Just as a quick refresher, we are in the middle of this most horrendous of nights. You ever been there? You ever had this night of just horrible events, and the night just goes on and on? Maybe, maybe there was some sudden sickness that you had to be taken to the hospital, or a loved one had to be taken to the hospital, or maybe there was an accident with a loved one involved or something, and, and something just made this night just go on and on and on. It's like this night for Christ and for His disciples. Of course, this began in the highest of notes in the upper room. As Jesus washes their feet and he teaches them, he breaks bread with them, he shares the cup with them, he teaches them of the new covenant of forgiveness in his blood. And then, of course, that then transitions to that night of struggle in the garden as Jesus prays and struggles, the sweats, the drops of blood and sweat pouring out while the disciples sleep. And then there's the soldiers, the swords, and the spears, and the crowds, and the torches. And then there is the time in front of Annas, and then Caiaphas. And the abuse, the mockery, the punches, and the kicks, and the insults, and the blasphemies, and all these things. And now all this brings us up to the events that Mark is narrating for us in his sandwich style, which is to start one story and then Go to another story and then come back and finish the first. This story, the story of Peter's denial, is found in all four Gospels, and all four Gospels will tell the story in this fashion, meaning it's told concurrently. What's happening to Jesus in the room with Caiaphas is happening at the same moments, at the same time as what's happening with Peter down in the courtyard. And so today we turn our focus to what is happening with Peter down in the courtyard, beginning from verse 53. This is a story of Restoration of failure and restoration, and we're familiar with stories of failure and restoration. Our culture has many such stories of one who had everything going for them, and was heading in the right direction, and then due to some stupid decision or some event out of their control, everything just collapsed in on itself. And then this person looked around at the rubble and picked himself up and dusted himself off and reached down and grabbed the bootstraps and pulled himself back up now to a place even greater and more solidified than before. Stories of restoration were familiar. There's many of those I could point it to to get us started out this morning. But we're not interested in all those stories of restoration is as much as they tug on our heartstrings. Instead, we're interested in this story. This is the story, the greatest story of restoration. The Bible is the story of restoration. And Mark is the book that tells the story of restoration. This is the story that we're interested in. Not just the restoration of Christ as he came to. Not watch his people pick themselves up and dust themselves off. But those people, his people who couldn't pick themselves up after our sinful failures. He comes into the miry pit and picks us up and becomes our sin for us and lifts us up out of that pit. That is the grand story of restoration. But in the midst of that story, there's another story of restoration that's taken place within this story. And we all know what I'm pointing to. This is the restoration of Peter, the dramatic failure of Peter, which will then culminate in his restoration. And as we remember, Mark is a really a book about restoration. We talked about this, if you want to think back a good, , two years ago or a little bit over two years ago, when we started the book of Mark. And we said, In the very first time that we opened the Gospel of Mark, we said that Mark is written to us by two men who understand failure and restoration, both Mark and Peter. And so we may know the fact that, that the book of Mark, the Gospel of Mark is written to us. Of course, Mark is writing the words, but he's writing the words, so to speak, with Peter over his shoulder. He's recording Peter's teaching, and Peter is there with him. Peter is his mentor. Peter is his spiritual father, so to speak. And so, we are reading, in essence, the words of Peter, but also the words of Mark, because Mark is also in the Gospel as well. But both of these men are men who understand dramatic, radical failure and restoration, because both of them failed. Very publicly and very visibly twice. And then they were both restored very publicly and very visibly twice. We witnessed Mark's first failure the last time we were in the passage. With the man whose clothes were jerked off as he's running away in fear and cowardice. Mark's failure, his second failure, will come later as he and the apostle Paul will be at odds. And he will again be restored very publicly and very visibly in that sense as well. Peter also will fail very dramatically, very publicly, very visibly twice. This is the first of his two failures. The second will also come in connection with the Apostle Paul, as the Apostle Paul has to correct him that he speaks about in the letter to the Galatians. Both of these failures also will be followed very dramatically with public restoration. So, the book really should be understood through the lens of two men who understand what it's like to fail gloriously. And then be restored after that failure. This really is the story that brings all that together. This is the story of the book in which it becomes most helpful for us to remind ourself that this is being written to us by two men who understand what it's like to fail and to fail in such a way that everybody sees it and everybody knows it and then to be restored. So this dramatic failure of Peter that we'll look to this morning, this really is going to serve for us. Well, really is, is. That which speaks to us of what shapes Peter the most. When we think about what is it that shapes who we are as people, what is it that shapes our personality and our character, of course we know that the central thing that, that makes us who we are, of course, is the Holy Spirit who makes us new creations in Christ. But aside from that, the thing that makes us from a human standpoint, from an earthly standpoint, what makes us