Thank you, Sharon. The Lord said,
ask and you shall receive. And another place, he said, you
have not because you ask not. Singing these hymns is a good
way to ask. So many of these hymns we sing
are prayers such as that one, paraphrasing what we just read. For blessings now, O Lord, I
humbly plead. Good way to prepare your heart.
May the Lord answer that collective prayer of his church tonight.
Matthew 26 is our text tonight, Matthew 26. We pick up where
we've been studying at various times, either the Bible study
or Wednesday night. Matthew 26. Let's read. It's just seven verses,
we're going to look at Matthew 26, the last seven verses, beginning
with verse 69. Now, now, let's let's go back
and read. Let's read verse 31, let's read verse 31 through 35 and then jumped to 69. Verse
31, Then said Jesus unto his disciples, 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
abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into
Galilee. Peter answered, and said unto
him, Though all shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never
be offended. And Jesus said unto him, Verily,
I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt
deny me thrice. Peter said unto him, Though I
should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also
said all the disciples. Now verse 69. Now some time,
many hours, several hours took place or went by. Verse 69, Now
Peter sat without in the palace. outside of where they took the
Lord, and to try him. And a damsel came unto
him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied
before everyone there, before them all, saying, I know not
what thou sayest. And when he was gone out into
the porch, another made saw him, and said unto them that were
there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again
Peter 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 bereft thee." Then began Peter to curse
and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately
the cock crowed. 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. I started to entitle this message,
The Call, Confession, Cursing, Conviction, and Comfort of Simon
Peter. But that's too long. So Sam,
you don't have to type that. Instead, we just entitled it
Simon Peter. Simon Peter, now every believer,
every true believer can relate to Simon Peter. Probably more
so than any of the other disciples. I know I do. Simon Peter was
up one day and down the next. He was hot one minute and cold
the next. He was bold as a lion one minute,
and scared to death the next. A coward. Anybody else? And I thank God for writing this
story. I thank God for writing the story
of Simon Peter for me to read. Whatsoever things are written
are written for our learning, that we through patience and
comfort of the scriptures might have hope, Paul said. The last part of this chapter
that we just read is Peter's denial of the Lord, and it was
a terrible thing, wasn't it? Sad time in Peter's life. I'm
sure Peter wished it had never happened. You know it did. You know he did. I told Gabe
this morning, we were talking about this a little bit, I told
him I bet that Peter the man wished the Lord hadn't written
it down in the book for everybody to read about him. You reckon? But I'm sure glad he did. Aren't
you? I'm glad the Lord did. Simon
Peter's story didn't start here, and thank God it didn't end here. What would you say of Simon Peter
if you just opened the scriptures and read right there? What would
you think about this man? You what if you open the scriptures
of Genesis is it thirteen or fourteen were Abraham twelve
chapter twelve right after the Lord called him. Abraham went
down to Egypt with Sarah and denied his wife. What would you
think if that's all you read about Abraham. Would you think
about what would you think about a lot. If all you read was about
his. What would you think about David
if you picked it up and read where he, down the first thing
of 29, where he was down in Gath? Or when he played the madman?
What would you think? Aren't you glad there's a rest of the
story? I know David is. I know Abraham is. I know Peter
is. I thought, we read Psalm 139
because I believe it was probably Peter's favorite psalm. Oh, Lord, thou hast searched
me and known me." That's what Peter pleaded with the Lord when
the Lord called him after the Lord arose. Something struck
me while we were reading that. I'd never seen it before. The
Lord said, I will go before you. He said to all his disciples.
Judas was not there. But he said to the rest of them,
the eleven, he said, all of you will deny me tonight, but I'm
going to go before you. into Galilee, meaning they're
going to be there, all of them. Not one of them missing. Peter
is going to be there. And the Lord, two of the sweetest
words Peter ever heard was, the Lord said, go tell my disciples
and Peter. And Peter. And I know that Peter loved Psalm
139. Lord, you know me. You searched
me. You know me. That's what he said
to the Lord there in the end. He said, Lord, thou knowest.
