The Apostle Peter, that disciple
of whom we read of in the Gospels, who was so close unto Christ,
often seemed to be one of the more vocal of the disciples,
one of the strongest in faith, and yet also the weakest in faith. One who could declare that thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And yet also at another
time, as he was warned, he denied Christ three times before the
cock crew and then wept bitterly because of what he had done.
That one who could be so bold and yet so weak, knew what it
was to stand by the grace of God and to fall in his own strength. He knew what it was to be lifted
up by his saviour and to be crushed by his own depravity and weakness
and lack of faith. He knew what it was to suffer
and he knew what it was to abound in the riches of God and as such
he wrote in his epistles to comfort the people of God and to constantly
point them to walk in faith with their gaze firmly set upon their
Saviour and firmly set upon the One who suffered and died in
their stead. The Lord Jesus Christ who came
into this world to suffer even unto death. The one who came
in this world for the express purpose of going to the cross
and dying upon the cross in order to bear the sins of his people. and the sin of the world and
the judgment of God against that sin in order to deliver that
people from condemnation and bring them into everlasting life.
He constantly, Peter constantly points us to the Saviour, to Christ and Him crucified. because he saw Christ crucified. He saw, he lived and walked with
his Saviour Christ before that day and before that hour at which
the Jews took him and crucified him. He walked with him, he heard
him, he knew who he was. Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the Living God. And then on that day he watched
and beheld as his Lord and Saviour suffered upon the tree dying
for Peter's own sins. He knew his sins. Just hours
before he had denied Christ thrice and wept bitterly and then following
this he beheld Christ his Saviour hanging upon a tree and he knew
for what he suffered. He saw his Saviour suffering
for his unbelief, for his lack of faith, for his denial, for
his sin, for his rebellion. Oh what Peter knew and oh what
Peter saw and oh by faith and the grace of God what Peter believed and out of this Peter writes
he writes these epistles to comfort the flock of God to comfort the
sheep the lost sheep of Israel for whom Christ came for whom
Christ died by whom for whom Christ died, who are saved and
gathered by the gospel. In 1 Peter 5, Peter writes this, the elders
which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness
of the sufferings of Christ. and also a partaker of the glory
that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God which is
among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint but
willingly, not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind, neither
as being lords over God's heritage but being ensembles to the flock.
And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown
of glory that fade if not away. Likewise, you younger, submit
yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one
to another and be clothed with humility. For God resisteth the
proud and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore,
under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due
time. Cast in all your care upon him,
for he careth for you. Be sober. be vigilant because
your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom
he may devour whom resists steadfast in the faith knowing that the
same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in
the world but the God of all grace who have called us under
his eternal glory by Christ Jesus after that ye have suffered a
while make you perfect establish strengthen settle you to him
be glory and dominion forever and ever amen by sylvanus a faithful
brother unto you as i suppose i have written briefly exhorting
and testifying that this is the true grace of god wherein he
stand. It says cast all your care upon
him for he careth for you be sober be vigilant because your
adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom
he may devour whom resists steadfast in the faith knowing that the
same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in
the world. Yes, Peter knew what it was to
cast all his care upon Christ, who cared for him. Because he
knew what it was to have an adversary who went about as a roaring lion,
who could so easily rip Peter to shreds. He knew the influence
of this adversary. but he knew the strength of faith
and the wonderful grace of God in keeping him from him. He can
say in the first verse of this chapter that he is a witness
of the sufferings of Christ, but also a partaker of the glory
that shall be revealed. He saw Christ die, but he also
saw Christ rise again. And in his own experience he
saw himself die. He felt himself to be crucified
with Christ. He felt himself to be condemned
and lost. He felt his own weakness and
poverty. But he felt himself and knew
himself to be strong in the Lord. He knew that when Christ rose
again from the grave that He rose with Him. And He knew that
when Christ was exalted and lifted up on high that God lifted up
Peter with Him. And He knew that all His hope
of salvation is in Christ alone. And it's in Christ He stands.
