Turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1, I'll begin reading at verse 3 through verse 9. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom, having not seen, you love. 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. I have preached on this before. It's been about 10 years. where I exegeted this passage carefully, and you can go back and look up that sermon if you are so inclined. There are some things that I would like to tie together here that will not so much be an exegesis of each line, line by line, but an overall thrust of the passage, for this was written to spiritual exiles scattered throughout the world who were grieved by various trials. Two weeks ago I spoke of the kingdom of Babel. the kingdom that decays and falls into ruin, the things under the sun that Solomon called vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Everything under the sun is subject to decay and change. It all ends in dust, including you and me. And then last week we looked at the crucifixion of Christ. He bore that dust, that curse of death, the degradation and ruin of creation in His own body on the cross and put it to death. As we saw last week in the cross of Christ, the foolishness of God was revealed to be wiser than the wisdom of men, to use Paul's phrase. There is no wisdom or philosophy on this earth that could have devised the cross. as the way God would destroy death and purchase for us an incorruptible inheritance. It could not even have entered the heart of men, not even his closest disciples, not even Peter and James and John, even though they were told that Jesus was going to the cross, they still could not imagine it. One man's story stands out, and I would like to talk about him this morning. And that's Peter. On the night that Jesus was betrayed, that Thursday evening after the Lord's Supper, He said that they would all abandon Him and forsake Him and run away. Peter said, I will never, ever abandon you, even if I have to die with you. And Jesus responded, before the rooster crows, you will have denied Me three times. A few hours later, Jesus was praying in the garden and agonizing. Peter, James, and John were with Him, but they were sleeping as Jesus was agonizing and weeping. When Peter said, I will go with you, I'll never forsake you, I will die with you, he was committed. He meant it. If Jesus was going to battle against flesh and blood, Peter was ready. He had his sword and he was ready to go. That was his intent. When the soldiers came to arrest Jesus and take Him to the house of the high priest for an illegal trial in the middle of the night, they asked for Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus said, I am the ancient name that God gave Moses at the burning bush. And all the soldiers fell over backwards because they couldn't stand in the presence of His glory. And you can just hear Peter going, that's what I'm talking about. He gets his sword ready. Now the battle's going to begin. He takes out his sword. Only John tells us that this was Peter. The rest of the three Gospels all say it was one of his disciples. It could have been any of them. They were all thinking the same thing. They were ready for battle. The soldiers get up again, and they asked him, and Jesus asked them, who are you seeking? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he. Therefore, if you seek Me, let these go, that the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke, Of whom you have given Me, I have lost none." And then Peter goes to work with the sword. He was prepared to die. He wasn't going to go down without a fight. He certainly figured that Jesus would destroy his enemies. He's not going to let himself be arrested and be dragged off to death by these heathen. So he pulls out his sword and strikes the first blow. He takes off the ear of a man named Malchus, John tells us. But Jesus doesn't get with the program. He rebukes Peter in front of all of them. He says, will not I drink the cup my father gives me? And then he picks up the man's ear, puts it back on, and heals him. That was not part of the plan. There was nothing in the disciples' toolbox that could handle this or make any sense of it at all. They had no idea what he was thinking, what he's doing. The cross was so despicable, revolting, disgusting, and degrading. There was no way God is going to the cross. It wasn't a door to any kingdom. It was only a door to death and degradation. But Jesus heals the ear. Peter is rebuked. And Jesus just stands there and lets them tie him up. Remember earlier in Matthew 16, Peter had rebuked Jesus for talking about crucifixion. He turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan. You're an offense to me. Peter still cannot think in terms of the things of God. For he still has the mind of the flesh. He still has the mind of Babel. He still has the mind of building a kingdom on earth and you build a kingdom with swords and stones and casting out sinners. But Jesus allows himself to be arrested. After the soldiers arrest Jesus, they take him to the house of the high priest. It's an illegal meeting. It's a gathering in the middle of the night. Two of the members we know weren't invited, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. They heard about it later. The rest of the Sanhedrin were gathered there in the dark of night. The house was like a Spanish villa, all facing inward around a courtyard. All the windows opened into the courtyard. And down in the courtyard was where the servants stood waiting to be called. There was a fire going down there. Peter and John were allowed entrance because John was known to the high priest. They went to see what was happening. Peter is still dumbfounded, wondering what on earth Jesus is doing. He knows that Jesus could put a stop to this at any minute. He saw Jesus' glory. He was ready for that glory to be revealed to the