We're going to continue looking at Peter's denial of the Lord in Mark 14. So if you'd read with me again, I'll begin in verse 53. And they led Jesus away to the high priest, and with Him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes. And Peter followed Him afar off, even into the palace of the high priest. And he sat with the servants And warmed himself at the fire. And then we have the next few verses, an account of Jesus before Caiaphas. We won't read that. Down to verse 66. While that's going on, this is going on. And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest. And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him and said, and thou also was with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch and the cot crew. And a maid saw him again and began to say to them that stood by, this is one of them. And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, surely thou art one of them, for thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeth thereto. But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man. of whom you speak. And the second time the cock crew, and Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept. Let's pray. Father, we thank you just for the privilege of having your holy word before us. of having Your Holy Spirit to help us, to quicken us according to Your Word. We pray, O Lord, now that You would write these things on our heart with a pin of iron and a point of a diamond. Lord, that in Peter we could see ourselves. We could be warned. Lord, we would not fall as Peter fell, but we would press on to know you. So, Lord, may you be glorified in this hour, in Jesus' name, amen. I won't take much time to review last week, but my desire last week as we opened this passage was to set the theological context for denial. not necessarily the historical, we kind of know where we are there, but the theological context for what Peter did to begin to understand the anatomy of denial. And we laid those things out, spent a lot of time on total depravity and the effects that that still has on the most imminent saints. What can happen to the best of us our flesh, remaining sin, propensity to sin, spiritual warfare, all these things going on in you, Christian, today. And we need to beware. So, if you weren't here, you can go back and listen to that. I won't take any more time there. We're going to really look at the text today. What we're going to look at is the three denials this morning. We're going to look at three things that led to it. And then we're going to look at three things that would have prevented it. So, three denials, the three things that led into it, and the three things that could have prevented it. Very simple. So, the first denial, looking at verses 66 through 68, here is Peter beneath in the palace, and there comes one of the maids, or the young girls, young servant girls of the high priest, and when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him and said, you were with the Nazarene. You were with Jesus, the Nazarene. But he denied saying, I know not, neither do I understand what you're saying. And he went out into the porch and the cocked crew. Why did Peter go to the palace in the first place? Remember, they arrested Jesus. All the disciples forsook him and fled. But it seems like just after a short while, Peter, comes back and follows him. The Bible says in verse 53, a far off to the palace. Why did he go there? I, I proposed to you that he went there because of pride. Remember all the things Peter had pledged and sworn and promised. I will never leave you. I will never deny you. I will never forsake you. I will die first. Peter's like the man in the gospel. He went to war without first sitting down and counting the cost. Peter could not desert the Lord again. He had already deserted him once, so he followed it far off. Peter wanted never to be thought a coward. But what would Peter have given, I believe? I'm trying to use a sanctified mind to think of this whole scenario. What would Peter have given to have had some providential hindrance to keep him out of that palace. In fact, it seemed at first that this was the case. Remember, Peter comes in from John 18. We know at first Peter was not admitted to the courtyard because it says in John 18 that he stood without the gate. He couldn't get in. But we know that just by chance, one of his friends, and we're not sure who it was, could have been John, could have been Nicodemus, maybe Joseph of Arimathea, maybe one of these who had a relationship with a high priest and could come and go at their own free will, one of those got Peter in. They came and said, oh, he can come in. He's OK. So Peter got in the gate, and the Bible says a girl or a maid lets Peter in. Most likely, the same servant girl of the high priest who let Peter in upon the request of his friend. Maybe she had a quick look at him as he comes in the gate. And she now, in verse 66, she approaches Peter. And by the way, Peter's denial has already begun. Again, looking at verse 53 and verse 54, they led