Let's turn together to Luke chapter
22. The Lord said, Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you
as wheat. But I thank God with regard to his
people no matter how Satan may come
at us, oppose us, or desire to harm us. But I have prayed for
thee. If it had been according to my
wisdom or yours, If the circumstance were such that we could foresee
such about ourselves or one another, we would pray that Satan not
do this to you. Our Lord did not so pray. Satan
hath desired to have you that he might run you through his
sieve, and I'm going to let him do it. but I have prayed for thee that
thy faith fail not. When thou art converted, when
you are turned and turned to Me, when thou art converted,
strengthen thy brethren. You'll be able to, when I bring
you through this in such a way, that you never could have before. And he said unto him, Lord, I'm ready to go with thee. Just
a few verses before, the Lord Jesus had told him that he must
go to Jerusalem, suffer and die, and rise again. And Peter said,
Far be it from thee, Lord. I'm not going to let that happen.
And the Lord rebuked him and said, Get thee behind me, Satan. for thou savourest not the things
of God, but the things of men." And here again, Peter foolishly
speaks truth, and it was truth, but he speaks out of turn. And
he says, Lord, I am ready to go with thee both into prison
and to death. And he was. No question about
that. time came, and he went with it
to prison and to death. That was true. But he had compared himself,
if you read Matthew's account, we will in a minute, with the
other disciples. And he said, though all men forsake
thee. And the all men he was talking
about were the ones in the present company. Peter says, James and John, they
just might forsake you, but I'm ready to go with you to prison
and to death. Verse 34, And the Lord Jesus
said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day
before thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me." Verse
54. Then took they him, and led him, and brought him
into the high priest's house, and Peter followed afar off.
And when they kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and
were set down together, Peter sat down among 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
him, saying, Woman, I know him not. And after a little while
another saw him, and said, Thou art also one of them. And Peter
said, Man, I am not. And about the space of one hour,
another confidently affirmed the saying of truth, this fellow
also was with him, for he's a Galilean. And Peter said, Man, I know not
what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet
spake, the cock crewed. 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
thrice. And Peter went out and wept bitterly." I was going over in my mind what
I planned to preach to you. And if my grandson Will was around,
you can't help but hear him when he talks. He's kind of like I
am. He can be heard. He was talking to Nana in the
backseat. And I just heard one thing he said that struck me
real profoundly. He said, Nana, our God has a
great heart, doesn't He? I hope he'll learn what he says.
I thought, I can't think of anything more appropriate to say about
our God in the light of what we just read. Our God has a great heart, and
he's about to show it. This sad story is recorded in
great detail by all four of the gospel writers. And yet, as they
write the story, each one giving us a little more detail, as they
write the story, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and the beloved John,
that one who appears to have been personally most likely to
be most sensitive to protecting another. Not one of them offers
a single excuse or an extenuating circumstance by which they might
in some way mitigate the horrible offense that Peter committed. You see, they wrote by divine
inspiration and wrote truthfully. They tell us about Peter's fall
because God the Holy Spirit, who inspired that which they
wrote, intended that we bear in mind Peter's fall, and that
we learn what God the Holy Spirit teaches us in these passages
of Scripture from Peter's fall. May he inscribe the lessons upon
our hearts. Now try, if you can, to picture
the scene. Try to picture the scene before the disciples had just observed
the last Passover and enjoyed the blessed celebration of the
first communion service with the Lord Jesus. The Lord had
told them plainly of His certain and imminent betrayal and death. Peter, James, and John had been
with them in Gethsemane. They had seen the Lord transfigured
before them. As best I can understand it,
they saw the Lord Jesus in His glory, just as He now sits in
His glory upon the throne of grace and glory as our Mediator. They saw what the reward of his
obedience was to do. And they heard and saw Moses
and Elijah as they stood on the mount with him and spoke to him
about his decease that he would accomplish at Jerusalem. They
heard the master cry, if it be possible, Let this cup
pass from me in Gethsemane's garden." These things Peter,
James, and John observed. On that evening, the very evening
in which Peter here denies the Master three times, he had heard
him speak the most detailed sermon given to us in all the book of
God that fell from the lips of our Savior. John chapters 14,
15, 16, and 17. Included in that is his
high priestly prayer. All these things he heard. It
was on that night, earlier in the evening, that the soldiers
came like a mob of malicious led by the Lord Jesus' intimate
friend, Judas. Judas betrayed him. When the soldiers came to arrest
him just a few hours earlier, remember, I told you Peter spoke
the truth when he said, I'm ready to go with you to prison and
to death. That man who was a fisherman,
singular man, he was the only with boldness, defying a Roman
troop, pulled out his little fisherman's knife—it's called
a sword, it's just a little more than a hunting knife—and took
on those Roman soldiers and cut the high priest-servant's ear
off his head, just a few hours earlier. And Peter, now denies
the Lord Jesus. And denies him again. First,
a maid accuses him, a young lady. Then, Malchus, the high priest's
servant, whose ear he'd cut off, he knew he was, he accuses him. And he said, Man, you don't know
what you're talking about. And then another came and spoke
confidently, and said, Yeah, you're one of them. one of his
followers, you're one of his disciples, you're a Galilean."
