The Solemn consequences of disrespecting the Lord
John 18:10-27 ~ Terry Phillips
September 30, 2018
I’ll ask you to turn with me if you would, once again to John's Gospel and the 18th chapter. I want to begin reading in verse 10, and read through the 27th verse.
“Simon Peter therefore having a sword drew it and struck the high priest’s slave and cut off his right ear, and the slaves name was Malcus. Jesus therefore said to Peter, “put the sword into the sheath. The cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?” So, the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound Him. And led Him to Annas first, for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas who was high priest that year. Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people. And Simon Peter was following Jesus and so was another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest and entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest, but Peter was standing at the door outside. So, the other disciple who was known to the high priest went out and spoke to the doorkeeper and brought in Peter. The slave girl therefore who kept the door said to Peter, “you are not also one of this Man's disciples, are you?” he said, “I am not.” Now the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire, for it was cold and they were warming themselves, and Peter also was with them standing and warming himself. The high priest therefore questioned Jesus about His disciples, and about His teaching. Jesus answered him, “I have spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple where all the Jews come together and I spoke nothing in secret. Why do you question me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them, behold these know what I said.” And when He had said this, one of the officers standing by gave Jesus a blow saying, “is that the way you answer the high priest?” Jesus answered him, “if I have spoken wrongly, bear witness of the wrong but if rightly, why do you strike me?” Annas therefore sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest. 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.” 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.?” Peter therefore denied it again and immediately a cock crowed.”
When we embrace a verse by verse approach in teaching the word of God we’re forced to carefully consider passages that are difficult to understand, some passages that make us quite uncomfortable at times and passages that from a human perspective seem very negative. But if all Scripture is profitable, as God teaches in His word, then we are duty-bound to open our hearts to the Spirit of God that we might receive needful instruction from the Lord. Even when it comes from portions of divine revelation we are not naturally drawn to. This narrative, as we enter this portion of the gospel according to John, that is, the narrative of the Lord's arrest, His abuse, His unspeakable suffering and death – is a difficult thing to consider, especially in detail, to actually stop and to meditate upon it. There are aspects that are so unseemly as to make us want to hurry on to the next portion of God's word. Peter's unfaithfulness to the Lord in the moment of crisis is especially disappointing, but it is also especially instructive. We cannot afford to hurry past it. We need to learn from it, and trust that God by His Spirit would lead us and help us to learn from it.
The last time we were in John's Gospel we took note of the fact that a reverential respect for the Lord is of fundamental importance in every facet of our living, every moment, every detail of our life. This is something that needs to underlie everything that we do and the way we think, our perspective of things around us, our attitude. There is, and I think this is especially true in the day and age in which we live, there's this ever present temptation to see an emphasis on genuine reverence for the Lord as simply a matter of personal taste. I've heard believers talk in this way, a number of times. They’ll talk about different Christians that they know and the talk about the fact that – well you know they like to emphasize this or this particular individual that I know they really emphasize a reverence for God. That's something that's important to them – and the implication is, the evidence is that it's not that important to the person speaking.
We need to be very careful in this matter. There are many churches today who would say that they choose to emphasize the relevance of Christ or the adaptability of the gospel to contemporary man's sensibilities, His perspectives, His expectations and desires. And certainly, from a human perspective, this seems to be more effective. This is where Peter's failure, it seems to me is of such great practical value. There are, whether we may see it in a moment of time or over a period of time even, whether we see it or not there are solemn consequences to disrespecting the Lord. There are solemn consequences to downplaying this fundamental necessity of always, always showing a reverential respect for the Lord Jesus, for Almighty God.
As we looked at this passage, or we began to look at it several weeks ago – we have already isolated several elementary lessons from this passage, I just review them for you very quickly this morning. The first thing that we mentioned is this – that our closeness to the Lord in no way diminishes His holiness. There is that tendency for us as His children to grow accustomed, to allow our familiarity with the Lord to overtime breed a degree of contempt, dare we say the word contempt. Maybe it's not quite contempt, maybe it's just a laziness, a casualness, if I could say it that way. We mentioned this last time that these disciples were in a unique position. They had seen the glory of God's Christ, He manifested, we’re told, His glory to them and on numerous occasions. Those three that were with Him on the Mount of Transfiguration saw His glory in a brilliant way, remarkable way. But they also lived with Jesus through the mundane details of life, and there would've been that temptation to not take him, or to not be as respectful – I should say – as they should have been. Our closeness to the Lord in no way diminishes His holiness. It's a marvelous thing to me that a God so holy would desire so close of fellowship with sinners like you and I, is that not remarkable thing? And yet, in that close walk with the Lord we need to always treat Him as He deserves to be treated.
Second thing that we looked at and that is – that every word of God is to be taken seriously. All of it, every single word, not just the favorite passages not just the portions of God's word that lend themselves to our inclinations.
The third thing that we noted and that is that – lack of reverence for the Lord will always lead to some kind of fearfulness, it’s a given, it’s going to happen.
The last thing that we noted last time was that – overcoming faith is inseparably bound to a reverential respect for the Lord. The two go hand-in-hand. We want to have a faith that overcomes, don’t we? We want to be ready when we’re tested when we are facing the worst of life's trials and overcoming faith is a reverential faith. It’s a faith that sees the Lord of glory for who He is and never allows us to deviate far from that.
I want to look then, a little more carefully at some of the specific consequences of Peter's lack of reverential respect for the Lord leading up to his and including his great failure. We've already noted the first one we spent our time on it last time, and that is – the matter of Peter's open rebellion against the purpose of God. We notice in the passage that we just read that he had a sword. He whipped it out, and he struck the high priest’s slave and cut off his right ear. Peter's pulling out his sword – and remember we talked about this last time, that he was in the face of a large company, hundreds of Roman soldiers – pulling out his sword was completely inappropriate at this moment. It must have looked so awkward, so irrational, so foolish. The most important thing is that it was an act of rebellion against the stated purpose of God. Jesus had instructed His disciples. We’re told that from one point on He began to instruct them. This was an ongoing lesson from the Lord. He kept reminding them, this is what He came for. This is what was waiting for Him, this is what He had to do, this is the Father's will.