who we are more than anything else, I would suggest to us is not our successes. It's not the times that things went well, the positive experiences. I think sometimes we would, maybe you've asked yourself, what, what is it in my past that shapes who I am today? Maybe we would point to our upbringing, our parents, or these positive, certain positive experiences. But I think if we pressed into that, we would be honest with ourself. If we would say, you know, what really makes me who I am today are. Those times when I have failed most spectacularly in such a way that everybody around me knew that and then I had to pick up the pieces after that. That's what shaped me and that's what shapes Peter. Peter is not the man that we know him to be and I'm not speaking, not speaking mainly of the Peter in the gospel, in the gospel of Mark, but I'm speaking of the Peter in 1st Peter and 2nd Peter. Peter is not the Peter that we know him to be because Jesus took him up on the Mount of Transfiguration. And because he witnessed so many miracles that Jesus performed, or Jesus sent him out to preach and to heal. That's not what made Peter who he is. What made Peter, again from a human standpoint, what made Peter who he is, is this night. The events of this night that we will now look to, beginning from verse 53. So we'll look at two verses, 53 and 54, and then we'll follow Mark's train of thought down to verse 66. With that in mind, verse 53. And they led Jesus to the high priest and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together and Peter had followed him at a distance. That sets the context that sets the mood for everything that is to follow. We've noticed time and again just how masterful Mark is at telling the story. We've heard critics of the scripture say things to us like. Mark was such a very elementary and a rudimentary and a crude writer. His story is very poorly developed and we've seen nothing but the opposite. We've seen that Mark is a masterful storyteller on so many occasions and here we see it once again because what Mark just did with that little phrase, we might have missed it if we didn't slow down to see it. What he did was he just set the context for what we're now reading. He followed him at a distance, meaning Peter didn't go the other way. Ten disciples went the other way, not Peter. Peter said, I will never leave you, I will never deny you, I will follow you if I have to die. And he is still following him, though at a distance now. And so he's increased his distance, he's following Jesus at a distance. And that really, if you can get your mind around that, around that context, that is what will flavor, that's what will color Everything that is to follow Peter is following Jesus, but he's doing it at a safer distance. He followed him at a distance. Right into the courtyard of the high priest. So he follows Jesus at this distance. He enters into the courtyard of the high priest. And we must ask ourselves the question, How is it that Peter now enters into the court of the high priest? This is not a public area. This wasn't a public courtyard. This was the private home. How is it that Peter then enters into this private courtroom, or this courtyard, of the High Priest, and John tells us the answer to that, if we look to John chapter 18, in your notes. Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple, meaning the Apostle John. So Simon, Peter and John are the two apostles out of the 11 who did not flee and run the other direction. They are the two apostles that, at least in some sense, are now still following along with Jesus, although Jesus is bound, probably hands behind them, bound very tightly, being escorted along by the guards and by the soldiers. John here is following along and Peter is following along at a distance. Now, Simon Peter followed Jesus and so did another disciple. Since that disciple, again meaning John, that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. Now that is something to pause at. What did John just say? He said that because he was known to the high priest, he was able to enter the courtyard. So the Apostle John was known by the high priest. And we must ask ourselves, how? How did the high priest know John? That's certainly a back story we'd be interested to hear. How was it that the high priest Caiaphas was familiar with the Apostle John? The Apostle John was a Galilean Jew, not a Judean Jew. He didn't live in Jerusalem. How did they have this connection? And if the high priest knows of John, he also certainly knows that John is a follower of this man, Jesus. And so, therefore, it follows that because John is going to get access into the courtyard for Peter, it follows that it is already known that Peter is a disciple of Jesus. Because that's how he's going to gain entrance by his connection to John, who's also known as a follower of Jesus. So in other words, the, everything that follows is a moot point. The, everything that follows this, this desire for Peter not to be affiliated with Jesus, not to be known as his disciple, he's already known as the disciple. Meaning He can't hide it. Peter is a disciple of Jesus, and it cannot be hidden. Regardless of how he might try, regardless of how he might deny it, whatever he means he might go about to try to convince those in the courtyard that he's not a follower of Jesus, it is known that he is. So we take that to heart. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, it cannot be hidden. If it can be hidden, you're not a follower. If you are a true follower, It cannot be hidden. Peter cannot hide this because John is known to the high priest. John enters with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. So that is also something for us to make note of. Jesus enters into the courtyard and John is said to enter with him. So in my mind, I'm picturing it something like this. Jesus is bound. Maybe arms tied behind him, maybe arms tied in front of him, but he's bound. He's being escorted by this full range of soldiers and guards all around him. He's escorted in, this big crowd of people comes up to the gate. Jesus and the guards go through the gate, and then shortly behind Jesus, maybe a few paces behind Jesus, there's more of a crowd, there's more people following, people that are just interested, people that are connected to the guards in some way. Remember, there's the servant Malchus. All these other people, and John is one of them. They go through the gate and here comes John shortly behind him, and somebody steps in front of a, in, in front of John with a spear or a sword or something like that. Hang on, where are you going? Who are you? And John stops here and, and he's trying to get entrance. And then this other, there's maybe another guard there. And the other guard says, okay, the high priest knows him. He, he knows him. He's okay. And so they take the sword, they move the, the, the javelin or the, the spear or whatever they're holding John back with. They move that out. John moves through the gate. So John comes in with Jesus, shortly behind Jesus, into the courtyard of the high priest. They shuffle Jesus away. John is just inside the gate. Now verse 16, So here comes John. He's now through the gate. And Peter, following at a greater distance behind, he's still out there behind, , outside the gate. Peter stood outside the door, so the other disciple, meaning John, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door and brought Peter in. So John goes through the gate, he's allowed entrance because the high priest knows him, he goes in, he looks around, way back there is still Peter. With this dumb look on his face, like, he's not quite sure what he's doing. He's not sure if he wants to go in, or if he wants to go home. He is just, his, his whole world is spinning right now, and he's not exactly sure, does he even want to come through? So he's standing over here, John stops, he turns around, Are you coming? And Peter says, Yeah. And so then John comes back, comes to the slave girl, he's with me. And then the guards let Peter through also. So now they're inside the courtyard, inside this private courtyard of the high priest. Remember, it's the middle of the night and he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. Notice how Mark continues painting this picture for us. It's a picture of a disciple who's not acting like a disciple. It's a picture of a disciple who wants to follow at a safe distance. He wants to be at a safe. comfortable distance. Notice he's sitting by the fire. It's a cold night. This is Passover. That's a cold season of year in Palestine. So he's by the fire warming himself in safety. And the contrast is his master is inside up above in danger, in hostility, in abuse. Insults all that for him while he's outside in comfort and safety. Look at verse 66 and seeing and as Peter was below in the courtyard. So that tells us that probably Jesus is in a room that's higher than the courtyard. Maybe it's on the second floor or maybe it's just elevated a little bit, but Jesus is up and Peter is down. So we get the sense here of two dramas unfolding. One is unfolding up there and one is unfolding down here. You see the imagery. Up there is the master suffering hostility, suffering abuse, being kicked, being punched, being insulted, being blasphemed against. And he's doing it for the one down there who is in comfort and safety, sitting by the fire, wanting to follow Jesus, but at a safe and comfortable distance, which we know cannot be done, right? You cannot follow Jesus at a safe and comfortable distance. Just like Peter cannot be a disciple down in the courtyard. He's going to either have to leave or he's going to have to join Jesus. Those are the only two ways that Peter can be a disciple. Is he must leave, or he must join Jesus because he cannot follow Jesus from a safe, comfortable distance, which is what he's trying to do at the moment. So upstairs is the abuse and the insults and all of the antagonism towards the master, the one who deserves none of that. Downstairs in the courtyard is the one who deserves all of that, yet he's warming his hands in safety by the fire. Now, verse 66. Oh, by the way, let me just draw attention to this. That word fire is not the word for fire. That's the word phos, which is the word that we get our words like photography from. It's the standard Greek word for light. So literally what Mark says is Peter is warming himself by the light. There's a perfectly good Greek word for fire. Mark didn't use it. He used the word for light. So once again, get the picture. The picture is Peter is now by the light. And what's the light doing? It's exposing him. It's exposing him for the fraud that he's trying to be right now. And he can't be by the light and not be exposed. He's going to have to leave because the light is shining onto him. And those around him, as we're going to see in verse 67, those around him begin to see and they begin to recognize. Why? Because of the light. As John's gospel tells us, the light came into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because the light exposed their evil deeds. Now verse 66. And as Peter was below in the courtyard, Two, I'm sorry, one of the servant girls of the high priest came and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him, notice that, seeing him, she looked at him. Luke puts it this way, the servant girl seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, looking intently at him. So Mark puts it this way, seeing him. Warming himself, she looks at him. So, the servant girl is here, there's the soldiers, there's guards around, Peter's sitting by the fire warming himself, but the fire is illuminating his face, and the servant girl, he sort of catches her attention. She looks, and then this expression of recognition begins to dawn over her face. I've seen him. Where have I seen him? I've seen this man, where, where have I seen this man? So she looks intently at him and she says, you also were with the Nazarene Jesus. Now to associate him with the Nazarene is not a compliment. We remember the words of Nathanael in John's Gospel when Nathanael says, what good can come from Nazareth? Nothing good comes from Nazareth. That was sort of the mantra of the day. I don't know what a modern comparison might be, maybe West Virginia. Or Arkansas or something like that. We used to, when? When I was a kid, it was West Virginia. That was the state where nothing good came from, but whatever