Well, good evening, everyone. Gonna start our service off tonight as we are accustomed to doing, if you'd like to grab ahold of your Bibles. We will be turning in several places in our Bibles tonight for the Bible study itself, but we'll begin in the Psalms. Psalm number 32, if you want to turn to Psalm number 32, and this goes very well with what we'll be looking at tonight. Titled the subject tonight, Who Maketh Thee to Differ? And read with me, if you would, verses one through five of Psalm Number 32.

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For the day and night thy hand was heavy upon me, my moisture is turned into the drought of summer, Selah. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin, Selah.

We're going to begin tonight with the handout, but keep your Bibles close, folks. We're going to need them. I want to start with the title, Who Maketh Thee to Differ? And listen to these words from 1 Corinthians 4, verses 5 through 7. Therefore, judge nothing before the time until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will manifest the counsels of the hearts.

And then shall every man have praise of God. And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes, that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another, for whom maketh thee to differ? And what hast thou? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? To me, this just jumps out at me.

Two men to whom walk in sin, one foreordained to be the son of perdition, Judas, and the other predetermined to be a recipient of God's love, to be a vessel of God's mercy. Look in your Bibles, if you would, back over to Matthew 26, verse 47. Go back to verse 47. And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came and with him a great multitude, with swords and staves from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he, hold him fast. and forthwith he came to Jesus and said, Hail Master, and kissed him. So we see in verses 47 through 49, a man of the world, a man who walked with God, a man who sat at the same table as Peter, who sat with the Lord Jesus, yet he comes to the Lord Jesus in deceit, in denial. in self-puffed up. He comes to the Lord. Now let's turn over to our text there in that same chapter, Matthew 26. Look at verse 69 with me if you would.

Now Peter sat without in the palace, and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also was with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him and said unto them that were there, this fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And he again denied with an oath, I do not know the man. And after a while came unto him they that stood by and said to Peter, surely thou also art one of them, for thy speech betrayeth thee. Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out and wept. bitterly.

Now, mid-page of page one there, both men deserving of judgment of God, yet look with me at Luke's inspired record over in chapter 22, verse 61. Turn over to Luke, chapter 22, and let's look at Luke's recording of this. While you're turning there, I'll bring this to your attention. This event of Peter is given in great detail by all four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We want to look at At Luke's recording of this, over in Luke chapter 22, one verse, which is a little bit different, gives us a little more detail, and that's verse 61. Luke 22, verse 61, and the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. And then we see that Peter remembered the word of the Lord and how he said, before the cock crowed, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out and wept bitterly. But you notice Luke's recording of it shows us the estimated distance between the Lord Jesus and Luke. And it was very close, obviously. The Lord heard every word that he was saying.

I can see it clearly back in our handout just before the bottom. I can see it clearly, the compassionate look of love, reminding Peter the Word of God. I cannot help but reflect on this, and I'd like you to turn to Matthew chapter 14 now, if you would. You'll recall these words over in Matthew chapter 14.

We've already been through them, but this is what came to my mind as I thought about the Lord Jesus turning Here Peter is denying the Lord, doing exactly what God told him he was going to do, and the Lord hearing every single word, and he turns to Peter and just looks at him. And Peter sees the eyes of our Savior, the very one who was about to go to the cross and pay for that sin that Peter was committing right there. Who maketh us to differ? The one who looked at Peter that moment.

Look what he did. Look at this account over in Matthew 14. Look at a couple of verses there with me, beginning at verse 22. And Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship. This is Matthew 14, verse 22. and to get into a ship and to go before him under the other side while he sent the multitudes away.

And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into the mountain apart to pray, and when the evening was come, he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with the waves, for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus lent unto them the walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it is a spirit.

