we say he's not concerned. He's just lying there like a dead sinner. He doesn't know his danger. It may be the other way around. It may well be that Peter knew, or he had come to me this way, for the Lord said, I'll lay old.

It may be that he believed the Lord's word and went to sleep. We should go slow in condemning. You see, the Lord was telling Peter, when thou art old, and he actually signified the death. He says, another shall take thee, and stretch forth thy hands.

Well, just look at me on the platform, do you see? He says, another shall take thee and stretch forth thy hands, signifying for death he should die. And Peter died on a cross, crucified. And I'm told from historians that when they were nailing him to the cross, he said, don't just let me die like the Savior, turn the cross upside down.

And he died on a crucifix upside down. But the Lord knew why he would die. But wait a wee minute, all you old ones listening. This said he, signifying by what death? Listen to us. Peter should glorify God.

Oh, what are you all worried about? Do you not know that you can die to the glory of God? Lots of people get annoyed about death. What's exciting? Peter, you can die to the glory of God. Yes, you can, you know.

That's what Peter did. He died to the glory of God. Mind you, I've seen this on more than one occasion. Oh, I couldn't take this meeting through the days that I've been. But I, I sat one night, in the middle of the night, beside a wee woman, and she was dying with not two ounces of flesh on her bones.

Her very bones were racking. And yet in that hour, when she couldn't see and couldn't breathe, she was whispering, soon I'll see his face. Oh, I'll never forget it. I came home and said, I said to the Lord, that if ever I must die, let me die like that.

Let me die like that. Dear friends, don't let the devil scare you too much, you know. You know what death is? It's a passing out of this body, and you enter into the presence of the Lord, to see his lovely face, and have it with him forever.

My dear friends, I went to see a sister in a hospital some years ago. She'd got cancer through great lumps, and I said to her, I said, I know what's wrong with you. She said, I know, I know. I said, what am I going to do?

I said, well, as far as I understand this oracle of death, my dear, this is your last act of faith down here. Oh, no more faith after that, you know. That's the last act of faith. I said, you should make it as bright as you can.

And from that little simple word, you know, she got a grip of it. And my friend, she just brightened up, my sister brightened up, and she was determined to die for the glory of God. And I'll tell you what happened.

You know, the Lord came in in the middle of the night and removed the lumps, and she's still living yet, in spite of all the professors of the day. She's on the hospital floor again. Ah, let's learn lessons here.

Wasn't there a wonderful tenderness in this revelation? He said, Peter, you'll not die young, you'll die old, and you'll die for the glory of God. I said, and when he had said that, he put this behind it.