Thank you Miss Amy for playing the piano. Brother Rude, you got raptured out on us. We was looking everywhere. I thought, man, the Calvinists were right and only one of us was picked. And they disappeared. If you've got your Bible, go with me to the book of Mark chapter number 14 if you would. Mark chapter number 14. And I want to preach a thought that's basically brand new. I think I might have preached part of it one time before and worked on it a little bit. And so pray for me, but Mark chapter number 14, and keep praying for dad. They go down there on vacation, but dad travels around and preaches all over while he's down there. And so he'll be in several different churches. He preached somewhere last night, preaching somewhere Sunday morning, I think somewhere different Sunday night. And then he's preaching Wednesday next week, and then also Thursday. Thursday, I know he'll be at Brother Zorn's. At some point, he'll be at Brother Rick Parker's, and I think he just preached for Jeremiah Jacobs. So he's running everywhere preaching. He'll preach for Barry Spears at some point, too. So pray for him. And last time they were on vacation, he preached for Brother Barry. It went crazy. I think three people got saved. And the last time he preached for Brother Jeremiah is when about seven people got saved that morning. And so pray for him. And aren't you glad that whether it's him, whether it's Brother Delbert, me, Brother Johnny, Brother Rue, Brother Bubba, any of us that are preaching, that's why we believe in being under the ministry of a local New Testament Baptist church. All those are going to the church's account, not our individual account. It's not my ministry, Brother Delbert. It's the church's ministry through me. And it's like we're arms extending out to somewhere else. And so make sure you pray for all of the preachers we've got in our church. Don't you believe in that tonight? And we need it. And we've had several preachers here. We've had several come. We've had several go. But I'm glad we've got a core that's still been faithful. Aren't you glad for that? And Brother Rue, how long have you been preaching? 38 years, and I've been here at this church preaching and serving the Lord for 38 years. All them souls he's seen saved, all the lives he's touched, that all goes to the church's account. And I hope that's our testimony one day, Brother Delbert. And so pray for our preachers, amen? But Mark chapter number 14, if you're there, would you say amen? Look with me in verse number 53. Mark chapter number 14 and verse number 53. It says, and they led Jesus away to the high priest and with Him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes. Notice what it says here, 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. Notice that phrase again at the beginning of verse number 54. It says, And Peter followed Him afar off. Skip down with me to verse number 65. Verse 65 it says, And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy, and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands. don't care how long you've been saved, that verse ought to do something to you tonight. It ought to break your heart to understand whenever it says they and that they begin to buffet him, that would have been us tonight. It says in verse 66, and as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest, and when she saw Peter, warning himself, she looked upon him and said, and thou also was with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch and the cock crew, and a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, this is one of them, And we all know the story, and He denied it again a little after they that stood by Him again said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them, for thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeth thereto. Can I just stop there and say I still believe that there's a certain way a Christian ought to sound. Don't you agree? They said, Peter, we know you're one of them because you talk different than everybody else that talks. And I'm glad. I still believe a Christian ought to talk different, look different, act different. Don't you agree tonight? But he began to curse and to swear saying, notice again, when he wanted to prove to them he wasn't a Christian, what did he do? He changed his speech. He changed his conversation as the Bible calls it. And it's funny that Peter oftentimes, if you read the book of 1 and 2 Peter, you know what he over and over repeats, Brother Dalbert, to be careful of your conversation among the Gentiles. Always talking about your testimony in front of the lives of those that don't believe. It says, I know not this man of whom you speak. And the second time, and Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crowed twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept. Brother Johnny, pray for me if you wouldn't mind. We thank you for that Amen. We find here in the book of Mark chapter number 14 that everybody knows and understands where we're at tonight. We understand that in this chapter, Jesus Christ started off in the Garden of Gethsemane. He prayed and talked with His Father, and yet He still said, Lord, nevertheless, not My will, but Thine, O Lord. We find that Christ then, after accepting the cut, of suffering that he had to drink and had to go to the cross of Calvary was arrested. His disciples all flee and turn their backs on Him. We find that then Christ is fixing to be beaten, taken to Calvary. In the next chapter they will nail our Savior to the cross and He will bleed and die for you and I. See, I'm glad they call it the old story. Some preachers call it Brother Delbert, but I'm glad. I believe it ought not ever grow