I want you to imagine that you walk up to a group of people and they all stop talking. Does that ever happen to you, or does that just happen to pastors like me? I'm not sure. But imagine that in this group of people is someone that you know and love. Imagine it's your best friend growing up, or your spouse, or a sibling that you have, and you hear them saying, "I don't know what you're talking about,” and you realize that what they're talking about when you walk up and everything goes quiet is they're talking about you, and that person that you know and love just acted like they don't know you. They just denied you. That's what we're going to see happens between Peter and Jesus in our text tonight.

So, I invite everybody, please open your Bible with me to Mark, chapter 14, and we're going to finish this chapter, verses 66 to 7. And we're going to see Peter's threefold denial of the Lord Jesus. Now we're using the word “denial” not in the way that it's commonly used in English today, which is that someone's in denial, that they haven't really accepted reality. We're using denial in one of the ways that it's used in the Scripture, which is that you deny acknowledging Jesus as Lord. You don't confess Jesus before men. Instead, you are denying him. And this tragic example is really an account in the Scripture that is meant to bother you about what Peter does here in these verses. So, out of respect for God's Word, I'm going to invite everyone to stand up for the public reading of Scripture, and I'm going to ask you to follow along with me. Mark 14:66-72. If you don't have a Bible, we printed these verses on the handout that's there in your bulletin, if you want to follow along as I read. This is the Word of God.

And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

That's the reading of God's Word. Please go ahead and grab your seat. And if you have that handout, I'd love for you to take some notes, and I'd love for you to circle how Peter “denied” him three times in this text. You can see the first one there in verse 68, and so we just need to note here the intentional contrast between what's going on with Jesus inside in the trial and what's going on with Peter outside in the courtyard, and this is very intentional. If you go back to verses 53 and 54, it talks about Jesus being led to the high priest, and Peter came right into the courtyard of the high priest. So, the whole way that this scene was set up was twofold: That you would see both Jesus going inside, and that you would see what Peter is doing outside. Now, in verse 66, it adds the detail that Peter is outside, below in the courtyard, and Jesus is up here inside on trial, falsely accusing him. And what does Jesus have to do? If you were here last week, maybe you remember that Jesus is forced to bear witness even about himself, and he does.

He's faithful and true to give a witness of who he is, but see, on the outside, Peter's there warming himself by the fire when a servant girl of the high priest sees Peter and she's like, oh so you're with the Nazarene Jesus. Remember Nazareth, Galilee is to the northern part of Israel, and so the people down here in Jerusalem, they can recognize someone who's not from around these parts here, and they can recognize, oh, I see you're from the north, so you must be with Jesus then. And so, you can circle there. That's the first time it says that he denied it. And here his denial is kind of nebulous, like I don't understand what you're talking about. But this servant girl, she is persistent. In verse 69, she's bringing other people in. Like, hey, he's one of them. He's one of the Jesus people. So, verse 70, you can circle it again. He denied it second time. And now, as the crowd kind of gathers, the bystanders they're like, yeah, makes sense; you look like you're from the north. You look like you're from Galilee.

And so, notice down here in verse 71, this is where we realize in verse 71 that Peter's kind of crashing out, to use a phrase we might use these days. Okay? This is, we're in full train wreck mode. I don't know if you've ever been in full train wreck mode, or you've watched one of your family members, perhaps one of your children, go into where it's like they're choosing now. They did it once, they did it twice. Now we're just fully committing to having a bad attitude. Now we're just fully committing to the lie, and that's what happens here. He begins to invoke curses, and he begins to swear. It would say in some translations, he's not cursing like using bad language. He's swearing like making an oath, like I'm telling you the truth. And notice what he's saying. “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” This man, who just hours ago Peter was saying, I will never deny you. I will never fall away. Even if everybody else falls away, I will not fall away. I would rather die than deny you. Here he is saying, I don't even know who you're talking about.

