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your Bibles to Matthew chapter 
26. Matthew chapter 26. I'll begin 
reading in verse 57. And those who had laid hold of 
Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes 
and the elders were assembled. But Peter followed him at a distance 
to the high priest's courtyard, and he went in and sat with the 
servants to see the end. Now the chief priests, the elders, 
and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put 
him to death, but found none. Even though many false witnesses 
came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses 
came forward and said, this fellow said, I am able to destroy the 
temple of God and to build it in three days. And the high priest 
arose and said to him, Do you answer nothing? What is it these 
men testify against you? But Jesus kept silent. And the 
high priest answered and said to him, I put you under oath 
by the living God. Tell us if you are the Christ, 
the Son of God. Jesus said to him, It is as you 
said. Nevertheless, I say to you, Hereafter 
you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power 
and coming on the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his 
clothes, saying, He has spoken blasphemy. What further need 
do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard his 
blasphemy. What do you think? They answered 
and said, He is deserving of death. Then they spat in his 
face and beat him, and others struck him with the palms of 
their hands, saying, Prophesy to us, Christ, who is the one 
who struck you? Now Peter sat outside in the 
courtyard, and a servant girl came to him, saying, You also 
were with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied it before them 
all, saying, I do not know what you are saying. And when he had 
gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those 
who were there, This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth. But 
again he denied it with an oath, I do not know the man. And a 
little later, those who stood by came up and said to Peter, 
surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you. 
Then he began to curse and swear, saying, I do not know the man. Immediately, a rooster crowed. 
And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, who had said to him, 
before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. So 
he went out and wept bitterly. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father 
in heaven, we thank you for the written word. We thank you that 
you've given it to us and that it's profitable to us. And God, 
as we come to this passage, certainly two lessons are conspicuous. 
The weakness of disciples and the magnitude and glory of the 
grace of God. Help us to take these things 
home with us. Help us to meditate upon them. 
Help us to receive with thanksgiving your word. It sets before us 
a gracious God, a merciful Christ, a Christ who forgives and who 
restores and who even uses Peter subsequent to this wretched denial. How we thank you for the gospel 
and how we thank you for our acceptance with you, not based 
upon our works, not based upon our faithfulness, but based upon 
what Christ wrought in his life, his death, and his resurrection. 
We pray now for the ministry and the aid of the Holy Spirit. 
We pray now that the Spirit of God would not only teach and 
encourage our hearts, but would warn us, and that we would receive 
admonition from a passage like this, that we would seek by your 
grace to be a faithful people, professing, proclaiming, declaring 
the glory of Jesus Christ in the gospel. Do forgive us now 
for our sins and for our transgressions, cause us to reflect often upon 
that blessed hope of Zechariah 13, that there is a fountain 
open for sin and for uncleanness. And we pray these things through 
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, we come to the passage 
in the narrative now or the passage in the narrative passion that 
is exemplary for us. I have tried to take pains to 
show or demonstrate that we ought not to moralize the death and 
suffering of the Lord Jesus. What He did is unique. What He 
did on our behalf is alone. We are not to say, wow, I should 
learn how to deal with my workmates in a better way, just like Jesus 
agonized in the garden. No, that's not given to us for 
example. but rather it is for us to understand, 
to believe who Jesus Christ is, to worship and adore him, and 
stand in appreciation and thankfulness for his work on our behalf. But 
in this passion narrative, certainly we should see ourselves in Peter. We are not the suffering servant, 
but we are rather the denying disciple. And when we come to 
this passage, we ought to appreciate two things, and this is our outline. First, the denials of Christ 
by Peter in verses 69 to 74. A, and then the conviction of 
Peter by Christ. So in the first half you have 
Peter denying Jesus, and in the latter two verses you have Jesus 
convicting Peter for a course to restoration. But let's look 
at the denials of Christ by Peter. Note the setting. Verse 69, it 
says, Peter sat outside in the courtyard, but we ought to appreciate 
the larger context in which this denial occurs. It had been prophesied 
by Zechariah, cited here by Jesus in chapter 26 at verse 31. Remember, Jesus said, all of 
you will be made to stumble because of me this night, for it is written, 
I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be 
scattered. So there's an Old Testament prophecy 
involved in this, and as well, in terms of the general or larger 
context, we have the prediction by Christ. Notice in verse 34, 
Jesus says to Peter, I say to you that this night, before the 
rooster crows, you will deny me three times. we then have 
Peter's denial of the fact that he's going to deny the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Verse 35, even if I have to die 
with you, I will not deny you. He's emphatic. He is assertive. He is proud. He is arrogant. He ought to have been dependent 
upon the grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We see 
his sluggishness in the Garden of Gethsemane. Christ goes in 
there. He's exceedingly sorrowful. His 
soul is troubled even to the point of death. And what we find 
are his disciples fast asleep. In verses 40, 43, and 45, Jesus 
upbraids them or rebukes them for them having fallen asleep. 
