The Best Is Not Behind You!

You can be blessed and have confusion. Peter is not yet put together, but he is going forward in the strength of the Lord and so can you. You've got to eat and feed. This is the rhythm of grace. You have got to receive from the Lord and respond to the Lord. Jesus does not share with Peter. You are going to revolutionize the way that this message is seen. He doesn't say any of that. He just says, "Follow me." And that's all God's going to give you right now in your life. Two words, follow me. So I came to say today, turn around. The best is not behind you. Everybody, clap your hands if you love the Lord Jesus Christ. (upbeat music) Driving to church today, thinking about all the awesome things that God has done on days just like this, I get kind of excited when I think about what the Lord is going to do, what he's still going to do. And from that place of faith, I want to preach a message today from John 21 verses 13 through 25. And I invite you to be seated as I read them because I want to take my time. No, no, it's not a trick. (congregation laughing)

Y'all think I'm trolling? You think now I'm a fuss at you for sitting down on the Word of God? But as I thought about the Scripture, I thought it is too nutritious and rich for me to rush through it. So if I'm worried about your feet hurting or your back being tight while you're standing, I might rush, but I just want to take our time today from John 21, where we were last week. But we continue this week from a sermon that I preached called cooked. Did you like that sermon? Did you get something out of it? (congregation laughing) Did you take home leftovers? I try to preach with that Tupperware anointing, where you have something that you can take with you to work or to school or to the challenges in your life of the next week. And this week, we're picking up from the next verses in this story, which I have never preached before. And I think I've been intimidated by these verses because they feel so personal, but today we're gonna give it our best shot. I want you to think of this not as a presentation, but a conversation. In this conversation between Jesus and Peter, maybe you'll hear the Lord speak to you as well. John chapter 21, verse 13 through 25.

I could preach off these first two words. Jesus came, how many times has he come to you? After they'd fished all night and caught nothing. Jesus came, after he showed them where to cast the nets for a catch. Jesus came, Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them. Now, I saw that phrase, he took the bread and gave it to them. And I was comparing it to other times where it says Jesus took the bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to them. So I was surprised that it just said he took the bread and gave it to them. And I was praying about that. And I realized that the reason it doesn't say he took the bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to them. It just says he took the bread and gave it to them is because this bread was already blessed and already broken. See, he'd already died on the cross for their sin. And he'd already risen from the grave. And so if you want to touch three people and tell them it's already blessed, it's already blessed. Wouldn't that make a good sermon? It's already blessed, it's already blessed. I don't have to be broken because he was. I'm already whole. I've got some things that are still in progress in my life but the bread he gives is already blessed because he's already been broken.

So anyway, that's not what I'm preaching about today. That's what I preached about last week. So Jesus came, took the bread, gave it to them and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. Verse 15, let's go. When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter. Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? Do you love me more than these? I used to think when he said these, he was talking about the fish that they just caught. Like, will you leave the fish to follow me? That's not what he's saying. He's talking about the other disciples because Peter had this competitive streak and when Jesus was going around the Passover meal, we call it the Last Supper, And Peter said, "Even if they all do not me," because he was comparing himself. But see, now Jesus is trying to move him from position to purpose, okay? How do you rank against all of them to are you willing to follow what I reveal to you, okay? It's in another way of saying it, a shift from status to service, which you're about to see. So he said, "Do you love me more than these?" But notice how Peter has been humbled in a good way by his failure.

He denied Jesus and it looked like it ruined his life. But sometimes when you say ruined, God says ready. Because the thing that you think would disqualify you is actually the thing that developed you. So when Jesus says to Peter, "Do you love me more than these?" Peter responds back, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." But he doesn't say anything about these because he's learned that it is very dangerous to compare yourself to anyone else. So he passes the test, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." And Jesus said, "Feed my lambs." Again, Jesus said, again, Jesus said, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Now, this time, he leaves off the V's. Not asking you to rank yourself on the standings of how much you love me, who's the best, you know? That's the disciples who sit around and argue about stuff like that. I'm the one he likes the best. No, he loves me more. No, I'm a sit at the right hand. And so Jesus is moving him from status to service. That's a great shift to make when you're in high school or you have to make it later in life. Because if you live high school as a popularity contest, you will carry that dysfunction into your adulthood. And then you will make bigger messes trying to prove to people who aren't even paying attention how valuable you are when God has already showed you that. And so he's getting down to the issue