world. And things are going downhill quickly. Jesus is being beaten, spat on, mocked, ridiculed, stripped. And he's just letting them do it. Why was the Sanhedrin meeting then? What was so urgent that they had to meet right then in the middle of the night? They had already determined that they weren't going to do anything on Passover because they didn't want to cause a riot with all those people in Jerusalem. But the fact is God had determined before the foundation of the world not only that the Lamb of God would take away the sins of the world on a cross, but God even determined the date. That's why God told Moses what the date was. That was the day that God delivered Israel from Egypt. That was the day that God set up Passover to point to the Lamb of God who would come because the day had already been established. So the Sanhedrin says, we're not going to do it on Passover. We'll do it secretly the next week. But God had said from eternity, no, it'll be on Passover. And that's where Judas Iscariot comes in. Judas' betrayal of Jesus forces the issue. The Sanhedrin knows that this is their only opportunity. They can have it done and dusted before the city even woke up and then be clean and ready for Passover and get on with their lives. This is something Peter can't even fathom. He's still looking for something in the vanity of this world. He's looking for an imperishable kingdom with swords and spears while the earth is still under a curse. I, of course, have heard about Peter's betrayal my whole life, read about it in all of the Gospels. It's in all four Gospels. And I always believed and just assumed that the reason Peter betrayed Jesus was because he was afraid of the punishment that Jesus was about to endure. He was afraid of suffering the same fate. You sometimes read yourself into the characters of the scripture, and I see myself in Peter, except for one thing. I wouldn't have gone to the courtyard. When I saw that, I realized that Peter wasn't afraid. He was angry. He went to the courtyard. If he was afraid, he wouldn't have been there. He would have been like the rest of the disciples like me, who would have been hiding at home. terrified of the guards and what Romans could do. Peter and John went. They went to see what was going to happen. We read the account in Matthew chapter 26. I printed it on the back of your bulletins. Let's read it. Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard, and the servant girl came to him, saying, You also were with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied it before them all, saying, I do not know what you are saying. And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him, and said to those who were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied it with an oath, I do not know the man. A little later those who stood came by and said to Peter, Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you. Then he began to curse and swear, saying, I do not know the man. Immediately a rooster crowed. That language, cursing and swearing and taking oaths, he's getting angrier as the moments are going by. He's disillusioned. He has no idea what Jesus is doing. The rest of the 12, except for John, have already fled out of fear. He wasn't afraid. He was disillusioned and angry. Jesus wasn't going along with the plan. It was like Jesus wanted to go to a cross. He wasn't even defending himself. If he keeps going this way, they'll kill him. How can he then reign on the throne of David forever? And so he gets angrier until he ends up cursing and swearing at the servant girls. Remember, he's in the courtyard now watching Jesus suffer. with all of those mixed feelings and passions running high. He continues to get angry. He continues to grieve. He continues to be disillusioned. And then he denies him with cursing and swearing the third time. And two things happen at the exact same time. The first thing is the rooster crows. And exactly while the rooster is crowing, Jesus turns from where he is, looks out the window and right into Peter's eyes. At that moment, Peter knows that he stands naked and exposed before the Creator who sees the heart. All of his resolve and all of his strength and all of his wisdom and all of his foresight turned into this. He goes out and weeps bitterly. Jesus knew it. Jesus knew exactly what Peter would do and why he would do it. The tower of Babel that night that lived inside of Peter's heart died. that's the flesh. So he goes out and he weeps bitterly for only with tremendous grief comes the resurrection. Only with grief comes the pain to grow the corn that falls into the ground and dies. Grieving is necessary because suffering is necessary. Flowers only bloom when the seed dies in the earth, Paul tells us. Resurrection only comes after crucifixion. And so Peter's world crashes down and leaves him broken that night, which leaves him ready for a resurrection. And then he says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Peter writes his experience and he applies it to all of us. The scattered exiles, that's who he addresses it to. By faith in Christ, and that faith is tested in fire. That faith is tested through loss and suffering and decay and change until it stands pure and firm like gold is purified. By faith in Christ, we are begotten again to a living hope through His resurrection. Because even gold decays, as Peter says in verse number seven. Buildings fall into ruin. Churches close. Someone's always saying goodbye. Loved ones die. Dollar General stores fall into ruin as long as the statues of Ozymandias and the skulls of Hamlet's jester. Those are the kingdoms that Peter had served. He couldn't see anything else because that which is born of the flesh is flesh. He longed for a kingdom run by a benevolent king where the bad guys are punished and the good guys prosper. But as I've said before, those kingdoms always