Rejection. Something that all of us have experienced
in life. Some of us, maybe a little bit. Some
of us, maybe a lot. The word rejection, I looked
it up in the dictionary, and it's this. To refuse
to take, agree, use, or believe. To discard or
to throw out as worthless, useless, or substandard.
To pass over or to skip. To deny acceptance.
Now as I start to talk about the definitions
of the word rejection, maybe there's a handful
of you in here today that it starts to kind of
sting a little bit. It starts to hit home a little
bit. And you go, you know, I've had moments and
I've had times in my life where I have been rejected.
Arguably one of the greater pains that we can
feel. I have a saying, and I use it with our
staff, and I use it at home, and it's this. We
expect the attack from without. What we don't
expect is the attack from within. You go, what
do you mean? We have our circles, right? Could
be our family, could be our workplace, could
be our neighbors, could be our friends, could
be our dormitory. Whatever it is, we have the
circle of people that we just kind of typically
travel in and do life with. And when you have
that circle, you don't expect anything to come
toward you from them. Outside of that, yeah,
it makes sense. The world's going to say what
it's going to say. The world's going to do what
it's going to do. And sometimes you expect that,
and hopefully it doesn't impact you. But when
it comes from within, it's a little more difficult.
And maybe even now, as I start to say that, you're
starting to think through, yeah, there was somebody
in my life that I trusted, and I should have
trusted, and they rejected me. They turned on
me to some degree. You see, God has wired us,
church, for relationship. He's wired us to belong.
And if someone that we know, that we love, has
at some point said, you know what, I just don't
think I want to go there with you. I don't think
I want to do that type of life with you. It can
be a very, very difficult thing. Exhibit A, if
you're on social media. It's all about the clicks,
right? It's all about the likes. It's all about
how many followers I have. I don't know if you
know this, but Meta, Zuckerberg, Facebook, I
don't know what they're called these days, they
did a deep dive into Instagram because they wanted
to just know the algorithm. They wanted to know
just kind of feedback. And here's what they discovered.
Amongst young girls that were on Facebook. Their
suicidal thoughts, their suicidal tendencies,
their suicidal attempts, and sadly, their suicidal
successes went through the roof. Why? Because
I've tried to belong to something. I tried to
put something out there to get likes, and people
didn't like me, and I feel like I can't measure
up. I don't compare to all of those people that
I'm looking at, all those fake profiles, by the
way. Girls, just don't compare yourself. But
I get it. It's just kind of the world that we
live in. I have a really, really good buddy of
mine, and he always says this, just quit the
gram. Hashtag quit the gram. Unless you're following
Town Center Church, then that's fine. So today
we're going to look at what could be ultimately
the greatest form of denial. It's been a couple
weeks. By the way, if you were with us last week,
wasn't that just fantastic? Amazing. I can still
feel kind of the, from the pulpit here, it's
just. We're going to pick it up again in verse
15. Last week, or two weeks ago, I should say,
we left off, and it was this. It was in verse
14. It says, now Caiaphas, it was Caiaphas who
advised the Jews that it was expedient that one
man should die for the people. He said something
that was very profound, and I don't even think
he understood how profound it was. He basically
said it's really, really good. And the word expedient
means advantageous. It's to our advantage that
one man should die for the people. I think that's
just the gospel in a nutshell. That one man,
the Son of God, Jesus, would go to the cross
and die for the entire world. That is basically
John 3 .16. And so he utters this statement.
Again, I don't think fully understanding the
depth of what it was that he said. And that's
where we left off two weeks ago. We pick it up,
verse 15, and Simon Peter followed Jesus. Now
at first read, you read that and you go, good.
Right? I mean, it's a good thing to follow Jesus.
As a matter of fact, when you look at Peter's
life, the bookends of Peter's life was the exact
same thing. The first time that Jesus saw Peter,
he said, follow me. The very last thing that
he said to Peter was follow me. In other words,
Jesus was, I think, telling us something as well
as telling Peter something. That is something
very important. In the midst of that, in between
those two bookends, two and a half to three years
of a lot of things that Jesus taught Peter. And
of course, through the word taught us. But I
love how he just goes, listen, Peter, this is
what you need to keep in mind, right? It's the
main thing is to keep the main thing, the main
thing. We can complicate the Christian life to
its nth degree, church. But Jesus said to Peter,
follow me in the very beginning and at the very
end, follow me. He kept it very, very simple.
