May it please God to bless us
together this morning as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
Gospel of Luke, chapter 22, and we'll read verse 61. The Gospel of Luke, chapter 22,
and we'll read verse 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,
thou shalt deny me thrice. This chapter in Luke's Gospel
covers a large amount of things which occurred just before the
Lord Jesus was indeed crucified. And it is good for all of us
to be very aware and conscious of the great things which were
recorded in these last times, last hours, really the Lord Jesus
Christ was upon the earth. There is a tremendous amount
crammed in to just a very short space of time, really beginning
from when the disciples and Jesus met together in the upper room
at what is described as the Last Supper. It was indeed the Last
Supper that Jesus attended while on this earth and how significant
it is that the Passover was first of all carried out and then the
Lord's Supper was instituted. The Lord's Supper of course superseded
the Passover which had been carried on for hundreds and hundreds
of years ever since Israel came out of Egypt. And now the Lord
wonderfully and graciously confirmed that that was now past because
the Lord Jesus Christ had now come into this world and he was
the true Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Whereas for all those hundreds
and hundreds of years, there had been that ceremony with a
lamb taken as a sacrifice and yet now the true Lamb of God
was to be sacrificed for his people upon that cross at Calvary. So it is an amazing few hours
really that we're able to read about and when we think the Lord
knew what he was going to face And yet, you see, bore it all
so very wonderfully and very gloriously. And how gracious
he was to single out this man, Simon Peter. We have a lot about
Peter in the Word of God. It's very instructive. And we
began our reading with the Lord speaking to Simon. Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan hath desire to have you, that he may Sift, do
as weep, and I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.'
Now we should be very thankful that such a statement, although
completely true with regards to Peter, is also true to the
whole Church of God. To realise today that Satan has
not given up and will not give up, on his desire to have us,
to conquer us, to destroy us, and yet how thankful we should
be to know that the Lord has prayed for us. It's a truth which
is really so great, it's hard for us to appreciate and to really
understand that the Lord Jesus Christ prays for his people. Great as he is, with so many
people on the earth, and yet not one is forgotten. Everyone
is known about, everyone is prayed for, and every detail in their
life is known. And so how thankful we should
be. Well, on this occasion, Having
spoken to Peter like that, he says, and when thou art converted,
strengthen thy brethren. He was going to pass through
a very solemn scene, a very solemn situation, but the Lord was going
to have mercy upon him, and therefore he was told, when thou art converted,
strengthen thy brethren. And then you see he makes a statement,
And we should be very careful how we make statements. He said,
Lord, I'm ready to go with thee both into prison and to death.
And the Lord said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow
this day before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest
me. Now, that should be a very significant
warning to every one of us. A warning in this way, to not
rely upon our own ability, to not rely upon our own strength,
to rely that we think we can stand firm against all kinds
of temptation. We have this very salutary example
before us recorded in the Bible to warn us to never rely on our
strength, to never think we're able to resist the devil. Here, Peter had a very, very
clear warning. The Lord gave him a warning which
was very straight. When the Lord said, the cock
shall not crow this day before thou hast thrice denied that
thou knowest me. And that's after Peter had said
that he was willing to die for the Lord. And therefore, no doubt,
he might have thought such a statement was superfluous. But it was necessary. And it is necessary for us today,
as we realize the wonderful truth that the Word of God contains
to direct us and instruct us Let me run on through this account.
There's very glorious details of the Lord in the garden of
Gethsemane, again confirming that his father's will might
be done. And then they led him and brought
him into the high priest's house and Peter followed afar off. First of all, that wasn't a good
sign. to follow a far off. It really indicates he didn't
really want to be found out that he was a disciple. He wanted to keep, as it were,
arm's length, stand back and see what the outcome was. And
so there he was, far off. And then we're told Then they
took him and led him, and Peter was afar off. And when they had
kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were set down together,
Peter sat down among them. And then we have the account
of these three people that came to Peter. And the first came,
which was a maid. And she said, this man was also
with him. And he denied. Woman, I know
him not. Now, just remember, this is only
just a very few hours after Peter had said, I would die for the
Savior. I won't deny him. And so the
first occasion, this maid says, and he immediately denies. And after a while, another came. and said, Thou art also of them.