old to you and I. There's a song that says, Oh no, the old story will never grow old. I think that we ought to always keep the cross of Calvary in the forefront of our mind. I still believe that we would do everything the Bible says we ought to do if we just every day make a stop by Calvary. If we just remember that Jesus Christ bled and died for our sins and shed his blood so that we wouldn't have to die and burn in hell. It would change how we live our lives if we just remember the cross of Calvary tonight. We find that in this chapter that we just read, the Bible repeatedly deals with a certain disciple. Over and over you find that Peter is mentioned in Mark chapter number 14. We find that though Peter is known for a lot of great things in his ministry, he's known as the one that stepped out of the boat and walked on the water. He's known as the one that ran his mouth on the Mount Transfiguration. He's known as the one that preached on Pentecost and literally saw 3,000 souls saved without a single false profession tonight. I mean, he's known as one of the greatest disciples if you could rank them in the Bible. One that is mentioned in almost every chapter, almost every story of the Gospels. You will see Peter's name, Brother Delbert, showing up all the time. But yet, in this chapter, he's not known for anything good tonight. We understand and know that though Peter has done a lot of great things before this chapter, Though Peter will do a lot of great things after this chapter, in this chapter we find Peter's failure as a child of God tonight. You say, well, preacher, how did he fail? Can I show you three ways that he failed by way of introduction really quickly and I'll move on. First notice that we see in this chapter the problem with his flesh. We see the problem with his flesh. Look at me in verse number 70. It says, And he denied it again, and a little after they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them, for thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeth thereto. Verse number 72. And the second time the cockcrow and Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him before the cockcrow twice, Thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, it says that he wept tonight. We find that here Peter, the great preacher, we find that now he has stooped so low that he's denying Christ. We've heard the story a thousand times. Nobody's not heard the story of Peter denying Christ that day before Calvary. But we find that it says when he denied him, Brother Delbert, that he called to his mind the word that Jesus said. Do you remember when Christ said that word to him? It's just a few verses after he told him that on this rock he'd build his church and we understand that we believe Christ is talking about himself, that upon the rock of who Christ is, we understand that Christ is the head of the church, that everything consists of Him, goes through Him. But Christ looks at Peter and says He's going to use him to help establish the church at this time. And then about a verse later, Peter says, Lord, I'd fight for you. He says, Lord, why can't I go to Calvary with you? Why can't I fight with you? I won't go anywhere. They'll have to kill me. before they ever get to you. And the very next verse, Jesus tells Peter that he's being a fool and says that he would deny him three times that very same day, Brother Delbert. Think about it. Peter is known. for saying one thing and doing the other. I mean, he's as wishy-washy as it gets. How many have ever heard the phrase, you're only as good as your word, right? I've always been raised, my grandpa always said that phrase, that if you say you're gonna do something, if you say you'll be somewhere, then you are obligated and bound by your word to be there, right? Because if we can't trust your word, we can't trust you. You can't trust my word, you can't trust who I am. God uses the same principle He said that He magnified His word even above His own name. He's saying if you can't trust my Bible, then you can't trust me at all tonight. Yet we find that Peter is one that though he says one thing, he's always doing the other. I mean, think about it. I got to looking and writing some things down the other day. Peter literally refuses Christ to wash his feet at the dinner table, but then, just a few verses after that, he cries and says, Lord, will you wash me all over? He says one thing, but then he asks for another tonight. Peter says that he will stay to the end, even laying down his life for Christ, but then, when the guards show up, he takes off running the opposite direction, Brother D'Albert. I mean, Peter had enough faith to get out of the boat, but not enough faith to walk. Christ tells him and commends him for his service, but then with the same breath rebukes him, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan. Peter pulls out his sword, but then won't even stand and say that he's a child of God around a campfire with a bunch of sinners tonight. I mean, Peter even tells Christ, he says, Lord, when everybody else was walking away, he said, Lord, to whom shall we go? But then the moment Christ dies on Calvary, Peter goes fishing tonight. He says one thing, but he does the other. You know why? Because he had flesh. Every single person in the room will make a million promises to God and won't come through on at least half of them tonight. I mean, you ever done that before? You ever said, Lord, I promise I'll never do this again? Only to find that you did the same thing not very much long after. I mean, think about it. Peter, he gets a bad rap and we preach about him all the time about his failures, Brother Delbert. But the truth is he probably obeyed God