The Sacrifice of the King Pt 4

Good morning. I want to welcome all of you to Calvary Chapel this morning. Would you stand with us this morning as we begin to worship? And we want to welcome those online that have joined us. Would you join me in prayer? Father, we thank you for this opportunity together this morning to worship you in song and to study your Word, Lord. Obviously, Lord, we come to you just as we

are, and you know what each of us brings. You know what we've looked at and what we've faced through the week, whatever that might be, and we thank you that you're faithful, Lord. We thank you for this opportunity to, just as we are, worship you, letting it go, and just, Father, just pouring out our hearts to you, Lord. Strengthen us. Lord, this morning, help us not be inhibited, but to just let go, because you're worth all the

praise and worship we can give you, Lord. You're so good to us. We praise you, Lord. And as we're celebrating and considering your birth and all, Lord, we thank you for your death and resurrection. Bless our time, we ask, Lord. I searched the world. It couldn't fill me. Empty prayers. Praise and treasures of faith are never enough. You came along and put me back together, and everything is now satisfied.

You're in your love, nothing, nothing, I'm afraid to show you my weakness. Troubles and flaws, Lord, you've seen them all, and you still call me friend, because of God. The God of the mountains is the God of the valley. There's not a place your mercy and grace won't find me again.

Lord, there's nothing, nothing is better than to turn shame into glory.

You can have a seat if you like.

Father, we thank you that you are the one who actually begins to shape and transform us. Into what you have chosen for us to be. We know we're not to be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renew of our mind, Lord. Presenting ourselves as living sacrifices. We thank you for your faithfulness and your unfailing love. You're so good to us, Lord Jesus.

Am I, and I am yours for my strength, God of grace and power and fame. You're holy. You're holy. You're holy. You're holy. You're holy. You're holy. You're holy. You're holy. You're holy. You're holy. You're holy. You're holy. You're holy. Still, You make time for me. attrckflt, I can understand Praise you, God of earth and sky! How beautiful is Your unfailing love.

You've never changed God, You're real. Do you make time for me I can understand Praise you, God of earth and sky! How beautiful is You're unfailing are You've never changed God, You How rich, how full, how measureless His love is for us, Lord. We thank You, Lord Jesus. Earth, You never failed me. And all my days, I've been held in Your hand. From the moment that I wake up, until I lay my head,

I will sing of the goodness of God.

I've been faithful, I've been so, so good. With every breath that I am made of the goodness of God.

In the darkest night, You are close like no other. I've known You as a Father, I've known You as a friend. In the goodness of God. I've been faithful, I've been so, so good. With every breath that I am made of the goodness of God. The goodness is running after, it's running after me. The goodness is running after, it's running after me. With my life laid down, I surrender now.

I give You everything. The goodness is running after, it's running after, it's running after me. The goodness is running after, it's running after me. With my life laid down, I surrender now. I give You everything. Your goodness is running after, it's running after me.

I've been faithful, all my life You have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God. I will sing. I will sing of the goodness of God.

We praise You for Your goodness, Your mercy, Your truth, Your sovereignty, Your loving kindness, Lord.

I see the king of the earth shakes, the whole earth shakes. I see His love and mercy washing over all my sins. The people sing. The people sing. Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna. I see a generation rising up to take their place, with selfless faith, with selfless faith. I see a near revival stirring as we pray and see.

Hosanna. would you all stand save now hosanna lord we do ask that where our heart needs healing would you heal it lord and where our heart needs breaking would you break it lord as hard as that is and make it clean lord before you we give you praise we look to you the author and finisher of our faith the god who loves us who died for us on that cross lord and we thank you and so father would you continue to bless our service as ryan comes up to teach your word lord we pray lord that you would anoint him by the power of your holy spirit in jesus name amen let's have some fellowship guys good morning if you could begin to locate your seats grab a bulletin we'll get ready to go over some announcements welcome to

calvary chapel we're glad you're here this morning in your bulletins over on the left hand side as always those are the things that are going on during the week over in the middle section of your bulletin some things to pay attention to just to remind your christmas eve service will be at 6 p.m candlelight service so come join us for that on christmas eve and then christmas morning there will only be one service that morning and it's at 10 30 and again it's going to be a very kind of family christmas service so very relaxed uh but there will also be cookies for the chrome crunchers and the pastor so um uh if you are interested in bringing cookies uh there's a sign-up sheet out in the lobby

and so if you want to bring some cookies however much you want to bring um just have them here hopefully by christmas eve so that we can get those set out for christmas morning bring the kids in get them a cookie bring them in here we'll do the christmas service together it'll be fun so um and then a couple of other things um or one other thing excuse me there will be no young adult uh bible study uh until the first of january uh well not necessarily the first of january but the beginning of january and then we're going to have a little bit of a little bit of a he's taking a couple of weeks off so those are the things that are going on if you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced and then before we do our responsive reading this morning

we get to do a baby dedication so come on up guys as they're working their way up here with their family i'll remind you all kind of what we do here um we don't believe in infant baptism because baptism is a decision that has to be made by an individual when they really understand what that means after they've been born in christmas so we're going to do a little bit of a baby dedication again however we do believe that uh we should dedicate our kids to the lord and of course this is found for us in the book of first samuel hannah had like your candy cane there uh hannah had been praying for a baby and she surrendered to the lord and said if you give me a son i will dedicate him

to you and so and so that's exactly what she did she dedicated her son samuel to the service of the lord and so that's what we want to do with little oliver here although you don't get to come live here at the church you get to stay with mom and dad but uh but we're going to do a baby dedication but we are going to dedicate you to the lord are you willing to come see me you want to come say hi to me this is oliver fitzpatrick rizzio say hi everybody you say hi i don't know if you can see that but he did do this so so he is he is saying hi we're going to pray okay yep she's right there she's not going anywhere she could hold your hand even yep life's good right all right let's pray

