Well, I thought I would like to continue with the description of the characters and their experiences. If you remember, what I have been doing in the Carthage meetings has been to take a character and then not to go right through the details of that character, but to look at their all-time lows, as far as I can see. And I mean, that's a matter of choice sometimes, because like David, you can have many incidents, and their all-time high. And I found that by doing that, that I learned so much about them. And it helped, and I hope it does the same also to you. And today, I've got Peter. Now, Peter is a character, I would say, that we can say he's very different. Not everybody's a Peter. But we can all, somewhere, relate to Peter. And there is something of Peter in us all. He is such a variable kind of person that you can say, well, yes, I can understand why he did that. And we can identify sometimes gladly and sometimes sadly. So I read first of all from John chapter 21, the gospel according to John, St. John. And chapter 21, I think I'll read from verse I'm just wondering. I think from verse 11, so we don't have too long reading. Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land full of great fish, a hundred and fifty and three. And for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. And Jesus said to him, come and dine. And none of the disciples asked him, what art thou, knowing that he was the Lord. And Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead. When they had dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Lovest thou me more than these? And he said unto him, yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. And he said unto him, feed my lambs. And he said to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? And he saith unto him, yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. And he saith unto him, feed my sheep. And he saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? And Peter was grieved, because he said unto him the third time, Lord, lovest thou me? He said to him, Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee. And Jesus said unto him, feed my sheep. I think I just have that for a reading. There are so many readings here and there that I could go to. Now, if I had a text, I think it would be the verse in Matthew 16, verse 16. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now, how would you describe Peter? I suppose we could spend quite a long time describing him. I regard him, and it seems by implication, to be a strong man and a big man. I imagine him, a huge fellow with broad shoulders, a handy person to have in an open-air service when there's a lot of opposition. And I imagine him as clearing the way when there was a bit of a rabble or difficulty. I imagine him like that. He's impetuous. He's generous. He's foolish. He's brave. He's a coward. He's all these things. And if you had some kind of pan here, or a cauldron, and put all those ingredients and more, and stirred them up, and you could say, that is Peter. And you don't really know what's going to come out next with Peter. And yet, he does reach great heights. And he also goes to great depths. And I think it is worthwhile knowing that in these characters in the Bible, that we're inclined to put them on a kind of pedestal. Say, ah, well, they're biblical characters. They haven't got problems. But they were men or women of like passions as we are. And there is no doubt about the integrity of his faith and the perseverance of God with him. In the five points that we call the five points of Calvin, which are really not Calvin's points at all, are they? They are a response by Calvinists to the five points of James Arminius. But the one that has the perseverance of the saints, I can remember how encouraged I was in reading one of the commentaries on those points. that really this is God's perseverance with us. It doesn't leave out human responsibility and our perseverance, but it is God's perseverance with us. And I just thank God for that, because I think most of us here would give up on ourselves, but God does not give up. And he picks up the pieces again, and he says, come on, let's carry on with the job in hand. We all have low moments. When I say low moments, it can be a low 12 months, or a period, or a long time, or the years that the locusts have eaten. And if we are the Lord, and we're talking in that kind of context, we also have times when we could say, I shall never forget that experience of the Lord. And so that is what I I am doing. So, first of all, we look at his integrity, the confession of Peter, and I can hurry through this because you are familiar with it, and there are two particular ones that are so obvious. His spiritual integrity. Now, in the Gospel of John, Chapter 6, where Jesus, it's a long chapter, where Jesus Christ is talking about the bread of life. You remember the theme, and I don't want to go into the theme, but that is the background. in 6.35, and Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. So in that verse, it's everything really. If we come to relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that He is our sufficiency. That's it really. and to recognize and to know that. Well, this caused quite a stir. And in 641, murmuring started, that most horrible of things, murmuring. Murmuring in a church is awful. And I think I said to you before, I was a schoolteacher, and if there's one thing that gets a schoolteacher down, it's not one naughty boy or one naughty girl, but murmuring when you can't put your finger on where the murmuring's coming from. And