Stricken Shepherd; Scattered Sheep

Have you ever been guilty of the kind of overconfidence that actually blinds you to your own weakness?

I know I have.

You know, it's the kind of self-assurance that will lead you to reject sincere counsel

from someone who can spot your deficiencies, but you're unwilling to acknowledge.

You ever been there?

I have more often probably than I would be willing to admit.

Julie and I have been watching this show.

It's produced by the History Channel.

It's called Alone.

Anybody seen that?

Seen Alone?

Here's basically the premise of the show.

They take 10 survival experts.

They go to a remote area.

I think most recently where we've been watching, they've been in British Columbia up in Canada.

Canada, and they drop these 10 contestants off by themselves in the remotest possible places

with very few supplies.

In fact, they're only allowed to take 10 things with them.

Some of them are guaranteed, and they have to video themselves in the process of doing this thing.

And here's the point.

Go as long as you can.

And the one who stays out there the longest without giving in wins half a million dollars, I think, is the prize.

Now, the most anyone has ever done is 100 days.

The shortest anyone has ever done is just a few hours.

Like within the first day, they've already tapped out.

It's really interesting to watch them do this.

Because inevitably, in every season, there is a handful of contestants, and they all have a tremendous amount of skill.

There is no doubting that.

But there's always a handful of contestants that in the beginning are so confident in themselves

that it's almost as if they don't expect this to really be as hard as it's been for others.

They blind themselves to their own weaknesses.

They convince themselves that the dynamic of being absolutely alone is not going to faze them.

Or that they can handle the big grizzly bears in the wild better than most people.

They're not afraid.

Or whatever it is.

And they have just this air about them, this overconfidence, this pride, that blinds them to their weaknesses.

And inevitably, the people who go into the show like that, they don't make it very long.

They may make it two or three weeks into it.

But ultimately, they fall off.

And they do it embarrassingly, making lots of excuses along the way.

Because the things that they said they would be confident in doing at the very beginning

are actually the things that they were the weakest in, that they failed in, in the process.

So the ones who do the best on the show are not the ones who deny their weaknesses.

They're actually the ones who acknowledge what weaknesses they have.

They see these are the things that I anticipate are going to be a problem for me.

And they acknowledge them.

And then they do their best to persevere despite those weaknesses.

Okay?

There's a little bit of that happening here in this section of verses that we just read.

It exposes a self-assurance in the disciples that quite dramatically sets up their inevitable failure.

And the focus here is on Jesus' announcement that all of them will soon forsake him.

And rather than receive the Lord's words and accept them and pray for strength and for grace in temptation,

instead of doing that, they automatically, overconfidently dismiss the entire idea.

Now, can you imagine?

Jesus, the one whom you have professed at this point, is the Messiah.

He's the one that's going to rule the world.

You've seen what he can do.

You've heard his teaching.

You've seen him foretell things and immediately fulfill them.

You've seen everything that he can do.

Now he comes to you and he says, you're going to fail me.

You're going to fail me.

Can you imagine your first response being, you're wrong?

That's exactly what their response is.

They look at the Lord Jesus and essentially say, no, you're wrong.

How could I ever fail you?

How could I ever forsake you or fall away?

There's a spiritual pride.

Ultimately, it led them to deny the truth of the Bible.

They reject Jesus's words, their Lord.

And then in the process of all of that, they miss a really amazing promise.

And in this way, they are the prototypical followers of Jesus.

There's a lot about them that we can both relate to and that we can learn from.

And what we find happening in the end is that the Son of Man goes as it has been written of him.

And so do his disciples.

And so there's three headings that I think will help guide us along.

These headings are not original to me.

I think they're original to Alistair Begg.

They may not even be original to him, to be honest.

But why improve on something that's adequate, okay?

There's the three headings I'll give you.

A prediction, a promise, and a protest.

A prediction, a promise, and a protest.

Let's look at the prediction in verse 26.

When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

And Jesus said to them, you will all fall away.

So the narrative picks up here after this monumental Passover meal.

Jesus has instituted the Lord's Supper.

It's late at night now.

Remember, the supper would have gone up until midnight, perhaps.

So this is the middle of the night.

Eleven disciples are with Jesus at this moment.

John tells us that Jesus had already dismissed Judas in the middle of the meal.

Well, he has gone to do what it is that he had planned to do.

So it's just Jesus and the eleven remaining disciples now.

In the middle of the night, they're headed to the Mount of Olives.

