Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / A-Crack-in-the-Rock

Transcript

A-Crack-in-the-Rock · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

0:01
Speaker 1: What we have before us today is Peter's denial of Jesus.
0:07
Speaker 1: We read of it here in this eighteenth chapter of John.
0:11
Speaker 1: At the most crucial moment, Jesus' most loyal disciple, whom
0:18
Speaker 1: he had nicknamed the Rock, cracked under pressure. This tragic
0:26
Speaker 1: scene of Peter's denial rivets our attention to how very
0:31
Speaker 1: alone our Savior was on his way to the cross.
0:35
Speaker 1: Not even Peter stood with him. We learned some valuable
0:40
Speaker 1: lessons for ourselves from Peter's heartbreaking desertion of the Master,
0:47
Speaker 1: But the greatest lesson of his life is yet to come.
0:52
Speaker 1: For in the final chapter of John's Gospel, Jesus will
0:56
Speaker 1: gently and graciously put the broken pieces of Peter's heart
1:01
Speaker 1: back together as he calls him into service. Still, there
1:07
Speaker 1: is great value for us in looking intently into the
1:11
Speaker 1: mirror of God's word today and finding ourselves. Our broken, sinful,
1:19
Speaker 1: selfish lives are all over this story. Join me in
1:25
Speaker 1: your Bibles as I read from John chapter eighteen, first
1:29
Speaker 1: verses ten through eighteen, then will drop to verse twenty
1:33
Speaker 1: five down through twenty seven. I'll be reading this from
1:39
Speaker 1: the New Living Translation. Join me now as I read
1:43
Speaker 1: John eighteen beginning at verse ten. Then Simon Peter drew
1:50
Speaker 1: a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus,
1:54
Speaker 1: the High priest slave. But Jesus said to Peter, put
1:59
Speaker 1: your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink
2:03
Speaker 1: from the cup of suffering the father has given me?
2:09
Speaker 1: So the soldiers, their commanding officer and the temple guards
2:14
Speaker 1: arrested Jesus and tied him up. First, they took him
2:19
Speaker 1: to Annas, since he was the father in law of Caiaphas,
2:23
Speaker 1: the High priest at that time. Caiaphas was the one
2:27
Speaker 1: who had told the other Jewish leaders it's better that
2:31
Speaker 1: one man should die for the people. Simon Peter followed Jesus,
2:38
Speaker 1: as did another of the disciples. That other disciple was
2:42
Speaker 1: acquainted with the high priest, so he was allowed to
2:46
Speaker 1: enter the High priest courtyard with Jesus. Peter had to
2:51
Speaker 1: stay outside the gate. Then the disciple who knew the
2:56
Speaker 1: High priest, spoke to the woman watching at the gate,
3:01
Speaker 1: and she let Peter in. The woman asked, Peter, you're
3:07
Speaker 1: not one of that man's disciples, are you? No, he said,
3:11
Speaker 1: I am not. Because it was cold, the household servants
3:17
Speaker 1: and the guards had made a charcoal fire. They stood
3:21
Speaker 1: around it, warming themselves, and Peter stood with them, warming himself.
3:28
Speaker 1: Now we'll drop to verse twenty five. Meanwhile, as Simon
3:33
Speaker 1: Peter was standing by the fire warming himself, they asked
3:38
Speaker 1: him again. You're not one of his disciples, are you.
3:43
Speaker 1: He denied it, saying no, I am not, but one
3:49
Speaker 1: of the household slaves of the High Priest. A relative
3:54
Speaker 1: of the man whose ear Peter had cut off asked,
3:59
Speaker 1: didn't I see you out there in the olive grove
4:03
Speaker 1: with Jesus. Again, Peter denied it, and immediately a rooster crowed.
4:13
Speaker 2: For the next few minutes, I would like for you
4:15
Speaker 2: to do something that is very unusual and could prove
4:20
Speaker 2: to be rather painful. I have never asked a congregation
4:27
Speaker 2: to do this before, and perhaps I never will again. Frankly,
4:37
Speaker 2: I warn you ahead of time. It will not be easy,
4:41
Speaker 2: nor will it be encouraging. What I would like for
4:47
Speaker 2: you to do is to go back into your past
4:51
Speaker 2: and call to mind the blackest spot of your life.
5:00
Speaker 2: I will do that too. It may be a word
5:05
Speaker 2: that you said that resulted in terrible ramifications. It may
5:14
Speaker 2: be the probably will be the best kept secret of
5:18
Speaker 2: your life, hopefully never to be exposed, because as a
5:25
Speaker 2: Christian it's forgiven. I know that, but just think on it.
5:32
Speaker 2: Quite possibly it is a moral act or something that
5:36
Speaker 2: pertained to a habit in which you gave in, and
5:42
Speaker 2: it marks your record in your life as in fact
5:47
Speaker 2: a sinner. I can feel some of you resisting doing that,
5:52
Speaker 2: and I understand, especially if you are Christians, because we
5:57
Speaker 2: are forgiven of the Christian truth is as far as
6:03
Speaker 2: the east is from the west, so far has He
6:06
Speaker 2: removed our transgressions from us buried him in the deepest sea.
6:12
Speaker 2: I understand the reluctance to bring that back up again,
6:15
Speaker 2: but I have a reason. Let's go a step further.
