back to index2018-03-30 Good Friday Service
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We want to welcome you to Cross Life and Breen Community Church is a Good Friday service. 00:00:10.680 |
And we want to welcome again all the brothers and sisters from Cross Life who have joined 00:00:15.060 |
I think this is our third or fourth year that we're having this together. 00:00:18.640 |
And again, we're encouraged that we're able to do this together. 00:00:21.920 |
And Cross Life, as you guys know, our church knows, is almost like our sister church. 00:00:26.040 |
I've been to Cross Life many times to preach and Pastor James is almost our backup preacher 00:00:32.280 |
And so our church is very familiar with him and his preaching. 00:00:35.240 |
And we know we're a like-minded, like-hearted church. 00:00:38.680 |
As you guys know, Cross Life and Breen, we're working together for the missions going on 00:00:44.140 |
And so we've had several teams, several trips where we went together and then we're actually 00:00:50.120 |
And so the training, the pastoral training center that we have set up out in India, again, 00:00:54.440 |
is with cooperation with BMC up north and Cross Life and the three churches are partnering 00:01:00.740 |
And so it's only appropriate that we're able to be here and celebrate this sacred day together. 00:01:08.160 |
And so we want you guys to be prepared for that. 00:01:11.080 |
That obviously every communion table is sacred and important, but especially tonight as all 00:01:15.680 |
over the world, Christians are gathered together to remember his suffering for us. 00:01:20.480 |
And it's extremely important that we don't just recognize this as just another day and 00:01:26.120 |
just another religious festival, because at the core of everything that we believe and 00:01:30.480 |
everything that we do, if we're not moved and built up and challenged and compelled 00:01:36.400 |
by what Christ has done for us, everything else just becomes just lip service. 00:01:41.640 |
And so as we listen to the sermon, as we participate in the communion, that we would recognize 00:01:46.120 |
what Christ has done and then really pray before God that it would not become old news, 00:01:51.480 |
but good news, and that it would change and challenge our hearts and prepare us for Sunday 00:01:56.680 |
So at this time, we're going to ask Pastor James to come up and deliver the Good Friday 00:02:03.760 |
Well, it's a joy to be here and to be worshiping the Lord together with you. 00:02:08.220 |
And I thank you, Pastor Peter, for that gracious introduction. 00:02:11.160 |
You know, Pastor Peter has been a mentor to me, and I love spending time with him. 00:02:20.840 |
And it really is, you guys are blessed to have such a wonderful and loving pastor. 00:02:25.480 |
And it's a joy that we can come together as churches. 00:02:33.760 |
But it really is a privilege, and I'm thankful to the Lord for our relationship and the fact 00:02:40.160 |
that we can worship God together on this special night. 00:02:43.200 |
Well, today we're going to be preaching from the book of Luke, Luke chapter 22. 00:02:51.400 |
So if you have your Bibles, please turn with me there. 00:03:09.960 |
Can we all stand as we honor the reading of God's word? 00:03:22.840 |
Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house. 00:03:29.760 |
When they had kindled the fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter 00:03:35.000 |
Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light, sat in the light and looking 00:03:38.960 |
closely at him, said, "This man also was with him." 00:03:42.040 |
But he denied it, saying, "Woman, I do not know him." 00:03:44.040 |
And a little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them." 00:03:50.520 |
And after an interval of about an hour, still another insisted, saying, "Certainly this 00:03:54.560 |
man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean." 00:03:57.840 |
But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are talking about." 00:04:01.280 |
And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 00:04:06.560 |
And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him before the rooster 00:04:09.540 |
crowed today, "You will deny me three times." 00:04:17.880 |
Lord Jesus, thank you so much for coming down into this world and burying our sins, burying 00:04:27.440 |
our acts of rebellion, burying all the sinful thoughts and actions that we have done and 00:04:38.160 |
Thank you so much for giving up everything that we might receive the forgiveness of sins 00:04:42.440 |
and that we might have a relationship with you. 00:04:44.480 |
It's for that reason that we come here today to worship you and to give you praise, to 00:04:49.440 |
