Congregation, we first will have the scripture reading. That's from John 12, the verses 23 through 33. Elder John Wilbrink will read scripture. From John 12, the verses 23 through 33. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it. And he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me. And where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my father honor. Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this cause came I into this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. The people, therefore, that stood by and heard it said that it thundered. Others said an angel spake to him. Jesus answered and said, this voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die. Beloved congregation, the text for the sermon in this service of post-communion is verse 26, John 12, verse 26, where we read, If any man serve me, let him follow me. And where I am, they shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my father honor. So far. You will remember that beautiful verse where the Lord Jesus said that he came not into this world to be ministered unto, but that he would minister, and that he would give his life as a ransom price for many, the Lord Jesus came not to be served, not to be honored in the first place, but in the first place that he would minister to others. And this morning at the Lord's Supper, the Lord Jesus was actually the host He ministered to his people. It's not about the minister, it's not about other people, but it's about him. He was there in the signs of bread and wine. And he was handing out bread and wine through his servants. And so he is explaining that he made a full payment for sin. And the full payment of the Lord Jesus covers God's people fully. In this way, He is serving them. He is ministering to them with the most precious gift. But when that happens, and when the Lord Jesus has taught you that He has come not to seek people serving Him, but that He would serve you, When that happens, and the Lord Jesus has ministered unto you, then it cannot be otherwise. But you desire to serve Him in return. Then you say, Lord, my heart is inclined, is indicted to follow Thee. That becomes the desire of your heart. That's the response. For those whom the Lord Jesus saves, they desire to follow him. And that's what we read in our text. If any man serve me, that means those who wish to love me and follow me and obey me, that the Lord Jesus has something to say to them. Because that's a natural response. And that's also even better said, it is a response worked by God's Holy Spirit. that he leads a people that they're no longer concerned about themselves, but about the Lord and about his honor. And that's what Scripture is full about. It's full of that. You know what the Apostle Paul said when the Lord Jesus stopped him on the way to Damascus? Those beautiful words where he said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And what did blind Bartimaeus do? when he had cried to the Lord that he would receive eyesight, and he received eyesight. He could see. What did he do? He followed the Lord Jesus in the way. And so there are so many other examples. The possessed man from Gadara, when he was delivered from that legion of monstrous devils, he was so glad, so joyful that he wanted to follow the Lord Jesus and belong to Him and stay with Him. But then he received another task. He had to go back to Decapolis, where he came from, and there he had to tell the people what great things God had done in his life. That was his way of serving the Lord, and he was obedient. He went around that whole area as the first herald the first Christian ministry in that region of Decapolis. And he obeyed. You see, when you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, then you also wish to serve him. Is that not your desire? Is that not your ardent wish? This must be our foremost wish. a paramount desire, far above other things. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do in my life, in my circumstances, in my shop, in my office, in my interactions with people? Teach me thy way. I need thee to lead me." That's the consequence. of knowing the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what the Lord Jesus says here in John 12, verse 26, which you can also see is the spirit work response of having been at the Lord's Supper. Then the Lord Jesus says, if any man serve me, let him follow me. And where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my Father honor. And so, congregation, in this service of post-communion, we reflect upon serving Christ. And this involves two things. It involves a precept and a promise. Serving Christ, this involves a precept, it's a command, a calling, and a promise what the Lord shall do. So the text says, if any man serve me, let him follow me. That's the precept. That's the command, that's the calling. This is what Christian life is all about. It's following Christ. That means listening to him, knowing where he is, obeying him. He leads the way, and you follow, trusting that He knows the way you have to go in your life. It may be unmapped territory, maybe something new what you're going through, and you don't know what the future will bring, but you may trust in that He is leading the way and that you may follow, following Him in blessed days, in days of anticipation, of joy, but also following him in difficult days. It's following him in health and in sickness, because following is a Christian duty. That's the calling, the precept. It's like a soldier following his officer into battle, because he trusts his officer. He's willing to lay down his life to risk his life for what the officer commands him, because he trusts in his officer. And so a child of God knows and trusts that the Lord is leading them in the right way. And they follow. It's like a servant who follows his master. It's like a teacher, and he's followed by his students. Sheep trust their shepherd. They recognize his voice and they follow him. For they know he will lead them into quiet