6:21
Speaker 2: Let us say that we would lower the screen above me,
6:26
Speaker 2: and suddenly on that screen would flash two things, your name,
6:32
Speaker 2: asking you to stand and identify yourself, and then, beneath
6:39
Speaker 2: the name, in rather careful detail, the act with the sin,
6:49
Speaker 2: and you stand as it is read and as opinions
6:54
Speaker 2: are formed regarding you. As I think about that, hurry,
7:02
Speaker 2: strange feelings occur inside of me. There's a part of
7:09
Speaker 2: me that wants to say God would never do that,
7:17
Speaker 2: but he did. When Abraham lied the blackest part of
7:24
Speaker 2: his life. In fact, when he did it twice, God
7:29
Speaker 2: recorded it for centuries of eyes to study. When Akin
7:36
Speaker 2: stole that garment and lives were lost by the hundreds
7:41
Speaker 2: in Israel in that battle at Ai, God put it
7:46
Speaker 2: down in the record and said, let it be written,
7:50
Speaker 2: let it be read. When Moses murdered that Egyptian, he
7:56
Speaker 2: put it in both Old and New Testament, that it
8:01
Speaker 2: might remain on his record forever, in written form, Moses
8:05
Speaker 2: was a murderer. When David and Gomer, Josea's wife and
8:13
Speaker 2: Samson involved themselves in the lustful activities of the flesh,
8:20
Speaker 2: it was put on the screen for everybody to read. Jonah,
8:30
Speaker 2: just the mention of his name reminds you of the
8:32
Speaker 2: blackest part of his life. And I must add I
8:39
Speaker 2: am grateful. God no longer writes scripture, aren't you. There
8:47
Speaker 2: is no place for pride, absolutely none. When you study
8:57
Speaker 2: the life of Peter and you come to this scene
9:01
Speaker 2: you don't want to read, and you study events you
9:06
Speaker 2: don't want to believe, and you see cracks in the
9:12
Speaker 2: rock that you wish were never there. But you see
9:18
Speaker 2: when God paints his heroes, there are with warts and all,
9:22
Speaker 2: there's nothing hidden, forgiven, but not hidden. You see. I
9:30
Speaker 2: have a reason for beginning the message on Peter's denials
9:34
Speaker 2: like this because I have seen a rather presumptuous approach
9:39
Speaker 2: used by both books and preachers in almost a superiority attitude. Aha.
9:47
Speaker 2: See there he failed, as if it could not have
9:53
Speaker 2: been written about himself. Who does the speaking. I want
9:58
Speaker 2: you to know that if you're name or mind, we're
10:01
Speaker 2: in the book, it would be far more scandalous than
10:03
Speaker 2: if it were Peter's. And may we never forget it.
10:09
Speaker 2: I want us to identify not simply with the failure,
10:15
Speaker 2: but with the humiliation that accompanies the failure, because it
10:20
Speaker 2: is part of the timeless truth of the Bible. Now
10:28
Speaker 2: you're saying, as I am thinking, and as F. B.
10:32
Speaker 2: Meyer wrote, no person suddenly becomes base. There's a process.
10:39
Speaker 2: Lust doesn't suddenly take place in tangible form, A lie
10:46
Speaker 2: doesn't suddenly come out. Groundwork is laid. There's a period
10:53
Speaker 2: of significant events in which certain things occur that bring
11:00
Speaker 2: about the stage, the backdrop, the setting for that to happen.
11:08
Speaker 2: And so I think it is not a complete study
11:10
Speaker 2: if we do not look at that first. And I
11:13
Speaker 2: find four significant events in Peter's life. First is in
11:18
Speaker 2: John chapter one, beginning at verse forty, where Jesus gave
11:23
Speaker 2: him a nickname. That may seem to be a strange
11:28
Speaker 2: event that we're calling significant, but it wasn't insignificant to Peter.
11:34
Speaker 2: His name had not always been Peter. We know him
11:38
Speaker 2: as Peter, but his peers knew him as Simon. I
11:42
Speaker 2: doubt that his colleagues in the fisherman trade would even
11:48
Speaker 2: know him if you would call him Peter. He was Simon.
11:53
Speaker 2: Jesus gave him a surname once he began to walk
11:57
Speaker 2: with Christ, and it was Peter. And that's why it's
12:01
Speaker 2: significant verse forty. One of the two who heard John
12:05
Speaker 2: speak and follow Jesus was Andrew, Simon, Peter's brother. He
12:11
Speaker 2: first found his own brother, Simon. There's the real name, Simon.
12:16
Speaker 2: And Andrew said to Simon, we have found the Messiah.
12:21
Speaker 2: He that is Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked
12:25
Speaker 2: at him. Now, this is the first time that the
12:29
Speaker 2: Messiah and the fisherman are eyeball to eyeball. That never
12:34
Speaker 2: laid eyes on each other before. Simon, with a background
12:38
Speaker 2: of vacillation and moodiness and impetuosity, impulsive rash acts, even profanity.
12:46
Speaker 2: Here's Simon, born and raised in the fisherman's trade, running
12:52
Speaker 2: wild with fishermen, as it were, and suddenly he is
12:56
Speaker 2: caught in the trance, as it were, as the spirit
12:59
Speaker 2: of God does an end depth work to draw him
13:03
Speaker 2: and to link him with the Messiah. And the Messiah
13:06
Speaker 2: looks at Simon and he says, you are Simon. You
13:11
Speaker 2: shall be called rock. That's what cephas means stone. What
13:20
Speaker 2: does that mean? Well, the Lord Jesus, when he called
13:27
Speaker 2: me in, saw them not as what they were, but
13:29
Speaker 2: as what they were to become. That happened in your
13:33
Speaker 2: life when Christ found you, saved you, He gave you hope,
13:40
Speaker 2: He forgave you, and he reminded you that there are
13:44
Speaker 2: certain qualities within you that he is committed to developing.
13:50
Speaker 2: And he tells you in his word that you are
13:52
Speaker 2: his handiwork. You are his piece of clay, and he
13:56
Speaker 2: is shaping and molding and making you into the rock
14:02
Speaker 2: you are to become. Now that's a thrilling thought. Peter
14:09
Speaker 2: had probably never had anyone point out the rock like
14:13
Speaker 2: character traits in him, because there were not many on
14:16
Speaker 2: the surface, and so the Lord Jesus gave him a nickname.