remember what you have done, and to proclaim your death until the day that you finally 00:04:54.200 |
And as we hear your word, as we listen to the book of Luke, may our hearts be moved 00:05:00.580 |
and may we be directed once again to the beauty and the power of the cross. 00:05:12.400 |
On the Bible, I have a number of favorite characters, specifically three apart from 00:05:19.760 |
Okay, everyone, Jesus is everyone's favorite. 00:05:30.120 |
You know, beautiful hair, you know, chiseled body, ridiculously narcissistic, he's just 00:05:41.280 |
Okay, he was a praise leader during the days of David and he led praise with symbols, right? 00:05:46.360 |
So we wouldn't expect that from a praise leader nowadays, but I'm sure back in the ancient 00:05:56.680 |
My third favorite character is a guy named Peter, Apostle Peter, the leader of the twelve, 00:06:02.400 |
the great rock of the church, an individual whose life that we're going to study today. 00:06:07.640 |
In Matthew chapter 16, Jesus Christ asked the disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" 00:06:13.760 |
And Peter said in Matthew chapter 16 verse 16, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living 00:06:18.600 |
And Jesus responded in verse 17 and 18, he says, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for 00:06:23.200 |
flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 00:06:26.640 |
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. 00:06:30.200 |
The gates of hell shall not prevail against it." 00:06:31.960 |
Now, I mean, what a commendation from the Son of God, right? 00:06:36.520 |
What a commendation, what an absolutely staggering pronouncement of praise. 00:06:40.480 |
But then right in the next scene, Jesus explains to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem 00:06:47.080 |
And Peter feeling all smug about his recent commendation takes Jesus Christ aside and 00:06:51.200 |
this fool has the zazacity to rebuke the one whom he has professed to be the Son of the 00:06:57.960 |
You don't have to have the wisdom of Solomon to know that you shouldn't be rebuking God, 00:07:03.120 |
He does it anyway and he says, "Far be it from you, Lord. 00:07:13.240 |
The will, he talks as if he knows the will of the triune God. 00:07:17.200 |
Then Jesus sharply responds and he says to him, "Get behind me, Satan. 00:07:22.160 |
For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but you are setting your mind on the 00:07:41.200 |
Jesus went up to the Lord and just slapped him in the face. 00:07:43.760 |
Jesus Christ dropped, kicked him in the face with truth. 00:07:46.520 |
I mean, it's absolutely, I mean, it's powerful. 00:07:56.000 |
You would think it just went a little bit too far, but it was the truth. 00:07:59.860 |
One moment he was the rock of the church and the next he was the devil of hell. 00:08:09.840 |
I love Asa because I feel like they're as human as you can get. 00:08:14.520 |
They weren't like Daniel whose life was recorded without any blunders or shortcomings. 00:08:27.880 |
So that if there was anyone that should have been rejected by the Lord, it should have 00:08:38.760 |
The reason why I love these men, it's not because they were great, but for the very 00:08:46.200 |
They had a moment's weakness, but their weakness and their failures testify to the 00:08:57.560 |
And that encourages me because if God can love guys like this, if God can love delinquents 00:09:06.920 |
And if he can use broken vessels like them, then he can use broken vessels like us. 00:09:16.720 |
If you're the kind of person who has everything put together, if you feel adequate, if you're 00:09:20.600 |
on top of your game, then the gospel's not for you. 00:09:26.560 |
But if you come here with a cloud of shame hanging over your head, if you come here because 00:09:30.640 |
you've backslidden for months or maybe even for years, if you come here knowing that you 00:09:34.920 |
are far from being perfect, then this is the message for you. 00:09:39.040 |
Because Jesus Christ didn't come down to heal those who are well. 00:09:41.760 |
He didn't come to help those who were righteous in their own eyes. 00:09:53.680 |
Today on this Good Friday night, we're going to peer into the death of Jesus Christ from 00:10:01.000 |
And the single point I would want you to take home tonight is simply that Jesus Christ died 00:10:07.280 |
Jesus Christ died for sinners like Peter and died for sinners like us. 00:10:12.320 |
Now before I get directly into the text in Luke chapter 22, I want to set up the context 00:10:18.680 |
On the night before Jesus Christ was killed, he celebrated the Passover with his disciples 00:10:25.440 |
And together they made their way to the Mount of Olives and there the Lord, in anticipation 00:10:28.640 |
of his impending death, he said this to his disciples. 00:10:35.320 |
