In the sermon 'The Son of Man is Deserted,' Peter Allison explores the narrative of Peter's denial of Jesus, drawing from the Gospel accounts, particularly Luke 22:54 and the surrounding passages. The sermon examines the sequence of events leading to Peter's denial, focusing on the different Gospel accounts and reconciling perceived discrepancies. Allison emphasizes Peter's character traits, such as his impetuosity and leadership among the disciples, and highlights the profound sorrow Jesus experienced from being denied by one of his closest followers. The sermon draws lessons on human weakness, the danger of pride, and the importance of relying on God's strength. It underscores the power of God's Word in bringing about repentance, as seen in Peter's eventual remorse and restoration. The sermon concludes by encouraging believers to memorize and cherish Scripture as a means to resist temptation and remain faithful.

Please turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 22. I'd like to read beginning at verse 54. As we continue the Gospel accounts of the night in which Jesus was betrayed and bound. Luke 22, 54. Having arrested him, they led him and brought him into the high priest's house, but Peter followed at a distance.

Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them, and a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, This man was also with him. But he denied him, saying, Woman, I do not know him. After a little while another saw him and said, You also are of them. But Peter said, Man, I am not. Then about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, Surely this fellow was also with him, for he is a Galilean.

But Peter said, Man, I do not know what you are saying. 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 to him, Behold, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. So Peter went out and wept bitterly. May our happiness be in Jehovah and in the observance of these words.

Heavenly Father, as we worship you today, Please speak to us by your word and spirit and open our eyes that we might behold wondrous things out of your word. That we may see you as you have revealed yourself. And may you give us understanding to see the things that are only spiritually discerned. And I ask that you would preserve my lips from error. In Jesus' name, amen.

Isaiah 53 says that he is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him. He was despised and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted." We've been looking and seeing all the ways in which Christ suffered in His soul, in His humiliation, in the hours before His capture. His prayer in the garden where He was deeply distressed.

His soul was sorrowful and he was troubled. Christ there was struck with the horror of the divine curse. He was struck with the horror of suffering everlasting death, of being cut off from the fellowship with the Father in this time. The Westminster Larger Catechism explains that it was necessary for our mediator to be God so that He might sustain and keep the human nature from sinking under the infinite wrath of God and the power of death. This is real.

Christ truly and really suffered in His human nature these terrors. And He was strengthened by an angel. For Christ to even need strengthening by an angel is part of His humiliation. But it's also an indication of the great burden and affliction that He was bearing. He suffered when one of His disciples, when all of His disciples, even the closest three were not able to even pray with Him one hour in the midst of this with Him.

He suffered the betrayal of one of the twelve disciples and we saw last week that Christ had to endure the cross with one of the twelve, having lost one of the twelve foundation stones with which the New Testament church would be built. You could say, well, it's just a symmetry and it's not that big a deal, But the scriptures make a big deal about all of that. Yes, he would be replaced, but not until after Christ had risen. He suffered now, tonight, in the text that we read just now, when all his disciples deserted him and all departed him when he was arrested, everyone and then he suffers again when one of these three disciples that's closest to him not only abandoned him and fled but denies with oaths and curses that he even knew Christ or ever knew Him. That's certainly a sorrow.

It would be a sorrow to have one of your children or somebody that you know well deny you in that way. This is somebody, this is Peter. Peter was one of the three disciples who was closest to Jesus. Often Jesus instructed crowds, but then he would take his disciples apart and instruct just the twelve. But at times he would take just the three, Peter, James, and John, and instruct them or give to them insights and privileges that weren't given to the other disciples.

Peter was one of the three who was privileged to witness the transfiguration. Peter seems to have been a leader among the disciples. He was impetuous, he was outspoken, but somewhat of a natural leader among the disciples. He's the one who jumps overboard on at least two occasions. Into the water, when Jesus is seen.

Once when Jesus was walking on the water Peter jumped in after him and walked in the water for one step and the other time after the after the Resurrection when she's Jesus on the shore remember he jumps out of the boat, swims to Jesus. That's examples of his impetuosity. And he spoke that way too, often maybe speaking somewhat silly things like on the Mount of Transfiguration when he was suggesting that they ought to build houses up there or tents. But so he's impetuous, he's outspoken, sometimes speaks before he thinks, but he's a leader. And he often speaks for the disciples.

