Peter's Denial

Go ahead and take your Bibles, turn over to Mark chapter 14 this morning.

Mark 14 · chapter mention

Mark chapter 14 as we continue on in our series through the book of Mark here this morning.

Mark 14 · chapter mention

As we have been looking here as Jesus has been taken here to the high priest's palace

and interrogated and falsely accused.

And this was the first of his trials along the pathway to the cross as he went.

And while Jesus was facing the accusations, two of his disciples this morning we're going to find

and expressly talk about one and that's Peter.

But John and Peter had followed the mob to Caiaphas' house.

And we're going to see here this morning that Peter here becomes the central focus

as he would soon engage in the very thing that Jesus had revealed to him

that he would deny that he ever knew Jesus.

And so as we're going to look here this morning, if you found Mark chapter 14,

Mark 14 · chapter mention

let's stand together in honor of the reading of the Word of God.

And we'll have kind of a broken reading here this morning.

We're going to read verse 54 and then jump over to verse 66

because these two kind of tie together about Peter here.

And so we see here in verse 54 it says,

And Peter followed him afar off, even under the palace of the high priest.

And he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire.

And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest.

And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him and said,

And thou also was with Jesus of Nazareth.

But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest.

And he went out into the porch and the cock crew.

And the maids saw him again and began to say to them that stood by,

This is one of them.

And he denied it again.

And a little after, when they stood by again, said to Peter,

Surely thou art one of them, for thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeeth thereto.

But he began to curse and to swear, saying,

I know not this man of whom ye speak.

And the second time the cock crew and Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him,

Before the cock crowed twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.

And when he thought thereon, he wept.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Fathers, we come before you this morning, Lord.

We're thankful for your word.

We're thankful for even the reality.

As we're going to look at Peter here this morning, Lord,

A man that did many things similar to what we do oftentimes, Lord.

Even get caught up in ourselves.

Lord, to not rely upon you.

Lord, we can learn so much from even this incident with Peter

And how he even grew through it.

Lord, help us to grow also in you through these things, even here today.

And Lord, we just love you and thank you.

In Jesus' name, amen.

May we be seated.

You know, as we find here, Jesus here has told his disciples beforehand what was going to transpire.

You know, and that's one of those things that oftentimes we can get information but not want to do anything with it.

You know, if we don't like the information, oftentimes we ignore it.

You know, sometimes we put it off to the side.

Sometimes we exempt ourselves from it, as we're going to see here with Peter.

And we're going to see here as he told his disciples that they were going to be offended and they were going to run away.

If you remember earlier here that Peter took offense to what Jesus said.

When Jesus looked at Peter and said, Peter, hey, I know who you are.

I know what you're going to do.

I know how you're going to respond.

I know because it's been foretold how these things are going to come about.

And we're going to look here this morning and Jesus is telling Peter.

And Peter's response is he looks at Jesus and says, Jesus, I've been faithful and there's no way I would deny you.

You know, you know, it's very easy to see Peter in ourselves sometimes.

Because sometimes we can have that same idea in our minds, you know, even about our service to Christ.

But we need to be careful because we're going to see here as Peter learned also, we have to be there's some dangers.

There's some things that led him here that can cause a problem in our life also.

And we know that Jesus made it very clear to him in Peter's response in Mark 14 and verse 31.

It tells us there, but when he spake more vehemently, if I should die with you, I will not deny thee in any wise like also said they all.

You know, it's interesting in that passage there in Mark 14, when you consider that Peter stood up and was very vehement.

He's very aggressively stating, Jesus, I will never forsake you.

Now, that's interesting because Peter was the one who always got up and got going, right?

That word vehemently, I want to remind you, it's almost like Peter got in Jesus' face and told him, I don't believe you.

I will be faithful even unto death.

That's how confident Peter was of how he would respond to a situation.

You know, I want you to consider something when you're judging things and you're looking at other people, never look and say, I would never do something.

Because sometimes you don't know how you'll respond until that moment.

We need to just look and say, Lord, help me to be faithful, increase my faith.

Lord, help me to trust you in those situations.

Help me to move forward through them.

And so Peter here, he was very adamant.

They got the others on board.

You ever know somebody gets excited and has a lot of energy?

Everybody else jumps on board too?

You know?

But you know, you realize even all the other disciples also all ran away.

They all went their own direction.

You know?

