The Pitfall of Over Confidence

if you would take your Bibles
and turn back once again to John chapter 18. We really do find ourselves in
John chapter 18. We took a hiatus desiring to
really look at the fullness of the injustice system. It took us one week into the
Gospel of Mark as we looked at the trial before Caiaphas and
then it took us last week Into Luke as we looked at the trial
before the Sanhedrin, but now we circle back into the gospel
of John and we really pick up in context in the midst of passages
Largely that we’ve already dealt with but I say largely because
behind it all there has been a figure an individual And we’ve
read about it, we’ve even mentioned his name a number of times, and
yet we haven’t dealt yet with Peter. And no preaching of this great section
of Scripture would be anywhere near complete without dealing
with this very uncomfortable section of Scripture regarding
Peter’s denial. It’s amazing that when you look
at it, that this passage of Scripture is included, and not only included,
but it is treated in all four of the Gospels. Peter was their
friend. Peter was their fellow apostle.
If there was ever a situation or an episode that you might
be tempted to leave out if you’re writing a gospel, I think the
episode regarding Peter’s threefold denial of Christ would be a strong
candidate. When the Gospels were written,
you might remember that Peter himself was considered to be
the primary, the leader of all of the apostles. And yet all four Gospel writers
do not shy away from giving us an account of Peter’s denial,
his fall, his denial of his Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Three
times he denies Him. And yet, even the spirit in which
these really woeful episodes are recorded, they’re presented
by each of the gospel writers in a solemn way. It’s as if they
knew themselves that they were not above falling, that they
were not above doing the same thing that Peter had done, that
they were not above sin, And in that sense, Peter’s sin was
their sin. They knew that if Peter was not
infallible, neither were they. And the church, the saints of
God have always resonated with Peter, empathized with him, because
the saints all know that they are not above terrific falls
from grace. even as our brother Peter. One pastor wrote it this way,
he said, it is a passage which is deeply humbling to the pride
of men, but singularly instructive to true Christians. The fall
of Peter has been a beacon to the church, warning many of similar
calamity. I had an interaction this week
with an individual And I just sounded a warning, a very simple
warning. I just appealed for an extra
measure of caution. And it produced a very lengthy
discussion. And the individual was very thankful
that I had done that and really began to realize how overconfident
they were, how near to stumbling they might have been if not for
God’s grace. This is a passage really that
should resonate with every believer. J.C. Ryle put it this way, it
is a passage which supplies strong proof that the Bible is inspired
and that Christianity is from God because they did not shy
away from recording one of the most uncomfortable moments in
all of scripture. If Christianity had been the
invention of uninspired men, its first historians would never
have told us that one of the most prominent leaders denied
his master three times. And people believe it. If Peter
can fall in this terrible way, any of us can fall. Every one
of us has need of circumspection. Every one of us has need of caution. Every one of us has need of God’s
mercy and grace. If you would, let’s go back into
John chapter 18. Beginning in verse 12, and part
of this is designed to let us glide right into that section
that deals with Peter’s sin, and then we’ll jump down, having
already dealt with a portion of this, we’ll jump down to verse
25. Beginning in chapter 18, verse 12. So the Roman cohort and the commander
and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him
and led him to Annas first. For he was father-in-law of Caiaphas
who was high priest that year. Now Caiaphas was the one who
had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to
die on behalf of the people. Simon Peter was following Jesus
and so was another disciple. Now that disciple was known to
the high priest and entered with Jesus into the court of the high
priest. But Peter was standing at the
door outside. So the other disciple who was
known to the high priest went out and spoke to the doorkeeper
and brought Peter in. Then the slave girl who kept
the door said to Peter, you are not also one of this man’s disciples,
are you? He said, I’m not. Now the slaves
and the officers were standing there having made a charcoal
fire for it was cold and they were warming themselves and Peter
was also with them standing and warming himself. If God’s people
would jump down to verse 25. Now, Simon Peter was standing
and warming himself, so they said to him, you are not also
one of his disciples, are you? He denied it and said, I am not.
