Would you turn to John chapter
13? It's always a pleasure to be with you. John chapter 13. I'd like to begin reading in verse
36. Simon Peter. Said unto him. Lord. whether goest thou? Jesus answered him, whether I
go, thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me
afterwards. Peter said unto him, Lord, why
cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy
sake. Jesus answered him, wilt thou
lay down thy life for my sake barely barely I say unto thee
the cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice I've entitled this message a
needful fall. Now how can a fall ever be needful? Well, you can be assured that
if you fall, if I fall, it's our fault. And if I'm a believer,
it's for my good and for God's glory. And we'll see that from
this passage of scripture, a needful fall. Now this is Simon Peter
speaking. Two names, Simon Peter. And I think these names represent
Simon, the old man, Peter, the new man. Simon Peter. And he makes this statement in
verse 37. He said, I will lay down my life for thy sake. Now, this is Simon,
the old man speaking. This is Peter, the new man speaking. Both men are speaking. Now, how
can two men be speaking? Well, if I'm a believer, I have
two natures funneled into one person, no doubt. But every time
I speak, it's old Todd speaking. It's also the new man. Simon
Peter. Simon is his old name. Peter is the name that the Lord
gave him. Turn back to Matthew chapter
16. You're familiar with this. Verse 13, 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 thou are John the Baptist, some Elias and others, Jeremiah,
one of the prophets. They put you in some pretty high
cotton. They say good things about you. He sayeth 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 hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven. And I say unto thee that thou art Peter. This is when God gave him that
name. Thou art Peter. And upon this rock, this confession
of me, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. I will
build my church and the gates of hell is not going to prevail
against it. This message is going to break down the very gates
of hell and snatch out all of God's people. Peter, Simon, Peter. Now I don't believe I would be
stretching things at all if I said it was both of these men speaking
when Peter says, I'll lay down my life for thy sake. He meant it from the very depths
of his being. He was willing by the grace of
God to die for the Lord Jesus Christ. This was Peter, the new
man speaking, and he meant it so sincerely. But I also see
where this was the old man speaking. Simon, I will. Now, anytime anything we say
begins with that, it's gonna go bad. You can just count on
it. I will lay down my life for thy
sake. That's a sure sign that there's
problems ahead. Anything done in the strength
of this flesh will go wrong. Now, look back to our text in
John chapter 13, verse 36. Simon Peter said unto him, Lord,
whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, This is John
13 verse 36. Whether I go, thou canst not
follow me now, but thou shalt follow me afterwards. You can't
follow me now because where the Lord's going, he went by himself
with no creature aid. He by himself purged us of our
sins. He had no help in this great
work on the cross. He by himself purged our sins. But the Lord says to Peter, but
you shall follow me afterwards. And do you know that Peter did
in fact end up dying for the Lord Jesus Christ? He did lay
down his life for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn with
me to John 21, verse 18. The Lord says to Peter, after
his resurrection, verily, verily, I say unto you, when thou wast
young, thou girdest thyself, and walkest whither thou wouldest.
But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands,
and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest
not. This spake he, signifying by
what death he, should glorify God. Tradition has it that Peter
was crucified upside down at his request because he did not
believe himself to be worthy of being crucified in the same
manner as the Lord. That may be true, I don't know,
but he died as a faithful martyr. of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
loved his master. Now turn back to John chapter
13, verse 37. Peter said unto him,
after the Lord said, you can't go where I'm going, but you'll
follow me afterwards. Indeed he would, but Peter didn't
understand that at this time. But Peter said unto him, Lord,
why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life. for thy sake. Now, when Peter
said this, he meant it. He had no idea as to how weak
and fickle he would prove. He really believed that he would
lay down his life for the Lord Jesus Christ. And we know he
would end up doing it. You see, he loved Christ. He
said in Luke 22, 33, Lord, I'm ready to go with thee both to
prison and to death. And he was. And he did. You see, these were not empty
words. Here's what the grace of Christ
does to a man or a woman, does this to every believer. Every
believer is willing by the grace of God to lay down their life
for Christ. Every believer, without any exception
to this rule, is a faithful martyr. of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
will by the grace of God be faithful unto death. Turn with me to Acts
chapter 20. I want you to hear the words of the Apostle Paul.
