let's get into John chapter 21 and I'm going to begin reading at verse 15 and I'm going to read all the way through verse 22 and then we'll ask for the Lord's blessing and guidance and enabling grace. Beginning in verse 15 we read, so when they had eaten breakfast, remember they're on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and Jesus has performed a miracle and given them full nets and he's prepared breakfast for them and they've now eaten. So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these? And he said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. And he said to him, feed my lambs. He said to him a second time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? And he said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. And he said to him, 10 my sheep. He said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonah, 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 all things. You know that I love you. Remember, we saw that he was grieved that third time, no doubt, because he had denied Jesus three times. And now Jesus, in asking this the third time, has reminded him of that. and given him three opportunities to express his love and also his faith that Jesus knows what's in his heart, something that he learned through all of this in a deeper way. Now we move on to his command, feed my sheep. Most assuredly, verse 18 says, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished, but when you were old, You will stretch out your hands and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish. Then John says, this he spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he said to him, follow me. 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? And Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, but Lord, what about this man? Jesus said to him, if I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow me. So we see right after giving them the third charge to feed the sheep, to tend the flock, he immediately talks about the fact that he's gonna do that till he's an old man. And then he's gonna die. and we're gonna look at exactly what he means by this this morning. So let's pray and ask for God's grace. Holy Father, we pray. First of all, for the many people who are traveling today, as I look out and I see how many are gone and I know how many are on the road, I pray that you'll keep them safe this week as always. Bring them safely back to us. Give them rest, those who are on vacation, so that they'll come back restored, help them to find really good places to worship with other believers while they're traveling. And wherever they're worshiping today, help them to remember we're with them in spirit, even if we can't be together physically. Lord, we pray for those who are ill. We know there are a number among us who are ill and couldn't be here because of that. And so we pray, Lord, that you would restore them quickly. If they've sinned, that you'd forgive them. and raise them up soon, restore them. And now for those of us who are here and have worshiped together this morning and continue to worship you as we hear your word spoken to us, we pray that for each and every one of us, Lord, that you'd give us ears to hear and eyes to see. Fill us with your spirit, those of us who know you, that we might hear your voice in your word and respond in faith, hope, and love, and with a full heart of obedience. For those who do not yet know you, we would pray that you would begin to open their eyes to who Jesus really is, that they might come to know him as Savior and Lord. We ask this in the name of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, amen. Charles Spurgeon once said that there are no crown wearers in heaven who are not cross bearers here below. There are no crown bearers in heaven who are not cross bearers here below. That's another way of saying nobody ever gets to heaven without carrying a cross. We don't experience heavenly reward without experiencing the difficulties of life in Christ here on earth. I think it's a profound statement. I think it's one which is based squarely upon the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, such as is recorded for us in Matthew's gospel. When Matthew says this in Matthew 16, 24 to 26, then Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone, that means you and me, right? Anyone means anybody. If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? So here Jesus taught very clearly that anyone who wanted to follow him must be willing to surrender everything, including his or her own life for him. Now, for most of us, the cross stands as a metaphor for this willingness to live in a selfless and self-sacrificing way, right? Since there's no real possibility that we might be literally crucified, for serving and following him. Although the time may come where some of us may be called to suffer imprisonment or other forms of persecution or even death for Christ. And this is part of carrying a cross that we must be willing to do. But there's no real possibility that probably that any of us will ever face the gruesome death of crucifixion on the cross. But that wasn't the case for Jesus' first century disciples. Such a death was a very real possibility for them because it was the primary means of executing non-Roman citizens under Roman law. So it was a real possibility for them. But for Peter it was more than just a possibility. I'm gonna argue this morning that for Peter it was a certainty. that he knew, we know that from this point, it was some 30 years before Peter died. History tells us and early church accounts, historical accounts and tradition tells us he died under Nero, probably around 64 AD-ish, somewhere in there. So he would have lived about 30 more years after this. Knowing that he'd be old, 30 more years would do that, he was probably middle-aged when Jesus said this to him. that he was going to die on a cross. I hope to show you why this is so as we make our