And then we turn to the arrest narrative, and there we see Peter 
in his impetuousness, taking out a sword and cutting off the 
ear of the high priest's servant. On the one hand, zealous to defend 
the Lord, but on the other hand, completely and utterly misguided. We get to Jesus before the Sanhedrin, 
beginning in verse 57, and it speaks specifically concerning 
Peter in verse 58. He followed him at a distance 
to the high priest's courtyard. Again, it's not simply topography, 
it's not simply geography, it is not simply locale that's in 
view, but rather it is a theological statement that Peter is following, 
but he's at a distance. This isn't going to serve him 
well as we move to the courtyard. Now, note specifically the immediate 
context. Peter is in the courtyard while 
Christ is in the house of the high priest. The language is 
clear. Now Peter sat outside in the 
courtyard. This is while Christ is inside 
in his trial. And make no mistake about it, 
Christ is on trial, but so is Peter. Christ has to answer three 
accusers. There are false witnesses, there 
are two witnesses, and then there is Caiaphas. Peter faces three 
accusers. There's a servant girl, another 
servant girl, and then bystanders. Christ, in this palace, confesses 
the good confession. Notice in verse 64, Christ preaches 
or confesses Christ. Nevertheless, I say to you, from 
now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand 
of the power and coming on the clouds of heaven. Peter is reneging 
on his previous confession. Notice in chapter 16 at verse 
16. Chapter 16, at verse 16, Jesus asks, who do men say that 
I, the Son of Man, am? So they start out here. Some 
say John the Baptist, some Elijah, others Jeremiah, or one of the 
prophets. Verse 15, Jesus says, but who 
do you say that I am? And now Peter answers and says, 
you are the Christ, the son of the living God. So there he confesses 
the good confession. Jesus before the Sanhedrin makes 
the good confession, but Peter out in this courtyard denies 
his master on three occasions. Davies and Allison say, earlier 
in this chapter, Judas defected. Later, the other disciples flee. Now Peter, retreating from his 
promise in verse 35, denies his Lord. This is indeed the climax 
of the disciples' failure. You see, brethren, what we have 
at the end of this particular gospel record is the emphasis 
solely and alone upon Jesus. He is not helped in the work 
of mediation. He is not assisted in the work 
of mediation. There are not co-mediators, or 
those who proffer their assistance to Him. Christ goes it alone. Christ is solo. Christ is the 
unique link between heaven and earth, and He is the one that 
accomplishes or secures our redemption and our salvation. So immediate 
context, Christ before the Sanhedrin, Peter in the courtyard. But as 
well, with reference to the immediate context, note their mockery of 
Jesus in verse 68. It says in verse 68, prophesy 
to us Christ, who is the one who struck you? We noticed last 
week that the parallel accounts tell us that he was blindfolded. 
There was this Jewish idea or expectation or perhaps tradition. 
based on the prophet Isaiah in chapter 11, that Messiah wouldn't 
need to see in order to render just judgment. The Messiah wouldn't 
need to have that outward faculty, that ability to observe something, 
but based on the fact that he was indeed Messiah, he would 
be able to render the just verdict without even having seen. So 
they probably put the blindfold on him, and they're mocking him, 
saying, prophesy to us, Christ, who is the one who smacked you? 
But brethren, as we look at this particular passage, we know that 
his prophecy is coming exactly true. He has predicted back in 
verse 34, I say to you this night before the rooster crows, you 
will deny me three times. And that is precisely what's 
going to happen now. with reference to Peter in the 
courtyard. Now let's look at the denials 
themselves. In the first place, we have this 
first servant girl. Notice in 69b, and a servant 
girl came to him saying, you also were with Jesus of Galilee. Now, she is indeed a servant 
girl. And as you read, especially the 
older commentators, they say things like her station or her 
status was really not threatening at all. In other words, Peter's 
not facing the Sanhedrin here. Peter's not facing the Roman 
armies. Peter's not facing some formidable 
foe. He's not in the Valley of Ela 
looking down the shaft of Goliath, the giant of the Philistine army. 
This is a servant girl. France says, while it is the 
regular term for a female servant, it is a diminutive term in form 
and probably carries a dismissive connotation, only a servant girl. That probably offends our delicate 
sensitivities in this 21st century, but in the context, brethren, 
this is the point. Calvin says, here we see that 
there is no necessity for a severe contest or for many forces or 
implements of war to overpower a man. He says, for any man who 
is not supported by the hand of God will instantly fall by 
a slight gale or the rustling of a falling leaf. See, it doesn't 
take the devil necessarily. It doesn't take the Roman Empire 
necessarily. It doesn't take the Sanhedrin 
necessarily. It doesn't take the godless, 
atheistic university professor that puts you on the hot seat. 
It could be a servant girl. Notice the charge. She says, 
you also were with Jesus of Galilee. Now this is probably said derisively. Remember, or insultingly, remember 
they are in Jerusalem. It's a bit of a party spirit 
between the Southerners versus those in Galilee. That derision 
is felt even more strongly in the next denial when they say 
Jesus of Nazareth. It's kind of like if you ever 
go to Vancouver. We used to go there a lot for 
medical purposes, and you'd talk to a nurse or a doctor, and they'd 
say, where are you from? Oh, we're from Chilliwack. Oh, 
are you a dairy farmer? I don't know why everybody in 
Chilliwack has to be a dairy farmer. I just didn't understand 
that. No, I think out of the 80,000 
people that are in Chilliwack, they're not all dairy farmers. 
That'd be a lot of cows. But one wonders if perhaps Vancouverites 
think of Chilliwackians as sort of bumpkins. A little bumpkin-ish, 
a little hillbilly-ish. Not saying all dairy farmers 
are that. You're going to go home and cry this afternoon and 
say, he called us bumpkins and hillbillies. I'm not suggesting 
that. But there is a provincialism that exists. You go to England, 
for instance, and London, and there's a poshness or a superior 
air versus those from other regions. You go to New York City as an 
Eastern Kentuckian, and you're going to raise some eyebrows. 
Well, it's the same derision here. He's Jesus of Galilee. He is Jesus of the Nazarene. It's derisive. You were with 
him, weren't you? She's just a servant girl. really 
has no sort of clout or power or anything of that nature. But 
notice what Peter says. Verse 70, I do not know what 
you are saying. Now, there's probably a couple 
of ways we could take that. Well, it sounds a bit odd. I 
do not know what you are saying. Peter's saying the dialect or 
the accent or the talk or the language is so difficult, I can't 
sort of follow it. No, it's probably, I don't know 
what you're talking about. Somebody says, I saw you do that. I don't 
know what you're talking about. That's the spirit in which he 
answers. I do not know what you are saying. It's evasive. It 
is, to use the language of Matthew, Henry's shuffling speech. And 
most likely, Peter answers this way because he doesn't want to 
be associated with one standing before the Sanhedrin on a capital 
charge. Peter probably just wants to 
save his own skin. Peter who took the sword and 
lopped off Malchus's ear is now Peter denying the knowledge of 
his master in the presence of a servant girl. Notice, it doesn't 
stop there. Actually, before we move on, 
Spurgeon says, whatever the consequence of confessing Christ might have 
been to Peter, they could not have been as bad as this base 
denial was. It's beautiful. Whatever you think in your life 
is the consequence for denying Jesus, it is never as bad as 
the consequence of denying Jesus. We need to follow Chrysostom. Remember that man, or Polycarp 
rather, when he's about to be put to death, recant Christ or 
you'll die. 80 and six years have I served 
him and he's never let me down. Why would I deny him? That's 
the attitude that we need to inculcate, that we need to have 
in the presence of those who call upon us. But no, he denied 
it before them all saying, I do not know what you are saying. 
wasn't just to the servant girl. She expresses the question of 
the charge. He does, however, deny it before 
them all, the bystanders included. Notice the second servant girl. 
