Matt 26:63 ...And the high priest said to Him, I charge You to swear by the living God to tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God. (64) Jesus said to him...From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven (73) And after a little while those who were standing there came to Peter and said, Surely you also are one of them... (74) Then he began to curse and to swear: I do not know the man! And immediately a rooster crowed. (75) And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times. And he went out and wept bitterly.
[Part 2 of 2] In his first denial, Peter said only the word; in his second denial, he replied with an oath; and in his third denial, he cursed and swore. After denying the Lord the third time and hearing the cock crow, Peter remembered the word of the Lord, and he went out and wept bitterly (v. 75). As the Lord was suffering an evil and unjust judgment, Peter denied Him. By denying Him, Peter was exposed to the uttermost. We should not read this account merely as a story about Peter, for it reveals that it is impossible for our natural life to enter into the kingdom. Because we all are the same as Peter, we should not try to follow the pathway into the kingdom by our natural life. No matter what kind of mind or will we may have, we cannot succeed. The test will come that will fully expose us. Sooner or later, all of us on the pathway to the kingdom will face the same tests. Praise the Lord that there is still the way of repentance, weeping, and confessing that brings in the Lord's forgiveness and His further visitation. For the kingdom, we must have another life and be another person. Only after we have passed through all the tests and have suffered all the defeats and failures will we realize our need for another life. Praise the Lord for the strong contrast presented in this chapter! Only one man, Jesus, was victorious. Truly, only the life of Jesus is good for the kingdom.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Matthew, pp. 800-801. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
To unsubscribe from the mailing list, either: Send an email to: [email protected] (No subject or message needed; a blank email will work) or visit www.emanna.com and fill out the unsubscribe form there.
