WEBVTT 00:00:00.460 --> 00:00:07.600 John 21 is where we're going to be together and this season since we're in the gift 00:00:07.600 --> 00:00:14.740 giving season, I think I love where the end of this book goes because for us in a gift giving season, 00:00:15.040 --> 00:00:22.160 I think as a church, the greatest gift that we can give our community is a healthy church and the 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:29.180 way that we create a healthy church is to see a healthy you and not only is it a blessing to your community, it's a blessing to your church family, it's 00:00:29.180 --> 00:00:36.200 a blessing to your immediate family, it's your biological family or whoever, whatever you call your family and it's a 00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:38.890 blessing to really you and your relationship with the Lord. 00:00:39.380 --> 00:00:46.810 And John 21 gets us to the end of a place where the Lord reminds us of the simplicity of what it is to be a disciple. 00:00:47.320 --> 00:00:54.360 And Jesus says it here at the end of John 21, Jesus' desire for his disciples in 00:00:54.360 --> 00:00:57.990 the first century which is the same desire for you today. 00:00:58.620 --> 00:01:06.000 It's stated and it's repeated twice in verse 19 and in verse 22, Jesus said to Peter 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:13.720 and to the disciples, "Follow me, follow me." Jesus' heart, Jesus' goal for your life, Jesus' 00:01:13.860 --> 00:01:18.360 pursuit for you; I think we tend to over-complicate what God's desire is for our life. 00:01:19.060 --> 00:01:20.860 Lord's is simple, it's for us to follow him. 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:28.440 In fact, if you go back and look at the very beginning of John, John:1:43, that is where the Gospel started. 00:01:28.460 --> 00:01:35.500 When Jesus first began his ministry and then John chapter one, it gives the first 18 verses this beautiful declaration over the identity 00:01:35.500 --> 00:01:42.660 of who Christ is, why it matters to us, who he should be, how we should receive him and the Bible tells us in verse 14 to 18 00:01:42.660 --> 00:01:47.240 of John one, he's full of grace and truth and you've seen that demonstrated in the Gospel over and over. 00:01:47.660 --> 00:01:54.980 And then when he starts to call his disciples in John:1:43, Jesus, the first words he says to them is "Follow me, 00:01:55.960 --> 00:01:58.960 follow me." And that is God's desire for you. 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:02.140 In fact, I would say it like this, that is God's will for your life. 00:02:03.380 --> 00:02:06.990 As Christians, we tend to over-complicate God's will for us sometimes. 00:02:08.060 --> 00:02:15.140 A lot of times people ask the question what's God's will for me and they'll expect me as a pastor to be able to shake my crystal ball and say specifically, do 00:02:15.140 --> 00:02:17.120 this at three o'clock today, right? 00:02:17.380 --> 00:02:21.420 Or I've seen people get so crazy over God's will, I've heard people say this. 00:02:21.460 --> 00:02:25.730 They'll ask the question when they wake up in the morning, Lord, what pants should I put on today? 00:02:26.140 --> 00:02:32.520 And let me just tell you here's what God's desire is for you, put your pants on, that's it, its not even, you don't have to pray about that. 00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:35.100 That's Lord's wills to get up and to glorify him with your life. 00:02:35.660 --> 00:02:38.330 And when we think about God's will we often think of the question? 00:02:38.650 --> 00:02:43.420 We ask the question what's God's will for my life, because we're thinking of something specific God wants us to do. 00:02:43.820 --> 00:02:50.920 And I want to tell you, God is far more interested in where your heart's desire is and who you're becoming in your character than he 00:02:50.920 --> 00:02:52.560 is and what exactly you're doing. 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:58.840 Because if God can transform your life, he will lead you into down certain paths and roads to honor him. 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:01.240 It's not to say that God doesn't care what you do. 00:03:01.260 --> 00:03:08.260 God does care what you do, but his interest is far more in the depth of what's happening in your heart and how it's leaning into him and 00:03:08.260 --> 00:03:09.920 where it's surrendered to the Lord. 00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:15.240 And that's why Jesus says, "Look, follow me." The pursuit of your life is to follow him. 