and we'll read verses 21 and
22. The Gospel of John, chapter 21, and reading verses 21 and
22. Verse 21 is the question that Peter put to the Lord Jesus,
and 22 is the answer that the Lord gave to Peter. So these two verses read, Peter,
seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus
saith unto him, if I will that he tarry till I come, what is
that to thee? Follow thou me. we find in the scriptures questions
put to Jesus and we see that very often he didn't answer them
in the way that the question was put the answer was different
and here is no exception really because Peter asked Jesus what
shall this man do and of course is the Apostle John, what shall
he do? And Jesus didn't answer him. All he said was, if I will, that
he tarry until I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me. Well, there's a lot of instruction
in the way the Lord responds to questions. And we should recognize
the relevance and importance of them. Because so often we're
more concerned about what other people are doing, and what other
people are thinking, and what other people are saying, rather
than what we're doing, and what we're saying, and what we're
thinking. And of course the relevance is
that in our life, to be more concerned to follow gracious
and glorious words of the Saviour which are very clear and very
succinct and just three words really, follow thou me. What a different world we live
in if people were able to take those words to heart and to follow
the wonderful pattern that we have in the Word of God. It's
a wonderful pattern, it's a glorious pattern, what a wonderful thing
if you and I are given grace to be concerned about ourselves
and how we are following our great and glorious Saviour. And
of course in that path, a path to bring honour and glory to
God, not to bring honour and glory to ourselves. You and I
are on this earth by God's grace for that great and glorious purpose,
to bring honour and glory to his name. And in order for this
to be accomplished, the statement is very clear, that you and I
should follow him, follow thou me. Very simple, wasn't it? Very simple. What a wonderful
answer to have. Well, such a word really speaks
to all of us, doesn't it? We may look around at other people
and wonder what they're thinking and what they're doing and what
they're saying. But really, the situation is between our souls
and God. That's the vital matter, isn't
it? What we're thinking, what we're saying, what we're doing. Sometimes people do things just
to impress people. Sometimes they do it just to
please themselves. But here is a great and glorious
statement, to follow the Lord, to follow the Lord. And again,
there's no qualification. There's no statement saying,
well, you must follow the Lord in this and follow the Lord in
that. It's comprehensive. follow thou
me. And if we think of the gracious
and glorious life of the Saviour, when we think what he did and
how he lived, how very different really from what we are and what
we do and what we say, let's remember the Lord Jesus
had nowhere to lay his head. He didn't have an estate. He
didn't even have his own house. And it appears he only had the
clothes that he was standing up in to wear. He didn't have
a big wardrobe. And then to think that he left
the throne in glory. He'd been with his father from
eternity. mystery that you and I can't understand, but nonetheless
he had and the Father sent him into this sinful world to redeem
his people. What a glorious God we have,
poor old sinful mankind, right back in the Garden's Eden, sinned,
disobeyed God, listened to the devil. There was no following
the right and glorious words of the Saviour. And when Satan
came to Eve with that great question, hath God said? sowing seeds of doubt, but Eve
was able to respond and to tell the devil what he had said, but
then the devil responded and said well you needn't worry about
that or words to that effect, and therefore being tempted Eve
took of that fruit And as you look at that, that was the saddest
day in the history of the world, because sin entered into the
world. And now we see all creation groans
under the condemnation of that sin. Well, wouldn't it have been
a wonderful blessing if Eve had ignored what the devil said and
followed closely what God had spoken to Adam and her husband
and herself. But you see the devil was very
cunning and my friends he's very cunning today and he doesn't
really change his tack. He still comes today into our
lives challenges the Word of God and tells us we needn't really
listen to such statements. We have this very clear statement
here tonight, follow thou me, the devil will say well you needn't
really do that and he'll say I'll tell you why because many
people been good people and haven't followed such a word as this,
well that's an assumption, but what a wonderful blessing it
is if God gives to us that life in our souls with that real living desire
to listen to such glorious words, follow thou me, a great privilege,
it's a great blessing to be a true follower of our Lord and Jesus
Christ, especially as the Holy Spirit shows to us what sinful
wretches we are, sin against light and knowledge, turn our
back upon God, say in our heart we will not have this man to
rule over us, we say really to God I'm going to walk my own
path, I'm not going to follow the word of God, what's the result? We're listening
and we're following to the devil and yet you see you and I today
wonderfully privileged to have the Word of God, the Bible to
read, which directs us very clearly in all that we need, and to think
that we stand, every one of us, in and of ourselves, a guilty
sinner before a holy God. And what a wonderful blessing
it is If God gives us that grace, therefore, to follow his word,
his word tells us here, follow thou me. Another place it says
to take up our cross daily and to follow him. It's not a question
of just following the Lord on a Sunday when everything perhaps
looks all right and we're with God's people. It's very simple.
