1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Are we all there? Alright, let's pray. Father, we thank you for what we've heard this morning. It is phenomenal that you who created the universe and all that's in it should know us personally by our name, and beyond that, to love us as your own. And we thank you for that. Lord, we deserve none of that, but by your grace, you've been so gracious to us through Christ. We thank you for it. Lord, I pray this morning you'd minister to us, speak to our hearts. You've chosen the foolishness of preaching to speak to your people. You said you'd manifest your word through preaching. And so, Lord, take this preacher up here this morning, this piece of dirt, and fill it with your spirit, because we want to hear from you, and your power, and your passion, your words, your wisdom. Pray for grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Put a watch by its mouth and a guard by its lips, Lord, but use it this morning for thy glory. And Holy Spirit of God, please stand behind this pulpit and please sit next to us. Thank you for attending with us this morning. You said over two or more gathered. There you are in the midst, and we've got more than two or three. And so, Lord, we thank you that you're here this morning with us, sitting next to us, standing with us. Bless us now, we pray in Christ's name. Amen. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, starting at verse 1. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, lest ye believe in vain. For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he was seen of Cephas, than of the 12. If you look closely at verse five, again it says, and that he was seen of Cephas. And we're gonna talk a little bit this morning about Peter's life as a disciple, and that his life as a disciple is going to explode in a three hour event. And it's going to do a tailspin. And Peter's a lot like us. He is a lot like us. You look at the life of Peter and he accomplished. I mean, he had some ultimate accomplishments that he made. And by the way, he's not the Pope. I hope that doesn't break anybody's heart. He's not the Pope. You're going to hear a lot of that stuff this week as they elect the next vicar of Christ. Imagine that. But they're gonna talk about the unbroken chain between Peter and the current pope and it's nonsense. They can't prove an unbroken chain. In fact, on the wall out there is a little track called the Confusion of the Popes and how different Catholic sources have different numbers of popes. And if you ever studied the history of the popes at one time, there was a woman pope, you had a period where one pope was excommunicating the other pope. You're talking about a mess. And you'll hear, again, conservative radio. I've warned you about that. Conservative radio will talk about how the Pope is the head of Christianity. Not this Christianity he's not. He's the head of Catholicism. He's not the head of Christianity. And our president determined, for political reasons, that flags should fly half-mast. And if we had a flag, ours would be flying right at the top. We would not fly half-mast. But anyway, the real Peter, the real Peter had some ultimate accomplishments. He was used of God to, and you know, you see the verse in Matthew talking about the keys, the keys of the kingdom. Those keys were used, number one, to open the door of the gospel to the Jew in Acts chapter two, then to open the door of the gospel to the Gentiles in Acts chapter 10. After that, if you wanna find somebody that's really the head of the church, you're gonna see that more in Paul than you will in Peter. But we see Peter. Peter was a healer. He was with John that morning. They walked in the temple, and there was a guy laid at the gate, beautiful, asking alms. And Peter said, silver and gold have I none, but such I have. I give I unto thee. Rise up and walk. And that dude was walking and leaping and praising God. He had the power to heal, power to raise the dead. He experienced miracles himself, two prison breaks, and that last one was really an incredible prison break. So he experienced the supernatural. It's believed, according to men like Bishop Usher and some others, that his mission's work took him as far as Britain. There's not really too much evidence of that, but some of the writers say that. And he did die a glorious martyr's death in Rome under the reign of Nero. He was what we would call a success, and I hate to use that term, it's too human to use, but in God's sight he was a success. He did a great thing. But Peter had a journey to take before he reached that time of success. And as I mentioned earlier, he's gonna go through a three or four hour period where his life absolutely explodes. And we're gonna concentrate on that when we get there. But he had a journey of success that began with a divine encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. So take your Bible and turn to Luke chapter five. Luke chapter five. Jesus had, and this is up by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus had made his way up there, and by this time, crowds of people were following him around, and so he wanted to teach the people, and he saw a boat, and Peter was in that boat, and he said, I wanna get in that boat, let's push out from shore just a little bit, I wanna teach the people, so he sat in the boat, and it didn't have a den in it, but he sat in the boat, and it had a, beautiful opportunity to preach and and so he preached to the people and when he was done he said to Peter go out in the deep now let's catch some fish Peter said man I've been fishing here all night there's no there's no fish here and Jesus said put the net on the other side and he dropped the net on the other side and