So we look at that, we go, good, Peter's doing
his job. This is why we use the Bible to study
the Bible. Matthew 26 verse 58. Matthew adds
a little something in there that John does not.
He puts this, but Peter followed him, Jesus,
at a distance. Here's my first question to you,
church, and I'm going to throw a bunch of them
out this morning. Are you following Jesus at
a distance? Are you at a place in life right
now where you go, yeah, absolutely, I'm a Christian,
but am I going to be a zealot for Jesus like
you are, pastor? No, no, no, that's why you get
paid. I'll go to church on Sunday morning. I
ain't going to join one of these groups. Are
you kidding me? Once a week is enough. I love
Jesus. I love calling myself a Christian. I love
going to church on Sunday morning, but I've got
to keep a little bit of buffer between he and
I because I don't know that I'm ready to be that
kind of Christian. Do you know that the rabbis
had a thought back in the day, and it was this,
let the dust of your rabbi cover you. In other
words, there were students, they would pick a
rabbi, they would follow that rabbi, and the
whole idea was you follow that rabbi so closely
so that when they walk through the dust -covered
streets of Jerusalem or wherever it is, that
their sandals would kick up dust and it would
actually get dust on you. You should follow your
rabbi so closely that there's no daylight. Which
brings the natural question, are we following
Jesus that closely? Let me tell you, I look around
a lot and I see a lot of cautious Christianity.
I see a lot of casual Christianity. I even see
a lot of carnal Christianity. Church, we live
in a day and age where there needs to be some
courageous Christianity right now. We're living
in a time where there is only one form of Christianity.
We're going to dig in a little bit deeper into
that in just a few moments. But it said in Simon
Peter, follow Jesus and so did another. Now,
that disciple was known to the high priest and
went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high
priest. Now, real quick, for those of you that
have been reading the Bible for a long time,
you know that whenever John talks about the other
disciple, he's referring to himself. Okay, he's
just always kind of in the third person. You
know, if you remember Bo Jackson, Bo Jackson
would always talk about Bo. Bo knows baseball.
Bo knows football. That's kind of what John is
doing here. He's always talking about himself
in kind of the third person. For whatever reason,
he doesn't want to mention his name. I'm just,
and notice what it says, another disciple. But
what it really says in the Greek is the other
disciple. So it could have been Nicodemus. It
could have been Joseph of Arimathea. But most
commentators believe that this is John talking
about himself. And he says this. Now that disciple
was known to the high priest and went with Jesus
into the courtyard of the high priest. Now how
was he known to the high priest? We don't fully
know. But chances are it's because of who John
was before he started to follow Jesus. John's
father Zebedee owned Zebedee's high end. fishing
company right he was known to be kind of he had
like a fishing empire he would catch a lot of
fish and and he would sell fish priests especially
high priests were known for having a kind of
elaborate appetite they wouldn't go to Long John
Silver's They're going to like chop steakhouse.
They're going to the place where they can get
the finer meals in life. And chances are that
could have been where the priest would have known
who John was because he was a part of the Zebedee
fish empire for a long time, possibly. But little
tidbit there, we pick it up in verse 16. But
Peter stood at the door outside. Then the other
disciple, who was known to the high priest, and
of course that's John, went out and spoke to
her who kept the door and brought Peter in. My
second question to you is this. Are you on the
outside looking in? Are you on the outside looking
in? I'm going to do something right now that
I don't typically do. Typically, we will kind
of wait toward the end of the service and just
try to unpack and talk about the gospel a little
bit. But I want to take a moment right now and
talk to that person who may be visiting us today
for the first or second time. You're kind of
curious about your faith or you're curious about
Jesus or just uncertain. And so you are somebody
who I would say you're seeking, you're searching,
you're open to the gospel. Maybe right now you
just feel like you're kind of on the outside
looking in. You look and you go, I'm curious
about this whole Christianity thing. And I'll
never forget the first time I walked into a church.
I'm 25 years old. And, man, I felt like an outsider.