One of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the
one whose ear Peter cut off, said, did I not see you in the
garden with him? Peter then denied it again. and
immediately a rooster crowed. Now following Jesus’ arrest in
the garden, you might recall that we read from Matthew’s gospel
that all the disciples left him and fled. One of the very saddest
lines in all of scripture. Here’s Jesus in his moment of
trial and his best friends all depart. But two of the disciples
doubled back. Was it out of guilt that they
left their Savior in this moment? Was it out of concern, real genuine
concern for Christ? It’s doubtful that it was just
out of some kind of empty curiosity to see what would happen to Jesus. They loved Christ. But the whole thing presents
us The data that we glean from the four Gospels presents us
with a very difficult picture of Peter, doesn’t it? One described him as being lovingly
anxious to see what was done to Jesus. I think that’s a tough
sell. I don’t know exactly what was
in Peter’s heart, but to say that he was lovingly anxious
And then to see what unfolds, John tells us that Peter was
following Jesus, not in any formal way like we speak of discipleship
in our own day and age, followers of Christ. He was merely in tow. He was part of the crowd. He
was following along in the crowd that was literally escorting
Jesus to the residence of the high priest and then from Annas
to Caiaphas and ultimately before the Sanhedrin. He was just part
of the crowd. But Matthew and Mark and Luke
all tell us that Peter was not just following, but that he was
following at a distance. He was distancing himself from
Christ, partly through fear, Remember, he was the one that
has already shown more than just a proclivity to violence, partly
through shame, partly through some kind of loyalty to Christ,
we don’t doubt that, partly through curiosity. Matthew’s gospel,
get this, Matthew’s gospel tells us that Peter came back and sat
down with the officers to see the outcome. He just kind of
wanted to see what would become of Christ in this particular
setting. At least one commentator suggested
the fact that Peter was there in the courtyard, that he was
there at all, was sinful. He shouldn’t have been there
in the courtyard. And that by being there in this courtyard
with all these soldiers, he was placing himself in temptation.
And that that alone was a foolish move. We’ll see in a moment. One commentator said it this
way, he could not have done a more foolish thing than to flutter
around the fire and place himself within the reach of temptation.
But we already know that it’s been prophesied by Jesus Christ
that he was going to fall. This is all just part of God’s
plan. I don’t know that I can personally
go that far that the draw to be near Jesus would have been
incredibly great for Peter My greater concern is how Peter
gained entrance. We used to have this family friend.
I’ll leave it very generic. A family friend, and he used
to like to dress up and crash parties. It’s a true story. And
I’m not just talking, you know, some college party. I’m talking
major events. He liked to crash. He would dress
up, he’d dress the part. If that meant tux, he’d rent
a tux, or use his tux, or probably borrow one from someone else.
And he would go and just blend in, usually at the bar, and then
he would begin to mingle, and he would talk it up, and people
just took him as one of the honored guests. This was frequent. Call me old-fashioned, but if
you don’t have a ticket, a real legitimately obtained ticket,
if you’re not invited, if you can’t get in to a venue legally,
ethically, morally, if you don’t belong there, if you have to
lie to get in or practice deceit or trickery then in God’s providence,
you don’t belong there. My concern wasn’t that Peter
was in the courtyard, it’s how he got there. And only the Apostle
John adds the very interesting detail about how Peter, of all
people, would gain entrance, admittance, into the courtyard
of the high priest. Remember, Peter has just took
it upon himself has just taken it upon himself to strike out,
lash out with his sword, cutting off the high priest slave’s ear,
and now Peter is there in the courtyard. It is remarkable. Look what John records in verse
15. Simon Peter was following Jesus so was another disciple. That disciple was known to the
high priest and entered with Jesus into the court of the high
priest. So here’s the suggestion is that this individual is following
along in the crowd and he’s so well known to the high priest
that he immediately gains access. Peter Not so much. Look at verse
16. Peter was standing at the door
outside. And you know how this goes, right? He’s standing there,
bouncing on his heels, looking in at the other disciple, trying
to gain entrance, remember me, take care of me. So the other
disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke
to the doorkeeper and brought Peter in. And we don’t know what
he said, we don’t know that he slipped him a coin, we don’t
know. But when the crowd got to the
door, only those with official business would be granted access.
