The Sacrifice of the King Pt 4

Good morning. Did y'all stand with us? I want to welcome you to Calvary Chapel this morning, and those who are online joining us, we welcome you. Would you join me in prayer? Father, we thank you for this opportunity to come this Sunday morning to worship you in song and study your Word. Father, we just ask that you would go before and order our service. Lord, speak to us by your Holy Spirit.

Fill us afresh this morning by your Holy Spirit, we ask, Lord Jesus. Well, I searched the world, but it couldn't fill me. Man's empty praise and treasures that fade are never enough. Then you came along and put me back together. And every desire is now satisfied here in your love. Oh, there's nothing better. Better than you, there's nothing better than you, Lord.

There's nothing, nothing is better than you.

I'm not afraid to show you my weakness.

Here's the flaws, Lord, you've seen them all. And you still call me friend, because you're God of the mountain. And there's not a place your mercy and grace won't fill me. Find me again.

Nothing into debt turns shame into glory.

Nothing you turn shame into gardens. You turn bones into armies. You turn seas into highways.

You may be seated.

Father, we thank you for the way that you build our lives in you, Lord, as we come to you and as you begin to move by your Holy Spirit in our hearts. And as we're in your Word, you begin to show us things, Lord. And no matter what we're going through, Lord, we thank you that your love is unfailing. We can trust you. You never give up on us, Lord, we thank you.

You have my strength. Still you make time for me. I can't understand. Is you God of earth and sky? How beautiful is your unfailing love. Unfailing, never changed, God, you remain the Holy One. My unfailing And I sing. Still you make time. I can't understand. Your God of Earth and sky? How beautiful is your unfailing love. Unfailing and you never change. God, you remain the Holy One.

My unfailing love. Unfailing. Your God of earth and sky? How beautiful is your unfailing love. Unfailing, never changed, God, you remain. unfailing love and everything and it's still your big time i can't understand of earth and sky how beautiful is your unfailing never change god you remain the holy one my unfailing unfailing your unfailing love we thank you so much you're our song you're our strength you're a rock that

we stand on that we look to the author and finisher of our faith lord jesus we thank you mercy never fails me my days i've been held in your hand i will see of the goodness of god i've been faithful i've been so so good with every breath that i am able i will sing of the goodness of god i love your voice you have led me through the fire in darkest nights you are close like no other i've known you as a father i've known you as a friend and i have lived in the goodness of god i have been faithful been so so good with every i will sing of the goodness of god goodness is running after it's running after me goodness is running after it's running after me when my life laid down i'm surrendered now i give you everything

goodness is running after it's running after me yeah your goodness is running after it's running after me goodness is running after it's running after me with my life laid down i'm surrendered now i give you everything oh goodness is running after it's running after me i've been faithful I have been so, so good, with every breath that I am able. I will sing of the goodness of God. I will sing of the goodness of God.

You're so good to us.

The clouds with fire, the earth shakes, the whole earth shakes. His love and mercy. Washing over all my sinful sins.

Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest.

I see a generation rising up to take their place. With selfless faith, with selfless faith. I sing as we pray and sing.

Hosanna. Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna. Things unseen make you. How loving I am for your kingdom's cause. As I walk from earth into Hosanna. Hosanna. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna. Hosanna. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest.

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest.

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. you restore that is broken is it's your breath so we raise to you oh this dark restore and it's praise it's your breath it's your breath we pour out your praise our hearts will cry these bones

will sing we'll shout your praises our hearts will cry these bones will sing praise your breath thank you lord jesus you're worthy of our praise and father as we continue in the service that we have that that frame of mind that heart to worship as we study your word together that you would anoint ryan by the power of your holy spirit to bring it forth lord did you give us listening ears to hear what you have and hearts to to receive eyes to see clearly what you're showing us lord may we be reproved build up encouraged all those things that your word does for us correction instruction use your word by your holy spirit in our hearts today we thank you in jesus name amen amen okay let's have some fellowship good morning if you could begin the

process of locating your seat finding your bulletin we'll get ready to go over some announcements together welcome to calvary chapel glad you're here this morning uh if you would take a look at your bulletin a handful of announcements over on the left hand side are the things that are going on throughout the week um and then over in the middle uh just a handful of reminders first of all about christmas eve service at 6 p.m candlelight service and then remember that christmas morning there will only be one service and then we're going to have a little bit of a service at 10 30 and um as i mentioned before it's gonna be a family service try to make it something fun for the kids even so we're gonna have some cookies if you are interested in helping

out by bringing some cookies for that there is a sign-up sheet uh out in the lobby um i the what we'd ask is that you'd have them here by christmas eve uh so that we can have those set out for christmas morning uh for some kiddos to uh enjoy crunching some crumbs during the service so uh so uh that sign-up sheet is out there and then uh the young adult group is not going to be meeting until january they're taking a couple of weeks off so those are the things that are going on things that you need to be aware of uh for our responsive reading this morning oh if you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced for our responsive reading this morning we are going

to be in psalm 11 psalm 11 and as you are turning to psalm 11 if you would stand in the honor of the word i will read the odd verses if you will follow along with uh pastor allen in the even verses psalm 11 for the choir director the 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 in heart if the foundations are 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 righteous and the wicked 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 if you read verse 7 with me for the lord is righteous he loves righteousness the upright will behold his face father i thank you that you have provided us your righteousness through the cross lord so that we too can behold your face father i pray that as we spend time this morning looking at your word as we approach the cross may we remember that that is the reason for the season lord that you came were born as a baby so that you can die as a man and take our blessings upon yourself on the tree and so lord keep us ever mindful of that reason during this

