 Here we go I want to give you a study on steps to failure. I know I don't need to help you Give you any see any suggestions. We do pretty good on our own. I don't need any education on how to fail but I do think it's a great thing for us to consider and in light of the fact that You know this Sunday as we gathered here. I didn't know what to expect because Attendance can fluctuate and so you never really know but We have such a great amount of people who show up on Easter Sunday. I Have a theory that the majority of those people who do show up on Easter Sunday would call this church their home Many cannot come on Sunday because in this church many work on Sunday Perhaps you're somebody who works on Sunday or has a rotational basis where you do There are those who call this church their home, but they're not able to be here every week But Easter and Christmas season is a time when the church seems to be able to connect and to come And I didn't know it was going to take places last Sunday I did know that the Lord wanted to do something and frankly I think that he did I think that the worship that that we gave to the Lord and experienced together Was phenomenally anointed it was just a great great worship singing and as service I feel that the word went out in a way that encouraged a lot of people and a number of people committed their hearts to Christ Good Friday and On Easter Sunday and with that in mind I began to think how important it would be to spend some time to look at these verses because These are the steps that you can see that the Apostle Peter Went through as he began to move in the direction of actually denying the Lord and So let's begin reading together in John's gospel and what I'll do is I'll read verses 15 through 18 Then I'm going to go to verses 25 through 27 Combining those two and we're looking at steps that lead to failure beginning at verse 15 John chapter 18 and then we'll look at verse 25 through 27 John 18 beginning at verse 15 Simon Peter followed Jesus and so did another disciple Now that disciple was known to the high priest and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest But Peter stood at the door outside Then the other disciple who was known to the high priest went out and spoke to her who kept the door and brought Peter in Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter You are not also one of this man's disciples. Are you he said I'm not and The servants and officers who had made a fire of coal stood there for it was cold and they warmed themselves Peter stood with them and warmed himself in verse 25 Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself Therefore they said to him you are not one of his disciples. Are you he denied it and said I'm not 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? Peter then denied again and immediately a roaster a roaster a roaster a roaster was eaten a rooster crowed It was a roaster they ate it later on This particular incident you may want to note this as I produce an introduction for you You know normally when you read this particular incident, this is the night in which Jesus was betrayed they had had the Passover meal And yet by the way that we measure time and the way that we look at our calendar for us This would be Thursday night And yet not according to the Jewish calendar This particular event actually takes place and what would be considered Friday this is actually what would be called a good friday event and frankly when I was preparing this I was doing research on the events That transpired during what was called the passion week or is called the passion weekend as I was going through it I thought now wait a minute I I normally consider this an event that's taking place on thursday and then then I remembered that actually the Jewish manner of Looking at the day and all is different than what we do It's different than what we as Gentiles do when it comes to Determining the days of the week because this particular event took place after Passover after dusk And when you go to israel you'll discover something and I had forgotten about it until I began to remember and and reinvestigate When you're there in Israel And we'll say that it's our friday Uh everything shuts down at dusk On friday how many of you have been to israel? Raise your hand you know that then right it shuts down at dusk they say they're going to celebrate Shabbat the Sabbath But for us that's friday And then I remembered now wait a minute even though it's thursday on our calendar on our on our days of the week In reality according to the jewish calendar This is taking place after dusk which makes it a good friday event if you will And so when I was going to share this on good friday I knew that was going to be kind of a twist that a lot of people were going to say no Wait a minute isn't this taking place on thursday But no it's not it's actually taking place on what would be considered to be early good friday And so what we're looking at here is uh the lord jesus christ great apostle peter actually denying him And uh this is something that I think we need to really consider Especially in light of the fact that you can have a tremendous amount of faith and love for the lord And still you can find yourself vulnerable to betraying him This is one of those opportunities that we have to look into the what would be called a personal failure To look into the personal failure of a very very great man And