And we see here, he was ready to give everything for the Lord, even his life.

And he was close to that happening here.

Just a little bit before this, you remember when the mob came out to arrest Jesus.

And what's Peter do?

He takes the sword and he lops off the ear of Malchus, the high priest's servant.

He literally could have lost his own life if it weren't for Jesus intervening.

Because remember, what did Jesus do, you know?

And, you know, that whole account just still fascinates me.

Here's Peter doing something really dumb.

And Jesus steps in and makes a difference.

You know, I just imagine Jesus taking the ear and putting it back on and Malchus is going,

Whoa.

How do you charge somebody when there's no offense?

You know?

I always laugh and think about that.

You know, how good a witness would Malchus have been against Peter?

Well, he cut my ear off, but Jesus put it back on.

It's working just fine.

Matter of fact, I hear better than I did before.

That wouldn't work too good, would it?

But we realize here as Peter is here and Jesus is telling Peter, he says, Peter, I know.

And I think Jesus appreciated Peter's fervency and his energy.

But we need to understand Jesus also knew the heart.

He knew how Peter was going to respond.

He knows how we're going to respond.

He knows what we're made of.

But I want you to see the importance of this moment here that we're going to look at here this morning,

because this is one of the few events you'll find in all four Gospels.

All four of the Gospel writers write about this.

From a little different perspective, give us different details.

As we'll see here in a little bit, John even informs us that people who knew Malchus was one of them that were accusing Peter.

I know you're one of them.

You know, maybe he pointed them out and said, that's the dude who cut my ear off.

You know, we don't have all that information, but we know the Bible tells us that there were those who knew him and connected that with Peter.

But we find here that Peter denies Christ.

Yet the fact is that it's just a snapshot into Peter's life.

You know, the one thing is we talk about this because oftentimes you can look at this and say, it's very negative what Peter did.

But I think this is recorded, it's important in all four Gospels because it's something important for us to note.

That what happens in a moment does not define you for the rest of your life.

God can take and forgive and move forward with your life.

Peter's a testimony to that.

Because I don't know about you, when you read about Peter denying Christ and how he does it here as we're going to look at it,

you would think that would be unrecoverable.

That Peter would be down and out and Jesus would just write him off.

But Jesus already knew as we're going to look and understand what happens here this morning.

Because Peter learned much through the event because, you know what made the difference between living in failure and being restored?

Was we're going to see here that Peter's repentance, realizing what he had done,

and coming back to the Lord made all the difference.

Oftentimes when we get caught in events in life, it's because we want to stay there.

We're not willing to say, Lord, I was wrong.

Lord, I need your forgiveness.

I need you.

And oftentimes we're going to see people can get caught there when they're not willing to turn to the Lord for forgiveness and restoration.

And so Peter's story is important to us because, you know, we will experience that sometime in our life you're going to fail.

Sometime in your life if you say, I'm going to serve the Lord, you're going to fail the Lord.

But Peter's account gives us hope to say we know God can put things back together.

That God can restore in lives and through Him that we can experience forgiveness and restoration.

You know, just the fact that we have failed the Lord and sinned against Him doesn't mean that we're doomed to end our lives in that condition.

You know, I want you to know that there's hope in the midst of crisis we have a Savior.

When we look at Peter here this morning, I don't want you to look and say, well, what a bum.

I want you to look at it and say, what can I learn?

What can I learn from Peter's life that I can apply to my own?

What things do I need to do in my life when I'm in the position Peter was in?

Because the reality is all of us are going to sin.

All of us have sinned. All of us will sin.

But what's done with that sin is what's important.

And so we're going to look here this morning for a few moments here into this passage here.

But look together. We're going to look at Peter's fear.

Because, you know, one thing I think you're going to find is fear drives a lot of things.

How you perceive what's going on around you drives a lot of things in our life.

And we're going to look at this this morning because while all of Peter's,

all the disciples ran away from Jesus when he was arrested,

we learn that two of them, and in Mark he just makes note of the one,

because notice in verse 54 it says,

And Peter followed him afar off, even into the palace of the high priest.

And we see this, but I want you to understand, John, look over to John chapter 18.

John 18 · chapter mention

John chapter 18 in verse 15.

John 18 · chapter mention

We're going to see here that John records,

And Simon Peter followed Jesus and did it, and so did another disciple.

