The morning we were on the speech on the four points, the way of greed, the way of guilt, the way of faith, and the way of glory. The first two applied the two to the story. We didn't finish our message on him last Lord's day, so we'll say some more about him this morning and conclude that Simon Peter, two weeks ago, was speaking on... the deep humility of the Lord Jesus Christ when he walked the disciples' feet. He also noticed something else in that passage, and that is, definite conversion. He that is changed or is regenerated. He's already for heaven. After that, all he needs is daily forgiveness, watch or walk, and see that the walk is pleased as a Christian. Then he speaks of devoted service by love for one another. Then he comes with disloyalty and treachery. Here's where Jesus went in. So you have deep humility, definite conversion, daily forgiveness, and devoted service, and disloyalty and treachery. There's no cup without a bitter drop, no rose without a thorn, no sigh without a cloud, no song without a sigh. That was true of the Lord Jesus Christ. Did he not have a thorn among his followers? Was there not a bitter drop in that cup of fellowship? Was there not a dark cloud in that sky and a sigh in their song? Yes. Judas was just that. And not till Judas was dealt with and disposed of, but the Lord Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man glory high. There was a fly in the ocean, and it sent forth of that odor. When the Lord got rid of that fly, then he felt the fragrance of the fellowship of the others that remain. What are some of the lessons we didn't mention last week in connection with Judah? First of all, you have this part, that man needs something more than an example and something more than just instructions in order to go to heaven. Certainly Simon, or certainly Judas Iscariot, had an example for three and a half years, a best example. And he listened to all kinds of good instructions, but he went to hell. Assuring there's something more than a good example and good instruction, you must be born again or never enter heaven. It is only blood-blood ones are there that answer them and forgive us. And this demonstrates forcefully that fact that a man like Jesus needs to be born again. And he passed current among the other disciples and none of them suspected it. What a clean life Jesus must have lived. I mean, a clean life. Morally, his sin was not of the body. They couldn't see anything wrong the other day. His sin was of the heart and of the spirit. Outwardly, they found no pulse in Jesus. He went along with the rest of them. And eleven men looking on and none suspected Judas for three and a half years. If Judas was a Christian, then a Christian can be lost, but he was not a Christian. If he's not a Christian, it shows how near a person can come to be the real thing, and yet missing it. Few today have come up to the standard of Judas Iscariot, and yet he went to his own place. The devil makes counterfeit. by substituting church membership, ritual ordinances, good work for Christ. The devil doesn't mind you going to church. He doesn't mind you joining the church. He doesn't mind you carrying out the ordinances. He doesn't mind you giving your money to the great cause, as long as you don't receive Christ. That's the whole point. That's the main point. The disciples were amazed when Judas was exposed. What a shock. Judas? Maybe somebody in your family will be a shock, too, and astonished if the Lord were to reveal to you that you were not born again. I referred last night to a young lady in my life. I thought she was a wonderful Christian. She made it for a second. When she was a little girl, found out later she had never been born again. She fooled me. She said, who is God? And how sad it is when people can be so good and warm in, so rotten before God. Judas went from the communion table to head. For that's where he was. He asked the communion, Jesus. And he went out, and it was night. The Christian, Jesus asked when he went to the priest, he says, What will you give me? And I'll pray Jesus Christ to you. What will you give me? And I'll pray. This is what they were looking for. The devil's asking some of you this morning. Or you may be asking him. Devil, what will you give me? And I'll not get saved. What will you give me? And I reject Christ. What will you give me? The devil says, I give you many good times. I'll even talk to you. I'll let you enjoy a lot of things in this world. I'll assist you in this life. You get all you care. Enjoy all you care. I'll do my best if you reject Jesus Christ. Are you asking the devil, what will you give me if I say no to Jesus Christ? You know the devil censored the Lord Jesus. He took the Lord Jesus up to the mountain top, and he showed them all the