way through the passage before us this morning. Let's begin again reading the text at verse 18. Most assuredly I say to you, Jesus says to Peter, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked around where you wished. Peter was used to making up his own mind about where he was going to go and when he was going to go there. He says, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish. This he spoke, John tells us, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he said to him, follow me. First of all, Jesus assures Peter that he is going to live to be an old man. Because he says this will happen when he's old. But then he says to him, you'll stretch out your hands and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish. In this way, Jesus was referring to how Peter would one day be arrested and crucified. Because this is what Jesus meant when he spoke of Peter's hands being stretched out. It was a somewhat oblique way of referring to execution by crucifixion. That's the argument I'm going to make here. And history tells us, the early church history, that the early church really believed that he was crucified. They have accounts of it. And some of those accounts even say that he requested to be crucified upside down, which was once in a while done, actually. That he requested to be crucified upside down because he didn't feel worthy to be crucified the same way Jesus was. So we have historical reasons to believe this actually did happen, but I'm going to argue that Jesus said it was going to happen, and that's the strongest reason to believe that it actually happened. Now, it may sound surprising at first to read, you're going to stretch out your hands, right, as a way of referring to crucifixion. Although you can imagine when someone's crucified on a cross, their hands are stretched out. But we're going to see that's not exactly what Jesus is talking about. He's talking about actually carrying the cross to the place of execution when he's speaking of stretched out hands here. And that might be, you say, well, that's kind of an oblique way of talking about being crucified, perhaps a euphemistic way of talking about it. But that shouldn't be too surprising to us, because in the English language, we've had ways of talking about execution that are like this. For example, there was a time when if someone said, they will arrest you and stretch your neck, everybody knew they were talking about a hanging, that you're going to be executed and put to death by hanging, right? And there's even a stretching involved there, too, figuratively speaking. There was also a time when if someone said, they'll arrest you and then you're going to fry, everybody knew they were talking about death by electrocution. Execution by electrocution, right? And even in our own day, I think prisoners will say that you're going to take the stainless steel ride as a way of talking about being taken in on a gurney to be killed by lethal injection. But if somebody were to say something like, they're going to arrest you and give you the needle, everybody would know that they were talking about death by lethal injection. So I'm pointing all this out to say that, and especially in places where it's talking about someone's death, When we say these kinds of things, we know exactly what's being talked about. And my argument is that that was true of what Jesus said here. The people understood that this is a way of talking about crucifixion. This is the way many in the early church understood this language. And I would argue that Jesus' own disciples would have understood it this way. I think D.A. Carson is quite helpful when he discusses the evidence here for this and the meaning of this expression in his commentary in the passage. Here's what he writes. after talking about the prophecy that he would live to be old, he says, more important is the way stretch out your hands was understood in the ancient world. It widely referred to crucifixion. Some think that improbable in this context because of the sequence. Peter is told that when he is old, he will stretch out his hands and then someone else will dress him and lead him where he doesn't want to go. If the stretching out of hands refers to crucifixion, shouldn't it follow these other things? Shouldn't that happen after you're led where you don't want to go? And then he points out, Bower proposed long ago that this stretching took place when a condemned prisoner was tied to his cross member. The Romans called this the patibulum, the beam that you were actually hung on across the post. Bower proposed long ago that this stretching took place when a condemned prisoner was tied to his cross member and forced to carry his cross to the place of execution. The cross member would be placed on the prisoner's neck and shoulders, his arms tied to it, and then he would be led away to death. Despite the fact that many reject this explanation, the most detailed study of crucifixion in the ancient world describes just such horrible variations on this grisly form of execution." And then he footnotes a book by Martin Hengel on crucifixion, which many regard to be one of the better books written on the issue. going over all the evidence for what actually happened in crucifixions in ancient times, and that this was a common practice, what they were talking about here. This actually, it reflects exactly what happened to Jesus, as we saw back in chapter 19, in verses 17 and 18, where we're told that Jesus, bearing his cross, went out to the place of the skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha, which means skull, where they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side and Jesus in the center. Well, what's happening there is he's carrying that petibulum, that cross member, out to the place where they're going to then nail him to it. And we know in Jesus' case, there was a point at which, because he had been beaten so much, even more than is typically