He said to his disciples, "You will all fall away because of me this night. 00:10:39.840 |
For it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' 00:10:43.840 |
That after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee." 00:10:49.080 |
Now this is a massive pronouncement, is it not? 00:10:51.560 |
It's a massive pronouncement, a prediction of death and resurrection. 00:10:55.080 |
The moment has basically come for the atonement of sins, for the newness of life, the climax 00:11:00.920 |
These are the words that elicit silence and awe from the hearts of men. 00:11:04.680 |
Even before the moment is given for the people to process this thought, Peter, as expected, 00:11:11.160 |
He says in verse 33, Peter answered him, "Though they all fall away because of you, I will 00:11:19.060 |
If there's anything that should have stuck in this guy's mind, it was the fact that Jesus 00:11:24.360 |
Who else makes a claim like the one that Jesus Christ made? 00:11:26.760 |
To offer up his life and then to take it back up? 00:11:30.640 |
To go to the halls of the dead and return back to the land of the living? 00:11:33.560 |
Who has the kind of authority like Jesus Christ? 00:11:37.600 |
But instead of marveling before the weight of the statement, Peter takes a proclamation 00:11:41.160 |
of the gospel which is about the glory of God and he turns it around and makes it about 00:11:46.000 |
The moment has come for the son of God to come down to save the world from their sins 00:11:51.040 |
and the only thing this man can think about is his own magnanimous resolve. 00:11:57.480 |
"Though they all fall, although they all fall away because of you, I will never fall 00:12:08.880 |
But he says, "Even if they all fall away, even if they all fall away, I'll stand by 00:12:16.080 |
If I was one of the disciples, I'd be like, "That's kind of messed up. 00:12:22.680 |
You know, just lift yourself up and there we go." 00:12:32.680 |
In verse 34, it says, "Truly I tell you, this very night before the rooster crows, 00:12:43.160 |
The Lord speaks, prefacing his words with a phrase of absolute certainty. 00:12:46.840 |
"Truly, truly, without any doubt, without a hint of falsehood, truly, I say to you, 00:12:54.000 |
the Messiah says to you, the Son of the living God says to you, is a proclamation of truth 00:12:58.800 |
from the one who is the embodiment of truth." 00:13:00.640 |
And he says, "This very night before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." 00:13:06.480 |
The words of Peter was just nothing more than that, words. 00:13:12.520 |
But in full confidence of his own commitment, Peter responds and contradicts the words of 00:13:15.880 |
Jesus Christ because, of course, Peter knows. 00:13:18.280 |
And he says, "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you." 00:13:25.920 |
Instead of humbling himself before God, acknowledging the fact that he was weak, Peter moves in the 00:13:29.880 |
exact opposite direction by elevating himself to the highest form of commitment. 00:13:33.520 |
He wasn't just going to stay by the side of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:13:35.880 |
He was going to walk with him to the valley of the shadow of death. 00:13:41.120 |
The grave will not separate him from the Lord. 00:13:44.840 |
But then the next scene, the Lord takes Peter and James and John into the garden. 00:13:47.840 |
And he says in Luke 22, verse 40, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation." 00:13:53.040 |
It was only a matter of time before the darkest hour of this world would come upon them. 00:13:57.640 |
Satan was scheming and his demons were working. 00:14:04.000 |
The blade was being sharpened for the slaughter of the Son of God. 00:14:06.920 |
And so the Lord took the inner three that they might pray to withstand the onslaught 00:14:10.080 |
of the evil and the temptation that would come upon them. 00:14:14.160 |
He fell down to his knees and he prayed to the Father. 00:14:16.960 |
He says, "Father, would you take this cup away from me? 00:14:19.400 |
If there's any other way for the atonement of sins, if there's any other means for redemption, 00:14:24.720 |
Let the cup of damnation be taken away from me. 00:14:32.520 |
The Lord prayed until his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 00:14:37.800 |
The moment has come for him to bear the sins of this world. 00:14:44.600 |
And when he rose from prayer, having found the strength to move forward, he turned to 00:14:49.320 |
The men who were supposed to remain by his side, support him in the greatest hour of 00:14:53.600 |
The men who were to stand by his side, praying against the oncoming wave of temptation. 00:14:59.280 |
Not only John, not only James, but the great Peter. 00:15:01.880 |
