Luke chapter 22. And I'm calling this message,
Peter's denial of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then, what else we
see here? We see Peter being granted repentance. Repentance. The Lord granted
him repentance. He went out and he wept bitterly.
failed the Lord so miserably, he denied that he knew the Lord
Jesus Christ. He said, I don't know the man.
He started cussing and swearing to convince those people. I just
don't know that man. He did, did he? He knew the Lord
Jesus Christ. Three times Peter denied that
he knows who this man. He said, this man from Galilee,
oh, I don't know him. This man from Nazareth, oh, I
don't know him either. Remember what Peter said earlier?
He said, these other men, they'll be offended and they'll forsake
you. He said, I'll never deny you.
I'll never be offended. I'll lay down my life for thee.
And we know the story, don't we? In these few verses, the
Lord candidly and plainly tells us of a very unhappy, miserable
time for the apostle Peter. And I'm sure today he never,
ever forgot. How could he forget this? He
couldn't forget it. Someone said, as I suggested
earlier, every time Peter heard that rooster in the morning,
remember. He remembered this terrible day. But we know the rest of the story,
don't we? We know the rest of Peter's story. how the Lord used
him to the furthest of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We've
been studying 1 and 2 Peter and how many precious, precious,
Peter writes about the exceeding great and precious promises.
They were precious to him. He knew he was a sinner saved
by the grace of God. This verse reminds me and this
story reminds me of what Paul says, that the things that happened
unto me have fallen out rather to the furthest of the gospel.
What Peter writes about in 1 Peter 1, he talks about if need be
for a season, these heavy trials come your way. But you know what
he calls them? Precious trials. Precious trials. Now at this
time when he's going through this, I don't think he's thinking
this is precious. He's thinking this is the problem. You know he was convicted over
denying the Lord Jesus Christ? That the Lord preserves this
record for us, that we might be encouraged and instructed
by the failure of Peter and repentance and restoration of Peter also.
If this chosen apostle, this blessed apostle, loved of God,
could do such a terrible, horrible thing to deny and sin against
the Lord Jesus Christ, Where does that leave me? Where does
that leave you? You're not thinking, are you?
I'd never do that. Oh, don't think that, my friend.
There's no evil you're not capable of. Let us never be so full of
pride that we would entertain ideas of saying things like,
well, I'd never do that. Or like that Pharisee said, God,
I thank you, I'm not like that man over there. Peter said the
same thing, didn't he? These other, John, James, yeah,
they're weak. They're weak, they'll forsake
you. Not me, I'm Peter. Peter forgot he was also Simon,
the son of Jonah, the son of a sinner. Now be sure we understand
this blessed truth about Peter. He was a sinner saved by the
grace of God. He was a sinner saved by the
grace of God. Peter was a chosen, chosen vessel,
elected of God unto salvation, as all of God's children are.
They're chosen in Christ unto salvation before the foundation
of the world. Secondly, Peter had the Lord
Jesus Christ revealed unto his heart by the power of God, didn't
he? You remember in Matthew 16, I think we read that last week,
when the Lord had those disciples around Him and said, whom do
men say that I am? Well, they said, you're maybe
one of the Old Testament prophets. But He said, whom do you say
that I am? You remember, Peter stood forward
and stood up and said, oh, let me tell you, thou art the Christ.
Pretty bold confession. And the Lord said, flesh and
blood didn't teach you that, but my Father which is in heaven.
And all believers have been taught of God. They've had that revelation
of God the Holy Spirit. What does God the Holy Spirit
teach? What does He teach us? Christ. He teaches us in salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ is everything. So Peter was chosen of God. He
had the gospel revealed unto him by God the Holy Spirit. He
openly and publicly confessed that Jesus was the Christ. Remember
in John chapter 6 when the Lord said to that crowd that he just
fed those 5,000 people. He said that the Lord said to
those people, no man can come to me except the Father which
sent me. Draw him. And they got discouraged and
started going away. And the Lord turned to the 12
and said, you want to leave? Hit the road, Jack. Now's the
time to leave if you're going to walk away. And Peter said,
Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of the return
of life. We believe and we are sure. We're sure. Thou art the Christ. Boy, that's pretty bold, isn't
it? And yet he turns right around and said, I don't know the man.
