Take your Bible if you would, we got two passages of scripture we're gonna look at. In fact, we'll be considering three, but it has to do with the same story. And that's if we'll begin in John chapter 18 and verse 15. John 18 and verse 15 and then we'll look at Matthew chapter 26 and verse 69. John 18 15 and then Matthew 26 69. Have you ever found yourself it seemed like you had been on the inside and then found yourself on the outside looking in. There's a few of those situations in the Bible, and this is one of them. Here's Peter. Peter's right in the middle of everything concerning the Lord Jesus. I mean, he is a faithful follower, and he's in the middle of it. If something's going to be done, then he's going to be right at the head of the line. I mean, he's going to be right there And what we're looking at is concerning the Lord Jesus when he is about to be crucified and he has been taken and we find about Peter, though he thought he would be the one that would stay the closest to the Lord Jesus, he found himself without and looking in. Look, if you will, in John 18 verse 15, and Simon Peter, the disciple, that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest, but Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, brought in Peter. Now, if you're familiar with this incident, it's when they took the Lord Jesus from the garden there after the betrayal kiss of Judas, and they take the Lord Jesus into Caiaphas, his house, and in the interrogation place, which is really down below. If you get to go to Israel, I know the last time I was there, we visited this place, they said it was the remains of the house of Caiaphas, and it was there in the lower, Part of that, that the Lord Jesus was interrogated. Peter had been able to come perhaps through the gate and had gained entrance, but still he is without and he's looking in. And in Matthew's account, chapter 26 and verse 69, it says, now Peter sat without, and you might notice the use of the word out. He sat without in the palace. And the damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid said unto him, and said unto them that were there, this fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. And after a while came unto him, they that stood by and said to Peter, surely thou also art one of them, for thy speech bereath thee. Then began he to curse and to swear saying I know not the man and immediately the cock crew Peter remembered the word of Jesus Which said unto him before the cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice and he went out of and wept bitterly. Luke's account that is given in Luke 22 verse 61 says when Peter denied that third time, there was a vantage point and if you ever get to go and perhaps this fall, if you go with us, we're planning a trip to Israel. And if we go to that place, you can see there, there's a place perhaps where the soldiers were gathered and had a fire where Peter warmed himself. But you could see down into the interrogation hall there in that place where they had Jesus and were abusing him there. And it says when he had denied the third time, it says if in, Verse 61 of Luke 22, and the Lord turned and looked upon Peter and remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, for the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out and wept bitterly. Can't you see this scene? When I read the word of God, I visualize, I see this scene. And I not only think of those characters that are there, but I put myself in that situation. And I think when you read the word of God, don't read it for someone else, you really read it for yourself. And sometimes maybe someone else may come to your mind, but the best person we could put at each scene in the Bible is ourself. And to consider ourself in that situation, Now, unless some of you think that it could never happen to you, Peter didn't think it could ever happen to him. He didn't think that he could ever be on the outside looking in. He always knew that he would be in the middle of it all. But when he denied that third time, Jesus turned and looked at Peter gave him my contact now put yourself in that situation you have that there have been times in your life where you failed the Lord we all have now put yourself there and if you have the Holy Spirit living within you You have that same experience Peter had when the Lord Jesus looked him right in the eyes. Can you imagine how Peter felt? You know how Peter felt. You know how when you have miserably failed the Lord some way, you did something you know that was so un-Christlike that you knew was a reproach upon Jesus. and the Holy Spirit smote you with conviction and it was like Jesus was looking you right in the eye and perhaps that same conviction smote your heart and you felt like he went out and wept bitterly. We've all been there at times. And I want us to think of that. You know, I've been pastoring now for over 40 years And I've seen this happen on many occasions with people. I think of one occasion. In fact, I know of two churches that I've been involved with far as having relatives pastoring that this happened. One was my brother and his very first pastorate, he took a church that had been without a pastor and had some problems and boy, he just went at it and they started winning people to Christ and the church just really began to grow. there was an old crowd that was in that church that really had caused the last split that they'd had and they were there. And he called me and he said, I've got wind, they're gonna vote me out today. And I got someone to preach in my place at my church and I just drove, I drove down to Tennessee and I just said, I'm gonna be with my brother just to be some support. He's gonna get voted out today And so my brother, they had the meeting. They started this, just hit the floor. And boy, there were people just railing accusations and they were saying how they needed