And it's in Christ that he has all his hope looking upon him
steadfastly in faith and resisting his adversary steadfastly in
the faith Peter had a great enemy the adversary,
the devil who went about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour
Peter could hear the roars of the devil and he could feel his
claws and how often the devil got his claw upon Peter and dragged
him down but how often Christ lifted him up again and he knew
that this foe, this opponent, this adversary could do nothing
to him. Not when he walked in faith,
not when he looked under his Saviour, not when he felt the
grace of God upon him. Every time he tried to walk in
his own strength, that lion got him. But every time God lifted
him up again by grace and caused him to look by faith, he rose
up and slipped from his grasp. Oh, what Peter knew of this.
And what comfort there is in Peter's words and exhortations
to us, who walk a similar path. Us who are taught of God our
own weakness, and our own lack of strength, our utter inability,
and our utter lack of righteousness before a holy God. What comfort
there is in Peter's words to us who know what it is to fall,
who know what it is to stumble and who know what it is to hear
the roars of this lion. But to us who like Peter have
heard the Gospel and by the grace of God been given a view by faith
of the sufferings of Christ on our behalf. and are brought by
the grace of God to be partakers of the glory that shall be revealed. Be sober, be vigilant, because
your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom
he may devour. We sang in our opening hymn, by John Newton, who said, I seem
forsaken and alone. I hear the lions roar, and every
door is shut but one, and that is mercy's door. Newton knew what Peter knew. So often he felt alone. and if his gaze of faith was
taken away and he just looked out upon outward circumstances
he felt alone and he heard the lions roar but faith told him that there
was only one door open to him there was only one escape only
one escape from this lion and being ripped to shreds by him.
There was no strength in John Newton. There was no ability
to flee from the lion's grasp. There was no ability to fight
back. But there was a door he could
flee to, a door of refuge. And that was Mercy's door. I seem forsaken and alone, I
hear the lion roar, and every door is shut but one, and that
is Mercy's door. O believer, when trouble comes
your way, where do you flee? What do you turn to? In what
is your vigilance placed? Do you try to stand fast in your
own strength? Do you try to be vigilant in
prayer and vigilant in Bible reading and vigilant in keeping
from this sin and that sin and oh you mustn't fall and oh you
must stand fast and you try to stand? Well if you try that way
you'll find yourself sinking. You'll find yourself sinking
because unless you're standing in the gospel. Unless you're
standing in Christ, unless you're standing by faith alone, by the
grace of God alone, you'll sink. Unless the door you head to is
mercy's door, you'll find the door shut. When Peter says, be
sober, be vigilant, Because your adversary the devil has a roaring
lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. He's not teaching
you to try to stand against him in your own strength or ability
or wisdom. He's saying resist in the faith. Know that your strength, your
salvation is in Christ alone. You stand by mercy. There's one
door open to you. Mercy's door. Be vigilant. And to Timothy, in chapter two
and verse one, Paul writes these words of encouragement. Thou
therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ
Jesus. Be strong in the grace that is
in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast
heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful
men who shall be able to teach others also. Stand in the grace
that is in Christ Jesus. There's no other strength. There's
no other strength. Timothy, you've got no other
strength. You've got no strength in yourselves.