more than the majority of us in the room have. And think about it. He served God faithfully for three years and watched everybody turn their back on him. And yet, he had a moment of weakness, but still he stayed by Christ's side for all of those years when everybody else left. Left millions of dollars on the shore of the sea, Brother Delbert, to go and follow Christ. But yet, because of his flesh, he was one person one day and another person the next day. We better understand that every single one of us, no matter how long you've been saved, no matter how long you've been in church, how many times you've read your Bible, we've all got the flesh tonight. All of us are wishy-washy Christians. Can anybody agree tonight? Anybody that says they don't go to church because they're hypocrites are completely right tonight, because all of us are hypocrites. I mean, think about it. We will stand and sing victory in Jesus on Sunday morning, then give in on Monday when sin tempts us, and live defeated by the devil tonight. We will shout the roof off the place, especially if your name is Brother Jeffrey Snyder. If we say, I'm glad I've got a King James Bible, and I'm glad I've got a King James Bible tonight, but then yet the majority of us will throw it on the coffee table and not touch it until it's time to go back to church on Sunday. Truth is, we will say we believe one thing, but then with our actions we deny who Christ is tonight. Before we get so quick to look at Peter, we better understand all of us fight the battle and the problems of our flesh tonight. All of us have been hypocrites. Nod your head or say amen if you agree tonight. From the pulpit to the pew, we've all said things, and yet we've done the opposite tonight. But I can promise you this, if somebody else did that, the majority of us would be real quick to call out how somebody else said they were going to do this, but yet they did something else. But may we not look at the... I can't even remember exactly how the Bible says it, but don't look. at what's in somebody else's life without looking at what's in our lives tonight. We all say things and do the opposite. Just to clarify, though there are a lot of hypocrites in the church, I heard a preacher say it like this. He said, not everything that lives in the pond is a fish, but every fish will have to live in the pond. Brother Delbert. That means as a child of God, not everybody in the church is sold out serving God like they should be. But every saved child of God will realize I've got to be in the house of God tonight. Don't you agree in being faithful to church? Nod your head or something, blink, or do something tonight if you believe in being faithful. I mean, it drives me nuts. I mean, everywhere we go, I always tell the story of preaching at one church not very far from here, less than an hour away. I preached on Sunday morning, and we had about 120, 130 people there. Came back Sunday night, Macy was there, and we had six people come back the Sunday night, and it wasn't even the Super Bowl Sunday, Brother Delbert. It was just a regular Sunday, and they just didn't come back. You know why? because people fight their flesh, and more times than not, we give into our flesh more than we give into the Spirit of God. We see Peter fail because of the problem with his flesh, but then secondly by way of introduction, we see the purpose that he'd forgotten tonight. The purpose that he'd forgotten. Notice what it says, if you would, in verse number 66. It says in verse 66, And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest. And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him and said, And thou also was with Jesus of Nazareth. that Peter at this time has placed himself. Do you understand where he's at? The placement of where he's at at the moment he's around a fire with those that hate his master. He is standing around the fire with lost people. People that are going to die and burn in the same fire that they're looking at tonight. He is literally standing in the presence of people that he could reach with the testimony and the power of who Jesus Christ was tonight. Do you remember what Peter's calling was? Peter's calling wasn't to follow Christ around and help perform miracles. Peter's calling to go and fish and go and do whatever he wanted to do. But you remember what Christ said about Peter? He said, if you follow me, I'll make you what? I'll make you a fisher of men tonight. Saying, I will make you somebody whose sole purpose in this world is to see lost sinners come to the saving knowledge of who Jesus Christ is. Here we find Peter standing at the fire with a bunch of sinners, and he has a great opportunity. I mean, he doesn't even have to tell them who he is and where he comes from. They already know who he is. He could have just said, I'm with the one that they're beating and spitting on just down the road a little bit. I mean, they could probably hear it. You understand that? so close they can probably hear them mocking Christ. Could have said that one that's in there getting beat. He's getting beat for you and I. He's getting ready to die on Calvary because He loves each and every one of you. But yet we find He forgot the purpose of why He was even still on this earth tonight. God had given him the job of seeing souls saved, yet we find that Peter had forgotten the calling God had placed on his life. How many of us can agree we not only got problems with our flesh, but we also forget the call that God has placed on every single one of us tonight. I understand that God called us to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ not just on Tuesday when the church goes, not just when you've got a gospel