We are making what I think is a safe assumption that you know that your children are dismissed
! I do love listening to you sing, but I really like saying, turn in your Bibles.
So I want you to turn to John chapter 13. We're going to look at verse 36 through 38 this morning.
Before we do that, I want to say greetings to Rich and Christy and their family. All of you are here.
Would you stand up, please? I just have to see you at full length.
I was praying for Rich.
Rich, I sent him a text.
And he said, oh, I'll be in church on Sunday.
I thought, wow.
I wish everybody I prayed for were here today.
Well, Rich, would you pray for me as I preach this morning?
And I drink.
Thank you.
and I put those out for you is so that they'll kind of serve as a compass point,
something to kind of focus you and lock your mind in on some essential truth
for your benefit and for His glory.
For one, I want to remind you of this fact that all things in Scripture are valuable.
We have a tendency, there's some passages that we really lock in and we appreciate,
and we, oh man, that's great.
But the Scriptures make it clear that all Scripture is given by inspiration
and is profitable that the man of God may be completely furnished,
completely equipped for every good work.
And so when we hit some of those passages that we're naturally inclined to kind of,
yeah, yeah, I got that one, step on, don't do it.
Ask the Spirit of God to enable you in your study
and your appreciation for the Word that He has given to us
to dig in and understand what is this passage here for
and how does it apply, what does it do
in equipping my heart for godliness and leading me in the path of righteousness.
There's another thing that I think is important for us to remember,
and that is that when we're in the Scriptures,
it's always important to remember that really the center point,
the focal point of Scripture is the Lord Jesus Christ.
I like the fact that John's Gospel tells us over in John 20, verse 31,
what the theme and the purpose of the book of John is.
What is it?
Does anybody remember offhand?
These things are written so that you can feel really good about yourself.
Am I right?
Now, just check in to see if you've been listening to Dr. Phil this morning.
These things are written that you might know that Jesus is the Christ
and believing you might have eternal life.
Now, I may have lost a word or so,
but the point is the heart of Scripture is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Isn't that right?
And we're going to see that again this morning as we step into this passage.
Ultimately, all Scripture is there to lift up the supremacy
and the glory of the Lord Jesus,
and that's why we're here this morning,
that we find our supreme satisfaction and our delight
in the person and the work of Christ.
And so this morning as we are looking at this text,
we are kind of reminded that we're dealing with a rather sordid moment,
a very sad moment in the life of Peter.
How many of you would like everybody to remember perfect things about you,
your most glorious moments?
And yet the Scriptures record the incessant failures of men
that God used for His glory.
And here we are, we're looking at Peter's life,
and we're picking up on one of the just abject failures of this individual
that leaves us kind of wondering,
oh, how could Peter do that?
And a fair question is, so why is it here?
And we'll get into that a little bit more.
But I do want you to understand that this failure of Peter
appears in all four Gospels.
That's interesting.
I don't mean to suggest that there's kind of a value structure
that anything that appears in only one Gospel
is not as valuable as something that appears in all four Gospels.
And the point I would make is that
most of what we find in chapter 13 all the way to 17,
the upper room discourse and some of the things
that happened in the last five hours of Christ's life
prior to the cross happens only in the book of John.
And that doesn't mean to suppose that that must be less valuable
than what we find in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
But it is noteworthy that here we have this particular incident
in the life of Peter the Apostle recorded in all four Gospels.
And for the most part, we're not going to jump back and forth
between the other Gospels, but we do want to recognize
that we're going to pick up some detail there
that will help us understand just the depth of the failure of Peter.
Here we are within hours of the cross,
and we find Jesus ministering in a very, very pointed
and deliberate way to those that He was going to die for.
We saw earlier in our study in the book of John
His affection and His tenderness to Judas,
and we think, wow, how could He do that
to a person who He knew was going to betray Him?
Now you find Him doing something similar in the life of Peter
who was going to deny Him in just a few minutes.
So as we step into the text, we begin there in verse 36,
Simon Peter said to Him,
Lord, where are you going?
