I want us to read this morning
first, John chapter 21, please. John 21 verses 18 through 25. While you're turning, did you
ever notice that in the New Testament, every time anyone came to our
Savior and raised question about what someone was doing or someone
wasn't doing or something someone was about to do, our Lord Jesus
sharply rebuked them. The disciples came to the Lord
one time and said, these fellows, we saw them casting out devils,
but they weren't following us, so we rebuked them. And the master
rebuked John and the disciples for saying so. Mary and Martha
were entertaining the Lord Jesus and his disciples, and Martha
came to the Savior and said, Master, cares thou not that she
has left me to serve alone? And the Lord Jesus rebuked Martha
for speaking concerning what Mary was not doing. Here in John
21, we read, verily, verily, verse 18, I say unto thee, the
Lord Jesus is talking to Peter now. 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 said unto him, follow me. 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? Peter, seeing him, saith to Jesus,
Lord, 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. Then went this saying abroad
among the brethren, that that disciple should not 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? This is the disciple
which testifieth of these things and wrote these things. And we
know that his testimony is true. And there are also many other
things which Jesus did, to which if they should be written every
one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain
the books that should be written. Now let me give you the background
for this a little bit. The Lord Jesus gave his disciples his
final message before leaving this world in chapters 13, 14,
15, and 16. Then in chapter 17, we have the
Lord's high priestly prayer that he spoke to the Father on our
behalf before he left this world. And in the 18th chapter, we see
the Savior in Gethsemane pleading with God as he anticipated all
that he must suffer as he died as our substitute. When the band
of soldiers then led by Judas came and arrested him. The soldiers
came to arrest the Savior. And when they did, Peter arose
to defend the master without regard for his life. He drew
out his sword and cut off the high priest servant's ear. And
our Lord Jesus told him to put his sword up. I had a theology
professor in school. The only good thing I remember
him ever saying was this. He said, the Lord said, Peter,
if you can't do any better than that, just put your sword up.
He wasn't telling Peter to go sell his sword or get rid of
his sword. He said, put your sword up. This is not the time
to defend me, and this is not the way to defend me. And then
our Savior voluntarily gave himself up to suffer and die as our substitute,
gave himself to the hands of those soldiers on one condition,
that his disciples go free. And so our Lord gave himself
up to die in our stead under the hand of divine justice on
this condition, that all for whom he died be set free. Our
Savior was then led away to the judgment hall, where Peter denied
him three times. And then our Redeemer died in
our stead, accomplishing our redemption by the sacrifice of
himself upon the cursed tree. On the third day, he arose from
the dead, and he appeared first to Mary Magdalene and the other
Mary, and then he appeared to the disciples, and a week later
he appeared to the disciples again with Thomas present with
them. Now in chapter 21, we see our
Savior speaking as he appears the third time to his disciples,
specifically to restore Peter. He's come now in this chapter
to restore Peter, not just to restore him in the blessed fellowship
of his saints and of himself. but to confirm to Peter his love
for Peter, and especially to confirm in Peter's own mind,
Peter's love the master. The Lord said to him three times,
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? And Peter confessed three
times, you know all things, you know that I love thee. And three
times the master said to him, you go and feed my sheep. Now look at verse 22, what we
read a moment ago. Jesus saith unto him, if I will
that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou
me. What is that to thee? That's
the question I want to address this morning. You and I must
learn to leave God's servants and God's people to God's care. Paul says, who art thou that
judgest another man's servant? To his own master he standeth
or falleth. Yea, he shall be holding up,
for God is able to make him stand. God's people are God's people. They're not yours and they're
not mine, they're his. God's servants are God's servants. They're not yours and they're
not mine, they're his. The Lord said concerning John,
that if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to
thee? Peter said, Lord, you've told
me now that I'm going to be put to death. I'm going to be made
to suffer by the hands of others because of the testimony of the
gospel. But what about John? What about John? And the master
said, Peter, that's none of your concern. That's none of your
business. It is absolutely none of our
business how someone else serves the Savior. It's none of my business
and none of anyone else's how another person serves the Lord
Jesus. It's none of your business and
mine what another person gives or doesn't give, what another
person does or doesn't do. We spend far too much time, far
too much energy thinking about and discussing other people.
I heard Brother Mahan say years ago, and it struck me profoundly. He said, great minds discuss
ideas. Average minds discuss things. Little minds discuss people. what little minds we must have.
We spend far too much time talking about other people. The Lord
God Almighty is perfectly capable of taking care of his own. More
than that, most of us have a full-time job with plenty of overtime taking
care of ourselves. The Apostle Paul says, study
to be quiet and to do your own business. Study to be quiet and
do your own business. Again, I repeat, it is absolutely
none of your business or mine how someone else serves Christ. To his own master, he stands
or falls. The Lord Jesus told Peter that
he would be required to suffer and die for the glory of God. Impetuous, often fickle in his
youth, Peter was assured that in the end, he would be faithful
unto death. What a great word of assurance.
