The Scriptures reveal much concerning the life of the apostle Peter. Peter’s life is an illustration of the extreme highs and lows of the Christian life. Peter was an eye witness to many of the miracles of Jesus. Peter heard Jesus’ sermons and parables. Peter voiced the great confession proclaiming Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the living God, and soon after was sternly rebuked by Jesus for suggesting that He turn away from the suffering and death of the cross. Three times Peter denied he knew Christ, but later was graciously restored by the resurrected Savior. Peter was the preacher at Pentecost and the apostle to the Jews. Through all of this, what did Peter learn about God? What did he come to know about Christ? In studying Peter’s life, one thing becomes clear—Peter knew his God. May the Lord be pleased to teach us more concerning Himself as we study His dealings with Peter.

So thank you Alan for the very kind introduction. One thing that he didn't tell you is that in the Lord's kind providence we are going to share a grandbaby soon and so thankful for all that the Lord has done in bringing our families together and bringing us all together here this morning to consider Peter's growth in grace and knowledge. So I'm going to be in several different passages this morning but I do want to direct your attention first of all to 2 Peter chapter 3 in verse 18. I can readily and easily relate to Peter. Paul on the other hand was highly educated, had all of the credentials, though the Lord took all of that away from him.

Peter was just the exact opposite in so many respects. He was a fisherman, and the Lord Jesus Christ interrupted his life by calling him to follow him and Peter fell in with Christ, put his faith and trust in Christ, and his life was forever changed. So God took this by the Scriptures own admission in Acts 4 15. Peter was an ordinary uneducated man that grew up in the school of Christ and became very useful to the Lord, to the church, extending all the way to us even here this morning. So I want to give you just a little bit of a map of where we're headed in this.

There is so much in the New Testament about Peter. I had a little bit of trouble condensing it to, you know, a manageable service like this. So here is the the map where we are heading. I'm going to look at four events in Peter's life and see how in these four events how Peter came to know the Lord and to probably say that better in these four events to see how the Lord revealed himself to Peter. And those four events are Matthew 16, Peter's great confession of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then in Matthew 17, Peter was with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. And then probably where we identify with Peter the greatest and the most is the night of Jesus's betrayal. And Peter, though he was full of confidence just moments before, denied the Lord three times over but then was graciously restored by Jesus. And honestly, I almost made the whole sermon about that event There is so much there that we can learn About the attributes of God revealed through Christ to Peter through denying him through being restored Such grace grace and mercy given to him there. But then the last, the fourth event in Peter's life, we're going to see him on the day of Pentecost, being the mighty preacher that God raised up, who stood up, declared the word of the Lord, declared the gospel of Christ, and was used by the Lord to bring thousands of people to himself.

And so what we're going to see is the life of Peter go full circle. The Lord sees him first, calls him as a fisherman. After his denial, what does Peter go back to? I suppose in Peter's mind he thought these past three years have been great and wonderful but I really blew it. I had the greatest opportunity to stand for the Lord.

I'm just going to go back to the boat, back to what I know, back to the net, and that's what he did. You read John 21, it details Peter was back fishing when Jesus called him yet again out of the boat. And so the Lord was very gracious with him. And I want to begin here in 2 Peter chapter 3 just to remind you that it is from Peter that we have these words in the 18th verse of the last chapter, 2 Peter 3.18, where he says, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Grow in the knowledge, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

So just some preliminary things here before we really get into Peter's life. Growth in the Christian is expected. It's not an option. The Lord never presents to a new believer or a believer of 50-plus years the opportunity to rest, to take it easy, to think that you've known enough, that you've learned enough. So many today think themselves safe from God who remain objects of his wrath because they have never realized this exhortation and really command of the Scriptures to grow in grace and knowledge.

We don't often view it as a command, but it is that. So if you and I as Christians are not disciplining ourselves to grow in grace and knowledge, then something is wrong in our heart and in our life. For whatever reason, we think that we are far enough along down the road and that we can rest for a while. Well Peter destroys that with this verse But he's also writing from his own experience. He's also writing from the process of sanctification that has taken place in his own life.