And that disciple was known unto the high priest,

and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.

And so, in other words, we find here that John,

we know that John has a connection somehow with the high priest.

Now, the Bible doesn't tell us in detail what that connection is.

But we know that he was in a position enough that he was allowed into the palace.

He was recognized as somebody that was familiar around where the high priest was.

And so we're going to see here this morning that we find John here is into the palace,

and Peter is outside.

He's warming himself by the fire.

And we find that John speaks to the maid that's watching the door

and convinces her to go get Peter.

You know, this is where Mark picks up.

Peter's sitting by the fire with the servants.

Now, that's interesting because he just cut off one of the ears of one of the servants.

So he goes and he's trying to hide himself amongst them.

And we find here that Peter there was even in the palace of the high priest,

and he sat with the servants and warmed himself by the fire.

You know, it was here that the maid found Peter.

We see here in verse 66 here in our text, it says,

As Peter was beneath the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest.

You know, why was she coming out?

Well, if you read John's gospel, you'll find that John was the one who sent her out

to get Peter, to get Peter on inside also.

You know, but notice how Peter responded to her.

She comes out and Peter, and when she saw Peter warming himself,

she looked upon him and said,

And thou also was with Jesus of Nazareth.

Now, that's interesting that she says thou also.

What's that tell you?

She knows there's another one.

You know, that there was another one.

John was already in and she was sent out to get Peter.

And how does Peter respond?

You know, Peter here does the first denial that comes.

He's nervous about what's happening.

And you look in verse 68 and it says,

But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest.

And he went out into the porch and the cock crew.

In other words, we see here that here's Peter.

He says, I know not.

And then he uses another best excuse.

No comprende.

You know, I don't understand.

You know, that's like a universal thing.

If somebody wants to get out of trouble, if people,

because you've got to remember, in biblical times,

people spoke multiple languages.

In other words, Peter was sitting there and he goes,

Well, I don't understand.

You know, it was a tool that he used to try to deny.

You know, I want you to understand that it's no different today.

A lot of people do that.

You know, well, I just don't understand.

Understand.

But the thing is, when it comes to the things of God,

you better pay attention.

Because there's things in life you cannot understand and get by.

But if you fail to understand what Christ has done for you,

it devastates eternity.

One misunderstanding about what Christ has done for you

will devastate eternity for you.

It's something that you better figure out

because God made it simple.

Amen?

You know, well, I appreciate that God made it simple.

It's not complex.

But we find here that the rooster crows in the background,

just as Jesus had warned Peter

that he would deny him three times before,

that old rooster crowed two times.

You know?

So we know that this happened pretty quickly

in the sequence of things

because he didn't even consider

what he had just heard

and wanting to avert attention from himself.

He moves into the porch area.

In other words, his fear

of being recognized.

He was scared of what was going to happen.

And he tries to avert.

He tries to get away.

You know, sometimes we'll do the same thing.

You know, even believers sometimes

will let fear overcome

wanting to be associated with Christ.

Peter, the one who had walked with him,

wanted to disavow

for his own means.

For preservation.

We find here it was only a brief while

before another maid recognizes him

and begins to tell others who he was.

And Peter overhears the accusation

and begins to deny.

Look here as we say in verse 69,

And a maid saw him

and began to say to them that stood by,

This is one of them.

And he had denied it again.

And a little after,

they that stood by said again to Peter,

Surely thou art one of them.

For thou art a Galilean,

and thy speech agreeeth thereto.

So we find here

that there's a brief while

and a maid recognizing.

He quickly hears the conversation.

I mean, I can see her over there.

That's Peter.

He was one of them.

And the crowd's looking at Peter,

and Peter's going,

Man, I've got to say something.

Once again, fear overcomes

what's taking place.

And we see here as Peter is there,

and he quickly overhears,

and he denies that he ever was with Jesus.

You know, John gives us a little insight.

John 18, 26 says this,

One of the servants of the high priest

being his kinsman,

whose ear Peter cutteth off.

In other words, Malchus,

somebody related to Malchus.

I imagine if they were both there together,

they'd already had a conversation

about what happened.

You say, preacher, how do you know that?

I don't know how anybody,

if you had your ear cut off

and somebody miraculously put it back on,

you wouldn't tell somebody.

You know?

It's kind of like the lame man

in the book of Acts.