You know all things. You know about me. Thou knowest
my down city, my uprising, my thoughts are fired off. You know
everything about me. I'm sure he read this. Lord,
all in thy book, everything about me was written. Everything about it. Every believer's
life, like Peter's, we read, his life is there for us to read
at least three and a half years of it. And every believer's life
is written in God's book, the Lamb's book of life. Every believer. Oh, yes. That's what we read
in Psalm 139. The stories we read in Hebrews
11, Sunday, remember? We read all those stories. Not
all of them, but you've read them with me before. Ours is
there, too. Yes, there are. All of God's
people, their stories are written. We spend our lives as a tale
that is told. A tale that is told. God wrote
it. And the last words, I bet you
the last words of the sweet psalmist of Israel were some of David's
favorite words, too. They are mine. They should be
every sinner's. He said this. The sweet psalmist
of Israel wrote these sweet last words. The Lord led him to. He
said, Thou hast made with me an everlasting covenant ordered
in all things, and sure, and this is all my salvation. Isn't
that your What the world hates, we sang about God's predestinating,
sovereign, predestinating grace, ordering all things for his people. What the world hates, the believer
rests his soul upon. That God of Israel hath made
with all of his people, through Christ, an everlasting covenant,
and is ordered in all things and sure, and that's all our
salvation. And really, it's all our desire. That's what we want
to look into, isn't it? We keep coming back each week
to hear the will read. God's will. And that all the
blessings of God are in Christ, and they're yay and amen. Over there in Hebrews 11, I mentioned
that God wrote of the living, and listen to this. Some of us
stopped and we talked about this after the sermon. We continue. Those of you want
to meet with us again, we continue back in the foyer nearly after
every service and keep preaching to one another. People say things
I wish I had said, but I spend too much time as it is. Anyway,
we were talking about back there and. I'll say it again. God wrote
that book, Hebrews 11, that chapter in his book, of the living and
dying faith of his Saints. And he never mentions one sin
of any of them. In that book, in Hebrews 11,
all those Saints are mentioned by God, but he doesn't bring
up one thought. He wrote that as if they were
faultless, unblameable, and unreprovable in his sight. They are. They are. Though every one of
them, like Peter, took terrible falls, didn't they? He mentions Noah. Don't you know
Noah wishes that the Lord hadn't written what he did right after right after the ark rested. Abraham,
mentioned Abraham, David, and on and on. Yet God presents them
in his book as unblameable. Because they all, we started
that study of faith, we started it out where everything starts,
the object of faith. One Lord, they all had one Lord,
one faith. What is that one faith in that
one Lord? one hope of their calling, one
Father, God, and Father of them all, Christ the firstborn of
none of them any brethren. Now, as we said, Simon Peter's
story didn't begin here. Let's go back to Matthew 4. Go
back to where it did begin, at least where the Lord began writing
it. Now, here he sits over there
in the last part with these bunch of no good people. And believe
me, those people that were hanging around outside that place, they
were bloodthirsty. They were wanting to see some
blood. That's what people do when catastrophes happen. That's
right. People gather. Why? Because they
want to see the carnage. That's right. That's the only
thing reported in the paper, isn't it? Those people like it. And those bunch of no-goods were
gathered outside the hall or judgment hall, waiting to see
somebody crucified. And Peter was with a bunch of
no-good. These were no-good people that he was with. They had no
business there, did they? A bunch of no-goods, and you
find them cursing and swearing, don't you? Matthew 4, look where the Lord
found him in the first place. Now, this account is given in
all four Gospels, different aspects of the same account. This is
Simon's calling. Chapter 4, verse 18, the Lord
Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee saw two brethren, Simon, called
Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea. They
were fishers, fishermen. The Lord Jesus Christ Now, in
Luke's account, in Luke's account, it says the Lord saw them washing
their nets. They had already been fishing.