it may be. This idea that, well, this Nazarene, you don't wanna be associated with a Nazarene 'cause nothing good comes from Nazareth. So you were with the Nazarene. Now notice the wording there. She doesn't say you're a disciple of the Nazarene, aren't you? You're a follower of the Nazarene, aren't you? You are a, you are a believer in the Nazarene. She says you were with the Nazarene. Do you remember the words that Mark told us in Mark chapter 3, verse 14 when Jesus called his apostles unto himself, Mark specifically says that Jesus called the 12 unto himself to be with him, to be with him. Peter was called to be with Jesus. He answers the call and now having been with Jesus, others begin to recognize that he was with Jesus. And of course, this will all culminate Acts chapter four and verse four, , verse 13, when the same two apostles, Peter and John, stand before the same council, the Sanhedrin, and they, they're, they're, we're told that they recognized that they had been. with Jesus. You see, when you're with Jesus, others will see that you are with Jesus. So Peter was called to be with him, and now he's being recognized as being with the Nazarene. Now, verse 68, But he denied it, saying, I neither know nor understand what you mean. So there, Mark uses two words in the Greek. We've talked about these two words for no. The first word there that's translated, I neither know, that's, , , speaking of an intellectual knowledge, a, , , a scientific knowledge, a knowledge of facts. The second word for know speaks of a relation, or a relational knowledge. I don't know him, I don't have a relationship with him. So it's translated well, I neither know him, nor do I even understand. I don't even know what you're talking about. What are you talking about, girl? I don't even know what you're saying. You know what, what it's like when somebody is just trying so hard to deny something that's obvious and they just go overboard in their denial, I don't even know what you're talking about. And that's like what Peter's doing here. I don't even know what you're saying. You're not even making any sense. She's making perfect sense. And everybody around her knows she's making perfect sense. I neither know him, you know, his name is on everybody's lips in Jerusalem right now. Everybody in the city is talking about this man, Jesus. So for Peter to say, I don't even know who you're talking about, that's going to hold no water at all. I neither know him, nor do I understand what you mean. And he went out into the gateway. Notice again, he's getting further from Jesus. Now he leaves the light, he leaves the fire, because he cannot follow Jesus at a safe, comfortable distance. He either has to go to Jesus or he's got to run. And so he's moving away, the distance to Jesus, metaphorically speaking, there's this word picture here of him getting further from Jesus. He moves away into the gateway and the rooster crowed. Now, Mark, I'm sorry, Matthew and Luke They'll speak to us of one rooster crow. Mark will speak to us of two rooster crows. I don't want to take the time to go into that and how we would reconcile the two of those. It's really not that important. But just know for, know that Matthew and Luke, they only will speak of one. There's no contradiction here, but nevertheless, Mark will narrate here one rooster crow or the first, the first rooster crow. Now verse 69, and the servant girl saw him. Notice here, just the theme. Saw him seeing him. She looked at him. Now she sees him. Are we talking about the same servant girl as before? We're not sure. Matthew talks about two servant girls. Luke will talk about a servant girl and then other men who also begin to recognize him. So perhaps Mark is speaking of the same servant girl again. Or perhaps he's speaking of a different servant girl. Again, it really doesn't matter. But the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders. So you sort of see the picture here. She's not talking to Peter anymore. At first she says, you are one of him. You were with the Nazarene, speaking to Peter. Now she's not speaking to Peter anymore. She's now turned everybody around. He's with him. He's one of them. You can just, you can see the scene unfolding, can you not? This man is one of them. Verse 70. But again, he denied it. That's in the imperfect there. Meaning, he didn't just say, nope. That's wrong. Not true. Instead, the imperfect speaks of just a continual. He starts denying it and he's blubbering He's fallen over himself to just continue denying it. No, no way that I don't know what you're talking about. You're wrong I do not know him. He's just going on and on with his denial He denied it and after a little while Luke tells us after the passing of about an hour So after about an hour or after about a little while the bystander again said to Peter Certainly, you are one of them, for you are a Galilean. Matthew will help us here in Matthew's Gospel, in, , Matthew 26 and verse 73. After a little while, the bystanders came up and said to Peter, Certainly, you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you. So, Matthew lets us know that they're pointing to his accent as a Galilean. Your accent tells us that you're a Galilean. Which is what's telling them that you, well, you must be one of those Galileans with this big group of Galileans that came with him from Galilee. So we can also see how this would play out, right? , you can easily imagine a scenario where, you know, , a good old, good old hillbilly from Surrey County with his overalls and, and his old dirty ball cap goes up to a Starbucks in Hartford, Connecticut or something, walks in. I mean, you just stand out like a sore thumb. The minute you open your mouth. You're just obviously very difficult. Or you could turn the scenario around. Someone from Providence, Rhode Island walks into, , What is it? John, John Boyes? John, , is it John Boyes? Yeah. Walks into John Boyes down there, you know, and he's wearing his suit and his tie. And the minute he opens his mouth, everybody knows, you ain't from these parts, are you? And that's exactly the same sort of scenario. It's often speculated that many theologians believe that the Galileans had trouble pronouncing some of the