I am Peter

Matthew 26 verses 69 through 75 the Word of God reads this way. "Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard and a servant girl came up to him and said, 'You also were with Jesus the Galilean.' But he denied it before them all saying, 'I do not know what you mean.' And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him and she said to the bystanders, 'This man was with Jesus from Nazareth.' And again he denied it with an oath. 'I do not know the man.' After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, 'Certainly you two are one of them for your accent betrays you.' Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, 'I do not know the man.' And immediately the rooster crowed and Peter remembered the sangs of Jesus. 'Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.' And he went out and he wept bitterly. This is God's Word. That's pray. Father, we thank you for your Word. I pray that it would pierce our hearts and cause us to walk in faith repentance for Jesus's sake. Amen. Please be seated. Peter, Peter, Peter was the best of them, the best of the disciples. He had confessed Christ. He was one of the inner three. He got to see a glimpse of Jesus' glory on the mount of transfiguration. He was already dubbed by Jesus as the leader of the future church. He had boasted to Jesus and the others that even though all others would forsake him, he surely would not. Peter is the disciple that you speak of the most, regardless of how John likes to portray himself as the most important disciple in Jesus' eyes, is Peter, who we know as the best of the disciples. And in his hour of testing, he failed miserably. In this passage, Matthew juxtaposes Jesus' confession and Peter's denial. Matthew puts Peter's denial right up to Jesus' trial so that we the reader can see the dramatic contrast, the dramatic difference between Peter and Jesus. Peter is unfaithful. Jesus is faithful. Everything they said about Jesus was false, we saw last week. Everything they say about Peter here is true. He was one of Jesus' followers. He was a Galilean. It was true. Jesus boldly stands up to his questioners and he denies nothing. He stands firm. Peter cowers before his questioners and denies everything. Jesus offers his life up for Peter. Peter denies that he even knows who Jesus is. Peter curses himself and swears, "I do not know the man." And here right before the crucifixion, Matthew wants us to see man's inability to do good. Peter could have told the truth, but instead he chose to lie. He could have been bold, but he was a coward. He could have been faithful, but he was faithless. He could have been loyal, but he was a traitor. He could have chosen the Son of God, but he chose instead himself. This was his moment to shine. This is his chance to back up all his boasting. And this is his best effort. And he fails miserably. Peter denies Jesus repeatedly, solemnly, and vehemently. Here before this crucifixion that we are about to see of the Son of God unfold in the next few weeks, Matthew is reminding us again, pounding into our heads again, that man and his own righteousness and his own good efforts will always fail. It is only the poor and spirit who will inherit the kingdom of heaven. It is only those who know their utterly bankrupt with no funds to buy themselves out of their problems, who inherit the kingdom of heaven. This is a picture of mankind. This is you. You are Peter. I am Peter. We all are Peter. Left to yourself. You will always choose yourself. Without God, you will choose yourself over Him, and you will choose yourself over others. You will always push for what benefits you. And even when you, quote unquote, "do good for others," it will be ultimately for yourself. Consider the choices that you make on a daily basis. Is self the chief factor and the choices that you make, self promotion, of getting a little bit of ahead of your coworker, pushing yourself above your brothers and sisters. When we make selfless decisions like Peter here, we are following in the footsteps of Peter. To choose self is to not choose Christ. And on a daily basis, when we choose self, we are, in essence, denying Christ. This is mankind. John Gill says, "Peter shows the wickedness and deceitfulness of man's heart, and that the best of men what they truly are, and what they would be when left to themselves." It's been said before the best of men are men at best. Jesus, in contrast to Peter, answers his accusers with truth. Peter tried to save his own life by lying Jesus lays his debt life down willingly, and never once compromises. Peter denies Jesus in order to save his own skin Jesus gives up his life in order to save his people. Peter included. Peter had boasted that he would never forsake Jesus even if everyone else did. I will never. And he fails to keep his word. On the other hand, we see Jesus would suffer and die. And he said he would suffer and die. On the third day, he said he would rise again, and he kept his word. You see, Matthew holding up Peter's denial, and Jesus is true confession next to each other. We're going to see just two blatant points this morning, what Matthew wants us to see. Peter the unfaithful and Jesus the faithful. First of all, Peter