track in your pocket, but every chance we get it is our job and our duty to tell people about Jesus Christ tonight. You understand, there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. There's nothing we can say to get out of it. That is your calling tonight. If you have been saved more than an hour, and you've never told somebody about Jesus Christ, then we are failing at the job that Christ has given us tonight. And also, may I just say this, it also ain't good enough that just because you told somebody about Christ once, that you're off the hook and you ain't got to ever do it again tonight. Every day, every time we come in contact with a sinner, it ought to be our sole desire, we ought to remember the purpose of why we're here and tell them that Jesus Christ shed His blood on Calvary and gave His life for you and I tonight. It doesn't matter what they look like, where they come from, we ought to tell them about Jesus Christ tonight. Just the other day, we were at Macy's sister's wedding, and I was talking to the fellow that worked there, Brother Delbert, and I got to witnessing to him. Man, I went on and on. Brother Jim, I preached the whole message. I mean, I was quoting scripture that wasn't even in the Bible. I was just making it up as I went, and it's made of giving it to him. And I mean, I told him he was lost, he was going to burn in hell, that he needed to be saved. He told me he doesn't really go to church much. tries to when he gets the chance and man I was just leveling him out talked to him for about 25 minutes by the room at the end he said man I was just messing with you I was giving you the answer that everybody gives me about not going to church seeing how you'd respond He says, I've pastored for 10 years and I am in church every single time the doors are open. I remember when I got saved and I thought, well, I'm glad He let me waste my breath for so long, Brother Johnny. But I sat there and thought there could have been somebody. There were several people working at the wedding that day and you never know who could have heard the gospel that day. Understand that if I could witness for 25 minutes to a fellow that's been saved for who knows how long. Listen, we've got to go to the extreme to win souls for Christ tonight. I mean, I bought cigars for an underage girl just to give her the message that Jesus saves. It ought to be our sole desire every day that we live to tell somebody about Christ tonight. I mean, there's times where it falls in place how they just told the story. They literally knocked on the door and they opened it and had their Bibles. That's an unheard of story. We understand that right. They had their Bibles wanting to know how to know they could be saved. There's times like Brother Johnny, you remember the lady we witnessed to at Brother Davey Shelton's. We talked to her for literally 35 minutes. We talked to her forever about she was confused. Thought baptism was how you were saved. Said that she was literally been reading her Bible all week looking for an answer. And we walked in with a gospel tract and got to talk with her and deal with her that night. Stan, there's times where it all falls in place and then there's times where you ain't got much time but to give them a track and say Jesus Christ shed his blood and died for you tonight. I was told about, so when, I don't even know if I'll get to the actual message tonight, I was told about when you're doing personal evangelism, Brother Delper, You never want to say the words, are you saved? That's always an instant, easy answer. They say yes, but it doesn't matter. It doesn't specify what it means that they got saved tonight. You can say are you saved to a Muslim and they'd say yes because they think they're saved from going to their Gahana, the place where they believe hell is, Brother Delbert. It said, you always say, do you know and believe that Jesus Christ shed His blood on Calvary and resurrected three days later for you tonight? That's all we got to do. We understand that, right? You ain't got to get them to bow their head. You ain't got to quote them 15 passages of Scripture. You ain't got to lead them in a prayer. All you've got to do is tell them Jesus Christ shed His blood on Calvary tonight. I mean, if we don't believe that's effective, then why are we here? If we don't believe that it could still change somebody's life just reminding them one more time, even if they've heard a thousand times before that Christ died for them, if we don't believe it's effective, then what in the world are we doing at a church on a Thursday night, Brother Delbert? What we often do is we'll walk up. with a grace gospel track and will say, here, I wanted to invite you to my church, but that's not what God called you and I to do. I believe in inviting people to church, but that ain't what God called us to do tonight. He called us to tell them that Christ shed his blood on Calvary, and I don't care where their membership is eventually, I just want to know that they don't have to die and go to hell tonight. Some of you might be more timid. All it takes is telling them Jesus Christ died. How can we be so shy that we can't tell somebody that tonight? If it's what changed your life, it's able to change somebody else's. Some of us are the Baptist Bible bulldog like Brother Jeff. I watched him about rip a lady's leg off by a trash can one time trying to get her. I mean, she said, he said, are you saved? She said, I think so. He said, you're going to burn and char in the black walls of a damned hell for the rest. That ain't all that he said, but I mean, he gave it to her that day. Some people are bold because that's what God has placed in them and