Denial & Restoration | Pastor Cody Harlow May 25th, 2025- Mark 14:66-72

will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold. I hope that your hope rests in the God of Jacob who is our stronghold. Let's pray. Father God, I thank you and praise you for this morning that we get to worship together as brothers and sisters. Thank you for this facility, for this campus, and for all that it gets that we get to do here in sharing the gospel, in engaging our community and world, for the purpose of people across the world to get to know you, the one who gave his son to be our savior, who paid the debt that we owed that we might have eternal life. I pray that, Father, as we continue in worship now, that you would just help us to be mindful of just who you are. That we would see you high and lifted up. And that as we sing, as we open your word, that Lord, we would leave here animated and excited about who we are in you. And that Lord, we would share that excitement and joy uh with our community. I ask this in your name. Amen. Please stand. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] The lightning of the spir [Music] is marching on. Glory glory hallelujah. His truth is marching on. [Music] I have seen it in the watch of my heart. He has filled him in the evening news. I can read his righteous [Music] maring on. Glory glory hallelujah. His truth is maring on. He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall ever glor. He is sending out the

hearts of men before his judgment seat. Oh, he swift my soul to answer me to my feet. Our God is maring on. [Music] Glory glory hallelu. His truth is marching on. Glory glory hallelujah. His truth is maring on. [Music] [Applause] [Music] and marvelous, matchless love to vast and astounding to death forever exist. existing in worlds above, now offered and given to all. Oh fountain of beauty eternal, the father, the spirit, the son, sufficient and endlessly generous, magnificent, marvelous, matchless love. [Music] Creation is brimming with thankfulness. The mountains exalted they said the seasons rejoice in your faithfulness. All life is sustained by your hand. You crown every meadow with color. You paint every shade in the sky. Each day that's on ways then on for a magnificent marvelous matchless love. How great, how sure his love enders forever more. Magnificent love on this matchless world. What grace that you entered our brokenness. You came in the fullness of time. How far we had fallen from righteousness but not from the mercies of Christ. Your cross is our door to redemption. Your death is our fullness of life. That day, how forgiveness f of magnificent, marvelous, matchless love. How great, how sure his love enders forever more. Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love.

United in your resurrection, you lift us to infinite heights. Could anything sever or take us from? Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love. How great, how sure his love endures forever more. Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love. [Music] Amen. Good morning, church. Come to the time in our service, we have an opportunity to continue our worship through giving. And it is a real part of worshiping the Lord as as so much of what we do here. Uh so let's pray for our offering and then I will as the men are taking an offering I'll read the catechism for today. Father in heaven we thank you Lord for this morning. We thank you Lord for the opportunity to be here to to receive uh from you uh Lord through your word and to receive from you through in fellowship with one another. And Father, as we continue in our worship service, uh we we take this offering, God, and we know it's it's just physical paper and coins and and stuff like that, but it's it's used, Father, for ministry. So, God, I pray that whatever uh we take up this morning that this would be used to spread the gospel. Lord, just thinking of the song where where the judgment day is coming where you're you're separating the the sheep from the goats and and Lord, we just pray for more and more sheep to be in there rather than goats. So God, we pray that this offering would be used for your ministry in Jesus name. Amen. So our catechism for today, the question is, how does Christ execute the office of a priest? Uh Hebrews chapter 7 verse 24- 27 says, "But he holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him since he always lives to

make intercession for them. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered himself up. 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 5 reads for there is one God and there is one mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus and again in Hebrews Hebrews 9 11 and 12 but when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands that is to say is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but he entered the most holy place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. This is God's word. [Music] Men of sorrows, what a day for the son of God who came. Ruin sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah. for the Savior. Bearing shame and suffer [Music] sealed my pardon with his blood. Hallelujah. What a savior. [Music] Man of sorrow, son of God, purchase freom by his blood. Lamb who takes the blame for sin. Hallelujah. What a savior. [Music] to defile and helplessly spotless