christmas season lord we pray minister to our hearts now as we are in your word in jesus name amen you may be seated and if you would open up in your bibles to the gospel of matthew chapter 26 matthew chapter 26 yes this is a long chapter i agree we we've we've uh always when i type out my outline on my computer i go and i label it so that i can save it and i usually do usually most chapters uh especially in the gospels are like a part one and a part two and and this is matthew chapter 26 part four because this is just a bunch of verses in this chapter and actually it's the sacrifice of the king part four and so that's the uh the title of the message as we continue on with our series of the sacrifice of the king but as we look at this

series the sacrifice of the king we're going to be talking about the sacrifice of the king and we're the subheading for today is the trials because jesus has now been arrested he's been with his disciples uh in the garden as they were there in the garden he was praying while he was praying surrendering to the lord winning the battle of the cross through prayer of course his disciples were sleeping and as jesus was arrested there in the garden his disciples that says fled which is exactly what he said would take place and as his disciples fled he was taken into the garden to custody and now he's going to face trial actually there's going to be four trials over

the next couple of chapters the end of chapter 26 in the beginning of chapter 27 that we're going to see we're only going to cover two of them this morning i was trying to get ambitious and cover all four of them but that is like an incredible amount of information all in one sunday so i decided that my brain as well as probably yours mainly mine can't handle that so we're gonna look at the first two this morning but these are the four trials that we're going to see we're going to see the trial of jesus we're going to see the trial of peter we're going to see the trial of judas and then the last trial that we will see is the trial of pilate and barabbas today we will

look at the first two we will look at the trial of jesus and the trial of peter so as we jump in here with the trial of jesus we start in verse 57 it says those who had seized him led him away to caiaphas the high priest where the scribes and the elders were gathered but peter was following him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest and entered in and 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 put him to death they did not find any even though many false witnesses came forward but later on two came forward and said this man stated i am able to destroy the temple of god

to rebuild it in three days the high priest stood up and said to him do you not answer what is it that these men are testifying 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 christ the son of god jesus said to him you have said it yourself nevertheless i tell you hereafter you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of you and you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of you 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

they answered he deserves death they spit in his face they beat him with their fists and others slapped him matthew begins by setting the scene for us he tells us that those who had seized jesus led him away to caiaphas the high priest where the scribes and the elders were gathered together caiaphas was the roman recognized high priest of the day there was actually a trial that took place shortly before this at the house of a guy named annis annis was the rightful high priest he was the father-in-law of caiaphas but rome liked to maintain as much control and power as they possibly could so they had appointed caiaphas to be the high priest and so he was the roman

recognized but the people who were the high priest were not the high priest they were the high priest people recognized annis and so it started off in the home of annis and then it quickly led to the home of caiaphas where he gathered the elders and the scribes it was a ruling body of the jewish people known as the sanhedrin the religious ruling body the ones who would decide the fate of jesus and so gathered in this home this trial will take place but while the trial is taking place in the home remember we said that the disciples had all scattered were told in verse 58 that peter was following him at a distance now the problem is not that peter is following at a distance the problem is that peter is following at all jesus had already told them

strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered he had already told the religious leaders leave these guys alone you want me really and i hadn't thought about this until commentator pointed it out this particular time that i'd studied if these guys all of the disciples had really been doing what god had called them to really doing what jesus had called them to do they should have all scattered regathered and watched and prayed for the rest of the night because what was the last command that jesus gave them watch and pray lest you enter into temptation but they didn't do that peter's following at a distance because remember he'd made a pledge i will die with you i don't care what all these other guys do i'm gonna die with you and so he finds

himself just outside of the home of caiaphas in the courtyard warming himself by a fire we'll deal with peter and his trial in just a little bit and so now it's time for the trial of jesus to begin so they're all gathered there the chief priests and the whole council notice that they're trying to obtain false witness against jesus as a matter of fact everything about the trial that's going to take place is illegal i'd like to read to you a handful of the things that were illegal about the trial that took place the rules of the sanhedrin bear in mind but all of these things were illegal about the trial that took place as far as jesus was concerned first of all according to jewish law a trial could not

take place at night it had to take place during the daytime according to jewish law criminal cases could not be tried during the passover season it was a wrong time of day it was a wrong time of year according to jewish law only an acquittal could be issued on the day of the trial guilty verdicts had to wait one night to allow for feelings of mercy to rise according to jewish law all evidence had to be gathered by two witnesses who were separately examined and could not have contact with each other according to jewish law false witnesses were to be punished by death nothing of course was done with the false witnesses in jesus's trial and according to jewish law a trial always began by bringing forth evidence for in favor of the

innocence of the accused before the evidence of guilt was to be offered everything that they did in this trial was wrong everything they did in this trial was illegal and what you'll notice throughout this entire thing is while most of what they do is illegal and opposed to the law there will be little ways that they make sure that they don't violate the law law. Aren't we funny as human beings? Well, it begins by them trying to obtain false witnesses. Now, one thing that they were trying to keep is that in order to put someone to death, according to Jewish law, in the book of Deuteronomy, we talked about this on Wednesday nights a few weeks ago, in order for someone to be put to death, they had to be put to death on the witness of two