And it's hard to know exactly when this conversation takes place.

When you lay all four Gospels beside each other and try to examine this particular event,

it's kind of hard to determine whether Jesus has this conversation at the conclusion of the meal in the upper room,

or is he saying these things as they are walking to the Mount of Olives on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane.

But either way, we find Jesus making really another astonishing revelation.

During the meal, he says, one of you will betray me.

Now he's going to say, all of you will forsake me.

But what is it that Jesus actually means?

When he says, all of you are going to fall away, you will all fall away.

What does he mean by that?

And I think there's an important distinction that we need to make here

between Judas' betrayal and the falling away of the other disciples.

And here's really the significance of what Judas did.

Judas' betrayal was a willful act of rebellion against the person and work of Jesus.

Do you understand that?

Judas' betrayal is a willful act of rebellion against who Jesus said he was

and what he claimed to be and what he came to do.

So at some point along the way, Judas has come to the conclusion that Jesus is not the Messiah.

He is not who he says he is.

Therefore, he cannot do what he claims to be able to do.

And he consciously rejects Jesus in unbelief and instead pursues otherworldly things.

And in his particular circumstance, it seems to have been wealth was really his distraction.

And he betrays the Lord for 30 pieces of silver.

That's not the same as what Jesus is now saying these other disciples will do.

In fact, the language that Jesus used in the Greek tense here is actually in a future passive tense.

Suggesting that the falling away would be a fearful lapse in faith rather than an egregious act of rebellion.

So theirs would be a failure in commitment to Christ rather than a willful rejection of Christ.

Do you see the distinction there?

Maybe sometimes we would wonder, well, what really makes Judas any different than the rest of the disciples?

And that's really the distinction.

Judas is saying Jesus is not who he says he is.

He cannot do what he claims to be able to do or what we need for him to do.

Therefore, he betrays Jesus.

That's not what the others are doing.

They're having a fearful lapse of faith in a moment when they are severely tested in faith.

Severely tested in their commitment to the Lord.

James Edwards says this.

I found this so helpful this week.

Jesus warns the disciples to guard against the kind of sinfulness of which most of us are most guilty.

Sins of weakness and irresoluteness rather than sins of intention.

We do not plan on sinning, but neither do we hold the fort when we ought to.

This is an area that we can certainly relate to these disciples, isn't it?

A true disciple of Christ will never reject Jesus and his gospel in the way that Judas did.

A true disciple would never do that.

Neither is it likely that many of our sins will be conscious acts of rebellion against God's moral law.

1 John chapter 3 makes that clear.

1 John 3 · chapter mention

That those who know Christ do not make a practice of sinning.

That's not to say we never make a conscious act.

It's to say that that's not the characteristic of our life.

Especially as it relates to the person and work of Christ.

Our failures generally are related to a lack of resolute faith in God's plan and commitment to God's purposes.

Jesus.

So think about it in the context of what's going on with these disciples.

Eventually, when Jesus is arrested, the disciples flee.

Not because they doubt who Jesus is.

But because they fear what will happen to them if they remain firmly and unashamedly committed to him.

So when the soldiers, along with Judas and the servants of the high priest,

when they come to get Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane,

and ultimately all of the disciples run away,

they're not doing that because they've suddenly decided Jesus isn't the Messiah,

and Jesus can't forgive my sin, and Jesus isn't going to rule the world.

That's not why they're running.

They're running because in that moment, not a conscious act of rebellion,

but an irresolute lapse in faith.

They're saying, I'm worried for my life.

I'm fearful for my life.

I'm in this moment choosing to save my life rather than to stand by the side of my Savior.

Do you see the difference?

How often are the sins that we commit not necessarily sins of commission,

where we have a moral evil that we willingly choose in rejection of God's law.

That's not typically the sins that we falter in.

Our sins are typically sins of omission,

where God has said, believe me, trust me, follow me, obey me,

and instead of moving forward in faith despite the circumstances around us,

we falter in our faith,

and we choose rather our own path than the path that the Lord has decided,

or instead of trusting the Lord, we rely on other means,

and we neglect prayer, and we neglect other things in our lives.

In the same way as these disciples,

we often fear what will happen to us

if we unashamedly remain committed to Christ.

What will happen to me if I remain unashamedly committed to Christ in my home?

What will I do when my kids really don't like the decisions that I'm making

because they're based on what God wants for us

and not exactly what they want to do or what they want for their life?

