Hear now the word of God, Mark chapter 14, reading from verse 53. And they led Jesus away to the high priest, and with him were assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes. But Peter followed him at a distance right into the courtyard of the high priest, and he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but found none. For many bore false witness against him, but their testimonies did not agree. Then some rose up and bore false witness against him, saying, We heard him say, I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands. But not even then did their testimony agree. And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, Do you answer nothing? What is it these men testify against you? But he kept silent and answered nothing. Again, the high priest asked him, saying to him, Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? Jesus said, I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming with the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, What further need do we have of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think? And they all condemned him to be deserving of death. Then some began to spit on him, and to blindfold him, and to beat him, and to say to him, Prophesy. And the officers struck him with the palms of their hands. Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came. And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, You also were with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied it, saying, I neither know nor understand what you are saying. And he went out on the porch, and a rooster crowed. And a servant girl saw him again, and began to say to those who stood by, This is one of them. But he denied it again. And a little later, those who stood by said to Peter again, Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean, and your speech shows it. Then he began to curse and swear, I do not know this man of whom you speak, The second time, the rooster crowed. Then Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him. Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. And when he thought about it, he wept." This is the word of God. Before we come to today's sermon, let us bow our hearts in prayer. Let us pray. Our Lord God in heaven, O Lord, we come before you. As we come to study your word, we pray, O Lord, that you would help us to have eyes to see and ears to hear, to have understanding of your truths. And we ask, O Lord, that you would help us that the word of God would speak to our hearts. We cry out to you, O God, that you would give us the understanding of scriptures. And we pray as well that you would be with both hearer and preacher alike, that we will be able to honor you on this Lord's Day morning, that you would use us as vessels of yours. O Lord, hear our cry and be with us, for we pray all these in Jesus' name, amen. Mark's Gospel, chapter 14, verses 53 to 72. This is the passage that we're going to be considering today. We come to this message, frail men against the Holy Lord. We are covering a longer passage today because I think it is important that we capture the contrast in this passage. We have been working through the Gospel of Mark verse by verse, week by week, and today we come to this passage that is really fascinating. I was struggling as I was preparing this message as far as how much should I cover. But this is a really fascinating passage because it uses a literary style called a sandwich method, where there are actually two events that are happening in parallel. It is like there is a story within a story. It is as though you have a camera, a camera that is zooming in on one event. And then after that, the camera switches to a different view, and then it goes on to a different event. And then after that event, it then comes back to the same event again. So it is as though there is this camera that is switching scenes, and if we were to lose sight of that overall picture, we may lose some of the richness of this passage here. And you will see in the first event, from verses 53 and 54, Mark begins by talking about Peter. Peter is warming himself outside the building where Jesus is being tried. Then the camera switches in verses 55 to 65, where the narrative now focuses on Jesus being put on trial. And then after that, the camera switches back from verse 66 to 72. The camera switches back to the first event where Peter is again warming himself with the guards. And he ends up denying Jesus for three times. On one hand, we see Jesus Christ standing before the Sanhedrin, falsely accused, being mocked, being condemned, being beaten. And then on the other hand, we see Peter standing in the courtyard, being questioned by the servant girl, by the bystanders. And three times he denied knowing his master. Mark wants us to see these two trials happening together, not apart from each other. One is the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, his faithful testimony that led him all the way to death, and the other is the fearful denial of Peter to save his life. The contrast here is so sharp, and we are going to dive into this passage to look at the contrast between these two. Herein lies the wonder of the gospel. whereby the faithfulness of Christ is precisely what secures grace for failing sinners like us. But before we dive into this passage, we need to understand the context. We need to understand what is happening around here. We need to remember, right before this, what happened. Jesus was arrested. He was betrayed. The whole book of Mark that we have been going through week by week, verse by verse, is a historical account of the life of Jesus Christ. We have been following the life of Jesus Christ every single week, verse by verse. We