Well, dear friends, if you would remain standing, and if you turn in your Bibles to the New Testament Gospel of Mark, Mark 14. We'll be looking at two passages. Elder Deiser, I mentioned many of your pastors and elders were in Grove City, Pennsylvania, the last few days for our Presbytery meeting. It was a busy time, a busy meeting, but the Lord is certainly at work and there was some wonderful, joyful fellowship that was had as we see the Lord building His Church. So this morning, Mark 14, I'll begin reading in verse 26, this is God's Word written for you and for me this morning. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, You will all fall away, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee. Peter said to Him, even though they all fall away, I will not. And Jesus said to him, truly I tell you, this very night before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. But Peter said emphatically, if I must die with you, I will not deny you. And they all said the same. Skipping over to verse 66. And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, You also were with the Nazarene Jesus. But he denied it, saying, I neither know nor understand what you mean. And he went out into the gateway, and the rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, This man is one of them." But again, he denied it. And after a little while, the bystanders again said to Peter, certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean. But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, I do not know this man of whom you speak. And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times." And he broke down and wept. Heavenly Father, would You give us broken hearts? Would You give us soft hearts to receive, to know, to embrace Your grace that is found only in Your Son? Speak, O Lord, for Your servants. Listen. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. It is the Thursday night of the Passion Week. Only hours before the cross. The shadow of the cross is looming large. Jesus has just celebrated the Passover with His disciples. Jesus has just instituted the Lord's Supper. And we read this verse to set the stage, to give the context of our passage this morning, verse 26 of chapter 14. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. It would be about a 15-minute walk from the upper room where Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with His disciples, about a 15-minute walk from that upper room to the Garden of Gethsemane, to the Mount of Olives. And note the detail. When they had sung a hymn, we know likely what it was they were singing. Likely they were singing Psalms 113. through 118. We know from Jewish records that those psalms were closely associated with the Passover and those were the psalms that would have been sung before and following the Passover meal. So, Jesus and the disciples are leaving the upper room. They're walking to the Garden of Gethsemane, to the Mount of Olives, and they're singing the psalms together. And as they're walking, as they're talking, singing the conversation of verses 27-31 unfolds. And as we look at these verses this morning, and also verses 66-72, there's two main themes that I want to emphasize. Two very basic, plain, and simple themes. Man's sin and God's grace. In fact, these are the two Themes of the Bible as God is redeeming and saving and showering a sinful people with His grace and drawing them unto Himself in spite of our sin and fallenness. Now, the theme of mankind's sin will take center stage. We'll see more verses devoted to man's sin. But in the midst of the darkness of man's sin, the glorious rays of God's amazing grace come shining through. So we'll look at these two individual scenes. Scene one, verse 26 through 31, and then scene two, verses 66 through 72. So first, scene number one, verse 26 through 31. As they are singing hymns, as Jesus and the disciples are walking from the upper room to the Mount of Olives, Jesus shocks His disciples with this statement in verse 27. And Jesus said to them, you will all fall away. Here Jesus is predicting and foretelling their abandonment of Him. They will all flee their Savior. They will all flee their Lord and their Master. But then Peter interjects, saying, Lord, I'm not going to fall away. They all might fall away, but certainly, Lord, not me. And then in verse 31 it says, and they all said the same thing. You can imagine the scene. Not me, Lord. I'm not going to fall away. I will never fall away from You. Jesus emphasizes, you will all abandon Me. Now before we dig in more specifically to what Peter is going to say, I want us to look further at what Jesus says back in verse 27. Look at what He says. Jesus said to them, you will all fall away, for it is written, notice what He says, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. Now here Jesus is quoting from a messianic prophecy, the words that Elder Deiser read just a few moments ago from the second to last book in your Old Testament, the book Zechariah. Zechariah, chapter 13, verse 7. There's a couple of things that I want to note about what Jesus says here in Mark, quoting from Zechariah. First note, again, what does Jesus say? What does he quote? the shepherd. First note, who is doing the striking? Who is the one who strikes the shepherd? Well, it says I in Mark, but if you go back and if you read Zechariah 13 carefully, it is crystal clear that it is the Lord of hosts. It is Yahweh of hosts. To put it very simply, it is the Father. The Father will strike the shepherd. The Father will strike the Son. Critically important for right understanding of the cross. What we call the doctrine of the atonement. Just a couple days ago, Friday afternoon, I have the privilege of examining candidates coming to be installed and ordained in our presbytery. And we're always going to ask them about the