Will I remain resolutely steadfast, committed as a disciple of Christ in leading my home?

What will I do in those moments when, in the context of my work,

I am presented with an ethical decision on whether or not I'm going to stand up for what's right

because God said it's right,

or will I falter into the background,

hopefully no one paying much attention to the decision that I make?

What about in relation to our communities?

What about this issue that ultimately will fall to perhaps the hands of the voters

in regards to the right to life for the unborn?

Will we remain resolutely committed to the truth of God?

Will we remain faithful in commitment to Him

even when the cost is steep?

Do you remember what Jesus said was a part of His call to discipleship in chapter 8?

Whoever will save his life will lose it.

But whoever will lose his life for my sake and the gospel will find it.

For what good is it if you gain the whole world, but you lose your soul?

Well, this is consistent teaching.

Now the disciples are actually being faced with a decision.

Really, they're going to have to determine.

They're going to have to show,

am I serious about following Christ?

And they all failed.

Just like there are many times where we all fail as well.

Verse 27,

Jesus says,

Notice that Jesus' statement is not based on His frustration with them.

This is not an assumption on His part that because they had failed before,

they're undoubtedly going to fail again.

He speaks of their failure rather as a fulfilling of Scripture.

As a reality that's based on the truth of God's Word,

not on His expectation that they're just terrible men,

therefore they probably are going to forsake me in this moment.

He names and quotes Zechariah 13, 7.

So He points them directly to the prophecy of the Old Testament that says,

I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.

So Jesus' purpose here is not to reveal their future to them,

but to assert that even their abandonment was a part of God's plan

to provide salvation for sinners.

Do you see that?

You say, why is He even mentioning this to them?

Like how many other times have they failed along the way

and He didn't bother to tell them beforehand?

Why now is Jesus bothering to tell them beforehand

why that they're going to fail?

And the answer to that is to point them back to Him.

He quotes Zechariah and He says,

this is what the Scripture says.

The shepherd's going to be stricken

and then the sheep are going to scatter.

That's you.

He wasn't saying that so that they would just know

what their future is

or so that they could really feel really, really guilty,

even more guilty perhaps because they say that they're not.

That's not why Jesus is saying this.

He's saying this so they will look back to Him and say,

no, He really is Messiah.

He really is the Savior.

He even said what I would do

was the fulfillment of the Scripture.

This wasn't about them.

This was about Him.

Was God pleased by their falling away?

Of course not.

Was God pleased to use it

to display His love and grace through Jesus?

Yes, absolutely He was.

And He was so pleased to use it

that He proclaimed through Zechariah

hundreds of years before

that it's exactly what would happen.

But they push against the Scripture here.

I don't think they do it,

but they're not recognizing that's what they're doing,

but that's what they do.

And they say, no, we would never do that.

You know, there's another dynamic of this

in the Scripture that speaks to us.

Zechariah wasn't writing about you and me.

He was writing about those 11 disciples.

That's what Jesus said.

But do you know that the Bible also says

that each of us have sin,

and each of us will continue in sin,

not in the bondage of it in regards to judgment,

but we will struggle with the presence of sin in our lives

until the day that we reach heaven,

and all sin is then banished,

and we are made new in the resurrection.

The Scripture says that.

Why does it tell us that?

Is it just to remind us over and over how bad we are?

No.

It's to remind us over and over how good He is,

that He is the only one

that could perfectly fulfill this law.

He is the only one that we could possibly look to for salvation.

He is the only one that we could possibly go to for forgiveness,

and He provides it to us in abundance.

This wasn't about them.

This was about Jesus.

It's another reminder.

All of the Bible,

all of history,

tells the story of God's redemption of His people,

namely through the crucifixion

and resurrection of His perfect Son,

Jesus.

Notice who's striking the shepherd.

God is.

I will strike the shepherd,

God says.

It was always His plan to do this.

Is that not Jesus' purpose

in drawing their minds to it again?

It wasn't about them.

It's about Him.

Isaiah 53

was the will of the Lord to crush Him.

He has put Him to grief.

If you're doing your Romans readings

ahead of Lakeside Connect next week,

you will have read Romans chapter 8

Romans 8 · chapter mention

when Paul says,

what shall we say to these things?

If God is for us,

who can be against us?

He who did not spare His own Son,

but gave Him up for us all.

It was His plan.

That's the point.

It was the plan of God for Jesus to die for our sins.