And for those of you who have the Reformation Study Bible, I would direct your attention to the note for this verse and particularly the note on the word knowledge as it is used here in this verse. The word can be understood as an ever deepening experience of Christ, an understanding of his truth that should characterize the entire course of the believer's life. The ever deepening experience of walking with Christ, knowing Him more. We've heard so gloriously stated already this weekend over and over again of growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord and how it is an ever deepening experience. But let me ask myself the question, I've dealt with this for weeks now as I've prepared this sermon and I want to give it to you as well, does this define you?

Are you involved in an ever deepening experience of Christ? Do you know more about him today than you did even yesterday? Certainly last week, last year, at the point of your conversion, certainly. To understand the Lord Jesus Christ in the life of a believer is a lifelong pursuit. Seems to be one of the main emphases of this second epistle of Peter as well, though the overarching theme seems to be the combating of false doctrine, the combating of false teachers.

You remember these words in this first epistle, or second epistle of his in the first chapter, Peter began by issuing a call to diligence in this area. Diligence in the area of growing in the knowledge of God. And you remember these words for this very reason, giving all diligence add to your faith virtue to virtue knowledge to knowledge self-control to self-control perseverance to perseverance godliness to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness love for If these things are yours and are abounding, you will neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. So one of the implications here of this verse is if you feel that your life is barren and unfruitful, you're not growing. You're stagnant.

There is no zeal and life in you, and what do you do? Well, you pray humbly, asking the Lord for true and real repentance to correct that wrong. And I realize we all tend and we are all prone in this direction. I'm not nearly as disciplined as I would like to be. I have seasons where it waxes and wanes.

I have seasons of great zeal, seasons where the Lord is especially ministering to me. But if I don't continue to stoke that fire, how quickly it gets put out. So back to what Peter says here. If these things are yours and abound, You will neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord. For he who lacks these things is short-sighted even to blindness and has forgot that he was cleansed from his old sins." And then the very next verse says, Brethren, therefore be even more diligent.

You see the progression first, be diligent to do this, now be even more. Take it to a whole nother level. Be even more diligent to make your call and election sure. Do any of you struggle? Do any of your children struggle?

Do any of the people in your church struggle with the assurance of salvation? Something that I think we all deal with, either in our own hearts or in the hearts of those that we love very dearly, to struggle in this issue. According to Peter here, if we're not growing, that's what we can expect. If we're not diligent in being even more diligent to pursue these things listed in the first chapter, then the expectation, if we're honest with ourselves, should be Doubting. Am I really a Christian?

I'm not here to sow seeds of deep doubting in you. Thankfully the Lord comes alongside of us. The Spirit of God declares and bears witness with us that we are indeed the children of God, but I do want to spur in you and in myself some serious reflection. That's something that we don't do nearly enough of. Times of sober thinking, times of serious meditation upon the things of God, upon the grace of God, upon my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Is it vibrant, real, growing, or have I reached a point that I'm just not so concerned with it anymore? If that's the case, then why do we wonder? Why do we wonder that we're struggling? Then the last of that verse, an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I can't unpack all of that to you, but what I can say at least is what Peter is saying here.

Those doubts will flee away, and you will have an abundant entrance into the kingdom. So Peter here is writing under his own influence or according to his own experience. The growth he is exhorting us as believers to and to diligently pursue he has done. And I don't know, perhaps there are parallels with Peter, but if we were to graph his life and put it on a chart where we could see the tremendous highs and the tremendous lows, I don't know that the disparity between those two points would be any greater in anyone else's life. I mean, Peter saw the transfigured Christ.

He was with Christ along with James and John and privileged to see things that the other disciples didn't see. Those were the highest of high points for him, but he's also the one who, given the opportunity to boldly stand for Christ, denied him. And we shouldn't look down upon him for that. I would have done it, most likely, as would have you. This type of growth and fruitful use of knowledge is that to which every healthy believer, notice that word, every healthy believer should aspire to, and in this context as we've read it this morning is part of making our calling and election sure.

