FAITH BIBLE CHURCH - www.faithbiblechurch.net

RAY RUSS - PASTOR-TEACHER

MATTHEW: THE KING HAS COME, WEEK 180

TITLE: THE TEMPORARY FALL OF PETER

TEXT: MATTHEW 26:69-75

INTRODUCTION: (1) PETER'S DENIAL OF THE LORD 3 TIMES IS USUALLY LOOKED ON AS A GREAT TRAGEDY, WHICH IT OBVIOUSLY WAS.

* BUT VIEWED IN THE LIGHT OF PETER'S REPENTANCE AND THE LORD'S GRACIOUS FORGIVENESS, THE STORY ALSO BRINGS GREAT ENCOURAGEMENT.

** FOR PETER FELL HARD. HIS SIN WAS GREAT. YET FEW SAINTS HAVE BEEN SO POWERFULLY USED BY GOD AS PETER WAS AFTER HE REPENTED AND WAS RESTORED.

*** AND BELOVED, THE ACCOUNT OF PETER'S DENIAL IS A SOBERING TESTIMONY TO THE WEAKNESS OF THE FLESH.

**** BUT IT IS ALSO AN ENCOURAGING TESTIMONY TO THE POWER OF GOD'S GRACE.

(2) AND EVEN IN THE DEPTHS AND EXTREME OF HIS CHILDREN'S SIN, THE LORD IS THERE TO FORGIVE AND TO RESTORE.

* AND EVERY CHRISTIAN AT TIMES COMES BEFORE THE LORD OVERWHELMED AND BROKEN BY THE AWARENESS OF HIS SINFULNESS.

** AND A PERSON WHO NEVER HAS SUCH AN EXPERIENCE EITHER IS VERY COLD SPIRITUALLY OR IS NOT A CHRISTIAN AT ALL.

*** FOR NOTHING IS MORE SHATTERING TO A TRUE BELIEVER THAN SUDDENLY REALIZING HE HAS DENIED THE LORD BY WHAT HE OR SHE HAS SAID OR NOT SAID, DONE OR NOT DONE.

**** YET NOTHING IS MORE ENCOURAGING THAN KNOWING GOD'S GRACIOUS FORGIVENESS OF THE UNFAITHFULNESS AFTER IT IS CONFESSED.

(3) AND POSITIONALLY WE KNOW THAT WHEN OUR GREAT GOD BROUGHT US TO REPENTANCE AND FAITH, ALL OF OUR SINS WERE FORGIVEN IN CHRIST AND WE WERE DECLARED RIGHTEOUS IN HIM.

* WE'VE HAD THE BATH OF SALVATION.

** YET PRACTICALLY IN OUR DAILY WALK, WE GET OUR FEET DIRTY AS WE WALK IN THIS WORLD OF SIN, AND WE NEED TO CONFESS OUR SIN TO HAVE OUR FEET WASHED BY CHRIST AND HAVE SWEET COMMUNION WITH HIM.

*** SO WE ARE GIVEN THESE PRECIOUS PROMISES IN THE WORD OF GOD TO BE ASSURED OF THE JOY OF FORGIVENESS, READ PS. 86:5, PROVERBS 28:13 AND I JOHN 1:7-9.

**** NOW PETER IN THE END WOULD CONFESS AND FORSAKE HIS GREAT SIN AND WOULD GO OUT AND "WEEP BITTERLY".

(4) BECAUSE OF THAT, AS WE STUDY THE FALL AND SIN OF PETER, ABOUT PETER'S FAILURE, I ALSO IN THE END WANT TO EXALT THE LORD'S FORGIVENESS.

* AND I WANT TO REMIND YOU THAT PETER'S FALL WAS A TEMPORARY FALL. AND YES AGAIN HIS FALL WAS GREAT, BUT HIS FORGIVENESS IS GREAT.

** AND WE ALL NEED TO BE REMINDED OF THE HEINOUSNESS OF OUR DENYING CHRIST IN VARIOUS WAYS, BUT ALSO I WANT TO REMIND YOU THAT CHRIST'S GRACE IS GREATER THAN ALL OUR SINS.

