(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

so Luke chapter 22 and look at verse number 42 Luke 22 verse 42 the Bible says saying father if thou be willing remove this cup from me nevertheless not my will but thine be done the title of the sermon this morning is not my will I think we get a really great example here of Jesus Christ setting the example for us and we know that is God manifest in the flesh okay and yet even as the Son of God we see a great example here of how God the Father has authority over the Son and you know it's the Son as it's a son's job Jesus Christ to do the will of the Father and I think we can take these words of Jesus even though we're not in the position that he was when he said these words but we can take these words every day of our life and say Lord not my will but thine be done you know so let's pick it up in verse 31 Luke chapter 22 verse 31 and we know this week you know last week we you know we saw the Last Supper you know being done and this is just now following the Last Supper toward the end as they head to the Mount of Olives to pray it says here in Luke 22 verse 31 and the Lord said Simon Simon I love it when names get said twice you know I remember Moses you know being called twice Moses Moses you know here obviously Jesus wants Simon Peter to pay attention to what is being said here Simon Simon behold Satan have desire to have you that he may sift you as wheat he's telling Simon Peter look Satan wants to destroy you Satan wants to you know discourage you Simon pay attention now he verse 32 but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not and when thou art converted strengthen thy brethren what a beautiful thing to know that Jesus Christ was praying for Simon Peter okay yeah you know obviously Jesus again send the example of the Sun he praying to God the Father praying that God the Father would strengthen Peter in his final trial okay let's keep reading verse 33 and he said unto him this is Simon Peter saying to the Lord Lord I am ready to go with thee both into prison and to death and he said I tell thee Peter the cock shall not crow this day before that thou shall Christ deny me deny that thou knowest me so price is three times okay twice is what two times price is three times Jesus is telling Simon Peter look you're going to deny me before the cock crow before the morning breaks when you hear that cock crow you you would have denied me three times already paid up and yet we've been a short period of time before that Peter say look I'll go to prison for you I'll even die for you you know and and I think sometimes we need to understand look and we're not even people that I walk with Christ in that day you know in the ministry of Christ and and we might come to think well you know what we're going to serve you no matter what I'm always going to stand up for you no matter what is said you know I'm never going to deny you Christ you know I'm willing to go to prison for you I'm willing to die for you you know my heart's desire is that same truth of what Peter says you know that new man in me the you know that the spirit the revived spirit in me once those words said you know I believe in those words I I believe that I would do the same for Jesus Christ okay and yet I'm not an apostle you know and I'm not seeing the amazing miracles I'm not seeing Jesus walk on water the way Peter did I've not walked on water the way Peter had okay and yet what do we know about Peter he denies Jesus Christ and I think this should remind us about how frail we are you know how weak we are that even in times of persecution we may very well as Peter deny the Lord that's it that's a reality that we need to be aware of okay yet Peter wasn't Peter was thinking that he would see it through thick and thin now Peter all normally gets a bad rap okay because we know the story of Peter we often talk about man how you know Peter really failed in this area okay but I just want to just keep your finger then go to Matthew 26 I want to show you something else if you're not aware of this Matthew 26 so we also have the same story in the book of Matthew but there's a little a little bit more information given here Matthew 26 verse 31 because you see Peter is not the only apostle he's not the only disciple to say these words okay Matthew 26 verse 31 Matthew 26 verse 31 the Bible says then saith Jesus unto them all ye shall be offended because of me this might all of them case not to speed up they're all gonna get offended it says here for it is written I will smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad okay so who's who's the the shepherd Jesus Christ who's the shape of the shepherd he in his prophecy the disciples okay but then look at verse 32 it says but after I'm risen again I will go before you into Galilee Peter answered and said unto him though all men shall be offended because of thee yet will I never be offended Jesus say said unto him verily I said to thee that this night before the cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice Peter said unto him though I should die with thee yet will I not deny thee now look at this likewise also said all the disciples hey was it just Peter saying hey I'll die for you I've got a prison for you you know no they all said all the disciples said that but what did you say that they will all be offended that when the shepherd you know is is is smitten that all the sheep you know all the sheep will be scattered abroad so it's not just Peter you know Peter gets his bad rap but it's all of them say why is Jesus then focusing on Peter I think there's two reasons number one because Peter is the loudmouth you know definitely well when you when you know about Peter he speaks before he thinks you know so he's recorded but not only that if you go back to Luke 22 please Luke chapter 22 verse um verse 32 you know Peter had a special role when the sheep would be scattered you know verse 32 Jesus said unto him