He Went Out and Wept Bitterly

Luke 22:54-62 ESV

Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house, and Peter was following at a distance. And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

I feel this deeply in my spirit. Do you? Have you ever been to the place in your life where you wept bitterly, grieving over your sin, but to the point of genuine repentance, not with empty tears of worldly sorrow? I have, more than once. I know the grief of sinning against my Lord who I claimed to love and of that feeling within me of his conviction deep within my heart. It is a sorrow beyond all sorrows, knowing that we have sinned against our Lord.

Have you ever had the Lord warn you ahead of time that you might fall but then have you continue confident that you would not? That is where Peter was, for Jesus told Peter in advance that Satan had demanded to have him, to sift him like wheat, and that he would deny the Lord three times. But Peter was convinced that his faith was so strong in the Lord that he would be loyal to the Lord to the death and that he would never deny his Lord.

And this brings to mind that Scripture in 1 Corinthians 10:12: “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” And what was the context of that verse? It was a reminder to us Christians to not be like most of the children of Israel who wandered in the desert for 40 years, so that we don’t desire evil as they did. For many of them were engaged in sexual immorality, idolatry, revelry, drunkenness, grumbling and debauchery. And they put Christ and his word to the test by their actions against the Lord.

And it says there that these things took place as examples for us, and that these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. And then we have verse 12 which warns us if we think we are standing strong in our walks of faith in the Lord to take heed lest we fall. And we need to take that warning seriously – all of us do – because not one of us is exempt from falling, apart from absolute trust in our Lord Jesus, and not in ourselves.

For we are still human beings. We still live in flesh bodies. We are still tempted to sin against our Lord, and we are still capable of sinning against our Lord. So it is only by the grace of God and in his power and strength that any of us will survive without caving to the enemy when he comes to “sift us like wheat.” I know. I have been there. And I don’t want to ever go there again. But I know I could if I don’t remain closely connected with my Lord and if my dependency is not totally in him but it is in my own flesh.

So, the encouragement here, I believe, is to be honest with ourselves, to not think too highly of ourselves, to not assume we can never fail again, and to not assume that we are so removed from the flesh that there is no way possible that we could ever fall back into sin. We always could, given the right circumstances, and if we begin to think we are good to go and that evil can no longer touch us. That is where the danger lies.

And that is why Jesus told us that if we are to come after him that we must deny self and take up our cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow him in obedience (Luke 9:23-26). And Paul taught the same thing in Romans 8:12-14 when he said this: “So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put” (are putting) “to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”

Near the Cross  

Hymn lyrics by Fanny J. Crosby, 1869

Music by William H. Doane, 1869 

Jesus, keep me near the cross; 

There a precious fountain, 

Free to all, a healing stream, 

Flows from Calvary's mountain. 

Near the cross, a trembling soul, 

Love and mercy found me; 

There the bright and morning star 

Sheds its beams around me. 

 

Near the cross! O Lamb of God, 

Bring its scenes before me; 

Help me walk from day to day 

With its shadow o'er me. 

Near the cross I'll watch and wait, 

Hoping, trusting ever, 

Till I reach the golden strand 

Just beyond the river. 

In the cross, in the cross, 

Be my glory ever, 

Till my raptured soul shall find 

Rest beyond the river.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5gong-PNmY

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