And he was. He was crucified at Rome because
of his faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ. When Peter heard
the Lord Jesus speak this word, follow me. We read it in John
21, 18 and 19. 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. Then as they walked along the
beach, Peter, I suppose, saw John following along with them.
And that disciple was a matter of concern to the Lord. It was
a matter of concern to Peter. But Peter asked the Lord Jesus,
Lord, you've told me what I must do. But what about John? What's he to do? 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? Peter seeing him, seeing John,
saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Now that might
appear to be a perfectly innocent question, but it was horribly
evil as the text indicates. It was a question that arose
from Peter's proud heart. It ought never to have been asked.
I find it particularly instructive that this question is asked immediately
after the Lord Jesus had restored Peter from his horrible threefold
denial. Isn't that amazing? He had just
experienced a marvelous, marvelous display of the Lord's tenderness,
compassion, and grace. And he turns and says, but Lord,
what's John going to do? The question, if it's entertained,
is one of those would be sure to cause division among the Lord's
disciples and lead to other evils. And at that point, I suppose
the Lord must have stopped Turn to Peter and look him square
in the eye. Would you God, you could see
and hear him looking you square in the eye and speaking to you. And I could as well. What is
that to thee? Follow me. If the spirit of God
will enable me, I want to talk to your heart and mind about
following Christ. It is our responsibility in all
things ever to follow our Savior, but it is never our responsibility. It is never our responsibility
to determine what another disciple is doing or concern ourself about
what another disciple ought to do. If we could just learn that
one lesson, it would put an end to every problem there is in
the church and kingdom of God in this world. I meant to say
that just as I did. If we could learn this one thing
that our master is teaching us in this passage, it would put
an end to every evil there is in the church and kingdom of
God in this world. I'm convinced that all strife
and division that exists among true believers must be traced
to one thing only, this proud, evil judging of others. We concern
ourselves with what others are doing or what others are not
doing or how they do it. That ought never to be. We ought
to concern ourselves only with what the master would have us
to do, what we are doing, and how we do it. And let me make
three statements, and I'll wrap this up. First, understand this. Our primary responsibility in
life is to follow Christ. That's the business of life.
Now, I know the consequences, ramifications, and implications
of what I'm saying. I know what it will cost us if
we dare to do what the Lord commands. But oh, how I pray God will give
us grace to obey his word. I'm talking now to my heart and
yours. The main business of our lives,
the primary all-consuming business of your life and mine is to follow
Christ. We live in vain if we don't live
for God. We live in vain if we don't live
for God. Better for us had we never been
born than that we should live without Christ. The Lord Jesus
says to you and me, follow me, follow thou me. This is the command
of the gospel. Now, I know there are many who
try to separate discipleship from faith and discipleship from
salvation. They suggest that there may be
faith in Christ without following Christ, but that's not so. In
Bible terms, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is to follow
him. Read through the four Gospels.
Our Lord came to Peter, and he came to Philip, and he came to
Nathanael, and he came to Andrew, he came to Matthew, all of them,
this is how he spoke to them, follow me. Follow me, follow
me, follow me. There is no believing Christ
except as we follow Christ. There is no faith in Christ except
following Christ. If you're yet without Christ,
I want you to hear me. Oh, may God help you to hear
me. You would be wise to make the salvation of your immortal
soul the primary concern of your life. Make the care of your soul
your first care, if necessary to the neglect of all other care. What will it profit you? What
will it profit you if you gain the whole world and lose your
own soul? If you are without Christ, you're
under the wrath of God, cursed, condemned because of your sin.
If you die without Christ, you will forever suffer the wrath
of God in hell, forever separated from life, from good, from light,
from righteousness, from truth, and from God. Will you follow
Christ and be forever saved? Or will you follow the lust of
your own flesh and your own devices and be forever damned? See, I
have set before thee this day life and good, death and evil. I call heaven and earth to record
this day against you, that I've set before you life and death,
blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life that thou
and thy seed may live. To follow Christ is to seek him.
To follow Christ is to trust Him. To follow Christ is to submit
your life to Him. To follow Him is to bow to His
dominion. To follow Christ is to be saved
by Him. This is also the character of
faith. Faith follows Christ. In the
grace of God, you and I, who are gods, having been saved by
the Lord Jesus, having been washed in his precious blood, robed
in his perfect righteousness, born again by his spirit, our
master's word to us, who are in his grace, is follow me. The main, primary, all-compassing
business of life is to follow Christ. When sin is pardoned
and salvation secure, the one thing we must do is follow the
Lord Jesus, to tread in his steps, to imitate him. A disciple, a
disciple is one who learns to live as his master lives. He's not just one who learns
what his master teaches. He's one who follows his master's
life. Discipleship is getting to be
what the teacher is. And Christianity is more than
believing the doctrine of Christ. Christianity is following Christ. It is seeking to mold my life
after the pattern of the Son of God. He said, I've given you
an example, do as I've done. Peter tells us the Lord, by his
suffering and death, left us an example that we should follow
in his steps. We're trees of God's planting,
set in his vineyard to bring forth fruit to God's praise.
