We come now in our study of Matthew
to one of the most humbling, the most pathetic, and yet at
the same time, one of the most instructive and most blessed
passages to be found in all the gospel narratives. In Matthew
chapter 26, verses 69 through 75, we read of Peter's fall and
restoration. his fall by his sin, and his
restoration by God's grace. Read with me, beginning at verse
69. Now Peter sat without in the
palace, and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with
Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all,
saying, I know not what thou And when he was gone out into
the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were
there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again
he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. And after a
while came unto him they that stood by, and said unto Peter,
Surely thou also art one of them, for thy speech betrayeth thee. Then began he to curse and to
swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock
crew. And Peter remembered the word
of Jesus, which said unto him before the cock crew, Thou shalt
deny me three times. And he went out and wept bitterly."
These verses present us with a picture of God's serpent, Peter. A sad, humbling picture, and
yet a very instructive picture. The fall of Peter stands before
us as a beacon. It warns us repeatedly, gives
us many lessons, and any careful reader of Holy Scripture cannot
help but to notice that all four gospel narratives give us this
event in considerable detail. There's considerably more detail
about Peter's fall than there is about many things revealed
in Scripture. And that fact teaches us plainly,
it is one evident proof, one incidental proof, that this book
is indeed the word of God. If the scriptures were merely
the compositions of men, if these words that we have in this book
were simply words of men, they certainly would have glossed
over or at least given some excuse for the falls, the errors, the
sins, and the crimes of God's most eminent saints. But these
scriptures give us the meticulous details of the fall of Peter
without any excuse at all. but rather the scriptures give
us details with all the aggravating circumstances. And so the picture
set before us is in itself an incidental picture and proof
of the inspiration of scriptures. Now try to recall in your mind
and get a picture of this cold, sad, bitter night, if you can. It was the most solemn of occasions. The disciples had just eaten
the Lord's The Lord Jesus had just instituted what we call
the Lord's Supper, the first communion service. He kept it
with his disciples. The Lord told his disciples plainly
of his betrayal by Judas, of his death by the hands of the
Romans, being delivered up by the Jews, his death as their
substitute, and of the denial of all his disciples, how that
they would all forsake him. Our Lord quotes that, what we
call the valedictory address, the valedictory sermon that he
gave in John chapters 14, 15, and 16. In John 14, he begins
by saying, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God,
believe also in me. And he encourages faith. He says,
in John chapter 15, I am the vine, you are the branches. And
again, encourages faith. He said, you have not chosen
me, but I have chosen you. And I've ordained you that you
should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain."
And then in John 16, he tells of the marvelous work of God
the Holy Spirit, and again, encourages faith. And then in the 17th chapter
of John, the disciples heard him pray that great high priestly
prayer. Oh, what a prayer that is, which
is recorded in the 17th chapter of John. Remember, Peter heard
that prayer. Peter was present with the other
disciples when the Lord made that intercessory prayer. Peter,
James, and John had spent the evening with the Lord Jesus in
Gethsemane. They had spent the evening with
Him. Granted, they spent it there sleeping when they should have
been watching and praying. But they had spent the evening
with him, and they had heard enough to recall that which took
place. And John records it for us. Matthew,
Mark, and Luke being given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit
the events. But Peter, James, and John were
there. And then the soldiers came to
arrest the master. Judas betrayed him with a kiss. And Peter, this man we read about
here, he took out his little dagger. And he smote off one
of the high priest's servant's ears. You talk about boldness.
Rasch, yes, but bold as a lion. Rasch, yes, but devoted. Rasch,
yes, but this man Peter truly loved the Master and hazarded
his life for the Master there in the Garden of Gethsemane.
