Turn with me to John chapter 13. We'll read verse 36 through to verse 38. John chapter 13, and I commence reading from verse 36. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered him, where I am going, you cannot follow me now. but you will follow afterwards. Peter said to him, Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you. Jesus answered, will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I said to you, the rooster will not crow till you've denied me three times. Last Lord's Day morning, we had considered verses 34 through to verses 35. And there we were looking at loving one another as Christ has loved us. And the standard of love that we're given is that of Christ. And that was a challenge that the Lord Jesus Christ left for his disciples, and that's a challenge that is left for us as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. This morning we come to the end of chapter 13, and we focus on verse 36 through to verse 38. And what we see in those verses is the Lord Jesus Christ's statement of prophecy, rebuke, and ministry to Peter. The Lord Jesus Christ highlights to Peter that he has this foreknowledge of his denial, and he knows what will happen when the time comes But in that statement of our Lord Jesus Christ, there are some lessons that we need to draw for ourselves this morning. And those lessons will be clear as we open up those verses. But we need to note that as the Lord Jesus Christ is talking to his disciples, he's challenging them on the need to love one another, And he's saying to them, I will be going. And where I'm going, you cannot follow me. And now Peter asks, but where are you going? And Jesus gives Peter the answer. And still Peter pledges or commits himself that I will follow you. In fact, I will even lay down my life for you. And to make this point clear to Peter, the Lord Jesus Christ replies with a statement that was simultaneously a prophecy, a rebuke, and a ministry to Peter. Jesus answered, that's in verse 38, "'Will you lay down your life for me?' Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you've denied me three times. Now in this section of John, in chapter 13 and chapter 14, we see some of the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ on a course that criss-crosses with Jesus' mission and purpose. In chapter 14 and verse 5, We have Thomas. In chapter 14 and verse 8, we have Philip. In chapter 14 and verse 22, we have Judas, and not Iscariot, not Judas Iscariot, but the other Judah. And then in our portion of Scripture here this morning, we have Peter. Now you notice when we get to chapter 14, that Thomas, Judas and Philip were trying something positive about what they were saying or the questions that they were asking. But John wants us, before we get to them and before we get to where the Lord Jesus Christ says, I'm the way, the truth, and the life, that we zero in and look at the conversation, the interaction between the Lord Jesus Christ and Peter. And Peter is the focus here. And Peter was quite sure that he will do everything necessary within his power to offer service to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is determined that wherever the Lord Jesus Christ will go, he will go. He is determined that he will do everything at its cost. And if it means him laying down his life for his master, he will do so. And the perspective of Peter assumes that the Lord Jesus Christ was in need of being defended by him. Or he was in need of Peter coming to his aid. And Peter had a tendency to overstate everything. He had this tendency early on in his years as a disciple to overstate things. And we see this here again. But the Lord Jesus Christ knew that this self-confidence, this high level of self in Peter, would be an hindrance to that which God was calling Peter to do. But also the Lord knew that once Peter had suffered through personal embarrassment and failure, Jesus would have a disciple that was fully prepared. to lead the others in service to their master. And we cannot identify with Peter in many ways. We have this tendency to overstate or at least to overestimate our commitment, abilities, or strengths. And sometimes we are very sincere when we are making these commitments. But we just don't realize the devil's power to combine circumstance, fear, doubt, disillusionment in a concoction brewed just right to tear us down and to humiliate us. But also what we see in this portion is that let's not let our failures keep us from following the Lord Jesus Christ and being used for His glory. But we must also not trust in self, but trust in Him who died for our sins. And we should not have this overestimation of our abilities when it comes to face temptations, trials, or difficulties, or challenges, or problems. And in this portion of Scripture, the Lord Jesus Christ knew precisely all the details in which Peter would deny Him. He knew all the details, the time, the settings, the soldiers, the seven girls, The Lord Jesus Christ knew that Peter would have this great inner struggle, a torment of fear that would drive him to deny his master. The Lord Jesus Christ also