Let us turn once again to God's
Word, and we turn to the Gospel according to Luke, in chapter
24. And this morning I want to direct
your attention for a while, for our text, to the words of verse
12. Luke 24, verse 12, Then arose
Peter, and ran unto the sepulcher, and stooping down, he beheld
the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself
at that which was come to pass. In Luke chapter 24, we were considering
the previous portion of this chapter two weeks ago now. We looked then at verses 5 to
7, the words of the angels to those women that came early to
the sepulchre that they might attend as they thought to the
dead body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you remember what the angels
said to them there at verse 5? Why seek ye the living among
the dead? He is not here. but He has risen. Remember how He spoke unto you
when He was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered
into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third
day rise again from the dead. Those were the words then that
we considered that last time. The great truth of the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ on the first day of the week. And we
learn in the account that we read at the end of Mark how that
these women were directed to speak very specifically to Simon
Peter. They were to go and they were
to tell the rest of the disciples that the Lord was written that
they must particularly speak to Peter, go your way, tell his
disciples and Peter that he is risen from the dead as he told
you and he's gone before to Galilee where ye shall see him. Now why was it that they were
to speak particularly to Peter? Why is he singled out in that
fashion there in verse 7 of Mark chapter 16? Well it's not because
he was somewhere or other superior to the rest of the apostles.
That's what the Roman Catholic Church might like to say, that
he was the first Pope But there's no evidence of that in Holy Scripture. In fact, there's no evidence
of that in the early centuries of this Christian era. It's a
fabrication. The reason why Peter is singled
out is not because he was in any way superior to the rest
of the apostles. But in that matter of Peter being
spoken to so specifically, we see how God does deal with individuals. He deals with people in a very
personal fashion. It was William Tiptoe who said
that religion is a personal thing. Ultimately it is a matter between
God and the individual soul. There's a place of course for
corporate worship and we seek to engage in that as we come
together in this session. We do not forsake the ascending
of ourselves together but ultimately the relationship is a personal
thing. You remember the words of the
Lord Jesus to that man who was born blind, to whom he gave sight
in John chapter 9, and now the Jews cast him out of the synagogue,
cut him off, excommunicated him, and the Lord goes and finds the
man and says to him, dost thou believe on the Son of God? He doesn't just say to him in
a rather impersonal fashion whether or not he has faith, but he's
very empathic the way in which the Lord speaks to him, dost
thou Does thou as an individual, does thou personally believe
on the Son of God? And so I want us this morning
to look at Peter and the way in which the Lord deals with
this man in this very personal fashion. We are told here in
Luke's account that as the women return so it is Peter who arises
and goes to the sepulchre. Bold Peter, impetuous Peter. Then arose Peter and ran onto
the sepulchre and stooping down he beheld the linen clothes lie
by themselves and departed wondering in himself at that which was
come to pass. First of all to consider how
that Peter was much fibrous much favoured of God, much favoured
of the Lord Jesus Christ when he writes in his first epistle
he speaks of himself as an elder and a witness of the sufferings
of Christ and a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. He was a partaker of the grace
of God God deals with people in that very personal fashion,
I say. And Peter is a prime example
of the personal nature of the saving grace of God. We can think
of his call by grace. Remember how he is spoken of
first of all in the opening chapter of John's Gospel, his first meeting
with the Saviour we have there in John chapter 1 at verse 40. One of the two which heard John,
that is John the Baptist, Christ's forerunner, one of those which
heard John the Baptist speak as a direction to the Lord Jesus
Christ, and then followed Christ, one of them was Andrew Little.