And then we read here how that Peter denied his Lord three times
in one brief evening. Why do you suppose the record
is given for us by all four gospel narratives? Four times the evangelists
were inspired to tell us this same sad story and to tell it
in great detail. Surely the Holy Spirit means
to direct our attention to it in a special manner. Surely he
means for us to understand we need to remember what happened
on this terrible occasion and learn by it. Peter's denial of
the Lord Jesus must have greatly increased his pain and grief
as he suffered in the room instead of his people. He who stands
before Pilate, or stands before the high priest and later before
Pilate, who must be crucified upon the cursed tree, stands
in the presence of his disciple and listens as his disciple cusses
and swears, I don't know him, I don't know him, I don't know
the man! I don't know it, I don't know it. The Holy Spirit here
sets before us, in a most emphatic manner, both the power and the
immutability of God's saving grace. The Divine Comforter knew
that you and I would be subject to the same temptations that
Peter here experienced, and that you and I would ourselves, to
one degree or another, every one of us, experience the same
fall. He knew without a doubt what
our circumstances would be, and without a doubt he gave us this
fourfold record of Peter's fall because it is intended by him
to be an instructive lesson concerning the frailty of the very best
of men, particularly concerning our personal frailty as believers
in this world. The word of God doesn't tell
us much even about the best of men who lived in Bible times. When you want to study the lives
of men, frankly, it's difficult to find many men in the Scriptures
that you can study about a whole lot, because the Scripture doesn't
tell us much about them. There are a few. We read a considerable
amount about Elijah. We read a considerable amount
about Isaiah, and about Moses, Joshua, and Caleb. But about
most of the men in the Scriptures, we read very little, even about
their noble acts and deeds of faith. But the Bible very particularly
and meticulously records the false fallings and failures of
God's elect. It seems that the Holy Spirit
goes out of His way to remind us that the best of men are only
men at best. I know that it is commonly received
by the Romanists that Peter was the infallible bishop of Rome.
Well, he wasn't. He was a frail, fickle, sinful
human being, just like you and me. The only thing I can think
of that Peter has in common with the Pope is the denial of Christ. There's nothing here to indicate
that this man was an infallible man, or that any man is an infallible
man except the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the God-man. Peter's fall
seems rather to say to each of us, you two are weak. You two were If left to yourself
just for a moment, you too will fall. So don't rely upon your
experiences. Don't trust in the firmness of
your faith. Don't trust your love to the
Savior. If you do, you will surely fall. Only Christ can hold you up. Only Christ. Now, my friends,
as we care for our souls, as we care for the honor and glory
of God, Let us never cease to be prayerfully watchful over
our souls. Let us never cease to seek grace
from God that he may keep us, preserve us, and hold us, and
keep us from dishonoring his name. Now, I want to magnify
and honor the Lord Jesus in my life, and I'm confident that
you do, too, with your hands. You want to honor him. in your
day-by-day conduct, in your speech, in your attitude, and in your
life in this world, to honor the Son of God. Our hearts shudder
and tremble at the thought of bringing reproach upon the name
of our blessed Redeemer. And yet I know this, unless the
Lord himself preserves me, I will surely profane his name, and
you will too. Did you hear me? Unless the Lord
himself preserves me, I will surely profane his name, and
you will too. Now, as we meditate upon this
sad, sad event in the life of God's servant Peter, I want to
direct your attention to four things, and I pray that God the
Holy Spirit will apply his word effectually to each of our hearts. To begin, I want us to consider
the circumstances of Peter's fall. We're not considering the
fall of a lost hypocrite or an apostate, not at all. Peter was
not a lost man, but a saved man, even when he fell, he was not
a lost man, but a saved man. Not only was he a saved man,
he was an apostle of Christ, a gospel preacher, a man who
truly loved the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter was a true believer, a
man who was born of God, a child of grace, pardoned of all sin,
accepted in Christ. This man, Peter, was a man of
strong faith, a man of firm conviction, a man devoted to the Savior,
unrelenting in his zeal for Christ. But as a man, he was a man just
like you and me. Same kind of man as Bobby Hesters.
Same kind. Same kind of man as Larry Pierce.
Same kind. Son of Adam. And that means that
he was a man with a corrupt heart. That means he was a man with
an evil heart of unbelief, departing from the living God, though he
was born of God's Spirit. One of the hardest things for
us to get—we get it theoretically—one of the hardest things for us
to grasp in reality is that every believer is a man or a woman
with two distinct, diametrically opposing natures. Every believer
is a person of flesh and of spirit. A flesh that cannot do anything
but sin, a spirit that is born of God and holy. And the two
are constantly warring one against the other so that you cannot
do the things that you would. Peter's fall seems very, very
strange because he was one of the Lord's most highly favored
disciples, one of the most highly honored of all the Lord's disciples.
We would have expected this from any of the disciples before Peter.