people. One person was not sufficient for the death penalty. The two witnesses had to be together. They had to agree on what they were saying. The problem with the Sanhedrin right now is the false witnesses that they were bringing together couldn't agree with each other on their false testimony against Christ. And so as they're bringing these false witnesses together, they can't seem to find

anyone that would agree with another. And so finally, one came forward. One witness who had one that joined him came forward to find a charge that would stick. It says at the end of verse 60, but later on, two came forward and said, this man stated, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days. Now, we remember this statement. If you've read the

gospel of John, you know that this statement actually did take place by Jesus in the gospel of John. But he wasn't referring to the physical temple, the stone building that was standing there in front of them. John gives us the commentary that he was referring to his body. That if you tear this temple down, I will raise it again in three days. And so they twisted his words and they finally said, we know how we can get him. We'll get him

with his statement that he made on the temple, that he will tear it down and rebuild it in three days. The Jewish leaders considered that blasphemy against the temple. And so of course, as they come up with this false charge, the high priest stood up and said to him, don't you have any answer? What are these men testifying against? Are you just going to stand there and say nothing to this entire trial?

And we're given one little phrase at the very beginning of verse 63. It says, but Jesus kept silent. If you're one who likes to underline, I find that to be an interesting little statement to be underlined there, because this gives us the indication that the entire time that Jesus is standing there, he is completely and totally silent. Much more took place than just these two witnesses that stood up and twisted his words and said something false about the way he had acted. Lots of false witnesses have arisen. It's just that they couldn't get anybody to agree

with him. And so as these false witnesses are arising, what's Jesus doing this entire time? He's just standing there. Now, I want you to think about this and I'll remind us of this as we go through all of these trials. I want you to think about the exhaustion Jesus is going through at this point in time, because this is always something that's really stuck out to me.

Jesus is getting near to being up for 24 hours. He's been up all that day and he's been up a good portion of the night. And as he has been up that day in this good portion of the night, I want you to remember exactly what's taken place. The amount of emotional strain that has been on him has been intense. As a matter of fact, we remember that his prayer was so intense, as we said last week,

that it caused capillaries to burst and produced sweat that looked like, and maybe even was, great drops of blood. That is an incredible amount of emotional pressure that's on him. Not to mention all of the spiritual pressure that's on him because of the spiritual warfare that he's facing by this point in time. And now he's been arrested and the stress that's going along with that, also knowing what he's facing. I want you to think about how tired Jesus is by this point in time. And as he stands

there being berated by the very people that he came to save. And as he's being berated, he's being berated, he stands there completely silent. There's two things I'd like to point out to you about the fact that Jesus kept silent. One is very theological in nature and it comes to us from the book of Isaiah chapter 53. So if you would, hold your finger here and go back to Isaiah chapter

53. This won't be the last time that I reference this in our discussion of Jesus on the cross. Isaiah chapter 53 is usually entitled, The Suffering Servant. The Suffering Servant. Because that's what it's all about. In graphic detail, it describes everything that he goes through, both with his beating and the crucifixion. And as we look at Isaiah chapter 53, let's pick up in verse 1, just for the sake of context. It 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 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 and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And like one from whom men hide their face, he was despised and we did not esteem him.

Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each one of us has turned to his own way.

But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall upon him. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted. This is where I want you to pay attention. Yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to a slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so he did not open his mouth. You see, there's great theological significance in the fact

that Jesus kept silent this entire time. As a matter of fact, every time he's going to stand trial, even in front of Pilate, there will be a time when he's going to stand trial. And he's going to stand trial. There will be a, hey, aren't you going to say something? No. Why doesn't he say anything? Because as a sheep before its shearers, it's silent, so he opened not his mouth. Why would he stand to

defend himself when he's already surrendered himself? We're reminded once again that Jesus is not a victim. He's in control. And so he stands there and takes the beratings, takes the false accusations, takes this entire thing completely silent. But may I say, there's also something that I think we can learn from this. You see, many of us have dealt with false accusations in some way or some fashion

at some point in time in our lives. I would venture to say that almost all of us have been falsely accused of something, perhaps even by somebody that you care about very deeply. And what is our first inclination when somebody says something false against us? Especially something that strikes at the very core of our character. What is our first inclination?

Is to strike back and defend ourselves, right? And yet as we watch our Savior here, what does he do? He just stands there and takes it. Why? Because he knew the truth of Psalm 37. So go with me one more place. Go to Psalm 37, because there's something very valuable that we learn in Psalm 37. I want you to start off in verse one of Psalm 37. It says this.

This is where I want you to pay attention.

