And Peter was following at a distance. And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, This man also was with him. But he denied it, saying, Woman, I do not know him. And a little later, someone else saw him and said, you also are one of them. But Peter said, man, I am not. And after an interval of about an hour, still another insisted, saying, certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean. But Peter said, man, I do not know what you're talking about. And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times. And he went out and wept bitterly. Let's go to the Lord in prayer and ask for his blessing during our time in scripture this morning. Father God, we come to you. We come to your word. And we ask that you would illumine your word to us. And help us to understand the things that you've revealed here. Help us to see more of Christ in this. Help us to see ourselves more clearly. We pray that you would burden us in all the right ways. Such a powerfully emotional text and section of scripture as we contemplate the sufferings of our dear Savior. And as we see ourself in the example of Peter, each of us for whom Christ died as one whose sin made his death necessary. We pray that you'd humble us with this, make us all the more grateful for everything that Christ has done for us, what he suffered, how he died. God, we thank you that you sent your son for us, for our salvation. We thank you for his glorious resurrection, for his victory over the powers of sin and death and evil. We thank you for Jesus. We pray that you would affect our hearts this morning. Help us to grow closer to Christ, to be more obedient, know him better, to love him more greatly. We pray that you would glorify yourself this morning. We pray it all in Christ's name. Amen. If you followed any of the headlines of late, you know that one of the promises that the current administration has made is to release the Epstein files. And it's been sort of a saga. They released part of them and then some of them were hidden and they had to figure out where those are and decide what to redact to protect some of the victims of this man Jeffrey Epstein and maybe to protect national interest for some reason in some sense. But I was thinking about this man Jeffrey Epstein because here's a man who was enormously popular among those who were influential, powerful, influential celebrity people and politicians, at one time enormously popular, and then became extremely toxic when it began to come to light, all of the things that he had done, and the sex trafficking operation that he was involved in, and all of just the evil that he was implicated for. And people began to systematically either deny having known him or spent any time with him or having traveled on his plane or to downplay the connections so that they could sort of mitigate the risk associated with being an acquaintance of Jeffrey Epstein. And still to this day we don't really know how well many people were connected to him or how they might be implicated in in these files that are coming out. Well, that's really, you know, politics and maybe that interests you, maybe it doesn't. But the fact is we see this almost every scandal. I was thinking about all of these different political scandals, scandals in the sports world, And one thing that's consistent about all of them is when people feel like that knowing a person or being connected with a person might come with some kind of risk, they begin to mitigate that risk by distancing themselves from that person so that they are not known as being an associate or an acquaintance of that person. And that's certainly something we see here in this passage. Peter is a follower of Jesus. And we notice here in verse 40, in verse 54, that Peter was following. Peter was a follower of Jesus. And I think just until we get to that point, once we get past that point, it's a little sketchier. Peter becomes an object lesson and a warning for us. But you have to love Peter in many ways. He is such a big personality. And here is a man who just risked his life to defend Jesus with a sword. He cut off the servant of the high priest's ear. Almost certainly he was going for the head or the neck. This guy was ready to kill for Jesus, which would have cost Peter his life. So before we get too critical of Peter for being a coward and all of this, remember what he's just done. And he said in verse 33, Lord, I'm ready to go with you both to prison and to death. And I think he meant it. I think that there was some resolve in his heart to do these things because Peter was one of Jesus' closest and most trusted disciples. Peter first heard of Jesus from his brother Andrew, if you remember from John's Gospel. Andrew, who was initially a disciple of John the Baptist. Andrew was with John the Baptist when John looked at Jesus. as he was walking by and proclaimed, behold, the Lamb of God. And this piques Andrew's interest, along with another of John's disciples. And so Andrew begins to question Jesus in order to gain firsthand knowledge. And as a result, Andrew becomes increasingly convinced that Jesus is the Messiah. And so he brings his brother to see Jesus. And at this point, Andrew and Peter, they're fishermen by trade. But they've both, presumably, they've come to the conclusion that Jesus is the Christ. Later, Peter will be the one that makes this confession in a very significant moment in the Gospels where Jesus asks, well, who do you say that I am? And Peter says to Jesus, you are the Christ. But this isn't where Jesus leaves them with ideas about him floating around in their brains. Jesus would have them rearrange their entire lives around him. And so both Matthew and Mark tell an abbreviated version of Peter's call to discipleship, in which at some point Jesus calls them to leave their work and join him. They're fishermen, and they're fishing. They're plying their trade, and Jesus says to them, follow me. and I will make you fishers of men. And immediately we're told they left their nets and followed them. So they become convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. There are many people, this is where they leave Jesus, is with forming correct opinions about him, which is not enough. You