As you read through the scriptures, you see Peter, and we recognize
that he's a man who behaves rashly, but of all the disciples, if
there was one man who was a man above the rest, Peter was the
man. I mean, put it, he was a fellow back then. He didn't know many
of the Compromised? He didn't know the meaning of
the word. His faith was at times very rash, and he acted rashly.
But this man, Peter, was as bold as a lion. We would have expected
any disciple, other than Peter, of experiencing this terrible
fall. Peter was one of the very first men to whom the Lord Jesus
Christ revealed himself in this world. Turn to John chapter 1.
John chapter 1. Hold your hands here, and turn
over to John, the first chapter, and verse 40. And listen to what
the Scripture says. One of the two which heard John
the Baptist speak. You remember John said, Behold
the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. One
of the two. There were two disciples standing beside him. One of the
two was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his
own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah,
which being interpreted is the Christ. And it brought him to
Jesus. And Jesus, when Jesus beheld
him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jonah. Thou shalt
be called Cephas, which is by interpretation a stone. So Peter
was one of the very first ones to whom the Lord made himself
known when he walked upon the earth. He was one of the inner
circle of the Lord's friends. Peter, James, and John went up
to the Mount of Transfiguration. Peter, James, and John heard
the Lord Jesus speak and heard God the Father speak from heaven. Peter, James, and John saw Moses
and Elijah convening with the Son of God about the death he
should accomplish at Calvary. Peter, James, and John were with
him in Gethsemane. And he appears to have been the
chief spokesman of the early church. Peter was the primary
preacher. In that particular generation,
before Paul came on the scene, Peter was the primary preacher.
Later on, Paul was the primary preacher to the Gentiles, but
Peter was still the primary preacher, the primary apostle to the circumcisioner,
to the Jews. Now, all of that I've said to
say this. The higher our privileges are, the greater our responsibilities
are, and the more horrible our offenses must be. You pray for your pastor, a man
of fickle sinful flesh. We in this particular congregation
have been blessed of God with rare privileges and rare opportunities
of influence around the world. Let us pray for one another.
We are a congregation of fickle, sinful flesh. Let us pray for
God's continued grace upon us that we may in all things honor
him lest by our sin we lead many astray. Peter's fall was especially
sad because he had been plainly and faithfully warned by the
Son of God. Look in Matthew 26, verse 31. The Savior told Peter exactly
what was going to happen to him. He told him in the plainest terms
possible. He knew the danger to which Peter
was exposing himself when he walked into the high priest's
palace, and Peter knew full well the danger as well, if he had
just listened. If he had just listened. In Matthew
26, 31, Then saith Jesus unto them, 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. This
is what our Lord said in Luke chapter 22. It's even more specific. The Lord said, Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you
as wheat. Satan's desire to run you through
his sin. But I have prayed for thee that
thy faith fail not, and when thou art converted, strengthen
thy brethren." In other words, the Lord said, now I prayed for
you. Satan wants you. He wants to
destroy you. I prayed for you that your faith
fail not, but you're going to fall. And when you're converted,
when you're converted, strengthen your brethren. And he said unto
him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee both to prison and to death.
And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this
day, before thou shalt thrice, or three times, deny that thou
knowest me." Satan desired to have it, and the Lord warned
him that his faith would be fiercely attacked. Therefore he must watch
and pray, but enter not into temptation. But Peter walked
headlong into sin. Rejecting the light and counsel
that God had given him, he ignored the light of God's revelation
when he followed Christ afar off and followed Him into the
palace of the high priest and runned himself by the fire that
was their kingdom in the high priest's court. Peter walks headlong,
headlong into temptation. No wonder then that he fell.
Children of God, As you pray that God will keep
you from sin, keep yourselves from temptation. When my daughter was a young
lady, and I wanted to give her some counsel, she turned about
10, 11 years old, and I figured it was time to start talking
real plain. I went to a friend of mine and I asked him, an older
man, I said, how on this earth do you Teach your daughters,
teach your sons and daughters to keep themselves pure from
sensual lust and sensual activity. And this is what he said to me.
