Luke chapter 22 is where we'll
be tonight. If you'd like to turn there. Luke chapter 22. Now on Sunday,
we looked at the cup of the Lord that he took for his people and
the sin that was in that cup, the damnation that was in that
cup, the separation from his father. And then Luke 22, it's
the same account, if you will, of the garden of Gethsemane,
but from Luke's perspective, and it's pretty much the same
account as the Passover and as it goes forth into the betrayal
of Judas. But each of the gospels give
a little bit different insight. It's all harmonious, but maybe
Luke sees something that Matthew didn't or John seen something
that Martin didn't and they write that. So when you read them all
together, you get a, it's all harmonious. It's all glorious,
but. We'll be in Luke 22 tonight, looking through the eyes of the Lord
Jesus Christ, what he's seen, what he did when he looked at
Peter. And I've titled the message,
The Look of Mercy. Now we have the Passover here. at the beginning,
and we see after the Passover was taken, they broke bread,
the Lord went to a place called Gethsemane, a garden, as we've
seen Sunday. And he began to agonize over the cup that he
would take, and he prayed unto his father, Father, if it be
thy will, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will,
but thine be done. After the prayer, the Lord is
betrayed with a kiss from Judas. And I found it interesting at
the very beginning of this chapter, it says, then Satan entered into
Judas. So the Lord gave permission for
Satan to enter into Judas for his will, for his glory, and
for his honor. After he's betrayed with this
kiss, Peter, decides he's going to take matters into his own
hands. He unsheathes a sword and he takes the ear off of the
high priest's servant. Now we can see ourselves so many
times in wanting to take matters into our hands, given the circumstances.
There's various circumstances of our life where we want to
lay hands to it rather than fleeing to Christ, rather than trusting.
Peter was standing beside God and Peter believed the Lord enough
to walk on water. Yet at the opportune moment,
he says, well, I'm going to fix this. And he chops off a man's
ear. We see that the Lord heals this and rebukes Peter. Then the Lord asks the men that
were there to take him, whom seek ye? And the Lord graciously
says unto them, I am. He said, whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
Then he said, I am. Now the word he is in italics.
If we looked at that, that's not what he said. He said, I
am. It's the same thing he told Moses, isn't it? They went backwards,
the scripture says, they fell down at his word saying, I am.
And then he asked him again, whom do you seek? And they said,
Jesus of Nazareth. And he says, I've already told
you that I am, let these go, these my disciples. Now, as I
mentioned to you before, each gospel account gives different
insight. And so there may be some things
here in Luke 22 that I just mentioned that you'd have to go somewhere
else to find, but this is all happening at the same time. All
the disciples were free to go. They came to take the Lord and
would have taken the disciples had he not demonstrated that
he had the authority. And I still, I find it marvelous
and amazing that they still had the, it had to be by the Lord's
will. There's no other explanation
how they would take the Lord after he just said, I am, knocked
them back, literally knocked them down and they stood back
up. That was a display of his sovereign power right there in
front of them. And yet they still took him, didn't they? Why? It
was his time to die for his people. They had tried to take him many
times, but he had passed through them and they couldn't see him.
So we know that this is his will to be taken at this time. Now
we're in Luke 22 and we're called up to the point of verse 54. Let's read this. Then took they
him and led him and brought him into the high priest's house
and Peter followed afar off. And when they had kindled a fire
in the midst of the hall and were set down together, Peter
sat down among them. But a certain maid beheld him
as he sat by the fire and earnestly looked upon him and said, this
man was also with him. And he denied him saying, woman,
I know him not. And after a little while, another
saw him and said, thou art also of them. And Peter said, man,
I am not. And about the space of one hour,
after another confidently affirmed saying of a truth, this fellow
also was with him, for he is a Galilean. And Peter said, man,
I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet
spake, the cock crew. And the Lord turned and looked
upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word
of the Lord, how he had said unto him, before the cock crow,
thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out and wept bitterly. The Lord turned at the third
crow and looked at Peter. How did he look at him? is what
I want to answer tonight. How did the Lord look at Peter? Peter, no doubt, remembered his
words as it just says here. And when he saw the Lord was
in great sorrow, insomuch that he went out and wept bitterly.