All these kids, they were all 25, you know, 30
years old, all my age. And I remember walking
in and just looking at them and studying them.
And they all had this smile on their face. But
I could tell it was authentic. I could tell it
was real. It wasn't fake or plastic. They had
something I didn't. They had a peace. They had
a joy. They had a contentment. They had something
that I was searching for and I was looking for,
and I remember thinking, what are they on? This
is probably not right to say, but they were high
on Jesus, man. I remember just walking in and
just going, this is just different. Maybe you
come in here today and you go, I kind of know
what you're talking about, Pastor. I've been
coming and just don't know that I fit into kind
of this, you know, churchy kind of group. I'm
just not sure. Can I just remind you? There were
several times, several I am statements that Jesus
made in the book of John. And one of them was,
he said in John chapter 10, verse 9, I am the
door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved.
And go in and come out and find pasture. So I
find it fascinating, right? Here's Peter. He's
still not baptized with the Holy Spirit. We're
going to see him as a man later on down the road
who is fearless in all areas. But Peter is standing
outside the door, and he can't get in. Why? Because
there's a bouncer there, and it's not just a
bouncer. It's a female bouncer, and it's a little
girl. Verse 17. And the servant girl who kept
the door, so she's keeping the door, and she's
not letting Peter go in. Church, are you following
this? Peter is keeping his distance from following
Jesus, and he gets to the door to go into the
courtyard, and a little girl goes, no, no, no,
you can't. You need to see your ID. You're not
qualified to go in. So I love how John once again
reminds us that he has to come to Peter's rescue.
He goes out and he talks to the girl and he begins
to bring her in. But she asks him a question.
You are not also one of this man's disciples,
are you? And Peter responds, I am not. Strike
one. It's interesting. There are certain circles
where I think it's a little bit easier. to stand
up and proclaim our faith. There are some which
I think are a little bit more difficult. I would
think if Peter was standing there talking to
a young girl and she asks him about his faith,
that he would be a little more bold to say, yeah,
I'm one of his followers. But yet in the face
of that, he does not. He denies it. Verse 18.
Quickly, my third question, guys, listen. Are
you warming yourself by the enemy's fire? So
here's Peter, right? He doesn't necessarily want
to go in through the door. He finally walks in
through the door, and now he finds a group of
people, and we know it's cold outside, right?
They're looking to warm themselves, and so they're
standing around the fire, and Peter does his
best just to kind of come in and blend in and
pretend like he's one of them and just, yeah,
I'm just going to warm myself here by the fire.
I will tell you, I think that this is a problem
within the modern Christian church these days.
I think we're trying too hard to blend in with
the world and become like the world as if we
don't want the world to know who we are. And
I think it's a huge problem and a huge issue.
We are supposed to stand apart from the world.
The Bible says that you and I are sanctified
as believers. The word sanctified literally means
set apart. The world should be able to look at
us and go, you're different. You're different,
right? Not that we need to be these zealot beating
people over the head with the Bible. I'm not
saying that. But living our lives in such a way
that the world's just going to look on and go,
there's something different about you. In a good
way. I think we've tried so hard to blend in
with the world that we've actually lost our witness.
Listen to what Luke chapter 22 says. Luke 22,
55. Again, we're going back to... The synoptic
gospels, which are Matthew, Mark, and Luke, they're
adding context to some things that John is not
putting in here. So we already looked at one
from Matthew. We're going to look at one now
with Luke chapter 22, verse 55. Look at what
it says. Now, when they had kindled a fire and
in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together,
Peter sat among them. Now, why do I bring that
up? Because John just told us that he was standing
next to him. He's standing next to him, cooling
himself by the fire. But Luke says, no, no, no.
He went a step further and he sat down. And it
made me think of this verse. Listen. Psalm chapter
1, verse 1. Blessed is the man who walks not
in the counsel of the ungodly or the wicked,
nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in
the seat of the scornful. So when we first see
Peter, he's walking. Next we see him, he's standing.