murmuring doesn't stop at murmuring. It usually increases to opposition. In verse 48, I am that bread of life. Then in verse 52, murmuring becomes to striving. That is, they're looking at one another in horror and disgust and throwing their arms up and there's quite obvious opposition to what he is saying. And then they go a step further and they shout out, this is a hard saying. And then the Lord tells his disciples, does this offend you? Do you find it offensive what I'm saying? That I am the bread of life, does that cause you to get upset? From that time, you're told verse 66 in that chapter, many of his disciples That's the distressing thing. Many of his disciples went back. That is, they went back and walked no more with him. Isn't that a terrible phrase? How expressive. They went back and they're saying, we're walking no more with him. I see it sometimes. I mean, I've been a long time in ministry. And you'll see a person sometimes that has really gone on and it seems fine. And as far as your human understanding is concerned, you know, they seem fine. And then somewhere along the teaching in sanctification, in their hearts, there comes a big no. And that really shows where they are, you know? It shows. And what do I mean by that? They knew it all. They were sincere. But there was no regeneration, you know? No life. And sometimes it takes a long time to discover that. That has been to me the most distressing thing. I'm much more relieved when I know pretty quickly where a person stands. But, you know, you can have a person even in the ministry, or whatever position you like, and there comes a time when he recognizes really what are the expectations of God, and from the very depths of his being is one big NO. And they walked no more with him. Now then, that's the thing. It has to be spiritual life. Then, verse 68, Simon Peter answered him, Lord, we know. Lord, to whom shall we go? What are the alternatives? To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. and listen to the heights of his statement. Thou hast the word of eternal life and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. The context is quite amazing, you see, from murmuring and striving and shouting out in opposition and saying, we have nothing more to do with this man, we're turning away. Then you have Peter saying, what's the alternative? I know, we know, thou art the Christ. the Son of the Living God. So, you cannot doubt that's integrity, that's there. But you might say that's maybe one-off. No, it's not. Not so. And the famous one, Matthew 16 verse 16, when Jesus says, whom do men say that I am? And you remember they said John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah. That is, people talk about you. Of course, some say he was the son of Beelzebub. But they were now talking about, what are the people who are favorable to what we say? Well, they think you're one of the prophets come back. They really think you're somebody special. And then he said, well, what about you? What do you really think about me? And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. But what fascinates me always, I think that's a great statement. Of course, I do. And I know it's great implications in a great Protestant, what we believe in statement. I know that. and evangelical and wonderful statement. But you know, although I'm thrilled with that, what really makes it thrilling is not that verse. It's the verse that supports it and makes it real. Because if that next verse didn't come, those could have been empty words. You know, if that stopped there, it said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. It's all typical of Peter. coming out with this wild statement, he just, you know, he just says what, the first thing that comes to his mind and so on, and he's just pleasing the Lord. No. Blessed art thou. You're a blessed man, Peter. Why? Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. So there's your secret. See, Peter, you said a great thing just now. but you could never have worked it out. And flesh and blood, even your friends, even brilliant friends that have high IQs, you know, none of them could have worked that out. There's only one way that you could have said what you said, that it was revealed to you. Now in the Gospels, we It's the Father that does it, but really, as far as we're concerned, the Father sends the Spirit, doesn't he, to reveal these things to us. It comes back again to that essential work of the Holy Spirit. Essential. Now then, I want to be wise and say it's very difficult when you give an illustration not to draw from your own experience, your own churches. And yet you don't want to kind of say this happens in my church. It's not that. It's a collective experience. So look at it like that. And something that I have come up against. In many situations, shall I say, in the evangelical life that we're living in today. It's a very dangerous time we're living in. I want to do a little more of that this morning and later, God willing. That I have had, over the years, people blame me because their children are not converted. You know? They're not being nasty about it. And they say things like this, if only we did this, What harm is there in it? You know, young people need these things today. Now, I needn't enlarge on that. You can use your own imaginations, all right? And you think, well, maybe they have... It scares you a little because you're the minister and, you know, it stops there, doesn't it? The blame stops there. And you know what you couldn't do. And then they say, they would say, you're preaching above