need somebody to make the bricks and somebody who gets in the way and you've got to take the sword out and take care of it. Those kingdoms are always enforced by swords and they're filled with severed ears and blood and crosses and racks and stonings and imprisonment. There are no exceptions. Even if the law are perfect, suppose God could give a law from the top of a mountain that was absolutely perfect. Even then, you have people dragged outside the camp and stoned. You have blood and filth and gore outside and death in the camp. If the law could bring life and Christ died in vain. But the kingdom that Jesus purchased for us on the cross is imperishable, incorruptible. It won't die, it won't fade away. It's received by faith alone, and that faith is imperishable because it's tested by tears and fires and goodbyes. It was God who called Peter out of darkness into light, and therefore it's guaranteed. When Jesus rose from the dead, back to the book of Mark, when Jesus rose from the dead, the angels commissioned the women to proclaim the good news to the disciples. They say to the women, go tell his disciples and Peter that he's going before you into Galilee. Those two words are some of my favorite in all of scripture. Go tell his disciples and Peter. It's right up there with the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time. He's the God of second chances, the God of life, a friend of sinners. And Jesus saw Peter after his resurrection. He breathed on him with the rest of the disciples and said, receive the Holy Spirit. And Jesus and Peter was born again by the Holy Spirit. And he could finally see the kingdom of God. just like Jesus said to Nicodemus. Unless you're born of the Spirit, you cannot see the kingdom of God. Because that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and all the flesh sees are swords, power, money, dream worlds that don't exist and never have. But that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. It's received by faith and proclaimed to all a kingdom that can never fade, never corrupt, never die, and it's ours. Peter tells us after we've suffered a little while. And we know that it's true because Jesus rose from the dead. The sacrifice was accepted. The flesh, the city of man, the desire for preeminence, the bondage of sin and death and misery all died on the cross. That corruption that we received from Adam, the blood and the sweat and the tears, all signified by the slavery in Egypt. was put to death by the one that bore it all just as God led Israel out of Egypt through the death of the firstborn. And when Jesus went to the cross Peter died with him and you died with him and I died with him. And then he rose from the dead and Peter rose with him as he said begotten again by the word of the gospel preached by the resurrection of the dead. and you rose from the dead and I rose from the dead. And even though we still walk in this valley of tears and even though we suffer grievous trials, even though we're in a world where churches close and goodbyes are said and cancer corrupts and moths and ruts decay, even though tears are shed, from that grief will come the flowers and the grain and the new life for God has promised and Christ is risen. I am convinced because of Peter's testimony, because this apostle speaks the very words of God who cannot lie, I am convinced that the tears we shed today and the thousand little deaths that we are dying today will burst forth into resurrection. Not only in the life to come but in our life here. We will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. And yes, we will suffer as our faith is purified like gold. All change for the believer is the death of the old to make way for the new. The death of Peter's confidence in the courtyard burst forth into new life of resurrection hope. There is no new life without the death in the courtyard. And wherever we go from here, We will take that gold of faith with us and it will reflect the love and beauty of Christ to a world that desperately needs it. That's the living hope that never fades and never dies, the inheritance incorruptible. And Peter says it's reserved in heaven for you. We have a reservation in heaven. It's purchased by Christ on the cross. He rose from the dead, he said, and went to prepare a place for us. So the reservation is made. When we stand before Christ, he's not going to say, oh, what are you doing here? He's going to say, welcome. We've been expecting you. We have your place already prepared. And it's God who is keeping us and preserving us till that day, as he says in verse five, that we are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. It's not revealed yet. We only see the shadows. But when that salvation is revealed to us and to the whole world, we will join our hands together around the marriage table of the Lamb. And so hold to him for he holds you. He will not let you go. His table will be full. Every guest that he calls will be there. Not one will be missing. The inheritance is incorruptible. It won't rot. It won't rust. It won't fade into ruin. It won't close its doors. And we have a reservation there. And so if we don't see each other again in this life, we'll see each other there. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven we thank you for this incorruptible inheritance that we have and we pray that we might not grieve as those that have no hope but that we might grieve as those who have a living hope. Hope in a beautiful Savior who died for us and rose again for our justification that we might one day stand before you pure and complete and beautiful and whole. Until that day, hold us. Never let us be confounded. Never let us go astray. But keep us, Father. Preserve us, as you have promised. Be the sun in our dark nights. Be the shade in our right hand. Preserve us until finally complete victory is ours. In Jesus' name, amen.