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Now, let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heidzig. Peter seeing him said to Jesus, but Lord, What about this man? That is, what about John? Tell me about his future. You've told me about mine.
What about this guy? Jesus said to him, If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow me. Good old Peter. Peter loved the Lord.
But Peter was still Peter. I have a friend who says, people change. but not that much. And Peter had his ups and downs, and he's coming along, but he keeps reverting back to Peterdom. Always being Peter, always saying those things, always wanting to do those things.
So, at some point in this glorious conversation, it's inevitable that Peter goes: No, wait a minute, what about this guy? And his focus now is on John, and he's Caring about and concerned for and careful over what's going to happen to John. Do that. Boy. How much like Peter are we?
We're so prone to think about.
somebody else and want to run their lives. want to meddle in their affairs. We want to manage what that father or that daughter or that pastor or that deacon does. Paul said in Second Corinthians ten, concerning a group of people measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves, they are not wise. And we do that a lot, don't we?
We compare ourselves with others.
Well, look what she's wearing.
Well look at that hairdo.
Well look what they're driving.
Well, look where they live.
Well look how they look. Constantly comparing and worried about. What they're doing rather than what we're doing.
Now it's interesting that Mm. Peter asks the question, what about this man? Jesus never answers him. He didn't say, okay, Peter, let me tell you what's going to happen to John now. He didn't even get there because it's none of his business.
Now you want to know what happened to John? You want to know what happened to this man who was so intimate and so close, and seemed to Peter like he had it made. He's the guy who was so close and put his head on the chest of Jesus at the Last Supper? What happened to him is he was arrested. Irenaeus tells us, he's one of the church historians.
Irenaeus was the disciple of Polycarp. Polycarp was a disciple of the Apostle John, so we're just one generation removed. Irenaeus said John was arrested, taken to Rome. They tried to kill him a few different ways, one of which was to boil him in oil, and according to the story, he didn't die.
So they shipped him off to the island of Patmos, a prisoner colony, the worst place the Romans could think of to banish somebody. No vegetation. Hard life. And they stuck him there.
Now, you think of that next time you're prone to look at somebody and compare yourself and say, How come they're so blessed and I suffer so much? Stop your private pity party. Because you have no idea what that person is. facing or will face in terms of his or her own personal suffering. Think back to this.
Verse twenty-two. If I will, that he remain till I come. In other words, if I wanted to live till the rapture, it's none of your beeswax. Don't concern yourself with John. Peter.
You want to know a great text of Scripture for this? A little short one: 1 Peter or 1 Timothy 4. Verse 16, listen to it. Take Heed to Thyself. Take heed to yourself, or as the Phillips translation puts it, keep a critical eye on your own life.
Some of us like to look around. There's Joe. He's not as committed as I am. There's Pete and Sally. They don't work as hard as I do.
They do the glorious stuff. I do all the hard work around here. You get into that. It's hard to get out of that. I have a friend who gave me a link to a YouTube video of a pastor.
Who got up on a Sunday morning, it was an Easter morning. to a packed congregation. And just laid into them, berated them, calling them out name by name. Fred, you've been so unfaithful in your Sunday school class, you're fired. You're a wretch.
Calling people, I know what you're doing behind your husband's back. You've talked about that. Just calling everybody out. And angry and mad, and berating them. And I think the Lord wanted to slap them upside the head and say, psst.
What is that to you? You follow me. And I've learned something as a pastor, as a teacher, as a leader: that when it comes to Judgment Day, I face Jesus Christ. I'm not going to be responsible for how you did it. I'm going to be responsible for how I did it.
as well as the words that I taught on how to do it.
So We shouldn't be so concerned. Disciple, yes. Help, yes. Bring along, yes. But ultimately it's their responsibility.
Not yours. A.W. Tozer has a wonderful illustration about 100 pianos. He said: if you took 100 pianos in one room and you tried to tune each piano to the other piano, they'll be grossly out of tune. If, however, you tune all 100 pianos to an outside source, a tuning fork, they will automatically be in tune with one another.
He said it's the same with Christians. Get 100 worshipers, have them all focus on Jesus, they're automatically in tune with each other. If, however, you bring them down to the level of, we need a unity-conscious meeting. You're not going to do it. The key is just Focus on the Lord, eyes on the Lord.
Be concerned about the Lord's will for your life, not the Lord's concern and will for their life. I think I've told you about a Woman who came into my office several years ago and wanted to know God's will for her life and who to marry. I said, Well, I have no idea who you're to marry. She goes, Well, there's this one guy I'm really interested in. I want to marry him.
My friends think I shouldn't do it.
So I told the Lord before coming in your office: whatever you say to me, that's what I'm going to do. You know what I said to her? Nothing. I said, you're not going to slap that on me. I'm not going to tell you who to marry.
I'll tell you principles on how to discover God's will for your life. But then you, before the Lord, are responsible.
So, final instructions: be careful where you look, be careful what you consider. Number three. Be careful. Who you follow. Be careful who you follow.