I want you to look first of all at a picture of pride.
That's what this is, pride.
How many of you have ever been involved in a conversation
and you're trying to make a meaningful point to someone
that you really care about,
and the minute you take a breath,
they step in with something that is not related at all?
Have you ever been there?
They have been waiting to let you know how important they are.
And none of you have ever done that,
but you've experienced it, right?
And here's Peter.
Jesus has been pouring His heart out.
He has broken the bread and He's shared the cup,
and He says,
this cup is the cup of New Testament in my blood.
This bread is broken for you.
He's talking about the cross.
He speaks about the fact that He is going to be betrayed.
And all through this,
you can kind of get the sense in this passage
that here is Peter.
Just as soon as Jesus finishes talking,
Peter starts off in a completely different direction.
It's kind of like Jesus is saying,
yeah, I'm going to die for you.
I do want you to really work at loving each other
because this business of loving each other,
it's not like you've got your hands all around this.
You need some help.
You need some reminder.
And as soon as Peter has an opportunity,
yeah, well, I understand what you're saying is important,
but let me tell you something else.
I've been listening.
Where are you going?
What's up?
Where are you going?
And when you find this little statement made by Peter,
it is kind of a very sober reminder to all of us
that we would be well served
if we would be better listeners to what Jesus has to say
rather than thinking about our own agenda all the time.
Here's Peter not picking up the details.
Well, I want you to look at another of the gospel accounts,
and so keep your finger in John.
We're going to come back to it in a minute,
but turn, if you will, over to Matthew 26.
As we look at the passage in Matthew as well,
we're going to pick up some details
that help us understand the circumstances
and the setting a little better.
Matthew 26, verse 31.
Verse 30 says,
And when they'd sung a hymn,
they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Then Jesus said to them,
You will all fall away because of me this night,
for it is written,
I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.
But after I am raised up,
I will go before you to Galilee.
Peter answered him,
Though they all fall away because...
I will never fall.
Can you hear it?
There's a guy that's pretty full of himself, isn't he?
You know, yeah.
The rest of these guys,
I don't know why you picked them,
but yeah, I expect them to fall away.
They're a low life, you know.
They're not very well spiritually founded,
and they're not where I am.
They may fall, but not me.
I'm with this one.
I'm okay.
Okay.
So here you have Peter.
How many of you have ever wondered
just what a loose cannon Peter really was?
Have you ever kind of...
Why did you pick him?
I debated back and forth about telling the story,
but I will.
It's always dangerous when pastors debate stories
and then go ahead anyway.
Am I right, Pastor Sherris?
Like afterwards, you have an opportunity to say,
I shouldn't have done it, but here we go.
When I think about the Bible picture of Peter,
it kind of gives me a great deal of hope
that if God can use someone like Peter,
he probably...
I've got some hope and encouragement, right?
I got to tell you,
when I was growing up,
my parents went out of their way
to see to it that the Kenoyer children
had every conceivable opportunity
of being enculturated.
I learned how to eat chicken
with a fork and knife instead of my fingers.
It was a long process
and really not one that I keep handy anymore,
but I learned how to eat chicken
with a fork and a knife,
and there are all kinds of things that went well.
My parents, as we were traveling
back and forth from India,
missionaries in India,
they made it a point to take us
to every dog and pony show.
There were places we went,
dog and pony show.
You're wondering what that's all about.
Were they really into dogs and ponies?
No, no, no.
We went to all kinds of significant,
historic museums.
We saw them all.
All different kinds of cathedrals
through Europe.
One place that I remember distinctly
was St. Peter's Basilica.
Does anybody know where
St. Peter's Basilica is?
It is in Rome.
It is the center point.
I remember St. Peter's Basilica
for two particular reasons.
One is that there was a central place
below grade where Peter was supposedly buried.
And my brother Mark
decided that he would stick his head,
he couldn't see over top.
He was short.
So he stuck his head down through.
How many of you know how balusters are carved?
You know, they're kind of carved like this.
And so he stuck his head down through low
and he looked to try to get a better picture
of where Peter was buried.