*** LET ME SAY IT THIS WAY. OUR SIN IS GREAT, BUT OUR FORGIVENESS IN CHRIST IS GREATER. SO WHEN WE FALL, IT SHOULD ONLY BE TEMPORARY AS TRUE BELIEVERS, PROVERBS 24:16 SAYS (READ IT).

**** AND BELOVED, WITH THAT TRUTH IN MIND, I'VE TITLED OUR MESSAGE, "THE TEMPORARY FALL OF PETER".

(5) AND EVEN THOUGH THE MAJORITY OF WHAT WE'LL STUDY TODAY IS ABOUT PETER'S 3 DENIALS, LET US BE REMINDED OF PETER'S REPENTANCE AND ULTIMATE RESTORATION AND USE OF HIM BY THE LORD.

* AND TODAY IN OUR STUDY WE'LL LOOK AT 3 POINTS AND THEN AN APPLICATION OF FORGIVENESS. AND OUR 3 POINTS ARE CENTERED AROUND PETER'S 3 DENIALS.

** DENIAL NUMBER 1, VV. 69&70; DENIAL NUMBER 2, VV. 71&72; AND DENIAL NUMBER 3, VV. 73-75.

*** AND IN V. 75, WE'LL FOCUS ON PETER'S REPENTANCE. AND WITHOUT ANY MORE INTRODUCTION, LET'S JUMP IN OUR TEXT TODAY AND BEGIN WITH V. 69, WHERE WE'LL START TO SEE DENIAL NUMBER 1. LOOK AT MATTHEW 26:69 PLEASE.

I. DENIAL NUMBER 1, (READ V. 69)

A. NOW IF YOU RECALL FROM OUR STUDY FROM LAST SUNDAY, AFTER JESUS WAS ARRESTED, HE WOULD GO THROUGH TWO MAJOR TRIALS WITH 3 PARTS OR PHASES TO EACH TRIAL.

* BECAUSE OF THAT TECHNICALLY WE CAN SAY JESUS WENT THROUGH 6 TRIALS, A RELIGIOUS TRIAL WITH THE JEWS BEFORE ANNAS, CAIAPHAS AND THE SANHEDRIN, 3 TRIALS.

** AND A CIVIL TRIAL WITH THE ROMANS BEFORE PILATE, HEROD AND PILATE AGAIN, 3 TRIALS.

*** WELL, DURING PHASE ONE AND TWO OF CHRIST'S RELIGIOUS TRIAL BEFORE ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS, PETER WAS FOLLOWING AFAR OFF, FROM A DISTANCE, BECAUSE HE DID NOT WANT TO GET CAUGHT.

**** AND PETER DID NOT GO INTO THE HOUSES OF ANNAS OR CAIAPHAS, WHERE JESUS' TRIALS TAKE PLACE, BUT WENT TO THE COURTYARD AREAS OF THESE TWO HOMES.

1. AND MOST LIKELY, THE COURTYARD OF ANNAS, OF WHICH JOHN SPEAKS IN JOHN 18:15&16, AND THE COURTYARD OF CAIAPHAS, WHICH MATTHEW MENTIONS IN MATTHEW 26:57&58, WERE THE SAME PLACE.

* MOST LIKELY THEIR HOUSES WERE RIGHT ACROSS FROM EACH OTHER, KIND OF A FAMILY ESTATE, A FAMILY PLOT OF HOUSES, FOR CAIAPHAS WAS THE SON IN LAW OF ANNAS.

** BECAUSE OF THAT, WHEN JESUS WAS TRANSFERRED FROM ANNAS' HOUSE TO CAIAPHAS', HE WAS SIMPLY TAKEN THROUGH THE COMMON COURTYARD OR PERHAPS THROUGH A CONNECTING PASSAGEWAY.

