Peter’s Fall; Christ’s Faithfulness

And if you go down to verse number 69, the Bible says this, now Peter sat without in the palace and damsel came unto him saying, thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all saying, I know not what thou sayest. And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him and said unto them that were there, this fellow also was also with Jesus of Nazareth.

And again, he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. And after a while came unto him, they that stood by and said to Peter, surely thou art thou also art one of them, for thy speech bereth thee. I think his southern accent gave him away, that’s what it was. Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man, and immediately the cock crew.

And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny thou shalt deny me thrice, and he went out and wept bitterly. Our Lord, we come to you now in the name of the Lord Jesus once again. We desire to learn and grow from your word. Lord, your people, we were in need of the spiritual nourishment of your word. Help us to to learn from these things. Lord, such dreadful things that we read in scripture where not only the things that you suffered obviously, but also the things that the the temptations that the disciples faced and and indeed their failure. But Lord, we can grow and learn from them. You have recorded them in your word for a good reason. And so Lord, help us and teach us tonight, we pray. Help me Lord to say what you would have me to say and in the way that you’d have me to say it, that your people might be strengthened and edified.

We pray in Jesus name, amen. So what I want to do tonight is I want to look and focus our attention for the rest of this chapter. We’ll bounce around a little bit but I want to focus on Peter because Peter is is a major not just Peter, all the disciples but in particular, Peter because Peter is repeatedly mentioned in this passage and obviously for good reason.

And before and I especially want to focus in on the issue with the sword. We covered that already in the in a different context last Sunday night, but we wanna just revisit it and see a little bit more about that before we come to the end of the chapter and and get a more full view of where Peter is. But before we can understand what Peter did with the sword, I think it would be wise for us to to examine or give an overview of where Peter is throughout this process.

So, I don’t think you can I don’t think you I don’t think that you can rightly judge Peter’s condition or Peter’s maybe Peter’s actions regarding the sword? I don’t think you can do that rightly until you understand where Peter is. To to be frank, I do not think that we should necessarily give Peter the benefit of the doubt in the matter with the sword. Now, I know last week, we talked about how that Jesus told them to bring to sell a garment, buy a sword, and they had to and Jesus said, it it is enough and we talked about that last Sunday but but the way Peter uses it, we might have a tendency to look at that and say, well, is at least he is trying to defend Jesus and maybe we should give Peter kudos. I don’t think that’s that’s the right thing to do and I’ll show you I’ll show you why.

I don’t think Peter was in a good place here. Let me show you why that’s the case. First of all, when when we’re in the Garden Of Gethsemane verses 36 to 46 and Jesus tells them on two at least two occasions. He tells them to watch and pray, which is stay up, don’t go to sleep. Stay up and pray and look especially at verse number 41. The Bible says this, watch and pray that you enter not into temptation.

You see that? So, Jesus told them to stay up and pray and as a and and the the benefit to that is that they would be protected or to help them in the case of temptation which the lord knew was coming. The the the mob was on their way and the disciples including Peter did not do that. So, they did not obey the lord. They did not stay up. I know that there are reasons for that but look, the the best thing we can do when we fail the lord is not giving any excuses and just say, lord, I messed up.

No excuses, no reasons, I messed up because really there’s no excuse for there’s no excuse for sin, right? There’s no excuse for our disobedience, not for mine, not for yours, not for any believers and besides that, from what we saw in in Sunday school, we need not sin. We have the power of god at work in us and so there’s no there’s no reason or excuse and we shouldn’t give em and and look for an out for ourselves and so, you see Peter and the other disciples, they they did not stay up and pray and as a result, they were ripe for temptation. When they should have been praying, they were sleeping.

And so, that’s kind of, that’s that puts them, that starts them off in a bad place. And of course, if you go down to where we read a minute ago, verse number 56, you see this, but when all but all this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled, then all the disciples, that’s inclusive of Peter, forsook him and fled. So that’s another kind of indicator, if you will, of where Peter is.

Verse number 58. Let’s read fifty seven and fifty eight. And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled, but Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest’s palace. The reason why Peter is afar off is because of what happened in verse 56. He has forsaken Christ. And so now you have this this far off picture, we’ll get back to that in a minute.

