Kirkcaldy Gospel Hall

13/09/2026

How Shall We Escape, If We Neglect So Great Salvation?

A verse from the Bible for us to consider today and it is found in Hebrews 2.

Hebrews 2 and verse 3:
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?

Three things for us to notice in this verse.

A Wonderful Description
An Awful Danger
An Inevitable Doom

A wonderful description - found in the last three words of our text.
“So great salvation.”

The Bible contains so many stories of salvation.

The story of Noah.
Before the earth was covered with water, God told Noah to build an ark - and he and his family were saved.

The story of Lot.
The city in which Lot lived was about to be destroyed, but God sent two angels into the city - and they took Lot out.

The story of the Red Sea.
The children of Israel left Egypt. The Egyptians came after them. God’s people had the Egyptians behind them and the Red Sea in front of them. They were hemmed in. And then the waters of the Red Sea divided and they were able to cross to safety.

Just three stories of salvation - and there are so many more.

Salvation from physical harm.
Divine preservation. Divine protection.
How good of God to save in such a way!

But running through the Bible, another type of salvation is mentioned.
And emphasised!
A greater type of salvation.
Salvation from our sins.

That’s the core message of this book.
God’s rescue plan for fallen man.
Salvation for sinners.

We are all sinners.
Defiled by sin.
And because of sin, destined for judgment.

In our sins, we are weak and helpless.

Quite unable to do anything to resolve our predicament.
Quite unable to do anything to remedy our condition.
Quite unable to do anything to remove a single sin.

But the wonder of the Gospel is that the God against whom humanity had sinned Himself took steps to deal with that sin.

God is the God of - salvation.

It is described in this verse as “salvation”.
As “great salvation”.
As “so great salvation”.

Why is it described in this way?

Well, it is so great salvation because of its cost.

What did it cost?

In April this year, during the American-Iran war, an aircraft came down in Iran.
A rescue mission commenced - and it was successful.
The two airmen were rescued.
But how much do you think it all cost?
$2 billion!
It was America’s costliest rescue mission ever.

$2 billion - a vast amount!

But it cost more than $2 billion for God to rescue sinners.

It cost the blood of His only Son.

We go to the Cross. The old rugged Cross.
And as we look at the man on that middle Cross, the Lord Jesus, suffering at the hands of men and suffering at the hands of God, we appreciate something of what it cost.

It cost His descent from Heaven.
It cost His death on the Cross.

So great salvation because of its infinite cost.

How sweet is the story of God’s boundless love,
That brought His own Sin from the glory above!
He died in our stead upon Calvary’s tree,
Obtaining redemption that we might be free.

How wondrous the story! the claims of God’s throne,
Were met by the blood which for guilt did atone,
The judgment of sin has been borne by the Son,
Who glorified God in the work He has done.

And it is so great salvation because of its comprehensiveness.

When the Lord Jesus died on the Cross, how did He die?
With His arms extended wide.

Why did He so die?

There’s a simple reason. That’s how people were crucified.

But there’s a symbolic reason. His arms were outstretched to welcome, to receive anyone and everyone who would come to Him.

Here are two lines from an old hymn:

“The arms of love that compass me
Would all the world embrace.”

And that is so true!

The Gospel embraces people from every century.

The Gospel embraces people in every country.

The Gospel embraces people of every character.

No matter when someone lives, no matter where someone lives, no matter how someone has lived - they can come to Christ.

“Him that cometh unto Me, I will in no wise cast out”, said the Lord Jesus.

So great salvation because of its immense comprehensiveness.

And it is so great salvation because of its incomparable consequences.

“Pardon from sin, and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine - and ten thousand beside.”

Forgiven.
Brought into the family of God.
Given the assurance of Heaven.

A wonderful description: “so great salvation”.

But then an awful danger.

This salvation can be neglected.

It is possible to neglect your health.
It is possible to neglect your finances.
It is possible to neglect your garden.
It is possible to neglect your property.

But what this verse is warning us about is the neglect of salvation.

You see, it is possible for someone to hear the story of Jesus and His love.

It is possible for someone to understand the message of the Bible.

It is possible for someone to know the way of salvation.

John 3 verse 16 says:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

It is possible for someone to be able to quote those words.
Possible for someone to say this: “If I believe on Christ, come to Christ, trust in Christ, I will not perish, but will have everlasting life”.
And yet never actually take those steps.

What are they doing?

They are neglecting salvation.

They are not rejecting it but they are neglecting it.

It’s not that they are explicitly saying, “No!”, to the Lord Jesus.
It is just that they are not saying, “Yes!”, to Him.

Why might that be the case?

Maybe they would say that other things are more important, but nothing is more important, nothing is as important as the salvation of your soul.

Maybe they would say that there is plenty of time, but for all they know, they may have very little time.

There are risks in neglecting your health or your wealth.
In neglecting your garden or your property.

Things can get worse - and then reach a stage where all hope is gone.

And there is a terrible risk in neglecting salvation.

The risk is that you might never come to the point of trusting Christ.

A man in the Bible asked the question, “What must I do to be saved?”
The answer was given: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved”.

But what about the question, “What must I do to be lost?”
And the answer is simply this: “You actually don’t need to do anything. You can just drift on as you are”.

It has been said: “To do nothing is to do something. It’s to do the wrong thing”.

A wonderful description - “so great salvation”.
An awful danger - the danger of neglecting salvation action.
An inevitable doom

“How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?”

It’s a rhetorical question.
A question that supplies its own answer.
There is no escape.

No escape.
No Heaven.
No eternal blessing.

Let the three words we have been thinking about echo in your mind.
“So great salvation!”

And then these two words if you have not yet trusted Christ.
“No escape!”

Don’t neglect this matter of salvation any longer.

Flee for safety and shelter and security to the arms of Jesus.

12/09/2026

There will now be a Gospel Meeting at the Kirkcaldy Gospel Hall twice a month - on the second and on the last Mondays of each month.

All Welcome!

06/09/2026

I want us to consider some words spoken by the Lord Jesus - and we find them in Luke Chapter 18.
Luke 18 verses 10 to 14.

Let’s listen carefully to the Lord Jesus and then let’s learn diligently from the Lord Jesus:

“Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican (a tax collector).
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he I want us to listen to some words spoken by the Lord Jesus - and we find them in Luke Chapter 18.
Luke 18 verses 10 to 14.

A story about two men, told by a third man.

Three men and three points about these three men.

We need to think about the Pharisee and his pride.
And then we need to think about the tax collector and his plea.
And then we need to think about the Saviour and his pronouncement.

The pride of the first man.
The plea of the second man.
The pronouncement of the third man.

“Two men went up into the temple to pray.”

Two men who go to the same place - the temple.
Two men who go to the same place for the same purpose - to pray.

But there the comparison stops and instead the greatest of contrasts.

Says the Pharisee:
“God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

Says the tax collector:
God be merciful to me a sinner.

A contrast in the length of the prayers.
The first, far longer than the second.

And a contrast in the content of the prayers.

Nothing wrong with how the Pharisee begins: “God, I thank Thee”.

Good to have, good to hear, a prayer of thanksgiving.

In fact, the first recorded prayer of the Lord Jesus, found in Matthew 11, is such a prayer. “I thank Thee, O Father.”

This man could have thanked God for being the God of creation - and we would have said, “Amen”, to that prayer.
This man could have thanked God for being the God of redemption, the God of salvation - and we would have said a louder “Amen” to that prayer.

But, no!
His prayer may begin with the word, “God”, but the focus immediately switches to himself.
Five times, he uses the word “I”.

There’s no contemplation of the attributes or the actions of God.
No, instead, a catalogue of his own conduct.

Not as other men.
Better than other men.

He’s a man full of pride.