Remember, this was an intense scene such as which they had
never experienced here in Jerusalem. Scribes, elders, priests, temple
police, the entire crowd of people But Peter was traveling with
a friend, identified only here as another disciple who was known
to the high priest. We have no idea what the relationship
consisted of. None of the four Gospels tells
us. Only that the disciple was known to the high priest. Was
he an acquaintance? Was he in some kind of an association
in the temple? Was it a family connection? We
don’t know. One commentator clarified it
by saying, every devout Jew, after all, went up to Jerusalem
at three great feasts. He would have had occasion if
you were a Jew, especially a very religious Jew, to have occasion
to interface with some of the religious leaders, especially a God-fearing man
like John. He had also been at one point
a disciple of John the Baptist. Remember early in John’s gospel
when it said all of Jerusalem and Judea was going out to see
John the Baptist? Who knows? The point was that
it was enough of a connection that all he needed to do is drop
a name, Caiaphas, and it served like a secret word It gained
not only him but his friend Peter full access to the courtyard.
And we can be almost 100% certain that the other disciple is without
a doubt the Apostle John. He knew the high priest well
enough that he was able to explain the situation and convince the
doorkeeper to allow him and his friend Peter to come inside the
compound. We’ve known this about John’s
gospel. We saw it in the opening chapter. John has this humble
reticence to name himself. He never names himself in the
entire gospel of John. He refers to himself, if he refers
to himself at all, it’s always by some device. In John 1.40,
he just records that scene as one of the two who heard John
speak, John the Baptist, one of the two who heard him speak.
followed him. In John 13, remember there in
the upper room, there was one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. That’s one of John’s favorite
ways to refer to him. And I take that to mean he was
astounded every time he put it down. Jesus loved even me. It’s not that he was more special
than anyone else. John, throughout his whole life,
was astounded that God had loved him at all. John 19, the disciple
whom Jesus loved. John chapter 20, we have this
episode over and over again where he’s referred to as the other
disciple as they race toward the empty tomb. And then in John
21, the disciple whom Jesus loved, that reemerges and is presented
a number of times there. So the nature of this friendship
with Caiaphas is unnamed. We know that this is almost certainly
the Apostle John, but once they’re inside the high priest compound,
these two very unlikely guests remained in the courtyard as
Jesus was taken, first to Annas’ quarters, and then ultimately
to Caiaphas’ quarters, and then finally to, before the Sanhedrin
the next morning. But there in the courtyard, they
mingled among the soldiers. This is remarkable. They mingled
among the soldiers, the temple policemen, where they had this
crackling fire going in the middle of the cold night, and the synoptic
writers paint this scene very graphically. Luke 22, 55, after
they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat
down together, Peter was sitting among them. This is amazing. Here in the midst of this cold
night, what Peter is practicing, you’ve heard this before, keep
your friends close, right, and your enemies closer. That’s what
Peter’s, he’s practicing a reverse model of this. He’s feeling like,
you know what, where is the last place that they would look for
a fellow insurrectionist? Where would they look for Christ’s
compatriot? Certainly not right under their
nose. And so he tries to blend in with them. Matthew 26 says
he sat down with the officers. He wanted to see the results
of the trial. Can we even imagine this scene?
Here’s Peter, only minutes ago, having drawn his sword in an
effort, perhaps, to prove his willingness to die with Jesus,
a very noble statement, and now, here he is, cozied up with the
very ones responsible for the custody of the so-called prisoner. I mean, you have a host of things
to consider here. It’s confusing. Is it boldness? Is it arrogance to think that
he could circumvent this meeting? Is it timidity that led him to
just kind of sneak in and skulk around in the dark? Is it cowardice? Is it camaraderie? Did he help
build the fire? Luke makes it seem like that.