When Jesus asks questions, Peter is the one to answer for them. But in many cases, he's simply speaking what they all were believing. Remember when Peter is denying, so vociferously rebutting Christ's statement and warning that He would deny Christ. Peter is rebutting it vociferously. But he's saying all the others are saying the same thing that the gospel writers say.

Peter was the one whose words are recorded, but they're all saying the same thing. It was Peter that Christ addressed as the leader of the disciples when he spoke of the keys of the kingdom being given to them. Peter is the one who delivers the sermon at Pentecost in which 5, 000 were saved. He's the one who first, he's one of the apostles who first brings order, or who brings order to the first ecumenical council in Acts 15, leading which led up to some of the others speaking and then the written orders that they gave for all the churches to keep. And Paul recognizes Peter as one of the three pillars of the church in Galatians.

Peter writes two of the books of the New Testament and according to church history he was crucified upside down so as not to be crucified in the same way as Christ. Despite his weaknesses, there are many admirable things about Peter. When all the disciples desert, Jesus warns about them deserting, Peter is the one whom he instructs to strengthen his brethren when he returns. And we also need to remember the context of this immediate, of this denials. Remember in the garden just a few hours earlier, Peter is the one who draws his sword to defend Jesus against this Roman cohort.

Maybe as much as 600 soldiers and people have come to arrest Jesus. And Peter bravely takes out a sword as if he's going to withstand this cohort. But now in this account, he falls. We've seen in comparing Gospel accounts with each other that the Gospel writers in the life of Christ, they give different aspects. They record different aspects of events.

Of course, we know that everything they record, down to the very last words and letters, is all true. And in this account of Luke, Jesus is bound, and as Jezo reminded me last week, he's bound as the sacrificial lamb and led first to Annas' house, who then sends him to Caiaphas, which is where most of the recorded events happen. And at these two places, Jesus is interrogated in the middle of the night, sort of like an inquisition to dig up evidence by which they may successfully try Jesus and prosecute Him in civil court. And Luke, it's in the midst of this interrogation, in the middle of the night, this illegal interrogation at Caiaphas' house, that Luke tells us that a servant girl looking intently at Peter said this man was also with him and Peter denies it saying woman I don't know him and that's not a that's not a rude form of address. Jesus addressed his own mother that way, woman, behold, your son.

In the Greek, this is a way of addressing somebody. A polite way, and a proper way of addressing, maybe like ladies and gentlemen. And then after a little while, the time isn't specified, but that word little, it means short. It means short. It can be used to refer to a few things, but when it refers to time, it refers to a short time.

This is a short time, but it's not specified exactly how long. Somebody else sees him, and it's not specified here who, just another, saw him and said, you also are one of them. And Peter said, man, I am not. So we know that was a man. The first one was a woman, the second one was a man.

Then Luke tells us the time that passed. About an hour, he said, passed. So this is a lengthy interrogation. An hour has gone by. And another doesn't say who, just another person confidently affirms, confidently affirms, it's not a question here at this point, This is an affirmation, confident affirmation.

Surely this fellow also was with him, for he is a Galilean. But Peter said, man, I do not know what you are saying. That's the third time Luke records Peter denying that he knows Christ. And immediately, while he is still speaking, he's still in the middle of his denial, this rooster crows. And the Lord turns and looks at Peter.

The Lord turns. So he was probably inside a building, somewhere near a window that looked out onto where Peter was outside. And he turns and he looked at Peter. And when Jesus looked at Peter, then he remembered the words of the Lord. And he remembered how Jesus had told him, you will deny me three times before a rooster crows.

And so Peter went out and he wept bitterly. Now this all seems very simple, straightforward, easy to comprehend, and we could move right to the application of this account, and what it means for us, and what we ought to learn from it. Except, When we compare this account with the other accounts in the Gospels, there seems to be a conflict. Several in fact. Because Mark records a rooster crowing after the first denial.

With no repentance on Peter's part. That in Mark's account doesn't happen until the rooster crows a second time. And according to Mark's account, Jesus warning to Peter was that the rooster wouldn't crow twice before he denied him three times. The other gospel accounts say the rooster would, Peter would deny Christ three times before the rooster crows once. And this is one of those places where the scoffers and the skeptics want to point to an error in the text, or discrepancies between the accounts, because there's many other differences in these accounts.