lamb of God was he atone can it be hallelu [Music] what a savior [Music] man of sorrow Oh son of God, purchase freom by his takes the blame for sin. Hallelujah. [Music] What a savior. [Music] Lifted up was he to die. It is finished was his cry. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Oh [Music] fre. [Music] Hallelujah. What a save. [Music] Glorious to me. Hallelujah. [Music] Purchase Freom. [Music] Hallelujah. What a Savior. Hallelujah. My savior. [Music] The mystery of the cross I cannot come. The agonies of Calary. You the perfect holy one crush your son. You drank the bitter coverings for me. Your blood has washed away my sin. Jesus, thank you. The father's wrath completely satisfied. Jesus, thank you. Once your enemy

now seated at your table, Jesus, thank you. By your perfect sacrifice I've been brought near. Your enemy you've made your friend. Pouring out the riches of your glorious grace. Your mercy and your kindness know it. Your blood has washed away my sin. Jesus, thank you. The father's wrath completely satisfied. Jesus, thank you. Once your enemy, now seated at your table. Jesus, thank you. Lover of my soul. I want to live for you. of my soul. I want to live [Music] I want to live for you. Your blood has washed away my sin. Jesus savely sisfied. Jesus save. Your blood has washed away my sin. Jesus thank you. The love is wrath completely satisfied. Jesus save you once your enemy. Now seated at your table. Jesus save you. Once you enmy now seated at your table. Jesus, thank you. God, we do thank you. We thank you for your love and kindness towards us, your goodness and faithfulness that you walk with us in this life. Um God, you are just uh beyond words. God, I just pray that our hearts would be softened to you today. I pray for every person here that they would experience you in a new way. We pray for Pastor Cody as he preaches your word. God, may your truth pierce our hearts and may it just have such an impact that we change. We thank you for how you are faithful even when we are

unfaithful. And God, I know you're going to prove yourself today. It's in Jesus name. Amen. Well, happy Memorial Day everyone. Uh, I hope that you guys have a uh a wonderful weekend. Um, if you have your Bible, and I hope that you do, please turn with me to the book of Mark, chapter 14, Mark, chapter 14. And uh, today we're looking at Peter's denial. We are now 62 sermons into the book of Mark. Uh, and uh, we will finish Mark on July 6th. We've been here since January 2024 and um uh little little breaks in between. After that um you know I know that we said that we were going to go into Ruth. We we actually decided to do Philippians next and then Ruth and then we're going to have enough time there to actually squeeze in Jonah before Christmas. And so uh that's kind of what it looks like for the rest of the year. We're excited uh to see what the Lord's doing. It's clear that he's working among us and uh so thankful for what God is up to. Um Lord willing, I'll be here to go through it all. You know, we we always make our plans, but the Lord directs our steps. Amen. So, here in our passage, we are in the darkest night. Uh it is where Christ has been betrayed by Judas. He is handed over to the Sanhedrin and Mark he presents us with this typical sandwich style, right? Where uh he kind of picks up a thread of a narrative a little bit later. And what he's doing is he's he's going back to verse 52 when uh Christ he's taken away and we we explored that in the trial last week. Uh and Mark here he's picking up what happened with Peter after he ran off into the darkness. And our story begins with an unnamed disciple sneaking Peter into Caiaphas's home. Uh it's a historical site known as the Pacial Mansion. And here's what it says uh in the book of John. This is a a

different perspective here. Says Simon Peter followed Jesus and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. That's Caiaphas. Uh but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple who was known to the high priest went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door and brought Peter in. So this disciple who was close enough to the high priest to be able to bring in a guest during this very unusual sneaky trial. Let's give credit where credit's due because Peter, he is walking into a den of thieves and murderers and liars. He's not denying Christ yet. Today, we're going to look at the dangers of denying Christ, different ways that we may be tempted to deny Christ, but ultimately we're also going to look at the hope of restoration and grace. um that is for those of us who maybe have denied him in our past. If you would stand with me in honor of God's word as we read Mark 14 66-72 God's word it says this and as Peter was below in the courtyard one of the servant girls of the high priest came and seeing Peter warming himself she looked at him and said you also were with the Nazarene Jesus but he denied it saying I I neither know nor understand what you mean And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, "This man is one of them." But again he denied it. And after a little while, the bystanders again said to Peter, "Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean." But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, "I do not know this man of whom you speak." And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, "Before the rooster crows

