What a day that will be. Our subject for this morning
is Peter's denial. And I'd like to begin by reading
Mark chapter 16. This is the angel speaking to
the women at the tomb, Mark chapter 16, and he saith unto them, Be not affrighted, you seek Jesus
of Nazareth, which was crucified. He is risen. He's not here. Behold the place
where they laid him. But go your way and tell his
disciples and Peter. Why not and John? Why not and
James? Why? Peter. Go tell his disciples and Peter
that he goeth before you into Galilee there shall you see him
as he said unto you. You can be sure that Peter thought
he was no longer a disciple. He had heard what the Lord said
when he said, Whosoever denieth me before men, him will I deny
before my Father which is in heaven. And you can bet he thought
that that was a reference to him. He felt like he denied Christ. And it was over for him. He had been given over. Whatever
else he was, he was not a disciple any longer. That is how he felt. So the Lord tells these women,
you make sure that Peter knows. Not just the disciples. You make
double sure that Peter knows. I'm going for you to meet I want you to know, I want Peter
to know. Now we're first introduced to
Peter in John chapter 1. Would you turn with me there? John chapter 1, verse 40. One of the two which heard John
speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. And he
findeth his own brother Simon, Simon Peter, and saith unto him,
We found the Messiah, which is being interpreted to Christ.
And he brought him to Jesus. And he didn't say, Lord, this
is my brother Adam or Peter or Simon. We read that when Jesus
beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon, the son of Jonah. He knew
who he was. He didn't have to be introduced
to him. He already knew his name. And he said, I'm going to change
your name to Peter. You're Simon. I'm going to change
your name to Peter. Now, Peter's beginning was from
the foundation of the world. The Lord knew him. And the Lord
gave the name which he had inscribed in the Lamb's Book of Life from
the foundation of the world. He knew this man. He knew this
is one of his elect. He knew this is one for whom
he would die and accomplish their salvation. He knew who Peter
was before Peter knew him. Now, Peter was a man we can all
identify with. Peter was not a brilliant man
like Paul. He realized he was Paul's intellectual
inferior. When he spoke of the writings
of Paul, he actually said, even as our beloved brother Paul speaks
of these things, in which some things are hard to be understood. which they that are unlearned
and unstable twist as they do also the other scriptures to
their own destruction. Now he realized Paul's writing
was scripture but he said it's hard to understand. He was in many ways a man of
great contradictions. Anybody else like that? He demonstrated such genuine
humility when he said, after seeing who the Lord was, depart
from me, Lord. I'm a sinful man. You don't want
to have anything to do with me. The best thing for you to do
is just leave me alone because I'm so sinful. Depart from me. And then what mock humility he
demonstrated when the Lord was preparing to wash his feet. You're
not washing my feet. I'm far too humble for that.
I'm not going to let that happen. Lord, no. That's called mock humility. And then what arrogant pride
he demonstrated when he said, although the rest of this bunch
will deny you, not me. I'm the one who won't. What courage he displayed on
the day of Pentecost when he said, you men of Israel, hear
these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and signs and wonders which God
did by him in the midst of you. As you also know, him being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have
taken and with wicked hands have crucified and slain. Oh, his
boldness. What about when it was said,
when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and knew that
they were unlearned and ignorant men, they took knowledge of them,
that they had been with Jesus. What courage he demonstrated. And yet how he seemed to be dominated
by the fear of man, scared to death of a little maid. and denied
that he even knew the Lord because of what she said. Somebody said,
well that was before Pentecost when he was dominated by the
fear of man. After Pentecost it wasn't like that anymore.
What about Galatians chapter 2 when the circumcision came
and he feared them. He feared what they thought and
he ended up denying the gospel because of that and Paul publicly
rebuked him. You know whatever sin you have
trouble with before conversion, you still got it. You still got
it. Somebody says, well, I'm saved.
I'm not like that anymore. Peter was. He was dominated by
fear of man. It was a trouble for him all
of his life. I love that passage of scripture
in Matthew chapter 16. When the Lord said, thou art
Peter. And upon this rock, this confession
of me, I'll build my church. Oh, what honor he placed upon
Peter at that time. And in the very same chapter,
He says to Peter, get thee behind me, Satan. For thou savorest
not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. I love to think of Peter walking
on the water. Lord, if it be thou bid me come
to thee. And can you imagine the faith
when he got out of that ship, set his foot on the water, and
came walking to the Lord Jesus Christ? And the rest of the disciples
did it. But what unbelief he demonstrated
when he saw the wind boisterous and the waves, and he began to
sink, saying, Lord, save me! And you know what the Lord said
to him? O thou of little faith. Little faith. Wherefore didst
thou doubt? Peter spoke quite often when
nobody said anything to him. He had to have a reply. I can't
help but think of there in Matthew 17 when the Lord was transfigured
before the disciples and his face did shine as the sun at
this time His deity burst through his humanity, and Moses and Elijah
appeared talking with him. And we know what they were talking
about. They were talking about the decease which he should accomplish.