And then when he decided it was time
to remove his head,
he lifted it up,
got it stuck.
Now Mark,
Mark,
at that point,
was a little poorly developed
in terms of logic.
And he thought,
if he pulled harder,
it would work better.
And it just,
do you know what it caused?
It got stuck worse.
And then the thought
of being permanently
snared
in St. Peter's Basilica,
staring down at Peter's grave,
he thought that it was appropriate
to kind of up the ante
and really cry loudly.
So that's one thing I remember.
I remember my brother bellowing
and my father in anguished panic,
reaching over,
pushing his head down,
pushing him out.
We are in the holy of holies
of some kind of faith.
The other thing
that just blew me away,
walking through,
you know,
after we got that one calmed down,
we're walking through
St. Peter's Basilica
and looking at
all this artwork.
There was a bronze statue
of Peter
that had the toe
kind of worn off.
Does anybody know
why St. Peter's toe
is worn off
in St. Peter's Basilica?
Tell me, Mandy, why?
So many people
have kissed
and rubbed
St. Peter's bronze toe
that it's kind of dulled off
and it's lost
some of its,
you know,
distinct features.
I thought,
yeah, you've got to be kidding me.
This guy was,
the one we're looking at
is different
than the ones
in St. Peter's Basilica.
Do you follow
what I want you to do?
I've got to tell you,
here is Peter,
pretty full of himself,
pretty arrogant.
And so,
I want you to think
with me about
several things
that we learn about
Peter in this passage.
For one,
he was dismissive
of the lesson
Jesus taught
on loving the brethren.
He was dismissive
of the lesson
Jesus had taught
about loving the brethren.
Here he was,
Jesus had just finished
his lesson
about loving one another
and instead of saying,
you know what,
I really appreciate
this lesson
and I need that
because I am one
who continues
to struggle
in my love
for everybody else
other than myself.
Here's Peter,
didn't pay any attention
and he says,
yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well,
I understand.
Off he goes.
And I want you
to understand
that when we stop
and think about this,
if we were to rank issues
of importance
in body life
and effective ministry
and mission work
and survivability
and godliness,
what we would have to say
is that loving one another
is really high
on the food chain.
It is essential
to our spiritual well-being.
And here's Peter,
not listening,
full of himself,
not pondering honestly
and with humility
what Jesus had to say
and he was quite ready
to go back
to another point
that Jesus had made earlier.
So I've got to ask you
this question.
How often do you find yourself
sidetracked
from important
spiritual lessons
that God is in the process
of teaching you
and kind of getting buried
on things that are
of secondary
and almost irrelevant importance
like
personal preferences,
Christian liberty
or politics?
I have to tell you
there is a part of me
that is profoundly thankful
that we are past November
almost,
but we're past elections.
I hate to tell you,
whatever happens in Washington
is not as important
as some people
make it out to be.
The kingdom of God
and the work of Christ
is ongoing
no matter who is there.
And so here
I look at Peter
and I'm reminded
that it's pretty easy
to get sidetracked.
And also,
have you ever thought
that you would
step off
on a different path
than your Lord
and loving in structure
and not been willing
to learn the lessons
that he had in front of you?
And so when he says to you,
you need to work
at loving other people.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But I am all about
you need to lock down
on things that don't count.
Abiding
in lasting,
faithful love
for the brethren
and is essential.
And so here we see
Peter, the apostle,
instead of learning
the lesson
that Jesus was focused
on teaching him
in the last moments
prior to the cross,
Peter's off on his own.
Second,
I find it stunning
that here we find
Peter disbelieving
the prophetic word
of God through Christ.
Do you hear me?
Peter heard exactly
what Jesus said
about denying him
and yet he was so full
of his own wisdom
and pride
that instead of
trembling
at the prospect
of his own
spiritual failure,
he turned around
and he rebuked Christ
and corrected him.
Would you do that?
Can you imagine
yourself doing that?
Jesus announces,
you're going to deny me.
You're going to walk
away from me.
You're going to turn
your back on me.