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, Andrew brings Peter
to Jesus and when Jesus beheld him he said thou art Simon the
son of Jonah thou shalt be called Cephas which is by interpretation
a stone. This is the first record then
that we have in the Gospels of the meeting between the Lord
Jesus Christ and Simon Peter or Cephas as the Lord there calls
him. and he is introduced to the Saviour by his brother Andrew. And there we learn that they
abode with Christ for a day. It seems that they did not immediately
follow him. It was some little while later
that the Lord meets with them again and calls these men to
be followers of him. And we have that in the opening
chapter of Mark's Gospel. There they are about their business
as fishermen. And the Lord Jesus, we are told,
walked by the sea of Galilee and saw Simon and Andrew, his
brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And
Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you
to become fishers of men. Straightway they forsook their
nets and followed him. That seems to be subsequent to
that first meeting that is recorded in John's Gospel when Andrew
introduces Simon Peter to the Lord. That's just a passing acquaintance. They were with him for a day
as I said, but now as the Lord sees them again he calls them
to be followers of him. And so it was that they became
his followers, his disciples. Simon Peter is one of those who
are thus called. And it is Peter of course who
speaks of the importance of us giving diligence to make our
calling and election sure. How striking are those words. that we find in the opening chapter
of his second epistle, the importance of us looking to ourselves, examining
ourselves as to whether or not we have known that call. Give diligence, he says, to make
your calling and your election sure. How can you know whether
or not you are one of those who are favoured by the Lord, one
of those of the election of grace? You attend to your calling as
the Lord called. He called Simon Peter. and he
became a follower. And all who know that effectual
call will become true followers of Christ. They will endure,
they will persevere in the ways of Christ. Is it not a mercy
if we find ourselves still in that narrow way? He that shall
endure to the end, says Christ, the same shall be saved. O this
man is favoured then in that he is called to be a follower
of Christ And then we have the record in scripture of course
of the great confessions of faith that this man is brought to make
there at Caesarea Philippi in the 16th chapter of Matthew.
It is Peter who says, to him thou art the Christ, the son
of the living God. When the Lord asked the disciples
what's being said concerning him, it wasn't that he was ignorant
of those things himself, He knew what was in the heart of all
men. But he asked the disciples and then he asked them, whom
do they consider him to be? It's Simon Peter again, who makes
that great statement, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living
God, and the Lord tells in flesh and blood, if not revealed it
unto them, that my Father which is in heaven. What a blessing. He has that revelation then from
God. His eyes have been opened. with regards to the identity
of this man of sorrows, this man who is acquainted with grief.
This is the Messiah, this is the Christ, this is the Son of
God. And then again, at the end of
John chapter 6, that chapter of the blessed diminishings,
as dear old Sidney Norton used to call it, the sifting ministry
of Christ in John chapter 6, and there's multitudes at the
beginning and at the end, Or will the Twelve, will the Apostles
also forsake Him? But it's Peter who says, to whom
shall we go? Thou hast the worth of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that Thou art that Cross,
the Son of the Living God. What a favour to be shown these
things and to make such a great confession. He will not forsake
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is a true confessor because
he is in possession of that grace of God in his soul. And then
on other occasions we see how Peter is favoured, there is a
certain closeness and intimacy with the Lord. He is one of those
favoured three who are present on significant occasions during
Christ's earthly ministry. When he raises the daughter of
Jairus, Here in chapter 8 of Luke, verse 49, following, remember
that when he goes into that little girl's chamber, he takes with
him not only the parents of the child, but it's Peter and James
and John also, and they witness Christ as he raises that child
from the dead. And then again, in the next chapter,
in chapter 9, verse 28, following the Mount of Transfiguration, there are those who are going
to be favoured to see something of the Kingdom of God and the
glories of that Kingdom. And he takes these three again,
Peter and James and John, and he is transfigured before them.
