WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.280 For those of you who were at Citigroup last Wednesday, you will have already read this 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:06.280 passage. 00:00:06.280 --> 00:00:10.880 You would have read the passage that Rosie read and also the little bit in between, which 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:16.160 was the courtroom scene with the Sanhedrin. 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:23.359 And I think it's interesting if you've done that then to listen today to the sermon. 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:24.760 I hope it helps. 00:00:24.760 --> 00:00:31.440 I also hope you're not disappointed that I didn't preach on the areas that you hoped 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:37.079 we would look at when you read it on Wednesday night and thought about it together. 00:00:37.079 --> 00:00:42.799 But even if that's not the case, I pray you would get over your disappointment and that 00:00:42.799 --> 00:00:49.320 the Holy Spirit will nonetheless speak to each of us into our needs. 00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:52.040 So I don't know the condition of your heart today. 00:00:52.039 --> 00:00:55.320 I barely know the condition of my own. 00:00:55.320 --> 00:01:03.000 Maybe you feel today very much like an unpromising believer or a failed believer. 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:09.460 Maybe you're struggling to grasp what it means to be a believer or as a Christian to carry 00:01:09.460 --> 00:01:12.599 on in your Christian faith. 00:01:12.599 --> 00:01:19.560 You may find these days very isolating, not just physically and socially, but also possibly 00:01:19.560 --> 00:01:30.000 spiritually missing out on a lot of the regular events and activities and lifestyles that 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:34.200 keep you close to Jesus Christ. 00:01:34.200 --> 00:01:35.719 And maybe you don't. 00:01:35.719 --> 00:01:42.599 But however you feel today, I want you to hold on to Jesus Christ. 00:01:42.599 --> 00:01:47.599 And if you're not a Christian, I want you to consider Jesus Christ. 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:55.119 Primarily as we look at Him from a Christian's perspective, but if you're not a Christian, 00:01:55.119 --> 00:02:00.519 then I hope there's a sense of longing and anticipation comes from doing so. 00:02:00.519 --> 00:02:05.599 I want you to hold on to Jesus Christ and to flourish as Christians. 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:15.560 There is a great danger, I think, today that we just follow the current kind of thinking 00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:19.960 and attitudes of the day in which we live, which are very much woes me and ones of great 00:02:19.960 --> 00:02:21.719 despair. 00:02:21.719 --> 00:02:31.439 And I hope that you will find that you can, in Christ, flourish and grow and blossom as 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:33.319 a Christian in these times. 00:02:33.319 --> 00:02:40.439 Indeed we have to, because suffering will often be the means that Jesus uses to help 00:02:40.439 --> 00:02:48.159 us to see our faith better and often also to share our faith with others. 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:51.719 Now I wonder sometimes whether you think from the pulpit here, I wish there was more. 00:02:51.719 --> 00:02:56.520 I wish the preachers, Thomas and John and Derek, said more about how we cope with today 00:02:56.520 --> 00:03:03.639 and how we address the pandemic and being a prophetic voice into the situation that 00:03:03.639 --> 00:03:04.639 we have. 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:10.559 I wrestle with that as well all the time about themes and subjects and how to apply God's 00:03:10.559 --> 00:03:14.039 Word in a relevant and powerful way for today. 00:03:14.039 --> 00:03:20.000 But I honestly believe from my heart that the most prophetic we can be as believers 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:28.639 in this Christians is to reflect Jesus Christ and to allow the reality of Jesus Christ in 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:34.159 our hearts and lives speak into how we respond and react to the situations we find ourselves 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:35.159 in. 00:03:35.159 --> 00:03:37.719 There's a whole lot of opinions out there. 00:03:37.719 --> 00:03:41.520 Everyone's got their pound of flesh to believe about what's happening and how to cope with 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:42.519 it. 00:03:42.519 --> 00:03:48.400 But I think I believe that the right way for us as a Christian church is to focus on the 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:53.439 person of Jesus Christ and make him relevant and see him as the answer to every situation 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:54.439 we're in. 00:03:54.439 --> 00:04:00.439 Not as kind of pie in the sky till you die, but stake in the plate while we wait, as it 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:06.240 were, that he's relevant and meaningful and significant and important now that we don't 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:13.560 just think fudge him away into a corner of our, a spiritual corner of our lives, but 00:04:13.560 --> 00:04:21.159 that he moves and molds and transforms how we respond and how we deal with the suffering 00:04:21.159 --> 00:04:22.439 of this time. 00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:27.439 So I want, there are two main characters in this passage, Peter and Jesus, okay? 00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:32.920 And we're going to look at both of them and we obviously will leave out a lot of other 00:04:32.920 --> 00:04:35.160 things because of that. 