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:21.340 So the question we should ask is how can we successfully follow after Jesus? 00:03:22.100 --> 00:03:29.640 And you know, one of the things that I've really appreciated this past year, this Gospel of John that we've gone through together, we've 00:03:29.640 --> 00:03:33.900 spent 49 weeks looking at the Gospel of John. 00:03:34.660 --> 00:03:42.500 We started, we've taken a few breaks in between, but we started this on December 13, 2020 and 00:03:42.500 --> 00:03:44.760 we're ending it today. 00:03:45.320 --> 00:03:53.480 But one of the incredible things that I think is a testimony to you and your heart for the Lord is, and 00:03:53.480 --> 00:03:57.140 this is not going to be true for today because this is the day after Christmas, right? 00:03:57.940 --> 00:04:02.150 But our church is back to the attendance size that we saw pre-pandemic. 00:04:02.580 --> 00:04:04.380 In fact, I think we're a little bit past it now. 00:04:05.060 --> 00:04:11.080 And even this Christmas and Easter were some of the highest attended services we've ever had in the history of our church. 00:04:11.480 --> 00:04:15.220 We had 26 baptisms this year, which is the most baptisms we've ever had. 00:04:15.640 --> 00:04:22.680 And we spent the entire year in one book, a lot of times people that 00:04:22.680 --> 00:04:29.110 get up and present before crowd will be worried about keeping everyone's attention and trying to entertain you so that you return. 00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:36.920 But I think insane to you, look, we've spent over a year in this book since December the 13th of last year, 00:04:37.440 --> 00:04:40.020 but it's only been 49 weeks because of a few weeks off. 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:48.700 But it's a testimony to you guys and your desire to know the Word of God and your hunger to want to draw near 00:04:48.700 --> 00:04:52.710 to him and to see what the Word of God communicates to us. 00:04:53.320 --> 00:04:54.440 And it's very simple. 00:04:55.500 --> 00:05:02.310 John chapter one all the way to this point, Jesus is ending where he started God, what is your desire for us as your disciples? 00:05:02.640 --> 00:05:10.160 And Jesus is saying to Peter in this chapter in verse 19, "it's no different from when you first began, follow 00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:17.440 me, follow me, let your heart lean 00:05:17.440 --> 00:05:22.540 into all that I am and pursue me with your life." That's God's way ill. 00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:30.380 And as Jesus talks about this with Peter, he really shares in the story two detours from 00:05:30.380 --> 00:05:31.020 that pursuit. 00:05:31.760 --> 00:05:39.360 Our goal should be singular in looking to know the Lord and love him with all of our lives, but he gives to Peter two 00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:46.540 ways in which we can be detoured from pursuing what God calls us to and the simplicity of that message 00:05:46.540 --> 00:05:54.140 and that's what I want to share with you this morning is looking a little deeper in this section of scripture to see those two statements that 00:05:54.140 --> 00:06:00.840 Jesus gives to us that reminds us of where that challenge might be for us and the simplicity of pursuing Christ with our life. 00:06:01.180 --> 00:06:02.180 And it starts in verse 18. 00:06:02.220 --> 00:06:04.380 Let's read this together verse 18, "Truly, truly. 00:06:04.380 --> 00:06:09.740 I tell you when you were younger, you used to put on your belt and walk wherever you wanted. 00:06:09.960 --> 00:06:17.040 But when you grew old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will put your belt on you and bring you where do not want 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:24.060 to go." Now he said this indicating by what kind of death he would glorify talking about Peter, he would glorify 00:06:24.060 --> 00:06:24.820 God. 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:28.020 And when he had said this, he said to him, "Follow me.". 00:06:31.180 --> 00:06:38.660 When Jesus is sharing this statement with Peter, remember we've gone through this beautiful story where just previous to this, where Jesus 00:06:38.660 --> 00:06:45.900 met with Peter on the beaches of Galilee on the shores of Galilee and he dealt with the elephant in the room, 00:06:46.080 --> 00:06:49.510 which was the strain of Peter's relationship towards Christ. 00:06:50.080 --> 00:06:57.780 And in John chapter 13, Jesus had said to his disciples, "where I'm going, you can't follow because I'm going to die." That's 00:06:57.780 --> 00:06:59.000 the summary of what he said anyway. 