father we come before you and lord i thank you so much for this young life lord for this this little child that has been made in your image that you knit together and lord you have such a beautiful plan for his life and so lord i just want to dedicate him to you now father that that he would be a young man that is dedicated to the knowledge of you and the service of you father we trust him into your hands for his protection lord we trust you into trust him into your hands for his growth both physically emotionally and spiritually and lord i just lift up this family as they seek to raise these kids and the nurture and the admonition of the lord and just ask that your holy spirit would fall upon this family now that they

would be exactly who you've created for them to be father we thank you and we praise you in jesus name amen you say amen amen okay you can go back see mom now and here you go well i'll entrust you with that all right love you guys tiny little chunks they're great okay for our responsive reading this morning we are going to be in psalm 11 psalm 11 as always looking at the new american standards so we sound the same if you need a copy should be one around you and as you're turning to psalm 11 if you would stand in the honor of the reading of god's word i will read the odd verses if you will read along with pastor allen and the even verses psalm 11 for the choir director a psalm of david

in the lord i take refuge how can you say to my soul flee as a bird to your mountain for behold the wicked bend the bow they make ready their arrow upon the string to shoot in darkness at the upright and heart if the foundations are destroyed what can the righteous do the lord is in his holy temple the lord's throne is in heaven his eyes behold his eyelids test the sons of men the lord tests the sons of men the lord tests the sons of men the lord tests the sons of the righteous and the wicked and the one who loves violence his soul hates upon the wicked he will rain snares fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup and read verse seven with me for the lord is righteous he loves righteousness the upright will behold his face

and father we do praise you for your righteousness and lord that you saw fit to grant us that same righteousness because of the work of jesus christ and the work of the lord and the lord and the lord and the lord and the christ on the cross and so lord as we continue to enter our way closer to that story we ask that you would continue to do your work in our hearts and lives lord making us even more aware of the great salvation that we have in you i ask lord that you would move by the power of your holy spirit this morning teaching us what we need to be taught lord comforting us where we need comfort and convicting us where that conviction is needed and lord we just lift these things to you in jesus name amen you may be seated

if you would open up in your bibles to the gospel of matthew chapter 26 matthew 26 if it feels like we've been in matthew chapter 26 for a long time it's because we have okay so i always label these things in my computer when i put my uh when i put my outline together i don't give them the title that i give to you guys because that's too many words to put in the title i just put the chapter in the part number and usually it's like this chapter part two and this is matthew chapter 26 and i put my outline together and i don't give them the title that i part four so uh which is kind of where we are in our uh in our study here in our series this morning uh the sacrifice of the king part four in particular what we're talking about though the

subheading this morning is the trials we won't make it through all of the trials that jesus goes through today i was trying to but my gosh that's a lot of uh there's a lot of scripture to cover and i couldn't quite get to it but there's four trials that we're actually going to see in chapters 26 and 27 all together and the four trials are the one that we're going to see in chapter 26 and number one we'll see the trial of jesus number two we'll see the trial of peter number three we'll see the trial of judas and then number four we'll see the trial of pilot and barabbas today we'll cover the first two we'll look at the trial of jesus and we'll look at the trial of peter last

time that we left jesus and the disciples they had been in the garden of gethsemane they left the upper room after jesus had told them that one would betray and that one that would betray who we know is judas had left to go find the leaders so that they could meet jesus wherever judas decided would be a good spot to meet him and jesus and his disciples left the upper room and as they left the upper room he had told his disciples you're all going to be made to stumble because of me tonight you will all flee because as it says in the scripture strike the shepherd and the sheep will flee and of course peter piped up peter pipe anyway so peter spoke up no pun intended to that whatsoever peter spoke up and

he was like listen everybody else may do that but not me and jesus said oh peter you're going to deny me three times before the rooster crows and so they head into the garden and he tells them watch and pray so jesus goes off to pray and those three amazing prayers of surrender that we see jesus make to the father there and as he makes those three prayers of surrender each time he comes back and finds his disciples sleeping and he gives him this one statement a statement that i'll address again at the end of the sermon watch and pray lest you enter into temptation that's what he tells his disciples to do and finally the third time he tells and he finds him sleeping and with that great settled resolve he said the time has come my

betrayer is at hand and so at that point in time jesus is arrested and as he is arrested of course all of the disciples flee they scatter he says let these guys go and that's exactly what they do and that's where we last left jesus and his disciples and so what we're going to see today is we will see jesus taken into the home of caiaphas the high priest for trial so we'll pick up on the first section of today's message and we're going to look at the first section of today's message which is the trial of jesus verse 57 of chapter 26 those who had seized jesus led him away to caiaphas the high priest where the scribes and the elders were gathered together but peter was

following at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest and entered in sat down with the officers to see the outcome now the chief priests and the whole council kept trying to obtain false testimony against jesus so that they might him to death they did not find any even though many false witnesses came forward but later too came forward and said this man stated i am able to destroy the temple of god and to rebuild it in three days the high priest stood up and said do you not answer what is it that these men testify against you but jesus kept silent the high priest said to him i adjure you by the living god that you tell us whether you are the true god or not you are the true god or not you are the true god

christ the son of god jesus said to him you've said it yourself nevertheless i tell you here after you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven then the high priest tore his robes and said he has blasphemed what further need do we have of witnesses behold you have now heard the blasphemy what do you think and they answered he deserves death they spat in his face they beat him with their fists and others slapped him and prophesied to us you christ who is the one who hit you as we begin this section on the trial of jesus we see first of all that a scene is set the scene begins with it saying that those who had