waters, into green pastures. And these are all examples of following and trusting and obeying, examples of how it should be in our lives that you and I learn to recognize the voice of the good shepherd. And how do sheep learn to recognize the voice of their shepherd? Because they hear him so often, and that's why you also need to hear him so often, and I need that. And you learn to hear his voice as you're reading Scripture, and you're alone with him, and it's one-on-one, personal instruction, every day again. and that one day you may feel more of his nearness than the other day. But every day you try to listen to his dear, precious voice as it comes to you from his Word. And that makes following the Lord Jesus so exhilarating, so beautiful, so precious. You know, you don't want to miss it, because it's everything to you, and that's the heart of Christian life. It's walking by faith, trusting, obeying. It's not so much a feeling that you feel at peace and at ease and everything is wonderful. No, it's more looking at Him, at His Word and what needs to be done, even very sober-mindedly without feeling or without emotion, I know this is what I must do. It's difficult for me, but I will do it. With the strength of the Lord, I will do it. It's looking to where the Lord Jesus is leading you, and to follow Him, trusting that He knows the way. It can also be that your knowledge is very limited, and that you don't understand the way the Lord is leading you. It may even seem that everything is going wrong in your life. Infirmities may be very great. Then you sense your own weakness and your own inability. There can be powers at work, temptations that you find difficult. Your strength is very weak. It can even be that your hope is very dim. And you believe what the Lord Jesus says, and you strive to do what the Lord Jesus commands, and you desire to follow Him. But it's so difficult, because I'm so easily confused. And then yet to humbly walk with Him, and to humbly ask of Him grace to go on the way that He's leading you. that following is essential, following. That's what we must be, followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing his will and obeying his will. So what does following actually mean? We can say more things about that. Following means to know Christ, to know him, and you know him from his word, that you daily read, and you know him also from his dealings with you personally, that in prayer you sense his guidance in your personal prayer, and that you sense and know what his will is. He gives you knowledge, knowledge that Christ is the true life, And as the light of the sun is sweet to your eye, and the eye esteems sunlight above all other light, so the light of the Lord Jesus, spread forth in your heart, will be most precious and most pleasant. We learn to value the light of Christ. And we see more and more that in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and of life. Following the Lord Jesus is knowing Him, but it's also preferring Him, that He has the highest place in your life, that you choose Him above all. As a young man chooses one young woman to be his bride, so the soul will prefer Christ. and choose Him above all. For like as a woman sets her love upon one certain man, and she desires him to be the guide of her youth and the support of her old age, she chooses him. And likewise, when you know the Lord Jesus, you will choose Him as the everlasting companion of your soul. The pharaoh of Egypt chose Joseph above all because of the wisdom which he recognized in Joseph. And Nebuchadnezzar recognized such wisdom in Daniel and made him a head of all his wise men. And so God's children will choose Christ above all, and the knowledge of him and the communion with him. So you need him as a king to command you, as a counselor to guide you and to teach you. We need the Lord Jesus as a friend to comfort you, and as a pearl to enrich you. It's a wise choice to choose Christ. Have you chosen him already? Has it come in your life to that point when you say, Lord, I cannot live without Thee? I'm prone to stumble. I cannot go by my own insight. I cannot farewell listening to other people's insights. I need Thee revealed in Scripture. And then you become serious about the Lord Jesus. and you listen to His Word, and His Word becomes your guide, and your ears are attuned to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd, then you follow Him. Following Him also means to love Him above all, as the wife loves her husband above all other persons. Likewise, when you follow the Lord Jesus, you will love Him above all. Jacob loved Rachel above all, and to follow the Lord Jesus means that you will love Him, and that you desire to love Him as the very best. Because often your love is so weak, and your love is assaulted, and often it's not more than just praying, Lord, teach me to love Thee, for Thou art altogether lovable. When you follow the Lord Jesus, you will also trust Him. May you lean upon Him. You do not know what the future on earth will bring, but you trust Him. As the builder trusts that rock, upon what he constructs a house. Chickens, they trust their mother hen who ushers them under her wings. And so following the Lord Jesus means that you trust Him above all. You have Him as your captain to fight for you, as your shepherd to defend you. He is as the rock to support you and as a shield to cover you. Oh, how we need to trust Him fully, that He will be there to guide you and lead you all the way, even when things go different in your life. And you will experience that He will not forsake. Has He ever forsaken you? Has He ever dropped you? Were you ever plunged into utter despair while you were following Him? That cannot be, because He is compassionate, personally compassionate with all His people. That's why there's trust, because He is faithful. And so following the Lord Jesus also means that you rejoice in Him. For you see beauty in Christ, which is above everything else. Who else will carry you through life? Who else will