But I'm looking at the text from verse 18 through to verse 23. 18 through to verse 23. And really the title of my message this afternoon is to follow Christ. To follow Christ. We saw this morning the miracle of our Lord Jesus. His last miracle. And what did we see in that miracle? We saw our Lord calling his disciples to take up that mantle and to remember that they're called to be fishers of men. In that miracle, he proves his resurrection a third time. And then he restores Peter to his apostolic office. And now we find this exhortation to Peter, follow me. Now you might be wondering why do, why am I looking at this text for the Lord's table? Well, I want to say that I actually, the more and more I thought about this text, the more and more I thought how ideal this text is for us to come to the Lord's table, especially in the light of what it means to follow Christ and what it means to join the body and to become a member of the body of Christ. But really the text speaks to us of the cost of following Jesus. These were Jesus' words to Peter about the cost of discipleship. And while Peter is the focus of Jesus' words, we also see John come into focus, and we learn from what Jesus says to Peter about comparing himself to others, that is, comparing himself to John, the apostle whom Jesus loved, that our Lord says to him, Peter, don't worry about him. You follow me. Now, I'm not going to deal with everything in this text, but I do think it's important to recognize what is going on in this text. What John does for us in these last verses is he gives us two historical reflections in this closing account of his gospel. The first looks back to the fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy of Peter's manner of death. We see that in verse 19. The second reflects on what Jesus said to Peter about John's own future, and then there seems to have been some kind of rumor or tale that had gone around that John wouldn't die, which is not true, and the apostle actually dismisses that. But between these two reflections, both addressing the death of the two apostles, we find our Lord's charge to Peter to follow his Lord. Now you think about Peter and John, two disciples who loved the Lord, two men who were of the inner circle of our Lord's disciples. One dies a martyr, and the other dies in relative peace and old age. is both follow Jesus in their lives and in their ministries, and they follow Him all the way to heaven. And as we come to the table today, as God's children, as God's called ones, and we think of the sacrifice and the death of our Savior, and as we think about these elements before us, the bread and the cup, What do they speak to us of? They are pictures of sacrifice and suffering. But they're also wonderful pictures of communion and fellowship. And in this text, have we not seen that? Have we not seen the risen Savior coming to His disciples, reminding them, having fellowship with them, restoring them? But these pictures at the table, just like the pictures we find in this final account of John's gospel, invite us, they encourage us to keep following Jesus until we get to heaven. And so every time we celebrate the Lord's table, we are reminded, what are we reminded of? What is the great thing about the Lord's table? He died for me. He shed his blood for me. But the great thing about the Lord's table is that the best is yet to come. Isn't that right? The best is yet to come. Soon and very soon, as I remember singing that little chorus in one of the squatter camps many, many years ago, soon and very soon, we are going to see the King. And that's a, it's a wonderful, the table speaks to us of that. And the table says to us, it's the Lord who leads and we must follow. So before we go into this brief exposition, let's ask the Lord to help us. Our Father, we thank you for your mercy to us. And we pray that you would meet us this afternoon. Help us, Lord. Our bellies are full and Lord, our Our blood is all working on digesting the food and our bodies are tired, Lord, and we're prone to drift away. And we just need you to help us, Lord, to remain focused. We need you to grant us ears to hear and a heart to receive. And we just pray that you would glorify your name under the preaching of your word and as we welcome in these new church members. Lord, as we celebrate and remember your death and your suffering for us, as we are reminded of your call to us to keep following you, please, we pray for your spirit's help now, in Jesus' name. Amen. So the first point in my message is called to be faithful to death. I want you to look at verses 18 and 19 again, and I want you to remember These words come on the heels of our Lord restoring Peter. Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep. Peter, do you love me? Tend my lands. Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep. And then we have these words straight after that. Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish. Thus he spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. So I have a couple of things to say regarding what we read here. The first thing I want to draw your attention to is what Jesus says. Jesus is telling Peter that your young life has been and now you've come to this point where you're older. Not an old man yet, but you're older. And you need to remember that the day will come when you will not be able to care for yourself. And Jesus reminds Peter about his youth. He says, Most assuredly, I say to you, When you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished. And I think by our Lord saying this to Peter, this is a sober warning, a sober reminder. He's addressing Peter and he's saying, Peter, once you were young, you could dress yourself. You could go where you wanted and do as you wanted. You could be spontaneous. You