it filled with so many fish they couldn't get it in James and John had to run over and try to help and in verse 8 of Luke chapter 5 it says when Simon Peter saw it He fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draft of the fishes which they had taken. And so was also James and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not. from henceforth thou shalt catch men." This is quite a divine encounter because three things here were established. Number one, that he was accepted with Christ. He said, fear not. And he said, fear not after Peter revealed his past as if the Lord didn't know it, when he said, depart from me from a sinful man. And the Lord said, fear not, from henceforth thou shall catch men, revealing his plan for Peter's future. And all of that wrapped up in that one statement there. And Peter had a divine encounter. That's what began this thing. That's what began his walk. He had met the Lord before that, but this began for Peter, his discipleship. And I believe he's excited about it. I believe he's excited that the Lord had accepted him. knowing what he was I believe he was excited the Lord says I got a plan for your life all that stuff's exciting and so that's the first divine encounter the Lord Peter had with the Lord then if you go to Matthew chapter 16 he has a time of approval a time of approval Matthew chapter 16 The Lord had questioned the disciples. He said, hey guys, who do men say that I, the Son of Man am? And they piped up, well, some think you're Jeremiah, some think you're Elijah, some think you're John the Baptist coming back from the dead, some think you're one of the prophets. And he said, yeah, but who do you guys think I am? Verse 15, he said unto them, but whom say ye that I am? And Peter jumps right in there, verse 16, and Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Peter got it, and the other guys didn't. I mean, he got it first. He was right there with the right answer. And the Lord gives Peter a spiritual pat on the back. Boy, I tell you, when a mentor, a hero, gives you a pat on the back of approval, boy, that's something, isn't it? Sometimes when you were a kid, it was just your dad patting you on the back, saying, man, that was a great job. And I always try to, when you guys do something here, when you sing or what have you, like Ben and Olivia just did, although Ben walked away from the mic before the last note was played on the piano, we don't do that. But anyway, I try to give him a pat on the back, say that was a great job. Maybe I don't pat you on the back, but I always try to say that was a great job. That's a good, if you're in a position of leadership, Being a pastor, being a dad, that's a good thing to do. And Jesus here gives a pat on the back of approval to Peter, and man, that had to make his day. I bet that just made his day. I bet he got a big smile on his face. I believe he just lit up, thinking, man, the Lord patted me on the back. And of course, there's problems with approvals. There's problems with approvals. Because you know what approval usually does? gives you a big head. And Peter's big head is going to be taken away in just a few verses. But at this time, right now, the Lord's given him a pat on the back, he's excited, he's happy, and he loved it. Now, let's go a few verses down in Matthew chapter 16. Because the Lord is going to immediately rebuke him. Almost immediately. Matthew 16, and the Lord had just told him, he said, I'm going to go into Jerusalem. They're going to arrest me, they're going to mock me, they're going to spit upon me, they're going to buffet me, they're going to slap me, they're going to kill me. Third day I'm going to rise from the dead. And when Peter heard that, in verse 22 of Matthew chapter 16, it says, then Peter took him, took him aside, and began to rebuke him. Now imagine that, Peter thinks, now I can rebuke the Lord. So that approval has taken him to the place where he thinks he can rebuke the Lord. He said, be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee. But he turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan. Thou art an offence unto me, for thou savest not the things that be of God, but those that be of man. And that big head just went. Because the Lord, in verse 17, had told Peter, Man, you've got that wisdom you got when you recognized who I was. That wisdom came from my Father in heaven. And verse 23, he's saying you're saving the things of men and rejecting God's wisdom. And God still rebukes at times. The Lord rebuked Peter here. And sometimes a rebuke is necessary. You don't have to turn there, but in 2 Timothy 4 in verse 2, one of my responsibilities as a preacher is, in verse 2, to preach the word, be instant, in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. So there comes a time when it's my responsibility to stand up here and preach and to rebuke you. now it may be I'm just preaching and you're guilty of something I don't know anything about and it hits you real hard and you get mad at me don't get mad at me I'm I'm just preaching the message spirit of God is taking it and applying it to you get mad at him revelation chapter 3 so you know Jesus loves us he wouldn't do well I think he would revelation chapter 3 in addressing the church at Laodicea which was a messed up church Revelation chapter 3 verse 19 the Lord says as many as I love oh yeah Jesus loves you as many as I love I rebuke and chasten be zealous therefore and repent so yeah the Lord can love you and rebuke you at the same time in fact love is what motivates him to rebuke if you love your children you're not going to let them get away with stuff that they shouldn't be doing You'll punish them for the protection of themselves. Here you've got a little kid with