And Peter says,
not me.
Now the rest of them,
they may do it.
I mean, you know,
they're not with it,
but I'm going to come through.
And I've got to tell you
that Peter's open denial
of the authority
and the supremacy
of the word of Christ
was a direct rejection
of Christ's infallibility
and the word.
And so I wonder
whether there are times
in your life
where you know the word.
How many of you
have ever sinned
knowing exactly
what the Bible
has to say
about the consequences
of sin
and doing it anyway?
Come on,
everybody raise your hand.
All of us.
We're saying,
you know what?
I don't care
what you say, Jesus.
This is the way
I think anyway.
Don't disbelieve
the prophetic word
of Christ.
There's another thing
that I want you
to recognize,
and here is Peter
in very quick,
closed attitude,
diminishing the danger
of sin.
Look at the passage there
in Matthew chapter 26 again,
and Peter says,
though they all fall away
because of you,
I will never fall away.
Hey, Jesus warned him.
Peter had his last word,
and instead of thinking
very quickly about,
you know what?
Here is the Son of God,
the Word of God,
the incarnate Word of God
who's telling me
I'm going to fall into sin,
and instead of being
frightened at the prospect
of his own carnality
and wickedness,
here is Peter
having an argument
with Christ.
Peter's quick self-defense
and self-confidence
in his flesh
tell us so much
about Peter's lack of fear
for his own sinfulness.
Everybody listen.
One of the things
that should come
with you getting older
in the faith,
are you listening?
Is you have an increased fear
of the natural tendency
of your heart
to drift left of center.
Peter, as a good Jewish boy,
should have had
Proverbs chapter 16,
verse 18,
memorized,
and at the point
of recitation
with one hand tied
behind his back.
Does anybody know
Proverbs 16, 18?
Here we go.
Pride goeth
before destruction
and a haughty spirit
before a fall.
How many of you,
when you find yourself
getting a little bristly
and a little bit
full of yourself,
have the Spirit of God
whisper that obvious verse
in your ear?
Here are a couple
little tests
to tell whether or not
you're convinced
of sin's danger.
They're important,
so I want you
to write them down.
Here are a couple
little tests
to help you
figure out
whether or not
you have a
serious
appreciation
for sin.
Number one,
a healthy prayer life
that reflects
a love for Christ
and a fear
for sin.
How do I know
that I'm where
I need to be
spiritually in relationship
to the struggle
I have with sin?
Number one,
a healthy prayer life
that reflects
a love for Christ
and a fear for sin.
In Matthew 26,
verse 41,
Jesus said this
to his disciples,
pray,
can anybody finish
the rest,
that you enter
not into temptation.
Bump into a person
that has a prayer life
that is kind of
a microcosm
of what they're
really like
in their thinking.
It's like,
God bless me,
give me a good day,
I'd like to have
good weather,
I'd like to,
you know,
it's like,
what?
That's just a train wreck
in the journey
to where it's going
to happen.
Here's the second thing.
If you have
a conviction
regarding the danger
of sin,
there will be
a cautious
distancing
of yourself
from ungodly
influences.
Over in Psalm 1,
verse 1,
it says,
blessed is the man
who does not sit,
right?
Walk,
stand,
in the counsel
of the ungodly.
And so you ask yourself,
how much influence
do I expose myself
to that which inclines me
towards ungodliness?
I've got to tell you something.
You don't have to just
be around ungodly people.
You can be affected
by what you listen to,
by what you engage in
and the entertainment
that you enjoy,
by the kind of people
that you're around.
You know what?
I hear an awful lot about,
oh,
I'm all doing this
for ministry.
Really?
Who's poisoning who?
Psalm 1.
Blessed is the man
that does not.
It's talking about influence.
Third,
if you're going to have
a sensitivity to sin,
is there a consistent
and affectionate time
in the Word of God?
But his delight,
now let me say it carefully.
I want you to think about this.
His delight is in the law
of the Lord
and in his law
he meditates both day and night.
Do you know what it means
to delight in something?
I'll give you a comparison.