the unfaithful. We're going to walk through his denials and see his unfaithfulness. And the goal of the text this morning is that you would see Peter, and in seeing Peter, you would see yourself, and in seeing yourself then by grace you would see Jesus. We've seen already, and the passages before us, the high estimation of self that Peter had. Peter's denial in this text this morning was already decided in the moment of his confident boasting. He cracked the door. The first step in denying Jesus is a high estimation of self. We don't think it's that big of a deal. But surely it is. Genesis 4, 7 tells us that sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is to have you. When Peter boasted that he would never deny Jesus, he cracked the door and sin stuck its foot in the crack. You ever tried to close the door when somebody's put a boot in the door? It's hard. In Peter's boasting and his high estimation of self, he cracked the door and sin stuck its foot in the door. Some of you have cracked the door to sin when you boasted. that you are actually doing better than you really are. When you boast that you're a better parent than you actually are, maybe you just boast to yourself about these things. You know one of the ways your elders gauge people's estimation of themselves at CTO is by what classes you choose to take during Sunday school. Some of you should be in the parenting class. Some of you have cracked the door by saying that you would never leave a church like CTL and look at all those other idiots who have left the church. And I would never do that. And we boast big, but we fail to press in to accountability and to a community. These kinds of things were said in our most recent church discipline case. I remember those conversations like it was yesterday. I would never leave like those other idiots. I will be faithful to CTL into my covenant community. And to the pressure is applied. And the testing came. And they folded like a wet noodle. Jesus, as we learn from Pastor Rusty Sermon in the garden, potentially had over a thousand people coming to arrest him, questioning him, falsely accusing him, and he stood firm. Peter denied Jesus to a little girl who was inquiring about something that was true of him. He was a follower of Jesus, yet he crumbled because his estimation of self was high and sin had stuck its foot in the door. Some of you open the door, crack the door to sin by not asking counsel of your elders, of your covenant community. Maybe you're about to make a big investment, start a business, get into a relationship, a new job opportunity. And you make these decisions in a vacuum, a higher estimation of self than you should have. Some of you open the door to sin when you decide that you're only just going to go to the Lord's service on Sunday, but participating in other things at CTL, like Sunday school, or a Doxah DNA, or Fellowship Knight, or rabbit hole, or these things, or just, I just don't have time for those things. Perhaps you need all the accountability and encouragement and discipleship that you can get. Son of Solomon 2.15 says, "It's the little foxes that spoil the vineyard you've heard that phrase before. It's the little foxes that spoil the vine." Sin is content. It's content to grow slowly hidden away in the cracks and the crevices of our lives. Satan is content to play the long game. Why take just a piece of you when over time he could have all of you? And he loves, of course, the scripture talks about him being a roaring lion, and he loves the devour all at once, but he also is happy to take one small bite at a time. How do people walk away from the faith into apostasy? One step at a time. One high estimation of self at a time. And so you get down a path that you never intended to get down. How does one commit adultery? One glance, one thought at a time. How does one murder the innocent, one hateful bitter thought at a time? How does one lose their children, neglecting discipline, one less spanker at a time? Constricting snakes like boa constrictors and pythons. I learned this from this guy I recently went to treat his house. If you haven't heard that story, you can come talk to me later. The Jumanji House, we call it now. I learned this that constricting snakes like boas and pythons respond to their victims breathing cycles, specifically tightening more as the prey exhales. When the prey gives up that breath, then the constrictor constricts its coils tighter in that moment. One small breath at a time until the victim has no more room to breathe. The scripture calls Satan the old snake, and he will squeeze the life out of you one small inch at a time. One high estimation of self, one little boast, one little thinking that you actually stand, and what does the scripture say that you should be careful of when you think you stand, you should be careful because you're about to fall. Pride goes before the fall. And we even see this slow progression in Peter's three denials here as we continue to see the unfaithfulness of Peter unpacked. His first denial in verse 69, it's mild, he acts ignorant. Peter's not slammed up against the wall by a soldier insisting that he tell him the truth. He's not being threatened at spear point. He's being