 So tonight we're in Mark chapter 14 if you guys open up your Bibles to Mark chapter 14 We're gonna be looking at the end of chapter 14. So we'll be looking at verses 51 through 72 so it's a big chunk again. However, we're gonna kind of go through this in a very You know brief way just to get into what we want to just what we want to talk about but Mark chapter 14 at verse 51 as As Mark continues to write he says now a certain man a certain young man followed him Having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body and the young man laid hold of him and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked Verse 53 and they led Jesus away to the high priest and with him were assembled all the chief priests and elders and Describes but Peter followed him at a distance right into the courtyard of the high priest And he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire Now the chief priest and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put him to death But found none for many bore false witness against him But their testimonies did not agree then some rose up and bore false witness against him saying we heard him say I will destroy this temple made with hands and within three days I will build another made without hands, but not even then or then did they test their testimony agree and The high priest stood in up stood up in the midst of and asked Jesus saying do you answer nothing? What is it then men? What is it then these men testify against you? But he kept silent and answered nothing again the high priest asked him saying to him Are you the Christ the son of the blessed? Jesus said I am and you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming with the clouds of heaven Then the high priest tore his clothes and said what further do we need? Do I'm what further do we have of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy What do you think and they all condemned him to be to be deserving of death Then some began to spit on him and to blindfold him and to beat him and to say to him prophesy and the other officers Struck him with the palms of their hands Now as Peter was below in the courtyard one of the servant girls of the high priest came and when he's when she saw Peter warming himself she looked at him and said You also were with Jesus of Nazareth, but he knighted saying I neither know nor understand What you're saying and he went out on the porch and a rooster crowed and The servant girl saw him again and began to say to those who stood by This is one of them, but he denied it again and a little later those who stood by said to Peter again Surely you are one of them for you are a gallean and your speech shows it Then he began to curse and swear I do not know this man of whom you speak a second time the rooster crowed And Peter called to mind The word that Jesus had said to him before the rooster crows twice you will deny me three times And he had thought about it He wept when Joseph and Mary Went to Jerusalem on one of the passovers They were heading to the Passover and as they were basically heading back They usually traveled back and back in those days. They would travel as a group about relatives and friends They would all gather together and they would all travel together Perhaps it was for more protection Because they had bandits and robbers and whatnot and then a bigger group would be harder to kind of mug and all of that But they had a big group so as they were traveling They mom and dad figured that Jesus was going to be somewhere in that group perhaps with their relatives or somebody But as they realized as they got there they realized that Jesus wasn't around at all and that would be like Your your greatest nightmare right as a parent that you thought your your son or your child was with you and you realize Where are they? Well, that's what happened to Mary and Joseph So as they began to kind of look around and realize that that Jesus was not around and Jesus was 12 years old at the time So as they were there they got there. They were searching for him Frantically they were looking around for Jesus wanted to know where did Jesus go? Where is he at? Well, they found Jesus not playing with friends not skipping rocks by a river They found him in the midst of these scholars these religious leaders who were astonished at the understanding of this 12-year-old Jesus was asking questions Now when his parents found him when Mary Mary Joseph found him they were a little Excited but at the same time upset wouldn't you after there's a parent once you go to your child say where have you been? You know, why did you do this? And that's exactly what they said Why have you done this to us and Mary says, you know, your father and I have been looking for you Well, Jesus didn't say oh, I'm sorry mom. I'm so sorry. You know, I just I just wanted to come here But instead Jesus said something very very profound. He said this. Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business? What father Joseph's father carpentry? No, he's talking about his heavenly father Now when Mary heard this Mary was stunned at what he said and the Bible says that Mary did this It says that she kept all these things in her heart. In other words, she tucked it away She's like, hmm. There's something interesting about this Mary probably remembered what the angels said to her back in Luke chapter 1 About how Jesus would actually be a unique child that Jesus wasn't going to come to this earth to just be your typical person In fact, even the angels said that he was going to be the son of the most high and He had a specific mission and the mission that the angel communicated to Mary was that Jesus was going to save his people from what their sins so Mary came to that understanding and And we see that later on in the Gospels when Jesus was a little older Around 30 or so. He was invited with his disciples to a wedding in the town of Cana and Mary was there. So here they are at this wedding and all of a sudden they run out of wine Now wine is a symbol of joy and whatnot and and it was one of those customs during that time that actually enhanced the wedding and You know, so they were they basically run out of wine That's like at your wedding running out of food. Did you imagine that? I mean, you have 200 people that you're gonna feed and you're only feeding a hundred How would you feel and they come and bring that to your attention? You can't feed the rest. You'd probably freak out, right? Well, here's Jesus or here's Mary. They come to her and says we were not a wine. What do we do? So she goes to Jesus and she tells to Jesus They have no wine. So so again, Jesus is put into position now. How is he gonna respond to Mary? Well, again, Jesus responds in a very very interesting way. He says woman What does your concern have to do with me? And then he adds My hour has not yet come In other words, Mary, I am here remember to do my father's business my father's will and There is a time when I'm going to manifest myself to the world of who I really am and Jesus throughout the Gospels would Continually say it is not my time yet. He says And one of the things that we see that Mary did in responding to her son She said this Whatever he says to you do it. I love that pretty straightforward. That's a great answer, right? Somebody's asking you, you know What does God require of me? Well, whatever he says to you in the word, just do it basically basically that's all you You know, this is just follow his word Now when Mary said that and like I said before that Jesus would say several times my hour has not yet come My hour has not yet come. He would say that repeatedly throughout the Gospels Well in John chapter, I'm sorry in March chapter 14 that hour has come This is the hour that Jesus was referring to in bar chapter 14 the hour when the Son of God is about to be betrayed and The hour that he willingly gave up his life for the sins of the world Listen to what he says in John 10 verses 17 through 19 Therefore my father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it again No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again this command. I have received from my father So at this time in March chapter 14, Jesus is Basically going to lay down his life. He was in control of his life. Nobody took his life It wasn't an accident It wasn't that Jesus got caught up with the wrong crowd and they killed him No, it was that Jesus gave up his life willingly. He had the power Like he said there to take it up And we see very clearly that at this time in John in March chapter 14 Jesus was down to just 11 disciples one was already gone Judas But very soon he's going to be down to only one and that's Peter See Peter kind of stayed around for a little bit, but from a distance. You're going to see here in a moment So Mark writes in verse 51 He says a certain young man followed him having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body And the young man and then the young man laid hold of him and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked What is going on here? Mark is the only one who actually records this in the all the Gospels Matthew didn't record this Luke didn't record this and John didn't record this. So what is Mark doing? Well, it's interesting because I've looked around as far as what are commentary saying one just we just don't know Who this young man is? We could only speculate and I'm going to speculate. I Believe this is Mark himself. I Believe that Mark is actually the one who's identifying himself in here Most commentators believe that it was Mark In Acts chapter 12 verse 12 we read that Mark was the son of Mary Another Mary whose house they probably had their last Passover. So we see here that Perhaps Jesus that last Passover that we looked at a few weeks ago was here at the house So what happened was this is when Judas was actually coming back to betray Jesus Judas actually Went to Mark's house Hoping that he would find Jesus there But Jesus wasn't there and here's where we meet Mark now Some believe that Mark probably took off quickly either one because he wanted to go warn Jesus that Judas is here Or he just fled because he got scared now either way again We just don't know but we're only speculating but Mark inserts this story probably to show everyone that Jesus everybody forsook Jesus including himself So Mark gives us this little verse here in verse 51 But then he goes on into the story verse 53 notice what it says or yeah verse 53 It says they led Jesus away to the high priest and with him We're assembled all the chief priests the elders and the scribes But Peter followed him at a distance right into the courtyard of the high priest And he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire So what you're gonna see here in the next several verses you're gonna see two things happening the trial of Jesus now Mark doesn't give us too much information about the trial of Jesus. He's very very brief The other Gospels will give you a lot of the trial mark. Remember. He's not interested in a lot of this stuff He's just gonna kind of brush right