a knitting needle in his hand going for the electric outlet on the wall. Let's see what this'll do. Ah, don't do that! And you punish him. So he never does that again. It hurts himself. If you love somebody, you rebuke them. Now, I remember the story, and forgive me if I go into the Chicago Bears. I do that on occasion. But the Bears are known for middle linebackers and running backs. The Packers are known for quarterbacks and receivers. The Bears had drafted a young man, second round, by the name of Mike Singletary. And Singletary had a lot of talent, but if you were taken in the second round, it usually means there's probably others that are better than you. But he was taken in the second round out of Baylor and went to the Bears camp and camp started. And the Bears had a defensive coordinator at that time by the name of Buddy Ryan. And Buddy Ryan was the one famous for the 46 defense, one of the best defenses in the history of football. And so at training camp, Buddy Ryan is on Singletary every day. He's going up one side of him and down the other, telling him everything he did wrong, go do it again, do it right, back and forth, back and forth. After two or three weeks, Singletary's bummed out. And he goes out to the parking lot. And he's leaning against his car. And he has that look on his face, like why am I doing this? And at the point where he was just about ready to say forget it, I guess I can't do this. There's another defensive player, last name Osborne, came over to Mike. And he said, Mike, I know Buddy's been on you every day. But I want you to understand something. He knows you've got talent. And he likes you a lot. And that's why he's on you every day. So Mike, listen to me. Just go back into practice tomorrow. And what everybody says, do it. And if he chews you up one side and down the other, take it. And two years from now, you'll be so thankful you did that. Mike Singletary ended up being one of the greatest linebackers in the NFL history. But he had to get rebuked for that. So there's a positive aspect to rebuke. Proverbs 27 verse five says this, open rebuke is better than secret love. Open rebuke is better than secret love. You know what I have the right to do? In fact I'm going to read 1 Timothy chapter 5 which is a pastoral epistle. 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse 20 Paul says to Timothy, them that sin, rebuke before all that others may fear. I've got the right as the pastor to on an occasion which I hope I never have to have the occasion. But if you guys, if somebody goes out and does something terribly, terribly, terribly stupid I have the right and the responsibility to call you out by name not in my office but right out here call you out by name and rebuke you because that's what the Bible says I need to do I hope I never have to do that please don't make me do that okay if you do do something terribly stupid don't tell anybody because if the church finds out and I find out you're gonna hear it I've got that right and don't get mad at me it was your fault But open rebuke is better than secret love. And sometimes it's the only effective thing. I remember Pastor Sowell in Toledo talking about when he was a kid. He was raised in the old Dayton Baptist Temple. That was one of the big churches. It was during the last harvest time of fundamentalism when people were getting saved every week. He said he would see at times 50 grown men at the altar weeping and trusting Christ as their Savior. This was the heyday of fundamentalism. The churches popped up and grew and they got big. He was a kid in that church at that time. Now it's called Cornerstone Baptist. Now Jerry Seiler, who was the youth pastor at the time, is now pastoring that church. But at the time, they went to camp, and Rick, that was his first name, Rick was one of these kids that always found a way to get in trouble. And they went to camp, and Brother Seiler was the youth pastor, and he was so frustrated with them, at the last day of camp, Pastor Sowell says that he called him over to him, and he said, he looked me right in the face, and he said, son, you are a jerk, and walked away. he said nothing ever hit him like that hit him and from that point on he began to change from being the troublemaker to being a good young man sometimes it takes that and here the Lord with Peter gives him a rebuke that he needed to hear along with that he is also facing correction John chapter 13 Peter needed to be corrected on occasion John chapter 13 and if you're familiar with the book of John you know that in John chapter 13 they finished the Lord's Supper or the Passover meal I should say 14 15 and 16 the Lord teaches them about the Holy Spirit the ministry of the Comforter and verse 17 he prays the high priestly prayer for his disciples before his arrest but in John 13 he did something very interesting right after he got up from the from he got up from the from the meal they were having and they were done eating he took a bowl of water and a towel and he wrapped the towel around himself just like a servant would do and began going from one disciple to the other and he was washing their feet well when he gets to Peter Peter's having a problem with this and you get to verse 8 it says Peter sayeth unto him thou shalt never wash my feet Peter said you're not gonna wash my feet not that he didn't want his feet washed it says that you're not gonna treat me like a servant I mean you know you're the you're the Lord you're not a servant so I said you're not gonna wash my feet and Jesus answered him if I wash thee not thou hast no part of me so Peter I've got to do this or we're done our relationship is done you've got to let me do this well that shocked Peter he had been to this extreme over