The great Peter, the great champion of Christ, the rock of the church, the one who will stick 00:15:21.080 |
When Peter arose, he saw a most intimidating sight. 00:15:24.960 |
Looked up and there were hundreds of soldiers, hundreds. 00:15:28.080 |
According to the book of John, it was a cohort. 00:15:29.960 |
A cohort of 600 Romans, trained warriors and soldiers. 00:15:37.080 |
He looked and there was a familiar face, somebody he knew, a friend, Judas. 00:15:40.960 |
And Judas made his way to the Lord Jesus Christ and greeted him as if there was nothing strange 00:15:48.160 |
And immediately the Roman soldiers approached the disciples, demanding for the one who was 00:15:53.520 |
And Jesus, unfazed, boldly came before them and he said, "I am he." 00:16:03.360 |
And at the sound of the name of the divine God, the soldiers dropped down to the floor. 00:16:10.160 |
And Jesus, like the great shepherd and loving father, said to them, "If you seek me, let 00:16:19.920 |
And it didn't take long for anybody to know what was happening. 00:16:23.360 |
It was the fulfillment of the Lord's words of him being betrayed. 00:16:26.720 |
He was not being delivered over for judgment. 00:16:29.920 |
But there was one prediction that would not come to pass, at least in the eyes of Peter. 00:16:37.120 |
Peter saw all this and this wasn't a time to give in. 00:16:40.040 |
Six hundred soldiers and it was not the time. 00:16:45.920 |
This was his moment to prove his faithfulness, to prove his loyalty, to prove his love, to 00:16:51.160 |
See, they may all abandon him, but he will stand firm. 00:16:56.840 |
He saw undaunted by the clubs and the swords, undaunted by the mob of soldiers. 00:16:59.920 |
He whipped out his sword and he charged forward. 00:17:01.960 |
And in Luke chapter 22, verse 50, it says, "And one of them struck the servant of the 00:17:12.720 |
Now, I look at this text and I love how he picks out the slave of the high priest. 00:17:21.240 |
You know, when I read this, I wonder why he didn't go after the soldiers. 00:17:25.400 |
Maybe because he saw the slave of the high priest as the servant of the one who's orchestrating 00:17:31.640 |
But I also can't help but wonder the fact that he is the most helpless probably, among 00:17:38.520 |
Here he goes after one of the most non-threatening individuals, a slave. 00:17:44.160 |
The sad thing about all this is that he wasn't even able to make the kill. 00:17:49.560 |
Some of you guys might think Peter intentionally went after the ear, but nobody fights like 00:17:56.800 |
Nobody's like, "Oh my goodness, I got to get him in the lobe, hit him where it hurts." 00:18:03.760 |
You know, it was the kill shot, the kill swing. 00:18:09.960 |
I mean, his attack would not have instilled any form of confidence in anybody. 00:18:13.840 |
And if I was again the disciples, I'd be like, "Oh my goodness, we're all dead. 00:18:20.720 |
But to make matters worse, after Peter just slices off that ear, he hears a biting rebuke 00:18:29.520 |
Verse 52, "Then Jesus said to him, 'Put your sword back into its place, for all who have 00:18:37.160 |
Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father and He will at once send me more than 12 legions 00:18:46.760 |
But with a single word, Jesus Christ can summon 12 legions of angels. 00:18:53.840 |
Warriors able to decimate the world a thousand times over. 00:18:56.240 |
Jesus didn't need a fisherman to fight for him. 00:19:05.960 |
And Peter had to get that through his thick skull because he was still setting his mind 00:19:12.240 |
The cup of wrath was filled and Jesus Christ was prepared to drink. 00:19:17.680 |
There before Peter's eyes, he saw the great powerful shepherd give himself over to the 00:19:21.640 |
soldiers willingly like a sheep to be slaughtered. 00:19:25.880 |
And it must have been an utterly confusing wave of emotions felt by Peter. 00:19:31.760 |
Intimidation as he stood before a cohort of Roman soldiers, unrelenting drive as he lunged 00:19:36.240 |
forward to protect the one that he loved, demoralizing shame at the rebuke of the voice 00:19:40.160 |
of his king and confusion as he sees Jesus Christ willingly give up his life to be killed. 00:19:46.560 |
And it became fearfully apparent to Peter it wasn't a matter of him fighting for Jesus. 00:19:51.560 |
It was a matter of him being tortured and murdered with Jesus. 00:19:53.920 |
It was a matter of him laying down his life for Jesus. 00:19:59.760 |
Disciples running for their lives and he knew if he stayed he'd be the only one left. 00:20:05.920 |
And at that moment he ran away with the rest, forsaking and abandoning the life of Jesus 00:20:16.280 |
And so we behold the great resolve of the apostle Peter. 00:20:24.600 |
As Jesus was being led away, Peter followed behind from a distance, possibly in shame, 00:20:36.800 |
