Go with me, if you would, back
to Mark 14. As we go through an entire book
of the Bible, we have been going through Mark on Sunday mornings. We go through individual books
in the Bible. And as we go through them, we
usually only look at a few verses. each message, we only look at
a couple of verses normally. But as I read all of the events
that happened in this one night from where we are in verse 27
to the end of the chapter, every bit of that happened in one night. And as I read everything that
took place in this one glorious night, I felt led for us to look
at all of it together. All of it at the same time. This
is the moment that Christ was made sin for his people. This is holy ground. All of the scripture is holy
ground. But this night, oh this night,
all I want to do is declare what took place on this night as our
God has written it. That's all I want to do. Our
God wrote this perfectly. And I want to declare what he
has written. I titled this message This Night. Now, I didn't really give any
serious consideration to this, but the thought went through
my mind to title it Peter, Peter, Peter, Peter, and Peter. And by the end of this, you'll
see why. But the title is This Night, and I pray the Lord will
truly bless this to our hearts. I really do. Verse 27, and Jesus
saith unto them, all ye shall be offended because of me this
night. What a tragic thing to hear him
say. What a tragic thing. They just heard him say in verse
18, As they sat and did eat, Jesus said, barely I say unto
you, one of you which eateth with me shall betray me. And
they began to be sorrowful and to say unto him one by one, is
it I? And what they meant by that was,
I know it's me. Would you go ahead and just tell
me that it's me? I know of everybody I see here, it has to be me. Is it I? And now they hear him say in
verse 27, all ye shall be offended. That word means you're going
to stumble. You're going to be made to offend because of me
this night, because of what's about to happen tonight. Verse
27, he said, for it is written, I will smite the shepherd and
the sheep shall be scattered. But after that I am risen, I
will go before you into Galilee. Our Lord never leaves his people
without the promise of the gospel. Never, never. He said an offense
is going to take place, but it's for this purpose. Your shepherd
is going to be smitten so his sheep can flee. I'm going to smite the shepherd
and all my sheep are going to scatter. That's what's written. That's what is going to be done.
Now don't turn, but he's quoting Zechariah 13. And after that exact verses is
written here, he said, I will bring the third part through
the fire. I'm going to bring a remnant
through the fire. I'm going to refine them as silver
is refined. I will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name and
I will hear them. I will say it is my people and
they shall say the Lord is my God. I'm going to secure that for
them, I'm going to allow myself to be smitten of God to secure
that for them. Verse 28, but after that I am
risen, I will go before you into Galilee. He told them exactly
what was going to happen, didn't he? After he died on that cross
and they put him in that tomb, they were so sorrowful, so sorrowful. And then they were so wonderfully
surprised that he had risen and he was going to meet with them
in Galilee. And he told him right here before it happened. He told
him exactly what was going to happen. He said, I'm going to
lay down my life and then I'm going to take it again. And after
I'm risen, I'm going to see you in Galilee. Verse 29, but Peter
said unto him, now I'm going to say bless his heart. Peter
said unto him, although all shall be offended, yet will not I. Boy, do we need to be careful
what we boast of. Man is so proud and he's going
to tell God what he's going to do for him. And I'm going to
get right with God and I'm on this and I'm on that, man. When it comes to this flesh,
never say never. I mean never say never. Our sinful
wickedness has a way of taking something that appears to be
such a good motive and it just dumps pride all over it. And that pride will ruin us. It'll ruin us. Verse 30, And
Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, that this day, even
in this night, before the cock crow twice, Thou shalt deny me
thrice before this night is over." That rooster out there is going
to crow two times. And before he crows that second
time, you're going to deny me three times. Verse 31 says, but
Peter spake the more vehemently. And he did this to God, to the
face of God, more arrogantly. More confidently, he said, if
I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. And then as soon as one does
that, everybody starts to follow. Likewise also said they all.
Now we know how the story ends. Our brother just read it to us.