How weak and frail we are. Peter openly confessed that Jesus
of Nazareth, the Galilean, is the Christ of God. And yet, just
a few days later, he said, I don't know the man. How can you explain? He's Simon, son of Jonah, but
he's also Peter, the new creature in Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ
had fully put away Peter's sin and the sin of all of God's elect,
and did so before any of us were born. You ever think about this? How many sins have you personally
committed before the Lord Jesus Christ died? Well, I didn't commit
any. I wasn't even born. In Adam,
you sin. In Adam, we die. We had done any personal sin,
the Lord Jesus Christ put away our sin by the sacrifice of himself. He's a lamb slain before the
foundation of the world. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. John, the
apostle, writes about it, how our sin is put away. He said
the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all our
sin. Peter writes about it, doesn't
he? His epistle. He said, we are, for as much
as we know, we know this, we're not redeemed with corruptible
things, silver and gold, our religious tradition, but with
the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot, for ordained before the foundation of the
world. Paul rejoiced in it and wrote about it. John writes about
it, the blood, his blood cleanses us from all sin. You reckon Peter? Really thought the precious blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ put away his sin of denial. Thank
God. Thank God for the blood. Peter
was justified by the grace of God and could not lose his salvation. True of all God's elect, the
Lord saves his people with an everlasting salvation. He said,
my sheep, hear my voice. I give unto them eternal life.
And no one can pluck them out of my hand, not even Satan. I'll
pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave to me is
greater than all. No man can pluck them out of my hand. Peter
can say with Paul, I am what I am by the grace of God. In the book of Acts, we find
the apostle Peter being restored and having a repentant heart.
And he preached to those who were considering, those Jews
who were considering and saying, except you be circumcised after
the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. You remember Acts chapter
15? It was Peter who stood up and
said, we believe through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
we shall be saved, even as those Gentiles were saved. Totally
sovereign grace alone. But let us never forget Peter,
just like you. Peter, just like me. Frail, sinful,
weak, fallen sons of Adam. Just like you. Just like me. Subject to this frail, sinful
flesh. And this flesh can do nothing
but sin. Sin. I'm not making an excuse
for sin. John writes, my little children,
these things I write unto you, if you sin not, wouldn't that
be wonderful? But when you sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, man at
his best day, and it's all together vanity. The best of men, the
old preacher said, the best of men are only men at best, subject
to besetting of this sinful, sinful body. Wasn't it the Apostle
Paul, When he writes in Romans 7, he talks about, oh, wretched
man that I used to be. He didn't say that, did he? Oh,
wretched man that I am. He said, I know that in this
body, in this flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For the will is
present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I can't find
it. What I would do, good and evil
is present with me. And then he just throws up his
hands, oh, wretched man that I am. But he doesn't stop there. He said, we thank God through
Jesus Christ, our Lord, that our sin has been put away. Let
us remember this also, Peter and every other believer, when we sin against God, and
that's what's so horrible about sin. Sin is a transgression of
God's law. When we sin, we sin against God.
David said, against thee and thee only have I sinned and done
this evil in thy sight. Let us remember, when we sin
against God, then we do. I wish I never had another evil
thought, another evil action. But when we sin against God,
we don't lose our salvation. Wouldn't that be a pitiful thing?
You know, a lot of people in religion, they preach that. They
call that, what do they call that? Backsliding? He's a backsliding
man. The grace of God that God gives
us is an everlasting salvation. We're justified freely by his
grace to the redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom
he set forth to be our propitiation for our sin, that he might be
just and the justifier of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we know
this, the Lord Jesus Christ, even though Peter denied the
Lord and disowned him, The Lord never disowned Peter.
He said, you're mine. I bought you. You're mine. He
said, I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. Peter
grievously sinned against the Lord and even denied his own
confession, didn't he? But he never lost his salvation.
He never lost his righteousness because Christ is his righteousness.