that's what'll work tonight. Some people might be shy, but you ain't got a single excuse to not tell the next sinner you come in contact with about the saving power of Jesus Christ tonight. Nobody's exempt. Nobody's exempt. We see the purpose he'd forgotten. We see the problem with his flesh, but then I want you to know the placement of his following, if you would. Where he was. Verse 54, if you would, and I'll move quickly. It says in verse number 54, 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. Notice what it says. It says, And Peter followed Him. Who's Him in the text? It's Christ. Peter followed Christ afar off tonight. Notice, and I promise the message is short. We won't be very much longer. Notice it says that Peter followed Christ. He didn't follow him as close as he could, Brother Delbert. He followed him, the Bible says, far off tonight. I mean, think about it. You could give props to Peter. Peter is the only disciple that followed after Jesus Christ when they took him in chains and were leading him to a fake trial. Everybody else turned their back and ran the opposite direction. Thomas is gone. Bartholomew is gone. Brother Dilbert, they've all ran the opposite direction. But Peter is the one that still kept following Jesus Christ tonight. We could stand here and say, I'm glad Peter followed Him. It really doesn't matter that he followed Him when we notice the distance between Him and the Savior tonight. Him and Christ might have been going the same direction, but they were not living as close as they used to live. Him and Christ might have been walking the same path, but they were not as close as they could have and they should have been tonight. And though Peter could say, no, no, no, I'm following God in my life, it did not mean that he was following God the right way. Though he was following Christ, he was not following as close as he could tonight. The Bible reads and says that he was following Him afar off. There was distance between Christ and the Savior. I mean, think about it. The one that Peter used to literally pillow his head by every night for the last three years was now just far enough away that Peter couldn't be associated with Him anymore. The one that Peter left everything to go and follow after literally has walked by his side every day for the last three and a half years. Now, Peter might still be going the same direction, but they're not as close as they could be tonight. I got to thinking, I wonder how many of us there is in the room tonight that we might struggle with the flesh and we might have forgotten our purpose, but I'm not too worried about that tonight as much as I am about the distance between my heart and the Savior's heart tonight. I wonder how close are you to Christ? I'm sure all of us could say that we live our life as a Christian. We can all, if we were asked, everybody in the room would say, no, I follow God. I try and live the right way. I try and talk the right way. I try and do and go where God guides me. And we might be following Christ, but Christ is not near as concerned about the direction that you're walking, as He is concerned about how close you are to Him tonight. Truth is, we might be following God, but how long has it been since we realized that we needed to get closer to Him than we were tonight? Truth is, Peter was following, but he was a follower from afar. I wonder how many there are in the room tonight that you might be at church three times a week, and you might read the Bible, and you might say that you read the Bible, and you might say that you pray, but I wonder how close are you really with the Son of God tonight? How much distance has taken place between you and the Savior? I want to preach for literally about 15 more minutes and I'm done. Followers from afar. Followers from afar. I don't know about you, but if we're ever going to see God do anything at our church or any church in the world. We need some people that will say, instead of trying to live as close to the edge as I can and still be right with God, I want to try and live as close to Christ as I can. And I want to stay as far away from the things of the world the best I can tonight. I mean, I just don't understand what in the world you and I would do, why we would ever choose to say, I want to live as close to the world and still try and be right with God. I just don't understand it, Brother Dawson. I want to live as close to Christ as I can be and as far from the world as I can be tonight. So I want to show you Peter was a follower from afar. I'm going to preach on that thought for a few minutes and I'll be done. You say, Preacher, what happens when we become followers from afar? Can I show you three moments we see in Peter's life that took place when he was a follower from afar? I'll give them to you quick and I'll be done. First, I want you to notice that we see a cold fellowship when Peter became a follower from afar tonight. We see a cold fellowship. Look in verse number 54 again. It says, and Peter followed him far off, even into the palace of the high priest. And he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire tonight. Notice we find that if you were to go back a few hours before the events that we just read, you would find that Peter was sitting around the table with 11 of the closest men to Jesus Christ. And he literally sat there and heard Christ say, eat of the bread, this is my body which is broken for you. He literally was there when they poured the wine in the cup and said, drink of my blood. This is the blood that I shed for you. You know what we call it in the Bible whenever they would sit down at the table to eat with somebody? You know what they called it? It's the