The Crowing Moment

Introduction

Good morning, everyone. It’s good to see everyone on a beautiful bless free morning. I’m thankful to see everyone here. There’s no Tony’s out of town in the meeting, so I appreciate Jared subbing for our class this morning. It’s a good study, and I’ll attempt to be bringing you less than God’s word this morning, and believe Sean on Lennox is going to tonight. So please come back for that. Don’t let me scare you away from Sean tonight. This morning, let’s begin, if you would, by imagining a moonlit alley in old Jerusalem. It’s in the early hours of the morning. In the distance, a rooster crows long before the first hint of the dawn. Nothing stirring exave for an occasional swaying of leaves from some plants as a faint breeze blows by, twisting its way through the city.

But suddenly the tranquility is broken by the sound of heavy footfalls shuffling closer. A lone figure stumbles into view and almost plunges headlong into the wall. The man catches himself with his hands, spins around, slides down with his back against the wall and crumples to the ground. He buries his face in his hands, but they can barely muffle the choking sobs that rack his whole body. He groans and weeps uncontrollably, tears seeping through his hands and onto his beard while his chest heaves and sat in spasms of unbridled sorrow. We never read anything like that in the Bible, do we? It’s interesting to me that a mark of its authenticity as an inspired account, as an eyewitness account, all four of our gospels, is how sometimes how very understated they are.

As an example, of course, all four Gospels deal and describe the crucifixion of Jesus and the ordeal he went through on our behalf. And all four Gospels mentioned the fact that Pilate had Jesus scourged during that trial. As John 19 1 simply says, Pilate took Jesus and scourged him very matter of factly. It doesn’t read that Pilate ordered Jesus to be strapped to a post with his arms wrapped around it, while soldiers took turns striking him repeatedly with flayed whips as bits of bone and metal, tore into his flesh, ripped his flesh from his back and his thighs, and leaving it in a quivering mass of bloody ribbons. Now, if men were going to fabricate an account about the gospel, if we were going to write something, we would probably try to play to our emotions about the crucifixion of Jesus and try to shine it in the tragic light that it is.

And we probably use some sort of more graphic description, more dramatic description that the gospel writers use than simply Pilate had Jesus scourged. Talk about an understatement. So this morning, I want to talk about another noteworthy understatement is that all four Gospels record Jesus telling Peter that he will deny him three times before the rooster crows. And all three Gospels, or all four Gospels, excuse me, include Peter’s denials. Instead of a dramatic rendition of what happens afterwards, like I feebly attempted this morning, they stated very matter-of factly. John 1827 tells us that after the rooster, John tells us immediately a rooster crowd. Mark tells us that after the rooster crowed, Peter remembered what the Lord had told him and began to weep. And Matthew and Luke tell us that Peter went out from that courtyard and wept bitterly.

Again, a very simple description. So the word weep or wept comes from the Greek word cleo, which my understanding is means to sob or to wail aloud, as opposed to a different word, dakruo, which just means to cry silently. And the word we have translated as bitterly comes from a word picros, which can also mean violently. So the description there is that Peter went out and violently wailed aloud. So when’s the last time you violently wailed aloud? And I’m not talking about the what happens to us when we see the Hallmark commercial on TV, and you know, our eyes get a little bit misty. That seems to happen more after having kids for some reason. I don’t know why. Or maybe when we’re on Facebook and someone posts one of those videos that get to me every time when you know they have the soldier who’s been in Afghanistan for six months and he comes home early and surprises his kids.

Yeah, that gets you choked up. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about when’s the last time you had a gut wrenching cry out loud, uncontrollable sob with stinging bitter tears welling up in your eyes and coming down your cheeks. Have you ever done that? Have you ever wept bitterly? Like I imagine Peter did that day, ever. So another characteristic of the Gospels that I think is strong evidence that this is this is from God, that this was inspired, and the men that wrote these things saw these things, is the fact that they don’t leave out anything. They don’t leave out embarrassing or incriminating material. Just imagine, I mean, well, you know the scriptures are like the in the Old Testament, the faults and foibles of the heroes, they’re all there for us to see.