to do. Well, they didn't vote him out that morning. And then we drove back home to be at our church that evening. And my brother called me that night. He said, you won't believe what happened. He said, that crowd, he said, they were determined, they were gonna get rid of me, and they stood up. And one started making accusation. Well, then another person, he said, listen, this is what's really going on. And another stood up, and they began to rally there. And pretty soon, those didn't have people standing with them that were making the accusation. They said, well, we're just out of here. And they just walked out. I mean, just went out to the fellowship hall and started emptying the fellowship hall because after all, they owned the church, right? That was theirs. But then they found themselves on the outside. And all the, I mean, they didn't have leadership left, and some of the new converts, they said, well, now, preacher, what do we do? He said, well, we don't have much of a choir left, but if you want to be in the choir, then, and boy, that church just really took off. But here was a group of people, and I thought, at that same scenario, I've witnessed twice, and another relative of mine was pastoring. Same thing happened, exactly that. And here was some people, they found themselves, and at both times they emptied the fellowship hall. But then they were outside. They couldn't vote the pastor out. I mean, they were outside. looking in, and they began to wonder, how could this happen? How could I find myself, once I was in the middle of it all, how can I find myself on the outside looking in? You know, I've seen that happen with people. Sometimes it's with their church. They were in the middle of everything. I mean, serving God, loving God, and then they found themselves outside. I've seen families that way. I mean, good, seemingly strong families had seemingly had everything and was really blessed to the Lord. But then someone, somehow, though they seemingly had a loving family, but something happened and now that home is broken and they're on the outside looking in. Can that happen to you? Can that happen to me? Oh, yes. Not a one of us, that could happen and how sad that is. I think of some men when I was just a young man growing up and being and we've always all my life, we went to some of those great conferences and we were in part of a great church my dad came out of. And some of the men that graced that pulpit, my, you just sat there in amazement, listening to them preach a mighty sermon, and you were in awe of them. But some of those same men wound up in prison. And since I've been in the ministry and God's allowed me to travel the country and be in some major conferences, there are men that I've shared the platform with in major conferences, some that became in prison, and I'm not sure, they may still be in prison, that preached on major platforms that I've been a part of. I think of one man, And he was prominent, I mean he was in all, all of the conferences and the major platforms that I was in, he was there. I considered him a friend. But that man committed suicide. I mean he had problems going on in his life that no one knew about. And now that man is dead. And I've got, in fact, my old Bible, I put down outlines and I write out outlines of preachers when they're preaching and I get the preachers to sign that outline. And my previous old Bible, I've got this man several times. I got his signature right there. Now, I didn't take white out and white out the message because I'm gonna tell you the word of God's true. But I noticed some of the things he was preaching on perhaps was he was struggling with. How could that happen? Could that happen to you? Could that happen to me? It happened to Peter. It happened to all of those men that were closest to the Lord Jesus. And this morning we're sitting here in this auditorium and we're enjoying the music and we're enjoying the spirit of the Lord in this place. And you might think, you know, it will always be this way. But how sad it is, how sad it is that I've seen through the years, not only the men of God that have graced the pulpits of America, faithful men and women of the pew whose lives have just been uprooted and they found themselves on the outside looking in. How, how does this happen? Number one, how could this happen to you? How could this happen to me? Number one, when we look at self, rather than Jesus. Sometimes we get our, you know, we take our focus and we just get focused on ourselves. Luke's account of this incident, we know that prior to Peter denying the Lord Jesus three times, Luke chapter 22 there, verse 31, and the Lord said unto Simon, said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you. Now in verse 24, there was a great strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. They were having, I mean, they were all looking at themselves and comparing themselves among themselves, which Paul said was not wise. But Jesus said, it shall not be so among you. But he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger and he that is chief as he that does serve. And then Jesus said, Peter, Simon, Simon, and by the way, he uses his old carnal name, not the new name that Jesus had given him, because I'm gonna tell you, every one of us, we have this old flesh. You've got it, I've got it. And Paul calls it the old man. And so if Jesus were speaking to you and Jesus were speaking to me, he'd say, now listen, old man, listen, old man, and our old nature, He said Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as sweet But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not and when thou art converted strengthen thy brethren He says Peter you're going to be on the outside looking in Oh Peter said no now Lord he said in verse 33 Lord I am ready to go with thee both into prison and to death and I know me now, Lord. That would never