Matthew chapter 17, please, beginning with verse 1. It says, And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them, and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with him. Then answered Peter and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here, if thou wilt let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man until the Son of Man be risen again, from the dead. Thank you very much. You may be seated. Obviously, young people, this is the Mount of Transfiguration. The word transfigure means to unveil. And the glory of God was unveiled on the Mount. The Bible says that the clothing of Jesus was whiter than any fuller soap could make it. His countenance was brighter than the noonday sun. And when the disciples saw the glory of God, they had to fall down on their faces. And Peter alludes to that in his writing, and 1 Peter talks about being up on the mount, and he saw the glory of God. But then he adds this, but we have also a more sure word of prophecy. So in other words, he is saying that the word of God was even more important than the vision that he got on the Mount of Transfiguration. And this was a glorious time. And Peter and the disciples said, hey, we want to just bask in this the rest of our life. Let's just stay up here. But, I want you to notice the first words of verse 9. And as they came down from the mountain, now young people, We have been on a mountaintop experience this year, this semester. And it would be wonderful if we could stay isolated from what is about, what we are about to face when we go off this campus. But there comes a time when you've got to come down. I'm speaking to you this morning on this subject, what to do after a mountaintop experience or why Peter fell. Inevitably, as you go through the Bible, you'll find this principle. After a great spiritual victory, there is always an attack of Satan. Do you remember that Moses was on the mount in Exodus chapter 32? And when he came down from the mount, what did he see? They had set up the golden calf, and they were worshipping the golden calf, and God was getting ready to judge the people. And in Exodus 32 and verse 32, Moses said, Yet now forgive their sin. And in the King James Bible, there's a straight line. And it's almost as though the heart of Moses is breaking, and he said, Lord, forgive their sin. What did he add? And if not, block me, I pray thee, out of the book which thou hast written. So there was a mountaintop experience and then there was the attack of Satan. Then you go to Joshua chapter 6 in the fall of Jericho. But it is followed by Joshua chapter 7 where you have Achan who stole the golden wedge. You have the mountaintop experience and then you have the attack of Satan. You remember in Matthew chapter 3, 16 and 17, Jesus has been baptized. He's filled with the Spirit. And He fasted and was alone with God for 40 days and 40 nights. Well, what do you have in Matthew 4? The Spirit of God led Jesus into the wilderness and the tempter came unto Him. So you have the mountaintop experience, and then you have the attack of Satan. In Acts chapter 1, 2, 3, and 4, you have the power of God at work. In Acts chapter 2 and verse 44 it says, "...and all that believed were together and had all things common." Acts chapter 2 and verse 45, "...and sold their possessions and goods, and pardoned them all men as ever man had need." In Acts chapter 4 and verse 31 it says, "...they were all filled with the Holy Ghost." Acts chapter 4 and verse 33, "...and great grace was upon them all." That's Acts 1, 2, 3 and 4. What do you have in Acts chapter 5? And there was a certain man by the name of Ananias. Now here's what I'm saying, young people. The moment you step off this campus, you're going into a world that is, at this time, ruled by Satan. I John 5 and verse 19, For we know that the whole world lies in the hands of the wicked one. And because you have been on the mountaintop, you better gorge yourself because you're going to be attacked by Satan in areas that you never thought possible. I want to speak to you why Peter fell, or what to do after a mountaintop experience. Take your Bible, please, and turn to Matthew chapter 26. Number one, Peter fell because he minimized the potential of his own nature. Notice, please, Matthew 27, verses 31 through 35. It says, Then said Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night, for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, that this night before the cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice. Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples. He minimized the potential of his own nature. Now young people, according to 2 Peter 1 and verse 4, when you were saved, you received a new nature. Now listen carefully. Do you know God did not reconstruct your old nature? He did not eradicate your old nature. But you have the same old nature that you had before you got saved. And John 3 and verse 4, Jesus said, that which is flesh is flesh. And any young person in this building who thinks that you can handle Satan in your own flesh, you're a fool. You're a fool. Do you know what Jimmy Swigert said after the publicity about the Jimmy Bakers scandal? He said this, I have always taken pride in my spiritual strength. I can't recall a time when I have gone to anybody and asked them for help. Now you listen to me, when a person makes a statement like that, mark it down, he's in for tragedy and sin in his life. Paul said in Romans 7 and verse 18, For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing. And then he goes on to talk about the struggle he had with the old nature and the new nature. He said, when I would do good, evil is present with me. And the good that I would I do, not the evil that I would, not that I do. And he said it's a constant struggle and Paul was trying to produce victory in the flesh. But he finally comes to the end of himself and in Romans 7, 24 and 25 he says, O wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Many answers this question. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Young people, listen to me. The victory did not come by looking inwardly. The victory came by looking upwardly. And when he realized that there was no good in his flesh, there was no potential for victory in his flesh, then he could start Romans 8 and verse 1 by, there is therefore no condemnation. to them which are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8 and verse 1 starts with no condemnation and it ends with no separation. Romans 8, 38 and 39. Why? Because Paul realized that victory could not be had in his flesh. Do you know, young people, that your flesh is capable of committing any sin that any person has ever committed? Somebody says, well, if I know my heart, I wouldn't do that. Jeremiah 17 and verse 9, the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? I don't know the depths of depravity that my flesh is capable of going into. Now, we made a joke about my lack of computer knowledge and technology. But I told somebody yesterday, we were talking about text messages, and I said, I don't even know how to send a text message, and furthermore, I ain't interested in learning how to do a text message. I have never ordered a pay-per-view movie in my entire life. I don't know how to do it. And I don't want to learn how to do it. Why? Because I don't have any confidence in my flesh. Now, I know that some of you young people, you can't wait to get alone and get together. But I'll tell you, tragedy after tragedy after tragedy can be told about young people who, when they got off the campus of a Christian college, they wanted to be together, they did not fear their own nature, and they wound up disqualified from serving God the rest of their life. Two young people left Maranatha Baptist Bible College years ago. The parents did a foolish thing. They were on their way to Denver, Colorado. And so the parents left the kids in a motel room by themselves so they could have some time together while the parents went out shopping. When the parents came back, they had no knowledge that their daughter that they had left alone was already expecting a baby. And then a few months later it came out that young couple had to stand up before their fundamental Baptist church and confess that they had sinned against God, they had sinned against each other, and they had hurt the testimony of that local church. And it was simply because they did not fear their own nature. Young people, you better do that. I think about Mel Trotter. It was said of Mel Trotter that he was such a chronic drunk before he got saved that when his little daughter was lying in the casket, he took his little daughter's shoes off of her body and he went and sold them so he could buy booze. But after Mel Trotter got saved, you know what he would do? When he was walking down the street and he saw a saloon in front of him, he crossed the street, And he passed by the saloon on the other side. Why? Romans 13 and verse 14, "...but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh." Ephesians 4 and verse 27, "...neither give place to the devil." Now listen carefully, "...your eyes and your ears are the windows to your soul." And what you look at and what you listen to will determine what your mind thinks about. No wonder Job said in Job 31 and verse 1, I made a covenant with mine eyes. How then shall I think upon a maiden? Psalm 101 verse 3, I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. I hate the work of them that turn aside. It shall not cleave unto me." Matthew 6, 22 and 23, "...but the light of the body is the eye. And if thine eye be evil, thy whole body is full of darkness." We in the past had a couple from this school who in the summertime got out of school and one night they were sitting watching dirty movies on a couch by themselves. You know how it ended. They finally got into immorality because their eyes was the window to their soul. Your ears are the window to your soul. Colossians 3 and verse 16. You're to let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord. You show me a young man or a young lady right here in this building, who this summer does not guard his eyes and his ears, and I'll show you a young person that will come back with their testimony lost. I was preaching along this line in Kenya, Africa, years ago. And a black fellow stood up and he said, Brother Comfort, may I ask you a question? He said, everything's against us. Everything's against us. He said, the moment I leave this church building, he said, I'm going out into a world that is governed by Satan now. And he said, how in the world can we stand with all the sinful temptations around us? I said, sir, I'm glad you asked that question because the Bible answers that question. Psalm 119, 9, 11, Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his ways? By taking heed thereto according to thy word. Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against God. John 15 and verse 3, Now ye are clean. through the word which I have spoken unto you." Ephesians 6, 10 through 13. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." Now let me challenge you young people, get some goals for the summer. Get some goals for the summer. If I were you, I would say, by God's grace, I am going to read X amount of books this summer. By God's grace, I am going to get so many sermons that I want God to give me this summer. By God's grace, I want to win so many people to Christ this summer. By God's grace, I want to memorize so many Scriptures this summer, get you some goals. And here's what you ought to do. You know the air of your life at your weekend. So what you want to do is memorize Scripture to fortify those areas of your life that you're weak. Is it the mind? Alright, here's what you do. Philippians 2.5, "...let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4 and verse 8. Finally, my brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good rapport, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think. on these things. 