John chapter 18. We've been singing just recently the last couple of songs about God's amazing love for us and it's redemptive value. Let me talk about Peter this morning.

Peter's an intriguing and complex character. When we think of Peter, we think immediately of the flaming evangelist of the New Testament. I think of Peter standing in his great moment on the day of Pentecost.

Without sermon notes and without preparation, he didn't know he was going to be preaching a sermon that day. So he didn't come with a couple of white sheets of paper in the inside cover of his Bible and stand up at a pulpit and flip out those white sheets of paper and just get into it.

He was there and the circumstance required that an answer and a defense be given as to what God was doing. And Peter stood up, and in the power of the Holy Spirit Peter preached an amazing defense of Jesus Christ and of the Gospel and 3,000 people came for salvation that day. Wow!

Peter, the man whom God used in a strategic and amazing way. God in essence built -- laid the foundation for the church on the back of the apostle Peter and the other apostles. Peter -- great preacher. Peter -- great defender of Jesus Christ. Peter -- the apostle, who preached significant portions of the Scripture and helped shape the local church.

Peter, the man who stumbled all over himself in his rush to deny Jesus Christ in the face of testing. How can these two be the same person. Is it possible that the Peter we're looking at in John chapter 18 is the same Peter we are looking at in Acts chapter 2.

When we consider the two Peters of the New Testament, we have to say, yes they are one and the same to the praise .... The reason we see Peter from Pentecost forward being amazingly and strategically used by God to bring many to Christ.... This unstable Peter was transformed by the grace of God. And I want you to take hope in that, because many of us can identify more with John 18 than Acts 2 Peter. We've never stood up preached before thousands a completely, Holy Spirit-inspired, spontaneously erupted sermon and had 3,000 people come walking down the aisle and say, "I want to get saved." None of us have had that experience.

But all of us have stood by the enemy's fire and denied Jesus Christ. And if that's all we've got in our memories this morning, then we need to see that, by the grace of God, it can be different. And that's what I want to share with you this morning.

As we consider Peter, as we look at his denials.... And by the way, the denials of Peter are a very important part of the story. The Bible doesn't just go right to Acts chapter 2. All four gospels record the denials of Jesus Christ. That's significant. We're dealing in John chapter 18. But you need to know that all four gospels--Matthew, Mark, Luke and John--all under the inspiration of the Spirit of God were moved to record [4:56] this event.

So God wanted us to see this. God wanted us to see pre-Pentecost, pre-resurrection Peter, pre-Holy Spirit-coming Peter and He wanted us to see post-Pentecost, post-resurrection, post-Holy Spirit-coming Peter. He wanted us to see both.

This morning, we're looking at John 18 Peter and the reason his denials are so intriguing, so compelling, so arresting is because Peter's not just the ordinary, normal, erstwhile follower of Jesus Christ. If it had been Nicodemus that denied Jesus Christ that night -- Nicodemus who came to Jesus secretly under cover of darkness because he didn't want anybody to know that he was a disciple of Jesus Christ -- if it had been Nicodemus, we would have said, "Yeah, well, that kind of fits with the story." If it had been the rich, young ruler who agonized because he really wanted to follow Jesus Christ, but there were so many other things in his life that he was just drawn to that he couldn't quite make the decision to put Christ first. If he had denied Jesus Christ, we would have said, "Well, yeah, that fits.

If it had been any number of those disciples, like the ones in John chapter 6 that, you know, they were intrigued as long as Jesus was handing out loaves and fishes and telling neat stories and healing their relatives. But as soon as He said the word repentance, they went away and they didn't follow Him any more, and if one of those had denied Him, we would have said, "Well, you know ... duh, yes. That kind of all falls in sequence."

But Peter. Peter is a man of courage. Peter is a man who, if you look at his profile, you say, "This is not denial in the making. This is not the kind of person that you think is going to deny Jesus Christ." Especially, when you listen to his conversation leading up to this. Peter is a man who admantly affirmed his loyalty to Jesus Christ. He was an intimate disciple of Jesus Christ, on the inner circle. He was one who had repeatedly demonstrated a courageous commitment to follow Jesus Christ.