Then they seized him, led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house. 00:20:47.160 |
And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter 00:20:52.600 |
Like a wounded dog, the apostle lived in search of his master. 00:20:55.960 |
Jesus was going to be judged by the religious leaders and at least Peter could be there 00:21:00.240 |
And he came to the courtyard of the high priest and he waited there. 00:21:04.080 |
And the book of John tells us that he waited by the door and an unnamed disciple snuck 00:21:08.480 |
Peter into the courtyard where he hid among the company of servants and soldiers. 00:21:13.560 |
But then in verse 56, and a serving girl seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely 00:21:23.600 |
As Peter waited by the fire, a serving girl recognized Peter, literally a slave, a slave. 00:21:28.440 |
And the text says that she looked closely, she looked closely, she was staring at him. 00:21:33.600 |
She's staring at the man, she was looking intently into him. 00:21:37.440 |
As the light of fire gave form to the features of his face, she realized he was one of the 00:21:41.760 |
And she told those around him, "This man also was with him." 00:21:45.280 |
At that moment, dread overcame Peter and he denied the allegation. 00:21:49.160 |
And it says in verse 57, "But he denied it, saying, 'Woman, I do not know him.'" 00:21:55.560 |
In the face of a slave girl, not a soldier, not a politician, not a religious leader, 00:22:00.440 |
but in front of a slave, Peter is unable to stand his ground and cling to his loyalty 00:22:05.360 |
This man trembles with fear so that without hesitation, without any indication of vacillation, 00:22:10.600 |
he just drops the name of the Lord in order to save his own neck. 00:22:14.200 |
His cowardice displayed here is no different from the cowardice that he displayed in the 00:22:17.960 |
In fact, this is more pathetic because in the garden, at least it was before soldiers. 00:22:26.480 |
This mild encounter is enough to push him back so that he made his way from the fire 00:22:30.320 |
to the gateway according to the book of Mark. 00:22:35.080 |
But then in verse 58, "And a little later, someone else saw him and said, 'You also are 00:22:46.440 |
Once again, another charge is brought up against Peter. 00:22:51.920 |
Someone undoubtedly more important than a slave girl. 00:22:55.760 |
In the book of John, we're told that he was with a group of men, officers and servants. 00:23:00.480 |
The man plainly goes up to Peter and says, "You also are one of them." 00:23:12.680 |
All he wanted to do was follow the Lord Jesus Christ incognito. 00:23:18.520 |
The circumstances were pushing him to choose one or the other, to be with the Lord and 00:23:29.960 |
Verse 59, "And after an interval of about an hour, still another insisted, saying, 'Certainly 00:23:35.920 |
this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.'" 00:23:38.600 |
After the second charge, there was a hiatus from the prime words of those in the courtyard. 00:23:44.120 |
Peter even believed that the worst was done, that he was in the clear. 00:23:51.240 |
But after an hour, another man approached him, but this time the words were more condemning 00:23:58.280 |
He came to Peter and he says, "Certainly, certainly this man was with him. 00:24:04.320 |
And then there was a charge that came with the circumstantial evidence, "For he too was 00:24:11.160 |
Just like Jesus, he's from the region of Galilee because his accent gives it away. 00:24:15.240 |
And what would a Galilean be doing at this hour, on that night, in that place, in the 00:24:18.360 |
courtyard of the high priest unless he was one of them, unless he was with him? 00:24:22.560 |
And the one who brought the accusation according to the book of John was no other than the 00:24:25.680 |
relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off. 00:24:31.560 |
And he was pushed to a corner and he couldn't escape. 00:24:33.200 |
So Peter, he pushed back as hard as he could. 00:24:36.840 |
And then he says in verse 16, "Peter said, 'Man, I do not know what you are talking about.'" 00:24:43.640 |
In Matthew chapter 26 verse 74, it says, "Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and 00:24:51.920 |
Peter brought forth the denial that the Jews themselves cannot easily dismiss because he 00:24:55.080 |
called upon the name of the Lord to invoke a curse upon himself, right? 00:25:00.640 |
That God himself would unleash from heaven his own retribution for anything but the truth. 00:25:04.800 |
Any foolish and flippant and self-serving Jew would be so reckless to use the sacred 00:25:08.560 |
name of God for his own purposes and jeopardize his own soul in the process. 00:25:13.560 |
