The
Infinite Books
John 21:18 "Verily, verily, I say unto
thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst 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.
19 This spake
he, signifying by what death he should glorify God.
And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him,
Follow me.
20 Then 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?
21 Peter seeing him saith
to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?
22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will
that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?
follow thou me.
23 Then 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?
24
This is the disciple which testifieth of these
things, and wrote these things: and we know that his
testimony is true.
25 And 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.”
1. The Death Clock
2. Meddling
Brethren
3. Follow Me
4. The True Testimony
1. The Death Clock
The first part of verse nineteen: “This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God.”
According to Job [by the Holy Spirit] [in Job chapter fourteen] a man has a “few days” to live … compared to all eternity. In those few days, he will experience a lot of “trouble”. “Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.” [Job 14:1
Something else can be seen here, man has an “appointed time” [or an allotted time] to live on this earth. Then, he will DIE. “If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.” [Job 14:14]
What will be different is the manner of our death and the exact timing of our death. In Peter’s case, God [Jesus Christ] is prophesying that Peter will die in a good old age. Remember, a “few days” in comparison with eternity is a very short time.
The last part of verse nineteen shows us this: “but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.”
2. Meddling Brethren
The first part of verse twenty-two: “Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?” And again the last part of verse twenty-three: “but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?”
There is an admonition located in the book of Galatians for Christians to BEAR one another’s BURDENS.
This is Paul writing to the brethren at Galatia [the church of the Galatians] for the purpose of exhorting the brethren to “fulfil the law of Christ”. Read it with me in chapter six, verse two: “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” [Galatians 6:2]
We need to be concerned for one another [for the brethren] and bare up one another. To balance this out, the Spirit of God just a few verses later in the same chapter of Galatians says this in verse five: “For every man shall bear his own burden.” [Galatians 6:5]
Ultimately, we are responsible for our own load.
However, in verse twenty-one, Peter seems to be overly interested in what the LORD … will do with John. “Lord, and what shall this man do?”
Now, the brethren need to bare one another’s burdens. Make no mistake about it [the will of the LORD].
However, there is a very fine line between this need for the brethren to bear another’s burdens [such as with prayer or helps] and with what is called: “meddling”.
What do the Proverbs say [in Proverbs 20:3]? “It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling.” God calls a man that meddles in the business of another man … a fool.
The LORD is saying to Peter in verse twenty-two of our text this: “that is not your business, Peter”: “what is that to thee?”
We all need to be on guard as to our motives in our dealings with the brethren [the affairs of men] so that we “fulfil the law of Christ” … yet at the same time not becoming a meddler.
3. Follow Me
The last part of verse nineteen: “And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.” And the last part verse twenty-two: “follow thou me.”
Peter, follow me! Christian, follow me! Peter, feed my sheep! Pastor, feed my sheep!
Now, isn’t this the bottom-line thing that Jesus Christ wants from Peter [and all of us] that are “saved” [born again]?
Remember, the: “follow thou me” that we see here matches the “follow me” of Matthew chapter four, verse nineteen. “And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” [Matthew 4:19]
4. The True Testimony
Verse twenty-four: “This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.”
Now, as I close this commentary on the Gospel of John, I have written these things in order to persuade you … to believe the truths in this Bible to your salvation.
The Bible [in the English language] is the King James Bible of 1611, or any of its revisions.
My goal is for you to believe in your heart the words that the Apostle John gave by the Holy Ghost and committed as a BOOK [The Gospel according to John].
John wrote these things as his testimony. “We know that his testimony is true.”
Now, lastly verse twenty-five: “And 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.”
This old world could not contain the books if everything would be written about Jesus Christ.
There would be INFINITE BOOKS!!!
This last verse of this gospel points to the
INFINITE GOD … WHO is Jesus Christ.
Amen!