And I'll say there are differences in terms of the particular details 
in the various authors of Scripture. They can be harmonized, they 
can be reconciled. I just don't want to take us 
far afield and lose sight of the whole. But notice the second 
one, verse 71. And when he had gone out to the 
gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, 
this fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth. If you doubt what 
I said earlier about Nazareth being sort of East Kentucky to 
a New Yorker, remember when Nathaniel is told about Jesus in John 1.46, 
he says, can anything good come out of Nazareth? They're bumpkins, 
they're hillbillies, they got these problems there. But then 
notice, with reference to the denial here, and it's important 
that we understand again, not geography for the sake of geography, 
not topography for the sake of topography, not locale for the 
sake of locale, but Peter's movements for the sake of theology. Look 
at what's happening here. Verse 71, and when he had gone 
out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who 
were there, this fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth. Remember, 
after the situation in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus says, come, 
my betrayer is at hand and he goes to meet the arrest party. Peter is retreating. A servant 
girl trips him up and now he withdraws from the courtyard 
to the gateway. But as well, it's reflective 
of the fact that he is moving further and further away from 
the master himself. Davies and Allison make this 
observation. I think it's very perceptive. 
Peter's movements, which take him further and further away 
from Jesus, also add drama. He is in the courtyard, then 
he goes to the gateway, then he leaves altogether. You see, 
this is where Christ is, and now Peter is departing from him. So we see this geographical slash 
theological movement of Peter, but notice specific words in 
verse 72. But again, he denied with an 
oath, I do not know the man. So he moves from, I don't know 
what you're talking about, sort of an evasiveness, a shuffling 
speechness of what Matthew Henry says, to a flat out denial of 
the man. Of course he knows Jesus' name. Of course he ought not to just 
refer to him as the man. But he now ups the ante. He moves 
from this sort of mumbling, fumbling, I don't know what you're talking 
about, to a public denial of Jesus Christ with an oath. Now brethren, I know that throughout 
the course of this sermon, I'm gonna sound a bit hard on Peter. 
Not really trying to, but Peter perhaps needs a bit of that sort 
of treatment, because I think that Peter serves as the foil 
for the manifold grace of God. Those are the two conspicuous 
lessons in the passage, the weakness of man and the glory of God. 
So we need to really develop and understand what's happening 
here with Peter. Why is Peter doing what he's 
doing? Again, it's probably to save his own bacon. He doesn't 
want to be associated with this Galilean, with this Nazarene 
that is standing in a capital trial at that particular time. 
So Peter moves from evasion to flat-out denial by even employing 
an oath and doesn't even refer to Jesus by name. Now note the 
third instance, the bystanders of verses 73 and 74. And a little later those who 
stood by came up and said to Peter, surely you also are one 
of them for your speech betrays you. Then he began to curse and 
swear saying, I do not know the man. Now the bystanders obviously 
are the person standing by. This reference to him being a 
Galilean also. The other writers acknowledge 
this in a bit clearer language in Mark and in Luke. I suspect 
Matthew doesn't because Matthew's a Jew writing to other Jews and 
they wouldn't need to be informed about the Galilean dialect. But 
that Eastern Kentuckian, when he goes to New York, gives himself 
away when he says, how y'all doing? I haven't, I think, met 
a Newfoundlander, but I understand, I'm sure I have. I think, yeah, 
Union Gospel years ago. And they talk distinctly, right? 
They pop into Chilliwack, and they start talking, and immediately 
you say, you're not from around here, are you? I've had that, 
and say, you're not from Canada, are you? Did the Southern California 
drawl? I don't know what it is. But 
Peter's dialect gave him away. There's that scene in Judges 
12 when the Ephraimites are found out because they couldn't pronounce 
the word Shibboleth. They come to the fjords and the 
Gileadites say, say Shibboleth. And they'd say Sibboleth because 
they couldn't make the S-H sound. And so those Ephraimites died 
as a result of that. Say, wow, that's pretty hardcore. 
Yeah, they're at war with the Ephraimites. If they can't prove 
that they're Gileadites, they're going to die like an Ephraimite. 
But the word was shibboleth. They couldn't say it. And Peter's 
Galilean podunk accent or dialect gave him away. So notice, the 
bystanders say, surely you also are one of them, for your speech 
betrays you. Bruner says, his accusers heard 
a manifest Galilean saying he knew nothing about the most widely 
known Galilean of his time. Oh no, I haven't heard of that 
one. He's the most famous fellow or person right now. What do 
you mean you haven't heard of this man? You're a Galilean. 
Your speech betrays you. Certainly you would know this 
if you were being honest. But Peter's not being honest. 
Now note the denial. He moves from evasion to denial 
with an oath to now denial with a curse and an oath. I think 
at times we read this particular language and we see this word, 
swear. So we believe that he dropped some of those bad words 
that we're told as children not to say and we shouldn't say ever. 