And so I'd like this morning to address these all, and to take the four accounts in the Gospel of this, of Peter's denial, and put them together so that they are synchronized, so that we can see very clearly and simply how these are all true. And to do that will require some detailed, some looking at the details in each of these accounts. And so I have prepared a handout because I recognize this is difficult. This is detailed, But I think it is important to go through this. I know you all believe the Bible and you believe it is true.

But how do we explain these differences in these accounts? I believe that God's Word gives to us the clues and the keys by which we may synchronize all these accounts. And in so doing, to arrive at a better understanding of what happened here than a superficial reading will allow us. And so if you have a handout, it says at the top, chronology of Peter's denials. Now there was a handout we gave earlier, previous weeks, when we looked at the warnings, and we saw that there were four warnings on three different occasions.

And so that was how we saw that one of those warnings was Mark's warning about rooster crowing twice before he denied him three times. Sorry, him denying him three times before the rooster crows twice, I said that backwards. But this is a, so this is attached to that, a follow on from that, And so I'd like to just walk through these four accounts. And I put them into little tables so that we can look at the key things, the details associated with each of these denials. The first is the challenger.

Who issues the challenge? Where was that challenge issued? When was that challenge? And we don't always have in all the accounts exact details. Here we can make some inferences.

But where we don't have exact details. I've put question marks Then there is the challenge what what was the challenge sometimes it's a question sometimes it's a declaration Then there's Peter's response to that and Then lastly we pay attention to what happens to a rooster. And so if we look at the account in John, let's start with that. The first denial, the challenge is the gatekeeper. And the context there is that Jesus has gone into the house of Caiaphas, and John being known to the high priests follows him in so They all fled they all deserted him, but John has come back and Peter is following at a distance.

But he's not known to the high priest, so he stays outside this gate. And John, inside, notices that Peter is outside and he goes outside and gets him and vouches to the guard, the servant guarding the gate, the gatekeeper, maybe more than a guard, the gatekeeper. He vouches to the gatekeeper, this servant girl, for Peter and enables Peter to come in. And so in John's account, which I've copied there in the bottom of your first page of your handout, the other disciple, that's John's way of referring to himself, who is known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her, who kept the door and brought Peter in. And then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, a very natural question.

John is known to the high priest. He's known to be a disciple of Christ. This servant girl obviously knows that because he can vouch for Peter. And she says, you are not also one of this man's disciples, are you? It's a question.

It's a very innocent question. It's a natural question. And it's one that had very minimal risk for Peter to answer. John is already known as a disciple. They're letting him in to this courtyard.

They're not putting him on trial. Peter could have very naturally said, Yes, I am. But Satan had entered him. Jesus said that Satan had desired to sift him. So Peter is under a demonic influence.

And it is a very natural question. That would be very minimal risk for him to answer yes. And to be known to be a fellow disciple with John. Peter says, no, I am not. I am not.

No rooster crows. Second denial. Servants and operatives of the high priest. The servants and the officers who had made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold and they warmed themselves. And Peter is standing there with them warming himself.

And in verse 25, Peter stood and warmed himself. Therefore they said to him, You are not also one of his disciples, are you? And he denied it and said, I am not. And no rooster crows there neither. But then a little later, one of the servants of a priest, of the high priest, a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, relative of Malchus, says to him, did I not see you in the garden with him?

That's a question, not an accusation, not a confident assertion. It's a question. Did I not see you there? And you might think Peter would recognize that having been the one who cut the high priest's ear off, that he would be recognized and he would say yes, acknowledge that he was there simply because it would be hard not to, but he says no. He said, he denied it again, and immediately a rooster crows.

Now I'll just point out in verse 24, which is not included in this text I gave you, the New King James says that then he was transferred to Caiaphas, but that then is not in in the text It's not in the Greek text and I think it's better translated by the King James and as had sent him bound No, it's it's recording something that happened in the past. So when you're reading that account, it's not a it's not a sequential thing John is coming back and giving filling us in that Jesus had been transferred from Annas to Caiaphas. Well, let's look then at Luke's account that we just read. The first challenger is a servant girl. He's by the fire.