It always was.

And as a part of that process,

His disciples would fearfully,

but temporarily,

scatter.

His revelation to them

was meant to show them once again

the reality of who He was

and what He had come to do.

Well, that's the prediction.

Let's look next at the promise.

Would you look with me at verse 28?

After I am raised up,

I will go before you to Galilee.

Of all of these verses,

this is the most significant one.

After I am raised up,

I will go before you to Galilee.

This is the most significant statement

that Jesus makes here,

and it's the statement

that they all missed.

Every one of them missed it.

So intent on defending themselves.

They've made a statement about them

rather than about Him.

And so intent on defending themselves,

they didn't comprehend the magnitude of this.

And it's this dynamic of the disciples

that makes this verse almost invisible

even to us as the readers.

Here's what I mean.

When I read through this section of verses

a while ago,

how many of you were impacted

by the significance of verse 28?

I will rise again,

and I will go before you to Galilee.

If you're like me,

you didn't even notice it.

Because on one hand,

you've got this unbelievable revelation

that all of His closest disciples

are gonna forsake Him.

And we sit back and we think,

how could they even do that?

After everything that they've said and seen,

after everything they've heard,

how could they possibly leave Him?

And we forget that we do the same thing.

We do the same thing.

But we look at this,

and we see the drama of it,

and we think, wow.

And then we see how Peter

is so emphatically going against Jesus again

in this moment.

And we get so distracted by these other things

that even we miss

this short little statement in verse 28

that brings us all the hope in the world.

And they completely missed it.

It's another way that we can relate to these men.

Have you ever been so overwhelmed

by the reality of your circumstance

that you failed to recognize

the promises of God

meant to get you through that circumstance?

Isn't that one of our massive failures?

It's not always that we doubt God.

It's that we don't listen to Him

when He gives us reasons not to doubt.

When He gives us hope

and promises and assurance,

and we just let it go by unnoticed.

It's no wonder that so many of us

can tend to wallow in defeat and discouragement.

If we would but take our eyes off of our circumstance

and fix them on Jesus and His promises,

we would undoubtedly live with joy

amid the heartaches and the failures.

And look at the promise itself.

It's twofold.

First, He promises He would rise from the dead.

Now, this has been their problem up to this point, hasn't it?

Every time Jesus mentions His suffering

and His death to the disciples in Mark's gospel,

every time,

He also mentions His resurrection,

and every time,

they completely miss it.

Do you know why?

Because they're so focused on what they didn't like

about Jesus' death

that they totally missed the promise of His life,

of His resurrection.

Is that not exactly how we live?

So caught up in the circumstances

that God brings us in,

so frustrated that He would allow us to deal with this,

or so frustrated that things aren't going the way

that we want them to go.

That's where the disciples were with Jesus on that.

They didn't want Jesus to have to do that.

They wanted to skip that part.

They just wanted to get to the new heavens

and the new earth.

And how often do we go through life?

This is not how I planned.

This is not what I wanted.

I don't know why God is doing this.

And in the process of that,

we completely miss the promises that He gives

to carry us through those moments

in His goodness and in His grace.

And here He's telling them,

yes, I'm going to die,

but I'm going to raise.

I'm going to raise.

I'm going to come back to life.

I'm not going to stay dead.

And they totally miss it.

The second part,

first part's resurrection.

Second part is restoration.

Restoration.

That's just so helpful.

Not only would Jesus rise from the dead,

but He would fellowship with them

in spite of their failure.

Do you see the significance in this promise?

He never tells Judas,

go do what you're going to do quickly.

And when it's finished,

I'm going to meet you in Jerusalem

and we're going to work it out.

He never says that to Judas

because Judas' failure was different than these men.

But what is it that He tells them?

You're all going to fall away.

Every one of you are going to fail me.

But I'm going to rise up

and I'm going to meet you.

Go to Galilee.

I'm going to be there.

We're going to fellowship again.

We're going to be together again.

This is a promise of restoration.

Now can you imagine

had these men just listened to the promise?

They could have in that moment recognized,

yes, I do have weakness.

Yes, I probably will fail Him.

He said it is so.

But He's going to meet me after.

And He's going to be with me after.

And He's going to forgive me after.

Now listen,

how many times will you go through your Christian life

and fail the Lord in the same way that these men did?

Sometimes in ways that no one will see.

Maybe internal ways in your own mind

and in your own heart.

