Spirit of meekness and humility
with a broken heart. Now, the title from Luke 22,
and we'll be looking at verse 55 down through verse 62 of Luke
22. And the title of the message
is, Lessons from Peter's Denial, and Then We See His Repentance. Not only his repentance, but
we know of his restoration as well. Three times in these few
verses, Peter denies that he even knows or is acquainted with
or has any knowledge of this one, Jesus of Nazareth. When they come and ask him, not
once, not twice, but three times, do you know this man? After being with him three years,
he knew Jesus of Nazareth. What did he do? Three times he
lied that he didn't know this man. He was ashamed to be identified
with this man. He lied to protect his own hide. He saw what was going on, how
they spit in his face, the face of the Lord, how they buffeted
him with their hand, how they mocked him. And Peter is thinking
to himself, don't you know this is going through his mind? If
I say that I know this fella, they're gonna give me the same
treatment. So when they came and they asked him, do you know
this man? Mm-mm, no. You're mistaken. Three times. Well, in these few verses, the
Lord candidly and plainly tells us of a very unhappy, miserable
time for the apostle Peter. But remember this, all of this
was arranged not by luck, not by fate, not by chance. All this was planned, decreed
by the Lord. Matter of fact, the Lord even
told Peter exactly what he would do, and it came to pass. Now, I'm sure it was a day that
Peter never forgot. You imagine? He never got over
this. He never forgot it. It was a
day he regretted. It was a day that he shed many
tears over. For it says down there in verse
62 that Peter went out and he wept bitterly. Bitterly. He was so convicted, so heartbroken. Now the Lord preserves this record
for us. that we might be encouraged,
that we might be instructed by the fall and sin of Peter, that when we fall, when we fail,
when we sin, that we can also have the same hope that Peter
had in that day. What was Peter's hope? Remember
what he writes in 1 Peter chapter 1, where it says, we are redeemed
with the precious blood of Christ. That was his hope. Peter knew
he failed the Lord. Peter knew he sinned against
the Lord. But also, Peter rejoiced in the
repentant heart that looked to the Lord Jesus Christ for all
of his salvation. Now, think with me. If this chosen
He was a chosen apostle. If this blessed man named Peter
the Apostle, loved of the Lord, could do such a terrible, horrible
thing as to lie that he knows the Lord Jesus Christ, to deny
that he even knows the man, and to sin against the Lord, if this
chosen, blessed apostle would do such a thing, where does that
leave me? Where does that leave you? Now,
I'll tell you where it leaves us. It leaves us in His hand. It leaves us in His hand. Now,
let us never be so full of pride that we would ever entertain
ideas saying things like, I would never do such a thing. Peter also said that he would
never do that Now, if you want to turn with me, you can, but
back to Matthew 26, in verse 30 of Matthew 26, when the Lord had sung a hymn
and they went out, Matthew 26, 31, where the Lord said, all
of 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. And they did, they all forsook
him and fled. But after that I'm risen again,
I will go before you in Galilee. Peter answered and said unto
him, though all men shall be offended because of thee, I will
never be offended. Peter didn't know his own frail
heart. And the Lord said unto him, Verily
I say unto thee that this night before the cock crows, that's
what the rooster does in the morning. When the sun comes up,
that rooster start cackling, thou shalt deny me three times. And Peter said to him, verse
35, though I should die with thee, I will not deny thee. Likewise, also said all of the
disciples. But when he was arrested, you
know what happened? They all forsook him and fled. How weak is our frail flesh. Now, be sure we understand this,
blessed truth about Peter. And what we say about Peter,
we can say about every believer. Every believer is just like Peter,
chosen of God. He was a chosen vessel, elect