be with you in death? He will be there to usher you in. Lo, I am with you all the days. And in the day of your death, you think He will not be there? He will be there to welcome you. You who trust in Him, who have learned to follow Him, He is most faithful, most good. He will watch over you. And so you rejoice in Him. There's beauty in Christ above everything else. It becomes a joy to follow Him and to know Him, for He is your life. He is your joy. Like the Israelites rejoiced in David that he was their king, as Ruth delighted in her kinsman, Redeemer, Boaz. And you can also imagine examples and think of them. But that's how a child of God rejoices in his Savior, in his Shepherd, in his Lord and King. following the Lord Jesus, is rejoicing that he will lead the way and that he will lead you to everlasting glory. Oh, let there be joy in Christ! Just as a traveler rejoices in the sunlight in which he may travel, or as a sick person rejoices in a doctor who comes to help him, or as a prisoner rejoices in the one who has come to deliver him from prison and set him at liberty, let there be joy. That's what it means to follow the Lord Jesus. That's a precept, to belong to Christ and to follow Him. But there's more to be said about this following, because this following will also be assaulted. There's one who does not want you to follow the Lord Jesus, And the world may cast you out and may mock you and laugh at you because you wish to follow the Lord Jesus. The world may pour contempt out upon true religion. They may ridicule those who wish to follow the precepts of the Lord Jesus. And they can also hate you. They can't stand you at times. If they could, they would kill you. That's how deep their hatred is. But in spite of all that, God's children will follow the Lord Jesus. And that's because the love of God burns in their heart, and that leads them to follow Jesus. They've experienced that the Lord is good, and that the Lord washed them from all their sins, They have learned to entrust their lives to Him. They realize only with the Lord Jesus does life have any true and real meaning. There's a quotation that's passed on through the centuries, apparently written by the godly Bernard of Saint Clairvaux, who was a medieval theologian, I think around the year 1100. His monastery is still to be found in southern part of Belgium. And he apparently wrote, O God, thou hast made all things for thyself, and he that will be for himself and not for thee begins in the midst of all things to be nothing, nothing, vain, useless. I repeat, O God, thou hast made all things for thyself, and he that will be for himself and not for thee begins to be nothing in the midst of all things. You see, without Christ, man's greatest fullness is nothing else than emptiness. If you do not know Christ, you may be a world leader, and you may decide upon life and death of countless people, and you may think you're very strong and great, but you are nothing. Such are empty, empty hearts, empty lives, empty and very guilty. He who seeks himself and not Christ, he loses himself and Christ as well. That's why he ends up with nothing. If you strive to be happy without the Lord Jesus Christ, you're placing yourself in a snare, and you're casting yourself into the greatest gulf of misery, and therefore, Really, you have no choice. There's only one way. We know that there's one way, we speak about that. But there's also for you one way, very practically, and that is the way of following the Lord Jesus Christ in your life. And you know very well if you follow Him or not. You know very well if you're just paying lip service to Him, you need to follow Him. in resignation, because He is the Lord Jesus, so blessed to belong to Him, then you have a complete, full blessing. Because belonging to the Lord Jesus means fullness of salvation and a fullness of guidance through life His full payment for sin is laid upon your life, and His Holy Spirit will lead you to follow Him and teach you to obey Him. The Lord Jesus is perfect, and the imputation of His righteousness to you makes you to be perfect in the sight of God. Have you ever thought about that? You children of God, you assaulted ones, because you have learned to follow Christ, you are perfect in His sight. The Lord sees no sin in you, because He looks at you through His Son. And that's why heaven will declare of your life, perfect. You would never dare say that of your own life. because there's so much in which we fall short. But belonging to Christ, that means, that implies having the full imputation of Christ's righteousness to you. You are accepted, accepted by the Lord. and even the services you seek to render to the Lord are also accepted. From your side, the very imperfect and impure, but sanctified in Christ, you belong to him. Your whole life is under his care. You are risen with him. You ascended into heaven with him. You are there with him. Well, you're here on earth. You are here in this world. But yet your home is there. That's where you belong. And at times you look forward to that. And he will lead you. That's following. Because of that finished work of the captain of your salvation. And at the same time, you confess to this blessed Savior that there are so many imperfections, so many failures in your life. You grieve about that. But He looks at you, not as you are in yourself, but He looks at you and sees the image of Christ upon you. And He says, My beloved, that's what following means. and such go forth from strength to strength, and they must appear before the Lord in Zion. These ones, they resist sin. They don't want to sin, they hate it. They constrain themselves to do the will of God. And although they fail in many things, They are yet precious and beautiful in God's sight, because they have learned to follow Christ. The beauty of God's children is sometimes recorded in Scripture by beautiful illustrations, like the beauty of the lilies of the valley, sometimes God's children are viewed as the beauty of the sun in its brightness. A