And you can see in verse 72, we’ve get one of our last “immediatelys” in the Gospel of Mark, because right at that moment when he said that he doesn't know who Jesus is, that rooster crows for a second time, and then Peter remembers what Jesus said, and he broke down and he starts weeping, immediately regretting his denial of Jesus. So, this is meant to get you thinking about how messed up it is that Peter did this. See, it's meant to intentionally draw your attention. Wow! Look at what Jesus has to do, where he has to hear all these lies about him, and then he has to speak as a faithful witness at his own trial. And then Peter's out here. Peter, who's the guy who's saying, I'll stand with you to the end, Jesus. And now Peter's out here denying Jesus three times. You're supposed to observe the difference. That's why we're using this picture here because you can see them both interacting with each other, and that's the idea. It's like, notice the contrast of Jesus faithful and true and Peter denying Jesus. Let this bother you. Does it seem messed up that Peter denied Jesus? It's supposed to. See, Mark, the way he writes his gospel, it's not just that you would know the story of Jesus. It's not just that you would see who Jesus is, the Son of Man, seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds. It's not just that you would know what Jesus is going to do when he dies on the cross for your sins, or when he rises on the third day.

See, there's also the reaction of different people. Some people that you would expect to stand firm for Jesus, they end up falling, and then others that you would not expect, they come forward and speak the name of Jesus. And so, Mark wants to tell you what happened with Jesus, but Mark is already in his text wondering how are you going to react to the good news of Jesus Christ? Will you deny him, or will you confess that he is the Christ? Peter is the one who originally made that good confession, and that's why Jesus said, "On this rock,” on your answer that I'm the Christ, I will build my church. But now, Peter is also tragically denying Jesus, and so it begs the question: What will your response to Jesus be?

So, if you're taking notes, let's just review. Number one is “Jesus predicted this.” Jesus predicted this in verses 30 and 31. Mark 14 is a long chapter. Go back to verses 30 and 31. Remember when he was there with his disciples, they had the Last Supper, and then they were on their way to the Mount of Olives. They were going to the Garden of Gethsemane, if you remember that place. And remember how Jesus said, "You will all fall away.” And then Peter said, "I'm not going to fall away, even if all of them do.” And then, in verse 30, Jesus said to him, "Truly I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And here's Peter now, who just said something bold, now he doubles down emphatically. “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” Now it wasn't just Peter; all the other ones said the same thing. But Peter is the focus. Peter is the disciple we come to know and love the most. He's the one that we're rooting for. He's the one we wish he would put his foot in his mouth sometimes, but never has Peter broken our hearts like he does in our text tonight.

And Jesus does hear what he has done so much in the Gospel of Mark that Jesus spoils the plot. Jesus tells you what's going to happen before it happens. Jesus has proven to us again and again that he knows the future as well as the past, and Jesus says, Peter, this is what you're going to do. Now, not only did Jesus predict this, not only did Jesus tell us this before it happened, and so now we want to remember, just as Peter remembered when the rooster crowed for the second time, that Jesus had already said this was going to happen. We want to remember that, but not only did he predict it, Jesus also rebuked Peter. Do you remember that in verse 37?

Let's get that down for number two: “Jesus rebuked him.” And remember when he came and found Peter, James, and John sleeping, when he's over here praying, pouring out his heart to the Father, saying, "Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but what you will.” And he's finding strength in his prayer for three separate hours to the Father, and three separate times he comes back and finds them what, everybody? Sleeping. But notice in verse 37 when he says he came and found them sleeping. So, notice specifically, it draws our attention again to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?” That's why I'm calling it a rebuke. Like you couldn't even just pray for one hour, because Jesus has got two more hours he's going to go pray. And then he says, "Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” What is he implying? That if Peter was prayed up, if Peter was prepared, then maybe Peter would be ready to face the hour of trial that is coming upon him and the rest of the disciples. If he was praying and taking Jesus' warning seriously, maybe he wouldn't fall away. Maybe he wouldn't deny him. But Peter is not praying; he is sleeping. And here's Jesus saying, "Simon, could you not stay awake and watch and pray for one hour?” Hey, you're going to fall into temptation if you don't pray.