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:38.480 But I want you to listen to Peter today, okay? 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:45.399 Listen to Peter in this passage of Matthew chapter 26. 00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:50.000 In verse 40 and 41, Jesus says, Watch and pray so that you don't enter into temptation, 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:54.600 because Peter and the other two disciples with him have come into the Garden of Gethsemane 00:04:54.600 --> 00:04:57.800 and they've fallen asleep when Jesus is praying. 00:04:57.800 --> 00:04:59.360 And Peter saying, What's he saying? 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:01.640 He said, I can't pray. 00:05:01.640 --> 00:05:03.439 Look Lord, I'm exhausted. 00:05:03.439 --> 00:05:06.760 It's been really tough being a follower of yours. 00:05:06.760 --> 00:05:08.000 There's so much expectation. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:14.320 You're even expecting me now to be the one who watches with you while you pray and wrestle, 00:05:14.320 --> 00:05:17.080 and it's difficult and challenging for me to be that. 00:05:17.080 --> 00:05:21.320 I can't, I can't cope with being needed by you at this time. 00:05:21.320 --> 00:05:22.640 It's all too much. 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:28.319 The tension of these days, the insecurity, the traveling, the homelessness, the fact 00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:33.839 that our families are back home, money being tight, the dangers of the day, and I'm so 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:40.039 tired, I just can't pray. 00:05:40.039 --> 00:05:49.680 And then in verse 52, Peter does what he can and brings a sword to cut off the ear of the 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:53.639 servant, doesn't say it's Peter here, but it does in one of the other gospels, Luke's 00:05:53.639 --> 00:05:59.759 Gospel, and Jesus says to him, Luke, put your sword back in your place for all who take 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:01.639 the sword will perish by the sword. 00:06:01.639 --> 00:06:04.600 And Peter says, Well, I don't understand. 00:06:04.600 --> 00:06:05.600 I don't understand. 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:10.600 You know, I'm here to protect you, Jesus, but you're saying I've got it all wrong. 00:06:10.600 --> 00:06:14.040 I don't understand what's happening that I'm using the wrong weapons. 00:06:14.040 --> 00:06:15.360 Now I'm confused by that. 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:17.120 I'm confused by what you say. 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:18.280 I want to fight for you. 00:06:18.279 --> 00:06:21.719 I want to fight for your cause, but you're telling me that I don't get it. 00:06:21.719 --> 00:06:22.719 What's going on? 00:06:22.719 --> 00:06:23.719 I don't understand. 00:06:23.719 --> 00:06:34.639 And if we go on to verse 70, when he's in the courtyard, when Jesus has been arrested, 00:06:34.639 --> 00:06:40.439 he says that, I don't know what you mean when he's asked about knowing Jesus. 00:06:40.439 --> 00:06:42.879 He says, I don't know what you mean. 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:44.959 And again, he denied it with an oath. 00:06:44.959 --> 00:06:49.120 And he's saying, Luke, I'm afraid. 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:52.799 I'm afraid to be known as your follower here, Jesus. 00:06:52.799 --> 00:06:56.959 I wish that wee girl would just button up and stop asking me. 00:06:56.959 --> 00:06:59.079 I'm afraid of the suffering that might lie ahead. 00:06:59.079 --> 00:07:00.759 I'm afraid of being hated. 00:07:00.759 --> 00:07:02.560 I'm afraid of being seen as a loser. 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:06.560 I'm afraid that it's all going to end very badly. 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:09.719 Peter says that I'm afraid. 00:07:09.719 --> 00:07:14.719 In verse 75, Peter remembered the saying of Jesus. 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:17.680 He went out and wept bitterly. 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:20.520 Peter says, I'm broken. 00:07:20.520 --> 00:07:22.240 I'm broken, Jesus. 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:23.240 I'm gutted. 00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:25.320 Again, it's in Luke's gospel. 00:07:25.320 --> 00:07:26.320 It's not here. 00:07:26.320 --> 00:07:28.920 Luke's gospel, we're told that it was the Luke. 00:07:28.920 --> 00:07:33.320 Jesus looked over at Peter at this point, and that's really what convicted him of his 00:07:33.320 --> 00:07:36.880 denial, that Luke, Jesus. 