through So we're gonna do the same thing Now in this entire trial, you're also gonna see Peter So he's keeping two things going. He's got the trial of Jesus and he's got Peter who's actually following Jesus from a distance So what we see here, we see that he kind of inserts here in verse 54 that Peter followed at a distance Peter Didn't totally forsake Jesus understand that He just kept Jesus at a distance. It was like a safety zone for him he did not want to associate himself with Jesus and Mark doesn't tell us but during that time the when mark was actually walking away from Jesus or from a distance It was during his trial. It was after Jesus was beaten up and all of that stuff So mark doesn't give us too much information on that But I wonder as Peter is going through this experience I wonder if Peter's own words were playing back in his mind when he said to Jesus if I have to die with you yet I will not deny you. I Wonder if those words were playing back in his mind as this was happening in his life In fact Peter even experienced disciples of Jesus actually leaving him forsaking him in John chapter 6 verse 66 through 68 from that time many of his disciples went back and walked with them no more Then Jesus said to the 12th. Do you also want to go away? But Simon Peter answered Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life So at this time Peter did not want to associate with Jesus. It was too risky. It was way too risky to say I'm a follower of Jesus You know as I was thinking about this That's the risk we take As far as being a Christian isn't it? I mean when we associate ourselves with Jesus, we're taking a risk What's the risk? Somebody making fun of you perhaps losing a friendship Sometimes having troubles with your neighbor or or anything like that. I mean, there's just there's a problem You know, I was reading a story about a missionary named James Calvert He went out to a group of cannibals in the Fiji Islands and as he was Driving as he was in this boat that the ship the captain of the ship Turns to him and says to him you will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages Well James Calvert looked at him and said this we died before we came here It's so true. I mean, that's exactly what Jesus said when he says if you want to follow me He says in Matthew 16 24 if you if anyone desires to come after me Let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me listen Christianity is not as fun as some Make it to be in America. I mean, there's a there's a Christianity I see in our nation that is this Christianity has no problems that you know your life is just you know on clouds Everything is great, you know the prosperity theology you follow Jesus. You'll be rich You know, you follow Jesus. You'll never hurt. You'll never be sick I mean, there's this this this weird Christianity that we see today that is totally not even close to biblical Christianity And we see here that today it's becoming very difficult and challenging to be a Christian. Don't you guys think? It's very challenging today to be a Christian to tell somebody to say I'm a Christian There's a challenge to that. There's sometimes there's difficulties. I see there's a strong resistance to Christianity And what I see this a lot is among young adults Young adults who claim to be Christians, but have the wrong view of Christianity what Christianity really looks like And you see a lot of this stuff and you see tons of stuff on social media of people so-called Christians But when you see their post and what they say I look at that I'm thinking they have a wrong view of Christianity. They don't understand what it really means to be a Christian They don't understand what it means to truly follow Jesus Christ There's some kind of confusion in the lot of minds of people today both young and old And it's interesting that we see here that even though as we we get to this part of the gospel of Mark As as Peter is denying Jesus here We see the same thing happening in our world today the denial of God's word and the lack of lack of interest to think biblically is widespread. I mean our own Jesus was considered a criminal was looked at as a criminal They didn't look at Jesus as a man who came to do good, but as a man who was a criminal So so Peter here had a difficult time admitting that he was associated with Jesus Do you have a hard time associating with Jesus at work? Do you have a time a hard time associating with Jesus when you're around family members who you know are not Christians? If you have a hard time associating with Jesus if you don't want to tell you don't want to show people that you're a Christian Then then there's a problem, but but that problem can be fixed tonight as we get closer to the end You know when I got saved we see here as Peter is denying Jesus actually me Let me just say make this mention here in verse 54 that Peter actually sat in other words He was trying to mingle with them It was a way to hide his faith in Christ and what we see here is that Peter feared man more than God He feared man more than God And when I first got right with God when I got saved When I was born again, I remember that I feared man more than God Because the things that I did when I got saved I didn't have I did not have a radical transformation Mine was a very slow progress. It was just slows. It's one of those things that it wasn't like this change overnight But we know but I know that when I was got when I got right with the Lord I was still hanging out with my old friends That never really changed in my life