have seen Jesus perform miracle after miracle. He has been teaching the people that He is the Messiah. He is the one that has been prophesied from the Old Testament. We have seen Jesus doing all kinds of miracles, such as raising the dead, casting out demons, healing the sick. And He was the one that John the Baptist pointed to, saying, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. This is the Jesus Christ that we have been following. We have been following His whole ministry here on this earth. And now, We are at the point at which Jesus Christ is just hours away from his death. Earlier on that day, Jesus had foretold that Peter would deny him three times before the cock crowed twice. Look at verse 30 of the same chapter. Jesus said to him, Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. And what was Peter's response? And what were the disciples' response? In verse 31 we read, But he spoke vehemently, If I have to die with you, I will not deny you. And they all said likewise. All the disciples agreed, we will not deny you, Lord. We will be with you all the way to the end. And in our last sermon, we considered how the Lord Jesus Christ was praying in agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was then betrayed by one of his disciples, Judas, with a kiss, the kiss of betrayal. And then he was then arrested in the middle of the night. Now the events that take place here in this passage all happen in the middle of the night. So we see here the first point, the wickedness against the Lord. Verse 53 tells us that Jesus was led to the high priests, and all the chief priests and elders and scribes were assembled. This group of people here are also known as the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin is basically the ruling council of the Jewish people. It consisted of about 70 plus people. They were the ruling body. They were the religious ruling body. You remember, at that time, they were under Roman rule. The Romans were the ones who were the ruling government, but the Jews among themselves, they have their own government, and they were the religious leaders. It was this Council of Sanhedrin. This was the council that should have been upholding God's law, but instead, it became the very place where God himself, the lawgiver himself, was condemned and crucified. Remember when Jesus was arrested? Prior to this, we considered when Jesus was arrested, all the disciples fled. Everyone forsook him. Nobody was there with him. He was all by himself as he was being dragged to trial. But we are told in verse 54 that Peter, Peter, he gathered enough courage to follow Jesus at a distance. He followed the Lord Jesus all the way into the courtyard of the high priest where Jesus is being put on trial. And all this is happening in the middle of the night. Why is this so important? In the middle of the night, because in Jewish law, In Jewish traditional law, all trials must be held during the day. And not just during the day, it also cannot be held during the holy days of the Passover week. This is the Passover week, and this is in the middle of the night. You see here, this is a trial of the kangaroo court. They are basically going against all of their own laws. This trial by the Sanhedrin happening in the middle of the night is completely unwarranted. Their hearts were so wicked that they had to try Jesus in the middle of the night. These men had the audacity to put the Holy Lord on trial in the middle of the night. And we see here the frailty of man being pitched against the Holy Lord. These men were so afraid of Jesus that they wanted Him dead. Why were they afraid of Jesus? Jesus was becoming so popular. He was performing miracle after miracle. His teachings were so profound that it threatened the Sanhedrin. It threatened their power. So by hook or by crook, they had to get rid of Him. Look back at verse 1 of chapter 14. What does it say? It says, But they said, not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people. They wanted Jesus dead. They had already set up their mind knowing that we need to get rid of this guy. He's threatening us. They wanted God incarnate dead, out of the way. So what did they do? They put Jesus on trial in the middle of the night, when most people will be sleeping. And then in verse 55, we are told, the council sought testimony to put Jesus to death, but they found none. They could not find a single sin that was committed by Jesus Christ. Imagine if you were there, watching this whole kangaroo court playing out. Caiaphas, the high priest at that time, he must be so frustrated. You can imagine him sitting there, and there are all these witnesses that are being brought forth to testify against Jesus Christ. And this high priest must be listening, and he's getting frustrated because how is it that not a single person can say something bad about him? How is it that he hasn't even done a single sin? How is it that we can't even find a single lie that he has told? So what did he do? What did he resort to? Oh, let's just trump up charges against him. Let's just come up with different types of charges so that we can actually accuse him. It doesn't need to be real. So let's come get some people in. Get a bunch of people to lie on the stand. but they had to make it as legitimate as possible. In their own Jewish law itself, it specifies in Deuteronomy chapter 19, Deuteronomy 19 verse 15, it says, This is the Jewish law. This is from Deuteronomy 19. This is from their own Torah. They needed at least two witnesses. So even though they brought a whole army of people to lie and testify against God, in verse 56 we are told, many bore false witness against him, but their testimonies did not agree. Even among those that they