He said, I don't know why you would ask me, but this is my
recommendation. Just somehow impress upon that
child, never put yourself in a position where you can't say
no. Oh, it's good advice for you too. Don't put yourself, don't put
yourself in the way of temptation. Don't put yourself, children
of God, in the way, in the path, in the course, in the direction,
in the action of life that will turn your heart away from Christ. But rather put yourself in the
path of faith, of righteousness, of worship, and of obedience. Peter went headlong into sin,
and that's an aggravation of his guilt. His guilt is also
aggravated by the fact that he came with this denial of Christ
so soon after he had confidently declared his loyalty and faithfulness. In verse 33, again, Peter answered
and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because
of this, yet will I never be offended. Now try to get a picture
of this. All of the disciples are standing around, and they're
all within earshot of what's going on. And the Lord said,
you're all going to forsake me. He's got me standing right here
in this congregation and saying, everybody here is going to forsake
you. And Mark stands up in the back and says, now wait a minute,
not me. Not me. Maybe Larry, maybe Rex. I've always been a little suspicious
of Rex. But not me. Not me. Though they all forsake
you, I'll die with you. I'll die with you. Well, Peter,
gonna have to be humbled. Got to be humbled. A man can't
walk with God with that kind of attitude. Peter said unto
him, though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. And then all the disciples said
the same thing. Just an hour or two after making
this bold, arrogant profession of love and commitment to Christ,
we see Peter standing in a crowd of reprobate undelievers, cussing
like a common sailor, denying that he knew the Lord. This apostle's fall did not come
at once, but it came by degrees. I know there are exceptions to
this, but great life-threatening sicknesses and diseases seldom
ever come upon people suddenly without warning. Usually there
are symptoms to warn us that something's wrong. Usually there
are symptoms if you're headed for a heart attack, usually there
are symptoms if you just pay attention. If you've got cancer
eating away at your life inside, usually there are symptoms warning
you that there's something wrong if you just pay attention to
the symptoms. Even so, believers seldom ever experience sudden
falls into grave sin. I've been pastoring for nearly
25 years and I've watched, oh I've watched a lot. I've watched
a lot helplessly. Helplessly watched a lot of men
and women. Men and women who are true believers
bring upon themselves misery, misery because they simply would
not listen. to the word of God, just would
not listen. The problem is that we usually
ignore the symptoms when there's something seriously wrong. J.C. Ryle wrote this, the church and
the world are sometimes shocked by the sudden misconduct of some
great professor of religion. Believers are discouraged and
stoned, the enemies of God rejoice and blaspheme. But if the truth
could be known, the explanation of such cases would generally
be found to have been a private departure from God. When I read
this this afternoon, I thought, boy, this needs to be heard,
it needs to be understood, it needs to be written, it needs
to be published in every bulletin in the country. Men fall in private,
he wrote, long before they fall in public. Peter had a problem privately
in his heart that had to be dealt with in a public manner, and
so the Lord in his providence allowed and brings to pass this
event in Peter's life to expose the fault that was in him and
to deliver him from the fault. Now, notice the Holy Spirit records
a specific series of steps by which this man of faith descended
into such a sad condition. I'm not going to comment on them,
let me give them to you. You can jot them down and read
them at your leisure. First, we've already seen in
verses 31 through 33, Peter was far too proud, far too confident
of himself. Pride goeth before the fall,
and a haughty spirit before destruction. God save me from my horrible
pride. Secondly, the Lord told him to
watch and pray. Instead, he slept. Indolence, indolence about our
souls will bring us into misery. And then thirdly, in verse 58,
we read that he followed the Lord far off, He should have
walked closely with his God, regardless of cost or consequence,
but he followed the Lord afar off. Seems to follow him out
of curiosity into the high priest's palace. And when he got in, he
chose to sit with scorners, where there was no reason to do so.
No reason to do so. I'll digress for a moment. You young people, mamas and daddies
are as guilty as young folks, but you're a fool. You're fools to
willfully choose for your companions, to spend your time, energies,
and efforts with people who have no regard for God. You're absolute
fools for doing it. And mamas and dads, you are too.
absolute fools, when there's no need. You know, you got to
work in this world with the unbelieving. You got to live in this world
with the unbelieving, and we're not to come out of the world
in the sense that we withdraw ourselves and become hermits
or religious recluses and have nothing to do with the unbelieving.
