The Gospel of John chapter 18. Looking at the subject title, Peter's Denial. It gave me great
sadness just to look at that. Let's read verses 12 through
18. The band of captain and officers
of men and the captain and officers of Jews took Jesus and bound
him and led him away to Annas first. He was father-in-law to
Caiaphas, which was a high priest that same year. Caiaphas was
he which gave counsel to the Jews that it was expedient that
one man should die for the people. Simon Peter followed Jesus, and
so did another disciple. That disciple was known under
the high priest, went in with Jesus into the palace of the
high priest. But Peter stood at the door without. Then went
out that other disciple which was known under the high priest
and spake unto her that kept the door and brought in Peter. Then saith the damsel that kept
the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? He saith, I am not. The servants and officers stood
there and made a fire of coal, for it was cold. And they warmed
themselves, and Peter stood with them and warmed himself. Something written in God's Word
one time demands our absolute attention and take heed Four times. It's very serious. Judah's betrayal and Peter's
denial, four times. As I said, Judah's name is 22
times in the Gospel. His betrayal, it was horrible,
shocking, unbelievable. I'd like to forget about it.
I'd like to go on. I hate to deal with it. I hate
to think about it. But the Scriptures won't let
us with it. It's everywhere. Because our Lord says, our Scripture
says, there must be heresies among you. Judas was always with
the disciples. He was always there. Our Lord
chose him. And thus it will be with all
professing believers, with the Church, there will always be
a Judas. Shockingly, sadly, Paul had his
Demas. Remember, Demas had forsaken
me, having loved this present world. That's always the reason. And now we have Simon Peter.
Simon Peter whom we love so dearly, whom the Lord loved. Shockingly,
unbelievably, horribly, shamefully denying that he even knew the
Lord Jesus Christ. Not once, not twice, three times. Act like he never heard a thing
he said and didn't care for him at all. That's sad, just saddening. These two men had a lot in common,
didn't they? They both, the Lord called them,
they both heard Christ's voice, they both heard every sermon
Christ preached. They both seemed to follow Him. They both came to Him. They both
sat. They both heard. They both walked
with Him. They both preached. And yet both
acted like they had never heard of Jesus Christ. They didn't
care. That's sad. And here's the number one reason
why they both acted that way. Look at verse 5, chapter 18,
verse 5. The last line says, Judas, which
betrayed him, stood with them. That is, those who hated the
Lord. In verse 18, the last line, Peter
stood with them. They both had that in common,
so they both, one betrayed him, one denied him. God forbid that
we should deny our Lord, and God help us if we betray him. Judas was an apostle. Simon P. was an apostle. What does this
say? Every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Every man. What does this tell
us? Scripture tells us. 1 Corinthians
10 is a summary of all the children of Israel going through the wilderness,
and with many of them God was not pleased. They were overthrown.
They were overcome. They denied that they knew the
Lord. They fell in the wilderness. What did they fall to? The world.
And it says, let him that thinketh he standeth, whoever it is, the
preacher, from the preacher on down, let him that thinketh he
standeth take heed. Take heed to what? the story
of Judaism, the story of Simon Peter, lest he fall. It says, brethren, take heed,
Hebrews, take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you from
the preacher on down. I've known preachers for a long
time that left Take and keep, brethren, lest
there be in any of you an evil heart or unbelief in departing
from the living God. I don't want to do that, and
I don't want to see you do that. Well, here's the first step toward
falling away. It's to fall in with the world. Why do we keep dealing with it?
Because of Scripture. It keeps coming up. Look at verse 15. Let's go verse by verse here. Verse 15 of John 18. It says,
Simon Peter followed Jesus. He followed Him. And so did another
disciple. And that disciple was known as
the high priest and went in with Jesus under the palace of the
high priest. And he came back out knowing the high priest. free access to the palace there
and all. He came out and had them let
Simon Peter in. This is not John the Apostle. Do you hear me? John always referred
to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. Over in the last
chapter it says that. He said Peter turned and looked
at that disciple whom Jesus loved. This was not John. John was too
loyal. John was too zealous. John loved
the Lord too much. John was always leaning on the
Christ bosom. He's not. He's not close buddies
with the high priests. None. What if I spent all my
time with the Catholic priest over here? What if he and I were
buddies? That can't possibly be. This is not John. The Lord had
many disciples. There were many disciples. Herod's
court. There were some from Herod's
court. Herod's family. Herod's foster son was a disciple
of Christ. Herod's servant's wife was a
disciple of Christ. It says the chief ruler of the
synagogue was a disciple of Christ. There were many everywhere called
the disciples of Christ. This was not John. Do you hear
me? He was not buddies with the high
priest. John believed and knew that Jesus Christ is the high
priest. And that man's an anti-Christ.