true of people who are going to be crucified, he ran out of the strength to carry it, and they got someone else to carry the rest of the way for him. But again, the condemned were commonly made to carry their own crosses, which is why Jesus knew, Jesus' disciples rather, knew what he meant when he challenged each of them to take up your cross. They knew exactly what he was talking about. Remember, Jesus said, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. They knew what he was talking about, even if for many of them, it turned into a metaphorical thing, be willing to die for me. I mean, Jesus wasn't carrying that cross to a picnic. He's gonna suffer horribly and die there. And he was saying to his followers, this is what you must be willing to do for me if you follow me. And by the way, he said that for anyone, and that means you and me. So Jesus just supposed what everyone knew, Namely, that one who was being crucified was typically required to carry his own cross to his place of crucifixion. And so when he spoke of this stretching out the hands, that's just another way that everybody would get of carrying that cross. Like this, put across your shoulders, your arms tied to it, till they took you to nail you onto it and lift you up on the cross. which was another way Jesus talked about dying, right? Being lifted up. It's another way of talking about death on a cross. So there was more than one euphemistic sort of way that Jesus referred to death on a cross is what I'm saying here. Anyway, Peter and his fellow disciples, as well as the early church, would have understood what Jesus meant when he said this. And it's why John could then add, this he spoke signifying by what death he would glorify God. Why say that right after what Jesus just said, unless it's a way of referring to some kind of death? And what are the two options for people to die there? Stoning or crucifixion? It's not referring to stoning. It's referring to crucifixion. And they knew that. Peter was going to bring glory to God by dying the same way that Jesus died. In fact, John even uses the same kind of language referring to Peter's death as had been used earlier in the gospel to refer to Jesus' death, when he says, signifying by what death he would glorify God. For example, back in chapter 12, verses 31 to 33, Our Lord says, now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, remember that's another way of talking about his coming crucifixion in this sort of euphemistic way. If I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to myself. This he said, John tells us, signifying by what death he would die. So there was another time where Jesus had spoken in a sort of euphemistic way of death on a cross. And John made sure we knew that this was signifying by what death he would die. It's exactly what we see happening when Jesus talks to Peter. And then John follows it up with, this is signifying by what death he would die. And of course, the death Jesus would die was death on a cross, just as it was for Peter. This was referenced again later in this gospel, leading up to the account of Jesus' crucifixion in John 18, where we read about his arrest. I'll pick up there in verse 28 of John 18. Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. Pilate then went out to them and said, what accusation do you bring against this man? And they answered and said to him, If he were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered him up to you. Just take our word for it. It always kills me when I read that. Then Pilate said to him, you take him and judge him according to your law. Therefore, the Jews said to him, it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death. Now, mind you, they'd put other people to death, and they will again in the future when they felt like it, and they got away with it. The point here is that they want Jesus to die by crucifixion. Remember when we studied that, it was very important that that happened in their eyes because then he would be seen to be cursed in the view of the Jews. And it would discredit him, they thought. The opposite happened, actually. Satan's plans always backfire on him, don't they, in the end? Anyway, the Jews said to him, it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death, and that the saying, they said this, John tells us, that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spoke, signifying by what death he would die. And how did he speak of that? Earlier, he spoke of being lifted up. And of course, the other Gospels tell us that he specified he would die on a cross, and not just with euphemistic language, he made it very clear to them repeatedly that this would happen, and that he read, rise from the dead. But why is it that they couldn't kill him under Jewish law? It had to be under Roman law to fulfill Jesus' words. Well, because the Romans are the ones who crucified people, not the Jews. That's the way it had to happen. Now John says here in chapter 21, that when Jesus spoke as he did to Peter, he was doing what? Signifying by what death he would glorify God. John is using the same kind of language to talk about this as he'd used twice before to talk about Jesus coming crucifixion. Another hint, he's talking about crucifixion for Peter. So Jesus made it clear to him, I think. This means, though, that Peter, as I said earlier, would serve the rest of his life, he would shepherd the flock, as Jesus called him to do, for the next 30 or so years, knowing it would end in death on a cross. He lived in the shadow of that cross the rest of his life, just as Jesus himself had known long before it happened that he was gonna die on a cross. So when Jesus commanded Peter to follow me here, after saying that, there's a lot of literal ways in which that's gonna happen. He was making it clear, he expected Peter not only to follow him in selfless and self-sacrificing life for the rest of his life and service to him, but also to follow