Final Instructions

Good morning. Four years ago, this Sunday, I preached my first sermon as your pastor. Since it was Reformation Sunday, I decided that we, as a church, would meditate upon the five soul laws of the Reformation, one at a time, Lord willing, as we progressed. The first Sunday, I preached on Scripture alone. I chose this first. The Church must be built up on the foundation of the Apostles and the Prophets. We must be built up on what God has said in His Word. Our text with 2 Peter 1. This is the foundation of the Church. Christ is the King of Truth. We must submit together to Him. The second here is Christ alone. Christ alone. This is our identity. He is the head of the Church. We heard from John 11, the simple declaration, I am the resurrection and the life. We submit together under His headship. The next year, grace alone. Ephesians 2, we were dead in our transgressions, but God made us alive in Christ. Last year, our fourth, God's glory alone. Revelation 5, we saw that heaven will be an eternity of praise. of God's people singing to the Lamb of God who was slain. This year, for those who are counting and keeping up, it's faith alone. By faith alone. Our message today, our response to God's revelation of Jesus Christ is that we are sinners who have been given grace to glorify God. I had to squeeze all five in. Let me say that again. Our response to God's revelation of Jesus Christ, faith is our response to God's revelation of Jesus Christ that we are sinners who have been given grace to glorify God. Or simply put, we must trust Jesus Christ. Notice all five solas and how we talk about them, they all involve Jesus. He's kind of important for the church. He's the one who purchased her. He's the one who spoke His word. He's the one who gave us the grace. It's for His glory. We've waited for the last one to be faith alone because this is our response. We respond to what He has done for us. This is what we do. We believe. We trust. Faith is not just intellectual sin. It's not just saying, alright, I will agree with these truths. When we believe in Jesus, it's a turning from believing the lies that have corrupted us and saying He has authority over us. As we're finishing the Reformation series and the Stolaz, we're also finishing the Gospel of John. We're going to be looking at John 21. A little bit of John 20, that'll be found on page 907. If you want a Bible, please take the Bible in front of you, home with you. We would love for you to take and read God's Word. We're finishing our sermon series on John. We'll be looking at the Epilogue of John. This just works out because the main focus of the epilogue is faith. And here we are, the fifth soul law. Faith alone. Not by works. Not by our works. But by faith in what Jesus has done for us. The Gospel of John, the primary message has been, Jesus is the Son of God, the Christ who came to save sinners. We must believe in Him. He has died for our sins. He has died as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. He has risen again to give new life. He has ascended to the right hand of the Father where He has sent down the Spirit to renew us and to lead us into His truth. We are now coming to the end of this gospel. If you turn again to page 907, let me walk us through the text and we're actually going to begin in chapter 20, verse 30. now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in His name I want you to see the structure here because let's turn over we'll get to this Verse 25, 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. I believe these two statements serve as a bookend for the epilogue, the end of John's Gospel. We started our worship service with the prologue of John's Gospel, the deep truth that God has spoken. Jesus Christ is the Word of God. The Word has become flesh. God was not seen face-to-face until His only begotten Son came and revealed Him in truth and grace. This morning we're looking at this declaration. It's the clearest purpose statement of any of the Gospels. We know why John wrote. It's very helpful for those students who are learning how to write. Be clear in what you're writing for so that you may Now, some people questioned that this epilogue was added later, and it's very clearly John's writing, it's very clearly in line with everything else he said, and it really helps serve the purpose of the book. If it weren't there, the book would end with Jesus rebuking Thomas. Instead, the book ends with Jesus reinstating Peter. It's very powerful as we look through the history of the church and what God is doing, what Christ is doing to the disciples. It's not just rebuking Thomas, it's reinstating Peter, as we'll look at very briefly. John tells us that he has recorded these events. There's plenty others he could have recorded, but these events he chose. It's a theological biography. It's not like we write history today where we want a clear chronology of the facts in particular order, in particular way. No, he chose these facts to present in this way so that we could clearly see Jesus is a Son of God and our Savior. If we believe in His name, which represents who He is and what He's done for us, we will be