Maybe sometimes in dramatic ways that everybody sees

and it's just utterly embarrassing

or whatever it may be.

If you belong to Christ,

He will always meet you.

He will always meet you.

He will always forgive you.

He will always restore you.

Do you realize

that's the gospel as it moves on from our conversion?

That the same Jesus that enters into our brokenness to save us

remains with us in that brokenness

to sanctify us

and to continue in that forgiveness

and to continue in that grace

and in that love.

If they would have only listened.

Are you hearing Jesus here?

He will meet you.

He will restore you.

The disciples never did grasp this.

Not until after Jesus rose from the dead.

But would you flip over just a,

maybe it's just a page in your Bible to chapter 16.

Just a spoiler alert here.

Jesus does rise from the dead.

And I want you to see what happens at the tomb.

Verse number six.

This is the angel that has appeared to

Mary and the other women at the tomb.

And he said to them,

Do not be alarmed.

You seek Jesus of Nazareth,

who was crucified.

He has risen.

He's not here.

See the place where they laid him.

And then look what the angel says.

But go tell his disciples and Peter.

I think that's significant.

Peter speaks up in a dramatic way here.

The angel speaks up to Peter

in a dramatic way at the tomb.

Go and tell the disciples and Peter

that he is going before you to Galilee.

And look at the last phrase.

You'll see him just as he told you.

This was Jesus' promise.

And on the moment,

the morning of his resurrection,

he fulfills the promise.

He did rise from the dead.

And then he sends words to the disciples.

Go to Galilee.

I'm going to see you there.

And we're going to talk about this there.

And we're going to get through it together there.

Do you see what Jesus is doing now?

Back in chapter 14.

He wasn't mad at them.

He's not picking up a fight with them.

His words here,

even his words of revelation of their failure,

are there to assure them.

It's to show them that his abandonment

was necessary to fulfill the scripture.

And knowing their inevitable distress

because of that,

here's these amazing promises

of resurrection and restoration.

Let me say one more thing

and we're going to move on.

Jesus is not a brow-beating,

iron-fisted Lord.

He is a compassionate,

caring,

sympathetic,

assuring Lord.

Matthew 11.

Come to me, he says.

All who labor and are heavy laden,

I will give you rest.

Take my yoke.

Learn from me.

I'm gentle and lowly in heart.

And you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy

and my burden is light.

Jesus isn't giving them a hard time.

He's giving them hope.

He's assuring them.

But they missed it.

Don't miss it.

Don't miss it.

Don't miss it.

Thirdly and finally,

we see a protest.

Verse 29,

Peter said to him,

even though they all fall away,

I will not.

It's not a surprise to us

that Peter is the one to speak up, is it?

He's always the one to speak up.

But in case we're tempted

to come down so hard on him,

let's acknowledge why he's saying this.

He's saying this first

because he loves Jesus.

And he's committed to Jesus.

He's not trying to mask something here.

This is coming from a place

where he doesn't want to think about

betraying the Lord

or falling away from the Lord.

He wants to remain committed to the Lord.

That's where this is sourced first.

And remember,

Jesus had just told them

that someone among them

was going to betray him.

And Peter,

the loyalist,

is surely disgusted by that notion.

He's probably

hypersensitive

to any kind of thought of betrayal

or forsaking

that any of them would have.

His earnest desire,

truly believe,

his earnest desire

is to love

and to be faithful to

and to please Jesus.

But Peter was also foolishly arrogant here

because he rebukes Jesus

again.

He did it in chapter 8 too.

He rebukes Jesus.

And then he takes it

even further than that.

And he diminishes

the love that others had

for Jesus.

Do you see that?

In his words,

there is a hint of expectation

that the other 10

might indeed forsake the Lord.

But an act for him

would just be impossible

to think of.

He's too committed

to the Lord.

Jesus,

though they all do that,

I would never

do that.

boy,

it sounds a lot like us,

doesn't it?

You know,

for a group of people

that follow a Lord

who is so forgiving

and gracious

and merciful

and kind,

we can be a group,

speaking as Christians

as a whole,

we can be a group

that is just

unbelievably judgmental.

And we look to others

and assume their sin.

Or we would highlight

their sin.

I would never

go that far.

I would never

do that thing.

I would never

fall in that way.

And we would

castigate others

while trying to

pump ourselves up

before others.

Don't we do that?

Is that what Peter

is doing here?

Lord,

they'll all do it.

I won't do it.