happen to me, but I'm gonna tell you that can happen to any one of us. When we began to look at ourself rather than the Lord Jesus. Now we must, as Peter did not do, we need to listen to what he says. Jesus said, now Peter, your flesh is no match for the devil and the old devil is going to trip you up. The old devil is going to get the best of you, Peter, but Peter wasn't listening. No, all he could think about was how great he was. how important he was, how spiritual he was. Now you be careful when you begin to think you're very spiritual. And when you begin to put yourself up on a spiritual pedestal and you think, man, I'm up here above everybody else now, now we better listen to what the Lord Jesus says. Having no confidence in the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof, that Apostle Paul had said. Not only do we need to listen to what Jesus said, says to you and I, we need to heed. We need to heed the warning. We better take it to heart. That can happen to you. That can happen to me. We must not just be looking at ourself rather than Jesus. Secondly, when we look at others rather than Jesus, Peter said, now Jesus there in Matthew 26, verse 33, Peter answered him and said unto him, though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. And he began to look around on the others. And he began to look at them and he can say, you know, I can see these guys, I can understand. They don't quite measure up to the standard, Lord. Let me say, be careful about judging others and looking at others and finding fault with others and picking at others because they're not quite up to your spiritual standard. You better be careful about doing that. We better keep our eyes on Jesus, looking at Jesus. And so we've got to realize that we must not just be looking at others. It can happen to us. Paul said this, now this Apostle Paul, perhaps the greatest Christian in the New Testament, amazing man Apostle Paul was, but Paul says, I keep under my body and bring it into subjection lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself become a castaway. How could this happen? When we look at self rather than Jesus, when we look at others rather than Jesus, But thirdly, when we do in the flesh what we must do in the spirit. Sometimes we become mechanical. Sometimes we depend, I can do this. And you know, I'm good at this. And we start just really getting to almost, we put ourself in automatic. Well, I'm, you know, and it may be, you know, for instance, teaching Sunday school, you maybe have done that for years and years and years. You may be a preacher and you've stood behind the pulpit years and years and years. And I can say by experience, it's very easy to become mechanical. I mean, just preach a message and you can get the, be very professional at this. And I understand that. But I'm gonna tell you, I can't depend upon my physical abilities. And I can't depend upon me. Every time I step up to this pulpit, I need the Holy Spirit of God. I need him to feel me and speak the word of God through me. I need him. And I can't depend upon myself and it's so easy. It's easy to be, you're a singer or a musician and you've got that skill and you have that ability and that's easy. Really just to begin rely upon the flesh. But Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 14, what is it then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the understanding also. That's another way. Sometimes we just pray because, hey, I can pray. I can do this. And it becomes a formality even in our praying. But Paul said, I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the understanding also. But the next part of that verse is, I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the understanding also. If hearts are going to be blessed, oh, I know we can move people perhaps. move them their old flesh and their old nature, but you won't touch their heart with a song that you're gonna sing, you've gotta have the Holy Spirit do that. But I need that, you need that. It doesn't matter in your service to God and what you do for God, you can't just do it because you can do it. You need the Holy Spirit of God to help you and to feel you and whatever it may be, any service that we have for God. The disciples, they were saying, now, Lord, Jesus said, now, there's going to be trouble. I'm going to be taken and I'm going to be killed. But they said, no, forbid it, Lord, we're here. Don't you even have a worry now, Lord Jesus, we're here to take care of you. When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto the Lord, Lord, shall we smite with the sword? The Lord Jesus was trying to tell them what was going on. He said, and there's a passage there that the Lord Jesus said, if you don't have a sword, you better get one. Now, that often puzzled me. Now, why did the Lord Jesus tell them that they needed a sword? Because if you're dependent on your flesh, you better get all the ammo you can get. I mean, if you're depending on, well, you're gonna take care of everything and you do it in your flesh, then you're gonna have to have every weapon you can get. I mean, if it's up to the flesh. And you know what they said? We got two swords. You know what Jesus said? It is enough. Because if you're gonna be dependent on the flesh, I don't care how many swords you've got. It's enough to fail. Here's Peter, and he's got one of them. Shall we smite, Lord, shall we smite? And before he got an answer, he cut the guy's ear off. Jesus picked it up and put it back on. So that wasn't the answer, was it? It's so easy to depend on our flesh. And Peter thought, he thought he was going to gain the victory there. But it's not long, he's on the outside looking in. and he's weeping bitterly on the outside. There's absolute failure. Listen, we cannot depend upon our flesh, having no confidence in the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. You're