Before we go any further, I want to give just a little bit of caution and sound just a bit of a warning here. My goal in this this morning is not to remind you all of these great experiences of Peter that we've read over and over in our Bibles and then come to the end of this and say to you, now just go be like Peter. If that's all that we get out of this, then we've come up far short. The goal here is to exhort us all to truly know God and Jesus Christ, his son, in the same way that Peter knew him. And we've looked at several verses out of his second epistle.

Let me remind you of the very last verse, 2 Peter chapter 3, very last verse, verse 18, the second half of that verse, to him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. Peter understood that all of his experience to this point led him to being able more fully to a greater degree to honor the Lord, to give glory to him both now and forever. And he concludes this epistle, amen. I don't know if you're familiar with Dale Ralph Davis or not.

He is a favorite commentator of mine and I'm preaching through the book of Judges at our church currently and I'm reading his commentary and he struck a chord recently with me as I was preparing for those sermons. He reminded me that the scriptures are primarily theocentric. In other words, they're about God. There are certainly great characters in the scriptures that are real, historical, men, women that God actually used. And I'm so thankful and grateful that we have them recorded for us in the scriptures.

But to continue with his words, he says, the biblical writer's purpose is never to relate one's eventful life even with all their problems struggles and victories failures but the purpose is to depict the Lord's saving activity in and through them And so he says of character studies, he says character studies of biblical figures almost by their very nature by their chosen starting points begin by looking in the wrong direction, by looking at the man, by looking at the woman. His words again, he says, it's almost as if the scripture declares to us, behold your God, and we reply, thank you, but I found something more interesting. I found Peter. I found Rahab. I found Jephthah.

How prone we are to exalt the creature over the Creator. It's not only the fear of man that brings a snare. The Scriptures do say that, the fear of man brings a snare, but it's also that the exaltation of man out of his rightful place is dangerous ground to tread upon as well. What I'm trying to say here by giving you these words from Dr. Davis is just to remind us we put Peter in his rightful place.

He is a little bit of breathing clay just like me, just like you. So we don't want to be guilty here. As helpful and edifying as the study of Peter's life is, we will miss the mark if we do not see the grace of God at work and the glory being given to God and to Christ as the end for it all. One more word from Dr. Davis, and if you're not familiar with him, His commentaries are brief, they're short, they're written very devotionally, they're not deeply technical but highly helpful.

I commend them to you. He says also concerning this issue of Samson's birth being announced. Just last week in our church I preached about what I call the nativity story of Samson, and it's amazing the parallels between the angel of the Lord announcing Samson's birth to his unnamed mother and the parallels of the angel announcing the upcoming birth of the Lord Jesus Christ to Mary, or even some of the Old Testament figures who, like Hannah, whose the birth of their child was announced. And so upon this you might remember tucked in there and embedded in the book of Judges, Manoah, Samson's father, goes to the angel of the Lord and asks him a question. And the question that he asks is significant and it's helpful.

He asks him, what is your name? And my understanding here is that this is a pre-incarnate Christ. And Manoah asks him, what's your name? The reply is, why do you ask my name, seeing that it is wonderful? The word means incomprehensible.

Even if I told you my name, it would be lost upon you, because so much is bound up in the names of God. Isn't that the way that we understand some of what we could call the high attributes of God? By the way that he has revealed himself in Scripture through his name Jehovah Jireh what does that mean God our provider right so this is what the angel of the Lord responds if I told you you would not be able to comprehend and so again dr. Davis says there is a mystery a depth a surpassing this about God that we can never fathom, that we can never comprehend. This does not mean that we cannot know God.

Thank the Lord for that. We can know him. We can know of him what he has revealed to us, but then we stop. We don't go beyond the boundaries of Scripture. It means that though we may know God truly, we do not know him exhaustively.

Would you want to serve a God and commit your life to a God that you knew everything about? No, because then he would be your equal. You would be on a parallel sphere, and how much help is a parallel God in the times of trouble. If you can't look higher than yourself and know that there is someone whose ways are so far above our own, but yet there are thousands, millions, billions of people today who live just like that, who serve a God of their own making, who carve an image, who bow down to it, and find no help in the day of trouble. And that's why Paul says here in Romans 11, 33, oh, the depth and the riches, both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out.