And Peter began to cuss like a foul-mouthed satyr and said,
I know not the man. The man. This Peter, whose great
confession is, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, appears
to me in a time of great fear, in a time of terrible weakness,
denied the very deity of the God he confessed. I know not
the man." Let that sink in. Now why do you suppose this record
is given to us four times and given to us in such great detail?
I can't begin to imagine telling you all the reasons why, because
I don't know them. But I'll give you three or four. First, Peter's denial certainly
increased our Lord's suffering and sorrow. I can't imagine how it must have
increased. The Holy Spirit here sits before
us in the most emphatic way imaginable, the greatness of our Savior's
saving power, the majesty of his free, unconditional, indestructible
grace, the immutability of his faithfulness. and the absolute
infinity of His love for us. Behold how He loved him. And third, the Divine Comforter,
who inspired this volume, knew that you and I would be subject
to the same temptations, the same fall, the same sins. And one other reason, I'm sure,
is this fourfold account is intended by God to be a startling instructive
lesson for you and I concerning our utter sinfulness and frailty
as long as we live in this world. I've known Hans Schubert, I guess,
longer than anybody in this building. He's intended to teach you that,
and Tom that, and Don that. Peter's fall seems to say to
us, you too are weak, sinful flesh. You too will fall. And there is no limit to the
depths to which you might fall if God just lets you. I hear people, and I know the
reason for it, because I've said it myself. The reason is because
we have a real high opinion of ourselves. The reason is because
we think we wouldn't do some things. We think we wouldn't. We look and say, how could somebody
do something like that? How could a man do that? How could a woman
do that? Just let God put you in the circumstances
and leave you to yourself for a half a second. And there is
nothing you won't do. Folks say, I just don't believe.
I believe there's some things a Christian just won't do. A
Christian just won't do that. Peter denied the Lord's deity. I knew not the man. The disciples,
on one occasion, thought the Lord Jesus coming to them was
a ghost. There's nothing you won't do
if God lets you. And there's nothing I won't do
if God leaves me to myself for a second. I want so much to live for His
glory. I want to honor Him. I want to
magnify my Redeemer, not just in my preaching, but in my living. Now, I hasten to say I am not
the least bit interested I am not the least bit interested
in men outside the kingdom of God approving of me and looking
at me and saying, my, what a fine Christian he is. I'm not interested
in that, but I want to honor him. And if you're redeemed by
his blood and saved by his grace, you do too. I know that. And
yet I know that unless Christ himself preserves me from the
evil, not out there, and the evil that's in me. There is no evil in this world
I won't do. None. Now let me show you three
or four things tonight. First, let's look at the circumstances
of Peter's fall. How did such a great man come
to commit such a grievous evil? Remember now, we're not talking
about a lost man. We're not even talking about
a babe in God's kingdom. We're not even talking about
a young, weak believer. We're talking about a man who
is redeemed by the blood of Christ, saved by God's mighty, free grace,
justified, sanctified, righteous, holy before God, a man strong
in faith. A man imminent among imminent
men. A man who was an example among
examples. Lots of folks look at Peter and
they like to whip up on Peter a good bit. I'd like to be half
the man he was. He was an imminent example of
faith and faithfulness. How could such a man do such
a thing as this? How can this be accounted for?
I remind you, there are no extenuating circumstances, but everything
written in the context of what happened is written almost as
if to deliberately aggravate the offense that's committed.