arrested him led him to the home of caiaphas the high priest matthew leaves out one detail that some other gospel writers include and that's that they actually started off at the home of annis now there was a real high priest and there was an appointed high priest the real high priest is who israel recognized the appointed high priest was who the roman government recognized the real high priest was annis who was the father-in-law of caiaphas but the appointed high priest that the roman government recognized was caiaphas himself and so he was first taken to the home of annis which only lasted a very short time just enough time for caiaphas to gather the elders and the

priests the elders and the scribes and after they had gathered the elders and the scribes they met at caiaphas's house the elders and the scribes are oftentimes referred to as the ruling religious body of the jewish people a word you've perhaps heard before the word sanhedrin they were the ones who set the course for the religious system there in israel and so there jesus is in the home of caiaphas the high priest along with the sanhedrin surrounding him where he will stand trial but there's one portion of the scene that's also set for us and that has to do with peter it says that peter followed at a distance and as he followed at a distance he found himself in the courtyard of the home hoping to find out what the outcome of

things was going to be now the real issue was not that peter followed at a distance that wasn't the problem the real issue was that he followed at all jesus had told them what they needed to do they needed to go watch and pray and they needed to scatter out he said strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered he even told the religious leaders let these guys go they have nothing to do with this peter should have stayed either in the garden or in the garden and they were gone somewhere with the disciples and watched and prayed for his savior watched and prayed for his master as he dealt with what would be the most difficult trial of his life but we'll deal with

peter again in just a moment and so as the scene is set the trial now begins before we get into the trial though i want to point something out to you everything about this trial as far as jewish law was concerned was illegal as a matter of fact i wrote down a handful of the things that were about the trial that's taking place before us first of all according to jewish law a trial could not take place at night which is exactly when this trial is taking place according to jewish law criminal cases could not be tried during the passover season which is exactly when this trial is taking place according to jewish law only an acquittal could be issued on the day of trial guilty verdicts had to wait one night to allow for feelings of mercy

to rise according to jewish law all the evidence had to be guaranteed by at least two witnesses who were separately examined and could not have contact with each other according to jewish law false witness a false witness was punishable by death nothing of course was done to these false witnesses and last of all according to jewish law a trial always began by bringing forth evidence for the innocence of the accused before the evidence of guilt was offered this is just a handful of the things that was illegal about the trial that was taking place and isn't it amazing that what we'll find throughout this trial of jesus is that they will do exactly what jesus said that they would do they would strain in a gnat but they would

swallow a camel because in so many ways they would find minute ways where they kept the law and yet in so many ways they violated it in the most blatant ways possible that's what happens to us as humans so we begin the trial and it begins like this it says in verse 59 now the chief priests and the whole council kept trying to find false testimony against jesus that they might put him to death they did not find any even though many false witnesses came forward so essentially they had talked to people ahead of time and said i need you to bring this forward about jesus false testimony about him about the things that he'd done only one aspect that they were keeping is guaranteeing that two witnesses

found that could agree on the false testimony but they couldn't find two guys that could agree isn't that amazing you throw a whole bunch of people in a room and you can't find two people that'll that'll agree on any story if two people ever agree on one story there's one thing you always know it's probably not the truth and so they can't find these two witnesses that will agree with each other until one thing arises two witnesses came forward with a story that they could finally agree upon it says but later on verse 60 two came forward and said this man stated i am able to destroy the temple of god and to rebuild it in three days the high priest stood up and said to him do you not answer a couple of witnesses

came forward and said well i remember him speaking against the temple as a matter of fact when he spoke against the temple he said he would tear the temple down rebuild it himself but he said he would tear the temple down speaking against the temple according to jewish law was blasphemy now of course they took jesus's words out of context as a matter of fact not only did they take them out of context but they absolutely twisted them this is a statement that jesus actually made in the gospel of john but we know according to john's testimony according to his commentary on it jesus wasn't speaking about the temple building he was speaking about the temple of his body saying that if you tear this temple down then in three days i will raise it up again

speaking of his resurrection but of course they twisted his words they finally found something that they could agree on and they twisted those words and as they did so of course the high priest looks at him and says are you able to speak against this don't you answer what is it that these men are testifying against you and there's one little statement that's made that i find to be an interesting statement at the beginning of verse 63 it says but jesus kept silent if you're a person that likes to underline that would be an interesting one to underline because i think that that little phrase speaks volumes about who jesus is and about everything that's taking place in this

trial because jesus absolutely kept silent in this entire time until he was commanded to speak he would not say anything i want you to think about what that would have been like for jesus because we're not told how long this trial lasts at least not in matthew's gospel but it had to have lasted a while it had to have taken some time for men to come together to gather enough evidence that they could falsify to bring against jesus and the entire time they're hurling accusations against him false accusations nonetheless impugning his character impugning his abilities speaking against the very core of who he was and jesus stood there and took it all and kept silent he didn't say anything the entire time now there's two things that i would like to

point out to you about that one is theological in nature the other is very practical in nature if you would go with me to the the book of isaiah chapter 53 it's in the old testament not too long after psalms isaiah chapter 53 isaiah chapter 53 is simply entitled the suffering servant because that's exactly what it's about it's about the death of jesus and about everything that jesus would go through his death as a matter of fact it's written in such sharp uh uh detail that there were questions as to whether it was actually written at the time and so he writes everything that jesus is going to go through and so i'd like for us to start off in verse 1 but verse 7 is what we'll really pay attention to

isaiah chapter 53 verse 1 says who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the lord been revealed for he grew up before him like a tender shoot and like a root out of parched ground he has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him nor appearance that we should be attracted to him he was despised into a manger of dirt andHmm he was exiled andville he was And like one from whom men hide their face, he was despised and we did not esteem him.

All of us, like sheep, have gone astray and have turned everyone to his own way. But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall upon him. Verse 7, he was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so he did not open his mouth. See, Isaiah told us.