So we must confess here at the beginning, part of knowing God is to know that there is so much more of him than I will ever know that's part of the lifelong pursuit we're never going to grow old or stale in our pursuing God he is indeed as the scriptures declare of him inscrutable altogether glorious and lovely that said and I realize that's a rather lengthy introduction, that said, I want to proceed now more to the subject. What can we know of this incomprehensible God as we strive after more grace and knowledge concerning him, especially concerning what he through experience taught Peter about himself? The Scriptures reveal so much about Peter. He is one of the central figures of the New Testament, one of the preeminent disciples of the Lord, and particularly called to be the apostle to the Jews. On many occasions, he would speak up for the disciples.

The Lord would present a question and Peter always beat the rest of them to the punch and he would answer for them. Yet he was not without flaws. He was not without sin. He was rebuked sternly of the Lord just after he made his great confession. We'll see that.

Peter saw his mother-in-law raised up from sickness by Christ. He witnessed Christ's miracles. He was one of the privileged three to go places with Christ that the other disciples did not go. You remember when he saw Jesus and he stepped out of the boat and began to sink and Jesus graciously and full of mercy took him by the hand and saved him. He was used of God in Acts chapter 3 to make the lame man walk, taking him by his right hand and saying to him, I'll paraphrase, I don't have money for you but what I do have I give you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Get up and walk. Such great high points of Peter And we could go on and on and on. Of all that there is to know and study concerning his life, let's narrow the focus down to these four events and consider what God taught him about himself. And what God taught him, no doubt, was a slow burn. And you know what that's like.

God teaches you something, and in the moment, it's real, it's great, it's vibrant. But a year later, as you reflect back upon it, how much more sweet is it? How much more glorious is it? I imagine and suppose and it's conjecture on my part obviously to think that Peter reflected often on these interactions with Jesus. That he would meditate often upon what the Lord taught him.

As a young pastor, as a young husband and father, God taught me lessons that today encourage me greatly. He taught me, yes, I will indeed provide for you. I will indeed give you what you need. And the Lord dispenses grace to us when we need it. That's one of the things that I've learned, that you've learned, that we do well to grow in the grace and knowledge.

We know how to pray for daily bread, but we need to learn increasingly how to pray for daily grace. The Lord gives us grace when we need it. Not very often does he give it to us before we need it. And so if you're looking down the road and you're looking at circumstances in your life and you say things like I do, you say, I just don't know how I'm going to deal with that next week, next year, whatever it may be, then just submit those thoughts to the Lord, those worries and anxieties, give them to the Lord. Cast your burden upon the Lord knowing that he cares for you and that he will indeed be all that he declares himself in scripture to be to you.

He will dispense grace to you when you need it, even if it's dying grace. The temporal situation may not be alleviated at all. So the first place that I want you to turn with me to actually look at Peter is Matthew 16. And I want to pause here for just a moment and pray and ask the Lord to help in this if you would join me. Father, we come Now to look especially at your interaction with Peter, this disciple of yours that you called and was so greatly and mightily used.

Lord, open our understanding, give us eyes to see, ears to hear what you would say to us this morning. We ask it in Jesus' name. We ask it for Jesus' sake. Amen. So if you're in Matthew 16, notice verse 13.

Peter had already been privileged to see several miracles performed by Christ. And verse 13, when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples saying, who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" So they said, some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. And he said to them, But who do you say that I am?" Jesus's particular concern here was not the misconception of the unbelieving masses concerning who he was. Jesus's particular concern here was for those that he had called to himself. He very shortly later is going to announce to them again his impending death, that he would suffer at the hands of the elders, chief priests, scribes, and be killed but yet raised the third day.

He wanted these to know, going into that, exactly, clearly who he was and who speaks? Who steps up to the microphone and says, I know who you are. It's Peter and what does he say? Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. So if we were to ask the question, what attribute of God has been revealed to Peter here?

We don't often talk of this as being an attribute of God, it is one. It's one that we need to know more of and it's the great condescension of God. You know, we've already said God is inscrutable, he's unsearchable, He's unknowable to a full extent and degree, but in his wisdom and in his mercy and grace he has made himself known by coming low, revealing to us in the scriptures who he is. What Peter confesses here is only what the Lord has revealed to him. Let's give Peter credit for stepping up and saying this, making the confession and declaration, but let's give God the Father all glory because he made this known to Peter.