So not only is this a tragic moment in the gospel when Peter denies him three times, but we've already got the prediction that this was going to happen, and we already saw that Peter wasn't taking it seriously, and he wasn't preparing himself, and that Jesus was already warning him ahead of time, and Peter didn't listen to the warnings of Christ. And now here he is with a bunch of servants in the courtyard, acting like I don't even know him. I don't even know who you're talking about. I just want you to try to put yourself in a situation where someone that you think is one of your people, and then you heard them say that they don't even know you. How would that make you feel? I want to tell you how that would make you feel. Jesus felt that. Go over to Luke 22 with me, everybody. Turn over to the Gospel of Luke. Luke adds a detail here that goes along with our picture. And I just want to make sure everybody knows this in Luke 22:61-62. Peter just said, man, I do not know what you were talking about. And while he's still speaking, the rooster crowed. Look at this. This is Luke 22:61. Is everybody there with me? Because I want you to see this. That somehow Jesus is up here on trial, and Peter is down here in the courtyard outside. Somehow it says, verse 61 that when the rooster crowed, “the Lord turned and looked at Peter.” You ever made meaningful eye contact with someone before? This could be one of the greatest side eyes in the history of nonverbal communication. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Wow! All these liars up here in the trial, all these servants out here in the courtyard, and somehow, wherever Jesus is up there, and wherever Peter is over by the gate over here, somehow now they can see one another, and Jesus turns and looks right when the rooster crows, like one of the “I told you so” looks of all time. And Peter just crumbles. He remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly. Bitterly, he's crying. He's mourning. He's so sad. What has happened? This is the Peter who was ready to die. This is the Peter who would never fall away, and now he's out here lying in the courtyard when he should be defending Jesus in the trial. And so, he's out here weeping.

So, here's what you need to see. Point number three: “Jesus knows those who deny him.” See, it's not just that Peter did this. The look from Jesus shows us that not only did he know it was going to happen, but he also knew when it happened. And he locked eyes with Peter to show him that he knew it had just happened. See, it's not about some kind of idea of evangelism. It's not about some kind of idea of being a witness. It is about the fact that Jesus promised, "And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” And so, when you either speak up in the name of Jesus, or when you decide to be quiet and act like you don't know Jesus, Jesus knows every time. Jesus is there. He's present. He's with you, and he's aware of those who testify and confess his name, and of those who are ashamed and decide they want to keep their faith in Jesus to them so they don't want to go public with their faith. They want to keep it private. When you do that, if you do that, Jesus knows that you do that, and this is one of the fundamental teachings of Jesus. If you're a disciple of Jesus, if you were one of the people following Jesus around to hear the words of eternal life that he would teach, if you're one of the people who want to know how you can keep the commands of Christ as a disciple, fundamentally, one of the things that Jesus teaches is you're not really one of my people if you deny me.

Go with me to Luke 12. We're in Luke 22. Go back to Luke 12, and we could go to this in Matthew 10. We could go to this in Mark 8. In all these synoptic gospels, there are examples of this even in 1 John and the Gospel of John. You cannot hear the teaching of Jesus without hearing him say something along the lines of what he says in Luke 12:8-9. Peter is now exemplifying a principle that Jesus has already been teaching earlier in the gospel, and in Luke, chapter 12, verse 8, he says, " “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, 9 but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.” Jesus is always going to lay it out like that, like, this is how it's going to work. If you're out there confessing me, if you're out there speaking my name, if you're always ready to give a reason for the hope that you have in Christ, then you can have confidence that Jesus is up there claiming you as one of his people in front of the angels, in front of the Father. But if you're denying Jesus, then he wants to teach that you should expect he's doing the same about you in heaven.
Now, this doesn't mean that acknowledging Jesus is some kind of work that you would do to be saved. That's not what Jesus is teaching. He's not teaching a works-based righteousness. No, what he's saying is that evidence of people who have been made right with God, evidence of people who have a new heart in the Holy Spirit, evidence of people who have salvation is they will speak the name of Jesus. They will not deny him. Those who deny him should not expect that Jesus knows them and claims them in heaven. That's what he teaches. That's how he lays it out in Matthew 10:32-33. In Mark 8:38, he said, if you're ashamed of me, I'll be ashamed of you when I come with all my angels at the end of everything. Even in First John, it's like those who deny the Christ, that's of the Antichrist.