saved. Now, John's assuming a lot. He's assuming we're sinners that need to be saved. He's assuming that we all have gone astray. He's assuming that we've turned away from God. He's assuming that like all the rest of the world, we love the darkness of our sin. We refuse the light. He's saying, Jesus Christ has come. so that we would be no longer blinded by the darkness of our sin, no longer caught in our sin, in the love of our own sin, so that we can now see the glory and the beauty of the love of Jesus Christ. He's assuming we need saved. It's one of the first steps towards salvation. We have to see that apart from Christ, we are in our darkness, we are in our sin, and we have to see that God is a just judge. evil thought, every corrupt desire, every action against another human being and every action against God, it will come under the just judge who knows exactly what we think, exactly what we desire and we will be punished unless we believe in Jesus Christ who came to take our sin and place it upon himself and to be judged as if a sinner He alone was righteous, and He alone could take that judgment away from us. That is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you are not a Christian this morning, that is what you must hear. It's not just intellectually saying, yes, I agree with this data. No, it's trusting. Completely relying that your tartness confuses you. Or completely relying that God's Word is the light, and realizing, apart from Christ, there is no life. Apart from Christ, there is no love from God. It is faith in Him alone. We must believe Jesus is God's Son. The second thing we see in our passage, our faith in Jesus must be firm. Notice John continues to tell of revelations of Jesus Christ after His resurrection. Look in verse 21, chapter 21, verse 1. After this, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the sea of Tiberias and revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas called the twin, Nathanael of Cana and Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, I'm going fishing. They said to him, we will go with you. They went out and got in the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore, yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, children, do you have any fish? They answered him, no. He said to them, cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some. So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, it is the Lord. When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. The other disciples came in a boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards, or a hundred yards off. When they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, Bring for the fish that you have caught. So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, come and have breakfast. Now none of the disciples dared ask him, who are you? They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took bread and gave it to them and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. There are seven disciples. They decide to go fishing. That's their previous vocation and occupation. Peter leads them out in the boat. The day was breaking. The ideal time for a fisherman to fish would be at night. That way they could bring in the fish to sell in the morning. Here they are. They're not catching anything. And someone they do not recognize comes up. Children, do you have anything to eat? And this seems odd, but really you could translate this. Chaps, do you have a bite to eat? It's fairly generic. He casts them in on the right side, which is the typical side that they would see more favorable. So he's just simply instructing them to cast in on the right side. We do not take from this a defined instruction for fishing. Even though many would love to know what is the divine instruction for fishing, they catch the net full. 150 large fish. John the evangelist, I believe that's who he's speaking of. John identifies himself as the one who's speaking. It's the Lord. This is a powerful messianic proclamation. It's the Lord. Just before Thomas had said, You are my Lord and my God. It's the Lord. He is the sovereign God. Notice how John presents the passage, and John and Peter's relationship will be important in just a few minutes. A few minutes. John has spiritual insight. It's the Lord. Peter has decisive action. He jumps in the water. I wonder if the boat made it back before Peter. This kind of reminds me, and forgive me for the reference, it kind of reminds me of Forrest Gump. When Forrest gets the phone call, your mom's sick, he doesn't hesitate. He jumps in the water and just starts swimming. Now, of course, he could have driven the boat to shore faster, but the urgency, the urgency. Peter has no choice. He acts decisively, oftentimes without thinking. puts his garment back on. He was working hard, so he had taken the outer garment off. He jumps in. Jesus is broiling fish. Come and have breakfast. But we're going to focus on verse 12. Now, none of the disciples dared ask him, who are you? They had already seen him rebuke Thomas and provide the evidence to Thomas. And Thomas had already come to see him. But more so, they knew it was the Lord. Faith becomes