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Summary
The desperate heart of man, marked by worldly confidence and self-promotion, inevitably fails under divine examination, revealing its pitiful condition and the limits of human zeal. True spiritual strength and transformation are forged only through the painful process of coming to the end of oneself, where bitter weeping and thorough brokenness lead to the death of the old self. This humbling experience is essential for believers to shed their own ambition and embrace the Spirit of Christ, enabling them to stand firm when their faith is tested.
Transcript
0:13Never has there been a stark reminder of the desperate heart of man, the pitiful condition than that rooster noise that fateful day. That rooster noise pierced the dark and pierced the soul of Peter. And he went out and wept bitterly. And that's the death of Simon. His worldly view of the Messiah came crashing to an end. His worldly confidence in himself came crashing to an end. He wasn't who he was. Far more distance between he and his master than he ever imagined.
1:17But before leaving this section, I'd like to ask a couple questions. What should Peter have done? I mean, we're no better. I'm just saying, looking back, what would have been a response that we might have done? Would have loved to have seen. You remember the first denial from the slave girl? Are you one of his? You know, what might have been refreshing to hear? I am. I am. I'm only here to just observe. I don't want to cause trouble. I'm here.
1:55At least I think I am one of his. Verse 25. Remember the second denial? Are you one of his? I am. At least I thought I was. That would have been a little more honest. Or maybe I am, but a pitiful one indeed. Maybe at verse 26, where you see the denial to Malchus' relative. Aren't you one of his? Weren't you in the garden? You did see me in the garden. In fact, I'm the one who cut off your relative's ear. His blood is actually still on my dagger. I wanted to take up and fight. Jesus told me not to fight.
2:48I also saw something else happen there. Your relative's ear is back on. I mean, you go talk to him and ask him how that ear got there. There's something going on in this courtroom. There's something going on in this palace that you have, you don't understand, that I don't think any of us really understand. It's not you examining him, it's him examining us. He does only what God can do, and I have seen it with my own eyes. And I am a pitiful, miserable disciple indeed. But I tell you, there's something going on here that you have no idea, and you better be watching what's going on in your heart and do what's right.
3:45Why couldn't Peter do that? He didn't have the same spirit as Jesus. He was taken to the end of what human commitment and human zeal can do. His old Simonly zeal was not sufficient for such a task. His worldly view of the Messiah had to die, his worldly confidence in himself had to die, and his worldly ambition for self-promotion had to die. As Simon had to come to the end of himself, Before he could become the rock, what does a man look like when he has come to the end of himself?
4:39Bitter weeping, thorough brokenness. I wish there was a way we could come to this point without going through such a humbling experience. It's painful to watch, and yet I can see in my own heart many of the same tendencies as Simon, and I think you can too. But maybe there is a way. If we can identify and let this instruct us, and let the word humble us, you will all be examined. In fact, I think the world is watching us right now.
5:19We will all be examined. Not in this satanic palace of examination that Peter and Jesus were examined in, but ours may be the workplace, ours may be society, ours may be in the school, ours may be in our family. We will be examined. And when your interrogators want to look in and to see who you are, remember God is the one who is examining.