If you can say this with Peter, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. You have not reached that conclusion by your own wisdom. I haven't reached that conclusion by my own life experience. If we have come to that conclusion at all, and Lord willing we have and we're in one accord, then we have come to that conclusion because God the Father has in condescending grace come to us renewed our heart and made us know him. God always takes the initiative.

Thank God for that. I don't know about you, but my testimony is, in a nutshell, I was not looking for God. He was looking for me. It's the same thing here. Jesus understands that.

Peter will shortly understand that if he didn't already. The Father revealed himself through his own condescension. The Spirit takes the things concerning Christ and makes them known to his elect. Another word of caution here, we must be careful of speaking about what we have, quote, discovered about God. If we have discovered it, it's probably wrong.

It's probably an error. It may even be heretical. It's always dangerous to think that you or I know something about God, something about Christ, something about the gifts, whatever it may be that he hasn't revealed to anyone else. We would be very akin to a heretic if we were to think such thoughts. Outside of the general observation in nature of his power and wisdom, all else we know of him is a product of his condescending self revelation in Scripture.

Be humbled by this thought for just a moment. All that you know about God has been graciously revealed to you. Everything that you know, compile it in a heap if you can. Everything that you know has been graciously revealed by God to you. And think about this, the greatest thing that Peter knew, and he says it right here, This is the pinnacle of anything that he could confess.

The greatest thing that he knew is only something God taught him. It's only something that the Lord God, dwelling in heaven, doing whatever he pleases, pleased to reveal to Peter. And thank him, much praise to him, that he has revealed it to me and to you, or we would still be in darkness. We would still be in the kingdom of darkness. We would still be dead in our sins.

We would still be unable to see, unable to hear spiritual things. The natural man does not discern the things of the Lord. So how humbling is this when we read this? Yes, we want to see Peter for who he is, but let's not miss who God is. He is a condescending, graciously self-revealing Father in Heaven.

So we're going to fast forward from Peter's confession, and I'll just point this out to you. Verse 21 is where Jesus begins to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem suffer many things from the elders chief priests and scribes and be killed on the third day and then here's Peter again what does he do here he takes Jesus aside on the heels of his great confession he takes the Lord aside and says, Far be it from you, Lord, this shall not happen. And here is the stern rebuke of the Lord to Peter, Peter, get behind me, Satan. Moments earlier he is speaking self-revelation of God, now he is speaking more like the devil. And that's why I said if we were to graph his life and go from high point to low point, how quickly those things go up and down.

I can relate with that. I suspect some of you can as well. As much as I would like to stay there and talk about what Jesus told him in his rebuke, I want to move on to the Transfiguration, which is Matthew 17. Usually when we approach this, we are looking for what Peter learned of Christ, but I want to be just a little bit different, approach it from a different angle. I want to ask the question, what did the Father reveal to Peter about himself in allowing Peter to witness this transfiguration and also to hear his voice from heaven?

Well first of all let's read it. Chapter 17 verse 1 here's Peter again with James and John. Led up on a high mountain by themselves, he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light, and behold Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him." Other Gospels tell us that Moses and Elijah came to talk to Jesus about his impending decease, his death. Then Peter answered and said, "'Lord, it is good for us to be here if you wish let us make three tabernacles one for you one for Moses and one for Elijah and while he was still speaking, don't miss this point, we give Peter credit for being the spokesman, but Mark chapter 9 verse 6, if you were to turn there, would tell you Peter was only saying this because he didn't know what to say.

That's why John MacArthur calls him in his work on the disciples, Peter is the apostle with the foot-shaped mouth. He's always sticking his foot in his mouth. Sometimes it's better before the glory of God just be quiet. Just be still, know that he is God. We don't always have to say anything, we don't always have to give our commentary on the situation, just know he's God.

And so the Lord interrupts Peter, and here God's not the perfect gentleman, he didn't wait for Peter to finish. God is exercising his absolute sovereignty and authority over this situation, and he wasn't going to allow Peter to stand in the way. And that's not a hit at Peter. That's comforting to me. God is not going to allow me to stand in the way of what he wants to do, of what he wants to make known.

