State Of Denial - Part 3

As we conclude our brief study of Peter, we will review his rejection of Christ and his reassurance from Christ. We will also look at the revolutionizing of Christ, that is, how Christ revolutionized or changed Peter’s life.

The Rejection of Christ

John 18:18 Now the servants and officers who had made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and warmed himself.

John 18:25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said therefore to him, "You are not also one of His disciples, are you?" He denied it, and said, "I am not."

John 18:26 One of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said^, "Did I not see you in the garden with Him?"

John 18:27 Peter therefore denied it again; and immediately a cock crowed.

Have you ever asked the question, “What was the difference between what Peter did to Jesus and what Judas did?” Peter denied Jesus. Judas betrayed Jesus; that's stronger than denying Him.

Peter did not betray Jesus. In other words, he did not give Jesus up to the enemy. In fact, he fought to protect Jesus but Jesus did not need Peter’s protection; He wanted Peter’s obedience.

Peter did not betray Jesus; he did not want to be identified with Jesus. Not many Christians betray their Savior, but a lot of people deny their Savior. They just don't want to admit that they belong to Him.

Another difference between Peter and Judas is that Judas’ betrayal was satanically inspired; Peter’s denial was more than likely a fleshly or a result of his pride and fear.

Luke 22:2 And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might put Him to death; for they were afraid of the people.

Luke 22:3 And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve.

Luke 22:4 And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him to them.

Now Peter’s denial was still a sin and the last of his three denials was very intense:

Mat 26:73 And a little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "Surely you too are one of them; for the way you talk gives you away."

Mat 26:74 Then he began to curse and swear, "I do not know the man!" And immediately a cock crowed.

The Bible says Peter “began to curse and swear.” This doesn't mean he used bad language; it means he called down curses from heaven and he swore. He was taking oaths like some would say today, “I swear on a stack of Bibles, on my mother's grave…I’m serious as a heart attack…I never knew Him!” “If I am lying, may God strike me down…I never knew Him!”

Peter denied Jesus. He didn’t want to be identified with Jesus and today you will find Christians that will deny Him as well. Let me share with you a few ways that a Christian can deny the Lord today:

We deny the Lord when we act like we don’t know Him (like Peter did).

When we do not say grace over our food in public because we are fearful of what others might think, we deny the One who supplied us with the food to eat.

When we joyfully sing praise to Jesus at church with other Christians but dare not open our mouths at work or other places to speak His praises.

We deny Jesus with our disrespectful or rude attitudes

Paul says in Philippians 4:4-5, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.”

Christians ought to be the most pleasant people on the planet. One characteristic of the early church in Acts chapter two was that they “had favor (charis) with all the people.” (Acts 2:47)

Because the Greek word charis could be translated to mean lovingkindness, grace, favor or joy, this verse can be understood to say four things:

“Having lovingkindness with all people.”—That is, loving one another in Christian love and showing love to all they came into contact.

“Having grace with all the people.”—That is, showing grace to each other in all situations, and showing grace to all people they met.

“Having favor with all the people.”—Because the world of that time could see the love of God in these people, everyone favored them.

“Having joy with all people”—People could see that these people had real joy in Jesus and were happy people. They caused real joy wherever they went.

We deny Him with unloving speech

Eph 4:29 - Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear.