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Houston's First Baptist Church is a relevant biblical community where we gather our hearts, grow our souls and give our lives as we seek to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). This podcast provides weekly messages from Pastor Gregg Matte and others. Visit us at HoustonsFirst.org to learn more about HFBC, and visit us in person the next time you're in Houston!
Will you turn in your Bibles to the 26th chapter of Matthew, verse 31, please? Matthew 26, 31. We are continuing this morning our series on Sunday mornings and the events leading up to the crucifixion and then climaxing with the story of the resurrection on Easter Sunday morning, three weeks hence. Today we're going to study the denial of Peter of the Lord Jesus as his Master and his Savior, the blessed Son of God. Matthew 26, 31. Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night. For it is written, I will smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, that this night before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. Three times Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples. Verse 47. And while he yet spake, Lo, Judas, one of the twelve came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves from the chief priests and elders of the people. Verse 56. But all this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him and fled. And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest's palace and went in and sat with the servants to see the end. Verse 69. Now Peter sat without in the palace, and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also was with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. And after a while came unto him they that stood by and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them, for thy speech bereath thee. Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the words of Jesus, which said unto him before the cock crow, Thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out and wept bitterly. Now would you turn to Luke 22, and let us look at one other brief additional bit of insight into the story of Peter's denial. Luke 22, verse 31 to 34. Luke 22, verse 31 to 34. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. We have to give Peter credit for all of his weaknesses and failures, Jesus favored Peter. Even a cursory reading of the Gospels indicates that he was highly favored of his Lord, and most of the time in good favor with his fellows. On the night that Jesus needed them both so desperately, Judas and Peter both failed their Lord. And yet, while the name of Judas has come to live in infamy in the Christian church with a connotation that blisters the tongue of decent men, the name of Peter, Simon Peter, rock -like, beloved of God, faithful disciple, has come to be revered by the church throughout the centuries. We must give him credit for Matthew records clearly that Simon Peter followed Jesus. It is to his credit that he did so, for most on that night did not so do. There was the crowd that came to destroy him and arrest him, the enemies of the Christ. There were those who came as unto a show to only watch in neutrality and subjectivity, the objectivity, what would happen, because they were interested. But they really did not care much as to the outcome. But not so Simon Peter. Simon Peter followed Jesus Christ. He was a man of bold faith, much like unto the spirit of Joshua and Caleb, the kind of man with a spirit that would march following his Savior into the jaws of hell with a water pistol if Jesus said, Go! You must admire the man, the swashbuckling, rugged individualist that was always so true and faithful to the Lord. Jesus favored him well. I rather imagine that it was not without a great deal of personal satisfaction that the Savior watched the events and activities of Simon Peter. He remembered when he walked on the water. Yes, he sank. He fell in the water. But at least he was not with the fainthearted on the shore who dared not even to get on the water and try to walk. It was he whose impetuosity on the Mount of Transfiguration with James and John sing the heavens open and the glory of God resplendent about the head of the Savior, said, Master, let us build three tabernacles and here stay forever. Peter was so caught up, I imagine that Jesus must have smiled at him when he said, Peter, I admire your spirit, but there's more to do down in the valley. We dare not stay forever on the Mount of Transfiguration. And then that great, wonderful proclamation of Peter when Jesus said, Whom do men say that I am? And the disciples said, Well, some say you're John the Baptist, risen from the dead. Some this, some that. He said, Who do you say I am? And Peter responded, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus said, Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, Peter, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say unto you that all the gates of hell, the power and authority of the devil will not withstand you who are my disciples and my church and my followers because of your infinite and consummate relationship with me as the living rock, the rock of ages, the Son of God. Ah, what a man he was. I admire him. Was it not Peter who in the garden that night before the betrayal, before the arrest, before he got so far away from him, said, Master, you're wrong. He rebuked his Lord again and again, did he not? And said, Though all men be offended in thee, though every man defy you and deny you and betray you, not me, you can always count on me. Simon Peter, I'll be there. When they came to arrest him, Peter, it was he who pulled out the sword and trying to chop off the head of the high priest, Caiaphas, who came to arrest him, chopped in thin mistakenness and cut off his ear instead. He was ready to fight. He was always on the right side of the issues. Jesus put on the ear again and healed it and said, Put your sword back in its sheath, Peter, you don't seem to understand. One cannot follow the history of this man without understanding why somehow Jesus favored Peter. I