Luke says, after they had kindled the fire, they sat down together. Is it sneakiness, blending in
with the officers? Is it this purient curiosity
to sit down just to see the outcome of a trial? In the meantime, I’ll tell you
what it is, it’s selfish concern, that’s for sure. Warming himself
at the fire. In the meantime, Peter is there,
warming himself in the fire in the company of the arresting
officers while Jesus is being questioned in the palace of the
high priest. And as one commentator very accurately
portrayed it, during the sad scene conducted in the hall of
the trial above, an almost sadder moral tragedy was unfolding in
the court below. Here’s Peter. chief of the apostles,
Jesus’ very dear friend, more concerned about the coolness
of night than what was taking place in the room above him. And we come to the first of Peter’s
denials, verse 17. Then the slave girl, Doesn’t that have a frightening
tenor to it? The slave girl who kept the door
said to Peter, you are not also one of this man’s disciples,
are you? He said, I am not. Maybe in some way, The fact that he was so suddenly
addressed by a simple slave, and a female slave at that, maybe
that allowed Peter to fall all that much more easily. Maybe
he considered it just a white lie. After all, this is a nobody. I can just, you know, deny this,
really agree with her denial, and get out of this and go on
about my business observing this trial. Maybe he was preparing
himself all along for another violent confrontation. Maybe
he was readying himself for a much more formal challenge, maybe
even a soldier, a high priest, somebody, but a young lady? A servant girl? John’s form of the question is
in the negative. It made it easy for Peter. You’re
not. You’re not one of this man’s
disciples, are you? It expects a negative answer,
doesn’t it? It not only asks for an agreeable
answer, leaving the door open for a denial, it begs for it. It makes it easy for Peter to
sin in this regard. One pastor said Satan made it
easy for Peter to sin. He makes it easy for all of us
to sin, doesn’t he? Every day, every day the temptations
come at us and they blindside us all the time. It so easily
entangles us as it says in Hebrews. And so it was just simpler. The
devil made it easier and it was just simpler for Peter just to
agree with this little girl, go on about my business. Yeah,
you’re right, I’m not one of his disciples. And so we’re not told why she
suspected Peter. Matthew points out that the slave
girl referred to Peter as a Galilean. Was it his nervous demeanor being
somewhere that he shouldn’t be? Was it his speech, maybe some
accent or speech pattern that gave him away as a Galilean?
Was it some typical Galilean mannerism? Was it his attire? I don’t know what it was. The
attire makes sense to me. Last Lord’s Day, I went to lunch with some of the
saints. Immediately after lunch, ran from lunch, which was immediately
after church, immediately after lunch, ran to Wyoming in my Sunday
best. I went to a five-year-old’s birthday
party on Sunday in Wyoming outdoors in the afternoon. Do you think
I might have stuck out a little bit? You’re from Fort Collins, aren’t
you? We don’t know what it was, but
we know that Peter drew attention of this slave girl and he immediately
denied it. adds a little tone of uniqueness
to his gospel when he says that Peter replied here, I neither
know nor understand what you’re talking about. I don’t even know.
I can’t even begin to compute the question, much less form
an answer. I don’t know what you’re saying.
Because of Luke’s clarity here, he denied it. Woman, I do not
know him. adamant. Peter claims not to even know
Jesus. And it clarifies Mark’s meaning
here that I don’t know him, I don’t even understand what you’re asking
me. And only in the gospel of John is the observation that John
includes in verse 18. Only in his gospel is this recorded.
Look at verse 18. Now the slaves and the officers
were standing there having made a charcoal fire for it was cold
and they were warming themselves and Peter was also with them
standing and warming himself. All four writers tell of the
courtyard setting and Peter’s presence in it. All four mention
this toasty warm crackling fire surrounding by shivering soldiers. I had to practice that one. And
here stands the apostle in the midst of this crowd of Christ’s
enemies, warming himself like he’s one of them. Only John,
though, presents this stark, striking image following his
initial denial. Here’s Peter trying to blend
in, trying to mask not only his care and concern for his Savior,
who’s being taken around like a common prisoner, but perhaps
even his growing disdain for these men, he has to mask that
as well. And now he has to try to cover
over for what must have been excruciating guilt. But there
he stands. Now having already considered
verses 19 through 24, when we began our study in the first
phase of the injustice system, jump down if you would to verse
25 where we see yet another denial, the second denial by Peter. And he picks up, does John right
where he leaves off in verse 18. Now Simon Peter was standing
and warming himself. So they said to him, you are
not also one of his disciples, are you? He denied it and said,
I am not. Who knows what stirs this growing
number of accusers. Peter’s demeanor, a look of distress
on his face, anguish over the proceedings that he’s observing,
the overwhelming sense of bewilderment over Christ’s predictions being
fulfilled right before his eyes, the guilt of having already lied
about his friendship with Jesus. We don’t know what gave it away,
but he was found out. John now just says that they
circle back the number of those who have more than just a passing
curiosity about Peter in their courtyard, the number is growing
and it’s growing at an alarming rate. They, it turns out, is
more than just a doorkeeper, more than just a slave girl,
more than just a few of them, but now it’s a growing number
of people that are concerned. Luke refers to just another.