2 Timothy 1 and verse 7, But God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Isaiah 26 and verse 3, Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed upon Thee, because he trusteth in Thee. 2 Corinthians 10 and verse 4, Casting down imagination, and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God." Get it? And bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. So you need to shore up those areas where you have a vulnerability. Number one, he fell because he minimized the potential of his own nature. All right, take your Bible, please, and turn again to Matthew 26, verses 40 through 45. Number two, he did not pray. And we've heard a lot of preaching this semester and this year on prayer. Notice, please, verses 40 through 45. It says, And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and said unto Peter, What? Could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. And he went again the second time and prayed, saying, O my father, if this cup may not pass away from me except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. And he left them and went away again and prayed the third time, saying the same words. So he did not pray. Jesus' whole life was characterized by prayer. And Mark 1 and verse 35, he got up early in the morning and he prayed. In Mark chapter 6 and verse 46, He got alone in the evening and He prayed. In Luke chapter 5 and verse 16, He got alone in the wilderness and He prayed. In Luke chapter 9 and verse 18, it simply says, He got alone and He prayed. In Luke 22 and verse 41, He got alone in the garden of Gethsemane and He prayed. In Matthew 4 and verse 2, He prayed 40 days and 40 nights. Matthew 14 and verse 23, And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up apart into a mountain to pray. And when even was come, he was there alone. His life was characterized by prayer. As a 15-year-old boy, I preached my first sermon one month after I was saved. I was saved in November of 1953. One month later, I went to the jail in Asheville, North Carolina and preached my first sermon. Preached on John 3.16. And then we had moved up to Elmira, New York, and there was a little church in Bath, New York that somehow heard that I was an aspiring young preacher boy, so they asked me to preach to them on a Sunday morning. And the auditorium was about a third of the size of this choir loft. There were about 30 people there that morning. The first time that I had ever preached in a pulpit, As I got up to preach, I looked on the wall beside of me, and there were these words. I've never forgotten them. He stands best who kneels most. He stands best who kneels most. And I believe that what God was doing with a 15-year-old preacher boy was He was saying, if you ever have a ministry, it's going to have to be fortified by prayer. 1959, I was in Roseburg, Oregon, and I was working on construction. And I was working with Five or six guys that I had to ride two hours to the job site, then we would work eight hours, and then we would ride two hours home. And these men were reprobates. For four hours, fellas, I heard cursing, I heard dirty jokes, I heard all kind of filthy things. They knew that I was a preacher boy. And they were trying to get my response, and they were trying to get me to lose my testimony. And I realized that I did not have a chance, now look at me please, look at me please, David look at me. I realized that I did not have a chance of keeping my testimony that summer. if I did not do something to fortify myself. So I would leave the house at five o'clock, right, for two hours until seven o'clock to our job site. I made up my mind if I was going to fortify myself, I had to get up at four o'clock and spend a half an hour in the Word of God and in prayer. We were working on constructing roads where log trucks would come. They would cut down the timber and they would load the logs on a truck and then we would gravel the roads. And I was standing there telling them where to drop the load of gravel. And many times it was probably 10 minutes until they got the gravel and they got to the place where I was to tell them to drop it. And I made God a promise. I said, now God, if you will give me that job, I will read 15 chapters in the Bible every day. All glory to God. As a 19-year-old boy, I read my New Testament through in three and a half weeks. And may I say this, I would not have had a chance of maintaining a pure mind had I not fortified myself in these ways. So number one, he memorized the potential of his own nature. Number two, he did not pray. Number three, take your Bible please and turn to Mark chapter 14, verses 53 and 54. Number three, he accompanied with the enemies of Christ. Notice please, Mark 14, 53 and 54. It says, "...And they led Jesus away to the high priest. And with Him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders and scribes. And Peter followed Him afar off, even into the palace of the high priest. And he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire." He accompanied with the enemies of God. 1 Corinthians 15, 33, Be not deceived, evil communications corrupt good manners. Psalm 1, 1 and 2, Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners. Proverbs 1 and verse 10, My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. Proverbs 24 in verse 1, "...Be not envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them." You