here you're not gonna wash me now look what his response is look at verse Nine, Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Peter said, well, if that's the case, don't just wash my feet, wash my hands, wash my head. He goes from this extreme to that extreme. And the Lord says, no, we just need to wash your feet. You've been cleansed, just need your feet washed. And a lot of times we need the same correction, don't we? because we'll go to this extreme and we get corrected on that and we run over to this extreme. There have been times that people have been in churches and might be kind of new at church and They have a great desire, a great zeal of God, and so you've got a housewife that comes to church, likes to come to church every day and cleans something. I want to clean this, I want to clean that. Until the husband comes in the pastor's office and says, Pastor, she's not doing the stuff she's supposed to be doing at home. She's here working on the church, cleaning this, cleaning that. He said, I want my house cleaned, I want my dishes done and all that. And so the pastor calls her in and talks to her and says, you know, you need to be taking care of your responsibilities at home. And she gets upset and she goes from coming to church three or four days a week to going home and cleaning the house and never doing anything at church again. That's the way people can be, can't they? From one extreme to the other. Peter was that way. From one extreme to the other and the Lord had to say, Peter, we just need to wash your feet. It'll be okay. And sometimes it takes more than one act of correction to get something right. How many have ever been corrected before? How many times the Lord has ever had to correct you about something? It usually takes more than one act of correction. Wouldn't it be nice if you could tell your kid one time and they've got it for the rest of their life? It doesn't work that way. Then we have failure. Go to Matthew chapter 14. Matthew chapter 14, we have failure. Failure that starts out as an incredible victory, an incredible accomplishment, turns into failure. The Lord had sent his disciples across the Sea of Galilee one night He had stayed behind to pray. He said, I'm going to meet you on the other side in the morning. They never stopped to think how he was going to meet them on the other side. He wasn't going to walk all the way around the lake. Why do that when I can walk right across the lake? And so they're out, and there's a storm coming up. The wind is blowing. The waves are high and all that, and they're struggling to get this thing across. And they look over there, and they think they see a ghost. What in the world is that? And it's coming toward them. And then I finally recognized, no, that's Jesus. That's Jesus walking on the water. And so Jesus is approaching the boat. He's just outside the boat. And Peter, with his big mouth, Peter with his ego, I guess you could say, says, Lord, if that be thou bid me to come unto thee upon the water. Lord, if that's you, tell me to get out of the boat and walk over to you. I'll do it. I don't know if he ever expected an answer to that. He probably expected the Lord to say, ah, sit down and get back in the boat. Never expected what the Lord was about to say because the Lord was about to say, come. Now what are you going to do, Peter? Everybody in the boat's got their eyes on you. Lord's got his eyes on you. What are you going to do, Peter? I guess I'll get out of the boat. And he leans over the edge of that boat and he sticks one leg over the side and he touches that water. And it's hard, hard as a rock. And he stands on it, whips his other leg over. He's walking on the water. I could just see the expression on his face, the smile on his face, look at me, here I am guys, I'm walking on the water. Look at this, this is something. Take some steps, maybe he does a little jog, the Joe Biden jog. Maybe he does that a little bit, I don't know. But he's walking toward the Lord, he's having a great time, he's got victory. And then all of a sudden he realizes, you know what, there's a storm blowing. The waves are blowing up and the wind's blowing. And he starts looking around, he takes his eyes off the Lord. he sinks he fails so victory has suddenly become failure he's going under Matthew 14 verse 28 Peter answered and said Lord of be thou bid me if it be thou bid me come into thee on the water he said come and Peter came down out of the ship walked on the water to go to Jesus but when he saw the wind boisterous it was boisterous here about a week ago if I remember correctly he was afraid Beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately, Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him. So he had gotten close enough where the Lord was, and the Lord had gotten close enough to him that he's going down, he had enough sense to stick his hand up. The Lord reached down, grabbed him by his hand, and pulls him up out of the water and sets him on it again. Sets him on it again. And here's the case where you don't get approval. You think, man, he probably patted him on the back and said, Peter, that was something. You were actually walking on, look at you now, you're standing on the water. These guys are still in the boat. Here you are. And he could have patted him on the back and gave him that spiritual pat on the back and gave him approval. He doesn't in this case. Do you know what he says to Peter? To a human being who has just walked on water, who's standing now on water. Do you know what he says to Peter? What happened? Where's your faith? Let's read it. thou of little faith wherefore didst thou doubt he's saying that to a human being that just walked on water and is standing on water he said why