but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not and when thou art converted strengthened by brethren you see Jesus was counting on Simon Peter to strengthen the other disciples they would all deny him they would all be scattered they would all be offended okay but he was praying specifically that pain is fail will not fail him that he would be converted that he would change will turn around that he will be strengthened and then it's he was his responsibility to strengthen the other apostles see that's why God focuses on Peter okay and what do we take out of that guys is that when our brethren in our church get offended by the end of Christ when we see our brethren in our church in a backseat and slates what are we to do are we to put them down are we to talk behind their backs are we to mock their faith no just like Peter hey we could fall we could deny Christ we have the flesh we could get offended by Christ but those that are strength and those that are showing faith are to take the fallen brethren and encourage them the fallen brethren and strengthen them not not destroy them hey that's what's that's what the devil wanted to do the devil wanted to destroy Simon Peter the devil wants to destroy the disciples of Christ hey you either play the role of Simon Peter that Jesus prayed for or you take the role that the devil wants to do and that's destroy your brothers and sisters in the Lord all right of course we want to be like Simon Peter of course we ought to be strengthening strengthening our brethren now I do want to cover one post option very quickly okay just again there in verse 32 when thou art converted strengthened by brethren I've heard people say that Simon Peter was not saved was not saved and then when he gets converted you know later after Jesus Christ is arrested when he gets converted that's when he got saved okay and obviously I understand that the word converted can mean someone getting saved you know if someone turns but you know it was a Roman Catholic and they get saved they'll often say hey I converted to Christianity okay so we know that firm can be used you know what the word converted means think of the word a convertible you know cars that are convertible that means that means their roofs can be converted right they can have a roof or the roof can retract and they can have you know an open setting for the car all the word converted means it's similar to the word repent it just means to change okay it means me to change when something's been converted it's been changed and obviously how was Simon changed well he would deny Christ he would be weak he'd be offended but then he would change he'd be encouraged to be strengthened his faith would be renewed and he'd go and strengthen the brethren that's what would take place and just for the proof of this please go to John chapter 6 John chapter 6 verse 63 John chapter 6 verse 63 because there's many ways to show that Peter was saved but this is probably one of the clearest way one of the best ways John chapter 6 verse 63 John chapter 6 verse 63 and we read through John chapter 6 last week because this is the second Passover that we looked at you know we're looking at different pastovers in Christ ministry that was in John chapter 6 the second Passover or as we get near to it and we read these words in 63 it is the spirit that quick enough the flesh profit of nothing the words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life hey but notice is verse 64 but there are some of you that believe not why is that significant because how do we get saved if I believe it on Christ and Jesus says look there are some of you that believe not look at this for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray him so who betrayed him Judas Iscariot why you know why was he the one because Jesus knew he was the one that believed not okay so by what would that mean for the other disciples that they believed that they believed on Jesus right let's keep reading verse 65 and he said therefore said I answer you that no man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my father from that time many of his disciples went back and walks no more with him then said Jesus unto the twelve will you also go away then Simon Peter asked him Lord to whom shall we go thou hast the words of eternal life hey do you think Simon Peter was trusted in Jesus for eternal life absolutely verse 69 and we believe and we are sure that thou art that Christ the son of the living God hey who was Jesus to Simon Peter was he God the Father was he the Holy Spirit no he says thou art Christ the son of the living God verse 70 Jesus answered here them have not I chosen you 12 and one of you is a devil who is the devil Judas Iscariot he's fake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon for he it was that should betray him being one of the twelve okay so this is one clear way for you to know that Simon Peter was saved okay he believed in the Son of God he knew he was a messiah and even Jesus recognizes that he's a believer because he says there are some of you that don't believe referring to Judas Iscariot okay so you know this idea it's like you know this thought is if you deny Christ if you backslide if you go back into the world that proves you were not saved you know and obviously that false idea plays into thinking so I'm Peter got saved after he denied Christ no you know what even as they believe I don't care how strong you think you are in the face okay I don't care you have the ability to deny Christ you have the ability in your flesh okay to say I never knew him and we'll see that shortly if we go back to Luke chapter 22 verse 35 Luke chapter 22 we're gonna come back to Matthew chapter sorry John chapter 6 later on but go to back to Luke 22 verse 35 Luke 22 verse 35 and another important doctrine coming up here verse 35 and he said unto them when I sent you that purse and script and shoes lucky anything and they said nothing then said he answered them but