Turn with me to the book of John
chapter 13, please. John 13. John 13. I'd like to look at
the last three verses of this chapter. Verses 36 to 38. Our Lord had just related to
his apostles a word of instruction and admonition
that they would need and that we continually need. And he said in verse 34, John
13. He said a new commandment, I
give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you,
that ye also love one another. Now, you know, as I always do, I was going over
my notes this morning, and I got to looking back at that verse
of Scripture. A new commandment I give unto
you. And I looked up the word new
again. I had already looked it up, but
I wanted to look it up again. And this is the word that is
interpreted fresh, a fresh commandment I give unto you. And it says
in the definition, not as, and it gives this Strong's number,
not as this particular word knew, which means as far as time is
concerned. Not a word as far as time. But the word is fresh. And I got to thinking about it.
And I thought, you know, that word, command, that was given
in the Old Testament. That was according to law. But our Lord said, this new commandment,
I give unto you. And so I got to reading. I started
reading again. I wanted to see what this writer
said and that writer said. I read all of these commentaries
again, just trying to get a handle on that word, new. A new commandment. And after reading all of the
commentaries, I thought, you know, I don't think that any
man can really come to the heart of what that word means except
to say this, understanding that it means fresh, a fresh commandment
I give unto you. I need to be taught this every
day. I need to be reminded right now,
a fresh commandment I give unto you, that you love one another
as I have loved you. And I began to think on that. He who is God Almighty, came
into this world, humbled himself as no man can
ever humble himself, made himself of no reputation, took upon himself
the form of a servant, the servant of his people, the
Lord of glory. that made himself a servant to
his people, laid down his life, submitted himself to the ridicule
and the jeers and the spittings and the laughter and the mockings
and everything, all for the honor of His Father and His will and
His glory. Whatever is honoring to the Lord,
and I thought to myself, I need to be taught afresh. I need a fresh revelation that
this is not all Or it's not any of it. It's not about me. Whatever I do, Lord teach me
to do it as unto the Lord. To do it for His honor, and for
His glory, and for His praise. And men, if they're going to
find fault with me, I realize this, you don't know the half
of it. Yeah, I'm guilty. Whatever you've accused me of,
I'm sure that I'm guilty. And you don't know the half of
it. May the Lord teach me. May I do unto others according
to His will, knowing that He's ordered all these things. And
may I walk in obedience And may Almighty God teach me,
walk as a believer. Walk as a believer and take His
side, His Word, against myself for the glory of His blessed
name. That I might walk honorably, recognizing that all that I am
is by the grace of God. A new commandment I give unto
you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you
also love one another. Now, looking at verse 36, Our Lord
had just told his disciples what I just told you. A new commandment. Well, Peter was standing there listening
to him. And the strange thing about it
is, our Lord had said in verse 33, little children, yet
a little while I am with you. You shall seek me. And as I said
unto the Jews, whether I go, ye cannot come, so now I say
to you." And then he went into that statement concerning a new
commandment. And in verse 36, Peter said unto
him, and here's the amazing thing. The comment that Peter made was
not about the Lord's statement concerning love, this new commandment. It was concerning what the Lord
had said prior to that new commandment. And it shows me that Peter, like
all of us, He got to thinking about what the Lord had said
prior to love. Now you think of the significance
of our relationship here and our love for one another and
our need to be taught again to love one another, to bear with
one another, to forgive one another. To take the best twist on whatever
somebody says. To not listen to what somebody
says and in my mind thinking, I know what you meant. I know what you meant. No. No, I don't. I don't know what
you meant. Lord, let me take it face value. Instead of musing and mulling
over in his mind what the Lord had just said about love, Peter's
thinking about what the Lord had just said about going and
leaving. This is the reason we need to
be reminded afresh again and again, because we are so fickle. We're so impulsive. Peter, thinking
about what the Lord had said prior to and missed, at least
he didn't comment on it, He said, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him and said,
Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt
follow me afterwards. Now, Peter, like all of us, why? Why do I have to wait? Why do
I have to stay here? Lord, if you're going, why can't
I go with you? Well, our Lord told him, and
I've looked at that and I know this, whether he meant that he
was going to the cross, and you can't go. Whether I go, thou
canst not follow me now. Or whether he meant going unto
his Father. Whether I go, thou canst follow
me now. But on both cases, he would,
as the Lord told him. But thou shalt follow me afterwards. Whether I'm going to die, or
whether I'm going to my Father, you cannot come now. But you
will. You shall. 1 Peter. Concerning the Lord going to
the cross, going to die. 1 Peter 1, verse 14. Listen to the words of Peter.
1 Peter 1, verse 14. I said 1 Peter, it meant 2, I'm
sorry. Turn to 2 Peter 1, verse 14. Here's what Peter says. knowing
that shortly I must put off this, my tabernacle, even as our Lord
Jesus Christ has showed me. The Lord was telling him, I'm
going to the cross, you can't go, but you shall. There's coming a time that you
shall. Peter says over in his latter epistle, the Lord has
shown me I must put off this tabernacle soon. Whether our
Lord meant that He was going to the cross, you can't go. You can't die. Then I'm going
to ascend into heaven. You can't go. But you shall. Our Lord in His high priestly
prayer, John 17, 24, Father, I will that those that Thou hast
given me be with me where I am, that they might behold my glory.