Jesus away to the high priest and with him were assembled all the chief priests and elders and scribes. Peter falls far off. into the palace. He sat with the servants and he's warming himself at the fire. His denial has already begun. Brethren, Peter is now a follower of Christ and he's trying to look like and act just like ungodly men gathered around this fire. He's trying to blend in. But you know, a true Christian can't blend in to the world. You can try. but you can't for long. A follower of Christ cannot continue a course of blending in or departing from Christ for very long. And despite Peter's desire to remain inconspicuous here, he becomes the center of attention. Isn't it amazing how God does that oftentimes? We begin to depart from Him, and the Lord just providentially causes something to happen to expose us, to expose our sin, and that's mercy. I can think of many things in my life where I just went to sleep at the wheel and all of a sudden something happens and I wake up. The Lord wakes me up and I make a course correction. So Peter's trying to blend in, but there in verse 66, verse 67, when this maid who led him in the gate, she saw Peter warming himself. She looked upon him. So there's two seeing. She saw Peter warming himself, and then she looked upon him. There are two interesting Greek words. The first word for see, she saw him, is blepo. And the second word, she looked upon him, is emblemo. One means to simply see. The other means to closely examine. She saw him by the fire because, remember, the light of the fire, phos, the Greek word for fire there is phos. It lit up his face, but then she looked upon him. She examined him. And that's what's going on in verse 67. She examined him right there. And then the first accusation, you also were with Jesus of Nazareth. And literally, she said, you were with the Nazarene. And she didn't say that as a compliment. Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Remember that? So to the Jew, that was not a compliment. Jesus, the Nazarene. You were with him. And in verse 68, Peter denies saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. The fact that Mark records two words in Peter's denial, both Greek verbs here meaning to know. Peter said, I don't know, neither do I understand. He's not saying the same thing twice. The first verb, I know not, speaks of only a theoretical knowledge. In other words, knowing that something is so, just a theoretical knowledge that this is so. So Peter first denies him that way. I don't know. But then secondly, the second verb is, he says, nor understand. That speaks of practical knowledge. So we see here, brethren, in every way, Peter denied the Lord totally. He denied Him in theory. He denied Him in practice. I know not, neither do I understand what you're saying. And he went out into the porch. Here, Peter leaves the fire. And if you can imagine, he goes back to the gate, back to the entryway, I'm sure to try to find a way out of there. And the cock crows at the end of verse 68. Probably because there's no mention of this stirring Peter at all, probably in all the excitement and his anxiety to get away from there, he probably didn't even really take note of the cock crowing the first time. So that's the first denial. The second denial, verse 69 and beginning in verse 70, and a maid or a young servant girl saw him again and began to say to them that stood by, this is one of them. And he denied it again. This is just like a guilty conscience, brethren. Peter is accused again by a servant girl. And this time she brings others into her accusation. You know, our conscience either accuses us or excuses us. And you disobey the Lord or you're departing from the Lord and the conscience comes first and it's pricked. And maybe you disregard it, but it comes back. If you're a believer, it's coming back. And that's what's happened here. He's accused again, not just by a servant girl, but this time she's got other people with her accusing him. This is one of them. And to me, this suggests to us that the Jesus movement, if you will, was very well known among the servants of the high priest and the soldiers, the temple guard. This is one of them. Everybody knew what she was talking about. Now, you see what's happened? Peter has to deny the Lord before more people. Now, it's interesting the word deny here is in the imperfect tense. When it says he denied, he denied it again. It's in the imperfect tense. It simply means. Peter continues, he sort of goes off denying and denying and denying. I'm not one of them. I am not one of them. I assure you, I'm not one of them. It's an ongoing denial. And that's the way it is with a believer who sins. The way to the second transgression is always made easier by the commission of the first. The flesh and remaining propensity to sin in us whispers in our ear, if we continue in sin, Well, doing it over again can't make us more guilty. We're already guilty. So that's what your flesh does. It's OK. Just you're already guilty. You might as well just go ahead. Or else we're