of your identity in your life. And your identity is not determined by where do you stack up against anyone else. So he said, "Simon, son of John, second time, do you love me?" And he answered, verse 16, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Little frustrated this time, Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep." The third time he said to him, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Now Peter was hurt on that third time. He was hurt because Jesus asked him, "The third time, do you love me?" He was hurt, but watch this. This is not the pain of punishment. This is the pain of preparation. And sometimes we confuse the two. Sometimes God is doing something in our life and Peter's like, "Man, I know I made a mistake, but do you keep having to ask me this?" Like, Jesus sounds like an insecure girlfriend. You know what I mean? Like, "Do you love me?" Like, "No, no, do you really love me? Like, do you love me, love me?" But Jesus is an insecure. Jesus, in fact, is stabilizing Peter because he knows that there is something ahead that will require him to get his identity down deep,

not from what he does, but from who he is. Okay, so he said, "Do you love me a third time?" And Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him, "The third time, do you love me?" And he said, "Lord, you know all things." Ginozco, in Greek, it's a knowledge that's based on experience. Lord, you know everything. Come on, I don't know what you're playing this game about going back and forth. Do I love you? You know all things. You know where I messed up. You know I'm also the one who let you use his boat. You know I'm not perfect. You know all things. You know I love you. And Jesus said, "Feed my sheep." Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you dressed yourself and went where you wanted. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go. Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Two very important words for you today. Follow me." Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus

at the supper and said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?" When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me." Because of this, the rumors spread among the believers that the disciple would not die. Now, back in these days, they had church gossip. We progressed past the point of Bible times. They had rumors in the Bible. I'm gonna do a series on that. Jesus did not say that. How many things can we put in that category? Jesus did not say that. Your grandmother said that. Jesus did not say that. Your religious dogma said that. Jesus did not say that. Your overactive imagination said that. Jesus did not say that. Your feed said that. Jesus did not say that. An influencer trying to sell you some protein powder said that. Jesus did not say that. Jesus did not say that. A politician said that. Jesus did not say that. Okay, Jesus did not say that. Series coming, 2028.

Jesus did not say that. He would not die. He only said, if I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? Now I could have stopped at verse 19, but I wanted to hit 24 and 25 to give you my title. This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. He's talking about himself. Y'all know I'm telling the truth. I'm the one he loves. I'm John, y'all. And then verse 25. Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose even the whole chat GPT would not have room for the books that would be written. Beautiful scripture. Let's clap our hands for the word of God one more time. (congregation applauding) I got a word for you today. The Lord said to tell you, the best is not behind you. The best is not behind you. And I need you to reach around. This can be the last time you talk to your neighbor today if they have bad breath, but tell at least three people. The best is not behind you. Tell three people. Put it in the comments.

The best is not behind you. (congregation laughing) I don't care what the medical diagnosis said. The best is not behind you. I don't care what class you're flunking. The best is not behind you. I don't care who won't text you back or who blocked you. The best is not behind you. The best is not behind you. So it's an interesting text because Peter is standing at the intersection of a great blessing and a great question. And the great blessing is much more than the catch a fish. It is the resurrected Christ. So the resurrected Christ is standing over a griddle, cooking a breakfast for the disciples who failed him in his moment of need. This is great grace. And in this moment of blessing, Peter has questions. Not only the question that Jesus asked him, do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me three times? Remember, not to punish Peter, but to prepare Peter. How many times did Peter deny Jesus? How many times did Jesus reaffirm who Peter was? God knows that if you don't process this last thing with him, you will drag that mistake into your next opportunity. And like Peter dragged those fish on the shore, Jesus didn't want Peter dragging his failures

into the next season, so he asked him three times. Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? And then he gave him something to do, feed my sheep. I would suggest though that it is not only Jesus who is asking questions in this passage. I think there are questions that Peter is asking as well. What do I do next? What do I do now? And am I still needed? And I boiled it down to one question that I wanna give you that I think goes on in a lot of our minds. Is the best part of my life already over? I know that's kind of a heavy thing to just break out on you before you've had your bagel. But Jesus pulls up to the breakfast table with Peter and says, I need to talk to you about something. I've got something for you to do. It is an insidious question. It doesn't always surface in that same way. You may think it in a much simpler way, like did I already have the most fun I'm gonna have in my life? Because when I thought about this message, the best is not behind you. I thought I don't wanna leave everybody under the age of 40 out of this sermon just because I'm in midlife crisis.