Peter said, Man, I am not. We can almost appreciate how
he denied it vehemently. Man, I am not. Don't dare say
such things. In about the space of one hour,
another confidently affirmed saying of a truth, This man,
this fellow, also was with him, for he is a Galilean. Peter said, man, I know not what
thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet
spake, the cock crew. You see, all things that Jesus
says comes to pass. Everything. And in Peter's life,
this had come to pass. And my friends, in our lives,
things will come to pass. that the Lord speaks to us. Never
think that Jesus forgets what has been spoken. Very sadly,
we may sometimes forget what the Lord has spoken to us. Perhaps
a word of warning, perhaps a word of encouragement, perhaps a word
of direction, And sometimes we can forget what the Lord has
said. Now clearly Peter here, it would
appear, forgot what the Lord had said. It was a faithful word
Jesus had spoken, it was a word of prophecy really, and this
was the outcome. And the Lord's turned. He knew. He knows in our lives. what's occurring, what has occurred,
what will occur. And Lord turned and looked upon
Peter. And what happened then? Peter
remembered. Peter remembered the word of
the Lord, how he had said unto him, before the cock crow, thou
shalt deny me thrice. What a moment that must have
been. The Lord turned and he looked upon Peter. He knew where
Peter was. And you see, Peter was aware
of the Lord looking at him. And then he remembered what Jesus
had told him, that he would deny him three times before the cock
crew. where the cockered crowed, and
here was the result. How tragic it was. And of course,
thankfully, Peter didn't just brush it off and say, well, it's
one of those things, we're told. And Peter went out and wept bitterly. It would seem he was really very
sorry that which he had done. And it's a good thing perhaps
in our lives that we may perhaps turn away from the things of
God and perhaps forget the things that God has spoken to us. And then when we are reminded
of them, and we are reminded of them by the Lord, The devil
doesn't remind us of them. The Lord reminds us. And we should be very thankful
then, if clearly as Peter had here, he was blessed with a tender
conscience. And he wept, and he wept bitterly
because of that which he had done. The picture is clear. He was truly sorry for his sin. He'd sinned against his Saviour. He denied his Saviour. But the Lord hadn't cut him off.
What a mercy that is. Because in our lives, we need
to think that we're not any better really. And perhaps I could explain it
this way. When we're younger especially, at school perhaps
and at college or university, it's sometimes very difficult
to stand firm for the things of God. And it may be there is
a discussion. Maybe people are talking about
the Christian religion. Maybe they're talking about Jesus. And what is our position? What
do we do? Do we join in the conversation
and confirm that we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and we
believe he is alive today and we believe he was a real person
and died upon the cross at Calvary? Or do we turn away? Or do we change the conversation? And what are we doing? We are
no better than Peter. We are denying the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now then, there will be two results
following such a situation. We will either say, well, there
we are, one of those things, and it just happened, You may
not even worry about it, you may pass away, you may disappear
out of your mind. On the other hand, it would be
a good thing if you come before God and, like
Peter, you weep bitterly because of your denial of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We might say of your denial of
your Lord and Master." Well, it's a good thing when the Holy
Spirit brings into our heart true sorrow for sin, that we
do turn away from it, and we do come to our God, and we weep
because of those things which we have done. You see, Peter
remembered. What happened? God brought back
to Peter's mind that which he had said. And it's the same today. God does still bring back to
our minds things that he has said, perhaps things that he
has said through his word, through the Bible, you and I have read. Perhaps when we've been at Sunday
school, things that we read, things that we've been told about.