tell me who you run around with this summer, and I'll tell you what kind of a summer you're going to have. Now, we had a young lady here the first year of school, and as I was preaching in the opening semester revival meeting, I noticed she would cry. Every service she would cry, and I thought God was dealing with her about some area of her life. And one night she called my wife on the phone and she said, Ms. Comfort, before I came to Ambassador Baptist College, I was involved in immorality. And she said, I feel like I may be pregnant. So my wife took her, got her a pregnancy test that came out negative. And I watched this young lady through the semester. She had grown tremendously. And she had a wonderful testimony. And the kids were impressed. And the last testimony that was given, she got up before the kids, before going home for Christmas break, and she said, young people, I am so excited about going back and telling my old friends what happened to me and how God has transformed my life. Two weeks later, she came back to the campus and the other property. And she got her things and we have never seen her since. You see what happened, young people? She got with the old crowd, and instead of her bringing them up to her level, they brought her down to their level. And later on, I heard that she was tending bar in a nightclub. And she married an unsaved boy, and it was simply because she ran around with the wrong crowd. Years ago, I was preaching in Grace Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina. There was a young man in the church, and I couldn't mention his name because he would give you this testimony were he here today, but I will not mention his name. But instead of his being in church, he was a member of Grace Baptist Church, he ran around with a group of ungodly fellows, and that night they were involved in molesting a young lady. Now this backslidden person was not involved in the molesting of the young lady. But you know what? On his record is that he is a sex offender. And I went to see him in the jail four or five times. And I looked at him and I said, were you guilty? He said, absolutely not, Brother Comfort. He said, my problem was instead of being in the revival meeting where I should have been, I was running around with the wrong crowd. And the rest of my life I will have scars on my life because I ran around with the wrong crowd. I was preaching in Finley, Ohio, and a lady came to me and she said, Brother Comfort, my daughter is single and she has a baby. She said, let me tell you her story. She came home from school on cuts from a Christian college, and that weekend she ran around with the enemies of Christ. She got pregnant. And the rest of her life she is going to be stained because of the crowd that she ran around with. Now the temptation for you to be is to go back to some of those people you ran around with. If you do, you're going to adopt their ways. You know where the problem of Lot came? In Genesis chapter 13 when he separated from the man of God, Abraham. And he came to Abraham and he said, Abraham, there's strife between the herdmen of your cattle and my cattle, so we've got to separate. The lamb's not able to bear both groups. He used that as an excuse, and after he separated from the man of God, it was down, down, down, down, down. Now let me say this. If you gravitate toward that backslidden crowd on the back seat of your local church, don't you come back here to Ambassador Baptist College. I want you to listen to me and listen to me clearly. In 45 years in evangelism, I have never had a young person surrender for full-time Christian service from the back row of a Baptist church. Clayton Shepard was here and he gave this illustration. He said, we had a young lady in our church that got involved in crime and she went to jail. And he said, when I went to see her, I said, tell me where your pathway to prison started. She said, Preacher, you want to know where it started? It started on the back row of Grace Baptist Church. That's where the pathway to prison started. Now listen carefully. I'm not saying that everybody that sits on the back row is a backslider. But I am saying this, it bothers me when I see students in this school who gravitate from the front row to the back row, and that is because their heart has gotten cold. And they want to get away from where the action is. You know, the Bible not only commands us to separate from those who are unsafe, but there is a command for us to separate from those who are walking disorderly as a Christian. 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 6. I think about young ladies who came to this church, or this college, and they came here for the purpose of being a preacher's wife. And now some of them are divorced because they married a young man that wasn't interested in the ministry. They married a young man that was interested in making money, accompanied with the enemies of Christ. And finally, when you go in your Bible to one more Scripture, Luke chapter 22, verses 31 and 32, Luke chapter 22, verses 31 and 32. Number one, he minimized the potential of his own nature. Number two, he did not pray. Number three, he accompanied with the enemies of Christ. And number four, he was a special object of the attack of Satan. Will you notice, please, verses 31 and 32. It says, And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." Now listen carefully. I believe that there are four watches in a person's life. I believe the first watch of his life for anybody who wants to serve God is from 20 to 35. The second watch is from 35 to 50. The third watch is from 50 to 65, and the fourth watch is from 65 on. Do you know when most Christians fall in the first or the third watch? Whenever I'm with a man, Brother Childs, a young