You recall, we went back to the passage where Peter actually took the Lord aside and rebuked Him. Said that this is never going to happen to You. And the Lord's response is swift and firm, “get behind me Satan” here the Lord's response is firm as well, “put the sword back into the sheath. The cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it.” So, we see Peter in a very, very bad spot here, we might – as I said earlier – look at this, if were not careful, as a moment of extraordinary courage. It's not. Peter just refused to accept what Jesus had been telling him all along we come to another lesson in this incident that I think is important as well. We notice as we read on that Jesus is arrested. Verse 12 they bind Him in the lead Him to Annas first, in verse 13. But in verse 15 we’re told that Simon Peter was following Jesus and so was another disciple. I go back to Luke's account of what took place in these moments, and it is interesting. Luke adds a significant detail. He says in Luke chapter 22 verse 54. The verse says this, “and having arrested Him, they led Him away and brought Him to the house of the high priest,”
Now we know as we bring the gospel accounts together, we know that all of the disciples initially fled. That we know. Jesus said that they would, and they did. But Peter we’re told at the end of this 54th verse, Peter was following. There's three more words that go along with that – “At a distance”. I can't say for certain, I don't know we’re not given insight into what the other disciples were doing during these hours. Undoubtedly, we can tell they were greatly distressed and most likely fairly disillusioned at the Lord's arrest, and they would become even more distraught as they witnessed His crucifixion. We’re not told that, the account we’re are given is that focuses on Peter. Another disciple whom we presumed to be John, because of the circumstances, joins him in following Jesus at some point. It seems to me most likely up towards the end, I don't know that, we don't know that for fact. What we do know, what we're supposed to know is that Peter, though he had originally fled with the rest of the disciples began at some point to follow Jesus, but to follow Him at a distance.
I want to ask you to think about this with me this morning and picture the scene. Peter didn't stay with the Lord, he fled. He mustered up some degree of courage to go and began again following, but not actually following in worshipful obedience, but following at a distance. Peter was not following in selfless devotion, though he had adamantly declared that he would. Again, I take you back to Luke's gospel. What was the statement that Peter had made, in response to the Lord telling him that he would in fact deny him? What is Peter's response in verse 33 of Luke 22? “he – that is, Peter – said to Him – that is the Lord Jesus – “Lord with you I am ready to go, both to prison and to death.” This is Peter's open declaration. I'm ready to go! Jesus says, you’re going to deny you even know me. Peter said, no way, I'm ready to go with you prison and to death if that's what it means, if that's what it takes. Jesus is arrested, Jesus is being led away and Peter is following at a distance. He's not going with the Lord to prison and to death, He’s lagging behind.
It seems to me this is an extremely telling observation. The danger here is very real, but it's also very subtle. Isn’t following the Lord at a distance better than not following the Lord at all? You ever thought about that question? Isn’t it? After all, we’re not told of any of the other disciples following him other than John. I think we need to be careful, we must be careful to recognize the reality that following at a distance is a clear evidence of a glaring deficiency. There is a lack on Peter's part, of a genuine commitment to Christ. He said he was committed, no matter what, but in the end his commitment doesn't go very far. He's holding back. He's hanging way back there. He's no longer ready to stand and be counted with Jesus.
One of the great dangers about following at a distance is the deception therein. Well, I am following, and that's a whole lot better than not following, isn’t it? Jesus warned quite often about this tendency. This is one of those tendencies in us. That is especially frustrating, and especially ugly, that is to say we want to have the best of both things, we want to have, we want to partake of the glory, the joy of following Christ without any of the cost. Jesus spoke of this often. I’m reminded in Luke's gospel chapter 9 verse 59, actually I’ll begin back in verse 57 so the context is clear – “as they were going along the road. Someone said to Him I will follow you wherever you go.” Great statement of commitment, isn’t it? I'll follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, “the foxes have holes the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. And He said to another, “follow Me”, but he said, “permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “allow the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God. And another also said I will follow You, Lord. But first, permit me to say goodbye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “no one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Out of respect for who the Lord is, commitment is to be complete. It’s to be a total commitment not a partial, not a hesitating commitment. One of my favorite passages in the Old Testament is the passage where we have the record of Joshua sending the spies, if you recall, into the land, the promised land. And of course, they came back with their report. 10 of them with a bad report. Two of them with a good report. You recall the Lord's description of the difference between the two I think is extremely important. Numbers chapter 32 verse 11 says this – “none of the men who came up from Egypt from 20 years old and upward shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob – and why is that? – for they did not follow me fully” that last word is so important – they did not follow me fully. They followed, they followed at a distance they kept their arm’s length from full obedience from following the Lord fully, from showing a genuine respect for the Lord. And then the next verse goes on and says – “except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have followed the Lord fully.”
Our Lord, It seems to me has very little patience for those who don't follow Him fully. You recall the letter in the letter to the last of the seven churches in the revelation of Jesus Christ. That is, to the angel of the church in Laodicea. Jesus says this – “the amen the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God says this, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I would that you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold. I will – literally – vomit you out of my mouth” the Lord is looking for those who are committed to Him. Those who are serious, those who will follow Him fully.