So you have that in verse number 58, and then you go down to verses 69 to 75. We’ll we’ll not read it all again right now but Peter, when confronted, even by even by a young lady, right? The the Bible says in verse number 69, it was a damsel which is the word that just means a young lady. That’s the young unmarried lady. Not exactly the most intimidating person to a well seasoned fisherman, right?

A young lady says, hey, didn’t I see you? And you know, so outwardly should not have been very intimidating, but Peter immediately denied the Lord, and denied the Lord again, and denied the Lord again. And I would say three times denying the Lord Jesus probably would indicate that Peter’s not in a good place, right? Everybody see that so far? See how it’s building? And this is all just about Peter, and we’re not even done. You go to verse number 74, and you see this, then began he to curse and to swear.

So I tell you, if any Christian is using foul language, you’re not you’re not right with god. You’re not where you should be. No excuse. No excuse. It’s not cool. It’s not If you you if you have a crowd you’re trying to fit in with, they’re not worth fitting fitting in with. If you don’t wanna look weird and prudish, your heart’s not right with God. There is no room in the mouth of a believer ever for corrupt communication.

Alright? Let’s just put that out there. Then began he to curse and to swear. So, verse number 74, what does that tell us? We have one, two, three, four, five things, five clear things that give us the overall picture of Peter’s condition. Where is Peter at spiritually right now? Now, what do you think? Is Peter in a good spot right now? There is no indication that Peter is where he needs to be with the lord. From the garden all the way down to being confronted by little ladies and then cursing and swearing that I never knew Christ which is a lie. I didn’t even add that in my notes but which is a which is a bald faced lie. So, he lied too so that you can add that to number six to round it off with that number of man, right?

So Peter is not in a good place, okay? Everything we see is screaming, Peter, you’re not right with God. Peter, you’re not walking with Jesus. Peter, you’re not close to Jesus. Peter, if we can put it in maybe maybe terminology, New Testament terminology if you will, Peter’s not walking in the spirit. Peter’s walking according to the flesh at every turn. It all started with hit the failure of his of his personal life and his prayer life, that’s which we saw last Sunday. Now, now let’s go to the sword.

Verse number 51. The Bible says, and one of them, we know from John that this was Peter, which were with Jesus, stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck a servant of the high priest and smote off his ear. As I said, we might look at Peter here and we might we might tend to defend him because he’s after all just trying to defend his lord and that sounds nice. That sounds, you know, that might might shine a a good light on it but but remember, we have to interpret Peter’s actions.

Now, we know the whole story. We know where Peter is based upon this this chain of events that has happened in the last few hours in Peter’s life. We have seen Peter’s reactions. We’ve seen Peter’s his condition And so, with that all in mind, kind of retrospectively, we can look back at this instant with the sword and understand better what he is doing. What we do know from Peter is that he is not walking with Jesus.

He is not walking in obedience to Jesus. He is not walking if you will in the spirit. Nothing that Peter did here shows that he is in a good place.

And so that must also include the sword. That must also include the sword. Furthermore, we don’t have to depend just upon that deduction. We we know he wasn’t doing the right thing with the sword because the lord, he drew a sword which drew a rebuke, right? He drew his sword and Jesus rebuked him for it. So, that even even the event itself, the action itself was not what was not what the lord Jesus wanted him to do.

And then, just as a reminder, go down to verses 69 to 75 and you you see Peter denying Jesus. Verse number 56, you see him forsaking Jesus, forsaking Christ, denying Christ, two different things, but you see Peter doing them both.

And that’s what’s so odd. When I read this, that’s what’s that’s what stood out to me and what’s so odd. Which is this, Peter was willing to fight for Jesus but Peter was not willing to suffer for Jesus.

Peter was willing to fight for Jesus but he was not willing to suffer for Jesus. And I think sometimes, I think sometimes we, I mean, everybody knows that our version of Christianity, you know, our kind, is rather militant. And I mean that, I mean this in the softest way possible. And I don’t mean we take up arms, but generally, if you were to ask the average Southern Baptist pastor or you were to ask the average PCUSA pastor or Episcopalian, I’m just whatever.