Here’s a question: “Where has this man gone?”
You say: “That’s easy. He has gone to the temple”.
But if you were listening carefully, you would have noticed that the Lord Jesus added a small but significant word.
“Two men went - up - into the temple.”

To go into the temple was to go - up.
Up, geographically.
Jerusalem was situated up high.

And also up figuratively - for the temple was God’s house.
Associated with God’s presence.
Symbolic of God’s holiness.

This man may have been able to quote screeds of God’s Word.
Page after page after page of the Holy Scriptures.

He may have been a man who outwardly appeared to obey God’s commandments.

But he just did not grasp the nature of God’s character.

This is the God before whom angels cover their faces.
The God into whose eternal dwelling nothing that defiles can ever enter.
The God whose standard of righteousness is absolute perfection, a standard that even the best of men cannot possibly keep.

This man is proud - and pride is a sin, pride is something that God hates.

The man did not grasp the immensity of God’s holiness.
The man did not grasp the iniquity of his own heart.

Says the Lord Jesus, as He describes this man: “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself”.

His prayer was a prayer that God could not answer.
He brings no petition, no request, before Him -
and
His prayer was a prayer that God did not really hear.
He “prayed thus with himself”.

The Pharisee and his pride.

But now look at the other man.

The tax collector.

Note the humility of this man.

He does not dare draw near.
And he does not dare lift his eyes up high.

In a sign of lowliness and deep contrition, he smites his breast.

His humility - and then his theology.

He says this: “God be merciful to me a sinner”.

Just seven words, but in them, he says so much.

His confession.
“I am a sinner.”

In fact, he goes further. What he says is actually this:
“I am the sinner.”

His supplication.
“God, be merciful.”
“God, show me mercy.”

What is mercy?
Grace gives me what I don’t deserve.
Mercy withholds from me what I do deserve.

But this isn’t the usual word for “mercy”.
What this man says could be translated like this: “God be propitious to me”.

Propitious.
This is the language of the temple.
The language of sacrifice.
The language of the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies.

What the man was saying could be paraphrased like this:
“God, make atonement for me, the sinner.”
“God, on the basis of blood shed, deal with me, the sinner.”

There are various stories in the Bible about the most unlikely of people who have the deepest of understanding of spiritual truths.

And this is a great example here.

A despised tax collector who exhibits an awareness of the Temple and its sacrificial system.
And in so doing, exhibits an awareness of the coming death of Christ.

What this man is saying is this:

“I’m a sinner.
A miserable sinner.
I am nothing and I have nothing to bring to God.
Nothing in my hand I bring.
But I understand the divine purpose, the divine plan, the divine provision.
I appreciate that an innocent animal took my place, faced my penalty, felt my pain, paid my price.
A spotless animal that pictures, prefigures the coming life and death of the promised Messiah.
And I rely entirely, exclusively, eternally, on that death.”

That was the honest, heartfelt plea of the tax collector.

And then the pronouncement of the Saviour.
A pronouncement that acts as the divine verdict on these two men and their two prayers.

“This man” - the tax collector - “went down to his house justified rather than the other.”

To be justified is to be declared cleared - cleared of guilt.
To be justified is to be declared clothed - clothed in the very righteousness of God Himself.

And justification is not expressed in comparative terms.

The Lord Jesus did not say that the tax collector was justified more than, to a greater degree than, the other.
No, He uses the words “rather than the other”.

What that means is this:
The Pharisee came with his sin - and left with his sin.
The tax collector came with his sin - and left without it. He left reckoned righteous.

I hope we understand that the subject of this story told by the Lord Jesus is of the utmost importance.

Way back, near the dawn of human history, the question was asked: “How should man be just with God?”

And that question needs to be asked today.

“If God exists - and He does, if Heaven is real - and it is, if sin will exclude me - and it will, how can I be right with God, how can I be just with God?”

Here’s the answer of Paul:
God is “just, and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus”.

Here’s the answer of Peter:
“Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.”

