'Follow me', into 2010

The Dawn Of A New Day 2010


John 21
1After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself.
2There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.
3Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.
4But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
5Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.
6And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
7Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.
8And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes.
9As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread.
10Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught.
11Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.
12Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.
13Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise.
14This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.
15So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
16He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
17He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
18Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.
19This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.
20Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?
21Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?
22Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.
23Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?
24This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.
25And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.
Two simple words, from the lips of God the Son, captured in this New Testament passage, are all that is sufficient to lead us into this new year of 2010. These words are found in verse 19 ‘Follow me.’ and were addressed to Simon Peter.

The context is given in verse 14 ‘14This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.’ The dark shadows of Calvary’s Hill hang in the background, where the Saviour of sinners offered Himself a sacrifice for sin; a little more recent the glories of the empty tomb declare the acceptance of such a sacrifice, thus bringing justification to those that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

So it was, that these seven disciples had followed the Saviour to the cross, there, they witnessed Christ’s substitutionary death, the shedding of His precious blood and heard His victorious cry from the cross, ‘it is finished.’ Their sins had been atoned for, they had been saved by the grace of God and they were justified before God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Here were seven men, whose sins had been covered, their hearts were cleansed by the power of Christ’s blood, and they had a perfect standing in Christ.

Now what about you? Has the weight of sin and guilt that hangs about your immortal soul, ever concerned you? Does the prospect of, one day, receiving sin’s wages, ever trouble you? ‘the wages of sin is death’ What about that conscience of yours, that never lets go, that never ceases to remind you of a sinful past, will it’s incessant cries go unheeded through life and then mock as you wail in a lost eternity?

Perhaps you already know something of God’s precious Word, or maybe this is the first time that you have been exposed to the general call of the gospel , as the Saviour calls out to you from the sacred page of scripture, ‘Follow me’.

Simon Peter heard that gospel call as he worked beside the sea of Galilee, he left all and followed the Saviour to the cross; it was there that he found salvation, it was there that he found peace with God through the substitutionary death and the bodily resurrection of Christ. Quite simply, he followed the only One that is ‘the way, the truth and the life’; he responded to the Word of God, ‘Follow me’ and was found a new creature in Christ.

Will you receive the message of SALVATION that the words ‘Follow me’ convey and enter this New Year without the burden of sin’s heavy load?

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The words ‘Follow me’ carry another message, this message is for those that are saved, for those that have been to the cross and are cleansed from their sin through the blood of Christ. ‘The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin’ Believers collectively are depicted in the seven disciples here, while the individual believer is typified by Peter.

The disciples were at very low ebb in their walk with God, doubt, fear, uncertainty, discouragement and opposition, had all joined forces to impede their progress on the pilgrim path. Peter decides to go back to his old trade as a fisherman and to leave off following the Lamb of God for a season; his actions had an effect on the rest of his company, they decide to go with him .What happened was, that Peter started following his intuition, while leaning on his own understanding, and the rest of the disciples turned away from following Christ and started to follow Peter.

The walk of the individual believer has a profound effect upon others of like precious faith, for good or for ill; does your walk as a believer encourage others to follow the Lamb, if not, then, why not? Christ’s commandment never alters, He saith ‘Follow me’, to follow a mere man is to turn outside of God’s will; a path such as this will lead to discouragement, weakness, loss and despair.

Look what happened when the disciples, left off following the Lord; they were very busy, very active in the work, they showed enthusiasm and dedication but the work was theirs and not God’s. They were now fisher men, just as they had been before they had started to follow the Lord, they had lost the vision for the souls of men. They laboured all night and caught nothing; ‘and that night they caught nothing’ In the morning the Lord stands on the shore and asks them; ‘Children, have you any meat? There was nothing different about their relationship with Christ, as the term, ‘Children’, proves; they were still the children of the Lord. What had changed was, themselves; they were empty and void of blessing, their fellowship with their Saviour was broken; they were weary on the boat while He was on the shore.

This paints a very moving, yet a very familiar picture of all those that have allowed circumstances to come between them and the Lord. Perhaps you, as a believer, are found just like this; out on the rough and tumultuous sea of life, empty and with very little to offer to God.