questioned by a teenage girl, a servant girl. And from the other gospel accounts, and this one we see she's simply just asking a question. She's not making any indictments. She's not making any accusations. She's just asking a question. I think you were with him, right? She's just inquiring. She's not threatening him. In fact, I think she's just curious. And he even here, Peter folds. Ask yourself this question. What hardship or what potential hardship in your life causes you to crumble even before the hardship begins? The hardship hasn't even started yet. The hard questions haven't even come yet. He's just sitting at the fire and this little girl just asked him this question. He is so consumed with self in this moment and self preservation that this slightest notion of hardship causes him to crumble. Spursion says whatever the consequences of confessing Christ might have been to Peter. They could not have been as bad as this based denial was. What he's thinking might happen to him. What he's thinking in this moment is what's happening to Jesus will happen to me and he seeks to preserve self at the slightest notion of difficult he crumbles. We've already seen how he followed just close enough to feel like he was doing something good. Just close enough to Jesus to feel like he was doing something good but far enough away to keep out of trouble. He's just seeing him surrendering at the slightest notion of any kind of difficulty. How do you hope to endure to the end when such small difficulties derail you? Small trials derail you. Even the thought of being found out and Peter's tap in right away. I don't what you're talking about. You distance yourself from God by distancing yourself from God's people. This is how we do this today. How are you distancing yourself from Christ by distancing yourself from Christ's people? Keeping your covenant community at a arm's length. Just close enough to feel like you're involved. Just close enough to feel like you're committed but not too close where people can begin to see the imperfections. You see somebody from a distance and they might look nice. You get up close and you begin to see the imperfections. So we hold people at an arm's length. What causes you to crumble even at the slightest bit of difficulty. In your mind you think if I go down this path I think there's going to be some real trials and so you don't even get close to it. Maybe it's your pagan neighbor. They know you're a Christian but you leave out all the offensive parts of the gospel for fear that they might think that you're one of those radical Christians. You distance yourself. You don't associate too closely with Jesus like Peter did here. Because you're afraid of what they might think. Perhaps you see a brother or sister in our church in sin but you're unwilling to call them out in the spirit of Matthew 18 because things might get a little dicing. You might get a little bit hairy. You call people on sin. They might get mad at me. So you just fold. Rather just not be associated with all that stuff. The husbands are unwilling to commit to things they should because their time doesn't belong to them. It belongs to their wife. And they rather just go on keeping a false peace. So any sign of difficulty they just fold. Let's just keep things cordial enough to feel like things are okay, but let's not press too hard and to all of Christ for all of life. We do this as parents. We turn our heads when we see our kids taking that first step down the path of disobedience. Any of you do this? At the first sign of, I might have a battle on my hands, we just turn our heads. It's easier just to ignore them, make an excuse for them, or have hardily managed the situation and it is to actually discipline them in faithfulness and endure through the trial. Some of us do this by never fully committing to something for fear of what it might cost us, for fear of what we might have to give up. A relationship that you need to press further into in the church, church membership, whatever it is. One way to tell if you're afraid of the difficulty in the trial is that you only ask for encouragement from others. You never ask for counsel from others. Sometimes mothers do this when they're asking parenting counseling or parenting advice, but they'll just ask for encouragement. But whenever any other mother begins to press in and give them counsel and advice, they stiffen them, push them back. Peter distanced himself and folds at the very outset of any kind of difficulty and we do the same. Here he fangs ignorance. I don't really know what you're talking about. Like a little kid who plays dumb when they've gotten in trouble, thinking that playing dumb will get them out of trouble. Peter's playing dumb, but he's not. He knows what he's doing. He's not ignorant of the truth. For three years, he spent time with the truth incarnate, Jesus himself, the living word. Peter will later write in 1 Peter 114 that we are no longer ignorant if we are in Christ. But how often we play ignorant when it's convenient for us to forget the truth that we are being called to walk in. We see this gradual unfolding of his unfaithfulness as sin tightens its coils around him. The second denial in 71 through 72, it's