In John chapter 21, the Lord
not once but twice gives a very simple charge unto Peter. In verse 19 he says, follow me. And again in verse 22, The Lord says to Peter again,
follow thou me. A very direct, straight, simple
command. Follow, follow me. Now this is a fourth command
that the Lord had given to these seven Wayward fishermen that
day. Earlier in the chapter verse
five and six, the Lord asked the disciples who had been fishing
all night, have you caught anything? And they answered, no. Well,
cast the net on the right side of the ship and you shall find.
That was his command. And they did, and they brought
in a large catch of 153 great fish. And then the second command the
Lord had given unto them in verse 12, he said unto them, come and
dine. All things are prepared. All things are necessary. You
just come and eat. And then the Lord served them
bread and fish. And then again, the Lord, as
he singled out Peter after they had finished breakfast that morning,
he said to Peter in verse 17 down through verse 18, not once,
but three times, he said to Peter, seeing that you love me, or if
you do love me, then you go preach the gospel. Feed my sheep, feed
my sheep, feed my sheep. Very important thing to do. And
then we have this command that the Lord gives to Peter, not
once but twice, follow me. So that's the title of the message,
follow Christ, follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, The gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ is not a mere invitation, although oftentimes
we see it as an invitation. Come unto me all you who labor
and heavy laden, I'll give you rest. If any man thirst, let
him come unto me and drink. But the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is not a mere invitation of a man. nor is it a suggestion
to believe the gospel and to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is spoken, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, when it comes
in the power of God, the Holy Spirit, to the elect of God,
it comes as a command of God to come, to look, to follow,
to believe the gospel of Christ. As many as do are truly blessed
of the Lord. Because God has ordained from
all eternity His people to believe the gospel. As many as were ordained
to eternal life, they believe the gospel. You see how blessed
you are? If you're a believer sitting
here, loving Christ, believing Him, You do so because God ordained
you to believe the gospel. It's not some leaf you turned
over, some rock you turned over and said, well, I'm going to
make a decision for Jesus. That's not salvation. Salvation
is God's command to your heart. Thy people shall be willing in
a day of God's power. We believe according to the working
of God's power. Now in John 21, today in our
message, we'll finish our study through the Gospel of John. And
it has been for me, I trust it has been for you, a pleasant
journey. Pleasant journey I could go back to chapter 1 next week
John chapter 1 verse 1 in the beginning God I Could go back
to chapter 1 next week and start over again and find it not a
burden Find it not a burden To preach the same messages to you
over and over and over again. I Think I've preached out of
this book about a hundred and thirty messages over the last
two and a half years But to go back and start with John chapter
1 and start all over again, should we do that next week? We could,
and it wouldn't be a burden, would it? It wouldn't be grievous.
You remember what the Apostle Paul said in Philippians? Find
me my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same thing
to you, to me indeed, is not grievous, but for you it's safe.
For you it's good. It's good. Well, let's look at
verse 18 and 19 after the Lord asked Peter, do you love me? And Peter said, Lord, you know
all things, verse 17. You know, you know more than
just that I love you. You know all things. You know
all things. The Lord is all-knowing, all-powerful,
everywhere present. The Lord is omniscient, omnipotent. He knows all things. And Peter
says unto him, Lord, you know, you know that I love you. And the Lord said then, if you
do, you feed my sheep. Verse 18, verily, verily, truly,
truly, I say unto you, when you were young, you girded yourself,
you clothed yourself, and you walked where you would. But when
you be old, thou shalt be old. He's saying here, Peter's gonna
be an old man. When you're old, you'll stretch forth your hand
and another will gird you and bind you and shackle you and
take you where you don't want to go. Peter, you're gonna be
imprisoned. You're gonna die for the gospel. Verse 19, this
he spake, the Lord spake, signifying by what, death. by what death
that Peter would glorify God. And when he has spoken this,
he gave this command, Peter. You follow me you follow follow
follow me Lord, you know all things and truly well, that's
a good statement in the Lord knows all things in verses 18
and 19 again the Lord Demonstrates to us that he is the sovereign
of the universe that he has decreed all things and that the Lord
has knowledge of all future events based upon what information The
Lord has knowledge of all future events based upon what information? Based upon the puny will of man?