twice, you will deny me three times." And he broke down and he wept. And so Lord, we do thank you for this day that you've given to us. We thank you for this example that we see in um the gospel accounts of uh Peter's denial. Uh thank you for their honesty. Thank you for their transparency. Uh thank you that uh uh these accounts are accurate. Uh thank you that they uh don't try to paint um our heroes as uh perfect but as human. Uh thank you that these are actual stories and they give us hope Lord that uh um when we fail we can come back to you and receive grace. God, we pray that today as we uh discuss this and we learn from your word about this denial. I pray that you would be with each one of us. Um help us to apply these truths to our lives. Maybe if there's someone here that uh they need to know you. Maybe they've uh denied you. Lord, let today be the day that they are drawn back to you. We love you Lord in Jesus name. Amen. Well, Peter, he finds himself in the courtyard of Caiaphas. Uh, and this is what it looked like. You guys might remember this from last week. I think I may have had a little different looking one. Uh, this is called the palatial mansion. You can go there today. It's ruins now. Uh, but you can still go there. You can see the different ceremonial tubs that are here with entrances and exits, uh, walk-ins, walkouts, different things like that. Actually, right over here is actually an indoor toilet. Uh, so that's like, you know, someone was really influential uh during this time and uh based on the the number of bathtubs and the layout and everything like this, uh they're almost 100% positive that this is uh Caiaphas's house. Remember that he ruled for 19 years. Exceptionally powerful as a leader during that time. Uh more than likely this is Jesus's uh trial room right here which sits up about four and

a half feet above the courtyard where you can look down and see. And so the story that we're talking about takes place right here in this courtyard. Actually, if you stand right there in that corner, uh, near that gateway, just like what Mark records, you get a perfect shot looking right into this room where Jesus would have turned and looked at Peter. Kind of kind of a neat little uh uh faith affirming thing there. But that's a 6,500 square foot home. It's a big home, man. And uh uh and Christ uh as I said, that would have been his trial room. Uh but a servant girl, she looks at Caiaphas uh she works at Caiaphas's uh home and she sees Peter warming himself by the fire and she doesn't ask him, "Hey, aren't you that guy? Weren't you the guy with Jesus?" She doesn't ask him. She just straight up says it. You were with the Nazarene Jesus. And that just totally stops Peter in his tracks and he just denies it outright. As we said this morning in our uh community group, uh the young adults of Nuhuh. If you're taking notes, you need to write down this first point, which is the danger of denying Christ. Look at Peter's response. He says, "I neither know nor understand what you mean." And that denial is in direct contradiction to what Peter said that he would do. He said this in Matthew 26:es 31-35. uh you will all fall away from me away because of me this night. Uh for it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee." Peter answered him, "Though they all fall away, because of you, I will never fall away. Never ever." And then here's what Jesus says. Truly I tell you, this very night before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. Peter said, even if I

must die with you, I will not deny you. And all the disciples said the same. But here he is denying Christ by distancing himself from any association with Jesus. The Greek word here for I don't know is arneomi which means refuse or reject relationally. I I have not had any experience with that man to renounce completely his association with that word is used um that rejection is used with heavy warnings all throughout the New Testament. Here's what Jesus said in Matthew 10 verse 33. But whoever denies me, rejects any association with me relationally, right? Before men, I also will deny relationally completely before my father who is in heaven. That's a big warning, right? That's a heavy warning. And I think Jesus, he means it there in Matthew chapter 10. And I think that warning is there for for you and I. But I also think it was there for Peter because he heard these words of warning. And Peter, he's in a dangerous spot spiritually. And he does that through denying any knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's another warning. This one's from Paul. If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us. That's that aromi, that same Greek word. Another stern warning. If we deny the Lord Jesus, he will deny us on that last day. Very serious stuff for us to consider. Second Peter chapter 2 verse one. But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying Aromi, the master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. So here we have a verse about false teachers. uh false prophets, things like that. They're denying it and they are heretics. They're objects of destruction. Continues on Jude chap uh Jude verse4, "For certain people have