tempted to think if we persist in this action that we deep down inside know is wrong, then the fact that we continue in it, maybe that would speak that we really don't see it as sin. or we're sinning ignorantly. There's so many things your flesh and your fallen nature will whisper to you to take you down. And you need to be wise. So that's the second denial. He denied again, over and over. I'm not one of them. But then there's the third denial at the end of verse 70. And a little after, they stood by and said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them, for thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeth thereto. But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom you speak. Luke's gospel gives us another detail here. He says, Then after about an hour had passed, Another confidently affirmed, surely this fellow also was with him, for he is a Galilean. So Brethren, there's been an hour passed from his first and second denials to the third denial. It seems that the first two denials took place, remember Christ was first taken before Annas for this mock arraignment. And it seemed like the first two denials took place then. Now the situation has changed. Jesus has been brought before Caiaphas. And during that hour interval, the news about Peter has been spreading all over the palace grounds. And now it seems like there's many people crowded around Peter, accusing him, saying, you're one of them. You're a Galilean. Your accent gives you away. You ever gone somewhere? Not around here. And it doesn't take long. Your accent gives you away. Oh, you're from not you're not from here or someone from Boston comes to our area. And you clearly know they're not from around here. Well, this is Peter, his he's a Galilean, he's from the north and he sounds different. And when you're in a stressful situation, it's a little harder to disguise your accent. You began to speak. quickly without thinking, without calculating what you're saying. And so his speech was giving him away. And they're saying, you're one of them. You're a Galilean. Your speech agrees to it. As we compare all the gospel accounts, and this is this is recorded in all four gospel accounts, it seems that some people are talking to Peter and some people are talking about Peter. In other words, accusations about Peter are coming at him from every side. And according to John 18, 26, even one of the servants of the high priest was a relative of Malchus. You remember who Malchus was? He's the servant of the high priest whom Peter chopped off his ear. So one of the high priest's servants who was a relative of Malchus comes in John 18, 26 and accuses Peter and says, you're one of them. And this third accusation was the boldest and so was the denial of Peter. Peter began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom you speak. And when you first read that, Peter began to curse and swear, you might immediately think of just profanity. And I'm sure he most likely began cussing like the old sailor that he was. But it's much more than that. Peter began to call down God's curses on himself if he were one of them. In other words, maybe he said something like this, God strike me of leprosy if it ever be found out that I'm one of them. This is really what's meant by he began to curse and swear. I swear by God in heaven that I'm not one of them. So Peter is giving them every assurance in a way and in a tone that someone, no one who's a friend of Jesus would ever speak this way. Or his tone and his mannerisms right here would say to everyone around that this person, Jesus, is despicable to me. And I know what we're tempted to think as we sit here. I would never do that. Do you think, Peter, a few hours earlier, if someone said, OK, Peter, here's what's about to happen, here's what you're about to do and say, what would Peter have said? That's impossible. There is no way under heaven that that can happen. So this goes back to the anatomy of denial, the whole scenario that we discussed last week. We have to embrace the possibility. The possibilities that can arise out of our flesh and remaining sin. We don't live there, we don't just hang our head there all day long, but you better embrace it and acknowledge it because that, beloved, is what causes you to look heavenward. and embrace the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's my view of Romans, the second half of Romans 7. That point in time, that is what Paul did. All the wonderful truths of justification by faith that he had laid out in the first six chapters, and he comes to the second half of chapter 7 and he begins to consider remaining sin and his frustration with this thing that he cannot get free from, this side of heaven. The things that he would do, he doesn't. The things that he doesn't want to do, he still does. And so he embraces that, the reality of that, and at the same time he said, I thank God through Jesus Christ. It's really something to see in Peter. In verse 71, he begins to curse, to swear and say, I know not this man of whom you speak. He