All right, go back with me to
John 21. We started going through the
book of John on January the 6th, 2013. Hannah and the girls and I moved
here officially eight days before that. We moved here on a Saturday. And the following Sunday night,
I told everybody, I think we're going to go through a book. And
we started John. In this precious book right here,
now we're going to come back to John many, many, many times,
but I'm a little bit sad to leave this book. In this dear and precious
book right here, we've been in for almost three and a half years,
we have seen the fact, it has been absolutely proven to us
that the Lord Jesus Christ is God Almighty. That's what John
has set forth, the deity of Jesus Christ. He is God Almighty. The Word that was made flesh
and dwelt among us was with God and was God. He said in the middle
of this book, before Abraham was, I am. He is. Before Abraham was, he
is. This particular book is where
the Lord plainly told us it is finished. Right here in John. It is finished. God came and
finished it. That's amazing news. That is
amazing news. God put an end to the curse. As soon as Adam fell, God said,
Cursed is everything. Cursed are you. Cursed is the
ground. It's all cursed. Christ came
and he put an end to the cursed by putting an end to our sin.
I cannot think of a more blessed way to close our study in this
book than by remembering his broken body and his shed blood. I can't think of a more precious
way to close out this glorious book then by doing what he told
us to do. He said, as oft as you do this,
this glorious, glorious ordinance, our Lord gave us two ordinances. He gave us baptism, and in that
ordinance we are showing union with Christ in his death, his
burial, and his resurrection. And in this ordinance right here
we are showing union with Christ in the same thing. His broken
body and His shed blood. He gave us two things to keep. Now our Lord said right here
in our text, verse 18, He told Peter, Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkest
whither thou wouldest, But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt
stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and
carry thee, whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying
by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this,
he saith unto him, Follow me. The Lord told Peter how he was
going to die. That's what he told him, how
he was going to die. Verse 20, Then Peter, turning
about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following. And that's John, the writer of
this gospel. He never called himself by name,
ever. A very, very humble man, and
he would not call himself by name. He always would say the
disciple that Jesus loved. So verse twenty, Peter turning
about seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following which also
leaned on his breast at supper. Now that supper is where he gave
this ordinance. The night in which he was betrayed,
he called all of his disciples together and he took some bread,
unleavened bread. We said this morning, leaven
represents sin. And he took some bread that had
no leaven in it, no representative of sin in it, which was the body
of Christ. And he broke that bread and gave
it to his disciples. And that's what he did on that
cross. And then he held up a cup of wine, and he said, This cup
is the New Testament in my blood. You have the Old Testament, which
was the law. The Old Testament said, You do
this, you'll live. If you don't do this, you'll
die. He said, The New Testament is right there. It's in my blood. If you're in my blood, you'll
live. You can't keep the law. But if
you're in this, you'll live. If you don't have this, you won't
live. And so he said, take this bread and you eat it. And he
said, you take this wine and you drink it. As often as you
do this, you do show my death until I return, until I come
again. So verse 20, then 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? They were all wondering, who's
going to betray you? They all kept saying, is it I? I know
it could be. I know it could be. I don't believe
for one minute it's Judas. Is it I? And John was laying
right there on the Lord's chest. And he's the one that Peter,
they all beckoned him. They all said, ask him who it's
going to be. And John said, Lord, who's it going to be? So verse
21, Peter, seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall
this man do? Now, knowing Peter, we love Peter,
don't we? But knowing Peter, we read this
and we naturally see him as being caught up in the flesh and saying,
if I have to go through all this, the Lord told him that he was
going to be crucified, just like he was. And if I have to go through
all this, what are you going to make him go through? Surely
I'm not going to have to suffer alone. Knowing Peter, that's
probably what he was saying. Because he's just like me and
he's just like you. But wouldn't we love to give our dear brother
the benefit of the doubt? Just maybe he was saying, Lord,
what is going to happen to my brother? What's going to happen? Is he going to be okay? Either
way, no matter what, either way, verse 22, Jesus saith unto him,
If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. Peter, that's
not your concern. That's just not your concern.
