PETER IN JOHN 21
PETER IN JOHN 21
In John 21 the Lord deals with Peter as to how he had failed in following Him. He was the first apostle the Lord met after His resurrection: He had seen him, He had breathed on him, had sent him forth; chapter 20. Peter had no sense of fear of Him, but he was not in communion. A person may do a great deal without being in communion, but he has not the Lord’s mind as to how to act. Moses did not get the Lord’s mind for forty years. You may have got out of the path, but not out of grace, and you might have a great deal of blessing, and still not be in communion, not in accordance with the Lord’s mind. This chapter (John 21) shows how the Lord brings Peter into communion. If we are true to the Lord, we shall desire to be brought into it. The Lord says, “Come and dine”. (John 21: 12)
It is interesting to mark that Peter is not restored yet, though he had been breathed on and commissioned. You will find that the sympathy of the Lord precedes communion. He shows the interest He takes in me, before He comes to effect the removal of the thing in me which is a barrier to communion. What barred communion to Peter was self-confidence. His heart was not restored, he was off the line. If we are in communion, we are going on the line. Peter had gone fishing.
It is important to see how a man may be receiving and learning the goodness and truth of the Lord, and still not be in His mind. How do I know when I am in His mind? When I follow Him. “Come and dine” is the sympathy side. Here, the Lord says, all [p. 178] is prepared; here is the fire of coals, and fish laid thereon, and bread; why do you go fishing? If you were in concert with Me, you would see that you had a line of things of your own, and had not consulted My line, like Martha.
Communion is, I know the mind of the Lord; I am in concert with it, though I may be very far from getting into the depths of it. You may say, I have His mind so far. Then act on it. The Lord says to Peter, I must touch the thing in your heart which bars you from communion: “Lovest thou me?” (John 21: 15) And then He adds the true practice of communion: “Follow me”. (John 21: 19) There may be devotedness without communion. Jonathan was devoted, but not in communion. Ruth was in communion: “Whither thou goest I will go”. (Ruth 1: 16) When I get into communion my heart is called into fellowship with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ. There is nothing so cheering to our poor hearts down here. The Lord likes me to go on His own way in concert with His own mind, and He enables me to accomplish what His desires are.