After the Lord's resurrection in His ascending to the Father – I find it to be so encouraging – the apostles even under threat of death, refused to tone down their witness of the Lord Jesus their witness to Christ. They refused to follow Jesus at a distance even though it would cost most of them their lives, eventually. They refused to do that. They follow the Lord fully and joyously. I’m reminded, as I was thinking about this principle, I was thinking of the multitudes of saints in the past who had come to embrace the truth, that salvation for sinners could only be found by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, apart from any human intervention at all. They were given the choice of recanting or being put to death by the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church. Thousands upon thousands of them were in this position. They refused to follow Jesus at a distance they refused to compromise, to rationalize the way they could somehow recant and still believe what they knew to be true. Instead, they drew ever closer to the Savior in the laying down of their earthly bodies. They followed the Lord fully.
Think of all of those precious souls who do that, to this very day in places where they're forced to make that choice. They’re given the option to back off, to lag behind. Not to be so bold, but who opt to walk close to the Lord, to follow Him to reverence Him. Their perception of Christ is such that they cannot do that because of who He is, it’s not just because there's a stubbornly committed, that's not the point, the point is they’ve come to see who Jesus is, and when you and I see who Jesus is and we keep that view of Him in my it changes our outlook and the way we face whatever we face in this life. Obviously, the choice is not always so dramatic, not necessarily a question of life and death. Maybe sometimes even the more difficult choices are the ones we make day-to-day, the way we spend our time, how we invest our finances. What we do with our thoughts, our minds, how we treat God's people. Will you and I follow the Lord fully or are we going to succumb to that temptation to lag behind, to follow Him at a distance.
As I was pondering this I went, I noticed a painting on the wall at home this morning and I don't know why, it just, you how things are in your house, you get so used to looking at them you never really pay attention anymore. But I noticed a painting, painted by Joanne Bell, many of you still remember her. She's been home with the Lord now for some time. A very godly woman, a very gifted woman. I love her paintings. My wife and I enjoyed them greatly. We have a number of them hanging around, and I saw this painting this morning and this thought came to me, something she told me once and I haven't forgotten it. One of the things that she was very adamant about was that God had given her this gift to paint. She only had sight in one eye too, it was amazing how she could paint. God had gifted her and she was determined that she give God the glory. And so, on every painting she put a Scripture reference, every single painting. I remember her recounting to me that there were times when people would come to her and they loved her artwork and they wanted to commission her to paint a picture for them but they didn't want a Bible verse on it. I can't remember whether she relented one time or not but she told me she couldn't do that. She just couldn't do it even if it meant their ridicule, even if it meant she lost that sale. She couldn't do it, she was going to honor the Lord. A simple little thing yes, but sometimes it’s little things that say the most, don't they?
In the end, it comes down to a question of what we think of Jesus, is He worth is he worth it? Is He worthy of that kind of devotion and commitment, is He, or is He not? The fear of man can be a very, very difficult thing. The writer of Proverbs says, “the fear of man brings a snare, in the fear of the Lord – by contrast, there is what? – strong confidence” There are increasingly serious dangers we persist in following the Lord at a distance.
That leads us to the next thing that we see with Peter and that is – Peter seeking shelter in the company of the Lord's enemies. He’s brought in from the outside where he's standing in waiting, we don't know for sure what his body language is what he's doing there. But one thing is for sure, when he gets inside he immediately denies, right from the outset he denies that he knows the Lord, and the next thing we know is Peter is with them notice verse 18, “Peter also was with them standing and warming himself.” It was cool, it was cold. They had a fire and there's Peter. Peter eventually ends up warming himself by the fire in the company of the ungodly, this man who had been following the Lord at a distance. This is always inevitable. The more you and I are lacking in a genuine commitment to the Lord, the more we will be drawn toward the world, it’s that simple, it’s going to be. There's no way that you can hover in some nebulous obscure kind of halfway place. It’s going to be one of the other, either I'm going to be following the Lord fully, or I'm going to be drifting toward the enticements of the world.
Now certainly there's nothing wrong with warming yourself by fire we’re not suggesting that, but the setting is crucial. It’s not just what we do, it's how we do it, it's where we do it and it's with whom we do it. In Peter's frame of mind, warming himself by the fire with the ungodly is a recipe for a disgraceful failure. Jesus spent time with sinners did He not? He was bearing witness to the truth while He was with them. Peter was in no condition to bear witness to the truth, he was following the Lord, but only at a distance and now he was even denying that he knew Jesus and he is now with the enemies of the Lord. He's in a frame of mind that is especially dangerous. The further we lag behind in following the Lord, the more inviting the world's environment becomes. And that leads finally to Peter's open denial of Christ. This is the inevitable outcome of an ongoing unfaithfulness to the Lord. And it’s a very sad moment, as you read these words it’s painful, isn't it? One of Jesus's closest followers. This is the Peter of Peter, James and John so close to the Lord. This is the man who declared, “you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God, where else would we go? You have the words of eternal life.” And here he is, in the presence of the Lord's enemies and he cannot even bring himself to admit that he knows Jesus.
Most of us, I think I could say this safely – I’m presuming that most of us since we've made since making a public profession of our faith in the Lord Jesus have never come to the point of an outright verbal denial of Him. Maybe some of us have, I don't know, it’s not important, in one sense it's not important since I'm speaking of right now, because my point is this, is it possible even if that's not true of us, even if we've never done that. Is it possible for us to still be guilty of the same basic failure? We know that this is possible in the case of false professors and false teachers. I remind you of a passage that we didn't go through too awful long ago when Ted was going through the book of Titus. In Titus, the end of the first chapter it says verse 15 – “to the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Both their mind and their conscience are defiled, they profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him.” They don't openly with their words deny Him, in fact with their words they’re professing they know Him, but by their deeds they deny. This is true or false professors. It's true of false teachers as well. You recall the passage there in second Peter chapter 2 verse one – “but false prophets also arose among the people. Just as there will also be false teachers among you who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves”
It’s possible for someone even to be, presumably someone who is promoting the gospel and promoting the Lord, but who is in the end through their licentiousness, denying Christ. Jude speaks of this in verse four of that little epistle that bears Jude's name – “for certain persons have crept in unnoticed. Those who were long before and marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ.” We can deny Christ in more ways than just a verbal pronouncement. Now these instances I've pointed out to you, are obviously people who do not know the Lord. These are people who ultimately are apart from Christ. But I want also draw your attention to a passage in first Timothy chapter 5, a passage I think is fairly familiar to us. Verse seven and eight says this – “prescribed these things as well so that they may be above reproach.” Paul has been in the book of first Timothy describing how one not conduct oneself in the household of God. That's the main theme and thrust of first Timothy. Now verse eight, he says – “but if anyone does not provide for his own, especially those of his own household. He has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” Those are strong words. It's possible for you and I to bring reproach upon the Lord, in this case by simply being unfaithful to our loved ones. Denying the faith, that’s a denial of Christ.