And your judgment as the noon day. You see, when faced with false accusations, we have that choice. I can defend myself against all of the accusations that come up. But you know what I have found? If I take the road of defending myself, do you know what I spend all of my time doing? I spend all of my time defending myself. As a matter of fact, I can't get anything else done

in life because I'm constantly defending myself. And I'm looking for the next person that has something to say. So I'm looking for the next person that has something to say. So I'm looking for the next person that has something to say. So that I can make sure that I can correct what they have to say about me. Or I can trust. I cannot fret because of evildoers. Instead, I can trust in the Lord,

delight myself in him, and I can rest in the fact that he's able to bring forth my righteousness as the noon day. One of the things that I always find fascinating in the story of the crucifixion of Jesus is the long line of believers. The long line of believers that are left behind. The long line of individuals who say things like, truly, this is the Son of God. Truly, this is the Messiah. The long line of believers that

are left in the trail of this crucifixion that do not end until after the resurrection when the righteousness of Christ is brought forth like the noonday sun. Do you know how we know that? Because we're told in the book of Romans that he was declared to be the Son of God with power when God raised him from the dead. You can defend yourself to everybody else in the world, and there's always going to be one more accusation. Or you can trust yourself to God, and you can trust that God is able to defend you,

that God is able to bring forth your righteousness, and you can rest in him. And you can say, Lord, people are going to talk. People are going to say what they're going to say. I'm going to trust in you and keep doing what you have called me to do. And so we see that Jesus stands there and is silent. Back over to John. Chapter 26 of the book of Matthew. And as he's standing there is silent, it's driving

the high priest nuts. And so he's going to command him to speak. Notice what it says as we move on. But Jesus kept silent. Verse 63. And 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 at this point in time, he essentially puts him under oath by the living God. He says, I am telling you that by the name of God, I want you

to tell me something. Are you the Christ? Are you the Son of God? You can just imagine this scene, right? It's the Jack Nicholson scene from A Few Good Men. You want the truth? You can't handle the truth, right? Like Jesus, I just, this is how I picture this whole situation going down. Because Jesus is meek and mild. He's a lamb before its shearers. And he stands there, I think, just listening to all of

this take place. And he finally says, I adjure you. I adjure you. By the name of God, are you the Christ, the Son of God? Picture Jesus gently looking up, saying what he says. He says, you've said it. In the New American Standard, it translates to, you said it yourself. But you may notice that the word yourself is in italics. It's given to give, to add meaning, to give us understanding of what he said. But literally

in the Greek, he just says, you've said it. In other words, and I want you to think about this, you've condemned yourself with your own words. You've condemned yourself with your own question. Because you've said what you know to be true. You just refuse to believe it. Isn't that amazing about us as human beings? Usually, deep down in our heart, we know what's true. We just want somebody to tell us it's not.

We know what the right thing to do is. We're just looking for any excuse to not do it. He looks at him and says, you've said it. As a matter of fact, the time is coming when you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power. I love the way that he puts that. He says, you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power. What does he mean when he says that? What's the reference to God?

Remember, the Jewish people held the name of God in such high esteem that they often would not say it. They would substitute other words for it. And so oftentimes when they refer to God and his great power, they would simply refer to God as God. And so they would say, the power. And so when he says, you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power,

he's meaning you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Father, a place where only the Messiah was supposed to sit. He makes a strong statement of his deity right here. And then he goes on to make an even stronger statement of his deity when he says, you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. That's almost a direct quote out of the book of Daniel, chapter 7, verse 13, when he says, I saw the ancient of days coming on the clouds of heaven.

You often hear false religions say, when did Jesus ever claim to be God? Right there. Right there, he just claimed to be God. And you know how we can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that that's exactly what he said? Because the high priest tore his robe. And said, blasphemy. You see, there was no question in their minds that he was claiming his deity right then and right there. What did Jesus said all throughout

his ministry? Hey, don't tell anybody who I am. I know I've done something amazing. Don't tell anybody yet. My time hasn't come. But now, now his time has come. And when they pressed him to say, are you the Messiah, the Son of God? He says, yeah. As a matter of fact, I am. And you have no idea what's coming. As he makes this strong statement of deity, as he makes this strong statement of who he is, the high priest tears

his robes, which was the sign that they made when somebody blasphemed. Tore his robe and cries out, what further need do we have of witnesses? And I almost wonder if this wasn't Jesus sort of pushing them over the edge. Like they were taking too long. And so he sort of just pushed them over the edge because he knew he was in control of the whole thing. And he just made their heads spin off the top of their bodies.

He said, what further need do we have of witnesses? This man has blasphemed. What do you have to say? What do you think? And what did they all answer? He deserves death. Whether they all said it in one accord or whether it was all of the shouts going throughout the entire church, he deserves death. He deserves death. He deserves death. In the entire place, they're all shouting, he deserves death. And there Jesus stood,

condemned before men. But I want you to take note of what they do next, because they're not content just to declare him guilty and sentence him to death. They needed to add injury to insult. It says they spat in his face, they beat him with their fists, and they slapped him. And they said, prophesy to us, you Christ, who is the one who hit you? They showed him great disrespect by spitting in his face, by mocking him and calling him the Christ

and saying, prophesy who hit you. The other gospel accounts tell us that they blindfolded him. They hit him. And they said, prophesy to us who hit you. Can you imagine what it would be like in the middle of a group of men slapping you? Punching you and spitting in your face. And remember what Jesus is doing this entire time. He just kept silent. He just kept silent and endured it all. All of the rage of man,

all of the filth of sin being poured out on our Savior. And so as Peter is in the courtyard watching all of these things take place, we next come. To the trial of Peter. 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 are talking about. When he'd gone out of the gateway, another servant,

another servant girl saw him and 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.

Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said. Before a rooster crowed, a rooster crowed. After a rooster crows, you will deny me three times. And he went out and wept bitterly. Peter is always such a fascinating character to me. I've talked about this before. Because he just is so, what you see is what you get, right? Like, he's capable of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. We saw Peter when he was called into ministry. Remember,

his name was Simon and Jesus told him, you are Simon Bar-Jonah, but I call you Peter. Simon, that name that sort of meant, we'll use the word flaky, right? Kind of a flaky sort of a guy, could never decide, couldn't really commit to anything. Jesus says, I'm going to call you Peter. Peter, that word that means rock, that word that means solid. He says, because you may be flaky now,

but by my grace, you're going to become a solid rock. We saw Peter be the one that had a tendency to put his foot in his mouth sometimes. We saw him declare that Jesus, is the Christ, the son of the living God. And the next minute, rebuking Jesus for his predicting of his own death and Jesus telling him, get behind me, Satan, for you're only mindful of the things of man, not the things of God.

Peter, who when everybody else was leaving and Jesus said, you guys going to leave too? And he said, where else are we going to go? Only you have the words of eternal life. Peter, who Jesus had told before the rooster crows, you will deny that you even know me three times. And he says, no, Lord, I will die for you. Peter, who when they came to arrest Jesus in the

garden, rubbed his sleepy eyes, grabbed his sword and started hacking and cut off the ear of Malchus, the high priest's servant. And Jesus had to say, Peter, those who live by the sword will die, by the sword. And now here's Peter, who had followed from a distance because he'd made a commitment. And I think he really meant it when he made it. But here's Peter standing in the

courtyard. He can stand up against a group of soldiers, but you throw a servant girl in front of them. Everything goes south real quick. So Peter's sitting out in this courtyard and we're told that he was warming himself by a fire. And you can imagine this scene. Perhaps he can hear some of what's going on in there. Perhaps he can hear some of the false accusations that are being thrown around. Perhaps it's at the point where Jesus has been already

condemned to death. The verdict has already been laid out in the trial of Jesus and death is what they declared. Perhaps he can hear the scuffle of them hitting Jesus and saying, prophesy to us, you Christ, who is it that hit you that time? Perhaps all of those things he's aware of, whatever it is, he's outside of the courtyard. And fear is building. What should he have been doing? Watching and praying lest he enter into

temptation. What's he doing? Sitting in the courtyard, warming himself by the wrong fire. And as he's sitting there, fear welling up, knowing what's going on, perhaps fearing that he's the next one to be taken, there's a little servant girl sitting there. A little servant girl looking at him. And he's sitting there, and he's sitting there, and he's sitting there, and he's

looking at him and says, you were with Jesus, the Galilean. Remember, they're there in Jerusalem. They've been in Jerusalem all week long, perhaps around many of the religious leaders, undoubtedly around many of the religious leaders. And there's Jesus, who's very visible in there. They all can see who he is. And she's looking and she's going, hey, you were with Jesus too, right?

Now, typically, this is where you would make a really good point as a preacher and say, isn't it wonderful? Isn't it wonderful that these guys were known for being with Jesus? As a matter of fact, the fascinating thing is when we move into the book of Acts, or if you move into the book of Acts, you find that one of the things that takes place after the coming of the Holy Spirit, as these guys are moving with the power of the Holy Spirit, we're told that the religious leaders took note of the fact that they were uneducated and untrained men, but they had spent time with Jesus. You would think that this would be the God of the world. But no, it's not. It's not. It's not. It's not. It's not. It's not. It's not.

The greatest thing that he would be known for is that he had been with Jesus, that they had seen him with Jesus. But at this point in time, Peter's not ready to align himself with a suffering servant, because he's not sure if he's quite ready for that himself. So you can imagine Peter hanging his head and saying, no, I don't know what you're talking about. I wonder if it was hard the first time it came out.

Like, I wonder how hard it was for those of us who were in the church. Those words to leave his mouth. If she had to say, I'm sorry, come again, what would you say? All right. All right. I have no idea what you're talking about. Never. I've never seen that guy before. She kind of gave him that look. You know that look when you know somebody's lying? You're kind of going, huh, it's not what I thought happened. Best thing Peter could have done at that

point in time was to leave. Right? Get out of Dodge. Go back to doing what Jesus told you to do. Watch and pray. But he doesn't do it. Over what's taking place with Jesus and his desire to warm himself by the fire and not draw attention to himself caused him to stay. And so he stays a little bit longer, hearing more of what's going on, listening to the people around him talk. It says, 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. Man, those little servant girls are scary, aren't they? Now, listen, full disclosure, a group of junior high kids is about the scariest thing in the world. Like, I'm not going to lie about that. But here, this little girl looks at him, and this time she addresses all the people that are around, too. This guy was with him. I've seen him with Jesus.