But we get that idea that he's just dropping these four-letter 
words to demonstrate his seriousness in terms of, no, I don't know 
him. This whole idea of curse, it probably means to invoke a 
curse upon himself. Now, there's some question concerning 
this based on what happened, you know, subsequent to this 
in time. Some commentators suggest that 
he actually cursed Jesus, because later it became the test for 
professing Christians in the empire. If they would curse Jesus, 
they would be free to go. If they didn't curse Jesus, then 
they would be executed or imprisoned or whatnot. So some suggest that's 
who he cursed. I don't believe that. I believe 
the ESV renders it accurately when it says he began to invoke 
a curse on himself and to swear. But think about that for just 
a moment. He is lying. He knows that he's lying. He 
is patently and manifestly lying. We know that he's lying. Everybody 
that reads this account knows that he's lying. And he is invoking 
the wrath of God Almighty upon him to strengthen the case of 
his lie. You see how bad it is when we 
first begin down a road that we shouldn't go? Who knows where 
we're going to end up? Owen was right. If sin had its 
way, every lustful thought would end in absolute adultery. Every 
little thought of unbelief would end in absolute atheism. You 
see, we cannot entertain sin. We can't leave the door open 
just a little bit for sin. We can't mumble and murmur something 
like, well, what are you talking about? Because if we don't grab 
our heart, if the Spirit of God doesn't subdue us, we're going 
to be denying our Master with an oath, and then denying Him 
with an oath, and with a curse upon our own heads. The word 
used here is the same word used in Mark's gospel, anathematize. It's a bit of a different prefix, 
but it's that idea. Make God's wrath come upon me 
if I am lying about knowing Him. You see, in Peter you get the 
anatomy of sin gone afoul, of sin gone awry. From a mumbled 
protest of ignorance, Peter has moved to a vigorous public denial. That's where we find ourselves 
up to verse 74a. He began to curse and swear and 
said, or saying, I do not know the man. Now, before we move 
on to his conviction, I just want to draw out a few observations 
concerning the gravity or the seriousness of this. In the first 
place, Peter's experience demonstrates the gravity of his sin here. What is Peter's experience? He 
was the first to be called to the Lord Jesus for the apostolic 
ministry. He was the first to hear the 
Master say, I will make you a fisher of men. Peter's experience included 
hearing Christ on the mount, speak that glorious sermon on 
the mount, and recognizing that he spoke not as the scribes, 
but he spoke as one having authority. He heard Christ's discourse and 
the missionary discourse in chapter 10. He heard Christ speak concerning 
the community of Christ's people in Matthew 18. He heard the prophecy 
in all of that. He heard the teaching and instruction 
of our Lord in its very public settings. He heard the teaching 
and instruction of the Lord in its private settings as Christ 
discoursed with the disciples. Consider what Peter saw. Peter 
saw amazing things, didn't he? I mean, think about who it is 
that's denying the Master. He is the one who himself walked 
on the water to get to where Jesus was. He is the one who 
witnessed, or one of the ones who witnessed Christ still the 
waves and the wind. He witnessed Christ raise people 
from the dead. He witnessed Christ take a few 
loaves and a few fish and feed multitudes of people. He witnessed 
Christ heal blind men. He witnessed Christ heal deaf 
men. He witnessed Christ heal dumb 
men. He witnessed Christ cast out demons from these persons. Peter's experience was absolutely 
incredible. He made a good confession in 
Matthew 16, 16. He saw the Mount of... or the 
glory of Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 
17. And as far as the apostles go, 
many are right to conclude that Peter was the chief among equals. Who stands out in the first half 
of the book of Acts? It's Peter. When Jesus speaks 
to the disciples, more often than not, it's Peter, James, 
and John. Peter was an eminent one among 
this group, and now we see him bowing before the godless multitudes. Secondly, the gravity of the 
denials are seen in the accusers. The accusers, just a servant 
girl. And again, I know that's offensive 
in the 21st century here, but it's not when we consider the 
situation. Jesus is standing before the 
highest religious, political, civil, criminal court in all 
of Israel at the time, and he makes the good confession. Peter 
faces two servant girls and some bystanders, and he reneges on 
his previous confession, and he actually denies his master 
with oaths and curses. The accusers demonstrate the 
gravity of the denial, as well the timing, the timing or the 
time involved. Notice verse 73, and a little 
later, those who stood by came up and said to Peter, Luke's 
gospel tells us that this was about an hour had passed. How 
does that demonstrate the gravity? Sometimes we just mess up in 
an instant, don't we? You guys all look puzzled. Well, 
some of us just mess up instantly. I know that seems hard to understand. If you're tracking, you know 
what it's like. And you can judge a situation. 
I mean, he blew it, he made a mistake, but he fixed it immediately. 
He repented right after. Peter didn't do that. An hour 
passed, and he's still denying the Master. This underscores 
the gravity. This underscores the nature of 
it. It was settled. It was resolved. 
It took the span of at least an hour. But as well, the number 
of times that he denies the master. Again, sort of like the timing 
in terms of hour, but the repetition. Davies and Allison wisely comment, 
intent cannot always be judged when a thing is done once. Again, 
sometimes sinners, we do some pretty horrific things. How could 
you ever do that? I don't know, I just did it. 
Please forgive me. I'm sorry. I don't know what 
came over me. It's a little different than 
a settled resolution. A little different when a man 
spends years hiding and cherishing a sin versus, you know, a one-time 
immediate repentant sort of thing. Intent cannot always be judged 
when a thing is done once, but this is not true of something 
done thrice. Repetition then reflects resolution. And then the audience. See, he 
doesn't just deny to the servant girl. He doesn't just deny to 
the second servant girl. He denies in the presence of 
them all in the courtyard. It's bad, isn't it? Calvin thinks 
so. He says, this circumstance aggravates 
the criminality of Peter, that in denying his master, he did 
not even dread a multitude of witnesses. And then the nature 
of the denials themselves. Evasion, I don't know what you're 
talking about. To denial with an oath, to denial 
with a curse and an oath. What Peter did here, brethren, 
is bad. What Peter did here, brethren, is sinful. What we 
have here is something of a New Testament equivalent to 2 Samuel 
chapter 11 and 12. when David, king of Israel, a 
man after God's own heart, sees a woman, lusts after her, takes 
her, lays with her, commits adultery, and then in order to cover it 
up, has her husband murdered in battle. That's kind of like 
what we see in this passage. Let's look at the conviction 
of Peter by Christ, verses 74b and 75. Note the remembrance and the 
remorse. First, the remembrance. The end 
of verse 74, immediately a rooster crowed. Praise God for his goodness. 