and they see through the veil of his human nature, they see
through his humiliation something of the glories that belong unto
his deity, they see him. Do we hear? This is the eternal
son of God and there are those two that appear with him Moses
and Elijah and they speak We're told of his decease, his death,
which he was going to accomplish at Jerusalem. And Peter's there. He's private. Together with James
and John to behold these things. And then also in the garden of
Gethsemane, where the Lord is in agonising prayers to his father
concerning that death that he's come to die. or Christ doesn't
approach it in any stoical fashion how he feels these things and
he takes with him Peter and James and John and they are separate
from the rest of the disciples and then the Lord goes a little
further, he's by himself but those three are there to behold
the scene as Christ agonises in prayer to his Father concerning
that cup that he is to drink even to the dreads of it Peter,
I say, is one who is very much favoured this. He knows that
gracious call by grace. He's emboldened to make the great
confession of faith. He believes in his heart, he
makes confession with his mouth. And he's favoured to enjoy those
remarkable seasons of intimacy, closeness to the Lord Jesus Christ,
those striking occasions during the Lord's earthly ministry. He is a man who is much blessed
of God. It's not flesh and blood, as
Christ says there in Matthew 16, it's my Father which is in
heaven who has shown you these things. But then we also have
on record, of course, in Scripture, the sins of this man, the failings
of this man. He's one of the apostles and
what do we read here in this chapter in the context of our
text, verse 12, in previous verses? We're told it was Mary Magdalene
and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and other women that
were with them which told these things unto the apostle And their
words seem to them as idle tales, and they believe them not. The Petries are molesome, you
see. They believe them not. As we saw in that account at
the end of Mark how the Lord himself upbraids them because
of their unbelief. Even back in In Matthew 16, when
there at Caesarea Philippi, Peter made that first confession, the
Christ, the Son of the Living God. Remember what happens immediately
after he makes the confession. The Lord then begins to speak
of the work that he's come to do. Peter has acknowledged him,
recognised who he is, the person of the Saviour is confessed. And as Peter speaks of the person,
so Christ goes on to speak of the work that he must do. There
at verse 21 in Matthew 16, from that time, from the time of the
confession, from that time forth began Jesus to show unto his
disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many
things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed
and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him and
began to rebuke him, saying, Be ye far from me, Lord, that
this shall not be unto them. But he turned and said unto Peter,
Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou art an offense unto me.
For thou savest not the things that be of God, but those that
be of men. Oh, what challenges! But isn't
this ever the lot of God's people, it's those who have no challenges,
that fear not God. What a challenge here! One moment
the Lord is pronouncing this man to be a blessed man, and
the next, He addresses him as the instrument of Satan. Get
thee behind me, Satan! That was an offense. Why? Because Peter, you see, will
not hear of Christ going that way of the cross. And yet that
was the very purpose that Christ had come into this world for. He must go on to Jerusalem and
suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes
and be killed and be raised again the third day. Peter doesn't
understand these things even here you see he seems not to
understand these women and the report that they brought back
why they seem as idle tales and they believe them not and we
read of Peter wondering in himself at that which was come to pass
There's much of weakness in Peter's character, is there not? There's much of sinful weakness
in Peter's character. He was that one who had protested
how he was ready to go with Christ even to death. That's what he said together
with other of the disciples. He is so bold at times, so impetuous. He is the one who is always first
and is ready to go with Christ and to die with the Saviour,
he says. But remember, pride goeth before
destruction and the haughty spirit before the fall, as the wise
man says in the Proverbs. It is pride, accursed pride,
that spirit by God hath bought. Do what we will, it haunts us
still and keeps us from the Lord. It's an accursed thing, pride.
And we see so much of it in this man. He would be one who would go
with Christ, so he says, and he will even die with the Saviour. I am ready to go with thee both
into prison and to death, he said. But the Lord answers Peter
and says, The cock shall not crow this day before that thou
shalt thrice deny that thou knewest me. And what Christ did proved
to be true. Now Peter The one minute is so
bold, the next minute is so weak, fluctuating, so unsure, even
denying Christ. And denying Christ is cursing.