at least the first year of me being a Christian I didn't give up my old friends Now I'm not saying to give up your old friends if you're if you're impacting them if you're influencing them That's a good thing, but for me. I wasn't even doing any of that stuff. I was just kind of still mingling with them I was still hanging out with them drinking with them. I was still going to clubs I was still just you know partying with them It was just one of those things that I kept my faith in Christ hidden I did not want to show it because I knew that I'd be a hypocrite But if you were to ask me, do I believe in God? Are you a Christian? I would tell you yes, I am See my life was more of As a practical atheist and there are a lot of people in our world today that are practical atheists And what does that mean? It means that a person that says they believe in God But the way they act and live is as they weren't accountable to God and that's exactly the way I was the first year I was a practical atheist and there's a lot of practical atheists today that will tell you I believe in God But the way that you see them live in their life is as they weren't accountable to God as if they had no belief in God Well, we see that Peter was actually kind of living that life in some way and we see here that he was warming himself at the fire Notice that it was their fire. He was warming up to Peter's fire for Jesus was quickly burning out and the fire of unbelievers began to warm him up That was his problem Reminds me of lot in his family when they moved to the city, Sodom and Gomorrah The city was full of sin. It was it was horrible city and When lot was told to leave that city his wife had a hard time leaving it and in fact I remember when it says there that she actually turned back when God says don't have her turn back She did she look back and she turned into a pillar of salt, but she was missing it. She was missing that lifestyle Well mark will come back here to Peter and end with his denial But let's go into the trial here verse 55 to 5 to 62 I'm just kind of kind of go over this real quickly 55 to 62 we see Jesus is put on trial now Here's what mark doesn't cover Jesus went through a total of six trials and I'm going to give you these six one the very first trial He went to through was with the high priest He was brought to the high priest first The second was the Sanhedrin that was an illegal trial because it was a trial at night And they weren't supposed to try people at nighttime. So right there was illegal. That's how desperate they were Then after the Sanhedrin then the second time was the third time was with the Sanhedrin again, but in the daytime The right trial the official one Then after the Sanhedrin then they send him over to Pilate And then when Pilate brought it brought him up. He realized that he was an innocent man He sent him to Herod And when he was made fun of before them they send them right back to Pilate and then unfortunately from Pilate. He was executed six trials The Sanhedrin were the Jewish Supreme Court made up of 71 including the high priest He was kind of like the president and it was an informal trial To put which it was an against Jewish law to put someone on trial at night as I mentioned But they were so focused on putting Jesus to death that they wanted to get a head start even if it was illegal From verses 56 to 59 they couldn't find any evidence to put Jesus to death So they'd start making up words notice what what it says there in 56 it says For many bore faults witness against them, but their testimonies did not agree There were some that then some rose up and bore faults witness against him saying we heard him say I will destroy this temple made with hands and within three days I will build it and I will build another made with hands, but not even then did they their testimony agree So we see here very clearly. They couldn't find any evidence to put him to death. So what they did is they start adding words to Jesus's mouth Temple made with hands. He never said that this is what Jesus said John 2 19 Destroy this temple and in three days. I will raise it up again Did you see the difference there? They added to the words of Jesus. They took him out of contexts They knew that the destruction of a worship place was a capital offense So what we see here is the devil at work once again The devil is at work once again and the devil is the biggest Heretic in this world. Amen. He's the biggest heretic in this world Remember what Jesus when he said to Eve way back in the garden. He said did God really say that? No, no, no God didn't say you would die. He says it. You'll be like God You'll be Mormons Because that's what they believe you believe that when you die you become a God and you populate your own planet with spirit children That's Mormon theology but we see here very clearly that Satan is a heretic and Anytime somebody begins to add to God's word or twist God's word. It is satanic in nature It's satanic in nature Listen to what Paul said to the Galatians in Galatians 1a But even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you Let him be a cursed So it's a big offense. It's huge. God does not like this So these religious leaders are adding to Jesus's words So they had two questions for Jesus notice in verse 60 They said when the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus saying do you answer nothing? What is it these men testify against you? He kept silent and answered nothing again the high priest asked them saying to him Are you the Christ the son of