So many hundreds of years before, exactly how Jesus would respond, exactly how the suffering servant would respond during all of the things that he would go through. And the way that he would respond was in deafening silence. Why? Because he was the surrendered suffering servant. He responded in silence because that's exactly the way that he was supposed to respond.

Because he had nothing to defend himself against because he wasn't standing trial for his own sins. He was standing trial to be the sacrifice for our sins. And as he stood there, he stood there silent and surrendered to the death that he inevitably knew awaited him. And as he stood there silent, that silence was deafening. Because they said, aren't you going to answer?

Aren't you going to say anything in your defense? But he said nothing. Because I will remind us again, Jesus was not a victim of murder. Jesus was a surrendered sacrifice. And as he stood there completely silent, it was as that surrendered sacrifice. That's why he had to stand there and keep silent as they berated him. That's why he had to stand there and keep silent as they accused him.

Stand there and keep silent as they lied about him. As they maligned him and said every false and evil thing that they possibly could to him. And about him. He completely kept silent. That's the theological point that I want to make. But there's also a very practical point that I want to make. I want you to turn over to the book of Psalms. Go to Psalm 37.

We're going to look at verses 1 through 6.

Psalm 37, verses 1 through 6. And this is what it says. Do not fret because of evildoers. Be not envious toward wrongdoers. For they will wither. They will wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in him and he will do it. Really pay attention to this next one. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday. This is the very practical point that I want to make here. Is that as Jesus stood there being flattered. Falsely accused. If it was me being falsely accused. This would be my tendency.

It would be my tendency. It would be my natural inclination to defend myself. With every false accusation I would say that's not true and you know it. I would say you know better than that because you saw me in action. You know that's not my heart behind what was being said. You know that's not what I was trying to do. And I would become angry as I would defend myself.

But that's not what Jesus did. What did he do? He kept silent. He kept silent because he knew the scriptures. And he knew. He knew that there's a promise that God makes to us right there through the psalmist David. When he says he's able to bring forth your righteousness as the noonday sun. Because that's exactly what he's going to do with Jesus. Even though he stands there silent as they hurl all kinds of accusations against them.

Against him. God will show him to be the victor in this entire thing. You know what's a fascinating thing to do is to read all of the gospel accounts of the entire crucifixion process of Jesus. And see just. How many different people come to faith through this. How many different people find themselves saying truly this was the son of God. Truly this is the Messiah.

I call it the long line of believers. Because that's exactly what takes place through the crucifixion process. Because as they see the way that he responded. As they see the way that he reacted. God brought forth his righteousness as the noonday sun. But you know how he ultimately brought forth the righteousness of Jesus Christ in the midst of all of the false accusations.

When he raised him from the dead. Because as we're told in the book of Romans. He declared him to be everything that he said that he was. He declared him to be the son of God with power. When God raised him from the dead. Brothers and sisters. Each of us in here has probably at some point in time dealt with false accusations. We've dealt with somebody who misunderstood.

Who misrepresented. Who flat out lied about us. And it will be our tendency to want to lash out. And defend ourselves. I'm here to tell you. Don't do it. Don't be the person that is constantly going around defending yourself. Because listen. Here's what you need to know. Every person that you defend yourself to. Five more will have heard the rumor. Five more will have heard the story.

Instead. You delight yourself in the Lord. He will give you the desires of your heart. You dwell in the land and feed on his faithfulness. You keep seeking God. And let him bring forth your righteousness. As the noonday sun. Because that's exactly what God is able to do. Don't live your life worrying about what everybody else says. Live your life with an audience of one.

Your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And he's able to handle all of the other accusations. False or otherwise. That come your way. So Jesus stood there. And he took it. Silently. Go back to Matthew chapter 26.

As Jesus stood there. The high priest said to him. I adjure you by the living God. That you tell us whether you are the Christ. The son of God. Now this is Jesus' moment. Right? This is his Jack Nicholson. And a few good men moment. Where he can say. You want the truth? You can't handle the truth. Right? That's his moment right now. But that's not how Jesus.

Jesus responded. Matter of fact. I don't know how you paint this picture in your mind. This is how I kind of paint this picture in my mind. First of all. I want you to think about the exhaustion. That Jesus is experiencing right now. That's the part that nobody ever really talks about. That I've always found to be kind of interesting. Because Jesus has been up for a very long time now.

He's already basically taught a sermon to his disciples. And if you've never done that. Let me tell you. I'm worn out on Sunday afternoons. Okay? So he's already taught a sermon to his disciples in the upper room. And he washed their feet. And did all of the other things that went along with the Passover. And he washed their feet. And he washed their feet. Then he went to the garden.

And he prayed the most deeply emotionally exhausting prayer anyone has ever prayed. As a matter of fact. It was so emotionally exhausting. The pressure was so intense. As we mentioned last week. That he began to sweat great drops of blood as the capillaries were breaking. Because the intensity was so great. Because the emotions were so strong. And then he went through the process of being arrested.

Which is an emotionally charged moment in and of itself. Knowing what it was. Knowing what he was going to be facing. And now he stands there. In the middle of the night. Having gone through all of that. Having accusations hurled at him. For who knows how long. With that as a backdrop. I want you to think about what this high priest says to him. He says, I adjure you.

Basically I put you under oath. With the name of God. That you tell us whether or not you are the Christ. The son of God. In other words. I will not allow you to stand silent. I will force you to answer my question. As Jesus said. Jesus stood there. This is the way I picture it. Again. This and 495 Starbucks. I think that Jesus looking down the entire time.

Very gently looked up. With a soft spoken voice. Because he was meek. Because he was gentle. And to respond. He had asked him to confirm. Whether or not he believed that he was the Christ. The son of God. And I want you to notice what he says. He says. You have said it yourself. If you're looking at the New American Standard Translation. You'll notice that the word yourself is in italics.