man, that the power of God is on his ministry, and I see God really blessing his ministry, I tell the folks, you better pray for your pastor, because he is going to be a special object of the attack of Satan. Now, it bothers me when I go to Christian young people and I say, what are you going to do with your life? And they shrug their shoulders and they say, who cares? That bothers me. Before I was saved, man, I was going to be a dropout. I hated school. I was a clock watcher. From the time I got in school until the time I left, my eyes were on that clock, waiting for 3.15 to come. And the only thing I liked about school was lunch, fidget, and basketball practice. That's all I liked about school. And I remember the teacher in my algebra class asking this question, How many of you kids are going to college when you graduate from high school? Everybody in the class raised their hand except one idiot. You know who that was? That was I. Man, I wasn't going to college. I hated school. I was waiting until I got 16 years old and I was going to drop out. But you know, when I got 15, I was saved. And I checked up, Brother Bray, on that algebra class, and you know what I found much to my amazement? Out of that entire algebra class that said they were going to college, when they graduated from high school, there was only one person, as far as I could tell, that graduated with a degree. You know who that was? That was the idiot who didn't raise his hand. That was I. You know what the difference was? When God saved me, He put a purpose in my life. In our faculty prayer meeting, we pray for many of you students. And Brother Spencer has said, I've got students in my class. You ask them why they're here and they shrug their shoulders and they say, I don't know. I don't know. And I'll tell you something, if you don't have a purpose in serving God, the devil's not going to waste his time with you. He's already got you. But he will focus his guns on a person who is going to be used of God. And I have found that the second time that people fall is generally in the third watch of life. Do you know when David fell? The third watch of life. And you know how that was? The time came when kings were to go forth to battle. But David had already had those victories. Why should he soil his hands? He'd already been through that. So there was a sense of self-satisfaction and pride. When I knew that God wanted me to start Ambassador Baptist College, I was talking to my friend Bill Rice III, and I said, Bill, I believe that the devil is going to fight me harder than he has ever fought me in my entire ministry. And obviously, the area that I was concerned about was the area of morals. Well, young people, listen to me. The way the devil fought me was in two ways in my life that I never dreamed possible. First of all, my family. You know, as we traveled across this country for 22 years in a trailer, I never had five minutes of rebellion out of one of my three daughters, not five minutes of rebellion. And I thought there is no way the devil is going to fight me in the area of my family. My oldest daughter went to a Christian college, got enamored with a young man. The first couple weeks of school, it got to the place of no return, and we knew nothing about it. Here was a young man who said he was called to preach. She married him. Two years later, they had a child. Four years later, they were divorced. Young people, for ten years, I had a daughter that was away from God. And unless you've experienced this, there is nothing in a person's life, if he wants his children to serve God, that is more traumatic than a child that is away from God. I have stood by the grave of a little baby that we buried. I have been told that I had an I.D. disease that could possibly cause blindness. And there have been many other traumatic experiences in my life, but nothing, nothing to compare with a daughter that was away from God for ten years. And for ten years, my wife and I, many nights in the midnight hours, would toss and turn and weep until there were no more tears to weep. And the devil focused his attention on my family. Secondly, he focuses his attention on my friends. You know, before I started Ambassador Baptist College, I could not tell you one enemy that I had. Not one enemy. But when I announced that I was starting Ambassador Baptist College immediately, Those who had been my friends became alienated from me. Why? Because they did not want to jeopardize their standing with their alma mater so they didn't want to have anything to do with Ron Comfort. Twelve of my friends that I had held meetings for years and years cancelled meetings with me. The first four years we started this school, my wife did not receive a penny remuneration. I remember coming to my wife and I said, honey, what do you think would be equitable for a pay for the secretary? And she said, darling, are you kidding? She said, if I got any money for this, I think I would be cheating. She said, I get so much joy out of this. I don't want anything for doing this. And for four years, my wife and I never received a penny from this school. The first year that I started Ambassador, those 12 men that had canceled meetings with me, My meetings were cut to about a third. And my income for the year of 1989 and 1990 was one-third of what it was the year before. Now here's what I'm saying. The devil will focus his attack on you in areas that you're not aware. And if you're focused on serving God, then young people, you better be on guard, because the devil wants you that he may set you as wheat. Why Peter fell? Number one, he minimized the potential of his own nature. Number two, he did not pray. Number three, he accompanied with the enemies of Christ. And number four, he was a special object of the attack of Satan.