Peter's making a fool out of himself right here. May God teach
all of us to say, if the Lord wills, I will do this or I will
do that. By God's grace, I won't do this
or I won't do that. My life is at the mercy of whatever
he will allow me to do or not allow me to do. My God is sovereignly
in control of me. If he takes his hand off of me,
For one second, I am capable of anything. I'm capable of anything. And the reason is because I'm
covered from head to toe with sin. That's the entire reason
for this night. If it wasn't for my sin, we would
have no need of this night. Verse 32 says, and they came
to a place which was named Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples,
sit ye here while I shall pray. And he taketh with him Peter
and James and John. It's amazing that after Peter
displayed such arrogance and such pride to the Lord that he
would take him. That's amazing, isn't it? But
he did. He took Peter. God was long-suffering to him.
And that ought to tell us something about how he deals with us. He's
good. He's good. Verse 33, he taketh with him
Peter and James and John and began to be sore amazed and to
be very heavy. Now this proves that our God
became a man for us. Jesus Christ is not just God's
son. He is the son of God. Big difference. He is God manifest in the flesh. And he became a true man for
us. Soar amazed means utterly astonished. Thrown into terror. thoroughly
astounded. He experienced the absolute shock
of our sin. He experienced the shock of being
acquainted with Gabe Stoniker's sin. God, his Father, pressed our
sin into him. He pressed it into him. He forced
it into him. And it produced, as it were,
great drops of blood pouring out of him. He felt the guilt. He felt the pain. He felt the sorrow. He was violently
touched. I mean, violently touched. with
the feeling of the sins that we have actually committed, the
sins that we feel guilty over. And I say, I did that. He was
violently touched with those feelings. And our sin in him
caused him to be very heavy. That means in great distress
of mind. It's the strongest Greek word
that there is for absolute anguish and depression. Utter, utter,
utter depression. Verse 34 says, And he said unto them, my soul
is exceeding sorrowful unto death. He said, I'm overcome with so
much sorrow. If it were possible, I'd die
from it right now. He said, tarry ye here and watch. And he went forward a little
and fell on the ground and prayed that if it were possible, the
hour might pass from him. His approach to God his father
was so much different than Peter's approach to him. Verse 36, he
said, Abba, Father, that's the same spirit that comes into his
child crying out for the child. Abba, Father, he said, all things
are possible unto thee. Take away this cup from me. Nevertheless, not what I will,
but what thou wilt." He knew that for this cause, he came
into the world. He knew that. But as a man, as
the sinner's substitute, this is the sinner's substitute. As the man, the thought of being
separated from God was so terrifying, he almost couldn't bear it. He
almost couldn't take it. But he said, not what I will,
it's what you will. Thy will be done. He was the
willing servant, the willing substitute for his people. Verse
37, and he cometh and findeth them sleeping, and he saith unto
Peter, he said unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? Couldest not thou
watch one hour? Peter just finished telling him,
I'm the greatest disciple you have. I am the greatest disciple
you have. May we learn that pride comes
right before a fall every time. Our Lord said, okay, Peter, I'm
going to go pray. You keep a watch. And it wasn't
even one hour. And he came back and Peter was
asleep. Man thinks he is something, but he is nothing. He's nothing. Verse 38, watch ye and pray,
lest you enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but
the flesh is weak. And again, he went away and prayed
and spake the same words. And when he returned, he found
them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. Neither wist
they what to answer him. They didn't know what to answer
him. He woke them up again. And can you see the shame on
their faces? They just didn't know what to say. Just don't
even know what to say. Without him, we can do nothing.
Verse 41, and he cometh the third time and saith unto them, sleep
on now and take your rest. It is enough. The hour is come. Behold, the son of man is betrayed
into the hands of sinners. Do we not find great comfort
in knowing that at all times he knows our frame? At all times,
He remembers that we are dust. He said, go ahead and sleep.