[4:56+2:31] We read this passage and we're often kind of in a rush to judgment on Peter. And we kind of brush him aside as weak and carnal and overconfident and all those kinds of things. We don't find ourselves in Peter as easily as we ought to.

[4:56+3:01] I want to look at Peter from two different angles this morning. I want to look at why, as we examine Peter on the pages of Scripture, that his denial ought to come as just a wee bit surprising to us? There was some courage in this man. There was some conviction in this man. This was a man who loved Jesus intensely.

Let me make a few observations about Peter. Peter left his home, he left his family, he left his business, his means of income, his livelihood, and he followed Jesus. John chapter 18, verse 15. Listen to what it says:

"Simon Peter followed Jesus."

And Simon Peter didn't just follow Jesus when Jesus came up by the Sea of Galilee, where he and Andrew and others were fishing, and say, "Come follow me." And they left their nets and followed Him.

And, by the way, that very likely was not the first time that Jesus had met Peter and Andrew and Jame and John and others. But, when called to be a disciple, one of the Twelve, Peter willingly left his family, he left his home, he left his business, he left his roots, and he took the risk of being a follower of Jesus Christ. That's something.

Think about this, though. According to Mark chapter 14 and verse 15, in the garden where Jesus was arrested -- that's the context just immediately preceding verse 15 -- one through 14 of John chapter 18 is a narrative of the garden arrest. And in that setting, Mark 14, verse 50 says, "They all forsook Him and fled."

Now get the picture in your mind. Jesus is arrested by this [5:09 end of track 2] large group of soldiers, Roman soldiers, Temple guards, rabble from the streets of the city of Jerusalem -- all of them just coming with torches and clubs and spears and swords and all of the armor of the Roman establishment. And here is an intimidating force coming marching into their sacred getaway, their prayer garden, so to speak. Their safe zone has suddenly been invaded by the enemy. And it's an intimidating, scary enemy. And they're arresting Jesus, they're seizing Him by force and taking Him away -- if that isn't a ludicrous picture. But they all forsook Him and fled.

And I picture eleven disciples -- because Judas is already with the soldiers -- but I picture eleven disciples scrambling over the walls of this garden and scurying through the trees -- up the hill of the Mount of Olives, toward the city of Bethany, towards the safe place -- just running through the trees, pell mell, not together, but just scattering and fleeing up the hill under the cover of darkness, looking for a place to be safe. Because if you're going to stand next to Jesus, you're going to get arrested too, probably.

But Peter, halfway up this hill, stops. And as we read the narrative, John did too. Peter and John -- somewhere in their pell-mell rush to get away from the scary events of the garden, on their way to Bethany, probably (that would be the direction you'd run, I would think) -- they stopped. They said, "What am I doing? Jesus is down there. He's in trouble. I love Jesus." And Peter and John stopped. They turned around. It wasn't difficult for them to follow this rabble of soldiers as they went crashing and careening through the city with their torches lit and their armor making all kinds of racket -- it probably wouldn't have been very difficult for them to catch up to them and follow them right into the courtyard of Annas, where the events of this passage take place. Simon Peter followed Jesus and so did "another disciple." And traditionally, that's always been identified as John. And he's the one who, when he writes, he doesn't refer to himself by name. Some for various reasons suggest that it may be somebody else because, "Why would John be so well-known to the high priest when he's a fisherman from up in Galilee" and all the rest of it. There's good explanations for one theory after another. I still kind of think it's John. It kind of fits with the narrative. And since John's father, Zebedee, was sort of independently wealthy, had hired servants working his fishing business on the Sea of Galilee. Maybe he even sold fish to Annas and Caiaphas and others of the elite down in Jerusalem. So I don't know why he was known to Annas.

[3:08] But Peter followed Jesus and so did the other disciple after they had forsaken him and fled. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest, but Peter stopped at the door. Peter stands outside the door. Verse 16: "So the other disciple who was known to the high priest went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door and brought Peter in."

