The Word of God is food for the spirit and health to the body.
Through the spirit of revelation, we are guided into the wisdom and deep mysteries in His
Word that make our lives vibrant and productive.
Welcome to the Merciful Gospel Church Podcast.
As you're listening, the glory of God will be quickened and activated in your life.
And now, the Word.
This morning I want to divert a bit from the book of Acts and deliver a message to you
that I think will speak to someone this morning.
You know, sometimes you have to obey the Holy Spirit.
I had another message prepared.
I have actually several prepared from the book of Acts, but the Lord showed me to dwell
on something different this morning.
I want to bring the topic to you.
The Roster still speaks.
The Roster, Rusta.
You know the Rusta?
Segwanga, the cook.
The Rusta still speaks.
We'll read in the Gospel of Luke chapter 22, and I want us to read a few passages there
to begin with.
Luke 22 from verse 56.
But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him and
said, This man was also with him?
And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not.
And after a little while another saw him and said, Thou art also of them?
And Peter said, Man, I am not.
And about the space of one hour, after another confidently affirmed saying of truth, this
fellow also was with him, for he is a Galenian.
And Peter said, Man, I know not.
Listen now verse, I've jumped to verse 50, verse 60.
Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest.
And immediately Quirle yet spake the cock crow, 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 three times.
You know these days I live in the village, you know that.
I was born in Kampala, raised up in Kampala.
I never really understood the village.
But when COVID came and there was a lockdown, I and my wife by accident ended up in the
village.
We've been there ever since.
One thing about the village is the sounds you hear in the morning, the symphony of music,
but noise.
You hear the birds chirping, all kinds of birds make noise in the morning.
We have many trees and therefore we have all kinds of birds that come in the morning and
they wake us up.
You also get to hear the communication between the cows and their calves.
When it's morning time, the calves want to suckle their mothers and they communicate,
the cows cry and the calves cry.
And that's noise.
Then you hear the cock, the rooster.
It's amazing how this animal can tell time.
Up to now I don't know what God has put in those birds.
Some of them are on the dot 4 a.m., between 4 and 5 they crawl.
And you know that it's almost dawn and the morning has come upon us.
Now Jesus told Peter, before the cock crawls, you deny me three times.
And of course Peter said, no, no, no, no, all these guys may fail you but I'm not going
to fail you.
But alas, it came to pass and Peter denied Jesus.
When he did, the cock crawled, before his denial, when he had a cock, it had no message
to him.
Israel, in the times of Peter, was like rural country.
The cocks and the animals would make noise in the morning.
When the rooster crawls, no big deal.
But when he denied Jesus, every time the rooster crawled, it triggered an emotion in him.
It triggered a sense of failure, a sense of being a coward, a sense of being a disappointment.
He was a disappointment to Christ.
A sense of being one who was braggart and he boasted but it was really just hot air,
nothing.
And that was an epic failure in the life of Peter.
So after that denial of Jesus, every time Peter had the cock crowed, and remember when
it crowed, the Bible says he went out and wept bitterly.
So I imagine that until when Jesus rose from the dead and made the disciples, every time
Peter had the cock crowed, it brought bad emotions.
But when Jesus came back from the dead and spoke to Peter, then the cock, when it crowed,
it sent a different message.
And I want us to look at the message the cock or the rooster sent to Peter after resurrection.
First of all, it reminded him, Peter, every time you hear the cock, you must watch and
pray.
Watch and pray.
Jesus had said in Luke 22 verse 31 to 34, he said, Simon, behold, O Saturn has desired
to have you, that he may sift through as wheat.
But I prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.
When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
33, and he said to him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee both into prison and to death.
34, he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crawl this day before that thou
hast thrice denied that thou knowest me.
Jump to verse 39, and he came out and went as he was wont to the Mount of Olives, and
his disciples also followed him.
When he was at that place, he said unto them, Pray that you enter not into temptation.
Every time the cock crowed after resurrection, it reminded him, Jesus told us before that
eventful day to watch and pray.
None of the disciples understood the danger that was coming to them.
This was no ordinary attack.
Saturn himself was managing the operation.
He had come and entered Judas.
This operation was masterminded and managed by Saturn himself.
If you talk about hell, all hell broke loose.
