off. But thou shalt follow me afterwards. Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. Jesus answered him, Will thou lay down my life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice. This morning we were on the those four points, the way of greed, the way of guilt, the way of grace, and the way of glory. The first two apply to Judas Iscariot. We didn't finish our message on him last Lord today, so we'll say some more about him this morning and conclude with Simon Peter. Two weeks ago we were speaking on... the deep humility of the Lord Jesus Christ when he washed the disciples' feet. We also notice something else in that passage, and that is definite conversion. He that is paid or is regenerated, he's all ready for heaven. After that, all he needs is daily forgiveness. Watch your walk and see that your walk is clean as a Christian. Then he speaks of devoted service. By love, serve one another. Then he comes to disloyalty and treachery. Here's where Judas comes 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 sky 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 the 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 could the Lord Jesus say, Now is the Son of Man glorified. There was a fly in the ointment, and it sent forth a bad odor. When the Lord got rid of that fly, then he smelt the fragrance of the fellowship of the others, so that remained. What are some of the lessons we didn't mention last week in connection with Judas? First of all, you have this point, that man needs something more than an example and something more than just instruction in order to go to heaven. Certainly, Simon, or certainly Judas Iscariot had an example for three and a half years, the best example. And he listened to all kinds of good instruction, but he went to hell. Showing this something more than a good example and good instruction. you must be born again or never enter heaven. It is only blood-washed ones are there, the ransom and forgiven. And this demonstrates forcefully that fact, to think that a man like Judas needed to be born again. And he passed current among the other disciples, and none of them suspected it. What a clean light. Judas must have lived. I mean a clean life. Morally, his sin was not of the body. They couldn't see anything wrong the other disciples. His sin was of the heart and of the spirit. Outwardly they found no fault in Judas. He went along with the rest of them. and eleven men looking on the non-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 being the real thing, and yet missing it. Few today would come up to the standard of Judas Iscariot and yet he went to his old place. The devil makes counterfeits by substituting church membership, ritual ordinances, good works 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 good 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 a profession when she was a little girl found out later she had never been born again she fooled me you can't fool God and how sad it is when people could be so good that I'm before men so rotten before God. Judas went from the communion table to hell, for that's where he was, at the communion table. And he went out, and it was night. The Christian Judas asked when he went to the priest, he says, What will you give me? And I'll betray Jesus Christ to you. what will you give me? And I'll betray him. Why, 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'll reject Christ? what will you give me the devil says i'll give you many good times i'll even prosper you i'll let you enjoy a lot of things in this world i'll assist you in this life to get all you can enjoy all you can 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 tempted the Lord Jesus. He took the Lord Jesus up to the mountain top, and he showed them all the kingdoms of the earth, all the kingdoms of the earth. In a moment of time, he let the Son of God have a sweeping look at all the world. He said to the Lord Jesus, all this will I give me if you fall down and worship me. The devil will give you everything he can if you 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 getting the devil wants and my he's satisfied with the attention a lot of you 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 tributes paid to Jesus Christ. He doesn't want the Son of God to have any recognition. Or your affection, he wants it. And he'll do all he can to get it. What will he give me? Judas was not satisfied when he got what he wanted. He got the thirty pieces of silver. That's what he wanted, to sell Jesus Christ. And when he got it, when he saw that Jesus Christ was condemned, the thirty pieces of silver burned in his hands, and he ran to the temple, and the priests were in there, and he threw down the thirty pieces of silver. He wanted to give it back to them. They didn't want it. They said, what is that to us? You see to that. Here's what you read. Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself for a repentance that was too late, 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 to us? See thou to that. and he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went and hanged himself that's in Matthew twenty seven three five what is that to us Judas you've served our purpose that's your responsibility yes he didn't blame the priest Judas didn't blame the priest. He blamed himself. He went out and hung himself. What an unhappy man. The only one who could help him, let him go. The Lord Jesus. Yes, see that thou to that, Judas, you served our purpose. Now you pay the price. I couldn't help in thinking on that of an experience up in North Carolina. I think we mentioned one time about a lady living next door where I was staying. She was blind. Mrs. Johnson, she listened to us going down her driveway, whistling hymns, 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. Blanc was a beautiful girl. But she got the attention of some men in town. The big cattle axe would pull up. The way would go Blanc. She had the finest of clothes. Then I went over to Greensboro. What long until I heard that she had moved over to Greensboro. I met her one day. She said, There are times I wish I can have a talk with you. Blanche, I should, I'll talk to you anytime. But still she had the tension of some of the big men in town, because she was a very beautiful woman. One day when I went to Greensboro, Mr. McKay said to me, Blanche Johnson is in the hospital with a tumor on the brain. And she wasn't thirty. 