So, this is very clear, and Jesus, he's not apologizing. Jesus, he's not trying to say, I know this might sound a little harsh. Jesus is just saying it how it is, and what only Jesus can do. You're either with me or you're not with me. And one of the ways you can know you're with me is if you will confess me, acknowledge me, own me in front of other people. If you don't want to own me in front of other people, if you want to deny me, well then, that should tell you where you're at with me. That's what Jesus teaches. And so, Jesus knows. Do you realize that right now, as Jesus looks at everybody, as his eyes go to and fro over the hearts of everyone in this auditorium this evening, Jesus knows those who confess his name, and Jesus knows those who deny him. It's not a mystery to Jesus which one of those two you are sitting here tonight. He already knows. He already sees you that way, and that's what he teaches us. That he knows those who confess him, and he knows those who deny him, and he's looking from his trial all the way across the courtyard to Peter, and he's making eye contact because he wants all of us to see that he already knows where we're at with him.
Now, I was blessed to grow up going to church, but I can tell you one of the worst parts for me going to church is that when I started learning this about Jesus, people acted like I was weird. People acted like, well, that's just maybe for you. That's just your personality. Maybe you're just an evangelist. Maybe you were just born that way. Like you want to be a witness. I can testify to everybody here today, I wasn't born that way. I was born in sin. I was born dead in sin. And Jesus is the reason I'm alive. He gave me a new life through his death and resurrection, and I would prefer to just keep my mouth shut. Honestly, I would prefer to just not raise a ruckus.

But then I started to listen to what Jesus said, and I heard Jesus make it a deal breaker. I heard Jesus act like I couldn't go to school and hear kids making inappropriate jokes about religious things like Jesus and just act like I didn't hear them, and I didn't know what they were talking about. I couldn't go to school and hear one of my teachers totally badmouth the Bible, totally badmouth Jesus, and not act like I didn't have anything to say about it. I couldn't live my life here in the entire world, talking bad about my Savior, and act like I'm just keeping it private over here. Everything's cool with me. I realized that if I kept doing that, I would be a hypocrite, not a hypocrite in front of other people, a hypocrite in the worst place you can be, a hypocrite before Jesus Christ. That I would sing songs for him at church, and I would raise my hand to answer the questions at church. And at school I didn't want people to know that I knew him, and I realized that he would not find that acceptable, and if I stood before him, he would not be pleased with me, and I had to repent before the Lord Jesus. I will speak your name, and I've been trying to do that. And people act like, what's your problem that you want to speak his name? And I'm here to say tonight, what's your problem that you don't?

I'm not meant to be a unique Christian because I want to talk about Jesus. Every single Christian talks about Jesus. He defines the relationship. He defines who are his people and who are not his people. And the master says, if you don't want to talk about him, don't expect him to talk about you. That's what the master says. You can listen to the words of the master, or you can reject them. That's up to you. But Christian people speak the name of Christ. We do not live in denial. What Peter did here is meant to be unacceptable in the minds of everyone. It's meant to be lying. It's meant to be downright despicable. The way he starts muttering oaths like he's telling the truth when we all know he's not telling the truth. We're supposed to think, oh, that's not okay what Peter just did. We're not supposed to think, well, yeah, you could do that too. It's okay if you want to be a Christian and not tell anybody. We're supposed to think, wow, Peter really messed up, and we're supposed to learn from like a bad example in this case.

So, I want to ask you: Do you deny Jesus, or do you confess his name? And I want to tell you that he already knows. And you might think people at church are deceived, but Jesus knows exactly who you are, and he knows that when they ask you a reason for the hope that you have, Jesus already knows whether you're ready to give an answer or whether you're ready to keep him to yourself. And so, I want you to think about the fact that Jesus knows if you're in denial or if you're ready to be his witness, and what should you do in response to this knowledge of Jesus?

