Lesson 24: Peter’s Repentance, part 2

Second, look next at PETER LIVING THE LIFE OF SELF, pleasing self, and trusting self, and seeking the honor of self.

You recollect that just after Christ had said to him, “Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto you, but my Father who is in heaven," Christ began to speak about His sufferings, and Peter dared to say: "Be it far from You, Lord; this shall never happen to You." Then Christ had to say: "Get behind me, Satan; for you want not the things that are of God, but those that are of men."

There was Peter in his self-will, trusting his own wisdom, and actually forbidding Christ to go and die. From where did that come? Peter trusted in himself and his own thoughts about divine things. We see later, more than once, that among the disciples there was a questioning who should be the greatest, and Peter was one of them, and he thought he had a right to the very first place. He sought his own honor even above the others. It was the life of self strong in Peter. He had left his boats and his nets, but not his old self.

When Christ had spoken to him about His sufferings, and said, “Get behind me, Satan," He followed it up by saying: "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." No man can follow Him unless he does that. Self must be utterly denied. What does that mean? When Peter denied Christ, we read that he three times said: "I do not know the man"; in other words: "I have nothing to do with Him; He and I are no friends; I deny having any connection with Him." Christ told Peter that he must deny self. Self must be ignored, and its every claim rejected. That is THE ROOT OF TRUE DISCIPLESHIP; but Peter did not understand it, and could not obey it. And what happened? When the last night came, Christ said to him: "Before the cock crow twice thou shalt deny me thrice."


But with what self-confidence Peter said: "Though all should forsake You, yet will not I. I am ready to go with You, to prison and to death."

Peter meant it honestly, and Peter really intended to do it; but Peter did not know himself. He did not believe he was so bad as Jesus said he was.

We perhaps think of individual sins that come between us and God, but what are we to do with that self-life which is all unclean, our very nature? What are we to do with that flesh that is entirely under the power of sin? Deliverance from that is what we need. Peter did not know it, and therefore it was that in his self-confidence he went forth, and denied his Lord.

Notice how Christ uses that word deny twice. He said to Peter the first time, Deny self; He said to Peter the second time, you will deny me. It is either of the two. There is no choice for us; we must either deny self or deny Christ. There are two great powers fighting each other—the self-nature in the power of sin, and Christ in the power of God. Either of these must rule within us.

It was self that made the devil. He was an angel of God, but he wanted to exalt self. He became a devil in hell. Self was the cause of the fall of man. Eve wanted something for herself, and so our first parents fell into all the wretchedness of sin. We their children have inherited an awful nature of sin.