But what was the look that the Lord gave to Peter? This is the
look of mercy. This is the look of mercy. And
I want to show us that tonight. That's what I've titled this,
the look of mercy. In order to understand this, we have to look
at Peter. We have to examine Peter a little
bit. And boy, we can totally relate to Peter just about in
every way. One minute we're hot, we're on fire, we're ready to
chop off the high priest servant's ear. And the next minute we're
warming our self with the fire of unbelief because we're afraid,
aren't we? We're ready to fight and then
we're full of fear and doubt. He betrayed the Lord, but I would
remind you that he walked on water. The only man in scripture
beside the Lord Jesus Christ that they give an account of,
that walked on water. He really walked on water. Now, I don't understand how that's
possible, but faith doesn't give explanation, does it? Faith believes
Christ. Faith looks to Christ. Faith
believes God. So in order for us to understand
that this was a look of mercy, we're gonna be shown that it's
all of grace as well. It's all by grace and it's all
by mercy. In Matthew chapter 14, the disciples find themselves
on a boat at the word of the Lord. He had just fed the 5,000,
and he tells them, get on a boat and go across the sea. And they
do so. But a great tempest came upon
them. And we see that they were overburdened. They were in darkness. It was between the hours of 3
a.m. and 6 a.m., the darkest part of the night. The storm
was contrary to them. They were trying to row against
it. They were trying to get back to shore safely. They were trying
to get to their destination. But every time that they would
go a direction, the storm was pushing them back. Boy, is that
not our story in life? Is that not our account in life,
how that we are so often rowing against the storm of life and
yet not really getting anywhere. The Lord's the one that sent
the storm, isn't he? We know that because we see the account
as it unfolds. The Lord comes walking upon the
sea in the midst of the night. They believe he's a spirit and
they're afraid. And he says, be of good cheer.
It is I, be not afraid. And Peter said, Lord, if it's
you, bid me come unto you. The Lord said, come. And Peter
walked on the water. Now one minute he's walking on
the water. I don't know how long he walked. I don't know. Longer
than anybody else, that's for sure. Whether it's one second,
five seconds, a minute, I have no idea. And it's not relevant.
The Lord give him enough faith to walk on water. That's incredible
to me. That's incredible to me. And
yet, takes his eyes off of the one who is his confidence. He
forgets where his eyes should be. He forgets the reason he
was walking to begin with was to get to Christ. But then he
begins to notice the storm. Then he begins to notice the
sea. And as it perhaps blows upon his face, he begins to be
afraid. He saw the storm and he believed
the storm more than believing God. This man is walking on water. and all of a sudden he starts
sinking because of his unbelief. Can you relate to that? Do you
feel like that there's times when your eyes is fixated upon
Christ whenever the gospel is being declared and you're worshiping
in spirit and in truth and your heart is just full and you have
not a care in the world, you know that everything's all right.
And as soon as you pull out of the parking lot, you begin to
sink. Is that not how it goes? Something happens along the way
home or something happens when you get home or during the week
something happens. I've had times of worship and joy hearing the
glorious news of the gospel and get in the car and the girls
are in the backseat bickering. And that's enough just to cause
me to start sinking all over again, isn't it? I mean, we're
so prone to wonder, we're so prone to leave the God we love,
but yet the Lord is the one that created the storm. Don't forget that. The Lord is
the storm. He's the first cause of all things.
Peter began to sink because God was the storm. And as Peter turns
his eyes away, he begins to sink. And he is made to cry out, have
mercy upon me. But he didn't have enough time
to say all that, did he? What'd he say? Save me. Save me, Lord. Is that your cry? It has to be
if you're His. That's our only hope. Lord, save
me. Save me now and save me now and save me now. And we never
stop saying it until the day we die. To are conformed to His
image. We see Him face to face. Understand that there is a created
necessary cry in the storm. There's so much mercy in sinking.
See those that are thinking and believing that they're they're
in the boat or they're thinking they're walking on water, they're
not. See, no man can walk upon the water unless the Lord bids
him come. This is an act of, it's a miraculous miracle that
took place, but this act, this thing of sinking is mercy. Without
sinking, there would have been no cry for Lord save me, would
there? You had to sink, you have to sink in order to have a need.