So I just imagine if I were one of the twelve apostles and I was going to make up, if I was going to fabricate accounts of Jesus about his teaching, there’s a lot of stuff I would have left out. I think I would have left out all of the parts where we just repeatedly didn’t understand what Jesus was saying. That’s a little embarrassing. Let’s kind of gloss over that. I think I would have left out all the parts about us boasting and bickering about who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom. I’m sure they wish that hadn’t happened. And if I were Peter, I certainly would have voted in all four Gospels to leave out this part about the denials. In fact, it’s interesting, the Gospel of Mark.

Mark is was known to have been a companion of Peter and often thought that when Mark wrote his gospel, that he wrote it possibly under Peter’s direction or at least under his review. And so you know Peter might have had even more influence on the way that gospel is written. You know, Mark, let’s just skip that part. But no, there it is. There it is. The Gospels simply record what happened, like an authentic eyewitness account would. But it’s interesting that, as we mentioned before, that Peter’s denials were recorded in all four Gospels. And that’s interesting to me because it must be something important there. There must be something noteworthy, something we should we should draw our attention to. So I want to look at that this morning.

You ever think about why is it that we have so much about Peter revealed in the Gospels? We’ll have to pick on them sometimes. But, you know, we read a whole lot about Peter, but you know, what about Bartholomew? Where’s his lines? He doesn’t have any speaking part in the script. You know, we don’t know much about Bartholomew or some of the other apostles, but we see a lot about Peter. I don’t know what we know why that is, why the Holy Spirit chose to reveal more about Peter. Maybe it’s because Peter seems to be maybe one of the more outspoken apostles. We could see that possibly in his personality. Maybe he was a little bit more brash, maybe quicker to speak without thinking through what he’s about to say.

Maybe it’s because Peter has characteristics that we find easy to relate to. Maybe because we are quick to speak without thinking through what we’re going to say. Or at least maybe we can we can sympathize with. So maybe that’s why we have so much recorded about Peter. But whatever the reason, and for this incident in particular, I think there’s some things that we can apply to our own lives. As we look this morning at this at this turning point in Peter’s life, which this morning I’m going to call it, the crowing moment. If you can suffer through that term. Turn, let’s look at Luke’s account of what happened. If you want to turn, please to Luke chapter 22. We’ll read Luke’s account beginning in verse 31 of Luke chapter 22.

Jesus begins here speaking to Peter. Remember Simon Peter. Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. But he said to him, Lord, with you I’m ready to go both to prison and to death. And he said, I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know me. Now, in fairness to Peter, both Matthew and Mark’s account mention the fact that when Peter said this, all the other disciples said the same thing too. And yet we know that at the garden, all the disciples fled and left him. So before we pick on Peter too much, let’s remember they made the same claim.

1. Satan Has Demanded Permission to Sift You

But let’s look at what we can learn from this account, a few things, a few things we can learn from this account. First of all, what Jesus tells Peter about, that Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat. So the very fact that you’re here today has aroused the attention of the devil, I would dare say. I mean, today we’ve come here, we’ve come here to study. We’ve engaged in worship of God this morning, and we’re going about the business of the kingdom of heaven. And Tony’s been repeatedly telling us, you know, how important this is. We’re going about the business of eternal things of eternal consequence here. Satan doesn’t have to give a whole lot of effort or a whole lot of thought to those out in the world, does he?

I mean, those who are already addicted to drink, to drugs, to pornography, to lasciviousness, those who they’re already entangled in materialism and worldliness, people who don’t ever spend any time thinking about God or their eternal destiny, they don’t give God a second thought. The devil doesn’t have to give them a second thought. He’s already got them. They’re taken care of. No more work needed to be done. So instead, he’s going to focus his attention to those who are showing an interest in spiritual things, those who are thinking about eternal things and trying to live their lives accordingly. So if you think about that, just by being here this morning, you’re marked. You’re marked by the devil. You’re the ones that are going to require more work and more attention, just as Satan certainly gave Peter and the other apostles some special attention as well.

So, like Peter, I think we can safely assume this morning that he will be demanding permission to sift us like wheat, to let us have it. So we need to prepare for that. Peter himself is later going to write in 1 Peter 5, verse 8 be a sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. And just as we if we watch the nature shows, we see the lions, when they’re stalking the animals there in the Serengeti, if they’re with a herd of animals, they’re looking for the weak ones, the sickly ones to pick off at a weak moment. And that’s that’s basically how Satan operates. We’ll get more to that in a moment. But look at what Jesus tells Peter there back in Luke 22.