one of the things about the bible that I have grown to appreciate over the years Is that it consistently points out not only the victories of those who are followers of god Because you see some tremendous victories you see great acts of faith and heroism and all You know who could who could? Deny the immensity of uh david slain gulliah the david a young and ruddy Young man who was probably about five foot six because The average jew of his day would have been somewhere around five foot six And yet he fights and defeats a giant That was nine foot nine inches tall And uh when I when I was teaching out of a first Samuel I was speaking concerning The victory that david had in the lord over gulliah. We actually had a cut out It was measured to be the height of gulliah So that we could bring it out and I could stand next to it to show the incredible Difference between the height of little david who had been a little bit shorter than me And gulliah and so when you think of some of the stories that that you have in scripture where abraham didn't waver in faith Being way past the ability to produce children Uh chronologically, uh his wife definitely beyond the age of childbearing 90 years old Yet she conceives and you see this incredible these incredible things happening in scripture and and it causes you to wonder It causes you to say these people had tremendous faith and and they did they had an amazing relationship with god Who's to deny that I mean the apostle peter himself was somebody who walked on water and You know next time you feel perfect. What's that old saying try walking on water So you see these guys and you see the immensity of the activity of their faith and how god just blessed And so I love the bible because it shows us how that we can have Great things happen, but it also points out our failures Again, you see this very consistently through the bible. You see it from the beginning you see it with adam and you see it with eve You see that abraham though a man of great faith. You see that abraham said that his wife sarah was actually his sister You see that moses misrepresented god To israel you see a man like samson who was a womanizer You know that king david committed adultery with basheba arranging the death of her husband King solomon allowed idolatry to enter into israel king azayah died a leper You can see that over and over again in scripture some of those Whom we consider to be the giants and the heroes of the faith and they are We're also clearly people who had clay feet You see the same kind of thing in the new testament the apostles argued amongst themselves about who was the greatest The apostles wanted to burn down a samaritan village because they they refused jesus entry. Can you imagine that? Do you want us to call down far from heaven and make them into crispy critters? They commanded a man to cease casting out demons in the name of jesus That they they tried to keep jesus from blessing little children They rejected his teaching concerning his death and resurrection And when things got tough they abandoned him that they might save their own lives the bible teaches not only about our victories But it also clearly shows us our frailties That gives us An insight into the amazing grace And patience of god Now that's no excuse by the way For these failures, but it is a recognition of human frailty The psalmist in psalm 103 verse 14 said he knows our frame And he remembers that we are dust And indeed we are you see the bible doesn't gloss over the sin In lives of believers the bible openly reveals our failures Why well, there's a lot a lot of reasons for that it reveals to me that I need a savior, but it also Gives to me hope In romans 15 verse 4 it says whatever things were written before Were written for our learning that we through the patience and comfort of the scriptures Might have hope So if the lord is able to to use a man like abraham who lied or a man like david Who is Responsible for for the death of a good man or or samson or a salamon And he's going to be patient with you too and with me too And how grateful I am for god's patience and his kindness towards me As we look at this passage there's no arguing that the apostle peter truly did love the lord jesus christ Nowhere in the bible do we ever find an indication that he didn't love him But in this passage before us we see him doing something that he himself said Was unthinkable And here we have a very clear picture of peter's denial of the lord jesus christ Now in his denial we have opportunity to learn what contributed to such a denial and that enables us to learn that that Um, what are the things that can lead us to stumble in our own walk with him And so we need to realize that that peter's denial As we look at it was not a spur of the moment reaction. You can think that it is but in reality It's not listen the act of denial is simply the natural byproduct of a divided heart That's where denial comes from And when you think about that denial is a byproduct of a divided heart and the apostle peter is definitely demonstrating a divided heart in this passage Um, that helps us when we realize that the bible teaches us something The bible actually declares that we are to follow him with a complete heart Um, I've said this before I'll say it briefly I just don't know any scriptures that say that god calls me to follow him part-time Do you know any scriptures like that where god says I would