And that's exactly what the Lord calls Peter to do. And what does
he say to him? Oh ye of little faith. Boy, if
Peter had little faith and walked on water, what about you and
I? Think about that. We have the measure of faith that the
Lord gave to us, don't we? That's how much we're supposed
to have. And it's enough to look unto Christ because it's his
faith and it cannot fail. Without sinking, there is no
mercy. And I wanna declare unto you tonight that the Lord never
shows grace and mercy until he dangles a sinner over hail and
shows him his sin or her sin. Shows them the wrath of God that
they deserve. That's the only way that we can
rejoice in mercy and cry out for it. See, mercy is not getting
what we deserve. And grace is getting what we
don't deserve. So it's all by grace and mercy,
isn't it? Why did the Lord extend his hand
to Peter? Why did he save him? Because he loved him, that's
why. Because he loved him, we find that he prayed for him,
he interceded for him. So the Lord saved him, didn't
he? Not just physically, but spiritually. This situation of
sinking is what we do all the time, over and over, and we see
that we deserve to drown. Yet we cry out, Lord save me,
and in mercy, and by his grace, he reveals Christ. If there's no sinking, there's
no cry. There's no need for salvation. There's no need for mercy. But
he calls us his people. to be found undone before him.
He causes his people to see that they're naked, that they're dead
in trespasses and in sin. And even after we believe, he
constantly allows us to sink over and over. Think about if
you had everything perfect in your life. Well, we would have
no need of heaven, would we? This would be heaven if it was
perfect. So it's an impossibility. But that being said, the trials
and tribulations that we face are given to us to drive us unto
Christ. That's why they're given. It's
all by mercy and grace. It is certainly difficult to
rejoice in trials, isn't it? It's certainly difficult to rejoice,
but it is all of grace. It's for our good and it's for
his glory. It's good. Whatever it may be,
whatever the storm is, he is the first cause of it. There is truly only one reason
for sinking. We take our eyes off of him.
We take our eyes off of him and every time we will start sinking
every single time. Somebody said, well, how do you
keep your eyes focused on him? We're mercy beggars, brethren.
I can't tell you how to look to Christ. The declaration goes
forth, look unto Christ, come unto him, take up the water of
life freely, and he gives the faith to do so. It's not something
that we produce. Oh, I would love to look unto
him every second of every minute of every hour of every day. How
often do I look at the storm instead, like Peter did, and
start sinking? We take our eyes off of him.
This is the reason we sink. You know, the most common reason,
the most common reason that we take our eyes off of him and
look under that storm, we're looking for physical evidence
rather than looking for Christ. We're looking for physical evidence
of God's hand or God's work. And we're saying, Lord, I can't
see your face. Well, you're not looking in the right direction,
are we? We're looking at the storm. We're looking, well, Lord,
I don't see you. He's in the storm. He's the first
cause of the storm. But that's why we sink is we
take our eyes off of him. Sometimes we look at things as
God's favor. Men look at things as God's favor,
whether it's money, houses, whatever it may be. They believe they
have God's favor because of what they have. David said, Lord,
give me enough so I don't steal, but don't give me too much because
I will steal. I will not look unto you. I will
rob you of your glory at that point, is what he's saying. Either
way, don't let me be a thief. Don't let me be a physical thief
or a spiritual thief. Keep me looking to Christ. Don't
let me start sinking. Is that our prayer? Lord, give
me my portion. Give me Christ. That's the portion
we really want, isn't it? That's what we really beg for.
No, we don't look at physical things as evidence of God's favor,
and we certainly don't look evidence for salvation. How many times
am I prone to desire to look to see if I'm a believer by evidence? You ever thought of that before?
You ever do that? Do you look at examine yourself
and you say, okay, that's I'm definitely there. There's no
way that I am saved. There is no way I'm one of his.
Is that not the conclusion the believer comes to every single
time? but it's by grace. It's not looking to Christ to
examine yourself. Do we know that? That's unbelief. Every time, every single time
that we look for evidence, it's always unbelief. Looking for
physical affirmations for salvation, for favor in God's eye, or even
his hand or his work in something is not looking to Christ. We look to Christ, don't we?
We look to Christ. That is our hope. Once I had a trial that we were
facing, had a sick little girl, had different things going on,
found out some discouraging news, despairing I guess we say, we
don't. I don't know of anybody, and if you know them, have them
call me, because I'd like to have a conversation with them.
As soon as they hear bad news, or what we would call bad news,
they don't start worrying about it. That's what we do by nature.