had a plan to restore Peter and to use him for his glory. Jesus knows all our struggles. He knows what lies ahead of you today, tomorrow, and years to come. He knows all the settings, all the circumstances. He has this foreknowledge of all things. And in his foreknowledge, in his wisdom, he's made provision for those who are his. to ensure that they continue to save Him and that He will bring them to be with Him in heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ who has this foreknowledge of all things, He also has a foreknowledge of all those who are His. He knows those who belong to Him. He knows those who So let's open up those verses and draw some lessons for ourselves this morning. And the first lesson I'd like us to see together is that we need to be aware of our own ignorance of our spiritual weaknesses. Ignorance of our own spiritual weaknesses. We need to be aware of that. And this is what we see in verses 36 and verse 37. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered him, where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me afterward. Peter said to him, Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you. And this is what we get in this passage, that there's need for each one of us Those of us who are called by God's name and have found salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is need to be aware of our own spiritual weakness. The Lord Jesus Christ has been, in this passage, talking about the fact that He's going to go. And He tells them, that before I leave, I give you this command that you must love one another as I have loved you. And Peter's ignorance resulted part in his tendency to speak when he should have been listening. The Lord Jesus Christ time and again has made it clear that he was going away. The Lord Jesus Christ had said to his disciples that the Son of Man will be handed over to the authorities. He will be flogged. He will be shamefully treated. He will be killed and will be raised on the third day. He had told them that now the time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. And yet made it so clear to the apostles, time without number. He had told them what kind of death he was going to die. Yet Peter was ignorant of all these things. He heard what the Lord was saying. He did not understand the implication. On many occasions, he would hear the Lord. but did not understand the implication. And when you read the Gospel of Matthew, we are told that same evening, the Lord Jesus Christ instituted the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. And yet say to them, this is the body, this is the bread that signifies the body that will be broken. He also said, this is the cup of the new covenant in my blood. signifying what kind of death the Lord Jesus Christ was to suffer. Peter was not only ignorant of what Jesus was about to do, but his ignorance also reveals something of himself. How little he had calculated the cost of following Christ, the cost of his own weakness. How little he recognized the vulnerability of his corrupt nature. And the Lord Jesus Christ was very clear when he says, where I'm going, you cannot follow me now. but you follow me afterwards. All these things Peter heard, but somehow in the inner of his heart, he was ignorant of his own spiritual weakness. Not until the opportunity came that he denied his Savior. When the Lord Jesus Christ said to Peter, where am I going? You cannot follow me now. Peter should have recognized how ill-equipped he was for the service that the Lord Jesus Christ was calling him. How he needed the Savior. How he could not do anything within himself to please his Savior. Now, this ignorance of our spiritual weakness is not restricted to Peter. Christians think they can play and experiment with forbidden pleasures, and then they are troubled when they become overwhelmed in moral disasters. They think they can get so close to sin and yet not sin, and then become overwhelmed when the flood of moral disaster sweeps their lives. It's because of ignorance, of spiritual weakness, playing with sin. See how far I can get before I actually sin. It's a failure to realize what the scripture says about our fallen nature, about our indwelling sin. Take, for instance, the example of King David. The scriptures record for us in 2 Samuel chapter 11 that David looked out his palace window and he gazed on the beautiful image of lovely Bathsheba. And the latter, off of David's reign, was greatly marred by sin that followed him. And yet, when you read 1 Samuel chapter 11, verse 2 to verse 4, everything happened so quickly. Everything there was just actions. We are taught there that when we read, the Bible tells us, He saw, He sent, He took. That's what the scriptures tell us. That's how we can summarize everything and how sudden the fall came about and what followed was this moral disaster that characterized his reign. Yet in reality, the corruption of pride and lust had been in David's heart unchallenged, unchecked. And David fell in his heart long before he fell physically. It was just an opportunity that was waiting to reveal what truly