We're going to read two passages of Scripture this evening, both related. The first is in John chapter 18, and takes up where we left off this morning, verse 12. We're going to read John 18, beginning with verse 12, and read through verse 27. This morning we considered the opening verses of John 18, especially verse 12, where Jesus is bound. Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus and bound him and led him away to Annas first, for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year. Now Caiaphas was he which gave counsel to the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people. And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. That disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest. But Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter. Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, art not thou also one of this man's disciples? He saith, I am not. And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves, and Peter stood with them and warmed himself. The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples and of his doctrine. Jesus answered him, I speak openly to the world. I ever taught in the synagogue and in the temple whether the Jews always resort, and in secret have I said nothing. I askest thou me. Ask them which heard me what I have said unto them. Behold, they know what I said. And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so? Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil. But if well, why smitest thou me? Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest. And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said, therefore, unto him, art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it and said, I am not. One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman, whose ear Peter cut off, Seth, Did not I see thee in the garden with him? Peter then denied again, and immediately the cock crew. And now we turn to Luke chapter 22. And it's in this passage that our text is found. We'll begin reading with verse 54. Luke 22, verse 54. Then took they him, and led him, and brought him into the high priest's house. And Peter followed afar off. And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were sat down together, Peter sat down among them. But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire and earnestly looked upon him and said, this man was also with him. And he denied him, saying, woman, I know him not. And after a little while, another saw him and said, thou art also of them. And Peter said, man, I am not. And about the space of one hour after another, confidently affirmed, saying, of a truth, this fellow also was with him, for he is a Galilean. And what follows is our text. And Peter said, man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out and wept bitterly. This event, beloved people of God, concerning the denial of Jesus Christ by his disciple Peter, is among the most significant events associated with the crucifixion of Jesus. That's evident because like the betrayal of the other disciple, Judas, all the Gospel accounts record this event in considerable detail. Not only that, but the significance is also evident when, if you consult the Gospels, you will discover that there is much that leads up to this denial and really belong to the denial itself really develops over several weeks when the Lord rebukes Peter for Peter's objection and opposition to the instruction of Jesus that soon he will be captured that he would suffer and he would die. And to that objection, the Lord responds, get thee behind me, Satan. Then there is the very bold denial of Jesus himself, or Peter himself, to Jesus' own words. That when Jesus predicted that he would deny him Peter himself objected to that very prophecy of the Lord as if he never heard it. Then there was the failure of Peter to heed the warning of Jesus in the garden, to watch and pray. And then there is the rebuke of the Lord to Peter even at his own capture and being bound. There are two especially related events that we really didn't read, they're hinted at, that help give this event its significance. And the first is the Lord's prophesying and warning about this event in the upper room. that shows that this is not simply a story about one who stumbles or falls into sin. In fact, it's not really even a story about stubborn pride. But it is an event that concerns Jesus Himself. that Jesus is making clear that he must be betrayed, not only, but he must be denied. He must be denied by his disciples and denied so that we might be accepted. The other event that lends significance to the denial of Peter is the Lord's forgiveness of him. Really also Peter's repentance and the Lord's forgiveness of him. That's hinted at in our own text where we read that Peter immediately went out and wept bitterly, using almost identical words to those of Judas, who upon the betrayal of Jesus also wept bitterly. The difference is that one is true repentance and the other is not. And that explains then the Lord's forgiveness of Peter, even on Easter morning when he makes a special trip to see Peter and speak to him. And then