14:22
Speaker 2: That was a very significant event. And I'm convinced in
14:26
Speaker 2: my mind that Simon began to think in terms of
14:30
Speaker 2: those Peter qualities that were to be emerging. Look at
14:35
Speaker 2: chapter six, the second event. It's what I would call
14:39
Speaker 2: Peter's declaration of faith. That's the second significant event when
14:46
Speaker 2: he declared in chapter six, verse sixty six, in following
14:51
Speaker 2: his faith his creed. Now surprising to say, people, the
15:00
Speaker 2: band of disciples did not simply number twelve. That number
15:05
Speaker 2: has to do with the inner core, the basic band
15:09
Speaker 2: that became apostles. But there were many, many more disciples, followers, learners.
15:17
Speaker 2: Some came out of interest, some came simply to get
15:20
Speaker 2: their stomachs filled, others came out of curiosity. Now as
15:25
Speaker 2: to whether they were believers, as we know that word
15:28
Speaker 2: or not is up to the Lord, I'm not able
15:30
Speaker 2: to say on some occasions. But the peripheral band that
15:34
Speaker 2: gathered suddenly, when the screws were tightened and Jesus made
15:39
Speaker 2: demands on them that would mark disciples, they began to
15:42
Speaker 2: leave like rats running off a sinking ship. And so
15:47
Speaker 2: in verse sixty six of John six. That's what happened.
15:51
Speaker 2: That's what's happening. The ranks are thinning. As a result
15:54
Speaker 2: of this, many of his disciples withdrew and were not
15:59
Speaker 2: walking with him anymore. Jesus said, therefore to the twelve,
16:05
Speaker 2: you do not want to go away? Also, do you?
16:08
Speaker 2: There's a longing in his voice. He asks it with
16:13
Speaker 2: an affirmative answer, desired. You want to stay, don't you?
16:20
Speaker 2: You don't want to go now? Simon Peter answered him, Lord,
16:25
Speaker 2: to whom shall we go? You have the words of
16:28
Speaker 2: eternal life, and we have believed and have come to
16:32
Speaker 2: know that you are the Holy One of God. What
16:36
Speaker 2: a moment. First of all, Simon takes the place of
16:40
Speaker 2: a spokesman, and he says, we I never find a
16:45
Speaker 2: place where Simon was appointed the spokesmanship or the moderator role,
16:51
Speaker 2: but he took it. That's like Simon to do that.
16:56
Speaker 2: But I find that in that moment when he took
16:59
Speaker 2: that position, he made a declaration that was just marvelous.
17:03
Speaker 2: In fact, Matthew says that Jesus answered, flesh and blood
17:07
Speaker 2: has not revealed that unto you, that's come from heaven,
17:13
Speaker 2: And all of a sudden, Simon showed signs of rock.
17:21
Speaker 2: Must have been encouraging, must have been marvelous when Jesus
17:25
Speaker 2: expressed that word of acceptance to Simon and he said, Ah,
17:30
Speaker 2: that came from heaven. Now, all of a sudden, Simon
17:37
Speaker 2: begins to emerge as Peter, and the surname becomes part
17:43
Speaker 2: of his character, just as is true in your life, Christians,
17:48
Speaker 2: when out of the embryo of faith you began your steps,
17:55
Speaker 2: your walk in in the Christian life. Suddenly there are
17:59
Speaker 2: breakthrough where you endure a test victoriously, or you face
18:05
Speaker 2: the situation precisely as God would have you face it,
18:10
Speaker 2: and He blesses you for it. There is a sense
18:12
Speaker 2: of grateful delight. Now that's the way it is with Simon. Here,
18:20
Speaker 2: flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you, Simon when
18:24
Speaker 2: you said you're the Holy One of God. There's no
18:26
Speaker 2: one else like you. Lord. Now Chapter thirteen John thirteen
18:33
Speaker 2: is the next focus on Peter, and now we have
18:38
Speaker 2: boasting from his lips. Suddenly, the impulsive, impetuous, rash, adventurous
18:48
Speaker 2: Peter reveals his Simon like character. Thirteen thirty three. Little
18:58
Speaker 2: Children says Jesus, I'm with you a little while longer
19:01
Speaker 2: you shall seek me. And as I said to the Jews,
19:04
Speaker 2: where I am going, you cannot come now, I say
19:08
Speaker 2: to you also This took place the last night Jesus
19:13
Speaker 2: was with his disciples. The cross looms large. In a
19:16
Speaker 2: matter of hours, he'll be nailed to it. In less
19:19
Speaker 2: than twenty four hours, he'll be dead. So at the
19:23
Speaker 2: last Supper he revealed to his disciples, I'm leaving you,
19:27
Speaker 2: and you cannot go. Peter heard that, and he responded
19:32
Speaker 2: in words of boasting. Verse thirty six Simon. Peter said
19:37
Speaker 2: to him, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered, where
19:43
Speaker 2: I go. You cannot follow me now, but you shall
19:47
Speaker 2: follow later. Peter said to him, Lord, why can I
19:53
Speaker 2: not follow you? Right now? I will lay down my
19:56
Speaker 2: life for you. Let's don't be too critical with Peter. However,
20:02
Speaker 2: it is a statement that goes too far. Peter was
20:08
Speaker 2: suddenly relying upon his flesh. As a matter of fact,
20:14
Speaker 2: one of the writers says that he insistently said that
20:18
Speaker 2: to Jesus, you don't realize the Lord, but I though
20:22
Speaker 2: all the others deny, I won't deny you. I'll stay
20:25
Speaker 2: by you. I'm your man. All of these they may not,
20:29
Speaker 2: but I'll be there. There's boasting in this. The Talmud
20:36
Speaker 2: says of the Galileans, they were ever more anxious for
20:40
Speaker 2: honor than for gain. Barkley ads quick tempered, emotional, easily
20:51
Speaker 2: aroused by an appeal to adventure, loyal to the end.
