"As Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest *came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and *said, "You also were with Jesus the Nazarene." But he denied it, saying, "I neither know nor understand what you are talking about." And he went out onto the porch. The servant-girl saw him, and began once more to say to the bystanders, "This is one of them!" But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, "Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean too." But he began to curse and swear, "I do not know this man you are talking about!" Immediately a rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, "Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times." And he began to weep."
Good Morning my beloved,
For many years, I have watched as the church, in an attempt to market Christianity to sinners, to get more people to come to church and buy into Christ, has perverted the Gospel, stripping the message of anything judgemental, anything controversial or offensive, convicting of one’s sinfulness to make it more attractive, more palpable to those want to continue in their sin, while having the illusion of salvation, essentially making people ignorant of the Truth of what Scripture teaches about self-denial, sin and it's non-negotiable damning consequences, which is critical to salvation. Tragically, the church once saddened by the condition of the world, concerned about the spiritual needs of the sinner, has become so consumed with inclusion and carnal self-expression, rendering it weak and ineffective, more like the sinners they are trying to reach. Scripture is clear, before you can come to Christ, before you can be regenerated, you must die to self and your own self-will, therefore, self-denial is essential to true repentance, forgiveness and to salvation. You must be willing to literally abandon everything. The root of sin is pride, which is natural to the sinner’s corrupt heart is very destructive and not easily defeated, that’s what makes it so hard to repent and be saved. Salvation starts with knowing the Truth, that's why Satan, the god of this age, the prince of this world, the father of lies, the author of confusion, is working diligently to confuse everything concerning salvation and spiritual life with false information to lead the church and the world astray. Because Truth is necessary for salvation, anyone who knows me knows I eat, sleep and breathe the Truth, it is the passion of my heart, for the troubled modern church that has a lower standard of holiness, and a generation of Christians with a minimal understanding of the Gospel, due to the suppression of the Truth in many churches today.
Paul writes in Romans 1:32, "Although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them." I believe that accurately describes the unregenerate church today, motivated by pleasing the sinner rather than God, consumed with reinventing the Gospel, emphasizing self-fulfillment and self-expression psychology and entertainment. When you do that, the Truth can’t get through and it's almost impossible to come back, it’s over; ultimately, judgment will come. Make no mistake, those ashamed of the Gospel, responsible for misleading the church, spiritually starving His people, will be held accountable before Christ for the way they have conducted themselves toward His Church. As long as the Lord continues to graciously give me breath, I am resolved to confronting those who are willing to look the other way, set on redefining sin and repentance, shamelessly tampering with the Truth of God's Word in order to give a corrupt culture born to love sin, born hating righteousness what they demand, keeping people from God. I am often told, "You can't say that! People today don’t want to listen to archaic, judgmental biblical preaching, if the church is going to be successful, we have to give them what they want." Listen, the chances that a totally depraved person corrupted by sin is going to conclude his own guiltiness is zero. The natural man cannot accurately assess his spiritual condition because he is inherently evil. To get to the core of man's depravity, you must have the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit.
John Calvin did not invent the doctrine of total depravity; he simply defined what is found in Scripture, totally depravity is seen as far back as the Old Testament, Genesis 6:5, "Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick." Psalm 14:1-3 says "The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds;
There is no one who does good. The Lord has looked down from heaven
upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, Who seek
after God. They have all turned aside, together they have become
corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one." And in Romans 1:28, Paul writes "God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper." All these verses are a graphic description of man's total depravity. The problem with modern Christianity is the erroneous belief that mankind is basically good, contradicting what Scripture clearly teaches. What we’re facing today in the church are the same satanic influences that are influencing the culture whose agenda is anti-Christ, the relentless assault on children, everything from murdering them in the womb, to human trafficking and child pornography, to deluding their minds with transgender ideology to mutilate their bodies and they're doing it essentially without resistance from the government, pediatric professionals and medical industry, the schools, their parents, and even many churches. It's easy to just say, "Well, that's the world we live today." This is the reasoning that allows a biological male to compete in women's sports.We must recognize that it is the disloyalty and
failures of the church to proclaim God's Word that has contributed significantly to the chaos that we are witnessing
in our society today!
I'm so grateful that my Bible tells me that Christ said that He would build His Church and the gates of Hell will not overpower it. My responsibility is to proclaim the Gospel and warn those He brings in. I have absolutely no desire to make the Gospel message less offensive, more socially acceptable, catering to the whims of a generation marked by self-entitlement, unwilling to accept personal accountability for their actions, it's ineffectual for salvation. The church is the pillar of divine Truth, where the Gospel is proclaimed, that alone tells me the church is not supposed to be anything like the world. Therefore, my only desire is to please my Lord and Savior, faithfully serve Him by proclaiming His Word in truth by which souls are saved, because there is no greater need for humanity than God’s forgiveness. I believe a church is defined by what it desires. I don’t want to be remembered for my ability to adapt to the culture.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, thank You for the clarity with which Your Word speaks to those of us who love You, who love Christ and Your Word, seal it to our hearts. Help me to speak the Truth with authority, in love with compassion and tenderness, and grant us the grace to become the people You want us to be and to hold each other accountable to live out the faith that we proclaim. Lord, I pray that You will continue to grant me the boldness to confront sin and error with unshakable confidence and conviction, in hopes of bringing one who is lost into the fold. And to finish the course which You have given me, not in my own strength, but in Yours, by the power of the Holy Spirit, for Your glory and for Christ's sake, Who gave His life for us. It is His name we ask and pray.
