Great Wisdom About God From An Eyewitness Of Christ Series

Great Wisdom about God from an Eyewitness of Christ

The Gospel of John

John 21:20-25

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - September 5, 2018

(Revised August 5, 2020)

MESSAGE:

*Please open your Bibles to John 21. This chapter records the third appearance of our Risen Savior after He died on the cross for our sins. This time Jesus appeared to 7 of the original 12 disciples.

*In vs. 1-14, Peter had decided to go fishing in the Sea of Galilee, and six more of the disciples decided to go with him. It was a frustrating trip, because they fished all night and didn't catch a thing. But Jesus appeared on the shore the next morning, and that changed everything!

*At first, they didn't recognize Jesus. But when the Lord gave them a miraculous catch, John did realize it was Jesus, and they all got to shore as soon as they could. Peter even jumped out of the boat and swam! On shore, the Lord had already fixed breakfast for His followers, and I love that part of the story.

*Then in vs. 15-19, breakfast was over, Peter was walking along the shore together with Jesus. And three times the Lord asked Peter this question: "Do you love Me?" Remember that in the hours before the cross, Peter had miserably failed Jesus three times by denying the Lord. Now Jesus gave Peter three opportunities to reaffirm his love for the Lord, and that's what Peter did.

*But don't miss the fact that Jesus is asking the same question to us today: "Do you love Me?" In other words: "Do we love Jesus?" "Do we love God?" This is life's most important question because it is God's greatest commandment.

*As Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-40, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.''

*Tonight in vs. 20-25, we will finish our verse by verse study of John's Gospel. And in these closing verses John gives us some great wisdom about God.

1. FIRST: WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT GOD GIVES US A LIMITED REVELATION.

*This is part of God's message for us in vs. 20-22:

20. Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, "Lord, who is the one who betrays You?''

21. Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, "But Lord, what about this man?''

22. Jesus said to him, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.''

*Jesus gave Peter a limited revelation, and that's what God gives to us. He doesn't tell us all, and many times, He doesn't tell us why.

*Jesus almost sounds harsh as He speaks to Peter here, but John Hamby gave us this insight: "Peter was guilty of playing the 'comparison' game, and we like to play it too. We are still tempted today to turn and ask, 'But what about them?'

*Paul warns us about this in 1 Corinthians 10:12, where he said, 'For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.'

*Have you ever been guilty of comparing yourself to some other believers? I suspect that we all have. 'I'm more committed than those slackers.' 'I'm a better preacher than that guy.'

*But God doesn't want us to play the comparison game, and Jesus made the whole matter quite clear to Peter." Again in vs. 22, 'Jesus said to him, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me."'

*In other words, Jesus said, 'Peter, I have told you my plans for your life. What I choose to do with John is basically none of your business. Peter, you have enough to be concerned about in yourself.' And Christians, so do we." (1)

*God gives us a limited revelation about many things. He doesn't tell us all, and He may not tell us why. He may not tell us all we want to know, but praise the Lord! -- He will certainly tell us all we need to know. And sometimes He will give us amazing revelations, glimpses of glory, so to speak

*I remember how the Lord revealed His will for us before I answered God's call. I had been resisting His call for at least a year, but the Lord would not let me go. I was getting to the point of desperation. I felt like I was going to go crazy if I didn't surrender to the ministry.