won't even say Jesus's name. I don't know this man. Who could speak about a friend this way? And evidently, convinced by Peter's complete and thorough denial, his accusers evidently leave him alone. The measure of Peter's sin is now full. But God, who is rich in mercy, God who delights in mercy, God who in his sovereign providence controls all things, even roosters, He comes to Peter's rescue. In verse 72, the second time the caught crew and Peter called to mind the word of the Lord. How many times have you been on a course, maybe ignorantly or callously departing from the Lord And the Spirit of God brings the Word of God to your mind. This is what happened. He remembered the Word of the Lord. That's why the psalmist says in Psalm 119, Thy word have I hid in my heart that I will not sin against you. The more of God's Word you can hide in there, putting in your mind, in your heart, the Word of God dwelling in you richly in all wisdom, the more that is, the more fortification you have against departing from God. Because the Spirit of God begins to prick your conscience with His own Word and bring to your remembrance the Word of the Lord, just like He did with Peter. So, Peter called to mind the Word of the Lord that Jesus said unto him before the cock crow, Twice, you're going to deny me three times. And when he thought on that, he wept. Now, this is not just a tear running down his eyes. This is wailing, weeping. Luke says it this way, Luke 22, 61 and 62, the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he said unto him before the cock crows, twice, you're going to deny me three times." And Peter went out and wept bitterly. It seems that about the time, the cock crowed the second time, Jesus was in a place where Peter could see Him. And their eyes met. And Peter's godly sorrow began. That's the anatomy of repentance right there, brethren. When you're in sin, And the Word of God comes and convicts you, and then your eyes see Jesus. And I'm not saying your physical eyes, I'm saying the eyes of your heart, you see Jesus again. Then godly sorrow comes. Godly sorrow is not coming until you see Jesus. When you see Him high and lifted up, crucified for you. Imagine how Peter saw the Lord right here. The Lord had been beaten terribly. So when he saw the Lord, and the Lord laid eyes on him, he's looking at a swollen, bloody, beaten, tortured man. For who? For him. Peter, he's wounded for your transgressions. So when Peter saw the Lord, their eyes met. Godly sorrow began. Here is a true believer. Listen, this is a true believer. This is the chief apostle. And he is feeling for now. At this time, like the chief of sinners. A wretched man, he feels like right now. He is feeling the misery. He is feeling the frustration of remaining sin. Terrible sin, even to the level of denying his Lord. Well, that is a threefold denial. I could spend more time, but we don't have more time. Let's look at what led to his fall. This will kind of review some of the things we looked at last week, but I'm going to simplify it. What led to his fall? Three things. And three things are likely to lead to your fall as well. We cannot deny this, even though maybe we don't fully understand it. Here's the first thing that led to his denial. Peter, at this time, was in the grip of Satan. Here is the chief apostle, a true believer, a follower of Christ, part of his inner circle and he is in the grip of Satan. Remember in Luke 22, Jesus said to him, Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat. The Greek word sift here is how we might translate it, riddle. He is going to riddle you. We know, I want to make this clear, because I don't want anybody to misunderstand. He is in the grip of Satan, but we know that during all of this sifting of Peter, Jehovah God has Satan on a chain. Someone described the devil as devil of God, or God uses him. He's like a mean bulldog or pit bulldog, but he's on the end of a chain, and he only goes as far as God will allow him to go. He's chained. And we could go to Revelation 20 and flesh that out, but we won't do that. But he is chained. But just like he did with Job, The Lord said, have you considered my servant Job? This is one of these instances. Have you considered my denying my proud, self-confident chief apostle Peter? And so Satan comes and desires to sift him, to riddle him, and obviously the Lord allowed. But all during this time, we need to know that Jehovah God has Satan on a chain, but nevertheless, In this hour of darkness, in this courtyard, Satan has Peter in his riddle, and he is sifting him. Peter is a disciple of the Lord. He is a follower of Jesus. He is a born-again Christian, a gifted apostle in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, and Satan has him by the Lord's permission. So we cannot deny the possibility and the reality of that. We have to make room in our theology for that. You are just as capable as Peter was to deny the Lord. The Bible warns us of this danger. Remember earlier, Jesus said to all of them in the upper room, one of you will