even the final instruction of Jesus to Peter in Galilee before he ascends up into heaven. Besides the significance of this event for Jesus himself and for the truth of the Holy Gospel, it is a fitting event for us to consider on the occasion tonight because of who it is that will deny Jesus. When the text indicates that this is Peter, we should not forget that this is the name the Lord himself gave to him. The Lord gave to Simon the name Peter and the name Cephas. Both of those names, Peter and Cephas, mean the same thing. A rock or a stone. And about this same Peter, called by Jesus himself the rock or the stone, he made confession. He was the one, notably, that confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, did so as the leader of the disciples, and about which confession Jesus Himself said that upon the rock of that confession that He would build His church. But now it's that one, the rock, the stone, The great confessor of our Lord Jesus Christ, which confession he builds his church, that one now is the one who denies Jesus. Consider with me, denied by the rock. Denied by the rock. We consider first the fact. The, what I call significant fact or event, as well as the occasion, of this denial of Jesus, who is the true Rock of our salvation, by one called the Rock, is well evidenced in the four Gospels. Peter, the Gospels make plain, the Rock, Cephas, the stone, will stumble and stumble mightily over Christ, the rock of offense. And so many details about that are covered in the Gospels. We know this denial occurs in the night, hours after Jesus is arrested, and only hours before He will be crucified by the Romans that Jesus, after He is bound, which we considered this morning, Jesus is taken back to Jerusalem by the guards, and He's brought first to the house of Annas, who was formerly high priest. Annas, we know, was not a Levite as he should have been, but rather a political appointee of none other than Quirinius. You remember him, for it was his decree, this provincial ruler of Syria, that brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem to pay their taxes. That very same man is the one who appointed this Annas to be the high priest of the Jews. We know that he held that position from the year 7 AD to the year 37 AD, when at the age of 67, he retires and turns over the office of high priest to his son-in-law, KFS. And likely, Jesus is brought to his house first because, among other things, he remained the head of the Sanhedrin, the judicial rulers of the Jews. The apostles we know had all but abandoned Jesus. As he had predicted in fulfillment of Scripture, they shall take the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. That includes Peter. who earlier was so willing to take up the sword and die for Christ with that sword. We read that whereas John had left with Jesus and the band of men, Peter had not. Peter had slunk off and walked far behind that band of men in the darkness so as not to be seen. So that when he arrives at the house of Annas, the door is closed And he stands at the door until the other disciple, who is John, tells one to let him in. John tells us that he himself was known by the high priest Caiaphas, And that accounts for his ability to simply enter into the house with the armed band and then apparently to have free reign within that house during Jesus' hearing before Annas. And also his knowing the name of the servant of the high priest whose ear Peter cut off. John knows his name because he's known and knows Caiaphas. It will be also him who knows that it's one of Melchizedek's cousins, his kin, who identifies Peter there by the fire and accuses him also of being a ruler or a follower of Jesus. He recognized Peter from being in the garden that night. We read that there are three distinct times in which Peter denies the Lord, exactly as the Lord had prophesied. Before the cock crows, thou shalt deny me thrice. John notes that although they occur during the two different hearings of Jesus before the Jews, one before Annas and then the other before Caiaphas, that they all basically occur at the same time. We may note that the first hearing of Jesus is really a preliminary hearing in which they make sure that they have the right man. They ask Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine. And likely that this is occurring so that the Jews have time to assemble the real judge who will be Caiaphas, and the entire body of 70, the Sanhedrin. This buys them some time, so that after he is done appearing before Annas, then he is brought before Kephas. These denials occur in the hall or a courtroom in that house, an open-air courtroom around a fire. They occur around an open fire, below and between the two upper room apartments of Annas and Caiaphas. And there a group of servants, we read, and officials had gathered to warm themselves in the cool nighttime air." Besides the number of times that Peter denies the Lord, the main emphasis of all the accounts is that Peter emphatically denies the Lord these three times before certain men. The Gospels go through great lengths to point this out. The first is an ordinary