Do you know what I mean? And I remembered something very funny. It made me laugh this morning during worship. I've been asking this question, is the best part of my life already over since I was 25? And the reason it made me laugh, you ever look back and laugh at something that you thought and you just kind of laugh at yourself that you even thought that? I was 25 years old. We had not even moved to Charlotte yet. And I was leading worship and recording an album. And I was writing songs in Shelby, North Carolina. I remember when I left that recording that night, I went home and I wanted to cry because I knew we were coming to start this church. And the reason I wanted to cry is because I thought to myself, I've probably just worked with the best musicians I'm ever going to work with to create music. Isn't that funny? I mean, how laughable is that? Well, I'll give it up for the baddest worship team on the planet. I was laughing today. I was watching Nick play that bass. He did something on the bass. Sometimes you don't know if it's just a good low E string or the Holy Ghost because they're so good up here. You don't know. Was that the Lord or was that just Nick? I don't know. They're so good. I was watching our worship team today and I was laughing how I was grieving something at

age 25. Yeah, that was probably peak right there. And then to think that the Lord would let me do ministry with these beasts, with these assassins, with these mercenaries of musical acuity and ability. I like to think that the Lord was laughing at that. So when I thought about the best is not behind you, I thought I've been thinking that since I was 20. I've been thinking that since I was 15. Y'all, in many ways, my life peaked at age 15. I was at a Green Day concert. Billy Joe Armstrong, the lead singer of Green Day, called me on stage to play his fender guitar. I was 15 years old. I went home that night and said, "Well, that's it." It doesn't matter who I marry, how many kids I have, how beautiful she is, how much I will never have a moment that cool. Do you know how cool I was going to school the next day when I played with Green Day? They talked about me on the radio that morning. I was driving my Chrysler Laser to school. I didn't know whether to smile or cry because I thought, "This is it. It will never get so downhill for me." I was 15, November 30th, 1995, I peaked. You ever wonder, have I peaked? There are no real people in the center section of this room. I'm bringing my message to a new audience. Do you ever wonder, have I already achieved all I'm going to achieve? Have I done the best I'm going to do? Did you wonder that when you got married? Do not make eye contact during this specific sermon point. There can be a little bit of a reality shock, or what do you call it, a little bit of a

rude awakening when you start thinking, "Okay, all right, this and being married is awesome." It's fantastic. It's going great. I love having to consult somebody about all of my plans, whether budgetary or entertainment related. It's going great. Maybe single was the happiest. Now let me try this side of the room. I can't find a roof. Where you have kids, and you're like, "Dang, I wonder if I'm going to raise them. I'm not going to throw them out, put them up for adoption, send them to the Compassion International," or anything like that. I kind of wonder, was that the best part of our marriage before? We could just go, when we could just go on a date without having a major global summit planning meeting about the care of these terrorists, I mean, blessings from the Lord. Did we peek? Was that like the bet? We were so in a hurry to get pregnant, did we peek before you were pregnant? And of course I say all this jokingly, of course we know that you appreciate every season of your life equally, and you never think these things. But hypothetically, if you had a friend or a relative who was struggling with this issue, it's the best part of my life already over. I walked out to Graham after he won a state championship in wrestling, and Gavin and the goose were out there on our porch, and it was like 11.30 in the morning, and they had the JBL, Boombox, Bluetooth, playing something silly, and they were all out there with their shirts off, eight-pack abs, just looking amazing out there, eight-pack abs and making pancakes. And I looked at those boys, and I said, "Y'all don't know right now, but this is peak." And you got eight-pack pancakes, that's peak. This is probably peak.