Amen
Today's Message: Will The Real Peter Please Stand Up
In our culture today, we are often told that man is basically good, in fact, modern psychology says you're more than good, you’re great, and you need to recognize that because your ability to achieve great things in life lies within the power of your self-esteem. And those who fail have a diminished self-esteem, they are somehow helpless victims of something outside of themselves, so the blame falls on their parents and rest of the society because it certainly cannot be their fault. It's no wonder we have entire generations of deluded people with a sense of self-importance and entitlement, who don't want to be confronted with the Truth. A perverted mind despises what it cannot understand and will often make the wrong choices. I am grateful that the final judgment will not be based upon the insanity of a corrupt society but the Righteous Judge Who says you will be held accountable.
If you will recall earlier in verse 30, Jesus specifically warned Peter that this moment would come, "Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times," but Peter was so full of pride, loosely based on his self-confidence in his own ability, and his own strength to resist temptation, that he failed to recognize his own weakness and fell into sin. Like many over confident Christians today who fail to pray, they hear Scriptures warnings, then they attempt to silence the rooster in their lives, by chasing the rooster around with an ax! The rooster of selfishness, or self-righteousness, of self-confidence and pride, fear of rejection for standing for Christ. What rooster are you trying to silence in your life? What will you do when persecution is present, will you deny Jesus by keeping silent about God's Word to avoid conflict? Or worse, will you deny your association with Him all together like Peter, to save your own life? Ironically, Jesus' trial and Peter's trial run concurrently, yet the results are significantly different. One is a glaring example of the weakness of a man speaking dishonestly trying to preserve his life and the other is gloriously shining example of self-sacrifice, and a willingness to speak to the Truth, even in the face of death.
Open your Bibles with me if you would to the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of Mark, verses 66 through 72. I
invite you to follow along with me as I read to set the text in our
minds, as we look at today's text through the eyes of Mark, inspired
by the Holy Spirit. So, let's open our hearts and our minds
to see what the Spirit of God has
to say us today. Mark 14:66-72.
"As Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest *came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and *said, "You also were with Jesus the Nazarene." But he denied it, saying, "I neither know nor understand what you are talking about." And he went out onto the porch. The servant-girl saw him, and began once more to say to the bystanders, "This is one of them!" But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, "Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean too." But he began to curse and swear, "I do not know this man you are talking about!" Immediately a rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, "Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times." And he began to weep."
Let's look at verse 66, "As Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest *came." After Jesus was arrested, and bound taken to the house of Annas, the former high priest, who was the brains behind the scenes, who was to come up with a charge against Jesus worthy of the death penalty
which was around 1 A.M., Luke 22 tells us Peter was following at a distance, but when he arrived they wouldn’t let Peter in. John 18 says there was another disciple, believed to be John, that entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest and noticing Peter standing at the door outside, he went out and spoke to the doorkeeper, and brought Peter into the open courtyard below while Jesus was in front of Annas
on the second floor. Luke says they, most likely the Roman soldiers and the temple police who arrested Jesus and brought Him to the house of the high priest, after they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter was sitting among them and one of the servant-girls of the high priest came. Luke adds an interesting comment, "seeing him as he sat in the firelight and looking intently at him."
Verse 67, "And seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and *said, "You also were with Jesus the Nazarene." This is the servant girl who opened the door, the same one who originally wouldn't let Peter in, the same one who John went out and spoke to and brought Peter into the open courtyard. While Peter is sitting there with the others in the dark, warming himself by the fire, she is starring at him intently, checking him out, obviously she thinks she recognizes him from somewhere. It’s likely that she did, because everybody associated with the high priest and the temple would have seen Jesus earlier in the week, surrounded by His disciples, so perhaps she had noticed him with Jesus then as well. Either way, all of the sudden it comes to her where she knows him from, she recognizes him as one who followed Jesus
and she blurts out in front of everybody, "You also were with Jesus the Nazarene." The word "you" is emphatic, she's pointing out he's a part of Jesus' entourage, that he didn’t belong in the courtyard with the others. Nazarene was a term of derision, it was an insult.