20:59
Speaker 2: Peter was a tip old man of Galilee. Let's put
21:04
Speaker 2: things in proper perspective. Hold your finger here and turn
21:08
Speaker 2: to one proverb Proverb sixteen, verse eighteen. And I especially
21:19
Speaker 2: would have those of us who reveal our simon natures
21:29
Speaker 2: take note of this verse. Proverbs sixteen eighteen. Pride goes
21:36
Speaker 2: before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling. Will you
21:44
Speaker 2: mark that verse. When you walk in pride, you are
21:51
Speaker 2: closer to a fall than at any other time. Anxious
21:59
Speaker 2: for honor, anxious for a place in the sun, desirous
22:05
Speaker 2: of being known for your loyalty. Watch out, a fall
22:10
Speaker 2: is near. That's where Peter was in chapter thirteen of John,
22:16
Speaker 2: in verse thirty seven. And that is why Jesus comes
22:20
Speaker 2: right back with this boasting word that Peter gave him,
22:24
Speaker 2: and Jesus gives a prediction. Look at verse thirty eight.
22:28
Speaker 2: Now John thirteen thirty eight, the fourth significant event is
22:33
Speaker 2: the prediction of Jesus. Jesus answered, will you lay down
22:38
Speaker 2: your life for me? Truly? Truly, I say to you,
22:43
Speaker 2: a cock shall not crow until you deny me three times.
22:49
Speaker 2: Those are haunting words, aren't they. I suppose those of
22:53
Speaker 2: us are this generation who have been raised in the church,
22:56
Speaker 2: have read those words too many times, more often than
23:00
Speaker 2: we like to think they're haunting. I wonder how Peter felt,
23:06
Speaker 2: how Simon, before the cock crows twice, you will have
23:13
Speaker 2: denied me thrice. An interesting thought, by the way, comes
23:20
Speaker 2: from a regulation in the Jewish law that there was
23:23
Speaker 2: not allowed in the city of Zion, either roosters or hens.
23:29
Speaker 2: They were in the words of the record the document,
23:34
Speaker 2: they were the ones that defiled holy things. Therefore they
23:39
Speaker 2: were not allowed in Jerusalem. Then how could there be
23:44
Speaker 2: a cock crowing? A little background helps. In the days
23:52
Speaker 2: of Peter, the night was divided not into hours, but
23:57
Speaker 2: into watches. There were four of them, three hours each.
24:02
Speaker 2: From six to nine was the first watch, from nine
24:06
Speaker 2: to midnight was the second watch, From midnight to three
24:10
Speaker 2: am was the third, and three am to six was
24:14
Speaker 2: the fourth watch. If you awakened, for example, at four
24:17
Speaker 2: o'clock in the morning. You awakened at the fourth watch
24:21
Speaker 2: or during the fourth watch. You didn't say you awoke
24:24
Speaker 2: at four. You awoke in the fourth watch from three
24:28
Speaker 2: to six. If you worked until midnight, you said to
24:32
Speaker 2: others you worked until the end of the second watch.
24:38
Speaker 2: In between these watches there were interesting comments made by
24:42
Speaker 2: the Jews and the Romans. As a matter of fact,
24:45
Speaker 2: there was a changing of the guard between the third
24:48
Speaker 2: and fourth watch of the night in a place called
24:53
Speaker 2: Antonia's Castle when the guard changed, and by the way,
24:59
Speaker 2: it was in that place in the dungeon where Barabas
25:01
Speaker 2: was kept. Remember last Sunday night we spoke of that
25:05
Speaker 2: particular event where it was within a matter of feet
25:08
Speaker 2: from where Jesus was being tried and the uh in
25:12
Speaker 2: the dungeon of Antonio there was a there was a
25:15
Speaker 2: maximum security prison, and so naturally they had a guard.
25:19
Speaker 2: When the guard changed between the third and fourth watch
25:23
Speaker 2: in the night. The Romans had the word for it
25:27
Speaker 2: called galasinium. There were two blasts from the trumpet from
25:31
Speaker 2: the herald's trumpet. The word gallasinium means cock crowing, Interesting,
25:38
Speaker 2: isn't it. Instead of roosters, they had trumpets, and if
25:43
Speaker 2: you awakened in the end of the third watch, you
25:46
Speaker 2: would hear cock crowing. It was a name they gave
25:52
Speaker 2: to that particular time. Jesus pinpointed the hour you see
25:59
Speaker 2: a cock. Normal rooster doesn't crow at a precise time,
26:03
Speaker 2: but this particular event it was pinned down to the
26:07
Speaker 2: hour Peter before Gallacinium three times. You will have denied me.
26:16
Speaker 2: Before I go any further, I want to apply through
26:19
Speaker 2: a couple of practical principles what we have learned thus far.
26:26
Speaker 2: First is this, No one, not even a spiritual rock,
26:33
Speaker 2: is immune from failure. There is no such thing as
26:39
Speaker 2: being so mature you're no longer liable to failure. There
26:46
Speaker 2: is no such thing as being such a rock that
26:52
Speaker 2: it will no longer affect you. Failure is a characteristic
26:58
Speaker 2: of the human flesh, and as long as we have it,
27:02
Speaker 2: we will do it. There is a verse of scripture
27:06
Speaker 2: that I would like for you to at least write
27:08
Speaker 2: in the margin of your Bible, or on the sheet
27:11
Speaker 2: if you wish. First Corinthians ten twelve, let him who
27:16
Speaker 2: thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. That verse
27:23
Speaker 2: is addressed to modern day peters, those of us who
27:29
Speaker 2: think with almost an attitude of surly pride, we have
27:36
Speaker 2: come to that place where we will no longer yield.