He says in verse 22 of Acts chapter 20, And now, behold, I go bound
in the Spirit unto not knowing the things that shall befall
me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesses in every city,
saying that bonds and afflictions are waiting on me. But none of
these things move me, neither can't I my life, dear, unto myself,
so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which
I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the
grace of God." Now, you would, by the grace of God, you realize
that you will be a coward, apart from His grace, you realize that.
But by the grace of God, every believer is willing to lay down
their life for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. I love what
one martyr said, as he was tied to a stake to be burned to death,
he said, to die for Christ, it is an honor I do not deserve. Is Christ not worthy of laying
down your life for his sake? Is he not worthy? I love him. I love His person. I love His attributes. I love
His holiness. I love His grace. I love His
sovereignty. I love His justice. I love His
power. Everything about the Lord Jesus
Christ, I love and I wouldn't change a thing about Him if it
were in my power to do so. He's altogether glorious. God's people really are in love
with the Lord Jesus Christ, and by His grace, they are willing
to die for Him. Now, you know you could only
do it by His grace, and you realize that if He took His hand off
of you, you'd be just like Peter. You'd deny that you even knew
Him. But you do find in your heart
a willingness to deny yourself, to take up your cross, the confession
of the gospel that the world hates, and to follow Now that's
Peter speaking. Lord, I'll lay down my life for
thy sake. And he meant it from the very
depths of his heart. But this was also old Simon speaking. The weakness and the sinfulness
of the flesh is apparent here. Would you turn to Matthew chapter
26 and let's look at Matthew's account of this. Verse 31. Matthew 26, verse 31, then saith
Jesus unto them, all ye shall be offended because of me this
night. For it's written, and if it's
written, thus it must be. For it's written, I will smite
the shepherd and the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after
I'm risen again, I'll go before you into Galilee. Peter answered
and said unto him, though all men shall be offended because
of thee. I can see John be offended. I can see Nathanael chickening
out. I can see these guys back and
back. But though all the rest of this
bunch be offended, I'll never The wise man said in Proverbs
chapter 16 verse 18, pride goeth before destruction and a haughty
spirit before the fall. What a high opinion Simon demonstrates of himself. I will lay down my life for thy
sake. I will. Now, those two words
tell you right there, he's out on a limb that scripture will
never support. I will. I will. You know, that's the
essence of sin. I will. That's the essence of
presumption. I will. That's the essence of
haughtiness. I will. If the Lord enables me,
I'll do this. If the Lord gives me grace, I'll
do this, but Peter says in haughty presumption, I will lay down
my life for thy sake. Now, Peter's attitude was right. He would have known that without
God's grace, he would have been the very first one to deny him. And you know that about yourself
too. You know that if the Lord took his hand off you, You'd
be the very first one to deny that you even knew the Lord. You know what? Paul said in 1
Timothy 1.15, Brother Laird was reading that in the back. This
is a faithful saying. You can count on this. It's worthy
of all acceptation. Everybody ought to receive this
as the best news they've ever heard. that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners of whom I am the chief. Now, is he speaking in mock humility
or did he really believe that about himself? He believed himself
to be the very chief of sinners. What joy he found in being a
sinner because that means Christ came to save me. But Peter here
is a poster child for this scripture, pride goeth before destruction
and a haughty spirit before the fall. Peter did need this fall. He did need this fall. You know, one of the glorious
things about the Lord is he brings good out of evil. He's the only
one who can do it. You and I can't do it, but he
actually brings good out of evil. What Peter did was evil. You
know that as well as I do. But the Lord brings good out
of it. Now let's look at Luke's account
of this. Turn with me to Luke chapter 22. Luke chapter 22, verse 31. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon. I think it's neat the way sometimes
the Lord calls him Peter, sometimes he calls him Simon. But here
he gives a double Simon. Simon, Simon. Satan hath desired,
and that is literally he's asked permission to have you. He's asked permission to have
you. And you know what? The Lord granted
him his request. Satan hath desired to have you
that he may sift you as wheat, turn you upside down and inside
out, and show the world what a sinful, weak, powerless hypocrite
you really are with all your big speech. Satan hath desired
to have you. He's the accuser of the brethren.
Oh, Peter talks big, but I can show you what he really is. That's
Satan's way all the time. And he has desired, he's asked
permission to have you that he may sit you as wheat. And indeed he did. In a short time, Satan would
have Peter cursing and swearing and denying. He even knew who
the Lord was. He said, I know not the man.