That means that that word is not actually in the original Greek. That means that it was added by the translators. To give a little bit of context. To give us better understanding. So if we were to read this as Jesus actually said it. What he really said was. You've said it. And isn't that kind of an interesting statement. That he makes to the high priest. Because it's almost like he's saying.

You've just said the truth. You just refuse to believe it for yourself. You know what's right. You know what you see. You know what the scriptures say. You know the truth. You just won't believe it. You've just rejected it. He says. You've said it. And isn't that so like us as human beings. We can know the truth. We're just looking for one person to give us an excuse not to believe it.

We can know what's right in front of us. We can know the right thing to do. But we just want one person to say. But you don't have to do it. I believe you. Okay. I don't want to have to do the hard thing. I believe you. So Jesus just looks at him and says. You've said it. But then Jesus goes further. He goes on to say. I tell you. Hereafter. You will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of power.

And coming on the clouds of heaven. Oh now he's gone and done it. He says. You will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of power. That word of power. Is a way that they would speak of God. Because the Jewish people held the name of God in such high regard. Such high esteem. That they would often not say the name of God. They would use other words to refer to it.

When they said the power. Or power. It simply meant God. Because it was a way of speaking reverently about him. So when he says. You will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of power. He's saying. You will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the father. And there's only one person that can sit at the right hand of the father. And that's the Messiah.

And if that's not enough. He goes on to give one more strong statement of his deity. Because he says. And you will see the son of man. Coming. In the clouds. That's almost a direct quote. Out of the book of Daniel. Chapter 7 verse 13. Where he says. You will. I see the ancient of days. Coming. On the clouds. It was a statement of his deity. There are many false religions.

I actually had a guy call here one time. And berate me for a good amount of time. Because he didn't believe like we do. And didn't believe that Jesus ever claimed to be God. I actually finally had to hang up on him. And he called me back four times. And berated me on the. I should have saved the messages. Berated me on the answering machine. About how I was leading people astray.

Because I believe that Jesus is actually God himself. But they all say the same thing. Well Jesus never claimed to be God. Really? He did right there. And if you don't believe me that he claimed to be God. I want you to notice how the high priest responds. Then the high priest. Verse 65. Tore his robes and said. He has blasphemed. What further need do we have of witnesses?

Behold you have heard the blasphemy. The high priest thought he claimed to be God. Otherwise he wouldn't be as geeked up as he is right now. He wouldn't be as angry as he is right now. The high priest after Jesus makes that statement. And if you have a red letter Bible you may notice. That's the only place where there's red in that whole section. Because that's the only thing that Jesus says.

Jesus makes that statement. And the high priest's head blows off of his body. He rips his clothes. And everybody else's heads blow off their body. He says what further need do we have of witnesses? You've heard the blasphemy. What do you guys think? And of course they all start shouting. He deserves death. When Jesus stood trial. Before the court of man. They said he deserves.

Here's the fascinating thing. Jesus is the only one. That does not. Deserve death. And yet he took it for us. They weren't content with simply the. Verdict of guilty. The verdict of death. Goes on to say in verse 67. That they spat in his face. They beat him with their fists. And others slapped him and said. He's dead. Prophesy to us you Christ. Who is the one who hit you?

Such disrespect. Such hatred. Such cruelty. Other gospel accounts tell us. That they blindfolded him. And they beat him. And told him. Prophesy to us who hit you. What an awful thing. That Jesus went through for us. Well that was the trial of Jesus. Next week. We come to the trial of Peter. Verse 69. It says. Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him and said.

You two were with Jesus the Galilean. But he denied it before them all saying. I do not know what you're talking about. When he'd gone out of the gateway. Another servant girl saw him. Said to those who were there. This man was with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied it. With an oath. I do not know the man. A little later the bystanders came up. And said to Peter.

Surely you two are one of them. For even the way you talk. Gives you away. Then he began to curse and swear. I do not know the man. And immediately a rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the words which Jesus had said. Before a rooster crows. You will deny me three times. And he went out. And he wept bitterly. And now there's Peter. Peter's been a fascinating guy.

In his study. Hasn't he? Poor guy. He gets given a pretty hard time. Probably deservedly so. But he was a guy of many different colors. When he first met Jesus. Jesus said your name is Simon. Because that was his name. Simon Barjona. He said your name is Simon. Which there's a little bit of meaning behind the name Simon. We might give the name Simon the meaning of flaky.

He had a hard time really committing to things. Right? I can appreciate that. But Jesus said your name is Simon. But I'm going to call you Peter. The word Peter means rock. And we remember that Jesus named him. Not because of who he was. But for who by God's grace he would become. Because as we followed Peter through the gospel accounts. We saw him capable of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.

We saw him as he declared Jesus to be the son of God. The Messiah. And then the next moment rebuking Jesus. When Jesus said I'm about to go to the cross. And him saying let's not have that cross talk. And Jesus said. Get behind me Satan. You're not mindful of the things of God. But the things of man. Peter who when Jesus came walking on the water said. Command me if it's you really.

Command me to come walking to you on the water. And Jesus says bring it. And Peter gets out and he's walking on the water. But gets distracted by all the wind and the waves. And begins to sink. But does exactly what he's supposed to by yelling out. Lord help. And he gets pulled out. Peter who Jesus told. Would deny. Deny him. But vehemently said. I will never do that.

I will die with you. Peter who when faced with the soldiers. Grabbed his sword. And was absolutely ready to die. At that point in time with his savior. Began wielding his sword. And cut off the high priest of Malchus. Or the ear of Malchus. The high priest servant. And Jesus told him. Peter those that live by the sword. Will die by the sword. You should have been watching and praying.

Peter who was following at a distance. Because he genuinely meant. I'll die with you. Now we have Peter. Sitting in the courtyard. Of the high priest. He looks a little bit different than he did. When he was wielding his sword. Starts off by saying this. Peter was sitting outside the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him. Other gospel accounts tell us. That he was warming himself by a fire.