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 spark in her eye. No. She died not long after. Brother McKay said I went to her funeral. She's a member of one of the largest churches in town. He said, outside the family, there weren't as many as I could count on my finger at her finger, my finger at her funeral. Where are the big boys with their Cadillacs now? And with the money found she served our purpose. Too bad she died. That's the way the world treats you. Yes, they want you to serve their purpose. But I thought the eternal consciousness, that's your responsibility. They want you to serve their purpose in materiality, physicality, as to the spiritual. You take care of that. Where you go when you leave here, none of our business. That's it. What will he give me? And I'll betray him. And when Judas got what he wanted, he was unhappy. Whatever the devil is offering you, if you get it, you won't be happy. You'll never enjoy it. You can 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 sad was the experience of this poor man, Judas, when you stop to think of this question, what will ye 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? I'll give you 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 asking and for what this morning? This is a rebuke to annihilation. People say you die and 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 had you never been born. If annihilation is true and death ends all. Amen. A lot of people said, well, 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 sorrow, too. But summing up my life, I'm glad I lived. I'm glad I stayed here. I'm glad I was born. But it's those who hit a literal hell at the end who wished they'd never been born. That's when men and women will realize what they missed. They'll wish they had never been born. Then they'll realize how serious it was when they were faced with Jesus Christ. Good work for you, Judas. Had you never, never been born, I hope that'll never be said of you. Now we turn to Peter. Peter's paradoxes. We talked about guilt, greed and guilt. And now you have grace. 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. And what a paradox Judas was. Or Peter was. Here's his conversion. Peter's 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 Peter, the son of Jonah, Thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, a stone. Andrew led Peter to Christ. He caught the big fishermen. And the Lord gave him a name, a stone, a rock. But oftentimes he acted like a bruised reed. You couldn't have penned that. He should have stayed like the 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 disciples whom Jesus loved, an old stern James, he was there. Tom was doubting. Tom was there all day. But only Simon Peter had the nerve to step out of the boat and walk to Jesus. He had courage, a man of courage. And also another occasion when they came to apprehend the Lord Jesus. Simon Peter pulled his sword and cut off the servant and the ear of the high priest servant. He liked to cut off his head, but he just got the ear. He had lots of courage. He's a bold fellow, this Peter. And then again, later on, when a lot of Gentiles got saved, and of course this kind of rubbed the Jews the wrong way, the Gentiles should be saved. And when these Gentiles got saved, Peter was so happy. Why, the Lord tied to these Gentiles. They're saved. I'm going to fellowship with them. And he went and fellowship with the Gentiles. He was bold. Courage is going against his venom. Yes, he was courageous. But then he turned out to be a coward. A little girl comes up to him when he was warming himself at the fire. She says, you're one of this man's disciples. I'm not. I don't know the man. Peter, you're a liar. You do. He quailed before a girl who said, you belong to Jesus Christ. You're one of his fathers. He was a coward. I know not the man, he said. And then when some of the Jews came down, to where Peter was fellowshiping with the Gentiles, old Peter left the Gentiles and joined the Jews. He was afraid of his brethren. He was a coward. These are some of Peter's paradoxes. You know, some of the Lord's people are like chameleons. They turn their coat to whatever color of surroundings they're in. Isn't that a sad thing? Peter had a bold confession though. Matthews sixteen and sixteen. Here is Peter and the Lord says Peter. What do the people say about me, who I am? Oh, some say thou art John the Baptist, Jeremiah, Elias, one of the prophets. But Peter, who say you that I am? Thou art thee Christ, the Son of the living God. What a wonderful confession. The Lord says, Blessed out thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. My Father revealed this to you, Peter. You didn't get this from the schools or the colleges or the universities. You didn't get this from the learned men of your day. You didn't get this from the priests. 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 this rock your testimony of my deity I'm going to build my church And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 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 Jerusalem to suffer. And Peter forbade it. And he rebuked the Lord. Far be it from the Lord. Now he has the mind of the devil. The Lord said, Get thee behind me, Satan. Thou saviour's not the things that be of God, but they that be of men. One minute Peter is so bright, so right. He's in the will of God. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the will of the Son of the living God. And right around, only a few minutes after, The devil uses them. He's in the mind of the devil. Lord, you can't go at the cross. Far be this. Can he reduce the load? The Lord looked right at Judas, Peter. Get thee behind me, Satan. 