Audio  In the 1944 film, “It Happened Tomorrow,” Dick Powell plays the role of Lawrence Stevens, a downcast journalist whose career takes an unexpected turn when he gains access to tomorrow’s newspaper containing news stories about things that have yet to happen. As one might expect, knowing the future turns out to be more of a burden than a blessing as the story unfolds. It is an appealing plotline that resurfaces often in television, movies, and novels. We are drawn to this idea because there is something inherent in all of us that longs to know what the future holds. The Bible tells us clearly of some things will definitely happen in the future, though the specifics of when and how those things will take place are often not spelled out in great detail. But, for the most part, the specific details of what the future holds for each of us individually have been hidden from us. This is something for which we can thank God! Imagine if, ten years ago, you had been told all that would take place over the next decade. You may have been overwhelmed to consider the circumstances that would transpire. God, in His wisdom, has not revealed the future to us in detail; but in His providence, He prepares us day by day to face the future as we walk with Him by faith. He gives us just enough light for the next step we take as we follow Him. In our text today, Peter becomes an exception to this general principle. In a private conversation with the Risen Lord Jesus, Peter is told of his own future. Jesus tells him in verse 18, “When you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” Some have understood this to be a proverb about the nature of human life. In our youth, we are free from care and live independently, doing whatever we want to do; but in our old age, we become frail and have to be helped along and cared for by others. However, this interpretation sorely misses the obvious point of the statement. For one thing, John tells us plainly that the statement was intended to signify “what kind of death” Peter would experience (v19). The place “where you do not wish to go” is death. In the first century Roman world, the phrase “stretch out your hands” referred euphemistically to crucifixion, as the condemned criminal would have his hands stretched out and tied to the horizontal beam of the cross, before being compelled to carry it on one’s shoulders to the place of execution. There it would be fastened to the upright beam, and the hands would be nailed in place before the cross was raised and positioned in the ground. John knew that is what these words meant. Peter knew it too. Likely all those who originally read these words would have understood it plainly, even without John’s explanation in verse 19. As the text unfolds, we find truths which are applicable, not just to Peter but to all of us. All of us are called to follow Jesus into a future which we may not know, but which He does. And as we follow Him into that future, He is able to bring glory to Himself. Understanding these truths here and now enable us to follow Jesus into future glory. So, we begin with the first of these truths … I. Only Jesus knows our future (v18) I’m sure many, if not most of us, have been in a situation where we were giving care to a loved one who was drawing near to death. During those times, we hear professionals tell us how many days, weeks, or hours we may expect our loved one to live. For four months following my stepfather’s stroke last December, nearly every day, a different doctor would come in and tell us something different. One would say, “I think we are looking at a few days here.” Another would say, “In six weeks, I believe the worst of this will be behind us.” Back and forth they would go, and with every report, emotions in our family swung like a pendulum between grief and hope. But, with