same thing we call the building in the back. It's called fellowship to mind. When Peter sat down and ate the Last Supper with Christ, he was having communions, what we call it, communing in his spirit. They were having fellowship tonight. His fellowship was with people that were as close to God as they could possibly be tonight. I mean so close that there was a fellow named John, as Brother Delbert preached about a few weeks ago, that was leaning on the bosom of Jesus Christ. I mean, he's having fellowship with people that love Christ with everything in them outside of Judas. Then Peter goes on to the Garden of Gethsemane with the disciples where Christ is going to pray. And he's in fellowship not just with people that love Christ, but he's in fellowship with God the Father, getting to pray next to Christ so much that Christ picks him out to go out farther with Him. And we understand and know that Christ did more sleeping than He did praying, but yet we find that Peter was chosen out. He's having fellowship with the Son of God. Yet here we find that Peter has joined himself up with a different fellowship. He is now warming his hands by the fire around people that hate his Savior so much tonight. In just a few short hours, his fellowship completely changed. He went from hanging out with the Son of God to hanging with those that the Bible calls the son of the devil tonight. Ones that hate who Christ is. Think about it, Christ is literally getting beat in the next room and Peter is standing there warming his hands by the fire with those that hate his Savior tonight. The truth is, one writer said it like this, though Peter's flesh was warm, his spirit had grown cold tonight. You say, how do you know that? Well, we find later on about Peter's actions it proves that tonight Peter cusses and screams and yells and says, I don't know who he is, though just a few hours ago he was sitting there eating dinner at the table with the Son of God tonight. And you know what happened? He let a little bit of distance get between him and the Savior and all of a sudden his fellowship completely changed tonight. And just a few moments before, he was rejoicing, drinking the blood and eating the picture of the body of Christ tonight. And now he's standing there cold in his spirit so much that while he's actively denying and living out the prophecy Christ literally gave him a few hours before, he doesn't even realize it anymore. Why? Because his heart had grown so cold. Why? Because he'd let some distance grow between him and the Savior tonight. I wonder how many of us in the room remember what it used to be like to have real fellowship with the Son of God. I ain't talking about anything spooky, but I am talking about driving down the road and you'd talk to Him and it felt like the Holy Ghost settled down in the car for a little while. You could almost hear Him speak to you. I wonder when's the last time you grabbed the Bible and all of a sudden it was like the words were jumping off the page and they were talking directly to where you were at. directly to how you were living. But yet, for some of us, we got so much distance between us and the Savior, our fellowship went cold somewhere along the line. I wonder how long, do you remember what it was like back when Lord and Emily used to get up and sing a song and all of a sudden, those words would get to ministering to your spirit. All of a sudden, a tear would run down your face or the hand would slip up in the air, but now, It's been so long since you really worshipped out of true fellowship with the Son of God. How long's it been since you read the Bible and it spoke to you? How long has it been that you've been bowing your knee to pray? It feels like every time you say something it just bounces off the ceiling. And it's like it's going nowhere tonight. How long's it been since your flesh was not the thing that was getting warmed, but it was the fire of the Word of God burning inside of you? You knew that you were as close to the Savior as you could possibly get in your life tonight. I wonder how long has it been since you had real fellowship with the Son of God. How long has it been since you walked with Him at Psalms? He says, and He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me that I am His own. And the joy we share as we tarry there is unlike any that's ever been known tonight. Brother Delbert, I wonder how long it's been since the preaching wasn't just preaching, shouting out from the pulpit, but it was God speaking to your heart. And it really did something for you tonight. How long's it been since you had real fellowship with the Son of God tonight? You let the distance get in between you and the Savior and all of a sudden the fellowship completely changes and it'll get to a point where it's almost you feel like you're lost. It feels like there is nothing ministering to you anymore tonight. You think, well, if I can make another profession, if I can Maybe reiterate the prayer. Maybe if I'll just remove one sin out of my life. No, no, no. You've got to do everything you can to get as close to Him as you can. Quit worrying about warming your flesh around the fire of the world. Say, Lord, I want to walk with you like I used to walk with you tonight. We see a cold fellowship, but then when Peter became a follower from afar, we see a cry of failure that happened in his life tonight. Look at me in verse number 68, if you would. If you're still with me, would you say amen? I've been preaching 31 minutes. I've got a point and a half and I'm done, I promise. It says, but he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch and the cock crew. Verse number 72, and the second