Welcome to the next message in the Gospel of Luke, the 22nd chapter, verse number 54. We're going to talk about the denial, Peter's denial of Jesus. The cross references is Matthew 26, 57, and 58, and 69 through 75, and Mark 14, 53 through 54, and 66 through 72, and then John 18, 12 through 18, and 25 through 27. Reading from the Greek text, it's Sylla Bontes, De auton e gagon, kai ace e gagon, ace tein, oikion tu akairios, ho de petros, eculuth e macrothen. Temptation did come. Temptation did come. And here it is right now. Peter's temptation. All of Peter's confidence that he had are now dashed to pieces. He is a coward. He was ready to lay his life down a while ago when he cut off the high priest here and now he is afraid. Jesus would not allow himself to be arrested until his disciples were free. and safe. He allowed himself to be arrested. Having arrested him, they led and they brought him into the house of the high priest. This is Caiaphas' house, by the way, I've been there also. And the Peter, he kept on following a layoff. Peter kept on following a layoff. Third person singular and perfect indicative active. He kept on following and listening. That's what it says there. He kept on following and listening. 2255. Peri apsancton, de pir en meso. Teis ales, cae sig ca thysancton, eca theto. and having been lighted about having been lighted about the fire in the middle of the court there is a fire lit in the middle of the court and when you have fire you have light and so the courtyard of Caiaphas house was lit up And having sat down together, he continued to set the Peter among them. There's an old sermon, warming yourself at the devil's fire, and that's what he was doing. He was warming himself at the devil's fire. The devil was up to no good. The devil's fire. Peter is warming himself at the devil's fire. All of the things that are happening here are not of God, but they're anti-Christ and anti-God. And yet these were the spiritual leaders, supposedly, of Israel. They were having an illegal trial. They were having it at the wrong time. This is a capital trial for capital punishment, and they were supposed to send out Messengers all around, asking if anybody had any evidence contrary to what they were going to be. Jesus, this very night, was tried six times illegally. And Pontius Pilate brought that to their attention several times. He was before Annas, he was before Caiaphas, he was before the Sanhedrin. He was before Pilate, he was before Herod, and then he was back before Pilate. The only man that was his friend was Pilate. All the rest of these were malefactors. Thieves and liars. Perjurers. Murderers. Warming yourself at the Devil's fire. Edusa de Auton Pidesque. I have to turn these pages over to see if there's an A and a B there. And having seen him a maiden, a certain maiden, Now she's a young maiden, sitting toward the light. He's sitting there, sitting toward the light. And having gazed at him, having looked at him, having stared at him, having been intent looking at his face, she saw him someplace before. Have you ever done that? You see somebody someplace before and you keep looking at them, trying to figure out who they were and where did you see them? having gazed at him, she said, and this one with him he kept on being as a habit." 2257, the whole day in Nesanto. Legon, uc oida auton gene. But the one, Peter, he denied for himself. He denied for himself the person singing the First Harrison Dickey's Middle Voice. saying, continually saying over and over and over again, this is a participle. Present participle acting, he kept on saying over and over and over again, in every direction he kept saying this. Not I have known him, woman. He's afraid. Peter's afraid. That's Peter's first denial of Jesus. In John 18, verse 26, we have Peter's second denial. And in verse 58, And after a brief while, another one. Having seen him, you know, he's been out in the front all the time, you know. A lot of presence. And saw him before. Now they all see Peter. He said, and you out of them, you are. But to Peter he said, man, not I am. I am not out of them. I am not out of their sect. I am not out of their company. I'm not out of that group. 2259. Kai diastasais. Hosei horos mias alos tis kirizeto. Legon et aletheos kai hutos met aton ein kai gar galileos esten. His manners and dialect incriminated him. And having intervened, having gone by about an hour, about one hour, another man, a certain other man, he kept on asserting, saying, upon a truth. There's no shadow of doubt in this. Aletheus, that wouldn't mean no shadow. There's no shadow of doubt. this man with him. He kept on being, for indeed, a Galilean he is. What's he doing up here? Why is he at the trial? He ought to be down there fishing in Galilee if he was not part of this group. Now his third denial. Verse number 60. Epan de ho petros. Anthrope, uc oida ho leges cai para crema ete lalontes autu ephonesen elictro, elictor. Now remember, the cock crows at twelve, three, six, and nine. Jesus was arrested sometime after nine o'clock. At twelve o'clock, the rooster will crow. On the recordings, if you go on to the recordings from of the what we call the archaeological field trip from Israel. If you go in there, and I think on the very second recording, you will hear a rooster crow at 12 midnight in Jerusalem. I recorded him crowing again at 6 o'clock in the morning. I mean at 3 o'clock in the morning and then again at 6. 