could be independent and free. Peter, once you lived as you desired, you could make commitments and you had the strength, you could assert yourself and do what you wanted. You could exercise the freedom of action of a healthy and vigorous young man. But even when Peter had the strength and the zeal and the enthusiasm, and he seemed spiritually courageous, his lack of wisdom showed that he wasn't dependent on the Lord. And in the end, it proved he's undoing and he had no strength and he failed. And this is a sober thing Jesus is setting before him. It's a message that I think we need to hear. We who are so fiercely independent like Peter, We need to learn from this man. We need to remember what Jesus is doing. He's giving him a sober picture of what he was and what will happen to him. How did Peter fare? Not well. How will we fare? If we continue to try and serve the Lord in our strength and lean on our own vigor and lean on our own independence and our own passions, we will not fare well. We will fail like Peter, even though as a young man, as a man who had a lot of energy and a lot of passion for Christ, a lot of what he did, he did in the strength of his flesh. And John, I think he's writing at this time when Peter is about in the middle, But at least middle age, Jesus is addressing him, warning him and highlighting the weakness of his flesh with all its passions and aspirations. But then John goes on and he talks about this prophecy that Jesus gives him. So we've seen already there up until this point and then John speaks about The future, from now on until then. Jesus tells Peter, you're going to get older. You'll become an old man. And when that happens, the strength of your flesh will be gone. You will want a quiet and a peaceful life, but you will be restricted and you will have no control over that. Look at verse 18. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish. Now on the face of the text, it seems that Jesus is merely warning the apostle about the disabilities of old age. And that is true. And I think there's a sober warning there for all of us. We are, most of us, going to go through this process. We will get old and we will get decrepit and others will put on our clothes and take us to places like hospitals and homes that most people would rather avoid. It's a sober warning that this is going to be for most of us. Some of us will die, but for most of us, this will be the way that we all end up going, right? And it's approaching quicker than we realize. But I think more specifically, our Lord is warning his dear servant, Peter, what would be waiting for him at the end of his life. I think our Lord is specifically speaking to Peter about the fact that he will die a martyr's death. In fact, one man puts it this way, Gordon J. Kitt, he says, the language of the time and the proximity of Christ's crucifixion must have conveyed to Peter the prospect of a long and faithful ministry culminating in martyrdom. Just the words that Jesus is using here, that will stretch out your arms, Many have felt that this speaks specifically of how Peter was martyred. Historically, we know that he was martyred and there's a lot of evidence to say that Peter was crucified. Some, in fact, say he was crucified upside down because he didn't want to suffer the same way or he felt unworthy to die the way of his mast. But John is reflecting back on these words Jesus said to Peter, and he makes this comment. This he spoke signifying by what death he would glorify God. And so it's clear that this is a prophecy from the Lord Jesus of Peter's martyrdom. And again, as I say, according to the annals of history, we know that Peter was martyred, and we know that he was martyred under the reign of the emperor Nero. but our Lord is preparing his servant. He's seeking to prepare his heart and he's seeking to remind him, Peter, I will be faithful to you. I will keep you even unto death, even if that means death by crucifixion. And I think this brings to mind what Jesus said to Peter and what Peter would face as he continued to walk with Jesus. Matthew chapter 10, verse 24, a disciple is not above his teacher. nor a servant above his master. Let me move on. That's really our Lord's words to Peter, just giving him a sober check and reality of what he was and what will happen to him in the future. And really the point is, our Lord is making here, is to exhort Peter to follow Him no matter what. To follow Him no matter what. And we see this particularly in verse 19. Take a look at verse 19. What does it say? This He spoke, signifying by what death He would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, follow Me. Let me pause for a moment and step back from Peter and let me come to this table. I want you to think of this table. I want you to ask yourself the question, what does this table speak to you? What is its message to you? As you think of this table, as you think of what it means to you and how it speaks to you of how Christ has embraced you, how Christ has sacrificed himself for you, how he shed his blood for you, how he has enabled you to believe on him, to hope in him. This table reminds you of all of these things, but it tells you very clearly, keep following me. Keep following me. You and I don't know how many more tables, the Lord's tables, we will sit at before we are in the presence of the King, seated at His table, and all things are prepared. Like Peter, we are reminded what it cost Jesus to bring us here, and also what it cost to follow Him. And we are called to trust in Him, like Peter and John and all the disciples. And just as they were, the words that He speaks to them in this text, it applies to us. And when He had spoken this, He said to them, follow Me. Now you think about this context. Our Lord is speaking to Peter, but