their heads. Others will say, it's too simple. Of course, you know, you get these opposites. What's wrong? They have not understood. The preacher does not save. It has to be an independent, sovereign act of God. What we do, we put them in the setting of hearing the Word of God. you know, and pray for them. One of the most ghastly things that can happen is to force a profession of faith just to satisfy us, and we send them on their way to hell. We do, that's exactly what we do. Now then, I have found in situations, and the situation I'm thinking of now, where the mother, she was having a hard time with her husband, hard time with her children, son rather, She died. Her husband came later to the Lord and so did her son. But she had learned one thing, to trust the sovereignty of God. And we have to learn to do that. If we have unconverted parents or unconverted children, we really have to learn to do that. If you understand regeneration, you have to understand that it is a sovereign act. And it's not by anything, any show we put on, anything that we do. And this is why you get people coming to our city anyway. If you put Christian in front of something, you're OK. Christian conjurer, Christian dinners, Christian this, Christian that, the other. It's a load of rubbish. It really is. It shows to me lack of faith in what God can do. Sometimes we have to go out of this life, but we have presented our children to him and trust his active sovereignty. If we understand what regeneration is, we cannot force the hand of God. But what we can do is we present them to God in prayer. and not try and push them. Now, by that, I don't mean dissuade either, you know? Now, I'm saying that because there's so much on my heart as one of the biggest problems today in trying to get them to conform. And it won't do, you know, because you're still sending them on their way to where you don't want them to go, all right? Now, the contradiction in Peter. Our experience of God does not guarantee we shall not fail the Lord. You might think, I've had people say that, now I'm saved, I won't fail. But we can. And we do. And we can do in all sorts of ways. We can always find pious reasons to cover our tracks. I mean, we're experts at it. You know, we really are. To be illiterate, I mean. when I want somebody to do something. And you ask somebody, and they say, well, yes, I understand the problem. If you can't get anybody else, then come and ask me. You know what I call that? The reformed no. All right? They sound, but it's the reformed no. And when you think of it, the sacrifice of these men, you know? and how they lived for him, totally and absolutely. But there were steps that are his downward path. And I have to look for steps. I'm thinking of a book. Is it the Reginald? In one of the books, it has the steps of disaffection. And I wish I could remember its title. I think it's the Raritual Christian Contentment. But there can be the steps of disaffection. Things don't happen like that. You know, sometimes when I found somebody disaffected to the church and you see them pulling on faces and so on. And I always know that they're on the kind of blink when they don't laugh if I say something funny. You know, honestly it is, well, you know, oh well, that is, it's the beginning. And I could tell you the steps, you know, I'm an expert in all the steps. I could write quite an interesting book to be published after my death. On that kind of thing. But then I think, well, that took me by surprise. Then I stop and think, not really. Not really. There are steps. Peter steps here. In Matthew 26 to 33, he was boastful. Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet I will never be offended. Now, however you look at that, all right, is not nice, all right? When you say like that, you can say in your heart, Lord, by the grace of God, I will endure all the days of my life. But if you say like this, I'm one of those that will always be loyal, you know, it's a dangerous thing to do because you're putting yourself right in front of your Satan, all right? And that kind of thing. He boasted. In Matthew 26 verse 40, he's at ease. In a time of great stress, when the Lord needed him, he sleeps. Remember in the Gaelic Assembly? Could he not watch with me one hour? To be sleepy when he should be alert. Now my text later will explain that to you. You know, we can't afford to be a sleepy you know, evangelical or whatever you want to use today. The word evangelical has got so broad, but using it the way we mean it, we can't afford to be sleepy. He was. In John also he says, do you remember towards the end of John, when those soldiers came for him, came for Jesus, he drew a sword and smote the high priest's servants. Now, what's the thing to do? He had been all those years with the Lord Jesus Christ, and he carries a sword to begin with, and he uses a sword. You see what I'm saying? There's something wrong here. There's something wrong here. Has he really understood all the implications? And then we have evil associations in John 18, towards the end of John again. John 18, verse 18, I think it is. And the servants and officers stood there who had made a fire of coals, for it was cold, and that warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and warmed himself. Why did you go there? you know, to be in wrong company. And I think that's dangerous. There is a warning. When I say, oh, well, I'm strong enough, I'm a strong enough Christian, I won't be affected by what they say. But he went and warmed himself and it would be better if he shivered somewhere else. And then we have