crept in unnoticed, who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people who pervert the grace of our God and sensuality, and our naomi deny our only master and lord Jesus Christ." And so in this passage, we're learning all about these ungodly people and all of these warnings. Once again, extremely serious things for you and I to consider. But here's Peter doing it in all of the gospel accounts. He's not exactly a poster child for faithfulness, is he? That word deny. It's interesting because it can it can mean even definitionally as it means here to refuse to accept the existence, the truth of or validity of. In other words, one usage is you know that he knew that there was a previous knowledge of Jesus. He had a secret knowledge, right? He wasn't allowed to share it. The spirit had given him at Cesaria Philippi. Who do you say that I am? And Peter was the one that professed, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. He knew that. He understood that. He didn't understand all the implications of it. But he knew Jesus. He knows that Jesus is more than just some carpenter from Galilee. He believes that he is the very son of God. And yet, he's denying Christ. Why? Because he's he's more concerned for his safety rather than his allegiance to the Lord. At at the palatial mansion, if you go there to Israel today, you can see this statue that's right there. Here, you can't really see it because contrast and all that kind of stuff, but uh right here is Peter. He's got his hands up like I don't even know the guy. And then you got two servant girls right there. He's looking at them going, I don't know who they are. You got a a Roman guard that's right there because he he he rejected him to a guard. And then you up here at the top, you have this rooster

that is crowing. And it's a reminder to us of the grace that is available in Christ. All sins are serious because the wages of sin is death. And sometimes we like to try to make excuses for Peter and things like that, but we have to realize that this is a very deadly and serious situation that Peter is in. And we might we might see the same weakness in our own life that we see in Peter's, but we can never ever excuse it in our own lives. If we minimize Peter's sin here, we're going to minimize our own sin. If we minimize his sin, then we minimize his bitter tears. We minimize his repentance. We minimize the grace of Christ's reconciliation. So, let's not minimize those things, but let's look at it for what it exactly is. Because Peter, he's the fierce defender of the Lord. He's the guy who cut off Malcus' ear, right? And he's been brought low by the accusation of a servant girl. And don't we all operate in inconsistencies? Peter says, "I I neither know him nor have any idea of what you mean." That first denial is just a theoretical knowledge. The second idea is epistemi, which means practical knowledge. So Peter's denial is a complete denial in theory and in practice. And it's amazing how quickly men and women can move away from our Lord when we do not walk in full reliance upon the strength of God. When we walk by the spirit, we're fine. If we walk according to the flesh, what happens? We begin going down a different path that the Lord has for us. We walk in disobedience. You see, we must remain in the power of God. We must remain obedient to the gospel. And we never outgrow our need for the gospel. And Peter, he moves away from his accuser into that gateway and

the rooster crows. First time the rooster crows. This is interesting because this is what a lot of people do is that they have a struggle and then they say, you know what, I'm struggling really hard here. So, I'm going to kind of uproot myself and move to a completely different place. But a change of place is not the same as a change of heart. We have to be born again. the servant girl, she again tells the others, "This man is one of them." And Peter, he denies it again. And again, someone accuses him because his his accent is Galilean. They understand, "You're you're from that northern part, aren't you?" And Peter, he starts to swear and he starts to bring curses down pretty much. He swears and threatens them that if they don't stop accusing him, then he would curse them. I do not know this man of whom you speak. And so we learn about that there's all sorts of different forms of denial. The the denials escalate, right? From silently sneaking in to outright denial to making oaths and curses. And this teaches us that denying Christ, it looks different in different contexts. It's not always with our words, but sometimes it's a little more subtle subtle. Maybe it's uh through small compromises, living against God's plan. Sometimes it's in the words that we say. A a disciple, one of the 12 surely wouldn't be cursing people, right? You can't say amen. You say ouch. Sometimes it's in the words that we say. Sometimes it's in our conduct. Maybe our emotions get the best of us. Just practical things. For Christians in the 21st century, we got all sorts of ways that we may be tempted to deny Christ. If we don't walk according to his word and his teachings and his way, that's us