And those you teach and guide and speak to have no strength
in themselves. Be strong in the grace that is
in Christ Jesus. Mercy and grace and the faith
of God's elect, which is given unto us by the grace of God,
are our only strength. Because that faith looks to Christ,
who gives us that grace and is our Saviour and He is all our
strength, all our wisdom, all our salvation, all our hope. And without Him, we fall. Without Him, we're lost. Outside of Him, we're in darkness. Outside of Christ, we're condemned. If you today are not found in
Christ, if you don't know what it is to be in Christ and to
be covered by his blood, if you can't say with Peter that by
faith you have beheld the sufferings of Christ and are a partaker
of the glory that shall be revealed, then you today at this hour are
lost. You're in darkness, under condemnation,
and you are prey to an adversary, a roaring lion who can rip you
to shreds at will. You have no hope. But if God
teach you that, if God show you that, then you will find there's
only one door you can run to, with Newton, to mercy's door. Yes Timothy, be strong in the
grace that is in Christ Jesus. For the greatest danger we face,
the greatest danger we face from this roaring lion, our adversary
the devil, what he seeks to do is to draw us away from the gospel. To draw us away from Christ and
His grace, His mercy and His salvation. And from the message
of grace, the gospel of grace, which continually points us to
Him and leads us to Him and keeps us in Him. The greatest danger
we face is to be drawn away from this gospel. What Satan, this
roaring lion, hates, despises, is enraged against is the gospel,
the grace that is in Christ Jesus. He doesn't mind if you're religious. He doesn't mind you go into church. He doesn't mind even you reading
the Bible or even praying or being zealous as long as what
you believe and rest and trust in is not the gospel. He's quite
happy for you to think you're saved. and to be very zealous
in your religion. He's quite happy for you to come
out from the world and all its ways and pleasures, to turn your
back on the riches and pleasures of the world. He's quite happy
for you to be very separate and very religious. and dress in
a certain way and speak in a certain way. He's quite happy for you
to spend hours reading your Bible and praying and reading good
books and talking to others so long as what you know and what
you believe and what you understand is not the gospel. As long as
he can keep you resting in your own strength or hoping in your
own works, or coming to God with something of your own righteousness,
your own will and decision to follow Christ, your own goodness,
as long as he can keep you there with a little pride and a little
self-satisfaction at how well you are standing and how well
you are doing. and how God will bless you because
you've done this or done that, as long as he can keep you from
grace alone. He doesn't mind how religious
you are. And indeed this lion has done all he can to encourage
many thousands of people throughout history, many millions of people
throughout history, to come before God this way and that way. He's created many churches and
many denominations and many religions. And he said to many people, lo,
here is Christ. Lo, there is Christ. He said
to many people, come here, come to this church. Follow these
ways. Go this pathway and you will
be saved. And he's led many people to destruction. For they all go, ultimately rested
in something they've done or something they are. Yes, they
read the Bible. Yes, they claim to follow Jesus. But all their hope is in their
following their doing, their knowledge, their wisdom. They've
never truly been brought to a total end of themselves. They've never
sunk like Peter sunk. They've never fallen like Peter
fell. They've never denied Christ like
Peter denied Christ. They've never discovered their
own depravity and hopelessness in the way Peter did. They've
never been crucified in the way Peter was. And until you die,
Until you die before God, and are slain as it were, and are
brought before him as nothing, you will never know what it is
to be saved by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Which is
why Peter says, be sober, be vigilant. Resist your foe in
the faith. Because this adversary, the devil,
this roaring lion, despises the true gospel of grace, of free
and sovereign grace. He despises the message that
salvation is of God from start to finish, that God chose a people
in Christ before the foundation of the world, and God says, I
will save them. No matter what they have done,
no matter where they have gone and who they are, no matter how
rebellious they are, I'm going to turn them and save them. I'm going to take their sins
and lay them upon my son. I'm going to judge my son in
their place. And I'm going to wash them clean
in his blood. And I'm going to come to them
in time in the gospel and preach grace unto them. and I'm going
to send the Holy Ghost with that Gospel and I'm going to quicken
them from the dead and put life in their hearts and give them
a new life and cause them to be born again and cause them
to rise from the dead and be gathered in as sheep in my flock
as citizens in my country gather them in to the New Jerusalem
I'm going to save them. This is what God has promised
to do and this is what God did when Christ came into the world
and died and rose again and ascended and it's what he does when he
sends the gospel by the power of the Holy Ghost and quickens
dead sinners unto life. This is the gospel. It's all
of God. He does whatsoever he pleases
and he pleases to save a multitude by grace for the glory his name
for he is a God that delights in showing mercy and this message
is what the roaring lion despises Everything the adversary the
devil does, every device of the devil, every lie of the devil,
every deceit, every insinuation, every subtle craft of his ways
is designed to draw people away from the gospel of grace into
works. And whether he can get you at
the beginning, when you're outside of the gospel, when you don't
know Christ, whether he can get you to try to save yourself by
your works, or whether he tries to get you once you've been brought
to Christ, and tries to get you back onto works, and trust in
works again, even though you've been brought to nothing, even
though you've been shown the gospel, even though you've been
brought to Christ, he'll come along and say, well now you're
saved brother, now you're saved my friend, but you surely need
to live like this and live like that, surely you need to keep
the law. and he'll get you back under
works again and he'll say well you can't really be sure you're
saved unless you're living like this and he'll get you back under
this treadmill of guilt and condemnation where your hope is based on what
you do and not on what Christ has done freely by grace for
you. Whether he can get you at the start or get you afterwards,
he'll keep on coming. Keep on coming with his insinuation
that grace is not enough. That Christ alone is not sufficient. That Christ alone is not willing
to keep you. He'll come and say, well, you
can't expect Christ, you can't expect God to keep you once God
has shown you so many things and then you keep turning aside.