solemn and formal. Peter doubles down in his lie and adds an oath to make it more believable. This would be the equivalent of saying, I swear to God, I do not know the man. That's what he says, it's formal, signified, it's self-righteous. And this is funny because this is in direct violation to Jesus' teachings about oaths in Matthew 5, 33 through 37 where Jesus says, let your yes be yes and your no be no. Peter knows the truth. He has chosen in this moment to save his own skin. He's unraveling and spiraling. And this is the nature of sin. As sin tightens its coils as you slowly give into it, the nature of sin is that it must be fed and it always leads to more sin. Sin begets sin. Sin begets sin. We begin to make excuses. We begin to say, how close can I get to the line without crossing it, which is a sinful question to begin with? Instead of saying how far away can I get from that, we creep close to it. It's like quicksand, it keeps pulling you down until it has completely swallowed you. And the tension here for Peter is rising. Peter continues further down the wrong path. The first time Peter pretends that he doesn't understand. This time he calls God as a witness with an oath. He invokes God's holy name to back up his lie. How often have we self justified and even used God's word to justify our sin? First in effect, he's saying, I don't follow your topic. Like I don't want you talking about. Now he literally blatantly says, I do not know the man in a Vokes God's name. When we find ourselves in the face of trials and temptations, it's easy for us to begin to lose our footing. You ever tried to push a car out of the snow? Maybe you've had some examples of that and let past couple weeks, and you got like slippery shoes on. You can ask Brother Jeff Givany about everybody trying to push him out at Minskamp a couple of years ago. And you have good traction, and you're trying to push that car out and you keep slipping 'cause you can't get a purchase. This is what happens in the moment of temptation and trials. We begin to lose our footing. And as we give in, the traction begins to completely go away. We begin to slip, we begin to fall further and further and further into sin. And it's important for us to realize when we can take an example here from Peter on what to do in the moment of temptation. In the moment of trials, Peter's already failing here. But let's we become like Peter, let's take some advice from Peter himself. Trial is always accompanied by temptation. You have a trial, you have suffering. God is using that in his good providence to shape and fashion you into his likeness. And that accompanying that trial will be a temptation. A temptation for a way out. A temptation to pull out from underneath of the weight. Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. Jesus was tempted in the garden. And yet Jesus was faithful. Trials will always be accompanied by temptation. Jesus in the wilderness is hungry. Enemy comes with a practical solution to that. You could make bread out of these rocks. A temptation for him. From the very moment that Peter entered the courtyard, the heat of the trial begin to rise and simultaneously the heat of the temptation for Peter to save his own skin begin to rise. With the trial of a disobedient child comes the temptation to discipline them in anger or to not discipline them at all. With the trial of an unsubmissive wife comes the temptation for husbands to abdicate their responsibility. With the trials that relationship brings comes the temptation for gossip, for slander, for backbiting. So what do we do in this situation? Ironically, Peter has the answer for us in 1 Peter 4 12 through 16. If you have a Bible, you can turn over there. You'll be on the screen too, I believe. 1 Peter 4 12 through 16. Peter's already failed. When I'm reflecting of his failure, he gives us some advice in the midst of trials. Remembering that when the trial comes, so does temptation. As the heat of the fiery trial rises, so does the heat of the temptation. Peter says in 1 Peter 4 12 through 16, beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you. What are we supposed to do in the time of trial? Number one, don't be surprised. Don't be surprised. Unfaithful Peter wasn't ready for the questioning. He wasn't ready for that. Faithful Peter instructs us to not be surprised when suffering comes our way. We should be expecting it, why? Because Jesus said that we would suffer for his name. That we would endure trials and temptations and suffering. And Jesus told this to Peter, it shouldn't have been a surprise to him. He also told him he was going to go and suffer. He was going to be tried by the religious leaders. He was going to die and he was going to rise again. Peter wasn't listening. Don't be surprised. Number two, verse 13, we should rejoice. We rejoice in so far as you share in Christ's suffering, knowing, suffering that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. You are insulted for the name of Christ. You are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. Rejoice. God is doing something. God is working in you. Unfaithful Peter was full of dread at the thought of suffering. He was terrified of receiving the same sentence