actually brought in to try to lie and trump up charges against Jesus Christ, their own testimony was not even corroborating each other. This is not justice. This was just a show trial that they were putting on. What is one of the accusations here? Jesus Christ was actually accused that he would destroy the temple with hands and within three days will build another without hands. You see that in verse 58. But here's the irony of the true temple. Although the accusation was false because they were all accusing Jesus of evil motives, but Jesus did indeed actually say that. In John chapter 2, it's recorded for us that Jesus did actually say that. Jesus had just cleansed the tables in the temple. He had just flipped the tables. He had just drove all of the money changers out. He had just turned the tables and chased all the market people, all the people selling and buying things out. In John 2, John 2 verse 18, the Jews said to Him, What sign do you show to us since you do these things? They were basically asking, Jesus, what authority do you have for your actions? What is your authority based on? Who gave you the right to drive us out? Who put you above us all? The Sanhedrin allowed us to do this. Who are you to chase us out? Show us a sign where your authority came from. And then Jesus answered in verse 19 of John chapter 2, and said to them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then the Jews said, It had taken us forty-six years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days? But he was speaking of the temple of his body. So when this false witness came up to accuse Jesus of saying that, it is actually true. He did say that. But what they did not understand was Jesus was saying of something that was spiritual and not physical. Even though the accusation itself is true, Jesus did say those words, but it was false. because it was not done with evil intent. He was not trying to destroy the physical temple. In fact, he did not destroy the physical temple. Even though this accusation was actually false, it was in the death of Christ that the accusation turned out to be true. In the death of Jesus Christ, Christ destroyed the necessity of a physical temple. There was no longer a need for his physical temple after he was crucified. And then in his resurrection, Jesus builds a temple that is not made by hands. It is through his life, through his death, his resurrection, his ascension into heaven, that Jesus builds another temple that is not made by human hands. And what is that temple, my friends? What is that temple that is not made by hands? Ephesians 2 tells us that. It is you and I. It is the church. The church is that new temple that Jesus has established. Let me read it to you. If you can, turn with me to Ephesians chapter two. Ephesians chapter two, verse 19 to 22. Ephesians 2, verse 19, it says, Now therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Friends, do you see that we are the temple? We are the temple that is not built by hands. It is through the destruction of Jesus Christ's body and it is through his resurrection that he now builds another temple, the Church of Jesus Christ. The Church with Jesus Christ himself being that chief cornerstone. My friends, do you see the beauty in this? It is through his death that the temple, the physical temple was abolished. There was no longer the need to have a physical temple. In the Old Testament, you had to come to the temple to offer up your sacrifices. Why was that needed? It was because they had to show that some animal had to lay down its life for their sins. That is the sin sacrifice, that is the sin offering. What was that representing? It was representing Jesus Christ, who will one day be that perfect sacrifice. that perfect sacrifice who will lay down his life willingly for the atonement of the sins of his people. And because Jesus Christ has laid down his life, he has died, and he has now resurrected and ascended to the right hand of God, that we no longer need to offer up physical sacrifices, animal sacrifices, because Jesus Christ has fulfilled it all. We now have the privilege of looking back and seeing how Jesus Christ has built his church. We are the temple. The universal church makes up the true temple of God. There's no longer a need for a physical building, but the people of God, gathered together, make up that temple of Jesus Christ, with Christ as the chief cornerstone. Are we like the Jews of those days? where they were putting Jesus on trial. What about us here today? Are we putting Jesus on trial? How often it is that we hear people say, prove to me that Jesus is God. Prove to me that there is actually a true God. Give me a sign. If God is real, why doesn't he show himself? Why doesn't he give us a sign? Oh, friends, our hearts right now, here today, are just as evil as the Jews of those days. Romans 3 reminds us, there is none righteous, no, not one. All of us are sinful because Adam and Eve, the representative head of the human race, fell into sin, and we now are all sinners. There is nothing good in us. However much we try to do good, we will never be able to be perfect. And if we are not perfect, how can the perfect and holy God accept us? He cannot accept us. If he were to accept one of us who is sinful, he no longer becomes perfect and holy. So how can a perfect and holy God accept sinners like us? It is only because He sent His only begotten Son to this world to live a perfect life that we failed to live. To die on the cross that we were supposed to die for. and His righteousness can be counted as ours. It's as though our sin has been cast upon Him on the cross, and His righteousness is now imputed unto us, and therefore we can come before God, standing before Him, calling