time, And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crowed twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept. Notice we find the Bible tells us that Peter denies Christ and we know the story that the rooster crows the first time. Peter denies him two more times. The rooster denies again or crows out again. We find that it says in almost every account except for this one, it tells us that Peter left and he wept bitterly. His heart was broken when he remembered the word of Christ and what it told him to do. He realized that he had failed tonight. You've got to think about it. Think, Peter is standing there in the darkness. And he chooses to deny Christ and all of a sudden there is a piercing cry through the night that reminds him of his failure tonight. Something he couldn't predict, Brother Delbert, something that he couldn't place a time on, but all of a sudden the rooster cries out just like Christ's Word said it would. And all of a sudden at that moment Peter takes a step back and realizes that he could have done a lot more for Christ than what he had just done tonight. Think about it, Peter can probably hear Christ as the soldiers are beating in his face to where he's beyond recognition tonight. They're literally probably grabbing his beard and Peter can probably hear the groans of sorrow and pain coming out of the mouth of his Savior. He can probably hear them as they laugh at him and they spit on him and they mock him. He might even be able to see him. At one point the Bible says Christ was able to see Peter whenever he denies him. I mean he is literally in a distance to where he can see him, brother Ru. Yet, he can hear and see Christ suffering for him. Notice what happens, he gets so worried about himself. He's worried, well, if I tell them I'm a part of Christ, they might do the same thing to me that they're in there doing to him. Notice what happens. Don't miss this. This is the message tonight. He gets so wrapped up and concerned about himself and what he wants and what he's worried about that it's as if it doesn't even matter that Christ is just right down the way getting beat for him tonight. I mean, Jesus Christ was dying so that Peter would even have the opportunity to deny Him tonight. I said this the other night while I was preaching on Sunday night, that we ought to remember that any time we do anything, we get to do it because Christ died on Calvary for you and I. I told the church as I was preaching, I said, think about it, we can say every time we get to go to church, it's because Christ died for you and I. Aren't you glad for that? Every time we get to read the Bible, it's because Christ died for you and I. But it goes the opposite direction as well, because we should be in hell tonight. And every time you get to say something you ought not say, you get to do that because Christ died for you and you aren't in hell right now. Every time you get to raise the bottle up to your lips and take another drink of alcohol, you can do that because Christ died on Calvary so that you didn't have to burn in hell tonight. Every time you type in that word in the search bar, every time you look at something or you listen or you do something that you ought not do, you get to do it because Christ died on Calvary so that you could do it tonight. Here we find that Christ is being beat, but Peter's so wrapped up in himself it doesn't even matter anymore. And I got to wondering, I wonder how many of us tonight, we get so wrapped up in our day-to-day lives that it doesn't even affect us anymore that Christ died so that we could live. I wonder when's the last time you really got up and you said, Lord, thank you for dying on Calvary so that I could get to live my life today. I wonder how easy it is for us to get wrapped up in our job and in school and in family and all the stuff that the world has to offer that slips our mind along the way that Christ died so that we could live tonight. Think about it. We might say, well, preacher, I don't do any of the big sins. But understand, the Bible still does say, but him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it's still sin. We still believe that, right? The Bible might not explicitly say that you ought to be in church three times a week, but it does say that we ought not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. And that if you skip out on church, and you're not assembling with a local body of believers, and you're not dead tonight, that we're in the wrong. We understand that, right? And I dread to say amen. And I'll make sure I say that exact same phrase on Sunday morning to all the people that weren't here tonight. I'll make sure. I'll look on the live stream and figure out who wasn't here. And I'll make sure I tell everybody I say it in just about every church I go to, that you ought to be faithful to the house of God. And if you aren't, you're in the wrong. Do we agree tonight? Understand that if we aren't faithful to God, it's a shame that we expect God to always be faithful to you and I. Understand that if you know you ought to sow in and witness and we don't, that we're in the wrong, I ain't got to go on for the rest of the night. But understand that everything we do or don't do, we get to do because Christ died for you and I tonight. Why don't we live a life worth Christ dying on Calvary for us? Why don't we live worthy of what He shed for us? And then lastly, as Brother Rue comes, I'm going to read you one verse and I'm done. I want you to notice that we see that as Peter was a follower from afar, we do notice and see the call that he, or we see the cry of failure that he heard, we see the cold fellowship that he had, but then lastly I want you to notice that