and they've gone into our mind and then we've forgotten about
them and then God has brought us into a situation where we
have remembered those things that we were told those things
that we did read and what a blessing then if the Holy Spirit touches
our heart so that we're not left with a hard heart not left with
an unrepentant heart, but God blesses us with true sorrow and
true repentance and true weeping that we have by our actions,
perhaps by our words, denied our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the
effect of such an occasion has made us a true follower of the
Lord Jesus Christ. You see, this really had a blessed
effect upon Peter, because as we read through the Acts of the
Apostles, and as you read through his epistles, you will recognize
how then bold he was for the things of God. how very important
they were to him. He didn't now pass them by and
we know he had to face difficulty in opposition. He was imprisoned
for the things that he had spoken, for the things that he said,
but God delivered him and he was very bold. And indeed when
Jesus rose from the dead and when Jesus then ascended into
glory on that great day of Pentecost, it was Peter that was blessed
with the wonderful gift to be able to declare the wonderful
truth of God. So we see that this experience
in the life of the Apostle Peter didn't pass over him. It had a gracious and good effect
upon him. Well how good it is for us in
our lives to remember, remember, what God has said to us. Remember
what God has instructed us in, when situations develop, to remember. Now you see, in Peter's case,
it was a very solemn, it was a very sad hour, or a couple
of hours, when he denied the law of Jesus Christ. You and
I may not have to pass, perhaps, through such a solemn and sad
and difficult situation, but you may have to. But nonetheless,
in measure, the Church of God does pass this way. Because the
devil is always alert to show us and to tell us how we can
ignore the Word of God. How we can ignore the truth of
Scripture. and how we can continue sinning
and it won't really affect us. That is his ploy. It's a ploy of deceit. And so how thankful we should
be today to realise that we have an almighty God who is round
about us, watching over us, praying for us. and to think of the blessed
union it is to know that the Lord is with us. That's why the
Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Philippians, he tells us,
he says, I can do all things, not in his own strength, like
Peter thought he could. I can do all things through Christ
that strengthens me. And so today, may you and I be
able to go in the strength of the Lord God. Again, the Apostle
Paul says, to go in the strength of the Lord God and to make mention
of his righteousness, even of his only. And that means that
we should never be ashamed and that we should never therefore
deny the Lord Jesus Christ by our words, or by our actions
or perhaps sometimes by our lack of action and by our lack of
words to try and escape the difficulties which may face a true believer. But never forget that the Lord
is with us. The Lord strengthens. The Lord
will never leave his people and never forsake his people. So
what a wonderful thing it is to enjoy the favour and blessing
of God. You know the psalmist in the
119th Psalm, that very wonderful and beautiful Psalm, 119th Psalm,
in verse 49 and 50, we read these words, Remember the word unto
thy servant upon which thou hast caused me
to hope." Well, are you hoping today on a word that the Lord
has given you? A word the Lord has spoken to
you through his word or whatever means? If he's given you this
word upon which you are hoping, And I hope we have got words
which God has given us, upon which we are hoping and then
to be, to remember it. Remember it. And the psalmist
goes on, verse 50. This is my comfort in my affliction,
for thy word hath quickened me, thy word hath made me alive. What a blessing it is when we
remember God's word to our souls when we are afflicted. Perhaps
afflicted physically, perhaps afflicted spiritually. When the
devil comes and says, there's no hope for you. Well, there
is hope. The devil's always been a liar.
He always will be. Don't listen to him. Remember
the word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to
hope. This is my comfort in my affliction,
for thy word hath quickened me. And this is the testimony of
a man of God. And the Lord in his wonderful
love to his church has recorded such words that they might be
an encouragement to us. It's good to know that we have
a God who does not change, a God who is wonderfully faithful. And, you know, David, he was
blessed with a lot of communion with his saviour, wasn't he?
Poor old David fell, didn't he? David sinned. David tried to
cover up his sin. He wasn't able to. He thought
he was. didn't work out. God knew. God hadn't forgotten. And in
due time the Lord came and brought David to realise what he'd done
and to bring him into that wonderful blessing of true repentance and
true sorrow for sin. But in the 27th Psalm, David
writes and says, when thou saidst, seek ye my face, my heart's unto
thee. Thy face, Lord, will I seek. And then he says, hide not thy
face far from me. Put not thy servant away in anger.
Thou hast been my help. leave me not, neither forsake
me, O God of my salvation. That means that David wanted
to remember what God had done. And what a good thing it is when
the Lord brings to our remembrance what he has done, because it
will strengthen us and it will be an encouragement to us. We won't want God to hide his
face from us. We want God to shine upon us.
We want God to speak to us. We want God to encourage us. And also, we will desire God
to lead us into that path of fellowship with himself. If you and I have no union, no
communion, no fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ while on
this earth, why can we think that this is suddenly going to
change when we die? Because God's people don't arrive
in heaven without a knowledge of their Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ. They won't be a stranger to their
God. They will have the evidence of
what the Lord has done for them, and how he's strengthened them,
and how he's encouraged them. I know we live in a dark day.