servant, a maid, who is simply charged with keeping the door who questions Peter after letting him in and bringing him over to the fire. And he, before her and before her questions, denies the Lord the first time. The second occurs sometimes later when, again, another servant notices Peter's Galilean accent and again associates him with Jesus, and again, Jesus or Peter denies that he knows anything to do with Jesus, knows him, or has anything to do with him. And the third we read occurs about an hour later, when this servant related to Malchus, his cousin, remembers that he has seen Peter in the garden, and accuses him of that. That's when the third denial occurs and immediately the cock crows. The point of the Gospels in recording all this detail is in the first place to show how easily and how repeatedly Peter had denied the Lord. The point of all this is to show that Peter had not denied the Lord under great duress, perhaps at the threat of death, before the point of a sword. Peter did not deny the Lord Jesus Christ when he was put to a single choice, deny Christ or die, but he denied the Lord in circumstances and in situations and before individuals that were not a threat to him, where he could have easily confessed the Lord Jesus Christ without any consequences to himself whatsoever. That's the point that John is making by recording his own presence at the palace. John records that to show how he himself was not threatened. He himself knew the high priest. He was easily allowed into the house. He had apparently free reign of the house. He perhaps also was challenged or men knew without a doubt that he was associated with the Lord Jesus Christ. The same cannot be said of Peter Peter is there, and Peter denies the Lord before those who are nothing but common servants, men and women of no account. The only reason Peter could give if asked why he denied the Lord would be his own personal embarrassment over what had happened to the Lord. That's the point of all this. The point of this is that Jesus, or Peter, who had made wonderful confession of Jesus, that Peter, who without a doubt loved his Lord greatly, Peter, who was willing to take up the sword before an armed band and defend his Lord to the death, when faced with three ordinary servants in this seemingly unthreatening occasion, not only once, but three times denies the Lord Jesus. The above also is pointed out to show how serious then was the sin. Not once, but three times he denies his Lord. And then the accounts also show, even those that we read, that each time Peter denies Jesus more forcefully and more vehemently. One gospel writer even recording that in his final denial, it is accompanied with cursing and with oaths. Why? Well, because this is an example of the essential truth about all sin. An essential truth not only about how easily one sins against the Lord, but also that unless one repents of that sin, that sin continues, and each time it continues. it becomes easier to sin, and that sin becomes more terrible, more forthright, more outright. That's what's being taught here, the very truth about sin itself, that such is our heart. that unless we recognize sin and are brought to repentance, that sin remains and it continues and it comes forth more easily and more easily and with more vehemence. And each time is a greater denial of our Lord Jesus Christ. That, in the first place, it also teaches how serious is that sin, although it was no longer enforced, Both cursing and swearing and breaking of oaths and lying under oath were all serious crimes, even punishable by death, according to Old Testament law. All blasphemy, all cursing, all swearing, all lying under oath is essentially denial of our Lord Jesus Christ, which denial of our Lord Jesus Christ is worthy of death. We might look at these events and minimize and say, not much here. Far worse is the crime and the sin of Judas, who kisses Jesus in betrayal. That's not really the record of Peter's denial at all. The point of all the accounts, the point of our text is far worse, is the sin of Peter. The seriousness of that sin is compounded not only by the number of times it's committed, but the fact that both the number of times and the fact that Peter would deny Jesus is all foretold by Jesus and Peter is warned about it. That too adds to the sin of Peter. The Lord had warned Peter about the possibility that Satan tempt him and tempt him greatly. Satan, he says, get thee behind me. Satan, he says, wants to have you, Peter, and sift you like wheat. Watch, Peter. Pray, Peter. Peter, you're going to deny me. No, I am not. I would never do that. Peter, even before the cock crows, even before morning, three times you will deny me. And still Peter denies him. Peter ignores all those warnings. And the question is why? How could this happen? How could it be that Peter so easily denies the Lord when his life isn't being threatened, when simply questioned by some common servants? How could he deny the Lord the exact number of times that the Lord himself had predicted, had warned him about? And the answer is because Peter trusted in himself. The answer is that Peter did