He never lost the pardon that he had in Christ, the pardon
of all his sin. Now here's the last thing I want
us to consider about Peter's denial. But the story doesn't
stop there, does it? Look at Luke 22. Luke 22. Verse 61. After that rooster started crowing,
after Peter had denied the Lord, Look at verse 61, Luke 22. The
Lord turned and looked upon Peter. Now, you reckon the Lord turned
and Peter turned, and how long they looked at each other? What
was going through the mind of Peter? Peter denied the Lord, but the
Lord did not deny him. Peter belonged to the Lord in
that eternal covenant of grace, and the Lord said, I cannot lose
one of my sheep. How did the Lord raise him up
to repentance and recovery? By his grace. Solomon writes,
for a just man falleth seven times, but he raises up again. The only difference between what
Judas did What did Judas do? He denied the Lord, didn't he?
He sold the Lord out, betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ. Was what
Peter did any worse than what Judas did? Uh-uh. They both betrayed
the Lord. They both denied the Lord. Judas
went out and hanged himself. Peter, by the grace of God, left
that crowd around that campfire and went out Repented. He went bitterly over his sin.
The only difference between Peter and Judas was the sovereign grace
of God. Now if you think the difference is in the man, you
don't know the gospel. You don't know the gospel. It's
only the grace of God that made Peter different from Judas. Judas
had no advocate. He had no intercessor. He had
no pardon from his sin. Peter did. Now, several things
that I want to look at. This is the Lord's doing. The
recovery of Peter. This is the Lord's doing, and
it's marvelous in our eyes. By the marvelous working of the
Lord's sovereign providence, at the precious moment that Peter
denied the Lord, what happened? Just exactly what the Lord told
him would happen. Peter, you're going to deny me
three times, and when you do, that rooster is going to start
crowing. Well, guess what happened? As luck would have it, The Lord, not a sparrow falls
to the ground without your Father. Not a rooster crows in the morning
without the decree of Almighty God. How did this rooster know
when to crow? Just the timing was just right,
wasn't it? When Peter denied, with that
rooster standing there thinking, now as soon as he does this,
I'm going to start crowing. No, that's not how it works. In the decree of Almighty God,
as soon as Peter denied the Lord, that rooster started in on him.
The rooster started crowing. Peter, that rooster had a message,
didn't he? We could say the rooster preached
the gospel. By the marvelous working of the
Lord's sovereign providence, at the precious moment that Peter,
precise moment that Peter denied the Lord, the rooster started
in. You see, the Lord controls all things. The Lord controls
all things. The Lord in his sovereign, marvelous
providence arranges all things in the life of his elect to bring
them to hear the gospel. Now, I think of my own personal
situation. I was raised 2,000 miles away
from here, raised in pagan religion, works religion, And somehow by
the marvelous providence of God, I moved from the Rocky Mountains
of the West to a city in Ashland, Kentucky, 50 years ago. Why did that happen? God had a gospel preacher there.
He crossed my path with the gospel. You just didn't bump into the
gospel. The gospel came your way by the sovereign providence
of God. No accidents with God. Those
whom he saves, he saves on purpose. On purpose. Second thing we know,
by the marvelous working of the sovereign grace of God, the Lord
turned, verse 61, Luke 22, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word
of the Lord, how he said unto him before the cock crow, you're
going to deny me three times. By the marvelous working of the
sovereign grace of God, the Lord turned and looked to Peter. What a look it must have been.
It was not a look of, it wasn't a look of anger. Did the Lord
look at Peter with a look of anger? I don't think so. It wasn't
a look of resentment or the Lord saying, well, I wish I wouldn't
have chosen you. It wasn't a look of resentment,
was it? But rather, it was a look of love. It was a look of pity.
It was a look of compassion and power and mercy. It was a look
that broke Peter's heart and wrought conviction in him. It
was a melting look of love, wasn't it? It was a look of love. This look speaks volumes, doesn't
it? He's saying, Peter, I've loved
you with an everlasting love, with love and kindness. I've
drawn you to myself. It was a look of electing love. I've chosen you. You didn't choose
me. I chose you unto salvation. It was a look of giving him eternal
life in Christ. It's a look. It speaks volumes. Peter, I'm going to die to put
away your sin. Fear not, I have redeemed thee.