Are you following people? Or are you following? Christ. Jesus, verse 22, said, If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow me.
You follow me. You know, Peter didn't get the whole follow-me thing very well, did he? Because Jesus already said this to him back in verse 19, right? I want you to be my apostle, Peter. You're going to shepherd my sheep.
You're going to feed my lambs. You're going to be faithful until death to old age. You're going to be my apostle. But Peter, you know what? I also want you to just be my disciple.
Follow me. He didn't quite get that because Jesus has to repeat it. And here, when he repeats it, it's the. Emphatic U in Greek. The best translation would be, as for you, You follow me.
You see, Peter got it slow, so Jesus said it slow. And he repeats it and he emphasizes it so he won't miss it. Jesus never tells Peter to follow John, never tells Peter to follow Andrew or James or Thomas. Not that anybody would. He says, follow me.
And the Lord would say to you this morning, Not follow my people. He never said that. Not follow my preachers. But follow me. That's what he would say to us.
Whenever you follow people, you will get disappointed. Do you remember that Paul wrote a letter to the Corinthian church? Saying that each one of you says something like, I'm of Paul, or I'm of Apollos, or I'm of Cephas. They were identifying themselves with certain leaders, and I find that people still do that.
Well, I really like that radio preacher, or that television, or that author. I'm just, I'm all about that. Really? How disappointing. You're going to be let down at some point.
You need to put first and foremost following Christ.
So I love it. It's so simple. Once again, if you were to boil the Christian life down to the irreducible minimum, the simplest. Axiom, it would be follow. Christ That's pretty simple, isn't it?
All the Christian life is so complicated. Really? Follow Christ. That's very simple.
So my question for you this morning. In this final message is, are you following Christ? And be careful how you answer that. Because if you probe honestly, you may be forced to say, like we discovered last week, that Peter had to say, well, I sure like you a lot. My love isn't what it should be, and following you.
I want to do that. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig Weekend Edition. Before today's message continues, there's a special offer for your family this Christmas. Hey, this is Nate Heitzig. And if you're like me, one of the best parts of the Christmas season is gathering your kids to share the story of Jesus in a way that makes it come alive.
That's why I wrote Christmas Under the Tree. A beautifully illustrated book and companion audio experience for families of all ages. My hope is that this story helps you and your kids connect the cradle to the cross and treasure the true meaning of Christmas for years to come. Christmas under the tree is yours when you give a gift of $25 or more to help more people discover God's word through Connect with Skiff Heidzig. Request your copy at connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-8200.
Mm-hmm.
Now, let's get back to today's teaching. Are you following Christ?
Now, I want to help you with that. I'm going to give you a little test, three things. That you can measure yourself by to see if you are truly following Christ. Because according to the Bible, it means three things. Number one, that you be where he is.
If you follow Christ, you want to be where he is. Jesus said in John 12, 26, Whoever serves me will follow me, and where I am, my servant will be also.
Now think about that. It means in all circumstances of life. All relationships of life, all decisions of life. If somebody ever says to you, Why are you here? You can say, Because I follow Christ and He led me here today.
Can you say that? I tell you what, that would eliminate a lot of places that Christians go to. and things that they do, because they can't confidently say, the Lord led me here. A lot of Christians go to places and do things and go, I hope the Lord still hangs with me after this.
So number one, you be where he is. That's following Christ. Number two, you do what he does. You do what he does. You follow his example.
This is John 13. Jesus said, I have given you an example that you should do as I have done. Jesus was faithful and obedient. Be faithful and obedient. He was patient.
Be patient. He was honest, be honest. He was holy, be holy. He had these certain attitudes, have those certain attitudes. Do you copy and emulate?
What he does.
So it's pretty straightforward, and we don't have to guess what it means to follow Christ. You be where He is, you do what He does. And here's the third one: this is the hardest one. Suffer. For his sake.
I can just see this dead silence. And contemplation, that third one, suffer for his sake, because this is the hardest of all. This is the nitty-gritty of discipleship. But listen to what Jesus said once again. Matthew 16: If anyone desires to follow me, let him deny himself.
Take up his cross. And follow me. You know how many times I've heard that misinterpreted over the years? My cross, they say, is whatever problem I am facing at the moment. Yes, this is my cross to bear.
I have an ailment. Or I'm married to this creep. It's my cross to bear. You have no clue then what it means to bear the cross. Because I'll guarantee you, when Jesus said those words to the Galileans, they knew exactly what it meant.
They have seen people be crucified, and they knew that all victims of crucifixion carried the upper part, the petibulum, part of their cross to the place that they would be executed. In fact, history tells us that Around this time, the Roman government had 2,000 Jewish Galileans crucified And they placed the crosses on the main arteries, the main roads in Galilee, so that all the populace would see. That's what happens when you defy Rome.
So when Christ said to them, if you want to follow me, you deny yourself, that is, dethrone you off of, take you off the throne. Put Christ on the throne. Take up your cross. And follow me. They knew automatically he's speaking about death.
