Fearing Man Over God (Peter's Denial of Jesus - Part 2)

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. If there was ever a time that Peter needed to pray, it was right now. It was right then. Presumably, or hypothetically, if Peter had taken the warning of Christ seriously, if Peter had stayed awake, and if Peter had prayed, Lord, lead me not into temptation, presumably, he wouldn't have denied him.

I guess I can't prove that, but that seems to be the indication. Now let's turn to John chapter 18. John 18. Most of you have heard this story, how Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot. Judas then shows up in the garden with a detachment of troops.

Jesus is arrested. He's hauled off to stand before the high priest for trial. So Peter and another disciple follow at a distance. John 18 verse 15 tells us that the other disciple, who is not named, but the other disciple with Peter was known to the high priest.

Most commentators believe that this anonymous disciple was the apostle John himself, because John does not refer to himself in his gospel. Remember, he is the disciple whom Jesus loved, but he doesn't say, hey, that's me.

He just is anonymous about it. So most people think that Peter is with John. That makes sense, because in the book of Acts, it's Peter and John, so most likely that's the case. So think about this. John is known to the high priest.

We would say today John has connections. We don't really know how. We don't really know what those connections were, but he is able to gain access into the courtyard of the high priest. To put that in modern terms, it's like John is known to the president.

John could get into White House grounds. I don't think John could get into White House grounds these days, but that's the idea. He had access to get close to this seat of power. And because Peter was with him, he was able to get Peter into the courtyard of the high priest.

Why? Because they're curious. They want to see what's happening. They love Jesus. They obviously want to see him released and all the rest. But then something happens. Look at John 18, verses 17 and 18.

Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, you are not also one of this man's disciples, are you? What does he say? I am not. Okay, so this is a denial of Christ. Are you a Christian? Me? No.

No. You think any believer has been in a group of friends, coworkers, and they're bad-mouthing Christians? Well, you're not a Christian, are you? No, not me. You realize that's denying Christ. Well, that's what Peter does.

He says, I am not. Now the servants, verse 18. Now the servants and officers who had made a fire of coal stood there, for it was cold and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and warmed himself.

So he's just trying to blend in with everybody else. So this is the first denial. Jesus is inside being questioned by the high priest. He has already told his disciples that he is going to be betrayed, tried, you know, put to death.

And now it's all of a sudden starting to become real. And when this girl turns to Peter and says, hey, wait a minute, I recognize you. You're one of them. All of a sudden the fear of man kicks in. That's what the problem is.

Peter is fearing man. So that leads him to deny Jesus. Why? Because he's realizing, hey, what Jesus said is true. This wasn't some metaphor or some parable. He actually was arrested. He's actually going to be tried.

And it looks like he is going to be put to death. And then Peter makes the connection. Oh, I'm probably next. Or at least I could be next. So to get out of it, he lies. If you take notes, write this down.

Every time we lie, that is us fearing man. Why do you lie to people? Because you're afraid of what they're going to say, what they're going to do, what they're going to think. You know that God doesn't want you to lie.

You're displeasing God when you lie, but you lie to try to wiggle out of something with other people. So when you lie, that is the fear of man. Is it the fear of God? Well, you're not fearing God in that moment because you know God doesn't want you to lie.

So anytime someone lies, that's the fear of man. And what does the scripture say? Let God be true in every man, what?

A liar.

Everybody lies. That is the fear of man. So I would argue that everybody has this fear of man at least sometimes. But when it grows and you're just fearing man all the time, and what are people going to do, what could happen to me?

It's going to stunt your Christian walk, and it will be a great hindrance with a variety of things, including evangelism. All right, now let's skip ahead to verse 25, where we see the second and third denials.

John chapter 18, verse 25. Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. Therefore they said to him, You are not also one of his disciples, are you? And he denied it and said, I am not. And one of his servants, or 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?

Now we didn't read about this part, but you remember when Jesus was arrested, Peter is right there and he pulls out his sword, and I'm assuming he's trying to maim or kill somebody. He's trying to stand up for Jesus totally the wrong way, but he takes the sword and swings it, and he cuts off the ear of Malchus, the servant of the high priest.

And now one of the relatives of Malchus has made it back to the high priest, and Peter sees this person, they recognize him. Peter has to assume that this word of what he did, this would be like someone assaulting a police officer or trying to kill a police officer.

And the word has got back and you're right there, and hey, he has to assume that he's about ready to be arrested. So you understand why Peter lies. He actually was guilty of that. So when they ask him, aren't you one of the disciples?

And he says, no. So he denies Jesus three times. Look at verse 27. Peter then denied again, and immediately a rooster crowed, just like Jesus said. And at this point, Peter realizes it, and then he goes out, and the scripture says he wept bitterly.

So Peter was looking to save his own skin. Peter was afraid. He had this fear of man, so he lied. You think about how many times we've done that throughout our lives. So you might feel convicted now or feel guilty right now.

Well, this is true for everybody.

It's true for everybody.

It shouldn't be a pattern, though, because it's a very, very serious thing. But that's the right response. For Peter to go out and weep, he felt bad. That's the difference between Peter and someone else who just,.

Who cares?

If I have to lie again, I'll lie again. If I have to deny Christ again, I'll deny Christ again. Peter was repentant. So Peter and the disciples, problem number one, they really didn't believe Jesus when he said that he was going to be betrayed.

They didn't listen. They didn't stay awake. They didn't pray. And that caused Peter to be led into temptation. So these doubts and lack of trust, that is what got them into a dangerous situation in the first place.

Outright denial of Christ is clearly wrong, right? If somebody says, I'm not a Christian, I don't know Jesus, I don't follow Jesus, we all get that that is wrong. But what are some other ways we can deny the Lord?

Are there other ways we can deny the Lord? Are there other ways this fear of man can sink in? People today might be tempted to deny Christ or to deny God's word to protect relationships, to protect their reputation.

Maybe the HR department at work wouldn't like your Christian viewpoint, so you keep them silent, even though when everybody else at work is, you know, giving their opinions freely, you have the fear of man and you keep quiet.

Why?

To protect yourself. I think it's human nature. It might be the sinful nature, but it's human nature to try to protect ourselves. It's a dangerous thing. It's a tricky thing. 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. A couple of 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 kids. 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 together. No, he folded 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 basically implied that if he 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 in to last week's sermon, go and watch that.

Threw 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 gonna support you anyways.

They're never gonna 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, 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 and 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. 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. And 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.