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 thou not also one of this man's disciples? He saith, I am 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 warned 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 was 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. 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 with them 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 is written,
I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall
be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before
you into Galilee." How many times did the Lord tell them, 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,
isn't he? 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. 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? 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. 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 account. 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 chop
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 twelve legions of angels. Seventy two thousand angels could
come up here and take care of this. But having so the scripture
to 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,
the 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. They said, therefore, unto him,
art thou not one of his disciples? He denied it and said, I am not. And we know from Mark's account
that he used 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, said, 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. 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
are. 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 one 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 order 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 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 into 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 drop
the sea. I make the rivers a wilderness.
The fish stinketh, because there is 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 you 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 mine ear to hear,
as the learned for thirty-three years, the Lord opened his ear
every morning. Verse five, The Lord God hath
opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned I
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 him 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. My ear has now opened. Same thing as in Hebrews chapter
10, where he came to save his people. He says the Lord God
had to open my ear. I was not rebellious. Neither
turned I away. My back, he says. Verse six,
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 to where 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, He only starts talking about Himself. Himself. That these people who are in
darkness, what's 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.
He never doubted the outcome. Verse eight, he is near the justify
me. Who will continue 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 say 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
justifies 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 justifies me. Who will contend with me?
Let us stand together. Who is my 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. This is
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? However, 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. 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 to salvage. Save Him! His will saves Him. 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? 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, 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 has
desired to have you. that he may fit 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. 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 have 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 had been raised
from the dead, he's talking to Mary Magdalene, the women that
were awake, 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. I have 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.