But at that moment, Peter wasn't thinking about the sanctity of the name of God. 00:25:19.400 |
So he had no problem using the name of Yahweh to deny the name of Jesus. 00:25:24.960 |
Turning the names of the Trinity against each other was a disgusting act of perversity. 00:25:32.000 |
Peter was taken to the hospital for a 6-day immediately while he was still speaking the 00:25:40.160 |
Peter remembered the saying of the Lord how he had said to him, "Before the rooster crows 00:25:45.800 |
His words of denials were being uttered from the lips of Peter, a rooster crowed at that 00:25:54.760 |
Before the unsuspecting crowd, it was definitely strange, but not something of which to be 00:26:00.520 |
As the ears of Peter, that crow blared like a siren of betrayal. 00:26:04.800 |
Because by the providence, a momentary window was opened for him to look at the Lord Jesus 00:26:09.840 |
He saw Christ while he was making that denial. 00:26:13.720 |
As he peered upon the face of his Savior, he saw the eyes of Jesus Christ looking back 00:26:18.160 |
at him, eyes that knew exactly what had happened. 00:26:22.840 |
And there, when he saw the Lord Jesus looking back at him, he remembered his words, "Before 00:26:27.640 |
the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times. 00:26:31.640 |
You deny that you ever knew me, deny that you ever believed in me, deny that you ever 00:26:39.200 |
At that moment, Peter came face to face with who he was, a sinner, a failure, a coward, 00:26:49.720 |
Verse 62, "And he went out and wept bitterly. 00:26:55.360 |
And so we behold the unwavering bravery and the steadfastness of the great apostle Peter." 00:27:11.080 |
From here on out, we don't hear from the guy. 00:27:13.480 |
We don't hear from him in the events of Jesus' death. 00:27:15.440 |
No sign of him during the judgment before Pilate. 00:27:19.560 |
No sign of him as the cross was being carried to Calvary. 00:27:22.080 |
No sign of him when Jesus was murdered on the cross. 00:27:27.840 |
It's almost as if this guy who tried to save his life, did everything that he could to 00:27:40.120 |
The thing about all this is that Jesus knew about it. 00:27:42.960 |
He knew that Peter was going to plead ignorance. 00:27:46.440 |
Before the rooster crows, you shall deny me three times. 00:27:49.320 |
Jesus knew of the inevitability of Peter's failure. 00:27:51.840 |
The staggering part of the story is that Jesus went to the cross anyways. 00:28:02.520 |
Because there he would bear the arrogance of Peter. 00:28:05.200 |
There he would bear the self-centered cowardice of Peter. 00:28:11.520 |
There he would die for Peter on his behalf because of love. 00:28:18.480 |
Ironically, in trying to prevent the death of Jesus, Peter further propelled the need 00:28:22.800 |
You see, when Jesus went to Calvary, it wasn't because we were somehow worthy of it. 00:28:31.680 |
He never lifted up his hands to be pierced because we were faithful. 00:28:36.000 |
He never offered his head to be crowned with thorns because we were worthy and we deserved 00:28:41.040 |
He never suffered the wrath of God because we lived a life of righteousness. 00:28:43.040 |
The reason why he went to the cross is because we deserve to be damned. 00:28:46.560 |
The reason why he went to the cross is because we violated the law of God. 00:28:49.720 |
The reason why he went to the cross is because we denied him. 00:28:52.280 |
Not three times and not three thousand times, but with every waking moment of our lives, 00:28:55.800 |
we lived in defiance against the King of Kings, doing whatever was right in our own eyes. 00:28:59.960 |
Worthy of Calvary, we were worthy of damnation in hell. 00:29:04.320 |
Even knowing of our failures, Jesus Christ went to the cross anyways. 00:29:07.640 |
The failure of Peter was a sign of salvation, a sign to the salvation of Jesus Christ. 00:29:14.320 |
It is there where we behold the greatness of our God. 00:29:21.120 |
I know that there are some of you who are visiting me today. 00:29:27.280 |
Some of you might think you can only come before the Lord. 00:29:31.520 |
You can only come before the Lord if you clean up your act. 00:29:33.840 |
You can only come before God once you get your life straight, once you become that good 00:29:41.160 |
It may be because you fall short of what you expect to stand. 00:29:44.360 |
The standard for a Christian should be that you shy away from the people of God, that 00:29:53.680 |
It might be for that reason why you only come on special occasions like tonight. 00:29:58.720 |
Stand back because of the shame and the guilt of the past. 00:30:01.920 |
Maybe stand back because you never feel good enough. 00:30:04.040 |
But the message of the gospel says that God will accept you, not because of your goodness. 00:30:12.360 |