atonement. And we'll ask them, what happened on the cross? Absolutely part of the ABCs of what we believe as Christians. And on the cross, it's not that Jesus was twisting the arm of His Father to love Him or to love us. It's not that Jesus was offering something to Satan. No, but because of His love towards us, the Father sent His Son to live a sinless life to redeem sinners like all of us, to go to the cross. And on the cross, it was the Father who struck His Son. There is a mysterious, yet infinitely profound transaction taking place between the Father and the Son. The Son gave Himself to the wrath to suffer the judgment that we deserve and to take the wrath of His Father. In essence, the Father sent His Son to bear the wrath of the Father, that you deserve and that I deserve. This is crystal clear all throughout our Bibles. Isaiah 53, verse 10, it was the will of the Lord to bruise Him. In context, it was the will of the Father to bruise His Son. Romans 8, 32 says that the Father did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up, delivered Him up for us all. Isaiah 53, verse 6, the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. The Father laid on His Son the iniquity of us all as Jesus assumed and took the sin, every sin of all of His people and the Father struck His Son. Remember the story of Abraham and Isaac, Genesis 22, as Abraham's hand was outstretched with the blade to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering. That hand never came down. The Father's hand never came down on his son. Why? Because on the cross, the Father's hand did come down on his son. That's what happened on the cross. atonement as Jesus was your substitute and mine, suffering the judgment we deserve from the hand of His very Father, so wonderful, so mysterious, so gloriously amazing. So we see that here. I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. Then look at what Jesus goes on in verse 28. We see here a ray of light, a glorious Ray of light of Christ's love. As one commentator puts it, there is hope beyond the disaster. Hope beyond the disaster. Yes, the disciples will abandon Him. They will desert their Master. As it was prophesied, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will all be scattered and all will flee. But then what does Jesus say next? But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee." It's a wonderful promise. After I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee. Now, the twelve didn't fully understand what Jesus was getting at. They certainly would after Christ's resurrection. But note this glorious promise. After I am raised up, I will go before you. That you is a plural. It's a plural you. I will go before you, my disciples, my precious loved ones. I will go before you and will meet with you in Galilee." What is Jesus doing here? He's reassuring His own that death will not have the last word. He's reassuring His disciples and all of us, all of His people, that death will not have the last word, that He will be raised up. Now, He's already said this to His disciples on at least three occasions. Chapters 8, chapter 9, and chapter 10, Jesus predicts His death and His subsequent resurrection. It's almost as if the disciples didn't quite hear the resurrection part of what Jesus says. Jesus will go before them to gather them. Matthew Henry, a great Puritan commentator, says this, though you will forsake me, I will not forsake you. But Jesus is telling us, though you will flee from Me, I will not flee from you. I will gather you to Myself. Again, Matthew Henry goes on, God's words are to be anchors in a storm. Something to hold on to when we can't see our way. Now in verses 29-31, again we're in scene 1. In verses 29-31, the clouds of sin in pride, particularly in Peter's heart, come rolling in again. And here we have the beginning of Peter's darkest hour, as I entitled this sermon. His pride, Peter's self-assurance, his self-dependence rear their ugly head. Look back at verse 29. Peter said to Him, even though they all fall away, I will not. What is Peter saying? In essence, Peter is saying, Lord, you are wrong. Lord, the Scriptures are wrong. They might fall away, but not me. He's actually more emphatic in the original Greek language. I. I. Emphatic. I will not fall away. Peter is, in essence, exalting himself above the others. He is confident in himself and he does not believe the words of His Lord. Again, to quote Matthew Henry, he's wonderful on this gospel account. Those are least safe that are most secure. Those are least safe that are most secure. We might add, to paraphrase, that are most secure in themselves. In our own strength. Jesus responds to Peter. Look at verse 30. Note how specific Jesus is. Look back at verse 30. Jesus said to him, Truly I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times. Note the details. This very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me, Peter, not once, not twice, but three times. Then Peter persists in his presumptuous loyalty, might say, verse 31. But Peter said emphatically, he's emphatic in his rejection of what Jesus says. Emphatically, Peter says, if I must die with you, I will not deny you. And they all said the same. But notice what Jesus says this time. Nothing. Jesus doesn't respond specifically to what Peter has just emphatically insisted upon. It's almost as if Jesus is giving Peter a little bit of room. A little bit of room to follow his prideful heart. Sometimes Jesus does that with us. He gives us just a little bit of room to follow our own prideful heart and inclinations. And then, as the Good Shepherd, He'll bring us back. But often in His wisdom, He'll let us follow our sinful inclinations just a bit. And it's almost as if He's doing that with Peter. You can almost see Jesus just turn away from Peter and continue to walk on. Instead of