Now, we just had this men's conference. We talked about this guy Moses, and Moses, he denied himself, and so it's really interesting how this worked out because Moses denied himself, like how it says in Luke 9:23, “let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” So, the same word for denial is used in a very positive way, where it says that you should deny yourself. But then, it's used in this negative way that we're studying here with Peter, where you deny Christ. So, there's a way that you should be in denial to yourself. There's a way you should not be in denial towards Jesus. And what we found at this men's conference is that I already heard from some men was very encouraging to them is we went back to Moses, Moses the man of God. Moses, you think of him like Charlton Heston, with the beard, right? You think of him parting the Red Sea. You think of him with the two tablets of stone.

The man who's the first author of Scripture. He wrote the first five scrolls. Moses, God must have chosen him because of his prowess at public speaking and his ability to write good. I said that intentionally, okay, he must have chosen Moses because Moses must have a way with words, right? What does Moses say to God when God informs Moses from a burning bush that he's going to have the awesome privilege of being the man who tells Pharaoh on God's behalf, "Let my people go,” and becoming worldwide famous for the rest of human history for being God's man between his people. What did Moses say? Oh, “but I'm not good at” what? “I'm not good at speaking.” I'm not good at using my mouth. Maybe my brother could come and help me, is what he said. God got angry with Moses because of his response, where he wasn't willing. He's like, who do you think made your mouth? Who do you think decides if people are going to be able to speak or not? I will be with you. I just sent you to Pharaoh, and you're going to make this about your mouth? I will be with your mouth. See, if you think, well, the people who speak about Jesus, they must be a certain personality type, they must have a certain gift of public speaking. That's not true. Moses wasn't like that. No, God can use anyone. All it takes is somebody who really wants to know Jesus and to make him known, and God can use that person in a powerful way. All it takes is somebody who doesn't want to deny Jesus, but they want to confess his name because they actually believe in him by faith.

And so, this is a heavy story for us to hear tonight because Peter, the way he just acted, whoa, that completely betrays everything Peter's been saying throughout the gospel. It betrays Jesus himself, so it can sound like this super downer story. But there's another way to look at it. Go back to Luke 22 and let me show you some other things about this same story. Look at Luke 22, and look at what it says in verse 31. Something we did not get in the Gospel of Mark, but something that happened before Peter denies Jesus three times. Jesus says to Simon, in fact, he uses his name twice in Luke 22:31. He says, "Simon, Simon, behold,” hey Simon, come here, listen to this. “Satan demanded to have you.” Like remember when Satan goes and says, "What about Job?” Right, or God says, and they have that conversation about Job, and Satan's like, "Yeah, well now it feels like there's a conversation going on about Simon, about Peter. “Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Did Jesus know that Peter wasn't going to pray and get prepared? So, guess what Jesus did? He interceded on his behalf.

So, let's go back up to point number one, and instead of saying, “Jesus predicted,” let's cross that out and let's say, “Jesus prayed,” because Jesus already knowing that Peter would deny him, already knowing that Satan was trying to crush him, trying to get after him, trying to accuse him. What is Jesus doing? He's already standing in the gap for Peter. So, if it looks like Jesus is being harsh when he predicts it, or he rebukes Peter, or he's trying to prepare Peter. Well, Jesus is not being harsh. Jesus is actually preparing by praying for Peter himself. And what is he praying for Peter? That his faith won't fail. This is a great example. The most important thing you can pray for people you love is to pray for their faith. That's a great thing to pray for other people. And Jesus is praying that for Peter. And because he knows he's going to deny him, what does he talk about? When you have what turned again, turning, the idea of turning around, is often associated with what? Repentance. A change of mind. So as soon as Peter denies Jesus for the third time, and the rooster crows for the second time, what does Peter start doing? He starts weeping, and apparently those are godly sorrow tears of repentance, because Peter is genuinely sorry that he denied Jesus, and he's going to turn back to Jesus. And then what is Peter going to do as he turns back? He's going to be one who's going to speak in such a way that he will strengthen the brothers, that he will build up the church. And so, look at how Jesus is actually praying for Peter. Hey, you're not praying, lead me not into temptation.