The way we treat the word of God is of the greatest importance in giving the clearest evidence of what we really think of Jesus. We as parents say this often to our kids, do we not? Our kids may, in a moment of conflict, they might proclaim to us that they love us and we might say to them, well if you love me you'll do what I say. That's exactly what Jesus said isn’t it? If you love me, you’ll keep my commandments. It's what I think of the Lord, that will ultimately animate the word of God in my heart to the extent that I just have to obey it. I want to obey it. I delight in obeying it. Think of who Jesus is the joy of obeying Almighty God, the One who came into this world and suffered and died that I might live and I have the privilege of taking His word to heart. He’s revealed Himself to me, and I have the privilege of responding to that revelation. It’s a very joyous thing, but it can also be a terrible thing, a reproach on the Lord when we ignore what He says.
Think about this, God hasn't instructed us, for example, in some very basic things. He's instructed us to live holy lives, has he not? We’re to live holy lives to pattern our living after His own holiness, it couldn't be clearer. First Peter chapter 1 verse 14 – “as obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours and your ignorance but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves. Like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior because it is written, you shall be holy, for I Am holy.” So, we are urged later on in the second chapter – “as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lust, which wage war against the soul.” Paul says we’re to cling to what is good in Romans chapter 12 and abhor what is evil. When we don't do that, we’re disrespecting the Lord. It's that simple. We’re disrespecting Him, we’re bringing reproach upon His name.
Our Lord as the head of his church has given us – there are some very basic instructions in the way we are to conduct ourselves as members of His body. To practice biblically the ordinances of believer’s baptism, the Lord's supper – not as a sacrament or a means of grace, but as a witness of His grace to us in Christ. We’re to appoint and submit ourselves to godly leaders in the assembly. The Lord has told us who is to do the teaching in the assembly. God has told us, as we were reminded last week, that each and every one of us are to do, individually, our part in the building up of the body in love. We’re to be devoted to prayer, we’re to be devoted to each other, whether we feel like it or not, we’re to love one another, even as Christ loves us. We’re not to not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, we’re to meet together regularly, we’re to stimulate one another to love, to good deeds as we were reminded last week.
Our approach, our attitude towards these things ultimately demonstrates what we think of Christ as the head of the church. Who is this One who has told us to do these things, who’s given us these blessed instructions. How we treat His word is the most credible evidence of what we really think of our Lord. It's that simple. How we treat His word is the most credible evidence of what we really think about Jesus. I need to be reminded of that, I need to be reminded of that often because my tendency is to sort of separate the two. I convinced myself many times that I can treat the Lord with a great deal of respect. Maybe in my mannerisms may be in the way I talk about Him, especially in certain places, but somehow, I can divorce that from or compartmentalize that from the way I'm actually living tomorrow or the spot I'm in and I react in a way that's not good at all doesn't honor the Lord is an honor Christ. I can't separate those two, it’s all bound together. I can't pretend to give the Lord reverence at certain times when it's convenient especially around other believers and then at other times show total disregard for Him.
Think of how many times, we’ve been in those situations, and I know we've all been in those situations at some point or another, where we find ourselves in a situation where there are those around us who are absolutely blaspheming the Lord. Sometimes you're in those situations there's nothing you can do, but what about all those times we’ve been in those situations and we’ve never opened our mouth. We just weren't willing to suffer shame to be associated with Jesus, because in the end it’s the question of who is He, what do I really think of Him? He’s Lord of glory! God Almighty in flesh, my Redeemer. And one thing is for sure, do you and I want to shrink back before Him at His coming? Most certainly, we do not. don't we want to be rejoicing, don’t we want to be found in Him following closely, walking closely to him not lagging behind not following at a distance and eventually even through our actions, be denying Him. But instead through our approach to God's word and our obedience, our loving obedience, not an obedience that is so that we can somehow gain saving favor with God, or a better position in heaven, because of what we think of Christ, how much He means to us. What a great and mighty Savior, He is.
I want to remind you this morning in closing that, John doesn't record it for us, but Luke does. There's one last thing for instruction here and that is what is Peter's response when his failure has happened. When it’s complete, and he’s fallen? Luke records in verse 60 of Luke 22 Peter said, “man, I do not know what you are talking about” when they said certainly he was with Him. We’re told in another account that he did more than just that, he cursed. He went off the deep end but were told immediately while he was still speaking, a cock crowed. And the Lord turned and just simply looked at Peter, “and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He told him before a cock crows today, you will deny me three times and he went out and wept bitterly.”
