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Redeemer Community Church is located in the historic Avondale neighborhood of Birmingham, AL. Our church family exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
For more information on who we are, what we believe, or how to join us, please visit our website at rccbirmingham.org.
When Erin and I had been dating for about two years, I invited her to come with me to a wedding in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, like you do. That was within our normal range of date spots. Right? And going from Sioux Falls to road trip out to Whitefish, Montana. She said, yes and more than one of her friends asked before she left if she thought I was gonna propose on the trip.
Matt Francisco:So she comes with a lot of excitement. And on that seventeen hour drive between Sioux Falls and Whitefish, which yes, I did miscalculate how far apart those two places were, I asked her, how do you feel about our relationship? And for the very first time, Erin took a massive risk and she said, you know, I've really enjoyed getting to know you, really enjoyed dating you, but I'm kind of ready for whatever comes next. How about you? And I said something like, you know, we just have to trust the Lord.
Matt Francisco:Lord has us where he wants us, however long that might be. Boo is correct. And I can remember the look in Aaron's eyes. It was a look, there was a mixture of hurt, maybe some embarrassment, some anger, certainly some frustration and disappointment, but I knew something that she didn't know. That she had kicked up her feet on the glove compartment and was trying to turn as far as she possibly could away from me, and directly underneath her feet was the ring that I was gonna use to propose.
Matt Francisco:But I had to hold on to that surprise. Right? So I used the most godly deflection that I possibly could. She didn't talk to me much for the next day, deservedly so, but I can remember the look in her eye as well when I did get down on my knee in front of Avalanche Lake and say, will you marry me? And she looked at me and said, yes, absolutely.
Matt Francisco:I can remember the look in her eye when we stood with, yes, Joel Brooks between us, promising that we would love one another for the rest of our lives as we became husband and wife. And I remember not too far into marriage, when my sin was exposed and it turned out that I was worse than I presented myself to be. I remember feeling that sense of shame and wanting nothing more than to hide. I remember expecting a look of condemnation, but instead receiving only a look of mercy and of love and of grace and grace changes everything. Peter here in this moment, this is rock bottom.
Matt Francisco:Peter has failed worse than he ever imagined possible. This is the man who had declared that Jesus was the Christ. He was the son of the living God. He had even walked out on water to follow Jesus. He had seen him cast out demons and feed 5,000 and here he was broken, denying that he even knew Jesus in front of a little girl.
Matt Francisco:Only hours after being told that he was going to be a ruler in Jesus' future kingdom, Peter denies his savior. Although Peter failed, his faith would not because his holy loving savior had prayed for him and held him fast and because Peter's standing before the Lord was never dependent upon Peter's performance, but upon Jesus's performance in his place. So this morning, we're gonna look at Peter's denial through three things. We're gonna look at the sifting of Satan. We're gonna look at the whole the look of the holy Lord.
Matt Francisco:We're gonna look at the look of the holy loving Lord. That was a mouthful. I'm sorry. The look of the holy Lord and the look of the holy with a w, Lord because that's how clever I am this morning. But before we get there, let's set the scene.
Matt Francisco:Alright? It's Thursday night of Holy Week. Sunday, the disciples rode into town, people were waving palm branches, everyone is screaming and proclaiming that Jesus, this Jesus, he is the promised king. He's the one who is going to restore the kingdom of of Israel. They were there when Jesus, he he made a whip and he drove out the money changers from the temple when he said that he was gonna tear this temple down and rebuild it in three days.
Matt Francisco:They were there very recently in the upper room where the maker of everything got down on his hands and his knees in an unfathomable humility washed his disciples' feet. They heard him say these cryptic things. This bread is my body which is given for you. This cup is my blood and the new covenant which is poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Yes, they're a little confused by some of the things that Jesus is saying, but when hadn't that been the case?
Matt Francisco:Right? But they're also full of unimaginable excitement. I mean, their ancestors had longed to see this day. They had prayed for it when the Messiah would come. And these things are on their minds as the disciples make their way to the Mount Of Olives singing hymns.
Matt Francisco:On the way, they get into a fight, a very familiar fight. They start arguing about which one of them is going to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. When Jesus turns and he looks at them and he stops them dead in their tracks and he tells them according to Matthew twenty six thirty one, you will all fall away because of me this night. And you can imagine their excitement giving way to confusion and hurt. That's what brings us to this moment in Luke twenty two thirty one in the sifting of Satan.
Matt Francisco:Verse 31, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail and when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. Peter said to him, Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death. Jesus said, I tell you Peter, the rooster will not crow this day until you deny three times that you know me. Did you notice that Jesus calls Peter Simon in this passage? In the gospel of Luke, ever since the day that Jesus called Peter to become a fisher of men, he has only called him Peter.