See, sometimes people get upset. Children, I think this happens, 
maybe more so as teenagers. They always catch me when I do 
something wrong. Isn't God good? Isn't God merciful? What would happen if you didn't 
get catched? You'd keep doing wrong. You'd 
keep getting hard. You'd keep getting alienated 
from all that is good and godly. Immediately, a rooster crowed. I love the way Henry describes 
this. The crowing of a cock is to Peter instead of John Baptist, 
the voice of one calling to repentance. Conscience should be to us as 
the crowing of the cock to put us in mind of what we had forgotten. But as well, the parallel account 
tells us it wasn't simply the rooster, but it was also the 
look. The look. described this look 
a few weeks ago. You know, Jesus looked at him. 
Luke 22, 61, and the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Wasn't mean 
muggin', it wasn't, I'm gonna get you. That's what we'd expect, 
isn't it? Since this is our doctrine of 
God, we've sinned against God, so we expect him to give us the 
look. We had that when I was growing 
up. You always knew if mom was in a bad mood because of the 
look. I'm sure I communicated that 
look to my children. They're smiling now. Yes, we 
know the look. You grow to appreciate when somebody 
is in the look mode. It's what we would expect. Peter 
just denied Jesus. What is the look that Jesus would 
give to him? It's a grimace. It's a scowl. 
It's judgment. It's, I'm gonna get you. I think 
Spurgeon gets it right. Peter must have looked up at 
the Lord or he would not have seen that look of sorrow, pity, 
love, and forgiveness that the Lord gave him before he went 
out and wept bitterly. And then Spurgeon offers very 
sage practical advice to us, because I'm not sure that Peter's 
the only Peter in the room this morning. I'm not sure that Peter's 
the only man among us that has denied his Lord. May not have 
been in a public setting, may not have been with a servant 
girl, may not have been with bystanders, but isn't any cherished 
sin, isn't any pet sin, isn't any sin that we're not dealing 
with radically to excise from our lives a denial of the Savior? Isn't it ultimately? Young men 
addicted to porn, it might be the case that you are right here 
along with Peter. Woman addicted to gossip or whatever 
it is that tickles your fancy, it might be the case that you 
with Peter need to look at him. You need to understand that look 
of sorrow, pity, love and forgiveness. Spurgeon says, if any one of 
us has denied the Lord that bought him, let him look up to him who 
now looks down from heaven, ready to pardon the backslider. Praise 
God for verses 64b and 75 and the subsequent written revelation 
concerning Peter. If you do not see and appreciate 
the grace of God in this passage, restoring Peter after what he's 
done, you're missing the point of the narrative. No, what this 
does for Peter, it's the rooster, it's the look, it's the remembrance. And Peter remembered the word 
of Jesus who had said to him, before the rooster crows, you 
will deny me three times. There's a rationale or a justification 
as to why we study sound doctrine every Sunday morning or every 
other Sunday morning from 9.30 to 10.30, why we have a morning 
service, why we have an evening service, and why we have a Wednesday 
night service. It isn't so we can just be cerebral 
Christians, heady Christians, intoxicated with the wisdom of 
the ages in terms of theological acuity. It is to inform you of 
God's Word, so that you might not sit against Him. You see 
the close connection between the Word and recovery? The close 
connection between the Word and conviction? The close connection 
between the Word and everything good in your life? You reject 
and resist the Word, you do it to your own detriment and to 
your own suffering. Oh, I don't want to waste time 
going to Bible study. I don't have the time to make 
it to evening service. What do you have time for? What 
is more important than what Jesus described? Man shall not live 
by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth 
of God. The psalmist says, thy word I 
have hidden in my heart. Why? that I might not sin against 
you. It wasn't until the remembrance 
of the word of truth captivated Peter's heart and mind. This 
is what promotes the road to recovery. This is what produces 
godly repentance. This is what causes the tears 
to start to flow. Up until this point, he's hardened, 
he's arrogant, he is confident, he is invoking the wrath of God 
upon his head, while he is knowingly lying to persons who really don't 
matter. Don't miss the Word. Don't skip the Word. Don't neglect the Word. Persons 
say, oh, I'm so busy in a day. I don't know how it is we can fit 
in everything else in our busy day except the Word. See, brethren, 
we'll make time for what is important to us. We will make time to do 
those things that captivate and ravish our hearts. We spend time 
in the presence of those we value and prize. Has it ever dawned 
on you if you're that busy, maybe you need to take a look at your 
life? I'm not saying don't work hard. I think men should work 
hard. What's the ratio in the Sabbath 
commandment? We always focus on the rest, 
and we should. But brethren, it's preceded by six days of 
work. Get up and work. Work hard, work wise, work diligently, 
work much. But if your life is so busy that 
you can't fit in some time with Scripture, then maybe stop, not 
working, but stop doing some other stuff. Stop. Looking at internet porn, 
for one. Imagine that time being used 
in the Bible. Stop calling your girlfriend 
to gossip all night. I just don't have time to read 
my Bible, whoever. Hey, did you see what happened 
to so-and-so? Or maybe, just don't post one 
more selfie on Instagram. I don't believe that all those 
selfies are that conspicuous. That's it. Then there's posing, 
the comb of hair, get the background set up. It's probably selfies 
take more time out of your day, and I'm not saying I've seen 
your selfies. Maybe some of you do need to comb your hair before 
you do that. But we waste time, like it's going out of style. Like there's no end to it except 
when it comes to going to church on a Sunday night and partaking 
of the Lord's Supper. Suddenly, we don't have time. 