Because there is nothing that you can ever do that will ever be good enough in the eyes 00:30:17.040 |
Romans chapter 3 verse 10-12 it says that as it is written, none is righteous, no not 00:30:26.520 |
All have turned aside, together they have become worthless. 00:30:30.040 |
No matter how good anyone tries to be, he will never be good enough before the eyes 00:30:33.560 |
of the Lord because the standard to be accepted by God is perfection. 00:30:38.040 |
The standard to be accepted by God is perfection. 00:30:42.120 |
It's an impossible standard even for the most moral and righteous sage or guru or saint. 00:30:47.280 |
The reason why we cannot attain perfection is because there is something wrong in our 00:30:53.880 |
Romans chapter 8 verse 7-8 it says for the mind that is set on flesh is hostile to God. 00:30:59.760 |
For it does not submit to God's law, indeed it cannot. 00:31:02.460 |
Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 00:31:05.320 |
We are a people who cannot help but sin against God. 00:31:13.360 |
Just like any broken thing that needs to be thrown into the trash, we deserve to be thrown 00:31:17.400 |
It is for that very reason that Jesus Christ came into this world. 00:31:21.280 |
Not because we were good, not because we were whole, but because we were broken. 00:31:25.040 |
It is for that reason why Jesus Christ came into this world and took upon himself your 00:31:28.480 |
sins, your transgressions, all the things that you have thought wrong, all the things 00:31:31.880 |
that you have done wrong, all the things that you have felt wrong. 00:31:35.000 |
The things that you don't share with other people because of the shame that comes with 00:31:39.680 |
He has come into this world to bear your transgressions upon himself so that upon that cross he might 00:31:45.120 |
die the death that you should have died so he might suffer the damnation that you should 00:31:53.120 |
For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son. 00:31:57.320 |
So whosoever believes shall not perish but have eternal life. 00:32:03.640 |
Even though he knew you would fail, even though he knew you would backslide, even though he 00:32:08.760 |
knew you would forget, even though he knew you would deny him, he went to die on the 00:32:21.000 |
Apart from Christ, every sin we committed, no matter what we may have professed, was 00:32:29.600 |
Denial of purity, betrayed by the indulgence of lust. 00:32:33.400 |
The resolve of selflessness, forgotten by the inflated mind. 00:32:40.000 |
The claim of loyalty, a loyalty even unto death, swallowed up by cowardice. 00:33:03.360 |
So all of us here have come to trust the message by faith. 00:33:08.000 |
May we remember the magnitude of what God has done for us. 00:33:14.440 |
As we eat of the bread that represents the body that has taken upon itself our sins, 00:33:18.680 |
as we drink the cup that represents the blood that ratified the new covenant by which we 00:33:30.840 |
Now we have denied our Christ, but he has not denied us. 00:33:37.760 |
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you 00:33:45.760 |
And he said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know I love you." 00:33:50.240 |
He said to him a second time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?" 00:33:53.960 |
And he said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know I love you." 00:33:59.280 |
He said to him a third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" 00:34:05.560 |
Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" 00:34:22.840 |
The story of Peter is not a story of a man's greatness. 00:34:27.720 |
Let us direct our eyes away from ourselves and let us direct them to the cross. 00:34:39.960 |
Lord Jesus, when we read about the life of Peter, I know for many of us, we cannot help 00:35:07.880 |
You know the number of times in which we have said we will follow. 00:35:11.240 |
You know the number of times in which you heard us say that we will never fall, we'll 00:35:15.040 |
try our best only to fall again and to fail you again and again. 00:35:20.320 |
But we praise you and we worship you God because you don't accept us because of our 00:35:37.640 |
So Lord, we praise you and we want to profess our love to you. 00:35:41.760 |
And as we come before the table and as we eat the bread and drink the cup, may we remember 00:35:50.680 |
that the story of Calvary is not just some kind of cold theological philosophical study, 00:35:57.400 |
but it is something personal to us that you came down and died for our soul. 00:36:02.360 |
That we might be spared from hell and be taken up to heaven to live with you forever. 00:36:07.760 |
Until that day comes, we know that you are with us and that you have given us new life. 00:36:13.600 |
God, we thank you for this night and time of worship.