How this man then is weak, you see, in some ways. There are
failings, there are sins there. And surely this man learned his
lesson, did he not? He's the same preacher who writes
in his first epistle that God resisteth the proud, and give
us grace unto the humble. Humble yourselves therefore unto
the mighty hand of God, he said, that he might exalt you in due
time. Oh, poor Peter, his faith almost
failed altogether. It seemed that he would lose
his faith when we read that sad account of his denials we consider
those things there in chapter 22 from verse 54 following remember
now at the end when the Lord turns and looks upon him the
effect it has on Peter there at verse 62 in the 22nd chapter
that short verse Peter went out we're told and wept As we read
through the incident, it seems he's got no faith at all, as
he's denying the Lord Jesus Christ, but of course his faith did not
utterly fail. His faith was a true faith, though
it was so sorely tried and tested there. And why was it that his
faith ultimately prevails? Why is it that he's brought to
the place of genuine repentance. Those are not just tears of remorse
that he's weeping. There are tears of real evangelical
repentance in Peter's case. Why? Well, it's all because of
the object of that faith. His faith always has to do with
the Lord Jesus Christ. What is it that moves him to
weep as we just saw there? It's when the Lord looked upon
him. The Lord turned and looked upon Peter. And that's from whence
his sorrow and his repentance sprang. It wasn't self-pity. It was as he knew that gracious
look of the side, Christ coming and lifting up the light of his
countenance upon the man, and it moves him. And so his faith
doesn't fail, not because of anything of himself, but because
of that one with whom his faith has to do. That is the thing
with true faith, it's the life of God, as the hymn writer says,
true faith is the life of God, deep in the heart it lies, it
lives, it labours on the low though damp, it never dies, his
faith never dies. Though alas, he was one who did
fail. Remember another incident in
Peter's experience when the Lord is walking to the disciples on
the waters. There they are in the midst of
the sea of Galilee in the boat and there's this great storm
and the Lord is not with them but then he appears to them and
he comes walking upon the water and again bold Peter, impetuous
Peter climbing out of the boat walking on the waters to go to
Christ but then suddenly so aware of all that is around him the
great tempest, the winds and the waves and we are told that
he began to sin but beginning to sin he cried Lord save me
oh yes there is weakness in this man, there is sin in this man
but there is also faith here, real faith what a prayer is that
that he makes those three short words that he speaks to Christ
Lord Who else can sigh? Who needs to be sighed? It's
only those who feel themselves lost and undone. And that was
Peter. And here we see him again, you
see, he comes to the empty tomb. And he looks into the sepulchre
and he beholds there's no body present. And we read of him wandering
in himself at that which was come to pass. He cannot understand
these things. This man is much favoured of
God, I say. And this man, Simon Peter, is
a man of many failings, many sins. And yet surely there is
much in Peter that should be of real comfort to us. That these
things are recorded in the Scriptures. As I said, real religion is a
very personal thing and we see it so strikingly in
the case of Peter and so I want also here to say something about
the Lord Jesus Christ and his dealings with Peter and the faithfulness
of those dealings with Peter And we've seen some of these
things before have we not? Remember when we were looking
back in chapter 22 we saw how Christ did pray very particularly
for this man Peter. When the Lord spoke of him as
one who would deny him three times the Lord was aware that
he was going to be in the very sieve of Satan. There in chapter
22 and verse 31 the Lord said Simon,
Simon behold Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift
you as wheat but I have prayed for you that thy faith fail not
and when thou art converted strengthen thy brethren and the significance
of the pronouns remember there Now that's brought down so wonderfully
of course in the Authorised Version which still retains the old-fashioned
singular pronoun that in verse 31 that the Lord uses a plural
pronoun. He's speaking to Simon, Simon
Peter, but he says, Satan hath desired to have you. That means all of you. It's a
plural, not just Peter. Satan desires to have all of
you. who are the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. But, says
Christ, I have prayed not for you, he doesn't pray for all
his disciples, but you see how the Lord deals with individuals,
how personal it is, how particular. I have prayed for thee. It is
Simon Peter who is in the gravest of dangers. I have prayed for
thee, that thy faith fail not, and when thou art converted,
Strengthen thy brethren throughout. It's that singular pronoun that
the Lord is using. He deals, does Christ with his
disciples, with his followers in those very personal terms.
He's mindful of individuals. He's mindful of individual and
particular needs. And here is Peter, he's going
to be in Satan's sphere. and what will happen as he is
there in the seat of satan tempted why he will lose everything all
will fall through the sea except that that is most important his
faith his faith will not fail says Christ I have prayed for
thee that thy faith fail not or the Lord preserves it Isn't
faith a precious thing? Isn't it more precious than God?