out to Him as Father, because He has now adopted us as children of His. No longer is He a God that is ready to pour forth His wrath on us, but it is now a loving Father who brings us close to Him He is the one that says, come to me, you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. That is the God that we have. He is the loving God, and we are only able to accomplish that relationship with God through Jesus Christ's death on the cross. If not for Christ's death on the cross, we will stand damned into eternal hell. So the whole time, these false accusations were being levied against Jesus. What did Jesus do? Jesus kept silent. He didn't say anything. He didn't need to defend himself. The testimonies of these false witnesses themselves were not corroborating. So what happened? Caiaphas, the high priest, he must have been so frustrated at this point. First of all, he couldn't get anyone to accuse him of any sin. Now he couldn't even get the false witnesses to corroborate their stories. So what does he do? He then asked Jesus, do you answer nothing? What is it that these men testify against you? But Jesus kept silent and answered nothing. Then in verse 61, The high priest questioned, are you Christ, the Son of the Blessed? The Jews at that time, even up until today actually, they do not call God by His name. They do not call God by Yahweh, the name of the Blessed One. They actually call Him in reverence, they call Him the Son of the Blessed. Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? Are you God? That's what you're asking. Are you the promised Messiah that is being testified in the Old Testament? The high priest basically puts it bluntly to Jesus Christ. At first, Jesus had been silent. He would not dignify the lies of those false witnesses. But now, when asked directly about his identity and his mission, he cannot be silent. Verse 62, Jesus says, I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming with the clouds of heaven. You ask me if I am the Messiah. You ask me if I am the Son of the Blessed. Jesus, in as simple a response as humanly possible, says, I am. I am the Messiah. I am the Son of the Blessed. My friends, take note of this. Why? Because Muslims and many other people today will say, Jesus is a prophet. Nowhere in the Bible does Jesus say that he is God. Show them this passage. Show them this passage. He is as in the plainest terms possible. Are you the Messiah? Are you Christ? Are you the Son of the Blessed? And he answered without qualification, I am. I am the Messiah. I am the Son of the Blessed. And the Jews knew exactly what he was talking about. And they said, blasphemy! They were ready to kill him for blasphemy. How can you, a mere man, call yourself God? They knew exactly what he meant. when he said, I am the son of the blessed. Jesus then emphasizes this point by saying, you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming with the clouds of heaven. In this statement alone, Jesus combined two different passages. Two passages that is well known to the Sanhedrin. They were the ones who are supposed to be experts of the Old Testament. So Jesus, when he says this, they knew exactly which passage he was quoting. Jesus combines Psalm 110 verse 1. We just read that earlier. In Psalm 110 verse 1, it speaks of the Messiah sitting at the right hand of power and the majesty on high. And then in Daniel, Daniel chapter 7 verse 13, it speaks of the Son of Man who receives a kingdom and who is an expression of that kingdom is seen by Daniel as coming in the clouds of heaven. Jesus is saying that He is the Messiah. He is the Son of God. And He will be the judge on the last day. He is that Son of Man in Daniel's vision. He is that one to whom an everlasting kingdom is given, a kingdom that shall break all other kingdoms, a kingdom that shall not end. And Jesus is the one before whom all nations shall be gathered in the last day. Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed. That is what Jesus Christ is affirming here. And upon the confession of Christ that He is the Messiah, we then see the condemnation of the righteous one. In verse 64, the high priest then tears his garments, crying out, blasphemy! All of them condemned Jesus to death and began physically abusing Him. You see that in verse 65, some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him, and to say to Him, prophesy! And the officers struck him with their palms and their hands. They blindfolded the holy son of God. They blindfolded him and beat him, and said to him, exercise your prophecy, your gift of prophecy. You are, after all, the Messiah. You are the one who is greater than Moses. You are the one who is able to come down from heaven. Prophesy! Tell us! Who is it that just smacks you in the face? Their hatred for Jesus was so much that it was on full display. But what did Jesus do? He remained calm. He remained collected the whole time. He was in control of all things, even over the evil deeds of man. And it is as though this physical abuse was part of his plan, and it is indeed fulfilling scripture. In Isaiah chapter 50 verse 6, This passage here exactly fulfills Isaiah 50, verse six, where it says, I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who plucked out the beard. I did not hide my face from shame and spitting. My friends, Jesus is fulfilling scripture even during this time of his physical abuse. He is the perfect one who is in control of all things. He is the one who made the heavens and the earth. Here stands the perfectly righteous one, condemned as if he is the worst of sinners. Oh friends, Jesus Christ is the one who knew no sin but became sin for us so that we might become the righteous of God in Him. It is in Him that we are