And they cried out for fear. But straightaway, Jesus spake unto them, saying, be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou bid me to come unto thee on the water. And he said, come. And Peter was come down out of the ship. He walked on the water. to go to Jesus, but when he saw the wind, boisterous, he was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

And now look at verse 31. This is what I want you to grasp ahold of. This is what I pictured as I saw the Lord looking to Peter, though they were apart a short ways. The Lord was being held over there in the court, and Peter was just outside the court looking in. The Lord looked him right in the eye, and I could just see Our Lord, through His look, reaching out, like He says here in verse 31, and immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand and caught him and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? Oh, can you see the love? I don't know about you folks, but man, this just grabs a hold of me. This is what God does to each and every one of us through our walk in this life. And I said through our walk in this life because it's so full of times where each and every one of us do the very same thing Peter's done.

Brother Don Fortner, last paragraph, page one. He wrote this, he said, here is a picture of God's servant, Peter, which is both humbling and instructive. The fall of Peter is set before us as a beacon. It has many warnings and many lessons for us. Any careful reader of God's Word cannot fail to notice that Peter's fall is recorded at a considerable length by all four Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, page two.

They were inspired to write out the details of this sad event, writes Don, yet not one of them offers a word of excuse or explanation in defense of their friend and brother. This one, this is one of those things which indirectly demonstrates the truthfulness of Holy Scripture. If the Bible were nothing but a composition, but compositions of men, It would never have been written that the great apostle to the Jews was so weak and sinful that he shamefully denied his Lord and Master. They would have covered that up if these were writings of men. May the Spirit of God, who gave us this recording of history four times, now inscribe its lessons upon our hearts by his almighty grace for Christ's sake.

Peter's fall seems to say to each of us, you too are weak. You too will fall if left to yourself. Do not trust yourself. Trust Christ entirely. Lean on him with all you can. Do not rely on your great experiences or the imaginary strength and firmness of your faith. Satan has desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat. Christ alone can hold you up. Christ alone can keep you. As we care for our souls, In the honor of our God, let us never cease to be prayerful.

Remember what the Lord just told them in the garden there a few moments ago? 45, sleep on now and take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of the sinners. Sleep on now. Let us keep looking. We want to live and honor and glory our Christ. Our hearts tremble at the thought. This is the third paragraph. Wait a minute, did I jump too far? Yeah, third paragraph from the bottom.

All who know God's grace in Christ want to magnify and honor their Lord in this world. We want to live for the honor of the glory of Christ. I said this last Sunday. You know, people tell us that because they think that we're antinomian, that we live, that we have no law to live by, we could live any way we want. I don't know a single child of God that doesn't want to live according to the instructions our Lord has given us in scriptures. Not one single one who doesn't want to live like that. But we know we can't and we know we don't, don't we? We know that unless the Lord himself preserves us, we will surely profane his name.

Consider with me the circumstances of Peter's fall. First, we're not considering the fall of a lost hypocrite. or an apostate religionist, Peter was not a lost man, but a saved man, even when he fell. Not only was he a saved man, he was an apostle of Christ, a gospel preacher, a man who truly loved the Lord Jesus. Peter was a true believer, a child of grace, pardoned and accepted in Christ. He was a man of strong faith, firm conviction, and unrelenting zeal, but he was a man, just like you and I, a man whose heart was by nature full of sin, page three. On this particular night, the evil of his heart broke out in an unrestrained, blasphemous denial of Christ, a denial that was accompanied with foul cursing. His fall seems a bit strange to me because he was one of the Lord's most highly favored and highly honored disciples. We might have expected this from any of the other disciples before we would have expected it from him. The Lord had done so much for Peter. Peter was one of the very first men to whom the Lord reveals himself in this world to. One of the first to be saved by the power of his grace.

Listen to these words from John chapter 1 verses 40 and 42. One of the two which heard John speak and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah, which is being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus, and then Jesus beheld him, and said, Thou art Simon, the son of Jonah, thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, a stone. He was in the inner circle of the master's friends. He even appears to have been a chief spokesman for the early church.

With that before us, let all who are highly honored of God in this world be warned. The greater our privileges and the higher our honors, the greater our responsibilities are and the more horrible our offenses are. Peter's fall is especially sad because he had been plainly and faithfully warned of his great danger. The Savior told Peter exactly what was going to happen to him on the plainest terms possible. I believe he knew the danger to which he was exposing himself when he walked into the high priest's palace. That's why he followed afar off cautiously. Satan desired to have him. His faith would be fiercely attacked.