functionally living in denial of Christ. Say, "Yeah, I'm going to live by faith. He's my Lord and Master." But you're not bringing your life under his. Then you're denying your Lord and Master who bought you. 21st century, you know, we got we got gender affirmations and stuff like that. Can't do it in Colorado, right? That puts Christians in a really tough spot. Who has your allegiance? Or perhaps it's uh uh the things that you're going to watch, the way that you raise your children. Thanks, Oh my goodness. Thanks, guys. Hope it was blue. Where was I? Sweating. So when Christians when we conform to worldly values, that's us denying Christ. Simple as that. When we allow for consumerism, affirmations of sin, wasting time, prioritizing financial success over other things. I mean, those are the things that that destroyed churches. It destroys lives. I mean, if we look at Titus chapter 1, I think you got to activate that again. Got to highlight that that box for me. Yeah. Yeah. There we go. Okay. Titus chapter 1 verse 16. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. are Naomi. They deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. You know, churches, they adopt entertainment-driven strategies to to grow churches, right? So, preaching gets replaced by talks, worship gets replaced by light shows. And the danger that we have in this, and this is nothing new. It's nothing new. It's been happening in churches for

literally decades upon decades upon decades. When you cater to the the whims and the wants and the desires, uh that's what happens. You get a Christless Christianity that doesn't save and doesn't sanctify. A lot of Christians, they deny Christ by avoiding just obedience at nearly any cost. So they walk in their freedom. They say, you know, I don't have to do blank because I'm saved. That Christ didn't die for easy beliefism. He was your He's your Lord and Master. Many Christians I know, they don't say anything about evangelism. They can't tell you the last time they shared the gospel with anyone. Christians are perceived as pushy, judgmental if they share the gospel. But people, they need to know about the finished work of Christ. It's not about a license to sin. It's about a license to share, to live holy lives and to share the word. Some Christians, they rapidly adopt moral relativism, right? It's a live and let live kind of attitude. People, you can just believe whatever you want. You can do whatever you want. God is going to sort it all out in the end. But Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me." There's one way to be saved and it's through faith alone in Jesus. Jesus is the way to salvation. And you're not doing anyone fa anyone favors by believing and holding to these views that are ultimately denials of the king that died to save you. And so for Peter, he denies Christ completely, overtly, using curses and oaths to convince those around him that he didn't know Jesus. And the way that Peter was cursing wasn't just by swearing, but swearing by God's own name. That Greek word there is like it has a root word of an anathema, right? To bring curses down. But it's an anathema season, which means that it's not just the words, it's the actions

behind it. And this teaches us that there's a watching world and they need to see your actions, your good works, your your your righteousness and things like that. But that's not what's ultimately going to save them. They need to know Jesus. And we must remember that there is tremendous danger. Just like I said in Matthew chapter 10, whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my father who is in heaven. And the consequences for denying Christ are many. Like for many people, it's simply uh I I've been I've been walking this path for so long and I don't feel God in my life anymore. Therefore, they they they kind of put their hands up. They're like, "I'm done. I'm done with all this. I I don't need this anymore." And so, they walk away. If you walk down a path of constant denial, for example, with Judas, okay, it gives evidence that he was not even saved to begin with. Sometimes we can grieve the Holy Spirit in our lives. Look at what it says in Ephesians 4:30. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. So let's ask this question. Does Peter lose his salvation when he denies Christ here? No. Are our confession the Baptist faith and message? It says this. All true believers endure endure to the end. Okay. Those whom God has accepted in Christ and sanctified by his spirit will never fall away from the state of grace but shall persevere to the end. Okay. This is the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints that the Baptist faith and message teaches. It's what we believe. Uh believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation. That means that you and I, we might go

through seasons where we have uh rebellion, where we struggle against sin. Okay? Whereby they grieve the spirit, impair their graces and comforts. It means when you're when you're walking in rebellion, you don't have the power of the spirit controlling your life. You don't you're walking according to the flesh, according to the ways of this world. And they bring reproach on the cross of Christ and temporal judgments upon themselves. It's where you might see a Christian that uh is is their marriage is falling apart because they're walking in habitual sin. Yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. Okay, how does that work? Eventually they repent. It seems to me that Jesus uh that Judas and Peter, they're walking down similar paths from our perspectives, right? They they look like the same path because Judas, he's denying Jesus. Peter, he's denying Jesus. From our perspective, they look the same. And yet God in his sovereignty, he knows the paths that they walk and he meets them on those paths differently. For Judas, he was a repbate. He had no hope. He was one of the chosen one of the 12. But Christ is clear that he chose Judas knowing that he was a devil. His words, not mine. But Judas, he regretted the decision. He made it right by rejecting the money. But in his despair, he went and he hung himself because he was never a follower of Christ to begin with. You see, when confronted with sin, you can either be led to despair or you can be led to repent. He was like those that Jesus talked about in Matthew chapter 7. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will inh will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven. On that day, many will