I am so thankful for the record of this account. I'm so thankful for the instruction here. You know something, I’m very thankful for Peter's response. That says a lot to me. Peter didn't shrug off and blow off what he’d just done, that moment in time when he looks the Lord in the face, he knows what he's done. He realizes it. He understands the serious nature of what he's just done because Peter ultimately did have respect for the Lord and that's what caused him to weep so bitterly. And it ought to cause us to weep over our unfaithfulness, so that we will be restored to a closer walk with the Lord. Closer than ever before. Let’s bow together in prayer
“Simon Peter therefore having a sword drew it and struck the high priest’s slave and cut off his right ear, and the slaves name was Malcus. Jesus therefore said to Peter, “put the sword into the sheath. The cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?” So, the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound Him. And led Him to Annas first, for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas who was high priest that year. Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people. And Simon Peter was following Jesus and so was another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest and entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest, but Peter was standing at the door outside. So, the other disciple who was known to the high priest went out and spoke to the doorkeeper and brought in Peter. The slave girl therefore who kept the door said to Peter, “you are not also one of this Man's disciples, are you?” he said, “I am not.” Now the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire, for it was cold and they were warming themselves, and Peter also was with them standing and warming himself. The high priest therefore questioned Jesus about His disciples, and about His teaching. Jesus answered him, “I have spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple where all the Jews come together and I spoke nothing in secret. Why do you question me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them, behold these know what I said.” And when He had said this, one of the officers standing by gave Jesus a blow saying, “is that the way you answer the high priest?” Jesus answered him, “if I have spoken wrongly, bear witness of the wrong but if rightly, why do you strike me?” Annas therefore sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest. 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.” 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.?” Peter therefore denied it again and immediately a cock crowed.”
When we embrace a verse by verse approach in teaching the word of God we’re forced to carefully consider passages that are difficult to understand, some passages that make us quite uncomfortable at times and passages that from a human perspective seem very negative. But if all Scripture is profitable, as God teaches in His word, then we are duty-bound to open our hearts to the Spirit of God that we might receive needful instruction from the Lord. Even when it comes from portions of divine revelation we are not naturally drawn to. This narrative, as we enter this portion of the gospel according to John, that is, the narrative of the Lord's arrest, His abuse, His unspeakable suffering and death – is a difficult thing to consider, especially in detail, to actually stop and to meditate upon it. There are aspects that are so unseemly as to make us want to hurry on to the next portion of God's word. Peter's unfaithfulness to the Lord in the moment of crisis is especially disappointing, but it is also especially instructive. We cannot afford to hurry past it. We need to learn from it, and trust that God by His Spirit would lead us and help us to learn from it.
The last time we were in John's Gospel we took note of the fact that a reverential respect for the Lord is of fundamental importance in every facet of our living, every moment, every detail of our life. This is something that needs to underlie everything that we do and the way we think, our perspective of things around us, our attitude. There is, and I think this is especially true in the day and age in which we live, there's this ever present temptation to see an emphasis on genuine reverence for the Lord as simply a matter of personal taste. I've heard believers talk in this way, a number of times. They’ll talk about different Christians that they know and the talk about the fact that – well you know they like to emphasize this or this particular individual that I know they really emphasize a reverence for God. That's something that's important to them – and the implication is, the evidence is that it's not that important to the person speaking.
We need to be very careful in this matter. There are many churches today who would say that they choose to emphasize the relevance of Christ or the adaptability of the gospel to contemporary man's sensibilities, His perspectives, His expectations and desires. And certainly, from a human perspective, this seems to be more effective. This is where Peter's failure, it seems to me is of such great practical value. There are, whether we may see it in a moment of time or over a period of time even, whether we see it or not there are solemn consequences to disrespecting the Lord. There are solemn consequences to downplaying this fundamental necessity of always, always showing a reverential respect for the Lord Jesus, for Almighty God.
As we looked at this passage, or we began to look at it several weeks ago – we have already isolated several elementary lessons from this passage, I just review them for you very quickly this morning. The first thing that we mentioned is this – that our closeness to the Lord in no way diminishes His holiness. There is that tendency for us as His children to grow accustomed, to allow our familiarity with the Lord to overtime breed a degree of contempt, dare we say the word contempt. Maybe it's not quite contempt, maybe it's just a laziness, a casualness, if I could say it that way. We mentioned this last time that these disciples were in a unique position. They had seen the glory of God's Christ, He manifested, we’re told, His glory to them and on numerous occasions. Those three that were with Him on the Mount of Transfiguration saw His glory in a brilliant way, remarkable way. But they also lived with Jesus through the mundane details of life, and there would've been that temptation to not take him, or to not be as respectful – I should say – as they should have been. Our closeness to the Lord in no way diminishes His holiness. It's a marvelous thing to me that a God so holy would desire so close of fellowship with sinners like you and I, is that not remarkable thing? And yet, in that close walk with the Lord we need to always treat Him as He deserves to be treated.
Second thing that we looked at and that is – that every word of God is to be taken seriously. All of it, every single word, not just the favorite passages not just the portions of God's word that lend themselves to our inclinations.
The third thing that we noted and that is that – lack of reverence for the Lord will always lead to some kind of fearfulness, it’s a given, it’s going to happen.
The last thing that we noted last time was that – overcoming faith is inseparably bound to a reverential respect for the Lord. The two go hand-in-hand. We want to have a faith that overcomes, don’t we? We want to be ready when we’re tested when we are facing the worst of life's trials and overcoming faith is a reverential faith. It’s a faith that sees the Lord of glory for who He is and never allows us to deviate far from that.
I want to look then, a little more carefully at some of the specific consequences of Peter's lack of reverential respect for the Lord leading up to his and including his great failure. We've already noted the first one we spent our time on it last time, and that is – the matter of Peter's open rebellion against the purpose of God. We notice in the passage that we just read that he had a sword. He whipped it out, and he struck the high priest’s slave and cut off his right ear. Peter's pulling out his sword – and remember we talked about this last time, that he was in the face of a large company, hundreds of Roman soldiers – pulling out his sword was completely inappropriate at this moment. It must have looked so awkward, so irrational, so foolish. The most important thing is that it was an act of rebellion against the stated purpose of God. Jesus had instructed His disciples. We’re told that from one point on He began to instruct them. This was an ongoing lesson from the Lord. He kept reminding them, this is what He came for. This is what was waiting for Him, this is what He had to do, this is the Father's will.