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, too. There were times when his faith excelled. You remember when Herod, in Acts chapter twelve, Herod beheaded, James took off James' head. And he was going to do the same for Peter, but he decided not to. He'd wait till Easter was passed. And so he had Peter shut up in prison. There he was, chained to two soldiers. And his cell was guarded by four contemporaries of soldiers, sixteen. And all the prison doors were locked. And Peter laid down and went to sleep. Well, Peter, don't you know that hair is 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 a sleeping pill. Yeah, I don't know whether 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 you could nudge Peter and say, Peter, how in order can you sleep like that? And you're going to have your head cut off in one. Well, he said, if you read over there, of course, they didn't have the Bible in, but he referred to the instance in the last chapter of John that we'll get to. The Lord said to me, Peter, when thou shalt be old? Another's going to lead you. You'll be so old and blind and decrepit. Someone else is going to have to lead you. Peter 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 Peter, in the face of death, he went to sleep, slept like a baby. Yeah, but that didn't seem to last very long. You have his failure come out. Peter had three sleeps. That's the first one. Yes, the sleep of faith. But then the Lord went to the Mount of Transfiguration. And there he was on that glorious Mount. And Peter, James, and John were fast to sleep. My what they missed, Peter's sleeping. where he should have been watching. Then they went to the Gethsemane's garden, and the Lord withdrew himself, as it were, stones cast. There the Lord, sweating as it were, like great drops of blood. He cried to his father, Ever be possible, let this cup pass for me, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. And he came to the disciples, and they were sleeping. Poor Peter, sleeping again. This is the second time you see Peter having a good sleep. But there's another time, or these are the three times, slept in the jail. I was good, I sleep of faith, but then on the mound of transfiguration, sleeperings, sleeping, and also at the garden, sleeping, failure. Then the awful collapse came relative to Peter, and that's what we have in our text this morning. He says to all men, for safety, yet will not I. Lord, you can depend on me. You say, you're going to the cross. I'm going to go with you every step of the way. You can depend on me. Do all others forsake me? I won't. I will lay down my life for thy sake. Well, you're making some bold statements, Peter. Yes, one's strength may often become his weakness when courage begets too much self-confidence. And that's what happened to Peter. He was bragging, boasting about what he would do for the Lord, how far he would go. He was stronger than the other fellows. But there you have Peter's beginning of his downfall, his boasting. And I'm going to read you this touching incident over in Luke twenty-two. Then took the hymn Christ and led him and brought him unto the high priest's house. And Peter followed afar off. Notice that. And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and when we 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, that is Jesus. And he denied him, and said, Woman, I know I'm not. And after a little while another saw him and said, Thou art also of them, the disciple of the Lord. Peter said, Man, I'm not. and about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow was with them. For he is a Galilean. Peter said, Man, I know him not. I know not what thou saith. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. And the Lord turned and looked on Peter, And Peter remembered the word of the Lord how he had said unto him, Before the cock-crow, thou shalt deny me Christ three times. Here's Peter's seven steps down. His self-confidence, his slothfulness, his using carnal means, and the Lord's work to use the sword. The cut off a man's ear, the Lord said, you put that back in the scabbard, for they that take the sword will be, they'll perish by the sword. Then his desertion, they all were circum and fled. His timidity followed the far 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 them well. Seven steps down. But then you have his conversion. His collapse, but also his conversion. The Lord uses this when thou art converted. strengthen thy brethren. This is not salvation. This is restoration. Peter, 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 changed. But the time comes when you're going to get your feet on the ground. And here are his seven steps back. His conscience was awakened. What awakened his conscience? The cock crew. What else? His compassionate look, the compassionate look of Christ. Christ turned and looked at Peter. They were leading the Lord Jesus out of the judgment hall on the way to the cross. And the Lord heard Peter denying Christ. and he turned and he looked at peter there must have been some penetrating look it had its effect so you have his conscience awakened the clock crew the compassionate look at christ the lord as much as said peter i told you that you deny me before the clock crew you denied me three times Then he remembered, it said, I read it to you. He remembered the words of the Lord Jesus. The Lord said, Simon, I'm going to pray for you. Why, it's nice when the Lord prays for you, isn't it? You'll come back if the Lord prays for you. That was the third step back. Then the fourth one, Peter went out and wept bitterly. This is real contrition. When a man or woman weeps, as a backslider, they're not far from restoration. Then you find Peter staying with the disciples. He found his way to the disciples after being alone and up the far 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, which told these things under the apostles. And Peter was among them, and their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. They didn't believe what the women said about Christ had listened. Then arose Peter, in verse twelve, Luke twenty four, and ran unto the sepulchre. He had been with the disciples. He's coming back. And stooping down, he beheld a linen cloth laid by themselves, and