I can do with my own whatever I please. And if I'm pleased
to send you to the death of a martyr, and if I'm pleased to keep him
alive on this earth until I return, that's all according to my will
and purpose. It's not for you to be concerned about. You just
follow me. Just follow me. What a What a
thing for a believer to get a hold of. What's he doing? And what's
he doing? Just follow me. Don't worry about it. You just
follow me. I'll take care of my own. You just follow me. Verse
23, Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that
disciple should not die. Everybody was saying, the Lord
said John's not going to die. Yet Jesus said not unto him he
shall not die, but if I will that he tarry till I come, what
is that to thee? The great error of man The eternal
error of man is in the fact that they've taken God's word and
they've twisted it. They always have to take what
he said and put a twist on it. They've tried to make it say
something that he did not say. He did not say John was not going
to die. He said, what if I will that he tarry till I come? Don't
worry about that. Verse 24, this is the disciple
which testifies of these things and wrote these things and we
know that his testimony is true. The only way we can know that
we're clinging to the truth is by clinging to God's word. That's how. John said that's
not actually what he said. And that's how we know we're
clinging to the truth, by clinging to what he actually said. What
did God say? Whatever he said, that's the
truth. Now, here we are in the end of
this particular book. And it has caused me to think
about the end of our life. Closing out this book has caused
me to dwell on the end of our life here on this earth. If the
Lord tarries, there is going to come a day that we're all
going to lay these bodies down. What will take some of the fear
out of it and what will bring some of the sweetness to it is
knowing that our Lord just said when that happens it is glorifying
to God. It is glorifying to God. He just
told Peter by what death he should glorify God. Turn with me over
to John 13. John thirteen look at verse thirty
one. Now this is the night that our
Lord was betrayed he said in verse thirty one therefore when
he was gone out Jesus said now is the son of man glorified and
God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him God
shall also glorify him in himself and shall straightway glorify
him. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ
is God's greatest glory. It's God's greatest glory. When he offered his body and
when he offered his blood to God on our behalf, judgment was
met. The law satisfied and mercy was
born right there when a ransom was found. The fact that God
would show mercy to sinners. I was just talking to somebody
in the foyer just a minute ago about the awesome thought that
God would choose us. The amazing, amazing thought
that God would choose us. The fact that God would show
mercy to any sinner. You know, all are born into this
world dead, and trespasses, and sins, and ruined, and rebellious,
and all those things. And every soul on this earth
is destined for one place only, hell. And men see God's election
as excluding people. If God did not elect a people,
no one would be saved. Election only includes. Election is unto salvation. Thank God He chose to show mercy
to some sinners. The fact that He would do that
and willingly lay down His life is God's greatest glory. It's his greatest glory. Our
Lord said, as I am, so are you. As my death brought glory to
him, he says, so will yours. Look right here in John 13 at
verse 36. Simon Peter said unto him, Lord,
whither goest thou? The Lord is about to go to the
cross. He said, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him,
Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt
follow me afterwards. He told him, You're going to
follow me to a cross. You're going to be crucified.
He told Peter by what death he should glorify God. Now turn
with me over to 2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter 1. 2nd Peter 1 verse 12 says. Peter
writes where for I will not be negligent to put you always in
remembrance of these things though you know them and be established
in the present truth. He said, even though you know
these things and you're established in the truth, and I believe in
my heart you know these things. I do. I believe you know these
things. And I believe you are established in the truth. I don't
believe that you think that there's one work we can add to Christ's
blood to accomplish our salvation, right? But he said, even though
you know these things and even though you're established in
this truth, I'm going to keep telling it, and I'm going to
keep telling it, and I'm going to keep telling it, and I'm going
to keep telling it, and I'm not going to stop telling the same
thing. I will not be negligent to put
you always in remembrance of these things. Verse 13, he said,
Yea, I think it meet as long as I am in this tabernacle. That
means his body, his soul is in. As long as I'm in this tabernacle
to stir you up by putting you in remembrance. Knowing that
shortly I must put off this my tabernacle my soul very soon
is going to be separated from my body. Even as our Lord Jesus
Christ have showed me. Moreover. I will endeavor that
you may be able, after my decease, to have these things always in
remembrance. For we have not followed cunningly
devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty."
He said, I'm not going to stop telling you this, even though
you know it. I'm going to remind us, I'm going to remind us, I'm
going to remind us. He said this is not fables, cunningly
devised fables. He said we were eyewitnesses
of his majesty. He said following Christ is going
to cost me my life. It's going to cost me my life,
but I can't help it. I've seen the king. I just cannot
help it. Try to stop following Christ. Once you've seen the king, try
to deny him. Now Peter denied him. Oh, this
flesh is so weak. Try to eternally deny him. Once you truly see the king,
he said, I can't help it. The apostle Paul said, for me
to live is Christ, to die is gain. He said, it's gain. I'll get
to see His Majesty again. Can you imagine after walking
with God and then God leaving, the enjoyment that they had of
knowing we're going to see Him? We're going to see God again.
We're going to see His Majesty again. Turn with me to Psalm
116. Psalm 116, look at verse 15. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of His saints. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of His saints. When one of His saints finally
drops the weight of sin You think God Almighty sees the
death of a saint as a bad thing, knowing what's waiting for them?
When God Almighty sees one of his saints finally drop the weight
of sin, when he sees one of his saints finally freed from the
effects and the bondage of the curse, God Almighty says, that's
precious. That's precious. Finally freed. He had no idea what life was. Dragging around the weight of
that sin. Look at him. Free at last. It's precious. Turn with me to Revelation 14. John writes in Revelation 14
verse 13. And I heard a voice from heaven
saying unto me write. I want you to write this down.