So do all of God's people. We're not going to consort with
and spend our time with people like that. I won't do it. Some
believe this was Nicodemus. Some believe it was Joseph Arimathea.
That would fit, because Nicodemus was a secret disciple. That's how you can fit in with
other people, like that. Be a secret disciple. Right? That's right. That's how you can be in favor
with the Word. But Peter stood at the door with
that. And then went out that other
disciple, which was known to the high priest, and spake unto
her that kept the door, and brought in Peter. And as he's coming
in, there's a damsel that kept the door, just a young maid,
just a young girl. She said, Art thou also one of
this man's disciples? You're one of his disciples. He said, I am not. I am not. Now, over in Matthew 26, turn
there, Matthew 26. Thank God this young maid recognized
Simon Peter as being one of the Lord's disciples. You're one
of his disciples. I've seen you with him, and here
we're going to see something that marks God's people out as
God's people. Thank God she recognized Peter
as one of his disciples. There is a difference. There's a marked difference.
Marked difference. Difference between light and
dark. Right? Death and life. Ephesians 2. And you who were
dead are what now? Alive under God. You who were
children of darkness are what? Children of life, you who walk
the course of this world, do what now? Walk with God. There's a marked difference between
God's people. The Lord did it. Who maketh thee
the different? But He does make a difference. The Lord puts a difference. I hear some say, we're no different
than anybody else. Well then, and there's no new
man in you. I know we're all sinners. I know
that. We're all sinners, all right. But in the child of God,
there's a new man. There's an old man who's always
going to be an old man and an old sinner. But there's a new
man created in the image of Jesus Christ, holy, righteous, unblameable,
unreprovable. That old man loves sin. That
new man loves righteousness. That old man hates God. That
new man loves God. That old man doesn't want anything
to do with the gospel and God's people. That new man, that's
his life. He's alive under God. That old man's dead. You want
to tell me there's not a difference? And it's recognizable. It's like
Christ in you. It's like that little girl came
home. She heard the Bible lesson. And she heard Christ in you.
And she came home and asked her dad. She said, Dad, how big a
man was Christ Jesus? He said, well, probably about
my size. She said, well, if he's in me,
he'd stick out, wouldn't he? Yes, he does. Yes, he does. And thankfully, they recognize
that this man, he's a follower of Jesus Christ.
I want people to recognize that. I do. Look at Matthew 26, verse
73. Verse 26, 73. After a while came unto him they
that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them,
thy speech berated thee. Your speech gives you away. You
talk like him. I want my speech to give me away,
don't you hear me? Oh, may our speech betray us,
but give us away. Give proof that we're a disciple,
no longer full of cursing and bitterness, but thankfulness. Peter in a little while is going
to revert right back. Matthew and Mark said he cursed
and swore. Why do you do that? To fit in. Oh, our conversation is in the heaven.
Oh, may my conversation give me away. That man talks about
God. He's not interested in this world.
Oh, may my speech be with grace, seasoned with salt. What's that? That's the gospel. Oh, may we walk in the light.
as he is in the light, not in darkness. Look at her text. John 18. I've said it so many
times, I'd rather have said it Wednesday night, the message
of comfort. I said I'd rather bring a message of comfort. But
we need to thank God if his Word convicts us. We need to thank
him. If he chastens us, he loves us. How many times have I repeated
my pastor, warnings and promises, warnings and promises. Always
going to be warnings. If we heed the warning, we're
God's child. If we don't, we're Judas. That's it. Had a lady come up
and thank me for that, for the bulletin card. I didn't write
it, my dad did. I said, I'm so happy that you're thankful. Convicted? Yes. I'm happy about
that. I'm very happy if we're convicted. May the Lord keep us from the
work. How does he keep us from falling? Right here. His word is his power. Take heed, brethren, lest there
be in any of you, in any of you, an evil heart of unbelief. Well,
there's John Caesar, Sr. He's been here for a hundred
years. Surely, he can't follow. Oh,
yes, he can. Oh, yes, he can. There's a preacher.
He can't do it. We just looked at two of them. Why? Whatever. Plain as the nose on our faces.