No, God's foreknowledge is always based upon His eternal, unchanging,
immutable decree. God knows all things because
He decreed all things. You see, foreknowledge is not
based upon God foreseeing what some creature would do or would
not do and then decreeing that. That would make his decrees based
upon the will of the creature. But God's foreknowledge is based
upon His determinate decree of all things the Lord knows all
things because he decreed all things The Lord said I've spoken
it. I'll bring it to pass. I purposed
it I will do it James stood up in Acts chapter 15 We have record
of and he declared under that counsel that day that known unto
God are all his works from the beginning and All things are
decreed from the beginning. The Lord had instructed Peter
to go and feed the sheep, and then he says to Peter, who is
going to be blessed to do so, until he's an old man. You were
young, and you're going to be old. Some say that Peter preached
after this occasion, that Peter preached the gospel for another
40 years, when he was an old man. The Lord knows that because
the Lord had decreed the day of his death. When the Lord says,
your ministry is over, Peter, then you're gonna have the privilege
of dying for me. Dying in a way that will glorify
me. The Lord had decreed the day
of his death, the way that Peter would die. You know how Peter
died? It's not recorded in Holy Scripture, but it is recorded
in human history. Peter died in Rome crucified. Crucified for the gospel sake. All the prophets, all the apostles
rather, all the apostles with the exception of John who was
cast out on that isle of Patmos, which was a prison island, all
the apostles, with the exception of John, including Paul, died
a very violent death. They died a martyr. Now you can
find Fox's book of martyrs on the internet and you can read
about how all the different apostles, how they gave their lives for
the gospel. Now if you hold your place here,
Peter writes about this in 2nd Peter chapter 1, 2 Peter chapter
1, 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 13. He says, yea, I think it meet
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 tabernacle,
even as the Lord Jesus Christ had showed me." 2 Peter 1, verse
14. Even as the Lord had told me,
Peter knew that he was gonna die, and that he would die a
martyr's death. The apostle Paul also in his
last epistle, Was killed at Rome. Paul was not crucified. Paul
was beheaded. If you find 2nd Timothy chapter
4. 2nd Timothy chapter 4. The Apostle
Paul writes about his death. When their ministry was over,
God took them home. Mortals are immortal here until
their work is done 2nd Timothy chapter 4 verse 6 for I'm now
ready to be offered The time of my departure is at hand. I
fought a good fight. I Finished my course. I've kept
the faith henceforth there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness
with the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day and
Not to me only, but to all them that love His appearing, crown
of righteousness, given freely by God's grace. Peter and Paul
both glorified God in their ministry, didn't they? During their life,
they preached the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when it
came time for them to die for the gospel, they would not deny
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They would rather die
than deny him. You just quit preaching and we'll
let you go. No, sir. No, sir. We cannot do
that That is dying in faith dying in such a way as to bring all
the honor and glory unto the Lord Jesus Christ You remember
we studied in Hebrews 11 these all died in faith and then the
Lord says to Peter Follow me and he repeats it twice now.