of God unto salvation, as all of God's children are. And we
give thanks for that, don't we? Election is not a doctrine that
we frown at. Election is the doctrine, whenever
you read of it in scripture, it's a doctrine that's given
to thanksgiving. We are bound to give thanks to
God for you, brethren, because the Lord has chosen you unto
salvation. So Peter was a chosen elect vessel
of God as all the children of God are. Thank God that election
is unconditional, not based upon our merit or our righteousness,
based upon the good and sovereign pleasure of the Lord. Secondly,
Peter had the Lord Jesus Christ revealed unto his heart. The
Lord was revealed unto his heart. You remember when Peter confessed
that thou art the Christ, and the Lord said, you're a blessed
man, for flesh and blood did not reveal this unto thee, but
my Father hath revealed this unto thee. That's true not only
of Peter, but of all of God's saints. They've had a revelation
of the glory of God in the face of Christ into their heart, and
they see him as all of their salvation, as Peter did. Thirdly,
Peter openly and publicly confessed that Jesus was the Christ of
God. who were fed the loaves and the
fishes, those 5,000, most of them turned tail and walked away
when the Lord declared unto them the salvations of the Lord, that
no man can come unto me except the Father which sent me draw
him. And the Lord turned to the 12 and said, well, you wanna
go away? Right now is a good, if you wanna
walk away with the crowd, just follow them. Remember what Peter
said? We believe and we are sure you're
that Christ of God. He publicly owned the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that's what believers do.
Believers publicly confess the Lord Jesus Christ, and we do
so publicly by confessing Him in believer's baptism. Thy people
shall be willing in a day of God's power. The Lord Jesus Christ,
fourthly, the Lord Jesus Christ had fully put away all of Peter's
sin as he has all the sin of God's elect. Now this includes
all sin, original sin, actual sin, sin of omission, sin of
commission, whatever sin you want to name. The Lord Jesus
Christ has put away all the sin of God's elect. The blood of
Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all our sin. The Lord had put away all of
the sin of Peter, including this one, including this one. He appeared
once in the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. Something else about Peter, Peter
was justified by the grace of God and could not lose, could
he lose his salvation? Some people would have us believe
that Peter lost his salvation when he denied the Lord. Well,
that would make salvation based upon my faithfulness, not his
faithfulness. Peter was justified by the grace
of God and could not lose his salvation. That's true of all
of God's elect. If you're a believer, resting
in Christ, it's because you've been justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. All that is true of Peter, all
that is true of everyone who believes the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. But, oh, is there a but here? However, let us never forget,
Peter was a sinner. Now he was a saint in Christ,
but he was a sinful man, just like you and just like me, subject
to this frail and sinful flesh that can do nothing, listen to
me, that can do nothing but sin. That's all we can do. Man at his best state is altogether
Vanity, that's what God said. God said there's none righteous,
no, not one. There's none that understandeth.
There's none that seeketh after God. They're all gone out of
the way. There is none righteous, no,
not one. All we can do is sin. The best of men are only men
at best. Subject to the frailty of the
flesh, subject to the frailty and the sinfulness of this wretched
thing we call humanity. I don't preach up the dignity
of humanity. You just look at our history.
Not so good, is it? It's terrible. Terrible. We've murdered one another constantly,
constantly. We're at war with one another,
fighting with one another, hating one another, all these different
things that go on. It's just the product of the
flesh, the flesh, the flesh, envy, wrath, jealousy, strife. That's all the flesh can produce.