And the servant girl comes to him and says. You too were with Jesus the Galilean. But he denied it. Before all of them saying. I don't know. I don't know what you're talking about. Isn't it amazing that he could stand firm. Against a group of well-armed soldiers. But all it took was. One little servant girl. To cause him. To absolutely abandon his faith. Now don't get me wrong.

Junior high kids are intimidating right. But come on son. But you see. Peter had had time to think by now. I often wonder how long it was. How long Peter stood there. Before this first question was asked. How much of the trial had he overheard. How much of the false accusations had he overheard. Perhaps his name had been thrown out. In one of the false accusations.

Perhaps he had heard of a miracle. That he was a part of. That was a part of the false accusations. Perhaps they had just convicted Jesus. Perhaps they had just sentenced him to death. And he could hear the beating that was taking place. Whatever it was. He'd had time to start thinking. And he'd had time to start fearing. And really. And reality had begun to set in.

It was no longer high minded platitudes. It was the day in day out reality. Of the fact that this really may. Cost him his life. And as all of those thoughts. Swirled through his head. And a little servant girl looked up at him. And said. Aren't you one of his followers? Peter sort of. And I think. And I'm adding to this. So take. Dump out whatever you don't think is probably true.

I think that slowly. And difficultly. Peter said. I don't know what you're talking about. I think it was hard that first time. I think that first denial was a hard. Statement to get out of his mouth. But he brought himself to do it. But what we're going to find. Is it gets a little easier. And a little sharper every time. So he said. I don't know what you're talking about.

Never met the guy. Thinking that he could. Sort of get past. And maybe they won't pay attention to him. Maybe he tucks his hood up just a little bit more. So that no one can see him. He continues on with the evening. Verse 71. But when he had gone. Out to the gateway. Another servant girl saw him. And said to those who were there. This man. Was with Jesus. Of Nazareth.

I know I saw her. Remember they. They had been all over Jerusalem. That entire week. They'd been everywhere. With large crowds listening to him. And she says. I've seen this guy before. I know he was with Jesus. Only she says it to the others. And this time it's a little bit easier. For it to come out of Peter's mouth. Because notice what it says. It says again.

He denied it. With an oath. I don't know the man. This time he says. I swear to God. I've never met him. It's a little sharper this time. It's a little more this time. And it came out a little easier this time. Now if I'm Peter right now. I'm going to run. I'm not sticking around the courtyard. This has happened twice now. This is not going well for me. Let's run.

You know sometimes the best thing that you can do with temptation. Is to run as far away from it as you can. Sometimes you got to stand in there and fight. But as that great country singer said. You got to know when to hold him. Know when to fold him. Right. Got to know when to walk away. And know when to run. And right now. Time to run. Because he is not doing well in the midst of it.

Right. In the midst of the temptation. But he doesn't. He sticks around. And he faces it a third time. It says a little later. Verse 73. Bystanders came up to Peter. And said. Surely you too are one of them. For even the way that you talk. Gives you away. Apparently there was a Galilean accent. And I've always known that there was a Galilean accent. But it seems to go even further than this.

It was really fun when I was in Bible college. Because we had people from all over the country. At the school. And as we had people from all over the country at the school. You could begin to tell what portion. They were at least mainly from. Once you heard them start talking. Right. Like we had people from New Jersey. That accent is incredibly distinct. We had people from Wisconsin.

That accent was incredibly distinct. Some people from the south. Incredibly distinct. People that grew up on the coast. On the west coast. Also an incredibly distinct accent. Bro. Right. Like you could just tell. Like you could hear the way that they would talk. And it gave them away. But there's actually something more to this. When it says. By the way you can talk.

I can tell you're a Galilean. And I didn't know this until this time. But if I remember correctly. It was the Believer's Bible commentary that said this. It said. Galileans were so poor in their communication. That they were actually not even allowed. To read scripture out loud. In the synagogue. That's how bad of communicators they were. That's how painful it was.

To listen to them. You know what's really funny. Peter became a preacher. 3,000 people got saved. While this moron stood up there and talked. Using the worst language ever. Using the worst ability to speak the Greek ever. Gives guys like me hope. Right. So he says. Your accent gives you away. You are a Galilean. And then it says. He began to curse. And swear.

I do not know the man. And immediately a rooster crowed. Now I don't fully know what it means. By the cursing and the swearing. There's a couple of options that are thrown out there. By most commentators. Most say he calls down curses upon himself. If he's lying like. Cursed it be me if I'm lying to you right now. Or I swear to God that I'm lying to you right now.

But I do kind of wonder something. You remember what Peter's occupation is? He's a fisherman. Maybe we go so far as to say. He's a sailor. Right. And so. Could it be that he's cursing like a sailor right now? Could it be that the words that he says. Are so vile. Because he knows that. Any follower of Jesus Christ. Would not be known for using that kind of language.

And so he literally just. Goes into a tirade. Whatever it is. He goes into some form of a tirade. Because he wants them to know unequivocally. I don't know him. I've never been around him. I don't want to be associated with him. And I'm going to show you that every way that I possibly can. Now I did think about this a little bit. I do think it's kind of interesting.

That at this point in time. Peter wants nothing to do with being associated with Jesus. But what we're going to find as we move into the book of Acts. If you were to go and read early on in the book of Acts. You will find that there was so much difference in the disciples. By that point in time. That we're given a little commentary on the disciples. It says that they took note of the fact.

That they were uneducated and untrained men. But they also took note of the fact that they had been with Jesus. That these are the guys that they knew had spent the most time with Jesus. Now I want us to understand something. I wholeheartedly believe. That Peter in his flesh. Had every intention of keeping the vow that he made. He had every intention of standing true to what he said.