Generally, if they came here, they would say, you guys are really nice, but your preacher’s really mean and strict. That’s probably what they would say. Your tracks talk about hell and judgment and you know, that’s something you guys, you you actually talk to people about and you know, they, you know, pick at pick at some of these things. And so, with that spirit of, I say militants, I don’t really like that word, but you know with that kind of spirit of a little bit strict, little bit, I would say it has more to do with seriousness.

Honestly, that’s what I think it should be. But with that, sometimes comes a willingness to fight. Sometimes comes a willingness to fight. And we love we love the book of Jude. I I paraphrasing. I intended to write unto you of the common salvation. But when I got ready to do it, Jude paraphrasing, Jude says, it was needful for me to to tell you to earnestly contend for the faith and we latch on to that word continuing. We’re gonna contend for the faith and we’re gonna fight.

But the problem is is that that’s what Peter was doing. So, you see, Peter again was willing to fight for Jesus. I mean, he tried to chop a guy’s head off. He was willing to fight for Jesus and if I said that outside of this context, I would say, brother Dennis, should you be willing to fight for Jesus? And you would probably say, well, yeah. Be willing to fight for Jesus. Peter was willing to fight for Jesus and he was dead wrong.

Furthermore, Peter was willing to fight for Jesus and Peter was not walking with Jesus. From the garden all the way to the young lady, at the the palace of the high priest. He was willing to fight but he wasn’t right with God. How can it be possible that someone would be willing to fight for Jesus and not be right with Jesus? And yet he was.

This is why it’s important to understand the context of Peter’s if Peter’s actions in this whole section, that way we can rightly understand that this tendency in Peter to fight was not good.

Look if you would at Galatians chapter five. Galatians five. We’ll come back to Matthew in just a minute. Galatians five verse 19. Now, the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft. All those we say, oh yeah, those are definitely works of the flesh, definitely. You do those things that show you are walking in the flesh, I agree. But then it goes on to say, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies.

Now, you and I, we might argue that Peter was just acting in self defense or defense of Jesus. I think that’s a hard sell. You have a mob of hundreds of people. You are not going to win that battle. You are not gonna win that battle. I don’t care if you have a sword or two, you’re not gonna win that battle. Remember, they brought their swords and their clubs too.

You’re gonna lose. That’s why it’s a hard sell that it’s self defense. That’s a hopeless situation. I think Peter was acting, given the whole context, I think Peter was acting according to the flesh. That’s why I think Peter would, I think Peter was angry.

I think Peter was, I think it just boiled over. You know, he had the sword. He was well armed. This is the moment. We’re going to fight for Jesus. But he wasn’t spiritual at all. Because anger is not spiritual. And the urge to grit your teeth and fight for Jesus is not spiritual. And that is not what Jude is talking about when he says earnestly contend for the faith.

You know actually the pair, you wanna pair a verse with that? The pair with that is this, where Paul says to Timothy, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves.

To contend for the faith does not mean that we’re acting according to the flesh and expressing our anger. As we defend the faith and that is, here’s the problem, that is exactly how it works. Here’s the danger, brothers and sisters.

The source of Peter’s actions was the flesh. Hatred and wrath are of the flesh. Trying to cut off the head of some random servant in a hopeless so called defense is not spiritual.

And I think it was the source from which Peter was acting I know it wasn’t right because Jesus rebuked him and if he was walking in the spirit, if he was walking according to god’s direction, he certainly wouldn’t have done something that would have earned a rebuke from Jesus, alright? That we can just we can just nail that down. Look if you would at at at Luke chapter nine.

Luke chapter nine. This is not the only example. Luke nine verse 51. This is not the only example of people, of the disciples in particular acting in a way that on its face seems spiritual, on its face seems zealous, if you will. Verse 51, Luke nine fifty one, and it came to pass when the time was come that he should be received up, he set steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem and sent messengers before his face and they went and entered into a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him and they did not receive him because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. Alright, so here’s a perfect example. Somebody has mistreated, no, not even mistreated. Somebody has displayed that they do not like Jesus. They don’t want Jesus to come, they have rejected him.