Verse 68, "But he denied it, saying, "I neither know nor understand what you are talking about." And he went out onto the porch." Some early manuscripts add and the rooster crowed. Peter had probably been sitting there for a while, he didn’t it see coming, he's caught off guard so he’s not prepared. I don't believe Peter even realized this is what was beginning to unfold is exactly what Jesus warned him about. Peter finds himself in a disastrous situation, caught between his love for Jesus and wanting to see the outcome of the trial, his loyalty wanting to know what they going to do with Him and his fear that they were going to drag him before courts to be interrogated and put on trial with Jesus. If I were to guess, I'd say most of you have never been brought before the courts, threatened to be put in prison for hate speech for openly professing Christ and proclaiming the Gospel, but I'm sure there have been times where you found yourself in a situation where you knew you should have stood up for Christ and for whatever reason, in that moment, you kept your mouth shut. I believe we know how hard it can be to take a firm stand for Christ in situations where we know there will be negative consequences. I know I have been caught off guard in the past, I didn't verbally deny my love for Him, or my association with Him, the problem was I didn't speak up when something was said that I should have responded to, and I immediately felt horrible, and beat myself up for failing Him in that unexpected moment. How could I allow that to happen? Now, that is on a much smaller scale than what Peter was facing, but I want just you
to have a better understanding of the kind of situation Peter found himself in, so that we can learn from his experience, none of us are above failing, Satan's tactics haven't changed. We must pray specifically for God's protection to guard ourselves against temptation and difficulty, so that it doesn’t pose a threat.
Verse 69, "The servant-girl saw him, and began once more to say to the bystanders, "This is one of them!" From a cursory reading the text, it may appear as though Peter's denials occurred one right after another, but they actually occur in the same location, over a period of several hours. If you read Luke, he tells us some time passes after Peter went out onto the porch trying to escape and the second denial happens a little later. The first one appears to have occurred when Jesus was before Annas, and the second occurred when Jesus was before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin. Verse 70 says "But again he denied it." Matthew tells us and again he denied it this time with an oath, now he's really going deep in his denial, swearing he’s telling the truth. What makes the second time more severe is he’s had some time to think about it and he intensifies his denial with an oath. This time is not an accident, it’s premeditated. Have you ever noticed, when people are trying to convince somebody they’re telling the truth, the more they pile up the things on which they’re willing to swear. Today, we often hear people swear on a stack of Bibles, they'll swear on their parents graves and ultimately, they'll swear on their children's' lives.
The rest of verse 70 says, "And after a little while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, "Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean too." Luke tells us about an hour had passed. John says the man was one of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, *said, "Did I not see you in the garden with Him?"
Verse 71, "But he began to curse and swear, "I do not know this man you are talking about!" The Greek word for curse is "katathematizó," to curse vehemently, meaning in a strong and emotional way. Peter wasn’t cussing and using bad language, it was far worse! It would be like saying "May God strike me dead and damn me if I’m not
telling the truth." It's bad enough that Peter would deny Jesus but to
take the Lord’s name in vain while doing it, that's just unimaginable!
But Peter is frustrated, angry and scared, the very same Peter who boasted he'd die or go to prison for Jesus. Peter who had been following Jesus for over 3 years, who witnessed His healing miracles, healing the lepers, giving sight to the blind, making the lame to walk, raising the dead, not to mention he saw Jesus walk on water and he was the leader of the twelve, the one who Jesus would rely upon on for the future establishment of the church! The lesson here is if this can happen to Peter of all people, it can happen to anyone of us, given the right set of circumstances. I believe this is a lesson Peter never forgot! Our true character isn’t revealed by what we are prepared to do, it's what we do when we're caught off guard, completely unprepared. Proverbs 16:18, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling."
That brings us to verse 72, "Immediately a rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, "Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times." And he began to weep." I imagine Peter freezing in mid-sentence, falling to his knees, asking himself, "What have I done?" Luke says "Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter." Scripture doesn't tell us what kind of a look it was, but Peter must have been able to see Him from where he was standing, watching Jesus being beaten and spit on. His face was probably battered by this point. There are some who have suggested it was a look of disgust, a look of great disappointment, but I believe it was a look of love, to say "Even though you would deny Me, I would not deny you." Whatever the look Jesus gave him was, it must have pierced his soul because Luke says he went out and wept bitterly. The point is, the most painful moment in Peter's life could have been avoided, if he would have only listened to the Lord and prayed.
The Good News is, we know this was not the end of Peter's story, our Lord restored him. John 21, "Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Tend My lambs." He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Shepherd My sheep." And in the book of Acts, we see a very different Peter, boldly proclaiming "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away."
I believe the take away here is, when we find ourselves in a vulnerable
situation, we need to draw closer to Christ, in prayer, not sitting on
the side lines with sinners in some compromising place that can only
lead to defeat. Godly grief produces repentance that leads to salvation without regret. The real Peter is seen not in his denial, but in his repentance and restoration. And I believe the Lord will do the same for you and me when we stumble. 1 John 1:9, " If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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