rebuking him again, he's silent. And Peter's self-dependence will grow over the next few hours until his great tragic fall. Which leads us to scene number 2. If you just flip over to verses 66-72. So scene 1, we've seen Peter's pride, Peter's self-assurance, but hints of hints of God's grace, I will go before you, promise of His resurrection and of His goodness. Now let's turn to scene number two, verses 66 through 72. It's a story that many of us perhaps know well. It's the rest of the story, so to speak, to what we've just been looking at. Peter will fall, and Peter's fall will be great. But again, We'll see rays of God's grace. The scene now is several hours later. Jesus has been arrested. Jesus is on trial before the Jewish council, before the Sanhedrin. The rest have fled. Look down at verse 50, this little detail in verse 50. And they all left him and fled, just as Jesus said was going to happen, just as the prophet Zechariah predicted would happen. And so we see that here. But Peter is following along at a distance, verses 53 through 54. And as Jesus was led into the courtyard before the high priest, Peter will here deny his Lord three times. Let's look at these three denials just briefly in turn. The first denial, verses 66 through 68. Look back at verse 67. Pick up the story there. Seeing Peter wooming himself, she looked, a little servant girl, and said, you also were with the Nazarene Jesus. But Peter denied it, saying, I neither know nor understand what you mean. Here Peter is warming himself by a fire. He's spotted. He's recognized by a servant girl. Notice who this individual is. It's not some mighty Roman guard arrayed with a long sword and body armor. It's a little servant girl. Likely coming to see what's going on. There would have been a lot of hubbub in Jerusalem because of the arrest and the trial of Jesus. And she says, I know you. You were with Jesus. Remember, Jesus for the past week has been going back and forth from the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus to Jerusalem. He would teach and then He would go back for the night come back to the temple and teach. And he would have been seen. And this little servant girl would say, weren't you with Jesus? And he denied it. Peter is caught off guard. You may know the experience. Peter is caught off guard and he panics. Perhaps you've been caught off guard. You didn't think a question was coming and it comes. And then your heart begins to race. Your palms get sweaty. You panic. Your mind blanks. You don't know what to say or what to do. And in this crisis moment, Peter fails. Absolutely fails. He denies his Lord. He disowns Him. And we read that the rooster crows, increasing the tension of the scene. Of course, remember just a few hours ago, Peter had vehemently claimed that he would never deny his Savior. And here he does so the first time and then the rooster crows. The second denial, Peter is rattled by this servant girl's question. His conscience begins to race into gear. What am I going to do? How am I going to get out of this situation? And it's almost as if he begins to leave. He goes out into the courtyard. He wants to get out of here, move to an area where there's not so much heat, so to speak. But before he could get out, the servant girl sees him again. And the text says, she says to the bystanders, she says to those who were surrounding the crowds that would have been gathered, this man was with Jesus of Nazareth. And the detail is she hasn't said it specifically to Jesus or to Peter, rather, but she says this to the crowd. But Peter overhears what she says. And Peter denies him again. And the Apostle Matthew adds in Matthew's account, he denies Jesus with an oath. With an oath. This time more of a public denial. A public disowning. With an oath. I don't know the man. Not once, not twice, but a third time. Look back at verses 70 and 71. This man is one of them, but again he denied it. And after a little while, third time, the bystanders again said to Peter, certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean. But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, I do not know this man. of whom you speak. The news of Peter has spread. When we look at the gospel accounts, we learn that some people are talking about Peter. Some are talking to Peter. There's more chaos seems to be going on. That there's a buzz that one of the twelve, one of the leaders of Jesus' followers is here. And then one of the crowd seems to accuse Peter directly. You are one of them. And Peter responds. He begins to invoke a curse on himself. And note this little detail. I do not know the man. He doesn't even say the name. I do not know that man. Remember just a few hours earlier, Peter had been with the Lord Jesus in the upper room. so confident, so sure of himself, they might all fall away, but emphatic, I, I would never disown you. Now he evokes a curse upon himself saying, I don't know the man. How far Peter has fallen I will never disown you. I don't know the man." This, dear friends, is Peter's darkest hour. And just when the clouds of sin are darkest, when there seems to be no room or ray for the light of the gospel to come shining through, the Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd, comes to bring back This wayward servant. Look at verse 72. Immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. That is grace. The crow of the rooster. Peter's mind remembering the words of what Jesus said. Those are tokens of grace as the Lord uses those truths to pierce Peter's heart. It's the beginning of his restoration. And Peter weeps. He breaks down and weeps. What else could he do? There's nothing that he can say. In Luke's complimentary account, Luke gives us the little detail that Jesus looked at him. Jesus turned and looked at Peter weeping as the rooster crows twice. Peter's pride was