child of God is compared to a queen clothed with gold of Ophir. Following the Lord Jesus means to be covered with riches, fullness, and splendor. Not that you necessarily see that, but that's how it is in the sight of God. The beauty of holiness rests upon you. Following Him, that means to follow Him all the days of your life. And you don't look anymore for an easy life, but you look for a blessed life. You don't look for honor, but you look for blessing. For Christ, He's, that He would use you to be a blessing. Following Christ implies rich blessings. But following the Lord Jesus means to be where He is, and He is now in heaven. But He was also in other places, and you will also experience that. He was in the place of mockery, in the place of being assaulted, a place of being tormented. They hated the Lord Jesus. They will also hate His people. And don't be surprised if people give you the cold shoulder. They did that to the Lord Jesus a long time ago. And so that means to be content that we take up our cross, that we follow Him, knowing He will be there to lead to guide and to strengthen. And the outcome of this all is that when we learn to suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified with Him. But the suffering is so limited, and the glory with Him is so extravagant. Extravagant may be a negative word. Maybe extravagant is a bit overdone, if we see that correctly, but that's not how it is in heaven. It's never overdone. It's most precious, most beautiful. For this following of Christ leads to utmost glory. And that's what we find when we not only consider a precept, but also a promise. There's a beautiful promise attached to following the Lord Jesus, that is, where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my Father honor." There are actually two promises here. The first promise is that, where I am, there shall also my servant be. We touched on that already. Where is Christ now? He's in his kingdom. He wants to have his people with him in his kingdom. He's moved by love. and by his love he will gather his people to be with him. We don't understand what heaven is. We don't know how that shall be. But we know that the love of Christ poured out in your heart will remain, and that love will be purified, will be perfected. It can be that we know so little now, of the life to come after death. But the apostle says that to depart is to be with Christ, which is far better. And if you have been at the Lord's Supper, and you saw there the sight of his broken bread, and poured out wine, his body and blood, there you are called to do this till he comes. And in a short while, You, child of God, will see Him, you will be with Him. This life is short. Whether we're 70 or whether we're 80, if we reach that, this life is short, and it's done quicker than you and I think. But the Lord Jesus Christ and His love will be present, present all the way. Here on earth, when you afford to fight the good fight of faith, you have learned to do that, and the Lord will reward you. You will be with Him. And to be in His presence, that's the very best. That's the very best. We don't know what that is. the joy, the peace, the communion, the harmony, the rest that remains for God's children. It's something we talk about, we read about, but we cannot fathom what the Lord has in store. But it will be very good, very good. None who came there regretted that he had to leave this life on earth. He'll be filled with admiration and adoration, full love and communion with this blessed Savior, Jesus Christ. And God's children, you may know this life is short. Something can happen to you quickly, suddenly. maybe a bit more protracted, but it will come for sure. And His presence is the very best. That's true, already here in this life. There was the comfort of the martyrs, the true expectation of all God's children, they will be with Him. Here on earth they did not receive much honor of men, but in heaven they will receive honor from God the Father. They will be made like unto Him, unto His glorious image. So that's the first promise that we find here, that where I am, there shall also my servant be. And then there's another promise, the second promise, "'If any man serve me, him will my Father honor.' And this is the pinnacle of joy, when God the Father will honor all those who love the Lord Jesus Christ, when they will be ushered into that place that no eye has seen nor ear heard during their life on earth, They probably did not receive much honor of men, but they will receive honor of God the Father. And that honoring can already start in this life. The Lord has a pleasure to honor those who honor Him already in this life. And His children go forth from strength to strength in this life. And each one of them will reach Zion. Now, it may be that you are ridiculed, but the Lord will make amends for that. Maybe you go through struggles and through difficulties, and you don't understand why that is happening, but He knows the way you have to go. He has His wisdom, His reasons for that. You may not see it now, you may see it later on, clearly. But He is leading along this difficult way, that you may be ushered into the presence of His holy angels, and in the presence of the redeemed Church, to be in perfect communion with the Lord Jesus. And there will be there perfect love, full peace, and such joy as you cannot imagine here on earth. And it will carry on forever and ever. Yes, you may think of this future. Yes, you who look to the Lord as your daily help, your daily refuge, think about what he has in store for all those who love him. Meditate on the blessings of life everlasting. Meditate on the blessings of heavenly glory. Yes, sure, you may think about that. And then you may add to that the prayer that the Lord would lead you to be where He is, and that you now would learn to follow Him. The honor that God will give, ushering sinful people who are washed in the blood of Jesus into His presence, can be that a young woman considers it an honor to be taken by a