Resurrection

Resurrection
John 21:20-24

20 Then [de] Peter [Petros] , turning about [epistrepho] , seeth [blepo] the disciple [mathetes] whom [hos] Jesus [Iesous] loved [agapao] following [akoloutheo] ; which [hos] also [kai] leaned [anapipto] on [epi] his [autos] breast [stethos] at [en] supper [deipnon] , and [kai] said [epo] , Lord [kurios] , which [tis] is he [esti] that betrayeth [paradidomi] thee [se] ?
21 Peter [Petros] seeing [eido] him [touton] saith [lego] to Jesus [Iesous] , Lord [kurios] , and [de] what [tis] shall this man [houtos] do?
22 Jesus [Iesous] saith [lego] unto him [autos] , If [ean] I will [thelo] that he [autos] tarry [meno] till [heos] I come [erchomai] , what [tis] is that to [pros] thee [se] ? follow [akoloutheo] thou [su] me [moi] .
23 Then [oun] went [exerchomai] this [houtos] saying [logos] abroad [exerchomai] among [eis] the brethren [adelphos] , that [hoti] that [ekeinos] disciple [mathetes] should [apothnesko] not [ou] die [apothnesko] : yet [kai] Jesus [Iesous] said [epo] not [ou] unto him [autos] , [hoti] He shall [apothnesko] not [ou] die [apothnesko] ; but [alla] , If [ean] I will [thelo] that he [autos] tarry [meno] till [heos] I come [erchomai] , what [tis] is that to [pros] thee [se] ?
24 This [houtos] is [esti] the disciple [mathetes] which [ho] testifieth [martureo] of [peri] these things [touton] , and [kai] wrote [grapho] these things [tauta] : and [kai] we know [eido] that [hoti] his [autos] testimony [marturia] is [esti] true [alethes] . KJV-Interlinear

20 Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His breast at the supper, and said, 'Lord, who is the one who betrays You?' 21 Peter therefore seeing him said to Jesus, 'Lord, and what about this man?' 22 Jesus said to him, 'If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!' 23 This saying therefore went out among the brethren that that disciple would not die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but only, 'If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?' 24 This is the disciple who bears witness of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his witness is true. NASB

The Lord commanded Peter to follow Him. Not in the specifics which Christ took, no man can do that, but in the pattern of reliance on the scriptures to maintain and support us through this life and prepare us for the next.

Psa. 37:23
23 The steps of a man are established by the LORD; And He delights in his way. NASB

We can only decide for God, and when we do, then we in effect submit ourselves to His authority and control. His wisdom guides our foot steps. We merely tag along. But within us is the most powerful weapon, fortification, and preparation that exists in the universe and beyond - Bible doctrine.

1 Cor. 2:12-16
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. 14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man. 16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ. NASB

The scripture itself, duly attended to, is the best resource and weapon with which to counter all dangerous errors (all other false views) in life, and is the best salve to heal all wounds (worldly attacks) in the spiritual sense. Those who oppose God and doctrine and His principles and laws of life, enthusiasts for the world if you will, do all they can to compromise, find excuse, and derogate the authority of scripture.

God is slow to act, but with purpose. Those who pursue their own false beliefs become ensnared in their own false beliefs, and that leads to their eventual destruction. Something to think about with all of this same sex marriage stuff which is in the news these days. As long as the majority of peoples subscribe to Gods Word, then prosperity will hold regardless of the few bad apples in the country. If however the majority begin to subscribe to false concepts (after all who is getting hurt by this???), then we will see a national falling out and catastrophe of some type.

The point of all of this? Don't worry about what others are doing or not doing. Concentrate on what your obligations are in life and as long as you comply with Gods command for you, then God will take care of everything else.

Peter was told to 'follow me.' That is all he should have been concerned with, but he turns and sees John following as well. 'What about him (John)?'

Well, what about John? See, most folks begin to worry about other folks, and not because they are concerned, but because they are constantly concerned that someone else might get something better, something that they don't get. Peter is still concerned with his place in heaven. He is still concerned with what place others might receive in heaven and he wants to be better than the others. This is the problem described in our passage.

So, what about people who have a lot of wealth? What about people who seem to get away with things in life? Where are the lightning bolts of judgment to put them in their place? And what people are really concerned with is themselves. What about me? Why do others prosper when they are obviously scum? What about me? What about the problems I have in life? Why do I have problems and others don't? Why me?

And the answer is exactly what Jesus said, 'If I want John to live forever until I return, then he will. What is that to anybody?'

God has a plan. Man has a plan. What are your plans for life? Sure you want to be happy, prosperous, healthy and such. But God has a better plan than that for you. People look at the short term. God looks at the ultimate objective - the completion of human history and the beginning of eternity.

Sure He could have come down off of the Cross and impressed everyone, but what would that have accomplished? Nothing. Jesus went to the Cross and remained there despite the emotional hardship the events of the trials and the cross had on folks. 'Peter, do you love (agapao) me or do your love (phileo) me?'

God loved (agapao) the world that He gave His only Son. It is far more important to save humanity than to ease the emotional pains of, or impress a few people.

Your place and mine? Regardless of our circumstances in life, whether rich or poor, whether healthy or not, we are to concentrate on our Bible studies and advance in our spiritual lives. That is our future and over that we have complete control. All we have to do is want to learn, and then pursue that course. By so doing we design the future of our dreams (beyond our dreams).

But if we allow the world to get us down. If we allow our noses to become bent out of shape because of the circumstances of others, then we defeat ourselves. God knows what He is doing. The next great event in human history is the Rapture and that will occur when God has finished bringing all the nations into their proper alignment for the Tribulation, and that will occur simultaneously with the completion of the Royal Family.

These things will occur on Gods time table, not mans, and not Satan's.

Remember too that the Angelic conflict is between God and Satan. Satan has tried to control human history apart from Gods plan, but we have witnessed in just the last couple of years, a sharp set back in the plans that terrorists have tried to institute in a couple of countries (Afghanistan and Iraq). This happened, so obviously this was Gods will for history. Evil was placed in check, for now. It is not yet time in history for evil to take complete charge of that region. But one day it will be allowed, and then watch out.

Today God placed people in history, who have the resolve to challenge evil. One day in the future, God will allow people who lack resolve, to become leaders.

For each one of us? We cannot control history or world events. We can control our own decisions however and that is what we are to do. Follow Christ (learn, understand, maintain fellowship, grow up in our spiritual lives), and by that we will be winners for all of eternity. Let the world have its small victory. It means nothing anyway.

Have a resolve within yourself, that though the world will give you a tough time, though there will be many opportunities for tempting you into bitterness and jealously and such, then don't let the world beat you at its game which is meaningless anyway, but resolve to advance in your spiritual life and take care of number one - your spiritual life. In so doing you will win a greater prize than your could ever attain in this world even if the world gave you everything you wanted. This one (your spiritual life) you can win, and the world can't do anything about that. He (Christ - the written word) who is in us, is infinitely greater than he who is in the world.

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