gonna serve God, you need the Holy Spirit's help. But they began to do in the flesh what we must do in the spirit. The fourth thing, What happens when we're on the outside looking in when we begin to follow afar off? Verse 58 of Matthew 26, but Peter followed him afar off under the high priest's palace. How close are you to Jesus this morning? Has it been a while since you had fellowship with the Lord Jesus. I mean, you just open up His word and listen to Him, speak to your heart. And you were close enough that you could talk to Him and He with you, having fellowship with Him. But you know what's gonna happen to you if you're at a guilty distance from God and you're following afar off and you're getting farther and farther behind? I'm gonna tell you it won't be long, you're gonna be on the outside looking in. What is your fellowship with the Lord Jesus? Are you walking in the light as he is in the light? Do you have fellowship one with another? John said if you'll do that, if you'll walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another in the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanses from all sin. He'll keep you clean, he'll keep you close. But if you're beginning to walk, get distance. I mean, you're hit and miss and you're Bible reading. Your prayer life is not what it should be. Your attendance in church is just kind of in and out, not very faithful. you'll find yourself on the outside looking in, pastoring as long as I have. I've seen people that were so faithful, I mean, never missed a service. They were there Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, anything going on at church, they were there, they were a part of it. And boy, they were just so close, but you began to see them missing every now and then and moving farther and farther and farther and farther away. Pretty soon they were out, out of church. And then pretty soon they'll get a phone call, something's happened. Preacher, could you come? My family is in trouble. We're having this kind of trouble or my child is now really breaking our hearts. And on and on it could go. What happens when, how does it happen when we're on the outside looking in? The fifth thing, when we began to have fellowship with the world, You know so many Christians, they have far more fellowship with the world than they do with the Lord Jesus. Here's Peter, here's this scene in Luke 22, 55. And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall and were set down together, Peter sat down among them. Peter sat down among them, he's in the middle. He's warming himself by the old devil's fire. And he's wanting to fit in, he's wanting to be part of it. And I'm gonna tell you, Christian, if you begin to have more fellowship with this old world than you do with the Lord, you have more time for your social media, and you'll sit there and engage in that for hours on end, and you'll find so little time to fellowship with the Lord in the word of God. So little time in prayer. You have fellowship with the world and your entertainment and your activities and the places you go and all of that and less and less time with the Lord. You'll find yourself on the outside looking in. And then the sixth thing I see is when we begin to fear the world. We're so afraid of offending are not being accepted by the world. Here's Peter, now he's fellowshiped long enough, he wants to be a part of this crowd. Oh, you're one of them. Oh, no, not me. How could you mistake me for one of them? And listen, by the way, Christian, you don't fit in with this old world. You don't fit in. That's not who you are. You try to be like the world, look like the world, act like the world, talk like the world, And you won't fit in and you can't enjoy doing it. Peter's so miserable at this, but he's afraid. He's afraid of the world. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. But here's Peter, he finds himself on the outside looking in. Last of all, how did this happen? When we deny Christ. Do, oh, you're one of, oh, no, I'm not. And we can deny Christ so many ways when we don't look like a Christian, when we don't talk like a Christian. It's so easy, and I've seen it happen. I remember at the workplace, I was in, my boss went to church with me, and he struggled with that, and he would let, Bad words fly and he would let tell a dirty joke. And I can remember fellas coming up and they call me preacher. I said, but don't he go to church with you? Doesn't he go to church with you? Let me say that you can deny Christ. You don't have to just say, no, no, I'm not a Christian, but our life will say it. Most saddest thing to me is when someone that once was on the inside, just a part of it all, they found themselves outside looking in. It's so sad when a family, that happens to a family, a husband, a wife, father or mother, a son that's just gotten so far away and now they're no longer in the middle of it all. I've had it said to me time and time again, how? How did this happen to me? How did this happen to me? Well, it happens when we look at ourself rather than Jesus, when we look at others rather than Jesus, when we do in the flesh what we must do in the spirit, when we follow afar off when we fellowship with the world, when we fear the world, when we deny Christ. Don't say, oh nay, Lord, not me. No, not me. I will never deny you. I'll die, I'll go to my death, and I'll never forsake you. Well, it happened to Peter, and it could happen to me. It could happen to you. And oh, I fear that. I look at these preachers that I've been on the platform with that I so highly respected, and I thought they were really close friends, and what happened to them? I realize I've got the same flesh and bone that they have, and I need the Spirit of God to help me, and I need to keep my eyes on Jesus, amen, and so do you. Don't get to the place where you're on the outside looking in. Let's bow our heads.