00:07:36.880 --> 00:07:37.880 I've let you down. 00:07:37.880 --> 00:07:38.880 I've denied you. 00:07:38.880 --> 00:07:39.880 I'm a failure. 00:07:39.880 --> 00:07:43.720 You've been my friend and my Savior, and I've abandoned you. 00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:48.360 When it really counted, I abandoned you, and I'm broken by that. 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:53.360 And so we have a picture of Peter as we listen to him, as we move beyond the kind of the 00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:58.960 surface of the text and recognize the reality of a person who is in this situation with 00:07:58.960 --> 00:08:00.220 his Savior. 00:08:00.220 --> 00:08:07.600 We see him being one who can't pray, who doesn't understand, who's afraid and who's broken. 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:12.760 And I'm asking in your life, as I ask in my own life, can we associate with Peter? 00:08:12.759 --> 00:08:15.719 Now, I know that the circumstances are different. 00:08:15.719 --> 00:08:21.199 I know we're not physically in the presence of Jesus, and he's not walking with us physically 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:27.839 as it was for Peter, and the actual, obviously, the cultural and the actual situation is very 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:28.839 different. 00:08:28.839 --> 00:08:33.840 But do you find in these areas that you have the same battles and struggles with prayer? 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:36.439 Are you struggling as a Christian with prayer? 00:08:36.439 --> 00:08:41.519 You're overwhelmed by the need to pray, and yet maybe you're coming today to church and 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:44.480 you haven't prayed for weeks. 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:48.759 Maybe there's just stony silence between yourself and heaven. 00:08:48.759 --> 00:08:50.399 There's no communication. 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:55.919 And you're just like Peter saying, I just am unable to pray. 00:08:55.919 --> 00:09:01.439 Or you're struggling with Christ's perspective and his teaching. 00:09:01.439 --> 00:09:02.679 I just don't understand. 00:09:02.679 --> 00:09:05.240 It's so counterintuitive. 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:11.480 It's asking me to do things so differently from my natural inclination and the way I 00:09:11.480 --> 00:09:17.000 have of the world in terms of arguing and talking and our attitude to other people and 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:18.800 what we think of our enemies. 00:09:18.800 --> 00:09:24.240 And I'm just raging with everyone, and I want God to judge people because of what's happening. 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:26.639 And yet Christ is asking me to be different. 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:29.360 I don't understand that. 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:31.759 Or you're afraid. 00:09:31.759 --> 00:09:36.440 Which of us of Christians don't go through great fear related to our faith? 00:09:36.440 --> 00:09:39.600 I'm afraid of losing my job just now. 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:41.720 You know, be related to my faith particularly. 00:09:41.720 --> 00:09:44.680 But I'm afraid of losing respect. 00:09:44.680 --> 00:09:48.240 I'm afraid of suffering, of being victimized. 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:52.800 Or you're broken. 00:09:52.800 --> 00:09:54.879 Because you've denied Christ. 00:09:54.879 --> 00:09:56.600 You've turned away from Christ. 00:09:56.600 --> 00:09:58.519 You've walked from Him. 00:09:58.519 --> 00:10:01.480 You've stayed silent when you should have spoken. 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:04.240 You've spoken maybe when you should have stayed silent. 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:05.240 You've lied. 00:10:05.240 --> 00:10:06.399 You've let Him down. 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:07.399 We've lied. 00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:08.399 We've let Him down. 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:10.840 I associate myself with all of these comments. 00:10:10.840 --> 00:10:15.279 I'm not looking at you differently from myself whatsoever. 00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:18.799 There's a brokenness. 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:22.559 Brokenness in our faith and a feeling there's no way back for us. 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:28.480 Well, what I want to do today and having listened to Peter is also to listen to Christ. 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:31.319 It's very important today that we listen to Christ. 00:10:31.319 --> 00:10:34.079 Whoever we are, it may be that you're not a Christian. 00:10:34.079 --> 00:10:37.039 It may be you're going, doing great as a Christian. 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:38.959 I'm not presuming you're not. 00:10:38.959 --> 00:10:46.000 But whatever we are spiritually, it's important always in, as we go to God's Word, to listen 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:47.000 to Christ. 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:49.599 And in doing so, I'm going to go a little bit beyond this chapter. 