And now we see him and he's sitting. He has just
fulfilled Psalm chapter 1 in something we were
called not to do. And it's fascinating, church,
right? Because if we, again, if we try to mingle
in with the world, if we try to just ease our
way into the world and try to blend in with the
world, it shouldn't and it cannot work. The world
should look at us and go, you shouldn't be sitting
in this circle because you're different than
me. And yet Peter does himself, does his best,
excuse me, to blend in. with the world in that
regard. I wrote it down this way. Beware of the
false flames of fellowship. Trying to warm ourselves
at the flames of the world. I'm going to illustrate
it to you this way, and I need help. Matt Gambino,
thank you for volunteering. Everybody give Matt
a hand. All right. Matt, here's what I need you
to do. I need you to stand. Right there. Okay.
I need you to turn this way. You're going to
shine your light here. Closer. Higher. Okay.
Can you guys see that? On the paper. There we
go. Okay. This might be an epic fail, but it
might work. Okay. Watch this. Do you guys see
anything? I'm going to try not to light this
thing on fire. Flame does not have a shadow.
Did you guys know that? Thank you very much,
Matt. Matt, where is Jesus? Love you, sweatshirt,
today, because he knew. I may or may not use
that next service. We'll see. What's my point?
But flame, scientifically, flame does not have
a shadow. Where are you going with that? Listen
to what 1 John 1, 5 says. The exact same author
who wrote the book that we're going through right
now. Listen to what he says. This is the message
which we have heard from him. So John tells us
this is firsthand information. I didn't hear
it second, third, or fourth. Jesus himself told
me this. This is the message that we heard from
him. And declare it to you that God is light
and in him is no darkness at all. And so here's
Peter, right? I want to be kind of halfway in
and halfway out. I don't want to be so zealous
that people look at me and go, you're nuts. But
I also don't want to be so part of the world
that they question whether or not I'm a believer.
Church, you and I do not have that luxury to
straddle the friends. It doesn't work. We can't.
Because you won't be a good heathen and you won't
be a good Christian. You'll just be right there
in the middle, failing on both sides. So Peter's
doing his best just to kind of go undercover
and not, you know, kind of tip his hand to anybody.
And we're going to see a blow up in his face
in just a moment. He tries to warm himself at
the enemy's fire. Look at verse 19. And here's
where we're going to park and spend some more
time. And the high priest then asked Jesus about,
listen, church, his disciples and his doctrine,
his doctrine, his doctrine. This is so important.
The word doctrine literally means, listen, it
means teaching, instruction, or information.
It is crucial that we as a church, we hold dear
to the doctrine that is from God's word. It's
the apostles' doctrine, right? If you remember
all the way back in the beginning of Acts chapter
2, verse 42, the disciples and the apostles,
they stuck to this simple game plan. The apostles'
doctrine, prayer, communion, and breaking of
bread, they just simply did everything around
those four things. They didn't try to add ingredients
to it, and they didn't try to take ingredients
away. It is crucial that we as a church stick
to the doctrine that is the word of God. We do
not have the luxury of deviating from this at
all. Matter of fact, listen to what the author
of Hebrews in chapter 13, verse 8 and 9 says.
Listen, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today,
and forever. He doesn't change. He can't change.
Why? Because he's perfect. You cannot improve
on who he is. He is perfect from the beginning.
He will never get better. He can't get better.
He goes, I don't change. I'm the same yesterday,
today, and forever. Now, for your own personal
life, I pray that that is just, thank you, God,
because I know that I struggle to stay who I
am, and I'm thankful that you don't change. And
so if I continue to look to you and come to you,
you're going to keep me on that straight and
narrow. He does not change. But then listen to
what the author says. Do not be carried about
by various and strange doctrines. The author
of Hebrews knows there's going to be some things
that the enemy's going to throw at us. He's going
to throw it in front of us in hopes that you
and I will be curious about it. We'll start to
look into it. Man, maybe this is something I
should follow. Maybe this is something I should
like. Maybe this is something I should apply.
Church, if it's not in the Bible, we have no
business looking at it. Things such as Jehovah's
Witness. Islam, Mormonism, Hinduism, Buddhism,
Don Lemonism. You go, what? First off, Jehovah's
Witness, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Mormonism,
every single one of those, they acknowledge that
Jesus is real. They acknowledge that at some
point he was here and he was either a good teacher
or he was a prophet. Why? Because this is what
the enemy does. He always takes a lie and wraps
it in the truth so that you and I look on the
outside and we go, that looks fine. So you drive
by a Mormon church and on the outside it says
what? The church of Jesus Christ of Latter -day
Saints. Right? So if you don't know any better,
if you don't know your doctrine, you drive by
and you go, they're great. No, they're not. Their
doctrine is a mess. But we wouldn't know that
unless we dig in and we study the word. You go,
Don Lemonism. I don't know if you caught what
happened last Sunday in Minneapolis. A group
of people sitting just like we are. And the doors
fly open and a whole group of people come in.