So, Jesus is already praying for Peter's restoration, and the restoration of Peter is one of the great passages in all of Scripture. Go to John 21:15, and let's go now to the follow-up conversation that Jesus and Peter have after the fact. They had a look at the moment, but later on, if you can go to John 21:15, we can see that Jesus intentionally has a conversation with Simon Peter. And If you get the whole context here in John 21, this is after Jesus dies and rises again, and he begins to appear to his disciples, and here that some of them are going fishing again, which could even imply that they're kind of going back to their own ways. Perhaps they're losing heart, and so they're going fishing again. And all of a sudden, Jesus calls to them, and he says, hey, why don't you guys try casting that net on the other side of the boat? Because they've been out there and they caught no fish and now Jesus, doing a little flex on them here says, maybe try the other side of the boat. And they caught so many fish that they they're not able to haul the net in because of the quantity of fish. And then John realizes and he says to Peter “It's the Lord,” and as soon as Peter knows it's the Lord, in classic Peter fashion, he put on his outer garment and he throws himself into the sea, and then they all drag this net full of fish up, and Jesus, he's apparently got breakfast for him there on the beach, and after this breakfast, look at verse 15. “Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ He said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me? He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was grieved because he said it to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go. This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God. And after saying this, he said to him, "Follow me.”
See, growing up, going to the church, I think I read this whole conversation the wrong way. See, sometimes people, when they would preach this passage, they would make a distinction between the agape and the philia love here, that he uses when he's asking him three different times, "Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? And what does Peter say all three times when he's asked the question, "Do you love me?” What's Peter’s answer, everybody? His answer is, yes. And what does he say after yes? He says, "You know,” and that's 100% true. Did Jesus know when he denied him? Does Jesus know if he loved him? So, even when it says the third time, yes, I think there's real significance in the fact that he asks him three times because there's real significance in the fact that he denied him three times, and there's the real significance in the fact that he didn't pray three times. So, yes, the three times are very important. And when he says it for the third time, Peter is grieved. But here's how I heard it growing up at church is Jesus is making Peter feel bad. But here's how I think it actually is is Peter really does feel bad? Peter is legitimately sorry that he denied Jesus. I don't think that Jesus is making Peter feel bad. I think Peter already does feel bad, and I think Jesus is doing the opposite of making Peter feel bad. I think he's saying, Peter, yes, I do know that you love me. Yes, I do know that you love me. Yes, I do know that you love me. In fact, I know that you love me all the way to the point that you really will die for me.

I mean, that sounds terrible to hear that you're going to die. It sounds beautiful to know that you will remain firm in your faith to the very end. And it's almost like he's recommissioning, he's recalling him. It's almost like we have a clean slate, and that denial is all behind us, and we can move forward now. When he says to him, "Follow me,” I think this is one of the greatest examples of restoration that you will see in all of the Scripture.

Let's go back to number two. Let's rethink number two. Instead of the rebuke, let's see how Jesus restored Peter, and let's see how he built him back up. Let's see how he said, yes, you're going to be the one feeding my sheep. You're going to be the one tending my lambs. You're going to be the one strengthening your brothers. You're going to be the primary spokesperson of the gospel on the streets of Jerusalem. Yes, Peter, I do know that you love me. Yes, Peter, I do know that you love me. Yes, Peter, you're going to die for me because you love me. Peter, follow me. I guarantee you, that wasn't the last time that Peter thought about those words that Jesus said to him to follow him, and I guarantee you, Peter felt so great that he had a fresh opportunity, that he was forgiven, and that he was restored in being a servant, a disciple of the Lord.