How many of you
were looking forward
to Thanksgiving dinner?
You delight in it.
It happens once a year.
I read an interesting
little blog
that said that
you ought to spend
one day a year
just grumbling
and 364 years
being thankful.
And it's like,
okay,
today's the day
I should be thankful.
Yeah.
Yeah,
forget it.
Yeah.
How many of you
were looking forward
to Thanksgiving dinner
because it's like,
it's turkey.
Yeah.
Brined in case
you want a good bird.
mashed potatoes,
golden Yukons
with the skins on.
You know,
little details
you have to know,
right?
And it's like,
how many of you
in advance
of Thanksgiving dinner
gorged yourself
on potato chips?
Did you do that?
No,
it's like,
I'm coming to the table hungry.
And,
you know,
I'm diabetic,
I'm going to dose myself
a little extra,
but it's okay.
Okay.
Here we go.
One other thing
I want you to see
about Peter,
it strikes me.
That passage
in Matthew chapter 26,
here he says,
though they all fall away
because of you,
I will never fall away.
Here we find Peter
discrediting other believers.
That's significant.
Read the text
and ask yourself
how often you have thought
ill of others
and suspicioned
their weaknesses
and assumed
that you knew their hearts.
Yeah,
I know what they're thinking.
Do you?
You're right up there
with Jesus.
Oh,
yeah.
Here was Peter,
full of himself,
accusing
and demeaning
other people.
And so here we are
in the shadow
of the cross
looking at Peter
and discovering
that he is far
too much
like each of us
and here is a person
who desperately needs
the grace of Christ.
So,
here's the part
I really like.
That's where we get
to see Jesus.
Isn't that right?
So,
I want us to think
about our gentle
and loving Savior.
Here he is
going back to the passage
in John chapter 13.
Jesus warns
his disciples
of their frailty
and one of the precious
truths of our God
and our Savior
is that
he is good.
And this passage
serves as an illustration
of his goodness
because we see it
in his willing
announcement to us
in advance
of what our frailties
and our weaknesses are
and warning us
of the danger to come.
How many of you know
that this is a characteristic
of God?
He always tells you ahead
what you need.
And he also warns you
of the consequences
of not following
his path.
How many of you
have learned
that people
who are a little hesitant
to share full information
are really not trustworthy
and don't have
your best interest
in heart?
Right?
The nature of Satan
is he doesn't tell us
what the outcome is.
God in his kindness
puts it all out in front
and gives us
all the information
we need
in order to make
a wise decision.
Here is Jesus
saying to his disciples,
listen,
let me tell you something.
Here's what's going
to happen.
And so I want you
to understand
that when we think
about Jesus,
we recognize
that his nature
and his character
is to put it out
there in front
so we know
what's coming.
Jesus guides
and teaches his own.
And he warns them
of sin
and encourages them
to walk in truth.
And this is evident
as we look
at the disciples here.
We see that
they had all
the information
they needed
in order to make
a good decision
and yet what happened?
They didn't.
It's quite evident
that the disciples
over and over again
did not listen
to Christ's counsel
and they suffered
because of the hardness
and the disobedience
of their heart.
So let me ask you
this question
in practical terms.
Are you really listening
to hear the voice
of God
in your ear?
Now,
when I say that,
let me back up
just a little bit
because there are people
that are going
to come to me
and say,
I heard God tell me.
Everybody smile.
I heard God tell me.
I don't buy that.
What I do believe
is that the word of God
is the way
in which we hear
the voice of God.
Can I say that
real,
slowly?
We hear the voice
of God
through the word
of God.
Now,
if what you mean
when you say,
I hear God told me
is that you had
the spirit of God
remind you
of a passage
of scripture
and,
oh,
yeah,
I got that.
But when a person
comes and tells me,
I heard God tell me
that I should go
to China,
I say,
really?
Where is that
in the Bible?
I mean,
China,
you know.
Should you go
next door
to your neighbor?
Absolutely.
Should you be
an evangelist?
Should you share
the gospel?
Should you be
interested in the
well-being of others?