Our flesh is so contrary to God and his ways, and the new man,
they're warring against each other. What we always do is usually
start Okay, so how do I fix it? Okay, I'm concerned now, I'm
scared, what do I do? And we start calculating and
we start, did you know faith doesn't calculate? Faith doesn't
calculate, it doesn't process. Faith doesn't look for evidence,
faith looks to Christ. So if it's not looking to Christ,
it's not faith. Well, I was in a moment of doubt
and unbelief, the Lord left me a moment in that and it was storming. It was sunshine on one side and
it was clouds on the other. And I got this thing in my head
thinking, if I could just see the rainbow, if I could just
see a rainbow, boy, I could remember his promise. That's not looking
to Christ, is it? I was looking for physical evidence
of something. I thought, Lord, I need to see
your promise. No, we need to see Christ. We
need to see him through the eyes of faith, looking unto Jesus.
That's how we come. That's how we look, is him drawing
us. Lord didn't give a rainbow. Every
scientific, in my opinion, what I know about rainbows, there
should have been a rainbow there. Okay. It was like perfect for
rainbow. There was no rainbow. Lord said, no, no, look to Christ. Rest in him. You're sinking. Look to Christ. Don't look at
the storm anymore. Don't be discouraged or in despair. Look to Christ.
That's the declaration. God only reveals himself one
way. and one way only, and that is through his gospel. That's
how God reveals himself to his people. The preaching of his
gospel. Only faith reveals this gospel.
Only faith always reveals Christ. And only faith can give us rest
in Him. Do you know why? Because faith
always looks to Him in all things, in every circumstance, in every
trial, for the remedy of sin. No matter what the question,
Christ is the answer. The good news is Peter's faith
could not fail because of the source of Peter's faith. He said,
you have a little faith. Oh, you have little faith. He
didn't say none, did he? There's good news in that. Peter had
some faith. We know later on the Lord calls him and he gives
him the keys to the kingdom, so to speak, or what the scripture
says. And he preaches on the day of Pentecost, 5,000 souls
were saved. And he goes around, Paul establishes
churches. They go and declare the gospel.
He's one of the key members to that the Lord raised up. His
faith could not fail because of the source of it. It was Christ's
faith that was bestowed upon him. That's our hope. Yet he
continually doubted. He kept putting his foot in his
mouth. He kept fumbling over doing the thing, just like Paul,
the things I would do, I do not, but that which I would not do.
That's exactly what I find myself doing over and over and over.
We can relate to Peter, can't we? We can relate to Peter. This thing of putting his foot
in his mouth. The Lord teaches us tenderness. Did you know that?
Tenderness in word towards one another. And silence. The Lord
tells us very clearly, be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake had forgiven
you. And this thing of silence, he tells
us be quick to hear, quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to
wrath. For the wrath of man worketh
not the righteousness of God. Knowing this, still, we are just
like Peter. Just like Peter. You ever put
your foot in your mouth? We're not going to tell you how
many times I've put my foot in my mouth, especially in my marriage.
I said, man, I should not have said that. That didn't come out
right. I've hurt feelings now. I didn't
mean for it to sound like that. Or maybe I did mean for it to
sound like that and have to reap the ramifications of it later
on. Peter. That's exactly who we're talking
about. This is the same story as you and I. We're no different.
May the Lord keep us from that. The best example I can give you
of Peter putting his foot in his mouth is found in Matthew chapter
17 on the mountain of transfiguration. The Lord takes Peter and James
and John up on the mountain of transfiguration and the Lord
has transfigured. He literally is transfigured into the scripture
says he was as bright as the sun, his garments were the light,
and he was there speaking with Moses and Elijah. Now understand
what's represented there is Elijah would be the prophets and Moses
would be the law. We know that. So he's having
a conversation here. He's going to fulfill the law
and he's the embodiment of all the prophecies that took place.
He's our prophet, priest, and king forever. Peter got the idea that he should
say something. He thought, okay, I need to speak
up right now. You know, understand what's,
Christ has dropped his flesh in front of Peter. And he's,
this is, this is the deity that they're seeing of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And you have, Peter speaks up and he thinks, I got something
good to say. Scott Richardson said something
one time that I heard, and I don't know who I heard it from, but
I've thought about it over and over again. And I hope I learn
it. He said, never miss an opportunity to shut up. I thought that was
good advice. That's good advice, ain't it?