27:40
Speaker 2: That verse is addressed as a reminder there's no such
27:44
Speaker 2: thing as that point. Robert Robinson was an eighteenth century rock.
27:53
Speaker 2: He was saved out of a background that was gross
27:56
Speaker 2: and godless through the preaching of George Whitfield. Whitfield was
28:02
Speaker 2: one of those dynamic preachers who never needed a public
28:06
Speaker 2: address system. They just those kind of men were able
28:11
Speaker 2: to stand and address a group of several thousand with
28:15
Speaker 2: no address assistance electronically. They simply had that kind of
28:21
Speaker 2: voice and dynamic. Under the ministry of Whitfield came Robinson,
28:28
Speaker 2: who was gloriously saved. He was in his young twenties.
28:33
Speaker 2: In fact, at the age of twenty three, he was
28:36
Speaker 2: led of God to put into print his testimony, which
28:42
Speaker 2: we know today is the words, Come, thou Fount of
28:46
Speaker 2: every blessing, Tune my heart to sing thy grace, streams
28:51
Speaker 2: of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
28:57
Speaker 2: Teach me some melodious sonnet sung by flaming tongues of uve.
29:02
Speaker 2: Praise the mount I'm fixed upon it mount of thy
29:06
Speaker 2: redeeming love. Robinson defected. He left the claims of Jesus
29:14
Speaker 2: Christ in the dust, and he lived like a carnal
29:21
Speaker 2: godless man, until one day he stepped into a stagecoach
29:27
Speaker 2: occupied by a woman whose face was buried in a book.
29:34
Speaker 2: It was a book of verse, and she did not
29:38
Speaker 2: know him, nor he her, But she began to read
29:41
Speaker 2: this particular poem, and she said to him, the stranger,
29:44
Speaker 2: listen to this, Come thou fount of every blessing. Tune
29:49
Speaker 2: my heart to sing thy grace, streams of mercy, never ceasing.
29:53
Speaker 2: Called for songs of loudest praise, he said, quietly, surrounded
30:00
Speaker 2: by guilt. And then she got to that stanza, prone
30:04
Speaker 2: to wonder, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the
30:08
Speaker 2: God I love. Here's my heart taking seal it. He said, stop. Stop,
30:16
Speaker 2: and I quote I am the poor, unhappy man who
30:23
Speaker 2: composed that verse many years ago. I would give a
30:31
Speaker 2: thousand worlds to enjoy the feelings. I then head. The
30:39
Speaker 2: testimony of Robert Robinson is just a quiet reminder that
30:43
Speaker 2: even the peters fail take heed, Take heed. There's a
30:55
Speaker 2: second lesson on how the mighty are fallen. God knows
31:01
Speaker 2: our precise breaking point. We all have our own gallicinium,
31:07
Speaker 2: don't we. There's a verse that says Psalm one hundred
31:13
Speaker 2: three fourteen, but he knows our frame. He remembers that
31:19
Speaker 2: we are dust. I love that verse. The marvel of God,
31:25
Speaker 2: our loving Father, the Trinity, father, son, and Spirit is
31:30
Speaker 2: that the Godhead knows you and me absolutely. There are
31:35
Speaker 2: no locked closets, nothing under the rug and the Trinity,
31:42
Speaker 2: the Godhead, knowing me and knowing you completely accepts us
31:51
Speaker 2: in the Beloved, knowing our precise breaking point. Now let
31:57
Speaker 2: me add, at this point, just as Peter knew it,
32:00
Speaker 2: you and I know ours. We aren't that naive. You know,
32:07
Speaker 2: when you go so far, you've gone too far, And
32:12
Speaker 2: from then on it's just a matter of time until
32:15
Speaker 2: something carnal and even scandalous will occur. You know, that
32:22
Speaker 2: moment where you cannot withstand and yours will be different
32:26
Speaker 2: from mine, And one woman's different from another woman's, one
32:32
Speaker 2: businessman's different from another, one preacher from another. But we
32:37
Speaker 2: all have a gallacinium. And the Lord graciously says to you,
32:44
Speaker 2: that's it. Be wise. Don't flirt with that cock crows.
32:51
Speaker 2: At that point, you see Peter acted willfully, so it
33:00
Speaker 2: coming went right on into it, carried it out to
33:04
Speaker 2: the ultimate. And I'll tell you I don't have a
33:08
Speaker 2: moment of condemnation against Peter. I've done the same thing
33:15
Speaker 2: so of you. The only difference, in God's grace, it
33:19
Speaker 2: happens to be Peter that we're studying this morning. It's
33:23
Speaker 2: the only difference. Now, then I find in the process
33:29
Speaker 2: of denial sort of four slopes downward slopes. They are
33:36
Speaker 2: not abrupt, they're not steps.
33:38
Speaker 1: They are.
33:42
Speaker 2: They are not that distinct. One flows into the next,
33:46
Speaker 2: and yet the next I find four in the case
33:48
Speaker 2: of Peter, and we'll put them in the form of
33:51
Speaker 2: a principle. Chapter eighteen, Verse ten, and verse eleven is
33:59
Speaker 2: the first of the four. Now, with no sense of pride,
34:05
Speaker 2: no sense of condemnation, we simply examined the record and
34:09
Speaker 2: examine it in light of first gaining hope and strength
34:14
Speaker 2: from it, and second learning from that experience how to
34:20
Speaker 2: stand against the same evil in our day. Verse ten
34:25
Speaker 2: Simon Peter, therefore, having a sword, drew it and struck
34:29
Speaker 2: the high priest slave and cut off his right ear.