Perhaps he was watching from a distance and watching them
out there in their boats, toiling. They toiled all night. It said,
and they didn't catch a thing. You reckon they were in a good
mood? You reckon, Ron, they were in a good mood? This was their
living. Commercial fishermen. They toiled
all night long and didn't catch a minnow. And they were in washing their
nets in the morning. And the Lord then came after
they'd tried everything, you see. The Lord waited like old
Lazarus. He waited until he was stinking.
And the Lord waited until they'd given up. And the Lord came to
where they were, and he told Simon Peter, he said,
Launch your boat out and cast your net right over there. Now,
I want you to be honest. What do you think that this old
rough fisherman, what do you think went through his head?
What do you think he uttered under his breath? Have you ever watched that show
on TV, The Deadliest Catch? I think it's all about commercial
fishermen. They go out in Alaska and spend,
you know, a month at sea. Dangerous. Those guys are the
roughest fellows you'll ever see in your life. You wouldn't
want to be around them. You wouldn't want your daughter
around them, that's for sure. Vile, filthy talking. And that was these men. That's
right. That was Simon Peter. See, he
came by that crescent and swearing naturally. And what do you think he thought
when this teacher came by and said, launch your nets, launch
your boat out there? He said, Master, we doiled all
night and caught nothing. Can you believe this, Andrew? But he thought, we're going to
teach him a lesson. Nevertheless, that's your word, we'll do it. And they cast their boat, launched
their boat out, and you know the story. The Lord displayed
to them who it was that passed by that day. His sovereign power. He's the master of the sea. Not
only billows, but fish his will obey. And their nets were so
full of fish they couldn't get them in. And that's when Peter
said this. This is Luke's account. He said,
Something happened. Something happened to Peter.
Right then and there. He said, Depart from me, Lord.
I'm a sinful man. He thought this is not just some
teacher here. This is God. That's what he said,
like the thief on the cross. He didn't know it, but he did
then. Lord, you're coming into your kingdom. Peter said, if
he knows where the fish are and commands the fish into my net,
he knows my thoughts. He knows everything about me.
He knows I just cussed him. He knows me. And the Lord revealed
a little bit of Peter's self to Peter. The Lord Jesus Christ
came into this world to call sinners to repentance. He didn't
come to call the righteous. I love those words of the Pharisees.
They meant it in derision of the Lord, but it's my comfort. They said, this man receiveth
sinners and eateth with them, sucks with them. That's good
news, isn't it? The Lord came not to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentant. You've heard us. We all think
that we ought to put on the top of our church house, sinners
only. No good people need apply. But even at that, aren't some
of you formerly self-righteous good people glad that the Lord
saved some self-righteous people? Aren't you glad? The Lord came
to save sinners. The Lord came to find his lost
sheep. All his sheep were lost when
he found them. The Lord came to where Simon Peter was. The
Lord had him there that day. And Andrew. The Lord had James
and John. Remember the story we considered
how that there were many boats out in that water? Many boats. This was the Sea of Galilee and
it wasn't a big place. And anybody that was in the field,
that was the chief livelihood of men back then. And there were
many boats out there that day. But the Lord came to two boats. There may have been 200 boats,
but the Lord set his eye on two of them. Four men and two boats. He came to where they were. He
had them there. ready to meet, like the woman at the well. He
called four of them. He found Simon. The Lord found
Simon. Simon wasn't looking for the
Lord. Andrew wasn't looking for the Lord, was he? James and John
weren't seeking the Lord. They weren't talking. What if
Jesus of Nazareth was going to come? They weren't interested
that the Lord came looking for them. And he found them, they
say. Whoever he goes looking for,
he finds them. And he found Simon, and this is what he was, a fisherman,
a fisherman, a fisherman. Well, old Simon and all of them,
they did what they were told, not knowing that they themselves
were being caught. They'd lost those nets out to
catch some fish, not knowing that they themselves were being
caught right then and there in a net, the gospel net. That's
what our Lord said, the gospel's a net. Takes in all manner, out
of every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue under heaven, all
manner. They'd just been caught. So the Lord Jesus Christ sovereignly,
mercifully, powerfully called old Simon, Peter, and Andrew,
and James, and John. He said, didn't ask, didn't bribe
them. He just sovereignly, where the
word of the king is, there's power. He said, follow me. What'd
they do? They followed him. They were
inexplicably drawn to, to this man. Peter couldn't explain it
himself. James and John got out of the
boat and started walking down the shore behind, and their father,
their father was fishing. Their father, I'm sure he said,
where are you all going? You stay here and help me." Dad,
we quit. We got to follow him. Inexplicably drawn. They dropped
everything. Their whole life, they dropped
it. Meant nothing to them from there
on. Now what is this? If it's not the new birth. something that was never there
before. Something that was never there before. Old things passed
away. Old things become brand new.