did you doubt oh you little faith little faith incredible thing but what the Lord was saying is you failed you did good but you failed but I rescued you now let's walk back to the boat and together they walk back to the boat say preacher doesn't say they walk back to the boat well I don't think the Lord grabbed him by the hand and dragged him through the water they walk back to the boat Peter had success and he had failure and the Lord dealt with his failure and then said let's go back to the boat does this sound like any of our lives I mean, we could follow the same steps many times that Peter has walked under the same situation, same thing, not the same situation, same circumstances, but the same kind of thing. We've been rebuked by the Lord, corrected by the Lord, we've failed the Lord, we've been approved by the Lord, all that stuff. Does that sound like you and I? The Bible says a just man falls seven times and riseth up again. You know, you're talking about failure. Michael Jordan. I know you ladies love my sports illustrations, that's why I do them. Michael Jordan, who played for the Bulls six championships, would have had more if he hadn't decided he wanted to play baseball. Six champions, championships. Michael Jordan, one of the greatest, better than LeBron James any day. Michael Jordan. Do you realize in high school the first time he went out for basketball he got cut? And so he practiced and practiced and practiced and tried out again the next year and got cut. And he finally made the team. He didn't quit, didn't say, well I failed the first time he got cut. He didn't say, well certainly I'm a failure if I get cut the second time. now he owns six championship rings. We'll fail. Peter failed at the end of that little walk he made. But a just man rises seven times. When we fail we don't quit. When we fail we say I'm going to try it again and get it right. And when we fail that time we say I'm going to try it again and I'm going to get it right. you're doing what God wants you to do, if you're doing what is scriptural, keep doing what is right, eventually you're going to get the victory. And failure is just a part of life. Failure is just a part. I have looked at the lives of some of the greatest, what they call the greatest Americans. Vanderbilt and J. Paul Getty and you know the rest, Chase, J.P. Morgan, J.P. Morgan. And some of the other great rich men, the guy that started Sun Oil in Cleveland, Rockefeller. You realize all these great individuals, people we deem as just great, great men, all failed, all failed. You can eat a Hershey's chocolate bar today because Hershey after failure and failure and failure and failure figured out if you add milk to the chocolate it'll be the consistency you want it to be it took him failure after failure after failure after failure to figure that out finally figured it out we have lights in here today because Edison failed and failed and failed and failed and failed and failed and failed in fact they said the pile outside of his second story window of broken light bulbs was like this And he finally found the element, which was tungsten, that could stay hot and not melt. Failure, failure, failure, failure, failure. So don't let failure defeat you. Unless you're doing something wrong, then you want failure to, you wanna be a failure at that. But if you're trying to do what's right, and you're trying to live for God, or you're trying to do this, keep trying, keep trying, keep trying, eventually you're gonna get the success. As Peter did. Luke 22, just toward the end of the Lord's ministry, just before his arrest, he says something to Peter that Peter doesn't get. And the Lord's gonna teach Peter about what's called intercessory prayer. So what's intercessory prayer? When somebody else prays for you. And in this case, the Lord's saying to Peter, I'm gonna be praying for you. Well, that's good to know. But he gives them a specific. Luke chapter 22. And this is the occasion where the Lord said, all of you are going to betray me tonight. And Peter said, you know, these guys here, they may chicken out. I'm going to be with you right to the end. So in Luke 22, verse 31, it says, and the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan had desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee, intercessory prayer, I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee both unto prison and to death. And he had no clue what he was about to go through. And the Lord said, I'm praying for you. You know, that's one of the greatest blessings you have is the fact that we have a high priest in heaven that hears our prayer, we have the Holy Spirit of God that communicates for us with him. We can contact other believers to pray for us. That's a blessing. Romans chapter 8 and verse 34, you don't have to turn there, it says, Paul is speaking a little sarcastically, it says, who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Now if he would have said God who also maketh intercession, that would have been a theological statement. But when he said he'll also make an intercession for us, then it becomes a relationship statement, a relationship thing for us, for us. I'm not just glad he makes intercession. I'm not just glad he's the high priest. I'm glad he makes intercession for me. And I'm glad he makes intercession for you. Hebrews 9 verse 24 Christ has not entered in the holy places made with hands which are the figures of the true but in the heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us he says it again for us so there's the Lord that appears in the presence of God for us that's the blessing Peter didn't understand what he's about to go through and he doesn't appreciate that statement yet But he will. Because getting all