firm. Faith has a foundation. It's believing in the true Jesus Christ who is truly risen. Our faith should grow, be firm, because it's built on such a foundation. If you're a new Christian, give yourself patience. Be patient. As we heard at the retreat, folks who have been Christians for years, there's still a doubting. There's stages and difficulties and times of wondering, am I really a Christian? And I think what happens is this. We get the spotlight of the Holy Spirit on our sin. And because we don't repent quickly and we kind of want to hold on to that darkness that the Holy Spirit is spotlighting with the light, we start saying, no, I can't give that up. And that's when you start doubting. That's one of the key causes of doubt. Give yourself patience. You will grow in your love of Christ. You will grow in your faith. Let's go to our next point because this is where we're going to spend most of our time. Our faith in Christ leads us to depend on one another. Our faith in Christ leads us to depend on other believers. Look at verse 15. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, feed my lambs. Jesus said to him a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Jesus said to him, tend my sheep. He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. Truly, truly, 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 going to glorify God. After saying this, he said to him, follow me. What's happening here? Why is this on ending here? Well, one question is, is Peter being crowned the Pope? I have to ask that because it's Reformation Sunday, so I'm going to say no. I protest against the very idea of Peter being the Pope. But let's capture the scene here. There's a charcoal fire and three questions. A charcoal fire, three questions. Does that sound familiar? When did we see this before? Just a few days ago. Jesus has been betrayed. He's been taken in to be questioned by the Pharisees and by Pilate. Peter's outside, at a charcoal fire, warming himself, and he gets asked three times, are you his disciple? Three times he says, quit asking me. After three times he says, quit asking me. I am not his disciple. I believe it has to be deja vu here for Peter. Because what's taking place is Peter's reinstatement. Jesus knows Peter loves him. Jesus knows Peter has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Jesus knows who Peter is and what he's going to do because he's God. He's asking these questions to reinstate him. So that the church would know, yes, Peter denied Jesus, but he was kept by Jesus. Satan sought to sift Jesus, but Jesus kept Peter. Satan sought to sift Peter, but Jesus kept him. The first point we need to realize here is that this is just Peter's reinstatement. But I want to look at this passage on two levels and I want to try to be as clear as possible here. I believe we can read this passage on two levels. First, it is Peter's reinstatement and specific instructions for Peter. The first level is that this is a specific declaration for Peter so the church knows he's been reinstated. Secondly, I believe we can see that this is instruction from Jesus for all pastors. These should be understood as truths that can be applied to all pastors. So, there's two levels we're going to consider this passage on. The first is Peter, and then we're going to look at what this means for pastors. And there's a bit of a third layer. As we think about what Jesus calls pastors to do, it actually tells us a lot about the sheep. So don't check out, if you're not a pastor, this is still for you, so you know what to look for in a pastor, but it also tells us a lot about sheep and what they need from a pastor. When I look at the first meaning, or the primary meaning, it is the first level. Jesus is simply being reinstated. This is historically describing how Jesus took Peter aside and said, feed my sheep. You are reinstated back in the pastoral ministry even though you have denied me. He asked him three times, do you love me? The first time, do you love me more than these? Now there's a couple options that Jesus could be referring to. They're real possibilities. The first one is that do you love me more than these men love me? The second one Do you love me more than these men? Do you love me more than these disciples? The third one is, do you love me more than these fish? Now, for some in the congregation, that's a real helpful question. Do you love me more than fish? Especially as lunch is coming close and I already heard somebody say somebody's eager to go fishing in the hallway. Do you love me more than fish, these men, or do you love me more than these men love me? I think he's probably asking, do you love me more than these men love me? Because Peter's already said, I love you, I'll lay down my life for you. Peter promised his great love and I think Jesus is saying, how much do you love me? The question is interesting also because Jesus keeps saying, do you love me with the word agape and Peter keeps responding with phileo. Two Greek words, we translate both to mean love. I don't think we need to read a whole lot into that other than there's a communication issue between Peter and Jesus. Even Jesus himself, he