now has there been a change yes but now either half a purse let him take it and likewise his script and here the half no sword let him sell his garment and buy one now keep your finger there go back to Luke 9 I know we've covered this already but back to Luke 9 let's refresh our memories what is Jesus speaking about this is when Jesus sent out the twelve to go preach the gospel of the kingdom okay but he also gave them power to pass our devils Luke 9 chapter 1 Luke 9 verse 1 Luke 9 verse 1 then he called his 12 disciples together look at this and gave them power and authority over all devils and secure our diseases and he sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick and he said to them take nothing off for your journey neither stage nor script neither bread neither money neither have two coats at peace so here we see Jesus Christ sending his twelve saying look you don't need anything with you you know that they would be provided for maybe even supernaturally provided for in fact we know that the supernatural element to this because not only does he send the twelve apostles but he gives them power to cast our devils he gives them power to heal the sick all right why is that important because you have the charismatics you have people that believe they can cast out devils today people that believe they can heal the sick today but they just have the power of God okay but did Jesus give them that power look when Jesus sends out sends out the twelve he gives them that ability he gives them that power he appoints them to that office of an apostle and I'll just quickly read to you from 2nd Corinthians 12 with God from 2nd Corinthians before but remember Paul had to defend his apostasy and what does he say here he says truly the signs of an apostle will rest among you in all patience in signs and wonders and mighty deeds hey what was the sign of an apostle that they would be able to do signs and wonders and mighty deeds they were able to perform miracles they were able to cast out devils they were able to you know I heal the sick you know they were given that power because of Jesus Christ now look if you're not an apostle today you do not have these powers and abilities okay it's the truth and and those that say well I can do it that therefore I'm an apostle no you're a false apostle okay because Jesus did not give you that power the time of apostleship is over now okay it was there to affirm the words of God is there to affirm the gospel okay so then we have the Bible we have the canonized 66 books of Scripture we have the greater because look what brings someone to faith it's the Word of God we have a greater power we have a greater ability you know I've seen people say because we have the full Word of God at our disposal look I'd rather have the entire Bible in my hands then parts of it you know not only to finish New Testament at this point in time you know obviously and being able to cast out them it's better to know all the wisdom of God that he gives us in the Bible all right so that is a false teaching and look you say well but sure we can you know Christians we can pass that devil's name no there's been a change that's why I wanted to look at Luke 22 remember he said but now here they have a purse let him take it look if you're gonna journey and do some soul-winning a missions trip take your money with you okay you're not going to be provided for supernaturally all right you know and likewise you strip that's a bag with with your your possessions and here they have no sword let him sell his garments and buy one look you're going to need to defend yourself all right you're gonna need to defend yourself so take a sword you know with you and so obviously Jesus Christ is given a command you know of now and into the future you know that they weren't going to be necessarily supernaturally provided for they weren't going to be able to necessarily get a cast out there was obviously this is I mean they did because they were possible but obviously this is Jesus Christ speak thinking about of us and so we can recognize the change that took place when he first gave the apostles those powers let's keep reading verse number 37 for I say unto you that and by the way just don't forget the sword speed okay because this comes into fruition later on for I say unto you that this that this sorry this is sometimes the way the Bible's written let me read that again for I say unto you that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me and he was reckoned amongst the transgressions great transgressions for the things concern me have an end okay so Jesus Christ say look at this prophecy that is written about me that needs to be accomplished it needs to be done okay this is why I'm telling you these things now you guys keep your finger there and go to mark 15 go to mark 15 and while you're staying there I'm going to read to you the scripture that Jesus is referring to very it's a very famous chapter in the Bible Isaiah 53 not to speak to you from verse 10 pay attention as I read this you guys go to mark the thing as I 53 verse 10 it says get it please the Lord to bruise him he have put him to grief when they shall make his soul and offering for sin he shall see his seed he shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand he shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many for he shall bear their iniquities that's the promise of God that Jesus Christ came to bear our iniquities he came to bear our sins on his body verse 12 now this is this is a bit therefore will I divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil the strong because he have poured out his soul unto death and he was numbered with the transgressors now what you said in the in the book of Luke he said was reckoned among the transgressors transgressors but as I says numbered with the transgressors the same thing and he bear the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors okay now I've asked you to