MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS OK
(Powerpoints used with this message are available for free. Just email me at mnewland@sstelco.com and request #272.)
TEXT: Matthew 26:31-35
Much of what we do in life is influenced by our loyalties. Often-times our loyalties shape our decisions, & guide our activities.
Most people have what might be called "family loyalty" - loyalty to husband or wife, to children, & to parents. And young people often feel a strong school loyalty. Win or lose, they cheer their school teams on.
In recent years there has been a lot of controversy about patriotism - about loyalty to flag & country.
Sir Walter Scott wrote, "Breathes there the man, with soul so dead, who never to himself hath said, 'This is my own, my native land!'?
It's hard for us to understand how someone could actually sink so low as to betray their own country. Yet some have done so.
There are many ways to betray your country. And one way is simply to forget or ignore the ideals that made it great in the first place. We do need to treasure loyalty to our nation if we desire to preserve the freedoms we now enjoy.
PROP. You see, we have all kinds of loyalties. But there is one loyalty that should stand in a class by itself. It is a loyalty that can permeate & add even more meaning to all other loyalties. This is loyalty to Jesus Christ.
I. PETER PROFESSED HIS LOYALTY TO JESUS
In Matthew 26:31-35 Peter professed his loyalty to Jesus. "Then Jesus told them, 'This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: 'I will strike the shepherd, & the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.'
"Peter replied, 'Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.' 'I tell you the truth,' Jesus answered, 'this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.'
"But Peter declared, 'Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.' And all the other disciples said the same."
A. Did you hear the loyalty expressed in the words of Peter? "Even if I have to die with You, I will never disown You."
Just a few minutes before, Peter & the rest of the disciples had been in the upper room. There Jesus had instituted the Lord's Supper.
Now they are on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane, & Peter makes this stirring profession of his loyalty - & his loyalty was contagious, for "All the other disciples said the same."
APPL. Now compare that scene to the times when we come together to worship Jesus & partake of the Lord's Supper. Here, with other Christians we draw close to Jesus, & we, too, feel like saying, "Lord, I'd die before I would deny You."
B. But Peter failed the loyalty test, for just a few hours later he is saying, "I do not know the man!" Twice he says this about Jesus, & the third time he emphasizes it with oaths & curses.
It is the same Peter, but his words are so different. What has happened?
His environment, his situation, has changed. Peter is now in the midst of people who are opposed to Jesus. So Peter denies Him, not once, but again & again, & he fails the test of loyalty!
You see, in this case, the situation made the difference! But later on, we find Peter loyal to Jesus despite his surroundings.
II. WHAT ABOUT OUR LOYALTY TO JESUS?
Now, how about us? What effect does environment have upon us? What about our loyalty to Jesus? How would we react if our environment changed?
A. If I were to ask young people, "What causes you to say that you will be loyal to Jesus?" Perhaps some would answer, "My parents expect me to be loyal. If I weren't a Christian it would break their hearts."
But what if your parents didn't care? What if they didn't care when you came in at night, where you had been, or what you had done? Would you still be loyal to Jesus? What if it didn't matter to them where you spent eternity? Would you still be loyal?
B. If I were to ask parents, "What causes you to say that you will be loyal to Jesus?" Some might answer, "My children need the right example." That is certainly true! It is wonderful that God has blessed you with children before whom you can set the right example. And great is your responsibility!
But what if there were no children in your home to follow your example? Would you still be loyal to Jesus?
C. We ask others, "What causes you to say that you will be loyal?" They answer, "I appreciate this congregation & its leadership. We have found a real sense of family here, & I don't want to disappoint them."
But what if some of the people disappoint you? What if you didn't like the preacher? Would you still be loyal to Jesus? Would you still meet around the Lord's table? Would you still be loyal to Him?
ILL. A few years ago there was an outstanding student in one of our Bible Colleges. He was an excellent speaker with an outgoing personality, & soon he was serving as the minister of a nearby congregation.
It wasn't long until that church building was filled to overflowing with people who were coming to hear him preach. He continued to preach for this congregation all during his Bible College days.
After graduation he accepted a call to serve a much larger church in another state. Then, two years later he & his wife came back for a college home-coming. Unannounced to anyone, they decided to visit the congregation that he had served during his college years.
They entered a classroom where he had taught 20 to 30 young couples, but now there were only 4 present. In the auditorium that could barely hold the crowds when he preached there, they found a handful gathered to worship.