him in death, the same kind of death. I'm reminded, I was reminded as I studied this, of several times at which Jesus had previously issued the same command to follow him. So I'd like to take a look at a couple of earlier examples in John's gospel, especially with regard to Peter, and see how what's happening here is even kind of hinted at, perhaps. What was a little more ambiguous then becomes much more clear now. Back in chapter 12, for example, beginning in verse 23, we're told that Jesus answered them saying, the hour has come that the sin of man should be glorified. And that's a way of talking about his coming death. In the passage in John 21, he's telling Peter that he will glorify God by dying. And Jesus speaks of himself as being glorified when he dies. on the cross. And then he says, most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces much grain. There's going to be this positive benefit to Jesus' death. It's going to bear fruit. He who loves his life, then, Jesus said, will lose it. And he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, let him follow me. In the context, follow him where? in a context in which he just said, you'd better be willing to give your life even, and that he's gonna give his life, following him even if it means death. And he says, and where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, him my father will honor. Then he'll go on to tell them, chapter 13, that he's gonna go and prepare a place for them. So even if they die, they're gonna end up with him. But Jesus had already issued a command to follow him, even if it meant giving your life by doing so. So Peter's heard this before. Just not with the certainty of how he was gonna do that. One more example is in John 13. I'll begin reading there in verse 33 to get the complete context in our head as much as we can. John 13, 33, Jesus says, little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek me, and as I said to the Jews, where I'm going, you cannot come. So now I say to you, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. And then Peter's going to say, teach us more about this love. No, no. So Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Peter's always going to ask questions about other things, right, than what Jesus actually just ended talking about, right? He had a way sometimes of missing the primary point, right, and asking questions about things Jesus wasn't revealing, right? That's exactly what he does. We're going to see in chapter 21. He does it again It's I won't say it's a habit for him. We know I did it occasionally, right? But so he asks Lord. Where are you going and Jesus answered him where I'm going you cannot follow Now he says you cannot follow me now But you shall follow me afterward and actually he's speaking with us in A second person singular there, he's speaking directly to Peter about Peter. It's interesting. Where I'm going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me afterward. Peter said to him, Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for your sake. He heard what Jesus said before when he said, if you follow me, you have to be willing to lay down your life for me. He knows that that's the kind of thing Jesus is talking about here when he's talking about going away. And he's saying, I'm willing to go with you. I'm willing to die with you. I'm willing to die for you. Jesus answered him, will you lay down your life for my sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you've denied me three times. So Jesus had told Peter that he would follow him afterward. But then he would first deny him three times. And the afterward was going to be when he was old, and after he had served shepherding the flock for a long time. And so after his resurrection, when Jesus spoke to Peter on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, He was reminding him of the command to follow him, even though it meant not just that he could die as a martyr, but that he would die as a martyr. And not just die as a martyr, but die on a cross, with all of that that that entailed, as a martyr. He made it clear that Peter would indeed follow him where he had gone, all the way to death on a cross. So Peter thinks, this is going to happen when I'm old. So what's he do? What's he say then? Oh, Lord Jesus, give me strength so that I can serve you well. Give me strength so I can face this. Give me strength so I can live the rest of my life knowing this and remain faithful. Is that what he does? No, he changes the subject. Look what he says in verses 20 and 21, I won't repeat. Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following. Now, we know through our study of John, and we've looked at this several times in several different ways, John refers to himself in this gospel this way, in the third person. He doesn't like to draw direct attention to himself. And this is the way he refers to himself. So it's the apostle John who actually wrote this gospel that is the disciple that was following here, right? Peter turning around saw the disciple whom Jesus loved, John, one of the sons of Zebedee, who also had leaned on his breast at the supper and said, Lord, who is the one who betrays you? And Peter seeing him said to Jesus, but Lord, what about this man? Now, remember that Peter had been business partners with James and John, the sons of Zebedee. And this John is the disciple whom Jesus loved in this text. You can see that in Luke 5.10. And we know that both James and John, the sons of Zebedee, are present here, right, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. We learn that in verse two. This is one of the bits of evidence that tells us that it was John who was in mind here, when we put it all together. But the three of these men had actually formed inside of the inner circle of Jesus' disciples, James and Peter and John. James and John being brothers, the sons of Zebedee, and then Peter. They'd been business partners. They'd