the blessed? When he says do you answer nothing literally in the Greek it means it says this you are going to answer your accusers Aren't you what he's actually saying? Explain yourself defend yourself Jesus. This is your opportunity well What we see here and and we see that these men are testifying against Jesus We see that these charges are basically not really helping out at all. They're not working And what we see here is that Jesus remains silent and this frustrated them even more This was all part of a prophecy a prophecy that was given to us in isaac. Listen to what it says isaac 53 7 He was oppressed and he was afflicted yet. He opened not his mouth He was led as a lamb to the slaughter as a sheep before its shears is silent So he opened not his mouth part of a prophecy So they're asking Jesus Are you the christ? Are you the messiah? well Jesus says I am powerful statement That had deity written all over it Jesus right there is claiming to be god If we go back into the old testament in exodus chapter 3 verse 13 and 14 when when god appeared to moses And when god sent moses to pharaoh, this is what god said to pharaoh He says god said to moses i am who i am and he said thus you shall say to the children of israel that i am has sent you I am just that that that phrase or that title speaks of his relationship with his people And he becomes the great i am to his people the becoming one is what it means He becomes they're all in all And that is why jesus was going to be stoned to death when he said in john chapter 8 verse 58 Most assuredly i say to you before abraham was i am And they picked up rocks remember See people will say skeptics will say well, where in the bible does it say that jesus claimed to be god right there? You can mark that down john 8 58 Jesus is the great i am All that we need is in christ. These are provider And it's interesting that we see here that this illustrates in the gospels In the gospel of john illustrates this entire phrase Because in the gospel of john there are seven i am statements And i'll kind of go through these real quickly with you real just to show you We see that jesus claimed in john 6 35 i am the brit of life Then he says in john 8 12 i am the light of the world Then he says in john 10 7 i am the door Then he says in john 10 11 i am the good shepherd John 11 25 i am the resurrection John 14 6 i am the way the truth and the life And lastly john 15 1 i am the true vine Now what do those mean? Well when jesus says i'm the bread of life He's talking about the main source of spiritual nourishment You get that from jesus He will nourish you spiritually When he says that i am the light of the world, he's talking about our main illuminator of spiritual truth If you want to know truth read the word he will illuminate his truth to you. He's delight When he says i'm the door, he's talking about the main entrance to the kingdom of god When he says i am the good shepherd. He's talking about he is our main leader When he says i am the resurrection He says that i am your main hope for eternal life When he says that i am the way the truth and the life again He's talking about our our main road to the father is only through jesus christ And lastly when he says i am the vine the true vine He says that i am your main source of spiritual fruits powerful statements Jesus christ is the great i am He supplies us with everything we need Everything we need No wonder david said this in psalm 231 the lord is my shepherd i shall not want Are you in need tonight? Jesus will provide that He is your all in all He's the one that will provide Everything that you need to godliness spiritual fruit spiritual nourishment strength So we see here that this is the first time in the gospel of mark that jesus openly declares Yes, i'm the messiah Pretty powerful But then he adds this notice what he says in verse 62 He says And you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming with the clouds of heaven Ooh, he adds a little power there What he's saying here is that he's how he has the same authority That the father has and he's referring to the day when he will judge these earthly judge judges It's like you guys are putting me on trial. Guess what? There's a date coming that i'm going to put you guys on trial as the great judge John 5 22 26 and 27 Jesus says for the father judges no one but has committed all judgment to the son For as the father has life in himself So has the son so has granted the son to have life in himself and has given him authority to execute judgment Also because he is the son of man So these guys are the ones who are on trial. It's not jesus So when jesus returns to this earth, he's not coming here to save people. He's coming here to judge it You know when he comes back on earth, he's not going to come here writing on a lowly donkey. He's coming on a white horse Totally different So right now it's a period of grace right now the world needs to get saved They need to get right with god because right now he is the savior But after the god closes these doors of salvation And what i mean by that is once the great tribulation begins God now begins to relate to this world as judge They could still get saved but they're going to have to go literally through hell to get saved But when he comes back and steps foot on this earth once again, he's not coming as this savior But as the judge it's over and we're going to be with them too in revelation 19. We're going to be on horses too So we see here very clearly that The high priest here is actually being He jesus is