All hell came out that day.
The disciples did not know what Jesus saw.
He said to them, ye people, ye better pray.
If you don't pray, you won't enter into temptation.
There is a formidable storm and attack coming your way.
They took it lightly.
But when Jesus rose from the dead and encouraged Peter, Peter remembered, when the cock crawled,
I remember what he said, watch and pray.
It is a need for us to be vigilant.
When you go to bed tonight and the cock crawls in the morning, remember that message.
Wake up and pray.
Watch and pray.
Jesus saw a big storm coming.
So them, come on, can't you stand up and pray for only one hour?
Says watch.
Or else you fall into temptation.
And Saturn had particularly asked for Peter.
Why we cannot guess, hey people, Peter was so loud and he seemed to be like the natural
leader of the group.
The devil said, let me, allow me to sift this one.
He asked and Jesus told Peter, Simon, Simon, your life is in danger.
Pray.
Saturn has asked to sift you.
When you sift something, you shake it violently.
When they're sifting wheat, when they're trying to remove chaff, you shake violently.
Devil has asked to shake you violently.
Your life is in danger.
Watch and pray.
And Jesus predicted, it is said in Mark 14, verse 27.
He says, and Jesus said unto them, all ye shall be offended because of me this night.
It is written, I will smite the shepherd and the sheep shall scur.
28.
But after that I'm risen.
I'll go before you into Galilee.
Jesus predicted that all of them are going to fall.
He predicted it.
He warned them, he said, all of you are going to fall.
And you know why?
Because the men of them did not take heed to his warning.
He told them, watch and pray.
Listen, Jesus was praying for them, but that is not sometimes enough.
You also must pray for yourself.
He said, I've prayed for you, but you need to pray also.
I don't know why God does that.
You think that God is so powerful, he can put a wall around you and keep you from falling.
Sometimes he does it.
He wants you to stand up and pray and fight and stand.
Unless you stand and pray, you will fall.
You say, pastor, they'll just stop praying for you.
They'll just stop praying for you, but some things require your involvement.
You have a role to play.
That's why in Luke chapter 18 verse 1, Jesus spoke of a parable and says, men ought to
pray always.
He says always and not faint.
I know we have an intercessor.
Jesus lives forever to pray for us, but please don't fold your hands and say, you will fall.
You will fall.
Every time the cock crows, tomorrow morning, open your ears.
When you hear the cock, get up and pray.
Watch and pray.
That is the message that Peter now would pick from the cock crowing.
Before you would feel condemned, but after Christ rose from the dead, the message changed.
Every day announces new possibilities, get up and pray.
Every day comes with new challenges, get up and pray.
Every day comes with new temptations, get up and pray.
Watch and pray.
That's the powerful message that we receive from the cock crowing in the morning.
In James chapter 5 verse 13, it says, is any among you afflicted?
Let him do what?
Pray.
It doesn't mean that Christ is not praying for you, no, but you also pray.
If you're afflicted, if you're having difficulties and temptation, pray.
Praise the Lord.
In John chapter 18 verse 10, then Simon Peter having a sword, drew it and smothered the
high priest servant and cut off his right ear.
The servant's name was Malchus.
Now let me ask you a question.
When Peter drew the sword, did he want to cut off an ear or he want to cut off the head?
The head.
When Peter drew that sword, his aim and intent was to cut off the man's head.
To see if he don't pray, all you cut are ears.
You are ineffective in ministry.
You lack impact.
You lack power behind your words.
Your ministry is feeble.
You aim for the head.
The only thing you can cut is an ear because you are powerless.
You know, Samson with his bare hands, killed a lion.
He had no sword, but Samson was full of the power of the Holy Spirit.
When you have the power of the Holy Spirit, you can do amazing things.
But I can tell you that even if Peter had been given a machine gun to kill that man,
he would still miss.
Because he had no power, there was no waiting upon his life.
He would still miss with a machine gun.
How do you fail to cut a head and only I don't know how he struck, I don't know, he was looking
this way.
How?
You see, and you only cut an ear.
Maybe the man dodged, maybe.
But the man was unarmed and moreover a slave, a servant.
He was not trained in any military tactics.
He was a servant, but he dodged.
The problem is Peter had no power.