Matt Francisco:So the fact that he calls him Simon here in this moment ought to have grabbed Peter's attention. And not only does he call Peter Simon, he says, Simon, Simon. And that may not mean anything to you, but any time in scripture where a name is used twice, that means there's a ton of emotion behind it. There's a ton of affection. Just like David weeping over his son, oh Absalom, Absalom, or Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem.
Matt Francisco:And so it is with deep affection that Jesus is warning all of his disciples about the rapidly approaching hour of his great trial and their great trial and the schemes of the evil one. Satan demanded to have you, that is you all, that he might sift you like wheat. And Peter, brash and confident as ever, what does he say? He says, Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death. But in Matthew, Peter takes it one step further and he says, though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.
Matt Francisco:Guys, that's funny. Just imagine Peter standing there. Imagine you're one of the disciples and Peter's like, Jesus, Jesus, I get it. I get it why you'd be worried about all of these other guys. I would be too, but you don't have to worry about me.
Matt Francisco:I'm the rock, remember? That's what you called me until just like a second ago. Was that did you do something? You confused? Okay.
Matt Francisco:We're told that all the disciples, probably while rolling their eyes at Peter, they said the same, we will never leave you, Jesus. We will follow you unto death. And with that, Satan's trap is set. I've got a question for you. I mean, how many of you this week have given a thought to Satan?
Matt Francisco:How many of you spent time thinking about the schemes and the plans of the evil one? I'll be honest, I haven't. It is not something that I wake up often thinking about. I don't check the news and then ask myself, I wonder what Satan's up to today. And the words of Kaiser Soze ring true.
Matt Francisco:The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn't exist. But scripture could not be any more clear. Satan is real. He is really active. He has real power and he is crafty.
Matt Francisco:He is not going to show up on your doorstep painted in red and holding a pitchfork asking you if you wanna ruin your life. No. In the words of William Jenkin, the devil shapes himself to the fashions of all men. If he meets with a proud man or a prodigal man, then he makes himself a flatterer. If a covetous man, then he comes with a reward in his hand.
Matt Francisco:He has an apple for Eve, a grape for Noah, a change of clothes for Gehazi, a bag for Judas. He can dish out his meat for all palates. He has something to please all conditions. Satan is your enemy and he has studied you your whole life. He knows what you like and what you don't like.
Matt Francisco:He knows where you are strongest and where you are weak. He is a skilled tactician and he seeks to sift you in ways that are specific to you and he waits till that moment when you are your weakest, when you're tired, or you're hungry, or you're alone, or you're disappointed, or frustrated, or you're lonely. And then he strikes because he is prowling like a lion seeking to devour you. But make no mistake, though Satan is powerful, he is not all powerful. Yes, we are talking about spiritual warfare, but we are not talking about a war between two equal and opposite powers.
Matt Francisco:There is only one supreme ruler of the universe and it ain't him. Right? God reigns unrivaled on his throne. Scripture tells us plainly that the devil has already been defeated by Jesus on the cross and that the God of peace will one day crush Satan under our feet. That means that this war has already been won, but Satan is not going down without a fight.
Matt Francisco:He is coming after you and me, and so we as brothers and sisters in the faith must be prepared to fight as well. Armed as Ephesians six seventeen tells us, with the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. And this word is the weapon that Jesus himself used in Matthew four when he was tempted by Satan in the desert. Remember, Jesus reigns unrivaled on his throne. He could have cast out Satan like he did every other demon immediately, but he doesn't.
Matt Francisco:Why? He rebukes Satan with God's word, And what a gift to us because we can use that too. But in order to rebuke Satan with the word, we have to know it. We have to be in it. We have to constantly remind ourselves and remind one another of the truth of God's word because Jesus tells us that Satan is the father of lies.
Matt Francisco:He's an incredibly good liar. He is the best. He is a master manipulator. No one is better at taking a partial truth and making it sound like the whole truth, but Satan's lies are absolutely no match for the word of God. And so we prepare for the temptation of Satan, for the sifting of Satan, armed with the truth of God's word, and we are prepared in prayer, particularly in prayer for and with one another.
Matt Francisco:That's exactly what we see Jesus do here. Knowing that his hour had come, we are told that Jesus went as was his custom to the Mount Of Olives to pray. Let's pick back up in verse 40. And when he came to the place, he said to them, pray that you may not enter into temptation. And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw and knelt down and prayed saying, father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.
Matt Francisco:Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done. And there appeared to him an angel from heaven strengthening him and being in agony he prayed more earnestly and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. When he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow and he said to them, are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation. See Jesus is in agony as he is praying in the garden.