00:06:59.580 --> 00:07:06.720 And Peter looks back to Jesus and says, "Over my dead body, I will lay down my life for you before that's going to happen." And then Jesus says 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:13.720 to Peter, "Before this night is over, you're going to deny me three times." And from that point forward, as the story unfolds, we see Jesus going to 00:07:13.720 --> 00:07:20.920 the cross, Peter denying Jesus and Jesus looking at Peter acknowledging while he's being crucified, that he sees Peter 00:07:20.920 --> 00:07:21.560 denying him. 00:07:21.900 --> 00:07:23.840 And Jesus shows up on Galilee. 00:07:23.960 --> 00:07:31.020 At Galilee, after his resurrection meets with Peter and he deals with that sin in Peter's life that created this distance between 00:07:31.020 --> 00:07:37.880 he and his relationship with Peter and Jesus, we find forgives Peter and reminds Peter to love him. 00:07:37.880 --> 00:07:45.180 And then after he talks about loving him, he then says to Peter, you're going to stretch out your hand, which is a cultural way 00:07:45.180 --> 00:07:48.610 in the first century of how the early church would refer to the crucifixion. 00:07:50.440 --> 00:07:57.230 They would often common vernaculars to state the idea of the crucifixion this way that your hands would be stretched out, that you would be nailed to a cross. 00:07:57.280 --> 00:08:02.780 And so he's indicating to Peter, what kind of life he's about to live for the sake of Christ. 00:08:03.220 --> 00:08:08.380 And as if Peter gets the opportunity to fulfill the words that he had previously spoken, I'm going to lay down my life for you. 00:08:08.540 --> 00:08:10.680 And Jesus says, you're not in that place here. 00:08:10.680 --> 00:08:11.790 You're not spiritually ready. 00:08:11.980 --> 00:08:13.260 And you're going to actually deny me. 00:08:13.820 --> 00:08:20.840 Jesus says [inaudible 00:08:14] forgives him and now Peter has that opportunity to lay down his life for Jesus and after Jesus says, look, 00:08:21.440 --> 00:08:28.500 you're going to die because you follow me, Jesus then says to Peter, "okay, so then follow me." It's like 00:08:28.920 --> 00:08:36.179 that you think about the greatest sales pitches ever to be delivered and this probably should not rank at the top, 00:08:36.179 --> 00:08:36.460 right? 00:08:36.460 --> 00:08:38.000 Like Peter, you're going to die. 00:08:38.580 --> 00:08:40.140 Hey, let's follow me, right? 00:08:40.580 --> 00:08:42.400 Because of me, you're going to die, so follow me. 00:08:42.400 --> 00:08:42.860 How about that? 00:08:43.280 --> 00:08:50.500 And you can see the statement the Jesus is giving to Peter is a very heavy statement. 00:08:53.680 --> 00:09:01.180 Jesus wants to be realistic with the expectations, knowing that there is a cost and 00:09:01.180 --> 00:09:08.960 I guess when it comes to the Christian life, I just want to set and appreciate that because I think our tendency sometimes is 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:16.040 to soften what it means to be a follower of Jesus and the 00:09:16.040 --> 00:09:18.340 type of dedication that it takes. 00:09:19.780 --> 00:09:21.480 How can I make this more palatable? 00:09:23.040 --> 00:09:28.120 But the reality of what Jesus is saying is you can't follow Jesus and be a wimp about it. 00:09:29.260 --> 00:09:32.010 Too often in Christianity, we try to think make this too easy. 00:09:32.120 --> 00:09:39.510 Put everything on the bottom shelf for everyone but reality is the toughest thing you could probably ever do with your life, 00:09:40.360 --> 00:09:41.420 is decide to follow Jesus. 00:09:42.980 --> 00:09:50.100 That takes some real manhood and womanhood to be that dedicated with your life towards that cause because it's 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:51.420 a die to self. 00:09:51.420 --> 00:09:56.500 In fact, when you read throughout the Gospels, Jesus reiterated that phrase over and over. 00:09:56.640 --> 00:10:01.580 And Matthew chapter 16:24, listen, Jesus says this. 00:10:01.660 --> 00:10:09.520 He says it again Mark eight, but he says this Matthew 16:24, "Then Jesus says to his disciples, 00:10:09.760 --> 00:10:17.020 if anyone wants to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow 00:10:17.020 --> 00:10:24.600 me." Jesus' immense words over what it meant to pursue 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:24.780 him. 00:10:27.060 --> 00:10:34.140 When you think about what Jesus is saying and the challenge of our faith, knowing that it could cost us, 00:10:34.760 --> 00:10:38.540 I mean, how else do you know the depth of your faith, unless it be challenged. 