I mean, take a picture, take a video for y'all, because this is probably about the happiest day of your life. Fresh off a state championship with pancakes on a grill you didn't pay for, where I'm paying the electricity and you're doing the eating, and you got the abs, and this is probably peak. And Peter, Peter has to be wondering, is my And I did it. And John's like, "For a minute." And Peter's like, "But at least I got out the boat, John." That was Pete Peter, man, walking on a word. One word was enough to get him to come. One word. But it's been a while since that water-walking episode. Now, he's the disciple who denied the Savior by the fire. Did I, Pete? And it was amazing one day. We wanted to send the crowds away. Jesus said, "Feed him," and we fed him, and it was amazing. We all got a doggy bag. I wonder was that peak because he won't be here with us forever. It's the best part of my ministry behind me. I've talked to creative people before who say that the number one thing that they wonder after they succeed is, "Is this my last one?" They can't even enjoy the success. I've talked to people who have put out movies that you've seen. And on the day they should have been celebrating, they were stressed because, "Is that the last good one I'll ever make? Do I have another one in me? Do I have the energy to handle this promotion even if it comes?" Is my best behind me? You think it's just in seasons of failure.

It's not. In seasons of favor too, that you look back on a previous version of yourself. I mean, my God, do you remember when I used to preach three times every weekend? Did I peak? Because I'm not preaching three anymore. I'm preaching this one, but it's three times as long as when I used to preach three. So everybody's getting the same treatment, but there's a part of me that has wondered how many times in this ministry was that as good as it's going to get? Did I peak? It must have been a relief to Peter, and perhaps it will be a relief to you. That after his failure, around about the age of 30 we place Peter at this moment in his life. Jesus tells him, "Purpose doesn't peak." Can we put that as a subtitle for the message? Purpose doesn't peak. Yet, your bench press number might decrease, but purpose doesn't peak. It might be a little harder to take the pounds off, but purpose doesn't peak. Change might be the time in your life when you had the most fun. You know how it is? You're sitting here now looking back on something, and you're like, "What didn't I know how blessed it was when I had it? I didn't know it was blessed when I had it. I was 15 years old. That was peak. All I had to worry about was Fortnite." "No, I'm working this job, man. I got FICO where I used to have Fortnite." "Did I peak?" and I didn't even appreciate how good it was. I didn't even know that was momentum. I didn't even know.

I didn't even know. It was just easy for me to get up and get down and do stuff and do this and do that and remember. I used to be able to remember stuff. No, I'm having to. I used to be able to order off a restaurant menu with no flashlight. Now every time I'm sitting down, I didn't even know that was the favor of God when you didn't need your flashlight. So, it must have been a relief to Peter, to hear Jesus say, "I still got food for you." I have three points to this message, "Let's hustle and we'll get through it." Everybody shout the first point, say, "Food, food, there's food." I love verse 15 because there's a blessing and a question in verse 15. There is a blessing and a question. Blessings come with questions. You've got to learn that you can be blessed and have questions. You can be blessed and have confusion. You can be blessed and still have broken places in your life. Peter is not yet put together but he is going forward in the strength of the Lord and so can you. Verse 15 says it this way, "When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Then Jesus said, "Very important, feed my lambs." Now, let's make a sandwich out of this verse since we're talking about food. He starts off feeding Peter, so Peter eats. But then after Peter has eaten, Jesus says, "Now I've got someone that I want you to feed." God has called you to eat and to feed. And if you are not doing both of those things in your life, you are going to end up in a God will supply for you. And I need about 300 witnesses to wave at me if God has supplied for you in a season