like you to follow me on sunday and wednesday But the rest of the week baby, that's yours I don't I just don't know I have never seen that I have never seen that god calls me to part-time discipleship That I can follow him when I feel like it and all of that i'll be sharing something by the way this sunday about that Um, not that particular thing, but you'll you'll see a tie-in this sunday when I begin to share Some of the things i'm going to be sharing on sunday, but the bottom line is is the lord Didn't call me to part-time followership. He didn't say it's okay to love me with some of your heart The bible doesn't teach that at all the bible teaches otherwise I'm commanded to love him and worship him with all that is within me There is to be no idol on some rival throne The lord is supposed to be the center of my life in deuteronomy in chapter 10 verse 12 Now israel what does the lord your god require of you? But to fear the lord your god To walk in all his ways And to love him and serve the lord your god with all your heart And with all your soul. What does he require of you to love him completely? That's what he requires of me Psalm 138 1 says I will praise you with my whole heart Not with just some of it or part-time, but you will be the center of my life So many struggle with competing priorities And because of that their hearts become divided Competing voices demand complete allegiance and a choice needs to be made Am I going to follow him or am I not? We actually Simply pursue What my heart loves We may know the truth We know what we know what the truth is we may agree with truth But we ultimately do what we love to do And what we love simply reveals what has mastered our lives That's why jesus said in matthew 6 24 No one can serve two masters For either he will hate the one and love the other or also be loyal to the one and despise the other You cannot serve god and mammon. You can't serve both You have to make a choice. Am I going to love the lord with all my heart? Am I going to pursue him? Or am I not? What is it that I love and what is competing for my attention? You see there are various things that compete for our lives There are various things that can draw us away from pursuing the lord our jobs Our friendships our hobbies our relationships our family needs All compete and all can move us away when we yield to the temptation to put them first So we always do the things that we think will best benefit ourselves And we can even do absolutely wrong things because we are that self oriented satan knows that When you read your bible, you'll see that satan knows that I am prone to self interest and he also knows That he can utilize temptations in my life That will encourage me to To yield to the things that I pursue to make myself happy In job in chapter 2 verses 1 through 5 We read there was a day when the sons of god came to present themselves before the lord and satan came Also among them to present himself before the lord the lord said to satan from where do you come? So satan answered the lord and said From going to and fro on the earth from walking back and forth on it And the lord said to satan have you considered my servant job? That there's none like him on the earth a blameless and upright man when who fears god shuns evil Still he holds fast to his integrity Although you incited me against him to destroy him without cause satan answered the lord and said Skin for skin Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life Stretch out your hand now touch his bone and his flesh. He will surely curse you to your face Skin for skin satan knows that I have a propensity. I have a tendency of Putting my own interests first I worship that which I love I will put my own interests first And satan knows that And because we have preoccupation with our wants and because that's so normal We may fail to be aware that we are slipping away And our concern with the cares of this life may suddenly overtake us And we don't even notice Because they can sneak up on you. You know this. I know this You didn't wake up one morning and say to yourself, you know what? I'm going to do today. I'm going to deny god Yeah, that's a good plan. Let's see. I'll look for things to do today. Yeah, number one on the list deny god You didn't do that But there have been days when you have there have been days when I have Days when my life did not reflect on the things I said I valued Or days that I did things that I I said the next day. I can't believe that I as a believer did something like that How did that happen? You're slowly but surely drifting away and sometimes we don't even realize that How did this happen? You know the bible in hebrus chapter 2 verse 1 says it like this We must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard lest we drift away We need to hold faster the things that we know are true And so what we're doing here is we're studying steps to failure And that way we're going to understand how that can happen And we're going to review a few events in the life of the apostle peter that'll help us To piece together certain things to see what led to his denial of the lord And then what we can do is learn to avoid those things to the best of our ability with the help of the lord How did it happen? What can I learn that will help me to remain faithful to the lord? Here's some very basic things if you take notes you might want to note these things How did it happen? Peter