I invite you to turn in your Bibles to the end of John, the end of the Gospel of John. As for some time now, we have, this has been, you'll remember this as the COVID book. That's what you'll remember. This book got us through COVID-19. I don't know how many other people will be able to say something like that, but the Escondido URC can say that. So, we started this, I think it was in October of 19, so just before the whole pandemic broke out, we started this, and here we are today at the very end, and the very last section in John chapter 21. Well, read it, verse 20, to the end of the chapter. This is the word of the Lord. Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them. The one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, Lord, who is it that is going to betray you? When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, Lord, what about this man? Jesus said to him, if it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me. So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die, yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but if it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. And there ends the reading of God's Word and the Gospel of John. How do you end a book like this that has helped us to understand so well the gospel and the work of Jesus Christ for us. This has been such a, at least for me, I hope you can say the same, an exciting study through this book that has given us such help to understand God's gospel and the good news that has gone out to the ends of the earth. John has been fixated for us and helped us to understand who was sent to us. That's been the great, one of the great purposes of this book, that we beheld his glory. John said at the beginning, the glory of the only begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth, you'll remember to that. Son from the Father. The marvel of it all is how we have worked through this book to see God's great love in announcing to the ends of the earth and the manner in which he has demonstrated this love. God so in this way demonstrated his love that he gave his son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. That is such a special verse and something that you can never hear too much of. Unfortunately, it seems to lose its focus and we miss the glory of what's being said to us. Well, after all this time now, and studying the glories of Jesus and his work to save us, and as we've looked at this, and we've considered this for all this time, showing us this work, it's not surprising that we come to the end of this book. We come to the very end, and there's a concern that is driving John. There's something that matters to him that is raised at the end that we need to hold on to. What is that concern? Well, we're going to look at that. We're going to work through this brief section here that's a strange section. That's a somewhat confusing section that doesn't seem to make a lot of sense after a book like this to come with this challenge and confusion that is set before us. But it really does, if we remember the chapter's focus on what's happening in this book, that John is showing us the restoration of the disciples after their failure. But he also has the purpose of showing the restoration of the Great Commission. The restoration of the mission that he is sending his servants on to the ends of the earth, which you are all recipients of to this day and have been blessed by the Lord to receive. So that's why chapter 21 is so important. It's restoration and recommission. the first thing that had to be dealt with you remember last time was the failure of the disciples we needed this section to understand ministry we needed this under a section to understand how ministry goes forward with sinners i mean this is a big issue isn't it christian ministry is performed by sinful human beings people who are weak chapter 21 is is so human and it's showing us really still the struggle with sin in the life of his disciples. They had failed Jesus, you'll remember. They had failed him miserably, terribly. And in this section, you remember this past section, Jesus was restoring his disciples and restoring particularly focusing on Peter. Their threefold denial is answered by a threefold restoration. over a coals of fire where Peter had denied. It's an important section that love was the focus of this section and the distinctions were important. Very important. Jesus shifted to work, to the words and the way that Peter understood love and as he searched him and tried him, Peter loved his Lord but not the way that he should and he knew that and it was inwardly burdensome to him and it made him want to give up. and Jesus worked on that. He worked on that. We looked at discouragement. Discouragement when failure happens makes people want to give up, makes people go backward, and Jesus is saying to us in this first section of John 21, you are still my useful servant. You will fulfill what I send you to do. You will go, and you will not go backward. You are still fishers of men, he said to them, as he restored them in his love. But today John closes the book with one more big problem that is a threat to the taking of the gospel to the ends of the earth. A problem that is important to consider at the end of the book. Something that has a lot to do