John 18, look at verse 18. It says, The servants and officers
stood there and made a fire of coals, and it was cold. And they warned themselves, Oh,
if you don't know God who is consuming fire, if you don't
know Christ who is the light, you will be cold. You will be
left out in the cold. And they warmed themselves, they
tried to warm themselves. What a message this is. And Peter stood with them and
warmed himself. Isaiah 50, go over there, Isaiah
chapter 50. God's Word, old and new is one. I saw, you know, every now and
then I look at the internet, what the world is saying about
certain scriptures. You know that there are 67 versions
of the Bible. 67! Thank God we use the same
one that John Bunyan did. Why? 67. But this internet said
He said, the Bible's not one book. It's an old two books full
of many complicated books. And then he went on to say, and
the Catholics even have six or seven more books. The Bible is
one book. One book, one truth, one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, one hope. It is one book. It all says the
same thing. That's why we see it in the children
of Israel being brought out of Egypt. The whole Old Testament's
about that. The Lord's saving them from the
world and sin. And in the New Testament, Paul
and the Gospels is continually telling us about that. The whole
book of Hebrews is about that. Take heed, brethren, take heed.
Harden not your heart, as in the Prophecy. Done it over and
over and over again. Thank God. But look at Isaiah
50, verse 11. It says, Behold, all ye that
kindle a fire. Well, the religion likes to talk
about the fire, don't it? Acquire the fire. If you let
your children go to those things, that's just letting your children
pass through the fire. They'll be concerned. Oh, he
said, Accomplish yourself with sparks. Walk in the light of
your fire and sparks will be kindled. This shall you have
in my hand, you're going to lie down in sorrow, the Lord said. But now look at verse chapter
51. This is to God's people. Verse 1, hearken to me, ye that
follow after righteousness. What's that? It ain't a what,
it's who. Ye that seek the Lord, look under
the rock which you're hewn, and the hole of the pit which you're
digging. Remember where he found you,
what he saved you from. Don't ever forget that. The children
of Israel forget. Verse 7. Oh, this is good. Hearken
unto me that no righteousness, that no pride to people in whose
heart is my law, my word. Fear ye not their approach of
men. Don't be afraid of their revilements. Verse 12. I even
I am he that comforteth you. Who art thou that thou shouldst
be afraid of a man, a maid, that shall die, and of the son of
man which is like bread? Then forget us, the Lord thy
maker." That's something. That's something. Psalm 1, go to Psalm 1. Simon Peter, he's standing there
with these people that hate the Lord, and he's silent. That's the only way you can stand
very long, be silent. But Psalm 1, look at this. He's standing, and surely he
sat down after a while, he got tired. But look at Psalm 1. Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sin,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." This world is full
of mockers and scoffers and scorners. God's people are full of thanksgiving
and praise to our God. Peter is standing there. Thank God, now look at this,
thank God the one standing for Peter is standing resolute on
his behalf. Thank God that the one whom Peter
denied is standing and won't deny him. Thank God Christ set his face
like a plant and stood before our accusers, stood before the
law that holds us, we're guilty as charged, and stood on our
behalf. Who's he standing for? Who's
he confessing? A bunch of worthless sinners.
And I'm mad at myself right now. Why wouldn't I stand for him?
You know, I can't stand myself. I can't. I'm ashamed of myself,
aren't you? There our Lord stands, holy,
harmless, separate from sinners, undefiled. Why does He stand there? For
this worthless, no-good, Christ-be-denier. But what adequate was perspective
on it? I'm ashamed of myself. A high
priest, verse 19, asked Jesus of his disciples of his doctrine.
He didn't say anything about his disciples. He's asking who
they were and about what he's teaching and all that. And our
Lord's not going to give his disciples away. Remember? He
said, if you seek me, let them go. Our Lord didn't say, there's
one sitting right out there with your officer. No, he's not going
to give him away. No. He's not going to lose one
of them. It's time. And this fellow asked about his
disciples. Now this high priest is Annas. He's been there for fifty years.
He's been the high priest for fifty years. He had great respect
of the people. Everybody knew him, and he was
rich. He lived in a palace, like religion
today. A palace. The average modern
preacher out there on TV is worth millions. He's not worth millions,
but he has millions of dollars. Millions. Billy Graham had something
like 30 million dollars when he died. You want to tell me
he's a preacher of God? He's not. He's a charlatan. And that gold and that silver,
that money has risen up in the judgment against him. Well, Annis was there for 50
years. And he asked Jesus of his disciples
his doctrine. Now, this thing wasn't done in
a corner. That's what Paul said to Richard.