He says, I don't know,

but all I know is, you know,

I couldn't walk, now I can walk.

You know, you have the same account

with people who couldn't see.

I was blind, but now I see.

You know, I can't explain it.

I can't tell you what happened.

I imagine Malchus was the same way.

He says, he cut my ear.

I don't know what happened,

but Jesus healed it.

He was going to be telling people.

And we see here that these,

cut it off.

He says, did not I see thee

in the garden with him?

You know, in other words,

he was there.

He says, I recognize you

from the garden.

So here's Peter,

and he's kind of feeling pushed in

from the things around him.

And we find here that

as he stood there,

we find in verse 7,

he denied it again.

And a little after that,

stood by him again,

said to Peter,

surely thou art one of them,

for thou art a Galilean,

and thy speech agreeeth thereto.

You know, surely thou art,

it's a matter of fact.

He said, look at him.

And they looked at Peter and said,

well, we've got a couple of clues

going on here.

One, you look like somebody

that's from Galilee,

but your speech betrayeth you too.

Now, let's put this

into a common thing,

because we do this all the time

with people, don't we?

Have you ever met somebody

and you looked at how they're dressed

and you heard their accent

and you said,

I have a real good idea

where you're from.

They might not identify it,

but they'll say things like this,

you're not from around here,

are you?

You know,

have you ever noticed

how those things come up?

You recognize pretty quickly,

hey, this person

is not from around here.

And what's the big indicator

is what?

Their language,

even an accent

or things associated,

identifies that quickly,

doesn't it?

In other words,

Peter didn't speak

like they spoke in Jerusalem.

They had a little difference.

You know,

we might put today,

you know,

some of the things

that we have

that identify those things.

You know,

you have

that Bostonian accent.

Have you ever known

somebody from Boston

in that area?

It's just like

you pinpoint them

right away.

You know,

because they forget

parts of words.

Then you got

the Jerseyites.

You know,

that's a whole different

lingo from the Bostonians.

You know,

and then you have,

you know,

that's also different

from the Carolina accent,

which is different

from the Texas accent,

which is different

from the Virginia accent.

You know,

and if you get

in some place,

you know,

people can tell

whether you're

from Virginia

or Carolina

or West Virginia

or Tennessee.

I mean,

all those places

you can pick up

little nuances

of difference.

And so,

it's very easy

that sometimes

we see and hear

the same thing

happened with Peter.

You know,

it was very evident

that Peter

here responds,

though.

He says,

I've been outed.

I've been,

everybody knows

and notice in verse 71,

he says this,

he says,

but he began to curse

and to swear,

saying,

I know not this man

of whom you speak.

Now,

I want you to understand

what takes place here

because when it talks

about Peter

swearing here,

it doesn't mean

Peter used vulgar language.

What Peter did here

is far worse

than vulgar language.

You know,

when we talk about

curse and swearing today,

you know,

we have a certain

association of words

and dynamics,

but I want you

to understand

what Peter did here

when we understand

what's being said

is far worse

because Peter swears

by the very one

he denies.

I want you to know

that Peter was there.

He may have said

something like this,

and if he was speaking today,

he may say,

I swear before God

that I don't know

Jesus of Nazareth.

He literally swore an oath

to God

that he didn't know Jesus.

That's what it's speaking about.

It's the same dynamic.

That word curse,

let me just give you,

so I can validate

what I'm telling you

as you can understand

even from the Scripture.

Turn over to Acts 23

for a moment

because this same word

is used over in Acts 23

and verse 12.

This idea of curse,

it's a vow

that he's making

before them.

Here in Acts 23

and verse 12,

it says,

And when it was day,

certain of the Jews

banded together

and bound themselves

under a curse,

under a vow

before God.

That's how that term

is expressed

in the Scripture, okay?

I want you to understand

that connection

because we're not talking

about Peter

using language

that we might say

was a little colorful

here trying to break away.

He did something

far worse

when you think about it.

He swore

by the very one

he was denying.

Peter had fallen

a long way.

Consider what he was

just a few hours previous.

He was in Jesus' face

basically saying,

Lord,

I don't believe you.

I'm going to be faithful

to you no matter what.

And within a few hours,

Peter has denied Christ

three times

even to the point

of swearing

by the name of the Lord

that he didn't know him.

That's a long ways.

Lord, I will never deny you

to I'll swear by God

I don't know you.