would suggest to you a second thing as well, that Jesus must very, very certainly have feared for Peter because he who knew the hearts of all men and never needed that any man should tell him what was in man because he knew all men, saw that impetuosity and that instability that was just beneath the veer of an ear of his consistency and faithfulness. He knew that Peter was the kind of man who always had an opinion on everything, often wrong, but seldom in doubt. Peter, who thought with his heart before he thought with his head. And Jesus knew that there was something that one day was going to let him down. And Jesus was always trying to help him. He prayed for him. He warned him. He called him Simon by his unregenerate name. Twice did he call him. As he called Abraham, Abraham, Moses, Moses, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Because with intense severity unparalleled would he attempt to arrest the attention of this man and say, Listen, you are Simon, Simon. Don't be too strong in yourself. Don't be too overconfident of who you are because I favor you. I admire what you are, but you're just a man. and if you put too much faith in what you are and not enough faith in what I am, you're going to fall. And so we must admire him because he followed Jesus, but we must fear for him because, Matthew records, he followed him afar off. Afar off. Now I ask the question, how did Peter become a distant disciple? How did he that was so close, that loved him so dearly, began to fall afar off and fall a long way away in following the steps of Jesus? Well, there's a progression here that is obvious. For one thing, it is apparent that it was in his self -sufficiency that he decided to stand. Andrew, his brother, had called him and brought him to the Lord Jesus, and he revered him. It was a marvelous thing, but he didn't have much faith in Andrew. He had been fishing with James and John, the sons of thunder, whose personalities had been in no small way affected by that dynamic of his own. But when it was all on the line and the chips were down, he was not too sure that he could depend on them. He was not even too sure that he could depend on Jesus. He always rebuked him. He was always saying, no, Master, you don't understand. Man, no, Jesus, you won't do that. No, Lord, you're wrong. I won't fail you. I won't deny you. Let me tell you how it really is. He was never too sure he could count on Jesus. But there was one man in whom Simon Peter had infinite faith, and that was Simon Peter. He was sure he could always count on himself, always sure of himself. Now, I want you to notice a very interesting thing. When men's faith is introspective, when they count severely too much, overtly much on themselves, they always develop an erroneous kind of religion. How many men never go to church? They've got their own theology worked out. They don't need God. They've got plenty of money in the bank, and they've got a good job. They are self -made, self -valued, self -sufficient men. Well, I don't think you need Jesus. Well, I think everybody's going to make it. Well, I think this. Oh, I think that. Self -sufficient men have always got their own kind of religion. One day, Jesus started talking about the cross and about dying, and Peter was the first to say, no, Lord, you don't understand. Far be it from thee. Thou shalt never die on a cross. What did Jesus say? Get thee behind me, Satan. You're an offense to me. Thou savest not the things of God. You don't understand. I'll tell you why. Because a man who doesn't understand that salvation is by death, that life comes through dying, that achieving comes by giving, that victory comes by the self -defeat of the cross, doesn't understand the nature of the gospel. He was all wrong in his theology. And you know, so many people are very much like that today. They're trying to live, but not willing to die. Trying to go to heaven without trying to go the way of the cross. He said, no, listen, you're just a disciple. You see, as late as the night before his crucifixion, as late as the night before he fled and left, he still was a disciple. He still was only a learner. Peter didn't become a convert until the cross. And he didn't become an apostle, an apostolo, a sent one until the day of Pentecost. He was a long way from understanding the truth of the gospel because he stood in his own sufficiency. And he went the way of denial because he failed to pray. And Jesus said, go into the garden and pray. And old Peter went into the garden to pray and he got to thinking about it. He said, well, I don't need to go to all these prayer meetings. I'm Simon Peter. I can handle things very well without all this self -imposed dependency on God. And three times as he fell asleep, Jesus came and finally he said, go on, Peter, sleep away. It's too late now. It's too late. The next step in his going away from Jesus was when he got with the wrong crowd. He started to run with the wrong gang. You cannot go into Babylon unless you be sent there by God. If you go on your own free will, you shall be like Herod who beheaded John the Baptist because he was in the wrong crowd and the pressure of the company was too much. Time and time again, men under the atmosphere of the devil's crowd have found it too much for them. You can charge into the very epitome of the pit of Babylon if you will, if you be sent there, if you go in faith as a missionary, as a spokesman for God, but if you're of your own free will. That's a different story. It was one thing when Lot and Lot's wife moved into Sodom. It was another thing when Sodom moved into them. He got in the wrong crowd. He was burning. he was he was rubbing his hands and warming himself by the devil's fire you can't see how close you can get to fire and not be burned how long close you can get to the world and not be impressed how close you can get to sin and not partake you see the wise man will stay as far away and not get as close as he can it's a hard lesson for simon peter to learn and another thing he lost his courage and he gave up a little maid came to him he was sitting there