say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do mighty works in your name?" And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you, a denial. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." And yet Peter, he's on a different path. We see in verse 72 that he breaks down and he weeps. The third point here, and this is where the gospel really starts to come in, is the grief that leads to grace. You see, these tears there are an important part of Peter's restoration. Peter, he denies Christ. Luke tells us that in this moment while the the rooster is crowing, Peter, he looks over at Jesus. Jesus looks over at him. They lock eyes and it cuts him to his heart. In the midst of the cursing, in the midst of invoking God's holy name in an oath, he looks over and he sees his Lord, the one that he loves, and he is cut deeply to his heart. Repentance literally definitionally means that there is a change of mind towards sin, righteousness, and God. And definitionally it means that. But true repentance also includes grief over sin, not just guilt like what Judas had. This is where we have to walk that fine line. There's a godly sorrow. There's a godly brokenness. Just like what Paul writes, for godly grief produces repentance that leads to salvation without regret. Whereas worldly grief produces death. You see, Peter, he understood the heinousness of his own sin. There was no doubt that Peter, he was guilty of betraying Christ, denying the son of God, and behaving in a way that was inconsistent with being a disciple. And yet, there is still abundant grace, grace upon grace for Peter. You see, Christ, he knew all about Peter's denial ahead of time. It didn't surprise Jesus. It didn't catch him on offguard. It didn't make him go, "Oh my

gosh, Peter, what are you doing? Here's what Jesus said. Surely I tell you this very night before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. He tells him that ahead of time. He warns Peter about the denial. And yet he still loves Peter in spite of the denial. The whole event is tragic, but it's not without a happy ending. You see, Mark was written to believers in Rome. And it's likely that even at this time that Peter is serving as the pastor, the the bishop, the elder, the overseer of Rome. And so, can you imagine reading this book about your pastor? Peter did what? That's what happened. Jesus told Peter this that this would happen and that they would all scatter and that he would come back and he would meet them in Galilee. Here's what it says at at the resurrection. All right. No, this is uh earlier in the chapter during the last supper. You will all fall away for it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee. This breaking down of Peter is the key to Peter being built up. God is the God of second chances. And here's what it says after the resurrection. But go tell his disciples and Peter, the one that denied me, one who cursed, the one who behaved really poorly. Tell Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. there you will see him just as he told you. And God wants Peter to know that forgiveness is there for him too. And we read about Peter's restoration, don't we? We know the story from John's perspective. It says, "When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter,"Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you

know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs." He said to him a second time,"Simon, son of John, do you love me?" And he said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." Said to him a third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he had said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. Truly I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted. But when you were old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go. This he said to show him what kind of death he was to glorify God. And after saying this, he said to him, "Follow me." This is where we see the final point today, which is the restoration of the repentant. You see Jesus, he restores Peter by seeking him out and addressing his denial head on. He knows Peter's regret. But regret is not the same as repentance, is it? Not the same as forgiveness. It's not the same as salvation. Just as Jesus does with Christians, he may allow for us to go through a season of sin. in a season of rebellion. And for those of us that have been through those seasons, it's a miserable season, isn't it? You can't be a Christian and love your sin. Sin makes you feel sick. You might you might enjoy it for a little bit, but eventually it feels wrong. Feel ins snared. You might live in it for a while, but the moment will come just like the prodigal son where those scales are lifted from your eyes and you realize, "What am I doing? This is not who I am. I'm a child of