Verse 54 and when the his disciples, James and John saw this, they said, lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them even as Elias said, you see, they had the Old Testament to back em up. You know what that means? They had the they had a Bible verse. That’s what that means. They were ready to kill the Christ rejecter and they had a Bible verse to back it up no less.

No compassion, no love, no fruit of the spirit, but they had zeal. They wanted to contend for the faith. They wanted to show them what fur. Verse 55, but he turned. You know, it’s interesting the scripture says he turned. In other words, it’s not just he replied or he answered.

The scripture actually specifically says that Jesus turned and it uses a strong word, rebuked them. In other words, what are you talking about? He said and said, ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. They’re definitely not of the spirit of God because Jesus was always of the spirit of God and they were not in in unity with him at this moment. For the son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.

And they went to another village. But here’s the danger. Here it is. You you gotta get this. Both in this case and in Peter’s case. Here’s the danger. The danger is that like Peter and like James and John here, when we feel like we have a verse and when we feel like we’re right, we use that as an excuse to vent our carnality.

Because after all, we’re defending Jesus. After all, we’re we’re standing for the faith. We’re fighting for Jesus. And because we think we’re doing that, we think that allows us to act in a way that is certainly not spiritual objectively not spiritual but here’s the thing, it and it’s a perfect self deception because we think that because we have a verse and we think that because we are right and we think that because we are doing what we think is the right thing that what we’re doing is right.

That the way we’re doing it is right and it’s not. And the truth is we can fight for Jesus and be out of the will of God, and we can fight for Jesus and be walking in the flesh, and we can fight for Jesus and contend for the faith as far from Jesus as it is humanly possible to be.

And yet all the while because we have this excuse. Elijah did it. I’m right. I know this is right. Listen, you can’t do the right thing but the right way. And if you do the right thing the wrong way, you’re now doing the wrong thing.

Peter is not doing the right thing. Peter thinks maybe, it doesn’t matter, but he thinks maybe he’s doing the right thing, but he’s not. You see, listen, the urge, and this is why I say it to a church like ours, right? The urge to fight and contend and to strife, that urge to vent that, that tendency when you just gotta let it out, that is not spiritual.

That is not spiritual. It might have a spiritual facade, but it’s not spiritual. But it seems like it is. The flesh wants nothing more, The flesh wants nothing more than a good religious excuse to show itself. Because then, it feels like it has freedom. But flesh with a religious pretext is flesh all the same. And it will end in death.

And the only reason that Peter’s outburst didn’t end in death is because if you remember, Jesus stepped in and said, what are you doing? Stop. Remember, he that lives by the sword will die by the sword. You do this, you will die. Like literally, they’re going to kill you. That’s essentially what Jesus is saying. Are you stupid? He intervened and that’s the only reason Peter didn’t get killed in his stupidity and his fleshliness.

And Jesus reached forth and touched the man’s ear and the man was healed. And then, we don’t read it in Matthew but we read it in John or it might be Luke. Then, the Bible actually says, Jesus said to the the to the mob. Now, you can imagine that mob is probably pretty hot at Peter even after Jesus healed the man’s ear ear. And so Jesus says, he he intervenes, heals the man. He says, you said, paraphrasing, you said you were seeking me. If that’s the case, then let these go their way.

And so the disciples fled. They saw they’re out and they left. Had Jesus not done that, he probably would have been killed. He probably would have been mobbed. I mean, you can’t try to take somebody’s head off. They’re not just gonna stand by and let you do that.

And so the Lord protected the disciples. But I just want you to see that even though Peter is not in a good place, yet we find him fighting for Jesus and it is not what he should be doing.

So often, our quote unquote crusades are nothing more than the excuse used to indulge our flesh. We use a righteous cause to do it and this can be true in the political realm too.

You know it’s not okay for a Christian, a saint of God, to act ungodly just because it’s in pursuit of a righteous cause, like a moral cause, abortion, or gay marriage, that’s not even a thing anymore, but you know, it’s not, you know, that’s, there’s no excuse for that.