I don't buy it. I'm sorry. I don't think others 
buy it as well. I think at times it just reflects 
poor discipline, poor consistency, and poor faithfulness. And those 
things are fixable. I'm not here to hurt you or beat 
you down or say you're terrible human beings, but I am saying 
that Peter was on the road to ruin until he remembered the 
word. Many of us might be on the road 
to ruin and we need to remember the word. Notice his remorse. So he went out and wept bitterly. Now, this is a good thing, isn't 
it? He wept bitterly. Because as 
I'll argue in just a moment, his weeping was not like Judas's 
weeping. But then he went out, may hint, 
that he was concerned, perhaps, about what his weeping might 
communicate to this audience. In other words, he hears the 
rooster, he sees the look, he goes out and weeps bitterly. What happens if he weeps in their 
presence? Why is he crying? Why would he 
weep? Might demonstrate that he was 
in fact lying, denying with oaths and curses the master who had 
bought him. So lest his tears betray that 
he really is a friend of Jesus, lest his tears betray that he's 
actually telling lies, he goes out and he weeps bitterly. Do you get it? This might've 
not even been perfect repentance. I'm gonna tell you something, 
there ain't no such thing as perfect repentance. Do you know 
that your repentance needs to be repented of? Your tears need 
to be repented of. Everything we do needs to be 
repented of. Listen to John Calvin. He says, 
and by this example we are taught that we ought to entertain confident 
hope, though our repentance be lame. For God does not despise 
even weak repentance, provided that it be sincere. Yes, he went 
out. Yes, most likely, so they wouldn't 
be able to say, yes, he's lying. He's a friend of the Galilean 
Nazarene. But brethren, it's nevertheless 
genuine repentance. And we know that. The presence 
of remorse does not necessarily mean the reality of repentance. 
You need to understand that. Just because a sinner cries over 
his sins doesn't mean all is well with his soul. Notice in 
27.3, Judas, his betrayer, seeing that he had been condemned, was 
remorseful and brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief 
priests and elders saying, I have sinned by betraying innocent 
blood. We look at Esau and he had tears. Esau wasn't crying 
because he wanted rightness with God. He was crying because he 
didn't get the blessings he wanted. It wasn't repentance. Not all 
remorse is repentance. But in Peter's situation, we 
have subsequent revelation that tells us Peter was, in fact, 
genuinely repentant. Notice in verse 32 of Matthew 
26, but after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee. Who's he addressing? He's addressing 
the 11. Notice in chapter 28 at verse 
7, and go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from 
the dead and indeed he is going before you into Galilee. There 
you will see him. Behold, I have told you. Notice 
in 28. 10. 28, 10, then Jesus said to them, do not 
be afraid, go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee and there they 
will see me. And then notice in verse 16, 
then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee. That's Peter. Now Peter's not mentioned after 
the denial in chapter 26. We don't hear Peter's name again 
in Matthew's gospel. We do hear it again after this 
point in Mark's gospel. So turn over to Mark chapter 
16. And I think there's a reason 
why we have it the way we do in Mark chapter 16. Look at verse six, but he said 
to them, do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth who 
was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. 
See the place where they laid him, but go tell his disciples 
and Peter that he is going before you into Galilee. There you will 
see him as he said to you. Now, some of us have a conviction 
that Mark's gospel is essentially Peter's preaching. In other words, 
Peter preached for an audience at Rome, and Mark was the recorder. Mark was the scribe. Mark was 
the Isaac, furiously writing in his notepad. And then persons 
said, can we get a copy of those notes? Can we see those lectures 
from the apostle Peter? And they circulated, and they 
moved, and they got canonical status. Some of us believe that. So when we look at it in that 
light, Peter's preaching. Peter rehearses and records to 
his audience that Peter denied his master three times. So that 
when we get to 16.7, he says, but go tell his disciples and 
Peter. It's almost as if Peter in that 
lecture moment says, yours truly was included among them. I was 
not left out. I was not cast away. He did not 
deny me. Though we are faithless, he remains 
faithful. That's this Christ that we serve. And of course, John 21, the epilogue 
to John's gospel, when Jesus has that famous interaction with 
Peter. Peter, do you love me? Oh Lord, 
you know that I love you. Peter, do you love me? Oh Lord, 
you know that I love you. Peter, do you love me? Oh Lord, 
you know that I love you. Why is it three times? probably 
reflective of the three denials, and this evidences and demonstrates 
to us that it wasn't just the rooster, it wasn't just the look, 
it wasn't just the remembrance of the word, and then a perdition, 
or a damnation, or a destruction, but it led to recovery. It led 
to forgiveness. It led to God's grace in and 
through the Lord Jesus Christ. The contrast between Peter and 
Judas is reflected in 2 Corinthians 7.10. For godly sorrow produces 
repentance, leading to salvation not to be regretted, but the 
sorrow of the world produces death. Matthew Poole says on 
this whole account, a good man may fall and that foully, but 
he shall not fall so as to rise no more. Well, brethren, thus 
ends the exposition. We've got two lessons. First, 
a lesson concerning disciples, and secondly, a lesson concerning 
God. First, with reference to the 
disciples. We're going to break this down 
a little bit. Don't think you're getting off too easy. Only two 
points? Yeah, but there's a few sub-points, so bear with me. 
The Apostle Peter's sin, we've spent enough time here, but just 
highlight that it is exacerbated based on his position as a chief 
apostle and based upon his experience with the Lord Jesus Christ. It 
is demonstrated by both his geographical movements, his retreat from Jesus, 
courtyard, gateway, gone. but through his words, evasion, 
denial by oath, denial by curse and oath. It is explained well 
in Ryle. If you have Ryle's expository 
thoughts, look at his treatment of this section. And if I may, 
Read John Calvin's commentary on this whole narrative. It is 
so pastoral. It is so blessed. It is so wonderful. It is so a balm of Gilead for 
the soul that if you've got Calvin's commentaries at home or you look 
them up on CCEL, you read the comments on this narrative of 
Peter's denial. Beautiful, masterful. But Ryle 
just tells us what we see leading up to this denial. Because it's 
not typically the case, brethren, that people just fall and utter acts of depravity just spontaneously. You know, we see a guy who commits 
adultery and it's got a pattern behind it. He didn't just fall. There were probably steps that 
preceded that. It doesn't have to be adultery. 