not trust in Jesus Christ. He was looking to himself. He saw himself as the rock. He saw himself as the solid stone. He saw himself as the leader of the disciples. He saw himself as the one who would make himself stand. which explains why even when the Lord says to him, Peter, watch and pray, why he, of all the disciples, did not watch and pray, but fell asleep along with the others, content and sure of himself. As I said, in many ways, the sin of Peter is far worse than the sin of Judas Iscariot, for which he would be punished with an eternity in hell. Judas is warned twice. Peter is warned again and again and again of the devices of Satan. and that he would deny the Lord. Judas betrayed Jesus, Judas betrayed Jesus, enamored with an earthly kingdom, which he became disillusioned with Jesus about when he understood that he would die. Peter denied Jesus simply out of personal embarrassment. What's the significance of all this? And it is several. First, with regard to warnings. One cannot look at this passage and see any kind of positive fruit or understanding of it unless one sees, first of all, the warnings to us, even as there were warnings to Peter himself. And let us remember how Peter received those warnings, even as we receive those warnings this evening. First of all, the warning about how easily we can fall into the same sin before men. We need to be warned, beloved, by this passage from Holy Scripture, that we need not be threatened with our life and property. We need not be put to the blade We need not be sent to the executioner before we are tempted to deny our Lord Jesus Christ. But we are tempted at all times and in all places to deny our Lord Jesus Christ, indeed, in all our life. And the warning is, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. And the idea of that is not that if we think we stand, we may perhaps possibly fall, but you will fall. It's a warning that we can easily deny Jesus with hardly saying a word. One need not teach great false doctrines. One need not fall into great gross and public sins to deny our Lord. And we must know also that if we persist in denying Him, we will only deny Him more easily and with more vehemence and with stronger language, even perhaps cursing and swearing and with false oaths. There is a warning also about why it is so easy to fall into the sin of denying our Lord Jesus. In the first place, because of who we are. Oh, we may be named wonderful things by our Lord Jesus Christ. Peter was indeed the rock, Jesus said so. Peter indeed made an amazing confession of our Lord Jesus Christ, even as we all do. A confession that can only be made by faith. A confession that can only be made by the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ, for no man can confess that Jesus is the Son of God except by the Holy Spirit. And yet, we can easily deny the very Lord that we confess. Why? Because we ourselves are weak. That's the lesson we need to learn, that we need to remember, and that's the lesson that Peter would learn and had forgotten when he denied the Lord three times. And remember now, that's true of us as regenerated children of God. Indeed, this is the very same truth that I included in my prayer this morning, and the truth that we find in the very last Lord's Day of the Heidelberg Catechism, where it covers the prayer. Remember, Jesus said, watch and pray. Pray what? Pray, the Lord taught his disciples, including Peter, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And what does that mean? The catechism says that means because we are so weak, we cannot stand a moment. And besides that, because our mortal enemies, the devil, the world, and our own flesh Peter's flesh, not just Satan, but Peter's own flesh was assaulting him. Therefore, we pray for Jesus to uphold us. Not only is it easy for us to fall into such sins because of ourselves, but because of the strength of our adversary. Peter is going to be the apostle who later writes to watch out, to be on the lookout at all times for Satan, who walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Peter knew what he was talking about firsthand. Jesus had warned him about Satan, had warned him again and again about Satan, and the reality of Satan But Peter had ignored those warnings because he couldn't see Satan directly. Because he was sure of himself, he thought he could resist Satan in his own strength, but not so. Do you understand who Satan is? Do you understand he doesn't fight fair? Do you understand he knows you better than you know you? He seeks out those who are vulnerable. He seeks us out when we're most vulnerable. He appears when there is a crisis. He shows up in times of sorrow and distress, times of sadness, times of doubt, even as he did with Peter. He struck. and he sank his fangs in exactly at the right moment. So this man, this rock, this leader of the disciples could fall so easily and so terribly. He seeks out and he exploits our own particular weaknesses, whether as in the case of Peter, using his own impetuous, proud nature, or our own besetting sins and weaknesses, whatever they might be. Whatever they might be, He will use them, He