of your life where your nets were empty, but somehow He gave you your next meal. And so the next meal is on me, God was saying, but the mission is on you because I've got something for you to do and it's important that you are eating and feeding, everybody say it. Eat and feed, eat and feed. So Jesus says, here's the bread, already blessed, already broken, eat it. The bread represents Him, the fish represents provision. And after they have finished eating, Jesus starts talking about feeding. So God promises that in every season of your life, listen to me, there will always be something to eat and there will always be someone to feed. And when you are eating and not feeding, that's a problem. When you are feeding and not eating, that's a problem. You've got to eat and feed. This is the rhythm of grace. You've got to take in and give out. You have got to receive from the Lord and respond to the Lord. And if you're not doing both of those things, you will feel like your best is behind you. But your best isn't behind you. You just stopped eating or stopped feeding. Which one speaks to you in this season of your life? Because there have been times in my life where my discouragement was a by-product of my disobedience. Not always, but there have been times when I'm stuck in this, I've peaked. I don't have as many friends as I used to have. You know a lot of times in ministry, I'll be honest with you about pastors, we can make ourselves martyrs sometimes. And we can be like, it's so lonely in ministry, bro, it's lonely in life. Ministry doesn't make you lonely, life makes you lonely. But how many times in my life has God given me something to eat? But because I eat and don't feed, I feel all alone and maybe it's just me. But if I'm not eating and feeding, I run into one of two problems and I don't need to break this down a little bit more.

Say break it down if you want me to explain that. All right. Eat is what God gives me and then feed is what I give the world out of what God has given me or eat is when I sit with the Lord and let Him encourage me. Feed is when I open my mouth and encourage somebody else. And when I have been most discouraged in my life, I either wasn't eating and I was trying to feed or I wasn't feeding and all I was doing was eating. And it's got to be both. It's got to be both or you'll start saying like, oh, my best days are behind me. So your best days are behind you. You just aren't stewarding what God put within you. So are you eating and never feeding? That's going to make you weak because you're never exercising what God gave you. Are you eating and not feeding? Okay, I'll say it. Come into church and you're the first one to leave and the last one in your seat. And then you go all week and you feel weak because you don't exercise what God gave you. And you think the best is behind you. The best is not behind you. It's just inside of you. You can't sit on your gift and then ask God to do something that He gave you to do for you because God will cook for me, but He will not carry me. He calls me to follow. I could preach a whole sermon about this because there have been times not out of condemnation for you, but out of concern for you. I'm concerned that you think God hasn't blessed you and that you are not managing the blessing that He gave you because you don't know that He gave you so much. So God feeds you and He gets you through something, right? The first thing you need to do as you're going through it is to help somebody else go through it like God helped you go through it.

That's the first thing you've got to do. After you've dried your tears, look for your Kleenex and pass it to somebody else because God has called all of us to eat breakfast, but He has called all of us to feed sheep. You think this is a pastor's This is for you in your school. This is for you in your family. And when you're always eating and never feeding, ah, but there's another problem too. Some of us are always feeding, but never eating. That's why I love verse 15. He didn't tell Peter what to do next until after he had breakfast. Because you can't hear God good when you're hungry. I said, you can't hear God good when you're hungry. You're making decisions on an empty stomach. You're making emotional decisions. You're running around trying to fix stuff on an empty stomach. So Jesus says, sit down and eat. Have breakfast with me. That's a daily meal. That's not a one time. Oh, I had breakfast back in 2019. This daily dependence on the Lord. He says, I have food for you. And ain't it crazy, Lindsay Newton, that while Peter was thinking about his next meal, Jesus was already thinking about his next mission. We are meal-minded people,

but we have a mission mind to God. Prove it to you from John chapter four. The woman at the well has left and she went to go get all of her friends. The disciples, including John and Peter, come back and say, Jesus, do you have anything to eat? And in the ultimate Jesus troll, he says, I have food to eat that you know not of. And they go, who door dashed? Who brought him lush? No, it's not, my food Jesus said, is to do the will of him who sent me. You see it? He said, I'm eating while I'm obeying, while I'm preaching, I'm eating. So I'm eating and I'm feeding and I'm eating and I'm feeding and you're getting in trouble. When you're just eating, eating, eating, bless me, bless me, bless me, do it, do it. But you never feed, but you get in trouble when you're feeding, feeding, feeding, feeding, but you never eat. So Jesus said, I do the will of my father. I don't have time for all of the agendas of men because I do the will of my father. Eat something this week. Eat something bigger than a granola bar. Eat something more substantive than a protein shake. Eat this word, take it and make it yours and then feed somebody.