A new life, a new master. They were under a master before,
and the Lord Jesus Christ, whom they did not know, but who knew
them. Yea, before the world I knew
thee. And he knew them, and he came to find them, and he found
every one of them, and he called them. And he led captivity captive. Simon, Andrew, James, John. New men, new creatures. But now
hold on a minute. I heard a man wrongly quote that
2 Corinthians 5. It says all old things have passed
away. All things have become new. He
said all old things are not passed away. But it doesn't say that.
It doesn't read that. There's an old man. There's an
old man that's still in every believer. Scripture's very clear
about this. It even mentions the old man
many times. It says, put off the old man.
Put on the new. There was an old man still in
Simon. The Lord changed his name, didn't
he, to Peter, but Simon was still there. An old man. It would not go away. An old
man named Simon that was born a sinner, a no-good sinner, named
Simon, who hated God, never gave God a thought. That old man was
enmity against God. Old Simon was still there in
him. Still there. And he was not going
to go away until the Lord had Simon crucified and that body
of death laid down. And the same is true about every
single child of God. There's an old man that's not
going to go away. And he's not going to get any
better. Not going to get any better. And that old man is what
came out three years later in old Simon. Go back to our text.
That old man is what came out three and a half years later
when he was sitting by this fire. According to the Lord's purpose,
the Lord did this to humble Peter, didn't Had Peter not said what he said,
he still would have been offended and left because the scripture
says so, right? But since Peter opened his big
mouth, Peter got a little bit lifted up with pride and self-righteousness. He said, all these may, not me. So the Lord is going to humble
him. The Lord will humble his people. This whole thing, this
whole life that believers live, is a lesson in humility. And
the way in which God does it the best is to let us see our
old self. Just let him pop up his ugly
head every now and then. If we begin to lose sight of
what we were when the Lord found us, and what we are capable Except
for his restraining grip, we'll get a little puffed up on it.
But the Lord won't let that happen. One time, one time, after my
pastor preached a message, he was standing back in the, not
this pulpit, but where he pastored, and he was standing back in the
the foyer and a man came by and was bragging on the preaching. What a good message it was. He
just kept going on and finally said to my father, he said, oh,
but I don't want to puff you up. And my dad said to him very sternly,
I was standing there, he said, you don't have to worry about
that. That's not yours to do. The Lord
will take care of that, and he will in all of his people.
He's not going to let us get puffed up. The Lord alone will
be exalted in that day, and in our minds and our hearts always.
That humble Peter, that old man was left there, and he's left
in us to keep us humble. Why? To show us that without Christ,
we can do nothing. I mean, the Lord told him, you're
going to deny me freedom. Not me, not me. It just wasn't
a few hours later until he did just what he said he wouldn't
do. And so it is with us. And to show us our desperate
need of Christ at all times. Without him, we can do nothing.
And for our comfort, the Lord recorded this of old Peter, for
our comfort. Because the best of men, the best of men will fall. And just as soon as you begin
to be too confident in anybody, Lord, they'll disappoint you. The Lord will see to it. Somebody
was bragging on me recently in public, and I said, you're setting
me up for a fall. Don't do that. But for our comfort,
the best of men fall, and for our learning, our warning. Had
Peter said, Lord, God willing, the Lord told us to pray this
way. Lord, if you be willing, I'll not deny you. I don't believe he would have. But he didn't say that. So it's
for our learning to warn us. The old Simon came out in Peter,
and it was bad, wasn't it? Look here at our text. And I
like this, though. Right in the middle of this,
something stood out to me. What made me want to deal with
this? Right in the middle of Peter's denial, there's hope
that Peter is one of the Lord. There's hope that Peter is not
a reprobate. Though he denies the Lord, there's
something undeniable in Simon Peter. Let me say that again. Though
he denies the Lord, there's something in Simon Peter that's undeniable. Look at it. Verse seventy-three.