34:33
Speaker 2: And the slave's name was Malchus, Jesus therefore said to Peter,
34:38
Speaker 2: put the sword into the sheath the cup which the
34:41
Speaker 2: Father has given me, shall I not drink it? Slope
34:47
Speaker 2: Number one reliance on the flesh when faced with opposition,
34:58
Speaker 2: when a denial process that's is underway, that which prompts
35:02
Speaker 2: the beginning of it is reliance on the flesh. I
35:07
Speaker 2: want to ask a question I have never heard ask
35:09
Speaker 2: by anyone, either verbally in a sermon or in a book.
35:15
Speaker 2: What was Peter doing with a sword? Jesus says in
35:22
Speaker 2: verse thirty six of this chapter that his disciples are
35:25
Speaker 2: not known by fighting. His disciples were of a kingdom,
35:29
Speaker 2: not of this age. They didn't carry swords. Well, why
35:35
Speaker 2: did Peter have a sword? That's like carrying a pistol
35:39
Speaker 2: to work tomorrow, dragging a cannon to church? Why do
35:45
Speaker 2: you do that? It's inappropriate, doesn't fit you? Come to
35:49
Speaker 2: learn how to withstand the world, how to stand against it,
35:53
Speaker 2: in a lifestyle that's different from the world. The world
35:58
Speaker 2: solves its problems with the sword. What's Peter doing with
36:03
Speaker 2: the sword? And it's interesting, isn't it that Peter with
36:06
Speaker 2: the sword handles it just like a fishing pole. That's
36:10
Speaker 2: what happens when fishermen get a hold of swords. As
36:15
Speaker 2: a matter of fact, the word used by John here
36:18
Speaker 2: is not the word for that great, massive weapon that
36:22
Speaker 2: would come down like a blow on the head and
36:24
Speaker 2: it would sever the helmet and head and everything else
36:29
Speaker 2: as deep as it may cut. He uses the word
36:31
Speaker 2: for a little sort of a lengthy dagger that was
36:35
Speaker 2: in a sheath, and he pulled it out, and he just,
36:39
Speaker 2: you know, don't we do stupid things when we rely
36:43
Speaker 2: on the flesh. Just think back before you cluck your
36:49
Speaker 2: tongue at Peter, Just think of a recent day. I
36:58
Speaker 2: I find that when I rely on the flesh, my
37:00
Speaker 2: tongue becomes a sword, and I say the most cutting,
37:04
Speaker 2: ugly things. My motives become like a sword, and I destroy,
37:10
Speaker 2: I don't build. As a matter of fact, our actions
37:15
Speaker 2: become sword like, and we react rashly. A reliance on
37:23
Speaker 2: the flesh creates destruction. That's the first step down, reliance
37:33
Speaker 2: on the flesh. When we are faced with opposition, first
37:38
Speaker 2: tendency is to defend ourselves and or fight back. Second
37:45
Speaker 2: verse fifteen, Simon Peter was following Jesus. Verse sixteen, Peter
37:54
Speaker 2: was standing at the door outside, so the other disciple,
37:58
Speaker 2: who was known to the high pri went out and
38:00
Speaker 2: spoke to the doorkeeper and brought in Peter. Now where
38:05
Speaker 2: is he? He is among now the courtyard, with those
38:09
Speaker 2: who have just arrested Jesus a couple hours ago. He
38:14
Speaker 2: is now with the company of people who were engaged
38:18
Speaker 2: in bringing Jesus under arrest. He is out of the
38:21
Speaker 2: group that was his own. He is now with a
38:26
Speaker 2: group of enemies, spiritually speaking. Seventeen. The slave girl, therefore,
38:33
Speaker 2: who kept the door, said to Peter, you're not also
38:37
Speaker 2: one of this man's disciples, are you? He said, I
38:43
Speaker 2: am not. The slaves and the officers were standing there,
38:48
Speaker 2: having made a charcoal fire, for it was cold, and
38:50
Speaker 2: they were warming themselves. Peter was also with them, marked
38:55
Speaker 2: that standing and warming himself. The second slope is a
39:03
Speaker 2: reluctance to stand alone when in the wrong company. Some
39:07
Speaker 2: of you already anticipated that first a reliance on the
39:12
Speaker 2: flesh when faced with opposition, and then when that opposition
39:16
Speaker 2: surrounds you, there's a reluctance to stand alone when in
39:23
Speaker 2: that wrong company. I picture Peter is mingling among those
39:28
Speaker 2: people who took Jesus under arrest. He is on their
39:32
Speaker 2: tour territory. He's running with the wrong bunch. All of
39:36
Speaker 2: a sudden, the threatening question is asked, You're not one
39:38
Speaker 2: of those disciples, are you? He's got a put up
39:44
Speaker 2: or shut up and he says, I'm not. Don't you
39:49
Speaker 2: condemn Peter for that. You see, that's just a revelation
39:54
Speaker 2: of the old nature when you're in the wrong crowd.