Take gossip, the other sin I'm picking on this morning. Take 
lying, take cheating, take whatever it is. There's a lot of things 
that precipitate a great fall. You stop reading your Bible. 
You don't go to the Lord's Supper. You don't go to Wednesday night. 
I realize not everybody can do these things. I realize there's 
providential hindrances. I realize that. But if you can 
be where the Word of God is, the language of Christ suggests 
that you should be. If man shall not live by bread 
alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, 
then you ought not to absent yourself from it. So these little 
things precipitate at times great falls. He says that Peter exhibited 
self-confidence. Self-confidence. I'm ready to 
die with you, Lord. Peter exhibited indolence, laziness 
in the Garden of Gethsemane. Remember I quoted Bruner several 
weeks ago. It was Peter's three naps that 
preceded the three denials in the courtyard. Three naps in 
the garden preceded the three denials in the courtyard. So 
his indolence, his cowardly compromising, verse 58. He follows, but it's 
at a distance. His venturing with evil company 
in the courtyard in verse 69. He shouldn't have been hanging 
out with these servants of a group of people that are in the process 
of trying to engage in a capital criminal offense of Jesus your 
master. He goes on to say the cursing, 
the swearing, and the threefold denial. Typically, I said typically, 
there are times when these sudden or vehement temptations comes 
over a man and he just gives in. But if you look at the anatomy 
of a fall, I've seen it before in terms of ministerial falls. 
There was a lot of things that precipitated that. Oh yeah, he 
stopped praying. He didn't read his Bible. He 
didn't preach with power. He, you know, rehashed old sermons 
and all. There's a lot of steps that precipitate 
this fall. And it could be the same thing 
in our cases. We need to take pains not to 
duplicate those steps. Not to be self-confident. Not 
to be indolent or lazy or sluggish. Not to be those who compromise 
by following but at a distance. Not to venture into evil company. 
And certainly not to get to the point where we deny our Master 
with curses and with swears. And then as well, in terms of 
general, disciples in general, we need to observe that the boldest 
and proudest confessors can become the most pathetic deniers. Does 
your heart just kind of ache when you go through this passage? 
No. No, Peter, no. I've often thought we become 
narrators. You know, Monday morning quarterbacks when we read certain 
passages in scripture. We get to 2 Samuel 11 and we're 
yelling at David, don't do it, David. Go out to battle like 
is the custom of kings. Don't send Joab in your spot. 
Don't venture up onto that roof. Don't take your eyes and look 
at Bathsheba. Don't send for her. Don't call for her. Don't 
lay with her. And don't try and cover it up. 
by having her husband executed on the field of battle. Do you 
feel that when we come to this passage? Peter's been a mountaintop 
man. He has been the confessor par 
confessor. He has said, Thou art the Christ, 
the Son of the living God. The Lord Jesus has said, Blessed 
art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal 
this to you, but my Father was in heaven. Peter's seen the glory 
of Christ manifest on the Mount of Transfiguration. He said, 
it's good for us to be here, Lord. Let me make three booths, 
one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah. Let's just stay and 
dwell together here forever. And now he says to a servant 
girl, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know the 
man with an oath. I don't know the man with a curse 
and an oath. The boldest and proudest confessors 
can become the most pathetic deniers. The earnest defenders 
of the Lord before invading armies can kowtow to servant girls. No, I'm saying these things so 
that we'll all watch and pray, so that we'll all take heed to 
what we learn in the Garden of Gethsemane, when Christ is waking 
them up and He is telling them to watch and pray. If Peter falls 
in this manner, we cannot say, well, it's never going to happen 
to me. Well, Peter said the very same thing in verse 35. Did you 
see that? The earnest defenders of the 
Lord before invading armies can become deniers before slave girls. 
We're in the same, you know, spatially, six or seven inches 
on the written page. Peter with the sword lopping 
off Malchus' ear, ready to throw down in defense of Jesus. And then before a slave girl. 
I don't know what you're talking about. Not only do I not know 
what you're talking about, I don't know the man. Oath. I don't know 
the man. Curse and oath. The sluggish with reference to 
watching and praying set themselves up as potential deniers. I think 
that is a perceptive comment by Bruner. I recommend commentaries 
a lot. Bruner's a mixed bag. Theologically, 
I'm not always sure where he's at, but literarily and exegetically, 
I mean, he comes up with some masterful observations. And I 
think the three naps in the garden precipitated the three denials 
in the courtyard is legit. I think that is legit. If you're 
going to be sluggish, if you're going to be lazy, if you're going 
to sleep when the Word of God comes, you're going to sleep 
past the Word of God, you're going to neglect it, you're going 
to have a much more difficult time holding your ground before 
the servant girl, before the bystanders, before the Roman 
armies. Brethren, who is it that we want 
to identify with in Scripture? It's the hero. It's the man who 
goes out and battles Goliath. It's not Saul and his armies 
hiding and cowering and fearing and quivering. We want to identify 
with those who do not deny the Lord Jesus Christ, but stand 
firm. Well, there's an ethic. There 
is precipitation there. If we're going to stand fast, 
we must precipitate it by faithfulness, by consistency, by discipline. And then we ought to appreciate, 
with reference to Peter in this passage, the reality that the 
best of men are men at best. The best of men are men at best, 
and that ought to have two effects on us. One, it ought to promote 
in us a watchfulness and a prayerfulness. If the best of men was men at 
best, then what we find here is that these things can happen 
to us if we're not watchful, if we're not prayerful. But as 
mentioned in the last hour, it ought to promote charity in us 
toward our brethren. If Peter does this, brethren, 
somebody that you love, professes faith in Christ, can do it too. I know this is tough, because 
immediately questions, what about church discipline? What about 
divorce? What about if my husband does? What about if my wife does? 