uses two different words that have the same reference of pastoring, feed, and tend. He even uses two different references, sheep and lambs, for the same people, the church. We need to realize that while this is the first level, as Peter is given a very clear promise that is only for him, he's told how he's going to die. John is clear He's told how he's going to die. When you're young, you move about as you want, but when you get old, someone's going to stretch out your hands. This is language always in reference to a cross and a crucifixion. Someone will stretch out your hands. Another will dress you, another will carry you off. He said this to show what kind of death Peter would die. Peter was crucified like his Savior. So, the first level, I believe we can just simply see this as Jesus reinstating Peter. Let's move to the second level. This is going to apply to us much more. Jesus is providing a model instruction in charge for pastors. This is good for the church to recognize, as we are the ones who call pastors out. It's significant because we also heard this in 1 Peter 5. As Peter charged pastors in his epistle, you can hear the echoes of it, of what Jesus told him here in John 20. Let's walk to the second level. I want to let you know that this is weighty. For me, as a pastor, to tell you what the scripture says about a pastor, it feels weighty as I have been forced and challenged to think about the responsibility. It's easy to see how far short I fall. Today, this is extremely weighty. Regardless of how difficult this is to preach, I am compelled and called to preach it in its fullest so that we are called to faithfulness. So let us work to look to God's Word together. There's four things we can learn about pastoral ministry. First, pastors love Jesus' sheep. Notice three times. Feed my sheep. Tend my lambs. Feed my lambs. Whose sheep are they? They don't belong to the pastor. The pastor does not possess sheep. There is no possession involved. Because you're Jesus' sheep. He bought you with His precious blood. Pastors, we have to remember, He has obtained for Himself a precious people with His precious blood. And Acts 20, 28 says He's obtained those people and we are to be watchful over them. This is a great responsibility to watch over and care for the Good Shepherd's sheep. That's why He is the Chief Shepherd. They're His sheep. That's why we are under-shepherds. The sheep do not belong to us, but they are our responsibility. Just a couple weeks ago, the way a husband should look at his wife, she belongs to Jesus. Your wife, first and foremost, belongs to Jesus. She is His bride. She's made more important than being yours. But she's your responsibility. Your marriage will be happy if you keep those two truths in balance. She belongs to Christ and she's your responsibility. Pastors, the same goes for us. They're Christ's sheep, but they're our responsibility. called to love. As we know, according to Scripture, Jesus loved them sacrificially. We are called to love His sheep sacrificially. Those who are called into more significant service are called to have greater sacrifices. Now sheep, what does this tell you about you? What does it tell us about the sheep? And I want you to hear something. I'm going to reference sheep as we. Something you need to realize about your pastors, we're sheep first. You have six pastors if you remember Jefferson Ford. I have five. I'm a sheep. I have pastors. No one is meant to not have a pastor. We're all sheep together. So sheep, what does this tell us about us? First realize that you have under shepherds. And realize they are not the chief shepherds. I don't really think you needed to know that, did you? You probably already were fully aware of that. But I need to remind you, your elders are sinners. Praise God, the Chief Shepherd is not. Your elders will fail, but your Chief Shepherd will not. He will keep you. He loves you and cares for you. He will not fail you. As I remind myself constantly as I'm frustrated in the way that we fail you pastorally, I exhort you to remember Jesus Christ is your chief shepherd. He will not fail you. Wives, when your husbands fail you, remember Christ is your bridegroom. He will never fail you. Church, when your pastors fail you, remember your chief shepherd. He will never fail you. Second thing we learn about pastoral ministry. Pastors love Jesus' sheep because they love Jesus. Pastors are to love Jesus' sheep because they love Jesus. This is why Jesus keeps asking Peter, do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? If you love me, feed my sheep. If you love me, tend the lambs. Pastors, what motivates your pastoring? It boils down to what is your motivation? It must be done out of a love for Christ. We only love the church because we love Jesus. This is important, pastors. Because Jesus loved the church because Jesus loved the church. It's not because the church is lovely. If you want to be a pastor because you think it's glorious and you get to love lovely people, well, that fades fairly quickly. Sheep bite. So, pastor, if you want to be a pastor, if you have called to be a pastor, realize your motivation must be out of a love of Jesus Christ. To desire to be an elder is to desire a noble task. But it should be one to love the church because Christ has loved her. A desire for Christ and a desire to glorify Him is your first and most important reason. Now sheep, this tells you something about yourself. It tells us something about ourselves. We need to choose elders that we trust love Jesus. The church is responsible for calling elders and pastors. We need to choose elders that obviously demonstrate a love for Jesus. And John tells us what it means to love Jesus. 