You need it. I know you need it. Go ahead
and sleep. Here, this night right here is the defining moment in
the salvation of sinners. All of eternity hinges on this
night. And they're all asleep. And He
said, it's okay. I'll take care of it. I'll take
care of every bit of it. You just sleep on. And then in
verse 42, he said, rise up, let us go, lo, he that betrayeth
me is at hand. As man, he was absolutely terrified
of what he was about to confront. But as God, he was doing every
bit of it. He told him, this is what's coming
next. Let's get up and get ready. Here it comes. Verse 43, and
immediately, while he yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the twelve,
and with him a great multitude with swords and staves from the
chief priest and the scribes and the elders. Now that's all
the religious people. Here they come. Verse 44, and
he that betrayed him, Judas, had given them a token, saying,
Whomsoever I shall kiss, That same is he, take him and lead
him away safely. That means securely. You better
hold him tight, that's what he told him. When I kiss him, you
better grab him and you better hold him tight. How many times
did our Lord just walk right through the mob that was trying
to kill him? How many times they'd lay hold of him and try to throw
him off the cliff and he'd just vanish, he'd just walk through
the mob. Judas was an unbeliever. He was an unbeliever. He did
not believe that Jesus Christ was God Almighty. God Almighty. And he thought
he could take him. And the only reason he did take
him is because God allowed himself to be taken. That's the only
reason. Judas was just the pawn that
the Lord chose to use on this night. Verse 45, and as soon
as he was come, he goeth straightway to him and saith, master, master. He didn't say Lord, Lord. Lord means ruler, controller,
sovereign God. Master means teacher. He said,
teacher, teacher. And then he kissed him. Verse
46, and they laid their hands on him and took him. And one
of them that stood by drew a sword and smote a servant of the high
priest and cut off his ear. Do you know who that was? Peter. Peter, he's trying, isn't he?
He really is trying. You have to hand it to him. He
is trying to do for God. He's trying to protect his God,
but he's just not what he thinks he is. He's not what he thinks
he is. He's trying to cut off the man's
head and he missed and he cut off his ear. And the other gospels
tell us that the Lord said to him, Peter, put up your sword.
Put up your sword. Do you honestly think I need
you to carry out my purpose? Don't you realize I could call
to my father right now and he would immediately send 12 legions
of angels, 72,000 angels, immediately. Wait on the Lord, Peter. Wait
on the Lord. Look unto me and be ye saved. Stop looking to yourself. We're
in trouble. God's in trouble. Look unto me and be ye saved. Verse 48 says, And Jesus answered
and said unto them, Are you come out as against a thief with swords
and with staves to take me? I was daily with you in the temple
teaching, and you took me not. But the scriptures must be fulfilled. and they all forsook him and
fled. And I love what John's gospel
tells us right there. It says that our Lord said, if
you seek me, let them go. They walked up to him, and he
said, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
And he said something he's about to say here. I am. Boom. Every one of them, some estimate
500 of them, fell back like trees, stiff as a board, flat on their
backs, and they couldn't get up. And then he let them get
up. He said, Now, Whom seek ye? And I can't believe they said
it again, Jesus of Nazareth. But he told them, if you seek
me, you have to let them go. And they went, they fled. Verse 51, and there followed
him a certain young man having a linen cloth cast about his
naked body. And the young man laid hold on
him and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked. Now I'm sure many things could
be said about this young man and what happened right here.
It doesn't say who he is, it could have been one of the apostles.
He could have been just a bystander. I do believe he was a sheep.
And the reason is because our Lord said, you smite the shepherd
and the sheep will scatter. So I believe whoever he was,
he was a sheep. And here's what we can learn
from this young man, they laid hold on him. And they grabbed
his covering. And when he ran his covering
was ripped off of him. Verse 52 very specifically points
out that it was a linen cloth. Now do you know what our Lord's
body was wrapped in before they laid him in that tomb? A linen
cloth. This represents a sinner being
freed from his sin. His sin being taken from him
and our Lord being bound in the very thing that was taken off
of the sinner. Because of that, that sinner
runs free. He flees the wrath to come. He is delivered. And that's what
Christ accomplished right here on this night, right here in
this garden of Gethsemane. He freed his people from their
sin by binding himself in it. That's what he did. Verse 53
says, And they led Jesus away to the high priest, and with
him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders and the
scribes. And Peter followed him afar off,
even into the palace of the high priest. And he sat with the servants
and warmed himself at a fire. And the chief priest and all
the councils sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death
and found none. For many bear false witness against
him, but their witness agreed not together. And there arose
certain and bear false witness against him saying, we heard
him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands
and within three days I will build another made without hands.