But oftentimes, crusades are the very thing the flesh needs for someone who is, you know, religious to indulge in those lusts. Go back to Matthew chapter 26, you’ll see Peter’s distance. Peter’s condition, we’ve seen that there and then Matthew 26 verse number 57, 58 rather, but Peter followed him afar off. Peter’s distance.

You see, all of Peter’s actions in this in this in this narrative have demonstrated his spiritual conditions but there’s one other thing. Now, I know I know in actuality, Peter was actually in space distant from, he wasn’t like right with Jesus watching everything. He was added, he wanted to keep his distance because he was he was afraid for his life, right? He wanted make it seem that he wasn’t associated with Jesus. That’s what this whole chapter’s about.

So what we see in space, in other words literal distance, is actually demonstrating his spiritual condition. In the same way that when Peter was out on the, when when he got out onto the water walking on the water and he started to sink, that demonstrated in actuality, it demonstrated his what? Remember? His his doubt, right? He started to doubt and so, visually, you could see him sinking but we know behind that is is doubt. It’s it’s illustrating doubt.

You see, by following by following Jesus afar off, he was avoiding identifying with Christ and because of that, he was also avoiding the glory that came from suffering for Christ’s name. So he thought he was just trying to save his life, but what he was actually avoiding was the honor that Jesus said, remember, Jesus said, if they persecute you, rejoice and be exceeding glad in that day, for great is your reward in heaven. He was missing that as well.

Not only that, but he was associating with those enemies of the lord who had arrested him. John eighteen eighteen says that he was warming himself by the fire with the servants and the soldiers. Like the ones who had gone to arrest Jesus. Remember, it’s middle of the night, nobody’s at the palace except for the mob who had brought Jesus back in the council. That’s all, I mean, everybody else is in bed.

So, who’s who’s who’s around the fire? Well, the same people that have went to arrest Jesus. Not only that but it was a reproach to the name of Jesus because those who were closest to him showed that he was, in their view at least, unworthy of loyalty and detachment. That’s what this afar off indicates.

In other words, if if if I had a friend who forsook me, right, in my hour of need, you could say, well, that friend’s a loser, but you could also say he wasn’t worthy of loyalty. And that’s exactly what the disciples showed.

And here’s the startling part of this. This walking afar off, following him afar off in verse number 58, is the kind of thing that thing that tricks us into mediocrity and lukewarmness because we think, well, I am following.

At least I am following Jesus. I don’t see the other disciples following Jesus because of course, they’re not mentioned in chapter 26 following Jesus. So, Peter might think, well, at least I am following him.

But the problem is we forget the afar off part. We forget the afar off part. And this idea of being afar off, now I know it’s speaking literally here of Peter’s actual where he chose to be within the palace but also it it also illustrates where he is with the lord. Now, and you know, you know these verses. I just wanna read them as a reminder but these verses is it is a clear teaching of scripture. This I, the proximity principle with our relationship to god.

First Samuel fourteen thirty six and Saul said, let us go down after the Philistines by night and spoil them until the morning light and let us not leave man of them and they said, do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee. Here it is, then said the priest, let us draw near hither unto god. He’s like, stop. Let’s let’s get close to god. Psalm seventy three twenty eight says this, but it is a it is good for me to draw near to god.

Hebrews seven nineteen, for the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did, by the which we draw nigh unto God. But let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Hebrews ten twenty two. And of course, this is the most famous one, James four eight, draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

So, it is a clear teaching in scripture where the lord says, we should draw close to him. When Adam and Eve sinned, what did they do? They ran from god. That’s that proximity principle. It’s something you see over and over in scripture. Here’s an example of the opposite. Matthew fifteen eight, this people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth and honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

Just another, I guess this would be number seven, maybe, of where Peter is with the Lord. He doesn’t want to be identified with the Lord. And the last thing I want you to see and the best part of this comes at the end of 69 to 75. So we know in 69 to 74, Peter is denying the Lord Jesus.

Matthew ten thirty two through 33, Jesus said this, Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny me, deny before my father which is in heaven. So did Peter lose his salvation?

You see, sometimes we that verse in Matthew 10, we use it and say, well, anybody who denies Jesus that they’re not saved, right? Well, one of two things is true. Either Peter was saved up to this moment and he’s not saved and then later he’s gonna get resaved or he was saved the whole time or he was never saved. I guess there’s a third. He was but that just put put that third one aside.