Satan’s demand of permission to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail. And when you once have turned again, strengthen your brothers. I’m not sure if it hit Peter at that moment exactly what Jesus was saying, but what a comfort to know. Jesus prayed for him. He prayed for him to overcome this. We just looked at Jesus’ prayer this morning in our Torian class, John 17. And Jared mentioned that in that prayer, he prays for his apostles. But later, towards the end of the prayer, we didn’t have time to get to it today.

And so even in that prayer, Jesus prays for us. Isn’t that a comforting thought? That Jesus prays on your behalf. He already has. And he still intercedes for us today. That his desire is our faith is not to fail when we have these trials, and that if we do fall, we turn again. And we’ll strengthen others after our trials are over. We’ll come back to that. But back to 1 Peter 5, Peter, after warning us about the devil seeking us to devour us like a lion, he says, resist him, but resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

2. When Satan Pounces in Our Weak Moments

So Peter tells us here, and I think as we’ll we’ll get to this in a moment, he knows from personal experience that God will perfect us and confirm our faith and strengthen us, establish us after we have suffered these trials for a little while. So let’s get back to this moment here in Luke 22. So mentioned the devil prowls like a roaring lion, seeking to devour us. He looks for those weak moments. Well, Peter is about to have a moment of weakness, we know. And as we’ve been studying so much in our John class, the apostles have been misunderstanding the nature of God’s kingdom. And there’s so many things that Jesus has said they’re they’re not quite getting because of their preconceived idea of what the kingdom’s all about.

They’re ready for Jesus to overthrow the Romans, to set up a physical kingdom, to re-establish the throne of David, and it’s like this is going to be great. And they’re ready for it, and they’re ready for it. And Peter’s no coward. neither all the other disciples remember earlier in John when Jesus says, We’re going to go back to Jerusalem because Lazarus, he’s been told that Lazarus is dying, he was dead. John 11 6, Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die with him. So I think they knew they’re coming back to Jerusalem to make their stand with Jesus. And as we get a little bit further down in this chapter in Luke 22, and we get to the garden, the armed mob comes to take Jesus away and arrest him.

Look what happens if we get down to verse 49. When those who were around him saw what was going to happen, they said, Lord, shall we strike with the sword? And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. And we know from the other accounts who that one was. That was Peter. And we also know who the slave was. They had his ear cut off. It’s interesting. How do you cut off someone’s ear? You ever thought about that? Okay, I think about things like that, sorry. But how do you cut off someone’s ear? He doesn’t say anything about him almost cleaving his shoulder off. So I don’t think this was a downward stroke. What was Peter doing?

This was a he was going for the head. And probably Malchus duck just in time, so only his ear was severed, not his whole head. Peter’s going for a killing blow. Peter drew his sword. He was ready to make his stand. They were probably very outnumbered. There they were, just the twelve of them. They were ready to die. Peter was no coward. He just didn’t understand God’s purpose. He’s ready to die. So here they are, ready to make this is it. This is the moment. The kingdom’s gonna come. I don’t understand what’s gonna happen, but this is the moment. And what does Jesus do? He says the unthinkable. Verse 51. Stop. No more of this. I just try to imagine with the look on Peter’s face, the other apostle’s face.

What? Did he drop his sword at that point? Why aren’t you resisting? This is this is nothing like what Peter expected to happen. And that’s when Satan hits him. And that’s when Satan hits us hard. When we think we have God’s plan for us all figured out. This is what’s going to happen in my life. I’m going to get married. I’m going to have 2.5 kids. I’m going to have a free job. I’m going to retire at 45, I wish. We have things figured out. But that’s not what God has in store for us. Life happens. Our plans don’t work out the way we imagine. Unexpected things happen. Trials, we lose our job, we lose our health. We’re wronged by other people.

We’re not treated the right way. We lose a loved one. All sorts of things happen in life. And we don’t understand why God’s allowing this to happen to us. And that’s when Satan’s going to pounce. That’s when the devil the devil pounces. When we have those moments of fear and uncertainty and confusion and doubt. And that’s what happens to Peter here. Let’s keep reading, starting at verse 54. Having arrested him, they led him away and brought him to the house of the high priest. But Peter was following at a distance. And after they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter was sitting among them. And a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight and looking intently at him, said, This man was with him too.