12, 3, and 6. I recorded that. because that's the echo of the sound of the rooster that Peter heard that night. And he said, but he said, the one Peter, and it says, Ho Petrosir, the Peter, this one, man, not I have known what you say. And at once, yet still speaking while he was still speaking and denying him, It sounded the rooster. Between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m., Peter denied Jesus three times before the cock crowed twice. He would crow at midnight. He would crow at 3 o'clock before the cock crows twice. Between 9 o'clock, after 9 o'clock sometime, the cock would crow at 12 o'clock. But the last time we would crow is 3 a.m. So this is 3 a.m. in the morning. We know what time it is. The roosters are God's arm clocks. His animated cuckoo clocks. His real, live and living great bin, striking every three hours. Kai estrafes hol kurios. In eblepson, to petro, kai hip meneis thei, ho petros tu rimatos, tu curio hos epen auto. Hote, pren electora, phonese seminaron, apar nese me threes. And having turned to the Lord, he looked upon Peter." This Jesus looked upon Peter. He was inside of him. And he remembered to Peter the word, the saying, the statement of the Lord as he told him. That before the rooster to sound today, ye shall deny me three times. you shall deny me three times. 2262, Kai Exelthon, Exo-ek-lah-sen-pikros. And having gone outside, he wept bitterly. He wept to the bottom of his soul because he knew that he had denied his Savior. He had denied his Savior. Let's read this in the Amplified Bible. Let's go down here to verse number First and first, number 54. Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the house of the high priest. Peter was following and listening. That's what it says, collusen. Following and listening at a distance. And when he had kindled a fire, when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard, Caiaphas courtyard, and were all seated together, Peter sat among them." This is the old sermon, warming yourself at the devil's fire. Then a servant girl seeing him as he sat in the firelight and gazing intently at him said, this man too is with him. This man too was with him. But Peter, he denied it and said, woman, I do not know him. And a little later, someone else saw him and said, you are one of them also. But Peter said, man, I am not. Verse number 59. And when about an hour more had elapsed, still another emphatically insisted that it is the truth. There is not a shadow of a doubt, literally is what he said. There is no shadow of a doubt, literally, that this man also was with him. And he too is a Galilean. Verse number 60. And Peter said, man, I do not know what you're talking about. And instantly while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. 3 a.m. in the morning. That was the time. 3 a.m. in the morning. Peter had gone to sleep there Under those olive trees on the Mount of Olives a few hours before, while Jesus was praying in a great agony, went back to Peter and said, Peter, couldn't you just pray with me for a while? Couldn't you stay up for a little while? Sleepy eyed, he looked up at him. What, Lord? What? Aren't we like that so many times? Aren't we like Peter? Aren't we like him? Have we denied our Lord? Have we betrayed our Lord? Peter denied Him three times, yet the Lord forgave him. When thou art converted, when you turn around and do an about-face, Peter, strengthen your brethren. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter, and Peter recalled the Lord's words and how He had told him before the cock crows today, you will deny Me three times. Boy, the cock crows twice, you'll deny me three times. And he went out and he wept bitterly. That is with painful moving grief. What are you going to do with Jesus? What are you going to do with him? Will you carry on and be a servant in this world today? Will you glorify God with your life? We ask Him to use you. Jesus did all this for you. Now there's nothing you can do to be saved. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might have life. The world was already condemned. For in grace ye are having been saved through faith, and that not of yourself, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." There's no way we can get to God. No way we can muster up enough faith to get there. God grants us repentance. He grants us grief. He granted Peter grief here. This repentance was God given and God sent. Have you called upon the Lord to save your soul, to forgive you of your sins? Have you surrendered your life to Jesus? The only way you're going to be happy is to follow the Lord after you've been saved. There is a world, you're an alien in this world. An alien. Living in the devil's world. But one of these days the Lord's going to straighten it all out. He's going to come back. He's going to take us up And at the end of that tribulation period, after we've been with him a seven year period, he's gonna come back and straighten up this world and he will reign for 1,000 years. And yet mankind, mankind will still rebel against God. People today say, I'm an atheist, I'm an agnostic, you can't prove to me there's a God. Well, I will guarantee you what, there's not gonna be one agnostic and one atheist in the tribulation period. And there's not gonna be one agnostic and one atheist in that tribulation, or in that thousand year reign of Christ, but still at the end, they will rebel against God. Where are you today? Where are you in your relationship to Christ? Are you saved? Are you following your Lord and Savior? Our Father, we send this message out, out upon and with your word and with your spirit to save sinners and to energize your people to serve you better and more. Help them study your word. Help them to learn to love you more every day. Forgive me where I fail you, please. In my Savior's name I pray, and I glorify you, Father. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, upon the earth as it is in heaven. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.