Thank God the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, and peace. Long-suffering
gentlemen. Paul said, I know that in me
that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. I've said this over the years
and I know it so. By just looking at the example
of many in Scripture, you know the Lord when he writes this
book we call the Holy Scripture, given of God, the Bible, he never
glosses over or hides the sin of his servants. Noah, Moses,
Abraham, Jacob, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, he exposes all their
weaknesses and frailties and sins. Why doesn't he just gloss
over that? because the Lord is showing us
what this flesh is, nothing but sin. There is no wickedness that
we are not capable of committing apart from the restraining grace
of God. You say, well, I'd never do that. Peter said the same thing. The believer is capable of committing
any sin because we have this old nature. We have this old
rotten nature that is nothing but sin. We have a new nature
that cannot sin, and there is a warfare between the flesh and
the spirit, but that which is born of flesh, that's all it
is. That's all it ever will be. In regeneration, the flesh is
not improved. It's still wicked, it's still
sinful, therefore liable to any wicked thing. Now if you read
in the paper next week that I robbed a bank over here, over here in town, that I walked
in there with a gun and robbed a bank, you'd be surprised that
I'd do such a thing. But you ought to understand,
apart from the grace of God, you do the same thing. You do
the same thing. Now, by his grace, I hope I don't
rob a bank, but I don't know. I don't know, sometimes I scare
myself of things I even think, things that go through my mind,
things that run through my mind, I think my soul. Where does that
come from? Well, it's just old rotten flesh.
But let us also remember about Peter and every other believer
also, when we sin against God, We do not lose our salvation. Wouldn't that be a pitiful thing?
Wouldn't that be a state of misery? To know that every time you sinned,
you lost your salvation? Why lose it every second of the
day? But here's our hope. Turn over
here to 1 John. John writes about this, because
John had the same problem that Peter had. John was a sinner
just like Peter, just like the rest of the apostles. 1 John
chapter 1 verse 8, If we say that we have no sin, this is
1 John 1 verse 8, you got it? If we say we have no sin, notice
that's singular. If we say we have no sin nature,
if we deny what this flesh is, we deceive ourselves and the
truth is not in us. Now, if you don't think yourself
to be a sinner, the worst one. Now, I'm the worst one in here. I'm the worst sinner in here.
But if you don't think that of yourself, you've never believed
the gospel. Furthermore, you've never seen
God. Because if you've never seen God as absolutely holy,
you've never been driven to despair in your own wicked, sinful, flesh. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess
our sins, notice that plural, if we confess what we do as a
result of what we are, He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The blood of Jesus Christ, verse
7, cleanses us from all our sins. If we say, verse 10, that we
have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and the word's not in
us. That's powerful, is it not? My
little children, chapter 2, verse 1. My little children, these
things I write unto you, that you sin not. No believer desires
to sin against the Lord. It's our desire not to because
of that new nature we have. But when you sin, if any man
sin, when you sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous, and He is the propitiation, the mercy
seat, the sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also
for the whole world. or the only sacrifice in this
world is the Lord Jesus Christ. So when we sin against God, as
Peter did, Peter did not lose his salvation. We know the rest
of the story of Peter's life, don't we? how the Lord restored
him, gave him a repentant heart, and how he was raised up to preach
the gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ never disowned
Peter, and He will never leave us, and He will never forsake
us. Let me show you something that
would be a blessing to you. If you'll turn back over to the
gospel given to us by Mark. Look at Mark 16. When the Lord
was raised from the dead, and the women came to the tomb that
morning, and He was not there. He's not here. And notice verse
6, Mark 16. Verse 6, He said unto them, Be
not affrighted, You seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified.
This is the angels. He is risen. He's not here. Behold the place where they laid
him. But go your way and tell his
disciples, and look at verse 7, and Peter. The Lord singles
out Peter. The messenger of the Lord said,
you go tell the disciples and Peter. Make sure you tell Peter. that he goeth before you into
Galilee, and there shall you see him as he said unto you."
Now, while Peter was never disowned of the Lord, but while Peter
did deny that he knew the person of Jesus of Nazareth three times,
he did. He lied, didn't he? Peter never
denied that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ of God, the Son
of the living God. And I think there's a distinction
there. They didn't come to him and say to him, is this man the
Christ of God? Now, Peter never denied that.
He did deny that he knew this man, Jesus of Nazareth. As I said earlier, Peter confessed,
we believe and we are sure thou art the Christ of God. Therefore,
we can say with confidence, Peter never denied the faith. He never
denied the gospel. And you remember why? Turn back
over to Luke 22, verse 31. Luke 22, 31. The Lord said, Simon,
Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift
you as wheat, But I prayed for you that your faith fail not
when you're converted, when you're turned, you strengthen your brethren."