Matthew 26, verse 58. But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest's palace, and sat with the servants to see the end. Now, can you imagine now, this man who said that he boasted, didn't he? If anybody should be offended with Eve, what did we know? He's following afar off. Do you see that happening, churches? where they used to be right in the center of things, and they follow afar off. This led to something. In John 18, verse 25, art thou one of his disciples? And he denied it and said, I am not. And to make sure he did it a few times. Well, that takes some doing. Do you think? How low can a Christian think? He could have said, well, I do know him. No, I don't know him. And he does it in a very determined way and repeats it. In Mark 14, verses 70 and 71, he blasphemes. A young maid spoke to him. She's only a girl, and he's a big, big man. And he denied it again, and a little after, stood by and said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them, for thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeth thereto. You've got a northern accent. You know, we know you've got a Galilean accent. But he began, now listen, to curse and to swear. saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak. And the second time the cock crowed, and Peter called to mind the words that Jesus said unto him, that he would have denied him. And he paused. And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter, and he wept bitterly. That's pretty low, don't you think? That's pretty low. If you had said to Peter, you know, you'll deny me. He was upset when Jesus Christ said that. But if Jesus Christ had said to him the things he was going to do and the things that he was going to say, and his attitude, that he wouldn't be by his side, he'd follow far off, he would be with those that opposed him, and that he, a little girl even, would cause him to deny him, and that he would actually curse, blaspheme, and swear like a vulgar man. Yet he sank that low. I'll call that his all-time low. Now, you might say, well, is he worth picking up? Now, I'm insane. I'm going back now. I do not doubt the integrity of his faith. Why? Because of what he said? No. It involved, doubt the Christ, the Son of the living God. It's because of what Jesus said that caused him to say that. Flesh and blood have not revealed that to thee, but my Father. And because Jesus Christ said that, I know that Peter is spiritually alive, that he's regenerate, which has led to conversion eventually. I know that and believe that. And so when I see this, I say, well, this is terrible, but underneath, are the everlasting hours. He will never, never forsake us. Now in his high, the commission of Peter, in the Sea of Galilee, and Peter is there, it's John 21 that I read. And I know this is well-known, but it doesn't matter. It does put the point so, so clearly. Now, I'm not a Greek scholar. I only know the average kind of Greek that most ministers know. And that means I've forgotten most of it. But if I look in a book, I know what it's about and can manage. He said, lovest thou me more than these. And the word in Greek is agape, which divine love, you know, pure spiritual, we call it spiritual love. You know that beautiful hymn, love divine, all loves excelling. Peter, do you love me like that? With that kind of spiritual love, not an impetuous, silly love. Now, but you love me like that, Peter. And he said, well, you know. Thou knowest that I Ah, it's the same mistake as in English and Welsh, and I don't know why they do it, because both English and Welsh have got the alternative words. Thou knowest that I philo. Do you know what philo means? It's friendship. I'm fond of you. I like you. I really do. Thou knowest that I really like you. You know that. Why should you ever doubt that I like you? I'm patient, he says, feed my lungs. And then Jesus Christ said that a second time, lovest thou me, using the word agape. Again, have you got this love divine, this spiritual love? Yea, Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I like thee. And he says, feed my lungs. Then he said to the third son, and this upset Peter. You know, and he's a man that didn't get upset. But Jesus Christ has changed the words. He's very kind and patient. He comes down. Simon said to Jonas, do you, fellow, do you like me? That sounds disappointing, doesn't it? When I saw that first time, I was disappointed. Do you like me? And he was grieved because he said to him a third time, Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I like thee. Feed my sheep. Is that any business, really? When you think of it, what are you going to do with a man like this? He's regenerate, and all he can come up with is, I like thee. But you know, I don't know when it happened. I have no idea. But I know it happened because Peter said so himself. In the Petrine Epistles, he is writing to churches that are suffering incredibly. I mean, suffering beyond the telling, it was a risky thing to be a Christian. And most families probably would have lost somebody. Even children could grab hold of your child on the way home and stone him if they felt like doing so. You know, Christians didn't matter. To murder a Christian was of no consequence. And they were fun to be jived at and mocked and so on. And they're having a tough time. It's during the time of Nero. And Nero is famous. I don't know if he's the cruelest, because reading the history in college of some of the others, I would say it's a pretty close thing with many of them. But Nero is perhaps more outrageous in the obvious things that he did. And we know