It would seem to be fairly early on. She looks intently and said, this man was also with him. And he says, woman, I do not know the man. And then a little later, it's a short time, a man, we don't know if it's by the fire or not, but we might assume it is, he said, you are also one of them. Now that's a statement.

And he said, man, I am not. And then an hour later, another man, Again, we don't know if it's by the fire or not, might presume so. Confidently affirms, surely this fellow was with him for he is a Galilean. And he says, man, I do not know what you are saying. And immediately, the rooster crows.

Now, the first denial in John can't be the same as the first denial in Luke. If you look at your chart, you see that they happen at different places. One happened at the gate, the other happens by the fire. So those can't be the same event. If you look at the second one, they can't be the same either because the one, the challenge in John is by servants and operatives and in Luke it's by a man.

One is a question, you aren't also one of this man's disciples are you? That's not a confident assertion, that's a question. That's an, I'm not sure about this. The one in Luke is an assertion. And the third denial is different as well because the very statements are different.

The questions are very different. In John it's didn't I see you in the garden with him. Again it's a question. In Luke it's a confident affirmation Surely this fellow was with him because you are a Galilean. So that's not the same.

So we have right here, we have what would seem to be six different denials. Now, we haven't even begun to get to Mark's account. Let's look in Mark's account. Sorry I missed up, sorry, Matthew, let's take Matthew, it's jumped over Matthew. Let's look at Matthew's account.

The challenger is a servant girl, The first denial, the challenge is a servant girl. It's by the fire. And she approached him and saying, you two were with Jesus the Galilean. And Peter denied them before them all, saying, I don't know what you are saying. The second challenge is another girl in the gateway because Peter has apparently gone out into the gateway and it's a little later.

And this is another girl who says to the others, this fellow was also with Jesus the Natsorian. And now Peter denies, in Matthew's account he denies with an oath, I do not know the man. And there's no rooster in either of those two denials. The third denial is a little later. He came up to Peter and says, really you are one of them because your accent gives you away.

And then Matthew records that Peter began to curse and swear, I do not know the man, and immediately a rooster crows. And Mark's account has so many similarities. The first denials a servant girl. It's very similar. And the second is said to be that in Mark's account it's the same girl, servant girl and then the same girl.

But this time it's on the porch. So where Matthews is in the gateway, And it's another girl from the girl from the first time. In Mark's account it's the same girl and it's on the porch. And she says to one of the bystanders, this is one of them, Peter denies it again. And then a little later, with the bystanders, by the fire we don't know for sure, they say to Peter, surely you are one of them for you are a Galilean and your speech shows it and he begins to curse and swear again.

And swear again. So... But the big difference in Mark is that after the first denial, a rooster crows. But it's not immediate. He went out into the porch and a rooster crowed.

And then after the third denial in Mark, it's a rooster crows a second time. So how do we put these together? Well, I've on page three of your handout, I have put together how I think these these fit together and I think there are at least six but probably eight separate denials by Peter And so here's how I think we they fit together given the details in the text The first three accounts in the first, the three denials recorded in John all happened before the first rooster crows. So the first denial, we'll call the John 1 in verse 17. It's framed as a question in the context of John vouching for him.

Okay, that's a key point about the first one in John. The second, I think the second denial is the second denial in John and that's framed as a question. Possibly in the context of the high priest's question about the disciples, we're told that the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his doctrine. And they were probably hearing something of what was going on, and that may have, we don't know, but That may have been the occasion of this second question about him. There was a question about him.

Aren't you one of his disciples too? Then if we look at the third denial, I think is the first denial in Matthew, the first one in Mark, and the first one in Luke. These are all very similar. A servant girl accuses Peter of being with Jesus. Peter denies he went out onto the porch and then a rooster crows There just doesn't say immediately all the others that have a rooster.

It's immediate, but this one in Mark is not immediate. And so there's room there for this third denial in John to fit in, but that's the question by Malchus' rooster, Malchus' relative, and it's immediately in that denial that the rooster crows. And so we have three and probably four denials before the first rooster crows. So what Jesus said is, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. And that is indeed what happens.