*** WHICH BRINGS US BACK TO V. 69 OF OUR STUDY WHERE IT SAYS, "PETER WAS SITTING OUTSIDE IN THE COURTYARD."

**** FOR PETER WANTED TO SEE THE OUTCOME OF JESUS' TRIAL, YET HE WAS AFRAID, SO HE KEPT HIS DISTANCE.

2. PETER'S LOVE FOR CHRIST WAS WEAK, BUT IT WAS REAL.

* WELL, AS PETER WAS "HANGING AROUND" TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON, HE HOPED TO GO UNNOTICED IN THE LARGE CROWD OF MINOR OFFICIALS, SOLDIERS AND OTHER ONLOOKERS WHO HAD ASSEMBLED IN THE LARGE COURTYARD.

** AND BY THE TIME JESUS APPEARED BEFORE CAIAPHAS, IT WAS PROBABLY AROUND 1 A.M. FRIDAY, THE DAY JESUS WOULD BE CRUCIFIED.

*** NOW WHILE PETER WAS OUTSIDE IN THE COURTYARD, "WITH THE OFFICERS AND WARMING HIMSELF AT THE FIRE" ACCORDING TO MARK 14:54, A CERTAIN SERVANT-GIRL CAME TO HIM AND SAID, "YOU TOO WERE WITH JESUS THE GALILEAN.

**** NOW THE TERM "GALILEAN" WAS FREQUENTLY USED AS AN EXPRESSION OF RIDICULE OR A PUT DOWN BY CITIZENS OF JERUSALEM IN JUDEA, WHO FELT THEMSELVES SUPERIOR TO THEIR LESS SOPHISTICATED NEIGHBORS TO THE NORTH.

3. TO REFER TO SOMEONE AS A GALILEAN WAS TO SUGGEST THEY WERE BACKWARD AND UNPROGRESSIVE. AND THIS IS A POSSIBILITY HERE.

* NOW THE WORDS OF THIS SERVANT-GIRL ARE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT IN THE VARIOUS GOSPELS, WHICH SUGGEST SHE MADE THE SAME BASIC STATEMENT SEVERAL TIMES, AND THE FACT THAT PETER "DENIED IT BEFORE THEM ALL" IN V. 70, INDICATES THAT MANY PEOPLE IN THE CROWD HAD HEARD HER ACCUSATION.

** AND NOTE HERE ALSO, THE ORDER OF THE DENIALS ALSO SEEMS TO VARY AMONG THE 4 GOSPELS, WHICH CAN BE EXPLAINED BY THE WRITER'S REPORTING DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF THE 3 INDICTMENTS OF DENIAL, EACH OF WHICH MAY HAVE LASTED SEVERAL MINUTES OR LONGER AND INVOLVED CONSIDERABLY MORE DIALOGUE THAN IS RECORDED IN SCRIPTURE.

*** NOW WITH ALL THOSE EXPLANATIONS IN MIND TO COMMUNICATE THAT THERE ARE NO CONTRADICTIONS AMONG THE 4 GOSPEL WRITERS, LOOK AT V. 70 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 70. NOW APPARENTLY PETER FIRST SAID TO THE GIRL, "WOMAN, I DO NOT KNOW HIM" IN LUKE 22:57.

* AND THEN TO THE OTHERS, THE "THEM ALL" WHO HAD BEEN LISTENING, "I DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT."

** PETER FLAT OUT LIED! HE DENIED EVEN KNOWING JESUS.

*** AND WHAT PETER DID WAS TERRIBLE, AND I AM NOT GOING TO MINIMIZE IT.

**** BUT REMEMBER WHAT WAS GOING ON. IMAGINE THE SOUNDS WHICH PETER COULD HAVE HEARD IN THE COURTYARD, FOR THERE MUST HAVE BEEN SOME ACCESS AT LEAST TO SIGHT, IF NOT SOUND.

1. FOR IN LUKE 22:61, WHEN PETER DENIES CHRIST FOR THE 3'D TIME IT SAYS: "THE LORD TURNED AND LOOKED AT PETER."

* NOW WHETHER IT WAS FROM AN OPEN AREA INTO THE COURTYARD OR THROUGH A WINDOW, THE CONTACT WAS MADE.

** SO PETER MIGHT HAVE SEEN THE BRUTALITY DURING THE TRIALS AND HEARD THE BLASPHEMY. ON TOP OF THAT HE IS BOTH EMOTIONALLY AND PHYSICALLY TIRED. (IT'S EARLY IN THE MORNING).