But he denied it, saying, Woman, I do not know him. A little later, another saw him and said, You are one of them too. But Peter said, Man, I am not. And after about an hour had passed, another man began to insist, saying, Certainly this man also was with him, for he is a Galilean too. But Peter said, Man, I do not know what you are talking about. And immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had told him before a rooster crows today, you will deny me three times. And he went out and wept bitterly. Matthew adds the detail that during that last denial that Peter cursed and swore.

3. The Crowing Moment: God's Word Convicts Us

I could just picture this happening. Peter there in the and it says, while he was still speaking, he’s in the middle of the denial, maybe in the middle of a curse. And the rooster crows. And you could probably just see his head jerk up. And a shocked look of realization come up come over his face as he remembers and looks over to wherever Jesus is standing in the distance, just in time to see Jesus turn to look at him and their eyes meet. And Jesus gives him a sad, compassionate but loving look. I could imagine how Peter must have just leapt up from that courtyard and ran. But what was it the cause of the reaction? It wasn’t the rooster crowing. You hear that all the time.

It was God’s word. It said Peter remembered the word of the Lord. How he had told him what he would do. And that’s what convicts us. When the moment that we’re convicted of our sin is when we understand God’s word. And that’s what happened for Peter. The moment, the crowing moment for him was when he remembered what he said. And he was overcome with his shame and his guilt. So we can see other crowing moments in scripture similar to that. If we think, look back to 2 Samuel 12, look at David’s sin with Bathsheba, and how he had tried to cover that up. And even murdered to try to cover it up. We see Nathan the prophet sent to him to tell him the story about the poor man with the beloved ew lamb that he loves as his own.

And how a rich man who had plenty of sheep took this one little ew lamb from him to feed a guest. And that angered David. I could just see him hopping up from his throne. This man deserves to die. And what does Nathan tell him? You’re to me. I think that’s when you could have heard a pin drop in the court right there. That was David’s crowing moment. The word of God convicted him of his sin. Or later, the day at Pentecost. When Peter and the other apostles are preaching to the people that day. And he tell them, let me turn and read that so I don’t quote it wrong. Acts 2 36. At the conclusion of the sermon, Peter says, Therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus, whom you crucified.

And look at verse 37. Now, when they heard this was their crowing moment. They were pierced to the heart. And said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brethren, what shall we do? It was God’s word that convicted them. And that’s still true for us today. We have to know God’s word to be convicted of our guilt, to realize the tragedy of our own sin. And that’s why the studying that we’ve been doing this morning is so important. We’ve been studying his word together so that we know what sin is, and that we know the awful cost, the awful price that was paid, so we can be forgiven of it. We’ve spent time this morning remembering his death and thinking back to that day and seeing him in our mind’s eye and seeing him turn to look at us, like he did at Peter, beaten and bloody because of our sin.

And as we think of that, as I think of that, I think if no one on the planet had ever sinned or ever will sin, he still would have had to die because of my sin. That’s what we should be thinking about when we think of his death. So that’s why it’s so important for us to continue to get into God’s word, even when we leave this building in our own home, is because it continually convicts us. And as I was worried Chrissy was going to preach my sermon in class this morning, because it convicts us and it motivates us in our life. I think about this, and maybe it’s a particular danger for those who have been raised among the Lord’s people, as Tony says, raised in the church, so to speak.

4. True Conversion Requires True Conviction

Have we been truly convicted of our sin? More of that in a moment. But like Peter, every one of us who has made that good confession, we’ve said, I believe that Jesus is the Son of God. He’s raised from the dead. And every one of us who has put him on a baptism, we have declared our devotion. We’ve said, just like Peter and the other apostles said, you know, we’ve declared our devotion. I will not deny you. But yet have we afterwards denied him and what we’ve said? What we’ve done? Guilty. Do we weep better tears of shame as we realize our own guilt? Well, let’s turn to 2 Corinthians 7. Paul has some very instructive things to say on this whole subject.

Let’s begin reading 2 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 8. This is the second letter, at least that we have preserved for us that Paul writes to the Corinthians. And here he refers to this first letter, or at least a previous letter, that he had written to them. Verse 8, for though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it, for I see that the letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while. I now rejoice that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance. For you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.