This is not done in a corner. He knew who his disciples was. He knew what his doctrine was,
didn't he? Our Lord didn't slink in secret
and tell each thing, and that's what he said. Look at it. He
said, verse 20, I spake openly to the world. I ever taught in
the synagogue. They threatened him. He'd go
sit in this temple. He'd go stand in the temple and
synagogue like he owned the place. He did. They're the trespassers. He didn't have to ask them permission
to preach in his temple. They should have asked him, shouldn't
they? And he did one time. He kicked
them all out. My house, he said. This is my house, shall be called. You're a bunch of thieves, he
said. Cast them out. Well, this man knew who his disciples
were, and this man knew what his doctrine was. Well, why do
you ask that? Well, you know, people know the
truth. You know that? People know the
truth. And they've heard the truth. And they've got Bibles. And they know what the doctrine
is. They know it. What's the problem then? They
don't believe it. They don't like it. They don't
like it. And this man, like so many, was
trying to catch him at something to accuse him of. The Pharisees always came to
try our Lord, to catch Him at His Word, not to receive His
Word, not to bow to His Word, not to learn from His Word, but
to find some questions, to stump Him. That's what Pharisees did. That's what this man did. He's a Pharisee. Sadducees is
what he is, liberal. Sadducees were real liberal.
Pharisees were strict. In fact, the Sadducees were far
left. Seriously, far left. The Pharisees
were far right. And they hated each other. They
hated each other. Never could agree on anything
except to hate Christ and his people. But the Sadducees were
far left, and that was Annas. And what they insisted for themselves,
free will, Couldn't stand it in him. Couldn't tolerate it. And that's the world. What they
insist on, we have our rights and all that, we can say whatever
we want to. This is what the, not just the far left, but everyone.
We can say whatever we want to. We can do whatever we want to.
But when the man stands up to preach the truth from God's Word,
hold on now, you can't say that. Right? What they insist upon
for themselves, they can't tolerate when the truth is spoken. Well, our Lord said, I speak
openly in the world. He's not going to prove himself
to them, and his public ministry is over. He said all he's going
to say. And brothers and sisters, right
now, the Lord has said all he's going to say. That's it. And men need to go and read and
study and hear somebody who's preaching his doctrine. All those
who were saved at Pentecost said they continued steadfastly in
the apostles' doctrine. No, they love the doctrine. What's
the doctrine? It's the doctrine of Christ.
Well, he said in verse 20, he said, I was in the temple where
the Jews always resort. I don't say anything in secret. Our Lord was the Son of God,
wasn't he? He never said anything in secret.
So he confessed, he came to bear witness to the Father. Faithful
witness. Witnessed a good profession,
the Scripture said, before Pontius Pilate. I want to do that. Read on. He said, why askest
thou me? Ask them which heard me what
I have said unto them. Oh, they know what I said. They
know what I said. Huh. You know, If you'd ask the average believer
to tell you what the gospel is and the truth is, what God's
word is, they could tell you. Oh yeah, they could tell you. We're all ashamed of our lack
of scriptural memory. I'm ashamed. There's times when
I get so... I can't come up with anything. We're all ashamed of that. But
if you ask any believer his hope of salvation, ask him about God,
ask him about man, ask him about Christ, ask him about salvation,
ask him about this book, he'll tell you. They're all taught
about it. He'll tell you. Ask them that
heard me. If you want to know, people want to know what I preach,
ask you. They hear me all the time. That's what our Lord said. Ask
them that heard me. He'll tell you. When he had thus
spoken, verse 22, one of the officers which stood by struck
Jesus with the paw of his hand. Who do you think you are talking
to? This is the first of many times
that man smoked our Lord. Don't you know the angels are
standing and pleading with me? Call us, give the word. Why didn't
they? Let the righteous smite me. It will be a kindness. The law of the smite me by his
stripes. We're healed. They beat him too. Why? Because that's what the
Lord ought to do to man. You disobedient, you rebellious,
you unthankful, you unworthy, you unfit. Get out of my presence. Bless his holy name. Bless his
holy name. He was stricken and smitten. He was wounded for our transgression. The chastisement, the whipping
necessary for us to have peace with God was laid on him. By his stripes we're healed.
He took our whipping. What a Savior. What a Lord. What a faithful friend. My, my. Who do you think you are answering
the high priest like that? Boy, he found out, didn't he? I don't know, maybe the Lord's...