I will come back to that statement in just a minute Follow thou
me. Let's read verse 20 down through
verse 22 then Peter now Peter heard the instruction from the
master that he would die that he would die in such a way to
bring honor and glory to Christ and That Peter heard the instruction. Do you follow me then Peter?
turning about and he sees this disciple Peter's friend John
and John, whom the Lord Jesus Christ loved, he sees John doing
exactly what he told Peter to do, following the Lord. Following
the Lord. This disciple, John, is described
as the one who leaned on the Lord's breast at the Last Supper,
which asked the question about the betrayer, Judas. Verse 21,
Peter seeing him, that is John, Peter seeing him saith to the
Lord Jesus, Lord, what about John? If I'm gonna die, and I'm
gonna glorify you, what about John? Is he gonna get off? And
the Lord said to him, if I will that he tarry till I come, what
is that to you? Follow thou me. Don't worry about John. You worry
about Peter. Peter, you follow me. Now Peter,
instead of immediately doing what the Lord said to do. Now, would it have been better
just to do one of these? I mean, just to Stop and listen,
be ready to hear, slow to speak, but instead of doing that, now
wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, I've got a question,
I've got a question, but, but, but, but, Peter instead of immediately
doing what the Lord said, he asked somewhat a strange question. What about John? If I'm going
to die in a violent manner for the gospel, bringing glory to
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, if I'm going to suffer
in such a way, is John going to get off? What about John? Shouldn't he suffer likewise?
Shouldn't he also die? If I'm going to have this trial,
what about him? Well, the Lord rebukes Peter, and he deserves
a rebuke, doesn't he? You don't worry about John. I'll
take care of John. Peter, your business is not with
John. Peter, your business is with
Peter. Follow thou me. Again, the Lord demonstrates
His sovereignty according to His will. Verse 22, if I will,
if I will. You see, He works all things
after the counsel of His own will. If I will, that John lives
here until I come back, what difference does that make to
you? Peter, you follow thou me. Peter, you follow me. You see,
the Sovereign Lord, what lesson can we draw from this? The Sovereign
Lord will use each member in the body of Christ according
to his own pleasure. We must each one of us be occupied
with the ministry the Lord has given to us. We should each be
occupied and interested with the ministry the Lord has given
to us. Faithfully fulfilling that ministry
that God has given to us. Now listen to me. Every believer
is in the ministry. Every believer is in the ministry. Every believer is in the body
of Christ, and all members in that body serve the head. Now,
we are not all the hand, or the foot, or the tongue, or the eye,
but the whole, you read 1 Corinthians chapter 12, the whole body, God
has set members, every one of them, in the body according as
it pleases Him. Pleases him every believer is
in the ministry We must not be taken up with how when or where
the Lord is pleased to use others When, how, or where the Lord
is pleased to use others, we must be concerned about the ministry
that God has given to us. How can we serve the furtherance
of the gospel of God's truth? How can we serve the Lord Jesus
Christ to bring honor and glory unto Him? That's our concern. You don't worry about John, you
worry about Peter. And we need each of us to consider
these things personally, the ministry that God has given unto
us, how we can fulfill faithfully what God has given us to do. Now, I want us to spend some
time here this morning on this command here where the Lord says,
follow thou me. And I want each of you to take
this very personal. This is the Lord's command to
you right now. Follow thou the Lord Jesus Christ. Follow Him. Follow Him. Now this is a very good description
the Lord gives unto every one of His elect, is it not? What
do the sheep do? You remember back in John 10?
You don't need to turn, I've read this so many times, you
all know it by heart. You remember What the Lord says
of His sheep who believe Him, He says unto them, you believe
not, because you're not of My sheep. As I said unto you, My
sheep, John 10, 27, My sheep hear My voice, I know them, I
love them, and you know what? They follow Me. They follow me. I give unto them eternal life.
They shall never perish, neither can any man pluck them out of
my hand. My Father which gave them to me is greater than all.
No man can pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father
are one. Well, that didn't set too good
with the Jews. They took up stones of stoning. But the sheep of
Christ, they do follow, they do follow the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the exact same command,
and I want you to turn and read this with me. Turn to Matthew
chapter four. This is the exact same command
that the Lord gave Peter in the beginning. In Matthew chapter
four, The Lord began to preach the gospel and he said, repent
for the kingdom of God is at hand. Matthew chapter four, verse
18. Matthew 4, 18. Jesus walking
by the sea of Galilee saw two brethren, Simon called Peter,
and drew his brother, casting Annette into the sea, for they
were fishers. And he said unto them, follow
me. Peter's heard this before. Now
this is three and a half years earlier. Peter heard the same.