That's about as far

as the extreme you can get.

He went from both ends.

He moved both ends

of the spectrum

from one I will never

I will never give up.

I will not always

hold on to you

to I don't even want

to know you.

He literally blasphemed

the name of the one

that he swore

that he would follow.

I think Peter's fear

of this situation

and his fear

led to his failure.

When he got there

he found out

that his faith

wasn't focused

on the right things.

And we'll see here

this morning

because Peter's failures

that come here

because we need

to talk about this.

What got Peter

to this point?

What are the things

that we see

in Peter's life

that got him

caught up into this?

You know?

What caused Peter

from going

from a close walk

with the Lord

to openly denying him?

How did Peter fail?

One that was so

focused upon the Lord.

He said,

Lord, I've given

everything up for you.

But we can look

at Peter's life

and identify some problems

in our own lives too.

Because one of the things

I see first

in Peter's life

is a problem

with self-confidence

instead of confidence

in God.

When Peter was talking

to Jesus

he says,

I, I, I, I

will never forsake you.

The reality is

there's only one

that will never forsake you

and that's God.

You know?

After the Passover meal

early that evening

Jesus revealed to them

that all would forsake him

that very night.

You know,

all would do there.

and Peter quickly responded

if you remember

and informed Jesus

that the rest might leave

but he never would.

Self-confidence

in what I can do,

how good I can hold on,

how much my ability is.

The problem is

Peter believed

he reached a place

in his spiritual life

where failure

was impossible.

I want you to understand

that you never reach a point

where failure is impossible.

I want you to understand

the Bible

warns us

it's a dangerous place

to be

when you think

your ability

and who you are

is above failure

before God.

Look over to

Proverbs chapter 29.

Proverbs 29 · chapter mention

Proverbs 29

and verse 23.

You find here

in the book of Proverbs

it says this.

It says,

A man's pride

shall bring him low

but honor

shall uphold

the humble

in spirit.

You know,

you'll find many verses

talking about

the contrast

between pride

and humility.

A high self-confidence

in what we're talking

about here in Peter

is pride.

Pride in your life

saying,

I know

my ability

who I am

gets us in trouble

pretty quick,

doesn't it?

Because we need to realize

you never think

that you are above

the same situation

where you would

deny the Lord.

I want you to understand

the fact is

that you're prone,

just as prone

to sin

as anyone else.

You're just as prone

to sin

as Peter was.

If you let

self-confidence

and pride

take the place

of faith

and trust

and walking

with the Lord.

I want you to understand

that you're only

one thought,

one act,

one word

from being right

where Peter was.

Look how quickly

Peter's life changed.

Peter went from one

everybody would look at

to say that's

Jesus' most faithful servant

to openly deny him.

Why?

Because his confidence

was in himself.

You know,

confidence in himself

gets us in trouble.

How about defiance?

The second thing here,

there was some defiance

in Peter's life

because self-confidence

leads to some defiance

because you get

centered off

what you need

to focus upon

and upon ourselves

and what we can do.

I want you to think,

how was Peter defiant?

Well,

consider what took place

even though Peter

was told very clearly

by the Lord

what was going to happen.

Peter got the biggest problem

with self-reliance

as he denied

what God's word said.

He denied

what the Lord said.

He heard Jesus say,

all of you

are going to be scattered.

You will all run away.

And Peter says,

what?

I don't believe you.

Peter rejected

the word of God.

Look back in this passage.

Look in verse 31

of chapter 14.

It says,

but he spake

the more vehemently.

If I would die with thee,

I will not deny thee

in any wise.

Likewise also

said they all.

What did Jesus say

before that?

He said,

before Peter,

before the cock crows

twice,

you're going to deny me

three times.

And Peter said,

there's no way.

Earlier,

Jesus had quoted

even from the Old Testament

in Zechariah chapter 13

Zechariah 13 · chapter mention

and verse 7

to prove what he was saying

was going to happen,

that the disciples

were going to go away.

They were going to deny him.

They were going to run away.

You know what this is?

Peter's problem was

he was defiant

and openly opposed

to the word of God.

Jesus' own words

were authoritative enough.

Jesus quoted from

his word.

And Peter says,

Lord,

I know what you said

and I know what's written,

but I don't care.

You know,

dangerous place to be

when you know

what God says

and you openly ignore it

because you think

you know better.