When he said I will never deny you. I will die with you. I think he absolutely meant that. In his flesh. But Peter had the same problem that you and I have. And we'll get to that in just a moment. And that's that he didn't realize yet. That in his flesh dwells no good thing. He tried to do in the power of his flesh. What can only be done in the power of the spirit.

And I fear sometimes that the spirit often times gets left out of things. In our church world today. Like we forget that the Holy Spirit. Is who we're absolutely dependent upon. That we need the Holy Spirit for every aspect of what we do. To fight against temptation. To understand the word of God. To stand in the way that we're supposed to stand. Because otherwise.

How could Peter go from someone who right now. Is denying that he even knows Jesus. In the face of persecution. To someone who on the day of Pentecost. Stands up in front of all of the nation of Israel. And preaches the gospel to where 3,000 of them are saved. Well it's because of the power of the Holy Spirit. It's because the Holy Spirit had changed him. And that's what we need in our lives brothers and sisters.

Is we need that power of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise you can have every great intention in the world. You can have make every promise in the world. You can be the greatest promise keeper that there ever was. But you will be a promise failure every time you try. Because it can't be done in the flesh. It can only be done in the spirit. Well Peter finishes denying Jesus.

And another one of those little statements. That just sort of. Sticks out like a sore thumb. Is right there at the end of verse 74. And immediately. A rooster crowed. Can you imagine how loud that would have been to Peter at this point in time? I think that had to have been like a bullhorn in his ear. The sound of that rooster. What is up with the rooster today?

That's the loudest I've ever heard one be. Because the conviction was so heavy upon him. It says and immediately. The rooster crowed. And notice what it says next. And Peter remembered. The word which Jesus had said. Ah. The first thing Peter's done right today. He remembered what Jesus said. For a rooster crows you will deny me three times. And he went out.

And he wept bitterly. I don't know about you. But there's been plenty of times in my life. Where I've proverbially heard the rooster crow. And I've gone out and wept bitterly. There's been plenty of times in my life. Where I had all the good intentions in the world. Of doing exactly what I was supposed to do. But when all was said and done. The rooster crowed.

And it's a terrible, terrible feeling. It's a terrible thing to have to go through. But unfortunately that's what we as human beings go through. And it's a good thing that God is faithful. But Peter is now on the road to repentance. He's on the road to get back where he needs to be. Because he remembered what God said. And now he's weeping. Over his sin. Peter stood trial.

Peter failed. Peter was found guilty. It's a good thing. Jesus is about to go to the cross. To take all of the guilt of Peter. Upon himself. As we wrap up here this morning. There's four things that I would like to close with. Four things that I think that we learn. From these first two trials that we've gone through. Four things that I feel like we should take away.

Number one. Beware of overconfidence. Beware of overconfidence. It plagues all of us as human beings. Once we start to get good at something. Once we start to get somewhere in our walk with Jesus Christ. We find ourselves getting very overconfident. And usually once we get overconfident. That's the place where failure usually begins. I'm going to confess something to you all.

I like watching fail videos. I like watching fail videos first of all. Because I like to watch fail videos. Because I like to watch fail videos. Because they're hilarious. I think because I get hurt so much. I laugh at other people getting hurt. Unless it's really like hey they got hurt to where they're not going to recover from it. I don't think that's funny at all.

But somebody falling down. I'm going to laugh every single time. As a matter of fact. If I'm ever sitting there staring at my phone and I'm just giggling. My wife's like you're watching people fall aren't you? I'm like I am and it's hilarious. Because I know there's videos of me out there somewhere. But you know what always happens in those fail videos? They started off to do something epic.

Didn't they? That's how they all start. A bike at the top. A bike at the top of a ramp. A guy on a ski slope. Whatever it is. He's about to do something epic. And he is confident he's going to succeed. Until he starts. And then you can immediately see overconfidence has prevailed. And he's actually not good. At whatever it is he's about to do. That overconfidence always leads them to failure.

And brothers and sisters it's no different in our walk with Jesus Christ. I think the greatest thing that we can do is we can pray and ask the Lord to reveal the blindness. The blind spots that we have of the weakness of our flesh. I've become very aware over the past year of the fact that we all have blind spots. That I can think I know what my weaknesses are.

I consider myself to be a decently self-aware human being. But I know that I still have these blind spots because they get pointed out to me sometimes. Pray and ask the Lord begin to reveal to me the blind spots that I have. So that I can begin the process of being humble before you. And not falling into them. We must be aware of that overconfidence. Because as scripture tells us.

Let him who thinks he stands. Take heed. Lest he fall. Number two. Watch and pray. Again this is something I don't think that can be overstated. It's been ringing through my head all this week. Ever since the message last week. Ever since I studied that last week. That phrase watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. Has just been ringing through my head.

Because I'm more. More and more realized. And perhaps this is just me maturing a little bit in my faith. A little bit. Maturing a little bit in my faith is the understanding of the depth of my need for prayer. But I read something one time. I can't remember if it was in Andrew Murray's book Humility or where it was. But I read it somewhere. And it said. You can know how dependent upon the Lord you are.

By realizing how much time you spend in prayer. And what I can oftentimes find is I must be way too dependent upon myself. Because I don't spend the time in prayer that I need to. Jesus told his disciples specifically. He said listen hard times are coming. Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. Because that prayer is such a key in our life as believers in Jesus Christ.

But it so often is the thing that we put on the absolute back burner. It's the thing that we put at the absolute end of things. Because that's the patented answer right. How many of us can find ourselves saying I'll pray for you about that. And then we don't ever pray about that. I remember some of you. Several years ago there was some sort of. And I was trying to think of this this morning.

I can't remember what it was. I didn't Google it to find out. But there was some sort of a tragedy that took place in Paris, France. Mass shooting something along those lines. And after it took place social media got flooded with it. Which it should have. I appreciate that they bring awareness to those things. There was a hashtag that started trending. Hashtag pray for Paris.