You're going to learn from this experience. You see, Peter had
one who prayed for him. Peter had one to intercede for
him. Peter had a mediator. Peter had a high priest. And
that's true of every believer. He prays for us. 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. Thanks be
to God that we have this mediator, one God, one mediator between
God and man. Who is it? The God-man, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And his mediation, his intercession,
his priestly work is absolutely and always effectual before God. That's our hope. That's our hope. He intercedes for us. Now, lastly,
I want us to consider this. In verse 61 and 62, when Peter
three times denied that he knew the Lord, and when this rooster
started crowing because the sun was coming up, verse 61, the
Lord turned and looked upon Peter. Now, you imagine such a Such
is seen. The Lord turned, and there's
Peter over there in that crowd. He's among that crowd. And their
eyes catch one another. Oh, what a piercing look. 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 three times and Peter went
out, he left that crowd and he wept bitterly, bitterly. Here we see Peter's conviction
of sin and the means of his recovery. Now Peter sinned, but he did
not lose his salvation. He fell, but he did not perish.
His faith was weak, but it was not dead. He denied the Lord,
but he did not deny the faith or the gospel. Peter belonged
to the Lord, and the Lord can never lose one of his sheep.
Peter fell, but the Lord graciously raised him up again and gave
him a repentant heart." You remember what Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1
verse 5, where he said, we are kept by the power of God through
faith that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now how did the Lord
raise him up to repentance and recovery? by His purpose and
by His grace. Now notice several things here,
and this is all the Lord's doing, and we say with David, it's marvelous
in our eyes. Several things here, by the marvelous
working of the Lord's sovereign providence, verse 60, when the
rooster started crowing, at the precise moment Peter denied the
Lord three times What caused that rooster to crow? The Lord
made him crow. That's right. The Lord in His
marvelous providence arranges all things in the life of His
elect to bring them to hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is no accident you just didn't bump into the gospel. God crossed
your path with the gospel on purpose. It's no accident that
we meet here today seeking God's mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ. We meet here by His sovereign
purpose. Secondly, by the marvelous working
of the sovereign grace of God, where it says in verse 61, the
Lord turned and looked upon Peter. What a look this must have been.
It was not a look of anger. It was not a look of resentment,
but rather a look of love, pity, compassion, power, and mercy. It was a look that broke Peter's
heart. He was convicted deeply, wrought
conviction in him. He went out and he wept bitterly. It was a look that melted his
heart. Now, here's the third thing,
by the marvelous working of the word of the Lord. Look at verse
61 again. Not only his providence, not
only the look of mercy and the look of love, the Lord looks
upon his people with compassion, long-suffering. He's long-suffering
to us-ward. Thirdly, Peter remembered the
word of the Lord. Peter remembered the word of
the Lord. The Lord's word convicted Peter
of his sin against God. His word is quick and powerful,
sharper than any two-edged sword. That is why we make so much of
the written word, preaching line by line, verse-by-verse, chapter-by-chapter,
book-by-book, preaching the Word of the Lord. God has promised
to bless His Word. He said His Word will not return
unto Him void. It is through the preaching of
the Word that the gospel is used of God to call out His elect. That's why we read it, please
God, through the preaching of the gospel to call out His people.
That's why we make much of the Word. We preach Christ in the
Word. And it's through the teaching
and the preaching of the Word that God not only calls us out,
it's through the teaching and the preaching of the Word that
we grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. Desire the sincere
milk of the Word that you might do what? Grow thereby. We need a steady diet of thus
saith the Lord. That's why we make so much of
the Word. Now, how was Peter raised up from denying the Lord?