Your future is in who you are willing to feed. Not just what I need God to do for me. Hey, worship leader, you're burned out, write another song. Or do like our team did and go in the hospital while we're on tour and sing to sick people. 'Cause I know you're hungry, so feed, and you can eat, and eat, and you can feed. All eating, no feeding, you get weak. All feeding, no eating, you get weary. Either way, you gotta learn what to do with the food. So Peter says, I love you, Lord, and Jesus says good. Feed my sheep. Yeah, but they bite, feed them anyway. Yeah, but they're teenagers. They don't appreciate me, feed them anyway. You're not feeding them for them. You're feeding them 'cause you love me. Do it for God. No, no, I love how this is coming out. Is it helping you? I just feel so absolutely conversing. I feel like I'm in a bathrobe and slippers and just talking to you. But it's fully closed. It's closed. It's in a double knot. Double wins are not. You said, let's have breakfast. I got something for you to do.

Now, I always pictured this, like Jesus was saying, all of this in front of all the other disciples, 'cause, you know, Peter. Wow, he goes on to be basketball analogy, point guard of the New Testament church in Jerusalem at least, and he transcends that and takes it to the Gentiles. But funny thing about it, the way that God used Peter to get the gospel to the Gentiles, he was up on a roof praying and he was hungry. True story. Acts chapter 10. And the Lord showed him a vision and it was a sheet and it had all of these unclean animals on it. Yeah. And Peter looks at it and the voice from heaven says, "Arise Peter, kill and eat." And he's like, "No, Lord, I don't eat that. I eat clean." And so, look what the Lord had to do. He brought down the vision again and again three times. Three times. He denied Jesus three times. Jesus reaffirmed the love and the mission that he had for him three times and the sheet came down from heaven three times. And Peter still thinks we're talking about a meal, not a mission. So, if we're going to talk about food, we've got to talk number two about future. Because Jesus has something pretty difficult for Peter to hear. He says, and I want somebody watching this online, put my points in the chat, would you? Put food and then put future.

Those are the first two points. He says, "Feed my sheep," verse 18, "very truly I tell you, when you were younger, you dressed yourself, and you didn't even feel any tightness in your hamstrings bending down the tire shoes, and went where you want it. But when you are old and see like this, this is where you lose a certain part of the church. I don't need to hear this right now." They say, "When you are old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And then he said to him, "Follow me." Now, I've got to save a little time for that passage, but let me point out one thing. He's not dead yet. And so Jesus is saying, "Now, when you're old, you're going to lose control." See, we think that the older we get and the more mature in God we get, the more control of our life we have. I can't wait till I get my driver's license. I'm going to go wherever I want, but how are you going to pay for the gas? We've got to talk about that because I've been paying for that gas. I've been doing a lot for that gas, but you don't even know about it right now because yes, you are immature. And so the more you mature into the mission that God has given you, the more that God grows you up, the more you realize that gaining faith means losing control. And we don't like that equation because we want more faith, but more faith always means less control. And so Jesus starts speaking to Peter about his future and he says, "You know, I've got some things for you to do. You are going to feed my sheep." And man did Peter not go on. I mean, think about a guy who looked like he was at his peak when Jesus rose from the grave. He hasn't even preached on the day of Pentecost yet.

He hasn't even gone to the temple gate called Beautiful and raised a man up who was crippled, lay in there begging for alms when him and John walked up and said, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk." And all of that was in Peter's future, but he didn't know that yet. All of that is in Peter's future, but Jesus doesn't share that with him. Jesus does not share with Peter, and you're going to take the gospel to the uncircumcised, and you are going to revolutionize the way that this message is seen, and you are going to break barriers, and you are going to shatter boundaries, and you are going to stand before the Sanhedrin, and defiantly declare with courage that it is right for us to obey God. Not men. You are going to raise a little girl from the dead. You are going to be one of the chief emissaries of the gospel. He doesn't say any of that. He just says, "Follow me, follow me." And that's all God's going to give you right now in your life. That's all he's going to tell you, two words, follow me. So let me tell you about your future. Let me tell you a strategy about your future, rather. This is what I have learned walking with God. Hold loosely to your future, and follow closely to the one who holds your future. Should I say it again, back section? All right, hold loosely to your future, and follow closely to the one who holds your future. Because he's already there. Because he already knows, Lord, you know all things. You know what's best for me. You know who needs to leave right now. You know who needs to reject me right now. You know who needs to accept me right now. You know the experiences I need right now. You know the situation that I need to be in right now.