Right. And I remember thinking. I wonder if everybody that's posting the flag. And saying hashtag pray for Paris. Is. Actually doing that. Because it's easy to say I'll pray about that. It's a whole other thing to actually do that in labor and prayer. But it is one of the places of strength that we find. In our walk with Jesus Christ. That brings me to number three.

When you've won the battle in prayer. You can stand firm. In the power of the spirit. When you've won that battle in prayer. You can stand firm in the power of the spirit. I'll guide you back to Jesus. In his. In the way he handled him. In the trial. He kept silent. How was he able to do that? How was he able to have that strength. To stand silent. While they're hurling all these accusations at him.

He was able to stand silent. Because he had surrendered himself in prayer already. He had already won the battle. In his time in prayer in the garden. As he surrendered himself to the father. As he surrendered himself to the will of the father. And as he surrendered himself to the will of the father. Remember what we said. He stood firm in his resolve. As he faced his accusers.

And that's exactly what takes place in the life of Jesus. As he stands firm in his resolve. There on the trial. Once you've won that battle in prayer. You can absolutely stand firm in the spirit. And it's not just true in the life of Jesus. It's going to be true in the lives of the apostles. Because we're going to find that Peter. Of all of the disciples. Learned this lesson.

You find that the early church was guided by the fact. That they constantly sought the Lord in prayer. That they were together in one accord in prayer. In the upper room. And as they were in one accord in prayer. That's when the spirit fell. As they were in one accord in prayer. That's when the gospel started spreading. As they were in one accord in prayer.

That's when Peter got set free from prison. As they were with one accord in prayer. That was when Peter took the gospel to the Gentiles. Quite frankly. That power of the spirit that came through him. Winning the battle in prayer. Gave him everything he needed to be the martyr. That God called for him to be. Because do you know the end of the story for Peter?

Peter's life ended as a martyr. They wanted to crucify him. This is according to. Church history. They wanted to crucify him. But he said. You can't do that. I can't be. I can't be crucified like my savior. I'm not worthy. So according to church tradition. They crucified him upside down. Because he refused. To be crucified like his savior. How do you become like that?

Well as you win the battle in prayers. You win the battle of watching and praying. You can move in the power of the Holy Spirit. And then number four. God is bigger. Than our greatest failure. God is bigger than our greatest failure. I can tell you exactly what was going through Peter's mind. After this happened. Not because it's written in scripture. But because I've been there.

Peter thought to himself. That's it. I can't ever be used again. I'll never be in ministry. I'll never be that disciple that Jesus used to be. That Jesus is going to send out. He may have said he's going to use me to build the church. But there's no way because I'm done. That's it. Game over. Matter of fact. At the end of the gospel of John. He says maybe it's time to go back and go fishing.

He thought it's all over. Because that's worse than anyone can ever fail before. But we know the end of the story. Don't we? That's that Jesus took Peter aside. And he restored him. He brought him aside. And he used him in powerful ways. Ways that we've already described. Because listen. God is bigger than our biggest failure. It doesn't mean we continue to live in the sin.

But once we have repented of the sin. God can still use you. Perhaps you're here this morning. And you have found that you have fallen in sin. In some pretty big areas of your life. Perhaps you feel like that your life is maybe even marked by those sins. And I want to tell you that God is bigger than that. God is bigger than all those things. And he is able to take the most broken.

Damaged. Destroyed of lives. He's able to restore them. And he's able to use them again in very powerful ways. As a matter of fact. I believe that part of my job as a minister. Is to help the broken be restored. I love seeing those who at one point in time were known. For their failure in sin. Become those who are known. As their ministry of the gospel. Because that's what God's in the business of doing.

Because God is bigger than our biggest failures. Amen. Let's all stand.

I was thinking about this yesterday. As I was studying. Feels like I'm at the wrong end of the gospels for this time of year. Would you agree? I thought I probably shouldn't be teaching about the crucifixion of Jesus. At the time when we're celebrating the birth of Jesus. But really felt like. And I don't think this was just me and bad coffee. I really felt like the Lord said.

But this is the reason for the sin. This is the reason for the season. Because this is why he came. This is why he was born. I do think sometimes we get stuck at Christmas. And we forget about the resurrection. We get stuck at Christmas. And we forget about Easter. This is the reason for the season. Because him coming to die. That's why he came. And that's what we celebrate.

The birth of Jesus. So that we could know the death of Jesus. Father we come to you. And we thank you for the time that we've had in your word. And Lord I thank you. Lord that you are a God of restoration. Lord that you are a God who takes our failures. And turns them into your glory. Who takes our failures. And turns them into your testimonies. So Lord. I praise you for what you did in the life of Peter.

And that it's an example to all of us. So Lord. May we be those who watch and pray. May we be those who. Take note. Of the warnings that you give. And walk strong in you. We just thank you for who you are Father. In Jesus name. Amen. Be blessed. I am a child of God. I am a child of God. Babble me. With a melody. You surround me with. A song of deliverance. From my enemies.

Whose are gone to fear.

I am a child of God. I am no longer.

I am a child of God. From my mother's womb. You have chosen me. As called.

I've been born again. To your family. Blood flows through.

I am no longer. I am a child. I am no longer a slave.

I am a child. To the sea. So I can walk perfect. I can stand. I can stand. I am a child of God. I am a child of God. One more time. I'm no longer a slave. To fear. I'm a child. To fear. I am a child of God. I am a child of God. I am a child of God. One more time. One more time. Father God, I just thank you for who we are in you, Lord. I just thank you for your son, Jesus, and the new life that he brings.

Father God, I just pray that as we leave here today, Lord, I just pray that your Holy Spirit go with us, Lord, and just continue ministering to us, Lord. We love you, and we praise you, and we thank you. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.