And this is the third time somebody came to him. They all recognized
And the third time, someone after a while came unto him that stood
by and said to Peter, Surely thou art one of them. Your speech
bereath you. I don't care what you say. I
know you're one of them. Your speech gives you away. Did you catch that when you read
that? His speech generally, Peter's
speech generally was seasoned with salt. That's what scripture
says, that your speech be seasoned with salt, seasoned with grace.
Know how you ought to answer everyone. Generally speaking,
had you talked to Peter, he'd be a kind man, wouldn't he? A civil man, civil tongue. Give
him praise. Talk about Christ, wouldn't he?
He knew the Lord. Yes, he did. As we said, the Lord allowed
Peter to, one time before he denied him, allowed him to confess
him. And he was defending our Lord's
honor, wasn't he, when he took out that sword. The Lord did
that. And my, my. But a few instances of cursing
and bitterness do not make a man a curser and bitter. You understand? A moment left to himself, he
finds himself cursing and bitter and swearing, doth not mean that
he's a reprobate man. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad? Listen to this. Listen carefully to what I say.
Just as someone cannot pretend to be what he is not. Judas could not. He tried. He
could not. Finally, his sin found him out.
He was a reprobate man. He's going to come out. Just
as one cannot pretend to be what they are not. One cannot pretend not to be
what they are. Did you catch that? Let me say
it again. Are you listening? You'll get
great comfort if you just listen to it. Just as one cannot pretend to
be what they aren't, what they're not. One cannot pretend not to be
what they are. You are what you are. Let me give you a good illustration.
They said your speech be right if you do what that's a good
betraying the writing. It means clear evidence. The
right. Only time you. It's clear evidence where you
who you're who you're with. But you're one of surely you're
one of you talk like him. Can any Englishman. Can an Englishman
ever pass himself off as an American. Have you ever known. and Englishman
to pass himself off as American. I just can't get rid of that
accent, or vice versa. For that matter, can a Kentuckian? Or whatever. You are what you
are. You are what you are. Scripture
says, as he is, so are we. Peter didn't think so a little
while later. He didn't think so. Oh, I'm not
one of his disciples. Yeah, Peter, if you speak, we'll
raise you. Surely you're one of them. I
know what you said. I heard what you said. I know
how you acted. And I allowed that to happen.
Our salvation is this. Here's our salvation. The Lord
knoweth them that are his. The foundation of God standeth
sure. The Lord knoweth them that are his." There he is. He made them his. He cannot deny
them that are his. Don't you love that verse where
it says, if we deny him, he's faithful. He can't deny himself. He can't deny himself. The Lord
will never deny his wife, his bride. She did him. Does him, son. Lord can't deny,
can't deny. And though we have denied the
Lord, every believer in here has at one time denied the Lord.
We deny the Lord by what we don't say sometimes. Though everyone,
every believer has denied the Lord, not only that way, but
our actions sometimes deny him of that. And though we will deny him again, And we'll smart for it. Hopefully, we'll weep bitterly
over it. But like Peter, we cannot, we cannot finally deny him. We can't do it. His seed remains
in us. That's what John said. When John
talking about that sinneth not, he that is born of God sinneth
not, for his seed remaineth in him. Now that's the good news of the
gospel. That Christ can't deny you, and what he's done faithfully,
he's begun a good work in you, he'll finish it. It is God which
worketh in us, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. David
wrote this in the Psalms. He said, Thou hast ordained all
my works for me. And we just read that in Psalm
139. Everything about me has been written in a book. My falls,
my down sittings, My cursing, my swearing, my bitterness, my
praise, my thanksgiving. It's all there in a book. It's
sealed, Nancy. It's sealed. I'm going to open
it up in the end time. I'm going to open it up. The
Lord's going to read it to us. Boy, we're going to be so thankful
that he made this covenant concerning us. But Peter wept bitterly,
didn't he? And I close with this. Peter
wept bitterly, verse 75. Have you ever wept bitterly?