You should write down under the renewed point number two, Galatians 6:1. When you confront someone about sin, the goal is always restoration. The goal is not to make people feel bad about their sin, although hopefully they do feel bad about their sin if they're really sorry about it. But it's not for you to make people feel bad, it's actually for you to build the ones who do feel bad up again, to restore them, that you can be used by God, you can love God, you can be forgiven, you can follow. In fact, you can go all the way to the end. You can stand firm in the faith. This is a great example, not only of praying for Peter before he denied him, but coming alongside of Peter and restoring Peter, so that now, man, have you seen Peter in the Book of Acts? Have you read about this guy? Have you listened to some of his preaching? Have you seen how he ended up not in the courtyard? He ended up in Acts, chapter 4. Let's all turn there. Let's go forward to Acts, chapter 4, because here you've got Peter preaching in the streets of Jerusalem to thousands of people. In Acts, chapter 3, there's a man who's healed and he turns it into a sermon on repentance. In Acts, chapter 4, they're raising such a ruckus in the name of Jesus in the streets of Jerusalem that now he ends up in front of the priests and the captains of the temple. Here, in Acts, chapter 4, Peter and John end up before the council. You see what happens? The guy who was denying him in the courtyard is now the man on trial, and now they're coming after him, and they're saying, "In whose name?” Look at the direct question: By what power or by what name did you do this? You see how we've got the high priest there. This isn't the servant of the high priest. This isn't the servant girl out there in the courtyard with the other servants. We're now in front of the high priest. We’ve got Ananias, we got Caiaphas, we got the head honchos of the Jewish religion. We have the men who are responsible for the murder of Jesus, and now they're coming after Peter and John, and they're asking a direct question in front of the whole council: In whose name did you do this? And look at this denier. Look at what he says. “Then Peter,” this is key, “filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you. Well, this Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

You want to talk about an example of repentance? You want to talk about someone who is no longer afraid to speak his name. The transformation of Peter, the denier, Peter, the bold witness, from the disciple to the apostle, is profound. And the purpose of this story, the reason that you and I are here tonight to think about how three times he denied him is to show that it is not based on who you are as a person to speak the name of Jesus. It is based on the power of the Holy Spirit to speak the name of Jesus. That is the difference between Peter in the Gospels and Peter in the Book of Acts, and it says it very clearly in verse 8. “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit.” Did he have the Spirit when he was out in the courtyard with the servants? No, he did not. Did he have the Spirit when he was in front of the council himself? Yes, he most definitely did. It's not an issue of your personal ability to speak, it's an issue of the power of the Spirit of God living within you.

Did you notice we have a second point number three for our happier version of this tale, for our restoration version of this tale? Our second point number three is that “Jesus knows the Spirit will bear witness.” That's how this works. I'm not telling you to go be a witness. I'm saying let the Spirit be a witness through you. It's not about you even knowing what to say. It's not about you even having a right way to do it. It is about believing that God is in you and he will speak through you, and he will let them know who it is. His name is Jesus. That's what it is. Everybody who acts like, well, I can't speak to people because I don't know enough, or I can't speak to people because I'm not that kind of person, you're not a Holy Spirit kind of person, because that's all it takes. That's a radical difference in Peter, a fisherman. I mean, isn't that the whole point here in Acts 4? What is the whole impressiveness of this in verse 13? What is the response of this bloodthirsty group of men who already killed Jesus based on his own witness? Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished, and they recognized that they had been with who, everybody? Remember when all the servants were saying, we're pretty sure you were with Jesus, and he's like, I don't know what you're talking about. Now he's talking in such a way that everybody knows what he's talking about, and we read it so wrong because we think, Oh, Peter must really be the man. When the whole point of him being humbled and laid bare before us was we would not be impressed with Peter the man, but we would be impressed with the difference the Holy Spirit can make in a man's life, a common, uneducated man. That's the examples we're given. There's a reason everybody knows they were fishermen, not exactly guys going to elite schools, seminaries, Bible colleges. No, they'd been with Jesus. They have the Spirit, and they're letting the world hear it.

Go with me back to Luke, chapter 12, and look at the second part of his teaching. After Jesus gave that strong call out. If you deny me, you should expect to get denied by me. Whoa, that's intense. But look at what he says a little bit later on in that same part of Luke, chapter 12, that he's told this to his disciples. He said it to them ahead of time, and we need to all hear this together here this evening in Luke 12:11, “When they bring you before the synagogues, when they bring you before the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself.” And notice, specifically, he says, "Do not be anxious about what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” This was very true for Peter and John. This is also true for me and you.

