“Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.” (John 21:21-22).
Jesus responded to Peter by saying that is none of your business when Peter was inquisitive about another man. Take note of Acts 1:6-7, “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”
Jesus simply responded by saying this is none of your business! Peter had come and asked about the future. Peter came to Jesus and said to Him what is going to happen to the beloved John and Jesus responded by saying, “…what is that to thee?”
Jesus was saying to Peter it is none of your business what happens to him then Jesus said to Peter, “…follow thou me.” Jesus is saying. “Peter your hands are already full just keep on following me!
Peter you have enough trouble doing what I’ve asked you to do. Peter you have a full time job just in doing my will. Quit prying and quit trying to find out what is going to happen to John! You be concerned about what is happening to Peter and not what is going to happen to John.
In Acts chapter one the disciples came to Jesus and said, “…wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom…” If you will recall Jesus had said in John chapter fourteen, “I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place I will come again.”
Jesus had promised to come again and they thought He would come back right away. Remember Paul even said regarding Jesus’ return, “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord.” Paul said I expect to be here at the rapture. John said the day is at hand.
In Acts chapter one this is our Lord in his resurrected body, His glorified body and He is about to go back to Heaven. The disciples asked the Lord at this time will you restore the kingdom? Jesus said, “It is not for you to know” or “It is none of your business.” The truth is most of our problems are caused by things that are none of our business.
DO NOT PRY INTO THE FUTURE
“What is going to happen to me? What is going to happen to mine?” My friend that is none of your business and that is none of my business for it is God’s business! I refuse to pry into the future because I have no control over the future. The future is not mine! The future belongs to God! The present belongs to me!
They were asking Jesus are you going to restore the kingdom? Jesus said that is none of your business! I believe I would be correct in stating that 90% of all of our problems, our anxieties, our fears, and our worries exist, because we are trying to pry into the future.
All of us would have a better future if we would concentrate on doing right today and let that make our tomorrow! The reason most of us have a lousy present is because we failed to do yesterday what would have built us a great future.
My future belongs to God while my present belongs to me. What ever I give God today He will use to make my tomorrow. The present must occupy my entire attention. Jesus is saying Peter you forget what is going to happen to John and follow thou me! Forget about John’s future and concentrate on your present.
I use to play a little golf! It was generally bogy golf, but I still loved to play the game. Golfers who play eighteen holes of golf are not very good. Golfers who play one hole at a time are above average golfers.
Vince Lombardi made world champions out of the Green Bay Packers because of his emphasis on the fundamentals of football. He worked on making the most first downs. Casey Stengel made world champions out of the New York Mets because of the emphasis on the fundamentals of baseball. Tom Landry made world champions out of the Dallas Cowboys by stressing the fundamentals of football.
Jesus is saying your future is My business and not your business. Peter asked, “How about John’s future?” Jesus quickly replied, “That is none of your business!” Jesus is saying, “I am interested in your present and what you are doing now so simply follow me!”
My future and your future belong to God and my present belongs to me! I give to God my today’s and the quality of that gift is translated into a quality future. God can only make a future as bright as you make your present bright!
“Jesus, how about the kingdom will you restore it now?” Jesus replies, “That is none of your business so quit prying! I just gave you the great commission, I just told you to go into all the world to preach the Gospel to every creature, I told you to baptize those converts, and I told you to train them to go win others to Christ! The future kingdom is my business and the present winning of souls is your business.”
Jesus is saying I am not concerned about the future for I am concerned about your present. What good does it do to restore the kingdom if there is no one there to enjoy it with you? Jesus said succinctly and simply, “Follow thou me” or don’t pry into the future.
Someone said one time about public speaking that there were three things he did. First, before he spoke he would worry about what he is going to say. Second, while he was speaking he would worry about what he was saying. Third, when he finished he would worry about what he said. NOT ME!
I work hard to prepare, but I do not and refuse to worry about it when I’m preaching. I absolutely lose myself! I am not worried about next Sunday’s sermon while I am preaching today’s sermon. I am not worried about last Sunday’s sermon, but I can do something about the sermon I am currently preaching!