doesn't say that follow thou me at all times night and day in
all ways thoughts words and actions well it's a great challenge isn't
it In this day and age, we live in an easy time, everything goes,
people are encouraged to do what they want to, but we have the
Word of God. And my friends, we're not to
treat such statements lightly. We're not to consider they don't
have any relevance to us. because they do. And if you and
I turn our back upon such glorious statements, the reality is we
are without excuse. Terrible condition to find ourselves
before that judgment seat of Christ. In answer to that great
question, Have you followed my instructions? I'm following them,
mate. And we can't answer positively. We answer, well, perhaps we won't
be able to answer. It'll only be a negative answer,
won't it? And what a great blessing. if
we stand before that judgment seat and have the wonderful evidence
that the Lord Jesus Christ has died on our behalf to redeem
our souls so that our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus'
blood and righteousness. You see, to be able to stand
before God and say, well, my hope is not in what I've done. My hope is what my great and
glorious Saviour has done for me. Well, all of us need to have
the evidence in our hearts that the Lord Jesus has given us grace. To follow Him. To follow Him. We need to be clear that, of
course, following like that is not easy. It brings with it reproach. It brought reproach to the Saviour. And we should not think that
we're going to be exempt from that situation because we have
a kind and gracious God who knows exactly what we need. And yet
we have a God who is very compassionate and very merciful. What a blessing,
therefore, if you and I understand this great and glorious truth.
You may remember Jesus spoke when he was on the earth. His
glorious words, come unto me. all ye that labour, and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find
rest unto your souls.' That was the glorious words of Jesus,
the glorious imitation of the gospel, and yet you see how few
there are receive that wonderful gift of grace to come to the
Saviour. We may feel burdened, we may
feel heavy laden, we may feel burdened because of our sin and
heavy laden because of our sin, and yet you see we have that
glorious words of the Saviour to come unto him, come unto him. What a wonderful relief that
brings to our hearts, to our souls, when we're given grace
to respond in a positive way, and not push it into the background
as though it's irrelevant, and not to push this statement into
the background as though it's irrelevant. You see the Lord
says, as he responds to that question
of Peter, he says it, what is that to thee? What does it matter
about other people? Don't worry what they're doing,
don't worry about what they're thinking or saying, but follow
thou me. That's the great and wonderful
statement You know, there is a wonderful blessing in that.
There's the answer of a good conscience. You know, as you
and I receive grace to follow the Saviour, it's a good path. It's a blessed path. And it's
a path of obedience. And many people do not want to
obey the Lord. They think it's going to be very
costly. They think it's not going to
be acceptable at all. Well, just follow those words
that I've said. Come unto me all ye that labour
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. What a wonderful
thing that is, isn't it? To have God come and give us
rest. You may be in turmoil. You may not know what to do. You may be tossed about. You may think there's no hope
for you. Well, that's what the devil will tell you. There's
no hope. That's why God has given us his
word, to respond to the devil. If you think of the Lord Jesus
Christ, when he was baptised and then he was found in the
wilderness for those 40 days and nights, being tempted of
the devil, we have some of the questions that the devil put
to him. And we see how the Lord responded. How did he respond? He quoted scripture. My friends,
that's the best way to respond When the devil tells you, you
can get involved in that, you can do that, there's no harm
in that, you can enjoy it. My friends, turn to the Word
of God. Search the Word of God. Respond to the devil in the Word
of Scripture. And you won't be able to come
again. He knows that what is spoken
in the Word of God is true. what the devil says is lies. Well then here we have the gracious
words of Jesus. What is that to thee? Follow
thou me. Well what a mercy it is if we're
able to therefore come and do the will of God and this is the
will of God. And again, let's go back to Jesus
himself and his wonderful example. And you remember, I'm sure you
remember, the Lord was crucified. And prior to that, he was in
the garden, well in the judgment hall, and then before that in
the garden of Gethsemane. And he bore all the assaults
of Satan. And we hear him praying to his
father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, that cup
of crucifixion. We see him there in his manhood,
human being, just like you and me, fearful of what was going
to occur. if it be possible, let this cut
pass from me. But nevertheless, not my will,
but thine be done. And how very relevant that is
for you and me today. The devil is very cunning, and
he'll try and stop you from doing the will of God. But remember,
the Lord gives more grace. The Lord comes and gives more
unmerited favour, that we may be able to resist the devil,
that he may flee from us. Spiritual life is a battle, a
battle. Never think it's an easy situation. It never is. It never has been
and it never will be. The Lord Jesus spoke to his disciples
when he was on the earth and spoke some very plain words before