There on the Cross, there at Calvary, the sinless One became the sin-bearing One.

His life was given.
His blood was shed.

Christ died for the ungodly.
Christ died for our sins.
And we need to make it personal by acknowledging: “Christ died for me”.

“I am a guilty sinner,
But Jesus died for me!”

“I am the sinner for whom Christ died.”

And had there been in all this wide,
Wide world no other soul beside,
But only mine, then He had died
That He might be its Saviour.”

The ground is level at the foot of the Cross.
We all need to come there as sinners.
And trust in the Friend of sinners, the Saviour of sinners.

And if we do so, we are justified, declared righteous by God Himself.

Before the Lord Jesus tells this story, Luke explains why the story was told:
“He spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.”

It has been said that we are all naturally self-righteous. “It is the family disease of all the children of Adam.”

Within us, the natural tendency to seek to attain Heaven by our own efforts, in our own strength, based upon our own self-righteousness.

When a child is small and trying to do something, their parent can step in to help them.
What might the child say? “I can do it all by myself”.
Sometimes they can. Often they can’t.

But when it comes to restoring a relationship with God, when it comes to getting to Heaven, such a reaction, “I can do it all by myself”, is flawed and false and fatal.

Salvation is only in Christ and in His death on the Cross.

You would know the name William Wilberforce - the British politician through whose endeavours this country ceased any involvement with the slave trade.

Shortly before he died, he was visited by a friend.
Said Wilberforce: “I have nothing whatsoever to urge but the poor tax collector’s plea, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner!’”

Do you know the name Lord Mackay of Clashfern?
In his day, one of the most prominent lawyers in Scotland.
Given a seat in the House of Lords by Mrs Thatcher - and he became the Lord Chancellor.
He died a few weeks ago at the age of 99 - and many were the glowing tributes that were given.

A man of great intellect.
A man of deep faith. He was a Christian.

At his funeral, his former minister said that Lord Mackay had a particular love for this story.
To a member of his family, he had explained that the Gospel is really very simple: we are all sinners and we need to ask for mercy. It was, said Lord Mackay, the tax collector who beat his breast saying, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner’ who went home justified and forgiven.

May that man’s plea be your plea today: “God be merciful to me the sinner”.

01/09/2026

The recording of our Gospel Meeting from Monday night is now available to watch.

All are welcome to join us for our next Gospel Meeting in the hall on Monday 14th September at 7.30pm.

if you have any questions , please contact us by Facebook message.

31/08/2026

Our Gospel Meeting tonight at 7.30pm in the Kirkcaldy Gospel Hall will be streamed live:

Our Gospel Meeting tonight at 7.30pm in the Kirkcaldy Gospel Hall ...

30/08/2026

A Night with Nothing: A Morning with the Master

John 21 and the closing words of verse 3: “That night they caught nothing”.
And the opening words of verse 4: “But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore”.

Two statements brought together - and what a contrast.

“That night they caught nothing. But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore.”

A night with nothing.
And then a morning with the Master.

Who caught nothing?
Who are the “they”?

We are told in the previous verse, verse 2.
Simon Peter and Thomas and Nathanael and James and John and two other disciples.
Seven men - seven is the number of completeness. But that night, they were complete failures.
Seven men - and among them successful fishermen. But that night, these fishermen knew only defeat.
A night with nothing.
Nothing to show for their efforts.
And because of that, a night of disappointment.

You know, what was true of this night could be true of someone’s life.
A life that has been marked by disappointment.

Things had not turned out as expected for these men.
And maybe things have not turned out as expected for you.

I think there was a reason for the failure in fishing.
I think they were wrong to go.
Years earlier, the Lord Jesus had called them to leave their nets.
They had left all and had followed Him.

So for them to go fishing was a backward step.
A downward step.

They were returning to what they had previously left.

They were guilty of disobedience.
Doing what they shouldn’t be doing.
Not doing what they should be doing.