You recall, we went back to the passage where Peter actually took the Lord aside and rebuked Him. Said that this is never going to happen to You. And the Lord's response is swift and firm, “get behind me Satan” here the Lord's response is firm as well, “put the sword back into the sheath. The cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it.” So, we see Peter in a very, very bad spot here, we might – as I said earlier – look at this, if were not careful, as a moment of extraordinary courage. It's not. Peter just refused to accept what Jesus had been telling him all along we come to another lesson in this incident that I think is important as well. We notice as we read on that Jesus is arrested. Verse 12 they bind Him in the lead Him to Annas first, in verse 13. But in verse 15 we’re told that Simon Peter was following Jesus and so was another disciple. I go back to Luke's account of what took place in these moments, and it is interesting. Luke adds a significant detail. He says in Luke chapter 22 verse 54. The verse says this, “and having arrested Him, they led Him away and brought Him to the house of the high priest,”
Now we know as we bring the gospel accounts together, we know that all of the disciples initially fled. That we know. Jesus said that they would, and they did. But Peter we’re told at the end of this 54th verse, Peter was following. There's three more words that go along with that – “At a distance”. I can't say for certain, I don't know we’re not given insight into what the other disciples were doing during these hours. Undoubtedly, we can tell they were greatly distressed and most likely fairly disillusioned at the Lord's arrest, and they would become even more distraught as they witnessed His crucifixion. We’re not told that, the account we’re are given is that focuses on Peter. Another disciple whom we presumed to be John, because of the circumstances, joins him in following Jesus at some point. It seems to me most likely up towards the end, I don't know that, we don't know that for fact. What we do know, what we're supposed to know is that Peter, though he had originally fled with the rest of the disciples began at some point to follow Jesus, but to follow Him at a distance.
I want to ask you to think about this with me this morning and picture the scene. Peter didn't stay with the Lord, he fled. He mustered up some degree of courage to go and began again following, but not actually following in worshipful obedience, but following at a distance. Peter was not following in selfless devotion, though he had adamantly declared that he would. Again, I take you back to Luke's gospel. What was the statement that Peter had made, in response to the Lord telling him that he would in fact deny him? What is Peter's response in verse 33 of Luke 22? “he – that is, Peter – said to Him – that is the Lord Jesus – “Lord with you I am ready to go, both to prison and to death.” This is Peter's open declaration. I'm ready to go! Jesus says, you’re going to deny you even know me. Peter said, no way, I'm ready to go with you prison and to death if that's what it means, if that's what it takes. Jesus is arrested, Jesus is being led away and Peter is following at a distance. He's not going with the Lord to prison and to death, He’s lagging behind.
It seems to me this is an extremely telling observation. The danger here is very real, but it's also very subtle. Isn’t following the Lord at a distance better than not following the Lord at all? You ever thought about that question? Isn’t it? After all, we’re not told of any of the other disciples following him other than John. I think we need to be careful, we must be careful to recognize the reality that following at a distance is a clear evidence of a glaring deficiency. There is a lack on Peter's part, of a genuine commitment to Christ. He said he was committed, no matter what, but in the end his commitment doesn't go very far. He's holding back. He's hanging way back there. He's no longer ready to stand and be counted with Jesus.
One of the great dangers about following at a distance is the deception therein. Well, I am following, and that's a whole lot better than not following, isn’t it? Jesus warned quite often about this tendency. This is one of those tendencies in us. That is especially frustrating, and especially ugly, that is to say we want to have the best of both things, we want to have, we want to partake of the glory, the joy of following Christ without any of the cost. Jesus spoke of this often. I’m reminded in Luke's gospel chapter 9 verse 59, actually I’ll begin back in verse 57 so the context is clear – “as they were going along the road. Someone said to Him I will follow you wherever you go.” Great statement of commitment, isn’t it? I'll follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, “the foxes have holes the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. And He said to another, “follow Me”, but he said, “permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “allow the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God. And another also said I will follow You, Lord. But first, permit me to say goodbye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “no one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Out of respect for who the Lord is, commitment is to be complete. It’s to be a total commitment not a partial, not a hesitating commitment. One of my favorite passages in the Old Testament is the passage where we have the record of Joshua sending the spies, if you recall, into the land, the promised land. And of course, they came back with their report. 10 of them with a bad report. Two of them with a good report. You recall the Lord's description of the difference between the two I think is extremely important. Numbers chapter 32 verse 11 says this – “none of the men who came up from Egypt from 20 years old and upward shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob – and why is that? – for they did not follow me fully” that last word is so important – they did not follow me fully. They followed, they followed at a distance they kept their arm’s length from full obedience from following the Lord fully, from showing a genuine respect for the Lord. And then the next verse goes on and says – “except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have followed the Lord fully.”
Our Lord, It seems to me has very little patience for those who don't follow Him fully. You recall the letter in the letter to the last of the seven churches in the revelation of Jesus Christ. That is, to the angel of the church in Laodicea. Jesus says this – “the amen the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God says this, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I would that you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold. I will – literally – vomit you out of my mouth” the Lord is looking for those who are committed to Him. Those who are serious, those who will follow Him fully.
After the Lord's resurrection in His ascending to the Father – I find it to be so encouraging – the apostles even under threat of death, refused to tone down their witness of the Lord Jesus their witness to Christ. They refused to follow Jesus at a distance even though it would cost most of them their lives, eventually. They refused to do that. They follow the Lord fully and joyously. I’m reminded, as I was thinking about this principle, I was thinking of the multitudes of saints in the past who had come to embrace the truth, that salvation for sinners could only be found by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, apart from any human intervention at all. They were given the choice of recanting or being put to death by the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church. Thousands upon thousands of them were in this position. They refused to follow Jesus at a distance they refused to compromise, to rationalize the way they could somehow recant and still believe what they knew to be true. Instead, they drew ever closer to the Savior in the laying down of their earthly bodies. They followed the Lord fully.