things under the earth. All the things in the earth. In a moment of time he let the Son of God have a teaching look at all the world. He said to the Lord Jesus, All it will I give you is you fall down and worship me. The devil will give you everything he can, if you'll give him recognition instead of Jesus Christ. That's the point. The devil is jealous of Jesus Christ. He wants the attention that Jesus Christ is jealous. The devil wants. And my, he satisfies with the attention that I use. have for the world. The devil has your attention. The world has your attention. Not Jesus Christ. And that's what the devil likes. He doesn't want any tribute paid to Jesus Christ. He doesn't want the Son of God to have any recognition. Or your affection. He wants... and into all he can to get it. What will he get? Judas was not satisfied when he got what he wanted. He got the thirty pieces of silver that they wanted to sell Jesus Christ. And when he got it, when he saw that Jesus by Christ was condemned, Thirty people are still burned in his hands, and he ran to the temple, and the priest were in there, and he threw down the thirty people at me. He wanted him to give it back to them. David Moore, and he said, what is that to us? You too for that. Here's what you read. Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned repenting himself for the repentance that was truly and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders saying, I have sinned and that I have betrayed the innocent blood. He knew he'd betrayed an innocent man. And they said, What is that, Doc? See, now do that. And he tapped down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went and hanged. in seven. That did not do twenty seven to five. What is that to ask? Judas is sure God took it. That's your responsibility. Yes. He didn't blame the priest. Judas didn't blame the priest. He trained the son. He went on unpowdered himself. What an unhappiness. The only one who was helping let him go. The Lord Jesus. Yes, see that mouth of that, Jesus. You served our purpose. Now you pay the price. I couldn't help in picking on that of an experience up in North Carolina. I think we mentioned one time about a lady living next door where I was saying to the blind Mrs. Johnson, she listened to us going down her five-grade whistling, him going to the meeting, coming back, and how we had the joy of leaving her to the Lord. She had a lovely daughter, Blanche Johnson. Blanche was a beautiful girl, but she got the attention of all some... Men in town, the big cattle actually pull up, the wave of gold planks. They had the finest of clothes. Then I went over to Dream's firm. For long until I heard that she had moved over to Dream's firm. I met her one day. She said, There are times I wish I could have a talk with you. Blancher said, I'll cost you any time. But still she had the tension of some of the big men and pounds, for she was a very beautiful woman. One day when I went to the interim, Mr. McKay said to me, Blanch Johnson is in the hospital with a tumor on the bridge, and she wasn't sturdy. I said, I'll go and see her. I went and saw her. I don't think she knew exactly what the trouble was, but oh, the flower was fading. There wasn't a spot in her eye. No. She died not long after. Father McKay said I went to her funeral. She remembered that one of the largest churches in town. He said, outside the family, there weren't as many as I could count on my fingers after a single, my fingers after a funeral. Where are the big boys with a Cadillac smile? Oh, it's the money! Well, she served our purposes. Too bad she died. That's the way the world is. Yes, they want you to serve their purpose. But as for the eternal consciousness, that's your responsibility. They want you to serve their purpose in materiality, physicality, as to the citizens. You take care of that. Where you go when you leave here, none of our business. That's it. What will you give me? I know I'm afraid. And when Judas got what he wanted, he was unhappy. Whatever the devil's offering you, if you get it, you won't be happy. You'll never be happy. You'll never reject Jesus Christ and be happy again. Lurking back in your mind is that skeleton in the cupboard you had a chance. You missed it. How fast was the experience of this poor man's Judas? Then you stop to think of this question, what will he give me? If you were to ask the Lord Jesus that this morning, Lord Jesus, what will you give me? If I say no to the world and no to the devil, Lord, what will you give me? everlasting life. I'll give you peace, I'll give you joy, I'll give you satisfaction, I'll give you myself, I'll give you glory forever. That's what I'll give you. Who are you after and for what? There's more. This is a rebuke to annihilation. People say