Mark refers to the servant girl, the original servant girl. Matthew
says it was another. So now there’s a group of people
that is pursuing Peter. The first denial that Peter presented
was just this passing brush off. I’m not one of his disciples,
but the second time he comes right out and now flatly denies
it. I am not In fact, Luke’s gospel adds that
he says, man, I am not one of his disciples. He’d already denied the Lord,
denied that he even knew him. But now he feels that he’s got
to increase his modulation. He’s got to increase his denial. They’re on to him and he knows
it. But it will not end. And so we
come to his third denial in verse 26. One of the slaves of the
high priest being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut
off. Said, did I not see you in the
garden with him? Mark refers to this new group
as the bystanders. The crowd is growing. John says it was one of the slaves
of the high priest, a friend perhaps of Malchus. And now this
attention by his very strong verbal denial, everybody now
is looking at Peter. And in the providence of God,
there he stands in the courtyard. Everybody’s looking at Peter,
the one who had seen him in the garden, believed that he was
the very one that drew the sword, related. I mean, how is this
not God’s absolute sovereign providence? And Peter denies
it again. Only this denial we know from
the other Gospels was even more intense, more vociferous than
the last, more emphatic. Matthew Henry said, the sin of
lying is a fruitful sin. You get that? The sin of lying
is a fruitful sin, therefore exceedingly sinful. One sin needs
another to support it, and therefore that needs another. One lie will
never be enough. And so he records Peter now this,
Time is denying it. Luke says that he again used
that epithet, man, I do not know what you were talking about.
Matthew’s gospel says that he began to curse and swear. I don’t
know what the curse words were there in that time, but the very
fact that Matthew records it, records it with shock that Peter
would use such language in the company of these men. In order
to deny his savior, deny that he even knew him? Peter denied it again, and John’s
gospel simply says that immediately a rooster crowed. He had denied it before, and
one denial called for another, and called for another, What
follows is perhaps one of the most painful moments ever experienced
by a human on the face of this earth. The mere crowing of a
rooster. Something that takes place without
fail each dawn, even in my own neighborhood. But this crowing
was different. This crowing was the fulfillment
of a prophecy, a prophecy that Jesus himself proclaimed tied
to Peter’s boast. Remember it? Simon Peter said
to the Lord, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered, where
I go, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow after. John
13. Peter said to him, Lord, why
can I not follow you right now? I will lay down my life for you. Jesus answered, will you lay
down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a
rooster will not crow until you deny me three times. You know what’s fascinating about
John’s gospel is John doesn’t mention Peter’s repentance. The
other gospel writers do. They mention his remorse. In
a very real sense, John here didn’t have to mention Peter’s
remorse. The other writers, all of whom
wrote their accounts prior to John’s writing, detail Peter’s
repentance here. Only John covers so fully Peter’s
restoration in John 21. So John is content to leave the
denial stand with the rooster crowing. And he doesn’t even
mention Peter’s grief that follows. But John’s gospel, John’s gospel has a sense that
this passage was written not by just a fellow apostle, but
by a friend. He paints the picture that Peter
was almost assaulted from the moment he first came into the
courtyard. One after the other in a growing
crowd, he was cornered. What else? Could he do? A friend
would say. All of the servants, all of the
officers who no doubt had seen, very likely had been there in
the garden during the arrest when Peter drew his sword, that
would give you pause to identify yourself as that guy. John writes as Peter’s friend,
and he doesn’t record the remorse, the heartbreaking remorse. Luke
records the detail, no sooner did the rooster crow. Or, and
I think the passage allows for this, at that same moment, as
the rooster is still letting loose, Peter’s eyes meet with
Jesus. Peter’s eyes met with his Savior’s
in what must have been just a pitiful, plaintiff look by Jesus, a loving
rebuke from the Savior. Luke just says it this way, the
Lord turned and looked at Peter. The Lord knew. The Lord knew
that Peter had denied him. And their eyes met. And Luke’s
gospel records that Peter remembered the word of the Lord. He knew
exactly what this scene was. He knew that he had just denied
his Lord three times. He knew the crowing of the rooster,
what it meant in this particular setting. Before a rooster crows
today, he will deny me three times. And Luke’s gospel records that
he went out and wept bitterly. Different kind of remorse than
what Judas had. Peter was really and truly heartbroken
over what had transpired. And he went out and I believe
repented of his sins. But in closing, I want to bring
to you one stunning, shocking, false claim by a pastor. And that’s in order to set up
what do we do with this passage. Here’s what one pastor said. The essence of the matter was
that it was the real Peter who protested his loyalty in the
upper room. It was the real Peter who drew
his lonely sword in the moonlit night of the garden. It was the real Peter who followed
Jesus because he could not allow his Lord to go alone. But brace yourselves. He really
says it. It was not the real Peter who
cracked beneath attention and denied his Lord. He goes on to say a tremendous
thing about Jesus is that beneath all of our failures, he sees
the real man. He understands. He loves us in
spite of what we do because he loves us not for what we are,
but for what we have it in us to be. People, I will tell you
flatly, that is heresy. It’s error. The scriptures tell
us that the heart is deceitful and wicked. This was the real
Peter. Peter really did deny the Lord. And that’s the whole point of
this section. Is that if Peter did and really
did deny the Lord, any one of us can do equally much or worse. The heart is more deceitful than
all else and desperately sick. Who can understand it? From time
to time I talk to one of the saints, I even think of my own.