Why should God keep you? Why should God save you? Why
should God continue to show you mercy? God's done all of this
for you and now you've let him down. Do you really think he'll
give you a second chance? Do you really think he'll be
long-suffering to you? He's done all this for you and
then you turn aside. Do you really think that He will
keep showing you grace? You don't deserve it. You shouldn't
be saved. It's not right. It's not right
that you should think that you could be saved. You ought to
be doing this. And He'll get you every way He
can. Every way He can. Everything He says unto you is
so plausible. Seems so right and just. Yet
it's designed to undermine you and cause you to slip because
it's designed to take your gaze of faith away from Christ. He wants you to look aside to
self. He wants you to say, well, yes,
I know God has done all of this for me, but now I'm sure God
expects me to do my part back. To do my part, to reward. to return favour unto God. God's loved me, well now I'm
striving to show my love unto him by doing this and doing that.
God's blessed me, but now I must work in order to expect any further
blessing. He'll get you back under works
every way he can. And every time he does, he's
taking your gaze away from Christ. Peter says, be sober, be vigilant. Because your adversary the devil
has a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. And
he says, whom resist steadfast in the faith. Your only answer for this adversary
is the gospel of grace. Resist him in the faith. Don't
resist by being taken in by his insinuations. Don't be ensnared
in his trap. He will say, well, you should
be living like this. Don't try and do what he says. Don't turn to your own strength
and try to resist sin in your own strength. Your strength is
in Christ. Look unto him. But the devil has every means
at his disposal. every subtle means to turn God's
people away from grace and to works. He accuses them. He sets the law before them and
says, well, you should be like this and you shouldn't do that.
He comes as an accuser. He makes us feel guilty. He tries
to get us back to working out our own righteousness. He says, you owe God. So he tries
to draw on our sense of duty and our sense that we should
be giving God something back from ourselves. He works on every
emotion and every facet of the human heart to get us back under
works and to take away our hope of salvation. which is in grace
alone. So the devil and all those whom
he sends seek to undermine the gospel, which is why Peter says,
be vigilant. Be sober, don't be taken in by
their heady schemes, by their emotions. Don't be whipped up
by that. Don't be whipped up by what people
say. Be sober. Remember the truth. Stand fast in the gospel. Be
vigilant. Many with the best intentions
undermine this gospel. They think that they are being
vigilant. Vigilant to avoid falling into
sin. Vigilant to avoid turning from
Christ. Vigilant to avoid going into
the world. They believe they're being vigilant.