John, is trailing behind, walking on the beach. And Jesus is saying these words to Peter, whatever may come, follow me. And when you look at Peter's life, they are the bookends of Peter's life and ministry. Peter began by hearing the words our Lord Jesus called Peter and his life and ministry with Jesus began with these words, follow me. And now His life in perspective and how it will end with these bookend words. Follow me, whatever may come, follow me. Now you think about this for a minute. The command to follow Jesus might strike you and me as odd. Why is he saying that to him now? Hadn't Peter and in fact all the disciples been following Jesus already up until this point? Of course they had. So why is Jesus saying that to him now? Why is he bringing these words to him now? Because I believe what Jesus is wanting Peter to embrace here is that after restoring Peter to his apostolic calling, and telling Peter what challenges he would face as he took up that mantle, knowing that it would ultimately lead to his martyrdom. He is saying, no matter what, Peter, keep your eyes on me and keep following me. Beloved, we must realize whatever may come our way, whatever the future holds, there is nothing that is more important in the life of every Christian than to follow the Lord Jesus. Don't follow the crowds. Don't follow the people. Don't follow the common sentiment. Follow the Lord Jesus. And I would submit to you that every time you and I partake of these elements, Every time we take of this bread and we take of this cup, we are saying, Lord, we love you and we believe you and we will follow you. And we will follow you. You know, one Puritan so wonderfully stated, God has one son without sin, but he has no sons without suffering. And it's costly to follow Jesus. It's costly. It's sacrificial. We have to die to our flesh. We have to turn away from those things that are comfortable. We have to turn away from those things that we find pleasing to us, that we find easy. It's a narrow road. Jesus said, unless you pick up your cross and follow me, you have no part in me. And every time we sit at the table, we are acknowledging that because this is a table of sacrifice. This is a table of a broken body. This is the table of shed blood. This is the table that says that unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and die, it abideth not. If any man tries to keep his life, said our Lord Jesus, he will lose it. But he who loses it for my sake will gain it a thousandfold. And so Peter is called to be faithful to death. And here we see that we are to follow the Lord Jesus as we look at his example, as we think of the table, whatever may come. But thirdly, we're to keep our eyes on Christ. Now, I've already said that, but I want to drill down deeper into that because I think this text shows us something that is really important. Look at the text, then Peter turning around saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following. He also had leaned on his breast at supper and said, Lord, who is the one who betrays you? Peter seeing him said to Jesus, but Lord, what about this man? Jesus said to him, if I will that he remains till I come, what is that to you? You follow me. And this saying went out among the brethren that the disciples would not die. This disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die. But if I will that he remains till I come, what is that to you? So think about this for a minute. While they were walking with Jesus on the beach, Peter turns around and he sees John, not far behind, following him, close behind. And Peter looks at him, turns to the Lord Jesus, and he's curious. Oh Lord, you've told me what's gonna happen with my future, but what about him? What's gonna happen to John? Now beloved, there's a warning here for us, isn't there? A warning here for us that we need to fix eyes on Jesus and look at Jesus and not look at others. And not look at others. And really this is common to all of us, is it not? We all have this problem where we measure ourselves against others or we look over our shoulders at others. Now it's commendable to be concerned about others But all too often this is not the case and this is not what's going on. All too often we're using others as a measuring rod or a measuring stick as to where we are. We're better, we're no good. We're looking at people and we're gauging ourselves according to them. And let me tell you, beloved, Most often, this preoccupation with others often leads to more harm than it does good. In fact, I cannot think of an occasion where it doesn't lead to harm. Unless, of course, the brother is following Christ. We follow him as he follows Christ, right? But more often than not, it leads to a distraction from what Christ has called us to. How often don't we measure ourselves and measure our success or our fruitfulness or our ability as Christians by others? And really the Lord is saying, I've called you, Peter, to be faithful to me. This unhealthy occupation of what may or may not happen cripples us and hinders us from what we're supposed to be doing today and what God has given for us to do. Jesus wouldn't tolerate this. He wouldn't allow Peter to do that. He didn't want Peter to go any further and to continue to measure himself and try and gauge where he was with regards to John. Look at what he says. What is that to you? These are our Lord's words. Jesus said to him, if I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow me. You know, beloved, we can hurt ourselves by gauging ourselves according to other people, right? By trying to measure up to their standard of godliness and instead of looking at Christ. It can become a false standard. It can become a means of really beating ourselves up and really crippling ourselves. Or we can look at