Poor Peter and you and I the same way, we don't do it. We
speak up and he said, Lord, it would be good to build three
tabernacles here. One for you and one for Moses and one for
Elijah. As he was speaking in mercy,
the father from glory spoke and interrupted him and said, this
is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. They heard that
and they fell upon their face, all the disciples, they fell
in the dirt. God shut them up. Did you know that's what he does
for you and I? When we think, Lord, I thought, he shuts us
up. And what does he shut us up to?
Shuts us up to Christ. And whenever they looked up,
they no longer saw the law. They no longer saw the prophets.
They no longer saw the father. They saw the Lord Jesus Christ
alone. He touched them and he said,
be not afraid. Be not afraid. The law can't
say anything against you. You're mine. The prophets prophesied
of me, and I'm going to fulfill all of it for you. This is the
representation. Fear not the father, because
I'm going to satisfy his demands in every way. That's what he
told him, fear not. What mercy it is to be made to
shut up. Truly. Job said, I'm going to
put my hand over my mouth. The Lord said, I'm going to ask
you a question, Job. Answer me like a man. Where were
you when I bled the foundations of the world?" And after a couple
chapters of asking questions, Job realized, I don't know anything.
I need to shut up. He said, I'll put my hand over
my mouth. Never to speak again. This is what he does for his
people. Now, the examination we've had
of Peter thus far has left us with one conclusion. And it's
the conclusion that Peter confesses in 1 Peter 1 in verse 5. We are
kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to
be revealed at the last day. That's the conclusion, isn't
it? I'm not the one that kept myself, Peter said. All those
times I was sinking, I betrayed him or I denied him, and I spoke
up when I shouldn't have, put my foot in my mouth. Everything
that I could have done right, I did wrong. We're kept by the
power of God through his faith unto salvation. That's the only
conclusion that we have, isn't it? It's all of grace. We have further evidence of this
in his denial of the Lord. We're in chapter 22 of Luke.
Look at verse 31 and 34. 31 through 34, brother, I say. 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 that
thy faith fail not. When thou art converted, strengthen
thy brethren. And Peter spoke up again, didn't he? And what
does Peter say? He said unto him, Lord, I am
ready to go with thee both into prison and to death. And he said,
I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day before
thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me. What sweet words
it would be to hear from the Lord, I have prayed for thee
that thy faith fell not. That's our hope, isn't it? See,
that's all of grace. It's all of what he has done
for his people. This is what the message is tonight.
This look that the Lord gives to Peter is in mercy and it's
by his grace alone. We've seen Peter and his attributes,
if you will. Peter went from being ready willing,
and he thought he was able to die with Christ. He thought that,
didn't he? I'm ready, willing, and able. I've got this. The Lord said, you're gonna deny
me three times. He became a scared man, full
of fear. The fear of man, what they could
do unto him. He was afraid, full of it. He was warming himself by the
enemy's fire, the ones that hated the Lord Jesus Christ. He was
warming himself with their fire because of what he saw around
him. It's another storm. Peter can't see that it's a storm
this time. It's a spiritual warfare that's taking place. Understand
something brethren, it's not what we see, it's who we see. The scripture tells us, but we
see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the
suffering of death. crowned with glory and honor,
that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every
man, every person that the Lord gave Christ in the Lamb's Book
of Life. This is our only hope. It's not what we look to, it's
who we look to. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of, that word our is in italics, if you look that
verse up, it's found in Hebrews 12 too. Looking unto Jesus, the
author and finisher of faith, who for the joy set before him
endured the cross, despising the shame and is sat down on
the right hand of the throne of God. See, this is our hope,
that Christ finish the work for his peters, the ones that are
called by his name, for his glory and for his honor. Our hope is that he gives us
this faith, his faith, what he produced, not what we produce.
The Lord's looking into something I'm producing, hell will be my
eternal home. The Lord's looking at something
you're producing, hell will be your eternal home. But the glorious
news of the gospel is he gives the faith of Christ unto every
elect sinner that he bought and purchased with his own blood
in time. He hath saved us and called us freely by his grace
and mercy. This faith does not look to circumstance. It doesn't calculate probabilities,
as I mentioned before. It doesn't, everything we believe
is not logical. We just believe God. We believe
God. How? Why? The faith of Christ
causes us to. That faith looks to Christ alone. Peter is a good example of the
result of not looking into Christ, isn't he? And boy, we can relate
to Peter in so many ways. I can, maybe more than anybody,
I don't know, but it was all for him to learn,
to be taught of the Lord. And it's for you and I to be
taught of the Lord, for you and I to learn. We learn only two ways,
did you know that? I've said this before. We learn
by experience, we learn by being taught. And I understand as you're
being taught, most of the time you're experiencing somewhat
of it, They say, go to college and get an education. You can
do this or that. Well, the doctor has to be an
intern for a while. He has to do a little bit of experience.