was inside of his heart. Peter's denial of Jesus warns us of the same thing, that we must watch against our ignorance or spiritual weakness. We need to daily bring ourselves to the cross and to bring ourselves in subjection to God's Word, submitting to God's Word that will be putting to death the deeds of the flesh. We must not be ignorant of our spiritual weakness. And we are warned by the wise man in Proverbs, Chapter 4, verse 23. Proverbs chapter 4, verse 23. Keep your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. Keep your heart with all diligence, vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Jessie Rao wrote and I quote, we never know how far we might fall if we were tempted. We fancy sometimes like Peter that there are things we could not possibly do. We look pitifully upon others who fall into certain sins and please ourselves in the thought that at any rate we should not have done so. We know nothing at all. The seeds of every sin are buried in our hearts, even when we are renewed and they only need occasion. or carelessness, or the withdrawal of God's grace for a season, to put forth an abundant crop." End of quotation. The way for biblically informed Christians to avoid falling into devastating sins is to realize how able we are to do such things. We must be informed by the Scriptures so that we shun temptation, we starve of sinful desires, and with daily prayers, Jesus taught us, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. This is the lesson that we see from Peter's account here recorded for us in John. That he was ignorant of his own spiritual weakness. And this is the lesson to all of us. We must not be ignorant of our own spiritual weakness. Lesson number two. is that we must watch against overconfidence in self. We must guard against overconfidence in self. And this is what we see from the last half of verse 36 through to verse 37. Jesus answered him, where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward. Peter said to him, Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you. Peter is determined that his understanding of the situation is better than the Lord Jesus Christ. He's adamant. He's stubborn. He was confident in his own courage and faithfulness, failing to know his own heart. In the motion of the evening, after a nice meal, and perhaps some wine, as was the custom of the day, and some warm fellowship, Peter felt more capable of facing death. He felt He was ready to face death to prove to his master how committed he was to his cause. But once those emotional feelings were shattered by the terror of Christ's arrest, Peter manifested the exact opposite of what he had professed. Why was this the case from one moment? He's saying, Lord, I would die for you. In fact, when you read Luke and Matthew and Mark, they even add more information for us there. In fact, Luke tells us that this episode happened right after the disciples were jostling or disputing over which of them was the greatest. When you read in Luke chapter 22, that's when it happened. But also Mark tells us in Mark chapter 14 and verse 29, Mark tells us that Peter not only claimed that he would die for the Lord Jesus Christ, but he emphasizes how much faithful he would be than the others. And he says, even though they all fall away, I will not. He boasted. I will not. Lord, even if all of these left you, me, you can count on me, I will not leave you. And you could imagine the scenario. I always like to imagine what was happening. I don't know how well, in terms of physical features, all the disciples were. Probably some were huge, some were tall. And I don't even know the height of Peter, but you could imagine he's pointing to the rest. Maybe even those who looked physically stronger than him. And he's saying, Lord, even if all these left you, count on me. I'm not going to leave you. Even these guys who are disputing who's going to be greater and who's going to sit at the right or the left, they might leave you, but me. I'm your guy. Count on me. Peter was full of himself. His sufficiency was found in himself. He thought the Christian walk rested upon human effort and resolve. And in the moment of the talk of the Lord Jesus Christ, he makes this statement of a confident in himself. It is a mature zeal that thinks one's emotional feelings for Christ are the surest guide to what the Lord's will is. It's immature zeal that think one's emotional feelings for Christ are the surest guide to what the Lord's will is. When emotions guide, we are wide open to being deceived. Because Christ's simple words, Christ's clear words are then placed on a lower level than our emotions. And when those emotional feelings are not brought into subjection to the will of Christ, those feelings become the authority in our lives. Not even when we know what the scriptures clearly say, our emotions, our feelings, what we want, what we desire, begin to detect and say everything in our lives, and yet we forget what the scriptures say. And how often we act like Peter. We find it hard to live by the clear instructions of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the