The glory I had with you, from before the foundation of the
world, for thy love is to me always. You cannot go now." Where was
the Lord going? Well, Lord willing, in the next
few weeks, we'll look at chapter 14, verse 2. He said, in my Father's
house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you, I go to prepare a place for you. I know that He must
go to the cross to prepare a place for us. I know that He must put
away our guilt. I know that He must, in obedience
to His Father's command, lay down His life, a ransom for many,
not for all. He didn't die for all of them.
He didn't die for all men without exception. He died for His sheep.
He laid down His life for His sheep. Lord, where are you going that
I cannot go? Verse 37, Peter said unto him,
Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy
sake. Boy, how childish, how fickle
and forgetful we are. Why? Evidence is little faith. Here was the great high priest
that sacrificed the altar himself. Soon to offer himself on that
great day of atonement, when that high priest back in the
Old Testament would offer the sacrifice on the day of atonement,
he went in one day in the year, not without blood, and He would
go in and sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice upon the mercy
seat by Himself. Lord, why cannot I follow Thee
now? The Scripture says, by His one
offering, He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. No
one else is involved. No one else could go to the cross
but Him. Why cannot I follow Thee now? Because, Peter, neither you nor
any other person has any part in the redemption of God's people. He alone is our sacrifice. He alone is our hope. Peter thought,
there's no place that I can't go with you. You can't go here. Our Lord, who alone doeth great
wonders, His mercy endureth forever. He said in John 12, 32, and I,
if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. Lord, why cannot I follow Thee
now? I will lay down my life for Thee. Oh, how little we know of our
own heart. How strong we imagine ourselves
to be. How faithful we think that we
are in estimating what we think is strength. You take a believer
this morning, and in our minds, but for the grace of God, we'll
think, I've been faithful all these years. I know what I believe. And I'm telling you, you couldn't
get me to not believe this. My friend, but for the grace
of God, we would turn our backs on Him that quickly. Faith cometh. Do you know why we believe this
morning? Because He's given us faith right now. Right now. Right now. Because He never leaves,
Carl. Never forsakes His own. The gifts
of God are without repentance. He has not given faith and then
taken away. Lord, why can't I go with You? I'll lay down my life for You. I'll never forsake You. I've brought this up so many
times, but it's so real to me. I have forsaken Him, that old
man. That old man has never changed.
I see it. I see it and feel it in my very
flesh. And I know it. And it grieves
me. And if the Lord marked iniquity,
who could stand? If Almighty God would charge
me with what I truly do in my flesh. But He charged it to Christ. He put away my guilt in His own
body. Why can't I go with you? I'll
lay down my life for you. Be careful. Be careful. By I cometh before a fall. Look at James 4. James 4. 13 to 15. James chapter 4. Verses 13 to 15. Old Peter said,
look at the words. Let me just read them for you
while you're over in James. Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot
I follow thee now? I will. Lay down thy life for
thy sake. I will do it. I will do it. James 4, 13, 15. Go to now ye
that say today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and
continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gains, whereas
ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your
life? It is even a vapor that appeareth
for a little time and then vanisheth away. What you ought to say,
if the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that. What you ought to say is, Lord,
by your grace, Lord, by your mercy, Lord, according to your
good pleasure, according to your will, Lord, according to your
will, I'll remain faithful. Lord, according to your will,
I'll believe you. Lord, by your grace, by your
pleasure, Lord, I'll be kept. I'll lay down my life for thee." And the Lord Jesus, in verse
38, answered him, Will thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
The cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice."
I began to look at that last verse right there, and I thought
about the omniscience, the all-knowing, the omniscience of our Lord. You'll lay down your life for
me. Peter, I'm telling you, And before the rooster crows twice, you're going to deny me three
times. Now you think about the omnipotence
of our Lord. He saw Peter deny Him before
Peter ever said it. And that third time that Peter
said, I don't know the man. The Lord said to the rooster,
crow. It's time. And that rooster crowed. Right on cue. He rules and reigns
in this world. A rooster doesn't crow. A cow
doesn't moo. No man speaks. No leaf falls. except at His command. He does
all things according to His will. Oh, but how these words would
come back and cause Peter to remember the grace of our Lord. Look at Luke 22. Luke 22. Luke
22. Verse 31, the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to
have you. I thought on that too as I was
reading that. And here's our Lord who knows
the heart of all His creatures. He knows Satan's heart. Satan
hath desired to have you that he may sift your wheat But I
prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. And when thou art converted,
strengthen thy brethren. That is converted, not in regeneration. He was already a converted man.
But when you're taught of your frailty, when you see your frailty,
when you see my sufficiency, When you see my never leaving
you, forsaking you, strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto
him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee both to prison and to death.
And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this
day, before thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me. And I think about that scripture
That cock crew for the second time. And Scripture says, and
the Lord just looked at him. Man, that breaks my heart right
now. I just think, oh. But for the grace of God, where
would we be? Believer, consider the mercy
of God toward His people. It's by the grace of God. that
you're here today. It's by the grace of God that
the Lord has not left you to yourself to sit under something
that is just man-honoring and man-boasting and self-promoting. It's by the grace of God that
God Almighty would bring you down and teach you what you are. I'll never leave you. His mercy
endureth forever. I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish. Salvation shall ever be shown
to be all of grace. Why? That no flesh should glory
in His presence, but of Him. Are ye in Christ Jesus, who of
God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. Lord bless these words to our
heart for Christ's sake.