Think of all of those precious souls who do that, to this very day in places where they're forced to make that choice. They’re given the option to back off, to lag behind. Not to be so bold, but who opt to walk close to the Lord, to follow Him to reverence Him. Their perception of Christ is such that they cannot do that because of who He is, it’s not just because there's a stubbornly committed, that's not the point, the point is they’ve come to see who Jesus is, and when you and I see who Jesus is and we keep that view of Him in my it changes our outlook and the way we face whatever we face in this life. Obviously, the choice is not always so dramatic, not necessarily a question of life and death. Maybe sometimes even the more difficult choices are the ones we make day-to-day, the way we spend our time, how we invest our finances. What we do with our thoughts, our minds, how we treat God's people. Will you and I follow the Lord fully or are we going to succumb to that temptation to lag behind, to follow Him at a distance.
As I was pondering this I went, I noticed a painting on the wall at home this morning and I don't know why, it just, you how things are in your house, you get so used to looking at them you never really pay attention anymore. But I noticed a painting, painted by Joanne Bell, many of you still remember her. She's been home with the Lord now for some time. A very godly woman, a very gifted woman. I love her paintings. My wife and I enjoyed them greatly. We have a number of them hanging around, and I saw this painting this morning and this thought came to me, something she told me once and I haven't forgotten it. One of the things that she was very adamant about was that God had given her this gift to paint. She only had sight in one eye too, it was amazing how she could paint. God had gifted her and she was determined that she give God the glory. And so, on every painting she put a Scripture reference, every single painting. I remember her recounting to me that there were times when people would come to her and they loved her artwork and they wanted to commission her to paint a picture for them but they didn't want a Bible verse on it. I can't remember whether she relented one time or not but she told me she couldn't do that. She just couldn't do it even if it meant their ridicule, even if it meant she lost that sale. She couldn't do it, she was going to honor the Lord. A simple little thing yes, but sometimes it’s little things that say the most, don't they?
In the end, it comes down to a question of what we think of Jesus, is He worth is he worth it? Is He worthy of that kind of devotion and commitment, is He, or is He not? The fear of man can be a very, very difficult thing. The writer of Proverbs says, “the fear of man brings a snare, in the fear of the Lord – by contrast, there is what? – strong confidence” There are increasingly serious dangers we persist in following the Lord at a distance.
That leads us to the next thing that we see with Peter and that is – Peter seeking shelter in the company of the Lord's enemies. He’s brought in from the outside where he's standing in waiting, we don't know for sure what his body language is what he's doing there. But one thing is for sure, when he gets inside he immediately denies, right from the outset he denies that he knows the Lord, and the next thing we know is Peter is with them notice verse 18, “Peter also was with them standing and warming himself.” It was cool, it was cold. They had a fire and there's Peter. Peter eventually ends up warming himself by the fire in the company of the ungodly, this man who had been following the Lord at a distance. This is always inevitable. The more you and I are lacking in a genuine commitment to the Lord, the more we will be drawn toward the world, it’s that simple, it’s going to be. There's no way that you can hover in some nebulous obscure kind of halfway place. It’s going to be one of the other, either I'm going to be following the Lord fully, or I'm going to be drifting toward the enticements of the world.
Now certainly there's nothing wrong with warming yourself by fire we’re not suggesting that, but the setting is crucial. It’s not just what we do, it's how we do it, it's where we do it and it's with whom we do it. In Peter's frame of mind, warming himself by the fire with the ungodly is a recipe for a disgraceful failure. Jesus spent time with sinners did He not? He was bearing witness to the truth while He was with them. Peter was in no condition to bear witness to the truth, he was following the Lord, but only at a distance and now he was even denying that he knew Jesus and he is now with the enemies of the Lord. He's in a frame of mind that is especially dangerous. The further we lag behind in following the Lord, the more inviting the world's environment becomes. And that leads finally to Peter's open denial of Christ. This is the inevitable outcome of an ongoing unfaithfulness to the Lord. And it’s a very sad moment, as you read these words it’s painful, isn't it? One of Jesus's closest followers. This is the Peter of Peter, James and John so close to the Lord. This is the man who declared, “you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God, where else would we go? You have the words of eternal life.” And here he is, in the presence of the Lord's enemies and he cannot even bring himself to admit that he knows Jesus.
Most of us, I think I could say this safely – I’m presuming that most of us since we've made since making a public profession of our faith in the Lord Jesus have never come to the point of an outright verbal denial of Him. Maybe some of us have, I don't know, it’s not important, in one sense it's not important since I'm speaking of right now, because my point is this, is it possible even if that's not true of us, even if we've never done that. Is it possible for us to still be guilty of the same basic failure? We know that this is possible in the case of false professors and false teachers. I remind you of a passage that we didn't go through too awful long ago when Ted was going through the book of Titus. In Titus, the end of the first chapter it says verse 15 – “to the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Both their mind and their conscience are defiled, they profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him.” They don't openly with their words deny Him, in fact with their words they’re professing they know Him, but by their deeds they deny. This is true or false professors. It's true of false teachers as well. You recall the passage there in second Peter chapter 2 verse one – “but false prophets also arose among the people. Just as there will also be false teachers among you who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves”
It’s possible for someone even to be, presumably someone who is promoting the gospel and promoting the Lord, but who is in the end through their licentiousness, denying Christ. Jude speaks of this in verse four of that little epistle that bears Jude's name – “for certain persons have crept in unnoticed. Those who were long before and marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ.” We can deny Christ in more ways than just a verbal pronouncement. Now these instances I've pointed out to you, are obviously people who do not know the Lord. These are people who ultimately are apart from Christ. But I want also draw your attention to a passage in first Timothy chapter 5, a passage I think is fairly familiar to us. Verse seven and eight says this – “prescribed these things as well so that they may be above reproach.” Paul has been in the book of first Timothy describing how one not conduct oneself in the household of God. That's the main theme and thrust of first Timothy. Now verse eight, he says – “but if anyone does not provide for his own, especially those of his own household. He has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” Those are strong words. It's possible for you and I to bring reproach upon the Lord, in this case by simply being unfaithful to our loved ones. Denying the faith, that’s a denial of Christ.