that Jesus received. Faithful Peter instructs us to rejoice when we suffer for Christ's name and to count it and honor to suffer for his name. As we already said, Jesus told his followers that we should rejoice when we are persecuted. Unpateful Peter denies Jesus because he is terrified of going through the trials, going through the suffering, and the crucifixion like Jesus. Faithful Peter will stand before countless mobs, courts, and false accusers, and eventually himself will be crucified for his devotion to Jesus and to his message. History tells us that Peter was crucified upside down because he says he was not worthy to be crucified in the same way as his Lord. We should be Joyce. Three, we should be watchful, verse 15, but let none of you who suffer as a murderer or a thief, or as an evil doer or a meddler. But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. Unpateful Peter folded under the pressure of the fiery trial, as the heat of the fiery trial rose, the temptation also to sin rose with it. And in the moment of Peter's denial, he chose to walk in disobedience and unfaithfulness. He chose a way out thinking he could save his own skin. When the heat of the fiery trial of someone doing you wrong rises, the temptation to murder them in your heart will rise as well. When people speak evil of you, you're supposed to rejoice. The temptation is for us to speak evil of them as well, to be bitter in our hearts toward them. When the heat of the fiery trial of financial difficulties rises, so does the temptation to steal, to become stingy, to stop giving your time. When the heat of the fiery trial becomes almost too much to bear, the temptation will slowly rise for a false peace in our hearts, to settle, to wriggle out from underneath the difficulties. When the heat of the fiery trial rises, so does the heat of the temptation. Be mindful. Faithful Peter perseveres through tremendous suffering and he does it with joy. Last thing Peter teaches us is that we should trust God and do good. We should trust God and do good. Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will and trust their souls to a faith or creator while doing good, 1 Peter 4/19. Peter says that we should trust the Lord. One commentator says, "Peter's failure shows the limits of human resolve unated by the spirit and prayer. If disciples depend on mere resolve, they will fail." In the moment of temptation, if you try to depend on mere resolve and just picking yourself up by your bootstraps, you will fail. Does it take determination and grit? Yes. Should you do your duty, whether you feel like it or not? Yes. But you need the power of the spirit. You need an advocate. You cannot do it on your own. This is why God has given us His Word and His Spirit and His people. Peter shows us what we are to do in the moment of temptation. But unfortunately, He shows us this after, instead of remembering it in the moment. We see now going back to our text in Matthew. The denial continues. Verse 73 to 74, the third denial. Peter's already kind of tried to play ignorant. Then he invokes God's name in a formal way and says, "I swear to God, I do not know the man." And now there's a third question and a third denial. After a little while, verse 73, back in our text in Matthew, after a little while, the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "Certainly you two are one of them, for your accent betrays you." Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and swear, "I do not know the man." And immediately the rooster crowed. Peter flees the second little girl that had asked him the question and the tension rises and the bystanders call him out. Certainly, you are one of them. So this is not a question anymore. Now it's an indictment. Now they're saying, "No, you've been found out." Peter already stands accused of being with Jesus. This third charge mounts the evidence. Jesus and Peter are both from Galilee. John in his gospel, John 1826, adds that the servant, that a servant of Caiaphas recognizes Peter as the one who had the sword when they went to arrest Jesus. He was like, "No, I saw you wielding a sword, right? I know who you are. Everybody watch your ears." This guy is a lunatic. Peter's found out the situation is completely escalated. He slid out of control. The pressure has increased. So Peter's rhetoric increases. Peter began to curse and to swear he invokes a curse upon himself. It would be like him saying, "May the Lord curse condemn and kill me if I know this man Jesus." May God kill me if I know who you're talking about. I don't know the man. And it's at this moment the rooster crow's and snaps Peter to his senses. And he recalls Jesus' prophecy. Have you ever seen, I was thinking about this this week as I was studying this passage? Have you ever seen things so clearly in a moment, maybe in an emergency situation or something really, it's kind of like shocked you in the reality. And you've ever seen something so clear that it feels like you're seeing it in slow motion. You know what I'm talking about? Everything is just so crystal clear in that moment. I remember being in a car accident one time and as the car began to slide across into my lane, it felt like everything slowed down in that