you die, that's the end. It's all over. No. The Lord said this about Judas. Good for you had you never been born. Judas had been good as you never been born. If annihilation is true and death ends all, a lot of people said, I'm glad I was born. I had a good time. I did a lot of things I wanted to do. I had a lot of fun. Of course, I had a lot of fall, too. But coming up my life, I'm glad I lived. I'm glad I stayed here. I'm glad I was born. But those who hit a literal hell at the end they wished they had never been born. That's when men and women will realize what they mean. They wished they had never been born. Then they realized how serious it was when they were faced with Jesus Christ. Good work to you, Judas. Have you never, never been born? I hope that'll never be said of you. Now return to Peter. Peter's paradox. We talked about guilt, greed and guilt. So now you have greed, and now we come to a Christian. Judas betrayed the Lord. Peter denied the Lord. And he's only one of the disciples who did it. And what a paradox Judas was, or Peter was. Here's his conversion. Jesus' conversion in John chapter one, verse forty. One of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon, Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother, Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah, which is being interpreted by Christ. And he brought him to Jesus, and when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon, and is he there? The son of Jonah, thou shalt be called Jesus, It is by interpretation a stone. Andrew led Peter to Christ. He caught the big fisherman. And the Lord gave money. A stone. A rock. A rock in time that he acted like a bruised reed. You couldn't attend that. He should have stayed like a rock. But oh, he was just like a reed later on. And there are some strange paradoxes in connection with Simon Peter. He was a man of courage, but he was a coward. A man of courage, why he's the only one of the disciples who stepped out of the boat to walk on the water when there was a storm raging. John was there. the disciple whom Jesus loved, an old stern, James, he was there. Farmers doubting, farmers were there all this, but only Simon Peter had the nerve to step out of the boat and walk to Jesus. He had courage, a man of truth, and also on another occasion when they came to apprehend the Lord Jesus. Simon Peter pulled his sword and cut out the servant of the ear of a high-speed servant. He liked him to kind of cut out his head, but he just got the ear. He had lost the courage. He was a bold fellow with Peter. And then again, later on, when a lot of Gentiles got saved, and of course this kind of rubbed the Jews the long way, the Gentiles should be saved, and when... The Gentiles got saved. Peter was so happy. Why, the Lord tied to the Gentiles. They're saved. I'm going to fellowship with them. And he went and fellowshiped with the Gentiles. He was bold. Courage was going against his center. Yeah, he was too late. But then he turned out to be a coward. A little girl comes up to him. Then he was warming himself at the fire. She says, you don't want this man to smuggle. I'm not. I don't own the matter. Peter, you're a liar. You do. He quailed before the girl. He said, you belong to Jesus Christ. You're one of his followers. He was a coward. I know not the man, he said. And then when some of the Jews came down to where Peter was challenging the thing with the Gentiles, Old Peter left the Gentiles and joined the Jews. He was afraid of his brother. He was at Calvary. These are some of Peter's palimps. You know, some of those people are like chameleons. They turn their coat to whatever color up around them. They're not a graduate. Peter had a bold confession, though. Matthews, Corinthians, and Corinthians. Here is Peter, and the Lord says, Peter, what do the people say about me, who I am? Oh, some say thou art on the Baptist, Jeremiah, or Eliath, one of the prophet. But Peter, who say ye that I am? Thou art me Christ, the son of the living God. What a wonderful contest. The Lord said, Blessed about thou, Simon Barjona, flesh and blood hath not be healed as unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. My Father revealed this to you, Peter. You didn't get this from the school or the college or the university. You didn't get this from the learned men of your day. You didn't get this from the priest. You got this from my Father. He revealed to you who I am, the Son of the Living God. And that's what salvation is. God revealing to you Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. Lord said, Simon, upon your testimony, just watch your testimony of my deity. I'm going to build my church. and the gates of hell shall not today exist. Yes, a bold confession, he was in the will of God. He had