guttural, the more guttural Hebrew sounds. Because remember we talked about Galilee and the difference between the Galilean Jews. And they were a culture that was more Hellenized. They were more influenced by other cultures than were the Judean Jews. So they would have What many people believe would be some problems with the more guttural parts of the language, which would make them stand out very clearly, very, , very noticeably. So you're a Galilean. Your accent is betraying you. You don't even talk like us. Verse 71, But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear. So what Peter does not do here, Sometimes we may have thought of Peter as maybe reverting back to his sailor days, his sailor language. We all know, , the sailors are sort of known for their colorful language. And so maybe Peter's going back to his sailor day language in order to convince these people that, you know, he's just going to heap these profanities, these vulgar words, because that's what people use vulgar words for usually anyway. Because Usually, when you use vulgarity, you're not saying anything worth listening to anyway, so you need to add, you feel like you need to add vulgarity to it for people to listen. So maybe that's what Peter's doing, he's adding profanity on to emphasize his point, but that's not what he's doing at all. This is not the word for vulgar speech or profane speech. This is the word that we get our word anathema from. And this is a word that's used frequently in the New Testament, for example, when Paul writes to the Galatians. And he says, if anyone preaches a different gospel, let him be anathema. Let him be accursed. And it doesn't mean vulgar language. It means to call down a curse upon oneself if your words would not be true. In other words, let me put it sort of a modern vernacular sort of way. May I be damned if I'm not telling the truth. May God strike me dead if I'm not telling the truth. Now Peter, being a good Jew, would not have used the word God. He would not have said, May God strike me dead. He would have used another word in place. He would have said something like, May the throne of heaven curse me. May I be cursed by heaven if I am not telling the truth. I don't know that man. And then the next word that we see, he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear. That's the standard word for take an oath. So this is a word that we see, , well, Jesus uses this word when he says, Um, don't, don't swear by the temple. Or the gold of the temple. Instead, let your yes be yes and your no, be no. This is, that's the word that Jesus uses. There's just the standard word to take an oath. So he takes this, he invokes this cursive on him, on himself. If I'm not telling the truth, may the throne of heaven strike me dead. May it curse me for I take this oath. I take an oath. I do not know this man. Now wait a minute, Peter. You can't even say his name. You see how Mark has shown us step by step where Peter's going. Now he can't even say his name. I do not know this man. Come on, Peter. Everybody in Jerusalem knows this man's name. And you're saying that you don't even know his name? I do not know this man of whom you speak. So we see here the perfect example of the Proverbs 17 fool. The Proverbs 17 fool, who's known by their many words. Do you know the Proverbs? That the fool is known by their volume of words. And isn't that so true? Isn't it so true that the more words you speak, the more likely you are to show just how little you know? The contrast to this is upstairs. The one who perfectly follows the proverb that says, Do not answer a fool according to his folly. For he's being accused of things that could So easily and so conclusively be refuted, and yet he remains silent. Down below, Peter is having diarrhea of the mouth, trying to get himself out of being associated with the one he can't even say his name of any longer. Verse 72, and immediately, there's Mark's favorite word, immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him before the rooster crows twice. You will deny me three times. So here we see just this triad of threes, three, three, and three. Three times he slept, three times he denied, three times he was affirmed. Thinking to John's Gospel, John chapter 21, Do you love me, Peter? You know I love you. Do you love me, Peter? Yes, Lord, I love you. Do you love me, Peter? Lord, I told you I love you. You see the triad? Three times he slept, three times he denied, three times he's affirmed. So we, we see here that Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. Luke adds for us another detail in Luke's gospel on the next page of your notes, an important detail that Luke adds for us in chapter 22, and the Lord turned and looked at Peter. So, how is it possible that the Lord looked at Peter? How is that possible? If, if we put together the accounts of all the Gospels, it becomes clear to us that Jesus first stands before Annas, and then he stands before Caiaphas. And then after standing before Caiaphas, he's going to be taken from Caiaphas. To a holding area, and then as the sun comes up in just a little bit, he'll be brought back before the same body of people. Mark's going to narrate that for us in chapter 15. But he'll be brought back before the same group of people in order to make this whole thing official. But there's this period of time between standing before Caiaphas and later on, just maybe an hour or two later, in which Jesus is taken to a holding area where probably the guards had more fun with him. But he's taken to the stand. So probably what's happening is he's being taken now. He's done with Caiaphas. We've had that episode where Caiaphas says, , tell us plainly, are you the son of the blessed one? Are you the anointed one? And Jesus says, I am. And the next time you see me, I'll be coming on the clouds. Tears the robe. All that's over. We need no more words. We've heard his blasphemy. Now they're taking him to the holding place, and as they are exiting with him, then there's this, well, divine interchange, in which there's this moment that the rooster crows, Peter recognizes the rooster, looks up, and there's Jesus looking at him. That's got to be one of the most dramatic moments in all of human