And they start to peacefully protest their church
service. Now I had several thoughts that went
through my mind when I watched this. Number one.
I would love to see them try to do that here.
I'm just saying. The result would be just a little
bit different. Just saying. But number two, I
actually got heartbroken. Because I thought to
myself, here's a group of people that are so,
they're going to walk into God's house on God's
day in the midst of God's people. on God's time
and think that it's okay that they were going
to do what they did? But that's not even the
bad part, church. It's what I heard afterward
that disturbed me because, yes, Don Lemon was
interviewed afterward, and here's what he said.
Listen, quote, Jesus Christ, if that's who you
believe, if that's who you believe in, admittedly
was not perfect when he was here on the earth.
Wait, what? I've read this book over 50 times,
cover to cover. 30. Let me back up. Because some
of you are going, where did you? I've read the
New Testament over 50 times, the Old Testament
over 30. There we go. Okay, clarification. Why
do I say that? Not one time did I ever read anywhere
where Jesus said, oops. Not one time. He never
admittedly was not perfect. But you see, that's
what worldly doctrine will do. Because if someone
doesn't know their Bible any better, they're
going to listen to something like that and go,
see, that's why I don't do the whole Christian
thing. Because Jesus, he did. He made mistakes,
right? No. So here's what I will say. Pray for
that man. He needs Jesus. I'm not up here to
bash him as if I don't like him. No, my heart
actually breaks for him because he's in darkness
right now thinking. And here's what he said.
Here's the crazy part what he said. Ready? My
Christianity is different than theirs. Hello.
There is no my Christianity and your Christianity.
There's just Christianity and it's found right
here in the word. That's it. Am I yelling at
you guys? I feel like I'm really yelling. I don't.
I think it's the leftover from last week. I'm
kind of... Verse 20. And Jesus answered, I spoke
openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues
and in the temple where the Jews always meet.
And in secret, I have said nothing. Now quickly,
this is what Jesus means by this. He's not saying
I never said anything secretly. Here's what he's
saying. I never said anything in secret that
I did not say open and publicly. Everything I
said publicly I've said in quiet. So there's
no, it's not like I said different things over
here. I didn't do that. I said the exact same
thing in quiet to the disciples as I said publicly
from the pulpits of the synagogues and the temple.
It's all the same. But then he follows up with
this. Why did you ask me? Ask those who heard
me that I said to them, indeed, they know what
I said. So here's what he's saying. Ready? Ask
those who are my disciples. Ask those who follow
me. Who is that church? Thank you, Courtney.
Courtney's the only one who raised her hand in
the entire congregation. Who is that church?
It's us. So if God decides he wants to send somebody
across our path so that they can hear about who
he is, we're the disciples where he says, go
ahead and ask them. They know what I've said.
We are those who are called to be, and it's interesting
because Peter, later on, again, after he's baptized
in the Spirit, would say in his letter in chapter
3, verse 15, 1 Peter 3, 15, but sanctify the
Lord your God in your hearts and always be ready
to give a defense to everyone who asks the reason
for the hope that is in you with meekness and
fear. I think that Peter, looking back to this
moment, knows, and he's going to, we haven't
even seen church, he's going to fall quickly
in here in just a minute. He goes, you've got
to be ready for someone that walks up to you
and goes, what is it? What's this hope that you
have? I'm looking for it. I'm searching for it.
I just, I can't quite put my finger on it. What
is it? And he goes, be ready, be ready, because
when I send them to you, you're going to need
to give a defense. You're going to need to give
an answer. This doctrine that we have, which,
by the way, let me just clarify something. Doctrine
within the church, right, there are some things
that we within the church, it's okay for us to
disagree on. For example, the rapture. Every
single mainline denomination, Baptist, Presbyterian,
Methodist. Help me out, church. Not Catholic.