we do see a call to faithfulness tonight. Notice we find Peter denies Christ, right? If you're still with me, say amen. Peter denies Christ Peter is just as guilty as the same crowd that's spitting in the face of Christ. Peter runs off weeping bitterly and we don't hear anything from him over about the next three days while Christ is in the grave and going and doing everything that he did. But notice what it says. Go with me to Mark chapter number 16 and verse number 6 if you would. We find that Peter, don't miss this please, you'll miss the whole, this is the moment I've been trying to drive and get to of the message tonight. We find that Peter has been a real big mess up, don't you agree? Peter has denied Him. Peter has basically spit in the face of Christ. Peter has forgotten about the calling. He's given in to His flesh. He's lost fellowship with the Son of God. He's done everything wrong by Christ. And if we were Christ, most of us would have wrote Him off the moment He denied us the first time tonight. But then if he denied us two times or three times even, we really would have wrote him off tonight. I mean, Brother Blake, we would have never trusted him, never done anything with him again because he broke his word. You know what we find as Christ comes back to life on that great resurrection morning? Aren't you glad we serve a resurrected Savior? He comes back to life and he walks out and he gets to talking. We find that the angels get to sing and they're speaking on behalf of Christ to the two women that came and saw that the stone was rolled away. And I mean, think about it. These are the first words that the disciples will hear from the Son of God after He resurrected. They show up and the body's gone. And this is what the angels say in Mark 16. It says, And he saith unto them, the angel, Be not afright, and ye seek Jesus of Nazareth which was crucified. He is risen, He is not here. Behold the place where they laid Him. Everybody ought to shout Amen right there tonight. He says, but go your way. Tell his disciples, but don't miss these two words, and Peter. Peter is a disciple tonight, but yet Christ singles out Peter. He says, go tell my disciples, but there's one's going to need a little bit of an extra word. Don't just tell them same disciples, but make sure you tell Peter, I still want to see him too. He says, go tell my disciples and Peter. and Peter, he goeth before you into Galilee. There shall you see him, and he said unto you, tonight. And you find that the women run, and remember who the first two on their way to the tomb is? It's John and Peter, but yet, Peter, the great fisherman, who's probably in better shape than John, he gets outran by John. I can't help but think that maybe while Peter's running for Delbert, he starts reliving the moments They said, you're with Christ. He said, no, I'm not. And over and over he denied them. And I can see as he's thinking, he still won't love me like he used to love me. I won't get to serve him like I used to serve him. I definitely won't be in that inner circle like I used to be in that inner circle tonight. Then he hears that word. It says, no, no, no, Peter, he didn't just say he wanted to see the disciples. He wanted to see you too. You find that then in John 21, Peter goes out fishing, comes out, Dad's preached on how Christ probes the conscience of Peter and talks to him. But do you remember what John, one of the last phrases John records that Jesus says to Peter? He looks at him and he goes through the whole thing. Peter, do you love me? He says, go and feed my sheep. Then Peter says, Lord, are you saying that John won't die because he'll be the last one? Jesus looks at him, you remember what he said? He said three words, he said, Peter, follow thou me tonight. Christ said, Peter, you got in a mess because you weren't following me as close as you should, but I'm still offering forgiveness if you'll just be faithful. He says, Peter, all I'm asking from you, isn't to go and preach and see 3,000 souls saved, and isn't to go and die and be put and martyred for the cause of Christ from what history says, crucified upside down. That's not what I'm asking. He said, Peter, all I'm asking is that you just follow me the best you can tonight. Say, it doesn't matter how much distance got between you and the Savior. Christ is still saying, and Jim, and Tyler, and Delper. He's saying, come get a little bit closer. And all He is asking us to do tonight isn't tie 50% on every paycheck. It isn't. to go bankrupt giving to the church. It isn't to go and shout salvation to every person that we ever see and make a fool out of ourselves. It isn't that you've got to come and cut the grass seven days a week. He's not asking all that tonight. All he's asking is just follow me. Just follow after me and walk close with me and everything else will fall in line tonight if you just follow Him. Christ is calling out. He's saying, listen, I don't need any more followers from afar. We've got enough of it. Just follow thou me to my. Heads are bowed, eyes are closed. I'm done. I'll ask you this. As Brother Ruth's playing, maybe any of you would be honest with me, say, Brother Tyler, I'll be honest, I'm lost. I don't know if I were to die tonight, if I'd go to heaven, or if I'd go to hell. I'm not positive that I'm saved. Preacher, would you pray for me? Would you slip your hand up and back down so I can pray for you? Nobody's looking around. I ain't going to call you out. Just be honest with me tonight. Say, Preacher, pray for me. I won't tell a soul. Say, Preacher, I don't know that I'm saved. Pray for me. I'm not positive. Would you slip your hand up and back down just so I can pray for you tonight?