history. And that moment when Peter looks up and makes eye contact with his Savior. Notice with me first of all, the mercy, the mercy of God. To mercifully bring to an end this horrible time of failure for Peter. God is not the one tempting Peter to deny Him. God, God tempts no one. The scriptures are clear about that, but God does arrange sovereignly the circumstances of our temptations so that our sinful failure still serve his purpose. We've seen that over and over in Mark's gospel. And so once again, it's Peter who is failing to remain loyal to his Lord. It's his sin, but nevertheless, the Lord has arranged the circumstances so that it's fitting his purpose. And what is his purpose? Well, his purpose is clear. This is where Peter's character is being forged. This is where Peter is truly being made into the rock that Jesus called him years ago. But he's never yet been, at least not yet. He will be the rock. And this is what's going to make him into that rock. But the Lord is mercifully bringing this to an end. Because the rooster, do we think that the rooster just sort of crowed by chance? Of course not. Jesus said, the rooster will crow. And right on cue the rooster crows because the Lord controls animals. That, that's one of the easiest things to believe, that the Lord's in control of animals. So He's in control of the rooster. And He sovereignly, mercifully brings to an end Peter's sinful bumbling. If He had not, Peter would have continued to spiral into denial to the point of no return. To the point in which he apostatized. Because Jesus says, if you deny me before men, I'll deny you before my father. So why will Jesus not deny Peter before his father? Because Peter denied him. Because there's a difference between temporary denial and settled denial. Settled denial that rests upon you, that settles into your soul for the rest of your life. Peter would have gone there had God not mercifully brought this to an end with the rooster. What a merciful crow that was, but it wasn't just the mercy of the rooster. It was the mercy of Jesus in that moment to make eye contact. Jesus's face probably is certainly bruised by this point, perhaps even bloodied. And Peter catches his eye. And what look do you think Peter saw on Jesus's face? I don't think that a look of disgust. Or, I don't think that a look of disappointment, or, yeah, I told you so, Peter. Peter, could you not have just said that you knew me? I don't think that those looks would have caused Peter to do what the next phrase tells us, which is go out and weep bitterly. What causes Peter to weep bitterly is he looks in Jesus face and he sees love and understanding and pity. And compassion and unconditional acceptance. And that's what breaks Peter's heart. That's what causes him to then do what we read next, and he broke down and wept. The mercy of God in that moment. This truly is an illustration of Romans 5 and verse 20. The law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. Peter's sin has certainly increased, and the grace of God has outpaced it. With even more mercy to say, Peter, I will let this continue only as long as necessary. And in the moment In which we have reached the point that you now have the tools to take these tools and forge them into your character in that very moment I'll bring an end to this. Because this will not continue one instant longer than it has to. And so he mercifully brings this to an end. Peter broke down and wept. That is the last time that we hear of Peter in Mark's Gospel. And we've got another chapter and a half to go. And yet Peter, who is the narrator, disappears after this moment. Breaking down and weeping is the last we will see of Peter, except for one brief little blip in chapter 16. I'm indebted to Alistair Begg for pointing this out to me. As he preached through this passage, he showed me this, and I want to show this to us here this morning. Just one, just two little words that occur in chapter 16 and verse 7. Take a look with me in chapter 16 and verse 7. This is the angel speaking now that Christ is risen. He says, Go, tell his disciples and Peter that he's going before you to Galilee. So why does it read that way? Do you think that it would have been enough if the angel said, Go and tell his disciples? Would that have sufficed? Of course it would. Peter was a disciple. Go and tell his disciples. That implies Peter as well. But the angel doesn't say that. Go and tell his disciples and Peter. What's going on? He called Peter to be with him. Peter followed the call. And was with him, but then in that moment, I'm not with him. I'm not with them. I'm not one of them. I'm not with them. I tell you, I'm not with them. May God damn me. If I'm one of him, I'm not one of them. And then Peter, you are one of me. You are one of mine. You never were not one of mine, regardless of what you said in those horrible moments. You never were not one of mine. That's the restoration of Peter. And that, brothers and sisters, is the most powerful restoration example that the scriptures show us. What do you think all this meant to Peter? Well, let me show us what it all meant to Peter. If we look to first Peter chapter five and we've noticed as we've gone through Mark's gospel from time to time I have encouraged us, you know Just to pause in your own private time and go and read first Peter and remind yourself that this is the same man So here we turn to first Peter and now we see the rock We see the one who has taken these experienced and they have forged his character and he's now indwelt by the spirit And here's what he says in the final chapter. He says, I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God, speaking to the elders, exercising oversight, not in a compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly, not domineering over those in your charge. Do you think that was a hard lesson for Peter? To learn to not domineer over those over whom you are in charge, and then to say to others, look to me, and looking to my example, don't domineer over those under your charge. Do you think that Peter had to really, really wrestle with who Peter used to be in order to say those words to his people? Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to your elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility towards one another. Well, what did it take for Peter to say those words? What kind of change had to come over Peter for him to be able to exhort others to clothe themselves in humility? Mr. If everybody else denies you, I won't. Mr. Let me take you aside, Jesus, and correct you just a little bit. You're not going to Jerusalem to die. For God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that the at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him. Did that, did Peter cast his anxieties on Jesus? Peter slept. Because He cares for you. Be sober minded, be watchful. Was Peter watchful? Watching the back of his eyelids? Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. Folks, those were hard words for Peter to learn. That's what came from the bitter tears. That's what God needed to teach him. And that's why God brought him to such a place of brokenness. That's why God arranged the circumstances. You know what? Any of the disciples would have done what Peter did if they were in the courtroom. Or in the courtyard. They would have done what he did. But God arranged it so that Peter could fail so graphically. Because this is what Peter needed to gain. This is what he needed to learn. And this is what he does. So now just in our last few minutes, there are so many applications from this past. This, this passage is particularly application rich. We could spend a great deal of time walking through a lot of very applications of this. We don't have that much time. So most of these I just need to hit them quickly and just leave them. We can come back to them at midweek. Or you can flesh them out on your own, but we just need to go through these. Most of them we'll go through kind of quickly. They're all very easy to see. The first one is this. This has got to be the most plain, the most obvious, the main point of all. Behold the grace and the compassion and the pity of Christ to His disloyal sinners. Behold His pity, His understanding, His compassion, to those who can't even say that they know Him. Just behold how compassionate he is. This must be the clearest takeaway. This example that we're shown, that this man Peter, having once been put into the orbit of Jesus love, will never be taken out of that orbit. Having been put into the space of Jesus love, he will never be taken out of that space. For Jesus to look upon Peter with compassion and love after Peter has said what he has said, this has got to be the epitome of love and compassion and grace. Secondly, we see this, the reckless confidence and audacity are certain to precede spiritual failure. Has there been one more audacious than Peter? Has there been one more recklessly confident in himself than Peter? Everybody else might leave you, not me. I'm with you to the end, Jesus, even if I gotta die. Has there been one more reckless with his words? Is there a greater example in Scripture of 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 12, the one who thinks he stands, take heed, lest he fall? Is there a greater example of Proverbs 16, pride goes before the fall, than Peter? Again, take that, there's much to meditate upon over that, , perhaps not a greater example in scripture of one whose pride completely set him up for one of the most catastrophic falls that we find in scripture. Next, we see this, though his forgiveness is complete. The sinner must still experience the shame of spiritual failure, for that experience is crucial for the saint. Even though his forgiveness is complete and freely offered, the sinner must still experience the shame of their failure. Because, listen to this carefully. Forgiveness does not take away the shame. God's forgiveness does not take away the shame. Nowhere does scripture teach us that when God forgives us, it takes away our feelings of shame. That's not in the Bible. You say, are you sure? I'm pretty sure. Now, Romans chapter 8 and verse 1, those who are therefore in Christ, there's therefore now no The condemnation, the condemnation is gone, but you know what the scriptures do teach us that there remains a sense of shame. Not debilitating shame, not crushing shame, not a weight of shame that you can't bear, but there remains the memory of how you failed Christ. We see this in examples all over the place. We see this in the example of Paul. who to his dying day never got over the fact that he was a persecutor of the church. In his last letter that we have, in 2 Timothy, even then he says, I am least deserving of this because I was a persecutor of the church. Peter himself will be another example of this. One who never got over the restoration that was given to him. Just as an example, look with me at Ezekiel 36 and verse 31. Then you will feel your evil ways and your deeds that were not good and you will loathe yourself And for your iniquities and your abominations. And you want to say, boy, I'm so glad we don't live in the Old Testament anymore. I'm so glad we don't live in Ezekiel anymore. I'm glad that we now live in 1 Corinthians 13 now. Well, does anybody recognize the context of Ezekiel 36? Ezekiel 36 verse 31 comes at the end of the most well known section of Ezekiel, meaning verses 26 through 30. Which is the Old Testament's, either the clearest or the second clearest presentation of the New Covenant. These words sound familiar? I will remove from you your heart of stone, and I will give you a heart of flesh. That's Ezekiel 36. Right on the heels of that is where we're told, you will feel the shame of your sin. Now again, this is not crushing shame, but this is nevertheless the realization that I'm a sinner and I can never get over the fact that he loved me and gave himself for me while I was his enemy. Brothers and sisters, we never get beyond that. His forgiveness is not intended to wipe that clean. That's sort of pop theology today. That if you still feel shame for your sinful past. Then you haven't really received forgiveness or you haven't, you're not really living out your forgiveness. That's not biblical. The biblical truth is you still Realize that you still understand that though the joy of your salvation Outweighs that you're not crushed by it as Paul says at the Corinthians. We're