But they've ceased to say, I'm nothing. And Christ is all. And keep their gaze through the
gospel upon Christ alone. And they've tried to walk in
their own strength. They attempt to avoid falling
into sin, but in so doing, they fall away from grace. and into
standing in their own strength, turning from this gospel with
their best intentions, seeking to serve God, they turn from
God. Yes, be strong, Timothy, in the
grace that is in Christ Jesus. Salvation is all of grace. In
Acts and chapter 15, we read of the council held in Jerusalem,
when the Judaizers came into the church and tried to put bondage
upon the people there. They tried to say, yes, you're
saved by grace, but now you should be circumcised. Now you should
be keeping the law of Moses. And the apostles and the disciples
and the church discussed the matter. And what the disciples
said should be put upon the believers, they said, put no greater burden
upon them, but that they should keep from fornication and keep
from this, but walk in faith. No, don't turn to the law. Don't turn to this. You're saved
by Christ and Christ alone. Again, the Judaizers came unto
the church in Galatia. And they came in and said, yes,
you're justified by Christ, but you must be sanctified by your
own strength, by the law. That's your guide for how to
live. And with their insinuations, they subtly took them away from
grace. And Paul had to write his strongest
letter to the Galatians. Oh, foolish Galatians, who have
bewitched you? they were bewitched by a roaring
lion who came subtly disguised as an angel of light. Paul says, stand fast in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath set you free. Stand fast in grace. You've been delivered from the
law by the body of Jesus Christ. He died to deliver you from the
law, its rule and its condemnation. As far as the law is concerned
you're a dead man. The law looks upon you as a sinner. The law demands a sentence and
says the sinner must die and that sentence came down upon
you as you are in Christ Jesus your Saviour. It came down upon
him, it slew him and it slew you believer in him and the law
has no sight of you now. You're a dead man. It's brought
down its sentence, it cannot see you. It is sheer folly to
turn again as a believer under grace, a new man of grace, risen
the other side of the grave, walking with Christ in eternal
life. The law has no jurisdiction over
you. You're outside of its realm,
outside of its reach. The law is made for sinners and
what you were as a sinner has been crucified. The Galatians
foolishly were taken in with the bewitching spells of these
Judaizers. The faint roaring of the lion
in their ears, the whispering of the serpent, who says, but
surely you're living in this world now and you need to live
like this and live like that. What if you sin tomorrow? What
will that mean? You mustn't do this. You mustn't
commit adultery. You mustn't covet. You mustn't
tell lies. That's true, isn't it? So try
not to. So they say, well, yes, of course
it's true. Of course these things are wrong
as described in the law. Well, I'd better try not to.
Forgetting that they'd already sinned and every single sin that
they'd ever committed, past, present and future, had already
been judged in Christ. He's already paid the price for
their failure. And whether they stand or fall
now by their own strength won't make one difference to their
position before God. They will only stand if they
look by faith through the Gospel to Jesus Christ. If every day
they look upon that sacrifice, if every day they are a witness
of the sufferings of Christ and know that because of His suffering
they are a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed, there's
their hope, there's their standing, there's their salvation. To look
anywhere else is to sink. Yes, we'll put no greater burden
on the believer. In Hebrews 6, we read of those
who fell from grace, those who are enlightened by the Holy Spirit,
those who are brought to know many truths, but then turn aside. They learn many things in their
head. But then they're enticed by these
insinuations of doing this and doing that. They begin to walk
in their own pride and their own strength. And there's no
renewing of grace if you turn aside from it. Salvation is either
by Christ alone, by grace alone, or there's no salvation. There's
no other door but mercy's door. Peter says be sober. Be vigilant. Be vigilant in what? Be vigilant
to stand uprightly? Be vigilant in morality? Be vigilant in the law? Be vigilant
against turning to the left or right hand into this sin or that
sin? No! Be vigilant in faith. Be vigilant in the gospel. If we're only saved by grace,
then we can only be lost if we don't believe that we're saved
by grace. All those who believe this gospel
are saved, never to be plucked out of Christ's hands and never
to perish. And all those who are lost are
those who reject that. Therefore the gospel, The truth
of the Gospel and belief of that Gospel is vital for your soul's
salvation. Any attack on that Gospel and
any departing from that Gospel is to depart from that which
saves. If we don't walk by faith, we
depart from the Gospel. Where's your vigilance? Many
will be vigilant to live and do like this. Many will be vigilant
about this thing and that thing. But they're not vigilant about
defending the gospel. Be vigilant in the gospel, be
vigilant in faith. whom resist steadfast in the
faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished
in your brethren that are in the world. The troubles you face
and the opposition from this roaring lion is common to every
believer. Every child of God walks the
same pathway and they have the same foe and they're just as
weak and helpless as you. Now what makes you think you
can resist him? What makes you think you can
stand in the face of such an enemy? You cannot. Then in what
way do you resist him? In the power of the gospel of
Jesus Christ. You may only resist such a foe
in the faith. You're only kept out of His grasp
as Christ has you in His hand and keeps you away from Him.