Matt Francisco:His heart is so heavy facing the coming cross that Luke tells us he begins to sweat great drops of blood as he prays And he's asked his disciples for one thing, one thing, just watch and pray with me. Pray that you don't enter into temptation. He had clearly warned them, Satan demands to have you that he might sift you like wheat. So pray, pray with me, stay awake. But they didn't.
Matt Francisco:They didn't keep watch and pray because they didn't think they needed to. Remember, every single one of them had boldly proclaimed that no matter what happened, they would never turn away from Jesus. They were so confident that they wouldn't fall away, that they didn't need to pray. They didn't pray because the proud never do. The proud don't feel like they need prayer.
Matt Francisco:And if you ever wonder how much pride there is in your life, I have at least this one test. How much do you pray? How much do you know you really need the Lord? Paul rightly warns us in first Corinthians 10, let anyone who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall because the enemy doesn't just come after us when we are at our weakest, but when we are sure we are the most strong. When we are sure that there is nothing that he could do to tempt us.
Matt Francisco:When we grow self reliant instead of spirit reliant. And in their self reliance, the disciples fall asleep so that when Judas and the soldiers arrive to rest Jesus, they are both overconfident and underprepared. Peter, he rushes to defend Jesus. He pulls out a sword. He cuts off Malchus's ear and then Jesus heals it and then he willingly goes.
Matt Francisco:The disciples, most all of them flee, but we're told that Peter follows behind at a distance. He enters the courtyard of the great high priest of the high priest. He enters the courtyard of the high priest and he sits down by a fire. When the fire begins to cast its light on his face, a servant girl looks in. She starts to study his face, and then she blurts out, this this man was also with him.
Matt Francisco:Peter spits back, woman, I do not know him. Verse 58, a little later someone else saw him and said, you also are one of them. But Peter said, man, I am not. And after an interval of about an hour, still another insisted saying, certainly this man was also with him for he too is a Galilean. Peter said, man, I do not know what you are talking about.
Matt Francisco:And immediately while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed and the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord how he had said to him, before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times. And he went out and wept bitterly. Just think for a moment about the incredible sovereign perfect timing of this moment. Chaos is happening all around.
Matt Francisco:People are shouting all over the place. There is a crowd swarming around Jesus. The rooster crows as Peter is making his denial. Peter turns and the Lord is looking straight at him. Peter hears the rooster and he sees the look of the Holy Lord.
Matt Francisco:And Jesus's face, it's probably covered in spit. It's probably black and blue from having been beaten. And he looks right at Peter. And what do you think Jesus saw in Peter's eyes? Because Peter knew.
Matt Francisco:Right? Peter knew that Jesus knew exactly what he had said and exactly what he had done. He had predicted it all beforehand. Peter had been tempted. He had been sifted and he had failed.
Matt Francisco:Though Peter had boldly promised that no matter what happened, he would follow Jesus, he had denied even knowing him to a little girl. And if you've ever been caught in a lie, if your browser history has ever given you away, if that word of gossip that you ever shared has made its way back to your ear, you probably know a hint of what Peter is experiencing here. Look pierces you to the core and in your shame, all you want to do is hide because that's what shame does. But hiding only reinforces the shame that you're trying to avoid. Peter was utterly exposed in this moment and I have to believe that his eyes were full of shame because he had not only broken his promise, he had broken his Lord's heart because the greater the intimacy, the greater the love, the greater the betrayal.
Matt Francisco:Yes, Jesus had been betrayed twice that night, once with 30 pieces of silver, and once by one of his closest friends denying even knowing him. And Peter had to come face to face with his own depravity in this moment, that he was far worse than he imagined himself to be. And what does he do? He went out and he wept bitterly. I think when most of us face moments like this in our life because we can't bear the thought of staring face to face with the depths of our own sin for long.
Matt Francisco:We try to run from it and hide in three main ways. We distract, we deflect, or we deny. Often when that sensation of shame starts to creep up our spine, we respond by running to any and every distraction imaginable. We pull out our phones or we turn on Netflix just seeking to numb that feeling for as long as we can. But distraction only works like Novocaine.
Matt Francisco:It may numb the pain for a moment, but it's gonna come back unless you deal with the source. And sometimes maybe we don't distract, but we deflect. We find ourselves saying things like, well, I I didn't wanna lie, but if I had told the truth, then I would have lost my job, and then what would have happened to my family? But what we really mean in that moment is at that moment, we valued security and approval more than honesty before the Lord. Don't ever tell yourself circumstances made me do it.