You see, the message doesn't change. Follow me, and I'll make
you fishers of men. And they straightway left their
nets, and they followed the Lord. And going on from thence, he
saw two other brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John
his brother in a ship, with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.
And he called these two brothers. James and John and they immediately
left the ship and their father and they Followed the Lord Jesus
Christ. You see that they followed him. They followed him now Here's the question I want us
to consider what is it? Think with me. What is it to
follow the Lord Jesus Christ? What is it to follow the Lord
Jesus Christ? What's involved? What's involved
in following the Lord Jesus Christ? Now, turn back to Luke 9. Back where we started. Luke chapter
9. Three things are mentioned here
in following the Lord Jesus Christ. Did you see that? In Luke 9,
verse 23. You got it? Luke 9, 23. The Lord said unto them, that
in the previous verse, that he must suffer many things, that
he must be rejected, that he must be slain, that he must be
raised again from the dead. And he said, if any, and the
word man there has been added, If any will come after me, let
him," he's saying, if any will follow me, let him deny himself,
you see that? Let him take up his cross daily
and follow me. Follow me. Three things he mentions
there, three things. The first one is this. Luke 9,
23, let him deny himself. Deny himself. What is this? Well, it's self-denial. It's
self-denial. That means a total surrender,
a willing submission to the Lord Jesus Christ. Taking your place
before him as a guilty, vile, wretched sinner. Let a man deny
himself, disown himself, casting yourself at his sovereign throne
as a mercy beggar. Deny yourself. Lord, have mercy
upon me, the sinner. Christ will be Lord of all or
he will not be your Lord at all. Do you get that? He must be Lord
of all or he will not be your Lord at all. Those who deny themselves
here shall enjoy the Lord Jesus Christ forever. submission, surrender
unto the Lord. And then second thing he mentions
here, let him deny himself daily and let him take up his cross,
let him take up his cross daily. You see that? Now, what does
that mean? Taking up his cross. This does
not mean that we walk down the highway carrying a piece of wood
down the road, as you see some of these fools do. Well, I've
got to carry my cross. So they start in Los Angeles,
they get a piece of wood with a roller skate on the bottom
of it, and they drag it on their shoulder all the way from Los
Angeles to New York. Why'd they do that? To get attention
to themselves. Thoughts about. That's not talking
about carrying around a piece of wood, is it? Let a man take
up the cross. You're not talking about that.
Nor does it mean that we must have some personal sickness that
we must bear. Well, I'm bearing my cross. He's not talking about taking
up some, talking about some personal sickness that we must bear or
that some tragic event that we must bear, some hardship we must
bear, rather this is talking about our confession of Christ.
our confession of Christ, but rather let it mean to take a
public, open stand for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, to
contend for the faith once delivered unto the saint, and to not be
ashamed of the gospel. Now, how important is that? Well, let's see if we can find
out what the Lord says about that. Turn to Matthew 10. Matthew
10. Matthew 10 verse 32. Is it necessary? Absolutely. Matthew 10 verse 32. Whosoever
therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also
before my Father which is in heaven. Whosoever shall deny
me before men, him will I also deny before my Father Which is
in heaven think not that I'm come to send peace on earth.