the mind of God, and right after that the Lord speaks about going to Lucan in the supper, and Peter, for man, and he rebuked the Lord, far be it from the Lord. Now he has the mind of the devil. The Lord says, Get thee behind me, Satan. Thou shalt save us not the things that be of God the day that be of God. One minute Peter is so bright, so right. He's in the will of God. Thou art in the Christ the Son of the Will of God, Son of the Living God. And right around, only a few minutes after. The devil used him. He was in the mind of the devil. Lord, you can't go up the cross. Far be it. And he reduced the Lord. The Lord looked right at you, and asked Peter to get me behind these things. Isn't it strange how sometimes Christians can get out of the will of God into the will of the devil? That happened to Peter. Yes, here you have some of Peter's confessions and his contradictions. But Peter had great faith in the times when his faith itself. Remember when Herod, in Acts chapter twelve, Herod behead, James, took off James' head, And he was going to do the same for Peter, but he decided not to. He would break the leash that was passed. So he had Peter set up in prison. There he was, trained to his two soldiers, and his cell was guarded by Fort Montoya, and the soldier was sixteen. And all the prison doors were locked. And Peter laid down and went to sleep. Well, Peter, don't you know that head's going to take your head off in a matter of hours? No. You're not worried. I think if I knew that my head was going to roll tomorrow morning, I may need to sleep until. Yeah, I don't know that I'd be able to go to sleep or not. It kind of bothered me a little bit. But Peter just laid down and went off to sleep. If he would nudge Peter and say, Peter, how in the world has been you sleep like that? And you're going to have your head cut off and look. Well, he said that he's older. Of course, he didn't have the Bible in, but he referred to the instance in the last chapter of John, and he said to me, Peter, when thou shalt be old? Another's going to leave you. You'll be so old and blind and decrepit, someone else is going to have to leave you. He said, I'm not old now. I'm still a young man. The Lord said, I was going to die when I got old. I'm going to sleep. That was his faith. The faith of people in the faith of death. He went to sleep. Nothing like a baby. Yeah, but that didn't seem to last very long. You have his failures among us. Peter had free sleep. That's the first one. Yes, the sleep was safe. But then the Lord went to the Mount of Sancti, the Asia. And there he was on that glorious Mount, and Peter, James, and John were fast to sleep. My what they missed, Peter sleeping. where he should have been walking. Then he went to the Gethsemane's garden, and the Lord withdrew himself, as it were, a stone's cat. There the Lord, sweating as it were, like eight drops of blood. He cried to his father, ever be possible, let this cup pass for me, nevertheless, not my room, for Zion be done. And he came with the disciples, and they were sleeping. Who will Peter flee from the dead? This is the second time, you see, Peter, having a good sleep. But there's another time, only there's a three times, slept in the jail. That was good. I sleep a safe, but then on the Mount of Transfiguration, sleepery, sleeping, and also the Pagan, sleeping, failure. Then the awful collapse came relative to Peter, and that's what we have in our text this morning. He says, so all men forsake me, yet will not I. Lord, you can depend on me. He says, you're going to the cross. I'm going to go with you every step of the way. You can depend on me, so all others forsake me. I won't. I will lay down my life for thy sake. Well, you make some bold statements, Peter. Yes, one strength may often become his weakness to encourage his death. Too much self-confidence. And that's what happened to Peter. He would drag me, posting about what he would do to the Lord, how far he would go. He was stronger than the other followers. But there you have Peter's beginning of his downfall, he posted. And I'm going to read you this touching incident. Over in Luke twenty-two. Then took they him, Christ, and led him, and brought him unto the high tree house. And Peter followed a far off, no disrespect. And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and when they had 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 his evil. And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know I'm not. And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou art also of him, the disciples of the Lord. Peter said, Man, I'm not. And about the face of one hour after another confidently affirmed saying, Oh, but who this fellow was this end? For he's a Galilean. Peter said, Man, I know him not. I