righteous. It is in Him that our sins are forgiven. All our sins need to be paid for. We cannot pay for our own sins. Try paying for your own sins. If you were to be arrested for speeding and the police were to put you in prison, Can you say, oh, from now on, I'm never going to speed again. I'm going to be the best driver from here on after. Will it be fair for the police to just say, OK, you're free to go? No, you still have to pay for your sins. You either have to pay a fine, you have to pay a bond, or you have to serve time, whatever it is. So if we have sinned against the Almighty God, Can God say, oh, you're forgiven, you're done, you're going to be a good person from here on after? First of all, you'll never be a perfect person, but second of all, your sins still need to be paid for. How do your sins be paid for? Jesus Christ died to pay for those sins. All the sins that you and I have committed, the lies that we have told, the theft that we have done, all the evil things that we have done, is now cast upon Jesus Christ and he paid it all. The camera now shifts again. It shifts back to Peter. The camera is now shifting back to Peter, where Peter is now on trial. While Jesus is inside there being tried by the Sanhedrin, Peter was beneath in the courtyard, standing, of course, in the posture that was described in verse 54. Remember, the camera was in verse 54, and then it shifted to Jesus, and now it shifts back to Peter. Peter is warming his hands by the fire. It's probably cold. It's in the middle of the night, after all. His trial is not before judges and priests, but instead Peter's trial is before a servant girl. In verse 67, when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, You also were with Jesus of Nazareth. This servant girl of the high priest identifies Peter as one of those who was with Jesus. Then she makes this assertion, you are one of them. And how did Peter respond? Without hesitation, almost like a reflex response. In self-defense, he then denies saying, I neither know nor understand what you are saying. After this first denial, Peter then went out to the porch, probably trying to get away from this servant girl. Peter retreated to the courtyard. And it is precisely at that time, the scripture tells us, the rooster crowed. This is one of the early crowing of the roosters. And it is very significant because Jesus had told Peter before that the rooster, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. And just a few hours earlier, just a few hours before this event or this incident, Peter had even said, even if I must die with you, I will not deny you. But yet here, being confronted by a girl, by a little girl servant, a servant girl of the high priest, Peter crumbles. Proverbs 29-25 says, the fear of man brings a snare. This is the fear of man. Even bold Peter, the Apostle Peter, the bold Apostle Peter, is being revealed as weak when his confidence is rest in himself. He was trusting in his own ability. I will not deny you, Lord. I know myself better than you do. But he crumbles in this instance. Then in verse 69, we have the denial of Peter for the second time. Verse 69, Mark here records that this maidservant saw him again What does that mean? Maybe she saw him at a distance? Or maybe perhaps Peter, he went to the courtyard and he walked away from the fire and now he's feeling cold and he had to come back. We don't know. But the maid sees him again. His servant girl sees him again. And even though Peter had said previously, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know this Nazarene, this girl is not convinced. And according to parallel accounts in Matthew and Luke, there was this buzz among the people there. Because both Matthew and Luke record that there was another maidservant who makes a similar observation and begins to spread the word. And we are told there in verse 70, Peter denied it again. He denies it again. And a little later, those who stood by said to Peter again, surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean, and your speech shows it. We are told, after a little while again, they said to Peter with conviction, you are one of them. You are a Galilean. They were not impressed by his first and second denial. They said, as a matter of fact, you are one of them, for you are a Galilean. How did they know he was a Galilean? Well, we are told in Matthew chapter 26, as well as over here in this passage here, that it was his accent. It was his accent that betrayed him. I'm sure many of us here can actually tell if someone from Louisiana visits us and starts speaking, you can tell right away that this person is not from here. He's from the South. We may not know where this person is exactly from, but he's certainly not from here. And similarly, even here today, for us, we can tell who's a native Bostonian and who's not. Just from our accents, we know that. And here is the case for Peter. The more Peter talks, the less credible he becomes. His speech is betraying him. They knew that he was a Galilean from his accent. And then as the situation becomes more tense, Peter knows that he's in trouble. He is desperate. And then the text tells us that this third denial reaches the depths of what the departure of the Lord can be. He began to curse and swear, I do not know this man of whom you speak. You see how Peter detaches himself? It's no longer my Lord and my Savior. It's no longer rabbi, no longer my teacher, no longer my master. But this man, I do not know this man. He even pronounced curses from God upon himself. If I would be not telling the truth, God curse me. I do not know this man, he's saying. He's denying that he has ever had any knowledge of Jesus Christ. Then in verse 72, a second time, the rooster