For behold, what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow has produced in you. What vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong. In everything, you demonstrated yourself to be innocent in the manner. So in Paul’s first letter, he had he had to rebuke them about several things. The Holy Spirit, through Paul, rebuked them about the visions they had among them, about who had taught them who had converted them, divisions regarding spiritual gifts, and also they even were tolerating sin amongst their number. They said they’re not even the Gentiles. It’s unheard of amongst them. And they were tolerating that in their number. So they were made sorrowful by Paul’s rebuke, because God’s word had connected had convicted them. Look at that out.

And Paul didn’t regret it. He regrets that it made them sorrowful, but he doesn’t regret the effect. Because their sorrow, their conviction was necessary to produce repentance. And that’s what he says godly sorrow does. It produces repentance without regret. So if we’re going to be converted, we can’t be converted unless we’re first convicted. We have to have that sorrow to produce the required repentance. And so back to that question I raised earlier about those raised among the Lord’s people. I often worry about that. I mean, it’s a danger we can fall into. Have we truly been converted? Well, I didn’t really come out of the world. Yes, you did. Have you been converted? Have you been convicted of the guilt of your sin? True conversion requires true conviction.

And notice the distinction Paul makes in verse 10 about godly sorrow and the sorrow of the world. The latter, he says, only produces death. And why is that? Because just an understanding of our guilt by itself doesn’t change us. It requires us to change. But some are just simply consumed by despair and hopelessness because they don’t want to turn to God. What consolation is there apart from God? If you want to look at an example of another crowning moment that didn’t go so well, look at Judas. Judas came to a similar conclusion. After he betrayed Jesus, he comes back to the chief priest and he says, he confesses, I have betrayed innocent blood. He knows what he did. He became convicted of it. But he didn’t convert.

5. Repentance Leads to Salvation

What did he do? He fell into despair and hopelessness and he ran out and hung himself. That’s that is the sorrow of the world that Paul’s talking about. Unlike Peter’s sorrow, the godly sorrow that brought about a change. So it’s God’s will that we feel the sorrow and this guilt. But he says, as Paul says, but not to suffer loss from it. it instead is to produce a change so that we can have a repentance. I love that, without regret. No regrets. And so that leads us to the next point, which Paul brings up that I think we’re very familiar with that repentance leads to salvation. It cannot salvation cannot be obtained without our repentance. Going back to Acts 2 38, after those people said, Men and brethren, what do we do?

Peter, what did he say? He said, Repent. And each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, that you may receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And for the promise, this promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off. As many as the Lord will call to himself. The next chapter, when he was preaching again, he says, Therefore, repent and return. Jesus said, When you return, repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that the times of refreshing may come. And then when Paul preaches on Mars Hill in Acts 17, he tells them, Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because he has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom he has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead.

So we have to be convicted of our sins before we can be converted, and we must be converted and repent so that we can have our sins wiped away.

6. The Benefits of Godly Sorrow

Look at what he says in verse 11 that the benefits that those there in Corinth had from the sorrow that they experienced. He said, Behold, what earnestness, you know, what eager diligence they have now in doing God’s will. What vindication of yourselves. You vindicated yourself. That’s a good thing to be able to say. But they have no regrets. They don’t have to carry the guilt with them anymore. What indignation. They have a proper understanding of how terrible sin is. They’re not tolerating amongst their number, and they have an appropriate attitude towards it now. What fear they have a healthy respect for the danger of sin and what it ultimately leads to. What longing they have a deep desire for what ultimately awaits us, where we’re not gonna be plagued any longer by sin and by temptation.

What zeal, a deeper dependence on God, a deeper love for him, and what avenging of wrong, which might seem like an odd thing to say, but they have a strong desire to stand for what is right and condemn what is wrong, which they had to do even amongst their own number. So there’s benefits for the sorrow that they experienced. And look at the benefits that Peter experienced. Going back to our case study of Peter. After this happened, after Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to him, I always think it’s interesting that when Paul describes all the resurrection appearances in 1 Corinthians 15, he mentions he appeared to Peter. He appeared to all twelve, or all the eleven, but he appeared to Peter.

And I don’t I don’t see that recorded specifically in the Gospels, but it makes me think that he appears specifically to Peter by himself once. Wow. But look at the benefits. When he was convicted of his guilt, Jesus appeared to him again. We read in John 21 how Jesus asks him, you know, Peter, do you love me three times? Which I’m sure the three times meant something to Peter. He was a changed man after that. We look at the Peter in the day of Pentecost, in Acts 2. I think Martha brought it out in our Wednesday night class. I mean the apostles were like gangbusters that day. There was no fear, no regrets, no holding back. When the chief priests in Acts chapter 4 were threatening them and say, You quit preaching in Jesus’ name.