turn to the market theme because we don't need to wonder when this prophecy was fulfilled okay the Bible tells us you know this flatly tells us there in mark 15 verse 26 look at mark 15 verse 26 and the superscription of his accusation was written over the king of the Jews obviously if you guys familiar the Bible this is Christ crucified they put that note above his head the description that is the king of the Jews and with him they crucified two thieves the one on his right hand and the other on his left and the scripture was fulfilled hey was it fulfilled absolutely that's what the Bible tells us and the scripture was fulfilled with saith and he was numbered with the transgressors okay so take you know taking you back to Luke 22 there okay that is telling them look there's come in a time when I'm gonna be crucified okay and I'm gonna be numbered amongst transgressors who are the transgressors there the thief that was on his right hand you know they're both thieves they're both malefactors right on his right left right hand and on his left hand he's telling them not only is he going to die but he's going to die with transgressors he's gonna be numbered with the transgressors and that's the fulfillment there of Isaiah 53 and Jesus Christ prophesied of it as well himself you know at the end of the Last Supper here so let's let's go back to our Luke chapter 22 verse 38 Luke chapter 22 isn't it beautiful how the Bible is consistent you know Luke Mark Isaiah you know it's one offer okay it's the Lord God it's not just the writers of men I mean look if you brother Jason brother Callum me myself we wrote Christ crucifixion and we were writing about prophecies we'll mess it up we've messed it up even though we're living in the same time here you know not Isaiah obviously lived many hundreds of years before any of these things took place that's beautiful how consistent the Bible is verse 38 Luke 22 verse 38 and they said Lord behold here are two swords and he said unto them it is enough now so I think that they're understanding that he's going to be arrested you know he's going to suffer Christ is gonna suffer so and Christ finished and finished up saying hey we need to get towards that and they're like hey we have two swords so you can see that this has gone over the heads all right I mean it's definitely gone over the heads Jesus Christ it's all about the swords he's talking about you know going on the missions trip going out so when you make sure you have the defense this is why you put it to go to bite through because if you get into trouble is someone else there to help you out okay but you know we should we should defend ourselves because you know Satan as a royal lion sticks with him you know who may devour but they're thinking we've got swords so we're ready to defend you Jesus okay and I think the reason they have swords is remember they prepared they'll prepare for the Passover and it's likely they had the sword there to to uh you know to kill the lamb the Passover lamb because they prepare them I'm assuming that's why they had food with it all right so let's get bringing verse 39 and is it as it came out and by the way you know this whole this 13 if you include Jesus is two swords really enough to fight those that are kind of come to arrest Jesus Christ of course right okay Jesus says it is enough it's like you don't need anything more you you don't need to fight for me right now this is this is part of property this is going to take place verse 39 and he came out and went and as he wants to the Mount of Olives and his disciples also followed him and when it was when he was at the place he said to them pray that you enter not into temptation I mean I love that that that preaches on its own okay pray that you enter not into temptation so we know we're going to go through temptations we know we're going to go through trials in our lives and we know when we go through these things we need to overcome them okay but not only should we should we pray in the midst of temptations but we should pray to the Lord that we would not be led into temptation as well okay you know because obviously we don't want to put ourselves in a position where our flesh might win okay and that's what temptation can do to you you might you know this is why you sin this is why you sin every day because you're faced with temptations and you allow your flesh to get the better of you all right and of course you know this isn't the only time Jesus Christ said this obviously when he gave the model prayer you know he said you know you know lead us not into temptation but deliver us for me okay so even Jesus Christ in his model prayer prayed that we should not be you know pray that we ought not to be led into temptation let's get ready verse 41 and he was withdrawn from them about a stone's past and kneel down and pray saying father if thou be willing remove this cup from me now you might be saying is Jesus chickening out now no he's not okay but he's seeking God the Father and say look is is there another way you know and the cup is referring to is obviously he's suffering what is about to go through is already told the disciples is gonna go through this all right not trying to run away from the mission but we can see here that this is a time of great distress for the Lord we can see it's a great time of trial for him okay but does he you know does he ask the father you know help me get away from this that's if there's some other way all right for some other way he's asking if they'll be willing but then he says look nevertheless not my will but going be done okay Christ was seeking is there another way for this to be done but more important to Christ was that the will of the Father would be done hey this shows us that God you know is three persons and at least we see here God in two persons each of them the Father and the Son have in their own will have in their own distinct will okay but even though they have their own distinct will