I know we live in a day of small things. And the Word of God tells
us not to despise them. But nevertheless, we do live
in a day when God still comes and works in the souls of his
people. He doesn't leave us. He doesn't
forsake us, and as we just read in that 119th psalm, the words
that the psalmist spoke when he said, thy word hath quickened me, thy
word hath made me alive. That means the Word of God has
changed us from a state of death, a state of lifelessness in a
spiritual way, to a state of life and liveliness in a spiritual
way. And it is as the psalmist says,
Thy Word hath quickened me, hath made me alive. Well, can we? Can we this morning,
can we remember that time in our life, when the Lord has made
us spiritually alive, to remember it, to remember it, the word
of the Lord, to not forget it. It is very wonderful really sometimes
when people become old and they may be very forgetful about many
things, yet it is so often very clear they don't forget what
God has done for their souls in making them spiritually alive. It is a wonderful work of God
and so God brings His work to remembrance. What a wonderful
thing it is. You know, we have a very simple
illustration, in a natural way, in the life of Joseph. I'm sure
most of you remember the life of Joseph, and how he had those dreams,
and told his father and brethren, Well, they weren't very happy
about them. And anyway, his brothers were envious and they sold him
to the Midianites and he was taken captive and then worked
for Potiphar and then was cast into prison because of the lies
of Potiphar's wife. And he was in prison for many
years. Indeed, it was some 17 years before he was He was released,
really, from the time when he left his father. It's a long
time, isn't it? And in the last couple of years,
in prison, there were two of the king's servants, a butler
and a baker, and they had dreams. And he told Joseph the dreams,
and he was able to give them the interpretation of them through
the work of the Holy Spirit in his heart. And the dreams that
had been interpreted came to pass. And the butler was reinstated
to his position. And Joseph had said, remember
me when you are brought back to your position as a butler.
We're told the butler forgot. The butler forgot. You might
think, yeah, well that's very strange, isn't it? He'd had a
wonderful deliverance from prison, he'd been reunited to his job,
and he'd been told the dream by this other person in prison,
who'd asked him not to forget him, and he had. Two years went
by, two years. And then a situation developed
where Pharaoh had a dream, and he couldn't understand it. and
there was a need for somebody to interpret it. And then the
butler remembered. He remembered his sins on that
particular day. There was a particular time when
the Lord ordained the butler should remember. And sometimes
it is so in our lives. We may perhaps forget things
sometimes. We are forgetful sometimes. But
how good it is when the Lord causes us to remember, remember
what he's done for us, remember the words he's spoken to us,
the direction he's given us, the correction he's granted to
us, and to acknowledge that these things emanate from our gracious
God. And so you see, here we are today
on this Remembrance Sunday. It's a good thing, isn't it?
Really, to be able to remember God's deliverances. I suppose
it would be a good thing, wouldn't it? For us, perhaps, individually,
to set aside a day, perhaps in the year, to remember what God
has done for us. It's a good thing to do that.
It will be a sad thing if you have to say, well, I don't know
anything that God has done for me during my life. So that won't
be satisfactory. And you and I don't want to end
our life with the truth that we know nothing that God has
done for us. We want to come to the end of
our journey with wonderful evidence of what God has done for us and
be able to remember. You know, when Moses was about
to die, he spoke to the children of Israel and he wrote down a
long account of all that they'd passed through. And it's recorded
in Deuteronomy. And he, amongst the many things
he said, and thou shalt remember all the way the Lord has led
thee these 40 years in the wilderness. And you see, he wrote down or
dictated many, many things the Lord had done for them. And he
says, thou shalt remember. My friends today, may we remember
what God has done for us. May we have the evidence of what
God has done for us. And if we have to say, and do
be honest, I don't know anything that God has done for me. Then
pray earnestly that you may know what God is doing for you. First
of all, causing you to pray. Causing you to hear his voice. Changing the way of your life. directing you to that straight
and narrow way which leads to eternal life, turning you away
from the broad way which leads to destruction, and to be made
willing to follow a despised and crucified man, and to rejoice
when you hear the Saviour's name mentioned. You're able to say,
how sweet the name of Jesus sounds in my ear. Because, by God's
grace, I am a believer. Well, it is. The name of Jesus
is a sweet sound. It is music to the ear of a true
believer. But to an unbeliever, it's something
that we don't really want to hear. We don't want to know about.
So bless God today, if the Holy Spirit has moved in our hearts. and given us something to remember. Well, it's good to have this
little account of Peter and read these words. And Peter remembered
the word of the Lord. And so today, may you and I be
able to remember the word of the Lord. Perhaps even the things
today have jogged our memory take us back in time to remember
what God has done as an evidence of his great and glorious work
and what that produced was a good hope that through that word that
he gave we have hope of eternal life and that through the atoning
death of the Lord Jesus Christ, that sin atoning death, we do
have hope of eternal life and we can look forward to that inheritance
which is incorruptible and which is undefiled and which is reserved
in heaven for such unworthy sinners as you and me. Amen.