can't just know the right things that you're expected to believe or that the Bible asserts about Jesus. Jesus requires a full-hearted, a whole-hearted response to him. And that's what he's calling them to, is to rearrange their entire lives. And that's not for all of us. It doesn't mean leaving our vocations to take on a religious vocation. But it does mean that our lives will be like Andrew and like Peter and like everybody who's come to Christ and true saving faith, it will upend your life and rearrange and restructure and reorder your life, and that's exactly what happens with these men. They left their nets, they followed Him. Jesus will not allow us to reduce Him to a religious opinion that we hold, nor will He allow us to relegate Him to an hour on Sunday and some prayers before meals. He would have us rethink and reorder the whole of our lives in such a way that He is at the center of it all. And this is the calling which each of Jesus' disciples must embrace. Heeding the call to leave our former way of life behind and to follow Jesus. Peter was following. The first thing I want to consider here about Peter's example, this warning that we have, and if you're like me, and I think if we're all honest with ourselves, it's only all too easy to see ourselves in Peter, especially the more that we reflect upon his example. Peter was following, but we're told that opposition to Jesus had reached high tide. In the preceding text, We learn that the traitor Judas led an ambush against Jesus, an armed mob, in a remote location under the cover of darkness. They arrested him and things begin to progress very quickly and the situation is becoming dangerous. So at one time, Peter who had just declared that he is ready to go with Jesus both to prison and to death, Peter has this high resolve, and yet now that things are getting real, this is where cracks begin to form, and Peter's courageous resolve begins to fail. He's still following him, and yet notice that what Luke actually records is that Peter was following at a distance. What a difference do those words make? And I want you to just consider, first of all, this morning, Peter's distance, his distance from Jesus. He's following Jesus. He's to be commended for that. He did leave all to follow Jesus. But now when things are getting particularly dicey, really tough, and it's risky to know Jesus, to be associated with him, and Peter can see that. More clearly, he begins to follow at a distance. Maybe you're one who is tempted to follow Jesus at a distance. We could begin to follow him with unbounded optimism and with naivete, really. We think that it's all going to just go swimmingly for us. I mean, after all, if we've been brought to a really deep, true awareness of our sin before God, our situation is, before God, a lot of eternity is bad, and we're at a low point. And so that when we accept Christ, when we put our faith in Jesus, there's this release and this relief. Think about in Pilgrim's Progress. Christian's experience of finally understanding the cross. He stands before the cross and his burden rolls away down the hill into the sepulcher. When we understand what Christ has done for us, we put our faith in Christ, we understand what he's done for us, there's a huge relief from the burden, the weight of our sin and the guilt of it. And so with that, naturally, we might just take a very optimistic view of the future for us. I mean, if things are so far, great, you know. I've been a Christian for a week. Man, things are wonderful. They'll always be wonderful. Jesus helps us to avoid this by calling us at different points to consider in advance what following him will cost us. So this is very important for anyone who would come to faith. Maybe this morning you don't have faith in Jesus. You know that you're not right with God. You know what the Bible says about Jesus maybe. Maybe even you agree, I think that Jesus was a real man. I didn't think that he was God incarnate. I have no problem believing what the Bible says about him, but you know in your heart you've never responded wholeheartedly in the way that we've been talking about to him. Well you need to understand what following Jesus will cost. Take for example Luke 9 verses 23 through 26. Jesus said, to all who were gathered there in his hearing. If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels." So what we learn from Jesus' words, even just here in Luke 9, is that discipleship, following Jesus, responding to Him in this life-rearranging way, we put Jesus at the center of our life, we follow Him, this will require self-denial, it's going to require daily cross-bearing, and it may cost us the world and even our own lives for Jesus' sake. And you had better take these words seriously and make peace with the consequences of following Him before you're asked to actually pay that cost. Or else you may find yourself in Peter's situation here. Perhaps he had not fully considered these things. Or he hadn't let the full weight of the implications of Jesus' words sink in for him. We can know things theoretically. In the abstract, we know that following Jesus will be costly. but we need to think about it concretely, particularly. Could it cost me this particular relationship that I have? Besides seeing someone that I know and love every so often at a family member at a funeral or something like that, I may never have a relationship with them again because of my commitment to the Lord. Or I may lose my job or be passed up for opportunities at work or any number of things that this may cost us. Have you thought about it? concretely in terms of the cost that you may be asked to pay. Following Jesus will be costly and risky, and you'll be tempted to mitigate the danger and to avoid the cost by following Jesus at a distance. Ultimately, we see where this approach leads in the verses that follow. It would be nice if we could just sort of maintain a relationship with Jesus that was sufficient for salvation. We could enjoy all of the blessings that Jesus has secured for us, that His suffering and death, and yet kind of keep Him at arm's length so that we also don't have to actually pay the cost that Jesus told us to expect. That would be nice. We could have