40:00
Speaker 2: I want to address not just the young, but all
40:03
Speaker 2: of us. The one thing, humanly speaking, that shapes our
40:10
Speaker 2: character more than any other pressure is those with whom
40:15
Speaker 2: we spend our time. You have a child that ran wild,
40:21
Speaker 2: No doubt, the child ran with a wild bunch. You
40:26
Speaker 2: have a girl who is given to compromise. Quite possibly,
40:32
Speaker 2: quite probably, the girl runs with those in that stripe
40:37
Speaker 2: First Corinthians, fifteen thirty three. Parents, put that down. Don't
40:43
Speaker 2: be deceived. Bad company corrupts good morals. And let me add,
40:51
Speaker 2: at least for the sake of those here who have
40:54
Speaker 2: preteen kiddos, the very best principles you can build into
41:00
Speaker 2: the life of those kiddos is how to stand alone
41:05
Speaker 2: without looking like a freak. I don't mean that to
41:09
Speaker 2: be funny. It isn't funny. How do you expect your
41:13
Speaker 2: young man who graduates with a bachelor's or masters in
41:16
Speaker 2: business and runs now in a company that's given to
41:21
Speaker 2: a carnal lifestyle, either women or drink or the whole
41:27
Speaker 2: scene of the world. How do you expect that boy
41:30
Speaker 2: to make it if he's never learned the techniques of
41:33
Speaker 2: standing alone? Well, I had him in church. No, he'll
41:38
Speaker 2: never learn it in church. It happens in the home
41:44
Speaker 2: where you build those principles, those helpful techniques, the practical
41:48
Speaker 2: way of saying no, thanks, say well. I just would
41:54
Speaker 2: think that associating with the right group would do it.
41:57
Speaker 2: Peter had been with Jesus three years, and he said,
42:01
Speaker 2: I don't know him. Hey, let's wake up parents. That's
42:10
Speaker 2: our job, feeding them, clothing them, churching them, schooling them. Yeah,
42:17
Speaker 2: that's important, But what about that one on one. That's
42:21
Speaker 2: stuff that must happen between the two of you. Or
42:26
Speaker 2: you help the girl know how to say no, I
42:30
Speaker 2: don't do that, How to choose a friend, how to
42:36
Speaker 2: stand alone and still be respected not laughed at. Now,
42:49
Speaker 2: James Dobson, in his splendid book Hide or Seek, describes
42:52
Speaker 2: peer pressure in these words, there is tyranny in this pressure. Wow,
43:05
Speaker 2: you bet there is. The high school is shot through
43:11
Speaker 2: with tyrannical pressure, Junior High is filled with it. The clubs,
43:20
Speaker 2: the lifestyle, the whole scene is built to tear down,
43:27
Speaker 2: not build up. And I'll tell you the group will
43:31
Speaker 2: require allegiance and it'll fight for it until your child
43:37
Speaker 2: stands alone or gives. And I'll tell you it isn't easy.
43:43
Speaker 2: I'm engaged in it right now to know how to
43:47
Speaker 2: do that God to come from God, just the wisdom
43:52
Speaker 2: of it. And man, what an illustration, Peter, Verse twenty five,
43:59
Speaker 2: step number three. Here it is. And then we'll look
44:01
Speaker 2: at the verse resistance to be identified with Christ when
44:09
Speaker 2: threatened by the outcome. First there's a reliance on the flesh,
44:18
Speaker 2: and then there's reluctance to stand alone. And then suddenly
44:22
Speaker 2: there is this resistance to be identified with Christ when
44:26
Speaker 2: threatened by the outcome. And they weren't playing tittlely winks.
44:31
Speaker 2: They were killing people. There was a cross ready when
44:36
Speaker 2: they looked at Peter and said, hey, you one of
44:38
Speaker 2: the group. No, I'm not. I can understand that. I
44:45
Speaker 2: can't I can't condone it, but understand it. See the
44:50
Speaker 2: verse twenty five, Simon Peter was standing and warming himself.
44:54
Speaker 2: They said to him, you're not also one of the disciples,
44:57
Speaker 2: are you. He denied it and said I'm not. As
45:00
Speaker 2: a matter of fact, Matthew adds, this man was with
45:05
Speaker 2: Jesus of Nazareth and Peter answers. I don't know the man.
45:15
Speaker 2: The word used by Matthew for no k and ow
45:18
Speaker 2: is a word that means theoretical knowledge. I don't even
45:24
Speaker 2: know who he is. He was threatened by the outcome
45:32
Speaker 2: and the rock cracks. The rock cracks hang around the
45:42
Speaker 2: wrong crowd long enough, It's only a matter of time.
45:47
Speaker 2: Some of you ought to make a decision this very
45:50
Speaker 2: day to break with the bunch that's dragging you down.
45:57
Speaker 2: And that's not just for the young people. That includes
46:01
Speaker 2: some of you who are my senior. And you haven't
46:04
Speaker 2: got any business hanging around that group that's tearing your character.
46:12
Speaker 2: You're caught in it. You have a choice to make,
46:14
Speaker 2: and you won't make it. And you wonder, how come
46:17
Speaker 2: I'm not growing? How come things of Christ just don't
46:24
Speaker 2: have that zing anymore? Look, some of you hang around
46:32
Speaker 2: apartment groups and social groups and clubs and certain lifestyles,
46:37
Speaker 2: and you know in your heart that is the worst
46:39
Speaker 2: thing in the world for you. That's your galaconium. But
46:44
Speaker 2: you haven't come to the place to say it's gonna stop.
46:48
Speaker 2: I don't care what it takes. If that means changing jobs,
46:51
Speaker 2: I'm gonna change now. There's a fourth and final verse
46:59
Speaker 2: twenty six. Rejection of the truth, regardless of the consequences. Man,
47:07
Speaker 2: rejection of the truth now, regardless of the consequences. One
47:13
Speaker 2: of the slaves of the High Priest, being a relative
47:16
Speaker 2: of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said, did
47:18
Speaker 2: I not see you in the garden with him? Peter
47:22
Speaker 2: denied it again. Matthew adds in chapter twenty six, verse
47:27
Speaker 2: seventy three, someone said, the way you talk gives you away.
47:32
Speaker 2: You sound like a Galilean. My wife and I enjoyed
47:39
Speaker 2: in another city eating at a restaurant called La Tunisia.