Precious faith, Peter speaks of, he knew it. When he writes
in his epistles, you see, of those precious things, he knows
something of the preciousness of these things. Why? Because
they've been so sorely tried and so sorely tested. He'd been
in Satan's stead and lost everything except one thing, faith, and
the blessed object of his faith the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul knew
similar experiences, did he not? Not the same experiences. The
Lord's people all have different experiences. We can't chalk out
the way in which the Lord is to deal with others because he's
dealt with us in a certain way. There are certain principles
that apply. He deals with us all individually. He dealt with
Paul differently to the way in which he dealt with Peter, but
Paul was also buffeted, remember? In the 2nd Corinthians chapter
12 he speaks of being buffeted by Satan and yet what does he
prove in the midst of all those assaults, those buffetings? He proves that the Lord's grace
is sufficient. My grace is sufficient for them. You see Christ prays. He prays for his people. He is
a great high priest. We were thinking on Thursday
of his intercession. There in John 17 he is an interceding
priest as well as a sacrificing priest. He made a great sacrifice
here upon the earth, did he not? But having accomplished that
great work, having made the one sacrifice for sins forever, he
is now risen from the dead. This is what we have in this
chapter. What we read in Mark 16 and John 21, he is risen from
the dead but not only risen now, he is ascended on high, he is
there at God's right hand and he ever lives to make intercession
itself. He is now a praying priest and
his very presence there in heaven is a constant prayer for his
people. And in his prayers what does
he do? He resists. He resists Satan. Satan who is
the great adversary of the souls of men. The opening words there
in Zechariah chapter 3 he is shown with Joshua. The high priest
standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at
his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan,
the Lord rebuketh thee, O Satan, even the Lord that hath chosen
Jerusalem rebuketh thee. He is not but a brand plucked
out of the fire. Now Joshua was clothed with filthy
garments and stood before the angel. And he answered and spoke
unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy
garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold,
I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, And I will
clothe thee with change of raiment. And I said, Let them set a fair
mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon
his head, and clothed him with garments, and the angel of the
Lord stood by. Christ is the one who resists
Satan. He is the accuser of the brethren,
accusing them day and night before God. But Christ resisted, Christ
prayed, my advocate appears for my defence on high, says Isaac
Watts. That's what the Lord is, an advocate
with the Father. Jesus Christ, the righteous,
able to save to the uttermost all them that come to God by
Him. He prayed for Peter. But I have
prayed for reason. that thy faith fail not and then
as we've seen the particular dealings of the Lord he doesn't
just pray for Peter oh what a look what a gracious look that was
there in chapter 22 when the Lord turns and looked upon Peter
and Peter remembered the words of the Lord how he had said unto
him before the cock crow they shall deny me thrice and Peter
went out and wept bitterly. Or if the Lord would but come
and lift up the light of his countenance upon us, would he not cause us to see
what we are, to feel what we are, to weep over our sins, our
sad departings from him? Are we not so very much like
Peter sometimes? And we are prone to wander from
Christ, We give it a backsliding, not necessarily openly, outwardly. But are there not those days
when we have to confess to ourselves our prayerless lives? We have
never thought of God. And yet the Lord, you see, deals
so graciously with Peter and comes and looks upon him. There'll
be many who say, who will show us any good? or we want the Lord
to lift up the light of his countenance upon us, that's the blessing,
that's the great Aaronic blessing that we have at the end of Numbers
chapter 6, the Lord bless thee and keep thee, the Lord make
his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee, the Lord
lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace, in
that way the priests were to put God's name upon his life. The Lord looks And the Lord looks
on individuals. He turned, He says, and He looked. Poor that the Lord would cast
a look on you and me, even to die as we come under the sound
of His Word. But you see the Lord is so kind
and so compassionate. He doesn't just look. He sends
this message quite specifically to Peter as we saw. there in