how is it that you denied the lord first thing? He disregarded he disregarded what jesus directly told him he disregarded what jesus directly told him In luke's gospel 22 verses 31 through 34 The lord said simon simon Indeed satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat But i have prayed for you that your faith should not fail And when you have returned to me strengthen your brethren But he said to him lord, i'm ready to go with you both the prison and to death Then he said i tell you peter the rooster shall not crow this day before you deny me three times In mark 14 29 through 31 peter said to him even if all are made to stumble yet i will not be Jesus said to him assuredly i say to you that today even this night before the rooster crows twice you'll deny me three times But he spoke more vehemently if i have to die with you i will not deny you And they all said likewise one he disregarded god's word to him you are going to fail Guess what? That word's to us too It's a fact Unless i'm talking to some perfect people in here i may i may i may be If you're married i'll just ask your spouse and Do you want to fail no Again no Do i want to be a good man? Yes Do i want to be a good husband? Absolutely Do i want to be a good father? Yes Do i want to be a good grandfather? Yes, of course Do i want to be a good brother? All the time Do i want to be a good pastor? Nah, but the rest yes Then you too. I mean just get a list of the things that that matter Do you want to be good at that? Do you want to be a good person want to be a good husband? Why? Yes Well god says you know what i know that you're just dust I know that you have those intentions and you have those desires and i will honor those things But you have to be aware of the fact that as much as you want that you're still weak You're still prone to the flesh that's going to happen You see jesus said all of you will be made disdumbled because of me this night But peter responded even if all are made disdumbled yet i will not be He He disregarded he disregarded what the lord said that's a big mistake. He rejected god's clear warning paul was writing to the chrithians and he said in first chrithians 10 12 Let him who thinks he stands Take heed lest you fall You think you stand take heed Because pride will come before a fall Please be careful that you don't get into the habit of asking this question. How? I can't understand how they ended up doing that When you get to be there you're in danger Now Maybe you won't sin. Maybe i won't sin in the identical way that somebody else did but i'm most definitely sin every day And uh Maybe i'm not sinning at night when i'm asleep But the rest of the day There are temptations and there are stumbling blocks and there are opportunities That i have to be aware of Because we're all walking through a spiritual mind field and that's why paul told the Ephesians therefore walk circumspectly You need to know that the days are evil. The days are an evil opposition against you Therefore you are walking through a spiritual mind field walk very Circumstantly very carefully Why because the enemy Of your soul is after you and he doesn't sleep And you may or may not believe that But he is after you and he doesn't rest He may not be pursuing you Personally satan i'm pretty sure he's never bothered me at all There are other people that he's after that that he wants to take down But that doesn't mean that he hasn't assigned because he has It doesn't mean he hasn't assigned any of his little imps to Be haranguing me And they do You too They want you to stumble as a matter of fact, you know god has a wonderful plan for your life But satan has an evil plan for your life And the enemy is working overtime And one of the problems that happens in the church is we begin to think that we stand We start thinking i'm doing just fine. Thank you very much. And at that point i've opened up a weakness When i when i forget that without him i can do nothing when i forget that Then i'm at that point of weakness where he can exploit that And peter was saying though all forsake you i never will I'll die for you. Oh, will you really? You know, i love you. I love you so much you lunkhead, but the bottom line is Even tonight you'll deny Even tonight you see satan has desired you that he may sift you even as we desifted But i have prayed for you That your your faith fails not And after you've returned to me after you've been converted king james after you've returned to me Strengthen your brethren peter You're gonna learn a lesson tonight that will actually make you a better minister Because the pride is going to be dealt with and humility will replace it And you will return to me. I've prayed for you Now you might want to know it in your heart that he ever lives to make intercession for you too And the lord is praying for you Even as he prayed for the apostle peter But peter didn't realize To the degree he didn't realize the weakness of his flesh one. He disregarded jesus's direct word to him If we see supplying god's word to ourselves, we become vulnerable to failure True understanding comes through knowing and applying god's word Isaiah 55 3 says incline your ear and come to me here and your soul shall live inclined And so we need to be inclined to the lord So we need to be careful That we don't become dull to the bible in its warnings and exhortations my encouragement Read god's word regularly and determine To obey