moment. But how's happening so quickly? As I'm thinking about Peter, this running from this one girl, from the next and all of a sudden he's invoking this curse. Now he's yelling. People now surely are seeing him. He's causing a scene in all of a sudden the rooster crows and pierces through. I see it as that kind of a moment. All of a sudden everything else kind of slows down. And Peter sees things crystal clear. It's like those scenes you see depicted in a movie where it's an intense battle scene in the main character is realizing the horror of war and he stands kind of quiet and wide-eyed as all the things rage around him. I think in this moment maybe that's how I see it. That Peter hears the rooster crow. All the questioning of the crowd fades. The sun's rising. And the words are echoing in Peter's ear. I do not know the man. It reminds me of that line of the hymn in depth of mercy. I my master have denied. I afresh have crucified. Offed profane his hallowed name. Put him to an open shame. When we sin, when we choose self, this is what we are doing. Verse 75, "And Peter, remember the saying of Jesus, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. And he went out and he wept bitterly." This right here is a beautiful, beautiful picture of the gospel. This right here is the point that Matthew is trying to drive home. Matthew is already established that this is a picture of mankind. Like at the best, this is what you're going to do. You get it in I Christ. And Matthew shows us the solution. Here we see as Peter is slipping and falling in the mud of his own selfishness and sin. We see the arresting grace of God. The arresting grace of God. Spursion says, "When once a child of God gets on a downward road, No man can tell how fast or how far he will fall unless Almighty grace beats thou safe to him. Lying, led to swearing and swearing to cursing, no one but the Lord knows how much further Peter would have fallen if he had not been divinely arrested in his sinful career. Many men heard the cock crow that morning, but to Peter it carried a solemn reminder of his Lord's prophetic warning. Matthew wants us to see here in the heart of this story, and we should stand in wonder in awe at God's arresting grace. Peter was willing to let Jesus go, but Jesus in this moment was not willing to let Peter go. Once again, Peter is saved from himself. Once again, Peter is kept from Satan's grasp. We've seen it all throughout. Jesus protects him in the garden, heals the man's ear, to preserve and protect Peter. The rooster's crow here wasn't random. That rooster obeyed its master's command. It was faithful in its job. God commanded that that rooster crow and it did so that it might stop Peter and his tracks. So it might bring Peter to his senses in order that the weight of conviction would crush him, humble him, and show him the face of Jesus. If you look at Luke's account, Luke's Gospel account, we have this extra gut wrenching detail to the story. It says this, but Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are talking about." And immediately, while he was speaking, the rooster crowed, and the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, "How he had said to him before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times." And he went out and he wept bitterly. Spurson says, "There was something else that affected Peter more than the crowing of the rooster." Luke tells us the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. Peter must have looked up at the Lord, or he would have not seen the look of sorrow, pity, love, and forgiveness that the Lord gave him air he went out and wept bitterly. The phrase looked at Peter is the same phrase used in Mark 10, 21, where Jesus looked at the rich young ruler. And Mark says, "Looking at him, Jesus loved him." Peter is gutted in this moment by his sin. He was so prideful. He was so conceited. He was so confident in his ability. And yet in his moment of trial, he has now failed miserably and he sees it and he feels it. Have you ever been there before? Like after the sin is done, just the crushing weight upon your shoulders and the crystal clear reality of what you have done, how you have profaned his holy name, and how, as the scripture says, "He saw you." There is no hiding from God. The darkest night is like bright day to him. Peter weeps in sorrow and shame over his sin. And we should. This bitter weeping is a weeping of shame over our sin. You should feel shame over your sin. You should teach your children that sinful behavior is shameful behavior. You should point out to your children the shameful behavior of the world around us. Peter weeps because he is crushed under the shame of his failure and we should be as well. You are Peter, I am Peter. I think also here at the heart of what caused Peter to weep even harder, even more bitter, was that he looked at Jesus' face in this moment and what he saw was not only sorrow and pain at the betrayal, but he also saw pity and love and forgiveness. Beloved this is the gospel. This is the gospel. We have all betrayed Jesus and yet Jesus loves us still. We have all been traitors and yet Jesus loves us still. Augustine says, "Rememberance of Peter's denial was necessarily