Peter's fall is strange, because Peter was one of the Lord's most
highly favored and most highly honored disciples. When our Lord
Jesus first began his public ministry, John the Baptist said,
Behold, the Lamb of God taketh away the sin of the world. And
there were two men standing there. They left John and followed the
Lord Jesus. One of them was Peter's brother,
Andrew. Do you know who the third convert
was? Peter. He was one of the Lord's
first disciples. Peter was not only one of the
earliest of the disciples, He was in the inner circle of the
Master's friends. Not only that, he was chosen
to be an apostle. Not only that, he was eminent
among the apostles. He seems to have been the chief
spokesman for the Church throughout its early days until God was
pleased to call Saul of Tarsus and give him a place of eminence
among the Gentiles. Peter's fall is especially sad
because the Lord plainly and faithfully warned him of the
great danger he was in. Satan desired to have him. His
faith was going to be severely attacked. The Lord even gave
him the details. He told him, Peter, now watch
and pray. But Peter, inerrant, self-sufficiency and self-righteousness. Believers don't have that. Don't
fool yourself for a second. In his arrogant high mind of
himself, comparing himself with others, rushed headlong into
danger. Look at Matthew chapter 26. Peter said in the text we read
here in Luke, I'm ready to go with you to prison and to death. He confidently declares his loyalty
to the Lord Jesus. But that's not all he does. Look
at verse 31, Matthew 26. Peter said unto them, or Jesus
said unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this
night." Every one of them. And they all work. For it is
written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall
be scattered abroad. You find it in the book of Zechariah.
But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. All
of you who shall this night be offended because of me. All of
you who shall this night forsake me. I'll go before you into Galilee. I'll go there, and everything's
going to be all right. Everything's going to be all
right. Because that prophecy of Zachariah doesn't just declare
the sheep will be scattered, but the shepherd will gather
them. Verse 33, And Peter answered and said unto him, Though all
shall be offended because of Yet will I never be addicted. Not me. I've experienced too
much. Lord, I owe you too much. You've
done too much for me. And I know it. I know it. Not
me. Not me. Jesus said unto him,
Verily I say unto thee, that this night before the cock crow,
thou shalt deny me thrice. Now watch this. Peter said, not
me. He said, though I should die
with thee, yet will I not deny thee. But he wasn't by himself. So said they all. Likewise also said all the disciples. And just a few hours after this,
his boast of his love for Christ. And I remind you again, he spoke the truth. Yogi loved the Master, loved
Him with all his heart. He believed Him. He trusted Him. He followed Him. But he had far
too much confidence in himself. And now he denies Peter's fall didn't come by degrees, and the falls of God's saints
seldom do. Usually one thing leads to another,
and another, and another. But it takes very little to make
a great saint fall into great sin. All it took for Peter was the
accusation of a young maid girl. And the dominoes started to fall,
and fever started to fall. Here's another aggravation. The master was standing right
there. He was as close to me as you
are. as close to the Lord Jesus as
you are. He's standing there because he's
about to die as Peter's substitute. He's standing there as one who's
come to bear Peter's sins in his own body. He's standing there
in humiliation because Peter deserved to be humbled to hell. And he hears the whole thing. Well, how can we in any way give
an account for this? As I've said, Peter was far too
proud of himself, far too confident of his own strength. He was overcome by the fear of
man. He neglected to be watchful over
his own soul and pray. watchful over the evil of his
own heart, and prayed that God would keep him from it. I suspect, like Mother Eve, he
had begun to doubt the Master's word. And I'll tell you another reason.
I'll tell you another reason. This was not accidental. This
was not accidental. The Lord Jesus could just as
well have kept him from falling here as he kept him from seeking
in the boisterous sea, had that been his purpose. He could just
as well have kept Peter all along the way with never such a thought,
had that been his purpose. But the Lord had great plans
for Peter. And his purpose was to make him
a better man. than he could otherwise have
been, and he was. I don't have any question. Peter
could never have made the bold confession he made before the
Sanhedrin, in Acts chapter four, if he had known what it was to
tremble before this little girl. I have no question. He could
never have preached the message that he preached on the day of
Pentecost. had he not known what it was to tremble before this
little girl. He's standing before the Sanhedrin, the very people
who put the Master to death, the very men who instigated the
whole thing. And they said to him when he
healed that blind man, said, How did you do this? And I can almost hear his in
most minds screaming to Him, don't be tempted again. Don't deny Him again. Don't abandon Him again. And He stood up on His hind legs
with boldness like no man you could imagine and said to the
Jewish Sanhedrin, being known unto you that in the name of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, this man stands here in front of you, whom you crucified." The Lord
had intended great things for Peter. Well, how was it that
Peter was recovered from his fall? He fell, but he didn't perish. The Master said, you'll never
perish. His faith weakened, but he didn't
die. He sinned, but he wasn't cast
off. He forsook the Lord, but the
Lord didn't forsake him. He denied the Lord Jesus, but
the Lord Jesus refused to deny him. Peter belonged to Christ. And Christ, the good shepherd,
keeps his sheep. The wise man said, the righteous
fall seven times a day. I take that to mean Delphus Grubbs,
in the continuation of his life, every day, constantly falls. Seven speaks of completion. and
seven speaks of grace. The righteous man is constantly
following, and the Lord is constantly raising
him up. And that's the only reason we
continue in faith. That's all. Well, but I, Hang
on, if you pause, he's gonna bend that eye, I promise you.