with the restoration of mission. What is it? Well, I'm gonna let you see it unfold, and then you're gonna say, oh, well, I see this all the time. I see this problem all the time. Something that you're way more forwillier with that you probably didn't catch as we were reading through it as to what happens here. But it's a big problem that's here captured at the end of the book. Something that we need to keep ourselves from and to understand and appreciate. So I want you to notice here we have, again, a calling that Jesus gives specifically, and then a great confusion that follows among the brothers and the disciples, and then the clarification that Jesus gives, and then, of course, ending through John's great witness and testimony. Jesus, of course, by this point has restored Peter. It's a beautiful restoration that has just happened, something very helpful to study. You'll notice there that in the next words, after the restoration, again, Jesus says very plainly to Peter, follow me. Notice that there. Follow me. This is right at the end of verse 29. And after saying this, he said to him, follow me. Big moment. The challenge, of course, is when you come to this, that we don't really listen to that call very well. And Jesus had already explained what he meant when he said, follow me. You'll remember in the last section, Jesus said, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go. This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God. And right after this, Jesus said, follow me. That's not a really exciting prospect. You just had, I'm kind of glad I don't know my future that way. I don't know how I'd feel today if I was told you're going to go die. Jesus just said that to Peter. You've done all this your whole life. You've gone and done whatever you wanted to do. But now, somebody's going to take you at some point and they're going to take you where you do not want to go and they're going to stretch you out and you're going to die. Eusebius, the historian we looked at last time, said that as the history goes, Peter was crucified upside down. Whether the hand stretched out here means the crucifixion, you can't be dogmatic about that. But it is certainly true that Jesus was saying, you're going to go die for me. That's a good plan for your life, isn't it, Peter? I've got a wonderful plan for you. You're going to die. Now, right after this, follow me. That doesn't sound like a very exciting prospect. A Christian is a Christ follower. That's what we promised when we made profession of faith. What that means is that when we come to this basic call of Christianity that Jesus gave everywhere in the Gospels, this wasn't the first time that Jesus used this little statement, follow me. When you have this kind of statement, it was a call for us to get out of ourselves and to follow where Jesus goes, what he has for us. It was told to me this past week, if you remember Cindy Cluey, who had many challenges in life and had many difficulties in life. But in her little apartment, she would put a little sign up. And on that sign, it was joy. And what she would write under that was Jesus, others, yourself. Every day, she'd have to remind herself of that. I didn't know that. I thought that was precious to hear. This is essentially what Jesus is saying here. The call to follow him was a calling on our lives. Think of how much Jesus dealt with this. As they were going along the road, someone said, I'll follow you wherever you go. Jesus said to him, foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. You sure? I don't have a great house I'm going to. You're not going to have a comfortable bed to sleep in. You sure? to another he said, follow me. But he said, Lord, let me first go bury my father. Jesus said to him, leave the dead to bury their own dead. Willing to miss your dad's funeral for me? As for you, you go and proclaim the kingdom of God. You go preach the gospel. Another said, I'll follow you, Lord. Let me first go say farewell to those at my home. Notice the tie to family being first. Jesus said, no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom. Peter, you're going to go die. Follow me. What Jesus was showing is that many people claim to be followers of Jesus, but their life shows that everything else is a greater priority than that. The difference here is when Jesus sovereignly places that call on one of his children, they follow. After this, he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, follow me, and leaving everything, he rose and followed him. See, there was the general call, and then there was the effectual call of Jesus on his servants' lives, and they followed, and leaving everything. What Jesus said to Peter was, you used to go where you wanted to go. You used to dress yourself. Now that I've restored you, and I've put my hand on you, and I have a holy calling upon you, you will go where you do not wish. Signifying by what death he would die a crucifixion. My calling is on you. My calling is on you. You were bought with a price. You're mine. See, this is a different kind of moment here in the call. You are going to go on the mission. So the call here is directly tied to the mission. The call to follow is directly tied to the mission that he has. It's my mission, it's my kingdom, it's my church. And Jesus is