he actually came and prayed to his father. you see he told them
it is through much tribulation you will inherit the kingdom
but be of good joy i have overcome the world the christian's life
is not easy never has been and it never will be and don't let
the devil tell you if you did this it'd be easier walk contrary
to God, be sure this will be true. If we walk contrary to
God, he will walk contrary to us. And it's a great blessing
to have the answer of a good conscience. Jesus went about doing good, already said he didn't have anywhere
to lay his head, he was lonely, he spent his nights in prayer
to his Father. What a wonderful example. How
much do we pray to our Father in heaven? If we follow the great
and glorious example of the Lord Jesus Christ, He says here, follow
thou me, no one else. That's the pattern. that you
and I are to follow. And in following that pattern
brings with it wonderful favours and comfort to our hearts. Because as we're able to do that,
we realise we're walking the path the Saviour trod. As he
was tempted and tried, yet his Father was with him. apart from
those three hours on the cross, when he was forsaken. And he
cried out then, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? Well,
my friends, the blessed Saviour tasted being away from God, his
Father. He tasted that terrible time
of being alone, all so that he might satisfy commands of his
father in obeying him and suffering, as the hymn writer says, all
incarnate God could bear with strength enough and none to spare. He went about doing good. You
only have to read, I'm sure, the Gospels and you'll find there
so many wonderful examples what the Lord Jesus Christ did, how
he healed, how he forgave sins, how he set a wonderful example,
was never too tired to speak, never too weary to do good. Oh we have a wonderful example,
a wonderful God, and therefore we have this gracious exhortation,
follow thou me. Do we then turn our back upon
such a statement? Because in our little world we
don't want to follow the Lord in everything. We're happy perhaps
to follow in a few things. Many things we don't want to. We don't want to take up our
cross. No, we want to carry on in our
little life. What a wonderful blessing, therefore,
to have that real desire to follow a pattern. And what was the Lord?
He came as a servant. A servant. If we are to follow
this despised and crucified man, we are to be found serving the
Lord. To be a willing servant. Are
we willing to be a servant? Are we willing to serve our God?
In whatever that may entail, we don't know the future, but
if God be for us, who can be against us? If God is on our
side, what a wonderful blessing, what a wonderful favour. You
know, if you and I take up this glorious statement, remember,
the Lord Jesus was despised and rejected of men. That's not a
very happy place, is it, to be in? To be despised and rejected
of men. But in that position, when that
occurs, you and I will have great comfort in realising that we're
following the precious words of the Saviour and are following
Him. And we can be sure that he will
not leave us, but he will come and strengthen us and come and
help us and come and comfort us. If we go in our own strength,
we shall fail. But if we go in the strength
of the Lord God, what a mercy that is. I will go in the strength
of the Lord God and make mention of his righteousness. even of
his only not our own what a mercy it is then to be one who is willing
to be a servant and willing to be despised and rejected of men
well the lord knows your heart and my heart because of course
he came and he he offered himself You know, we're not required,
really, to do that, although there have been those masters
who have, of course, offered themselves. But our Saviour offered
Himself in order to satisfy the requirement of His Father to
take away the curse. Oh, my friends, what a Saviour
we have. Is it a hard task to follow thou
me? Well, may we be willing in the
day of his power. God gives strength. Yes, God gives willingness and
he gives strength. We should not think that we have
any strength ourselves. but to realise what the Apostle
Paul said, who'd experienced it very clearly, I can do all
things through Christ that strengtheneth me. And what a great blessing
that is to have God on our side. God to be with us and God to
strengthen us. Yes, what a mercy it is. And
then to not forget He endured the cross. He endured
the cross. That may not be a physical cross
that you and I have to endure, but it may be a cross which indeed
crosses our paths and stops us perhaps doing things that naturally
we really enjoy doing. But as we stop and ponder and
consider Would Jesus have done this? We have his example. We have what he did. We don't
see Jesus wasting his time. We don't see Jesus getting involved
in things which are not profitable and not good. We see him going
about and doing his Father's will. And so may we not follow
our own way, following those things which our old nature wants
to get involved in, which only bring about a sinful condition. So easy, isn't it, to get involved
in the things of the world. You know, the devil makes them
very attractive, and he shines light upon them, and he tells
us in a very subtle way, there's no harm in following that, there's
no harm in doing that, no harm in enjoying that. Well let's
ask ourselves the question, will those activities, will those
thoughts bring us nearer to Christ or will they take us farther
away? It's a good test for you and
me in a day and age in which we live. Just ponder it and think
of whether the Lord would indeed go that way. And then we think
of the Saviour, the pattern He's left behind. What did He do?
