"And Peter went out and wept bitterly." --Luke 22:62.
These words indicate the turning point in the life of Peter,--a crisis. There
is often a question about the life of holiness. Do you grow into it? or do you
come into it be a crisis suddenly? Peter has been growing for three years under
the training of Christ, but he had grown terribly downward, for the end of his
growing was, he denied Jesus. And then there came a crisis. After the crisis he
was a changed man, and then he began to grow aright. We must indeed grow in
grace, but before we can grow in grace we must be put
right.
You know what the two halves of the
life of Peter were. In God's Word we read very often about the difference
between the carnal and the spiritual Christian. The word "carnal" comes from
the Latin word for flesh. In Romans viii, and in Gal. v., we are taught that
the flesh and the Spirit of God are the two opposing powers by which we are
dominated or ruled, and we are taught that a true believer may allow himself to
be ruled by the flesh. That is what Paul writes to the Corinthians. In the 3rd
chapter, the first four verses, he says, four times to them, "You are carnal,
and not spiritual." And just so a believer can allow the flesh to have so much
power over him that becomes "carnal." Every object is named according to its
most prominent characteristic. If a man is a babe in Christ and has a little of
the Holy Spirit and a great deal of the flesh, he is called carnal, for
the flesh is his chief mark. If he gives way, as the Corinthians did, to
strife, temper, division, and envy, he is a carnal Christian. He is a
Christian, but a carnal one. But if he gives himself over entirely to the Holy
Spirit so that He (the Holy Spirit) can deliver from the temper, the envy, and
the strife, by breathing a heavenly disposition; and can mortify the deeds of
the body; then God's Word calls him a "spiritual" man, a true spiritual
Christian.
Now, these two styles are remarkably illustrated
in the life of Peter. The text is the crisis and turning point at which he
begins to pass over from the one side to the other.
The message that I want to bring to you is this:
That the great majority of Christians, alas, are not spiritual men, and that
they may become spiritual men by the grace of God. I want to come to all who
are perhaps hungering and longing for the better life, and asking what is wrong
that you are without it, to point out that what is wrong is just one
thing,--allowing the flesh to rule in you, and trusting in the power of the
flesh to make you good.
There is a better life, a life in the
power of the Holy Spirit.
Then, I want to tell you a third thing. The first
thing is important, take care of the carnal life, and confess if you are in it.
The second truth is very blessed, there is a spiritual life; believe that it is
a possibility. But the third truth is the most important,--You can be one step
get out of the carnal into the spiritual state. May God reveal it to you now
through the story of the Apostle Peter!
Look at him, first of all, in the carnal state.
What are the marks of the carnal state in him? Self-will, self-pleasing,
self-confidence. Just remember, when Christ said to the disciples at Caesarea
Philippi, "The Son of Man must be crucified," Peter said to Him, "Lord, that
can never be!" And Christ had to say to him, "Get thee behind Me, Satan!" Dear
reader, what an awful thing for Peter! He could not understand what a suffering
Christ was. And Peter was so self-willed and self-confident that he dared to
contradict and to rebuke Christ! Just think of it! Then, you remember, how
Peter and the other disciples, were more than once quarreling as to who was to
be the chief--self-exaltation, self-pleasing;--every one wanted the chief seat
in the Kingdom of God. Then again, remember the last night, when Christ warned
Peter that Satan had desired to sift him and that he would deny Him; and Peter
said twice over, "Lord, if they all deny Thee, I am ready to go to prison and
to death." What self-confidence! He was sure that his heart was right. He loved
Jesus, but he trusted himself. "I will never deny my Lord.! Don't you see the
whole of that life of Peter is carnal confidence in himself. In his carnal
pride, in his carnal unlovingness, in the carnal liberty he took in
contradicting Jesus, it was all just the life of the flesh. Peter loved Jesus.
God had by the Holy Spirit, taught him. Christ had said, "Flesh and blood hath
not revealed this unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven." God had taught
him that Christ was the Son of God; but with all that, Peter was just under the
power of the flesh; and that is why Christ said at Gethsemane, "The spirit is
willing but the flesh is weak."--"You are under the power of the flesh, you
cannot watch with Me." Dear reader, what did it all lead to? The flesh led not
only to the sins I have mentioned, but last of all to the saddest of things, to
Peter's actual denial of Jesus. Three times over he told the lie; and once with
an oath, "I know not the man." He denied his blessed Lord. That is what it
comes to with the life of the flesh. That is Peter.