1 John 5, 2. It means to obey his commands and they're not burdensome. To love Jesus is to obey His commands in a way in which they are not burdensome. Loving Jesus isn't some mysterious spiritualism. It's pretty clear. We realize how much He's loved us because we realize how sinful we are. We love Him because He first loved us. And then we love Him in ways of submitting to Him because He is the King. He's our Savior. He's our Lord. Pastors are to love the sheep because they love Jesus. Here's a warning. Be careful in judging your elders' motivations. Are you quick to accuse your elders and pastors, assuming the worst in them? Are you quick to pray for them when there is difficulty, and ask them questions? If your first action is not to pray, search Scripture, and respect them enough to actually go and ask them something, there's something incredibly broken and mature. This is raw, but real. There are few things more painful than to seek to follow God's Word and apply it to care for the sheep, and for the sheep to turn around and accuse them of having distorted motivations. I am fully aware that every thought I have, every desire I have, every deed I have is tainted by sin. There is only one truly good shepherd, This is why we seek to make sure that our thoughts are captured by the Word of God. We seek to make sure we're thinking God's thoughts after Him. We're seeking to make sure our desires are conformed to His desires. We're seeking to make sure our ambitions and goals are measured by God's Word. You see, church, this is the work of the devil. To make the church doubt God's Word is sufficient and clear. That's the work of the devil. to make God's Word, to make God's people question if God's Word is sufficient and clear. Every epistle warns the church of a problem that comes into the church. Every New Testament book warns you at some level, some that's what the whole book is about, about lies and false teaching that come in. Now let me ask you a question. Well, let me first say something. When God is working in a church, Satan wants to get in there and mess it up. That's just the truth of scripture. How do you think Satan's going to show up in the church? Do you think he's going to have a name tag? Bill Wolfenstein? Do you think he'll dress up in a red outfit with a tail and horns like he's going trick-or-treating? No. He's going to come undressed like a sheep. He's going to come in and he's going to say all the right things. He's probably going to come in and say, hey, my name is Bill. I love Jesus. So you start to listen to him. That's what the Word of God is to measure. That's what the Word of God says, do you obey commands or are they burdensome? This is what the wolf's going to do when he comes in dressed like a sheep. He's going to say, no, you shouldn't believe that text anymore. Modern science has disproven that. No, no, no. That was truth for them back there. We don't need that anymore. We have progressed in society. That was truth for them. No, Paul was just, he was kind of a bigot. Just ignore that part. No, the Spirit's leading me to believe this. I think Scripture is antiquated. You know, those are all just fancy spiritual ways of saying, has God said? That's what the wolf does. The wolf comes in, dressed like a lamb, dressed like a sheep, and he wants you to ask the question, has God said? As soon as we question the sufficiency and clarity of scripture, he's starting to chew. God's word runs counterintuitive to sinners. It tells us to love our enemies, to excommunicate the rebellious, to rebuke sinners, to correct the wayward, to cast out false teachers, to fight off wolves. It says that sometimes the most loving thing you can say is a correction. Acts 20, to elders, Paul says, pay careful attention to yourselves, to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which He obtained with His own blood. Titus 1.9, he must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught so that he may be able to give instruction and sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. As I promised you, we don't correct and rebuke because it feels good. It's not pleasurable. It's not because we expect to be thanked by the sheep. We do it because he's been purchased by the blood of Christ and we will have to give an account. Our covenant reads, We have committed together. We will pray for our leaders and submit to them as they lead us to Christ through scripture, teaching, and correcting with gentleness. Hebrews 13. I'm going to try to summarize basically Hebrews 13. Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. Church, you deserve elders who love Jesus enough to correct your sin. You deserve elders who love Jesus enough to correct and rebuke. And I have to apologize to you. I'm too often motivated by the fear of man and not enough by the love of Jesus. I'm too often motivated that I might lose you as my friend. and I've not recognized He's obtained you with His precious blood. The Word of God has to be the center of our relationship. Third, pastors love Jesus' sheep by watching and feeding. There's two different words that Jesus uses here, feed my sheep, tend the lambs. There's a number of ways you could translate these and they all really have the same meaning, tend, feed, care, be watchful, means shepherding. Shepherd my sheep. The pastor is supposed to be watchful, seeking to protect the sheep from error. There are dangers lurking. Satan is seeking to divide us. He's roaring. He's prowling around, seeking for somebody to devour, as we've already read from 1 Peter 5. Not only are there problems from outside as Satan is trying to come in and divide and sow discord, everybody in the church is a sinner. And James tells us that when there's fights and quarrels, it's because of our sin. So there's many problems and pastors are meant to tend, care, feed, be watchful. The sheep need to be protected and provided for. The sheep must feed, must be fed. They must know Christ and His truth. Why pastors are constantly called to point the church to Christ, the real Shepherd, while pastors are called to help you understand His Word. I want to thank you, church, because it's been easy. From the very beginning, the reason I was drawn to be the pastor of this church is that you love God's Word. I believe this is a church where this truly happens. We're submitted to God's Word together. Yes, there's of course been challenges, there will be more challenges, but as long as we are submitted together to believe God's Word is clear and sufficient, We'll be united and we'll be under his headship. As soon as we doubt that God's Word is sufficient or clear, then we cease being Christ's church. One of Satan's schemes is to make you doubt if God's Word is sufficient and clear. Christ has spoken. He has given us this Word. His Holy Spirit comes to illuminate it. The pastor called to equip us so that we make sure we understand God's truth. So that when we're entangled in sin, we see that Christ set us free. When we're overwhelmed with guilt, we know that Christ's blood made a perfect atonement. When doubt lingers, we see that Christ is the perfect foundation upon which we can build our lives. Pastors, we're called to equip the church to rejoice in Christ and be united by His grace. Now sheep, what does it say about us? Well, we need to be fed. We need to be watched. We need to be cared for and we need to be protected. There are wolves and false teachings. There are dangerous half-truths that lurk out there. Sins that entangle and ensnare us. We need to see that Christ is our victory. Now, this is not a convenient truth. This is extremely uncomfortable, I realize. Because I'm saying I'm a sheep. You need to be watched. You need to be cared for. Some of you are saying, how dare you say I need to be watched? I didn't. God did. I didn't. Go back and look at Acts 20, 28. Watch my sheep. I bought her. Titus 1, 8. It's implied in the command of Peter. We should infer it from the command of Peter. You're consumed with anger that someone else needs to watch you. you need to be watched. More uncomfortable, as pastors, we will only help you see the love of Christ as we help you see your sin. We will only help you see the love of Christ as we help you see your sin. We will help you walk more faithfully as we help you see the difficult calls and commands of Jesus' Word. We must insist that this is our rule and measure. Because this is Christ's Word. Something that we need to realize about the calling to feed and watch and care for, the sheep have to be kept in good pasture. If the sheep get too close to the woods, the wolves can jump out and snatch them easily. The sheep can easily go out and not eat the good grass. They can go eat something poisonous that would put them in danger. The sheep can easily go into the thistles and the thorns and be caught up. This is why God's Word provides boundaries. This is why God's Word provides boundaries to protect us. Sinners don't like boundaries. That was kind of the whole point in the garden, wasn't it? Don't eat that tree. It's called a boundary. Sinners don't like boundaries until they realize they're from the love of God. I was talking to our own Peter, the shepherd, and I always enjoy talking to him before I get into one of these agrarian texts because he always has amazing agrarian insights. So thank you, Peter. There's a dynamic that helped me realize here. The sheep of Christ, they hear the Good Shepherd's voice and they know that voice. That's the most important one here, right? That's the one that defines everything because you're really His sheep. But every sheep of Christ is an under-shepherd. And every sheep of Christ is an under-shepherd whom they hear the voice of Christ through. And Peter helped me realize that, he told me, sheep aren't actually