|
“Following Jesus” John 20:19-21:25 Pastor Daniel Patz INTRODUCTION
Read John 21:15-25 and explain. I want to talk to you about following Jesus. Peter was told by Jesus – “Follow me” two times in this final chapter (19, 22). And I believe that is the same call to us today. This calling to follow Jesus was not so much a literal one (i.e. he was not just saying – “following me as I walk on this beach”) but a spiritual or symbolic use of words. “Follow me” means believe, entrust, obey, imitate, change your agenda, adopt my mission, restructure your allegiance, pursue my glory. So I want to talk about following Jesus both from this passage (and Peter’s life) and from other parts of Scripture. I hope this will be a step to challenging you to follow Jesus. 1. Following Jesus is what we do when we come to Jesus to “be saved.” It is what happens when we become a real, authentic Christian. It is the result of the new birth—conversion. (John 3) It is the Spirit-led act of believing in Jesus and entrusting your soul to Him—including the forgiveness of your sins because of who He is and what He has done. John 10:27-28 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. (28) I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. They heard his voice like Lazarus (dead 4 days in the tomb) heard his voice and was made alive. Peter first followed Jesus by faith when he encountered Jesus for the first time. Something spiritual happened to him there or at least later on. Matthew 4:18-19 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. (19) And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." But Peter did not just make a decision to experience a spiritual inner relationship with a deity and go on with his life. Peter’s life was transformed and he followed a man. This leads to the next point… 2. Following Jesus is also the description of the truly “saved” life that consequently follows Jesus wherever He leads and whatever it costs. This is the authentic Christian life. This has often been called the life dedicated to God or the consecrated life or the surrendered life. Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. John 12:25-26 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (26) If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. This life of following Jesus means that we:
Peter is again being called to this life of following Jesus after the resurrection in John 21. I want you to notice that Jesus calls Peter to follow Him (in obedience to feed His sheep because of a love for Jesus) no matter where He leads and no matter the cost (and the cost would be a death that would be glorifying to Jesus). Jesus knew what Kind of death he would die from (12:32-33) and why and now Peter does. Peter will have 3 decades of fruitful ministry with this sentence of death laying over him. We are called to follow Jesus wherever He leads and whatever the cost. We are to live this and teach this to our children in winsome ways. RAISE YOUR KIDS TO FOLLOW JESUS John Paton was a missionary to the New Hebrides Islands in the South Pacific in the 1800s. He grew up an intelligent and gifted student. Many people had great ambitions for John to serve the Lord in His homeland of Scotland. But he knew that God was calling Him and his young wife to these islands, where the last westerners that had approached the island were killed and eaten by cannibals. One of the elders of his missions society objected his going by declaring that he would be eaten by cannibals. He responded: "Your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms; and in the Great Day my resurrection body will arise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer." (p. 56) So he went to his parents for advice. What did they say? What would you say? "When you were given to [us], your father and mother laid you upon the altar, their first-born, to be consecrated, if God saw fit, as a Missionary of the Cross; and it has been [our] constant prayer that you might be prepared, qualified, and led to this very decision; and we pray with all our heart that the Lord may accept your offering, long spare you, and give you many souls from the Heathen World for your hire." (p. 57) 3. You cannot have one side without the other. You cannot follow Jesus with your life (wherever he leads and whatever it costs) without coming to Him by faith to save you from your sins and reconcile you to the Father. Without the new birth, all surrender, dedication, consecration is the filthy rags of works righteousness and will come up empty on the last day. And you cannot truly have followed Jesus to be saved if there is not the surrender, dedication and consecration happening in your life to some degree or another. Unfortunately, many (including myself growing up) view this as two different stages with the first being necessary for salvation and escape from hell, and the second as optional and necessary for special crowns or rewards in heaven. Matthew 10:37-39 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. (38) And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. (39) Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Luke 18:22-27 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." (23) But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. (24) Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, "How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! (25) For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." (26) Those who heard it said, "Then who can be saved?" (27) But he said, "What is impossible with men is possible with God." You can’t have one without the other like this: if the first is real, you will have the second. Peter believed with His heart and He followed Jesus with his life. But you may be wondering—that seems legalistic and scary. I am not perfect. I mess up and fall so short of being a follower of Jesus—am I truly saved? How does this work out in the Christian life. Before, I get there I want to say – there are far less true Christians in Christian churches than we might suppose. So on the one hand, many need to have their false-assurances shattered and turn to Jesus and follow Him. On the other hand I want to bring out this fourth and final point: 4. Following Jesus is the Spirit-initiated and Spirit-led process of becoming like Jesus. I want to break down what I mean by this phrase. Spirit-initiated: He is the one who gives the spiritual new birth. 1 Thessalonians 1:5-6 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. (6) And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 1 Thessalonians 1:9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, Spirit-led: He leads us and guides us and empowers us in this transformation. Although it is Spirit-led, that doesn’t mean we don’t do anything – He leads, we follow, He empowers, but we fight the fight of faith, He strengths and we flex the muscles he has made in the strength he provides, He encourages and we speak, He keeps us faithful yet we chop off arms and pluck out eyes if necessary. Dave writes in the booklet “Follow Me”: … from beginning to end in the life of a Christian, there is a mysterious partnership between the Christian and God. From conversion to heaven, from the minute that you start to follow Jesus to the minute you close your eyes to this earth, from the time that the Gospel comes to you in power, conviction, and joy to the time when the Gospel is your only sustenance, you have to fight with all that you have (with the will and the strength that God alone can provide) while trusting in God to make you into what you need to be (Philippians 2:12-13). Philippians 2:12-13 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, (13) for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Process of: Following Jesus is a “process.” Becoming Following Jesus doesn’t mean that you are perfect, sinless, and if you go astray in any way, you must not be real. If you look at Peter’s example and the disciple example you see them mess up many times – however, they are in the process of being made like Jesus. Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Like Jesus: We are called to follow Jesus and therefore imitate Him. God is committed to doing this for us. Romans 8:28-29 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (29) For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Peter’s life demonstrates that this is a process (and he stumbled along the way). Luke 22:31-34 "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, (32) but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." (33) Peter said to him, "Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death." (34) Jesus said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me." This sermon is an introduction of what we are going to look at over the next 7 Sundays as well as in the Discipleship Groups: A disciple of Jesus is a person in the process of 1) rightly understanding God and His Word, 2) becoming a worshiper/lover of God, 3) recognizing his or her dependence on God, 4) living as a part of the body of Christ (Jesus is the head), 5) becoming a suffering servant, 6) growing in godliness, and 7) becoming a debtor/lover of people. I call you this morning to follow Jesus Christ! Follow Him to eternal life! Follow Him for the forgiveness of your sins! Follow Him with your life wherever He leads and whatever it costs! Knowing that it’s costs are a bargain for what is gained!
|