I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob,
you are not consumed. What a look. What a look. Lord, look on me that way. Look
on me that way. And then third thing we see here,
the Lord turned and looked at Peter, and Peter remembered the word. We just studied this morning
the more sure word of prophecy. Peter remembered the word of
the Lord. The word of the Lord convicted
Peter of his sin against the Lord, didn't he? His word is
quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. This
is why we make much of the word the preaching of the word, God
has promised to bless his word. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. Peter writes about that in his
epistle in 1 Peter chapter 1, he says, we're born again by
the incorruptible word of God. that worketh in you both the
will and the do of his good pleasure. Isaiah writes about the power
of his word. He said, it will not return to
me void. Isaiah 55, 11. It's through the
preaching of the word, the preaching of the gospel that the Lord uses
to call out his elect. 1 Corinthians 1, 21. It pleased God through the preaching
of the gospel. It's through the teaching of
the word that we grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We read this morning in our Bible
study, desire the sincere milk of the Word that you might grow
thereby. Here's the fourth thing I want
us to see here. How was Peter raised up from
denying the Lord by the Lord Himself being Peter's advocate? Remember our Lord said to Peter,
we read it earlier, Satan had desired to sift you that he might
have you as wheat, but I prayed for you. I prayed for you that
your faith fail not. Peter had a strong advocate. He had a strong mediator, the
Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord prayed for Peter before
his fall and graciously restored him by his grace after his fall. The same Lord Jesus Christ is
our advocate today. There's one God and one mediator
between God and men, and that is this same One, the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is our Mediator and our Advocate. Wherefore, He is able to save
to the uttermost all that come to God by Him, seeing He ever
liveth to make intercession for us. I like what Peter writes
in 1 Peter chapter 5. And when you're studying through
Peter, 1 and 2 Peter, and reading about that, don't you kind of
gravitate back and thinking upon Peter's life? He writes this
in 1 Peter 1. He said, we're kept by the power
of God through faith, ready to be revealed at the last day.
If you're a believer resting in and trusting the Lord Jesus
Christ for all your salvation, there's nothing that can separate
us from the love of God, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Absolutely nothing that can separate us Peter denying the Lord didn't
separate him from the Lord. His sin didn't separate him from
the Lord. He was always the Lord's. Nothing can separate us. Let's
read that one more time. Hold your place there in Luke
22, but look at Romans 8. Romans chapter 8. Hard to know where to begin.
reading here. Look at verse 32. He that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. Romans 8,
32. How shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who
is he that condemneth, it is Christ that died, yea rather
has risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also makes intercession for us, who shall separate us from the
love of God, shall tribulation, Peter knew about that. Distress,
I'm sure he was stressed. Persecution, famine, nakedness,
peril, sword, as it is written, for thy sake were killed all
the day long. were counted as sheep for the
slaughter, and they in all things were more than conquerors through
him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither
death nor life, angels nor principalities, powers nor things present nor
things to come, height, depth, any other creature, shall be
able to separate us from the love of God which is in the Lord
Jesus Christ." Boy, that sounds pretty certain and sure to me. If you're a believer resting
in Christ, nothing Nothing shall separate you from the Lord Jesus
Christ. His love is an eternal love.
His grace is saving grace. His mercies are new every morning.