Stay inside your business and today is your business not tomorrow. It is best that all of us keep our nose out of the future. When I pastored I did not have a lot of appointments for I only had one appointment and it is the one I had at that particular moment.
I do not have a lot of things to do. I have one thing to do and it is the thing I am doing now! I did not have a lot of weddings for I only had one wedding the one I was doing at the moment! I did not have a lot of funerals for I only had one funeral and it was the one I was conducting at the moment! I did not have a lot of staff for I only had one staff member and it was the one I was dealing with at the moment! I had only one staff meeting and that was the one being conducted at the moment!
To me the sermon that was the most important sermon I will preach or ever preach is the one I am preaching at the moment! All of us should close the door and quit prying into the future. God said He would lead His children through the wilderness.
Your future and my future belong to God while the present belongs to us. If we have a quality present we will have a quality future! God will only use what you give Him today to make up your future tomorrow.
I refuse to sit in a wheel chair and say, “I didn’t realize what I had!” Stay busy now and allow God to take care of the future. There is one thing all of us have in common and that is the present.
Nineteen years later I am still in somewhat of a shock that Dr. Jack Hyles is in Heaven. I honestly thought he would live as long as his mother did. She went to Heaven at the age of ninety-six! His sister Earlyne Stephens went to Heaven at age ninety-nine. I am so glad that I loved and enjoyed every minute with Dr. Hyles. I did not take him for granted! None of us know if we will have a tomorrow, but we do know we have a today.
God told Moses to tell Pharaoh that the “I AM” hath sent thee! Quit prying into the future! “What is going to happen to John?” Jesus said IT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! “When will the kingdom be restored?” Jesus replied IT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! Jesus did say, “Follow thou me!”
Build your Sunday school class now, your bus route now, win souls now, baptize converts now, enjoy your marriage now, enjoy your family now, enjoy your church now, enjoy your school now, and enjoy all God has placed into your world now!
DO NOT PRY INTO OTHERS’ PROBLEMS
Peter said to Jesus, “I’m worried about John.” Jesus replied, “…and what is that to thee. Peter, John’s business is none of your business.” I would suggest that we not pry into the future and that we do not pry into problems we cannot solve.
The best way to take an exam is to answer all the questions that you know the answers to first. It is not wise to attempt to solve the problems you cannot solve, but solve the ones you can solve.
It is none of your business what your friends do, neighbors do, or others do. It is best to keep your nose out of others business and stay busy caring for your own business.
I do not try to solve problems that are none of my business or that I cannot solve. I do not solve problems that I am not asked to solve. I do not solve problems I do not need to solve. I do not try to do what I cannot do.
I do not try to know what I cannot know about the business of others. I do not meddle with what I cannot control and that way I can focus on what I can control. I do not go looking for problems for I have enough. I am responsible for in my life and so do you!
“What is going to happen to John?” Jesus said, “What is that to you” or in other words “Don’t’ pry!” “Is the kingdom coming soon?” Jesus answers, “That is none of your business.”
Ninety percent of our worries are because we spend more time worrying about how it is going to turn out than turning it out! We also stick our nose into business that is known of our business. Attempting to solve problems you cannot solve is in essence neglecting the problems you can solve!
DO NOT PRY INTO THE PAST
I do all I do because I do not pry into the future, do not pry into problems I cannot solve, and I refuse to pry into the past! If you would like to forget about some dumb stunts you have pulled in the past then do it.
You are the one that keeps it stirred up! Then you keep pulling another bonehead stunt, which cause those over you and around you to be reminded of the last dumb stunt you pulled. What you are saying is, “I have not changed!”
I cannot change nor remove the past for it is gone and done! I cannot know the future for that is in God’s hands! However, I can know the opportunity at hand at the moment. I must forget the past, forget the past failures, and quit doing those dumb things that remind others of my past while creating a new past today.
Our sins are blotted out of God’s memory book for they are buried in the deepest sea, under Jesus’ blood, behind the back of God, hidden from God, and they are as gone as far as the East is from the West so quit prying into the past!
CONCLUSION
- Do not pry into the future
- Do not pry into others’ problems
- Do not pry into the past