Peter got himself

in trouble

just as quickly

as we can

when we become defiant

to the word of God.

To say,

Lord,

I know what you say,

but that doesn't

include me.

You know,

one of the things

of self-confidence

and defiance

is the fact

that it's like

I'm exempt.

That's going to happen

to everybody else

but me.

That's really what

Peter's saying.

Lord,

that might be true

of everybody else,

but not me.

You know what?

There's a lot of times

in life

that people do

the same thing,

that we do

the same thing.

Lord,

I know what you say

in your word.

I know what even

the consequences

of those choices are,

but not me.

Lord,

I'm above that.

You know,

on Wednesday nights

we're learning about

old King Jehoshaphat,

you know,

and he went off

into battle

and almost lost

his life

because he didn't

believe what God

said.

The only thing

that saved his life,

I believe,

is he cried out

to God and said,

Lord,

I'm in trouble.

I made a big mistake

because I didn't

obey what you said.

Peter got in trouble

because he was

self-confident

and he defied

the word of God.

You know,

people today

do the exact same thing.

We can do

the exact same thing.

Know what God

says about it,

but ignore it.

A believer

is always headed

for trouble

when they refuse

to listen

to the word

of God.

You know,

sometimes we think,

well,

unbelievers need

to hear the word

of God

and pay attention

because I've

got it handled.

I want you

to understand

whether you need

to understand

what salvation is,

how Christ came

and paid the price

for your sin

on the cross

and how that

whosoever will

call upon him

will be saved

if they recognize,

yes,

I'm a sinner,

I'm drowning

in my sin,

I'm going to die

in my sin

and only Christ

can rescue me.

I want you

to understand

that's the beginning

of your walk

in understanding

the word of God.

I'll put it this way,

until you understand

who Christ is

as your Savior,

the rest of the word

of God

is really irrelevant

because if you miss

that one point,

the Bible says

there's two places

you're going to go.

That's a pivotal point.

It's a difference

between heaven

and hell.

Total opposite contrast.

You know,

contrary to popular belief,

you don't get

second chances

past this life.

Be thankful

in this life

you get more

than second chances

usually

because while you're

still drawing breath

you have a chance.

You have an opportunity

to call upon the Savior.

I want you to understand

that the word of God

is just as important

for salvation

as it is

for daily living.

Peter here

denied

and defied

the word of God.

You know,

Christians can defy

God's word.

The Bible says

he that knoweth

to do good

and doeth it

not to him

it is sin.

You know,

if you want to fall

into trouble

stand in defiance

to God's word.

It's a dangerous place

for us to be

because anybody's

in trouble

when they refuse

to obey

the word

of God.

Peter was defiant.

He was self-confident.

He was defiant.

But you know,

Peter also was

indifferent

and

had prayerlessness.

He didn't want

that connection.

You know,

if you remember

back in verses

33 through 38

Jesus went

to pray

and told his

disciples to pray

with him.

Instead,

what did they do?

Fell asleep.

They were exhausted.

You know,

we talked about

the reality of that

as we studied that.

But I want you

to see the application

here

and the implication

of what happens.

They showed

indifference

to the warning

of the Lord.

What did Jesus say?

Hey,

to watch and pray.

And they fell asleep.

Refusing to pray

and seek God

would have served

them well.

Or refusing to pray

and seek God

the very thing

that would have

served them well

when the attack

of the devil

and the flesh

came

was to pray.

You know,

Peter

was self-confident.

He defied

the word of God.

He didn't want

to pray.

He was indifferent.

Then we find

Peter's impulsiveness.

You know,

just going out

on his own,

you know.

Jesus told his men

that he was going

to be arrested

and that it was

the will of God

that it was going

to happen.

What was Peter's

response?

He drew his sword

and tried to lop

somebody's head off

and he only got an ear.

Jesus told them

what was going

to take place.

Why do you think

Jesus told his disciples

what was going

to take place?

So they could

be prepared

for what was

going to happen.

You know what?

God tells us

what we need

to know

for this life

and his word

so we can be

prepared for when

the things

and challenges

of life happen.

The question is

are we going

to listen?

Because we're

going to find

here Peter,

he strikes out

impulsively

and strikes

with his sword

cutting an ear

off of a man

by the name

of Malchus

who we learn

later comes

back to haunt

him because

Malchus' kin

recognizes him

and says,

hey, I know you

from the garden.