betray me. And the Bible warns you and I of this danger. And here's what grace makes us whisper, Lord, is it I? If you could think, if you heard me say, OK, one of you is going to deny the Lord. If you're a man or a woman, a boy or a girl that has operative grace in your heart, you should say, Lord, is it I? Pride and self-confidence will have you say, never, it's not me. I'll never do that. The Bible says that it is possible for our profession of faith to be no more than a stony ground here. It is possible for our profession of faith I'm not saying true saving faith. I'm saying a person who professes faith in Christ can be a stony ground here. You remember the stony ground here when trials and tribulations arise because of the word. They're gone. They jump ship. They go back. The Bible says a true believer can be lukewarm, neither hot or cold, right? The Bible says a true believer can leave his first love. You can read that in Revelation 3, I believe. This was Peter on that dark, cold night, a disciple of Christ in the grip of Satan, buffeted, shaken violently to the very core of his soul by the devil. But let me say this, Satan never has a believer the way God has a believer. Satan cannot pluck us out of our Father's hand. Satan can sift you and riddle you and oppress you. But in all of that, his intention is to kill you and destroy your soul, have you deny God and die. God's intention in that is to purge the draws from you. So just as God said about Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar, My servant, he was God's servant. oppressing the children of Israel, but all to purge dross, all to sanctify. And we know where Peter's real security lay that night. Yes, Jesus said, Simon, Satan has desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat. Here's where his security lies and here's where your security lies. But I have prayed for thee that your faith fail not. Peter is being kept by a great faithful high priest who ever lives to make intercession for his own. And he can save us to the uttermost. I like that because sometimes we get to the uttermost edge of where a Christian might be and still be a Christian. It's not out of his reach. He can save to the uttermost all who come to God by him. So brethren, I'm saying we must make a place in our theological universe for the real solemn possibility that we as the people of God can enter a time when Satan's devices get to work on us and Satan has us in his grip. And some of you know what I'm talking about. There are times, and I believe they're rare. Let me say that. I think there are times, although rare, when a true believer can fall very far. Days of dark depression. The Bible a closed book. You ever open your Bible and try to read and it's just like nothing there. Or falling into a very deep pit of sin. We need to be careful when we see a professing brother or sister in Christ. And to us, it looks like there is no way they can be a Christian and be doing what they're doing or have fallen so far. What would we have thought about Peter? If we're standing there outside the gate and we're hearing the chief apostle cursing and calling down curses on himself, if he ever knew that man, what should we think? We should plead for his soul and pray. We don't know. What would we have thought about David? Being a peep in time on his roof and then committing adultery and having Bathsheba's husband Uriah killed. What would we have thought? Certainly it casts doubt on a profession, but brethren, you just don't know until it's over. You really don't know until we stand at the bar of God. Pray for them. Tell them the truth in love. If you see a brother or sister overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual, go to them. How? Spirit of meekness. Why? Lest you yourself are tempted. Brethren, today the captain of our salvation who is bringing us to glory is issuing to us this tremendous, solemn, and I think unmistakable warning. Watch your step. as a believer. Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest you fall into a pit that other men better than you have fallen into. Other men and women with more imminent gifts and more experience have fallen into. So the first reason that Peter fell, the first thing that led him into this fall, we have to acknowledge he's in the grip of Satan. by the express permission of the Lord. He's in the grip of Satan. The second reason, Peter had an inordinate fear of man. This is a little harder to see, but no less a real cause of his failure here. Peter, in a certain company of people, fell. He wasn't with the other disciples when he fell. I think Peter had the sort of personality where he hated for people to think badly of him. I can really relate to this. There is a very deep temptation in me, no matter what company of people I'm around, that I kind of want to fit in. I don't want anybody to think bad of me. I want to think the best of them. And some of that is good, and some of that is grace. But it's a real temptation to sweep convictions under the rug so you'll fit in. You want to