00:10:40.300 --> 00:10:47.300 How else would you know that you have a genuine love for Jesus that far exceeds anything else unless there is a cost to pursuing Christ with your 00:10:47.300 --> 00:10:47.560 life. 00:10:49.060 --> 00:10:56.180 You know, as a parent if you have children, your desire is to see these, your children mature and 00:10:56.180 --> 00:11:03.720 grow up and be able to become independent in how they not only walk in this world not just selfishly, 00:11:03.800 --> 00:11:11.480 but in order to bless others and if you make everything easy for your kids, they'll 00:11:11.480 --> 00:11:12.110 never mature. 00:11:14.560 --> 00:11:15.280 They'll never grow up. 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:20.840 They'll always look for some sort of handout. 00:11:22.980 --> 00:11:30.860 And when it comes to the idea of the cost of our faith, it becomes a place of discipline, a place of recognizing where we 00:11:30.860 --> 00:11:31.780 truly rest. 00:11:31.780 --> 00:11:37.080 If our hope is ultimately in Christ, or if it bows out where do we need to grow? 00:11:37.080 --> 00:11:46.420 It's when the challenges of life come to us, that it helps us examine is my hope really in Jesus? 00:11:47.960 --> 00:11:55.120 Your faithfulness and adversity, it's a beautiful opportunity to bring 00:11:55.320 --> 00:11:57.700 praise to God. 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:06.180 It's a way of showing what you value with your heart and where your worship ultimately goes. 00:12:08.380 --> 00:12:13.280 When I read this story, there's also within it, the idea of some grace and knowing we are not perfect. 00:12:14.120 --> 00:12:21.260 Like we just came off the backdrop of Peter in dealing with his own failures and pursuing Jesus with 00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:21.520 his life. 00:12:23.940 --> 00:12:30.400 We aren't always perfect, but the Lord's calling to us is to follow after him. 00:12:30.500 --> 00:12:37.660 In fact, Jesus says that again in Luke:14:27, 28, he reminds us 00:12:37.660 --> 00:12:38.800 to count the cost. 00:12:44.060 --> 00:12:50.440 Whenever you want to take any sort of significant step in life, you want to evaluate as to whether or not it's a wise decision, right? 00:12:50.440 --> 00:12:54.540 I mean, if Jesus is saying to us, look in pursuing after me, you've got to deny yourself. 00:12:54.640 --> 00:12:55.760 You've got to die to self. 00:12:56.040 --> 00:12:57.080 You've got to take up your cross. 00:12:57.700 --> 00:13:01.500 I know those are pretty flowery words in Christianity today, because we like to wear our cross. 00:13:01.640 --> 00:13:08.700 But when you think about first century, what the emblem of the cross represented, it was a place of despise and shame. 00:13:08.780 --> 00:13:11.170 This was a place not to go to be honored. 00:13:11.720 --> 00:13:13.680 This was a place to be humiliated. 00:13:13.820 --> 00:13:21.000 And this was what Jesus calls his disciples to do is to say, look, there is a road that you're going to walk in pursuing Christ that the world 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:27.340 is not going to call popular, but what will you do? 00:13:29.420 --> 00:13:31.460 It's indicated by what you love. 00:13:34.520 --> 00:13:40.880 So I guess the question we could ask is why would someone pay that kind of cost? 00:13:42.860 --> 00:13:45.400 Why would you be willing to take up the cross? 00:13:46.660 --> 00:13:53.700 I think verse 24 of this chapter, the author and some of those around him give us a little bit of an 00:13:53.700 --> 00:13:56.510 indication as to what makes this matter. 00:13:56.620 --> 00:14:00.880 He says, this is the disciple who is testifying about these things and wrote these things. 00:14:01.400 --> 00:14:04.280 And we know that his testimony is true. 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:14.500 At the end of the Gospel of John you see, not only John indicating this is me writing, but those that are with John, probably at the church of Ephesus 00:14:15.180 --> 00:14:22.180 saying to us, yes, what John is saying we just want to throw in our thoughts here and let you know that we're all validating this 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:28.160 that no matter who picks us up and what century you're a part of, we want you to know this is true. 00:14:28.160 --> 00:14:30.860 And so when you think about why would someone pay the cross? 00:14:31.060 --> 00:14:33.980 The truth is the only thing worth living for. 00:14:36.100 --> 00:14:37.710 The truth is what transforms. 