You can write down under our second point, number three, 2 Corinthians 5:20, which talks about us being ambassadors. We are the official representatives of heaven here on earth. We are not meant to fit in with the world. We're meant to be in the world, but not of the world. So, we could speak the truth to the world. Everyone needs to come to the knowledge of the truth that there is only one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave his life as a ransom for all at the appointed time. And how are you and I going to be able to speak such a thing? Well, it's not going to be about you, and it's not going to be about me. It's going to be about God making his appeal through us. We implore you, on behalf of God, be reconciled to God. One of the great thrills that you can experience on this planet, one of the most exciting moments that you can know in this life, is when you realize you're having a conversation with someone, and Jesus is there, and you're talking about him, and you're telling him about them, and you're boasting about what he's done for us on the cross, and you're proclaiming the good news that he rose from the dead, and you're giving them the name that could save their eternal soul, and you realize that all the things you're saying, and the things you're suddenly remembering, and the clarity that you have, and the ability to speak freely that you have, is not based on you, but it is actually a spiritual thing that is taking place because the Spirit of the Living God living in you is speaking through you. And you're thinking, I haven't thought of that verse in a long time, and I've never said anything like that before. But I was listening to what they said, and I was trusting that God would give me the words to say, and now I find that something is happening here that is beyond me.

No one is getting saved because of your ability to speak. People get saved because the Spirit speaks through you. So, when you say I can't tell people about Jesus, what Jesus hears is you're saying I don't have the Holy Spirit because he says the Spirit will give you the words to say. You don't have to be afraid. You don't have to be anxious. What's the worst thing the world could do to you? What did they do to Peter? What did they do to Paul? What did they do to so many? They set them free. To live is Christ; to die is gain. And let me tell you that every single one of you who opened your mouth in the name of Jesus, he's listening. He knows. And if everybody else disowns you, he will not. He will speak your name in front of the angels. He will speak your name in front of his Father. He will speak your name, and it will ring out, echoing through the heavens, all because little old you spoke his name here on earth, because he gave you his spirit. That's what Peter ended up doing.

Peter ended up saying things that the world is still listening to, because the Spirit of God came upon him with power, and made him from someone who denied Jesus to one of his witnesses. You can be one of his witnesses. All you’ve got to do is be saved by Jesus Christ and have the Spirit of the Living God. He'll give you the words. He'll move your mouth. He has the power. You can go from a denier to being a witness. That's what happened to Peter. Let me pray for us.

Father, we come before you, and we want to confess that we don't confess, God. I just want to lift up everybody here tonight who's knowing after this sermon, that they also deny you like Peter did in that courtyard three times. God, I pray that they would see that it doesn't have to keep being that way. I pray they would be encouraged, maybe convicted, maybe grieved, but I pray that they would be encouraged by how you prayed for Peter, by how you restored Peter, by how you promised your Spirit to Peter, and how when your Holy Spirit came upon him with a mighty rushing wind, with tongues of fire, that Peter spoke in such a way that people were cut to the heart. Peter spoke in such a way that crowds gathered around by the thousands. Peter spoke in such a way that even the enemies, the killers of Christ, had to admit that he was speaking boldly, because he was filled with your Spirit. God, let us see that we have the same Spirit. Let us see that we have the same power. Let us see that we could be your witnesses. We don't have to deny you if we have your Spirit in us. We can speak the name of Jesus. So, God, I pray for the deniers that they would repent, and I pray for the witness that they would be bold, and I pray for the witnesses here tonight. I pray for those who faithfully carry the name of Jesus all across this land. I pray that they will realize it's not up to them; that they don't need to feel burdened, they don't need to feel afraid, they don't need to wonder about what they're going to say. They just need to be filled with your Spirit to get your Word on their heart, to be thinking about Jesus every day in their lives, and then you will speak through them. God. I pray that we could all say here tonight together, what a joy it is to follow Jesus. I pray that we could all see Jesus taking Peter along by the Sea of Galilee. Do you love me, Peter? You know that I do, Lord. Do you love me, Peter? Oh, you know that I do. Do you love me, Peter? Three times, and Jesus knew the answer already every time, because Jesus always knows the answer. He knew that Peter loved him, and he said to him, "Follow me.” How could Jesus go and testify that he's the Son of Man, that he's at the right hand of power, that he's coming on the clouds, and us know that Jesus bore witness, and then we go and be silent. God, I pray that we would follow Jesus. I pray that we would be his witnesses to the end of the earth. I pray that we would not be ashamed to speak his name, because we know that he's not ashamed to speak our name in heaven. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.