what you understand one of the best ways to understand a passage is to simply Determine to do that which it says That's one of the ways that you learn your scriptures the bible in james 122 says Be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving Yourselves and so first safeguard Yourself by hearing and practicing what you have heard the second thing we see is he failed to pray Prayer reveals a lot of things about a believer And one of those things is that it reveals a dependence on god He failed to pray which revealed a lack of dependence You see the lack of obedience to his word And the lack of prayer made failure probable And that's what you see in the garden of gethsemane when when he was there and and jesus had gone a stone's throw away and And was beseeching his father and speaking to him and then he would come back and the men had fallen asleep And he said watch and pray lest you enter into temptation the spirit indeed is willing he said but the flesh is weak You have a desire The desire is with you, but the ability to perform that what your desire is not And you need to depend on me listen christianity again is not part time Christianity is a lifestyle Christianity is is a love for truth a love for god love for others It is a living out the things that you say you believe And it's a pursuit of god and thus we we have to be careful to to know his word and we have to be careful To remain faithful to to pray and to seek the lord to work inside of us You see instead of praying they ended up falling asleep three times once again revealing that the flesh is weak And after the third time as you read your scriptures You see that jesus rebuked them for their failure to watch and pray in matthew 2645 you said to them Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold the hour is at hand and the son of man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners You're still sleeping and you're still resting And you don't even realize what's going on even right now So instead of being watchful instead of being prayerful. They fell asleep and they were caught unprepared You see the bible tells us as jesus was still speaking. Judas came with soldiers and took him prisoner You see when temptations arise Do you think of god's word? Do you think of prayer or do you yield to them? And they do they do sometimes hit you there are there are every day Temptations that that inundate you every every day And just being aware of them Makes you less vulnerable to them Sometimes temptations. Well, he's straight in the face straight in the face And I was working Marie and I had been married for maybe a year or so And I had a job in huntington park and And there were two women working in the accounting office And I worked in another department and I had to go in there and I had had to I worked a lot I worked worked with them. They worked In relation to the things I had to do in my job. They were younger women I still remember walking into this one office And I was in my 20s at that time and and I walked into the office and one of the girls looked at me and she said My my mom and dad are gone this weekend. I said that's nice And then she said Can you can you drive to my house and pick me up and take me to work? And I just kind of stood there looking at her I'll never forget that And Teresa One of the girls turns to me and says did you hear what she said? She's asking you to come and pick her up and she makes those little eyebrow things like And I smiled at her and uh, I got the paperwork and I went home. I went to my office and called Marie Mommy That's a bad woman You know, obviously, I mean, are you kidding me? Are you you know Now what would have happened if I was vulnerable to that what would have happened because she was attractive. I won't lie She was attractive You have to be aware and you know what's something interesting guys. Let me tell you this A few years later a few years later We I had planted the church We were ministering I was ministering at Ontario Christian elementary school And I walked out after the service. I was standing by the door And Teresa the girl who would Encourage me to take this girl up on her offer Teresa walks up to me and says, do you remember me? I said, yes Oh, I do indeed She says I I went to Rawls church and I got saved, you know, and and I heard that you were here, Dave I just wanted to come and say hello to you and tell you my life has been transformed by Jesus christ You know and and you think of these things listen every person in this room Every day has one thing or another being offered to you To deny the Lord and it doesn't have to be some incredible thing like robbing a bank or committing adultery It could be anything anything that you Yield to that takes you slowly away from the Lord. It happens every day You wake up. I wake in the morning. I hope you do too. Lord. This is the day that you have made. I will rejoice I'll be glad in it. I need your power today Because I know the enemy is you know, he never slept. He's waiting at the foot of the bed To start in one form or another To undermine my walk with you And and today That that is not going to happen We're going to I'm going to walk with you today It's a determination that you make you have to be aware of these things because the spirit may be willing the flesh is weak So we take God's word and we pray And and that gives us strength to remain strong when temptations arise With no