really speaking truth to this man But in verses 63 to 65 We see here that that really did it for the high priest. He tore his clothes He because he knew jesus has just claimed to be cut in front of him So here's where they started using jesus physically notice what happens Then some began to spit on him blindfold him And to beat him and to say to him prophesy And the officers struck him with the palms of their hands Spitting on somebody especially on someone's face was an actual act of total denial and insult They were just they were just insulting jesus. Here's a sinless man who came to do good Who came here to basically remove people from bondage to make people better not worse and yet they're beating him up Weird isn't it? It's like you or i did let's just say somebody helps you for something and they were very nice for helping you out Let's say you had a flat tire Let's say that you didn't have a tire and they happened to have the same tire that your car has and they just Throw it on there for you for free and they did all the work for you You know they like man. What a nice person But instead you beat them up You just start beating them up spitting on them kicking them. You're like you're mean. He did just help you It's exactly what they did to jesus. He came here to help A sinful world that needed him and all they did was just Smack them spit on them pulled his beard and put a crown of thorns upon his head And the world continues to beat jesus up It's like the world sees jesus as this person that is really bad and is only doing harm to people's lives and he's not So we see here that they're doing this to jesus and they're saying prophesy who hit you Jesus kept silent even though he had the power to tell them To stop and to blow him away right there But again because of the scriptures all this was being fulfilled first peter 223 says this Who when he was reviled did not revile in return When he suffered he did not threaten but committed himself to him who judges Righteously You know it's interesting because we see what we see here Is that as we know that jesus did not retaliate obviously He's going to be retaliating at the end of the age But we're we're also told not to retaliate. We're also told not to hey, you know what sometimes there are times that we just need to let god step in And help us out and to be our our defender our fighter Vengeance his mind says the lord i will repay the bible says You know when moses killed that egyptian he didn't have god did not he didn't need any help He didn't help to wipe out the egyptians. You know he buried him under the sand, you know that didn't work And and he was trying to fight for god and god doesn't need your help to fight Now of course, you know, there's some situations that we have to stand up for our faith like even today with our pastor He's talking about you know what was going on with the school district and all of that You know, those are times that we step up prayerfully Stand up and say no, this is this is what we need to have in the city and whatnot and god steps in and he does a Lot more beyond that But there are times that we have to take steps back and just say you know what i'm not going to start anything here I'll just let the lord deal with it You know today I was getting water and um We drink, you know purified water and all that stuff So, you know, they have those dispensers out in stores and all that Well as I approach this these two dispensers at the store with my little four-year-old almost four-year-old There was a guy there that was actually taking both of them because he was filling up the five gallon jugs And I had just one gallon jugs And he and i'm thinking in my mind i think okay, he's going to remove one and let me take the other one But he didn't he got the other one and put it back in and in my mind. I'm thinking I want to say something I want to say something. I want to say to him. You know what give me a chance here, man You know, it's like my unchristian right my unchristian attitude wanted to say listen get the thing out I want to share man sharing is caring right like my little girl says And I and I was literally wrestling with the holy spirit inside Because the holy spirit was really reminding me that i'm a christian I'm not a fighter Because the bible even says that i'm not supposed to be a brawler or a quarreler But I was so close to saying something to him to say I don't like what you're doing And it's great that the lord will remind you hey, that is not your position anymore. You're not there anymore All right, you're a christian Pray for him be nice When he finished he took his thing out and he was very kind and nice now you can use it much. Oh, you're done, you know I wanted to use it a minute 20 minutes ago But you see these things happen and it goes through your mind and you're like you just want to say something You want you know what lord? I'll step in I'll do this, you know, let me take care of it Sometimes the lord reminds you know, I just just don't even worry about just let it go man As we tell our kids or people adults pick your battles, right? Well, we see here that jesus could have wiped these guys out Remember when peter was going after the head of that one soldier? And jesus said peter I don't need your help You know, I can call a legion of angels to come here and literally smash these guys in front of us But i'm not going to do that The same thing here listen You guys are going to be beating me up. You're going to be totally abusing me physically But listen, I'm going to be your judge