That I have to be willing to die to my dreams, possibly, or my ambitions, perhaps. Or my goals, and I have to say, I gave my life to Christ, I'm following Him. My life belongs to him. And if that means I suffer for the cause of Christ, Then I will follow him.
So the final instructions. Be careful where you look. Be careful what you consider. Be careful who you follow and ask yourself, am I Following Christ. Fourth, finally.
Be careful how you wait. Look at verse 23, and we'll close off the book. Ah. Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die.
But If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? This is the disciple who testifies of these things and wrote these things. And we know that his testimony is true. And there are also many other things Jesus did, which, if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books. That would be written.
I suppose that is true. Closes with that great refrain. Amen. I do find it. Interesting.
Enlightening. that John closes the book. And records The last words of Jesus. That John records. are about his return.
and about waiting for his return.
Now, it's based on a rumor. A rumor circulated that John wasn't going to die because Jesus said what he said. And so John focuses on the if. And then the will. It's my will.
That he remained till I come. What does that do? That's what Jesus said. He wasn't giving a prophecy, but a hypothetical statement. Here's what it shows me.
That even God's people That even the early church could misinterpret truth by not listening. Carefully. or not reading what is written carefully. And John closes his book. Appealing to the reader.
To pay careful attention to what he wrote down by the Spirit of God. In effect, he is saying Jesus came, lived, died, and rose, and I'm an eyewitness account, and I wrote it down. And also, he is coming again. He is going to return. And while we wait for him, we should stick carefully to what is written.
So let's close with that admonition. As we are waiting for the Lord to return, and I don't know about you, but I tend to think it's a lot sooner than later. Based just on what I see going on in the world and what the Bible has predicted will happen. But while we're waiting for the Lord to return, be careful. Be careful not to cling to.
to adhere to rumors. Hearsay. The latest end times chart that you see in the bookstore. Certain ones, predictions of when Jesus is going to show up. The latest book or The Mayan calendar.
Don't stick to rumors. Stick to The study of what is written, the Word of God.
Now just think about it. It's taken two and a half years. To get to this book. You know what that means? You're going, yeah, I know what it means.
You're really slow. Yeah. Oh, you're right, and I want to explain why. The reason it has taken us two and a half years to get through, John. Is because we have paused to dig and examine and compare text with context and historical data, background, syntax, et cetera, et cetera.
And you know why? Because we wanted to be able to walk away from each studying saying, I know exactly what God meant when he said that. And you'll never know what The scripture means to you personally until you know what it said to them originally. Personally, and you'll never know what it said to them personally until you examine carefully. and do what we have done, dig and study.
We want to walk away not having any false ideas about what God said. And the only way we know how to do that. is to faithfully Expositionally, verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and book by book. Go through the Bible. You know what Jesus said to the spiritual leaders of his day?
He said, You do err, not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God. And I would say to us, we will also err if we don't know the scriptures. We won't know the power of God unless we know the scriptures. I close with this. Poem of admonishment.
Yeah. I suppose I knew my Bible, reading piecemeal, hit and miss.
Now a bit of John or Matthew, now a snatch of Genesis. Certain chapters of Isaiah, certain Psalms, the 23rd. The twelfth of Romans, the first of Proverbs, yes, I thought I knew the word. But I found that thorough reading was a different thing to do. And the way was unfamiliar when I read the Bible through.
You who like to play at the Bible, dip and dabble here and there. Just before you kneel a weary and yawn through a hurried prayer. You who treat the crown of writings as you treat no other book. Just a paragraph disjointed, just a crude, impatient look. Try a worthier procedure.
Try a broad and steady view. You will kneel in very rapture when you read the Bible through. I want you to know something. This church was built on Teaching The scriptures. And by God's grace, it'll stay that way.
Verse by verse book by book, And with so many people and so many different ministry groups now very active on the campus doing their own thing and their own emphasis. With all of that happening, one of the most unifying activities is that we all gather together. Going through the Bible. And we do that Wednesday nights. That's my favorite time to meet.
Because on Wednesday nights, it allows us to go through not a couple verses, but large chunks of the Bible. And see how it all fits together. It is one of the most unifying things because we're all focused on the same things. and it's like well-tuned pianos. That's the group I want to march forward with.
Those who thoroughly know what God has said. and lives are changed accordingly. Yeah. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skiff Heitzig. Before you go, don't miss your chance to request Christmas Under the Tree, the beautifully illustrated book and audio experience by Nate Heitzig that helps your family see the Christmas story with fresh wonder and excitement.
It's yours for your gift of $25 or more to help reach more people with biblical teaching through Connect with Skip. Call 800-922-1888 or go to connectwithskip.com slash offer. And don't forget to sign up for the free weekly devotional for encouragement from Pastor Skiff right in your inbox. We'll see you next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect the Skiff-Heitzig Weekend Edition. Make a connection.
Make a Connect. Should The foot of the crosses. Castle burning. Insomnia. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of connection communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
