I'd like to begin reading in
verse 15 of John chapter 18. And Simon Peter followed Jesus. And so did another disciple.
That disciple was known under the high priest and went in with
Jesus into the palace of the high priest. Now, we're not told
who this disciple was. Some have thought it was John,
but I don't believe so. John didn't know the high priest.
I believe perhaps it was Nicodemus, someone who knew the high priest,
or maybe Joseph of Arimathea. But Peter, verse 16, stood at
the door without. Then went out that other disciple,
which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that
kept the door, and brought in Peter. Then saith the damsel that kept
the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? He saith, I'm not. You remember the Lord told him
that he would do this. And I'm sure he thought, no,
I won't. But here he goes, I am not. And the servants and officers
stood there who had made a fire of coals for it was cold. And they warmed themselves and
Peter stood with them and warmed himself. It was cold. Now this means a whole lot more
than a low temperature. I think it sounds very much like
after Judas had betrayed our Lord and left, it said it was
night. It was night. It was cold. And Peter is standing with the
enemies of the Lord, warming himself. He had fallen into such
a cold state, a spiritual chill, a frozen heart, and he was miserable
You know what it is to have a cold and a dead and an unfeeling heart. I don't believe there's anything
much more miserable than not being able to feel. That's where
Peter was. It was cold and Peter sought
to warm himself, create in his own heart a heat. trying to work something up. Peter sought to warm himself. How many times have you and I
done just that? Knowing something of the deceitfulness
of my heart. In Jeremiah chapter 17 verse
9, the prophet said, the heart is deceitful above all things. and desperately wicked. Who can
know it? I certainly can't know mine.
And when I read of Peter doing something like this, it scares
me to death because I can see myself doing the same thing. How I fear being just like Peter,
warming myself. trying to convince myself of
something, trying to make myself believe everything was okay. Peter warmed himself. Now here he is standing with
the enemies of the Lord. He's already lied and denied
that he knew the Lord. And the Lord told him that was
going to take place. I wonder how he felt when he
told that lie. I don't know. the man. Peter stood within cold. Now, how did Peter get in such
a deplorable condition? Well, turn back to Matthew chapter
26 and let's see where this began. Matthew chapter 26, verse 31. Then saith Jesus unto them, all
you shall be offended because of me this night. For it's written,
I will smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall
be scattered abroad. But after I'm risen again, I'll go before
you into Galilee. How many times did the Lord tell
him, I'm going to be raised from the dead. After I'm risen again,
I'll go before you. Yet, none of them were waiting
there at his tomb. They didn't believe him. Verse
33, Peter answered. You know, Peter always is answering
at me. He's always answering. Nobody's asking anything, but
he's always got a ready answer. Peter answered and said unto
him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet
will I never be offended." I can see James being offended. I can
see John being offended. I can see Thomas. I always wondered
about him. But not me. Not me. Jesus saith unto him
barely 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 said also all the
disciples now what happened to this attitude Look in verse 21
of the same chapter. And as they did eat, he said,
Verily I say unto you that one of you shall betray me. Now, what if our Lord said this
in this room? Somebody in this room is going
to betray me. What would your response be?
Wonder who it is. Wonder which one of these people
do it. Verse 22. And they were exceeding sorrowful.
And began every one of them to say unto him, Lord. Is it I? Am I the one? that's going to
do this. Now what happened to this attitude?
Peter said, is it I? But somewhere between then and
this period he had grown hard in pride and he says, though
the rest of this bunch denies you, I'll never do it. This is called confidence in
the flesh, isn't it? Pride. self-righteousness. And I can't get mad at you, Peter,
because I'm just like you. Just like you. From this state of pride came
a state of sloth. Look in verse 40. This is after
our Lord was praying in the garden. Let this cup pass from me. Verse
40. And he cometh unto the disciples
and findeth them asleep. And saith unto Peter, What? Could you not watch with me one
hour? Watch and pray that you enter
not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak. You see, pride opens the door
to every other sin. And here we see Peter in a state
of spiritual sloth. Pride goeth before destruction
and a haughty spirit before the fall. Now, pick up reading in
verse 51 of Matthew chapter 26. You can see his digression. Verse
51, and behold, One of them which were with Jesus stretched out
his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high
priests, and smote off his ear." Now we know who that was from
the other accounts. That was Peter. And what was Peter doing?
He was trying to murder this guy. He wasn't just trying to
cut off his ear. If the guy ducked his head, Peter
was going to chalop his head off. He was using absolute fleshly
means. He was trying to help the Lord.