Not just for my own good, but for your glory, Lord, you know. So I'm holding loosely my future. I didn't see myself unemployed at 34, but I'm holding loosely my future. I didn't see myself single again at 61, but I'm holding loosely my future. I didn't think I was going to have another panic attack. I hadn't had one in four years, and it came back, but I'm holding loosely to my future and following closely behind Jesus. That's all you get. Two words. Follow me. Well, that's better than he had when he was walking on water. That day, he only got one. Come. Jesus made it clear this time. Follow me. Not your broke friends, follow me. Not your dysfunctional family patterns, follow me. your high calling. Follow me. Let me make this clear. Not follow what somebody said about what's in the Bible. Open your Bible and eat this food and get a word and follow me because I'm with you and the best. So come here, Graham. Come here, Abby. And I have an illustration that I think will make this so real for us today, all right? Y'all sit down and watch my kids. Come on all the way up on the stage. To me, verse 19 is amazing because it calls to follow me, but the next two words in the passage to me make verse 19 an even more stark contrast.

And I want to see if I can get this across and know we did not work this out in advance. So this could be a total disaster and I'm not preaching this three times today, only one time. So even if this doesn't make sense, y'all clap and say amen and write down notes like it does. All right, don't let my kids watch me fail in this pulpit. All right. For this illustration, Abby is going to be Jesus. I knew you liked that. Come here, Jesus and Peter, take a walk away from the other disciples and I'll show you how I know that in a moment. Because sometimes the Lord pulls you aside to give you your purpose. You hear me? So how are you going to hear it if your phone is always on? If you are always reachable to people, how will you be accessible to God? So he said, "Hey Peter, you love me? You know I love you. I'm the best Lord," well, I mean, there's John, but you know, he don't really do anything. Lord, he just leans back on your breast at the supper. I feel like Peter was probably pretty, he probably has some feelings about John. Because you know what I mean? Even at look at verse 21, I saw this, it said, no, before that, please. Yeah, Peter turned and saw the seven in Jesus' love and follow them. This was the one who leaned back against Jesus at the supper and said, "Lord." And so Peter has to be a leader and John gets to be a leaner. It is the pressure of being called and sometimes you make mistakes and you're like, "Yeah, but the reason I'm yelling at my kids all the time is because I'm with them." Okay. So if I could just lean back like you and then the fun uncle gets to come over for Christmas, I could be the fun uncle too if I only had to see you once a year.

I bet I could be loyal too if I could just lean on Jesus, but Peter was called to be a leader. And so he pulls him aside and he says, "Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?" It's going to be rough. There's going to be different seasons of your life. And man, there's going to be seasons to this. There are going to be seasons. And I said my title, "The best is not behind you." If you think that means it's going to be easy, you've been watching too much TikTok and reading too little truth. I did not say it would be easy. I said he would be with me. This is the picture. Please get this. Please get this. So you're Jesus, right? I'm Peter, right? Okay. I'm just making sure. All right. So he says, "Follow me." And then Jesus is walking, okay. And then verse 20, "Peter turned." So now we got a problem. Let me do this again. Peter, I got something for your future. I got a new thing for you to do.