*** AND I'M NOT MAKING EXCUSES FOR PETER, BUT PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY HE WAS A WRECK. AND THERE WAS A WAY HE COULD HAVE OVERCOME THESE FEARS AND FEELINGS.

**** IT WAS BY APPLYING THE WORDS OF JESUS IN MATTHEW 26:41 WHERE HE SAID TO PETER, JAMES AND JOHN (READ IT).

2. AND BELOVED, THAT'S THE WAY WE CAN OVERCOME THE TEMPTATION TO DENY CHRIST OR ANY TEMPTATION WHEN WE ARE AFRAID AND EMOTIONALLY AND PHYSICALLY WIPED. IT IS THROUGH PRAYER AND DEPENDENCE ON THE HOLY SPIRIT TO DO SUPERNATURALLY WHAT WE ARE NOT CAPABLE OF DOING NATURALLY.

* WHEN WE'RE WEARY AND WIPED, OUR EMOTIONS AND FEARS MUST BE BROUGHT IN SUBMISSION TO THE LORD THROUGH CRYING OUT TO HIM AS OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH, READ PS. 46:1, PSALM 62:8 AND EPHESIANS 6:10&18.

** BELOVED WE MUST TURN TO OUR REFUGE AND RUN TO HIM WHO IS OUR STRENGTH!

*** AND PETER MAY HAVE PLANNED HOW HE WOULD DEFEND HIMSELF IF CONFRONTED BY SOLDIERS IN THE COURTYARD, BUT HE WAS TOTALLY UNPREPARED WHEN CAUGHT OFF GUARD BY THE MUCH LESS THREATENING CHALLENGE THAT NOW FACED HIM.

**** PETER WAS PREPARED TO DO BATTLE ON HIS OWN TERMS BUT NOT ON SATAN'S AND MUCH LESS ON CHRIST'S.

3. AND BECAUSE OF HIS SELF ASSURANCE, HE HAD NEGLECTED THE LORD'S ADMONITION TO BE ON GUARD AND TO PRAY.

* CONSEQUENTLY HE WAS VULNERABLE TO A BLIND-SIDE ATTACK FROM A SOURCE HE NEVER EXPECTED.

** AND IN APPLICATION, IN MUCH THE SAME WAY, WE CAN PLAN DETAILED STRATEGY FOR EVANGELISM OR FOR THE DEFENSE OF A CHERISHED DOCTRINE OR MORAL STANDARD.

*** ONLY TO BE CONFRONTED BY AN ISSUE OR CIRCUMSTANCE WE HAD NEVER CONSIDERED AND FOR WHICH WE WERE TOTALLY UNPREPARED.

**** AND LIKE PETER, WE OFTEN CAREFULLY PREPARE ON THE BASIS OF OUR OWN WISDOM AND RESOURCES WHILE NEGLECTING THE GUIDANCE OF GOD'S WORD AND THE EMPOWERING AND LEADING OF HIS SPIRIT WHICH HE PROVIDES THROUGH PRAYER.

4. OH MAY WE BE PRAYING LIKE WE BREATHE, CONTINUALLY, GUARDING OUR HEARTS.

* WELL, WE NEED TO MOVE ON TO PETER'S 2'D DENIAL. LOOK AT V. 71 PLEASE.

II. DENIAL NUMBER 2, (READ V. 71)

A. NOW PETER IN A SENSE IS ON THE RUN HERE. IN HIS MIND HE HAS TO MOVE AWAY FROM WARMING HIMSELF AROUND THE FIRE WHERE HE CAN BE RECOGNIZED AND SEEN MORE CLEARLY BECAUSE NOW THINGS ARE BECOMING "TOO HOT" FOR HIM.

* SO HE MOVES FROM THE FIRE WHERE HE WAS GETTING WARM, TO THE GATEWAY AREA. HE GOES OUT TO THE GATEWAY, WHERE THERE WAS A PORCH ACCORDING TO MARK 14:68.