Yeah,
yeah,
yeah.
Well,
do you follow my point?
So I want you
to recognize here
that when you look
at this case,
we see that Jesus
guides.
He gives instruction.
There's something else.
I want you to recognize
that Jesus also lovingly
corrected Peter's
self-inflated confidence.
Question.
How many of you here
are so abjectly
grieved by your own
frailties that you have
no self-confidence?
Don't raise your hands.
Here we go.
Before Peter fell,
I want you to see
that we receive
in the text
further instruction
and correction.
Back in that passage
in Matthew chapter 26,
and I turned away from it
so back we go.
Matthew chapter 26,
verse 33 and 34.
Listen to what it says there.
Jesus said to him,
Truly I tell you
that this very night
before the rooster crows,
you will deny me
three times.
Peter said to him,
Even if I must die
with you,
I will not deny you.
And all the disciples
said the same.
Now if you look back
at John chapter 13,
you're in Matthew,
but go to John chapter 13,
verse 38.
Listen to what it says there.
John 13, 38.
Jesus answered,
Will you lay down
your life for me?
Truly, truly.
How many of you know
what truly, truly is?
Truly, truly is like,
get this.
This is it.
I'm telling you the truth.
Don't miss the point.
So when Jesus says,
truly, truly,
what he is saying is,
pay attention, Peter.
And so I got to tell you
that there are some of you
here this morning
that are receiving
the warning signs of God
about an issue
in your life and heart,
and Jesus,
knowing what's going on
in your thinking,
is saying,
you need to be really careful.
There's some of you here
that are hearing his warning
about the dangers of bitterness,
the danger of immorality,
the danger of being full of yourself
and pride
and dealing with unforgiveness.
And I got to tell you
how it works out.
There's some of you
saying no to God.
And here are the little indicators.
When God is dealing
with an issue of sin
in my life
and an issue of sin
in your life,
the first thing he does
is he used your conscience
to prompt you,
don't do it.
Don't do that.
And by the way,
when God says,
don't do that,
he always has a little
parenthetical statement
that is,
this is not going to glorify me
and it is going to hurt you.
It's like when a parent says,
do not put that knife
in the wall socket,
the kid says,
yeah.
Okay.
So God says,
don't do it.
The Spirit of God says,
don't do it.
The friend says,
don't do it.
The wife,
the dad,
don't do it.
And when you are unwilling
to listen to the gentle
prompting of God,
he will then bring
harder voices
and harder issues
to bear.
Why?
Because he loves you enough,
he's not going to let you
get away with it.
One other thing
that I want you to hold on to
here about Jesus
and look at Luke chapter 22,
verse 31,
and this is one
that just blows me away.
Okay.
Simon,
Satan demanded
to have you
that he might sift you
like wheat.
You remember
when
in the book of Job
we find that
Satan shows up
in heaven
and God says,
hey,
you been thinking
about how my
sermon Job is doing?
Yeah.
Pretty good guy,
isn't he?
Yeah.
But I'll tell you what,
if you let me mess with him,
he's out.
Here is Satan
asking if he
can trash
Peter's life.
Huh?
I want you to listen.
There's not
a one of you
here today
that is a believer
that does not
have the adversary
that wants to
absolutely ruin
your life.
He is interested
in destroying you.
Those who are
the children of God
don't lose their salvation
when they trash
their lives,
but I'll tell you what,
they suffer
and Satan
wants to ruin
things.
There's not
And so here is Jesus saying this to Peter.
But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail,
and when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.
Do you get that?
Peter, you are pretty full of yourself.
And you are going to suffer because of your stubborn pride.
But it isn't over because I have prayed for you.
And when you come out the other side,
I want you to put your energy into helping other people who will be struggling.
And so I find great consolation.
I find great encouragement.
In fact, that Jesus bathed the weak and sinful Peter with prayer.
If you're a believer this morning, I've got to tell you something.
He's praying for you.
Do you need it?
Yes.
Do you need it?
Yes.
Hebrews 7, verse 25.
And just mark this down and look at it.