He went out and wept bitterly. Have you ever wept bitterly?
I don't mean over just some losses or whatever. I mean over yourself,
your sinful self. Every believer has. Surely they
have. They have and they do and they
will. Before this thing's over, you'll
weep bitterly again over something you've said and done and wish
you had never, ever happened. Peter wept bitterly. And right,
but right before his death, let me read this to you over here
in 1 Peter. Right before his death, he said,
the Lord showed me that I must lay down this tabernacle. And
he said, I want to remind you something before I do, before
I die. I just want to remind you, the Lord led him to write
this letter, and he wrote this letter to all the saints, and
he said, he hadn't spoken long, but he said, we're elect. We're
elect. according to the foreknowledge
of God. He went on and said, Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his abundant mercy, who hath
begotten us, given birth to us, to a lively hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, that fadeth not away, and reserved in heaven for you. It's reserved for you who are
kept by the power of God. Peter says, I know, I know from
experience. And he went on to say, oh, you
greatly rejoice, but now you're going through these trials, tried
with fire, but it's going to be found none to praise and honor. Who's? Christ. And glory at the
appearing of Christ, whom the heavenly not seeing you love.
You do, don't you? The Lord said, Peter, do you
love me? He didn't ask anybody else. You
think Peter loves me? Huh? Peter, do you love me? Lord, thou knowest. Yea, Lord,
I do. And over in chapter 2, he said
this to us. He said, you were as sheep going
astray. It's the last thing David wrote
in the psalm, wasn't it? You know what the last verse
in the psalm is? Tom 119 it is. Last verse. He said, Seek me. I'm a lost
sheep. Seek me. But he said, You are
a sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the shepherd
and bishop of your soul. Old Peter denied the Lord, but
he's now returned. Coordinated God's sovereign mercy
and grace. That's the good news. That's the good news. Surely,
Paul said this to the Hebrews over in chapter ten, he said,
exhort one another daily so much more as you see the day approaching. Don't take the assailant of yourself
as a matter of some is, but exhort one another. And he said this,
he went on to say this, oh, there's a fearful looking for judgment
for some, it's a fearful thing. fall into the hands of the living
God, and call to remembrance the former day. He went on to
say, A little while, he that shall come will come, and will
not tarry, the just shall live by faith. Any man draw back, have no pleasure
in it. But we are not of them who draw
back under perdition, but of them which believe to the saving
of our souls. Surely you're one of them. Though you deny, Christ can't deny himself and
what he's created in you. It's there. Christ in you. That's your hope of glory. OK, stand with me. Our Lord, thank you for your
abundant mercy and grace to such biosinners. Thank you, Lord,
for your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your word, the
word of truth, the incorruptible seed by which we're born again. Thank you, Lord, for that which
you have created. Though it does not yet appear
what we shall be. We say, Lord, with the hymn writer
of old, we're not what we want to be, not what we're going to
be, not what we ought to be, but oh Lord, thank you. Not what
we used to be. There's a new creature you've
created. Lord, we ask that you cause him
to grow in grace. Let not the old man and the sin
have dominion over us. You promised he wouldn't. I ask
that you cause this new man to grow in grace, the knowledge
and the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Conform us to his
blessed image. Crucify the old man with his
affections and lusts thereof. We pray. We ask. for thy glory,
for thy honor, according to the riches of thy glory and according
to your promises. We plead your promises. Bless
your people, Lord. Restrain them. Keep them from
the evil one. Cause us to look to thee at all
times. It's in Christ's name we are
met here tonight for his honor and glory. Amen. I don't know. I don't know. you