He had no power.
He had no anointing upon his life.
And that's what happens often.
We become ineffective in what we do for the Lord.
Hallelujah.
The Bible says that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to
putting down all strongholds.
Praise the Lord.
There are things that will require more than just your connections or your background or
your academic qualifications.
You need to pray, watch and pray.
Hallelujah.
I also want you to notice something in that verse.
Go back to John 18 verse 10.
The psalmist's name was Malchus.
That means this man was known in the early church.
When you see a name mentioned, it's because the readers of the audience know him.
They can refer to him.
It's believed this man actually became a believer.
He became a Christian.
Many scholars believe this man, when Christ rose from the dead, he gave his life to Christ.
Now do you see why Jesus took his ear and put it back on his head?
Because this man was going to become a believer himself and he had to have ears to hear the
word of God.
So God put back his ear to hear the word of God.
But here's my point.
That when we don't pray, we cut off people's ears.
This man actually was serving God.
Why do I say that?
Because in verse 11, verse 11, then said Jesus to Peter, put up thy sword into the stitch.
The cup which my father has given me shall I not drink it.
In other words, Malchus in a bizarre way was serving God.
Are you following?
That servant was serving God.
He was fulfilling the purpose of Jesus for coming on earth.
Yes, so Peter, take away that sword.
Have a cup.
I must drink it.
And Malchus and these soldiers are hoping me go up the cross.
In a bizarre, strange, paradoxical way, Malchus was serving God.
But because Peter had not prayed, he had no discernment.
He did not know the purpose and the working of God behind the scenes.
He did not know what God was doing.
He was acting in the flesh.
He was acting carnally.
If he had been praying, he probably would have received a revelation that this is actually
the purpose of why Jesus came.
He came to die for us on the cross.
And what's happening now is in the will of God.
Praise the Lord.
This God uses people to give us assignments, to give us roles, and to give us positions.
And we complain.
We think this person is just being rude or bad.
And we begin to badmouth them.
We begin to cut off their ears.
Let me give you an example.
Many years ago, many, many, many years ago.
My role, of course, is to mentor other leaders.
And God has, by His grace, helped me raise up several leaders.
One of them was a young man in his church.
And I sensed that it was time for him to go out and begin a church.
He was ambitious.
He was visionary and could not stay within this vision because he had his own plans and
he was very boisterous.
I said, look, it's better for you to go out and begin a church and do your own thing.
Even though we gave him support for a number of years, he castigated and talked ill of
me locally, abroad.
He wrote emails to missionaries.
He wrote.
But now he has a large ministry.
He has a large ministry and I'm glad.
But he did not pray well to understand that actually God was using me to push him to his
destiny.
Sometimes we cut off people's ears because we don't have a designament.
We say things that are wrong.
We insult people.
We accuse people.
We cut off their ears because we have not prayed to receive understanding of what God
is doing.
Every time the cock crowed, I said, I need to watch and pray.
I remember what happened.
It will not happen to me again.
I need to watch and pray.
Hallelujah.
Praise the Lord.
The second thing that will be the last thing I want to talk about is it reminded him of
God's promises.
Write the statement down.
My life does not stand on my promises to God, but on Christ's promises to me.
Let me explain this.
In Matthew chapter 26, I want to explain this point.
Matthew 26 verse 31.
It is said, Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night.
For it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.
Verse 32.
But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.
He is giving them a promise.
He is saying, Look, I am predicting.
Enemies going to strike the shepherd and the sheep will.
But I give you a promise, I will rise again, and I will go ahead of you into Galilee.
Verse 33.
Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet
will I never be offended.
Now, this is Peter now.
Peter is full of what they call bravado.
He's being cocky.
This beast pumped up, says, Now, Lord, you know, you don't know me.
Me, me, I, if these guys may disappoint you, but me, you can trust in me.
Wherever you go is where I will go.
Wherever you die is where I'm going to die.
He's giving promises to Christ, saying, Lord, you don't, I don't think you know me very
well.
I am different.
I will never fail you.
Like many of us, we give God promises.
We make covenants with God.
We make an oath.
We make a vow.
Has anybody ever made an oath and a vow to God?
Do you always keep your vow?
Not all the time.
And that's the truth.
Now, that is Peter.