And Peter and James and John are standing there listening,
and all of a sudden Peter answered. Nobody asked him anything, but
he answered, Lord, it's good for us to be here. Let's make
three tabernacles. One for thee, one for Moses,
and one for Elijah. Could anything more stupid have
been said? And yet we have his glorious
confession in John chapter 6 when the Lord watched the multitudes
go away and he looked at the twelve and said, will you also
go away? And he said, Lord, to whom shall
we go? It's not like we have any options. Thou hast the words of eternal
life and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the
Son of the living God. Now it's easy to see the flaws
of Peter but it's also easy to see his love for Christ. I love
it there in John chapter 21 when the Lord, it's either in 20 or,
it must be, I can't, it's either in 20 or 21 when this is after
the Lord has already risen from the dead and they're out on the
boat fishing and John recognizes the Lord from the boat over on
the shore. He said, it's the Lord. Who's the one who jumped
in the water to go after the Lord? It was Peter. Peter, do
you love me, Lord? You know all things. I'm appealing to your omniscience.
You know that I love your person. I see you as altogether lovely. I turn to Luke 22. Luke 22, verse
31. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan hath desired you. And that is literally ask permission
to have you that he may sift you as wheat. Now I love this. The devil, Satan,
the accuser of the brethren. Before he could do anything with
Peter, you know what he had to do first? He had to go get the
permission of Jesus Christ. Now, question. Why did he ask for permission
for Peter? Why didn't he ask about John or Thomas or why Peter? I can answer that question. Because
the Lord told him to ask for Peter. Now, he didn't realize
it. He didn't realize what was going
on. But you see, God is absolutely sovereign. He's sovereign over
men. He's sovereign over devils. He's
sovereign over Satan. And everybody and everything
is simply working His sovereign will. You see, Peter needed to
have this happen to him. It was for his good. He was going
to be blessed immensely through this. And so the only reason
that Satan asked for Peter is because God sovereignly moved
him to do it. Let me show you this in the scripture.
Turn to 2 Samuel 24. Verse 1, and again, the anger
of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against
them to say, go number Israel and Judah, which was a wrong
thing to do, but it says he moved David to do that. Now, look at
the account in 1 Chronicles 21. And verse 1, and Satan stood
up against Israel and provoked David to number Israel. Now Satan provoked David to do
that. He tempted him to do it. How
come he tempted him to do it? Because God the Father is in
control of all things and he moved Satan to do this and it
was for Peter's good and for the glory of God. God brings
good out of evil. Isn't that glorious? What a God
we have. He brings good out of evil, so
he moved Satan to ask for permission. Now back to Luke 22, and the
Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you,
that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for thee. You know what I want? I want the
Lord to pray for me, don't you? I want the Lord to pray for you.
But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. Now this is very important. He
didn't say I prayed for you that you don't fall. He didn't say
I prayed for you that you won't end up denying that you know
me. He knew that was going to take place. He said I prayed
for you that your faith fail not. Now, through this passage
of scripture, we're going to learn what true faith is. I prayed for you that your faith
fail not. Now, Peter failed miserably.
We just read about it. You know something that didn't
fail? His faith. Now, we're going to see what
that means in just a moment. But I know this, whatever Christ
prays for, he gets. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world, but for them which you have given me, for they are
thine. When he prayed, Father, forgive
them, they know not what they do. Everybody he prayed for,
the Father forgave. His prayers are always answered. Ask of me, the Father says, and
I'll give thee the heathen for thine inheritance. Now turn to
John chapter 13. Verse 36, John chapter 13. Simon Peter said unto him, Lord,
whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither 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? Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
The cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice. Let not your heart be troubled. The chapter divisions are purely
man-made. These were not made by God. These were purely man-made, and
I'm thankful for chapter divisions. It's easier to find stuff. What
if I just said find it somewhere in John? We'd have a big book
to look at. But I'm thankful for the chapters
and verses, but they're man-made. And this reads literally, the
cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me three times. Let
not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. You're going to deny me three
times. Let not your heart be troubled.
How could that be? Because the Lord said it. Anything
else need to be said? The Lord said it. He said, you
believe in God? You believe, he's not saying
you believe in the existence of God. Do you believe God is
almighty? Believe that about me. I'm God.
