Drew Brees & Max Lucado Cave To Worldly Pressure (Peter's Denial of Jesus - Part 3)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Now I'd like to give a few examples of this. Try to make it real. A few examples over the past few years of people who essentially denied Christ, denied God's word.

Fear of Man and Public Denial of Christ

A couple weeks ago, who's ever heard of bring your Bible to school day? Who's ever heard of that? Right. Apparently this was started by focus on the family and that they're the ones who came up with it from what I understand.

But there is a NFL quarterback years ago, just two or three years ago, I think he went on Facebook or, you know, one of these social media sites. And he put out a video encouraging young kid. You can imagine how many young kids look up to an NFL quarterback.

Just probably millions of people look up to this guy and he said, Hey, I'm a Christian tomorrow or next Tuesday. Whatever is bring your Bible to school day. So kids bring your Bible to school. I remember seeing that and just really appreciating it and thinking, wow, this guy has so much influence over people.

This is absolutely wonderful. But guess what happened? Well, like I said, he posted this video on social media and the LGBT crowd didn't like it. They didn't like this at all. And he received major backlash, major backlash.

This is hateful. How dare you? All the rest. Well, what did this NFL quarterback? What did he do? He stood firm for the Lord and put out another video saying Christians need to stand to get. No, he folded like a like a deck of cards.

And he put out another video where he basically threw his fellow Christians under the bus. Oh, I didn't realize focus on the family is this terrible hate group. And, you know, basically implied that if you didn't say it and he threw his fellow Christians under the bus.

And if you didn't catch last week's sermon, this ties into last week's sermon. Go and watch that through Christians under the bus. You might as well be throwing Christ under the bus when you do something like that.

And why do people feel the need to pander to these groups? They're never going to support you anyways. They're never going to be happy. If you believe in Jesus, if you have any Christian testimony, you can't please them.

You can never please the LGBTQ crowd. So understand that either you agree with them 100 or else they'll rip you to shreds. And that's what they did to this quarterback. But he backed down. I'm not saying if I were in his position, I'm not saying that I would have done the right.

I like to think I would have done the right thing. But this fear of man, you understand, it can be powerful. What if tomorrow you say something biblical and somebody hears you, and it could be some other person, some other group, and all of a sudden you realize you could be fired.

All of a sudden, it's real easy to cower. You're not doing people any favors by apologizing for what's true. If you really love people, then you'll tell them what's true. You can speak the truth in love, but you don't deny Christ.

You don't deny his word, and you don't do it to curry favor with the world. So that was very unfortunate. And you know why people so often identify with characters like Peter? And in the Old Testament, it's David.

People often can identify with David and Peter. Why? Because they're so flawed. We can identify with people who are flawed because we're flawed too. Peter, many years ago, struggled with this again when he was at Antioch.

You remember Peter was eating and fellowshipping with the Gentile believers until the Jews from Jerusalem showed up. And when the Jews from Jerusalem came, he separated himself and basically would have nothing to do with these Gentile Christians.

And the Apostle Paul confronted Peter to his face because Paul considered it tantamount with denying the gospel. Because the gospel includes everybody, Jew and Gentile. And Peter was acting like the Gentiles were dogs.

So Peter had this fear of man back then, and he fell into it again later on. Thankfully, the scripture says in 1 John 1, verse 9, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

So if you've done this, and you have, and I have, there is forgiveness at the foot of the cross. And we should pray to the Lord that next time this happens, He would give us the spiritual strength to stand firm.

Jesus, but it's a serious thing, Jesus said in Matthew 10, 33, whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my Father in heaven. Another example, there was a pastor, we talked about him last week in Sunday school, the best-selling Christian author, the best-selling evangelical author, he was asked to preach at the National Cathedral in Washington, D .C.

And any time an evangelical is asked to preach at the National Cathedral in D .C., I mean you know something is up, like that's not normal, they don't usually ask Bible believers. But he agreed to it.

And that same crowd found out that he actually preached, he was right, 20 years ago he preached a biblical sermon, just biblicality, just standard Christian beliefs. He preached a biblical sermon 20 years ago, that same crowd found out about that sermon, and they wanted the National Cathedral to disinvite him.

And social media backlash, and what did he do, did he stand firm for the faith, and I'm not apologizing for the word of God. And you know, that was a wonderful opportunity to say, hey, just because you are living a different lifestyle, just because you disagree with us, you know what, we still love you enough in Christ to tell you the truth, but here's the truth.

Is that what he did? No, he caved in like a, or folded like a cheap long chair, and he, you know what he said, he said, LGBT people, they are actually beloved children of God. If you are theologically astute, that means they are saved.