Surprised by sin. Bewildered that we could make
such an error, such a fall in the face of so loving a Savior.
Don’t be surprised. Don’t be surprised, we could
do far worse. No wonder one said that this
is a lesson the whole Church of Christ needs. It is recorded
for our learning that we be kept from a similar sorrowful overthrow. It is a beacon mercifully set
up in Scripture to prevent others from making shipwreck. And we
come away with three things. As one pointed out, first is
the danger of pride and self-confidence. that we think that we’re above
it, that we think that we can withstand the onslaught of the
devil. This was the conversation that I had with my friend that
had not set up any accountability, had not provided themselves any
kind of protection. They were confident in their
own ability to withstand. And the truth is, they weren’t.
There’s a danger in pride. Pride comes before the fall,
right? One pastor put it like this,
the best and the highest saint is a poor, weak creature, even
at his best times, whether he knows it or not, he carries within
him an almost boundless capacity of wickedness. However fair and
decent his outward conduct may seem, there is no enormity of
sin into which he will not run if he does not watch and pray,
and if the grace of God does not hold him up. There is a real
danger in self-confidence. And there’s a danger in laziness,
spiritual laziness, spiritual sloth, not reading your Bible,
not praying, not fellowshipping with God’s people, not immersing
yourself in the worship of Almighty God. J.C. Ryle said it this way, the church
and the world are sometimes shocked by the sudden misconduct of some
prominent Christian professor. Believers are discouraged and
stumbled by it. The enemies of God rejoice and
blaspheme, but if the truth could be known, the explanation of
such cases would generally be found to have been a private
departure from God. Men fall in private long before
they fall in public. Not only self-confidence and
spiritual laziness, but the third and final application of this
section is the painful influence of the fear of man. Just tell
them who you are, Peter, at the door. Stand with the Lord Jesus
Christ. Very few people realize how much
they, we go into a restaurant sometimes, right? I’ve seen it
before. Or various settings where people are reticent, they kind
of begin to look around, who’s gonna watch me pray? Or to carry
our Bibles. If you can’t carry your Bible
in there, you probably don’t belong in there, right? We have a tendency
to fear people, fear man before God. are more than we fear even
Almighty God. Peter is no worse than any of
us. And I would like to say if I were there I would have done
far worse. I’d have been hightailing it right out of Jerusalem, running
down the hill as fast as I could. And the truth be told, so would
you. Peter had a boldness to even want to go in there. The
fact that he fell is really instructive to us, not just a rebuke to Peter. Would you examine your heart?
Let’s pray. O merciful God, we see how real
sin is, how pervasive it is, how insidious. Lord, we see what
a tendency we have From the point of the fall in the garden, we
have all been tainted by the tendency, the proclivity, the
inclination to sin at every turn. Just because we placed our faith
in Christ doesn’t remove us from that temptation. In fact, in
a very real sense, the target is enlarged on our back, and
the temptations come much more plentifully. Lord God, We pray
that as we look at Peter, we do not look at him as a unique
case, a remarkable fall from grace. We pray that we would
look at Peter as our fellow Christian, as our brother, who provided
us an example of repentance after a great fall. We are all perfectly capable
of this and much worse. God, grant us your grace, we
pray. And for any who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, what
a merciful Savior we have. What a merciful Savior. It’s
in Jesus’ name that we pray. Amen.