the best of both worlds, the best of heaven and earth. But that's not what the Bible holds forth. And we see where this approach leads in verses 55 through 60. We see not only Peter's distance from Jesus, but we see Peter's denial of Jesus. You see in verse 55 that, when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. And then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light. And here's something, it is the fire of affliction. It's the fires of life that shed a light on us that it really show what's in our hearts, reveals our character and our real true Christian commitments. And like Peter, when we come into these very challenging situations, All of the bluster and the courage that we can stand in church, I would go to prison for him and die for him, we really see the truth of that whenever the rubber meets the road, whenever the fires of life shine light upon or shed light upon the real content of our character and of our true convictions. But this servant, we're told, The servant girl says, this man also was with him. She recognizes him, I think. And Peter protests, I do not know him. He felt that his very life depended on his not knowing Jesus. So now things are going, they're progressing. At first, he feels that he's got to maintain a distance. Now, if he felt like he was ready to deny Him, he'd have never come near. It's a progressive unfolding of this temptation to deny Christ. It begins with keeping Christ at a distance. If Peter had known in his heart that Jesus had told him that he would deny Him three times, There's no way Peter bought that. And he follows Jesus. He's ready to do what he said he would do, to go to prison, to go to death. But this began this distancing. himself from Christ, which leads to a denial, it begins in stages. First he follows at a distance, then he denies it. First he feels like he can mitigate the risk of being an associate of Jesus by following at a distance, but eventually he realizes that's not going to cut it and it's never going to cut it for us. If you think that you can sort of just play it cool in your faith and not let too many of your unpopular Christian convictions be public or be widely known. You can kind of keep your Christian faith, but also keep the respect of the world by just sort of following at a distance. You think that that can work? Ultimately, it cannot. It will lead you to deny knowing Christ, and that's what happens with Peter here. At first, he maintains distance, but ultimately he felt that his very life and well-being depended on his not even knowing Jesus. Well, friends, that may be how it seems to you that your success or comfort or even your well-being depend on not knowing Jesus, on minimizing your connection to Him. And that may even be true when considering the brief span of time in which we live out our earthly life. But the truth of the matter is that in view of eternity, your heavenly life very much depends on your knowing Jesus. You see how backwards this is? There's so many nominal Christians, people who are just playing at religion. who think that if they're going to have a good life, they've got to actually play it cool. They can't be overzealous. They don't want to be seen as a really religious person or a religious kind of wacko. And they may even deny having strong Christian convictions when they're really put to the test because that's their way to the good life. Well, it's quite the opposite. And the truth is that in view of eternity, our heavenly life very much depends on our knowing Jesus. And you'd better be prepared to say, in contrast to Peter, I know him. I know him. Because Jesus said that the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. Do you know him today? The Apostle Paul said, indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. Peter thinks I've got to say I don't know him. I don't know him. If I'm to have anything of worth in this life, if I'm to maintain my life, preserve my life, Paul says there's nothing that's worth denying Christ. I count everything as lost. because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." For his sake, Paul goes on to say, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. Indeed, I count everything as lost because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all... I think I've repeated myself here. But he finally says, Paul says, that I've counted these things as lost in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him. Not having a righteousness that comes from the law, self-righteousness, but that which comes through faith in Christ. Because this is the bottom line. Paul knows that I can deny Jesus, but if I do that, I've got to stand before God on my own two feet and upon my merit. And the Lord will never accept that. So am I prepared to be damned for eternity because I stand before the Lord God, who is my most holy judge, just hoping that maybe I'm good enough? There's nothing that is worth trading for Christ, who has given us a righteousness that is not our own, that comes through faith, the righteousness of Christ that's granted to us. And with that, I know that I may have nothing and be stripped of everything, but what I've got is Christ. And I've got this promise that I'll stand before God and hear, rather, well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your maker, of your master. I want that joy, not the joy that comes from the things of earth, And so with Paul, we ought to be able to say that we count all things as loss and as so much refuse and garbage compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, that I may know him. Won't you come to him today? Won't you turn your back on the world and trade it all for the chance of knowing Christ Jesus? Won't you put your faith in the one who died for sin and offers righteousness in a relationship with God? Like Peter, you've got to make a decision about whether you will in effect deny Christ by your preference for the world, or whether you will deny the world and deny yourself in order to embrace Christ by faith. Like Peter, you've got to make a decision. But unlike Peter, you may not have another chance to make this decision. You see that Jesus turned Peter's heart at a critical moment here. Peter