Little wonder then that that night, they caught nothing.

These are seven real men, but they are also seven representative men.

Men who represent the saint who has wandered astray from the Lord.
Men who represent the sinner who has never ever come to the Lord.

But it is to these disappointed, disobedient men that the Lord Jesus appears.
“When the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore.”

Was that not kind of Christ?

Does this not convey to us something of Christ and His pity?

And can you see in Christ’s appearance to these men a little picture of Christ’s appearance to all men?
Christ coming to the shore is a little picture of Christ coming to this world.

A world characterised by disobedience.
Because of that, a world characterised by disappointment, yet it is to such a world that Christ came.

Christ and His pity.

And then Christ and His power.

Verse 6: “Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find”.

And so they did.
Into the net a multitude of fish.

What they could not do in their own strength, what they could not do with their own skill, Christ does through them.

Lives now transformed.
From disappointment to delight.

When someone comes to Christ, there are things they previously did not do, could not do, but now they can do.

Because there is a new power operating in their lives.
It is the power of Christ Himself.

Says the Lord Jesus in verse 10: “Bring of the fish which ye have now caught”.

That was good of Him, was it not?
To credit them with catching the fish that He had put into their net!

Anything they had to show, all they had to show, they owed to Him.
Yet, He will credit them for that work.

Peter in his haste to see Christ swims to the shore.
The other disciples sail to the shore.

And when they reach the shore, what do they find?
A fire and fish and bread.

This isn’t the fish they have caught.
This is fish already being cooked.

Fish on a fire - and bread.

Christ and His provision.

And to them, He says this: “Come and dine!”

Back in Chapter 1, two of these disciples had heard the Lord Jesus say: “Come and see!”

Do you remember that story?

Two disciples of John who leave John and follow Jesus.
“Rabbi, where dwellest Thou?”
“Come and see.”
“They came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day.”

And then in John 7, they might all have heard these words of Christ:
“If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.”

John 11.
A crowd around a grave.
“Lazarus, come forth.”

And now, here in John 21, “Come and dine”.

An invitation to breakfast on the beach with Jesus.

It’s evident that all seven responded, but would you have responded?

Inconceivable that anyone there would turn away, but the same invitation comes to you today.

“Come and dine.”

Enjoy My friendship.
Enjoy My fellowship.
Enjoy My food.

“Come and dine, the Master calleth, Come and dine;
You may feast at Jesus’ table all the time;
He who fed the multitude, turned the water into w**e,
To the hungry calleth now, Come and dine.”

Look now at verses 15 and 16 and 17:

“So 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.
He 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.
He 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.”

A conversation between Christ and Peter.
An interrogation by Christ of Peter.

The Lord Jesus questions him.

Note the setting of His questions.
Near a fire.

Note the number of His questions.
One, two, three.

John describes this fire as a fire of coals.

That description is found in only one other place in the Bible.
It’s in this book by John - and it’s back in Chapter 18.

A fire of coals made by the enemies of Christ - and Peter had stood there.

Says John: “It was cold”.
And Peter’s heart had been cold.
Cold towards Christ - for he had denied Him not once, not even twice, but three times!

It must be the case that Christ is in a sense re-enacting that scene.

To jog Peter’s memory.
To prick Peter’s conscience.
And ultimately to secure Peter’s blessing.

Note the subject of His questions: “Do you love Me?”

He begins, “Do you love Me more than these?”

That could be understood to mean one of three things.

Do you love Me more than you love these disciples?
I don’t think that’s the meaning.

Do you love Me more than you love the fishing?
Well, it could be that.
Peter had returned to the fishing.

Do you love Me more than the others love Me?
And it could be that.
Just a little earlier, Peter had declared: “Others may desert You, but not Me”.

Well, Peter doesn’t speak about his love in comparative terms.
He simply says: “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You”.

Three times the Lord probes his love. This is Christ and His probing.
Three times the disciple professes his love - and scholars will point out the different words used for “love”.