context, Jesus has been teaching them about loving one another. And he's telling them by this, the world will know that you are my disciples. And Peter's mind was somehow wondering, where is the Lord going? Peter wants to know, where is his master going? He's striving to know the unrevealed. And somehow Peter was convinced that if he knew where Christ was going, he would be better placed to save the Lord Jesus Christ. and forget the clear instructions that Jesus has just told them. And this is how we act as well as believers. Some of those areas that are known to us, we quickly think it would be good to know. And if we know, we will probably wholeheartedly follow the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet we fail to live by the clear, simple instructions of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we need to be aware of this sinful tendency in us as human beings, where the unknown becomes more attractive. The unknown become more attractive to us. We want to study. We want to know. We want to see what does the future hold. What is the Lord saying to us about tomorrow? What's the Lord's will? And yet we fail to see what he has clearly instructed us in his word. Peter. is engrossed in wanting to know, where is the Lord going? And he forgets what the Lord had just said, love one another as I have loved you. And Christian maturity is doing the will of God and the will of God has been revealed to us in the scriptures. The scriptures and the scriptures alone can thoroughly equip us for every good work. Don't be overconfident in self. wanting to know that which God has not revealed and yet neglecting the very things that God has revealed to us plainly in His Word. Part of our self-confidence is trying to understand what God has not clearly stated before us. And hoping that when we explain those things, we are better equipped to serve God and neglect the very things that God says we must do, which are plain before us. That's the lesson we must learn from Peter. this issue of being over-confident in self. The third lesson is that Jesus has sovereign foreknowledge of all things. Jesus Christ has sovereign foreknowledge of all things. He knows all things. And this is what we see in the last verse, verse 38. Jesus answered, Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you've denied me three times. The Lord Jesus Christ sees Peter's ignorance of self, Peter's confidence in himself. And he reveals to Peter, Peter, I do not just know your heart, I know all things. And this is what will happen. The Lord Jesus Christ gives Peter the details of what is going to happen once he's arrested. And the Lord Jesus Christ is now being of ministry to Peter. He knew that this humbling failure in Peter's life would be a vital lesson for Peter. And therefore he is told, before the rooster crows you would have denied me three times. The Lord Jesus Christ knew that unless Peter comes to terms with his reality, with his inner self, he will be a threat for the work that I have for him. Unless Peter come to a point where he sees that is nothing before me and he needs me, he will not be a useful tool in the hands of the Almighty God. Peter thought the Lord Jesus Christ needed him. When it was the other way around, he needed the Lord Jesus Christ. And in saying this, the Lord Jesus Christ displays his full knowledge, his sovereign full knowledge. of everything. He gives the details, the events, including the number of times Peter will deny him. And this proves and shows to us John's God in writing his gospel. He's putting those accounts that reveal that Jesus is the Christ so that we may believe in him. The accuracy of the prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ points to his deity. But also see in these words of rebuke, there's also ministry to the Apostle Peter. The Lord Jesus Christ wisely handles his servants and assures Peter that he has been loved to the very end. And we know that even though the Lord Jesus Christ has this sovereign foreknowledge of Peter's denial, he knew that Peter would not be lost forever. The Lord Jesus Christ himself had given that assurance. And when he had said it on to Peter in verse 36 and the last part, Jesus answered him, where I'm going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me afterwards. The Apostle Peter must have just heard the first part of the statement and missed the other part, or rather he just heard the last half. The Lord Jesus Christ was saying to Peter, you cannot follow me now, but a time is coming when you will follow me. That's some assurance being given to Peter there. and also the gospel of Luke. In Luke chapter 22, when you read from verse 31 all the way to verse 32, Luke adds an important piece for us. He says, Jesus said to Peter, I'm praying for you. In Luke 20, he says, Simon, Simon, Behold, he said, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail. The Lord Jesus Christ went to Peter, there is the devil, Peter, the devil will be able to overcome you. to overcome your courage, but he could not defeat my prayers for you. The Lord Jesus Christ knew that