One way or the other. How did the Lord Jesus raise
up his fallen servant? Let me give you four or five
things clear, set forth in scripture. And these things are always the
way he raises up his servants. The Lord said to Peter, now when
you're converted, The prophet said, turn me and I shall be
turned. After that I was turned, I called upon thee. The Lord
said to Peter, when you're converted, strengthen your brethren. Use
what you've experienced to help them. And this is how the Lord
turned him. First there was a work of prophetess. Go home and read the 107th Psalm. Go to sleep on it. And read it
again real quickly sometime tomorrow. It's a book about God's providence,
how God deals with His own in providence. He brings them down. He causes them to reel to and
fro like a drunk man, and they are at their wits' end. Then they call on Him. He brings them through troubled
waters, through great times of trials, but by that means He
brings them to their desired haven. God has many ways of reaching
the hearts of His own, and He doesn't exclude His providence. Peter has just denied the Master
for the third time, and while he's still cussing and swearing,
I don't know that man. It was just at that time that
the sun began to peak up in the eastern sky, and Rooster raised
his head and stood up high and began to crow. Wasn't that a
wonderful stroke of luck? Oh, Everything in this world,
from the wrath of man to the roar of Satan to the crowing
of a morning rooster, comes to pass exactly according to the
purpose of our God. And then there was the work of
grace. Providence is meaningless without grace. Luke 22, 61. The Lord turned and looked on
Peter. What a look that must have been.
I expect it spoke volumes to Peter. And that which recovers God's
people is Him looking on us. You read that passage in Hebrews,
didn't you? He who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
having been through everything we've been through, he is able
to succor, what a good word, what a good word, we don't use
it much these days, to help with feeling. Able to succor, to assist,
to aid, omnipotent aid with the heart of a man full of love. The Lord looked at Peter, and
He said, as he looked at him, I knew what you were when I loved
you. I called you. You've not chosen me, but I've
chosen you. I've loved you with an everlasting
love. Here I am. come the woman's seed,
and now the hour has come. I've come here to redeem you.
I told you a long time ago, Peter, your iniquities are forgiven,
and I haven't changed my mind. I gave you eternal life, and
I'm still giving it to you, and you shall never perish. Fear not, for I have redeemed
thee. In Me is thy righteousness found. I am thy strength and thy salvation. I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, you
sons of Jacob are not consumed. Greater love had no man than
this, that a man lay down his life
for his freedom. And I expect the Lord's look
said this, return unto me, return unto me, and I will pardon you. But there was something else
that happened. There was a work of the The Lord, when he deals with
his people in grace, deals with them in providence, and he deals
with them in grace, and he deals with them by his word. Look at verse sixty-one. Peter remembered the word of
the Lord. The Word of God was graciously
brought to his mind when he desperately needed it. And there was also the work of
his advocate, his intercessor, his high priest. Verse 32, the
Lord said to Peter, I have prayed for thee. What happens when Clare Sherwin
sins against God? What happens? There's a lot that
happens in Clare's life. There's a lot that happens in
Clare's heart. But in his relationship with
God Almighty, nothing happens. Are you saying, pastor, the Lord
won't hold it against you? That's what I'm saying. Ever. And will never treat you
any of the less graciously. Now, some folks will hear that
and say, well, that'll open the floodgates to sin. If you think
so, the floodgates are already open for you. You don't have
a clue what I'm talking about. You don't have a clue. You folks know my darling daughter,
I just got one. And you know what? I'd like to say not in pride
or arrogance, that's not so. There's too much of that about
me about everything. But I think she'd tell you I
was a pretty good daddy. I made her mind me. Act respectfully toward me."
And I loved her. And I died for her in a heartbeat. Now just suppose she concludes
from that, well, I know that he loves me. I'm convinced of
that. I see what I can do to dishonor him. Any daughter here think like
that? It's absurd. Only religious people think like
that. Religious people have no clue who God is. My little children,
these things write I unto you, that you sin not. And if you sin, Don Williams,
write the word as little as you want to. It's a giant word. When
you do sin, nothing's changed. We have an advocate with the
Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is the propitiation for
our sins. And I'll tell you something else
the Lord did. He came to Peter. Turn to John 21. Peter went out
and went to Bitterland. I have no doubt he went out and
went bitterly for many reasons, sorrow, repentance of a sort. But he went out and went bitterly
because he was convinced it was all over. You know what he told
the disciples, his other brothers? He said, I'm going fishing, boys.