I came not to send peace but a sword You see the gospel divides
For I'm come to set a man at variance against his father a
daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against
her mother-in-law. A man's foe shall be of his own
household. He that loveth father or mother
more than me is not worthy of me. He that loveth son or daughter
more than me is not worthy of me. He that taketh not his cross
and followeth after me is not worthy of me. For he that findeth
his life shall lose it. He that loses his life for my
sake, he'll find it. taking up the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's to stand firm publicly,
boldly, privately for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and
to not be ashamed. Ashamed of Jesus, can it be a
mortal man ashamed of thee? Certainly not. We say with Paul,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it's the power
of God and the salvation alone. And here we see what involved
in denying self and taking up the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's to stand firm and bold for salvation by the grace of God
alone. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourself, it's a gift of God. To stand
bold for salvation through faith alone. Faith alone. Faith is
a gift of God. Faith is saving. And the faith
of God's elect looks to the Lord Jesus Christ alone. And it should
take a bold, constant stand for salvation by Christ alone, in
the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Neither is there salvation in
any other. For there's no other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. So let him
deny himself Let Him take up His cross, His profession, His
confession of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that involved
the three R's as well. The three R's. Remember the three
R's? Ruined, what happened in the
garden? Guilt, death, sin, judgment. What happened at Calvary? Redemption. Redemption, complete. He obtained
eternal redemption for us with His own blood. And then, ruined? Redemption, what's the third
one? Regeneration. Reconciliation in Christ. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. That's what we take a stand for. So we deny self, we submit unto
the Lord Jesus Christ, and then we take a stand for the gospel.
You take this stand and openly confess the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ and you will suffer persecution." This world hated. The religious world, who were
the enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ when he ministered among
men? I mean the Romans, they were somewhat, but who was his
chief main opposition? The Pharisees, the Sadducees,
and the Scribes, the religious Jews, they hated the Lord Jesus
Christ. So, let a man deny himself, let
him take up his cross, and then, thirdly, it says in Luke 9, 23,
follow the Lord. Follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I always think about this
Old Testament character, his name was Caleb. Remember those
two men, the only two men that entered into the promised land
that were over 20 years of age when those millions left Egypt?
Only two men, Joshua and Caleb, the Savior and the dog. Now I
always think about that Old Testament character Caleb. The scripture
says of him more than one time that he followed the Lord fully. I want to do that, don't you?
I want to be a Caleb. I want to be the Lord's faithful dog. Now I'm not talking here about
following a certain creed. Christ is our creed. We follow
Him. I'm not talking about following a certain religious tradition.
or a certain ceremony, Christ is all and in all. Christ is
our salvation. The Lord said, look unto me,
look unto me, follow me. That's the message, isn't it?
Follow Christ, look to him, come to him. So that's what's involved
in following the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, secondly, and more pointedly,
am I following the Lord Jesus Christ? Am I following the Lord
Jesus Christ? How can I know if I'm following
the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, I think we can know. Turn back to Philippians chapter
3. Philippians chapter 3. How can I know if I'm following
the Lord Jesus Christ? I think the answer's right here.
Right here. How can I know if I'm following
the Lord Jesus Christ? Peter, do you love me? then follow
me. If you love him, you follow him.
Flipping chapter 3, look at verse 7. But what things were gained
to me, those I counted lost for Christ? Yea, doubtless, I count
all things lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but done that I may win Christ, denying self, taking
up the cross. and be found in him, not having
my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is
through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith. Now read on. That I may know
him, and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his suffering,
be made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might
attain unto the resurrection of the dead, not as though I
had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow
after, I follow after, Counting everything else, but dung I follow
after if that I may be Apprehended laid hold of for that which I've
been laid hold of by Christ verse 13 brethren I Count not myself
to have arrived But this one thing I do forgetting those things
which are behind, reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of
God in Christ Jesus, counting everything else dung, lost, ruined,
that I might win Christ and be found in Him." Is that the testimony
of your heart? Then you're following Christ.
You're following the Lord Jesus Christ. Forgetting the past.
True saving faith does not look back. We're going to read in
a minute in Luke chapter 9, those who put their hand to the plow
and look back are not fit for the kingdom of God. Forgetting
the past, true saving faith does not look back. Does not need
to look back. Saving faith always looks forward. Saving faith always looks to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Looking unto Him who is the author
and finisher of faith. Coming to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Coming to the Lord Jesus Christ for all assurance. To whom coming? Coming to the Lord Jesus Christ
for all comfort. We find in Him, He is our comfort.