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit. that they
may rest from their labors and their works do follow them. Blessed
are the dead which die in the Lord. Now, Peter was crucified
in Rome. History says he was crucified
upside down. James the less, and that means
the younger. There were two James. One was
older, one was younger. James the less was stoned and
beaten to death at the age of 94. Is that horrible? We have some dear loved believers
who have made it to a ripe old age, kind, sweet, tender, loving. Could you imagine them laying
hold of those dear old believers, beating them, stoning them, John
was exiled. He was cast out of his country
and forced to live the rest of his life on the Isle of Patmos. Andrew was crucified. Philip
was stoned, then crucified. Thomas, poor old Thomas, he was
thrust through with a spear. Bartholomew was beaten, then
crucified. Matthew was slain with a halberd,
that's a spear that has an axe on the end of it. James the Great,
the older, was beheaded. Simon Zelotes was crucified. Jude was crucified. And history is not certain, but
most believe the Apostle Paul was beheaded. And God Almighty
said right here, I want you to write this down. They're all
blessed. Every one of them. They're all
blessed. They are so, so blessed. Blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord. Why did he say that? Look with
me at 1 Thessalonians 4. First Thessalonians four. Verse fourteen says. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again. Even so them also which sleep
in Jesus will God bring with him. You know what that means? They're alive and well. That's
what it means. They are alive and well. That's why they're blessed. They
are all, right now, alive and well. They've been freed from
the pain and the presence of sin, and when God comes back,
He's bringing every one of them with Him. And I'm excited about
it. verse fifteen right here says
for this we say unto you by the word of the Lord that means God
told us to say this that we which are alive and remain unto the
coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep
that means we're not going to go up before those that are asleep
come forth verse sixteen for the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and
with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord." That's
comforting, isn't it? Isn't that exciting? Now the promise of everything
we just read was given to us in our text. Go with me back
to John 21. Verse 22 says, Jesus saith unto
him, If I will that he tarry till I come. If I will that he tarry Till
I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me. He said, I'm
coming back. I am coming back. I came to live
for you. I came to die for you. I came so that I could ascend
back up to my father and make intercession for you. I am going
to prepare a place for you. And then I'm coming back. Until
I come, I want you to follow me. Until I come, follow me. That is all a believer wants
to do, isn't it? Truly, that is all that a believer
wants to do. We just want to follow Him and
wait for Him. In just a moment, we're going
to observe this table. One of the two ordinances the
Lord gave us. And we see what they represent.
They represent his broken body. Everything hinges on what Christ
did on that cross and what that means for us. His broken body,
his shed blood. Our Lord said, as often as you
do this, you are showing my death. We confess His death, don't we?
In baptism we confess His death. Right here we are confessing
His death. We show His death. We give thanks. We acknowledge
union with Him in this. We acknowledge that we are partakers
with Christ. That's all we're saying. Not
my works, His alone. That's all we're saying. If a
person believes on Christ alone, then everything in God's Word,
all of God's ordinances, everything that he has is for that believer
to take part in. And by God's grace, we're going
to observe this table in remembrance of him. We are going to continue
to show the Lord's death and we're going to continue to honor
the Lord's death and give thanks for his death until he comes. Until he comes. He is coming
again. He is coming again. 3 times in
Revelation 22 he said, I'm coming quickly, very quickly. As soon as he comes back, as
soon as he calls us up, We're going to rise off of this earth.
And as soon as He calls us up to meet Him in the air, as soon
as He takes us home to a new heaven and a new earth, we're
going to realize the half was not told us. The hundredth was not told us. The millionth was not told us. Look at verse 25 in our text.
It says, And there are also many other things which Jesus did,
the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose
that even the world itself could not contain the books that should
be written. Amen. That's how we're going to spend
eternity right there. That verse of scripture right there. We
are going to sit at His feet. We're just going to sit at His
feet and we're going to listen to Him tell us all things. All
things. Everything. All the other things
that we could never imagine. That's how we're going to spend
eternity. We're going to spend it hearing about Him learning
about him, we're just saying more, more about the Lord Jesus. More of his saving fullness,
see, more of his love who died for me. Now, if you love him,
last week he asked Peter, do you love me? Not if you have all of this doctrine
figured out. That's not it. Not if you see
yourself to be worthy to take of this table. If a man or woman
sees himself worthy to take of this table, don't take the table. If a man or woman sees himself
as worthy to take this table, don't take the table. But if
you see yourself as a sinner before God with no hope and no
righteousness and no salvation other than what Christ did on
that cross, if you love him and if you believe on him, then let's follow him together. by remembering Him. Alright? If you love Him, if you believe
on Him, then let's follow Him right now by remembering Him
till He comes. Till He comes. Alright.