Now, look in the second place at Peter after he
became a spiritual man. Christ had taught Peter a great deal. I think, if you
count carefully, you will find some seven or eight times, Christ had spoken to
the disciples about humility; He had taken a little child and set him in the
midst of them; He had said, "He that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he
that humbleth himself shall be exalted; He had said that three or four times;
He had at the last supper washed their feet; but all had not taught Peter
humility. All Christ's instructions were in vain. Remember that now. A man who
is not spiritual, though he may read his Bible, though he may study God's Word,
cannot conquer sin, because he is not living the life of the Holy Spirit. God
has so ordered it, that man cannot live a right Christian life unless he is
full of the Holy Ghost. Do you wonder at what I say? Have you been accustomed
to think,--"Full of the Holy Ghost, that is what the Apostles had to be on the
day of Pentecost; that is what the martyrs and the ministers had to be; but for
every man to be full of the Holy Ghost, that is too high"? I tell you solemnly,
unless you believe that, you will never become thorough-going Christians. I
must be full of the Holy Spirit if I am to be a whole-hearted Christian.
Then, note what change took place in Peter. The
Lord Jesus led him up to Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came from heaven upon him,
and what took place? The old Peter was gone, and he was a new Peter. Just read
his epistle, and note the keynote of the epistle. "Through suffering to glory."
Peter, who had said, "Of course, Lord, you never can suffer, or be crucified;"
Peter, who, to save himself suffering or shame, had denied Christ,--Peter
becomes so changed that when he writes his epistle the chief thought is the
very thought of Christ, "Suffering is the way to glory." Do you not see that
the Holy Spirit had changed Peter?
And look at other aspects. Look at Peter. He was
so weak that a woman could frighten him into denying Christ; but when the Holy
Spirit came he was bold, bold, bold to confess his Lord at any cost, was
ready to go to prison and to death, for Christ's sake. The Holy Spirit had
changed the man. Look at his views of Divine truth. He could not understand
what Christ taught him, he could not take it in. It was impossible before the
death of Christ; but on the day of Pentecost how he is able to expound the word
of God as a spiritual man! I tell you, beloved, when the Holy Ghost comes upon
a man he becomes a spiritual man, and instead of denying his Lord he denies
himself, just remember that. In the sixteenth chapter of Matthew when Peter had
said, "Lord, be it far from Thee, this shall never happen that Thou shalt be
crucified," Christ said to Him: "Peter, not only will I be crucified, but you
will have to be crucified too. If any man is to be My disciple, let him take up
his cross to die upon it, let him deny himself, and let him follow Me." How did
Peter obey that command? He went and denied Jesus! As long as a man, a
Christian, is under the power of the flesh, he is continually denying Jesus.
You always must do one of the two, you must deny self or you must deny Jesus,
and, alas, Peter denied his Lord rather than deny himself. On the other hand,
when the Holy Spirit came upon him, he could not deny his Lord, but he could
deny himself, and he praised God for the privilege of suffering for Christ.
Now, how did the change come about? The words of
my text tell us,--"And Peter went out and wept bitterly." What does that mean?
It means this, that the Lord led Peter to come to the end of himself, to see
what was in his heart, and with his self-confidence to fall into the very
deepest sin that a child of God could be guilty of;--publicly, with an oath, to
deny his Lord Jesus! When Peter stood there in that great sin, the loving Jesus
looked upon him, and that look, full of loving reproach, loving pity, pierced
like an arrow through the heart of Peter, and he went out and wept bitterly.
Praise God, that was the end of self-confident Peter! Praise God, that was the
turning point of his life! He went out with a shame that no tongue can express.
He woke up as out of a dream to the terrible reality "I have helped to crucify
the blessed Son of God." No man can fathom what Peter must have passed through
that Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning. But, blessed be God, on that Sunday
Jesus revealed Himself to Peter, we know not how, but "He was seen of Simon;"
then in the evening He came to him with the other disciples and breathed peace,
and the Holy Spirit upon him; and then, later on, you know how the Lord asked
him, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?"--three times, until Peter was
sorrowful, and said, "Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love
thee." What was it that wrought the transition from the love of the flesh to
the love of the Spirit? I tell you, that was the beginning,--"Peter went out
and wept bitterly," with a broken heart, with a heart that would give anything
to show its love to Jesus. With a heart that had learned to give up all
self-confidence, Peter was prepared for the blessing of the Holy Spirit.
And, now, you can easily see the application of
this story. Are there not many just living the life of Peter, of the
self-confident Peter as he was? Are there not many who are mourning under the
consciousness, "I am so unfaithful to my Lord, I have no power against the
flesh, I cannot conquer my temper, I give way just like Peter to the fear of
man, of company, for people can influence me and make me do things I do not
want to do, and I have no power to resist them? Circumstances get the mastery
over me, and I then say and do things that I am ashamed of."? Is there not more
than one, who, in answer to the question, "Are you living as a man filled with
the Spirit, devoted to Jesus, following Him, fully giving up all for
Him?"--must say with sorrow, "God knows I am not. Alas, my heart knows it."?