know not what thou say. And immediately, while he had faith, the cross true. And the Lord turned and looked on Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cross rose, how he shall deny thee Christ be thou. Here's Peter's seven steps down. His self-confidence, his glossiness, his using carnal means in the Lord's question, he's the sword. Now cut off a man here, the Lord said, he put that back in the shadows. The day they take the sword will be carried. They'll carry it by the sword. Then his diversion, they all put the woman's leg. His community, followed afar off. His fellowship with the world, he sat at the fire. There were no Christians there. They were the enemies of the Lord. They built a fire because it was cool. And Peter sat down among them, kind of a lonely spot. And he said, I know not the man three times. What a lie. He knew him well. Seven steps down. But then you have his convert. His collapse. But also his conversion. The Lord uses his friends thou often. Convert it. strengthen thy bread. Seven. This is not salvation. This is restoration. Feed it when you get straightened out. Then you'll be able to strengthen others. You can't strengthen them much the way you are. You're too chained to do this. But time comes when you're going to get your feet on the ground. And here are the seven steps back. Their conscience is awakened. What awakened is constant? But talk through. What else? The compassionate look, the compassionate look of Christ. Christ turned and looked at his. They were leaving the Lord Jesus out of their judgment hall on the way to the cross. And the Lord heard Peter, denying Christ. And he turned and he looked to Peter. That must have been some penetrating look. It had its effect. So you have a constant awakening. The cross proved that from past the look of Christ, the Lord must have said to Peter, I told you that you deny me before that cross proved. You denied me, Peter. Then he remembered, said, I read it to you. She remembered the words of the Lord Jesus. The Lord said, Simon, I'm going to pray for you. Five nights when the Lord said to you, you'll come back when the Lord prayed for you. You'll come back when the Lord prayed for you. That was the third step back. Then the fourth one, Peter went out, and yet different. This is real confusion. When a man or woman weep, as a backslider, they're not far from left to rule. Then you find Peter staying with the disciples. If he found his way to the disciples after being alone and at the fire, with the world. And here you find this in Luke twenty four. It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary, the mother of James, and other women that were with them, who told these things under the Apostles, until the moment. And their words came to them a final tale, and they believe them not. They didn't believe what the women and women said about Christ and this. Then arose Peter, in verse twelve, Luke twenty four. and ran unto the sepulcher. He had been with the disciples. He had come and back. And shooting down, he beheld a linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wandering in himself. Are these women bright? We thought this was a whole deal was old. Lord, mother, him rise from the dead with idle tears. We believe him not. Peter has second thought. As that, he said, he had wondered in himself at that which will come to pass. Yes, he found the now risky disciples. But then on other steps, he finds him seeking the Lord. Verse thirty-four, the Lord is written indeed and has appeared unto Simon. He was a private individual. He don't know much about this, but it was a private thing to do after Peter had those second thoughts. Where it was that he saw the Lord, we don't know, but it's the two on the way to a male. He tells us this little point, this little gem, the Lord has written, and he has an appearance and a little conversation with Simon Peter. Oh yes, these nice little quiet places, alone with the Lord, that's when his voice is heard. His seven steps away and his seven steps back. Now in chapter one of John, we'll get to you more than in a while, or maybe in a while, for the next year. You'll find he's recommitted, Peter. this poor paradoxical character. He finally reads to me. In the opening verse of twenty-one, Peter says, I'm going fishing. Boy, I'm going back to the net. I was called from the net a few and a half years ago, and I followed the Nazarene. It was wonderful. But I've got to live somehow. I'm going fishing. And they chose what a spokesman he was, and what a bad example. They said, we're going with you. And so they did. And that night they fished all night and caught nothing. And that's about the key of this story I've ever heard. They toil all night and then caught nothing. At least they won't. They didn't