If you are a child of God, you are saved. Listen, it would be wrong to say straight people are beloved children of God, because quite frankly, most of them aren't. You can't say that about any group, straight, gay, black, white, you can't say that any one group, they're all beloved children of God, that's not true for anyone, there has to be a personal conversion.

So what a great opportunity to speak the truth, and to stand for Christ, and to share the gospel, and do it in love, we believe in doing it in love. But he denied Christ, bottom line. These are the Lord's words, this is the Lord's book.

He denied the scripture to try to curry favor with the world. So Peter, back to Peter, he not only denied Jesus three times, when Jesus was hanging on the cross, you realize Peter was nowhere to be found.

John, however, here's the contrast, John, remember John's the one who brought Peter to the courtyard of the high priest, John's the one who got him in, John didn't seem to be afraid. Now, admittedly, if John had connections with the high priest, maybe John felt safe, maybe John's connections made him feel safe, and maybe that's why John was at the foot of the cross.

That argument could be made, I suppose. But when Jesus was hanging there dying, all I know is this, here's what I know for sure, John was there and Peter wasn't. And could it be that because of that, and because John didn't deny him in that way, but Peter did, could it be that that was the reason that John lived to the ripe old age of whatever, 90, 100 years old, and John died of, or as we know, of natural causes.

John grew to be an old man. Peter, though, he lived to be older, but you know how Peter ended his life? Tradition says, and it's pretty good, we know it's true, Jesus indicates this, Peter was crucified.

Could it be the result of this? I don't know. But John didn't deny him, he was at the cross, and the Lord allowed John to live to a ripe old age. Peter died the same way Jesus did. Could it be because of his denial?

Was Peter forgiven? Yes. Did Jesus love Peter? Yes. But there's consequences to denying Christ. So I say that not to make you feel guilty because maybe you did this or compromised in the past, because again, we've all done it.

I've done it, we've all done it at some point. The scripture says, a man sows, or what a man sows, he shall also reap. Well, let's end on a positive note. Peter, he failed, denied Jesus three times, went out, wept bitterly, but you know what?

Jesus loved Peter, and Peter was reinstated. Judas Iscariot also denied Christ, and he never came back to the group. There's the difference. Some people deny Christ and they're not really sorry, and they never come back.

Others will deny Christ, they are sorry, and they do come back. So in John chapter 21, you don't have to turn there, but Jesus restores Peter to ministry. And when he does, he asked Peter, do you love me more than these?

Peter had gone back to fishing. And you know, sometimes if you have a major failure, it can cause you to kind of slide back into your old ways, your old habits. That's what Peter did. He went back to fishing, but the Lord pulled him out of it.

Three times the Lord said to Peter in restoring him, he says, Peter, do you love me? And Peter said, Lord, you know, I love you. And he asked him again, Peter, do you love me? Lord, you know, I love you.

And the third time, once for every denial, the Lord said, Peter, do you love me? And at this point, Peter's just grieved. This is agony. He says, Lord, you know that I love you. You remember what the Lord said?

Then feed my lambs, feed my sheep. And Peter, for the rest of his life, served the Lord. And he preached the gospel and he made a difference in people's lives. So if you've ever failed, you're in good company.

Sad to say, you're in good company because everybody's done it to some degree. But next time, do better. He was in a spiritually weak condition. He was sleeping, sleeping too much, not praying enough or whatever it is we get into a spiritually weak condition.

And then when the moment of testing comes, we fold, we collapse, we compromise. The lesson is don't allow yourself to get into that spiritually weak condition. And if you're in that condition or you fear you are, today is a day you can recommit your life to Christ.

That fire that you once had years ago, it can come back, amen? It can come back. Get in the word, pray to the Lord. Say, I know I haven't been following you. I know I haven't been doing what I should do.

Lord, forgive me. Will he forgive you? He will. And if you start a new life, committed, recommitted today, he will bless that. And you, like Peter, can serve the Lord the rest of your life. Could there be consequences later on down the road?

Well, maybe, maybe, maybe not. But the Lord will welcome you into his heaven saying, well done, good and faithful servant. No doubt that's what Peter heard. And we all want to hear that, amen? Amen. All right, let's pray.

Prayer for Courage, Repentance, and Recommitment

Heavenly Father, I just ask that if this fear of man has been a problem for anyone here, which honestly, let's face it, it has. And it is. I pray that your Holy Spirit would, you fill us, Lord, fill us with your Holy Spirit, that we would not fear man, but that we would have a healthy fear in reverence towards God.

Lord, that's our prayer, that's my prayer for each one here. And if there's anyone who needs to recommit their life to Christ, I pray they would do it now. And just simply confess what they already know to be true, what you already know to be true, and give them that peace in their heart, that you love them, that they are forgiven, and that they can get back on track starting today.

We ask all this in Jesus' name, amen. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscornickchurch .com.

We'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.