Thank God that I can't deter him. While Peter was still speaking in the fifth verse, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. So what attribute of God is he revealing to Peter here? His glory. The fact that he is gloriously holy, the brightness of this cloud that descended no doubt is a reflection or maybe even an offshoot of the glory that was placed upon Christ here as his face shone like the sun, His clothes became as white as the light.

God is revealing here to Peter even in the midst of his stumbling words, his glory. Peter calls it later in his first chapter, second epistle, excellent glory. Can you imagine what kind of lasting impression this made upon Peter? Because this is what he hears coming out of the cloud, a voice. And the voice thundered from heaven saying, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

Hear him. So later in his life Peter writes in 2 Peter 1 17, this is the impression that it made upon him, he received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to him from the excellent glory saying, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. We heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. This is what I'm talking about, the slow burn years later. This event is as vivid in Peter's mind as it was in Matthew 17, and it was a basis and the foundation upon which he then in that chapter would preach Christ.

Dr. Beekie in his systematic theology writes, I read this this week, I'd never really read anything about God's beatitude. Those are Dr. Beekie's words, not mine. I'm not that smart, but God's beatitude, what does that mean?

He's talking about the boundless happiness of God. What attribute of God is he revealing to Peter here? Generally stated, He is revealing to him of his happiness. I'm well pleased, but particularly he's saying, I am well pleased in my son. Dr.

Beekie again says, God reveals himself in the Holy Scriptures to be a God of limitless pleasure and joy. And note these words, his delight is at the core of what we know about him. The joy, the happiness, the eternal joy, happiness, and delight of God is at the core of what we know about him. That's why the scriptures say things like this. Paul to Timothy referring to God, he who is the blessed and only sovereign, the King of kings, the Lord of Lords, who has immortality alone, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen nor can see.

To him be honor and everlasting power. Amen." Paul could say these things. The authors of Scripture could say these things about God because of his boundless happy state. But let's get to the point here with Peter, particularly God is revealing to Peter his good pleasure with his son. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased." I think the point could and should be made here.

The more we know God, the more we love and are well pleased with Christ. The Father's heart was boundlessly happy as he considered the work that his son was about to accomplish. So should ours. Our hearts should be boundlessly happy, rejoicing. Isn't that what the scriptures call us to do?

You know these verses, Philippians 4, 4, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice, stated more succinctly by Paul in 1 Thessalonians. Rejoice always. How is it that we are called to rejoice in the Lord? You can't miss those words, in the Lord.

We are called to rejoice in and as a reflection of the eternal joy or happiness of God. He is boundlessly happy, so are we to be in him. Those of us who are in Christ, our joy is to be abiding, boundless, uninterruptible because he has taken us outside the realm of circumstantial happiness. This is where we struggle. When we come to that verse in Philippians 4 or wherever we find this call to joy, we read it and we experience it in the course of everyday life.

And very often we let our circumstances dictate the level of our joy. I'm guilty of that. We let circumstances dictate whether or not we will be happy. And this is not just a giddy sense of happiness, this is an abiding sense of joy in Christ because of his own and the Father's own boundless happiness, God's beatitude. So here in this, on the Mount of Transfiguration, God is revealing to Peter his glory.

He's revealing to Peter the state of his own happiness and his good pleasure, particularly in his son. And I want to move from here to Peter's denial of Jesus. So far we've looked at two of the high points of Peter's life, and I want you to look with me at Luke chapter 22. We've seen Peter make his confession. The confession upon which the Lord says, you are Peter, and upon this rock, upon this confession of yours, I will build my church.

In essence, Jesus saying to Peter, Peter you got it exactly right. I am the Christ, the Son of the Living God. So if you're in Luke chapter 22, I want you to begin here with me in verse 31. Now I realize we're jumping right into this, but you've read this before, so just jump in here with me. Luke 22 31, the Lord said, Simon, Simon indeed, Satan has asked for you.