other people who have fallen and be discouraged and think, well, if they couldn't stand, then what makes me think I can stand? I remember as a young Christian, the man who led me to the Lord committed suicide. And I remember thinking to myself, oh, if this man was able to be overcome by evil. What about me?" And I was so thankful to God for His encouragement, even as a young believer. I don't think I'd even read this, but the words that came to my mind is, You follow Me. You don't worry about Him. You follow Me. So there's so many Christians who can be hindered and hurt by bad examples, pastors who've fallen in the ministries or pastors who've failed and they can do themselves untold damage because they're looking at that man's life in an unhealthy way. No, you follow me. You don't worry about that man. You are not to be looking at others and be preoccupied with what doesn't concern you. Follow me. You know, you might have that question, why me and not him? And we ask. It's such an ungodly, unhealthy way of reasoning, friends. And we need to stop it and we need to recognize it. And our Lord sees it in Peter and he stops it straight away. And you know, just to say this as well, even if you knew what the future held, that's not gonna help you. That's not gonna help you. Even if you did know that this is what was going to happen, what could you do about it? The hymn writer puts it well when he says this. Whatever my God ordains is right. His holy will abideth. I will be still whatever he doth and follow where he guideth. He is my God. Though dark my road, he holds me that I shall not fall. Wherefore to him I leave it all. There's a beautiful lesson here for us, beloved. Our Lord Jesus clearly teaches us to trust him every step of the way. I don't know what pathway God has ordained for you, my brother. I don't know what pathway God has ordained for you, my sister. But I do know this, at the end of the day, we will both come to that glorious fair harbor of heaven because we followed Christ. Because we have followed Christ. no matter what the trials. And here's the glorious thing, His grace is sufficient and His grace will be sufficient to every need. Listen to what Matthew chapter 6 verse 31 to 34 says, Therefore do not worry, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things, but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. And Proverbs tells us, chapter 27, verse one, do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth. These are sober, sober words to us, aren't they? And they're words that will do us a great deal of good, the more and more we meditate on them. And they're words that tell us that we should not worry about what tomorrow will bring. Tomorrow has its own troubles and sufficient for the day of the troubles therein. And the Lord gives us grace day by day. For Peter, he would eventually be martyred, whereas John would live a long life and would die a natural death. But the point is this, beloved, both of them would be fruitful. Both of them, both of them would be preserved, one in martyrdom, in great need and great sacrifice, the other in God's preservation and God's sustaining in a long life. Again, as we think about this table, When we consider all that the Lord has done for us, when we think of His precious blood spilled for us, when we think of His broken body, when we think of the veil which was torn for us to enter into the Father's glorious presence. How can we not but rejoice and realize this is all about Christ? This is all about Christ. that this day around this table, let us hear again the words of our Lord Jesus as he spoke them to his disciples, you follow me. He says it twice in this text, follow me, you follow me. And so the question comes as we come to the table, as we reflect on our lives, whatever situation you're in, however you're feeling, as a believer, as you come to this table, you are remembering Christ has suffered and died to save you from your sins. You know, Martin Luther had this one wonderful thing he said, and it was this, there is nothing like the gospel that enables you to begin again every day, every day. And Paul put it this way, forgetting what lies behind, forgetting what lies behind, pressing on. pressing on to that prize of that upward call in Christ Jesus. Beloved, I think of Peter. I think of perhaps the guilt and the shame that he had faced, and now the Lord's restoring him, and the Lord is telling him, look, You're going to serve me and you're going to be fruitful. But at the end of at the end of the line, you're going to lose your life. But you keep following me. And Peter's temptation then to look around and and compare himself and say, oh, what about him? And Jesus, almost as if we're taking his face and with his words and and looking him in the eyes and saying, Peter, keep your eyes on me. Keep your eyes on me. This is why Paul tells us in Hebrews, we are to fix our eyes on Christ Jesus, who is what? Who is the author and the finisher of our salvation. And so, beloved, this table of sacrifice and fellowship calls us to follow. It calls us to die to self and live to God. But it also reminds us of what awaits us. as his children. The best is yet to come. Revelation chapter 19 in verse 6. And I heard, as it were, the voices, the voice of a great multitude is the sound of many waters and is the sound of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory For the marriage of the lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright. For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And then he said to me, write, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the lamb. Soon and very soon. We are going to see the king. No more crying. We are going to see the king. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. We are going to see.