** AND HE PROBABLY WALKED AWAY SLOWLY SO AS NOT TO ATTRACT ATTENTION OR GIVE THE IMPRESSION HE WAS RUNNING AWAY AFTER LYING.

*** AND PERHAPS PETER WANTED TO BE NEARER THE EXIT AT THIS GATEWAY AREA WHERE THERE WAS A PORCH IN CASE A TEMPLE OFFICER TRIED TO ARREST HIM.

**** AGAIN IT WAS ALSO DARKER THERE, AND HE WOULD LESS LIKELY BE RECOGNIZED THAN BY THE FIRE.

1. BUT DESPITE HIS PRECAUTIONS, "A LITTLE LATER" ACCORDING TO LUKE 22:58, ANOTHER SERVANT GIRL SAW HIM.

* AND PERHAPS TO HUMILIATE PETER, THIS SERVANT-GIRL DID NOT ADDRESS HIM DIRECTLY BUT RATHER SAID TO THE OTHER BYSTANDERS WHO WERE THERE, "THIS MAN WAS WITH JESUS OF NAZARETH".

** AND ACCORDING TO LUKE 22:58, AN UNIDENTIFIED MAN ALSO JOINED IN THE ACCUSATION SAYING, "YOU ARE ONE OF THEM TOO!"

*** WELL, PETER'S RESPONSE TO THEM IS GIVEN IN V. 72. LOOK AT V. 72 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 72. NOW TO THIS GIRL HERE IN V. 72, PETER DENIED WITH AN OATH, "I DO NOT KNOW "THE MAN".

* AND HE CAN'T EVEN SAY JESUS' NAME AT THIS POINT, HE CALLS HIM, "THE MAN".

** AND PETER'S RESPONSE TO THE OTHER PERSON IN LUKE 22:58 WAS "MAN, I AM NOT!" PROBABLY WITH GROWING IRRITATION.

*** AND THIS TIME PETER NOT ONLY LIED, BUT DID SO "WITH AN OATH" HOPING TO REINFORCE HIS DECEIT.

**** FOR YOU SEE A JEWISH OATH WAS CALLING ON GOD TO BE A WITNESS TO THE TRUTH OF ONE'S TESTIMONY.

1. AND AN OATH IN THAT SOCIETY WAS DEEMED THE UTMOST SACRED BOND OF TRUTH.

* AND TO COMPOUND ONE'S LYING WITH A FALSE OATH WAS TO TAKE THE LORD'S NAME IN VAIN IN THE MOST BLASPHEMOUS POSSIBLE WAY, IN EFFECT ATTEMPTING TO MAKE GOD A WITNESS TO A LIE.

** SO PETER'S 2'D DENIAL IS WORSE THAN HIS FIRST. BUT HE'S PANICKING NOW AND HAS TO THROW AN OATH IN TO MAKE WHAT HE'S SAYING MORE BELIEVABLE.

*** AND SEEMINGLY IT WORKED FOR A WHILE FOR LUKE REPORTS IN LUKE 22:59 THAT IT WILL BE ABOUT AN HOUR THAT WILL PASS BEFORE PETER IS QUESTIONED AGAIN WHICH WILL LEAD TO DENIAL NO. 3. LOOK AT V. 73 PLEASE.

III. DENIAL NUMBER 3, (READ V. 73)

A. NOW AGAIN ABOUT AN HOUR PASSES BY, "A LITTLE LATER" AND SOME BYSTANDERS AROUND PETER, PROBABLY PROVOKED BY HEARING HIS SPEECH TO THE 2'D SERVANT GIRL, GOT TO THINKING, THIS GUY IS FROM GALILEE, "FOR THE WAY YOU TALK GIVES YOU AWAY."

* PETER'S GALILEAN ACCENT WAS READILY RECOGNIZABLE, FOR YOU SEE THE REGION OF GALILEE WAS KNOWN FOR ITS UNIQUE ACCENT.

** SO THE PEOPLE FROM JUDEA-JERUSALEM KNEW FROM PETER'S ACCENT THAT HE WAS FROM GALILEE, JUST AS IN THE UNITED STATES MIDWESTERNERS CAN RECOGNIZE THE ACCENT OF SOUTHERNERS OR NEW ENGLANDERS OR NEW YORKERS.