dependence on God His dependence was revealed to be in his own strength And you see that in John 18 10 when he took his sword and he cut off the man's ear You see when you depend on your own strength You will forget to trust the Lord For help and that is a dangerous place for us to be It's interesting how things can get in the way of our service to the Lord You can even walk away from from pure service While you're ministering And that's why ax chapter 6 verse 2 is so important where it says it's not desirable that we should leave the word of God That we should leave the word of God serve tables And in verse 4 he said we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word Because that's what God has called us to do. So a second safeguard against failure learn to pray Learn to depend on God A third thing in verse 15 It speaks of Simon Peter following Jesus as did another disciple well According to Luke chapter 22 verse 54 Luke writes having arrested him they led him and brought him into the high priest's house, but Peter followed at a distance He was following the Lord, but he did so at a distance You can be in a church service, but your heart is somewhere else at the same time Distractions come in all flavors. There are people who sit in the church and they look around and they think about the color of the sanctuary And or they they critique the music Um, they look at the people around them In their eyes everywhere They they're texting messages They're talking to somebody during the service You know that that happens all the time There's distractions that go on constantly in church services So what happens is when in the midst of a distraction um The enemy can use that and and in Peter's case. He wasn't prepared for it and was taken by surprise So we need to walk closely with the Lord We need to follow him not at a distance, but be carefully identified with him um When I was in college and uh And I went to secular school Non-christian colleges. I went to various ones One of the things I got into the habit of doing Is openly declaring as soon as I could that I was a follower of christ That was one of the things I got into the habit of doing I thought i'm not going to hide this this light under a bushel I'm gonna I'm gonna let the people know because I would do that within the first two classes You normally have an opportunity because the teacher in the classes at that time Would ask questions of the students tell us something about yourself or whatever there were introductory in many of the classes I had gave us opportunities to To kind of say something and and I would find a way at the beginning at the beginning within the first class or two I would find a way of saying i'm a follower of jesus christ. That's what I am And and today people say oh, you know what it's oh, it's not popular You were a jesus freak and and it was kind of cool to be a christian then you know in some ways it was Yes, I will not deny that in some ways it was it was really anti establishment Which I find very interesting to see the current trend of health our politics It was very anti establishment to be a believer And so it was actually a mark of courage and and it was almost a cool thing to be identified with But the bottom line is is I learned kind of early and I'm encouraging you I I learned early Tell them who you worship and then live up to what you said Tell them who you worship and live live up to it. That'll be your standard Oh, yeah, people will look at you people will say things to you people will get some in my classes Sometimes they get angry. Sometimes they mock me you know I I understand that And and and all and and sometimes you're the only one there sometimes you may have 30 people in that room And you and maybe one other person Maybe a believer in christ and that other person is quiet. So it's kind of like just you And you feel all alone you do I I I know some of you understand what i'm saying you feel all alone I'm the only one in this room that believes in jesus our professor's already saying he feels sorry for you Because you believe in the god of that little black book called the bible And i'm in this class the guy's got a phd and i'm just some some dumbbell who who you know, I i'm not educated And yet I I just I just felt that it was I just I still do I felt it was important to say this is who I am. This is what I believe And and then that gave me a standard to live up to I didn't hide it Be careful that you don't either Don't don't throw something in somebody's face don't don't be rude and arrogant and pushy either Just don't be ashamed of the gospel of jesus christ's power of god into salvation Just hold fast to it. Hey, this is what I believe now you believe in people magazine and I believe in the bible I mean Whatever Well as we go A little bit more versus 16 and 17 peters through the door outside So john gets peter admission into the courtyard Now notice peter is standing by the fire warming himself Luke tells us in chapter 22 verses 56 and 57 A servant girl saw him seated there in the fire light. She looked closely at him and said this man was with him That he denied it a woman. I don't know him. He said So as he's standing there a servant girl is looking closely at him and as she's looking at him in that fire light She recognizes him It says in verse 17 the servant girl who kept the door said to peter You are not also one of this man's disciples. Are you he said i'm