And that that takes us back to Job, right? That early chapter where we're privileged, I suppose, to see that interaction between Satan and God, and Satan has his eyes fixed upon Job, and the Lord allows this severe temptation to enter into Job's life, and the Lord is telling Peter here something very akin to that Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat. Can you imagine how Peter heard those words? What? The devil has asked for me?

And just as soon as his heart sinks, the Lord draws it back up again. "'But I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail and when you have returned to me strengthen your brethren." What grace of God. He didn't remove this from Peter but what did he say? Peter, it's coming. I'll be with you.

More than that, I'm praying for you." Can you imagine words of greater encouragement than for Jesus to say, I have prayed for you, but guess what? The scriptures have revealed to me and you that's exactly what he has told us. He is our great high priest ever living to make intercession for us. And so while we don't have our name immortalized in Scripture, yet we have the same truth to encourage our hearts in times of trial the Lord has said I prayed for you that your faith should not fail And even here there is the mixture of grace when you have returned to me." And what does Peter say? But he said to him, Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.

We can't fault Peter for zeal. He always had that. And then he said, Peter, I tell you the rooster shall not crow this day before you deny me three times. So what we've looked at or what we're about to see is the lofty confessing Peter falling into the depths of lowly denier of Christ. And it's as if we can survey and summarize the life of Peter.

Yes, I know you're the Christ. The Father has revealed it to me, but at this particular point in my life, I'm going to deny it. Let's look at that. Verse 54, same chapter, Luke 22. Having arrested Jesus, they led him and brought him into the high priest's house.

Peter followed at a distance. Seems to be the first hint that something's wrong. Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter said among them, and a servant girl, a certain servant girl, no one of high notoriety, no one of high lofty possession, a certain servant girl seeing him as he sent by the fire looked intently at him and said, this man was also with him. Peter denied him saying, woman, I do not know him. What did he say back in Matthew 16?

You're the Christ, the Son of the Living God. He knew him, but pressed into this situation of standing for him, he fails. And after a little while another saw him and said, you also are of them and Peter said, man I am not. After about an hour had passed so he had some time to consider. It's not like these all happened in you know five, ten, fifteen seconds.

He had some time. I don't know, but I wonder if his mind goes back to when Jesus says, before the rooster crows, three times Peter, and I wonder if he's thinking, well I've done it twice I can't do it again. After an hour passed, verse 58, 59, another confidently affirmed. So there was no question in the mind of this one making this affirmation. Surely this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.

And Peter said for the third time, man, I do not know what you were saying. The will to self-preserve is strong, isn't it? Self-preservation is usually the cause as to why we fail, given opportunity to stand for the Lord, given opportunity to stand up and say, yes he is the Christ and I'm with him. The desire of the flesh to preserve very often overcomes and aren't you thankful that given opportunity Jesus always says of us he or she's with me. He will never deny, Never forsake, never leave.

I will come to you again. I will not leave you an orphan, is what Jesus says of us, and so we are especially thankful, humbled, grateful. It should be cause for doxology in our own heart to realize that though I can, like Peter, deny Christ, Christ will never deny me. Once we are in Christ, once his righteousness has been imputed, there is therefore now no condemnation. But I want to continue here and look at verse 60.

Immediately while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed and the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, before the rooster crows you will deny me three times. So Peter went out and wept bitterly. I can imagine. Oh I failed my Lord.

I had the greatest greatest opportunity and I came up short. You been there? Then take heart." The Lord turned and looked at Peter. I've read and heard sermons upon what this look may have been, but I want to say this, it would have been totally out of character for Jesus's look at Peter to be anything other than full of grace. Those that suppose that there was a look of contempt or scorn or a scowl on Jesus's face, I just can't go there.

That's not who he is. The Scriptures say he is full of grace. He is full of mercy. He is the very embodiment of truth. Surely this must have been the look of compassion.

Simon, Satan has asked for you to sift you as wheat. He has sifted you. But I've prayed for you. Perhaps this look was the reminder to Peter. I know the Scriptures say that he remembered the word of the Lord, but perhaps in that remembering of the word of the Lord.

Lord willing he remembered that part of it, but I've prayed for you. What did this look of Jesus produce? It was like it awakened Peter. This is next to the prodigal in the in the hog pen, waking up, coming to his senses. This is the same with Peter.