bitter so that the grace of redemption might be even more sweet. If Christ had not left him to himself, he would have not denied. If Christ had not looked at him, he would have not wept. God hates people's relying presumptuously on their own powers." Augustine says, "Like a doctor, God lances this swollen tumor in those whom he loves. By lancing, of course, he inflicts pain, but he also ensures health later." There's another lyric in that song, "Deepth of Mercy." It says, "Therefor me, the Savior stands, shows his wounds and spreads his hands. God is love. I know, I feel Jesus weeps, but loves me still. Jesus bleeds, but loves me still. Jesus dies and loves me still." The refrain of that song is, "Weep, believe, and sin no more." Weep, believe, and sin no more. Peter is utterly unfaithful. And yet now we see the second part of what Matthew wants us to see. Peter's unfaithfulness and Jesus the faithful. Peter the unfaithful, Jesus the faithful. Peter failed to keep his word, but Jesus did not fail in keeping his word. Jesus kept his word. Of course, Jesus has kept his word. What are you talking about? Yes, Jesus has kept everything that he said was going to happen. He said the rooster was going to crow and it did. But there's a very specific thing that Jesus did not fail in. Jesus kept Peter. He kept him. He held him fast. Luke 22, 31 through 34. You can go read this and study this on your own time. Jesus says to Peter, "Simon, Simon, behold Satan demands to have you, that he might sift you like wheat." But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. Peter said to him, "Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death." And Jesus said, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster will crow." You will deny me, deny that you ever even knew me. Jesus said, "I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail." Jesus interceded for Peter to the Father. 1 John 2 verse 1 tells us, "My little children, I am writing these things to you so you may not sin." He said, "Don't sin. Don't sin." But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. This means that Satan wanted Peter. He wanted to destroy him. All the plans that God had for him to establish and lead the church, to write the instructions that we just went through a bit ago about how to stand firm during trial. Satan wanted him to sift him like wheat. The God said, "No, you cannot have him because you are a man." because Jesus interceded for Peter. Jesus prayed for him. And because Jesus pleaded for Peter, God in grace granted Peter repentance and forgiveness because Peter could not do it on his own. Remember from Pastor Matt Sermon on high estimation of self and Peter's boasting, Jesus said he was going ahead of them in Tagalloli and he was prophesying, he was saying that their restoration was already planned. God has already planned your restoration. That's because Jesus prayed for them. That's because Jesus interceded on their behalf. He asked the Father to grant them endurance and to grant them repentance and faith and forgiveness when they sin. This is good news that we have a great high priest who intercedes for us. When Satan demanded to have you, when you were tempted to look at porn, but you overcame it, it was because Jesus prayed for you. Men, when you were tempted to abdicate your responsibility, Jesus prayed for you that you would overcome, that you would say what needed to be say, that you would lead strong. Ladies, when you were tempted to be idle in your home, Jesus prays for you, that you would be strong, that you would persevere, that you would do your duty with joy. Kids, listen to me, look at me, children. When you were tempted to disobey your parents, Jesus prays for you, that you would have strength to persevere. When you were tempted, when you were tried, Jesus prays for you. When you were tempted to be attracted to the same sex, Jesus prayed for you. When you were tempted to say something angry, backbiting, and cutting, and gossipy, Jesus prayed for you. When you failed miserably, fell on your face in the realization of what you had done was ringing in your ears and right before your eyes. Jesus prayed for you before the Father, asking for your repentance and for your forgiveness, that it would be granted to you. And when you are tempted to believe that Jesus cannot forgive your sin, Jesus prays for you. And him we're gonna sing here after the sermon, when the line says, "When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast." When the Timter would prevail, he will hold me fast. I could never keep my hold through life's fearful path. For my love is often cold. He must hold me fast. Jesus kept Peter. Jesus didn't just keep Peter though, he restored Peter. He restores him. One of my favorite verses in all of the New Testament, maybe all the Bible is Mark 16 verse 7. This is after the resurrection and Jesus has been seen by the women at the tomb. And he tells them to go and to tell his disciples. And I love this little detail that Mark puts in there. Jesus says, "But go." Oh, this is the angel speaking, but go and tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him just as I told you. You see, he's going before you to Galilee. That's what he