apparently been friends before they began following Christ. And they would have, I'm sure, become even better friends as they followed Christ, especially being in this sort of inner circle. It was these three, Peter, James, and John, that were privileged to be at the Mount of Transfiguration. They witnessed Jesus' transfiguration together. When Jesus went into the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed, He chose to take Peter, James, and John further with him, to be there with him. John, I think, assumes we've read these other Gospels and that we know all of this. But here he simply stresses that he had been following Jesus and Peter as they were talking, with the reminder that he was the one who had been leaning back against Jesus' chest as they sat around a table partaking of the final Passover together. about which he's told us earlier in chapter 13. And so since he's alluded to this in identifying himself, I think we should go back and read briefly what happened there. Well, see, this isn't the first time that Peter's been curious about what's going on with someone else. Back in chapter 13, beginning in verse 21, we read that when Jesus had said these things, he was troubled in spirit and testified and said, most assuredly I say to you, one of you will betray me. Then the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom he spoke. Now, there was leaning on Jesus' bosom, one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. And that would be John. Simon Peter, therefore, mentioned to him, or motioned to him to ask who it was of whom he spoke. Then leaning back on Jesus' breast, he said to him, Lord, who is it? And Jesus answered, it is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread, when I have dipped it. And having dipped it, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. So he alludes to this earlier event, but who was it that actually suggested or motioned to John to ask that question of Jesus? Peter did. So we keep this in mind, Peter's, he was curious then about what Jesus meant. Instead of saying, oh my, this is terrible what's gonna happen to Jesus, you know, who's gonna be? Peter was always kind of curious about finding out more. And Jesus did reveal it then. But it was actually Peter who'd gotten John to ask. And now it would seem, knowing that John had been listening, perhaps following right behind them, Peter asked Jesus about him. Now, why? Well, I've just explained that they were good friends. They were in a tight group together for a long time, not just as business partners in their fishing business before they followed Jesus, but since they followed Christ, they were in this tight group and this sort of if you will, sort of inner circle of disciples. It was Peter and John who were close enough at that Last Supper for Peter to motion to John and for John to know what he was talking about, motioning to do to get more information. They knew each other well enough for John to get those signals from Peter. So why would Peter ask this? He loves John. John isn't just the disciple Jesus loved. He likes to call himself that, probably because he never could get over the fact that Jesus loved him. But apparently, I think Peter loved him too. And he genuinely wanted to know what was going to happen to him. I'm sure that those motives were in his heart. And maybe he thought, well, I wanted to know what happened, and John asked for me. I'll bet John wants to know what happened, so I'll ask for him. Maybe he thought that. But I would put to you there were mixed motives here. And that maybe mixed in with some good motives, his friendship with John motivating him, was the fact that he was really uncomfortable with what Jesus had said to him and he wanted to change the subject. We are capable of mixed motives. And I would argue that Peter was probably filled with them here, mixed motives. And I think that because of Jesus' response to him that we read about in verse 22, which reads like a rebuke. Not a harsh rebuke, but a rebuke nonetheless. Look what it says in verse 22. Jesus said to him, if I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? And then he speaks emphatically when he says you here, you follow me. That's the way we should read it. If it's my will that he remains until I return, Jesus is saying, what's that to you, Peter? You follow me. It's like saying, you need to mind your own business, Peter, and focus on what I just said to you. I just told you what's gonna happen and told you to follow me and you're changing the subject. You follow me. I think the application to us is pretty obvious. Just like Peter said to Jesus basically made clear to Peter, you need to mind your own business and listen to what I'm saying to you. Without changing the subject, whatever motivations that were there, he wasn't paying attention. He could be sometimes like that dog went in the movie Up, squirrel, you know, and he turns away and every time a squirrel, he can't pay attention because he sees a squirrel. Peter could be kind of like that, right? What's the application to us? When we read the difficult commands from our Lord in his word, Don't we have a tendency to not want to think about them? Change the subject. When Jesus has hard things to say to us, don't we have within us the tendency to want to gloss over them and go to nicer things, promises of good things, not promises of suffering, hardship, temptation, spiritual warfare, possible death is a murder, persecution for your faith, This is an issue that's rampant among quote unquote evangelicalism in America today, isn't it? It's all about what Jesus can do for me, but don't expect me to listen to the hard things he has to say. People today simply ignore much of the biblical teaching about suffering or sacrifice for Christ because they don't find that very palatable. They just don't want to hear it. And I found that frequently, if you bring up teaching like that to them, they do prefer