here exerting his ownership over Peter. I mean, it's not just a mindless little statement. When we say in the Heidelberg, you're not your own. That sounds nice, doesn't it? But that's a big claim on your life. You're not your own. You were bought with a price. Now, even when God's children received this calling, sometimes it always came with a fight. Sometimes they always stood back and they didn't quite follow. And that's, I think, the strange moment at the end of John as we are seeing a sort of wrestling with this call here. You'll notice that Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them. The one who had leaned back against him during the supper and said, Lord, who is it that is going to betray you? When Peter saw him, he said to him, Lord, what about this man? What about him? This is a really interesting moment at the end of the Gospel of John. Interesting inclusion. One that had come privately to Jesus, who at the supper, remember, had asked Jesus privately, who's going to betray you? And Jesus revealed it to him. It's John. What about him, Lord? How do you take that? Well, it's interesting that if you go through the commentators, a lot of them say that Peter was really concerned for John, that Peter was caring for John and hoped that he wouldn't have to go through what he just had to go. Do you believe that? Peter's mindset is just like the Gordon household. Hey, get in there and clean the kitchen. What about so-and-so? Go outside and pick up the dog's stuff. Well, they didn't do it last week. I mean, this has been my whole life parenting. And this is exactly what's going on here. Does he get the easy road? Is he going to have to go die like me? I mean, there's a kind of envy in this, I think. Sometimes we're really concerned about where Jesus has other people, aren't we? You've appointed this for me. Well, I hope I'm not the only one. This has very much to do with who is the Lord of our lives, doesn't it? You see, and it's giving us some kind of perspective through this and help through this. I've seen a lot of very unhappy people throughout my years in the ministry for the simple reason they're not happy or accepting of their place in life. They struggle with that. Some get very bitter about that. All the way to the job, the vocation, whatever it is. And what is Jesus' answer? It's interesting, isn't it? Look at the sovereignty of Jesus here put on display. If it is my will that he remains until I come, what is that to you? You follow me. You follow me. I have a will, says Jesus. I have a will for your life. If it's different than the person next to you, or if it's different than the other person over there, that ultimately is not your concern. Some are always caught in questions. Some are always caught in these sort of things. And they're always questioning everything. And they miss their actual calling. It's a very freeing moment, I think, in the Gospel of John. When you understand this and can appreciate this, it's a very freeing perspective on all of life and how you look at it. We are not here for ourselves. We're not here for names. We're not here for glory. We're not here to arrive. We're not here to build a legacy. We're not here for any of that. Jesus has a will for our lives. And what he's saying here is, when I called you, I purchased you. You belong to me. You will go and fulfill the work that I have for you. Listen to that. you will go and fulfill the work that I have for you. Your concern is very similar to what Cindy Cluey put up on the wall. Jesus, others, and then yourself. That will save you a lot of heartache in life, by the way. A lot of frustration when you're not very happy with where you are. And you live in the bitterness of that. His will is being accomplished in the calling that He has for you to specifically follow Him, to follow Him right where He has you. Some people have an easy go of life. And some people have a really difficult go of life. I've never understood that. As a pastor, I've seen it all. I've seen some people who go through life pretty carefree. They have little death and little hardship and they have all this abundance. and they have all these things. And then I see people in some families where it's just one constant suffering after another. And it's difficult. It's difficult to understand. It's difficult to see. And how often do we look at the person next to us? What about them? I think this is why the Bible comes to us and says, Listen, your life, whether you eat or drink, you can glorify the Lord. No matter what it is. You can sit down at a table and you're eating, you can glorify God. You can go to your work every day in the place he has for you that's monotonous and sometimes burdensome and it never seems like it's going to end, and you can glorify God. But do you see the problem? One of the great hindrances is our refusal to accept where he has us, and when you understand the sovereign will of the Lord, that you may not know that will in the way that you want to know that will, but that there is one, and that there's guidance in that, and that he is simply fulfilling, You are fulfilling what he has for you. You, Peter, will die for me. That's what will happen. What a privilege you get. Every time you're suffering and you're bearing a cross, you can remember this. You