It's like he was shaken and he woke up and he realized what he had done and Peter went out and wept bitterly. The look of Christ produced withdrawal. He went out, but it also produced great weeping. He wept bitterly as sin, when it is brought to light, should produce these things in us. Sin should produce this.

When the Lord in grace, don't miss that, when the Lord in grace brings your sin and failures to light, See it for what it is. It's an act of mercy. He did not let Peter go on perpetually to be immortalized as the denier, but as one he had soon, one he would soon restore. The writer of Hebrews tells us in the 12th chapter to look to Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith, but in grace and mercy he looks at us and brings the conviction of sin. What did Peter learn about God here?

What attributes did God reveal to him? One might say, omniscience. Jesus did, after all, tell him beforehand what was going to happen. Certainly that's a side note, but more to the point, what attributes did he reveal? Certainly compassion, tender mercy, not getting what he deserved, and grace getting what he did not deserve.

Certainly he learned the wisdom of God who works all things for us according to his own purpose. Then he would learn the forgiveness and restoration to usefulness. I want to read to you Mark 16 quickly verse 2 through 8. Very early in the morning on the first day of the week they came to the tomb when the Sun had risen and they said to themselves who will roll away the stone from the door for us? When they looked up they saw the stone had been rolled away for it was very large and entering the tomb they saw a young man clothed in white robe sitting on the right side and they were alarmed but he said 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.

Go tell his disciples, " and what's the next two words? "'And Peter, don't let this news be lost upon him.'" We don't have time to go to John 21, but if you did, what you would see there is what I introduced with, Peter went back to the boat. Jesus calls him back out again, and quickly the last point here is to see Peter on the day of Pentecost, and we've seen him come full circle, boat to boat, called out by Christ again. And when we see him in Acts 2, what do we see? When the day of Pentecost had fully come, chapter 2 verse 1, they were all with one accord in one place.

Suddenly there came a sound from heaven of a rushing mighty wind and filled the whole house where they were sitting. Divided tongues appeared as a fire to them. Skip down to verse 14, but Peter standing up with the eleven raised his voice and said, why did he have the confidence to do this knowing in his own memory that he had denied the Lord? Well do you remember John 20? Peter, do you love me?

Yes Lord. Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord. Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord.

I think there's significance in why Jesus asked him that question three times. He had denied him three times. This is Jesus bringing Peter back up to the point that he confidently filled with the Spirit stands up on the day of Pentecost as the Spirit-filled preacher used of God to add over 3, 000 souls to the church. What attributes of God are revealed here on this day? Well certainly he is the equipping God, but even greater than that Peter here realizes that this God is mighty to save.

Peter's thinking, I spoke a few words about Christ and thousands came to him. He who once caught fish now catching men. In fish now catching men." In conclusion, I want to give you the words of two men, both with the Lord. Martin Lloyd-Jones I, considering the knowledge of God, he says, I am not asking whether you know things about him. I'm asking if you know him.

Are you enjoying him? Is he the center of your life, the soul of your being, the greatest of your joys? He is meant to be. And then secondly and lastly, Thomas Watson. He wrote these words, and I commend this book to every man if you have sons, buy this book, give it to your boys, Read the Godly Man's Picture by Thomas Watson.

He says this, and I quote, the knowledge of a godly man is self emptying. What does knowledge do? Paul would say puffs up. The knowledge of a godly man is self-emptying. Carnal knowledge makes the head giddy with pride.

True knowledge brings a man out of love with himself. The more he knows, the more he blushes at his own ignorance. If you know God and you are knowing him increasingly, If you are growing in grace of knowledge, then you are falling out of love with yourself. You're seeing yourself in a right place. God help us to know Him through the Lord Jesus Christ and be able to say with John the Baptist increasingly, He must increase, I must decrease.

Let's pray. Father we thank you for this look at Peter's life and the events that you have recorded in Scripture for us. Lord may we see you at work in and through him. The things that you revealed to him would you be pleased to reveal to us. We ask it so that we could indeed grow in grace and knowledge.

We ask it in Christ's name, Amen.