make them feel comfortable and you want to feel comfortable no matter what scenario you're in. And Peter had that personality. He wanted to be on good terms with his company. He didn't want to be the odd man out. And so he struck up conversations. He made himself very approachable. in whatever company he was in. He could not tolerate conflict or other men's contempt towards him. He wanted to be well-liked. And I realize this is very elementary, but it seems to have led to his downfall. What if the people in the courtyard where he's around this fire, what if they were right in identifying that he was one of them? He was with Jesus of Nazareth. There is no word anywhere in the scriptures that says there was a threat to anyone other than the Lord Jesus himself. He was the one they wanted to get rid of. None of the other ones were ever threatened. What's imperative for us as Christians is always to do what is well pleasing to the Lord. No matter where you are or who you're with, do what pleases the Lord first. Teach your children, honor the Lord. Wherever or whatever you're doing, honor the Lord and you'll be okay. In other words, what is the answer to the fear of man? It's doing what's well-pleasing to God. Let that be your obsession and let that be your preoccupation. Maybe you can remember Proverbs 29, 25. The fear of man brings a snare. But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe." If sinners entice you, what does the Scripture say? Do not consent. So Peter had an inordinate fear of man. He tried to fit in, in a bad scenario. Many of you have to be around ungodly people. Maybe at work, you have to be there. We need to be careful that we don't have an inordinate fear of others, that we fear God first, that we seek to please and honor him first. You don't have to try to be contentious. Be who you are. Be winsome and kind and gentle and understanding, but do not compromise with the Lord and you'll be safe. The fear of man will bring us a snare. The third reason that led, the third thing that led to his fall, and we covered this extensively last week, but we'll mention it again. Peter was self-confident. He was self-confident. Didn't the Lord warn Peter about self? Had he not told him before the cock crows twice, you're going to deny me three times. And what was Peter's response? Peter was offended. Florent, never. It's not going to happen. It is unimaginable to us that on any day, in any context, you and I would do what Peter did with cursing and profanity. Yet it seems to me, brethren, that God is saying, reckon it as a possibility. That's the safe place to be. Reckon it as a possibility for you. You could do this. When you begin to measure yourself by yourself, or when you begin to measure yourself and take stock of your life, then do not ever be so confident in yourself that you would think, I'm OK, I will not backslide. I'll never deny the Lord. I'll never betray him. Listen, it is very sanctifying that a Christian have an acute awareness of his own weakness and his own propensity to sin. Maybe if you don't hear anything else I say, please hear that. It's very sanctifying that you have an acute awareness of your own fallenness, your own weakness and your own propensity to sin. Remember, Paul said in 2 Corinthians 13, when I am weak, then I'm strong. He didn't say when I'm strong, then I'm strong. He said when I'm weak. What does he mean there? I think he means when I acknowledge and when I embrace the reality of my own weakness, thorn in the flesh, whatever that might have been, but his own fallenness, his own fallen human nature, his own propensity to sin. When I'm weak and I acknowledge that and I embrace the reality of that, it's then I'm strong because I look away from myself and I lay hold of Christ alone who is my strength. Remember, Jesus said in John 15, without me, you can do what? Nothing. I don't know what nothing really means here, but it's nada. It's zero. Nothing means nothing. And so there's been days when I've lived my life with very little thought of the Lord. And I did a lot. In reality, you didn't do anything. If you didn't do it to the glory of God, you didn't do anything. Peter's tragedy was that he went forth one day in a spirit of self-confidence and he fell. Down he went. It's good to have confidence. But it ought to be in the Lord. He is our confidence. We have no confidence in the flesh. For the last thing, what could have prevented his denial? Three things quickly. Obedience, prayer, and watchfulness. And what could have prevented his denial will prevent your denial as well. Obedience. Peter didn't obey the Lord. To obey is better than what? Sacrifice. 