And the comfort of your soul and the assurance of salvation
that you seek and desire will only be found as Christ is set
before you. If you look to your standing,
if you look to your conduct, if you look to your own strength,
the roaring lion will come alongside as an accuser and say, look,
there you are, you've fallen, you're not good enough, you're
lost, you're slipping away, you never were in Christ's hands,
you thought you were saved, you were deceived for a time, you're
slipping away, you're falling, you're backsliding, you're gone,
because he's got you. and he's got you gazing inwardly
and gazing at your own conduct and gazing at your sin and gazing
at your unbelief and he knows he's got you. But if you're Christ
my friend, if you're Christ, if you're his, he can never get
you. Because Christ will come with
his gospel and he will set the truth of the gospel before your
gaze, and you'll say, turn and look. The Lord God will say,
behold my son, hear ye him. And you'll set before you a suffering
saviour and say, there's your strength. There's your strength. Be strong in the grace that is
in Christ Jesus. Be strong in faith. Now consider
again the author of this passage, Peter. Peter knew all about the
adversary, the roaring lion. He knew all about how easily
the gaze of faith could be taken away. He knew all about how easily
he could fall, even though so often he was so bold. He was
so bold in the faith and said many things so firmly and strongly. Thou art the Christ, the son
of the living God, he says. To whom else can we go? Thou
hast the words of eternal life. Oh, his faith and confidence
in Christ. But oh how he fell so easily.
Consider when there was a storm upon the waters. And the disciples were in the
boat in the storm. And they felt they would perish.
They felt the boat was sinking and they were lost. And Christ
comes walking to them upon the waters. And Peter calls out to him. and says, Call me unto thee,
that I may walk unto thee. Consider how easily Peter's faith
fell. Matthew 14 verse 22. Straightway
Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go
before him unto the other side while he sent the multitudes
away. And when he had sent the multitude
away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray. And when the evening
was come, he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst
of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary. And
in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking
on the sea. And when the disciples saw him
walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it is a spirit. And they cried out for fear.
But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, be of good cheer,
it is I. Be not afraid. And Peter answered
him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on
the water. And he said, come. And when Peter
was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go
to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous,
he was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried,
saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched
forth his hand and caught him and said unto him, O thou of
little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were
come into the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were in
the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth, thou
art the Son of God. Oh, here we see both the faith
of Peter and the lack of faith. He saw Jesus come unto him, he
saw his Saviour, and he says, May I come unto thee and Christ
says come and he goes and he walks on the water. Peter walked
on the water. What a thing to do. What God
can do by his grace through his people, he can cause them to
do miraculous things as it were. How we see the power of God.
God took this sinner, this fisherman and caused this weak sinner to
walk on the water. Oh what faith can do. But as
soon as Peter turned his gaze from Christ and saw the wind
boisterous he was afraid and he began to sink. And he cried
saying, Lord save me. And Christ said unto him, O thou
of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? This is the man, Peter, that
writes of the roaring lion, be sober, be vigilant. Your adversary goes about as
a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. He knew what it
was to have his gaze set aside by that lion to look at the troubles
around to look with his own eyes upon his trials his difficulties,
the storms that came upon him to look with fear upon what could
be seen with the natural eye and to fear in the natural sense
and for faith to be turned aside he knew what it was to fall and
Christ reminds it in rebuking him, that he has no faith of
his own. He has no strength of his own.
Even the faith that Peter had was given unto him by God. He
stood in Christ. His strength was Christ. And
if you ever turn from Christ, you sink. And if you look to
Christ, you can walk on water. See, when the storms of life,
the trials come, we doubt. We're so frail, we're so easily
led astray. We doubt that faith alone can
keep us. We doubt that God alone will
keep us. We always look at troubles and
think that we must do something. We must do something about them.