with the devil's crowd and matthew records that he had come to see the end so it has come to this now has it peter that you who had said though all men betray you i'll die for you thou art the christ the son of the living god count on me jesus said you're a little rock yourself you're very much like i am jesus favored him revered him and adored him admired him now he had come to this to see the end was he not there as a spokesman to stand for him to say i know him had he not come to the trial to give a defense to stand as a witness for the defense and say let me speak of him no he sat down in the crowd and for what purpose to see the end to watch in peter's mind it was all over jesus was as good as dead he was guilty and he just came to watch how it all turned out that is a pathetic statement when a man forgets to pray and follows afar off and runs with the devil's crowd and loses his courage such that he is so offended by a little bitty maid girl that he swears and says leave me alone i don't even know him what a far cry he went away from god let me show you another wonderful thing you know i like the bible it always seems to bring its heroes out on top because there's a third thing here you must understand that is that jesus while peter followed jesus though far off listen jesus followed peter and that very closely i like what luke said he said simon peter let me tell you something i know what's going to happen tonight i know how well you mean i know what you're going to do but i know how you like david desperately don't want to do it and i've got faith in you and let me tell you something simon peter he said when you're converted you see he wasn't even saved yet he was just following along in the crowd he was still looking he was not committed he was still only a disciple only a learner only a seeker jesus didn't say to him peter if you're converted he said when you're converted he said i got faith in you boy i know you're gonna come out on top and after this thing's over he said you who have been the great failure can be the great succeeder go strengthen your brethren i'll tell you great is the man who learns by his mistakes i'll never make that one again i'm going to strengthen my brethren who have been in the valley who are there now the great failure became the great helper jesus followed him jesus stayed by him jesus prayed for him jesus believed him the word that he uses for offended in the greek word is bait like bait in a trap he says peter the devil like a roaring lion stalketh about seeking whom he may devour and you're going to be caught in the bait you're going to be offended you're going to take it but he said i'm not going to let up on you and he said peter the devil doesn't want anything good for you but i want the best for you boy i'm praying for you does it not throw to your heart to know that jesus christ is seated at the right hand of the father praying for you sir at this very moment that's what he did for him that's what he's doing for us remember how john and his gospel luke and his gospel says that when jesus comes his fan shall be in his hand now it says here that the devil jesus said hath desired to sift you now that's what they use a little sieve when they sift wheat but jesus came with his fan in his hand what's the difference a fan is something that you use to keep the wheat and let the the the chaff fall through jesus says the trials are coming to get the chaff out of your life it's for your good i believe in your rejoice but he said satan wants to sift you that keeps the chaff and lets the wheat blow away he said he wants the worst but i want the best for you and i'm going to pray for you john adds that he prayed for him peter i'm going to pray for you that your faith utterly fail not now his faith did fail but it didn't utterly fail you see he went down but he came back he learned the arm was broken but it was put together stronger than it ever was before that's the way god deals with man he pulls for you he prays for you he says my testings are to make you weak not like satan's to make you chaff oh what a thwart it is listen to me i say to you that all of the powers of Satan are no match for the prayers of the Savior. And he's there praying for you, tired saint, discourage you, troubled teen, whomever you may be, the Savior is pulling for you. He may be letting you go through some trials, but he, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, if you'll open your mouth and eyes and heart and ears, will find that the Savior is in the fire with you, ready to be bread and meat and life and sustenance to your very soul. Ah, I know he followed him afar off, but Jesus as well followed Peter very closely. Let me say one last word in closing, that the Savior forgave Peter. He forgave him. He picked him up. He used him. He blessed him. And the great denier became the great confessor, and I like that. There are two Greek words that are used for the word repent. Judas repented and he died and went to hell. Peter repented, and he lived for Jesus till he died and went gloriously to heaven. What was the difference? There were two kinds of repentance. The kind of repentance the gospel writers use when it says Judas repented himself, it means he was sorry what he did. Like a man who's in jail, he's sorry he got caught, but when he gets out, he'll go do the same thing again. He wasn't sorry enough to change. Godly sorrow worketh the repentance, produceth a change. That's the kind Simon Peter had. It was a great change. He did something about it. He never again got caught in that trap. Now, there's a wonderful little truth I want to impress upon your hearts. Why did he change? What made the difference? Why? Matthew makes it very clear. Jesus turned and looked at him. That's all that it took. There was Jesus on trial. The long shadows of the night cross falling across, the heart breaking and bleeding inside of him. And Peter, in the glimmering shadows of the flickering firelight yonder by the devil's fire, when the cock crowed that third time, looked over his shoulder just enough to see. Not the