of them. And I've got a book at home, the writings of the early church, writings that are some kind of gospels. They're not real gospels, and the suffering of people and so on. And they're from the manuscripts, and they're very, very interesting. And you catch a glimpse of what these people went through. They need a letter from Peter. How are you going to write that letter? You know, when there's been a bereavement, it's a particularly sad one, and you want to write a letter, is it tough? You start and you think, oh, that's not good enough, and you throw it away. You start again, start again. I don't think he had to make many starts, because remember how the scriptures are written. He was guided by the Holy Spirit. So nevertheless, it's a tough letter to write. What words would you use? So he points them to their election. He points them to their inheritance, incorruptible. But he says one thing that is so beautiful, You know, I think that is perhaps wonderful. He'd already told Peter, you're going to be martyred. Remember the words he said to him? Now come a time when thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkest whither thou wouldst. Then, he said, when thou art old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldst not. And he knew in his mind that this would be his end as well. So he's writing very seriously. I saw in a shop the other day, a Christian bookshop, and I don't like I do not mean it in an unkind, judgmental way, but if I had the rights and the authority, I would go around every Christian bookshop and take that away. It's the face of Jesus Christ, the laughing Christ. He did not laugh. He was not miserable. You know, there's a solemnity and a seriousness about him. That doesn't mean to say we've got to be miserable. It's not that at all. I believe he was natural. But to have him who set his face towards Jerusalem as giggling and laughing is blasphemous, you know? Not like that. The seriousness of our faith. Now then, he doesn't say like that, cheer up, now it won't be so bad, you know, it hurts for a little while and it's soon over. and just pray that God will have you persecuted by martyrs in a way that's quick and will be remembering you in the prayer meeting, you know, and just kind of cheer up and smile. Would that do? Or a little card, a statue writing a letter, I'm thinking of you. Would that do? He reminds them. Now listen. One Peter wanted, whom having not seen. Do you remember what's next? He loved. And do you know what word is there? Agape. Now somewhere, somewhere from the death and resurrection of Christ, and the resurrection of Christ, somewhere from there, somewhere along the line, Our Lord and Savior has brought this man from liking to loving. We don't know how he did it, but he does it with us. You know, these things are not just de-partmentalized. I get the lots in the package here like that. No. You know, he leads us into things that the love of God should be shed abroad in our hearts. whom have ye not seen ye love, agape love, in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable. and full of glory. Now you might say, when they got that letter, surely that was very, very wonderful. Yes, it was wonderful. It was great that they had a letter like that. That I agree. But the most lovely thing is that he knew that these people had a spiritual love, a love that surpassed everything else, greater than things, greater than possessions, greater than our love for our friends, greater than our love for our loved ones, yes, greater than that, because it is a spiritual dimension. When you have that, you have something else in the bargain. Joy, do you remember the description? Unspeakable. and full of glory. Now we use that kind of word, you say, how lovely was it? Oh, I can't find words to describe it. But we could probably, if it's something just human. But here we might say, how can you describe your experience and the experiences that you're having with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? And you look up and say, it is past telling. I can't. All I can say is, He lifted me. I can say underneath are the everlasting arms that he persevered with me. And when I let him down so badly, yet he never turned his back on me when we are truly his. Let me finish with this hymn. Oh Jesus, full of truth and grace, more full of grace than I have sinned. Yet once again, I seek thy face. Open thine arms and take me in. And freely my backsliding's heel. And love, now notice, the faithless semester. We're often so faithless. This is what I find encouraging. It's not by saying to a person, you're backside and you ought to get your act right. That's not the way. You pray because God knows the way, not you. Thou knowest the way to bring me back. And I know that's true about myself. It's God who knows the way how to deal with me. Thou knowest the way to bring me back, my fallen spirit to restore. Oh, for Thy truth and mercy's sake, forgive and bid me sin no more, the ruins of my soul repair, and make my heart a house of prayer. The stone to flesh again convert, the veil of sin again remove. Sprinkle thy blood upon my heart and melt it by thy dying love. This rebel heart by love subdue and make it soft and make it new. Give me, Lord, the tender heart that trembles at the approach of sin, a godly fear of sin in part implant and rooted deep within, that I may dread thy gracious power and never dare to offend thee more. I shall pray. Our Father, we thank Thee that we can come to Thee, and we thank Thee for another Sabbath day, and may it be a Sabbath well spent, for Thy name's sake. Amen.