He was trying to help the Lord out of this mess. He thought
he could do it. Go on reading verse 52. Then said Jesus unto
him, put up again thy sword into his place. For all they that
take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that
I cannot now pray to my father and he shall presently give me
more than 12 legions of angels. 72,000 angels could come up here
and take care of this. But having shall the Scriptures
be fulfilled, that thus it must be." Now, after Christ is arrested,
Mark's account tells us that Peter followed him afar off. Afar off. He didn't want to be
identified with him. He loved him. He was miserable. He didn't know what to do. He
followed him. afar off. Go back to John, if you would.
John 18. Now, bold, courageous Peter,
who says, I'll never deny you. I'll die with you, but I won't
deny you. All of a sudden, he's overcome
with the fear of man. And not so much a fear of man,
a fear of a little damsel, a little girl. She says to Peter, are
you one of them? And Peter said, I don't know
the man. He didn't want to be identified
with him in any way. Verse 18, And the servants and
officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals, for it
was cold and they warmed themselves. What do you reckon the conversation
was at that time? What do you reckon they were saying about
the Lord Jesus Christ? And Peter kept his mouth shut. He stood there warming himself
with the fire of coals. Look down in verse 25. It's repeated again, and Simon
Peter stood and warmed himself. I can't imagine what was going
on in Peter's mind at this time. I bet he was terrified. He was
confused. He was guilty. And so he had
to work things up. He stood and warmed himself. Himself they said therefore unto
him art not thou one of his disciples He denied it and said I am not
and we know from Mark's account that he is cursing and swearing
to Emphasize this he used language that would not let him be identified
as one of the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ Verse 26, one
of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman, whose ear
Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with
him? Here's the third time. Peter then denied again. And
immediately the cock grew. And we know from Luke's account
that as soon as Peter made this denial, he was in the room where
the Lord Jesus was seeing all this. Remember, he was brought
in. The scripture says the Lord looked at him. He didn't say anything. He looked at him. He wasn't going
to betray him. He wasn't going to get him in
trouble. He looked at him. And the scripture says, Peter
went out and wept bitterly. Now, I can't be too hard on Peter.
Can you? Have you and I not been equally
guilty? Lord, deliver me from warming
myself. Now go back to Isaiah chapter
50, that passage of scripture I just read. We have here some
people who warm themselves. And I dare say that every one
of us have been guilty of doing this, trying to work something
up, warming ourselves. Verse 11, behold, All ye that
kindle a fire, that compass yourself about with sparks, walk in the
light of your fire and in the sparks that you have kindled.
This shall you have of mine hand. You shall lie down in sorrow. But look in verse 10. Here we
In verse 11, we have some people who have some light and have
some heat. But look in verse 10. Who is
among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his
servant? You believe the gospel. You believe
the testimony of God. But look how he's described,
that walketh in darkness. and hath no light. Let that one
trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God. Now let's see what led Isaiah
to say this. This is a wonderful chapter.
Let's start in verse 1 of Isaiah chapter 50. Thus saith the Lord, Where is
the bill of your mother's divorcement whom I put away? Or which of
my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Now these people were
thinking the Lord has had it with me. He's found an uncleanness
in me. Remember that law of divorce
in the Old Testament when a man found an uncleanness in his wife? Let him write her a bill of divorcement.
And Israel is saying, he's found an uncleanness in me and he's
divorcing me because we can't pay our debts. He's selling us
as his slave. The Lord says, show me the bill
of divorcement. It's never happened. Show me
the creditor I sold you to. It never happened. He says, Behold,
for your iniquities have you sold yourselves. For your transgressions
is your mother put away. Your troubles are all self-inflicted. All of your sin, all of your
trouble is your fault. But that's no reason for despair.
You see, when everything's your fault, you're now a candidate
for mercy. As long as it's not your fault,
you can forget mercy. But if everything is your fault,
before God, you are now a candidate for mercy. I tell you what, that
makes me a candidate. All my sin is my fault. Let's go on reading, verse 2.
And this is prophetic. This is the Lord Jesus Christ
speaking. 700 years before His incarnation. Wherefore, when I came, was there
no man? When I called, was there none
to answer? When I came, there was not one
person interested. He came unto his own, and his
own received him not. And then he says, is my hand
shortened at all that I cannot redeem? Or have I no power to
deliver? Is anything too hard for the
Lord? Behold at my rebuke, I drive
the sea. I make the rivers a wilderness.
The fish stinketh because there's no water and dies for thirst.