will exploit them, He will use them to make us deny our Lord. He also seeks, we ought to understand, high value and important targets. There was a reason why Satan sought out Peter. There was a reason why Jesus himself said that Satan desired to sift him like wheat. And the answer is because Satan knew he was the rock. Satan knew he was the oldest. Satan knew he was the disciple that all the other disciples looked up to. Satan knew of his importance to Jesus Christ, that he was one of the three there near Jesus in the garden. So also today, Satan doesn't waste his time lurking about in churches that have all fallen away, doesn't spend his time trying to tempt and bring down people and individuals who call themselves Christian that spend their life denying Jesus Christ. No, he attacks those who confess the name of Jesus Christ, who are his disciples, who follow him, who show they're willing to defend him, who show indeed that they love the Lord. There is a warning to avail ourselves liberally of the means by which to escape such temptations. I said this morning that in the event where Jesus was bound that we might be freed, that part of the gospel truth of that is that Jesus always gives us a way of escape in all temptations. The warning here, therefore, is to avail ourselves of them. How does one do that? Well, as Jesus said, watch and pray. Now when Jesus said that, He didn't mean simply watch out for the devil who walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, but watch for a way of escape. Watch for the temptation. Watch for the trial. And in that trial and in that temptation, watch for the real way of escape. And the way of escape is never the way of denying our Lord Jesus Christ. Judas found that out. It's rather the way of confession. The way of trust in our Lord Jesus Christ. the way of entirely relying upon Him and Him alone and not at all ourselves. And that's why His second admonition to Peter was, and pray, and pray. And that's what our Lord taught. That's what He was teaching. When He told His disciples, He taught Peter himself. Pray not simply for daily bread, pray not simply for the forgiveness of sins, but pray, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And that's why also this incident too is connected to the garden. It really begins in that garden as we saw this morning. What was the Lord doing in the garden? He was praying. And why was He praying? He who is the Son of God, He who is truly the rock, the only rock upon which God builds His church, the stone of stumbling and the rock of offense, that rejected by the builders He upon which the entire edifice of the church rests, the Son of God, perfect, why is He praying? And the answer is, because He was in all points tempted like as we are. That's why. Jesus was being attacked. That's why he was in agony in the garden. Jesus knew what awaited him, not merely death, but death under the rejection of men, death on the accursed tree, death under the wrath of God. And so he prays, and you can be certain that one important part of his prayer was that he be not led into temptation, but delivered from evil, praying the very truth of our own Heidelberg Catechism, that God sustain him. There's also a warning here, beloved, about the seriousness of this particular sin. There's a danger that we minimize this sin because if you're honest with yourself, and I'm honest with myself, and we consider ourselves truly We know that we joined Peter among the ranks of those who have denied our Lord Jesus Christ, and probably not just three times, but many times. Many times that we have shut our mouth. Many times that we perhaps opened our mouth with open denial. denied him by our walk of life, as well as our confession. And one reason this event is recorded in all the Gospel accounts, and why it's so closely linked to betrayal of Judas, is so that we react with horror and disgust, understanding the real atrocity and the wickedness and the seriousness of that sin. That was the warning of Jesus. Surely Peter, when the Lord looked at him and he wept bitterly, remembered not only the words of Jesus three times, Peter, Three times, Peter, in spite of all your bold predictions and in spite of all your bluster, three times you're going to deny me. But he remembered also what the Lord said. He that denies me before men, I will deny before my Father. You don't think those words rang in his ears? They ought to ring in our ears also. we ought to be horrified that we would deny our Lord Jesus Christ. We may rightly ask ourselves, will the Lord then carry through and deny me before the Father? And there's a warning about that. Because the denial of us before the Father would be our everlasting destruction Jesus is indeed going to deny Judas before the Father and say, depart from me. I don't know who you are. And Judas might reply, look, Lord, look at all the wonderful things I did in your name. Jesus is going to say, I don't know you. And so serious is the sin. But therein also lies the great, great, great news of the gospel. The gospel of the absolute sovereignty of our Lord Jesus Christ in this whole matter of