they're not contradictive wills because Jesus Christ makes sure that his will is lined up with the will of the Father okay and guys this is why I named it yeah a sermon you know not not my will is because we all have our own will separate from the will of God okay and when you sin and when you walk after your desires and your pleasures and the things that are ungodly the things that are unrighteous you are saying my will God I want to do my will not your will and that's why we need to bring ourselves to a position like Christ kneeling ourselves in prayer and asking that we will do the will of the Father ask God to strengthen us to do his will so we can walk righteously in life guys we can't get comfortable in our sins we can't get comfortable where we're at as Christians now look if you've matured in Christ praise God if you've grown in knowledge and and you're walking in faith and and you can see that praise God but you need to continue that journey you need to continue that that high calling of Jesus Christ that he has in your life and let me promise you this you're never going to reach it in this life you're never gonna reach it okay because you're always gonna have that old man you're always gonna have that flesh all right that doesn't mean we give up it means we keep striving to walk in the spirit knowing that the day of Christ is at hand and when that happens when we're resurrected and we're given those new resurrected bodies we know hey now you know in our bodies we have no desires and we have no you know pleasures in sin and we can always do the will of the Father it's an exciting thing to do but we shouldn't give up guys we should keep striving to be more writers striving to be more like the Lord Jesus Christ Jesus came here to give us these examples okay to walk after his steps and let me just say to the children what do we learn here guys Jesus does the will of his father okay now you guys don't have a lot of responsibilities in your life you know you guys may have your chores to do you know your your your your schoolwork to do in other things your parents ask you to do all right and we know that Jesus Christ is the son of the Father God the Father what do we see him doing doing the will of the Father guys it's your job it's your responsibility children to do the will of your parents as long as it's not simple okay Jesus Christ came and left you that example children that when your parents ask you to do something even if it's not your will you would say you know what I'm gonna put that aside and do the will of my parents and guys that's that's the best training ground if you can do the will of your parents the best training ground for you to grow up you know as mature believers and you will automatically be designed to do the will of the Father because you've learnt at a young age to do the will of your parents okay so children very important lesson for you to learn as well let's keep reading verse 43 and I love we see how the Father loves the Son and there appeared an angel unto him from heaven strengthening him as the same for us if we seek the will of the Father okay we may not see an angel but I promise you this if we seek that God will strengthen us so that we would be able to accomplish his will verse 44 and being in agony he prayed more earnestly and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground now some people have understood this to mean that when Jesus was sweating he was sweating out blood okay I don't believe that myself I mean when I read that there it says that his sweat was as it were great drops of blood but there is a medical condition some people give an answer to this I don't know if I'm pronouncing this right it's called hematidrosis hematidosis you can look this up if you want where you know in your sweat when you when you're when when you're in great anguish and stress that the capillaries of the sweat glands can break and so when you sweat you know you also sweat out blood all right that's one possible explanation to this I don't really buy into that because I think it's just using it as an illustration that there's great drops of blood falling to the ground so what I think's happening here is just that he's excessively sweating okay so much so that it's falling to the ground now I sweat a lot on the Sunshine Coast I'm still struggling with the humidity okay but even when I sweat my clothing is able to absorb the sweat okay you know you're not seeing sweat fall into the ground all right so what we obviously do is Christ is dressed all right so what we see here is that he's in so much anguish knowing what he's going to go through that even his clothing cannot contain his sweat that it's literally drop into the ground okay and that's why saying great drop like as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground you know you know this wasn't easy for Christ to do okay but was he trying to back away from it absolutely not he's there to do the will of the Father all right I mean this just shows us how much he suffered for us and even before even before being arrested you know he's in anguish he's already suffering he's already he's already going through the anguish and stuff all right what a beautiful thing you know I mean it's such a it's such a horrendous thing to think about what Jesus went through but it's such a beautiful thing at the same time because it shows the love of God that he loves so much that he will allow his son you know go through this you know such great torture and then verse 45 and and when he rose up from prayer and was come to his disciples he found them sleeping for sorrow and the book of Luke is the only one that really tells us why they fell asleep when you read the other gospels you know you probably assume what they're tired you know it's been a long day I'm sure that that's part of it okay but the book of Luke actually tells us what exactly causes to fall asleep it says he found them sleeping for sorrow you see even