I know that I saw him with him. And you would think at this point in time, Peter would be like, yeah, you're right. I'm with him. And you know what? I told him I'd make a stand with him, and I'm going to make a stand with him. That's my savior. That's my best friend. And I'm willing to stand with him in this, right? I wonder how many times Peter replayed those things over and over again in his mind and was like, man,

if I had only, if I'd only said this, if I'd only done this. Fortunately, the life of regret is one that we can never quite overcome until we give it all to Jesus. And so as he's standing there, the servant girl says, I saw you with him. This man was with Jesus. It says, again, he denied it and said, I do not know the man. Only this time, there's a little addition that's given to us, a little descriptive statement that's given to us, because this time

he denies it with an oath. You see, he has to make it stronger for them, and he has to make it stronger for himself. And I just kind of wonder, did it come out a little easier that time? I have to believe that it did, because this time he took an oath. I swear I don't know him. I promise, right? I swear to God. And that time it came out a little bit easier, because now self-preservation has kicked in, and he knows they know. And he has

to do everything within his power to prove that that is not true. And so he stands there a little bit longer. It says a little later. This is a question that I have with the phrase a little later. How much later? Can I just go ahead and say that sometimes we're in the place of temptation. The best thing to do is not to stand. The best thing to do is run. The best thing to do is just not be there, because

sometimes the greatest thing we can do is flee from it. If you're in a situation that you know is going to lead you down a bad path, get as far away from that situation as you can. There's the old story that goes kind of like this. A man was walking down the road, and as he was walking down the road, there was a man who was walking down the road, and he was walking down the road, and he was walking down the same road, but this time he knew there was a hole, so he tried to step to the side so that he wouldn't fall in the hole, still fell in the hole. The third day, walked down the same

road, this time he knew about the hole, and he needed to stay really far away from the hole, but he still found that he fell into the hole. The next day, he took a different road, and many of us, we don't know, we don't know. We don't know. We don't know. We don't know. We don't need to realize that we need to take a different road, because every time I go down that road,

no matter how hard I try not to fall in the hole, I still find myself denying my Savior. A little later, it says, the bystanders came up and said to Peter, surely you're one of them, for even the way you talk gives you away. I don't think I really, I knew that they had an accent. I don't think I really, I knew that they had an accent. I don't think I apparently the Galilean people had an accent. There was something very specific about the way

that they talked. I love that about our nation, that depending on the part of the nation you're from, you can kind of tell because of their accent, right? Like when I was in Bible college, we were a conglomeration of a bunch of different people from all over the country, and you could tell who was from New Jersey. You could tell who was from Wisconsin. You could tell who was from

Georgia. You know, you could tell all of those things by the way that they talked, by the way they spoke. They would try to be like, oh, whatever, that's not where I'm from. Like, whatever, dude, you just said Wisconsin, right? Like, we know that's where you're from. And so, oh my gosh. And so, so we know that's, that's where you're from. And so, so that's kind of the way it was with them. So I, I always

knew that, that there was a dead giveaway because of their accent. But this particular time, one of the commentators that I read pointed something out. They said their speech was so bad, like their accent and the way that they spoke was so bad that they were not allowed to read scripture, allowed in the synagogue. You know what's really funny about that? Peter's going to become a

preacher. Isn't God funny? He's like, I'm going to pick a loser and he's going to do great, right? Gives guys like me hope. And so, so he says, listen, I can tell because you haven't pronounced a single word correct the entire time you've been here. I know you're a Galilean. This time, Peter had to get very serious because they knew. And he had to prove to them, not only by the words of his mouth, but the attitude of his heart.

But not only had he never met this Jesus, he didn't want anything to do with this Jesus. And so it says, then he began to curse and swear. I do not know the man. And immediately a rooster crowed. I don't know exactly what it means. And some have given indications of what they think it means that he cursed and swore. I do think there's an aspect of perhaps swearing to God, you know, an oath and perhaps calling down curses on himself. May I be

cursed if, if I don't belong to Jesus. But remember what, what did Peter's occupation been? Do you remember? Peter was a, Peter was a fisherman. We might call him a sailor, right? And what are sailors typically known for? Cursing like a sailor. Now, I don't know if that means he began to use profanity, but I have to believe that that perhaps was a little bit, oh, you don't

believe me? Let me show you that I don't belong to Jesus. Let me show you that I don't know the man. His speech was so foul that he hoped that everybody would realize there was no part of him that belonged to Jesus. I have to believe that the third time it was even easier. Because we know that every time we choose sin in the time of temptation, it's a little easier the next time

to make that choice. It's a little easier the next time to go down that road. As soon as he did so, what took place? It says, the rooster crowed. It had to have been the loudest noise he's ever heard in his life. It had to have been the loudest crowing he had ever heard in his life. He had to have thought to himself, will someone shoot the rooster? That's the loudest

thing I've ever heard. Why is he so loud tonight? I don't know about you, but there's been so many times in my life that I've heard the rooster crow. There's no sound quite like it. There's nothing as heartbreaking in your life as a believer in Jesus Christ as hearing that rooster crow. Of hearing that you did the very thing that you had sworn you would not do.

That you had once again done the very thing that you had pledged that you would not do. That you had signed a card that you would not do. That you had an accountability partner to say that you would not do. To do that thing that you thought you were not capable of. Hear that rooster crow. You know, I think that when Peter said, Lord, I'm not going to deny you. I'm going to die with you. I absolutely think that he was sincere.

I think that he meant that. I don't think it was hyperbole on his part. I don't think he saw in himself what Jesus saw in him. Because Peter drew all of his strength from one place, one place only, his flesh. And many of us in our battle against the things of the world and our battle against temptation and in our battle to make a stand for the Lord in our relationship

with Jesus Christ, we oftentimes rely on the means of the flesh. We rely on our will. We rely on our ability. We rely on our knowledge, how much of God's word we know and all these different kinds of things. All these different kinds of things. But they're all part of our flesh. They're all what I can do. But you know what the problem with what I can do is? I can't do very much.

