What a fiery experience!
And who would imagine
Someone could go through such
And still be living.
But alas, that one is not
For he has long since passed
However, the example he has left,
For long will it last.
First, he sat by the fire
On that fiercely cold night
And while trying to keep warm
He had a ghastly fright!
“You were with him!”
A voice cried out,
Then another and another,
And that made him shout.
“Not me! Not me!
You are sadly mistaken,
I do not know that man.”
Jesus, he had forsaken.
Now, he was in the fire
Having forsaken the Lord,
When he should have stood firm,
He went back on his word.
He had made him a promise
But had not followed through,
Now he was in the fire
Yes, he became the stew.
Not a tasty one though,
For he had denied his Lord,
By the fire then in the fire,
Being burnt by his word.
What a stupid cock!
Why did it have to crow?
It appeared there was nothing
That Jesus did not know.
Jesus said it would happen
But Peter refused to believe,
By the fire and in the fire
Now no one to relieve.
First, trying to find warmth,
Now more than he needs,
Still cold and all alone,
For relief he now pleads.
Fast forward two months:
Let’s see what we have here,
He’s not by the fire or in the fire
But on fire without fear.
The fearful one now fearless,
Is on fire for the Lord
And on the day of Pentecost
He declares the precious Word.
“This same Jesus,” he declares,
“Whom you crucified…”
Now on fire he testifies
Of Jesus he once denied.
A three-point sermon
That was long ago preached
By a well-known child of God
That we sometimes call “Teach”.
That “we” there
Refers to my wife and me,
I call him my mentor
And in a real sense so does she.
Before COVID-19 arrived
He was her Sunday school teacher
And in the Lodge Road church
He is a well-loved preacher.
By the fire is where Peter sat
In the fire is what Peter got,
But when the Spirit burned within
On fire became his lot.
Stewart Russell © April 29, 2021