*** BUT BEYOND THIS EVIDENCE, THE BYSTANDERS ALSO HAD AN EYEWITNESS ACCORDING TO JOHN 18:26.

**** FOR IT SAYS, "ONE OF THE SLAVES OF THE HIGH PRIEST, BEING A RELATIVE OF THE ONE WHOSE EAR PETER CUT OFF, SAID, "DID I NOT SEE YOU IN THE GARDEN WITH HIM?"

1. NOW THE FACT THAT ONE OF MALCHUS' RELATIVES RECOGNIZED PETER AND COULD PLACE HIM IN GETHSEMANE DURING THE ARREST SEEMS TO HAVE RATTLED PETER SEVERELY. FOR LOOK AT V. 74 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 74. NOW AT THIS PETER HIT ROCK BOTTOM. THIS THIRD DENIAL IS THE WORST OF THE THREE, FOR HE BEGINS TO CURSE AND SWEAR.

* AND CURSING AND SWEARING IS NOT WHAT WE NORMALLY THINK OF, LIKE WHEN A PERSON USES A STRING OF PROFANITY AND 4 LETTER WORDS.

** FOR THE GREEK WORD FOR CURSE IS KAT-AN-ATH-EN-AT-ID-ZO WHICH YOU CAN SEE ON THE SCREEN, AND IT LIT. MEANS TO ANATHEMATIZE FROM THE WORD ANATHEMA TO BE ACCURSED OR DAMNED.

*** AND SPECIFICALLY IN THE CONTEXT OF MATTHEW 26:74, THIS WORD CURSE LIT. MEANS TO BIND ONESELF WITH AN OATH OR UNDER A CURSE.

**** AND THEN THE WORD "SWEAR" IN V. 74 MEANS TO TAKE AN OATH, AS ONE DOES IN COURT.

1. SO WHAT PETER WAS SAYING WAS, "I SWEAR THAT I AM TELLING YOU THE TRUTH; MAY GOD CURSE ME IF I AM NOT." WOW!!

* BELOVED, PETER BY USING THIS STRONG WORD CURSE WAS SAYING, "MAY GOD KILL ME AND DAMN ME IF I AM NOT SPEAKING THE TRUTH."

** PETER'S DENIALS BECAME MORE INTENSE AND EXTREME. HE IS REALLY RATTLED AND AFRAID AND LOST ALL SENSE OF THE LORD'S PRESENCE, HE LOST ALL SENSE OF HIS LORD.

*** BUT IMMEDIATELY OUR LORD BROUGHT HIM BACK TO HIS WORDS HE TOLD PETER EARLIER IN MATTHEW 26:34, "TRULY I SAY TO YOU THAT THIS VERY NIGHT, BEFORE A COCK CROWS, YOU SHALL DENY ME THREE TIMES."

**** FOR IMMEDIATELY THE COCK CROWED, AND IT HAD TO BE LIKE A TON OF BRICKS HITTING PETER SQUARE IN HIS FACE.

**** THE LORD HAD THAT COCK CROW TO BRING HIS WORD BACK IN VIEW HERE, TO HELP PETER FOCUS.

2. BUT NOT ONLY DID THE COCK CROW, BUT LUKE RECORDS IN LUKE 22:61 AT THIS MOMENT THE LORD TURNED AND LOOKED AT PETER.

* LUKE 22:61 SAYS: "AND THE LORD TURNED AND LOOKED AT PETER. AND PETER REMEMBERED THE WORD OF THE LORD, HOW HE HAD TOLD HIM, "BEFORE A COCK CROWS TODAY, YOU WILL DENY ME THREE TIMES."

** NOW WITH ALL THAT IN MIND, LOOK AT MATTHEW 26:75 PLEASE.

C. READ V. 75. NOW CAN YOU IMAGINE REMEMBERING THE WORDS OF JESUS THEN SEEING JESUS ACCORDING TO LUKE'S PARALLEL ACCOUNT, AFTER WHAT PETER DID?