stupid, they're suspicious. He says they're suspicious. Sheep are looking for someone they can trust. Sheep are looking and observing and remembering every face and what they did to them. Sheep need to know that they can trust They're under-shepherds. And I don't take for granted that that takes time. I don't take for granted that that can be hindered and difficult at times. But the dynamic of the under-shepherd being the one who watches the sheep seeking to sound like Jesus and loving them like Jesus. Pastors and disciples of the church training them up to recognize the voice of Christ. Fourth, and finally, pastors must follow Jesus. Look at the very last command. Now, at some level, Jesus, I think, is actually saying, follow me. He's taking Peter for a walk, but we can't lose the significance of follow me through the Gospel of John. This is a culture of discipleship. Under-shepherds must follow the chief shepherd. The whole point is to follow him. Under-shepherds themselves are sheep in this way. Follow means that we make our pattern in mission. We follow Him. Our pattern is after Him. Our mission is from Him. And this is one of the things that has helped me the last few weeks. Paul, the Apostle, he saw himself as an under shepherd. And he used something very specific. Whenever Paul introduced himself in letters, he would say, your servant. One of the articles I was reading on pastoral ministry made the compelling argument that what Paul is referring to is the suffering servants of Isaiah. Jesus was the perfect suffering servant. But everybody who's called into the service of pastoral ministry takes on himself the role of a suffering servant. If Christ suffered to purchase his church, how will those who are called to lead it not suffer in this leading? Jesus is a pattern. If he doesn't suffer, if he was not relieved of suffering, how will we not be? We'll suffer slander. We'll suffer gossip. We'll suffer grumbling. That's why we don't do it out of a love for the sheep. We do it out of a love for the shepherd. This is why, as we heard from 1 Peter 5, "...and after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you." After you've suffered a little while, He will restore you. A rule we just need to have as a church. In order to lead, you have to follow first. If somebody's not teachable, don't center their teaching. You have to be taught first by Christ before you can teach. It's the simple truth of discipleship and what Christianity is in teaching. If you're not following, you cannot lead. And pastors, above all, must be leading in submissiveness in the teaching of Jesus Christ. As we go on to our next passage, beginning of verse 20, our next point, this is the fourth point of the total sermon, You're welcome for choosing the entire epilogue today. Our commitment to Christ settles conflict. This is actually pretty intriguing. Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved. So here's Peter, here's John, the one who also had leaned against him during the supper and had said, Lord, who is it that is going to betray you? It's also the one outran Peter. When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, Lord, what about this man? Now remember, Peter was just told what kind of death he was going to die. So Peter says 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 may not 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? I believe John's just wanting to clarify. Jesus didn't say he wasn't going to die. But the point here is that Peter has conflict with John. Jealousy, I believe, is at the heart of this conflict. What is it to you, Jesus says? If the Holy Spirit goes and equips and gives that brother in a certain way, what is it to you? Follow me! He's putting a finger on a major palm that goes with the church and that we're usually looking at one another and saying, if only I had that gift, if only I was like that brother or sister. I think Jesus would respond to all of us. What is that to you? It's my body. I'll choose where the hand goes. I'll choose where the knee goes. I'll choose where the mouth is. I'll choose where the ears are. What is it to you? Follow me. Seek to worship Jesus Christ according to how He is calling you. Follow Him and rejoice at others as part of the body. Follow Him. Verse 25, there are so many things that Jesus has done, but these things have been recorded for us so that we might believe in Christ. He died for sinners. If you believe in Him, His death washes away your sin. Every evil thought, every perverse thought, every angry word, they will be judged by a just God unless You believe in Jesus and let Him be judged for you. Will you pray with me? Father, we pray to You and thank You that we can trust Your Word. Help us not just to like the ideas in Scripture or just to choose the ones we like. Help us to trust You. Help us to trust what You've done for us. Help us to trust what You've said to us. Help us to be a church that's united under Your Word. We thank You for how clear and sufficient Your Word is for us. Help us to submit to it. We praise You, God, that You've spoken such a powerful word of salvation to us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.