God." And so, we return to the father with tears and tremendous remorse. And all of us, we've been in Peter's shoes at one time or another. We've either fallen into sin or we've allowed our relationship with Christ to turn cold or we've kept silent about our faith or and what Peter's testimony teaches us is that despite all of our failings that forgiveness is available to you that you can turn away from God for a season. You you might even go off into a distant land like the prodigal did. But repentance is just a step away. Peter's repentance is through an affirmation of love for the Lord. Three times he's asked, "Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me?" And that third time, Peter is grieved. But Peter, he knew what was happening. And as a result of this restoration, Christ, he used Peter in a mighty way. So, what do we learn from all this? Well, we learn that God's sovereign plan takes into account our terrible failures. He knows all of the things that you're going to do. and yet he still chose to redeem you. Isn't that comforting that he takes into account all of your dumb decisions and he even uses them for a redemptive purpose. Romans chapter 8 verse uh 28 it says for we know that those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. We should remember that while God, he knows those things doesn't give us a license to sin. Okay? But yet or and receive more grace. Here's what it says in Romans chapter 6. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means. How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his

death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father, we too might walk in newness of life. And we also learned that no failure is too great for the grace of God. You might think that your sin is too much or too great or too unique. And you go, God, Cody, you don't know what I've done. You don't know the things that I'm wrestling with. You don't know my history or my struggles or what have you. You're right. I don't. I have no clue. But God does. And he has you here for this purpose so that you would trust in him more and more. And that if you don't know him, you could place your faith and trust in him even today. Bible tells us in Romans chapter 5 10 and 11. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. You see Jesus, he died to save adulterers, liars, blasphemers, disobedient people, thieves. And he died for us while we were enemies, not while we were good. He didn't tell us, "Hey, next time do better." Jesus didn't tell Peter, "You know what? You failed me once. Don't let it happen again." We're saved by faith alone in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. So, you trust in Christ today to cover all of your sins and to save you from the wrath to come. If you do that, it means that you're saved. You're you're justified by the free gift of eternal life when you repent of your sins and you trust in Jesus Christ and that mercy is available for anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord. Head, heart, hand, head. Um God, he wants you to know that his grace

restores even our worst failures through repentance and faith. Okay? God's mercy is sufficient enough to redeem even the most serious sins. And when we turn to God with regen with genuine repentance and faith, boom, it's a done deal. And I thank God that there's not all these steps and hoops and things that you got to walk through in order to do that heart. God. He wants you to believe that his grace forgives and restores all who repent and trust in Christ, no matter what their sin is. Unlike Judas, whose regret led to despair, Peter's godly sorrow and faith led led to salvation, led to being restored, showing that true belief in Christ Jesus brings grace. Uh and h God, he wants you to repent and trust in Christ grace for forgiveness and for restoration. So turn from many of those denials that you might be struggling through, okay? The words, the actions, the cultural compromise, things like that, and actively trust in his grace for forgiveness just as Peter did after his sin. And so God, we do thank you so much for this day that you've given to us. We thank you for your mercy. Uh we want to lift up to you just uh this time that we have uh of response. Uh we pray that uh by your grace that uh you would empower us to live holy lives this week. Lord, if there's uh places that we need to turn away from, Lord, thank you that you are our high priest who deals with us that we don't have to go to uh pastors or or anyone else. We come and we do business with you. And so Lord, I just pray that if there's anyone here that they would uh personally just go to you and if they need to talk to someone just to uh receive counsel, Lord, I pray they talk to a friend or a neighbor or someone that brought them uh that they would know that they know that they know you um before they even leave this place. Uh as we uh worship together, may you be glorified today. Uh we just thank

you for uh the love and the mercy that we have in Christ. It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Let's all and let's respond in worship. We're actually going to start in verse three today. [Music] Guilty divine, helpless weak, spotless lamb of God. Was he full of atonement can it be? Hallelujah. What a savior. Man of sorrow, son of God, purges freom by his blood. The who takes the blame for sin. Hallelujah. What a savior. Lifted up was he to die. It is finished was his cry. Now in heaven exalted high. Hallelujah. [Music] What a savior. Man of sorrow, son of God. Purchase freedom by his blood. Lamb who takes the blame for sin. Hallelujah. What a savior. Amen. Well, amen. I want to take a moment. What if you could go ahead and have a seat? I want to bring up uh uh uh Craig and Cheryl as um they wanted to give an update to the church on um Can you hear me? Uh Mike uh seven uh they want to give an update to the church on uh what the Lord is leading them in and and uh yeah so I'll just let them talk. All right. Good morning again church.