I got a new season. I got a new anointing. I got a freshman. I'm not done with you yet. The Lord is speaking to you. Okay. Yes, I love you, Lord. Yes, I love you, Lord. This is a reversal of Peter's regret where God is turning his mistake into a mission. God is turning your mistake into a mission. I got something for you to do. It's not going to be easy, but I'm going to be with you. I'm going to be leading you. You've just got to stretch your hands and go where I send you. And by the way, when you're old, this is going to happen. But there are 30 years of beautiful ministry that Peter has that Jesus doesn't even mention. You have no idea what God is planning for you. But the entire thing hinges on verse 19, where the last two words that Jesus says is Is this why you feel lost? Is this why you feel stressed? Is this why you have stomach ulcers worrying about things that are beyond your control? Is this why you are now looking at your future saying, "I don't know if there's anything good left in me. I don't know if I can do it again." I don't know. It's impossible for you to follow Jesus when you're facing John because the moment that Peter turned and faced John, verse 20, he put Jesus behind him. So now he's looking at John and John's like, "And I'm the one who leaned my head on his own and suffered." And verse 21, Peter's like, "Lord, what about him? Is he the best? Am I the best? Is he the best?" I mean, Peter is walking with Jesus, the author of life, the shepherd of the stars, the guardian of planets in space, the speaker of the constellations, the one who was in the beginning and the beginning was the word and the word was with God. And the word was God and he's taking a walk with the word who knows all things, who upholds all things, who from whom and through whom

and by whom and for whom all things are created, he is walking with the best. And he turns his back and puts the best behind him. So I came to say today, turn around, the best is not behind you. I said, the best is not behind you, fixing our eyes on Jesus. The author had the finisher of our faith, who for the joys set before him, endured across despising his shame and sat down at the right hand of God. High five, twelve people and said, "I got the best, I got the best, I got the best." So why would I be stressed about what's next when I'm walking into tomorrow with the one who's already in it? He's already in it, he's already got it, he's already cooking, he's already coming, he's already crucified, he's already resurrected. So I'm already blessed, just like that bread, I'm already blessed, I'm already blessed. And I can face my future because number three, I gotta focus. I got food, don't sit down, I'm closing this bad boy. Because right now, I want the best worship team on the planet to come up on this stage. And in just a moment when I minister this sermon, they're going to sing because he lives. I can face tomorrow. See, I can follow Jesus if I face him. But if I'm facing John, people, now I had it in my mind to teach all of the ways that we turn our backs on God's purpose for us in order to compare ourselves to others. I had a whole list that I was going to give you. But the Lord said, when I got to that point, they don't need the list, they got the picture. And they know exactly what it is, come back baby. He's doing so good. He should be Jesus more often. You know this is going to be bragging rights. He loves me the most. He let me be Jesus. You know Graham's getting a lot of attention in ministry right now. I got to let Abby be Jesus for a minute. Because Jesus said to John something so important, or he said to Peter something so important, he said, John is my job. The people you compare yourself to, that's a tent in your living room and have a free son and drink it till you get juiced drunk and stagger around the room saying, "I'm blessed in this staycation." Stop trying to follow Jesus facing John. You know how many times I almost wrecked my ministry looking in my rearview mirror? You got to do this now in ministry. You got to do that in ministry now. You got to do that in ministry now. I don't have to do anything but get my haircut, study my Bible, drink my coffee, three cups

today. Can you tell? Three cups. And the third one was big too. Can you tell? Can you feel it? Because I don't have to do anything but two things. Follow me. That's all. That's all I got to do because if I follow him, he'll feed me. If I follow him, he'll take care of me. If I follow him, he'll... If I follow him, I can preach on Pentecost. If I follow him, I can race the dead. If I follow him, I can cast out devils. If I follow him. I can face tomorrow God sent his son and they called him Jesus, he came to love. And if everything he did was written, the world couldn't contain the books, he said. Do you think your vest is behind him? That's what he did. Oh, that's the evidence. Come on, let me preach to him to you. And empty grave is there to prove that he's not through with you, he's not through with you, he's the best that's not behind you. That you prove an empty grave is there to prove my shame you're living. Hey, hey, hey. I've probably already worked with the best musicians I'm going to work with. And God was laughing, watching Zeke up here singin' like that. Do that again, just like do somethin', do somethin' crazy, do somethin' crazy. And empty grave is there to prove myself, you see what I'm sayin'?

The best is not behind you, how do I know it, sing the chorus. That's how I know my best is a hand. That room stone told me my best is a hand. And heaven is my home, and Jesus is my home, because I know I know the problem's hands up. If you know he holds the future, he's got to, and follow him. Follow me, I've got a reason to live, I've got a reason to live, I've got a reason to live, I've got a reason to live, I've got a reason to live. I've got a reason to live, I've got a reason to live, I've got a reason to live, I've got