the disciples were sorrowing they knew something was going to happen to their Savior okay they knew that he was going to suffer and they knew Jesus Christ said you're gonna be offended in me and they're like how can this be what's going to happen you know they're sorrowing you know I'm stressed and anguished you know taxes the body it makes the body tired you know it can make you you know you know you know heavily fatigued so that's part of it yes I'm sure it's a long day yes it was late at night I'm sure they were tired and sleepy as well but it was also the sorrow of the disciples that caused them to just collapse in place their bodies just had enough you know verse 46 and he said unto them why sleepy rise and pray lest ye enter into temptation all right so once again Jesus driving driving home this look you're about to go through trials temptations play right now you need you need to be straight for now because you're gonna be weak when you go through the temptation you know pray that you'll be able to overcome the temptation this 47 and while he yet spake behold a multitude and he that was called Judas one of the twelve went before them and you need unto Jesus to kiss him but Jesus said unto him Judas betrays thou the Son the Son of Man with a kiss you see Jesus did not stand out amongst the disciples just had to come to Jesus kiss him on the cheek so the most trees these that would come to arrest Jesus would know who he was okay I mean another false idea of Jesus is that he was his blonde hair long-haired blue-eyed guy you know the most beautiful man ever painted you know and then he's got his halo above his head or something look if that was Jesus they would know who Jesus was Judas Iscari had to come and kiss him and identify this is Jesus this is the one that claims to be the Messiah and I just want to reach you once again from Isaiah 53 it says who have this one who have believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed for he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground he has no form nor comeliness what does it mean to be comely it means to be beautiful okay well it says that he has no form nor comeliness hey Jesus in the flesh was not beautiful to lay your eyes on okay it was just a regular Jewish looking man all right and then it says and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him he is despised and rejected of men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and we hid as it were our faces from him he was despised and we esteemed him not okay so this this false idea of Jesus Christ being this beautiful comely man is false he looked like any other Jewish man of that time let's keep reading verse 49 when they which were about him saw what would follow and they said unto him Lord shall we smite with the sword now Jesus doesn't even get time to answer this question yeah they have their swords with them remember hey Lord shall we smite with the sword and one of them smelt the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear hey this wasn't the time to fight with the sword okay Jesus couldn't even answer the question and we know this is so impated from another gospel okay here's the one that runs up with this sword and cuts off the ear of a servant of the high priest verse 51 and Jesus answered and said suffer you thus far and he touched his ear and healed him it's amazing thing that even those that hate Jesus even those that deny him in a sense of these these high priests had you know they're hurt and yet Jesus you know in his humility in his love and mercy he was the servant now we see the love of Christ in all of this you know he was a servant it's John 18 by the way if you're curious 19 that mentioned to Simon Peter that took the sword verse 52 then Jesus said unto the chief priests and captains of the temple and the elders which would come to him but ye come out as against a thief with swords and slaves when I was daily with you in the temple ye stretched forth no hands against me but this is your hour and the power of darkness okay so it's an interesting thought here because you might be asking what is the power of darkness what is the power he says look it is your hour but it is your hour this is your hour and the power of darkness okay so we know that it's God's plan and it's Jesus' mission to die on the cross okay and yet now he says this is the power of darkness okay now keep your finger there and go to let's see go to uh Acts chapter 26 I'll get you guys go to Acts 26 and I'm going to read to you from Ephesians 6 verse 12 okay and we know this passage it says for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world hey what is the power of darkness here against spiritual wickedness in high places hey the power of darkness is spiritual wickedness okay it is it is the power of Satan as it were it's the king of Satan as it were I'm going to read to you from Colossians 1 12 it says giving thanks unto the Father which have made us need to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light who have delivered us from the power of darkness and have translated us into the kingdom of his dear son and what's the power of darkness it's the power of Satan it's the power of spiritual wickedness that prevents many people from coming into the kingdom of God you know Satan is busy blind in the heart in the minds of men that they would not see and understand the gospel and believe the gospel so that's why it's so important for us guys in our jobs in our missions to preach the gospel to remove that darkness with the gospel of life you know we're children of light we're coming here to shine light into this dark place you guys are in acts 26 verse 18 acts 26 verse 18 these are words that Jesus Christ said to Paul the Apostle he says to Paul he says this is what you're going to do to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to lights and from the power of Satan unto God so they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith that is in me hey how do we get delivered from this power of Satan this this power of darkness by faith it said the right sanctified by faith that is in me faith in who faith in Christ faith in Christ Jesus and so I just want to show you this because it's interesting even though it's God's plan for Jesus to suffer and die Satan was also trying to kill Jesus Christ okay Satan put in the hearts of these tribes and Pharisees and and religious leaders to kill Christ it's such an interesting thing because it's also like Satan thinks it's gonna get victory yeah you know only to find of course in the by the resurrection that it was God's overall plan you know God had it all in control you know even when Satan thinks he's winning he's arrested Christ now all right and yet it's it's all under the control of God you know Satan can only do as much damage as God will allow him to you know so it's it's an interesting thing it's not that Satan is working with God it's that just even when Satan doesn't wicked things God uses that for his good God uses that for his purposes okay verse 54 verse 54 Luke 22 verse 54 and they took him and led him and brought him into a high priest house and paid up for a lot of fire off and when they had kindled a fly in the midst of the hall and were set down together Peter sat down among them but a certain mate behold him as he sat by the fire and earnestly looked upon him and said this man was also with him now I just want you to notice it is a mate, normally the word mate is reserved for obviously an unmarried woman often a young lady okay this is this is a young girl okay this is a young girl that says to Peter this man was also with him hey I've seen this man in Jesus a young girl all right she's not going to hurt Simon Peter you see she's not going to overpower him in an arm wrestle in a fistfight you know is she gonna bring persecution to Simon Peter no she's not okay but look at verse 57 and he denied him saying woman I know him not you see already how weak Peter has gotten just by young girl ask Satan hey I've seen you Jesus you know you've got a wrong woman you've got it wrong I know him not I don't know him I'm not what you're talking about it's not like he was you know being he wasn't arrested you know there weren't men around him with swords anything like this but we can see already his weakness he couldn't stand up to a young girl you couldn't defend Christ to a young girl verse 58 and after a little while another saw him and said thou art also of them and Peter said man I am NOT man I am not and about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed saying of a truth this fellow also was with him for he is a Galilean hey you know we see another passage his speech gives him away obviously the Galileans you could tell they were Galileans by the speech yeah I've seen this guy Jesus is a Galilean just like Jesus and like all the others and Peter said man I know not what thou sayest and immediately while he yet spake the cop crew so we see what Jesus Christ said of Peter Simon Peter was true look just hours ago he was saying to Jesus I'm gonna stand with you Jesus I've got a prison I'll die for you and yet now he can't even stand up for the name of Christ he's so discouraged he's so brought down this is why you have to be converted okay this is why Jesus was praying for Simon Peter that he would be converted that he'd be faithful and strengthen the other brethren in due time but I love verse 61 after this okay because he is not under any persecution Jesus all right but Jesus is Jesus arrested he's taken he knows he's in anguish we've seen him right and yet when Jesus brought before the high priest here we see something amazing I love it 61 verse 61 and the Lord turned and looked upon Peter and Peter remembered the word of the Lord how he had said unto him before the cock crow thou shalt deny me price and Peter went out and wet bitterly so we think even while Jesus is facing trial and his death approaches what's on his mind Simon Peter okay I mean I can forgive Jesus for thinking just of himself at this point in time okay I can understand if Jesus were that way but instead he turns and looks at Simon Peter even in the face of difficulties in trials in anguish you know in the torture to come still he's thinking about Simon Peter still he's thinking about how he's going to fail how he's going to deny Christ still thinking about him I'm sure still praying for him okay and this should remind us guys when we're facing problems when we deny Christ when we're backslidden when we think God wants nothing to do with us we're still on the mind of God God can still look at us turn around and look at us he's still thinking about his his child he's still thinking about his children that should encourage us guys in the face of files even in a backslidden slate you know God is thinking about us okay he doesn't forget us he will never leave us nor forsake us you know God here by the faithful even we're not when we're not faith all right I love it and Peter gets out there weeks Italy okay if you think crying is not a manly thing sometimes it is okay sometimes we do need to cry and weep okay and he Peter has to do that to regain to just get all that emotion out of him regain his composure and become faithful once again and nothing wrong with fine men okay maybe you don't want your wife and your kids to see you then do what Peter did he went out he went out he went somewhere alone and wept bitterly verse 63 and the man that held Jesus mocked him and smote him so you know a lot of you think about the cross of course it is but even prior you know they're mocking him they're smoking the beats him up okay and when they had blindfolded him they struck him on the face and asked him saying prophesy who is it that smokey they're just mocking him and many other things blast and blasphemously spake they against him and as soon as it was they the elders of the people and the chief priests and