can remember this. What a great purpose. The first challenge is hearing that call and accepting that call. Follow me. somebody owns you somebody purchased you but then comes the second confusion the massive confusion with the call comes the confusion John captures I think there's two issues that are coming together here doesn't seem immediately connected but it's important for the mission after jesus said if i will that john remains until i come what is that to you here's what here's what happened verse 23 so the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die yet jesus did not say to him that he was not to die but if it is my will that he remain until i come what is that to you are you kidding me here we are after the resurrection and jesus is dealing with these guys who won't listen again? And you can first say that the major point is pay attention to Jesus. Pay attention to Jesus. Listen to Jesus. People will come up sometimes in the course of ministry, every pastor knows this, and they'll come up and they'll say, hey, you said this today. You said this today or you said that. And they're caught there. They're over there. And they missed the entire main point of what was said in the sermon. That's happened to me so many times in the ministry, I don't think I can even count. And it had no bearing on ultimately the major point of what was being said. But it froze them, and they couldn't listen anymore. They couldn't listen anymore. Jesus was frequently misunderstood. And isn't it interesting at the end of John that this issue gets raised right at the end? It makes me feel good that it happened to Jesus frequently. You ever been misunderstood? No, no, I didn't mean that. You don't have any of that from Jesus here. You know exactly how this went. Think of the implication of this. You know, so what you have here for a minute is not only stay with the calling that Jesus has given you, But now, what I believe is happening here, stay with the mission that Jesus is giving you. Now, what's the connection to that? See it. People spend a lot of time speculating and wasting time on issues they shouldn't because they just didn't listen very well. All of a sudden, they become predictors of the second coming. Did you know that? Hear this. Jesus said, did you hear him? Did you hear him? Did you hear Jesus today? Jesus just said, John will never die until he comes. I mean, that's an amazing prophecy Jesus just gave. And what that means is, is that John's going to be alive when Jesus comes. That was how they took it. So we know the time and we know exactly the hour. We can watch John, can't we? Jesus' emphasis was, you follow me. Don't worry about him. If you were to remain till I come. Let me ask you the question, how many foolish disputes have you seen in the church on the wrong stuff? That's never happened, right? I remember Dr. Godfrey clearly, in his teaching on church history, said the church has given so much energy at times to the wrong things, we missed what was important. Church history has proven that. how many stupid debates? I remember a Bible study years ago in a Reformed church, and they were studying the creation account, and for an hour they debated that the mist that came up from the ground, it had to have been a spring, it couldn't be a mist. And then there was a division, right, in the Bible study over whether it was a mist or whether it was a spring. And it happened the next week again. Well, you know what we do in these moments. We start the first Miss Church and the first spring church. How many stupid debates? Sometimes it gets a little more complex. Christ and culture. I'm two kingdoms. I'm Kuyperian. That's important. Split. I'm for common grace. What? No, no, you can't use grace. Goodness only. Well, that's important discussion. I'm supra or I'm infra. They may be important discussions and they may have important implications and because of air that can flow, certainly, hear me, things have to be corrected and we have to have discussions about these things. but I think at the end of John, there's an important message here for the church. What can happen with eschatology? Well, we've known what can happen with eschatology. There's a reason Paul told Timothy, avoid foolish disputes over words and useless wranglings of people destitute of the truth. I think the point here is clear. Pay attention to Jesus. Now that should be a big statement to you right now coming through the Gospel of John. Keep your eyes on Jesus. We beheld his glory. The glory of the Son of God, full of grace and truth. Stay focused on the mission. Remember Acts 1? Lord, are you now finally going to restore the kingdom to Israel? You go and preach the kingdom of God. Maybe the real message is just a display of how much they needed the Holy Spirit to come. Right? Maybe that's the real message here. How much we need the Holy Spirit to keep us in the truth. It's a reason we have a prayer of illumination that when we pray every Sunday that the Spirit would guide us in the truth. But it's not just the spoken truth, it's how you hear that truth and receive that truth. See how dependent we are. Look at this, look at them. They can't hear the calling and they're over here on this and they've got caught up in a dispute over here. Welcome to ministry. You know, the Pharisees were always trying to pull Jesus off the path. This is what they were masters at. Hey, Jesus, tell us what you think. Anyone who says that, just run away from him. Tell us what you think with that sarcastic attitude. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? They always were trying to catch him and pull him away. And he didn't let it happen. He gave the answer, and then he always refocused. You will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth. That was what Acts showed us, was once the Spirit came, how focused they were on what was most important in the message. And with a, I think that's why the book ends this way, with a giant clarification that John now gives. As we know, this was written later, And John looked back and summarized these things. This is the disciple. Notice this here. Notice the great clarification in the third point here. This is the disciple who's bearing witness about these things. I kind of understand it. And who has written these things. And we know that his testimony is true. I don't see how anyone could come up with a different author than John on this. They've tried to. I'm bearing witness to you about the matters, as Paul would say later, of first importance. I think that's why the book transitions right here at the end. What things, the things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, the things concerning God's eternal son, those things. There's a record of a testimony that is given to us in a book that's been handed to us. inspired by the Holy Spirit, these things are written down. These things are given to you. And notice, why were these things written? Well, this is where the whole book comes together. Notice how John ends here. There are many other things that Jesus did. We could talk forever about all the things that Jesus did. We could have a lot of debate about this and that. Why they were written down and when they were written down. But these things were given by inspiration from God. This is what he chose. This is what he chose for you. Everything that should fascinate you. The world could not contain all the things that he did on this earth. But why were these things written? And that takes you back to the thesis of the book. John said at the end of chapter 20, these things were written that you would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Notice that right at the end. These that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name. That's the message the world needs right now. That's really the message the world needs right now. This is where our priority must be. This is why we exist as a people in a church. Look at the world of sorrow right now. Look at all the hardship right now. Look at all the pain right now. Look at a world blighted by sin and sorrow. People need to know a judgment's coming. Do they? Do they understand that a great judgment's coming? And do they understand that in the midst of this gospel, John announced, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him will be saved from all this. Yeah, John's dealt with everything that needed to be dealt with. He showed us the glories of Jesus Christ. He showed us his person and his work. And all of your failures are not an excuse to avoid his calling on your life now. See, that's chapter 21. You are his witnesses. He's paid for your sins. You're forgiven all your trespasses. And now he says to you, follow me and stay focused. Remember the beginning of the book. This is the only true light shining in this present darkness. What an important kingdom we are a part of. What an important Savior we belong to. What important name that has been given. The name to which every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord. This is the gospel of John. This is a gospel of life and a gospel of belief. Is there anyone here today after all this time in the gospel of John that still doesn't believe? Is there anyone who doesn't believe? You have everything you need to know here, right here, that's been given to you in the last year and a half through COVID to give you true life, forgiveness, joy, peace. Believe in him. Enjoy the life he's given you. And remember that you were purchased with a price. Your life matters. He loved you enough to die for you. So follow him. Follow him where he has you. Follow him where he's taking you. Follow him to glory. That's the calling he's placed on your life as a believer in Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for such a wonderful word and closure to this book. Forgive us, Lord, that often we are caught up in the things that we shouldn't be caught up in. And that often we have fought your calling on our lives wherever you have us. Just remember what is at stake and what the world needs and what we needed and how you've answered us. Awaken us out of slumber. Now is the high time to wake and out of sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first began. Thank you for calling us with a holy calling. Thank you for setting us apart to you. Thank you for making us your salt and light. Bless your word to our hearts and to the ends of the earth. May the world understand the glories of Jesus Christ. Thank you for giving us these things that we might believe and be saved. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.