Wouldn't it be just like the Lord saved this man? He's God, he's not a man. He
prayed for his enemies. He saved his enemies. He was
a friend of sinners. Every sinner he was a friend
of, he saved them. That's why we bring them. That's why I came. To save sinners. And that's who everybody was.
That's what we were. And we are. He said in verse
23, and you know that hurt. He said, I gave my cheeks to
them to smite me. He said, I gave my cheek to them
to pluck out the ears. I gave my back to smite me. I
gave his self. He gave himself. He gave his
body. My, my, my. The account gets
much worse. He said, if I have spoken evil,
bear witness of the evil. But if well, why smitest thou
me? If I've said something wrong,
tell me. Say it. Bring it up. Our Lord,
before this, He stood before men and devils and said, Who
convinces me of sin? What wrong, what evil, what sin
can anybody find in me? And that's what our Lord said
in Jeremiah 1. You know, he said, what evil
have your fathers found in me? Find something evil in this book.
Find something wrong that God has said. Find something that's
not altogether true about me, about man, about God. Find something
that's wrong. If there's evil here, find it. Okay? I like to drum up false
wits. And so, you know, men don't read
this because their conscience smites them. They know it's true,
but they don't like it. They don't like it. I said, you find something that
gets me. He can't. He can't. So, then Annis, he had nothing
more that he couldn't answer. Like all those Pharisees got
together, and the lawyers and all that, and they tried to stump
our Lord. They came with all those questions. Don't you know Simon Peter and
all them loved when our Lord was with them? Because they were
asked questions, and the Lord handled it all. So Annis quit asking questions,
and he sent him to Caiaphas. Caiaphas is his son-in-law. What
do you call that? Nepotism? Where you put your
family in power? It's corrupt. It's corrupt to
enter it. Well, and Simon Peter stood and
warmed himself. And they said, therefore, unto
him, Somebody else said, are not thou also one of his disciples?
He denied and said, I am not. I am not. And then one of the
servants of the high priest, being kinsman, whose ear Peter
cut off. Don't you think he recognized
him? How in the world? Why in the world didn't they
apprehend Peter? The next message is going to
be about our Lord, our shield. Why didn't they grab him and
take him into judgment hall with our Lord? Because the Lord wouldn't
let them. If you seek me, he said, let
these go, that it may be written, fulfilled of those which thou
hast given me. This is our Savior. John, he
didn't come to try to save. He saved. And he saves us lock,
stock, and barrel, body, mind, soul, and spirit. He's the Savior
of everything about us. I know you. You cut off my brother-in-law's
ear. I saw you in the garden. Oh,
I want to be seen in the garden, don't you? Where is our Lord? He's in His
garden. You know where I want them to see me? In the garden. You know why I dress like this?
Out of respect to our Lord. Not you. Respect to our Lord. And I'll tell you what, on the
Lord's Day, I want people to whether they know what I believe
or anything, whether they think I'm a hypocrite, a pharisee,
whatever. I want them to know at least I've gone to the house
of the Lord and I've not gone fishing. You understand? You've been to church, haven't
you? Yes, I have. I have. I worship my Lord. He does this
great thing for me. The servants said, I saw you
in the garden, and Peter denied again, and both Matthew and Mark
said he began to curse and swear, and the rooster crowed. And I forget which. Matthew or
Mark said the Lord looked at him. He was within eyesight. And that's what the Lord, his
eyes behold his eyelids cry, his words, he's looking at you,
I want him to look at me. Let all my sin and all my shame,
oh Lord, look on me. And he did. Oh, Peter's heart. And we went bitterly. And bless God's holy name, Peter
was kept by the power of God. And Peter didn't betray Christ. There's a difference between
betrayal and sell-outs. The Lord pierced his heart because
he denied Him. The Lord granted him repentance
unto faith. And he went out and wept bitterly
over his denial of our Lord. And he thought for three days,
he thought, there's no way I can be a disciple of Christ. There's
just no way. Look what I've done. And one
of the first, one of the most blessed things he ever heard
in his life was he heard them say, go tell my disciples and
Peter, and I'll be waiting on them. He couldn't get to Christ
fast enough. He's not leaving. He's not selling
outcry. He denied him. He was shamed
of it. He's not selling it. Anything. And I'll tell you what, I guarantee
you this. He never sat by the fire with anybody to hate Christ
again. Because that's what happened. You reckon? You know what's up. And Peter, finally, in the end,
he was so thankful that the Lord allowed him to suffer shame for
his name because he had been so ashamed of himself.