00:10:49.599 --> 00:10:51.679 I'm cheating a little bit. 00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:54.360 I'm moving because the gospels are for. 00:10:54.360 --> 00:11:00.240 Remember that they give us different accounts of the same events and they add to these events. 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:02.919 So what is it that we might not be seeing? 00:11:02.919 --> 00:11:04.559 What was it that Peter was not seeing? 00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:06.059 What was he missing? 00:11:06.059 --> 00:11:08.959 And what are we sometimes missing in our Christian lives? 00:11:08.959 --> 00:11:16.079 Well, in Luke chapter 22 verse 31, we have these words and it's very significant to this 00:11:16.079 --> 00:11:17.959 passage to what's happening here. 00:11:17.959 --> 00:11:24.799 Simon, Simon, Jesus says, Behold Satan demanded to have you that he might shift you like wheat, 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:28.399 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:31.639 And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. 00:11:31.639 --> 00:11:33.439 Do you see that? 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:38.240 Jesus Christ is the shepherd and he has, before these events happened to Peter, which Peter 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:46.160 forgot he was being prayed for by Jesus Christ, immediate, with specific reference to what 00:11:46.160 --> 00:11:48.200 he was going to go through at this time. 00:11:48.200 --> 00:11:53.200 He's the shepherd and we remember elsewhere that he says, No one will pluck any of my 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:55.640 children out of my hands. 00:11:55.640 --> 00:11:59.880 Jesus knows that behind what we experience every day is a spiritual battle. 00:11:59.880 --> 00:12:00.880 He knows that. 00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:04.919 And he says to Peter, Look, I know your spirit is willing, but your flesh is weak. 00:12:04.919 --> 00:12:10.240 He says that he knows the battle that every single believer that we all go through. 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:15.639 And he wants us to learn from the failure and the mistakes and the brokenness to recognize 00:12:15.639 --> 00:12:21.279 his hand in these things so that we can learn from them and go and strengthen others. 00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:26.799 It's one of the great reasons that we can see that nothing, while we don't deliberately 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:32.679 fall into denial or failure and excuse that, but we can see Jesus Christ using it because 00:12:32.679 --> 00:12:34.439 he holds on to us. 00:12:34.439 --> 00:12:39.759 So you come today to church as a believer and you haven't come in your own strength. 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:44.399 You have come and you believe because Jesus Christ has prayed for you and is holding you. 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:47.639 And there is a reason for what you're going through. 00:12:47.639 --> 00:12:50.559 Good, bad or indifferent, there's a reason. 00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:56.919 And we look in every experience in life and say, what, we don't say how, how miserable 00:12:56.919 --> 00:12:59.599 is, how much does he not love me? 00:12:59.599 --> 00:13:02.399 But we say, what is Christ teaching me through this? 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:09.599 And how can I then go from this and strengthen others in their faith? 00:13:09.599 --> 00:13:14.239 So we remember these praying for Peter. 00:13:14.239 --> 00:13:18.879 We also know that Jesus is saying, Look, I'm reaching out for you, Peter, in this. 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:21.559 Now, we see that in various ways. 00:13:21.559 --> 00:13:29.960 As I said, we didn't read it, but in Luke's Gospel, he says that in 21 that he looked 00:13:29.960 --> 00:13:33.000 towards Peter, just as Peter did his third denial. 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:35.480 And it was obviously a piercing look. 00:13:35.480 --> 00:13:43.919 And then in Matthew 16, we've got these glorious words where the angel says, go and tell at 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:47.519 the resurrection, go and tell the disciples and Peter. 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:49.319 Isn't that interesting? 00:13:49.319 --> 00:13:54.279 He just specifically highlights the need for Peter to hear this great good news. 00:13:54.279 --> 00:14:00.519 I think I've said this before here, but my original, my first boss as a minister, Kenny 00:14:00.519 --> 00:14:06.480 McDonald up in Roskeine, when he was a student, he had one sermon that he preached all over 00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:08.840 the country when he was a student in different places. 00:14:08.840 --> 00:14:12.439 And it was that text and Peter. 00:14:12.439 --> 00:14:16.480 That personal interest that the living God has in us. 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:20.039 Do you think Jesus doesn't care for you? 00:14:20.039 --> 00:14:21.039 You think he's disinterested? 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:28.159 And we have these glorious words, go and tell this failed disciple and Peter. 