He's care of us. Let's turn over here to, you
hold your place there, and let's turn to another scripture. Let's
just turn over here to 1 Peter chapter 5. Let's just turn there,
1 Peter chapter 5. And here's what Peter writes
by the power of God the Holy Spirit. First Peter chapter five, look
at verse six. Humble yourselves, therefore,
under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due
time. Peter was certainly humble, wasn't he? Casting all your care
upon him, for he cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant, because
your adversary, the devil, has a roaring lion walking about,
seeking whom he may devour, whom resists steadfast in the faith,
knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren
that are in the world. Verse 10 and verse 11. Verse
Peter 5, verse 10. But the God of all grace, the
God of all grace who have called us unto his eternal glory by
Christ Jesus, after that you suffered a while, make you perfect,
suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle
you, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. I say amen to that. The God of
all grace. The God of all grace, saving
power. Here's the last thing I wanted
to consider. Luke 22, verse 62. Peter went out. He left that
crowd. And he went out with a broken
heart. He went out and wept bitterly. I think every time he heard a
rooster crow, he started crying. Don't you think? He thought on these things. As
he thought on these things, he wept. He wept bitterly. You remember this scripture,
oh, despises thou the riches of his goodness and mercy in
long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads us
to repentance. It was a look of mercy. Several
evidences are given here of Peter's repentance and faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He went out, he left that bad
company that turned him away from his Lord. Secondly, it says
that he fought on these things, or he looked upon the Lord. He
looked upon the Lord with an eye of faith, looking unto Jesus,
who's the author and finisher of our fate. A godly sorrow worketh
repentance to salvation not to be repented of. He had a godly
sorrow that was given to him. He went out and he wept bitterly. As David said in Psalm 51, have
mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness, according
to the multitude of thy tender mercies. His heart was broken
before his Lord over his sin. Blessedness, oh, the blessedness
of a sinner whose heart is crushed and broken before the Lord. That's
a blessed Holy Spirit conviction that convicts us of what we are. That's a blessed, blessed thing
because God, our Savior, He came to heal the brokenhearted. He
came to recover and preach deliverance to the captive, recovering of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are bruised.
The Lord has nighed them of a broken heart. He saved us such as be
of a contrite spirit. Now, we know the rest of the
story about Peter, don't we? How Peter so boldly preaches
the gospel to a multitude of sinners on the day of Pentecost.
In that chapter two, he stands up and he said, therefore, let
all the house of Israel know assuredly that God had made that
same Jesus whom you crucified, God had made Him both Lord and
Christ. It was the same crowd who just
a few days before that said, crucify Him, crucify Him, we
have no king but Caesar. And Peter stood up and preached
Christ as everything in salvation. Later on in Acts chapter 4, When
Peter and John had healed that man in the temple, remember this
same Sanhedrin court, they arrested Peter and John, and the next
day they brought them before that council. and said to them,
you tell us by what means is this man made whole? By what
means is this man healed? Remember his answer? He didn't
deny the Lord there, did he? He said, neither is there salvation
in any other, for there's no other name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved. There's no salvation apart
from Christ. Think about this, Peter said,
Lord, I will lay down my life for you. And you know what? He did. He did. So did all the apostles. Peter
gave his life for the gospel. He died for the gospel. We don't
have a record in scripture of his death, but they say, the
historians say, that he was crucified. Peter was crucified, but he was
crucified, they say, upside down. He gave his life for the gospel,
didn't he? I want you to turn one other scripture, and I'll
let you go home, and you take this home with you. You take
this home with you. Turn to John 13. John chapter
13. Look at verse 36. John 13, 36. Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, Whether goest thou? The Lord
had told them, I'm going away. Peter said, I want to go with
you. He said, you can't come now, but later. And the Lord
answered, whether I go, you cannot follow me now, but thou shalt
follow me afterwards. And Peter said unto him, Lord,
why can't I follow thee now? I'll lay down my life for thy
sake. And the Lord said the same thing. Will you lay down your
life for my sake? Verily, verily, truly, truly,
I say unto you, the cock shall not crow till thou hast denied
me three times. Now read on. These chapter divisions
are added. You're going to deny me three
times, but look at verse 1 of chapter 14. Let not your heart
be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, and I've told
you, I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare
a place for you, I'll come again, receive you unto myself that
where I am, there you may be also. Thomas said, how can we
know the way? And the Lord said, verse six,
I am the way, the truth, the life. No man comes to the Father
but by me, by Christ. So we know the rest of Peter's
story, don't we? He preached the gospel boldly,
publicly. He gave his life for the gospel.
We studied in 2 Peter 1, where Peter said, I must shortly lay
down my life. I must put off this tabernacle.
And he did. But where's Peter now? Where's Peter right now? He's
with the Lord, isn't he? Forever enjoying the beauty and
glory of our blessed Savior. Yeah, he denied the Lord. The
Lord never forsook him. He never denied him. And it raised
him up to eternal glory.