crowed. Then Peter, the words that Jesus had said to him before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. And when he thought about it, he wept. Oh, imagine the grief and the pain that Peter must have felt. And not just that, it's recorded here. It's recorded and immortalized in all the different gospels. In Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, it all talks about how Peter had denied Jesus Christ three times. Imagine the embarrassment and the pain and the grief that Peter must have felt every single time this story is being recounted of his own denial. But you see, the mark of a true believer is that he is honest about his own sin. This is the beginning of repentance, not despair. It is not sorrow. In fact, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 7 verse 10, godly sorrow produces repentance that leads to salvation without regret. Peter's tears here are not the end. but instead it is the beginning. It is the beginning of restoration. We know that Peter was restored because we are told in John 21 later on when the risen Christ returns and appears before the disciples, he asked Peter three times, do you love me? And Peter responded saying, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. And Jesus said, feed my sheep. We have seen here now The two trials of Jesus and of Peter. What a stark contrast. Jesus was falsely accused. We see that in verse 56. Peter is truthfully accused in verse 67. Jesus is accused of blasphemy after telling the truth. We see that in verse 64, while Peter curses while telling a lie. And we see that in verse 71. You see that stark contrast. Jesus reveals his identity in verse 61 and 62, but Peter conceals his identity in verse 67, 70, and 71. Three times he conceals it. Jesus bravely answers the most powerful man in Israel. the high priest revealing his identity as the Son of Man, the Son of the Blessed, the Messiah. Peter, on the other hand, is afraid of confessing that he is a follower of Jesus to a little teenage servant girl of the high priest. You see this contrast between Peter and Jesus. Peter is sitting by the fire warming himself in the courtyard. The guards were there and he was with the servants and he was basically sitting in the comfort of the warm fire. Whereas Jesus is being physically abused, being beaten and being told to prophesy. the lying Peter gets away free without harm, while Jesus, who spoke the truth, is bound and tortured and eventually crucified on the cross. That's your brave master in comparison to the feeble, weak, cowardly Peter. Do you see the irony here? Do you see the contrast? But my friends, This passage here, giving us this denial of Peter in great detail, it also shows Peter's brokenness and repentance. This passage shows us that grace and mercy of Jesus to his disciples is true, even though they fall into shameful sin. God is wanting us here to know that the most glorious truth of the gospel is that those whom Jesus Christ loves, he will never be cast out of that wrath. If Jesus has bought you with his blood, you will never be snatched out of his hand. No matter how tragically and shamefully you fall into any specific sin, the Lord Jesus has promised that he will never leave you nor forsake you. Though we may fall into sin, though we may be unfaithful to him, his faithfulness to us will never waver. Jesus is letting Peter know that his denial is not one that will cast him into eternal hell of judgment. In fact, Peter had heard Jesus say throughout his whole ministry, But there is a difference here between the denial of impenitence and the temporary denial of the weak and flattering true disciple. Peter, oh Peter, Imagine if you were there, you have heard the teaching of Jesus Christ. You have even said, oh, all these things that Christ has prophesied, and yet you trusted yourself more than what Christ had actually said. Oh, Peter, Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you, Jesus said. I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail, and when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren. You have fallen so badly, Peter, but in my grace, in my mercy, it is more than sufficient for you to restore your faith, to restore your confession towards me. And could it be that there are people here who are like Peter this morning? Could it be that you have fallen so tragically and shamefully in some areas of grievous sin that it's burdening you? That hour that you may have been spending on your phone in the quietness of your own room, But in the deep conscience of your heart, you know that you have sinned against the Holy God. There may be no man seeing what you have done, but you know you have sinned against the Holy God. Oh, my dear brothers and sisters, I may have biblical grounds to believe that you are truly a child of God. The great work of the devil is to keep you and your head down as much as possible. Even when Jesus was beaten and spat on, he passes by and he looks upon you and he says, I do not disown you. I don't approve of your sin. I do not look lightly upon your sin. But the blood that I shed, I am the one who is going to cleanse you of all your sins if you repent and believe. Oh friends, are we like Peter? Are we coming before the Lord in repentance? Are we struggling with our own sin in the quietness of our heart? Another application we can draw from this passage is the warning against self-confidence. There is a frightening potential for sin in the heart of every believer. Peter, one of the apostles, fell because he trusted in himself. Peter, who himself confessed to Jesus that you are the Christ, you are the Son of the living God. But in this instant, he turns his back and denies Jesus. I swear by heaven, he even says. I