So this this crowing is after the first denial in Mark because that's what Mark tells us explicitly and it's after the third denial in John. It's interesting to it's also instructive to note that in both of these cases, no repentance is mentioned after the rooster crowing. In John's account, there's nothing said about Peter's repentance after the rooster crowing. And in Mark's account, After the first rooster crows, nothing is said about Peter's repentance. So I think we can see then that there is four denials there, and then the first rooster crows as recorded in Mark.

Now number five denial is the second one in Mark. The same girl whose accusation provoked the third denial sees Peter. And again, he moved onto the porch. Again, after he had moved onto the porch, and she tells bystanders that Peter was with Jesus, and Peter denies it. Number six is the second denial in Luke.

A man accuses Peter of being with Jesus. Peter denies that. The seventh account is the second one in Matthew where Peter moves to the gateway and another girl that's another girl from denial number three So this is Matthew denial number three was Matthew 1 denial number seven is the second denial in Matthew, and it's another girl from the first denial who tells bystanders that Peter was with Jesus, and now Peter denies it with an oath. You see the progression here. He's been accosted now six times, And this seventh time, he now denies it with an oath.

He's getting tired of it. He's getting concerned. And the satanic control of his mind is driving him further and further into this denial. And so he denies it with an oath. And then we have the eighth denial, which I believe is the third one in Matthew, the third one in Mark, and the third one in Luke.

Because if you look at those three there they they Matthew and Mark have a crowd coming up to Peter Luke says that another confidently affirms that he was with Jesus which implies that there's a crowd being addressed. He's somebody that's affirming it. These things could have been happening together. There could have been a bit of, you know, when you have a crowd, people can talk together at the same time on top of each other. All three of these accounts, the third in Matthew, the third in Mark, and the third in Luke, all have essentially the same challenge.

They all mention his speech or his ethnicity. Matthew says in verse 73, Surely you are also one of them for your speech betrays you. Mark says, surely you are one of them for you are a Galilean, and your speech shows it. And Luke says, surely this fellow is with him for he is a Galilean. See, this very similar challenge in each case.

And again, Peter begins to curse and to swear in both the accounts of Matthew and Mark. And it's after then this eighth denial that a rooster crows immediately as recorded in Matthew and Luke and a second time as it's recorded in Mark and it is while he is still speaking in Luke and then according and then Luke adds the is the only one who adds that the Lord looks at Peter. Turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembers the word of the Lord. That's in all three accounts.

He remembers the word of the Lord. It's the word of the Lord that brings him, and he weeps bitterly. So I think Peter denies Christ eight times. He had one warning, a rooster crowing after the first four times. So he denied him three times.

He was said, you will deny me three times before a rooster crows. If he denied him four times, that still is true statement. Now we might ask, why is this recorded this way? Why are these accounts like this that make it difficult to sort this out? Why didn't the writers of the Gospel account just say Peter denied him eight times?

Two of them with oaths and cursings. Well, I think this is an example of the grace of God to cover sin. The full extent of the sin is not flaunted. The Scripture tells us about the sins of saints. But it does so with a gracious sensitivity.

We don't know all of the details. It doesn't tell us all about David's sin with Bathsheba. All the lust and things like that, we're probably a part of that. And so with many other sins that are recorded in Scripture, the full extent is not put out there easily. But according to many of the colophons, the introductions or statements about publication of the manuscripts, Peter was with Mark in the writing of the Gospel of Mark.

And it was at his insistence that the thought is. It was at Peter's insistence. With Peter's, since that was his sin, he's the one who had Mark put in this extra detail that enables us to clearly see that there were many more than three denials. It's Peter's acknowledgement of his sin. It's that same humility that led him to want to be crucified upside down.

So, as I said earlier, does this make the text wrong if there were four denials before the Rooster Code? Or if there were eight denials in all? No, I don't think so. Because the text never says only three denials. So It's not inconsistent with everything that the writers wrote for there to be more than three denials before the first rooster crows, as long as there are at least three.

So now we can get to the application. What are we to learn from this? I've got a couple things. One is that we are most likely to fall where we think we are the strongest. We are most vulnerable where we think we are the strongest.

Peter believed that there was no way that he could desert Christ. No way, he was adamant. He even basically told Christ, you're wrong when you say that I'm going to deny you. And he backed that up. It wasn't not just words.

He pulled a sword and he was defending Jesus with his sword. It wasn't just bluster. He was strong, yet this is where he fell. He fell because as we saw, and I encourage you to back and listen to that message, he saw because of his pride, something that's in all of us. We all have strengths.