And we try to be vigilant. Our vigilance is in the wrong
things. We cease to be vigilant in faith
and turn our vigilance to works. We look to the storm and try
to deal with it ourselves. And we begin to sink. We begin
to sink. And where we should be looking
is to Christ and Him crucified. In Matthew 16, Going on we see
another factor concerning Peter. Matthew 16 verse 13 we read,
When Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked
his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of Man
am? And they said, Some say that
thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremiah, or
one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom
say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus
answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for
flesh and blood have not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven. And I say unto thee that thou
art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto
thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou
shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whatsoever
thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged
he to his disciples that they should tell no man that he was
Jesus the Christ. What a revelation Peter was given. Upon this rock Christ says, upon
this revelation of this truth that I am the Son of God, I will
build my church. Everyone to whom I reveal this
truth, everyone that God the Father comes unto and opens their
hearts to see who I am, will be brought into my church. I
will build my church by revealing who I am and what I do to save
sinners. And Peter had it revealed to
him and Peter could say boldly by faith, thou art the Christ,
the son of the living God. But listen to what happens next.
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 it far from thee, Lord, this shall
not be unto thee. But Jesus turned and said unto
Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offence unto me.
For thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that
be of men. Then said Jesus unto his disciples,
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take
up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life
shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake
shall find it. For what is a man profited if
he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? and what
shall a man gain in his in exchange for his soul for the son of man
shall come in the glory of his father with his angels and then
he shall reward every man according to his works verily i say unto
you there be some standing here which shall not taste of death
till they see the son of man coming in his kingdom yes straight
after The revelation under Peter of who Christ is as the Son of
God and Peter's bold testimony to that fact. Christ then tells
the disciples that he must be betrayed. He must be taken and
suffer many things of the chief priests and scribes and be killed
and raised again the third day. And Peter's reaction to that
is to stop it. No, let it be far from thee Lord. They can't do this. And Peter
reacts in the flesh because he loved Christ as a man, he saw
him as a man and he didn't want Christ to die. But he didn't
know that his salvation depended upon this. And in the best intentions,
Peter was being led astray from the gospel. With the best intentions,
he loved Christ and didn't want Christ to die. Out of his love
for Christ, his works were to try to protect Christ in his
own strength from that which would come upon him. With his
own wisdom, he would try to prevent this happening. And Christ has
to turn to Peter himself and say unto Peter, get thee behind
me Satan, for thou art an offence unto me. For thou savourest not
the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Now this
is what lies behind Peter's ability to speak of that adversary, the
devil, who goes about as a roaring lion. Peter knew what the devil,
Satan, did through him. In the best intentions, Peter
didn't want Christ to die. He loved him. He wanted to protect
him. He couldn't see how Christ's
death would be for good. And in this, Satan had got a
hold of Peter. The roaring lion had come into
his soul, come alongside him, and said, oh, that's not right,
Peter. You don't want Christ to die.
You must protect him. You love him, then protect him.
Don't let this happen. And what seemed so right under
Peter As the whisperings of the serpent came upon him, as the
deception of this lion came into his thoughts, was the very opposite
of what should be. The very opposite. What a remarkable
passage this is. How Peter knew what the roaring
of the lion was from this account. Christ rebukes him by addressing
Peter himself as Satan. Because Peter with good intentions
sought to present Christ from suffering, yet that good intentions
would have prevented Christ from going to the cross, from dying,
and by that bringing in salvation for his people. It would have undermined the
cross and made the cross of none effect. And when Satan comes
unto us in the same way and says, well you love God, do this for
him, do that for him, he's turning you from the cross. And he's
turning you from resting in the cross. and resting in the death
of Christ alone for salvation and seeking to turn you to save
yourself some other way. He's turning you from the grace
of God that was exhibited in the death of Christ upon the
cross to your own ability, your own works and your own wisdom.
Turning you from the gospel. That's what he tried to do with
Peter, that's what he tries to do with you, with me and with
every believer throughout time and everyone else that he can
get his thoughts into their heads of. He deceives the world with
this message and he tries to deceive believers with this message
of trying to turn from the cross. Christ has to say to Peter, this
is the way I must go. Get behind me Satan. What you
say is an offence. You come along with the scriptures.