at the end You're going to see me again And you're going to be begging for mercy When it's too late And we see here. This is exactly what jesus is saying. It's like listen. I'm not going to retaliate But it was all prophetic So what happens now? Well peter or john or mark goes back to peter Now notice what happens verse 66 Now as peter was below the courtyard one of the servant girls of the high priest came and when she saw peter warming himself She looked at him and said You also were with jesus of nazareth, but he denied it saying i'm need. I neither know nor understand what you are saying And he went out on the porch and the rooster crowed And the servant of the servant girl Saw him again and began to say to those who stood by this is one of them But he denied it again A little later those who stood by said to peter again Surely you are the you are one of them for you are a Galilean and your speech shows it Then he began to curse and to swear I do not know this man of whom you speak A second time the rooster crowed then peter called the mind the word that jesus had said to him Before the rooster crows twice you will deny me three times and when he thought about it He went peter looks and speech his looks and speech gives it away He was a Galilean and Galileans had an accent So they were picking up on it What you are one of the followers of jesus. Yes, you are no i'm not. I have no idea what you're talking about And notice what he says he began to curse now This doesn't mean that he began to use profanity like when we think about cursing and swearing What it means is that peter put himself under an oath to god It's like equivalent to ours when we say I swear to god that i'm telling you the truth Why do people say that right And when you see that in court and to put the bible or your hand in the bible I swear to god until the truth and nothing but the truth and whatnot I mean they're putting themselves under an oath. That's exactly what peter said I swear to god that i'm telling you the truth. I don't know this man That's what he's saying But notice though It says that peter remembered. It's like the spirit reminded him of what jesus said I'm sure that peter remembers the words of jesus because even in luke 2260 when we're giving a little bit more information And what happened during that time it says that the lord turned and looked at peter Then peter remembered See what what what sparked that reminder was jesus catching eyes with peter And listen and it wasn't I doubt that it was a a stare like a stink. I like you i told you I believe it was a Look that was a look of a broken heart like i told you and i knew you were gonna do it When peter caught eyes with jesus It broke him. He collapsed. He couldn't do it anymore And it says that he wept He was so convicted Have you ever been so convicted in your life as a christian that you sometimes almost want to cry? Lord, I can't believe I just said that I can't believe I did that God, please forgive me. I'm a jerk Lord have mercy on me a sinner Peter just broke down emotionally he wept He bitterly wept. He was overwhelmed with his denial that he broke down and cried You see we see here that peter and judas Both denied jesus in one way or another peter And judas both had some interesting experiences with jesus. I mean judas was called the son of perdition And he was called the son of destruction He didn't get right with god at all judas was totally out in left field spiritually speaking He felt sorry for what he did to jesus But he never repented he ended up hanging himself. He committed suicide The conviction was so big so strong that instead of going to jesus saying god forgive me He just killed himself. He couldn't take it anymore judas was like an apostate An apostate is someone who says they know god, but in reality they have never made that connection with jesus as christian lord They're still lost peter on the other hand models for us the life of a backslider peter did not Denied jesus a hundred percent. He just kept him at a distance What what happened to peter is what happens to some people today and within christian within the christian realm Is that peter suffered a spiritual decline From an experience he once enjoyed That's the life of a backslider See a backslider had a strong relation with jesus at one time But they went on a spiritual decline And they ended up basically denying christ Proverbs chapter 14 verses 14 says the backslider in heart will be filled with his own way And that's exactly what happens They're caught up with themselves peter was following at a distance. That was his own way of following god It was all about him You see backsliders don't totally reject jesus You could still have a conversation with a backslider about jesus and they'll still say yes I understand what you're saying. I know but a backslider tends to walk on the fence They tend to walk on the fence with having one foot in the world and with god They try to compromise and they try to live both worlds I want to end with this. I want to give you guys four simple characteristics of a backslider But what do you look for in a backslider? Now when I give these kinds of messages people kind of like sit up like, okay, here we go Woo. All right. Let's see. I've read my bible today. I prayed. I'm at church But listen It's not for you to be freaking out But perhaps there are some in here. I don't know That are here struggling Sign number one they're distant walkers They're distant walkers They walk at a distance and heart they keep jesus far away. There aren't