But you know

what impulsiveness

does?

It helps us,

it makes us

operate outside

the revealed

will of God.

When Jesus

told the disciples

what was going

to happen,

he said,

hey, here is

God's will

for this moment.

You know,

stop and consider

something for us.

How many of us

would really like

sometimes for God

to step in

and say,

let me tell you

what's going

to happen here.

Let me tell you

how all this

is going to be

processed.

Let me tell you

how all this

is going to

come together.

You know,

wouldn't it be good

to have that kind

of revelation

in our life?

Jesus told the

disciples exactly

what was going

to take place.

They're going

to come,

they're going

to arrest me,

they're going

to wrongly

convict me,

they're going

to put me

on a cross.

You know what

Jesus said too?

He said,

hey, I'm not

going to stay

dead, guys.

Don't get distraught

over what I'm

going to tell you

because on the

third day I'm

going to rise

again.

Jesus revealed

the will of

God going

in the next

three days,

he revealed

the will of

God to them

what was going

to happen.

But yet Peter

acted impulsively

in the moment

knowing what

God had already

said.

He said,

I want to take

my own course,

I want to do

my own action,

I want to do

my own thing.

You know,

Peter was impulsive,

he operated

outside of the

revealed will

of God.

He was doing

what he thought

was right with

no thought for

what God

thought was

right.

You know,

it's a danger

that we have

in our life

because Peter

was out of sync

with God

and with God's

plan for what

was going to

happen with

his only begotten

son, Jesus

Christ.

I want you to

understand,

you've got to

remind yourself,

did Jesus need

Peter to defend

him?

No.

I mean,

they came to

arrest him and

Jesus said,

I am,

and they all

go,

they all got to

pick themselves

back up off the

ground.

I don't know

what Peter

thought he was

doing,

except being

impulsive,

thinking his

own thing and

wanting to do

his own thing.

It's one of the

attitudes that

contributed to

his fall when

he denied the

Lord.

You know,

we're all headed

to a fall when

we walk impulsively,

when we take no

thought for the

will of God,

we're headed for

trouble.

When we take no

thought for what

God is doing

around us,

we're heading for

trouble.

When we walk like

we want to walk,

we're heading for

trouble.

When we do the

things we want

to do,

we're out of sync

with God's plan,

we're heading for

trouble.

When we're not

walking with him,

and when we're not

walking with God,

we're headed for

trouble.

You know,

impulsiveness says,

I can do this on

my own,

I don't need the

Lord's help.

Prayerfulness and

reliance on the

Lord says,

Lord,

I need your help

to find your way

through life.

And ultimately,

that's only the two

things you can

choose.

I'm either going

to do life my

way impulsively,

or I'm going to

do life God's way.

Being obedient to

what he says.

You know,

Peter failed because

he allowed these

things to live in

his life,

to take root.

You know,

the thing is,

it doesn't have to

be true of your

life or my life.

You know,

we can learn also

from Peter,

it's time to make

a change if you

have identified a

problem where you're

not walking with

the Lord,

to step up and

say,

Lord,

I repent,

I turn to you,

Lord,

I want to have

you in charge.

Because notice

here,

as we finish

the passage

here,

notice here in

verse 72,

it says,

the second time

the cock crew

and Peter called

to mind the

word that Jesus

said unto him

before the cock

crow twice,

thou shalt deny

me thrice,

and when he

thought thereon,

he wept.

You know,

it's amazing

what Peter was

feeling.

Peter was

denied,

had just denied

the Lord

three times.

The one that

he loved,

the one he

had committed

himself to

serve,

and now

he sees

Jesus

looking at

him.

You know,

Luke,

each of the

gospel writers

says something,

Luke 22

says at

this point

Jesus

made eye

contact

with Peter.

Jesus

has all

this going

on,

and he

makes eye

contact

with Peter.

Luke 22

61,

it says,

the Lord

turned and

looked upon

Peter,

and Peter

remembered

the words

of the

Lord.

When Peter

saw him

looking,

the Lord's

word came

to mind.

He recalled

the conversation,

he recalled

his response,

and it

says he

ran and

he wept.

Now,

I want you

to understand,

repentance

isn't just

weeping,

but you

know what?

True

repentance

sometimes

involves

that coming

out.

The phrase

here is

more than

weeping.