Lord has given us strengths, and we have weaknesses too, but he's given us strengths. And it's often where we are the strongest, where we think that we can do this by ourselves, that we are strong enough in this area. I'll never be tempted in this area. It's often that area that we fall. Because it's like Peter took his eyes off Christ.

It's where we are strong that we think we can do it ourselves. We take our eyes off Christ. And as Peter found out, he sank immediately. And then we come to the Lord and ask for repentance. It's just something to remember.

Whenever you find yourself thinking, this is an area I'm strong in, this is an area I'm not tempted in, that's where you need to be aware. That's where you need to be most concerned, in that area of your life, that strength. That area that you might take for granted. You know, it's an area that comes natural to you. You do it well, and so there's not a focus on it.

That's where Satan finds us vulnerable. Because you see, the second thing we can learn from this, and should learn, is that we are no match for Satan. Peter refused to accept Christ's warnings. He thought that in his strength, that he could resist Satan, that he would Satan would never be able to tempt him into denying Christ. And Peter just didn't believe God's Word.

And he found out, well we've all found out, that We are no match for Satan. Not even Michael the Archangel dared to bring a reviling accusation against him. He recognized Satan's power. Satan is the most powerful created being, the greatest of the angels. Michael is a great angel, but he said the Lord rebuke you.

He didn't use his own name. We are no match, but by Christ's strength, Christ has defeated Satan. He's crushed his head. And when we are depending upon Christ, when we are looking to Him and coming to Him against Satan in His name, then He must flee. But It's only by His Christ name.

It's only by His power and not by our strength. Thirdly, Only the power of God can preserve us and keep us from sin. And He can. The Lord is able to keep us from stumbling and to present us faultless by his power. Only the power of God.

Through his word and spirit can bring us to repentance. Peter had many opportunities here to think about that. He had an hour there for sure, and probably in more time. But we know He had at least an hour where he was apparently not bothered and had time to think about this. He had time to realize what he had done.

He had the advantage of that rooster crowing. Jesus had warned him. One of the warnings, one of the four warnings, was that he would deny Christ three times before the rooster crowed. That rooster crowed. He had denied him three times.

You would think that maybe that would do it. But no, it's not sufficient. It wasn't until Jesus looked at him that he remembered the words of God. It is the Word of God that brings the conviction of sin as the Holy Spirit works that in us. And so we need to remember that word for us to memorize it.

Because it's the things that we've committed to memory that will come to our mind. Even if we're not picking up the Bible. It's the things that we have said over and over again, the things that we have sung, the things that we have read and learned. So those things that come to our mind, even if we are. Not at that moment, doing what we should be doing.

And it is that word that is powerful. Other people, it's the word we need to use when we are speaking to other people. Because God works through His Word. It's His sword, the sword of His Spirit. And so even if people deny that it's powerful, that doesn't change the fact that it is.

And it is God's Word that was brought to Peter's mind. He remembered that Word in each time, each account. He remembered the Word of God. And he was convicted. And he went out and wept.

His repentance was a true repentance, a true godly sorrow. Not just a remorse that he was weak. Not just a remorse at what he had done, as Judas had, but a repentance that looked to Christ and to Christ's forgiveness. His was a repentance that enabled him to go out and to restore and strengthen his brothers. So may the Lord preserve us and keep us from stumbling and may He bring His Word to us that we may remember it.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word, for we recognize in it that we are no different than Peter, that our great strengths are often our downfall. And we say with the Apostle Paul that we would therefore rather boast in our infirmities, that the power of Christ might rest upon us, for it is when we are weak that we are strong. Lord, we know that it is by your power that not only are the worlds upheld, the world upheld, but we are upheld. It is by your power that we are kept from stumbling and by your power that we are presented faultless before your presence by our Savior, our Mediator, The one who has suffered in our place. We thank you for his sacrifice.

We thank you for his righteousness. We thank you for the faith that you give to us, for it is your gift to us. We thank you for your word that is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Lord, may we love your word more than honey, more than gold. May we treasure it more than gold.

May it be our counselor. Lord, help us to memorize and to learn your word. To lay it up in our hearts that we might not sin against you. This we ask in Jesus' name, Amen.