Matt Francisco:In the words of Tim Keller, circumstances might shape our sin, but they never cause our sin. Sin is always and only caused by our own inner desires. We shouldn't dare blame anybody or anything for our own failure. The temptations, the mistreatment, the things other people do to us will undoubtedly change the specifics of our sin. But they don't give birth to the sin.
Matt Francisco:Sin is birthed in our own hearts. I mean, how many of us have told somebody else, I know what I said or I know what I did was wrong, but if you had been there and seen the way that they were treating me, or if you had heard what she had said to me, and just like Adam, we're so prone to say to the Lord and to others, well, the woman you gave me, she gave me the fruit, so I took and I ate. So we distract or we deflect or we deny to ourselves, to others, and even to the Lord the depths of our own brokenness. Just like Adam and Eve, we try to hide and cover ourselves to present ourselves as better than we truly are. But the Lord sees straight through our excuses, straight through our pretending and our posturing.
Matt Francisco:Our attempts to downplay the seriousness of our sin will never work on him. Our attempts to play the victim may work on others but not on him. There is no hiding or pretending from God. All of the things that you have ever wanted to hide, every single thing that you have never wanted anyone else to know, he knows. He knows the truth about your past.
Matt Francisco:He knows that secret addiction. He knows where you actually spend your time or your money. He knows the way that you feel about that other person. He knows where your heart or your eyes run-in that moment of longing or frustration or anger. Jesus sees it all clearly just as he saw Peter in that moment.
Matt Francisco:And as Hebrews four thirteen says, no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Jesus sees the very worst things that we have done and the worst of who we are. With one look, the holy Lord, the judge of all creation exposes our sin and exposes us just as Peter is exposed in this moment. Let me ask you a crucial question. How did Jesus look at Peter?
Matt Francisco:Earlier I asked you, what do you think Jesus saw when he looked in Peter's eyes, but this question is entirely different. How do you think that Jesus looked at Peter? Was he surprised? Was he angry? Did he look at Peter and say, how dare you?
Matt Francisco:How could you after all I've done for you? This question is crucial because I think it reveals to us what we actually believe about the heart of God. Not what we say that we believe about the heart of God, but what we actually believe about how he feels about us. Earlier this week, I had lunch with a dear friend who told me that he felt trapped in a cycle of shame. And I told him I was studying this passage and I asked him, how do you think Jesus looked at Peter in that moment?
Matt Francisco:And he looked at me and he said, think he looked at him in compassion. I think he is exactly right. Jesus does not look at Peter or any of his children caught in sin with pure judgment because if he did, we wouldn't be able to bear it. You may think that when you commit a familiar sin or you're full of shame because you've committed a new one, that God's grace is somehow suddenly going to run dry for you, or that he's gonna take you and rub your nose in your sin to shame you just so you know that you should never ever do that again. Or that he's somehow growing tired of forgiving you because he only forgives you because he chooses to, not because he wants to.
Matt Francisco:In other words, that he gives you grace, but only reluctantly. But nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus doesn't scold you or shame you in your sin. He invites you to come back to him. He doesn't look at you with contempt and say, how dare you?
Matt Francisco:And hear me, it is not because he is somehow soft on sin. He and he alone knows what it really cost him to forgive us on the cross. He knows our sinfulness far deeper than we do. But the look of the holy Lord is also the look of the holy loving Lord. And when Jesus looked at Peter caught in his sin and when he looks at you in your sin, his eyes are full of unimaginable mercy and love and grace.
Matt Francisco:When he looks at you, he sees a person that he loves. He sees a person that he loves more than life, more than glory, more than power, more than riches, more than all of the privileges that divinity itself could bring him. He sees straight through all of your deceptions and failures. He sees you in the dimensions of your weakness and in your spiritual poverty. He sees your vulnerability and he sees your hypocrisy and he loves you.
Matt Francisco:He sees straight through the mask that you present to others, and he loves you anyway. He sees your cowardice, and your failures, and your fraudulence just like he sees mine. He loves us far more than we could ever ask or imagine. And just like he knew Peter better than Peter knew himself, he knows you better than you know yourself. He's not surprised by your brokenness.
Matt Francisco:He knows that for some of you, your greatest sins are still in front of you, and he says to you, I know this. I know your past sins. I know your present sins. I know your future sins. I know what you're ashamed of and every single thing that you try to hide, and I knew it all before I came to die.
Matt Francisco:And I did it anyway because I love you. That's what Romans five eight means. For God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God loves us that much. So no, God does not grow tired of forgiving you.