He must watch and pray that he enter not into temptation. That was the scripture I was looking for the Lord, where the Lord spoke to them back there in, that was the one I was looking for. Watch and, verse 41, watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Peter walked headlong into his sin, rejecting the light. and the counsel the Lord had given him, ignoring the light of God's revelation. Last paragraph, page 3. Peter's guilt is aggravated by the fact that it came so soon after he had confidently declared his loyalty and his faithfulness to Christ. at least implying that he was confident that he was more loyal and dependable than any of his brethren. Page 4. Remember what Peter said back in Matthew 26, verse 33-35? I have it here at the top of page 4 for you. Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. Peter said unto him. Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee, likewise also said all of the disciples. Just an hour or two, maybe, at the most, after making that bold and arrogant profession of love and commitment to Christ, Peter cussed and denied that he even knew the Lord of glory.

Brother Don Fortner, again, I quote from him, the Apostle's fall did not come at once, but by degrees. Great life-threatening sicknesses seldom come upon men without a warning. Usually there are symptoms to warn us that something is wrong, even so believers seldom experience sudden falls into grave sin. Usually there are symptoms that something is wrong. The problem is that we ignore the symptoms.

J.C. Ryle wrote this, he said, the church and the world are sometimes shocked by the sudden misconduct of some great professor of religion. Believers are discouraged and stunned. The enemies of God rejoice in blasphemy, but if the truth could be known, the explanation of such cases would generally be found to have been a private departure from God. Men fall in private long before they fall in public. Notice that the Holy Spirit records a specific series of steps by which the man of great, remarkable faith descended into such a low condition.

He was far too confident and proud, as we read over in verses 31 and 33 of Matthew 26. Read that with me, if you would. 31 through 33, we read these, then Jesus saith unto them, all ye shall be offended because of me this night. For it is written, I will smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered. But after I am risen again, I will go before thee into Galilee. Peter answered and said unto him, though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.

The Lord told him to watch and pray. Instead, he slept, as we just read there in verse 41. And then he followed the Lord afar off, as we read in verse 58. But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest's palace, and went in, and sat with the servants to see the end. He chose to sit with the scorners, as we just saw there in verse 58.

And you can read that same thing over in verse 55 of Luke 22 and John 18, verse 18. And then he denied his master by degrees, as we read in Mark 14, verse 6. Turn over there to Mark 14. Let's read that together. Mark chapter 14, verses 68 through 71. Actually, let's start at verse 66. And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest. And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him and said, and thou also was with Jesus of Nazareth.

But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand. I, what thou sayest? And he went out into the porch and the cock crew. And the maid saw him again and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them. And he denied it again. And a little further, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them, for thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeth thereunto.

But he began to curse. and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak. So we see he denied the master in degrees there. Turn over to page 5 of your handout. At first he pretended not to understand the maiden's words. Then he denied that he knew the man at all, denying by his own confession. At last, he took up the oaths of a profane man, cussing as he denied his Redeemer, as if to prove his point by foulness.

There are many, many ways by which men and women deny the Lord Jesus Christ, but usually the falls of God's saints are not sudden. Normally, great falls are preceded by much smaller inconsistencies, and it takes very little to make a great saint fall in a great sin. if God leaves him to himself. Now Peter's trial was nothing but the word of a weak young woman who said, thou also was with Jesus of Nazareth. Her small comet started the entire fall here, started the whole thing. Here's another consideration of Peter's terrible sin.

All of this was done very close to the palace where his lord and master was at the very time suffering for him. Let's never forget that Christ went through all of this. He cried out, Lord, Father, if you could remove this cup from me, nevertheless, I will be done. He went through all of this at the will of his Father for his people.