say the big one that I read. They toil all night. I caught nothing. And a lonely figure appeared on the shore. And a voice bolted out over the water. Children, have you any meat? Did they catch you any fish? No. He tore it all night and caught nothing. John detected that voice. He said, that's the law. That's the law. During the morning haze, it's the law. That's the law. Peter, he naked. He put his fish on him and he died in. The boat wouldn't have a motor. The boat wouldn't have a motor to sail and swim over the water. Oh, that's too slow for me. Peter says, I'm going to get there. Peter dived in and you can see that fish in him, naked for good sure. And he pallets the feet of the Lord Jesus. And when he got there with us, fire of coals. Peter got away from the Lord and the fire of coals in the temple when he denied the Lord. Now he's getting back a fire of coals. And here in the early morning the Lord had a nice fire of coals and fish shot. You boys, you didn't shut your face. I got that. All I had to do was go up the drink of the water and call a few days and wake them up. The Lord is independent. He doesn't need it. He's very independent. And here he's told that if either one waits and they found out how many fish they've got, the other turns struggling, pulling the fish. For the Lord had said, cast a net on the right side and you can find, and they did and they enclosed the great knowledge of the fishing. All the difference in the world between the rips of a boat, and they sit here all night and got nothing, and they did what the Lord told them to do. They got a boat in a net for you. Sometimes only the rips of a boat between the will of the Lord and the will of the devil of their own will. When you cast your net, you're engaged in your activities on the right side of the ship, you're going to ship them. And so they came, the rest of them. He's not in time, and the Lord gives me a breakfast. I want to give him a lovely breakfast. The Lord turns to Peter. He says, Peter, I want you to feed my sheep. But he said to him, Simon loveth thou me more than thee. He said, You love me more than anyone else. You die for me. And all them wouldn't forsake me. And you wouldn't. What about it now, Peter? All these facilities, all these experiences that have gone through, given up and down, hot and cold. Dear love me now, Peter. Lord, you know I love you. Simon, son of Jonas, love us, son of me. He's using a word that pertains to earthly senses. Lord, you know all of this. The third time, Simon, son of Jonah, lover saw me, Adapi, you've got divine love. You've played around enough with that human love. You've got sentimentality. What about the deep, solid love of God? We are loving, gratitude. For if you love me with divine love, your love for me will be my love for you. It won't fail. Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest and love me. Then, says the Lord, you feed my sheep. If you haven't been deserving or worthy of feeding my sheep up to now, you have been a very unfaithful shepherd. But now if you've learned your lesson, you can do something for it. You can feed my sheep, feed my sheep, feed my lamb. And when Peter writes his epistles, he must have had tears in his eyes when he writes to the shepherd. He writes to the elder, and he said, I'm also an elder. He didn't say, I'm the Pope. He said, I'm another. He was a shepherd, and he was a good one. And I don't know anyone if I'd have been a young Christian, but I'd have wanted to talk to you of all the disciples who would have been Peter. Because Peter, in other words, he knew how change it was Peter was. and had had more grace and consideration in counseling a young Christian. But Peter could say many times, I know just what we know. I know just what it is. I say we know what. What about you? I hope there's no dream to see you this morning. Telling the Lord. And if you're a Peter, sicker, unstable, changes. Christ is the answer. Oh, I trust that you're here and you're not a Christian. You'll trust Christ. You'll accept them as you're saved. There's no one like he's the best boss I ever had. He's never fired me. He's never changed my wages. I can go to many times, night and day. He knows me through and through and loves me just today. That's the Savior that we present. Would you accept him? Would you accept him now? Would you accept him this morning? God have you today. Shall we pray? Our Father in heaven, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we ask thy blessing on thy We thank thee for the Savior thou art provided, and the Savior many of us have found. But there are some who haven't found them yet, because they will today, they'll never reject. Blessed thy word then, for our hearts we ask it. And the Lord Jesus Christ of name, amen. Thank you.