State Of Denial - Part 1

Most national sports leagues have a Hall of Fame where players with notable careers are inducted. There is one for Baseball, Basketball, Bowling, College Football, Pro Football, Golf, Trap Shooting and Swimming.

There are even halls of fame for Rock and Roll, Country Music, Agriculture, Aviation, Barbers, Cow Girls, Hamburgers and Parade Floats.

A search on the internet will also yield a variety of what are referred to as “halls of shame.” There is a hall of shame for those who have been convicted of crimes against the public. There is a hall of shame that inducts poorly-conceived reality TV shows.

There is an Ethics Hall of Shame put together on a website to bring public attention to politicians who are involved in ethics scandals.

An internet search will also yield a Christian Music Hall of Shame and a Televangelist Hall of Shame. There are also hall of shames for Christian album covers and cheesy Christian t-shirts.

In the Bible you will find a hall of shame. This hall of shame was a monument built by the Apostle Paul as a testament to the grace of God in his life.

The reason Paul shares some of His past with his readers was to contrast it with his present position in Jesus Christ, effectively letting people know that Christ had forgiven him for everything he was during those times. He wanted people to know that though his sin was great, God’s grace was greater still!

Over the next few weeks we are going to look at the life of the Apostle Peter, another of the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will look at several events in Peter’s life that he would most surely include in his hall of shame.

Someone said that Peter was the disciple with the “foot-shaped mouth.” His mouth always started running before his brain got into gear. Pastor and author John G. Butler writes the following in a powerful biography on Peter:

The night before the crucifixion was a very bad night for Peter. It gave him the darkest hours of his life, for during that night occurred his great spiritual collapse. He said things and did things of which he would forever be ashamed. If there was one segment in his life Peter would like to blot out of his record, it would be that night.

Peter’s great spiritual collapse, which climaxed in his three-fold denial of Jesus Christ, was like the collapse of a great building. For one part gives way, then another part gives way, and then another and another part gives way until at last the whole building lies in a heap. Heretofore Peter had at times not performed well; but these times were only momentary; and Peter always bounced back quickly to excellence in following Jesus Christ. But on this night, the darkest night in Peter’s life, his decline spiritually was not a momentary passing incident. Rather as the night progressed, his conduct worsened. Step by step, incident after incident, he went down in his behavior until he hit his all time low as a disciple of Jesus Christ by denying Christ three times.

Over the next three lessons we will be studying the various incidences in Peter’s experiences and conduct that led to his denial of Jesus Christ. We will also observe the grace of God in action as Jesus takes Peter by the hand and lifts him up from his pit of despair and leads him into a renewed state of love and fellowship.

Over the course of this study we will discover that Peter had:

An overconfident spirit

An insecure love

An unholy alliance

An empty hope

A restored fellowship

An Overconfident Spirit

John 18:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered.

John 18:2 And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with His disciples.

John 18:3 Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.

We all should be familiar with this story—Judas is about to betray Jesus. Up to this point, he has been so slick with his deception, all the other disciples did not even realize what was going on—he was just one of the guys.

Judas (who by this time was possessed by the devil) was about to betray Jesus with a kiss, but Peter (who was one of Jesus’ own) was soon to deny Jesus.

Judas’ betrayal took place in a garden. It is interesting that King David was betrayed in this same garden.

In 2 Samuel 15:30-32, King David was betrayed by a friend (Ahithophel) while crossing the brook Kidron and going up to the Mount of Olives. In John 18, Jesus crosses over this same brook with His disciples as He makes His way to the garden in the Mount of Olives.