Do you believe God is absolutely sovereign in control of everybody
and everything and every event? Believe that concerning me. You believe in God? You believe
He's able to save you? Believe also in me. I'm God. I'm the God-man. You believe
in God? Whatever you believe about God, concerning Him, talking
the Word, believe concerning me because that's who I am. Let not your heart be troubled. Luke 22, some hours later, just
a few hours later, Luke chapter 22, back to our text. Verse 54, Then they took him,
and led him, and brought him into the high priest's house,
and Peter followed afar off. He was watching what was taking
place with the Lord. He followed afar off. He didn't
want to get near. He was afraid. He was consumed
with the fear of man at this time, and he followed afar off. And when they had kindled a fire
in the midst of the hall and were sat down together, Peter
sat down among them. He sat down among them. Now we're always in trouble when
we sat down amongst unbelievers. He sat down among them. Now listen
to this scripture. I want everybody to listen to
this real carefully. Paul said evil communications corrupt good
manners. What's that mean? If you make an unbeliever your
friend, all they're going to do is bring you down to their
level every time. Now, I want to be around unbelievers. This is not like I say, well,
that's an unbeliever. That's not one. No, I want to
be around unbelievers to preach the gospel to them. I want the
Lord to cause every one of us to seek to be around unbelievers
to preach the gospel to them. We want to see men and women
brought to the knowledge of Christ, don't we? We want to see people
saved by the grace of God. I want to be an influence to
unbelievers in that sense. But to sit down and make them
my friends, make them my intimate companions, that is wrong. And all it will do is bring you
down to their level. That's what Paul means. You'll
never bring them up. They'll always bring you down. Peter
sat down among them. Verse 56 and 57. And keep in mind, the Lord had
told him, this is what you're going to do. You're going to
deny me. Verse 56, but a certain maid
beheld him as he sat by the fire and earnestly looking upon him
and said, This man was also with him. And he denied him, saying, Woman,
I know him not. I don't know what you're talking
about. I don't know that man. How do you think Peter felt when
he did that? The Lord told him he was going to do this. And
here he is doing it. And he feels horrible. Verse
58, And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou
art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I'm not.
I don't know him. I don't have anything to do with
him. I don't know who he is. Verse 59, And about the space
of one hour after another confidently affirmed, there's no doubt about
this, saying, Of a truth this fellow This zero, when you see
that fellow in italics, what it means, he's unfit to be called
a man. This zero was with him, for he is a Galilean. And Peter
said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And we know from the
other accounts, he peppered that language up with cursing and
swearing. He's going to show, I don't know this man. I don't
know him. And while he yet spake, the cock
crew. He heard that sound of the rooster
and he remembered the Lord's words. And look what verse 61
says, and the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. He didn't say anything. He just looked. What was in that
look? Disgust. Peter, I told you you'd do this.
Hurt. How could he do me that way?
After all I've done for him? It was none of those things. Love. Love. Peter, I'm going through
this so you can spend eternity beholding my glory. Love, mercy,
grace. Now one would think at that time,
Peter would have said as soon as the Lord looked at him that
we would have just broken his heart and said, I know him. I've
been lying. I want to be identified with
him. I want to confess to him. He could have cost me my life.
I want to identify with him right now. Did he do that? No. He went out and wept bitterly. unable to right the wrong, unable
to turn himself around and do the right thing. He wept inconsolably
and bitterly. And I know what was in his mind. He remembered when the Lord said,
whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I deny before my
father, which is in heaven. And he thought, it's over for
me. I'm no disciple. I'm nothing more than a confounded
hypocrite. That's it. There's nothing to
my faith. It was all a vanity. It wasn't even real. And he went
out and wept bitterly. Could not be consoled. Now, somebody's
thinking, well, if the Lord did say Whosoever shall deny me before
men, him will I deny before my Father which is in heaven. If
the Lord did say that, what about Peter? Listen real carefully. Peter did not deny the Christ. He denied that he knew him. He denied any association with
him out of the fear of man. Do you know him? No, I don't.
I don't. But something he didn't say.