With the Lord looking at him, he said, I know not the man. Now, Simon, Satan had desired
to have you that he may sift you as wheat, but I love the
buts of the scripture, but I have prayed for you. Now there's salvation. I have prayed for you. And look what he prayed for. I have prayed for you, not that
you won't fall. If he would have prayed for Peter
not to fall, you know what? Peter wouldn't have fallen, would
he? He said, I prayed for you that your faith fail not. When thou art converted, strengthen
thy brethren. Now, By God's grace, Peter was
brought to his lowest point. He was brought to see that he
was nothing but a coward, nothing but sin, nothing but weakness,
nothing but unbelief. And I guarantee you at that point,
when he went out and wept bitterly, Oh, I think of the bitterness
of his weeping. What about when the Lord looked
at him? You can read that in that account of Luke after he
made this, I know not the man, he was cursing and swearing.
The scripture says the Lord looked at him. I can't imagine what
that must have looked like. And Peter went out and wept bitterly.
And when the Lord was crucified, Peter wasn't around. And I guarantee
you, Peter thought he was a reprobate. I guarantee you, Peter thought
he was an unbeliever. I guarantee you, Peter thought he had been
cut off. Let me give you an illustration from a personal experience of
mine. I remember it's been about 19 or 20 years ago. I was taking
chemotherapy and I had all these different drugs I was taking
and I was having a hard time with them. So I started trying
to play doctor and I started mixing up some of my drugs. I
quit taking this one and started taking that one and I went into
a bout of depression that I'd never experienced before. All I could see was blackness
and darkness. And I even questioned whether
there was a God. And I sure questioned that if
there was a God, whether I knew Him. And I had to get up and
preach like that. I mean, I was getting up and preaching with
that darkness over me. All I could see was bleakness
and despair. I didn't have any hope. I mean,
it was so terrible. But let me tell you this, during
that time, I was persuaded of this one fact. because I had
absolutely zero things to trust in myself. I was persuaded of
this fact that if I was saved, the only hope that I had was
that Christ died for me and accomplished my salvation because I couldn't
even come up with the faith. I couldn't even come up, I couldn't
come up with anything. And the only hope that I had
was that Christ did it all. You know what? I think maybe that's
the purest my faith has ever been. I believe so. Peter was left with nothing. He was left with absolutely nothing. And the only hope he had was
that Christ would do something for him. Let's go on with the
story. Look in verse 54 of Luke chapter
22. Then took they him, and led him,
and brought him into the high priest's house. And Peter followed
afar off. He hadn't denied him yet, but
he followed him afar off. And when they had kindled a fire
in the midst of the hall and were set down together, Peter
sat down among them. But a certain maid beheld him,
as he sat by the fire and earnestly looked upon him and said, this
man was also with him. And he denied saying, woman,
I know he not. And after a little while, another
saw him and said, thou are also of them. And Peter said, man,
I am not. And about the space of one hour, after another confidently
affirmed saying of a truth, this fellow also was with him for
he's a Galilean. And Peter said, man, I know not
what thou sayeth. And immediately, While he yet
spake, the cock crew and the Lord turned and looked upon Peter
and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said
unto him before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me three times.
And Peter went out and wept bitterly. I think of what he must have
been thinking At this time, these words I'm sure rang in his ears. He heard the Lord say, whosoever
denied me before men, him will I deny before my father, which
is in heaven. If we deny him, he'll also deny
us. And Peter was afraid for himself
and he felt like a traitor to Christ. I wonder how he must
have felt while the Lord was hanging on the cross, knowing
he was a traitor. That's all he could see himself to be. I
feel sure that Peter thought there was no hope for him and
that he'd send away any hope of salvation. What a stupid thought. You see, if you could send away
salvation, it wouldn't be by grace. And that means it'd be your good
that would keep it. How foolish. But I feel certain
as Peter wept bitterly, he felt like it was all over for him.
It was just a matter of time before he'd be in hell. I know
Peter felt that way. How did Peter feel as his master
was crucified? How did he feel when they placed
his dead body in the tomb? He heard about it, he was too
cowardly to be there, but what must have been going through
his mind? Three days later, the Lord walks
out of the tent. Now turn to the book of Mark
chapter 16. Mark chapter 16. Verse one, and when the Sabbath
was passed, Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and
Salome had bought sweet spices that they might come and anoint
him. And very early in the morning,
the first day of the week, they came into the sepulcher at the
rising of the sun. And they said among themselves,
Who shall roll away the stone from the door of the sepulcher?"