Well, He was revealed to John the Baptist. John the Baptist
was the one that really instituted baptism. Jesus came to him to
be baptised and John the Baptist said, I have need to be baptised
of thee and comest thou to me. Well Jesus said to suffer these
things and Jesus was then baptised in Jordan by immersion in the
River Jordan, and he had that wonderful acknowledgement from
his Father in Heaven, who spoke in an audible voice, this is
my beloved Son, hear ye Him. And we have a record of that,
and what a great blessing it is. We have the words indeed
of John the Baptist, who told us after that, behold the Lamb
of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Well, what a mercy
if you and I by grace can behold by faith the Lord Jesus Christ
and see his wonderful pattern and then desire to take up our
cross and to follow him What a mercy it is if God does give
that grace, and you know it's the answer of a good conscience.
We're not promised any great blessing by being baptised, but
we do have the answer of a good conscience, and we know that
we are doing the will of Almighty God, and we know that we are
following His gracious and glorious pattern. So we should not think
that there are going to be great and wonderful blessings in that
action. Sometimes the Lord is very gracious
and does grant it, but there's no warrant to think that it will. And yet, what a mercy if you
and I are able to come and to follow thou me. Follow thou me. Well, I wonder what our reaction
is to that. whether we are willing to truly
follow a despised and crucified man. Well, let me tell you this,
there's wonderful comfort in walking that path because we
know it's a path of obedience. We know we are doing the will
of God. And what a great comfort that
is. to therefore be found walking that path. Those of us who walk
that path can confirm it's something that we never regret. We no doubt regret many things
in our life. One thing we never forget is
to follow our blessed Saviour in that ordinance of believer's
baptism. And then you see, to be able
to come and sit at the Lord's Supper. Remember the Lord said,
do this in remembrance of me. What a wonderful privilege that
is. To be able to come and join together. We think of that Passover
night. when the Lord Jesus instituted
the Lord's Supper. And I think sometimes how wonderful
it was because the Saviour knew what was before him. He'd partaken
of the last Passover, the last Passover, and there would be
no need for a Passover ever again. because the Lord Jesus Christ
himself therefore became the Passover for the Church of God. What a blessing that is and how
wonderful to think the Lord Jesus therefore set us that glorious
example and instituted the Lord's Supper so that we may remember
his dying love. We're very forgetful very forgetful
so often. What a wonderful thing it is
therefore that we can gather together to remember his great
love toward us and to follow him in the ordinance of believers
baptism and then to be a partaker of the Lord's Supper, to drink
that symbol of that broken body and the symbol of his shed blood. We just have a little view of
the cost of our salvation. What a cost it was. The Lord
of life and glory, willing to give his life upon that cross
at Calvary to take away all our sins, every sin, not some, every
sin, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son cleanses us from all
sin. Oh may we praise God for that
and go on our way rejoicing to realize that we have such a wonderful
and gracious God who's given us a wonderful example. And so tonight in answer to this
question of Peter What shall this man do? What shall this
woman do? What shall you and I do? Here's
the word. Follow thou me. Follow thou me. You will never regret following
the example of the Saviour. It's a wonderful privilege to
think that unworthy sinners, undone sinners, lost sinners,
receive this wonderful blessing of taking up our cross and following
him. Well may we all be blessed with
this great privilege and honour which it is to think that we
have a wonderful example set before us in the Word of God,
the example of Jesus, who's left on record this great statement,
follow thou me. Amen.