What does Peter say? The people that he basically ran from earlier. What does he tell him? But Peter and John answer and said to them, Whether it is right the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge. For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard. Do what you have to do. I can’t stop. That’s a different man. And Jesus’ prayer for Peter was obviously answered. When he said, I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail you, and once you have turned again, you strengthen your brothers. That’s exactly what happened to Peter. He turned. He repented when he was convicted. And how much did he strengthen his brothers over the years? So Peter was convicted and converted.

You know, no child enjoys being disciplined by their parents. We don’t recall that with joy. And the Hebrew writer talks about that in Hebrews chapter 12, verses 10 and 11. He says, For they are our parents disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them. But he, God, disciplines us for our own good, so that we may share his holiness. And all discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful but sorrowful. Yet to those who’ve been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. So the Hebrew writers making the same point is this godly sorrow benefits us. You know, it’s easy for us to focus on the sorrow itself and how uncomfortable, how painful that can be, and overlook the benefits.

You know, someone might say, I don’t really appreciate that preacher. He’s he seems to be singling me out. or you know, I just he’s just not that good a speaker. I’m sure no one’s saying that this morning. But are you convicted of your sin? Is he singling you out, or is it that God’s word is convicting you of your sin? You know, we need to look past the ineffectiveness or the foibles of the speaker, especially this morning, and enjoy the benefits of this godly sorrow. If it convicted you, repent and rejoice that you had the chance to do that, no matter who brought you the message. brother so-and-so came and talked to me about it. So they had a problem, they were concerned about my soul.

And basically they rebuked me. But, you know, I don’t I don’t think they should have done it the way they did it. You know, I don’t they weren’t very gentle about it, they weren’t very kind about it. I don’t even think they had my best interest at heart. I think they’re just out to get me. Well, okay, maybe. Maybe, but did they convict you through God’s word? Did they convict you? If so, did it produce the desired result? Did you convert? Did you repent of that? No matter how ineffectively or poorly it was done. You know, thank your brother for thank your brother for pointing it out to you and have a forbearing spirit with them for the imperfect way they might have done it.

And thank God you had a chance to repent of your sins. Right, you know, I don’t I don’t think the elders handled the way we had to discipline Sister So-and-so. I mean, that’s that could have been done a lot better. I’ve I try to imagine what was being said in Corinth. I don’t think I like the way Paul handled it. We had to rebuke our brother. Show me a case, Martin. There we’ve had to have a discipline amongst the Lord’s people, and someone hasn’t thought that. That could have been done better, probably. You know, the elders are just men. The congregation, we’re we’re just we’re just men and women trying to do God’s word the best we can. But did it have a desired effect? Did it convict the one that was being disciplined of their sins?

Conclusion

And hopefully did it bring about the desired effect of a repentance. You know, if so, let’s thank God for bringing back our sister or brother, whoever it might have been. Or if they didn’t, let’s still thank God that we have elders who are trying and care about the flock and trying and pray for them to have wisdom to do that shepherding according to God’s word. Well, this morning, thank you for your patience. this morning, I hope it’s been of some benefit to you, and that whether this morning or as you continue to study God’s word in your own lives, I hope it’s able to convict us of any sin that we might have. And most importantly, I pray that the conviction, the guilt that it produces will bring about a change so that we can we can be forgiven of those sins.

And I hope whenever we have a crowing moment, maybe like Peter had, maybe like David had, that it turns into a growing moment. It’s one that we do the right thing with it, that we turn and repent, and we can have forgiveness without regret. I love that statement without regret. so have no regrets this morning. If you’ve never obeyed the gospel, let this be your crowing moment. Let this be your growing moment, and you can walk out of here without regrets. and not carry the burden of that sin. So repent and be baptized into them. And it and if you’ve done that and you still have sin in your life, don’t carry that with you. You know, live without regrets.

So this morning, let this be your crowing moment, let this be your growing moment. And we’ll pray with you and for you so you can have the forgiveness of sins and you too can live without regrets. If anyone has any need, please come forward while we stand saying.