It says,
He ever liveth to make intercession for you.
What's Jesus doing today?
He is at the throne praying for Tim Kenoyer.
He's at the throne praying for you.
And His present ministry is to hold us up and plead our case and care for our well-being.
So let me close with a few practical words for you to hold on to this morning.
For one,
The word is settled and sure.
As you look at this account of Peter, I've got to tell you, what is promised will come about.
And there are some of you here this morning that you're not paying attention to that.
The word is settled and sure.
What Jesus has to say is absolutely certain and it may be relied upon.
Number two, pride goes before destruction.
Isn't it interesting to see this practical illustration of Proverbs 16, 18 in Peter's life, right?
Huh?
How many of you need stories and pictures?
We all do.
And so here is Peter, right?
I guarantee you they didn't build that great big basilica because of his real life.
Peter was subject to like passions as I am and you are.
But we have this picture that reminds us pride goes before destruction.
And I've got to tell you that as I read this story of Peter, it would seem that he did learn.
Why do I say that?
Because over in 1 Peter 5, verse 6, here's what it says.
This is Peter.
He is close to dying.
And he has a little bit of advice for the believers that are going to be left behind when he packs it out.
Do you know what he has to say?
Listen to this.
How many of you have found that you get irritated by things like traffic, by other people's lack of God-honoring punctuality,
by people's lack of consideration for your personal preferences?
I mean, after all, it should be the way I want.
Do you understand?
Again, humble yourself beneath the mighty hand of God that in due time, what?
He'll exalt you.
As I read the story of Peter, I am so very thankful that I see an example of someone that over time eventually began to learn humility.
That is one of the benefits of lasting relationships.
I was explaining to someone earlier today in the new membership class, I was explaining that one of the blessings of lasting relationships is you get to see the work of God over time.
You know, pastors are there every two or three years and the next guy comes in after and after.
You don't get to see what God does over time.
You get to see Peter early.
You get to see Peter late.
And you say, wow, if God can do that in Peter's life, he can do it in mine.
Finally, finally, Jesus will not let you go.
I want you to write that down.
Jesus will not let you go.
If you are here this morning and you are the child of Christ, I got to tell you, the child of God, you don't have to ask the question,
am I going to make it home or not?
And the answer is yes.
And he'll get you there.
He'll get you there.
He will do whatever is necessary to help you grow in grace.
And here's the deal.
You can make it easier on yourself or you can just go ahead and test the limits and find out how much he really loves.
Now, can I tell you that from personal experience, it's not a good thing to mess with him when he wants to get you home.
How many of you learned as little children that it's a whole lot better to let your daddy lead you where he's going rather than make him drag you?
I was one that was drugged.
But I got to tell you, Jesus will not let you go.
So let me ask you this question this morning as I close.
Is Jesus really your Savior?
Is he your Savior?
Do you have the relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ that Peter had and is here for our sake and edification?
Does that make sense?
There's no reason to tell this story without seeing Jesus in the center of it.
Do you know him?
Truth of the matter is, there's some of you here this morning that have, you've heard all the stories.
You can sing all the songs.
But the fact of the matter is that you've never come to the place where you, in absolute, abject humility, have cried out and said,
I am a mess and I need Jesus as my Savior.
The story doesn't end well for those who refuse.
The Savior who came into this world to die for our sins and rise again that we might have salvation,
not through our own efforts, but by his finished work.
And I want to appeal with you, plead with you, if you need Jesus, I've got to tell you, today's the day.
Do not walk out of here in hardness of heart, refusing the sweetness of our Savior.
Let's close in prayer.
Our Father God, this morning as we lift up the Lord Jesus Christ,
we lift him up in absolute confidence
that Jesus is the Savior of the world, the Lord in glory.
And the day is coming that he will return and all those who know him will enjoy heaven forever.
And those who willingly refuse the sweetness of the gospel
will spend all of eternity in bitter, hard, resentful, angry suffering.
And it is our plea this morning that your spirit would break through the hardness
and bring the gospel in its sweetness.
We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.