Which,

by the way,

this is an attitude

that Peter,

that Jesus corrected

in Peter later.

Do you remember

the story in John 21?

This is while

they finally get

to Galilee.

Jesus has risen.

They are fishing

and they fish all night

and they catch nothing

and Jesus is on the shore.

They don't realize

that it's him,

but he's on the shore

and he says,

have you tried

the other side

of the boat?

I was fishing

a couple weeks ago

when we were on vacation

on Emerald Isle.

We were doing

red drum fishing

and that morning

was just super slow

and Andy and I

were texting

and he had asked me

if we caught anything.

We hadn't caught anything.

He said,

you tried the other

side of the boat.

You know,

we could have done that

and it wouldn't have

made a difference.

So can you imagine

they're on the boat.

They've been out there

all night.

They're tired

and Jesus says,

they don't know

it's Jesus,

but he says,

throw it on the other

side of the boat

and they throw it

on the other side

of the boat

and they bring in

the catch of their lives

and they bring it in

and there's Jesus

and he's already got

breakfast ready for them

and you remember

how it goes.

There's the pile of fish

on the beach

or perhaps in the boat

wherever it was

and then the disciples

are there quietly.

They're all ashamed

over what they've done.

Every one of them are.

They don't know

how to react.

They don't know

how to respond to Jesus

and here's Jesus.

He's cooking for them

and he's showing

such love to them

and remember what he asked Peter.

Peter or Simon,

son of Jonah,

do you love me

more than these?

Now I've heard people say

that this had to have

been a notion

towards the fish

that he had just caught

as if Peter had quit

on Jesus altogether

and had gone back

to a former life

and maybe there's

some truth in that

but I don't think

Jesus is looking over

at the fish

and saying,

Peter,

do you love me

more than you love fishing?

He already knows

that Peter has demonstrated

that plenty of times before.

No,

here's what,

he's referring back

to Peter's statement here.

He's looking at the rest

of the disciples

and he's saying,

Peter,

do you really love me

more than them?

Because that's what you said.

Do you love me

more than them?

Do you see the arrogance

that Jesus corrects

firmly,

lovingly?

He corrects it

in Peter there.

We're guilty

of that same arrogance.

Look at verse 30.

How is it that Jesus responds?

Jesus said,

truly I tell you,

Peter,

this very night

before the rooster crows twice,

you will deny me

three times.

In other words,

Peter,

it's not that you're

going to fall away,

you're going to outright

deny me

on three different occasions.

Tonight,

everybody else

is just going to run away.

You're actually going

to tell people

you don't know me.

You're going to invoke

a curse on yourself

in the process

of doing that to others.

That's how far

you're going to go,

Peter.

Peter,

look at verse 31.

But he said emphatically,

if I must die

with you,

I will not deny you.

And they all said

the same.

Declares his loyalty

to Jesus

even to death.

And it's not that

Peter didn't mean it.

I think he did.

He truly believed

he was willing

to follow Christ

to the point of death.

The problem

wasn't in his passion.

The problem

was in his pride.

He knew better

than to doubt

Jesus' words.

But in his pride,

he sinned greatly

against the Lord.

And don't miss the fact

that the rest of them

affirmed it.

Yeah, Jesus,

we agree with Peter.

We would never do that.

We will follow you

to the death.

And within a couple of hours,

every single one of them

have fallen away.

The truth is

that each one of us

is capable

of committing

the most egregious sins.

we have to avoid

the pride

that fools us

into thinking

we are safer

than others.

Because we're really not.

Remember what Solomon

said in Proverbs 16?

Pride goes before

destruction

and a haughty spirit

before a fall.

Remember Paul's words

in 1 Corinthians 10,

12.

This was in the context

of discipline

and restoring

other believers

in the process

of their sin.

He says,

therefore let anyone

who thinks that he stands

take heed

lest he fall.

In other words,

you're just as capable

of the same sins

as Israel was

in the Old Testament,

Paul says.

And you're just as capable

of committing the sins

that others in the church

have committed as well.

Don't think too much

of yourself.

you'll surely fall.

But it brings up

an important question.

What should Peter

have done?

Should he have just

listened to the Lord

and then just

allowed himself

carelessly to sin?

Well, that doesn't seem

like it would be right.

Of course not.

It's neither right

to deny our capacity

to sin

nor is it right

to give ourselves

over to it.

I don't want to get

too far ahead.

We're going to get there

next week.