47:44
Speaker 2: Is a lovely setting. It looked like a great vast
47:48
Speaker 2: tent in the Tunisian area, Moroccan style, and very delectable
47:55
Speaker 2: shish kebobs and you know, really neat foods. And just
47:59
Speaker 2: before we were waited on one evening, I saw the
48:01
Speaker 2: waitress coming and she had dark hair and olive colored
48:04
Speaker 2: skin and dark eyes, and I thought Wow, I bet
48:08
Speaker 2: she's from North Africa. She walked up and said, hi,
48:13
Speaker 2: y'all ordered y'all's drink shet. Maybe Southern Moroccan, but not
48:23
Speaker 2: She's clearly she told his letters she's from Tyler. There
48:26
Speaker 2: has nothing to do with the North African area. You
48:28
Speaker 2: could tell by her speech. My sister was going to
48:32
Speaker 2: buy a lovely handkerchief at a very sophisticated place, and
48:36
Speaker 2: the girl behind the counter had selling these imported handkerchiefs,
48:40
Speaker 2: and wow, I just looked like she would just miss sophistication.
48:44
Speaker 2: And Lusille looked in the counter and she said, that
48:49
Speaker 2: one is beautiful. It's lovely. I'd like to see it.
48:52
Speaker 2: And the girl reached in there and pulled it out
48:54
Speaker 2: and she said, yeah, and it's hand dead. She's not sophisticated.
49:03
Speaker 2: Her speech gives it away. You're a galilea. How do
49:10
Speaker 2: you know you sound like one? And so he cursed,
49:14
Speaker 2: and the amazing thing is they never question him again
49:18
Speaker 2: once he swore he sounds like us. He's not a disciple.
49:26
Speaker 2: I'll tell you, When a Christian operates in the flesh,
49:30
Speaker 2: you can't tell he's a non Christian or a Christian.
49:34
Speaker 2: You just can't tell two final principles. When surrounded by wrongdoers,
49:40
Speaker 2: doing wrong comes easy. Man does it. Ever, when surrounded
49:47
Speaker 2: by wrongdoers, doing wrong comes easy. And second, recovery begins
49:55
Speaker 2: not when you act like you're strong, but when you
49:57
Speaker 2: admit you're weak. No one recovers from a life of
50:02
Speaker 2: carnality strutting around as though he's strong, flexing his hypocritical muscles.
50:12
Speaker 2: You come back to the Lord by saying I grabbed
50:16
Speaker 2: that sword and cut that ear off in the flesh.
50:19
Speaker 2: I walked in the courtyard and I said, I don't
50:22
Speaker 2: even know you because I was threatened by the results.
50:25
Speaker 2: And finally I've rejected the truth like a prodigal lord.
50:30
Speaker 2: I come back and I love you. I'm desperately weak.
50:38
Speaker 2: Not a person in this church today can look with
50:42
Speaker 2: condemnation on Peter brownlow North was a very capable evangelist,
50:51
Speaker 2: used of God in several evangelistic circles of preaching the
50:56
Speaker 2: Gospel on the aisles. Brownlow North left his interest in
51:04
Speaker 2: spiritual things and drifted into a life of shameful activity,
51:09
Speaker 2: according to his biographer, for a number of months. Some
51:14
Speaker 2: of it was done in secrecy, but it finally made
51:16
Speaker 2: the headlines, and he felt he was ruined for life.
51:20
Speaker 2: When he finally decided what a fool he had been,
51:24
Speaker 2: came back like a prodigal from the pit, from the
51:28
Speaker 2: pig pen. The Lord received him back and blessed him
51:32
Speaker 2: and strengthened him. And over a period of waiting he
51:35
Speaker 2: felt pressed back into the ministry Brownlow. North feared the
51:42
Speaker 2: possibility of its ever being found out. Finally, after sufficient
51:48
Speaker 2: time he thought it was hidden and tucked away into
51:51
Speaker 2: the sands of time. He was back in the pulpit.
51:56
Speaker 2: One night in Aberdeen, he was given a letter unsigned
52:03
Speaker 2: just before the service began. He took the letter and
52:06
Speaker 2: he ready, and the letter described a shameful series of
52:15
Speaker 2: events he had been engaged in, and his stomach turned,
52:20
Speaker 2: and it concluded by saying, if you have the gull
52:23
Speaker 2: to preach tonight, I'll stand and expose you. North took
52:30
Speaker 2: that letter and went to his knees. A few minutes
52:35
Speaker 2: latter was in the pulp. He began his message by
52:40
Speaker 2: reading the letter. I'm starting to finish, and he said,
52:47
Speaker 2: I want to make it clear that this letter is
52:51
Speaker 2: perfectly true. I am ashamed of what I have read
52:56
Speaker 2: and what I have done. I come tonight, not as
53:01
Speaker 2: one who is perfect, but as one who is forgiven.
53:07
Speaker 2: And God used that letter and the balance of his
53:11
Speaker 2: ministry almost as a magnet to bring people to Jesus Christ.
53:19
Speaker 2: It's like that bumper sticker I saw at Fullerton College
53:22
Speaker 2: last Friday. Christians are not perfect. Just forgive it, something beautiful,
53:32
Speaker 2: something good. All my confusion, shame, rebellion, he understood. All
53:44
Speaker 2: I had to offer him was brokennessing strife. He made
53:50
Speaker 2: something beautiful of my life. Isn't that marvelous?
53:59
Speaker 1: Not per.
54:02
Speaker 2: Forgive saying you can know the joy of that truth.
54:13
Speaker 2: Christians sitting around you are not perfect. Oh listen. If
54:20
Speaker 2: I could have told the story of my life or
54:22
Speaker 2: choose anyone else, would have been worse than the case
54:26
Speaker 2: of Peter. But the message of this is you can
54:30
Speaker 2: be forgiven and used and blessed. You can become rock.
54:42
Speaker 2: Now let's pray that's about together, shall we. Some of
54:49
Speaker 2: you right this moment are just wrestling with this whole