Peter's pompous self-confidence pride is what the evil one will use to bring him down. The evil one attacked Peter not at the point of his weakness, but on the point of his strength. He was a courageous man. He said what was in his heart. And that's what the devil uses to bring him down so that he denies his master. But the Lord Jesus Christ gives him this assurance. You will follow me where I'm going. And I have prayed for you. And it was imperative that Peter learns this. The Lord wanted him to know and to learn and to see his utter dependency on Christ. The Lord wanted Peter to know that even though the devil will come and you deny me three times, I have prayed for you. I have made provision for your restoration. You are my servant. I want to use you, but you must learn to trust me. You must let me lead. You must let me, Peter, show you your weakness. You must let me show you what I want you to do for me, on my terms, for my glory. We too, as believers in Christ, are shielded by his sovereign foreknowledge and his priestly intercession for us. As Jesus prays for us in heaven from his throne, at the right hand of God. He has you in mind. He knows your struggles. He knows your weakness. He knows your ignorance of your own spiritual weakness. He knows your overconfidence in yourself. And as He stands, as we sang earlier on, before His Father's throne, He pleads for you. He prays for you. He's made restoration for you. He's made provision so that you'll be with Him where He is. Jesus' ministry for every believer continues. Even now, he's self-guarding you in his heavenly prayers. He's given you his Holy Spirit that leads, guards, and guides you in his ways. He's bought you with his own blood. And I do not know how you or any other Christian might fail our Lord, even to something as dreadful as denying him before the world. But I want you to know that if you've sincerely believed in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, Despite your failures, Jesus has already made provision for your restoration, provision for your repentance. He prays for you. He has you in mind. You are his special possession. And what a great hope is ours as believers in this world of torment, in this world full of snares. That we are the savior who has sovereign knowledge of all things. We are the Savior who prays for us before His Father's throne. We are the Savior who has you in mind. He's watching over you. He's given you everything you need to walk with Him, to live for Him. He's done everything. He's given you His Spirit that reminds you that you are His. What a great joy, what a great hope that this sovereign foreknowledge of our Saviour is our security as His own. But also, while this Jesus sovereign foreknowledge brings hope to believers, It brings terror to those who do not know him. It brings terror to non-believers. None of us are able to read your heart. We can't read your mind. Just as the disciples could not read the heart and the mind of Judas, you can easily fool us. But you cannot fool the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not fooled by your religious activities. He knows your heart and your mind. He knows that you're not His. He's not pleading for you before His Father. To you, His message is give up your sinful rebellion today. Give it up before you meet him as a sovereign ruler of the sky. Give up your sinful tendencies today and come to him in repentance. You cannot deceive him. He knows you. He knows your heart. He knows what is going through your mind right now. He knows what you're planning to do the very next hour, the moment you leave this place. He has the details of everything and he's saying to you, you do not even know what the next minute or the next hour holds. I do. And if you continue in that path, you will go to hell. Turn away from your sins today. The Lord Jesus Christ came into this world, died for our sins, and is now in heaven. and has left clear instructions to all of us who are his, that we are to be witnesses for him, that it is our privilege to be asked the question that Peter was asked by the seventh girl, are you one of his disciples? and that we are to answer, yes, we are. Yes, I am. And to tell the world of the grace and the glory that is ours in Christ Jesus. And for us to overcome ignorance of ourselves We must subject ourselves to the scriptures. We must do what that Sunday school glorious song says. Read your Bible. Pray every day. There's no other way. There's no other secret to the Christian life. Read your Bible. Pray every day as you grow, grow, grow. Or to use the words of the hymn that we'll be singing in closing, tell me the old, old story of unseen things above, of Jesus and his glory, of Jesus and his love. Tell me the odd, odd story. And in the last stanza, he puts it this way. Tell me the same odd story when you have cause to fear that this world's empty glory is costing me too dear. And yes, when that world's glory is dawning on my soul, tell me the odd, odd story. Christ Jesus makes me whole. That's what we need to remind ourselves of. of Jesus and his glory, of Jesus and his love. Amen.