Jesus has predicted the enemy is going to strike the shepherd.
Sheep the scatter.
But I promise you, I will come back.
I'll go ahead of you.
That's his promise.
Now, Peter also gives his promise.
Ah, now, Lord, I don't think you know me, Lord.
Not me.
I am going to stay with you until the end.
Verse 34, Jesus said to him, very listen to thee, that this night before the cock crow
thou shalt deny me thrice.
35.
Look at this man.
Peter said to him, though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee.
Likewise also said all the disciples.
The problem is Peter stood out among all the others.
He stood out more than, of course, all of them promised to be faithful to the end.
God, I will never leave you.
All of us say that.
Lord, I will never go back to that man.
I will never fornicate again.
I will never speak a lie.
We all make those promises, don't we?
And we should.
But I'm here to tell you the truth.
At the end of the day, it's not my promises that I make to Christ, I hope, Mr. It's his
promises to me that I'm still here.
His faithfulness to me, his integrity, his power, he said, I'll never leave you nor forsake
you.
It's because of those promises that I'm still here.
Not because I'm a perfect person, I am not.
I don't always keep my promises.
I want to.
I desire to.
I have a good will, I have a good motive.
I want to.
But the truth is, the flesh sometimes fails us.
Every time that Peter would hear the cock crowing, remember the promise of God is a
sure anchor.
That's why in this church, I remind you every week, read your Bible, read your Bible.
That is the sure foundation.
Everything else will shake.
People may change the country, economy, whatever may change, but what is sure to start is the
word of God.
Read it.
Hallelujah.
Because everything else, you yourself can change.
This poor God had good intentions.
Maybe he had good intentions.
He wanted to be faithful, but this flesh, this flesh.
Now in verse Corinthians chapter 10, verse 12, verse 12, it says, wherefore let him that
thinks he stands, take heed, lest he what?
For there's no one here who's beyond failure, even your pastor.
You know what I said?
No one here has been made from metal or rock, we are all flesh.
Because of that, the only thing I can hold onto this life, the promise of God that is
faithful and just forgive all those who repent.
He has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Those are things that helped me stand to this very day.
Not because I have made very good promises and I'm keeping every one of them.
I've made the covenants, I've made promises and I'm keeping.
No, I've made those promises.
I've made a covenant.
I do and I should, but at the end of the day, it's not what I've said to God.
That's important.
It's what God has said to me that's important.
God's promises.
Hallelujah.
Oh, thank you, Jesus.
Jesus told Peter, Peter, I've prayed for you.
I've prayed for you and when you are converted, Peter, now it will be your time to strengthen
others.
You know, all the disciples fail.
Don't you forget that.
But never all of them fail.
When Jesus rose from the dead, he told the women, tell my disciples I'm going ahead of
them, Galilee, until Peter also.
Peter had a one-on-one with Jesus and Jesus strengthened him.
He said, now you strengthen your brothers.
I see Peter telling James and look, you guys, we missed, but the love of God is amazing.
We can still do this thing and we can still serve God.
We can still succeed.
He strengthened the others.
He strengthened them.
Jesus kept his promise.
He said to Peter, I have seen what the enemy tends to do against you, but I have prayed
for you.
And when you're fallen and risen, converted, now you also strengthen the others.
The Bible says in 2 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 13, and this probably will be my last verse,
2 Timothy 2, verse 13.
It says, if we believe not, yet he abides faithful, he cannot deny himself.
Sometimes we are unfaithful.
We want to obey him, but things don't work out the way we want.
But brothers and sisters, this is our hope.
God can't deny himself.
He saves us to the uttermost.
Hallelujah.
That is why even when he was being arrested, he asked the soldiers, whom are you looking
for?
They said, we're looking for Jesus.
He says, I am here.
When they heard that, they fell back.
And he said, Jesus is amazing.
He could have used that chance to walk away.
He didn't.
He said, brother, who are you looking for, second time, who are you looking for?
They said, Jesus.
He said, I am here.
He says, but let these go.
Let my disciples go.
You can arrest me, but don't touch these disciples.
Because he knew at that time they didn't have the strength to stand the test.
Hallelujah.
And he had made a promise, I'll keep you to the end.
Even during his arrest, he had his eyes upon Peter.