departed, wandering in himself. Are these women right? We thought this whole deal was over. And Lord and one of him rising in the dead was idle tales. They believe him not. Peter has second thoughts. Of that He said, at wondering in himself at that which was come to pass, yet we find an hour with the disciples. But then another step you find him seeking the Lord. Verse thirty-four, the Lord is risen indeed and hath appeared unto Simon. Here was a private interview. We don't know much about this. But it was a private interview 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 man who tell us this little point, this little gem, the Lord has risen and he has an appearance and a little conversation with Simon Peter. Oh, yeah, 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 Lord willing in the fall. Or maybe in the fall, maybe next year. You'll find he's recommissioned, Peter, this poor paradoxical character. You find him recommissioned. In the opening verse of twenty-one, Peter says, I'm going fishing. Boys, I'm going back to the nets. I was called from the nets three and a half years ago, and I followed the Nazarene. It was wonderful. But I got to live somehow. I'm going fishing. And it shows you 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. Now that's about the truest fish story I've ever heard. They toil all night and caught nothing. At least they were honest. They didn't say the big ones got away. They toil all night and caught nothing. And a lonely figure appeared on the shore. And a voice floated out over the water. Children, have you any meat? Did you catch any fish? No. He toiled all night, caught nothing. John detected that voice. He said, that's the law. That's the law. Through the morning haze, they didn't know who the law. That's the law. Peter, being naked, he put his fisher's coat on him, and he dived in. The boat didn't have... a motor, poured out a motor to sail and skim over the water. Ah, too slow for me. Peter says, I'm going to get there. Peter dived in and you can see that fisherman making for the shore. And he fell at the feet of the Lord Jesus. And when he got there with a fire of coal, Peter got away from the Lord at the fire of coal in the temple when he denied the Lord. Now he's getting back a fire of cold. And here in the early morning the Lord had a nice fire of cold and fish shot him. You boy, you didn't catch me fish, I got some. All I had to do was go at the brink of the water and call a few fish, make him up. The Lord is independent. He doesn't need what you've got. He's very independent. And here they pulled. Peter wasn't waiting till they found out how many fish they got. The others came struggling, pulling the fish. For the Lord had said, Cast the net on the right side, and you shall find. And they did, and they enclosed the great molly through the fishing. All the difference in the world between the width of a boat, or this fish here all night got nothing. When they did what the Lord told them to do, they got a boatloader, or a net pulled. Sometimes only the width of a boat between the will of the Lord and the will of the devil or your own will. When you cast your net or engage in your activities on the right side of the ship, you're going to catch something. And so they came, the rest of them. They got in time and the Lord gave them a breakfast. Must have been a lovely breakfast. The Lord turned to Peter. He says, Peter, I want you to feed my sheep. But he said this, Simon loveth thou me more than thee. You said, you love me more than anyone else. You'd die for me, and all men would forsake me, and you wouldn't. What about it now, Peter? All these facilities, all these experiences you've gone through, given up and down, hot and cold. Feel of me now, Peter. Lord, you know I love you. Simon, son of Jonas, lovest on me. He's using a word that pertains to earthly friendship. Lord, you know I love you. The third time, Simon, son of Jonas, Love is for me, Adopi, with that divine love. You've stayed around enough with that human love. You've got sentimentality. What about the deep, solid love of God? Do you love me that way? For if you love me with divine love, your love for me will be my life, my love for you. It won't fail. Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest when I love you. Then, said the Lord, you feed my sheep. 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 lessons, you can do something for me. You can feed my sheep, feed my sheep, feed my lamb. And when Peter writes his epistle, he must have had tears in his eyes when he writes to the shepherds. He writes to the elders, and he said, I'm also an elder. He didn't say, I'm the Pope. He said, I'm an elder. 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 want to talk to, of all the disciples, it would have been Peter. Because Peter, in other words, he knew how changeable Peter was. And he'd have more grace and consideration in counseling a young Christian. Because Peter could say many times, I know just what you'd like. I know just what it is. I failed the Lord. What about you? I hope there's no Judas here this morning. Selling the Lord. And if you're a Peter, fickle, unstable, changeable. Christ is the answer. Oh, I trust that you're here and you're not a Christian. You'll trust Christ. You'll accept him as your Savior. 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 them any time, night and day. He knows me through and through and loves me just the same. That's the Savior that we present. Will you accept them? Will you accept them now? Will you accept him this morning? God help you too. Shall we pray? Our Father in heaven, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we ask thy blessing on thy words. We thank thee for the Savior thou hast provided, and the Savior, many of us have found. But there are some who haven't found them yet. We trust they will today. They'll never regret it. Bless thy word, then, to our hearts we ask it. And the Lord Jesus, precious name. Amen. Shall we sing in closing? Three hundred and fifty-six, or fifty-four. Three hundred and fifty-four. Come every soul, thy sin, O flesh, there's mercy with the Lord.