And that didn't mean I'm going to go out in the morning and
do a little fishing and come back to walk with you. He said,
I'm going back to where I was three and a half years ago when
I first met him. With regard to me, it must have
all been a sham. No way a man can love the master
and do what I've done. No way a man can have faith in
Christ and behave as I behave. So the Lord Jesus comes to Peter
when he's out fishing with the other disciples. He said to them, said, Have you
got any fish? And they said, No. And he said, Cast it down
to the other side. And they cast it down to the
other side. Somebody said, Well, that's the
Lord. And Peter dove in the water and
swam to shore. And when they got to shore, Peter
and the other disciples followed him. The Lord didn't ask if they
had any fish, because he needed some. The fish was already cooked
on the fire. He came to dine with his disciples,
and he said, Come and dine. And they got done with a good
mess of fried bass and a cup of coffee, and the Lord said,
Peter, let's take a walk. Let's take a walk. So when they died, Jesus said
to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than
these? I can almost picture their sins. Matthew, James, John, Thomas, Peter. Now do you really love
me more than this? And he saith unto him, Yea, Lord,
ignoring the second part of the question, Thou knowest that I
love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
And he saith unto him again, the second time, Simon, son of
Jonas, lovest thou me? Forget about James and John,
the rest of them. He said to him, "'Yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee.'" He said, "'Thee, my sheep.'"
And it's not obvious in our King James English translation, but
he said to him the third time, "'Simon, son of Jonas,' and he
changes the word. The word used for love here now
is not the common word that's commonly used with regard to
common love between men. This is brother love. This is
the love of brothers for one another, the strongest word he
could possibly have used to speak of love. He said, Peter, let's
get down to where the rubber hits the road. Do you love me? And his reason was not to inform
himself. Oh, wondrous grace. His reason
was to sweetly squeeze from Peter what he could not dare say, except
the Lord graciously make him say it. And here he makes a statement
that only one who trusts the Master can honestly make. He said, You know all things,
you see that? Now James, John, Matthew, and
the rest of them, all they can know about me is
what they've seen and heard. And I can't tell you what they
might think about me. But my consolation is this, Lord,
You know what I really am. And you know what my heart really
is. You know all things. You know that I love you. I love you because you first
loved me. And I love you not what it ought
to be, not what I want it to be, but it's real, because you
gave it to me." And the Lord sent to him the machine. Now, turn over to John chapter
13. Let me show you two more passages. John 13. Simon Peter said unto him, Lord,
whither goest thou? And Jesus said to him, verse
36, 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, Will you not? Wilt thou lay down thy
life for my sake? And he said, Verily, verily,
Amen, Amen, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow till
thou hast denied me three times. Now don't stop reading. Forget
about the paragraph chapter division and read right on the next sentence. He says, He said, before the
sun rises, you're going to deny Me three times. Now, here's what
I want you to understand. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in Me. In my Father's house are many I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again. We just read it in John 21. He
came to him again, and received you unto myself. But where I
am, there you may be also. Now hear the lesson. Salvation is God's work. Our only righteousness is Christ's
righteousness. Our only hope and acceptance
with God is His precious blood. The only strength by which we
persevere in faith is the strength of His omnipotent grace holding
us in His hand. Don't think highly of yourself. God teach me that. But do esteem
your brethren highly, even when they fall. They are still the
righteousness of God in Christ. They are still accepted of God. that could be accepted of you.
And when they fall, don't be severe, be gracious. Go pick them up, dust them off,
give them a hug, and bring them home. And learn this. The Lord's grace, mercy, and
love for his own never fluctuates. Aren't you glad he's not like
you? Aren't you glad he's not like me? And the Lord was risen from the
dead. Those women came to the tomb. And they said, He's not here. He's
risen. Go tell the disciples. He'll meet you. Remember where
He said, I'll meet you in Galilee. Meet you in Galilee. Tell them
about it. He'll meet you in Galilee, just like He said. And they took
off. Go tell them. Wait! Be sure you tell Peter. Be sure
you tell Peter. Tell him everything's all right.
He's still forgiven. He's still loved. He's still
redeemed. Nothing has changed. Amen.