00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:29.159 You know, tell him. 00:14:29.159 --> 00:14:31.800 We call him by name here. 00:14:31.800 --> 00:14:32.800 Remind him. 00:14:32.800 --> 00:14:37.879 And of course, Jesus says, Peter, I will restore you. 00:14:37.879 --> 00:14:44.320 It's in that original text that we read in terms of Jesus' prayer, but also in the famous 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:49.480 restoration of Peter at the beach when he asks Peter, three times, do you love me? 00:14:49.480 --> 00:14:50.480 Do you love me? 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:53.520 Do you love me in the same way that three times Peter denied him? 00:14:53.520 --> 00:15:02.560 Searching questions, but also empowering him to feed Jesus' sheep with the unbroken promise 00:15:02.560 --> 00:15:04.840 of his company. 00:15:04.840 --> 00:15:08.720 In the Great Commission, I am with you always. 00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:13.320 So there's that recognition that whatever we're going through as believers today, that 00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:19.800 we have the promises and the person of Jesus Christ saying, look, I'm praying for you. 00:15:19.800 --> 00:15:22.320 I'm reaching out for you. 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:28.280 Is this the first time maybe you're watching online for many months as a, I hope we would 00:15:28.280 --> 00:15:30.720 turn maybe a backslidden Christian? 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:34.920 Or maybe you're here today and you really dragged your feet to come and you weren't 00:15:34.920 --> 00:15:38.960 really keen to come, but you thought you ought to come. 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:43.639 Well, I believe Jesus is saying if you're really far away from him, you're saying, look, 00:15:43.639 --> 00:15:50.240 I'm reaching out to you today, even in the conviction that I've brought you here. 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:51.920 And he says, look, I will restore you. 00:15:51.920 --> 00:15:52.920 You're mine. 00:15:52.920 --> 00:15:54.720 I will. 00:15:54.720 --> 00:15:58.280 And the suffering and the difficulty and the battles and the struggles that you're going 00:15:58.280 --> 00:16:03.720 through, there are many things that you will take from that and you'll be molded and strengthened 00:16:03.720 --> 00:16:04.720 and mature. 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:08.759 You know, I'm breaking you in order to restore you. 00:16:08.759 --> 00:16:13.519 You know, that horrible reality that surgeons sometimes have to do is they have to re-break 00:16:13.519 --> 00:16:17.080 a leg or an arm because it's sitting in the wrong way. 00:16:17.080 --> 00:16:19.919 That must be a really terrible thing for a surgeon to do. 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:26.759 I can't imagine the thought of taking a hammer to someone and re-breaking a limb. 00:16:26.759 --> 00:16:33.200 But it's in order to reset it for full and glorious healing. 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:40.440 And that is similar to this, our great surgeon, the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:16:40.440 --> 00:16:41.440 So we listen to him. 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:46.680 And I think also we learn from Jesus Christ and continue to learn from him, which is the 00:16:46.680 --> 00:16:50.600 backup to his words, don't we? 00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:55.320 His... what he has done backs up what he says. 00:16:55.320 --> 00:17:02.520 So we recognize that he is one who has a perfect prayer in this passage in Gethsemane. 00:17:02.519 --> 00:17:08.599 We get a marvelous insight into what we would have called importion at prayer, something, 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:12.879 prayer that doesn't give up and prayer that is absolutely from the heart. 00:17:12.879 --> 00:17:15.079 He did what Peter failed to do. 00:17:15.079 --> 00:17:19.359 You know what Peter turned away from Jesus, turned away from his Father in heaven and 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:20.859 didn't pray. 00:17:20.859 --> 00:17:28.759 Jesus gives the example of in turmoil and in suffering and in struggling, he turns to 00:17:28.759 --> 00:17:31.920 his Father in prayer and he cries out to the Father. 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:34.560 It's a prayer we can't get to the bottom of. 00:17:34.560 --> 00:17:36.080 It's a prayer beyond prayer. 00:17:36.080 --> 00:17:39.840 It's a prayer of deep, deep mystery. 00:17:39.840 --> 00:17:43.519 His soul was overwhelmed even to the point of death. 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:48.200 He needed the disciples alongside him in the loneliness of what he felt and he knew he 00:17:48.200 --> 00:17:54.960 was coming to drink the cup of God's wrath, which we can't begin to understand the depth 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:55.960 of that suffering. 