00:14:38.380 --> 00:14:45.600 The alternative decision for you, if you have come to recognize that Jesus is true and his word is 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:52.800 right to do anything other than pursue that as a life of a lie, how could you go on living that 00:14:52.800 --> 00:14:53.200 way? 00:14:54.940 --> 00:14:57.550 What makes me want to pay this sort of cost? 00:14:57.680 --> 00:15:05.260 It's because of the truth of who Christ is and we want to walk in this world as people of integrity, knowing that we observe 00:15:05.260 --> 00:15:09.460 this truth and I would add to the second point is the reward is great. 00:15:11.220 --> 00:15:14.020 The reward is great because you walk in the truth. 00:15:14.020 --> 00:15:19.240 You live for the purpose for which you were designed connected to the one who designed you for that reason. 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:29.140 You live out the divine creation of your being in this world, the way that God intended 00:15:29.140 --> 00:15:30.390 for you to exist. 00:15:31.060 --> 00:15:33.340 The reward is great. 00:15:33.340 --> 00:15:40.800 Ultimately you're connected to the creator who created you for relationship and the purpose for which he has 00:15:40.820 --> 00:15:41.840 designed you. 00:15:43.740 --> 00:15:50.920 CS Lewis says it like this in the Weight of Glory he says "We are half hearted creatures fooling around with selfish 00:15:50.920 --> 00:15:55.460 ambition when infinite joy is offered to us. 00:15:55.600 --> 00:16:02.900 Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum, because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer 00:16:02.940 --> 00:16:09.360 of a holiday at the sea, we are far too easily pleased. 00:16:11.520 --> 00:16:18.700 CS Lewis is reflecting on us the need for our hearts to pay attention to the prize of what we ultimately 00:16:19.280 --> 00:16:26.280 have in Christ, "Follow me." Count the cost. 00:16:28.220 --> 00:16:36.140 The cost becomes a deterrent for us, I think sometimes in pursuing Christ but when we examine the opportunity 00:16:36.140 --> 00:16:43.180 that a cost presents is a beautiful place to represent our faith towards a God who is worthy. 00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:51.040 Point number two, second thing that can deter from our faith is comparing. 00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:59.720 The idea of comparing is the next blink in your notes, in verse 20, Peter turned around and saw the 00:16:59.720 --> 00:17:01.760 disciple whom Jesus loved following them. 00:17:02.980 --> 00:17:08.720 The one who also had leaned back on his chest at the supper and said, Lord, who is the one who is betraying you? 00:17:09.660 --> 00:17:14.859 So Peter, upon seeing him said to Jesus, Lord, and what about this man? 00:17:15.760 --> 00:17:20.359 And Jesus said to him, if I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? 00:17:20.560 --> 00:17:21.220 You follow me. 00:17:21.980 --> 00:17:29.140 Therefore, this account went out among the brothers that the disciples would not die yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but only 00:17:29.140 --> 00:17:33.970 if I want him to remain until I come what is that to you? 00:17:35.620 --> 00:17:40.220 It's interesting when Jesus gave that statement, people walked around saying that John would never die. 00:17:40.220 --> 00:17:43.620 That was the belief, that John would never die. 00:17:44.120 --> 00:17:46.440 That's not what Jesus is saying and that's what he reiterated here. 00:17:46.440 --> 00:17:48.830 And I find it fascinating because of my time living in Utah. 00:17:49.780 --> 00:17:56.780 I have still heard people take this passage and still say that about John, the apostle, that he could be walking in 00:17:56.780 --> 00:17:57.510 the earth today. 00:17:58.280 --> 00:18:05.440 Rather than create some weird folk or theology over this verse, let me just point out that Jesus's point isn't that John 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:06.350 is going to live forever. 00:18:06.920 --> 00:18:10.220 Jesus's point rather is the promise that he's going to return here. 00:18:10.300 --> 00:18:12.240 That's what Jesus is trying to say. 00:18:12.520 --> 00:18:19.720 Or Jesus is saying here is "Follow after me", and Jesus is giving the idea of his return in this statement 00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:26.160 that Jesus is promising to come back for his disciples and for his followers. 00:18:27.160 --> 00:18:34.300 But in addition to that, Jesus is also teaching us something about Peter's posture here that we often become a victim to in our 00:18:34.300 --> 00:18:34.960 own lives, right? 