I clothe the heavens with blackness and I make sackcloth their covering. Do I not have power to do all
these things simply as an act of my will? Verse 4, The Lord God hath given me the
tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season
to him that is weary." Remember that scripture we looked at this
morning? Come unto me, all ye that are weary, and heavy laden,
and I will give rest. The Lord had given me the tongue
of the learned that I should know how to speak a word in season
to him that's weary. He wakeneth morning by morning. He wakeneth my ear to hear as
the learned for 33 years. The Lord opened his ear every
morning. Verse five, the Lord God hath
opened my ear and I was not rebellious. Neither turned I will away my
back. Now this is a reference. The opening of the year is a
reference to the willing bond slave. You can read about him
in Exodus chapter 21 with this slave. He's finally, it's time
to set him free. And if he's married a woman and
had a family during that time, he couldn't take them with him.
He could go out himself after seven years, but he couldn't
take his family with him. But if he said, I love my wife, I
love my family, I love my master. I don't want to be set free.
I want to stay with them forever. Then the master would take him
and they would bore a hole through his ear. And this is what our
Lord is talking about. Mine ear hast thou opened. Same thing as in Hebrews chapter
10, where he came to save his people. He says, the Lord God
hath opened mine ear. I was not rebellious, neither
turned I away My back, he says, verse 6, I
gave my back to the spiders and my cheeks to them that plucked
off the hair. I did not, I hid not my face
from shame and spitting. The Lord knew exactly what he
was doing, obviously. He said, I didn't hide my face
from the shame that I'm going to experience. And He's talking
about the shame of His people's sin becoming His. That just amazes
me to think of the Lord being ashamed. That's how truly my
sin became His. He was ashamed before His Father.
He was embarrassed. He was humiliated. He said, I
didn't turn back. I didn't hide my face from the
shame and the spitting and the guilt. Now, when He's going to
give these people assurance, When He's going to give them
good news, you know what He starts talking about? Himself. Himself. These people who are in darkness,
what does He give them? He gives them something about
Himself and His cross. He says in verse 7, For the Lord
God will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore,
if I set my face like a flint, I know that I shall not be ashamed.
What words of resolve! He knew He would be successful
and He never doubted the outcome. Verse 8, he is near that justifies
me. Who will contend with me? Let
us stand together. Who is my adversary? Let him
come near to me. He trusted his Father in complete
darkness. Now, even though he's in darkness,
he's saying, who's going to come near me? You know, he said, though
he slay me, yet will I trust him. And even in this darkness
on the cross, he's trusting his Father. You know, somebody had
to trust God perfectly. He did. Me and you? No. No. We're so filled with
doubts and fears, but he trusted him perfectly. He is near that
justifieth me. Who shall contend? I know this
is what Paul was thinking about in Romans chapter 8 when he said,
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God
that justifies him. Who is he that can condemn? It's
Christ that died. This is what he was thinking
of. He is near that justifieth me. Who will contend with me?
Let us stand together. Who is mine adversary? Let him
come near to me. Behold, verse 9, the Lord God
will help me. Who is he that shall condemn
me? Lo, they all shall wax old as a garment. The moth shall
eat them up. Now, verse 10, "...who is among
you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant?" You're afraid of the Lord. You
believe He is. You believe He is as the Bible
presents Him to be. And you obey the gospel. You
believe the gospel. This is what this is talking
about. It's not talking about obeying the Ten Commandments. It's talking
about believing the gospel. You obey the voice of His servant. You hear when God says, there
is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
You hear that and you believe it. You believe everybody that
Christ died for must be saved. You believe all the elect will
be saved. You believe the Word of God. You believe the voice
of God. You believe. However, there's always a however with
us, isn't there? You walk in darkness and have
no light. You believe but you don't feel
his favor. You cannot see in yourself an
evidence of grace. You try to warm yourself and
it doesn't work. You say with Newton of old, when
I turn mine eyes within, all is dark. and vain and wild, filled
with unbelief and sin. Can I deem myself a child? You walk in darkness. You believe,
but you walk in darkness. You believe everybody Christ
died for will be saved, but you're sure not sure if you're one of
them. You walk in darkness and you feel isolated and alone. You can't see, you can't find
one reason in yourself as to why the Lord would do anything
for you. You walk in darkness and you
have no light. That's what it says, no light. Can a believer feel like this? Yes. Darkness, depression, feelings
of fear and despair and isolation cut off. That's how you feel. You don't have any assurance
of your salvation and you know it's all your fault. The only