salvation. The very reason why he is going to the cross. If there's one thing that stands out here, And the whole course of events here is that Jesus is King. Jesus is sovereign. Jesus is sovereign over all the events in time and in history, and especially those concerning His death. That's why the prophecy is emphasized. That's why it's said that all His apostles, all the disciples were offended that night in fulfillment of Scripture, that God would smite the shepherd and the sheep would be scattered This is why it's recorded that Peter said, even if everybody else would be offended, not I. And Jesus said, oh yes you will, three times before the cock crows. Jesus is sovereign over the salvation of Peter. And here we see that salvation is a matter of mercy and of grace, and mercy and grace alone. What explains the salvation of Peter, for Peter will be saved? It can't be that his sin was less than his fellow disciple Judas. Some think so. Some think, well, of course, Judas was perished. Judas perished everlastingly in hell. Was damned. His sin was worse. No, it wasn't. It isn't the fact that he was a disciple and the other wasn't. The Bible presents these two stories side by side so that we see there is one thing alone that explains the repentance as well as the forgiveness of Peter. Because Peter will repent. His bitter tears are bitter tears of repentance. Judas' bitter tears were not. They were the bitter tears of unbelief. Proof, by the way, that bitter tears all by themselves mean nothing. They mean nothing. The issue is what's in the heart. Well, what was in Peter's heart was true sorrow of repentance. And we know that because the Lord afterwards forgives him. The Lord makes clear on at least three occasions that he not only forgives Peter, But he restores Peter to the office that he really forfeited by his sin of denial, because that is what denial really deserves, deposition from office. But now what explains that? And it's this. I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy, and whom I will, I will harden. That's the explanation. It's the only explanation. And therein lies the power of the warnings. The warnings aren't there so that we're frightened into terror, so that we run and that we doubt, but rather the exact opposite, so that we say, if this is the case, if this is true, and it is, then I can rely for my salvation upon only one and one alone. You see, Jesus must be denied. There's the blessedness. There's the salvation. There's the entire significance. Jesus knows he must be denied. Even as we considered this morning, Jesus must be bound. Why? So that we might be freed. So also, he must be denied and denied by the rock, denied by one who confesses him, denied by one even who loves him and believes in him. Why? So that we might be accepted. so that we might be received in spite of our denials. The teaching here is the grand teaching of Scripture that there is repentance. And God works repentance. That repentance is the grand work of God. And if you doubt that, did you see? Do you remember what triggers the bitter tears? With Judas, it was basically his treatment by the Sanhedrin. He thought he would be a hero and found out he wasn't a hero. He was just a dupe and a pawn. Peter receives a look, and only a look. He denies three times. He denies his Lord and Savior even as he's on trial for his life. And Jesus has the time, knowing of course everything that's transpired, to look back and look into the eyes of Peter. And Peter knew. Peter knew at that moment that he had not just denied any man, but his own Savior. And that melted his heart with those bitter tears, showing it. The gospel is that in the way of repentance, there is also forgiveness. That exactly because of who Christ is, that even when one denies him a terrible sin worthy of damnation, He is forgiven. He's not forgiven because he repents. That's not the basis of his forgiveness. But his Christ also forgives him and tells him he's forgiven as Christ would do with Peter. And even more so we're going to see with regard to Peter that indeed will be the rock, a pillar in the church. a leader of the apostles. He will be the one appointed to bring the gospel to the Jews. He will die a martyr, as Jesus himself prophesies, for the name of Jesus Christ, never again to deny him. What's the lesson there? And the lesson is that forgiveness is the power to live a new and holy life. Where does that strength come from? Where does that power come from? And it comes from the wonderful words of Jesus Christ to Peter, you're forgiven. I hold not your sins to your account, exactly because I was denied, so also you are accepted. Amen, let us pray. Our Father which art in heaven, O Lord our God, we thank thee for our Lord Jesus Christ, and that he was denied, even denied by us, and in that denial is our own acceptance that he did this. He did this for us, his beloved. Did this in his great mercy and grace for us, so undeserving because of our own denials and wickedness and sin against him. Pray, O Lord, forgive our sins. Deliver us from evil. Keep us from temptation. These things we pray, O Lord, in Jesus' name, amen.