* AND THE VERB THAT LUKE USES FOR LOOKED DESCRIBES A "FIXED LOOK" ALMOST LIKE A STARE.

** AND PETER GETS A LOOK AT JESUS WITH HIS BRUISED FACE FROM THE BEATING AND SPIT RUNNING DOWN HIS FACE.

*** AND CHRIST'S LOVING BUT ALL KNOWING EYES MET PETER'S EYES AND LOOKED INTO HIS VERY SOUL. IT WAS A PIERCING LOOK THAT BROKE PETER'S HEART. **** WHICH EXPLAINS WHY AT THE END OF V. 75, "PETER WENT OUT AND WEPT BITTERLY."

1. PETER WAS GRIEVED TO THE VERY DEPTH OF HIS SOUL FOR WHAT HE HAD DONE AND HE MUST HAVE WEPT OUT LOUD, THERE WAS DEEP REPENTANCE.

* I MEAN OVERWHELMED BY HIS SAVIOR'S LOVE AND GRACE AND BY HIS OWN SIN AND UNFAITHFULNESS, HE LEFT WHERE HE WAS AT AND WEPT BITTERLY.

** AND WE ARE NOT TOLD WHERE HE WENT OR HOW LONG HE STAYED THERE. HE MAY HAVE RETURNED TO THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE, WHERE EARLIER HE HAD FELT NO NEED TO PRAY (WHICH IS MY GUESS).

*** BUT, WHEREVER IT WAS, IT BECAME A PRIVATE PLACE OF CONFESSING SIN AND SEEKING FORGIVENESS.

**** AND IT'S INTERESTING TO ME THAT ACCORDING TO TRADITION, IN THE EARLY CHURCH, FROM THAT TIME ON AS LONG AS PETER LIVED, THE SOUND OF A ROOSTER CROWING ALWAYS CAUSED HIM TO WEEP.

2. AND THAT'S ONE TRADITION THAT I HAVE A TENDENCY TO BELIEVE.

AND AS I WRAP UP OUR STUDY TODAY, (1) LET ME SAY "THE REST OF THE STORY" FOR PETER WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME, FOR PETER WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME.

*HE TRULY REPENTED, WOULD BE FORGIVEN, RESTORED AND USED BY GOD IN A GREAT WAY, WHICH REMINDS US THAT GOD CERTAINLY CAN USE BROKEN VESSELS.

** FOR YOU SEE ALL OF US HAVE DENIED THE LORD BY OUR LIPS AND LIVES. AND SOME OF US HAVE SUNK PRETTY FAR IN THE MUCK AND MIRE OF SIN.

*** BUT WHEN WE TRULY REPENT, AND IN A SENSE WEEP BITTERLY OVER OUR SIN, WE ARE FORGIVEN AND RESTORED AND THROUGH OUR AWARENESS OF NOT TRUSTING IN THE ARM OF THE FLESH AND WATCHING AND PRAYING, WE CAN BE USED IN A GREAT WAY.

**** AND BELOVED, I'M NOT MINIMIZING SIN OR DIMINISHING OR BRINGING DOWN THE HOLINESS OF GOD.

(2) I'M MERELY EXALTING THE MERCY, GRACE AND FORGIVENESS AND RESTORATION OF OUR HOLY GREAT GOD.

* AND TO ME "THE REST OF THE STORY" FOR PETER IS ONE OF GRACE! I MEAN IF GOD CAN USE PETER, HE CAN USE US!! THERE IS HOPE FOR ALL OF US.

** AND TODAY I CHALLENGE YOU TO LOOK STRAIGHT IN THE FACE OF JESUS THROUGH HIS WORD AND WEEP WITH DEEP REMORSE FOR BESETTING SIN IN YOUR LIFE, TO REPENT OF IT AND THE LORD WILL USE YOU IF YOU YIELD TO HIM IN A GREAT WAY.

*** PRAISE BE TO OUR GREAT GOD FOR HIS PATIENCE, HIS LOVE, AND HIS MERCY MANIFEST IN FORGIVENESS. (LET'S PRAY)