Lutheran, thank you. All the mainline denominations
believe that there is a rapture. Now, we may
differ on when it's going to happen. Some churches
believe we're a non -denominational church that
believes it's going to be pre -trib. It's going
to happen before the tribulation. We're a pre
-trib church. But the rapture happens at the
front. Some believe it's going to happen mid.
Some believe it's going to happen post. But at
the end of the day, we believe there's going
to be a rapture. We may differ on when it's going
to happen. You've heard me say this before. Wouldn't
it be interesting if God decided to come based
upon our belief? That right there is a reason
to make sure you're a pre -trib believer. I want
out of here. Baptism. Every mainline denomination
believes that we should be baptized. Now, some
believe it's okay to be sprinkled. Some believe
you gotta be dunked. We happen to believe that
the word baptism, it's baptismo, it's where we
get the Greek word for immerse. We believe that
you should be dunked. Now listen, what if you're
here and you go, I can't, I'm paralyzed, I can't
walk down to the water. No problem, we'll get
some water, we'll bring it up to you, we'll sprinkle
you, you'll get baptized. It's not a matter of
the water, it's a matter of the heart. So we
can agree to disagree on certain pieces. But
we all agree, yes, you should get baptized. But
there are certain parts of our faith that you
cannot negotiate those. That Jesus was the one
and only Son of God. That he was born a virgin.
That he lived a sinless life. That he died and
he was buried and he rose on the third day. If
you take any one of those pillars out, our faith
crumbles. Those are crucial and essential for
who we are as believers. It's so important, church,
that we stay true to the doctrine. That is in
the word of God. It's interesting at this point
right now, I find it very fascinating because
I'm talking to a man before service this morning
came up to me and he said, listen, I've been
out evangelizing lately and it's not necessarily
something that I normally do. And I absolutely
love it. What happened? He goes, I'm just going
to go and take a step of faith. He didn't wait
to go through theology school or seminary or
anything like that. He goes, you know what, Lord?
I'm going to take a step, and if you want to
use me, you'll meet me there, and I'll have some
life -changing conversations with people. That
is so crucial. Why? Did you catch what just happened?
Jesus just pointed Caiaphas to his disciples
that at this point, Peter can't even acknowledge
that he's a follower of Jesus. And we may be
here today going, I feel like that. I ain't ready
to answer any of those hard questions. Isn't
it fascinating? In Acts chapter 4, verse 13,
listen to what it says. The Pharisees were talking
about, of all people, Peter and John, the two
very main characters of our text here. Now, when
they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived
that they were uneducated and untrained men,
they marveled. And they realized that they had
spent time with Jesus. Isn't it interesting,
right? They look at Peter and John and they go,
these guys don't know anything. Matter of fact,
they're kind of morons. But they spent time with
Jesus. I think that should be like the life verse
for our pastoral team in the church here. Like,
these guys don't know anything, but they spent
time with Jesus. That's good. Pick it up in verse
22. And when he had said these things, one of
the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the
palm of his hand, saying, Do you answer the high
priest that way? And Jesus answered him, If I
have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil. But
if well, why do you strike me? Then Annas sent
him bound to Caiaphas, the high priest. And here's
where we dig in, and we're going to pause in
this last section here at church as we have a
chance to unpack Peter's, probably his darkest
moment in his entire life. Now, when Simon Peter
stood and warmed himself, so there he is still
hanging out at the enemy's fire. Therefore, they
said to him, you are not also one of his disciples,
are you? And he denied it and said, I am not.
Now, I want to draw your attention back to verse
17 and see if you notice the difference between
the two statements that he just made. In verse
17, he said, I am not. In verse 25, he said,
I am not! Peter's starting to get a little more
passionate in his denial of the Lord. I'm not
one of his followers. And he brazenly expresses
that to those that are questioning him. Again,
we're going to go back to Matthew 26, and he's
going to give us a little more context. Matthew
26, verse 73, look at what it says. And a little
later, those who stood by came up and said to
Peter, surely you are one of them for your speech
betrays you. That's my fourth and final question,
church. Are you being betrayed by your speech?