through there and getting to this point right here, this is where he's about to explode. This is where his life is about to go into the spiral, as the pilots say. And about to crash and burn. Go to John chapter 18. John chapter 18. And this is the most difficult part The most difficult three to four hours Peter will have to experience. And this is the man that said, I'll go to prison and death with you. Reality is stepping in very quickly. Jesus has been arrested. Peter was ready to fight for the kingdom. Chopped Malchus's ear off. And the Lord said, Peter, don't you think if I wanted to fight for this thing right now, if I was going to set my kingdom up right now, don't you think I'd get 12 legions of angels and do this thing like that? said we're not doing that right now I told you what I'm gonna do when I go into Jerusalem I told you what's gonna happen to me and the Lord put that dude's ear back on him and they arrested Jesus and began to take him and all the disciples fled but two of them came back one was John and the other was Peter Peter fleeing and running away probably thought what in the world am I doing I'm gonna go to prison and death with him and he headed back John chapter 18, look at verse 15. And you've all been told that Peter denied the Lord three times, right? We're gonna see the truth of that here in a minute. John chapter 18, verse 15. Simon Peter followed Jesus and so did another disciple, that's John. That disciple was known under the high priest. So why was John known under the high priest? Because his daddy had a fishing business. And his daddy Zebedee was very successful in his fishing business. And so him and his boys sold a lot of fish to the people who could afford it, including the priests. And so they knew John. John was probably the main fishmonger of the business, if you will. And went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest, verse 16. Peter stood at the door without so John has gone in Peter standing outside the door then went out that other disciple which was known under the high priest speaking to her that kept the door there's a young lady keeping the door and basically said he's with me can I bring him in and brought in Peter but she saw him and she said weren't you with him and his first denial will be to that young lady keeping the door no I don't know him Peter will then go out probably much to John's dismay and enter the courtyard area. Understand the way they built houses in those days was you had a structure like a square or maybe like this and you had a gate here but you had a courtyard area in the middle. So Peter leaves where the doorway of the palace and goes down into the courtyard area and he sits with the servants by a fire probably to warm up. another young lady comes by she recognizes him also hey weren't you one of his disciples and he denies the second time now Peter goes more to the porch area and the midnight cock crowed crowed and while there Peter's recognized by another young lady and he denies the Lord for the third time The fourth, fifth, and sixth denials are commonly called the three denials that you've heard about. Peter denied the Lord six times in over three hours. But the three everybody talks about is the fourth, the fifth, and the sixth denials. And let's look at those. Luke 22, verse 58. Luke 22, verse 58. After a little while, two to three hours is a little while. after a little while he's approached again after a little while another saw him and said thou art also of them and Peter said man I am NOT so he's recognized by a man now who said you're one of them so no I'm not man or come on man that's Peter's fourth denial Then Peter is recognized by a group of people who all combine and get together and say, he's one of them. And he makes his fifth denial. Then he's recognized by the high priest servant who is a kinsman to Malchus. Malchus was the guy that Peter cut his ear off. Here's one of his kin, cousin, what have you, who recognized him and said, you were with him. And Peter denies the Lord for the sixth and final time. Six times he denied the Lord in a period of a little more than three hours. And every time he did that, he probably choked. So what about the cock crowing? Well, go to Mark chapter 13. I'll show you how this all fits together. Such a fuss that people make about, you know, the Bible contradicts itself and doesn't have the right number of cock crowings and all that stuff. Has never put it all together. We put this all together about two or three years ago when I was teaching the life of Christ and put all the Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, put it all together and found out this stuff and looked at this stuff. Do you realize in a Jewish night there are four periods? Okay, Mark 13, 35 talks about it. Watch ye therefore, for you know not, when the master of the house cometh, that even, or at midnight, or the cock crowing, or in the morning. There are four periods of a Jewish night. From six to nine, it's even. From nine to 12, it's midnight. And notice the name kind of follows the end of that period. Then from 12 to three is cock crowing. And then from three to six is morning. Okay, those are the four divisions of a Jewish night. Notice that one was cock crowing. According to Fawcett's Bible Dictionary, in the first century, roosters were accustomed to crowing at least twice during the night. The first crowing, which Mark mentions in 1468, usually occurred between 12 and 1, and relatively few people ever heard or acknowledged this crowing. Likely Peter never heard it, else his slumbering conscience would have been awakened, well maybe. But there was first cock crowing, it was from 12 to one. Didn't affect hardly any people. The second cock crowing