He didn't say, I don't believe he's the Christ. I don't believe
he's the Son of God. I don't believe he is who he
says he is. No. Peter believed that all along. He didn't stop believing that
Jesus was the Christ. He didn't stop believing that
Jesus was the Son of God. Oh, that confession he made,
thou art the Christ. The Son of the Living God! He
still believed that? Now, ask Peter at this time. Peter, are you saved? How could
I be? Peter, do you believe you're
one of God's elect? I don't see how I could be. Peter, have you
been born again? Probably not. Peter, do you believe
that Christ died for your sins? I can't see it. Peter, do you
believe that Jesus is the Son of God? Yes, I do. Peter, do you believe that Jesus
is God's Christ, God's prophet, God's priest, and God's king? Yes, I do. Now here's the point. Faith has
nothing to do with what you believe about yourself. Faith has wholly
to do what you believe concerning Him. That is faith. You can believe that you're one
of the elect. You can believe that Christ died for you. You
can believe that you've been regenerated. and split hell wide
open. Faith is not what you believe
about yourself. Faith is what you believe concerning Him. Now Peter was sifted as wheat
and utterly failed. Do you think you would do differently? Do you think you're any better
than Peter? Do you think you have any more
courage than Peter? Peter went out and he wept bitterly. What was going through Peter's
mind at this point? I've denied the Lord before men
and he's going to deny me before the Father. That's what he was
thinking. Now turn back to Mark 16. Remember, the Lord prayed that
his faith wouldn't fail. Now, if the Lord prays for you
that your faith will not fail, what's going to happen? Your
faith's not going to fail. And the only reason it won't fail
is because he prayed for you. He prayed for Peter at this time. He prayed
that his faith would not fail. He failed miserably. Verse 1, And when the Sabbath
was passed, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and
Salome, had brought 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 sepulchre at the rising of the sun. And they said
among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door
of the sepulchre? And when they looked, they saw
that the stone was rolled away, for it was very great. And entering
into the sepulchre, 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. You 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, and Peter. No doubt Peter would have thought
if all he said, go tell his disciples, I'm not one of them. that you
go tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into
Galilee there shall you see him as he said unto you. He's risen. What does that mean? I'll tell
you what that means. It means who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect. It's God that justifies. Who
is he that condemns? It's Christ that died, yea, rather
that's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. You see, because he's risen,
old Peter, you know what he is? He's justified. Oh, what about
his sin? What sin? It's gone. It's purged
away, put away by the blood of Christ. And when God raised him
from the dead, God said, I'm satisfied with him and I'm satisfied
with everybody he died for. I'm not asking for anything more. I've got it all in my son. He is risen. When he was raised, that sin
was completely put away. All the sins of Peter had committed
and all the ones he hadn't yet committed. were put away. Now
remember, salvation doesn't end with forgiveness. It begins with
the forgiveness of all your sins. The Lord knew Peter was going
to commit that sin and the Lord put it away. Now in closing,
Peter and Judas. Judas denied the Lord. He betrayed
him. One could argue that what Peter
did was just as bad. His cowardly denial of Christ.
What's the difference between Judas and Peter? Judas was lost. Peter was saved. Judas' sins
weren't forgiven. Peter's were. What's the difference
between Judas and Peter? If God loved Peter and Judas
the same, what's the love of God have to
do with salvation? Nothing. If God willed the salvation of
both Peter and Judas, what's the will of God have to do with
salvation? Nothing. something Peter did that Judas
didn't do. And the fact of the matter is,
Peter didn't do anything. He didn't, when he had the opportunity
after the Lord looked at him, he didn't ride the ship, he didn't
say, I'm sorry, and he confessed to him. No, it didn't happen
at all, did it? If Jesus Christ shed his blood
for the sins of Judas and the sins of Peter, what does the
blood of Christ have to do with salvation? If Judas ended up
being lost and Peter was saved. Why, the blood of Christ has
nothing to do with salvation. It's what Peter did that Judas
didn't do. And if the Holy Spirit was calling
both Judas and Peter, what's the Holy Spirit have to do with
salvation? Nothing. Nothing. But let me tell you
why Peter was saved. I know the answer to that question
for sure. The reason Peter was saved is because God willed his
salvation. The reason Peter was saved is
because Christ died for his sins. The reason Peter was saved was
because God loved him. The reason Peter was saved was
because God the Holy Spirit gave him life. Peter denied Christ. And Peter was saved by the grace
of God. And the only way me or you will
be saved is to be saved the same way Peter was. I love what he
said in Acts chapter 15, verse 11. We believe that through the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved just like those
Gentiles were saved. The only way a Gentile can be
saved is by pure grace, but the only way we can be saved too.
Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet
for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might
be rich. Lord, we thank you for the riches
of your grace, the riches of the righteousness of your son. Lord, I ask in Christ's name
that you would create saving faith in each person here that
we might believe that thy son is the son of God, the uncreated,
eternal son of God, who everybody in him must be saved. Bless this word for Christ's
sake. In his name we pray. Amen.