By the Lord Himself being Peter's advocate where He said, Lord,
I prayed for you that your faith fail not. 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. He ever lived to intercede for
us right now and will hold us by His mighty power. He says,
I give my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish. All that the Father giveth to
me shall come to me, and those that come to me I will in no
wise cast out. Now, what brought Peter to repentance
of heart The Word of God and the goodness of God. The Lord
didn't look away from Peter. The Lord didn't deny Peter. The
Lord looked upon him. The Lord owned him. It was a
look of mercy, a look of grace, a look of goodness. We read this,
that he thought on these things and he wept, it says in Mark
14, 72. And we read in Romans chapter
2 that it is the goodness of God, not the wrath of God now,
it's the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. To repentance. Now, several evidences
are given here of Peter's repentance and restoration. What says there
in verse 62, of Luke 22, look at verse 62, "...and Peter went
out." He left that crowd. He was with the wrong crowd.
He went out, he left bad company that turned him away from the
Lord. And then secondly, it says in
Mark 14, as I said just a moment ago, "...he thought on these
things, or he looked upon the Lord, he looked with an eye of
faith, looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the author
and finisher of our faith. And the Lord granted him a repentant
heart." He's weeping bitterly because God had granted him repentance. And it is a state of being. We
have repented. We are repenting, and by His
grace we continue to repent. His heart was broken. He had
a godly sorrow that worketh repentance to salvation, not to be repented
of. He was broken hearted before
the Lord. The Lord has nighed them of a
broken heart, and saved us such as be of a contrite spirit. Remember
the Lord said, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because
he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has
sent me to heal the broken hearted. Have you ever been broken hearted
over sin? What you are? He came to heal
the broken hearted. To preach deliverance to the
captive, recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty
them that are bruised. The Lord has nighed them of a
broken heart. Save us such as be of a contrite
spirit. Now, I've got a couple minutes
left. Let's turn and look at this scripture
here. 1 Peter chapter 5. Now knowing everything that Peter
had been through. 1 Peter chapter 5. knowing that
everything that Peter had been through and all that we read of him in
the book of Acts. Verse six, humble yourselves
therefore under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you
in due time. Well, Peter was humbled in that
situation, wasn't he? He said, I'll never deny you,
and he did. And the Lord looked upon him,
and he was convicted and brokenhearted. Therefore he said, Humble yourselves
unto the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due
time. 1 Peter 5 verse 7, Casting all
your care upon him, for he careth for you, be sober, Be vigilant,
because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh 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 now, "...but the God of all
grace," I love that, don't you? "...the God of all grace, who
hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after
that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish,
strengthen, settle you, to whom be glory and dominion forever
and ever. Amen. Amen. Now, I want you to
look at one more Scripture with me. If you'll find John 13. John 13. When the Lord is instructing
His apostles here, John 13 verse 36, Simon Peter said unto him,
Lord, whither goest thou? And the Lord answered, whether
I go, you cannot follow me now, but thou shalt follow me afterward. Peter said unto him, Lord, why
can't I follow you right now? I'll lay down my life for you.
And the Lord said, will you lay down your life for my sake? Verily,
verily, I say unto you, the cock shall not crow till you've denied
me three times. Now read on, there's no chapter
division there in the original. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me. Let not your heart be
troubled. Now, we know the rest of the
story about Peter, don't we? We know the rest of the story,
how the Lord granted him repentance, how the Lord restored him, how
the Lord blessed him. We know the rest of the story
of Peter, how he died in faith. how he died in faith. And we
read through the book of Acts, how when Peter stood before that
same religious crowd, that same crowd, Caiaphas and the high
priest, when Peter stood before them and boldly confessed and
said, neither is there salvation in any other, nor the name under
heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Be it known
unto you, O house of Israel, that there is salvation in no
other than the Lord Jesus Christ, him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and full knowledge of God. God had raised him up from
the dead. We know the rest of Peter's story,
how he was faithful unto death and was greatly used of God to
preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.