The way we treat the word of God is of the greatest importance in giving the clearest evidence of what we really think of Jesus. We as parents say this often to our kids, do we not? Our kids may, in a moment of conflict, they might proclaim to us that they love us and we might say to them, well if you love me you'll do what I say. That's exactly what Jesus said isn’t it? If you love me, you’ll keep my commandments. It's what I think of the Lord, that will ultimately animate the word of God in my heart to the extent that I just have to obey it. I want to obey it. I delight in obeying it. Think of who Jesus is the joy of obeying Almighty God, the One who came into this world and suffered and died that I might live and I have the privilege of taking His word to heart. He’s revealed Himself to me, and I have the privilege of responding to that revelation. It’s a very joyous thing, but it can also be a terrible thing, a reproach on the Lord when we ignore what He says.
Think about this, God hasn't instructed us, for example, in some very basic things. He's instructed us to live holy lives, has he not? We’re to live holy lives to pattern our living after His own holiness, it couldn't be clearer. First Peter chapter 1 verse 14 – “as obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours and your ignorance but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves. Like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior because it is written, you shall be holy, for I Am holy.” So, we are urged later on in the second chapter – “as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lust, which wage war against the soul.” Paul says we’re to cling to what is good in Romans chapter 12 and abhor what is evil. When we don't do that, we’re disrespecting the Lord. It's that simple. We’re disrespecting Him, we’re bringing reproach upon His name.
Our Lord as the head of his church has given us – there are some very basic instructions in the way we are to conduct ourselves as members of His body. To practice biblically the ordinances of believer’s baptism, the Lord's supper – not as a sacrament or a means of grace, but as a witness of His grace to us in Christ. We’re to appoint and submit ourselves to godly leaders in the assembly. The Lord has told us who is to do the teaching in the assembly. God has told us, as we were reminded last week, that each and every one of us are to do, individually, our part in the building up of the body in love. We’re to be devoted to prayer, we’re to be devoted to each other, whether we feel like it or not, we’re to love one another, even as Christ loves us. We’re not to not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, we’re to meet together regularly, we’re to stimulate one another to love, to good deeds as we were reminded last week.
Our approach, our attitude towards these things ultimately demonstrates what we think of Christ as the head of the church. Who is this One who has told us to do these things, who’s given us these blessed instructions. How we treat His word is the most credible evidence of what we really think of our Lord. It's that simple. How we treat His word is the most credible evidence of what we really think about Jesus. I need to be reminded of that, I need to be reminded of that often because my tendency is to sort of separate the two. I convinced myself many times that I can treat the Lord with a great deal of respect. Maybe in my mannerisms may be in the way I talk about Him, especially in certain places, but somehow, I can divorce that from or compartmentalize that from the way I'm actually living tomorrow or the spot I'm in and I react in a way that's not good at all doesn't honor the Lord is an honor Christ. I can't separate those two, it’s all bound together. I can't pretend to give the Lord reverence at certain times when it's convenient especially around other believers and then at other times show total disregard for Him.
Think of how many times, we’ve been in those situations, and I know we've all been in those situations at some point or another, where we find ourselves in a situation where there are those around us who are absolutely blaspheming the Lord. Sometimes you're in those situations there's nothing you can do, but what about all those times we’ve been in those situations and we’ve never opened our mouth. We just weren't willing to suffer shame to be associated with Jesus, because in the end it’s the question of who is He, what do I really think of Him? He’s Lord of glory! God Almighty in flesh, my Redeemer. And one thing is for sure, do you and I want to shrink back before Him at His coming? Most certainly, we do not. don't we want to be rejoicing, don’t we want to be found in Him following closely, walking closely to him not lagging behind not following at a distance and eventually even through our actions, be denying Him. But instead through our approach to God's word and our obedience, our loving obedience, not an obedience that is so that we can somehow gain saving favor with God, or a better position in heaven, because of what we think of Christ, how much He means to us. What a great and mighty Savior, He is.
I want to remind you this morning in closing that, John doesn't record it for us, but Luke does. There's one last thing for instruction here and that is what is Peter's response when his failure has happened. When it’s complete, and he’s fallen? Luke records in verse 60 of Luke 22 Peter said, “man, I do not know what you are talking about” when they said certainly he was with Him. We’re told in another account that he did more than just that, he cursed. He went off the deep end but were told immediately while he was still speaking, a cock crowed. And the Lord turned and just simply looked at Peter, “and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He told him before a cock crows today, you will deny me three times and he went out and wept bitterly.”
I am so thankful for the record of this account. I'm so thankful for the instruction here. You know something, I’m very thankful for Peter's response. That says a lot to me. Peter didn't shrug off and blow off what he’d just done, that moment in time when he looks the Lord in the face, he knows what he's done. He realizes it. He understands the serious nature of what he's just done because Peter ultimately did have respect for the Lord and that's what caused him to weep so bitterly. And it ought to cause us to weep over our unfaithfulness, so that we will be restored to a closer walk with the Lord. Closer than ever before. Let’s bow together in prayer