Now, two disciples of the Twelve are in the area, the danger area where Jesus is being tried by the religious elites.

The servant girl at the door said to Peter, "You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?" And he said, "I am not." Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire because it was cold and they were standing and warming themselves. And Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

Key words: "with them."

Go down to verse 25: Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself [with these others -- enemies of Christ]. So they said to him, You are not one of his disciples, are you? And he denied it and said, I am not. 26 One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of [Malchus] the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, Did I not see you in the garden with him?

"Of course, I would have recognized you. You happened to be the one that cut off my relative's ear. How could I miss you?"

27 Peter ... denied it [again], and at once a rooster crowed.

And Peter suddenly realized that the prophecy of his beloved Master had come true. Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.

[end of track 3: 4:56]

Peter -- the man of courage. The man of braggadocio, courage. The man of blustering courage.

But there's another side to this courage. We'll get to that.

Peter is not a coward in the general sense of the term. William Barclay, one of the New Testament commentators that I consulted this week, says this:

The tremendous thing about Peter is that his failure is a failure that could only have happened to a man of superlative courage. He failed in a situation that others did not even dare face. Where were the other ten? He failed, not because he was a coward. He failed because he was a brave man.

If you read the entire New Testament scriptures and you come to the conclusion, at the end of the day, that Peter was a weak, spineless coward, you've missed enormous data in the record. Peter is a courageous man.

[track 4: 1:12]

Let me ask you this question: Does your love for Jesus Christ ever move you to give up anything or take any real risk on His behalf?

What risks are you taking right now? What are you denying for the sake of Jesus Christ? What safety issues are you willing to leave behind in order to be a follower of Jesus Christ?

Peter not only was a risk-taking, venturesome, courageous disciple, but Peter loved Jesus intensely.

What was it that stopped Peter's panicked flight toward Bethany? Do you suppose in your mind this morning that there was in Peter's brain, in Peter's thinking, some kind of a rash scheme to swoop in and rescue Jesus and deliver Him? He knew better than that.

Do you think he was about to take on the enemies of Christ single-handedly like he tried to do in the garden with his little dagger? He learned his lesson on that one.

[track 4: 2:19]

No, I think the thing that stopped Peter's flight as he was running pell mell up the Mount of Olives in the direction of Bethany and the safe zone -- I think the thing that stopped Peter and directed his steps back into Jerusalem to the courtyard of Annas where Jesus was being held and tried -- I think the thing that stopped him was his love for Jesus Christ -- the pure love of a disciple for his master.

Is it any wonder to you that when Jesus restores Peter in John chapter 21 -- as He ministers to Peter after the resurrection, personally and face-to-face with Peter -- is it any wonder to you that the subject of discussion is Peter's love?

After breakfast, John 21, verse 15: "Simon," Jesus said, "son of John, do you love me more than these?"

Wow! What a penetrating question! I want to save this for later, but listen to Jesus inquiring of Peter (the one who had said, "Though all the others forsake you, I will not forsake you. I will die with you."):

"Peter, do you love me more than all these?"

And what's Peter's response?

"Lord, you know that I love you."

And Peter, again the question comes to him from Jesus:

"Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you."

Okay. We're going to save that text for later, but just that much anyway. There was no question in Peter's mind: "I love Jesus Christ."

There was no question in Jesus' mind that Peter loves me. The question here is the intensity and the durability of that love: Is it going to withstand the kind of trials that we just went through and saw you fail in?

And Jesus is strengthening his brother. He's strengthening for the next trial that's gonna come. But there wasn't any question that Peter was a lover of Jesus Christ.

Do you love Jesus Christ enough to get yourself in trouble for following Him?

You know, the day may come, and it may be coming soon, when we're going to have to really count the cost before we speak the name of Jesus Christ or identify ourselves as Christians or people that even believe the Bible. And maybe to a certain extent it's already come to your workplace or some parts of the circle that you live in and move in.

[end of track 4: 4:57]

There may be people that think you're an absolute idiot.