to change the subject and talk about something else. Or maybe to view that as something, you know, that kind of suffering. And maybe Peter and James were called to that. John and those kind of people. But, you know, that's for like super saints. That's not for me. But Jesus didn't say, only certain people who come after me will have to take a cross to follow me. He said anyone. I think we also may often focus our attention on what others are or aren't doing, or what's going on in their lives, as a way of avoiding taking responsibility for what's happening with us. But I think Jesus would have each one of us take, first of all, responsibility for ourselves and listen to what he really has to say to us before we turn our gaze elsewhere. I think William Hendrickson is also very helpful in suggesting yet another area of application of this text when he writes this. By means of these words, the Lord impresses upon Peter's mind the fact that curiosity about John's future must make way for obedience to the Lord's all-important command, follow me, feed my lambs, shepherd my sheep, feed my dear sheep. Peter must not be so deeply interested in God's secret counsel regarding John that he fails to pay attention to God's revealed will. It is a lesson which every believer in every age should take to heart. There is work to be done. There are souls to be reached. There is a task to be accomplished. Let Peter rivet all his attention upon this. Some people are always asking questions, he writes. They're asking so many questions that their real mission in life fails to receive the proper amount of interest and energy. There are times when questions are out of order. It has been well said that a man who has been wounded by a feathered, poisoned arrow should not begin to ask, of what wood is the arrow made? Of what bird did these feathers come? Is the person who shot it dark or fair, short or tall? Let him do something, first of all. Hendrickson has a way of putting things sometimes, doesn't he? I'm reminded of Moses' admonition that the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. Let us not be among those who try to delve into the things God has not chosen to reveal while we actually miss the things he has clearly revealed. and thus fail to live accordingly. With these lessons in mind, I'm gonna end where I began this teaching, with reminder of Jesus' own admonition for anyone who wishes to follow him. I don't want us to leave this account of Peter and think that Jesus was calling on Peter to have some kind of special devotion that he doesn't require of you and me. Because it's not true to think that. I'm going to read it again from Matthew. If anyone desires to come after me, anyone, that means all of us. Let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?" We need to not avoid that hard saying. We need to not walk out of here wanting to change the subject and focus our attention elsewhere. We need to leave here hearing Jesus say, you follow me. Listen to me. Do what I say. I'm calling you to a life of sacrifice and I mean it. And then perhaps we should ask him something that Peter didn't. Lord, give me the strength. I can't do this. This scares me to death. I want to change the subject, just like Peter did. I don't want to think about that. I don't want to suffer. I don't like pain. I'm scared when I hear this. Help me. Fill me with your spirit. Strengthen my faith. Do in and through me what I am incapable of doing myself. Peter didn't live this faithful life, folks. and die on a cross because he was special and he had more power and strength than we do. Read the gospels and you'll see that's not true. He failed all the time. He just denied Jesus three times days before. How did he remain faithful? He said it in his first epistle, he was kept by the power of God into salvation. I'm saying this as you leave here, hear Jesus say, you follow me. even if it means a horrible death serving me, even if it means tremendous suffering. You follow me and be faithful, and know that I'll keep you. Remember, we read John 10, too. No one can snatch us out of our Savior's hand. He will raise us up at the last day, he said in John 6. And he will keep us. Let's pray. Holy Father, I've spoken what I know is a hard saying, and I've tried to do it in a way that captures that emphasis. And Lord, I hope that in the process I've been a faithful mouthpiece of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, repeating His teaching faithfully. Because we haven't come here to hear today what I think are good things. to do and believe. We've come here today to hear what you say in your word and to believe it, to follow it, to receive it fully, to trust in you, to become more like Christ as a result, to learn to be more faithful as a result, to learn to trust you and your power and grace more fully as a result. So help us to that end, I pray. Give us the hearts that will hear these hard words and say, even with fear and trembling, yes, Lord, I will follow. I will. And I'll trust you to keep me all the way. For those who do not yet know you, it is our prayer that you would do for them what you've done for us. Open their eyes that they may see that Jesus is fully God and fully man in one person, that He lived a sinless life and died on the cross as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. He bore the wrath for our sins on the cross so that we never have to face it. He rose from the dead and conquered death, and He freely offers us forgiveness and everlasting life, something we cannot do for ourselves, that we can't earn, but must be accepted as a gift. of grace. Please, Lord, give them the faith and repentance necessary to embrace Christ as Lord and Savior, we pray. And we'll give you all the glory for what you do, because we are convinced that you alone deserve it. We ask these things in the name of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. Thank you once again for your kind attention.