So here he is suffering for Peter as Peter's going to and denying him in this very point. And the Lord Jesus was standing right before Peter's eyes as we read a moment ago in Luke 22, 61. And the Lord turned. and looked upon Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, before the cock crow, that shall deny me thrice. Peter's trial and his fall were not accidents. Satan ran God's child through his rough sifter, but Peter lost nothing. He came out of this thing as much a better man than he was before. As is clearly displayed in Acts chapters 2 and chapters 4, and you can read that on your own time, even this tragic affair was under the control of God's sovereign providence and according to his purpose of grace.

The devil is God's devil. That fiend of hell is the unwilling, unwitting tool of the Almighty. And I want to turn over to Isaiah 14 and read several verses with you over there. Isaiah chapter 14. Remember in the book of Job, while you're turning to Isaiah 14, remember what happened there? The devil was prancing about on the earth and the Lord came to him and said, have you considered my servant Job?

The devil knows that the Lord covers and hedges up his people, his loved ones. He knows that the Lord protects them and keeps them. You remember what the devil had to do? He had to ask for permission. And the Lord had to give him permission, just like those devils that had taken the demoniac man. They had to, before they could leave, That man, they had to ask, God had to give them permission to leave that man and go and run over the cliff into a, go into a herd of hogs and go run over the cliff and die in the sea. That's the devil. The devil is God's devil. Look here at verse, Verse 12-27 of Isaiah 14, How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning?

How art thou cut down to the ground which did weaken the nations? For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High, yet thou shalt be brought down to hell to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake the kingdoms, that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof, that opened not the house of his prisoners?

All the kings of the nations, even all of them that lie in glory, every one of them in his own house, but thou art cast out. of thy grave like an abominable branch, as then a remnant of those that are slain thrust through with the sword that go down to the stones of the pit. As a carcass trodden under feet, thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land and slain thy people. The seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. Prepare slaughter for his children of the iniquity, for their fathers, that they do not rise nor possess the land nor fill the face of the world with cities.

For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name of the remnant and the son of the nephew, saith the Lord. Verse 23, I will also make it a possession for the bitter in the pools of the water, and I will sweep it with the bosom of the destruction, saith the Lord of hosts. The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass. As I have purposed, so shall it stand. that I will break the Assyrian in my hand, and upon my mountains tread him underfoot.

Then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?

The dragon of hell. is as much included in all things working together for the good of God's peoples as the angels of light are. That's how we can stand so fast on Romans 8, 28. All things are for the good to God, to the people who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. Notice it says that Peter, last paragraph, page five. Notice it says Peter went out. Once the fire was restored in his soul, he no longer wanted or needed the fires of men, which the Lord's enemies had kindled. He immediately forsook those who had turned his heart from his Lord. Page six. As he went out of the palace, Peter wept bitterly.

Sin is no light thing to the regenerated soul. Convulsive weeping came upon Peter when he realized what he had done. He could not stand himself. His heart was crushed within him. Listen to these words from Psalm 51, 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. Oh, God, thou wilt not despise. Or 1 John 1, verse 9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just. to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Then at the time appointed, the Lord Jesus came to Peter to convince Peter that his love for him was real. Listen to record John 21 verse 15 through 17 gives us. So when they had denied, or so when they had died, Jesus saith unto Simon Peter, 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 unto him again the second time, Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me? And he saith unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He said unto him, Feed my sheep. He said unto him a third time, Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him a third time, lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee. And Jesus saith unto him, feed my sheep. And maybe Peter was reminded of these words in 1 John 4,

19. We love him because he first loved us. Folks, who maketh us to differ? As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Do you know that that's the words of Christ to his people? That's recorded for us in John 15,

9. He says to you and I. I brought this up in one of my messages in the past few weeks. Think about this for just a moment. This is the Lord speaking to every one of us. This, He's speaking to your heart. If you belong to Him and He's given you a new heart to love Him, this is what He's saying. As the Father hath loved me. Do you think for one second God the Father doesn't love God the Son? This is the one person in scriptures we see where God the Father spoke and everybody heard this. This is my Son in whom I'm well pleased. The only one for whom pleased God the Father is God the Son. And he says, as the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you.

