by Rev. Petros Mzamo
(The following sermon was preached by Rev. P. Mzamo on Thursday, 27th April 1972 preparatory to the communion service at Mbuma Mission.)
“And the Lord turned and look upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out and wept bitterly.” Luke 22:61, 62.
Here we have the time when Peter denied his Master and the time when the Lord looked upon Peter. It was the time when the Lord Jesus Christ was standing before the judgment. Judas Iscariot had betrayed his Master to the High Priest; many false accusations had been brought against the Lord; many were united to say as much as possible against ‘this man’; all the enemies of the Lord joined together as if to say, “If we miss this man we may not find him again; so let’s use this time.”
All were united against the Lord — even the ordinary people. It was the fulfilment of Psalm 2. What took place at this time was a fulfilment of Psalm 2: “Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers took counsel together, against the Lord, and against His Anointed”. They all joined together against the Anointed of God, the Holy One of Israel, against the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. “He came unto His own and His own received Him not.” John 1:11.
The next thing we notice is that the kings and the High Priests never showed friendship to Christ; the whole world was against Him. Herod was against the child Jesus. From among the priests none showed friendship. They showed openly that they were against Him, that they were the open enemies of the Saviour.
Now we come to the Church and find the man Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples. He belonged to the visible Church; he had its privileges. He held the position of treasurer, a position given to him. But here we see Judas Iscariot in his true colours. Although he was numbered among the twelve, in reality he was not of that number. He was a disguised enemy; he belonged to the enemy. He showed clearly that he was not a true Christian although he was of the Church, and had its privileges. He had never experienced a change of heart or sorrow for sin in a saving way — true repentance. He had betrayed the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. Judas Iscariot showed clearly that he was a hypocrite deep down, with no change of heart or nature. So now this must be exposed. He had never experienced true repentance. Jesus said that He had come to call sinners to repentance. Judas Iscariot never experienced this repentance, the work of the Holy Spirit, when the Holy Spirit pierces the heart of a sinner, showing his sin. Judas Iscariot was a stranger to this. Instead of turning away from sin, he went on in sin although he knew that he had committed sin. He took the money back to the High Priest. He appeared to be sincere, he appeared to be repenting, but deep down in his heart Judas Iscariot never truly repented unto eternal life, for he went deeper into sin. He went out into the darkness and killed himself. He broke the commandment of the Lord. “Thou shalt not kill”. He committed sin by breaking God’s law in taking his own life.
No sin stands by itself. Impossible! One sin joins with another sin; and as you grow you are making chains of sin, links joined together tying you to eternal death.
Take note of the fact that Judas Iscariot was one of the twelve. He was very near to the Church, although he did not belong to the true Church of Christ. When the Lord constituted His table Judas was among the disciples. He was a hypocrite. It is a dangerous thing for a hypocrite to come to Church and sit at the Lord’s Table: to have the privileges but to make it his chief occupation to betray the Lord, to betray the Lord to His enemies.
So let us examine ourselves. Are we true Christians, born again, born twice? Those twice born shall die once; such are the people of God. A hypocrite, born once, never experienced the New Birth.
Let us now go on to the case of Peter. Peter was truly of the Church of Christ, born twice, born into this world but also into the kingdom of God. “Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God”. Only those born twice can see the Kingdom of God. Peter was different from Judas Iscariot: he was not a hypocrite; he had knowledge of the Saviour. “This is life eternal that they might know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.” Peter had this knowledge taught by the Holy Spirit.
Peter committed sin. What sin? The sin of denying his Lord, his Saviour, his Redeemer. That was his sin. This shows us that there are certain sins committed by the Lord’s people. The hypocrite, Judas Iscariot, could not deny Him as his Lord, because He was not his Lord. He was not the Lord of the priests. They said, “We will not have this man to rule over us”. The Roman soldiers and the governors did not own Him as Lord. Judas Iscariot, deep down in his heart, never owned Him as Lord. He did not say as Thomas did, “My Lord and my God”.
But here Peter had denied his own Lord. He had already said that He would be his Lord. He had said in effect: “This is the One I desire to follow”. He had said, “Behold we have forsaken all, and followed Thee.” Peter had now denied his Lord. The sin of denying the Lord in this way is committed by His people. The world, the unconverted, have rejected the Lord. They say, “Away with this man”. They reject Him, but the denial of Him, as in the case of Peter, is committed by the Lord’s people.
Another sin only committed by the Lord’s people is grieving the Holy Spirit, as in Ephesians Chapter 4, verse 30: “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption”.
The world resist the Holy Spirit, but He does not dwell in the hearts of the unconverted. The Holy Spirit dwells in the hearts of His people and He is grieved when they fail in their duty, when they fail to pray, when they quarrel and fall into discontentment and misunderstandings. The Holy Spirit is grieved, for He is the Spirit of love, of peace. So Peter was here guilty of denying the Lord and of grieving the Holy Spirit.