If we would do what we are created to do, we must follow him. And that's the lifelong pursuit
of all who know God. Read Philippians chapter 3. After
Paul had been converted for a long time, after he had been a faithful
preacher of the gospel, an apostle, after he had written most of
the New Testament, this man describes his life as the continual pursuit
of Christ. Oh, that I may know him. that
I may know Him, know Him in this way, being made conformable unto
His death." God's given each of us as believers a place, a
position, and gifts with which to serve Him. He's given each
of us, you and I who are believers, He's given each of us a place,
a position, and gifts with which to serve Him, with which no one
else can serve Him. This is the vocation to which
we are called. No matter what your earthly occupation
is, if you're in Christ, first and foremost, you're his servant. First and foremost, there sits
a doctor, there sits an engineer. Brother Rhett's back there is
in the cabinet business. Here we are, different walks of life.
Each of you touching the lives of men and women, none of the
rest of us know. Each of you have the opportunity
to minister to folks nobody else knows. Each of you having position
in life, nobody else has. Each of you having opportunities,
nobody else has. It is your business and mine
in the place where God has put us, in the position where God
has placed us, with the gifts God has given us to serve him
and to follow him. That's our business. God's put
us where we are. made us what we are, given us
the opportunities he's given us, that we might serve him and
serve his people and serve the souls of men. All saved sinners
are missionaries, his witnesses, his martyrs. In fact, the word
translated witnesses in the New Testament is the very word that
we would spell out martyrs. His witnesses. What is a witness? What is a martyr? A martyr is
one who lays down his life in a cause he deems worthy of his
life. Oh my God, make me such. Oh my God, make you such. God give us grace to lay down
our lives in the cause of Christ. He that is called is the Lord's
freeman, the Lord's servant, Christ's servant. The fact is
there's something greater than you and me. Something greater
than your family and mine. Something greater than your desires
and mine. Something greater than your pleasure
and mine. That which is greater is the
glory of God, the gospel of God, and the church of God. Follow
me. That's our Lord's command to
each of us. Second, understand this. If we would follow Christ, we
must subject everything to him and his will. When Peter learned
what he must suffer and endure for Christ, he looked at John
and said, what shall this man do? And the master said, what
is that to thee? Follow thou me. If we would follow Christ, we
must not concern ourselves with the responsibilities of others.
It's true, we're members of one body, and we serve one another,
and we help one another, we lift one another, we support one another. Those things we ought to do.
We are not responsible to govern, rule, and tell others what they're
to do or how they're to follow Christ. It's our business to
follow Him. I'm responsible, however, and
you're responsible for what God has called us to do. What God
does with you is His business. What God does with you is your
business. What I do for God is my business
and his business, no one else's. May God give us grace to cease
from being busybodies about other people's business. If we would
follow Christ. We must not concern ourselves
with the affairs of this world, with our own personal interests,
our own personal needs, and our own personal relationships. Rather,
we are to surrender everything to him. He that would save his
life must lose it. If you save your life, you shall
for certain lose it. Jephthah, what an example. He
said, Lord, you give me this victory. You give me this conquest
in your name and for your people. And the first thing comes out
of my house, I'll sacrifice it to you. And when he came home,
his daughter had heard all about her daddy's great fame, and she
came running out to congratulate him, and Jephthah's heart broke
within him. But he said, I've lifted my hand
to God. I can't go back. I can't go back. I belong to God. You who are
redeemed, saved by his grace, belong to him. We dare not go
back. Now, one last thing. I'll be
very brief. The most reasonable thing in
this world is that we should confine ourselves to this one
lifelong pursuit. Follow me. He bought us. He redeemed us to himself to
be his own peculiar people. Shall I take that which was purchased
by the blood of Christ and use it for my own pleasure and waste
it upon my own vanity? Our powers in this world are
so limited. Some have greater gifts and abilities
than others. Most of us have great limitations.
I realize There are many things I can't do. I know my limitations. I would like to use what little
ability and what brief time God has given me in the work of following
Christ, preaching the gospel, seeking to bring others to know,
trust, worship, and follow him. More than that, our time is so
limited. The time is short. Oh, how short. Too brief to waste on vanity. Too brief to waste in the lust
of our flesh. Too brief to waste in trying
to govern and manipulate the lives of others. We have business
enough and care enough for ourselves. to follow Christ. God, give us
grace to do so for Christ's sake. Amen.