But don't choose for your companions. And don't choose for your friends,
and don't choose for those who are your family associates, those
who have no regard for God. You're asking for trouble. But
Peter had absolutely no reason for doing so. He walked into
the high priest's house and asked for the Son of God. Asked for
Him. And over here were those soldiers
and those ungodly wretches who despised the Son of and were
thirsting for his blood, they were paid away. Right over here. What for? Well, they had a fire over there. Might have been price to pay
for a fire. He willfully, without any reason, chose the seat of
scorners rather than the communion and fellowship of his master
in his master's greatest hour of trial. And then Peter at last
took up the oaths of a drunken savior and denied the Savior. At first he pretended not to
understand the maiden. She said, you're one of them.
He said, huh? That was a denial. That was just
as much a denial as the later denials were. And then when it
was passed and another one said, you're one of his disciples.
Your speech betrays you. Peter said, I don't know that
man. This is the same disciple who
said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now, Larry,
he is speaking in such a manner as practically to deny his own
confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I don't know
the man! The man, just the man, I don't
know him. And then at last, he took up oaths. cussing and swearing
to impress the folks around him with his absolute, absolute abhorrence
of that man. And he begins to curse and swear
and says, I don't know him! I don't know him! And immediately,
the cock crows. Here's another aggravation of
Peter's horrible sin. All of this, all of this was done in the immediate presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, who
at that very time was suffering for him. Rex, here is the aggravation
of our sins. The greatest aggravation I can
think of, of your sin and mine, is all that we do against who
loved us and gave himself for us is done in his immediate presence. He's right here. He's right here. Now second, I want you to have a sense, an
apprehension of the means used by the Lord for Peter's recovery.
It is written in the scriptures, the righteous falleth seven times
a day, and we do every once. Some more openly, some less.
Some more deliberately, some less. Some more terribly, some
less. But the righteous fall seven
times in a day, and the Lord raiseth him Peter fell, but he
shall never perish. Therefore, though Peter fell,
he did not perish. He was graciously restored by
the hand of God. Well, how? Again, let me be brief,
but you get hold of what I'm telling you. First, there was
a work of providence. We read in verse 74, and immediately
the cock Peter had been listening to roosters
crow all his life. Anybody here ever heard a rooster
crow? Even city folks heard a rooster crow. They've been doing it just
as soon as the sun comes up. All through history. But suddenly,
Peter heard God speak through the crowing of a cock. Because
the Lord said, that rooster will not crow until you have three
times denied And when the cock crewed, Peter remembered. You see, the Lord God has many,
many ways to reach the hearts of his chosen. There are many
roosters he can cause to crow to awaken his errant children.
It is true with regard to those who are yet unconverted, and
it is true with regard to those who are converted but falter.
God has many, many ways of reaching out. Wonder what it takes to
get your attention. For me, before God saved me,
it took mere destruction. Mere destruction. But at God's
appointed time, in His providence, I heard God speak through the
arrangement of his providence. Now, the prowing of the crop
is not enough to convert the sinner. A work of providence
is not enough to convert the sinner. But God uses it. Read
the 78th Psalm. Read the 106th Psalm. God graciously,
wisely, wisely brings men and women down into the very depths
of hell that they may call upon him, and he shows them mercy.
And then secondly, there's a work of grace. In Luke 22 and verse
61, we read, the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. Oh, what a look that must have
been. The Lord turned to Peter. Peter
didn't turn to the Lord. He never would have. Turn us
O God of our salvation, and we shall be turned. Call us, and
we will run after thee. But if he doesn't turn us, there'll
be no turning. And the look was not a look of
anger, disgust, and wrath, but rather of mercy, grace, and love. That look reflected the tenderness,
compassion, and faithfulness of Christ toward his fallen sinful
people. And with that look, the Lord
spoke silently, but effectually to Peter's heart. I know, because I've heard the
look, and I chose my words deliberately. Buddy, I've heard the look. With
that look, He seems to have said, Peter, I have loved you with
an everlasting love. You've not chosen me, but I've
chosen you. I've given you eternal life,
and you shall never perish. I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee. I, even I, am he that blotted
out thy transgressions and thy sins. In me is thy righteousness
and strength. Return, return to me, and I will
pardon thee." Greater love hath no man than this, that a man
lay down his life for his friends, as I'm about to do for you. Blessed,
blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. And
then there was a work of the Word. The scripture says in verse
75, and Peter remembered the word of Jesus. You remember what Paul says in
1 Corinthians 15? If we do not remember the word
of the gospel that has been preached to us, then all the blessing
of grace revealed in the gospel is lost to us. We cannot escape
the wrath of God if we let slip through our ears the word of
God's grace. And yet, we're sure to do so
unless God the Holy Spirit is our remembrancer. Peter would
never have heard this word. He would not have remembered
the word of the Savior unless the Holy Spirit had called to
his mind the word which the Savior spoke to him. And we must never
presume that the Word of God has no effect because it has
no immediate effect. We must never presume that the
Word of God does not work upon the hearts of men because it
does not immediately work upon the hearts of men. I read several
years ago, I think I've told you before, of a man who was
converted in his eighties, by a soul in his eighties, and he
attributed his knowledge of God, his knowledge of the gospel,
to the fact that the Holy Spirit called to his remembrance the
word of grace he heard George Whitefield preach when he was
just a young boy, when he was just a young boy. Our God says,
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall
not return to me, but it shall accomplish that which I please.