not crushed by this But nevertheless we never get over it Because it is crucial to our Christian character that we remember Who we are when Christ died for us. So don't confuse forgiveness, don't confuse being unforgiven with still feeling a sense of shame over your sinful past. But we must move on. Next, recognize the frightful potential for sin residing in every heart. Just real quickly on this one, if there is an example of how far a man can fall, is there a better example than this one? of just how far a man or a woman of God can fall. This is a reminder for us that, as the saying goes, the best of men are men at best. And by men, I don't mean male, I mean humanity. The best of humanity. It's humanity at best and all are capable of, of staggering falls. So this shows a, as a reminder for us of that, but we move on. The next one, great sin is often brought about by small temptations. This one's worth a moment or two. Great sins are often brought about by small temptations. Notice the temptation that Peter fell to. It was the temptation of a servant girl, a maid, a slave girl saying, Aren't you with the Nazarene? That wasn't even necessarily an accusation. There's nothing in the text that requires us to see that she was saying that in an accusatory way. Perhaps she was just saying, aren't you one of them? As in, if you are, I'd like some more information about what's going on. But nevertheless, while the master is upstairs receiving blows, he can't even tell a servant girl, yeah, I know him. I knew him. He falls to the slightest of temptations. And brothers and sisters, that is a lesson worth seeing this morning. It is not the great temptations that you need to worry about. That was something that took me a long time in my Christian life to learn. It's not the great temptations that you need to worry about. Because all of us have sort of thought about those scenarios. Haven't you imagined scenarios? And you imagine this incredible temptation and you ask yourself, I wonder if I'll be strong enough if I ever face something like that to say no to that temptation, right? I've imagined those, and just to kind of be transparent, you know, one of the things I've imagined is, you know, what if there was this scenario where I was somewhere where nobody knew me? And this young, attractive girl propositioned me, and nobody would ever know, would I have the integrity to say no to that? You know what? That's never going to happen. That's not a temptation I'd need to worry about. You know what does happen? The average looking woman in the gym walks past me in yoga pants. That's what does happen. That's the temptation I need to worry about. Not the big grand scenario, once in a lifetime temptation. Or, here's another one, you know, imagine, have you ever thought about if, what if one day I'm walking on a trail and I find a bag of cash, three quarters of a million dollars, just this cash, hidden under a bush, would I have the integrity to turn it in? That'll never happen either. You know what will happen? The girl at the gas station will give you a ten back instead of a five. That's what'll happen. It's the little temptations that bring down great saints, not the big ones. So that's a lesson for us all to see here. Again and again we've seen through Mark's gospel how this is the counterpart to the Garden of Eden. There's the first Adam in the garden. His temptation was slight. His trial was easy. He had everything. He had the garden. He had food. He had companions. All the animals served him. He had a helper made just for him. And his one trial, his one test, was don't eat from that one tree. And he failed it. Meanwhile, now in Mark chapter 1, the second Adam, His test is completely different. He's in the wilderness. No food, no water for 40 days. No companionship. All alone. And the full force of the whole kingdom of evil is pressing upon him. And all he has to do is think about it to be over and it's done. The second Adam succeeds where the first Adam fails. That's a reminder for us. The temptation for you to worry about is the everyday easy simple one. Don't waste your spiritual time pondering some crazy scenario, once in a lifetime temptation that may never happen to you. Instead, focus on the ones that you know happen every day, day in and day out. Next we see this, one sin leads to another, even greater sin. What a great, what better example of how one sin will always lead to a greater sin. Peter starts by just simply saying, no, I, I don't know him. He ends up by saying, may God damn me to hell if I do know him. One sin will all, that's always the progression. Sin is never solitary. It's never alone. It always brings friends. Think of the example of David. David's downfall began Not when he began pondering, you know, I wonder if I would ever murder my best friend. I hope I would have the strength to say no to murdering my best friend. That's not where it started. It started with a lingering look at a bathing woman, and it ended up murdering his best friend. You see the progression, you see how it starts with an easy temptation, and the progression ends up with the big one. And so we see the progression. Next, we see this. Every child of God regard, regards temptation far too lightly. You regard temptation far too lightly. You do not take temptation seriously enough. I know that because none of us do. All of us regard temptation far too lightly. We take it far too flippantly. The scriptures paint for us a different example. The example, as Jesus shows us in the garden. You need to stay awake and you need to pray for the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Whose spirit was he talking about there? Whose flesh was he talking about there? His or Peter's? Yes. Peter's spirit was willing. That's why he was in the courtyard. It's his flesh that was weak. He took the temptation far too lightly. And then lastly, every word of Christ is absolutely certain. What did Peter, what did Jesus say to Peter? For the rooster crows, you'll deny me three times. Peter says, Jesus, you got this wrong. That's not gonna happen. That won't happen. And then of course, exactly as Jesus says, is exactly what happens. Every word that Christ speaks is absolutely certain.