What about, what about, what about, what about, what about? I don't know all the answers 
to your whatabouts, but I know that Christians, believers, godly 
men, can do some pretty miserable things. And Peter's proof positive 
of it, and so is David. we can do some pretty wretched 
and lecherous things. The judgment of charity, brethren, 
needs to be practiced by the people of God. Judgment of charity 
ought to be practiced by parents with professing Christian children. 
How could you ever do such and such? How could you ever call 
yourself a Christian and do such and such? That could be some 
very difficult language to hear as a redeemed sinner. And then 
the recognition of the necessity of the word of God for recovery. 
Gill says, forgetfulness of God, of his works, of his words and 
of his law, of his revealed mind and will is often the cause of 
sin. And a remembrance of things is 
necessary to the recovery of a fallen or backsliding professor. Now, in terms of the truth concerning 
God, we see something about the word itself in this very passage. This is a credit to Matthew that 
he records this, isn't it? It's a credit to Mark that he 
records what Peter no doubt preached. It's a credit to Luke. It's a credit to John. It's a 
credit to the author of 2 Samuel that we don't try to sanitize 
the Word of God by keeping the blemishes and warts of our heroes 
out. You talk about proof for divine inspiration of scriptures. 
I mean, not only was Peter, you know, sort of the first among 
equals, he was friends with these guys. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, 
they were buddies. They loved each other. But they're 
going to record these things in the interest of truth. Now, in terms of harmonizing 
this passage with 1033, some of you may have thought of that 
passage. Jesus says, if you deny me, I will deny you before my 
father. Suffice it to say, I believe 
that there is a difference between sort of a settled practice and 
an occasion of weakness. And Calvin says, therefore, he 
throws himself down knowingly, this is Peter, and after previous 
warnings, but afterwards he obtains pardon, from which it follows 
that he sinned through weakness and not through incurable malice. That's legit, I think that harmonizes 
well. I think we ought to see and appreciate 
the grace of God, even in the midst of a Peter denial of Christ. And so finally, this is where 
it brings us. There may be believers here that 
have a bruised, broken, battered conscience because you've opened 
the door for sin and then you haven't shut it. And it's funny 
about open doors, they just get opened more, don't they? I mean, I guess a good gale comes 
the other way, it slams the door. But for the most part, you open 
a door a little bit, it keeps opening. And some of you may 
have opened that door and some of you may continue to let that 
door open. You know what this passage affords 
is the hope of the pardon of God. This is a public statement 
and declaration of the good news of Psalm 130. But there is forgiveness 
with thee that thou mayest be feared. We see that effect upon 
Peter. He's restored by our Lord Jesus. 
Who is it on the day of Pentecost that stands up and brings the 
word? He brings it with power and authority 
and multitudes are saved. What a testimony to the grace 
and to the mercy and to the kindness of our God. What a testimony 
to the power of the Christian gospel for believers. If you are bruised and broken 
this morning, take it to the Lord. Go to the Father through 
the Son, by the Spirit, plead his merit, plead his mercy, plead 
for forgiveness, confess the sins that you've engaged in, 
and you will be forgiven. And then watch and pray. Watch 
and pray. Don't leave this particular narrative 
without that ringing in your ears. Watch and pray. If Peter 
fell, then we cannot conclude, well, it'll never happen to me. 
I conclude just the opposite. If it happened to Peter, it most 
likely could happen to me. I need to watch. I need to pray. I need to make sure I'm where 
the Word of God is. I need to remember it. I need 
to hide it in my heart. I need to make sure that these 
things are fresh and clear and always before my eyes. And even 
then, I need to acknowledge I'm under absolute dependence to 
the grace of God. Because it's not all that I do, 
but it's ultimately all that God does through me. Calvin says, 
Peter's fall, which is here related, is a bright mirror of our weakness. 
In his repentance also, a striking instance of the goodness and 
mercy of God is held out to us. This narrative, therefore, which 
relates to a single individual, contains a doctrine which may 
be applied to the whole church, and which indeed is highly useful, 
both to instruct those who are standing to cherish anxiety and 
fear. This passage instructs those 
who are standing to cherish anxiety and fear. That means watch and 
pray. And to comfort those who have 
fallen by holding out to them the hope of pardon. Isn't that 
beautiful? We have the hope of pardon in 
and through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's for believers. If you're 
an unbeliever this morning, witness in this passage, witness in the 
Lord's dealings with Peter how gracious, how merciful, and how 
kind our Lord Jesus is. There is absolutely no reason 
that you could ever give as to why you wouldn't or shouldn't 
come to this Savior. He is altogether lovely. He is 
chief among 10,000. He is the most excellent. He 
is the most glorious. He is the most radiant. He is 
the most blessed and beautiful. And he has promised that all 
those who come to me, I will certainly not cast out. John 
tells us this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of 
the Son of God. They're gonna abrade you for 
doing what God says. Don't resist the Savior. Hope 
for pardon for your sins in this one who pardoned Peter and who 
restored Peter and who sent Peter on a glorious mission to proclaim 
the excellencies of Jesus Christ. Don't continue in sin and rebellion 
and unbelief, but rather fly. flee, run, look to Christ, and 
live. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for your Word, and we thank you for the Lord's gracious 
and tender dealings with even Peter. God, as we acknowledge 
we have been Peter in so many instances and in so many ways 
and in so many times, And we have found you to be a God who 
forgives. We have found the promise of 
1 John 1, 9 to always be efficient, that if we confess our sins, 
you're faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all 
unrighteousness. We have found the beauty of confessing 
with David in Psalm 130. There is forgiveness with you 
that you may be feared. God, our heart's desire and earnest 
plea is that any and all who are here this morning that are 
unbelievers, you'd open their eyes and their hearts to behold 
the one set forth in this passage, not the weakness of Peter necessarily, 
but the power and the efficacy and the glory of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. May this be the lasting lesson that you impress upon 
the hearts of sinners today, and may they by grace look and 
live, that they may know the joy of being found in Jesus Christ. Go with us now and help us to 
sanctify this day, bring us together tonight that we may worship you 
again. And we pray through Christ the Lord, amen.