It shall prosper in the thing whereto I send it. Cast thy bread
upon the waters, for thou shalt find them after many days. And then there was the work of
the Savior. The Lord Jesus said to Peter in Luke 22, I have prayed
for thee that thy faith fail not. As a great high priest,
as our almighty meritorious intercessor, the Lord Jesus Christ prays for
us. Oh, what wonder, what grace! These thoughts flood my soul
with gratitude, praise, and joy. The Lord Jesus Christ is full
of tenderness and mercy. His compassions, they fail not.
They're new every morning. The Lord Jesus is a faithful,
faithful Savior. Now, let me show you something
about the signs of Peter's restoration. The work of the Lord God for
Peter and upon Peter is effectual, and it's obviously so Because
of these two things, Peter went out of the place. Once the fire
of love and devotion to Christ was restored in his soul, Peter
had no more need for the fire of the Lord's enemies. And he
went out and wept bitterly. You see, sin was no light thing
to Peter. He saw beyond his words and his
deed to his heart, and recognized the evil and corruption of his
heart. And deep, convulsive groanings in his soul wrung tears in his
heart and from his eyes. And this man repented of his
sins. Now he was broke. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. One last thing. What lesson shall
we learn from this? Don't ever forget who and what you are. Don't ever forget who in what
you are. Don't ever, don't ever hope to
rise one hair's breadth above this, a sinner saved by grace. That's all. That's all. And understand this, we are again
taught by example that salvation is of the Lord from start to
finish. Salvation is by the grace of
God. Our only standing is Jesus Christ. Our only acceptance is Jesus
Christ. Our only righteousness is Jesus
Christ. Our only hope is Christ our Redeemer. God's grace is free. It is immutable. It is indestructible. And it
is sufficient. Thy grace is sufficient for Peter.
My grace is sufficient for you. And let us learn this too. that
since God's grace is sufficient, all who are saved are kept infallibly
secure in Christ, even when we fall. Peter was no less, listen to
me, he was no less accepted of God now than when he said, the
Son of the Living God. And we learn from this story that the Lord our God abides
forever faithful. Though we believe not, yet he
abides faithful. Now children of God, keep yourselves
in the love of God. So, Pastor, you just told us
we can't be kept in the love of God unless he keeps us. I
know that. But I know it's your responsibility to keep yourselves
in the love of God. Live constantly around the cross. Pray for grace ever, ever to
have in your mind. Pray for grace ever to have in
your heart a sense of this fact. You're not your own. You're bought
with a price. You're redeemed with the blood
of Jesus Christ. Cling to Christ always. Cling to Him. Cling to Him as
one who is utterly terrified at the possibility of missing
Him. And as often as you fall, return
quickly to your Savior. He will receive you. He will forgive you. He will be gracious to you. And He will forget your fall. He will forget your fall. One other thing. When your brother falls, when
your sister falls, when you behold Him one another, those things
that are totally inconsistent with grace. And Bobby asked us,
if you're around me long enough, you're sure enough going to see
it. I wish it weren't so, but you're sure enough going to see
it. But when you do, when you do, don't be too hard. Don't be too severe on one another.
Don't sit in judgment over your brother, but you who are strong,
restore your fallen brother in the spirit of meekness, considering
yourself, lest you also be tempted. Amen.