took place not long before daybreak. That's that period of the cock crowing. Likely around three o'clock, according to Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary. And please remember, the biblical hours cannot be translated exactly like our modern clocks. I mean, they didn't stand around, heard a cock crow, and say, oh, three o'clock. And somebody else says, no, it's 3.01. And somebody else says, no, it's 3.02, and I have an Apple Watch. So I'm right, and you're wrong. It was more gray, I guess you would say. It was this latter crowing that was commonly called the cock crowing. Why? It was the time of night, just before daybreak, that roosters crowed the loudest. They had a shrill clarion, as it's described by McLintock and Strong, and it was useful in summoning laborers to work. This crowing of the rooster served an alarm clock to the ancient world, and they got up early in those days, like we do around here, right? We found out if you're living in this climate, especially in the summertime, you gotta get up early in the morning and get your work done by noon. Other than that, you're gonna fry. And so it wasn't that climate. You got up before sunrise. You ate, you did what you needed to do, milk the cow, whatever, and as the sun was coming up, you're on the job. And it was the cock crowing that woke people up. That was God's alarm clock, if you will. So the cock crew the first time after the first denial, which we read in Matthew 26, 71. When he went out into the porch, the crowing would have been about one or two in the morning. The second cock crowing would not be until three or four. And this shows us the length of time that the proceedings lasted. It was doubtless as Jesus went through the court at this time that the cock crew and Peter got the look of unutterable pain and grief on the face of the Lord Jesus. Matthew 26, 34, said, Jesus, unto him, verily I say unto thee, that this night before the cockcrow thou shalt deny me thrice. And that cockcrow, and he's walking through, and he turns his head, and he looks at Peter, and Peter looks at him. And that had to be the heartbreak of Peter's life. In Mark 14, verse 71, he began to curse and to swear after his sixth denial, saying, I know not the man whom you speak. And the second time the cock crowed, 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. This is a tough fisherman who's now bawling his eyes out because he has denied the person he loved the most in this life. And from this point until his appearance to the disciples toward the end of the day, resurrection day, we know little about Peter. We know little about Peter. When did he get to see the Lord? Well, we can kind of narrow that down. But think about this, for three days, three days, all Peter remembers is the face of his Savior, his Lord, the one he loves the most. covered with spittle face probably beginning to swell from the smiting and the punching chunks of beard ripped out of his cheeks he has to see that face and that's the last thing he's gonna see for three days when it comes to Jesus Christ he lays his head on his pillow at night and there's that face there's that picture and I don't believe he just wept one time gets up in the morning and he can't get the picture of that face out of his mind the face that looked upon him with disappointment you remember when you were a kid and and you did something and it was mom or dad that all they had to do is look at you with that look of disappointment and it broke your heart they didn't have to paddle you that look of disappointment on their face was enough that look of disappointment on Jesus' beaten face had to tear Peter up. Now what we do know is this, on the Resurrection Sunday we do know that Peter will see the Lord sometime before Cleopas and the other disciple who are heading down the road to Emmaus where the Lord shows up to them he reveals himself to them when they sit down to break bread and they leave the house they race back to Jerusalem where Peter and John and the other disciples are and as they're running in the door ready to give the news the disciples speak first and they say the Lord has risen and has appeared unto Simon so sometime before he appears to Cleopas he has appeared to Peter that's why we looked at 1st Corinthians chapter 5 and that he was seen of Cephas and we know nothing about that meeting and it's interesting you think about the importance of Peter and we know nothing about his meeting with the Lord we know a lot about Magdalene's meeting we know how the other women met him and fell at his feet and worshiped him we know of Cleopas and the other disciple how they recognized him we know of the seven at the Sea of Galilee how they recognized him to the group assembled the disciples we know the story behind that we know the following week when he appears to Thomas how that went about but we don't know anything about his appearing to Peter and you think that's kind of odd I mean this is Peter who's going to open the door of the gospel to the Jew this is Peter who's going to open the door of the gospel to the Gentile how do you think that meeting went you know Peter and John had gone to the tomb Magdalene had said you know he's risen she ran ahead they went to him she follows along he appears to her John goes back I kind of think Peter might have just hung around somewhere at that point maybe he sat on the side of the road still bummed out maybe he was standing walking down the road kicking stones like a kid does when he's in trouble you know walking slow and Jesus shows up what do you think happened do you think he rebuked him Peter you think he corrected him you think even the terminology has dressed him down just tore into him I don't think so do you think the Lord