You don't want a doctor that didn't have an internship first, right? You don't want to be the first
guy he's operating on. You want to have to know he was standing
by somebody teaching him some things. So we learn by experience
and we learn by being tall. Maybe we can learn a little bit
something tonight of Peter and his unbelief and cry out, Lord,
I see that I'll do that. I'm that man. Lord, if you leave
me to myself, I will deny you. And how often do we deny him?
Our flesh does not acknowledge him ever. In our flesh, we deny
him all the time. Every day, it seems like we grow
cold and indifferent towards him. This is the message tonight. Peter began to sink only because
the Lord allowed him to cry out in mercy, save me. So the Lord
could display his mercy. Peter put his foot in his mouth
and was shut up and then touched with the words, fear not. Peter
was told you're going to deny me, but I have prayed for you
that your faith fill not. Peter was so ready to die with
Christ that he chopped the ear off of the high priest servant. I can relate to the confidence
in the flesh like Peter had. We're confident in the flesh
a lot of times, aren't we? But the scripture says we have no
confidence in the flesh when it comes to salvation. See, the
believer believed with all the heart that the Lord gives him
that I have no confidence in this flesh when it comes to doing
in salvation. If it's not done, if it's not
finished, I have no hope in salvation. In closing, I want to look. In
verse 56 again. Don't you wish you could look
for happiness in Christ all the time? Don't you wish that you
didn't look for happiness in your flesh? That's what we do, isn't
it? We try to satisfy the flesh, try to find happiness, not the
joy unspeakable that Lord gives. We don't flee to the Prince of
Peace at the first sound of danger. We constantly need to be brought
back to him, constantly be made to rest in him. Lord, make us
rest in you. That's our plea. Verse 56 tells
us Luke 22, 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. After
a little while, another saw him and said, thou art also of them.
Peter said, man, I am not. In about the space of one hour
after another confidently affirmed saying of a truth, this fellow
also was with him for he is a Galilean. Peter said, man, I know not what
thou sayest. And immediately while he yet
spake the cock crew and the Lord turned and looked upon Peter
and Peter, remember the word of the Lord, how that he said
unto him before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And
Peter went out and wept bitterly. Peter was humbled, wasn't he? In so much because of the fear
that was around him, having the confidence in the flesh to chop
off the ear of the servant had definitely departed at this point.
And he was left to himself for a brief moment. In so much that
he says three things in denial. I know him not. I do not know
Christ. I don't know him. I want to say
something very clear. Peter's faith could not fail
because it was the faith of Christ. Peter never denied that Jesus
Christ was the savior of his people. He did not deny Christ
and his sovereignty in election. He didn't deny whom the Lord
was. He denied affiliation with him
out of fear. Do we see that? There's a big
difference. First he says, I know him not. And then he says, I
am not of them. I'm not of the disciples that
you're accusing me of. And the last thing he says is
I know not what, I don't even know what you're talking about.
I know not what thou sayest. And he does it with cursings
and swearing we find in another gospel. He's cussing him. He
said, you get the idea. You know exactly what he said.
And immediately the cock crowed. And that is what we find throughout
the scriptures And it came to pass. And the word of the Lord
came to pass. Now there is so much good news
in that a message could be preached on that and it came to pass.
But that's exactly what took place. So what is our hope in
all of this? We see that this is us if we're
left to ourself, there's no doubt. What is our hope? Verse 61, the
Lord turned and look upon Peter. Now I want to take my time in
trying to describe unto you the truth of this glorious gospel.
This was not a look in judgment. This was not a look in wrath. This was not a look in, I told
you so, Peter. That's not how he looks at his
people, is it? If there was anything required of Peter to do right
and good in his salvation, Everything was stripped from him at that
moment when the Lord looked at him. He knew that there is nothing
in him good whatsoever. So how does the Lord look at
his people? It's not in anger. He never looks at his children
in disgust, does he? He never looks at us in disdain.