You say it, and I come, and I press you with the question, Is not your
position, and your character, and your conduct, just like that of Peter? Like
Peter, you love Jesus, like Peter you know He is the Christ of God, like Peter
you are very zealous in working for Him. Peter had cast out devils in His name,
and had preached the gospel, and had healed the sick. Like Peter you have tried
to work for Jesus; but, oh! under it all, isn't there something that comes up
continually? Oh, Christian, what is it? I pray, and I try, and I do long to
live a holy life, but the flesh is too strong, and sin gets the better of me,
and continually I am pleasing self instead of denying it, and denying Jesus
instead of pleasing Him. Come, all who are willing to make that confession, and
let me ask you to look quietly at the other life that is possible for you.
Just as the Lord Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to
Peter, He is willing to give the Holy Spirit to you. Are you willing to receive
Him? Are you willing to give up yourself entirely as an empty, helpless vessel,
to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, to live, to dwell, and to work in you
every day? Dear believer, God has prepared such a beautiful and such a blessed
life for every one of us, and God as a Father is waiting to see why you will
not come to Him and let Him fill you with the Holy Ghost. Are you willing for
it? I am sure some are. There are some who have said often, "O God, why can't I
live that life?--Why can't I live every hour of unbroken fellowship with
God?--Why can't I enjoy what my Father has given me, all the riches of His
grace? It is for me He gave it, and why can't I enjoy it?" There are those who
say, "Why can't I abide in Christ every day, and every hour, and every
moment?--why can't I have the light of my Father's love filling my heart all
the day long? Tell me, servant of God, what can help me?"
I can tell you one thing that will help you. What
helped Peter? "Peter went out and wept bitterly." It must come with us to a
conviction of sin; it must come with us to a real downright earnest repentance,
or we never can get into the better life. We must stop complaining and
confessing, "Yes, my life is not what it should be, and I will try to do
better." That won't help you. What will help you? This,--that you go down in
despair to lie at the feet of Jesus, and that you begin with a very real and
bitter shame to make confession, "Lord Jesus, have compassion upon me! For
these many years I have been a Christian, but there are so many sins from which
I have not cleansed myself,--temper, pride, jealousy, envy, sharp words, unkind
judgments, unforgiving thoughts." One must say, "There is a friend whom I never
have forgiven for what he has said." Another must say, "There is an enemy whom
I dislike, I cannot say that I can love him." Another must say, "There are
things in my business that I would not like brought out into the light of man."
Another must say, "I am led captive by the law of sin and death." Oh,
Christians, come and make confession with shame and say, "I have been bought
with the Blood, I have been washed with the Blood, but just think of what a
life I have been living! I am ashamed of it." Bow before God and ask Him by the
Holy Spirit to make you more deeply ashamed, and to work in you that Divine
contrition. I pray you take the step at once. "Peter went out and wept
bitterly," and that was his salvation; yes, that was the turning point of his
life. And shall we not fall upon our faces before God, and make confession, and
get down on our knees under the burden of the terrible load, and say, "I know I
am a believer, but I am not living as I should to the glory of my God. I am
under the power of the flesh and all the self-confidence, and self-will, and
self-pleasing that marks my life."
Dear Christians, do you not long to be brought
nigh unto God? Would you not give anything to walk in close fellowship with
Jesus every day? Would you not count it a pearl of great price to have the
light and love of God shining in you all the day? Oh, come and fall down and
make confession of sin; and, if you will do it, Jesus will come and meet you
and He will ask you, "Lovest thou Me?" And, if you say, "Yes, Lord," very
quickly He will ask again, "Lovest thou Me?"--and if you say, "Yes, Lord,"
again, He will ask a third time, "Lovest thou Me?"--and your heart will be
filled with an unutterable sadness, and your heart will get still more broken
down and bruised by the question, and you will say, "Lord, I have not lived as
I should, but still I love Thee and I give myself to Thee." Oh, beloved may God
give us grace now, that, with Peter, we may go out, and, if need be, weep
bitterly. If we do not weep bitterly,--we are not going to force tears--shall
we not sigh very deeply, and bow very humbly, and cry very earnestly, "O God,
reveal to me the carnal life in which I have been living: reveal to me what has
been hindering me from having my life full of the Holy Ghost"? Shall we not
cry, "Lord, break my heart into utter self-despair, and, oh! bring me in
helplessness to wait for the Divine power, for the power of the Holy Ghost, to
take possession and to fill me with a new life given all to Jesus?"