But Jesus actually

answers this

in the very next section.

Look at verse 38.

Watch and pray

that you may not

enter into temptation.

The spirit indeed

is willing

but the flesh

is weak.

Do you know

what's going on

with Peter?

He has a willing spirit

but he's not

recognizing the weakness

of his flesh.

You know what our only

course of action is?

Our only course of action

is to acknowledge

the reality

of our sinfulness

and continue in prayer

for God's grace

and God's strength

to avoid sin

and his mercy

when we don't

avoid sin.

That's our only

course of action.

The word tells us

we will sin.

So stay faithful

to prayer.

Engage in prayer

for God's help

for God's grace

and then for God's

mercy.

Because we all know

that we will sin

though we don't know

the when and how

but we can't give

into it.

Now I'll close this way.

Sinclair Ferguson said

the marvel of all of this

is that Jesus

did not love Peter

any less.

He didn't love Peter

any less.

Isn't that amazing?

Because if somebody

does me the way

that Peter does Jesus

I'm not going to

love them at all.

And here's Jesus

the perfect one

who is forsaken

by the one

who claims that he

would go all the way

to the cross with him

and then not only

does he not

does he continue

to love him

but he loves him

just the same.

He loves him

just the same.

He's so full of love.

He's so abundant

in patience.

He won't tolerate

our sin

but neither will he

refuse to forgive us

when we seek his mercy.

Remember 1 John 2.

My little children

John writes

I am writing

these things to you

so that you will not sin

but if anyone

does sin

we have an advocate

with the Father

Jesus Christ

the righteous.

He's the propitiation

for our sins

and not for ours only

but the sins

of the whole world

and by this

we know that

we have come

to know him

if we keep

his commandments.

In other words

strive to do right

realize you're

going to mess up

but strive to do right

and when you do sin

remember Jesus

is a loving

forgiving Savior.

You do not fall

out of love with him.

He continues

to love you

and he will meet you.

He will meet you

in Galilee.

It reminds me

of that song

we sing so often

he'll not let

my soul be lost

his promises

shall last

bought by him

at such a cost

he will hold

me fast.

So what do we do

with this?

Well perhaps

perhaps what you need

to do this morning

is just solidify

your resolve.

Remain

steadfastly faithful

and committed

to the Lord

and his ways.

Maybe you need

to get your eyes

adjusted.

Adjusted in the sense

where I'm not going

to make every circumstance

in life about me.

I'm not just going

to focus on

what's happening

to me.

I'm going to fix

my eyes on Jesus

and his promises.

I'm not going to deny

the reality of hardship

but I'm going to let

Jesus carry me

through the hardship.

Look to his promises.

Maybe you have

some pride

like me

that you need

to abandon.

Not think so much

of yourself

and be vigilant.

Sober

for your adversary

the devil

walks about

like a roaring lion

seeking whom

he may devour.

Do you know

who wrote that?

Peter.

You know why

Peter wrote that?

Because Jesus

told him

in the context

of this conversation

Luke tells us this

Satan has demanded

to sift you

as wheat Peter

but I prayed for you

and after you

are returned

I want you to

strengthen all

the other men.

Peter missed it.

He didn't listen

to Jesus' words

and he failed.

But what Jesus

said was true.

He did pray for him

as he prays for us.

He forgave him.

Peter was used

tremendously

in the lives

of those other men.

And later on

in his life

he pens a letter

to other Christians

who are struggling

and he says

be sober.

Be vigilant.

The devil

is after you.

So stay faithful.

Don't think too much

of yourself.

That's what I did.

Can you imagine

Mark

taking this gospel

to the people

in Rome

who had requested

for it apparently.

He was a companion

of Peter

and he's writing

for the most part

Peter's account

of all of these things

and then

maybe as he hands

this over

maybe perhaps

as he reads it

to the church

in Rome

or wherever he may

have been

at that particular

moment

when he gets

to a passage

like this

he remembers

the fact

that it was

also John Mark

who in the midst

of ministry

got scared.

He didn't have

the resolute

faithfulness

that he should have

had

and he leaves

Paul and Barnabas

and he goes

back home

to mom

but then Peter

comes to Mark

and he takes him

as a mentor

and then it's Mark

who God uses

to produce this gospel

for us today.

Do you see the reminders

of all of this?

We all fail.

We're going to fail

but Jesus is loving

and he's faithful

and he's forgiving

and he's kind.

He's kind.