scribes came together and let him into their council saying about the Christ tell us and he said after them if I tell you you will not believe so they're asking the question are you the Christ now Jesus doesn't say to them in these words yes I am yes I am the Christ but in a roundabout way he does say he's in a roundabout way why because it says if I said I'm sorry and he said it to them I tell you if I if I tell you you will not believe now look if he said I am NOT the Christ would they believe that yes they don't believe is the cross okay they would believe that so if he says if I tell you you will not believe what is this saying in a roundabout way that he is the cross I am the Christ if I told you I'm the Christ you will not believe anyway okay they weren't interested in the truth they weren't asking Jesus they weren't giving him the benefit of the doubt they weren't trying to give my fair trial they weren't trying to allow him to defend himself they were just asking questions to find accusations against them okay and I've already covered this but be careful about the questions you answer okay you may take the approach if I tell you you will not believe okay sometimes they're just trying to find folks in your words and verse 68 and it says if I also ask you you will not answer me nor let me go look you're not interested in letting me go you're not interested in even answering my questions why we have in this discussion Jesus knows they've arrested him to kill Jesus knows that okay and doesn't matter what happens what gets said that's what like that's how they go into position this trial to end up being okay verse 69 yeah just another beautiful words of Jesus he hereafter shall the Son of Man sit on the right hand of the power of God so this is again doesn't tell me as many words that he's a Messiah but he says look hereafter soon afterwards I'll be sitting at the right hand of the power of God you know who else but the Messiah could you know the Christ could you know could be sitting there at the right hand of God who else but the Son of God and verse 7 they realize this then said they all out there then the Son of God you know that I recognize okay well the enemy I could sit at the right hand of the father of the Father would be the son you the Son of God then and he said unto them ye say that I am you know affirming what they had said about that they're saying hey this guy says he is the Son of God okay and he's saying you said it okay so it's not saying in as many words I am the Son of God but once again in a roundabout way you know he's saying yep you said I am the Son of God and he's affirming that okay verse 71 and they said what need we any further witness for we ourselves have heard of his own mouth so they recognize out of his own mouth he's admitting could not deny not he's admitting that he is the sire he's the Christ that he is the Son of God they acknowledged that he had affirmed these questions and we're not denying them so that brings us to the end of the chapter guys so just a cute few things I want you to understand just like in the title not my will okay guys and look when you're in a backseat in state like Peter was do you think we'll seek in the will of God no he was doing his own will okay his will was weak what about safe the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak okay now again in our spirits in our new man I'm sure we all say Lord I will stand for you Lord I will always be in church what I will always be solely Lord I will always be reading my Bible what I will always be strengthened in brethren that's what I'll be doing for you Lord for the rest of my life okay but the reality is unless you're better than Peter unless you're better than all these apostles you are going to go for these times you are going to go through time in your life when you're like is it really worth it is it really worth proclaim in the name of Christ is it really worth being in church is it really worth strengthening edifying the brethren you know you're gonna come to a point it's gonna happen guys okay and what's the instructions Jesus gives us to pray that we would not be you know led into temptation we need to be praying this is going to keep us humble if we recognize we have the ability to fall we have the ability to fail we have the ability to sin we have the ability to not do the will of the Father that's what's going to get you down in your knees and praying and say God this is what I want I don't want to deny you Lord please strengthen me please help me not to get into this place of temptation where the flesh can get in the way all right we should be doing that okay don't think yourself aren't more highly than what you are okay but when you do fail when you do fail you are on the mind of God God has not forgotten God is still faithful to you God is still seeking that you would come to him okay and you may need to weep bitterly to get yourself back like okay and if that's what you've done hey you're not a failure okay because Christ prayed the faith of Peter would not fail okay just because you backslide doesn't mean you failed you only fail if you stay backslidden okay you don't fail you get out of that state you get strengthen you weep bitterly you go to the Lord and confess your sins you know you seek his will for your life he'll strengthen you okay just like the angels strengthen the Lord Jesus Christ you know God will strengthen you in your times of trial God will strengthen you in order for you to do his will okay so please remember these things as we go toward the end now to the crucifixion of Christ and his resurrection you know we can learn so many truths you know we can put ourselves in shoes of these apostles and be like man if better men than us can fail then surely we can we need to be alert we need to be aware we need to be humble you know if you fill yourself with pride you lift yourself up guaranteed you're going to fail guaranteed you're going to fall let's pray