Some of you may have seen some things on Facebook. Some of you are passing rumors around. Uh, no, not really. And we just want to straighten everybody out, just let you know what's going on. Uh, just thinking about it, uh, this coming July, the first weekend of July would mark 10 years uh, that we have been here in Camden and that we have been at this church. Uh, we love this church. We love uh, you love our pastor and his family. Uh, we've we've enjoyed the ministries that we've had here. Uh, but it's time for a ministry change for us. We are still serving uh with Ethnos 360. Um we've been down at the training center for these 10 years and the Lord has is moving us. We feel down to Florida where we don't have ice storms normally. Uh they can sometimes hurricanes. Yeah. Hurricanes. Yeah. We need a new we need to try new weather patterns just to see what's up. Um we're going to be serving uh at our missions uh retirement center. Uh we'll be going down there. There a need uh for people to work down there. And you think about some of you folks uh who are above the retirement age. I'm not going to say you're old or elderly or anything like that. You're just above the retirement age and some of the extra help you may need at times. And a lot of our missionaries, they don't have family, they don't have places. And so the retirement centers there will be going down and helping uh in the kitchen. They also have an assisted living facilities and that's what we'll be working with. Maybe let Cheryl share a little bit. No, I think it's been pretty cool. We've been here for 10 years, but even before this in Indonesia for the 20 years that we were there, training the next generation of missionaries to take our place when we can't do this anymore. Now, we get to go take care of those that have served. And I love that. I love older people. I love the some of my

favorite customers at Gerbs have been the older folks that would hand me their wallet and say, "Sure, I'll take the money out here. Can you write this for me? Can you help me with this?" So, I love that going from one one spectrum to the next and just to be able to be a part of their lives and um pray to be a blessing there. Nobody has ever given me their wallet and said, "Take the money out." Must be a problem here. Um and we will miss you guys. Uh we have been involved in multiple ministries here. We've served in AANA. Um we've served in VBS. We've loved our um adult Sunday school class. We've loved the last year uh that we've been able to serve and be a part of the young adult Sunday school class. We're at the time of this season we're doing a lot of our lasts. Like we're in our last Sunday school class with the adults. Thursday I will miss our young adults. We went out to B-Dubz. Uh with the young people group. If you don't know what B-Dubz is, Buffalo Wild Wings uh with the group and so we're just thankful for you guys uh for the opportunities. I've been a it's been a privilege to be here with you serving with you as a deacon in this the different things that we've done. So, thank you so much. Oh, but we're not going to Florida right now. Oh, yes. We get six months um on Thursday we leave for New Hampshire. That's where our sending church is at. So, we're going to go spend six months with our sending church just reconnecting with some of the people there making new friends and part of that will also be support raising. So, we'd ask you to pray for us as we go um approach people about joining our support team. We want to finish strong. We want to finish well even though these are our sunset years, I call them. Um we still want to do um a good job and finish strong and faithful. So, be praying for us as we leave on

Thursday. And I'm going to take another minute and say that in New Hampshire, we'll be there for the fall. So if nobody has ever seen a fall in New England, we'll have a little house. We'll have a couch. You can come and see stay with us. We'll be close to the beach and we finally get to cheer for the Patriots and Patriots country. Amen. Amen. And before they go, um, you know, the love in our world team, uh, because we love you guys so much, we wanted to leave y'all with a little gift and as well as we want to, uh, you know, bring you guys down here and we want to pray over, uh, them and their ministry. We're going to love them. We're going to miss them. Uh, some of the first people I got to meet uh, when I first came here. And so I'm very thankful to the Lord for for you guys, y'all's friendship, and y'all's ministry. So, if y'all don't mind coming down here, Yeah, if anyone else wants to pray, I'm not going to be able to do it. Lord, just thank you for uh good friendships, family, and uh Lord, we'll miss the castles. And as they go to be a blessing uh down in uh the state of Florida, I pray that you would just prepare their path. I pray for the next several months that would be restful, that you would bless their uh MPD, that you would bless their uh their time that they get to have um reconnecting. Lord, it's so hard to be away from uh from ascending church for so long. Um and now they get to uh they get to rejoice and and reconnect. Lord, I just pray that it would be a good time. Uh until we see them again, keep them. We just love the Lord in Jesus name. Amen. Sorry.