could have denied Christ, and then walked off, hardening his heart to him, and be separated from him and from God for all eternity. But Jesus intervened and Peter was given a second chance here. And we see Peter's despair in verses 60 through 62. But it begins, it ends with his repentance, his godly grief and true sorrow in verse 62. But notice how it begins in verse 61. turned and looked at Peter. Peter's turning in repentance was only enabled by the Lord's turning to him and looking upon him with love. I think we need to look at this or view this look of Jesus in terms of compassion. Because Peter belonged to Jesus. And if you belong to Jesus by faith, the Lord never looks on you with any sort of cruel intention. I hear this from people all the time. I've heard it the past week. When they think about their suffering or their affliction or some kind of trial, maybe this is the Lord punishing me. Brothers and sisters, if you are in Christ, there is nothing the Lord is doing to you that is punishment. You are missing out on comforts by assuming the Lord is punishing you. The Lord never punishes His own. He has punished His Son instead of you. All of the punishment that you deserve was poured out on Calvary so that you would never know a drop of God's wrath or of punishment. Everything, even the smiling providences of God, the frowning providences of God, They're all providences of God. They're all God's will for your life. They may seem from our perspective to be strange and mysterious ways. We can't make heads or tails. Why would God do this to me or lead me through this season of my life? But we have to trust that whatever he's doing, he's doing for our good. Think of what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 8, 28. For those who love God and are called according to his purpose, all things work for good. Believe that. And no, he's got some good purpose, some purpose for your, it's ordered for your ultimate and eternal well-being. Just trust him and trust him for the grace to endure the trials of life, the dangers, the cost that you'll be made to pay. But it's not punishment. When the Lord looks on us and we feel as if he is displeased with us, we need to remember that at most it is a fatherly displeasure that is always paired with a fatherly love for us as his children and as his own. So the look that Jesus gives to Peter is a look of compassion for him. It's the look of knowing. This is the look of the one who knows. You know that God knows all things. Just reflect, take a minute with me to reflect on God's knowledge. God knows all things. We know, we say that God is omniscient. But have you fully thought about what that entails? Every fact that can be known, God knows it. In every realm of human knowledge and of things that humans know nothing of, the spiritual realm, things that we can't even measure or even know anything of that haven't been revealed to us, God knows every fact, everything. Not only does he know it, I know a few things, but guess what? I have a hard time remembering what I know. And I can remember some things, but then when I remember them, I forget other things. I think it was Carolyn that said her forgettery was getting better than her memory, JB. But God, he knows all things simultaneously with full remembrance. He holds them all in his mind at the same time and knows them in all their connections. And that's kind of abstract and that's a big thought, you know, but think about it like this. God knows you in this way. Everything about you that can be known, Every part of who you are, your physical makeup, your history, things that you've long forgotten, God remembers. The pain that you've felt, the suffering that you've been through, the sins that you've committed, that all of the things that, everything about you, God knows this about you. And if you trust in Christ, he loves you with a perfect love. He cannot love you any more perfectly because he doesn't love you for your sake, he loves you for Christ's sake. He loves you with a perfect love. And so this look that Jesus gives to Peter is the look that Jesus gives to us when we think about our own denial of Him, our temptations to distance ourselves or deny that we know Him, because we sometimes do prefer the world to Christ, the things of earth to the things of heaven. And yet God gives us a knowing look, and He looks on us with compassion. And I want you to consider this look, that even now, knowing what you know about yourself, seeing yourself in Peter, if you are like me, you see yourself in Peter, and yet the Lord looks at you, consider that look, reflect upon that look, allow the look of Christ to turn your eyes upon him, and to bring you to this point of godly grief, godly sorrow, that you might be able to say, like Paul, I count everything as lost because of the surpassing worth of saying, I know him. I know him. Nobody could make me deny him. Why would I deny him? I have no good apart from him. I'll never deny him. There's nothing the world could give me or take away from me that would be worth denying him. And I hope that you can say that as well, that you know him this morning as we pray together. Father God, we thank you for everything that you've done for us and our dear Savior. We thank you for all of the blessings. Chief among them is holding communion with Jesus Christ, knowing him, of walking with him, of enjoying his friendship and fellowship. He is with us. He's faithful. He never denied his own until the very end. We pray that you would give us the grace never to deny him until it's our end, until it's our time. Help us to run the race with endurance. Give us persevering grace, help us by your spirit to do this, to prefer the things of heaven to the things of earth, to prefer Jesus to the world. And Lord, we ask that if there's someone here this morning who is yet enamored by the world and does not have the love of Christ within them, we pray that you would do a work in their heart that you would look upon them, that they would not be able to shake the image of your mournful gaze, full of compassion for them, and that they would turn to Jesus, that they might be saved and enter into what is truly life. We pray all of this in Christ's name, amen.