a reading at the end of Mark, the commission that was given
to those women who were first at the empty tomb. What does the angel say? Be not
afraid ye, ye see Jesus of Nazareth which was crucified, he is risen,
he is not here, behold the place where they laid him, but go your
way, tell his disciples and Peter, all tell Peter, that He goeth
before you into Galilee, there shall you see Him, as He said
unto you." Here is Peter wondering at these
things. The words that he's heard from those women, the scene that
he's now beholding. The Lord sends a message to Peter,
but the Lord did more than that. We know from the scriptures that
the risen Christ actually appeared to Peter himself. What is the statement that we have later
in this chapter? You remember those two on the
road to Emmaus, when the Lord appears to them and they don't
know him initially The scars are taken from their eyes and
they see who he is. And then he's gone and they rush
back to Jerusalem and they find the residue, the rest of them there. Verse 33, we read, they
rose up the same hour and returned to Jerusalem and found the eleven
gathered together and them that were with them saying, The Lord
is risen indeed and hath appeared to Simon. Oh, the Lord appeared to Simon. He doesn't just send a message
to him. And then Paul confirms that when he writes of those
who were witnesses of the Lord's resurrection in the 15th chapter
of 1 Corinthians. He was seen of Cephas, then of
the twelve, he saw the Lord, the Lord came
and showed himself to him this is how the Lord deals you see,
he deals with people individually, personally as the Lord came,
as he has shown himself to us not in that physical sense but
spiritually, can we say that we know the Lord that the Lord
has revealed himself to us Paul knew that When he pleased God
who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace
to reveal His Son where? In me. Has God revealed His Son in you?
Do you know Him? Do you know Him as that One who
is ever a faithful Saviour, a gracious Saviour, a praying Saviour? One who is pleased to come and
grant us refreshing seasons when He smiles so graciously. That one who sends messages of
grace, he feeds you under his word. How the Lord deals, you
see, so particularly with his servants, Peter. And then, of
course, as we saw in chapter 21 of John, those questions that
the Lord put to him. After they are dying, Simon, Simon, son of Jonas, lover
of Samuel, more than the last three times. The interesting
thing is that the first two occasions, you're probably aware of this,
some of you at least, that there are various words in the original
for love. And there are two particular
words, different words that are used there in John chapter 21.
There's the great word Agapa, which is the highest, the noblest,
the best form of love. And then there's another word,
philo. And when the Lord asks Peter, Lovest thou me? In verses
15 and 16, he uses that word agapa. And when Peter replies,
he uses the other word, philo. And then the Lord comes a third
time, and this time the Lord also uses the word philo. He
doesn't use that more noble word. It's almost as if the Lord is
questioning the reality of this life. This is what grieves Peter. This is what grieves Peter, that
the Lord is questioning him so, so closely. You see, you know
the best thing sometimes when the Lord comes to us and deals
with us in that close, that searching fashion, makes us wonder, have
we got anything real at all in our soul? We imagine we have,
we imagine we've got faith, but have we got real faith, saving
faith? It's good, is it not, when God
comes and examines us under his word in that close fashion. He
did it with Peter. But he did it in order to confirm
him. What does the Lord say to him? Follow me. There in verse 19 of John 21,
follow me. And then Peter's aware of another,
he's aware of John. and begins to ask questions concerning
John what does the Lord say, what is that to me? follow thou
me and again you see how very personal it is there in verse
21 it doesn't just say what is that to thee follow me but he
introduces again the singular pronoun follow thou me all fairness that we might be
those who knows something of Peter's experience. This man who was so favoured.
We don't want to follow him in his failings, in his sins. We thank you that these things
are recorded. There is some comfort to us poor
sinners that we are. We ought to know the gracious
dealings of Christ, the faithful dealings of Christ with our souls,
that we might with Peter be made to wonder. at the ways of God
and the things of God. Then arose Peter, and ran unto
the sepulchre, and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes lay
by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself that that
which was come to pass. O the Lord grant his blessing
then today upon his word and upon us each. Amen.