So how do you how do you sink then this idea that Peter denied Jesus three times and yet he he’s saved? What what what it is is we we have to we have to rethink our assumptions about what it means to deny the Lord. Look if you would have at second Timothy. Second Timothy chapter two.

Second Timothy chapter two verse 12. Second Timothy two twelve says this, or verse 11 to get the context. It is a faithful saying, if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with him. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will deny us. So, does that mean if a believer denies Christ, then he won’t go to heaven?

Be careful of your answer because Peter did. Peter did. Here it is, 13. If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself. He said, he just said in verse 12, he also will deny us. And then in verse 13, he goes, he repeats and he says, he cannot. He says, he will deny and then he can’t. In verse 13, he cannot deny himself. Some people some people I suppose have tried to use this to say, well, if if a person, and I’ve I’ve heard it too, If a person denies Christ, then that means they’re they’re not they’re not truly a believer. They or they lost their salvation maybe.

Peter didn’t lose his salvation and you know how you know that? Because of Matthew 26 verse 75. Here is the proof of Peter’s salvation. Yes, did Peter royally and profoundly sin against Jesus? Yes. Did Peter fail in his walk with Jesus? Yes.

Yes, all those things are true. Verse 75 says this, and Peter remembered the word of Jesus which said unto him, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice, and he went out and wept bitterly.

The weeping bitterly, the weeping bitterly is the thing I hope that you get great hope and encouragement from, though the example Peter gives us is not very good at all. You see the weeping bitterly is the sign, is the token of Peter’s true faith in Christ. Yes, Peter denied Christ, And of course, we could go back and get doctrine with it and say, well, hold on. If I believe in Christ and then I later deny him, then my salvation is in some way dependent on my works.

Because if I believed in Christ by faith and then I did a work which then forfeited my salvation, then there’s works involved in my salvation. And and of course, we know that’s I mean, we could go into all the details and all of that but here’s the here’s the point I want you to see is put all that aside. What do you see in Peter? You see a man who royally messed up his walk with Jesus, who sinned in the sight of Christ, and who denied the lord and yet you see a man who showed genuine, godly sorrow and remorse, which would lead him back to Jesus.

Because the truth is that you and I are at some point going to flop in our walk with Jesus. We are going to do that. It is going to happen.

And the encouragement from this is that when we do, we know that the Lord will not forsake us. That’s the first thing. You wanna know why we’re we’re saved even when we flop, even when we deny Christ, and why Peter is saved though he denied Christ, you know why? Because Christ is faithful, not because Peter was not. That’s what we just read in second Timothy two. He cannot deny himself.

And the true mark of a believer is not necessarily that he doesn’t flop, because you will and you have. But the mark of a true believer is having flopped, You have a savior who brings you to the low place of godly sorrow and repentance, and turns you back to him. And that’s the way it always works. Because sometimes Christians do flop. And you know what I love about these narratives is that is that if we wanna be all doctrinal, and I agree, I like doctrine, but if we wanna be all doctrinal about what a Christian can and can’t do and all of those things, all we have to look at is this one example where Peter, I mean, how, what could Peter do worse than the than that he did?

What could he do worse? And yet, he shows he shows every signal that he is a true child of god. He is a true believer because the Lord brings him low over it. He’s weeping.

It is the point at which you would need to fear and tremble is when you flop and it doesn’t bother you and it doesn’t bring you to godly sorrow. That’s dangerous. That’s dangerous. So, Peter did not lose his salvation and if Peter did not lose his salvation after what he did, then, certainly, we cannot, it’s not possible for us to lose our salvation if we do this or that or the other thing when we when we flop in our walk with Jesus and of course, that’s not an excuse to sin, obviously, because Peter, you think Peter, if he could go back, do you think he would repeat that again? No, he wouldn’t repeat it. He would say, I do not recommend flopping for Jesus.

He wept bitterly, but the Lord preserved him. That’s why the Bible says that we are kept by the power of God in first Peter. We are kept by the power of God.

Let’s pray.