swear and I call upon God to curse me with fire that if I'm not telling the truth, how can this be of Peter? My friends, that is the potential of our human heart. That is the potential of our sinful nature. The moment that God withholds His grace, every single one of us has the potential to sin against God. Do you not have those sins that you're struggling with? That spirit of jealousy that may be in your heart because you are maybe not making as much money as that other person, or you may be not as well-off, you may not be blessed with as many children. If the grace of God does not hedge you from this power of sin, you could end up killing your own brother. You could end up turning your back against your loved ones. You could turn your back against Christ, your master. And if you, like Peter, say, no, not me. I will not do that. I will not deny you, God. Oh, you want God to make an example of you? You want God to let your wretched, carnal self-confidence take over? Then go ahead, try to put God to test. Oh, Peter thought, I will never deny you, but he forgot the weakness of his own flesh. And my friends, we too are tempted every day to rely on our own strength. We too are tempted to think that it is due to our own capabilities, our own abilities that we are who we are. Oh, friends, do you not see that all that you have is a blessing from God? It is not because you earned it or deserve it, but it is because God in his goodness has showed forth his grace and mercy towards you. And it's only when you recognize how sinful a creature you are, you would swell up in joy saying, thank you, God, for having mercy upon me, an undeserving sinner. Jesus warns us, the spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak. We must watch and pray and lean wholly on the grace of God. And finally, we see here the sin left unchecked escalates. The sin left unchecked escalates. Small temptations Just tiny little temptations, if it is not resisted, can grow into big sins. Great sin is always precipitated by small temptations. Peter's denial of Jesus began with a simple, seemingly minor accusation of his servant girl. Just a small provocation that led to this significant spiritual failure. This simple remark from this servant girl of the high priest was enough to overthrow the faith of an eminent apostle like Peter, and make him to begin to deny his former master. And you remember at the beginning in Genesis 3, remember how the serpent tempted Eve? The serpent asked a simple question, did God really say that? Did God really say, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden? It was that simple question that was the downfall of the entire human race. Oh friends, we have to resist temptation when it shows up at our doorstep. Not with our own grit, but by calling upon God Almighty that through His Spirit, He will work in our hearts to resist the temptation of the devil. Great sin is always precipitated by a small temptation. Do you see why Jesus tells us in verse 38? Verse 38 of chapter 14. Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. Jesus had said in the previous chapter, Though the heaven and earth pass by, my word shall never pass away. Peter had learned this the hard way, that Jesus said, whatever it is of the future will come true. My friends, the same is for us here today. Jesus has said that he is coming back. He will come back to judge the world. And if he finds you not bound to him in faith, not in love and obedience to him, he will summon you before his throne and he will cast you into everlasting fire. Oh friends, are you aware of the weeping and gnashing of teeth in the hell that we are not here yet? The hell that is awaiting us if we don't repent and have faith in Jesus Christ. You say, never, never, I'm a good person. Oh, God would never do that to me. I don't steal. I don't lie. I'm better than that other person. Oh, my friends, Christ's words will be fulfilled. Many on the last day will call out to him, God, God, have we not cast out demons in your name? Have we not done this or done that in your name? And what would Christ say? Depart from me, for I never knew you, you workers of lawlessness. And to my unconverted friends, don't trifle on the words of Jesus. Jesus has already said, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Repent and believe for the hour is at hand. You don't know whether you're going to survive another day. You don't know whether when you walk out of here, a car might come by and hit you and that is the end of your life. You don't know whether a stray bullet might come and just hit you in the head. You don't know whether you will even have tomorrow to see. But cast your sins upon Jesus Christ. Repent and believe, for the hour is at hand. And that is why Peter, after he repented and wept bitterly, he subsequently was able to write in 1 Peter 1, Though now you do not see him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Grace from our Lord Jesus Christ not only forgave Peter, but it restored Peter, and he made Peter a useful vessel. A useful vessel from a shameful denial to a useful vessel. That is God's grace, not because Peter had grit, but because God showed mercy upon him. and let us today submit to Christ as our Saviour. Let us pray. Our Father, Lord God in heaven, we come before you at this time thanking you for the word that has been expounded to us. We pray, O Lord, that you would help us to be doers of the word and not hearers only. Help us, O God, to put to death the sins of the flesh For we know, O Lord, that our heart desires so much, but the flesh is weak. Help us, therefore, O Lord, through the power of the Holy Spirit, give us strength to overcome our sins. In Jesus Christ's most precious name we pray, amen.