said. So he said back when Peter made his big boast. You're gonna deny me, but I'm going ahead of you into Galilee. And the angel says it and Jesus himself says, "I said what I said and I kept my word, it came true." I love that the angel says he is risen from the dead just as he said. And in this little moment, this little detail where he says, "Tell his disciples." I didn't mean to cry this much during the sermon. Good Lord. And tell Peter. It's because I am Peter. Tell Peter. You gotta know, man, that Peter was feeling real bad, real bad about his denial, real bad. He had failed utterly. And even at the news of the resurrection, he's excited, but can you imagine? I mean, if I'm in this situation, I've denied Christ. He's been crucified. I hear that he's risen. That's exciting news. I'm hoping without hope, it feels amazing, but I also have to stand and look at the man I denied, who looked back at me with love and pity and forgiveness. And Jesus in this moment says, make sure you tell Peter. Make sure you tell Peter. As Spursan says, "If any one of us has denied the Lord that bought him, let him look up to him who now looks down from heaven, ready to pardon the backslider who cries with the returning and prodigal son. Father, I have sinned against heaven and in eyesight and I am not worthy to be called, I son." Look to Jesus. He restores him. He restores him. And lastly, Jesus didn't just keep Peter. He didn't just restore him, but Jesus used Peter for his glory. And for the building of the kingdom, with all of the crap that Peter had done, with all the mess that Peter was, he still was used greatly for God's glory and for the building of the kingdom. You can go read this on your own time. John's depiction of Jesus' conversation with Peter, John 21 and 15 through 19. Jesus asked Peter how many times? Three times. Three times. Do you love me? Do you love me, Peter? And then he commissioned him to go forward and feed his sheep. Go forward, feed my sheep. He tells him how he will die. Peter in this moment, make sure he listens and he's ready for the trial when it comes. Jesus used Peter for his glory. In Acts 2, 36 through 41, we see a drastic change from Peter to coward to Peter the preacher. Of all the disciples and of all who have preached for the kingdom of God, Peter is one of the boldest. Just unapologetically spitting fire on the day of Pentecost repents and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, he says. He does not hold back. And because of his bold preaching and his trust in Jesus, verse 41 of Acts 2 says, "And those who received his words, received Peter's words that they were baptized, and they were added that day about 3,000 souls." One sermon. You read the Acts of the Apostles and you see the work that Peter did for the glory of God and for the kingdom. Peter goes on to lead the church, preach the gospel, suffer many difficulties for the name of Jesus and ultimately gives his life for his Lord. And this is not possible in human terms. One thing, I heard this actually recently from an atheist who has quite a large platform. It's interesting to watch this man's heart be softened as he is curious. And one of the things that he said in a recent interview was that one of the most compelling things about Christianity and one of the greatest proofs if Christianity is true is that the people who were cowards before the crucifixion and the resurrection, all of a sudden became incredibly bold and ended up dying, not just like one person, but many for this Lord that they claimed. He said, "That is great evidence that something significant happened." And this is not possible in human terms. This faithfulness, as we have seen, did not come naturally to Peter at all, did it? Oh no, he failed utterly. This is a supernatural power from God to fill him. Peter failed miserably. But by grace, he walked in repentance. Peter, unlike Judas, who we're gonna see next week was truly sorrowful for his sin. Not just sorry because of the consequences, not just sorry you got caught, and he looked to Jesus. Judas goes back to the authorities. Judas tries to figure things out on his own terms and in man terms. Peter is truly sorrowful for his sin. And in repentance, he looks to Jesus. He doesn't look again to his own high estimation of self. He looks to Jesus for salvation and for forgiveness. God is eager to forgive. those who walk in repentance. God is eager to forgive those who walk in repentance and to use them for His glory. So I am Peter, you are Peter, right? And by God's grace, we have been called, we have been forgiven, we have been restored, and we have been and are being held fast. Amen? Let's pray. Father, thank you for your grace. Thank you for Peter. We look forward to speaking to Him one day, singing praises to your name next to Him one day. We look forward for all of eternity to see all those saints who have gone before us who you have held fast. In the moment of trial and temptation, may we hold fast, knowing ultimately that you are the one who is holding fast to us. Thank you for your arresting grace. You only know how far in sin and the property we would have gone if you had not rescued us. Jesus, we thank you and praise you Forgive you, glory. Amen.