00:18:35.320 --> 00:18:37.940 Peter does what all of us do. 00:18:37.940 --> 00:18:47.440 When we look at our life and things around us, we look at our possessions in circumstances and we start to compare and 00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:54.530 Jesus recognizes what kind of danger that can be to the life of the disciple in the simple pursuit that he gives us to follow him. 00:18:56.120 --> 00:19:03.640 Comparing is the greatest distractor, to take your eyes off the Lord and 00:19:03.800 --> 00:19:05.900 who he calls you to be. 00:19:08.060 --> 00:19:15.100 Because only the Lord knows the road you have walked and the road he calls you to 00:19:15.120 --> 00:19:15.420 walk on. 00:19:17.100 --> 00:19:25.460 It's why you can't compare yourself in your Christian life to other believers because we've all come from different places and 00:19:25.460 --> 00:19:32.540 you and the Lord are the only ones that know the road that you've truly walked and try to compare yourself or to try to become like someone else may be contrary 00:19:32.540 --> 00:19:36.800 to who the Lord even wants you to be, but maybe in a different place than where you are from them. 00:19:37.980 --> 00:19:42.700 Only you and God know the true battles you have faced internally and externally. 00:19:42.760 --> 00:19:45.580 So stop looking what others may have or not have. 00:19:48.120 --> 00:19:52.170 And look to who Jesus calls you to be. 00:19:52.900 --> 00:19:55.660 It's good to have godly role models. 00:19:56.220 --> 00:20:03.300 It's good to have examples, but I think the examples are far more important in seeing the type of character that we should 00:20:03.300 --> 00:20:09.940 conduct ourselves with in life than it is to try to repeat the exact same process that got someone to where they are. 00:20:11.120 --> 00:20:18.440 Try to achieve what the same accolades that they have the same possessions, which they own; that's not who God calls 00:20:18.440 --> 00:20:23.140 us to be a role model or an example is important to see how to emulate the Christian life. 00:20:23.160 --> 00:20:30.240 And the apostle Paul said that to the church in Corinth, the model after me, live your life after me, as I have lived after Christ, he 00:20:30.260 --> 00:20:37.300 was a physical representation, an example to the other believers to understand what it meant to live 00:20:37.300 --> 00:20:38.340 a godly Christian life. 00:20:38.840 --> 00:20:46.320 But comparison is the great distractor to take your eyes off the Lord because comparing leads to coveting 00:20:48.380 --> 00:20:55.520 an envy and coveting leads to sin, because it makes you 00:20:56.240 --> 00:21:00.840 jealous and resentful to God and others. 00:21:02.820 --> 00:21:09.880 Coveting and envy are Satan's tool to trap you into pursuing the path 00:21:10.380 --> 00:21:13.660 that the Lord is calling you on to following him. 00:21:15.380 --> 00:21:22.740 It's been said that covetousness is the forerunner of all manner of sin among them theft and burglary and 00:21:22.740 --> 00:21:23.420 embezzlement. 00:21:24.700 --> 00:21:31.880 At its root coveting is the result of envy, a sin which once it takes root in the heart leads to worse 00:21:31.880 --> 00:21:31.980 sin. 00:21:34.600 --> 00:21:40.240 And why does covetousness, why does it get us distracted and lead to sin? 00:21:42.460 --> 00:21:49.180 Coveting and envy is really built on self-love or self idolatry. 00:21:50.540 --> 00:21:53.800 It's the exact opposite of what Jesus caused his disciples to do. 00:21:54.600 --> 00:21:58.700 Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:08.880 It's a surrendering of all that we are to pursue all that he leads us to in him. 00:22:09.020 --> 00:22:16.250 So the encouragement is to focus on who God calls you to be, 00:22:17.700 --> 00:22:24.720 not who others want you to be, not who you covet to be, but who the Lord made you 00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:26.210 to be. 00:22:27.060 --> 00:22:33.180 When you think about coveting, you cannot be covetous and thankful at the same time. 00:22:34.660 --> 00:22:39.300 Covetousness kills contentment and joy and peace. 00:22:40.220 --> 00:22:42.780 We stay continually aware of all that God has done for us. 00:22:43.120 --> 00:22:47.560 We safeguard our hearts against that covetousness. 00:22:48.860 --> 00:22:56.060 I even see it and I'm sad to say this, sometimes even among churches, churches sometimes will 00:22:56.060 --> 00:23:03.580 see other churches down the road that seem to be growing and increasing in attendance and all of a sudden they feel like it becomes a competition to 00:23:03.620 --> 00:23:06.580 try to get more people in the pews than others. 