1 Samuel 15. Obedience is better than sacrifice. Obey the Lord. Every professing believer here, we know more than we do, don't we? If we just do what we know, I realize we don't know everything. We don't have all the commandments and the imperatives of God written on our heart in a way that we can just pull them up right and left, but do what we know. Don't be like that man who goes and looks in a mirror and sees himself and then walks away and doesn't remember any of it. Go and look in this mirror and then turn and do. Obey the Lord. What does the Lord require of you? To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Jesus' mother at the wedding at Cana of Galilee, John chapter 2. I love what she said to those around. She said, whatever he says unto you, do it. That's a good injunction for all of us. Whatever the Lord says, do it and you'll be safe. Do it. Peter didn't take heed to what the Lord had told him to do. So, obedience. Secondly, what could have prevented His fall? He was lacking in prayer. He should have prayed. In our Lord's sexy example there in the Garden of Gethsemane, what's the Lord doing? He knows trouble's coming. He knows the wrath of God's coming upon Him. And what does He do? He prays. He goes to God for strength in order that the will of God might be done through Him. What do the disciples do? The disciples are much weaker than the Lord. But they're also more confident in the Lord. So while he's praying with all strength and all ability and all communion with the Lord, they, much weaker than him and more confident, they don't pray. Three times he goes and prays and he comes back and Peter's not praying. And when the temptation comes, they simply cannot stand and they're all driven away like chaff in the wind. Your lack of prayerfulness, my lack of prayerfulness, reveals our sin of self-confidence. The less confidence you have in self, the more time you're going to spend in prayer. The more things you're going to pray about. I really am edified when I'm around Christians that just at the drop of a hat, no matter what's going on, they just said, let's just ask the Lord. Let's pray and ask the Lord's help about this. Not afraid to pray anytime and every time. I miss that about our dear sister, Beth. So let me just say this, if prayer is kind of flickering low in your life, you're too confident in yourself. You don't realize the danger you're in. You need to pray. It is unthinkable to think that some Christians don't pray. And I don't mean absolutely, but I'm saying very little. Or how about preachers that don't pray? And I realize you're sitting here thinking that, yeah, that's just unthinkable. Brethren, here's Peter. Here's the chief apostle. The Lord has told him face to face, pray, pray. And Peter doesn't pray. Brethren, I'm telling you all, the Lord is telling you, pray. Pray. Satan is roaming around seeking whom he may devour your flesh. Remaining sin is there to take you down. Pray. Pray. There are no mysteries to Peter's fall. It's real simple. He didn't go in weakness to the throne and ask for grace to help in time of need. He thought he could cope with this by himself. And out of that, there came his fall. And I propose to you that you can trace your own spiritual falls and lapses and calamities to Peter's, the anatomy of Peter's fall. And then lastly, Peter didn't watch. The Lord told Peter, watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. No man backslides from closeness to God into the pit of sin and profane denial. It doesn't happen in a moment. It's a process. It progresses. And if you watch, if you keep an eye on yourself enough, and if you check yourself, you will see, you can see that you're growing in self-confidence. You're not doing what the Lord has told you to do. Watch out lest you're leaving off prayer. I found it a temptation. It's much easier for me to get into the Word in the morning and just really read and spend time. And then, OK, I'm out of time. I've got to get to work. And you don't have much time to pray. We need to do both, but don't put off prayer. Watch out. Simply, Peter denied his Lord because Satan had him. Peter was afraid of men and he was full of self-confidence. Peter could have overcome the temptation if he had done what the Lord had told him, if he had prayed and he had watched. It's just that simple. The Scriptures are very honest about the sins of the saints, even the most imminent saints. You ever wonder why? Well, that tells you this is God's book. Because in man's book, you would hide all that. You wouldn't expose the sins of your most imminent leaders. But there's another reason why this is exposed. It's because of the truth of the grace of God. Where sin has abounded, grace has superabounded much more. In the kingdom of God, a defeat may bring more blessings than a victory. I'm so thankful for that. I can testify to that. In the kingdom of God, precious fruits often spring forth from great falls. Brethren, this is grace. This is God's favor to his people. And woe to any of us if those truths made us reckless. The law of the harvest holds true even for the saints. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh what? Reap corruption. Mark it down. But if you sow to the Spirit, you will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. Let me just spend one more minute. on Peter's restoration. This is a whole other message. It's not recorded really in Mark. But thinking how far Peter fell, I want you to remember how tenderly the Lord restored him. Yes, he said, Peter, Satan's desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith fail not, and when, not if, when you are Turn back to me when you are converted. That doesn't mean initial conversion to Christ. It means a turning back to me. Then strengthen your brethren. You see, the Lord restores Peter. It's a marvel of grace how the Lord restores Peter. That a man who ignored the Lord's warnings, who failed to watch, who failed to pray, who denied the Lord like he did, should be restored and put back into service. And that's exactly what the Lord did. We all know the question in John 21 that Jesus raised with Peter. Simon, son of Jonas, do you love me? Do you love me? I thought, you know, what would I have said if I were the Lord? I'm afraid I might have said, Peter, do you know what you did? Peter, are you really sorry for what you did? Peter, do you know how bad that hurt me? You denying me? Peter, will you promise me to never, ever do it again? But that's not what the Lord said to Peter. He said, Peter, do you love Me? Yes, Peter denied Him three times, and three times before his other disciples, all these other men who looked to Peter, three times, He puts the question to them, Peter, do you love Me? Peter, do you love Me? Peter, do you love Me? Any of these other questions, any question other than that question would have plunged Peter back into despair, I believe. Who knows if you and I have sorrowed enough, if we have wept enough, if we have repented enough in order that we won't fall again into that sin? Who knows? That's not the question. This is the one question that Peter is asking. It comes from extremely Extraordinarily sympathetic high priest. Peter, I've taken you into the deepest waters you'll ever pass through. And remember, he poses this after his crucifixion, after his resurrection. And Peter's gone through all of that, too. So he says, Peter, I've taken you through deep waters. You've seen me nailed to a cross until I died. Peter, do you love me? In spite of all I've asked you to endure, do you love me? It's amazing to me that the Lord is concerned about Peter loving him. He's not concerned at all about his love for Peter. He said, I have loved you with an everlasting love. I love you to the end, Peter. The question is, do you love me? After all of this, do you love me? Brethren, that's restoration. If someone is estranged from you, that's the real question. Is there love? Can they be assured of your love? And can you be assured of their love? That's the end of it right there. That's the end to estrangement. And that is the way to obtain reconciliation. And that's what the Lord did. Do you love me? Peter was never the same. Yes, Peter struggled with sin. He still struggled with fear, fearing men. Remember up in Galatians, I can't remember where he was, but the Judaizers came and he was eating BLT, eating pork with the Gentiles. And he withdrew out of fear of men. Still struggling with sin. But Peter learned. He learned well from his master. And I'll close with this. Listen to the words of Peter and think of it in context of his denial and what he learned from his denial. This is 1 Peter 3, beginning in verse 13. Peter says, And who is he that will harm you if you be followers of that which is good? Peter's so worried about what would happen to him in the courtyard when he denied the Lord. And now Peter says, Who is he that will harm you if you be followers of that which is good? But, and if you suffer for righteousness' sake, Happy are you. Be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you the reason of the hope that's in you with meekness and fear. Peter wasn't ready in the courtyard. Peter now knows you need to be ready. Always ready. having a good conscience that whereas they speak evil of you as evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. For it's better if the will of God be so that you suffer for well-doing than for evil. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit." This is a man who learned from his failure, as you and I need to do. Let me just close with a little benediction from the book of Jude. Jude says in verse 21, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then four verses later, he says, now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, And to present you faultless, both for the presence of His glory, with exceeding joy, to the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for what's been recorded in the Scriptures. Hard to think of, hard to read. hard to teach, and yet for our instruction and our learning upon whom the ends of the world have come. So, Lord, teach us the danger of self-confidence. Teach us the danger of prayerlessness, of watchlessness. Lord, help us to keep ourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you that you keep us from falling, and that you will indeed present us faultless one day before the presence of your glory, and you'll do it with exceeding joy. Thank you for grace. In Jesus' name, amen.