rebuke, not the strong judgment, not the caustic gaze, but the tender, compassionate look of Jesus, saying, Oh, Peter, what have you done? You know, the word well has so many meanings in the gospel. We say it is well with my soul. Jesus will say, Well done. But the Scottish hymn writer has a little verse of prose which says it this way, describing how he must have looked, how he must have felt as the gaze of the master fell on him. He says, I think I'd rather frizzle and die in the flames of a burning hell. Than to stand and look into his face and hear his voice say, Well, well, well, Simon Peter. Oh, he broke his heart. He was never again the same man. You remember, do you not? Out at the resurrection, Jesus, knowing how crushed Peter must have been, I must have felt that he didn't even belong. He had no worth, no value, that he wasn't even an apostle anymore. When the Marys came to the tomb, said, You go tell my disciples and Peter that I am risen. Go find Peter. He won't be with the disciples. He doesn't even think he's a disciple anymore. Go get him. And he was a broken man. He was a remorseful man. Let me tell you something. Later, he was to write in his Gospels, When you walk in the Spirit, walk in the Lord humbly. Blessed is the man that walketh before the Lord in humility. Be clothed, said Simon Peter in 2 Peter. Be clothed in humility. He said, listen, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. And it was in that grace of humility with which he himself was clothed that he went from that utter failure to a glorious worldwide ministry. It was clothed in the garb of that humility that he used the two keys of the kingdom when he unlocked the door of the Gospel to the Gentiles and in Cornelius' home and to the Jews on the day of Pentecost. He was wearing that red scarlet robe of humility, I think, when he died, as tradition says. In jest, when the Roman Empire heard him say that he prayed that he might die like his Lord, that he be crucified, that they in jest crucified him indeed. But upside down, it was wearing that very clothed, I think, of humility, that he must have looked into the face of his Lord and said in his heart, I'm coming home. I think it was in that grace of humility that he was clothed when he learned his lesson once and for all that he walked into the very presence of Jesus and reverberating down the streets of glory like a hundred thousand sand chariots racing down the floors of heaven. He has come home. His grace is sufficient for me that he must have said, humbly, humbly, trust him, stay close to him. And he who that night followed before all, I think, spent all of eternity and spends it still being as intimately close to his Savior as he possibly can. He made an awful mistake, but one from which he gloriously recovered. And it cost him something. As I said, tradition has it that he died, crucified, as he had requested to be crucified, but in jest by the Roman government, upside down did he die. Justin Martyr, the great apologist and defender of the faith, as he was burning at the stake, said, this is the day the Lord hath made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. John Huss was crucified on a cross and burned alive on that cross. As he lifted up his hand, he said, Lord Jesus, forgive my enemies. The mayor said, kindle the fire brighter, burn him, burn him. And he could be heard singing above the flames, his flesh roasting in the fire. Jesus Christ, thou son of the living God, forgive thou mine enemies. The Appian way that leads into Rome for 20 long miles under the persecution of Domitian, the Roman Empire. The Roman emperor who had demanded that men renounce Christ and swear that Domitian was God. When they refused to do it, covered the entire Appian way for 20 miles on either side into the great city of the Roman government with the heads of martyrs that died. All the disciples, the story tells, history story tells us, died like that. John the Baptist had his head cut off. Stephen, Stephen the deacon, was stoned to death. Mark, the writer of Mark's gospel, was dragged to death by wild horses. Luke was hanged. James was beheaded. Matthias was stoned. Bartholomew was stripped of his flesh and flayed alive. Thomas was pierced to death with lances. Philip was stoned. James the last was thrown from a temple and beaten to death by a mob. Paul was beheaded in the Mamertine prison by Nero. Jude was shot to death with arrows. And what of us? What of our commitment to Christ? Do we in the affluence of a comfortable 20th century follow a far off? Listen, my Christian friend, the pages of church history are stained with the blood of her martyrs. Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease while others fought to win the prize and sail to bloody seas. That night he broke his heart when Jesus looked at him and he cursed and said, I don't know him. But I say to you that he was so touched by that look that he never made that mistake again. He spent the rest of his life standing on every street corner in the Roman Empire saying, I know him. I know him. I know him. I can imagine that he was crucified as he was upside down as the blood coursed down his cheeks fell across his brow and kissed the dust of the cross beneath that crucifixion scene that perhaps his last words were in memory of that one time when he said, I don't know him. I can imagine the last words that ever fell from his lips were, I know him. I know him. Go into the shops, go into the schools and cry. I know him. Let your offering this morning and all through this month of these missionaries be an investment that says through the spreading of the gospel, I know him. Let your commitment to evangelism as you witness for Jesus in the school and in your neighborhood and everywhere you are say, I know him. I know him. How many times have we like Peter denied him and said, I know him not. But I say to you that we have a redemptive opportunity this day to invest our lives with every fact and faculty of our being to say to the world, I am his. I love him. I know Jesus. I know him. I know him. May we stand and pray together.