Here is exactly where Christ imparts STRENGTH, for the troubled saint of God. The Saviour always stands on the shore line of your troubles, weakness, emptiness, temptation, bereavement, loss, sorrow, fear, doubts, failure, discouragement, anxiety and the shoreline of your care. Has He not promised, ‘I will never leave thee nor forsake thee’. From such a position the Saviour sends His word right to the very point of the believer’s need; it is always a Word of direction, so that the believer is guided out of their particular problem and into close fellowship with Christ. This is what happened here; the disciples received God’s Word, ‘cast the net on the right side of the ship’ the Word of God gave them clear direction; the Word of God brought them promise, ‘and ye shall find’ here was real encouragement; the Word of God always brings fulfillment, ‘Bring of the fish which ye have now caught’ now the disciples had something to offer unto God; the Word of God always extends an invitation to the needy, ‘Come and dine’ a response to such an invitation always brings the believer into fellowship again with their Saviour.

Only when fellowship is properly restored with Christ can the believer be strengthened to follow the Master. Every believer needs to be strengthened, in order for them to obey those familiar words, ‘Follow me’; that strength only comes from the infallible and inerrant Word of God.

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After they had dined with Christ, and had been strengthened by His Word, after their hearts had been warmed by the power of His presence and the nearness of His person, the Lord conveyed His Word directly to Peter. So far the passage has revealed how the Lord speaks to people in general, but now the Saviour addresses the individual.

Peter had been following the Lord afar off in the past, now, this attitude of heart was to be examined under the spot light of God’s Word. Here the believer’s SERVICE is to be examined by the Master.

‘15So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
16He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
17He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
18Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.
19This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.’

When the Lord spoke, Peter would have remembered back to the time when Christ had said, ‘Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not’ These words came at a time of extreme temptation and difficulty in Peter’s Christian life; it was just after the last supper, when fellowship and communion with Christ would have been heart warming; interestingly it was just before the time when Peter denied the Lord. When the Lord called Simon Peter by name, Peter would have remembered his failings in the past, the fire of coals by Galilee’s lake would have brought back into focus how he had denied his Saviour that night as he warmed himself at another fire. When Peter’s Christian walk and service was now under examination before the Word of God there was somewhat lacking.

The phrase, ’Simon son of Jonas’ would have cut like a knife into Peter’s heart; he would have been reminded of the run away prophet in the old testament; of how Jonah had stopped following the Lord and had ran away down the path of self will and personal desire. Peter could easily identify with Jonah’s failure, but he could also see how that Jonah’s life was rebuilt by the Word of God, and how that God had helped Jonah the second time, to engage in God’s work.

Next the Saviour examines Peter’s love for God. Here the ‘Good Shepherd’ probes the depths of Peter’s heart with three deepening questions. With each answer, Peter recognizes that the Lord knew and was well able to read his heart. So Peter was brought to examine his motives for Christian service, in the presence of the Saviour, with knowledge of his past failures and with the encouragement of God’s Word.

The ‘Good Shepherd’ commands Peter to feed and care for the weak and vulnerable of the flock, ‘Feed my lambs’. Peter’s service as a believer was not over, he is commanded to feed, not criticize, those who were weaker in the faith.

Peter is also commanded to feed the erring and the straying of the flock, of which he has personal experience, ‘Feed my sheep’. He would have to help the fallen, to encourage the faint and comfort the distressed amongst the believers.

Out of a heart of love for his Saviour, Peter would have to feed and support his co workers in the Gospel, ‘Feed my sheep’. It is only after this personal encounter with the Risen Saviour that Peter hears the words of this text, ‘Follow me’. This means that he is now equipped to step away from the past and all his failures. He has been reminded of SALVATION in Christ; he has been STRENGTHENED by God’s Word; he has been reequipped for SERVICE and now steps out to follow Christ by faith.

May God be pleased to use these thoughts, so that you would be encouraged to step away from past and present difficulties, and to follow the Lord Jesus Christ into 2010,’Follow me’.