certain young man into marriage. People can consider it to be an honor and a privilege to be in the inner circle of princes or presidents or members of parliament. They are being made companions of these leaders. It's an honorable position. But true glory and abiding honor will be when a person is received by Christ into blessed communion with Him. Such a person has the honor of being a son of God, because he is born again, he's adopted to be a child of God. He receives the honor of being a friend of God. And the Lord God shows him secrets, secrets of what the Lord is going to do. And the Lord imparts his mind to his people here on earth. And such have the honor of being a conqueror, because the victory of the Lord Jesus is given to them. They will be more than conquerors through Christ who loved them. They have the honor of being the spiritual bride of Christ, taken into spiritual marriage with Him. Such people are heirs of all things, co-heirs with Christ. What honor they have! They're going to rule and reign with Christ. And that implies that for those who are honored by God the Father, that means that all things will be theirs. All things will be yours, you who belong to the Lord Jesus, who have learned to follow Him. You will be honored by God the Father. It says in 1 Corinthians 3, verse 21, Therefore let no man glory in men, for all things are yours. When you belong to Christ, You will be an heir, you will inherit all things. The angels are there, they are yours to minister to you. The beauties of heaven will be given to you to enjoy. And the Lord sends now his servants to instruct you. The Lord gives you pastors to feed you. And these instructors, and these servants, pastors, they are yours to be edified by them. And the Lord gives you daily blessings. He leads to repentance. As you see the goodness of the Lord, so much goodness, so much He gives, that the apostle says, all things are yours. And so you may rejoice in the blessings the Lord gives in this life. And even the difficulties of life are to lead you to be closer to Christ, and to give you strength to seek life in Him alone. And when the Lord leads you in difficult ways, it is to your benefit. When there are days of prosperity, the Lord gives that so that you will be truly thankful while the difficulties of life are there that you would learn to exercise patience, and when you feel the weakness of your body, and when you are in sickness, it's a call to realize that you are going to leave this life, and that you will be summoned to appear before the Lord. All the conditions of life are then yours, even death itself. It is the means to put an end to all miseries and to usher you in into the haven of peace. All things are yours, the things here on earth, but also the future things. The things on earth God's people will inherit, the earth, the new heavens and the new earth where they will live. And afflictions are now in this life to humble you. And sins are present, they humble you also, that you realize how vile you are that you know your position before the Lord. And that's all contained in the fact that you have become the spouse of Christ, That's what you confessed at the Lord's Supper, did you not? And now you expect all things from Him. And therefore, there's no boasting in who we are, but let your boast be in the Lord alone, because God the Father will honor you. If only we would realize the honor that comes by following Christ, and then the honor that God the Father gives, then we would not be so bent upon earthly honor, upon worldly honor. Then really one thing would be honorable to us, that is to know Christ and to know more of Christ. Therefore, we need to listen now to His exhortation. And we need to learn to follow Him. It's so necessary to learn this. It's a lesson we need to learn. And you need to learn this before the evil days come. Scripture says that. You must seek the Lord and find Him. before the evil days come. And what are the evil days? The days when your body becomes so weak that you can hardly walk, that you are diagnosed with some disease, or when you become a heart patient, or when you suffer a stroke, or whatever it is. We will all receive something Those are the evil days, the days in which you lack strength to make your peace with God. But now, before the evil days come, now you must learn to follow this blessed Savior. Now is the time for it. And truly, it's not an impediment, it's not a disadvantage, it's not something painful, awful, or negative, that now I have to learn to follow Christ. No! It's the key to happiness. It's the key to a blessed life, that you learn to follow this blessed Savior, who blesses and honors already in this life and in the life to come. You need to seek the Lord. to follow Him before the evil days come. And when it is that you have learned to love this precious Savior, you will know that the Lord will honor you. That's the rich promise here, what God will give to all those who belong to Him. Shall we pray? O gracious Lord, we thank Thee for Thy word, for Thy truth, for Thy faithfulness, for the honor that Thou dost give, and that Thou art faithful to Thy word, that whatever Thou hast spoken, it shall surely come to pass. And therefore, Lord, make our footsteps firm in Thy word. and teach us to follow Thee, that we may learn to come after Thee, looking unto Thee, Lord Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, and that we may be enlivened and quickened. Lord, we thank Thee for what Thou hast given this day in Thy house. Will Thou go with us and be the afterpreacher of Thy word, and give, Lord, that we may dwell upon these matters, and that young people may realize the need that they must follow Thee, and that that is a personal matter, that it must come to a climax in their lives in which they cannot continue on, but must belong to Him. O Lord, will Thou abide with us also in the coming week, Bless us in all our circumstances, and watch over the congregation. To the glory of thy name alone, in Jesus' name we pray, amen.