Because I know, just like Paul, that in me, that's in my flesh, dwells no good thing. I know that just like Paul, I find myself saying, oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? Because the things that I don't want to do, that's what I do. And the things that I want to do, I have a really hard time doing. Because in my flesh dwells no good.

Good thing. It would not be until Peter learned about the power of the Holy Spirit. It would not be until Peter surrendered himself to that power of the Holy Spirit that he would be able to stand so strong for Jesus that it would send him to jail. That he would be able to stand so strong for Jesus that he would stand up in the middle of the temple around all of those religious leaders and declare the gospel of Jesus Christ and 3,000 people would get saved.

It would not be until that coming of the power of the Holy Spirit that he would be able to stand so strong for Jesus that he would stand up in the middle of the temple around all of those religious leaders and declare the gospel of Jesus Christ and 3,000 people would get saved. It would not be until that coming of the power of the Holy Spirit that Peter would take as a compliment the fact that everybody said, we take note of the fact that they are uneducated and untrained men, but we know that they've been with Jesus. Why was he able to go from one who was ashamed to claim the name of Jesus to one who would gladly claim the name of Jesus, no matter what the persecution cost him? It was the power of the Holy Spirit.

Brothers and sisters, I fear that in the church today, we spend way too much time trying to be strong in our flesh, because we live in a culture that says, you're enough. You can do it. I believe in you. You know what? I don't believe in you. I don't believe in me, but I do believe in the Holy Spirit. I actually heard somebody preach a message one time, and they said, God's looking at

you right now saying, I believe in you. And all I could think was, no, he's not. The only thing he believes about me. Is that I'm going to fail, right? And that the only strength I'll have is in the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter's going to learn that lesson. But as for now, he heard the rooster crow. As he heard the rooster crow, it says in verse 75, Peter remembered the word which Jesus

had said, before a rooster crows, you will deny me three times. Oh, man. Those words just ran through his mind. Just over. Over and over and over again. Now, I want to remind you that the best thing he can do right now is remember the word of God. Is remember what Jesus had to say. You know what I think is a really encouraging thing? Is that Jesus knew already what he was going to do.

He already knew. So as he remembers those words, he goes, oh, man, he told me. I guess he knows me, but he told me. Remember those words. And then what's he do next? It says he went out, wept bitterly.

There's just nothing quite like it, is there? At weeping over sin, at weeping over my own failure, Peter stood trial, and he was found guilty. It's a good thing that Jesus is about to go to the cross. Well, let's spend about the next 10 or 15 minutes or so talking about what we can learn from this. Because from these two trials, I believe that there are four lessons that we can learn,

four lessons. That we can draw from this. Number one, beware of overconfidence. Beware of overconfidence.

One of my favorite, this is a terrible thing to say, but I'm going to say it anyway. One of my favorite things to watch is fail videos. If you guys ever watch fail videos, where somebody gets ready to do something that they think is going to be epic and they feel really confident about it, and then they, well, they fail. Fail video usually means a fall video, right?

They're about to do something awesome, and all of a sudden. They go rolling down the hill, and man, watching other people get hurt is the funniest thing in the world to me sometimes. I can't help it. It's okay. I laugh at myself when I get hurt, too. Like, you all know about me, that for a short man, I hit my head more than anybody in the world, and it always shows up because I'm bald.

But the problem that all of those fail videos have is that somebody started off a little bit overconfident. They thought they could do something that they couldn't really do. They thought they could do something. They thought they could do something that they didn't have the strength to do, and that's exactly what happened to Peter. Peter's greatest sin was his overconfidence, his overconfidence in his flesh, his overconfidence

in his own ability, and we have to be aware of that in our own lives. I think the best thing that we can do is ask Jesus to reveal to us the great weakness of our flesh, to reveal to us the areas that are weak. I've been reminded a lot over the past month or so that in our lives, we can have major blind spots. We can have major blind spots of the issues that we have in our own lives.

It can be visible to everybody else in the world, but I can't see it, and the reason why I can't see it is because sometimes objects in the rearview mirror are closer than they appear, and that's just the truth because there's a blind spot because it's so close to us that we can't see it. We need to ask the Lord, reveal to me the blind spots in my life. Reveal to me the areas that are weak. Reveal to me the areas that I can't see because of my overconfidence in the flesh, and as I ask him to reveal those areas to me, may I not find my confidence in me, but find my confidence in Christ.

We have to be aware of that overconfidence because many a godly man and woman has found themselves hearing the rooster crow because they were overconfident. Number two, watch and pray. That phrase has been, I've been mulling that over a lot in my mind this week. I haven't been able to let go of it, what Jesus told Peter and his disciples. Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation.

That aspect of living a life of watching and praying as God reveals those blind spots to me, as he magnifies the not so blind spots to me to be watching and praying. Because listen, I can never underestimate what God is able to do. I can never underestimate what God is able to do with the power of prayer. In my own life, in the lives of the people around me, in the lives of those who don't know the Lord, I can never underestimate what God is able to do because I see not only in my own struggle with sin, but the people that I love struggle with sin and the struggle with the issues that they deal with.