00:17:55.960 --> 00:17:59.240 Three times he asked, please take this away. 00:17:59.240 --> 00:18:01.640 If it's your will, take it this away. 00:18:01.640 --> 00:18:04.880 If it can't be taken away, if it's your will. 00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:11.920 And he goes back a third time and prays, wrestling, longing, repeated prayers for help and for 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:15.280 strength to do what he had to do. 00:18:15.280 --> 00:18:19.600 And the key to that prayer is your will be done, isn't it? 00:18:19.600 --> 00:18:24.480 Through all his praying to understand and grasp God's will. 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:28.840 Hebrews 5 verse 7 to 10 says something very interesting about that. 00:18:28.839 --> 00:18:33.279 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries 00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:37.720 and tears to him who was able to save him from death. 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:40.439 And he was heard because of his reverence. 00:18:40.439 --> 00:18:42.679 He prayed to be saved from death and he was heard. 00:18:42.679 --> 00:18:44.480 No, he wasn't. 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:48.599 We think, don't we? 00:18:48.599 --> 00:18:50.079 He wasn't heard. 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:54.359 Yes, he was heard, but the answer was no. 00:18:54.359 --> 00:19:00.399 The answer was at that point, it can't be taken from you. 00:19:00.399 --> 00:19:02.599 You need to drink this cup. 00:19:02.599 --> 00:19:08.479 Because Jesus, although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered and being 00:19:08.479 --> 00:19:13.559 made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated 00:19:13.559 --> 00:19:15.519 by God, a high priest. 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:22.719 So we find that his perfect prayer is a prayer that was offered and it was answered, but it 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:27.360 was answered in the negative on our behalf as he prayed, your will be done. 00:19:27.360 --> 00:19:29.200 Great mystery. 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:34.200 But also we find and recognize as we learn from him, not only his perfect prayer, but 00:19:34.200 --> 00:19:36.279 his perfect obedience. 00:19:36.279 --> 00:19:38.319 In verse 46, it's a great verse. 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:40.839 It says, rise, let us be going. 00:19:40.839 --> 00:19:43.319 See my betrayer is at hand. 00:19:43.319 --> 00:19:50.880 Prayer enables him and strengthens him to rise in obedience to go to what lies ahead. 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:58.440 He obeys from that prayer all the way to the grave, all the way to hell and the grave. 00:19:58.440 --> 00:20:05.800 The previous section where Thomas preached from and read, it speaks about striking the 00:20:05.800 --> 00:20:08.920 shepherd and all the sheep will scatter. 00:20:08.920 --> 00:20:11.440 And that was an Old Testament prophecy. 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:19.960 And twice in the passage we read in verse 54 and then in verse 56, Jesus says, but these 00:20:19.960 --> 00:20:23.759 things have taken place that the Scripture and the prophets might be fulfilled. 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:30.640 He knows, he's the Messiah who is fulfilling the mind and the will of God, his own mind 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:35.039 and will in perfect unison, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 00:20:35.039 --> 00:20:43.200 And his task, his work is to go to the cross on our behalf, which we will remember shortly. 00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:48.240 And we didn't read, we left out that middle section, but we also find here his perfect 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:53.240 perspective, not just his perfect prayer and his perfect obedience, but his perfect perspective 00:20:53.240 --> 00:20:57.920 in verse 64 where he's in the trial at the Sanhedrin. 00:20:57.920 --> 00:21:09.400 And he says in effect what triggers the cry of blasphemy in verse 64, Jesus said to him, 00:21:09.400 --> 00:21:10.400 you know, are you the son of God? 00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:13.279 I hear you, the living God, the high priest says, tell me if you're the Christ the son 00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:15.359 of God, Jesus says to him, you have said so. 00:21:15.359 --> 00:21:20.039 I tell you from now on, you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and 00:21:20.039 --> 00:21:21.839 coming in the clouds of heaven. 00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:25.159 He's the King of glory. 00:21:25.159 --> 00:21:28.879 We will all see him one day, might not seem like it now. 00:21:28.879 --> 00:21:32.359 But at this moment, at this moment here, he's ushering in his kingdom. 00:21:32.359 --> 00:21:33.359 Remember Matthew? 00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:38.159 Matthew's about the kingdom of heaven, that's what he speaks about right through the gospel. 00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:46.680 And he is coming here to usher in his kingdom and one day he'll return to take you home. 00:21:46.680 --> 00:21:47.680 He'll take you home. 00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:54.360 He'll either raise your dry and dusty rotten physical body from the grave to be reunited 00:21:54.360 --> 00:21:59.440 with your soul to meet with him on that day, or if he comes today, then we will go with 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:04.720 him and he is coming for us. 