An examination of Peter’s love.
An exploration of Peter’s love.
And this threefold expression of Peter’s love.

William Cowper was a hymnwriter in the 1700s.

Among his hymns:
This one -
“God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform.”

And this one -
“There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins.”

And this one -
“Hark, my soul, it is the Lord;
'Tis thy Saviour, hear His word;
Jesus speaks, and speaks to thee,
'Say, poor sinner, lov'st thou Me?”

Answer that question.

Do you love Him?

The name of William Ralph Featherstone might not mean anything to you.

But many years ago, when he was just a teenager, he wrote these words:

“My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I love Thee because Thou has first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree.
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.”

Just as well he came to love the Lord Jesus when he was young, for he never lived to old age.
He didn’t even see middle age.
He died when he was still in his 20s.

That makes this verse very touching.

“I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.”

And then the final verse:

“In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.”

Peter professed his love for Christ and so did Featherstone.

What about you?
To quote another hymn:

“Oh, my friend, won’t you love Him forever?
So gracious and tender is He!
Accept Him today as your Saviour,
This Stranger of Galilee.”

Note how the Lord Jesus reacts to Peter’s declaration of his love:
“Feed My lambs.”
"Shepherd My sheep."
“Feed My sheep.”

What is Christ doing?

Restoring Peter.
Re-instating him.
Re-commissioning him.

Can Christ do anything with those who have failed? Yes, He can.

To the sinner who says,
“Out of my shameful failure and loss,
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come”,
there’s a welcome from Christ.
There is forgiveness with Christ.

And to the believer who has backslidden, recovery.

Christ and His pardon.

Is that not so precious?

Peter had failed.
Failed very badly.
Failed very seriously.

We might have written him off.
We might have said his days of usefulness were over.
But that’s not what Christ thinks.
That’s not how Christ acts.

It may have been the Psalmist David who first penned the words but thousands of people since have entered into the good of them: “He restoreth my soul”.

And then the Lord Jesus continues.
Verse 18:
“Verily, 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.
This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God.”

Verily, verily, truly, truly.
The Lord Jesus uses that expression on a number of occasions in this Gospel.
This is the last time.

He is able to look ahead to the day of Peter’s death.

He reveals when Peter will die. When he is old.

He reveals how Peter will die.
He would be carried where he would not want to go.
He would die for his faith.
He would die as a martyr.

And yet at the same time, through his death he would glorify God.

Said John Wesley, the great preacher, “Our people die well”.

You see, for the believer, death is not a descent into the darkness but the very gateway to glory.

I read a post on Facebook the other week by a lady who said that she was constantly thinking about death.
The thought of death horrified her.
The thought of death haunted her.

Many people responded by saying that this was unnatural and that she should go for counselling, but for the unbeliever death should be feared.

The solemnity of dying in your sins.
The solemnity of facing punishment that will never end.

But for the believer, death is their last opportunity on earth to bring glory to God.

Christ and His promise.
His promise to Peter - and His promise to every Christian - that even a death that naturally speaking would be avoided can be a means of securing glory.

Christ and His pity.
Christ and His power.
Christ and His provision.
Christ and His probing.
Christ and His pardon.
Christ and His promise.

And then, finally, Christ and His purpose.

End of verse 19:
“And when He had spoken this, He saith unto him, Follow Me.”

Christ has spoken these words to Peter years previously.
Christ now speaks them again.

Despite the passing of time, this is the message, “Follow Me”.

And then Peter sees John and he is concerned about Christ’s will for him.
“Lord, and what shall this man do?”

To paraphrase Christ’s reply, “Peter, don’t wonder, don’t worry about anyone else. You just follow Me.”

“Jesus calls us o'er the tumult
Of our life's wild, restless sea;
Day by day His sweet voice sounding,
Saying, "Christian, follow Me.”

We need to come to Him for salvation - and then we need to follow Him.