But neither so did their witness agree together. Now that's how
you can identify false religion. That's how you can identify false
religion. When a man stands up and gives
his witness, if his witness does not agree with this witness,
with the word of God, somebody is lying and it's not God. Isn't that right? If I listen to a man and I say,
yes, he's mostly right, but there are some things that do not agree
with this scripture. Somebody's lying and it's not
God. It's not God. False witness. But our Lord, even in what they
said, even though they ignorantly had no idea what he was talking
about, they still declared the truth about him. Verse 58 says,
We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with
hands, and within three days I will build another made without
hands. They thought he was talking about
that marble building that they'd been working on for 82 years,
the temple. He was talking about himself.
A body hast thou prepared me. He was talking about his own
body. He said, I'm going to lay this
body down. I'm going to suffer for my people.
And three days later, I'm going to rise again. Having left the
sin of all of my people right there in that grave. Every one
of them is going to rise with me, every one of them is going
to rise in me, and they're going to rise as sinless as I am. But as they stood there telling
lies on him, verse 60 says, and the high priest stood up in the
midst and asked Jesus saying, answerest thou nothing? What
is it which these witness against thee? But he held his peace and
answered nothing. I adore that. I adore that. He said, what is this that they're
all saying against thee? I'll tell you what it is. They were saying everything they
could against me. They said you're a liar. He said
nothing. They said you're a cheat. He
said nothing. They said you're a murderer.
He said nothing. That's what I am. He stood there
for me. He held his peace. He answered
nothing. Verse 61, again, the high priest
asked him and said unto him, art thou the Christ, the son
of the blessed? And Jesus said, I am. Don't you love how clearly he
declared the truth to him? He didn't try to, this thing
wasn't done in a corner. He declared to them who he was,
he said, I am. He deliberately said, I am. That's Jehovah in the Old Testament.
Moses said, who should I say sent me? He said, you tell them,
I am sent you. They said, are you the Christ?
He said, I am. Verse 62, and you shall see the
Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the
clouds of heaven. You're going to see me when I
come back. And they will. They will. All will. Every eye
shall see him. Verse 63, then the high priest
rent his clothes and saith, what need we any further witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy. He's calling himself God. You have heard the blasphemy.
What think ye? And they all condemned him to
be guilty of death. And some began to spit on him
and to cover his face and to buffet him and to say unto him,
prophesy. And the servants did strike him
with the palms of their hands. That's exactly what you would
expect his enemies to do to him, isn't it? That is exactly what
you would expect the enemies of the Lord to do to him. But
watch this. Verse 66 says, and as Peter. And as Peter was beneath in the
palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest, one
of his daughters, a little girl. 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. He said, I don't
speak the same language as you. I don't understand what you're
saying. Verse 68, 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 a 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 after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely
thou art one of them, for thou art a Galilean, and thy speech
agreeth thereto. You sound just like a Galilean.