In other words, when you talk, does the world
take notice? Is it different? I don't know about
you, but it was probably about two. or three
months into my faith, into my walk with Jesus,
that all of a sudden it just dawned on me that
I had stopped cursing. I didn't even look to
do it intentionally. It just, one day I was like,
you know what? I haven't said in a long time.
And I was actually kind of surprised by it. And
throughout the course of my walk, I would have
conversations because I still played sports.
And if you know anything about sports, sometimes
there's some language there. And I remember guys
would say to me, like, dude, you don't curse.
I'm like, yeah, I don't. God's touched me and
changed my life. It just gave opportunity to
be able to declare who God was and how he had
changed my life. So they look at Peter and they
go, surely your speech betrays you. Matthew 26
verse 74, the very next verse. Then he began
to curse and to swear saying, I do not know the
man. Now for the longest time I thought. That
what that meant was that when Peter was having
this interaction with them, that he cursed like
you do when you're driving down the 95. Okay?
That's what I thought. Actually, the more I thought
about it, I think it might be something different.
I think maybe what Peter was actually saying
was, if I am not telling the truth, may I be
cursed? Ooh. That's a little different. That
has a little more weight to it, right? Now all
of a sudden Peter is saying, if I'm being dishonest
here, may I be, I'll be honest with you, that
makes more sense to me and here's why. You and
I, we just, let's be transparent here. Okay,
we're in church. Every once in a while, we just
kind of let a word and you're like, right? Thank
you. Leave me up here by myself. It happens.
There's a cost to denial. I think this is starting
to come. Clear to Peter, excuse me, because Jesus
in Matthew chapter 10, verses 32 and 33, listen
to what he says. Therefore, whoever confesses
me before men, him I will also confess before
my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies
me before men, him I will also deny before my
Father who is in heaven. Think about what Peter
just did, church. This is no small thing. Peter
given the opportunity. Would it have cost him
in front of all those people to say, yes, I'm
a follower of Jesus? Absolutely it would have.
To what degree? We don't know. I mean, he would
later on pay with his life. Peter would get to
a place later on where he actually said to those
who were getting ready to crucify him, crucify
me upside down. I'm not even worthy to be crucified
like my Savior. So a radical shift happened in
Peter's heart. Obviously, the baptism of the
Holy Spirit took him to a place where he had
a holy boldness that was absolutely amazing.
He doesn't have it at this point. He says, I
am not, strike two. One of the servants of the
high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter
cut off, said, did I not see you in the garden
with him? And Peter denied again. a third time.
Now I opened up in the very beginning and I talked
about rejection and just how difficult it can
actually be. That is literally the Greek word
of the word deny here that we just saw twice.
Peter denied him back to back. In a matter of
moments, he denied his Savior. He ultimately
rejected his Savior. Now, if you've ever been
rejected or you've been that person, there could
be a variety of different emotions that you may
go through. It may be hurt, and I'm sure it is.
But there also might be a point where you get
angry. You shouldn't have done that to me. You
were trusted. Your role in my life, whatever
it is, you were supposed to protect me, love
me. Whatever it might be, you look on and you
go, that hurt and now I'm angry. Some of us probably
wonder, like, I'm sure Jesus went through those
same emotions as well. Because notice, again,
we're going to look to another. Another passage
to get a little more context here in Luke chapter
22, verse 62. It says, so Peter went out and
wept bitterly. This is not just a couple of tears
rolling down the face. This is convulsing where
you can't breathe. This is how hard he. is weeping
now what what triggered that was it his own conscience
you know i just oh that's right jesus told me
something remember in john chapter 13 verse 38
we looked at it a few months ago will you lay
down your life for my sake peter jesus asked
peter Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster
shall not crow till you have denied me three
times. Did it just click right then in Peter's
heart and in his mind the third time he denied
Jesus that all of a sudden those words came rushing
back to him and all of a sudden he started to
weep bitterly? Possibly. But I believe it was
also something else. Because before Luke 22,
62, In Luke 22, 61, it says, and the Lord turned
and looked at Peter. And then Peter remembered
the word that the Lord said. Here's my question.
What was that look? Was it the look that you
and I give our sons and our daughters when we're
so fed up with them? I can't believe you're mine.