crushed. His conscience was convicted. The Lord, in His mercy, begins the process of bringing back His greatly straying sheep. B.B. Warfield, in his essay on this scene, says this, Our Savior, as He stood giving account in His trial, working for the saving of the world, had time to turn a meaningful glance to his failing disciple, and so save Peter in the saving of the world, because the Lord Jesus was not going to let go of Peter, though Peter had let go of him." That is your Savior. That is your Shepherd. He will not let go of Peter, though Peter had let go of him. That is the Shepherd and the Savior to whom we belong." And it was painful for Peter. But the Lord had great plans for His servant. Peter would again face the taunts and the jeers of his faith. Pastor Westerfield in the evenings has been leading us through the book of Acts. And almost perhaps in this very same spot, the temple precincts, Peter's preaching, the very same Peter who's denying Jesus right here. Not long later, same dirt, Peter is now preaching the glorious resurrected Savior. And he is again facing the taunts and the jeers, not of a little servant girl, but of the mighty Sanhedrin themselves. And here, Peter, restored and renewed and strengthened by God's grace, stands firm and says, we cannot but speak of what we have seen and what we have heard. And he's thrown in to prison. The Lord broke Peter down that he might build him back up. J. Gresham Machen, the founder of our denomination, the OPC, once wrote in his famous book, Christianity and Liberalism, that Christianity is the religion of the broken hearted. My favorite thing Machen's ever written. Christianity is the religion of the broken hearted. Friends, is your heart broken over your sin? And over the mercy and grace of our glorious God? As we close this morning, just a couple very basic principles to take with us. The first is this, our absolute weakness and helplessness apart from Christ. The Apostle John says in John 15, 5, that apart from me, you can do nothing. As we begin to look to ourselves, as we begin to lean on self, we are prone to fall. We are poised for a fall. What did the Apostle Paul write in 1 Corinthians 10? Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. J.C. Ryle in his commentary on Mark says this, a man may be converted to God, have faith and hope and love towards Christ, and yet be overtaken in a fault and have an awful fall. So long as we are in the body, we are in danger. The flesh is weak. The devil is active. And we must never think, I cannot fall. We must say, Lord Jesus, apart from You, I can do nothing. Be my strength. Be my anchor. Be my support. Woe to me when I ever begin to rely on self, as Peter is doing in our passage this morning. Second, lesson to take with us. This passage gives us a reminder to extend love and mercy towards our brothers and sisters when they stumble and fall into sin. Not to beat down our wounded, but to encourage and to pray for one another and to come alongside to point one another to Christ. Galatians 6.1, Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. May that spirit of gentleness be characteristic of our local congregation because that was the spirit of our Savior. The spirit of gentleness and lowliness and mercy and grace. And then finally, simply note the overwhelming love of Christ. The hymn that we sang this morning, behind a frowning providence, Jesus hides a smiling face. Peter's fall was great. It was tragic. It was grievous. It was great sin. But behind that frowning providence, there was a smiling face. broke down and broke the prideful heart of His servant. And then what do we read of Peter in the book of Acts? Boldly preaching and setting forth the glories of the gospel, the glories of the risen Christ. How dark was Peter's sin, but how glorious was God's grace. And it was the grace of Christ that constrained Peter from falling even farther. Turn over just one page in your Bibles begin to close this morning. Mark chapter 16. This is after the resurrection, verse 7. One of the most beautiful details in the New Testament. Mark chapter 16, verse 7. Don't you just smile when you read these words? Jesus says, go and tell His disciples that He is going before you to Galilee in that little detail, go and tell his disciples and Peter. Isn't that wonderful? It's as if Jesus is saying, make sure that Peter's there. Because we need to have a conversation. I need some special time with my wayward sheep. Make sure Peter's there. And you know the story, John 21. Jesus restores his servant. Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Then go feed my sheep. Go and proclaim my gospel of grace. And the gospel has spread far and wide and is doing so even today. May we rejoice in our Savior and our Shepherd. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for your grace. We thank you for your mercy. We thank you for the gift of your Son. Father, we thank you that you are sovereign, that the atonement, that Jesus' work on the cross was not by chance, was not happenstance, but in fact was ordained before the foundation of the world was predicted and set forth in our Old Testaments. We see that glorious reality in our New Testaments. Father, we thank You that You are the God of grace. You are the God who restored Peter. Well, Father, we confess our own sin. How often, like Peter, do we deny You? Do we deny You in our thoughts and our actions? Do we act as if You were not there? Father, would You forgive us? Renew us and strengthen us. May we walk by faith, not by sight. By faith, trusting in your promise and in the gospel of your Son. And Father, would you strengthen us as we go from this place, as we live out our lives in this Dayton area and beyond. May we do so as redeemed servants, sharing the good news with all who would hear. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.