not Now peter was one of jesus's closest friends Jesus want rather peter walked faithfully with him peter saw miracles He even performed miracles. He heard the teachings of christ. He received revelation from god He had just vowed to die for jesus But under pressure He denies him And this can happen to anybody Many christians know their bible Many are experienced Many are active in their church But under pressure they can fold Because they're over confident unprepared And vulnerable I am telling you and i'm not trying to teach christian paranoia I'm just telling you When you got saved you became Satan's one of satan's Greatest threats. Did you know that? Do you know that? You are one of satan's greatest threats You may not think so You may be they're thinking how are you kidding me? I'm just a kid. I don't know anything You are a great threat Because he knows what god can do through a vessel That belongs to the lord. He knows And you have friends and you have family and you have neighbors and you have co-workers Perhaps your parent Maybe your husband or a wife Got you've got your your mom your dad your grandma You please understand this You are a threat When i got saved My whole family was unsaved. He thens He thens I was loaded i'll tell you one thing Loaded on acid my parents didn't know it 17 And they're trying to figure me out so they took me to a bar I was 17 Loaded on acid sitting in the front seat with my parents and they didn't know I was hallucinating I still kind of remember As they took me to this bowling alley in monnevello There's a bowling alley right up the 63 way some of you know where it's at that we went there right right next There's a bar I'm 17 I'm with my brother and his wife my brother's 19 And my dad takes us out drinking That was my family and my mom's telling me dirty jokes all the way That was my family So you know I came from a heathen family And I got saved And I became one of satan's enemies But you know what god did god used this person To bring mom and dad to faith in christ god used this person to bring his brother And two sisters to faith in jesus christ because I became One of his enemies I was on his side And then I turned against him And I said no i'm not following you anymore. I'm following god And when you do that i'm telling you You become his enemy he comes after you don't be surprised Sometimes christians. Oh, do you don't like me? I mean Don't be surprised Don't be weak Be strong in the lord Do you believe do you do you really see that's the whole thing? Do you really believe in eternity? Do you really believe that jesus christ is the son of god? Do you really believe that he was buried but the third day he rose again from the dead? Do you believe he ascended to heaven sent the holy spirit to dwell within you to make you his child and to use you For combat to win the loss for christ If you believe that you'll be used by god You'll be used by god And so you have to be aware of those kinds of things you need to you need to You need to just be aware of that because listen I don't want to be over confident. I I I know my weaknesses and and I don't want to be afraid I want to be I want to be Trustworthy to the lord. I want to be used by god, but that has to be in your heart You see in the dark peter was indistinguishable from the enemies of jesus. So be careful Not to attempt to blend in with those who don't love the lord be careful Not to identify with the world You need to understand that the world is in need of the love of god I'm not saying hate the world in the sense of oh you you guys are all bad and I don't know I'm not saying that I'm just saying they're just so lost And I'm not saying either that we're better because we're not I'm I I hope that doesn't come out that way I I'm no I know that I'm no better than anybody else. I'm a I'm a sinner and needed the grace of god That's what we are And when you understand that you can be used by the lord because you actually love people So don't fall into the trap of becoming an undercover christian a chameleon Be open about your faith Be prepared and be open Verse 25 and we'll move to a conclusion here simon peter stood and warmed himself Therefore they said to him you are not also one of his disciples. Are you he denied it and said i'm not One of the servants of the high priest the relative of him whose ear peter cut off Did I not see you in the garden with him peter then denied again immediately a rooster crowed So that's a simple question isn't it? but peter peter dismissed it easily by saying i'm not But one of the servants of the high priest began to really question him You see the first two questions were easy to deny Because they weren't confrontational So that gives us insight into how failure happens Harmless things can set you up somebody used this as a picture some of you, uh, perhaps, um I was I had an uncle who was a professional boxer and so my dad Used to I used to look at ring magazine As a little boy as one of the things I used to read ring magazine my He was in a very good fighter if I mentioned his name you wouldn't know him that showed you how good he was but he was a boxer And he had that was he had stacks of ring magazine and and so somebody was saying that That boxers will use a jab to set an opponent up for a knockout and that's true And and that's what the enemy does with you. There are things that he will do Harmless things that appear harmless at first simple