And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away,
and it was very great. And entering into the sepulcher,
they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in
a long white garment, and they were frightened. And he saith
unto them, be not affrighted, ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which
was crucified. He is risen. He's not here. Behold the place where they laid
him. But you go your way, tell his disciples. And Peter, I guarantee you, Peter didn't
think he was a disciple anymore. I guarantee you he thought he
was cut off. He said, you go tell my disciples.
And here's the one I especially want to hear this message. You
go tell Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee. There you shall
see as he said unto you, you see the Lord couldn't deny Peter. Peter was unbelieving at this
time, no doubt, but the Lord couldn't deny Peter. Why is that? I love that scripture in second
Timothy chapter two, verse 13, where it says, if we believe
not yet, He abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself. You see, Peter was united to
the Lord Jesus Christ. He was one with him. He was one
of his children. And for him to deny Peter would
be for him to deny himself. And that's not going to happen. You want to know anything about
me? You read the life of the Lord. That's me. I'm united to him. And that's
why Peter is not going to be denied by our Lord. Turn back
to John chapter 13. You see, the Lord had died for
Peter's sins, and Peter is a justified, sanctified sinner. Who is he
that can condemn? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. You go tell Peter. I'm risen from the dead. Now
let's go on reading. John chapter 13, verse 37, Peter said unto
him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now, and I'll lay down my
life for thy sake? Jesus answered him, wilt thou lay down thy life for
my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the cock shall not crow, till you have denied me three times. Now let me remind you of a fact.
These chapter divisions were placed there by men. They're not in the original. Here's the way this reads. Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
The cock shall not crow till thou has denied me three times. Let not your heart be troubled." You believe God? Whatever you
believe of God, believe me. I am Him. Peter, you're going to deny me
three times. That's troubling, isn't it? That's scary. Let not your heart be troubled. How can that be? How can I not be troubled? Because
Peter, salvation does not come to you because you were courageous
and confessed me before men at this time. And it's not withheld
from you because you are cowardly. It has nothing to do with your
works. Good or bad, it is for Christ's sake. Altogether for
Christ's sake, altogether by grace. Ephesians 1, 6 says, He
hath made us accepted. He has made us. He has caused
us to be accepted, completely accepted without any reference
to good works, without any reference to bad works. This acceptance
was made before the foundation of the world. He has made us
accepted in the beloved. Now I want to ask you a question. What Peter did was evil. There's
no way of getting around that. But when he did this, Was he
any less accepted by God than when he was saying, thou art
the Christ, the son of the living God. Was any less accepted? And
you know the answer to that question. He hath made us accepted in the
beloved. The Lord could not deny Peter.
It would be to deny himself. Turn over to John 21. This is after the resurrection
of the Lord. He's already appeared to Peter. Verse 15. So when they had dined. Jesus saith to Simon Peter. Simon. Son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He wasn't saying, do you love
me more than the disciples, the other 11. I kind of wonder what
they were thinking when the Lord asked him that question. How
do you reckon he's going to answer? After what he's done, how do you reckon
he's going to answer? But I think it's interesting
what our Lord did not ask him. He didn't say, Simon, are you
sorry? Simon, do you promise to never
do this again? Simon, do you promise to make
up for this with courageous acts in the future? He didn't say
anything like that. He asked this one question, Simon, do
you love me? Do you love my person? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. These other fellows, I like the
way Peter said this. He said, Lord, you know that
I love you. Now I can see where these other fellows would greatly
call it into question. I can understand it. But you
know You know that I love your person. He saith unto him, feed
my lambs. He saith unto him again the second
time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, yea,
Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, feed
my sheep. He saith unto him the third time. Some think that he
said it three times because he denied him three times. Simon,
son of Jonas, Lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he
said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto
him, Lord, thou knowest all things. You know how weak I am. You know
how inconsistent I am. You can look into the very depths
of my heart and you know what's really there, but you know this,
you know that I love and that I adore your person. I love you
just as you are. I'm not talking about, you know,
when you, when you think of your love to Christ, remember this,
don't think about your love to Christ. Think of Christ. Think
of who he is. Think of what he is like. Think
of his glorious attributes. Lord, you know, all things, you
know, that I love you. Feed my sheep. Remember when the Lord said,
when thou art converted, when you're turned. This was a blessing of grace,
a needful fall, but God turned him. God converted him and it
was a blessing. You know, everything the Lord
sends my way, everything is exactly what I need.