He looks at his people in love. and in mercy. This is how the
Lord Jesus Christ looked at Peter. He looked at him in mercy, with
eyes full of love, full of compassion, full of understanding, because
he is a high priest that is touched with the feeling of our infirmities.
He said, he knew that Peter was gonna do this. He warned Peter
he was gonna do this. And Peter did it and thought, how could
I have done this? Is that not us? We know that we're going
to falter and fail, and yet we find ourselves in the pit over
and over, find ourselves sinking over and over, asking, Lord,
have mercy upon me. This is the grace that the Lord
gives his people. He looked upon him in love and
in mercy, just as David. He said, Nathan told David, you
are the man. David, you are the man. but I've
put away your sin. The Lord hath put away your sin. This is how he looked at Peter.
You're the man, fear not Peter. I love you and I've always loved
you and I've put away your sin. He was going to the cross to
do so, but as far as the Lord was concerned, it was already
finished before the beginning of time. Loved us with an everlasting
love. He looked at him with eyes saying,
you have denied me, but I will never. Never, never deny you
because I purchased you with my own blood. He looked at Peter
with the eyes saying, I've confessed you eternally before my father. I prayed for you, Peter. You've forsaken me, but I will
never leave you and I will never forsake you. I will never leave
you to yourself. This was the eyes that the Lord
looked unto Peter with. How do we know that? because
he put away the sin of his people. There's no other look that he
has for his people. God only looks at us and sees
the Lord Jesus Christ in love and in mercy. Even though we've
denied him, even though we've looked to the storm instead of
him, even though we put our foot in our mouth, he continually
draws us back to him over and over by grace and by mercy. We are not left to ourself. The
Lord sees us as he has always seen us. And he looks upon us
the way he's always looked upon us, in love and in mercy, because
he sees us in the Lord Jesus Christ. I will never leave you
nor forsake you. Do you know why? Because he was
forsaken of his father. The Lord Jesus Christ became
the unclean thing for his people. The Lord Jesus Christ was forsaken.
He's a man of sorrow, stricken, smitten of God and afflicted,
forsaken of the Father so that you and I would never be forsaken.
He would never leave us. It may seem like it when we're
looking at the storm and we're concerned, we're troubled in
trials. Circumstances, whether it's physical or health or spiritual,
whatever it may be, and we can't see his face, it may seem like
he's forsaken us. Rest assured in the promise of
his glorious look unto us, its mercy and its grace. And it's
for our good and for his glory. And he will never leave us and
he will never forsake us according to his promise, according to
his will. He bore the very unbelief that
made Peter deny Him. He bears the very unbelief. He
bore it on the cross, your unbelief, all of it, your sin, your guilt,
and your shame. If you're His, if you were given
to Christ before the foundation of the world in the Lamb's Book
of Life, He bore your sin, and He did it for sinners. He didn't
do it for the righteous. He did it for the sinners, the
chief of sinners, the ones that don't mean to deny Him, don't
mean to look away from Him, and the ones that see themselves
sinking. The one sees themselves hanging over hell saying, Lord,
I deserve that, but have mercy upon me, the sinner. Mercy upon
me, the sinner. And how does he look at us? The
same exact way he looked at Peter in mercy and in love over and
over and over. We are made to see that we are
saved by grace through faith alone. He didn't look at Peter. because of what Peter did. He
looked at Peter for Peter to see his eyes, to see his look. It wasn't an I told you so look,
it was a look of mercy and compassion. He looked at him to show him
it's all by grace and mercy. There's only one difference between
Judas and Peter. There's only one difference between
the sheep and the goat. And it is that Christ prayed
for his people, that Christ intercedes for his people, that Christ died
for Peter. Christ did not die for Judas.
Judas was the son of perdition, born for the very reason to betray
him. But Christ loved Peter. How could he love somebody like
Peter? How could he love somebody like me? By grace and mercy alone. He looks upon His people, and
He sees them only as He can. Now understand, the Lord sees
truth always. The Lord is truth. He sees the
truth, and how He sees it is how things truly are. God sees
His people the only way He can, and that is in Christ. is now
therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.
What shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus?" I'll sum up the verse and say nothing, nothing can
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.
He looks at his people with the look of love. He looks upon his
people with the look of mercy.