But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this
man of whom you speak. He's afraid for his life. He's
afraid they're going to do to him the same thing they're doing
to the Lord. So he started cursing. He started cursing, cursing,
cursing. He was a sailor. He knew how. What was he cursing? He wasn't
cursing a what. He was cursing a who. He cursed
Christ and he cursed Christ and he cursed Christ. I hate that
man. I don't want anything to do with
him. Stop associating me with him. I hate him. And he did that in order to save
his own skin. He cursed God and he denied the
Lord that redeemed him. Right then and there he was over
there redeeming him. Verse 72, and the second time
the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the
word that Jesus said unto him before the cock crow twice, thou
shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought there on,
he wept. If you have a center reference
in your Bible, it says he wept abundantly. He wept abundantly. Luke's account says, as soon
as that rooster crowed that second time, the Lord turned and looked
at him. Their eyes met. Peter knew what he'd done. He
walked outside and he wept bitterly. Now, do you know what I would
almost guarantee you was going through his mind at that exact
moment in time? There is not a bit of difference
in me and Judas. Not a bit of difference. But for the grace and the mercy
and the election of God, that's exactly right. There's not a
bit of difference in any one of us and Judas. But for the grace and the mercy
and the election of God. And I'll tell you this, the Lord
is going to allow His people, He is going to allow His people,
if they belong to Him, He's going to allow them to see this, that
they must decrease. Before there's an increase, there
will be a decrease. There must be, and there will
be. Every child of His is going to become convinced, thou art
the man. Thou art the man, you have denied
the Lord, you have not sought God. Nothing in you is worthy, nothing. Peter, I told you when we started
this, I thought about calling it Peter, Peter, Peter, Peter
and Peter. The reason is because Peter was
the one who showed the arrogance. He showed the pride, you know,
to the face of the Lord. They might all leave you, not
me. Let me tell you something. I've thought that. I've thought that. Peter was the one the Lord chose
to take with him in the Garden of Gethsemane, and he couldn't
stay awake from it for an hour. Neither could I. I've done that. Peter was the one who thought
he could help God. He thought God needed him more
than he needed God. Well, God needs me to do this
for him and I'm going to step up to the plate and I'm going
to get my sword and start swinging. I've done that. Peter was the one who couldn't
stand up to a little girl, but he denied his Lord that bought
him. I've done that. I'm sorry, but I have. Where's
the courage that I wish I had? It's not in this flesh. It's
not in this flesh. The fact of the matter is we
are no better than Peter. God should have cut Peter off.
God should have cut every one of us off. He should have cut
every one of us off. But what I just told you is Peter,
Peter, Peter, Peter. There's one more. Turn with me
over to Mark 16. Mark 16 verse 1 says, When the
Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James
and Salome had brought sweet spices that they might come and
anoint him. And very early in the morning,
the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the
rising of the sun. And they said among themselves,
Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher?
And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away,
for it was very great. And entering into the sepulcher,
they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in
a long white garment, and they were affrighted. And he saith
unto them, Be not affrighted, ye seek 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. Make sure I'm going to give you
one name specifically, ladies, and I want you to remember this.
You go tell all his disciples and you remember you tell Peter. Walk straight up to him. You
look him right in the eyes and you tell him his Lord is risen
and the sin is gone. And Peter. You tell him that
he's going before you into Galilee and there you're going to see
him just like he said, exactly like he said. You know why Peter
wasn't cut off? It's because Christ died and
he paid for that sin that Peter committed against him. That can
be said for every sin. in every child that Christ came
to save. Every single one. That's the
only reason any sinner will not be cut off. It's not because
Peter made his decision. Nowhere do we read that. Nowhere. God had mercy on him through
his own blood, through his own death. Our only hope is that
the sins that cover us head to toe were ripped off of us and
bound to Christ and then God dealt with them. And they're
gone. They're gone. If that is the case, in the same
way that that angel said, and Peter, it'll be said about us
and you. hath he quickened who were dead
in trespasses and sins. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, he quickened us together with Christ. By grace,
you're saved." By grace. From this night forward, that
was Peter's message. from this night forward. It's
not by might, buddy. It's not by might. It's by grace. It is by grace. If any man is
going to be saved, it's only going to be by the grace of God.
And if Christ has shed his blood on a sinner, if God is drawing
a sinner, then he will put a heart in that sinner to run to Christ
and plead that blood. He will put a heart in that sinner
to say, I need him and I need that payment. I need him to have
dealt with my sin. If he's given you that, come
to Christ. I mean, come to Christ. In the
heart, not in the leg, come to Christ and find rest for your
soul. If he's given you that, he has
given you rest for your soul. So you come. Okay, let's all
stand together.