Another thing we notice is that Peter was specially favoured of the Lord. The Lord took Peter, James and John to the Mount of Transfiguration. Peter saw the glory of the Church, Moses and Elijah and the Lord Jesus glorious in appearance — the Church glorified. Some of the disciples did not have this experience. In the garden of Gethsemane the Lord took Peter, James and John with Him. Peter was an eyewitness of the Lord’s suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. He saw the sweat of drops of blood. Peter saw it with his own eyes. Peter was really a believer; he gladdened the heart of the Lord when Jesus asked, “Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am?” Several answers were given. They said, “Some say that Thou are John the Baptist; some Elias; and others Jeremias or one of the prophets.” “One of the prophets” suggests indifference. But Peter gave a clear answer, showing the teaching of God: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The Lord answered, “Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” And He added that upon that rock, his profession, He would build His Church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. Peter knew that He was the Christ of God; that He had come to save His people from their sins. Peter was taught by God Himself; he had received this revelation. Blessed is the one who has this knowledge: “I know this is the Christ. There is none other Saviour, save Christ alone”. And yet, in spite of this, Peter denied his Lord: “I know Him not”. He was saying that he was ignorant of his Master who had done so much for him. The Lord had said, “All ye shall be offended because of me this night”. Peter had answered, “Though all men shall be offended because of Thee yet will I never be offended”. He was saying as it were, “I will go with Thee to prison and to death”. But the Lord said, “Verily I say unto thee, that this night before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice”.
Now, coming to ourselves, are we not guilty of denying the Lord in many different ways. You are guilty of this sin perhaps not so much by word of mouth; but if you are living a life inconsistent with your profession, you are denying the Lord. You are living the life of the world, joined with the world in its activities which are against the Lord. These people are His enemies; so if you join with them by going to the dancing hall, night plays, what are you doing but denying the Lord saying, “I know not this man”?
People also deny the Lord by keeping quiet when they ought to speak. A chance is given to speak for the Lord when the Name of the Lord is blasphemed. If you are quiet, are you not denying the Lord? So that is the sin of Peter: he disowned the Lord; and yet the Lord owned Peter. He is still the same, and will be to the end. Though we would disown the Lord, if we are His people, He abideth faithful. The Lord owned Peter; He is interested in His people; He takes notice of everything, their words, actions, thoughts, just like a loving parent who notices what the child does. The little steps that the child takes the father notices. So it is with the Lord. If you are a child of grace the Lord takes notice of you. Though here the Lord was in the midst of trouble, he noticed Peter. The crowing of the cock could not open the heart of Peter, could not remind him of his sin. Peter heard the cock crow, but it was not its sound that moved him. He was not moved until the precious Lord, the Merciful One, turned and looked on him as if to say, “Peter, why did you deny Me when I am alone, when the whole world is against Me?” The Lord looked upon Peter because He was interested in him.
Ah dear friend, what are you doing with Christ? Are you careful not to disown the Lord? Here is the merciful One. Peter was written on his heart; and the look, those eyes turned on Peter, pierced Peter to his soul, to his heart. The darkness which had covered Peter’s heart was removed by that look. He was brought to the glorious light of the Gospel. Those convincing eyes that pierced Peter! Peter remembered his sin. We cannot know our sins of ourselves; no angel can make us remember our sin. A divine work, the work of the Holy Spirit, must be wrought in us.
So on this day of confession of sin, do you desire that the eyes of the Lord Jesus Christ would look direct on you; as past the multitude they looked on Peter alone? Peter knew the meaning of those eyes. That’s what you need, friend; that’s what I need. As the Lord looked on Peter, I need that the Lord would look into my soul so that my sins may stand before me. These sins will be as mountains.
The more the Lord’s people grow in grace, the holier they become, the blacker they will see their own sins, which will be as mountains in their sight. But the Lord has removed the sins of His people; He has thrown them behind His back, and will remember them no more for ever. There is only one thing that God forgets — the sins which He has forgiven. What about yourself? The holier one becomes, the more will one be aware of one’s sins. Is that not what we would desire this day, a day of confession for sin? To confess them truly we must see them; and only one thing will do that, that is for the Lord to look upon you and upon me as He did upon Peter, that we may confess them before the Lord. By that look He put grace into Peter’s heart, for without grace we cannot confess sin. The sign of grace at this time in Peter’s soul was that he went out and wept bitterly. Why? Because he had disowned his Master. His tears were tears of repentance. Blessed eyes which have shed such tears! Blessed cheeks where tears of repentance have run over! The wages of sin is death; sin is against God; sin dishonours Christ.
The Lord makes His people remember sin. Before Jesus left His disciples He opened their mind to understand the Scriptures. We need at this time to say, “Lord, look upon me. Put grace into my soul to confess sin”. Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. We need the Lord of Glory to look in mercy upon us in a convincing way, we need to see Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Then He would say as He said to Peter, when He sent the message to His disciples to go into Galilee: “Tell His disciples and Peter that He goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see Him”. Peter must be there.
He remembered sin and confessed, and had godly sorrow; and the Lord met with Peter again in Galilee. The Lord is willing to meet with you at His Table. That man, that woman whose sins have been forgiven, blessed are such! Peter must be there — forgiven. We need that the Holy Spirit would give us grace to confess our sin — to give us the sorrow of the Lord’s people which the world knows not of: “For godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation not to be repented of, but the sorrow of the world worketh death”. Peter had the sorrow which “worketh repentance to salvation”, but Judas Iscariot had sorrow which led him deeper into sin, into hell.
You see the difference between these two sorrows: one leading to salvation, godly sorrow uprooting the sinner from the world to look unto the Lord, up to heaven; the other, worldly sorrow making a sinner look down.
May the Lord look upon us as on Peter. Then our souls will rejoice in the Lord.