You know,

people can

put on a

good show

crying.

The term

here for

wept is

he was

broken.

Peter's

life,

his heart

was broken

because of

what just

happened.

He broke

down.

He lost

control of

his emotions.

He was a

broken man

and he fell

before the

Lord tearfully.

You know,

sincere

repentance

isn't tears.

Sincere

repentance

is saying,

Lord,

I'm broken

from my

sin and

I need

you.

He broke

down.

You know,

the good

thing is,

if you

remember

God's

promises,

you know,

consider 1

1 John 1:9

John 1,

verse 9.

Now,

this verse

is talking

expressly to

believers because

it tells us

if we confess

our sins,

he is faithful

and just to

forgive us our

sins and to

cleanse us

from all

unrighteousness.

You know,

it's amazing.

Some people

think,

well,

that's for

somebody else.

You know,

what the

thing is for

us?

Because if

you think

you have

not sinned,

you already

have a

problem because

you just

denied what

God's word

said.

You can go

back and

read 1

John 1.

Jesus makes

it very

clear.

If you say

you have no

sin,

you're already

in trouble.

We're going

to deal

with sin

in this

life.

The question

is,

are you going

to continue

down the

road that

you're on

or are you

going to

come back

to Jesus?

Peter made

a decision

for the

Lord.

Peter took

some things

away as

he grew

through this.

You know,

if you read

Peter's

epistles,

you know,

consider 2

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

Peter chapter

3,

look at

verse 17.

It says

this,

he therefore

beloved,

seeing ye

know these

things before,

beware lest

ye also

being led

away with

the error

of the

wicked,

fall from

your own

steadfastness.

Did Peter

fall from

his own

steadfastness?

He says

this in

verse 18,

but grow

in grace

and in

the knowledge

of our

Lord and

Savior,

Jesus Christ.

To him

be glory

both now

and forever.

You know,

I think

when you read

Peter,

you find out

Peter learned

a lot

from this.

Peter grew

a lot as

we're going

to see how

God uses

him later.

God was

working.

Peter learned

his lesson.

He repented.

He was

restored.

The question

is,

have you

learned

your lesson?

You know,

sometimes we're

just as hard

headed,

but we have

a decision

to make

what we're

going to

do with

the Lord.

You know,

today,

can you see

the dangers,

the signs

in your life

today that

are leading

you away

from God

instead of

towards him?

The fact

is,

some of you

are headed

for trouble

and you don't

seem to realize

the danger

because you're

self-confident

and defying.

You're walking

in the path

Peter was

that led

him where

Jesus told

him he

didn't have

to go,

but Jesus

knew he

was going

to go

because he

knew Peter's

heart.

He knew

what Peter

was relying

on.

But you'll

find Peter

differently

later on.

Everything

that he did

was focused

on what

Christ had

done,

just as it

ought to be

in our

life.

As heads

are bowed

and eyes

are closed

this morning,

maybe you're

here today

and the

Lord has

spoke to

you about

some things

in your

life.

It may

be things

nobody else

knows about,

challenges

or thoughts,

things that

you need

to say,

Lord,

I need

to follow

your word.

I need

to trust

your word.

Maybe you're

here today

and you're

not sure

where you

stand with

Christ.

Maybe there's

never been

a moment

in time

when you

can look

back and

say,

I know

this is

the point,

this is

the time,

this is

the place

that I

called upon

Christ as

my Savior.

Because I

want you

to know

that you

don't become

a Christian

over a course

of time.

You grow

and mature

as a Christian

over a course

of time,

but you

become a

child of

God

in a

moment.

It's an

instant

change

of position

before God.

Has your

position changed

or does it

need to?

What about

you today?

Heavenly

Father,

as we

come before

you today,

Lord,

we just

thank you

and praise

you for

your word.

Lord,

as we learn

these things

from Peter,

Lord,

that we might

know that

we can come

to you.

Lord,

we know

that if we

confess our

sins,

you're faithful

and just

to forgive

us our

sins and

to cleanse

us from

all unrighteousness.

Lord,

help us to

rely upon

you as we

walk each

day.

Lord,

we just

commit this

time of

invitation to

you,

Lord,

that we

might look

at ourselves

through the

lens of

your word,

even here

this morning.

Lord,

we just

ask it

all in

your

precious

name.

As the

piano plays,

words,