said Peter I thought you loved me I thought you're gonna go to prison and death with me what happened I don't think so At a later time, he's gonna say, Peter, lovest thou me three times. Or was this an intimate time between Peter and the Lord? An intimate time of forgiveness and restoration to a heartbroken, tear-filled disciple who himself was repentant? So intimate and so wonderful that there was no need to write about it. I kind of have a hunch the Lord just took Peter in his arms and hugged him. And Peter bawled his eyes out. And the Lord said, Peter, I told you this was going to happen. But you know what? I forgive you. We're OK. We're good. And the Spirit of God didn't think it necessary that we know anything more about that. And if you want to know more about it, when you get to heaven, ask Peter, say, what happened? And remember, up to this point, the last visual contact Peter had with the Lord was during his denials. But now he sees a different face. Now he sees a face full of love and concern and care and compassion. And that face will replace the face the disappointed Christ I told you all that to tell you this we will fail we will mess up maybe not as bad as Peter we will have our periods where we deny the Lord in one way or another And I'll quote it again, a just man falleth seven times and rises up again. We will fall, we will fail. And understand this, there's always, always, always forgiveness and restoration with the Lord if we want it. He's always there. And he's always forgiving and he's always compassionate. And he may give you a little rebuke, but he'll do it with his arms around you. That's the kind of God we have. There was a lady at the church. We used to attend in Toledo before I went to Hope. And she was from a rough situation. And when I say rough, it was drug issues, drug problems. And she got saved. I believe she got saved. She got right with the Lord. And she always wanted to work in public ministry, and so she would always be along with us doing public ministry. And then you wouldn't see her for a while, because she fell on her face. And you'd see her again, with a big smile on her face, and I got it right, preacher. And she used to rejoice in the fact that we have a God of second chances. And with her third chances, and fourth chances, and fifth chances. But she always came back. Lord took her home early, probably for her own benefit. But she just rejoiced in a God of second chances. I want you to understand this morning, if you don't get anything else, get this. We worship a God of second chances. And third and fourth and fifth and 20 and 25, what have you. But we worship a God of second chances. And I don't know what your position is this morning. I don't know where you are this morning. Maybe you're dealing with some failure in your life right now. Maybe you felt you've denied the Lord right now. Maybe you have in the past and understand what I'm talking about. But this one thing I do know. In your future, you will have your failure. You will have your time of denying the Lord. And when that happens, never forget, we have a God of second chances. And all you have to do is go to Him. And He's got big old arms that He can wrap around you, and He can wipe away every tear, and He can take away the grief out of the heart, and give you peace again, and give you joy again. and get you back on track. A God of second chances. Father, we thank you for your word this morning. It'll be interesting and kind of fun to get to heaven and actually sit down with Peter and say, okay, can you go over this with me? And maybe he'll look at us and say, you know, that part is really none of your business. Even though we're in heaven, it's none of your business. And I'll say, okay. But maybe he'll tell the story. But Father, we are so grateful you are a God of second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, multiple chances. And you know we mess up and you know we fail, but you're there. You're there to pick us up. You're there to pull us out of the water. You're there to put your arm around us. You're there to help us. So Lord, I pray if anybody here and anybody in the sound of my voice is dealing with failure or denial similar to Peter's, maybe this morning they'll choose to go to you. Father, I pray that we know we're not perfect. We know we're prone to wander. We're prone to fail. Please give us the grace every time we fall to get back up on our feet. and understand there's forgiveness and restoration in you. Lord, I pray this morning, if anybody here has never trusted Christ as their Savior, that maybe today will be the day they realize that the journey has to begin with Calvary. That you came to this world 2,000 years ago to be the payment for their sin. And if they're willing to admit that they're sinners, Understand they cannot save themselves But all their trust is in what you did on the cross and the empty tomb That they could have eternal life today So Lord speak to our hearts here this morning With Heads Bowed and Lives Closed, we're gonna be giving an invitation in just a minute. If you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, we'd ask you to simply walk forward. Somebody will meet you up here and take in my office and take a Bible and show you how to trust Christ as your Savior. This could be the greatest day in your life. And you'll never have to worry about going to hell again. It'll be heaven as your future. That's up to you. But as we stand and sing, the opportunity is there. If you'd like to be saved, we ask again, somebody to come forward, somebody to meet you up here, take you in my office, take a Bible and show you how to be saved. Christian, you do as God speaks to your heart this morning. Brother Josh, come ahead.