I wonder if this is your reaction:

“I want to walk with Jesus Christ
All the days I live of this life on earth;
To give to Him complete control
Of body and of soul.

Follow Him, follow Him,
Yield your life to Him –
He has conquered death,
He is King of kings;
Accept the joy which He gives to those
Who yield their lives to Him.”

Can I ask you: Are you a follower of Christ?
One of His?
A Christian?

It’s not always an easy life - there may be opposition and persecution.

But you are following the greatest of Masters.

Look how the book concludes:

“This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.
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.”

The accuracy of what John has written about Jesus.

John’s record of what Jesus did, John’s record of what Jesus said - all true.

The infinity of what could be written about Jesus.

“I suppose”, says John, “that even the world itself could not contain the books that could be written”.

The inexhaustible riches and glories and virtues of Christ.

What is Christianity?

It’s a life of following this matchless One .

Knowing His friendship.
Enjoying His love.
Appreciating His grace.

And then when life is over, an eternity spent with Him.

Here’s someone’s testimony:

I heard Him call -
“Come, follow,” that was all.
My gold grew dim
My soul went after Him
I rose and followed, that was all.
Who would not follow
If they heard Him call?

Who indeed?
Who would not follow if they heard Him call?

Encounters with Christ in John’s Gospel.

Early disciples
Nicodemus
Woman at well
Nobleman
Man at pool
Woman taken in adultery
The man born blind
Martha and Mary
Pontius Pilate
Mary and Thomas
And now Peter.

Encounters that led to blessing in every case but one - that of Pilate.

For the early disciples, a discovery that Christ was the promised Messiah, the one for whom they had been waiting, the one who was the answer to their deepest need.

For Nicodemus, the discovery that religion was not enough. He needed a relationship. He needed to be born from above.

The woman at the well found in Christ a man who knew all about her but still loved her .

The nobleman - the words of Christ were true and trustworthy. He could heal at a distance.

The man at the pool’s lament was this: “I have no man”. No man that would help him. But Christ was the one man who could heal him - and heal him completely.

The woman taken in adultery heard those glorious words of pardon: “Neither do I condemn thee: go and sin no more”. Not condemned for her sin because her sin would be carried by Christ.

The blind man: “One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see”.

Martha and Martha. “Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died”. Martha received from Christ some theology.
Mary received from Christ some sympathy. “Jesus wept.”

Mary and Thomas discovered the reality of the resurrection. A glorious day without death.

And Peter. A night of frustration. A day of joy.

The book ends - and how is it with you?

Chapter 20 closed with these words:

“And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:
But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name.”

Have you believed, do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God?

If not, then, as far as you are concerned, John would have been as well not writing.

And, as far as you are concerned, Christ would have been as well not dying.

Is that how it’s going to remain with you?

Not saved?
Not forgiven?
Not bound for Heaven?

In verse 2 of our Chapter, a list of the men in the story.

5 are named.
2 are unnamed.

That’s curious, but maybe it’s to allow you to put yourself in the story.

Can you identify with these men?

A night with nothing.
Well, you can have a morning with the Master.
A meeting with the Master.

Weary soul, give up the struggle,
Cease at length thyself to own;
Give yourself away to Jesus,
And belong to Him alone.
Once He gave His all to win thee,
Now He asks as much of thee;
All He has He fully gives thee;
Let thy love His portion be.

Come to Christ.
Trust Christ.
Then follow Christ.

And if you do, these words will be true of you:

Now I belong to Jesus
Jesus belongs to me
Not for the years of time alone
But for eternity.

Jesus my Lord will love me forever
From Him no pow'r of evil can sever
He gave His life to ransom my soul
Now I belong to Him?

Once I was lost in sin's degradation
Jesus came down to bring me salvation
Lifted me up from sorrow and shame
Now I belong to Him.

Joy floods my soul for Jesus has saved me
Freed me from sin that long had enslaved me
His precious blood He gave to redeem
Now I belong to Him.