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:13.680 And that perspective is his, and it's a great reminder to us, particularly in the circumstances 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:19.160 he finds himself in, that he is able so confidently to say, I know what I'm doing, I know where 00:22:19.160 --> 00:22:25.279 I'm going, and I know I'm returning, and he's returning for us and for us people throughout 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:27.519 time. 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:34.680 So can we just move on very quickly to learn also from Peter? 00:22:34.680 --> 00:22:39.519 Because this is important, we talked about his failure and his brokenness and his lack 00:22:39.519 --> 00:22:41.240 of prayer, but what can we learn? 00:22:41.240 --> 00:22:42.880 What was key to Peter's life? 00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:44.799 How could he still claim to be a believer? 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:49.240 How is he different from Judas, who is also in this chapter, who then goes and hangs 00:22:49.240 --> 00:22:54.920 himself because he is so full of remorse for what he's done? 00:22:54.920 --> 00:22:57.440 And it's what he's done that much worse than what Peter's done. 00:22:57.440 --> 00:23:00.880 Well, not really in the scheme of things. 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:02.440 But what was the key? 00:23:02.440 --> 00:23:05.559 The key is Peter's heart, isn't it? 00:23:05.559 --> 00:23:11.279 That Peter knew Jesus Christ, he had a relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ. 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:16.799 He entrusted his hope and his faith and his salvation to Jesus Christ. 00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:18.320 He didn't just know about him. 00:23:18.320 --> 00:23:23.960 So the key to everything in our lives today as Christians is knowing and living that relationship 00:23:23.960 --> 00:23:24.960 with Jesus. 00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:27.960 People ask you, what's a Christian? 00:23:27.960 --> 00:23:28.960 What do you say? 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:30.880 What do I say? 00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:35.560 The key is it's someone who has a relationship with God the Father through Jesus, a living 00:23:35.560 --> 00:23:36.560 relationship. 00:23:36.560 --> 00:23:38.360 That's what a Christian is. 00:23:38.360 --> 00:23:41.960 Whatever else we might say, that is the key. 00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:46.800 And he was his Savior clearly. 00:23:46.800 --> 00:23:53.960 And Matthew 16, verse 16 earlier, tells us that Peter makes that marvelous declaration 00:23:53.960 --> 00:23:57.880 and he's saying, I mean Peter replied, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. 00:23:57.880 --> 00:24:06.720 An amazing revelation Peter had, he was his friend, his companion and he trusted Jesus. 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:11.080 Search your heart and I search mine. 00:24:11.080 --> 00:24:13.320 That answer matters. 00:24:13.320 --> 00:24:16.720 Not that you know just about Jesus, but do you know Him? 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:21.160 Do you have a person, you know what a personal relationship with someone is? 00:24:21.160 --> 00:24:26.600 It means you open your heart to them and they've opened their heart to you. 00:24:26.599 --> 00:24:30.439 It's the only way you can know someone, the only way. 00:24:30.439 --> 00:24:33.839 And he opens our heart to us as we come to Him by faith. 00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:35.439 Have you opened your heart to Him? 00:24:35.439 --> 00:24:39.559 Are you in that, is it an honest relationship? 00:24:39.559 --> 00:24:41.559 That's the key to our faith. 00:24:41.559 --> 00:24:42.559 He knew Him as Savior. 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:44.599 He knew that He had no one else to turn. 00:24:44.599 --> 00:24:50.199 John 6, verse 68, Simon Peter answered him, Lord to whom shall we go? 00:24:50.199 --> 00:24:52.000 You've got the words of eternal life. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:53.480 It's magnificent, isn't it? 00:24:53.480 --> 00:24:57.680 He had the words of eternal life and Jesus in the high priestly prayer says, you know, 00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:03.240 the whole key to salvation is to know God and His Son. 00:25:03.240 --> 00:25:05.519 And that is the key to eternal life. 00:25:05.519 --> 00:25:11.079 So you had no one else to turn and you say, well, is that right? 00:25:11.079 --> 00:25:13.480 But yeah, that is right. 00:25:13.480 --> 00:25:17.680 In the garden, he didn't pray but he was still with Jesus. 00:25:17.680 --> 00:25:20.920 When Jesus was in trial, he was in the courtyard. 00:25:20.920 --> 00:25:24.360 He still went back to Jesus. 00:25:24.360 --> 00:25:28.440 When Jesus looked at him at that point of denial, that was the look of a friend that 00:25:28.440 --> 00:25:29.440 he knew. 00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:32.360 That's why it hurt so much. 00:25:32.360 --> 00:25:33.960 He ran to the tomb, didn't he? 00:25:33.960 --> 00:25:38.080 He might have just thought Jesus was dead but he still went there. 