You're not mine. You're my wife's daughter. That's
who you are. Right? And you give him just like
the stink eye. I don't think that's what it was.
I think Jesus turned and looked at Peter with
a look of, I still love you. Even with all of
this, I still love you. I absolutely believe
that was the look that he gave him. And I think
that's what broke Peter. Peter's a tough dude,
right? Remember, he was the one who said, Lord,
I'll go die with you. There was no fear with
him. Well, there was fear. He feared a little
girl at the outside of the door. I'll have to
rethink that for second service. What about you?
You ever blow it and think? There's a line in
a 10th Avenue North song, if I have this correctly,
I'll verify it with Pastor Andrew after service.
I think they say, am I one sin away from you
leaving me this way? And I would imagine for
Peter, this was such a difficult moment. But
we're going to see Jesus do something so profound
in his life. when we get to John chapter 21,
that it is unbelievable. But as we start to bring
it to a close this morning, maybe you're here
and you go, man, I just keep messing up. I want
to read a passage to you. This is from Paul wrote
this in 2 Corinthians chapter 7, verses 9 and
10. He said, now I rejoice. Not that you were
made sorrow, sorry, excuse me, but that your
sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorrow
in a godly manner that you might suffer loss
from us is nothing. For godly sorrow produces
repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted,
but the sorrow of the world produces death. What
is Paul saying? There's a difference between
being sorry that you did something and sorry
you got caught. Right? I mean, when you get caught
doing something and you go, man, I really wish
I wouldn't have done that because I didn't want
to get caught, that's worldly sorrow. And Paul
goes, that's going to lead to death. The other
sorrow is godly sorrow, where your heart is so
broken and you're so crushed because you go,
I cannot believe that I did that to my Savior
for something that he would go and allow his
body to be whipped and broken and beaten and
pierced on the cross for me, and yet I chose
to do something. And prayerfully, if that's us,
there is a work that the Spirit is doing within
our hearts. that just leads us to that place
where there's godly repentance. Paul says in
Romans 8, 1, there is therefore now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus. If you are
in Christ, listen, he does not condemn you. Now
the Holy Spirit will convict us, praise God,
and that's a good thing. So that when you and
I start to warm our hands at the fires of the
world and the enemy's fire, and he will whisper
and go, no, no, no, that's not who you are anymore.
I grabbed ahold of you and I changed you and
you belong to me. We don't do that anymore. That
is a glorious thing. Condemnation is from the
enemy. Conviction is from the Lord. And if you
have been, had one of those weeks, and maybe
you got involved in something or you did something,
just know he loves you. He loves you. And I want
to take a moment if I can and just speak to the
person maybe you're visiting for the first or
second time today. Maybe you have for the longest
time just kind of been on the outside looking
in. And you're going, is there a place for me
in this church? Or is there a place for me in
Christianity? Is there a place for me within
the family of God? And the Bible says absolutely.
To those who receive him, he gives the right
to become a child of God. It's not based upon
our goodness. It's not based upon our works.
It's not based upon our position in life. It's
not based upon any of those things. It is a free
gift, the grace of God, that he loves the world
so much that he sent his son to the cross to
pay the penalty for the entire world. world.
And if anyone would put their faith and trust
in him, we will be saved and we will be forgiven.
Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you, God. We
thank you for your unending grace that just you
continue to lavish upon us, Lord. It's hard to
even wrap our minds around. It's hard to even
explain. But yet we know it to be true because
we see it in your word every time we read. Your
love, your mercy, your grace. Your word says
that your mercies are new every single day. Today
we woke up and your mercies were new. A new day.
A clean slate. I believe actually represented
in the crow of the rooster. Rooster's crow in
the morning. That's when Peter heard that and
I pray for him. It was just that sign of a new
day, a fresh start, a clean slate, a new opportunity.
Father, I pray that we're reminded the same thing
awaits us. if we would just look unto you. Lord,
maybe today, maybe we've been looking in other
places. Please draw our attention back to you
and back to the cross so that we can be reminded
of your love that is so great. Father, we pray
that you would speak to the heart of the person
here today that is searching, seeking, wondering,
questioning. Lord, that you would draw them to
yourself. That's our prayer, Lord, please. And
we pray this in Jesus' name.