That's what he was saying in that look. That's what his eyes were speaking to Peter's heart. These are the words that grabbed a hold of Peter. And this is what grabbed a hold of each and every one of us. You know, people brag on the fact that Jesus loves everybody. That is so hogwash. It's so against God's word that it offends those who really know the love of God for them. Those who know that we deserve nothing but his wrath, but because of his love, he sent his son to take his wrath, our wrath, His wrath for us on himself.

Last paragraph, page six. Remembering Peter's fall, let us learn something about ourselves. We are all too much like Peter. We're finicky, sinful, wretched by nature. There is no evil in the world of which you and I are not capable of. Let us not be presumptuous, proud, and self-confident, but watch and pray.

For whom maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hast not received it? Or how about these words, Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed, lest he fall. 1 Corinthians 10-12 that we are such sinful creatures ourselves, we should never be severe with our erring, fallen brethren.

Here we are again reminded, at the top of page seven, that salvation is of the Lord. From start to finish, salvation is by grace of God alone. Our only standing, our only acceptance, our only righteousness, our only difference is Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.

God's grace is free and immutable. It is effectual and indestructible. Bless His name. God's grace is sufficient. What blessed security our souls have in Christ, nothing can sever us from our Savior. Once in Christ, in Christ forever. All who are saved by grace are kept infallibly secure in Christ. All who are in Christ are as secure as the very throne of God.

Listen to John chapter 10, 26 through 30. But ye believe not, the Lord is speaking here, and he says to some unbelieving Jews, ye believe not because ye are not my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep hear my voice. And I know them and they follow me. and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. You know, the first thing I, I remember the first time I heard somebody preach on this verse. I can't remember who it was, but they were, they clearly stated these words.

If you leave it up to me, I'll mess it all up. But guess what? Even I can't mess it up. Christ has fixed it all. And he's done it perfectly. My father, which gave them to me, it says there in John 10, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand, and I and my father are one. Folks, we are secure because God our Savior is faithful. That's what we read in 2 Timothy 2, verse 13 and 14. If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself of these things, put them in remembrance, charging them, therefore, them before the Lord, that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.

His grace is sure, as we read in Mark 16, 7, but go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee. There ye shall see him. As he said unto you, what is he said unto us? He says, I go into my father's, my father has many mansions, and I go to prepare a place for you.

The Lord Jesus will not leave his own. He will not let his own leave him. We read in Jeremiah 32, 38 through 40, and they shall be my people. and I will be their God, and I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever for the good of them and of their children after them, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good, but I will put my fear into their hearts. They shall not depart from me.

He abideth faithful. Even in the teeth of our horrible, our most horrible sins against Him, the Son of God urges us to confidently trust Him. Page 8. It was in anticipation of this very fall that the Lord Jesus said to Peter, let not your heart be troubled. You believe God, believe also in Me. John 13,

38. Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Cling to Christ always. As often as you fall, return quickly to your Savior. He will receive you. He's forgiven you. He will be gracious to you. He will forget your fall. Who maketh us to dither? We are blessed of God in Christ the Lord. That's who makes us to differ. Listen to this Psalm 32 verses 1 through 5, which we began this service tonight with.

A Psalm of David. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven. Who maketh the difference between those two men? that we just so quickly read about there in scripture, Judas in just one page and then Peter in the next, both singing against God, who maketh us different? Blessed is he whose transgressions is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. How can there be no spirit, no guile in this spirit that sits before you? It's the spirit that loveth my Savior. It's the new spirit that dwells within me.

When I kept silence, my bones whacked old through my roaring all the day long. For the day and night thy hand was heavy upon me. My moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Sheila. And then David writes this, I acknowledge my sin unto thee. Why did David leave and weep? Why did he weep so hard? Because he knew that what he had done was he had sinned against God. That's exactly what he did when the priest pointed at him and said, you're the one that I'm talking about in the days of Bathsheba, when David had slept with Bathsheba and murdered her husband. I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou, forgave us the iniquity of my sin. I pray the Lord bless you folks with tonight's study. We'll begin chapter 27. Kathy and I will be in San Diego for Carol Smith's funeral services next week. We'll pick up again in two weeks. Well, thank you for joining me today.