thing you're sure of is that you're a sinner. You're not sure
of anything else. Now, What is this person called
upon to do who walks in darkness and has no light? Hear the words of the prophet
who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice
of his servant that walketh in darkness and hath no light. Let
him trust in the name of the Lord. and stay upon His God. Let him trust, let him rely upon
the name of the Lord. Now, the Lord's got a lot of
names in the scripture. I love His name, I am that I
am. The fellows who supposedly know
what they're talking about in the Hebrew say that that means,
I save in the manner which I save. Who He is, is described by how
He saves. Now, how does He save? Well,
here's one way. He saves by willing the salvation. Save Him! His will saves. Lord, save me as an act of Your
sovereign will. Command my salvation. He saves
by His justice. He saves in such a way where
my sin is paid for and put away. And He's just in bringing me
in. Save me by Your justice. Save me by Your grace. Save me
by Your love. Everything that You are, all
Your glorious attributes, save me by them. Let him trust in the name of
the Lord. I love his name, Jehovah Sidkenu,
the Lord our righteousness. This is the name wherewith she
shall be called, the Lord our righteousness. Let this one trust
in the name of the Lord. Now how can I go about doing
that if I'm in darkness and if I've got no light? How am I to
trust in the name of the Lord? Now, I want you to picture the
time of the Passover with the houses with the blood over the
door. God gave them instruction, if
you're in a house with the blood over the door, you'll be safe.
Now, put yourself in that place. You're there in Israel. What
would you do? What would you do? Would you
stay outside? Or would you get into a house with the blood over
the door? Now, I know what I would do.
By grace, I would get in a house with the blood over the door.
Now, what is God looking for? Here I am in that house. Maybe
I have guilt and sin on my conscience. I think, what if he gets me anyway?
I'm sure there's all kinds of people thinking that. They were
scared to death. God passes through. And he says,
when I see what, what's the one thing he was looking for? He didn't say when I see your
faith, as far as the way you feel, you don't feel like you
have any. He said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. He didn't say when you see the
blood, he said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you."
Now, I know this is only by grace, but I know this about myself.
If I was there, and I heard this, I know the one thing I'd want
to do is get in the house with the blood. That's where I'm headed. And
you know what? Let that one trust in the name
of the Lord. Would you get in one of those
houses? You know whether you would or not. Would you take
a chance on staying outside of them? No! Get in the house with
the blood over the door. Look what he says next. Let that
one who has no darkness, who has no light and walks in darkness,
let him stay upon the name of his God. Let him stay upon his
God. Now to stay means to lean completely. Let him lean upon his God. Lean all your weight upon him.
And if he bears it all, you'll have peace. If you rest completely
in him, You'll have peace. And if you don't, you won't. Lean upon His sovereignty. Lean
upon His power. Lean upon His wisdom. Lean upon
His grace. Lean upon His justice. Lean upon
His righteousness. Lean upon Him. Now, He gives
us this warning in verse 11. Behold, all ye that kindle a
fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks. You try to
work something up to make you think everything's okay. Walk
in the light of your fire and in the sparks that you have kindled,
just like Peter was doing at this time. This shall you have
of mine hand, you shall lie down in sorrow. Now, Peter tried to
work something up. Let me tell you something about
Peter. The Lord said, Peter, Satan hath
desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your
faith fail not." And when you're converted from this horrible
pride that you're in, strengthen thy brethren. Peter. I have prayed
for you that your faith fail not." Now, he didn't pray that
Peter wouldn't fall. As a matter of fact, Peter needed
this fall to knock some of the starch out of him, didn't he?
It was a blessing, it was a blessing of grace. No, I'm not saying
that sin was okay, it was horrible what he did, but Peter needed
to fall. And the Lord didn't pray that he wouldn't fall, but
he did pray this, I've prayed for thee that thy faith fail
not. And you know what? Peter's faith
didn't fail. Now, his assurance, he certainly
lost. And I know this from Mark chapter
16. After the Lord has been raised
from the dead, he's talking to Mary Magdalene, the women that
were waiting. All the disciples had fled, but the women were
still there. And he spoke to them. And he said, you go tell
my disciples that I go before them unto Galilee and make sure
you tell Peter." You see, Peter would have thought
he wasn't one of the disciples. He would have thought, it's over
for me. But the Lord said, you make sure you tell Peter. And you know, Peter gets in trouble
again down the road, over and over and over again. But thank God, Peter I've prayed
for you. Todd, I have prayed for you. With regard to all of God's people,
He says, I have prayed for you. And if He prays for you, you're
in good shape.