Matt Francisco:He does not grow tired of loving you because his love does not rise and fall based on your performance but on his. Yes. The bible reveals to us that we are far worse than we like to think, far worse than we like to present ourselves to others, but by God's grace, through the finished work of Jesus, in the words of Tim Keller, we are more loved and accepted than we dare hope. Or as Ray Ortland has put it, God's love for us is too great to be limited to what we deserve. Our God gives his best to those who deserve his worst.
Matt Francisco:And in that moment, Peter knows that he deserved Jesus' worst. I mean, I imagine that Peter would have likely given anything to avoid Jesus' eye contact in that moment, but Jesus wouldn't let him because he loved him too much. He wouldn't let him stay trapped in his shame. Shame is only healed by being exposed, by being brought into the light, by being brought into the light in the face of someone who loves you unconditionally. And when Jesus looked at Peter, it was the look of the holy and the holy loving Lord, and that look pierced Peter to the core because he knew that he was worse.
Matt Francisco:He knew that he was broken. When he heard that rooster crow and he saw Jesus, he remembered Jesus's words. Jesus had told him beforehand that he would deny his master three times. Peter had failed, but his faith would not. And later, Peter would remember his faith would not fail because Jesus had said that he would pray for him.
Matt Francisco:That Jesus would hold him fast. That Jesus had said, and when you turn again, that is when you have repented, go and strengthen your brothers. My friends, in Christ, your failure is never final. You are not defined by your greatest sins. You are defined by the God who loved you enough to die for you.
Matt Francisco:You are never too far gone to come back home again. And if you are in Christ, then every time that you sin, every opportunity to confess is an invitation. The enemy would love nothing more than to trap you into a cycle of shame, but Jesus is saying, come once again to the fountain of mercy. Come taste and remember and rejoice in the good news of the gospel. And while our hearts are always pierced by the pain of confession because we know that we have betrayed someone who has loved us so much, repentance in the gospel, there is ultimately a sweetness because we remember the more that we see our flaws, the more precious and absolutely amazing God's grace becomes to us.
Matt Francisco:See, if your sins are small, then your savior will also be small. But take heart this morning, not that your sins are small, but that your savior is infinitely greater still, and you have absolutely no idea how much he loves you. My friends, he is even now here and praying for you. And if you're here this morning and you don't know this Jesus, I wanna say to you as plainly as I can, you will be stuck in your cycle of shame. The judgment that rightly falls on sin still hangs over you.
Matt Francisco:But there is an open invitation. Jesus would welcome any sinner who would lay their deadly doing down down at Jesus' feet and rest and rejoice in his finished work on their behalf. So come and taste his goodness. Repent of your sins and trust in his finished work. And if you're here and you're terrified of what would happen if you brought your sin into the light, Just remember that Jesus knows it anyway and he loves you anyway.
Matt Francisco:The only thing keeping you from the fullness of joy that he offers you in this moment is you. So lay it down. And if you are here this morning and you are rejoicing in the good news of the gospel, then like Peter once he remembered, go and strengthen your brothers and your sisters. There are some in your midst who must remember and rejoice in the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Let's remember how this night began and where it ultimately ended.
Matt Francisco:That it began when Jesus, he took bread and he broke it. He said, this is my body which is for you. In the same way he took the cup and he said, this cup is the new covenant in my blood which is poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. The apostle Paul would later say that as often as we eat of this bread and drink of this cup, we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes and surely he is coming again soon. Amen, church?
Matt Francisco:Here's how we're gonna celebrate communion this morning. If those in the balcony would come first, you'll make your way down the center aisles, you'll pinch off a piece of bread and you'll dip it in this wine and this is non alcoholic wine and you'll hear these words. It's the body of Christ which is for you. This is his blood, which is shed for you. We've got gluten free options here on these tables, but please stay and hear those words.
Matt Francisco:You'll return to your seats using these outer aisles. And this table is open to all baptized believers, that is anyone who has repented of their sins and trusted in the finished work of Jesus and said to the whole world that it is your wholehearted desire to follow him in obedience all the days of your life. And if that's not you here this morning or if the Lord is pricking your heart, I would love nothing more than to talk with you or pray with you. I'd say the same for our staff and our elders, we would love to talk and pray with you. But if you are here and you know this Jesus, may this be an opportunity to remember and rejoice afresh in the good news of the gospel.
Matt Francisco:Let me pray for us. Jesus, what a savior. You are wonderful beyond our ability to imagine and I pray that we would bring all of our sins, that we would bring all of our failures and our shame before you and lay it down, and that you would wash us and remind us of your great love and that it would send us out from this place full of joy and awe and power in the gospel to proclaim your name in word and deed here in this city and to the ends of the earth. We love you, Jesus, and we pray these things in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.