Coming to the Lord Jesus Christ for all hope. We have a good
hope through grace. Coming to the Lord Jesus Christ
for all pardon. We count all things but dung
and loss and ruin. And we look to Him for getting
those things and looking forward to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
here's this verse in Luke 9. No man putting his hand to the
plow and looking back Looking back is fit for the kingdom of
God. Now Peter, do you love me? Then follow me. You see, those
who love the Lord Jesus Christ are constrained by Him, compelled
by Him, they're attracted by Him, He's altogether lovely,
they must have Him, and the sheep do Follow Him. Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord. Follow me. You see, the love
of Christ constrains us to follow the Good Shepherd who laid down
His life for the sheep. The love of Christ constrains
us to follow the Great Shepherd, the Great Shepherd who gave that
great everlasting sacrifice for us. The love of Christ constrains
us to follow the Chief Shepherd, who is coming back to receive
us unto himself. You see, love compels us to follow
him. Don't you go after the things
that you love? Sure you do. And that is true
spiritually much more so. He is altogether lovely, therefore
we must have Him. He is altogether precious. That's
what we had on the radio program this morning. He to you who believe,
He is precious. I must have Him. That's following
Christ. That's how I know I'm following
Him. I must have Him at all costs. We love to follow the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, turn to Revelation 14. This
is the very description of the Lord's people in glory. Revelation 14, these are they,
verse four. Let's read verse 3, Revelation
14, 3. They sung, as it were, a new
song before the throne, before the four beasts, the elders,
and no man could learn that song but the forty and four, the 144,000
which were redeemed from the earth, and that number is a number
that describes the elect of God, a complete whole number. These
are they which were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they which follow the
Lamb. You see that? They follow the
Lamb. Now watch this. Whether soever
he goeth. Wherever he goes, we follow. These were redeemed from among
men, being the firstfruits unto God and unto the Lamb." Now,
I thought about this. Where do we follow Him? Okay. You want the answer? Turn to
Hebrews chapter 6. Hebrews chapter 6. They follow the Lamb wherever
He goes. Where did He go? He went to the
cross, we followed Him there. We went to the grave, we followed
Him there. He was raised from the grave,
we followed Him in the resurrected Lord. You see, we're one with
Him, united with Him. And when He ascended to glory,
we followed Him to glory. When He sat down, we sat down
in Him. You see what it says? In Hebrews
6 verse 19, which hope we have
as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which enters
into that within the veil where the forerunner is for us entered. Even Jesus made a high priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. We followed him right to glory.
We're seated right now in the heavenlies in the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's good news, isn't it? We're
seated in him. Where he leads me, I will follow. He's my good shepherd. He's a
good shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. Now turn back to John 21. And let's look at these last
two verses, and then we'll conclude our study. John 21, verse 24. This is the disciple which testified
of these things, and wrote these things, and we know his testimony
is true. Why do we know his testimony
is true? Because the testimony he gives
is the testimony of God. The inspired Word of God. And
there are Also, verse 25, many other things which the Lord did,
which, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose
that the world itself could not contain the books that should
be written. The testimony of the Word of
God is absolutely true. Because this is God's Word. What you hold in your hand is
not the Word of John, Peter, Paul. It's the very Word of God. All Scripture is given by God. many other great and notable
glorious miracles the Lord performed while among men, if every detail
of every sermon and every great and notable miracle that was
the Lord performed written down, it says here that The libraries
in all the world could not contain the book. How can you describe
the acts of the eternal, infinite God himself? You see, it's bigger than the
universe. But these are written, turn back
to chapter 20, verse 31. Many are assigned truly to Jesus
in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this
book, but these are written, verse 31, John 20. These are
written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, and that believing you might have life through his
name. These are written. that you might
believe. Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the word of truth.