00:23:07.520 --> 00:23:13.660 And before long, they find themselves is not looking to the Lord anymore, but how they can beat the church down the road. 00:23:15.540 --> 00:23:20.920 And guys, can I tell you here at Alpine, God doesn't call us to be the church down the road. 00:23:22.920 --> 00:23:30.160 God calls us to be who he has designed us to be, to understand what our gifts are and our abilities as he brings his 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:37.280 people together and use that to glorify him not because we're looking to someone else, but because we are looking to the Lord 00:23:37.280 --> 00:23:39.940 and our desire to make him known in this world. 00:23:41.520 --> 00:23:48.370 So how do you become who God has called you to be, died of self and follow Jesus? 00:23:50.240 --> 00:23:51.340 There's a book written by S.I. 00:23:51.540 --> 00:23:51.990 McMillen. 00:23:52.500 --> 00:23:53.700 It's called None of These Diseases. 00:23:54.080 --> 00:24:01.100 And he tells a story of a young woman who wanted to go to college, but her heart sank when she read the question in an application for 00:24:01.100 --> 00:24:04.240 this college and it had asked, are you a leader? 00:24:05.860 --> 00:24:11.180 And reluctantly, but truthfully she answered on the application, no. 00:24:12.800 --> 00:24:17.100 And a few weeks later she received an acceptance letter to her surprise. 00:24:17.140 --> 00:24:18.860 She thought for sure that would end it. 00:24:19.440 --> 00:24:22.420 But she received an acceptance letter and was excited about it. 00:24:22.420 --> 00:24:29.680 And she opened up the letter inside and it said this dear applicant, a study of the application forms reveals that this year our college will have 00:24:29.680 --> 00:24:32.260 1,452 new leaders. 00:24:32.820 --> 00:24:36.830 We are accepting you because we feel it's imperative that they have at least one follower. 00:24:38.980 --> 00:24:46.080 Guys, when I think about pursuing Jesus with your life, we're not looking to impress God with 00:24:46.080 --> 00:24:46.960 who we are. 00:24:49.080 --> 00:24:51.100 We want to be impressed the greatness of who he is. 00:24:53.020 --> 00:24:54.150 It doesn't call us to be a leader. 00:24:55.900 --> 00:25:03.040 He calls us to be a follower and being his follower we see the Lord do great things through us because 00:25:03.040 --> 00:25:03.720 of his power. 00:25:06.020 --> 00:25:13.580 Sometimes we get off the beaten path because we look at others and we have this measure of what success should be and we see them and we think 00:25:13.580 --> 00:25:19.080 that they and their actions are achieving whatever we might think success might be. 00:25:19.100 --> 00:25:22.300 But success in God's eyes is different than the world's. 00:25:24.620 --> 00:25:26.270 Success in his eyes is faithfulness. 00:25:29.080 --> 00:25:36.320 And in the Lord that only happens through a heart that's committed to follow and letting our great leader shape 00:25:36.320 --> 00:25:36.820 us. 00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:40.680 In fact, in verse 25, I think ends there in that beautiful way. 00:25:40.820 --> 00:25:47.960 It says, "But there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in 00:25:47.960 --> 00:25:54.320 detail, I expect that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written." I love the ending of that. 00:25:55.460 --> 00:26:02.500 When you think about the beauty of who Christ is, you read the Gospel of John and you might get to the conclusion and 00:26:02.500 --> 00:26:07.120 there's all of Jesus' stories and John's saying now that doesn't even touch the tip of the iceberg. 00:26:08.940 --> 00:26:16.040 The only reason we have the stories in the Gospel of John, which they're great stories in the gospel of John is so that you find life in Jesus and surrender your life 00:26:16.040 --> 00:26:23.080 to him, but know that's not all that Jesus' life has done in this world and that's not all Jesus continues to 00:26:23.080 --> 00:26:23.980 do. 00:26:25.400 --> 00:26:33.880 In fact, if I just take verse 25 and I try to make a little application to our own life, he's still writing a story and he's writing a story in you and 00:26:33.900 --> 00:26:41.060 you have the privilege and the opportunity and the gift to be in that position to see God's glory revealed in your heart 00:26:41.060 --> 00:26:42.680 and to make a difference in the world around you. 00:26:44.840 --> 00:26:52.170 And God continues to write the evidence of that story over and over again if we as his people would do, but one thing, 00:26:53.260 --> 00:26:54.170 "Follow him."