I realize I can't do anything for them. There's literally nothing I have to offer anyone except my ability to watch and pray. Except the time that I start to pray. I'm going to spend watching and praying for them and cultivating that life of prayer to where I am utterly dependent upon my Savior. It's amazing how it's a phrase that comes out of our mouths very easily, but something

that we don't do as well as we should, and that's, I'll pray for you about that. It's easy to say, it's a whole other thing to live. I remember, it's been several years ago now. There was some sort of a tragedy that took place in France. It was in Paris. I think it was a mass shooting or something that took place there. Lots of people were killed. And everybody, of course, the thing to do is anytime something bad happens, you make

sure that the world knows that you care by changing your profile picture on social media. And so everybody was changing their profile picture on social media to the French flag and saying, and the hashtag was hashtag praying for Paris. And I remember thinking, I wonder if everybody that's saying that, is actually doing that. Because we as believers can be very guilty at times of saying it out loud, but not doing it.

Brothers and sisters, watch and pray. Number three, and I love this. When you've won the battle in prayer, you can stand firm in the power of the Spirit. And this will take us back to the trial of Jesus. Remember, we spent a great deal of time talking about what Jesus did. Why? Because while he was on trial, he simply kept silent. How was he able to do that?

How was he able to stand there and deal with what he was dealing with, with the false accusations, with the beatings, with the exhaustion? How was he able to stand there in the calm power that he was able to stand there in? Because he had first won the battle in prayer. And once he had won the battle in prayer, he can now stand firm in the Spirit. Remember what we said at the very end of the prayer of Jesus?

He came to his disciples and said, Are you still sleeping? The time has come. We said there was a settled resolve, a firm resolve in his statement at that point in time, because he had won the battle in prayer. And when we do that, when we watch and pray, and we win the battle of prayer, we can then stand firm in the power of the Holy Spirit. I am convinced that had Peter and the disciples watched and prayed the way the Lord called them to,

we wouldn't be talking about the rooster crowing three times. Or we wouldn't be talking about the rooster crowing after Peter denied Jesus three times. When you win that battle in prayer, you can stand firm in the power of the Holy Spirit. And then number four, God's bigger than our greatest failure.

God is bigger than our greatest failure. You know what I bet Peter thought? And I know this because I've been the same way. I bet Peter thought, God can never use me. Game over.

And yet, what is God going to do with Peter? God is going to pour out the Holy Spirit on Peter and the other disciples. Peter is going to preach the word powerfully. Peter is going to be the one who founds the church in Jerusalem and is the leader of the church in Jerusalem. He will be the one that goes to the other churches that are being formed to establish them.

He will be the one who will be the first to take the gospel to the Gentiles. Peter will be the one who escapes from prison because an angel sets him free. Peter will be the one who will go on and write two epistles where he says, God's bigger than our biggest failure.

Peter will go on to be martyred. And when that time comes for them to crucify him, he will say, not like that. I can't go out like Jesus did. I'm not worthy of it. Because God is bigger. He's bigger than our biggest failure. And it may feel like with things that happen in our lives, we think God can never use me again. And I'm here to tell you, not only because of what I've seen in Peter,

but because of what God has done in me, that's not true. God can absolutely use anyone who has surrendered to him, who has sought forgiveness in Christ. He can use him to do anything that he wants to do. You know, they used to say that the opponents of the gospel Peter was preaching would crow like a rooster. Because they wanted to remind him of his failures.

And don't get me wrong, Satan will want to remind you of all of your failures. And the best thing that you can do is admit that he's right. And it didn't stop him from clinging to the grace of God. Peter will go on to call it the grace of God. Which brings salvation.

Lots to learn from these trials. But they're all leading to a point. They're all leading to the crucifixion of Christ. And we'll continue on with these trials next week. Would you all stand with me?

I've thought several times going through this, I'm at the wrong end of the gospel for this time of year. Right? Like I should have waited to start the gospel of Matthew until we were at the Christmas season. But you know, this is really the reason for the season. Because Jesus didn't just come to be born as a baby. That was an important part of what he did.

But it was only the beginning. Because the real reason for the season was for him to be our savior. Father, we come to you. And we thank you so much for sending Jesus. We thank you so much for the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. And Lord, I thank you so much for your grace that is greater than all of our sin. Father, be with us as we go out from here. Lord, as we continue on in this Christmas season,

that oftentimes can get so busy. May we keep you in the center. May we keep our hearts and our minds focused upon you. And may we continue to be the people that you've called for us to be. Lord, help us to watch and pray. We just ask these things, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed. I'm no longer a slave to fear. I'm a child. I'm a child of God. I'm no longer a slave to fear.

I'm a child of God. You unravel me with a melody. You surround me with a song of deeds. You surround me with a song of deeds. I'm a child of God. I'm a child of God. I'm a child of God. A mother's womb chosen me up as called.

I've been forced through my veins. I'm no longer a slave to fear. I'm a child. I'm a child of God. Fears were drowned in perfect love.

Rescued me so I can stand and sing. I am allowed. I'm a child of God. I'm a child of God. I'm a child of God. I'm a child of God. I'm a child of God. I am a child of God to fear. I am a child of God to fear. I am a child of God. One more time. I am a child of God. Father God, we just thank you. God, we just thank you for your goodness. Thank you for your son, Jesus.

Lord God, I just thank you for who we are in you. God, that we are your children. Father God, I just pray that as we leave here today, Lord, I just pray that we go forth with that confidence, Lord. And just work mightily in us, God. We love you and we praise you in your precious and holy name. All God's people said. Amen. Amen.