00:25:38.080 --> 00:25:39.680 And when Jesus was on the beach, what did he do? 00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:42.600 He saw Jesus and he jumped out of the boat to meet with Him. 00:25:42.600 --> 00:25:43.600 Why? 00:25:43.600 --> 00:25:44.600 Because he had no one else to turn. 00:25:44.600 --> 00:25:47.519 He might have been only hanging on by a thread. 00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:50.759 He might have made mistakes but he had no one else to go. 00:25:50.759 --> 00:25:54.680 Is that what you, is that your relationship in mind? 00:25:54.680 --> 00:25:57.519 And it was a relationship. 00:25:57.519 --> 00:26:00.839 He knew and came to know as he grew and matured in the faith. 00:26:00.839 --> 00:26:03.079 It was a relationship we had with Christ that was like no other. 00:26:03.079 --> 00:26:10.480 There was times when he was flummoxed, when he failed, but he always followed, even from 00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:12.359 a distance. 00:26:12.359 --> 00:26:16.240 And then he went on and flourished. 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:24.599 In Acts 3, 19 and 20, he preaches that great sermon, great sermon with gusto and enthusiasm 00:26:24.599 --> 00:26:25.599 and flourish. 00:26:25.599 --> 00:26:29.519 Repent, therefore, and turn again that your sins may be blotted out. 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:33.960 That times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, that He may send the 00:26:33.960 --> 00:26:35.799 Christ appointed to you. 00:26:35.799 --> 00:26:40.000 He knew that in His own experience and His own heart. 00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:42.559 And that is the reality for us. 00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:49.200 It's a relationship where we will be flummoxed, where we will fail, but where we must follow. 00:26:49.200 --> 00:26:54.519 Even sometimes if it's from a distance, because He will take us back and we will flourish. 00:26:54.519 --> 00:26:59.799 It's the key to knowing who you are. 00:26:59.799 --> 00:27:03.200 And it's the key to knowing what it means to be a Christian. 00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:09.079 It is having that open relationship with Jesus Christ, where He has revealed Himself as Savior 00:27:09.079 --> 00:27:15.799 and you're learning about Him all the time, but you must be open to come to Him in need 00:27:15.799 --> 00:27:20.399 for forgiveness and for eternal life. 00:27:20.399 --> 00:27:25.839 So what I want you to do today, all of us at the Lord's table, is just to think a little 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:31.319 bit about who we're listening to and who we're learning from. 00:27:31.319 --> 00:27:38.000 We can learn from Peter, but we learn and listen to Jesus Christ far more. 00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:39.640 You alone has eternal life. 00:27:39.640 --> 00:27:41.200 To whom else can you go? 00:27:41.200 --> 00:27:42.200 Are you struggling? 00:27:42.200 --> 00:27:43.200 Where are you going to go? 00:27:43.200 --> 00:27:47.359 Where are we going to go? 00:27:47.359 --> 00:27:49.200 Jesus alone has the words of eternal life. 00:27:49.200 --> 00:27:53.799 And that is a great philosophy and a great mentality to have. 00:27:53.799 --> 00:27:55.200 Come to Him as a person. 00:27:55.200 --> 00:28:00.119 If you're not a Christian, can I say come to Him. 00:28:00.119 --> 00:28:02.319 Come to Jesus Christ. 00:28:02.319 --> 00:28:03.319 Speak to Him as a person. 00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:05.000 I know you can't see Him. 00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:10.279 I know it's different from other relationships, but speak to Him as you would speak to a friend 00:28:10.279 --> 00:28:13.799 and ask Him to reveal Himself as a person to you. 00:28:13.799 --> 00:28:18.640 But in doing so, you need to be honest and open your heart to Him. 00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:23.559 And you need to say and show that you recognize your need for Him. 00:28:23.559 --> 00:28:25.559 It's a relationship. 00:28:25.559 --> 00:28:28.200 It's knowing God that is key. 00:28:28.200 --> 00:28:31.000 And sin is what estranges us from Him. 00:28:31.000 --> 00:28:32.000 Remember that. 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:33.000 It's not God. 00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:35.799 It's not circumstances. 00:28:35.799 --> 00:28:38.960 It's not what's happening in our lives at any level. 00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:43.960 It's sin that estranges us from Him and breaks us and kills us and separates us. 00:28:43.960 --> 00:28:53.200 Stop blaming everything else, especially God, who in Christ has shown the depth of His love 00:28:53.200 --> 00:29:00.319 and commitment and start developing that relationship with Him again. 00:29:00.319 --> 00:29:05.960 And know in all our brokenness and our failure and our struggles and our lack of prayer, 00:29:05.960 --> 00:29:09.319 He's the great forgiving and redeeming and renewing God. 00:29:09.319 --> 00:29:15.159 And I hope you'll remember that as you participate in the Lord's Supper. 00:29:15.160 --> 00:29:31.200 Amen.