He was watching over them.
Hallelujah.
He was concerned for their well-being.
He was aware of where they were emotionally, physically, spiritually.
He covered them.
Tell the soldiers, you arrest me, but let these men go free.
Don't touch them.
The Bible says they all fled.
They all ran away and fled from Christ.
But that verse, to me, offers hope.
It means that whatever you've done in this life, because of the fact that Jesus has become
your Lord and Savior, even though we are unfaithful, he can't deny himself, there is hope for you
to start again.
There is hope for you to be forgiven.
There is hope that the dream can still come to pass.
Peter fell badly.
He denied Christ and cursed.
He swore, I don't know the man.
He even called him a man.
I don't know the man.
That is epic.
That is huge.
I think the whole of Jerusalem heard about it.
It was news all over Jerusalem.
The man used to be here and brag, under pressure, he buckled, buckled and denied him and even
cursed.
It was bad.
But you know what?
A few weeks later, the Saint Peter stood in Jerusalem and preached to thousands and told
the Pharisees, you are the ones who killed him.
But God raised him from the dead.
He boldly spoke about Christ before thousands.
And the Bible says three thousand came to Christ, the Saint Peter.
Every time he would hear the cock crow, hope would come in him.
If God brought me from that, I have hope to overcome this.
That's why when he was in prison in Act, chapter 12, and he had soldiers shackled to him on
his left and right, he slept.
I didn't know because God is faithful.
If I die, I go with him.
If he wants me to be alive, I'll walk out from here alive.
So he slept.
This message this morning, when the cock crows, it should bring in us hope.
The promise that I will never leave you nor forsake you is repeated all over in the Bible.
God has promised to never, never forsake us.
The last verse I want us to read is Luke 22 verse 61.
Luke 22 verse 61.
Luke 22 verse 61 will be our last verse.
When the Lord turned, I checked in the Greek, that's 180 turn.
Jesus is standing before Caiaphas.
He's being interrogated.
They're asking very malicious questions.
When Peter denied him, he forgot about Caiaphas, he forgot about the soldiers, he turned 180
degrees and looked at Peter.
Thought about that.
When I think, when you are being slapped and beaten and kicked and people spitting in your
face and asking many questions, he still had time to think about Peter.
When he says in the spirit, a good day, he turned and looked at him.
Now you say, pastor, what kind of look was it?
It depends on your understanding of who God is.
If you think God is judgmental, is like a policeman with a big gun or a club to beat
you every time before, that's up to you.
But me, he turned the look was of pity.
When Peter saw the love in those eyes, he realized he had made a big mistake.
He ran out and wept bitterly because he knew he had let down a faithful friend.
Somebody in here needs to know that God's eyes are on you.
He watches you all the time.
He cares for you.
The day begins with the cock crowing.
From now on, when you hear the cock crowing, remember this, God's eyes are upon you.
He watched also for you.
You may not even realize it.
I mean, Peter thought he was the one watching Jesus.
He followed from a distance, the Bible says, he followed us, and everywhere they go, they
go to him.
He followed in fear.
He sat from a distance.
He kept on peeping and shaking.
And he could hear him probably scream as they whipped him.
Oh, and he could see, hear the slaps that sent terror and fear in his heart.
And they said, but you're also one of them.
I said, I don't know the man.
But you look like a girl.
Three times, the third time, Jesus forgot about his pain.
By now, he forgot about his trouble and turned 180 degrees.
And look, Peter, oh, I just come to pass.
Oh, good day.
If you're here this morning and you have had failure in your life, when the cock crows
every morning, it reminds you, God, I did not send Christ to condemn sinners.
He sent Christ to save sinners.
There is hope.
Come back to Jesus.
You'd think at that time he would have ignored him.
He had his own problems, but he still cared enough to forget his pain and look with pity
on a Christian who had fallen.
The cock reminds us many things.
This morning, I want you to take this message and apply it.
Every day in the morning when you hear that thing standing up, remember, his promises,
watch and pray, hope in God.
His eyes are upon you.
The watch is over you.
His concern over you.
Hallelujah.
Thank you for listening.
We hope that you've been strengthened with his might and fortified by the word of God.
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pages at FullGospaMap.
Goodbye.