You come along with the law which I wrote and which I delivered
unto the people. And you use it to lead them astray
and lead them away from the cross. You use it to lead them to destruction. You say salvation's this way
and you'll damn them by having them turn from Christ, from having
them turn from the cross unto their own righteousness. No wonder
Paul said of the deceivers at Galatia and any that would come
with another gospel, let them be accursed because they make
the cross of none effect. If salvation can be by anything
you do, if sanctification can be by anything you do, if your
perfection can be by anything that you do, then there's no
need for the cross. There must be the cross, there
must be death, you must be slain, Christ must die, then the sinner
must die in him. Christ says, if any man shall
come after me, let him deny himself. What is it to deny himself? What
is it to take up the cross daily? It's to deny that there's anything
in us that can be used to justify or sanctify us. It's to deny
that we are anything before God. And to take up our cross is to
see ourselves as crucified, as slain with Christ upon the cross,
and as risen again with Him in righteousness. It's to see our
righteousness as being the righteousness of God in Christ alone. To deny
ourselves, as Christ talks of here, is not to deny ourselves
things in this world. It's not to deny ourselves worldly
pleasure or wealth or riches or any such thing. He's not talking
about that here. It's not to walk some ascetic,
religious way and turn aside from the world and go into a
convent or a monastery. It's not to deny yourself all
these things in order that you can seek God in your own strength. It's to deny yourself. To deny that you are anything
or have anything before God. To see that all you have is in
Christ. It is to die before God, to be
crucified. Christ says, I must be killed
and raised again the third day and you must be killed. Your
old man must be slain with Christ and you must rise again with
him the third day. You must take up your cross and
follow him. You've got to go the same path,
slain at the cross with Christ. Whosoever will save his life
shall lose it and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall
find it. That's what it is. That's what
it is. To turn from the roaring lion
and to stand steadfast in the faith and to answer him in the
faith. It is. to go by the cross and say I'm
nothing and Christ is my only hope. What is it to deny ourselves,
to take up the cross? It's to say we're nothing. To say we're nothing. All the
religious will try to deny themselves things. They will try to work
at walking in obedience. They will strive to do the right
things and that's the very opposite of what Christ exhorts and what
Peter exhorts here. All of that boosts our pride
and our self-righteousness. We're to see ourselves slain
with Christ. To take up our cross. and be
crucified with Him to stand steadfast in the faith. Oh, how easily
Satan will get this and twist this and try to have you say
in your heart of Christ, oh, be it far from thee, Lord. Oh,
he'll have you go another way and Christ will turn to him in
you and say, get thee behind me, Satan. Thou art an offence
unto me. Take your legal gospel and your
salvation by works and the will and the worth of man aside. For
salvation is by grace and grace alone. By grace alone. Peter learnt it again. When in
Matthew 26 he vowed, he vowed never to be offended at Christ. He boldly said I'll never be
offended and then he denied himself three times. We cannot stand
in our own strength. We have no strength. We must
be slain with Christ. O believer, cast all your care
upon Him. for he careth for you. Be sober,
be vigilant, because your adversary the devil has a roaring lion
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour, whom resist steadfast
in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished
in your brethren that are in the world. but the God of all
grace who have called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus
after ye have suffered a while make you perfect establish strengthen
settle you to him be glory and dominion forever and ever amen
oh the devil will come alongside and say yes you've been justified
by christ yes he saved you yes you believe you're washed in
his blood but now you need to live a certain now you need to
be sanctified you need to be prepared for heaven you need
to be perfected the god of all grace will perfect
you The God of all grace will establish you. The God of all
grace will strengthen and settle you. And he will do it no other
way but by grace and by the gospel. He will set the gaze of faith
such that it sees and beholds and is a witness of the sufferings
of Christ. And he will make you by grace
through faith. to be a partaker of the glory
that shall be revealed. Be sober. Be vigilant. Be vigilant about this gospel. Stand fast in grace. Stand fast in Christ. Stand fast in the liberty wherewith
Christ hath made you free. We are saved by grace.