Afterwards, with tears in his eyes, he turned to his wife & said, "I must have failed back there. Somehow people must have only seen me & not the Christ I tried to show them."
SUM. Unfaithfulness to Christ brings heartache & disappointment, but loyalty to Christ brings rejoicing.
III. WHY SHOULD WE BE LOYAL TO CHRIST?
A. Why should we be loyal to Christ? One reason is because He was loyal to us! Jesus bore your sins & mine upon Calvary. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NCV) says, "Christ had no sin, but God made Him become sin so that in Christ we could become right with God."
And He is just as faithful today. Paul says, "Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them" (Hebrews 7:25).
1 John 1:9 says, "He is faithful & just, & will forgive us our sins."
And His loyalty stretches into eternity. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 says, "For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel & with the trumpet call of God, & the dead in Christ will rise first.
"After that, we who are still alive & are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."
SUM. You see, Christ's love for us is constant. Everything else may be swept away but never His love!
B. Now how about our love & our loyalty? You see, the real test doesn't come during the church services while we're worshiping with others who love the Lord. The real test comes when we find ourselves with those who care nothing about Christ or His church.
ILL. A young man from a good Christian family went off to a large university half?way across the country. Four months later, when he came home for Christmas break, among the questions his mother asked him was, "Did anyone make fun of you because you're a Christian?"
The young man hung his head as he answered, "I am not sure that anyone knows that I'm a Christian." Think about that. Four months with his classmates & no one knows that he is a Christian.
APPL: Folks, if we have the loyalty to Jesus Christ that He rightfully expects, we won't be in a community seven days without people knowing that Jesus is our Lord, for within that time will come the first day of the week.
And where people gather around the Lord's Table we are to be found in their midst ? remembering Jesus in the way He asked. Every day, regardless of the environment, we'll prove ourselves loyal ? if Jesus is our Lord.
ILL. As you know, there is a little lizard that changes color to match his surroundings. He turns brown on the bark of a tree. In grass he takes on a greenish hue, & at the edge of blue water he blends to that color.
God gives the little chameleon the power to turn the color of his surround-ings. But God never intended for His people to be like that.
C. Yes, Peter failed the test in the enemies' courtyard, but as you already know, that's not the end of the story.
Now we are in Jerusalem 53 days later. A man is saying, "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord & Christ" (Acts 2:36).
It is Peter, but the words are so different! Peter is standing fearlessly before those who killed Jesus, & he has no guarantee that they will not kill him, too. But it doesn't matter. Jesus is King of Kings & Lord of Lords, & Peter is determined to be true to Him to the very end. And history tells us that Peter was!
What happened? After he denied Jesus the Scriptures tell us that Peter "went out & wept bitterly." He realized his weakness & what he had done, & bitterly repented. Then he saw the Lord on His resurrection day & many times more before Jesus ascended into heaven.
He also heard the command to go & preach the gospel to all the world. Knowing now that Jesus is the living Lord, Peter stands courageously on the day of Pentecost & proclaims for the first time God's message of salvation.
APPL. When we are convinced that Jesus is alive, & we have really taken Him as Lord of our life, then we will pass the loyalty test!
ILL. In closing, I want to tell a story that came out of the battle fields of WW1. Two brothers volunteered & went through training together. They crossed the Atlantic on the same transport ship, & fought the enemy together.
One day, after a particularly hard fought battle in the Argonne Forest Jack came back to a hastily set up camp. He looked for Bill, his brother, but Bill was nowhere to be found.
He sought permission from his commanding officer to go back to the battle field, but the officer refused to grant that permission. He pointed out that Jack might just be risking his life in vain. But Jack continued to plead. Finally, the officer gave him permission to go.
Hours later, with the lifeless body of his brother in his arms, he made his way back into camp. Meeting him, the officer said, "Young man, it was just like I said, wasn't it? You risked your life in vain."
With tears streaming down his cheeks, Jack replied, "No sir. I didn't risk my life in vain. When I found Bill he was still alive, & when I bent over to pick him up he knew me & said, 'Jack, I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come.'"
Those brothers, loyal to one another, were so close that only death could separate them.
APPL. But friends, the Bible says that we have a "Friend who sticks closer than a brother." One from whom even death cannot separate us. And if we are loyal to Him, then some day we shall walk into eternity with Him.
He is coming for us. Whether alive or dead, we shall look up some day, & with the same assurance as the boy on the battlefield, we shall joyously cry out, "Master, I knew you would come. I knew you would come!"
INVITATION