questions That is actually almost like he's using a jab So that he can take you out with the other hand then and that's what's taking place here The two questions that were asked were really harmless and then then he got them That's what took place and so you have to be careful You see if you ignore the word of god if you ignore prayer if you attempt to blend in with the world It will result in failure It will Matthew tells us in chapter 26 verses 73 and 74 A little later those who stood by came up and said to peter surely You also are one of them your speech betrays you you have an accent You have an accent See the Galileans the northerners had an accent that the southern Jews didn't have It's interesting. I mean All of us in this room all of us have an accent of some form all of us do And you may say no, I really don't But we all we all do and and You go to Brooklyn And there's some pretty strong accents there You can go to different places down south even the southern accents that we like I like to kind of say well It sounds similar to me. In fact, they're not There are little nuances And it's interesting when you I better be careful because this isn't one of the things that you wouldn't be interested in that I am I wonder where do these accents come from You know a lot of it is irish a lot of it is english some of it is dutch And there it's just found its way into our language But we all have accents. Well, if it's somebody from from dallas texas We're speaking in this pulpit or or sandy adams from georgia When he comes and speaks here, you know, he's not from around here You know that because he's got this georgian accent. Well The northerners had an accent And the southerners could pick it up And they said your speech betrays you Jesus 11 of the 12 of his apostles were from the north Only one of them was from the south judas iscariot And you may be thinking sometimes iscariot is his last name. It's not The name is scariot is ish carry out The man from carry out carry out was just outside of jerusalem And so when you read judas ish carry out That was where he was from So he's a southerner The other 11 were northerners And so when they're listening to peter and they say your speech betrays you They're saying your accent gives you away You are definitely with the gallilean you have a gallilean accent And then peter just erupts it says in verse 74 He began to curse and swear saying i don't know them and now someone's saying was he cousin like a sailor Cursed swear he's not using profanity You might want to get that out of your mind He wasn't using profanity He was cursing himself and swearing to god may i be cut off from god That's what he was saying It was even worse than if he used a mild profanity He was calling god's curses upon himself, which is a very strong thing for him to be doing In his denial Now in luke 22 verses 60 through 62 luke gives us greater insight peter said man I do not know what you're saying immediately while he was still speaking the rooster crowed The lord turned and looked at peter peter remembered the word of the lord how he had said to him before the rooster crowed You will deny me three times peter went and wept bitterly So what do you think the lord did when he looked at the apostle peter because jesus was being let out Jesus has already been beaten up on spit Spit upon and and he's already starting to undergo torture And he's being brought out as the apostle peter is there warming himself at the enemy's fire And then as he's coming by and peter is saying i don't know him Then here comes peter rather jesus and peter turns and he sees jesus I used to think that I used to think that jesus gave peter that disgusted kind of look like You rat how could you do that? That's not what he did He just looked at him Do you I I don't know if this will make sense to you But there are times when somebody has done something wrong. Do you don't have to say a word? You just look at him When my son joseph was a little guy If he did something that disappointed me, I didn't have to say anything I would just look at him And I And he'd cry I'm sorry dad The tenderness of the heart That would be what happened Jesus sees The apostle I don't know him. May god curse me And jesus looks at him and it pierced his soul and he wept bitterly he cried like a baby I betrayed the lord. I said I wouldn't I said I'd die for him But when it came down to it I failed him Again remember jesus said I've prayed for you And again remember He prays for us God does forgive sin When you turn from it And when you return to him if we confess our sin He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to purify us from all unrighteousness Forgiveness is a prayer away What we need is we need God's amazing grace Again the stumbling began with peter's boastful assumption that he loved jesus the most But it wasn't the amount of love and devotion that he had for jesus It was the amount of love that jesus had for him Even though he failed jesus knew he'd return to him and on a quiet shore in the sea of gallilee Jesus restored this beloved apostle. He said to him peter do you love me? But peter finally was able to say yes But you know, I also fail you And then jesus said Well, you still can feed and take care of my sheep Because as long as you understand your weaknesses and your dependence on me I can use you It's when you think that you don't need me That you're dangerous. May we need him tonight