they aren't close to him anymore as peter walked from a distance jesus basically Did not or peter did not want to associate himself with jesus And jesus said that men profess me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. They're a million miles away They're distant walkers. They're distant from bible reading. They're distant from praying distant from fellowshiping Now, let me add this these signs are Basically for those who are backsliding and doing this habitually This is not one time thing or you missed the read your bible yesterday. You're like i'm a backslider. No, it's not about that You know, I missed church. I'm done. You know, no, this is a habitual life So this is something that's happening on a regular basis It's what this is This is somebody who's regularly walking At a distance with jesus. This is this is our lifestyle. They're creating. This is a lifestyle So this is not you don't worry about it. All right, you're you're good But we see here very clearly that a backslider or backsliding is not just falling backward. It is also failing to go forward spiritually They don't grow anymore They're they're stuck Listen, we are either progressing in our walk with jesus or we are regressing You know where you're at. Are you progressing or are you regressing? The second sign that we see a characteristic in a backslider is that they are people without impact They are people without impact. They have no impact on the world They're just like Flatlined spiritually There's no no no impact to those that they're around they get very comfortable with sinful behaviors They don't think of them anymore like being bad or whatnot. They act like the world. That's what they do Jesus taught that christians would be recognizable by their distinctive behavior There's something different about you. It's what sets you apart from everybody else You don't have to be a john the baptist. You don't have to be a billy gram or a greg lori But there's got to be something in your life that says You are a christian. There's no way You're our christian. There's something that that shows That you are connected to christ Peter sat he got comfortable with the people and he began to warm himself up with their fire He had no impact at all So not only are they distant walkers not only are they people without impact But they are people that lack bravery They lack bravery Peter said i neither know nor understand what you're saying Backsliders are ashamed to let non christians know that they are believers. There's no bravering them They're not brave anymore. They're not bold to say. Yeah, i'm a christian Now they're like, uh, no, i'm not well. No, i'm not really they deny jesus And usually they deny jesus With their non christian friends, but they will honor jesus around christian friends because and i'm speaking from experience I deny jesus around my non christian friends, but when i was around the church I was high five and you say amen. God bless you. Love that message It only happened when i was with my non christian friends You know, i i think i mentioned this a while ago that i had a nickfuse on my truck years ago This is not years ago This is like way back when i got saved when i was in my early 20s and you know, i remember just When i got saved i got there was a little spark in me. I'm like, yes, i know jesus But then it just kind of faded away And then the remnants were left behind a nickfuse on my truck And everybody used to stand behind it to cover it When i was around my friends hanging out drinking and talking smack, you know what i mean? Because i felt really ashamed of jesus. Don't see the ichthuse. Don't ask me what that fish meant Well, they lack bravery a backslider lacks bravery and lastly A backslider is a compromiser They're a compromiser They will try to have like i said one foot in the world and one foot with god Peter had his eyes on jesus, but he also had his eyes on the world and you really can't do that You can't have one eye here and one eye there Physically you can't Remember that this all started with peter walking at a distance So If you feel that you are living your life at a distance Then you're on the verge of backsliding If your heart is distant from the lord then you are getting you're heading that in that direction You need to get back on track Well, how do you do that robert? Well revelation chapter 2 verse 5 says jesus said to the church in Ephesus remember therefore from what you have fallen Repent and do the first works There's always time to repent There's always time to to go back to where you started to get back into that relationship he once had with jesus God always has that door open for us jesus is always waiting and willing to restore you And to bring you back and that's exactly what he did to peter He didn't leave peter backslidden remember in the last chapter of john Jesus went out and he actually restored peter peter was much wiser But we know that jesus actually restored peter It was god who said to jeremiah Return faithless people i will cure you of backsliding To his own people the children of israel The process of backslip sliding is a gradual one. It's a slow fade Slow fade. It's not something that just happens overnight. You don't just go to bed tonight. You wake up. I'm backslidden. What happened? No It's a it's a slow fade It's a slow fade. It just doesn't happen overnight Why not Make a fresh commitment today if you're here tonight To make a fresh commitment today to move forward in your relationship with jesus And just get yourself back on track with him