The
Rooster Calls
John 18:15 “And Simon Peter followed
Jesus, and so did another disciple: that disciple
was known unto the high priest, and went in with
Jesus into the palace of the high priest.
16 But Peter stood at the door
without. Then went out that other disciple, which
was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her
that kept the door, and brought in Peter.
17 Then saith the damsel that kept
the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this
man's disciples? He saith, I am not.
18
And the servants and officers stood there, who had
made a fire of coals; for it was cold: and they
warmed themselves: and Peter stood with them, and
warmed himself.”
Skip down to verse 25
25 “And Simon Peter stood and warmed
himself. They said therefore unto him, Art not thou
also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I
am not.
26 One of the servants
of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear
Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the
garden with him?
27 Peter then
denied again: and immediately the cock crew.”
1. Following Afar Off
2. Denying You
Know The LORD
3. Standing With God’s Enemies
4. Denying You Are With The LORD
5. The Rooster
Will Crow
1. Following Afar Off
Verse fifteen: “And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple: that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.”
Now, after the RELIGIOUS POLICE had done their dastardly deed [by taking Jesus Christ into custody] [as if HE was a criminal],
Peter is said here, to have followed Jesus to “the palace of the high priest.”
At first look, this is a good testimony for a Christian. Peter is following HIS LORD! Oh, may we all have this same testimony. May it be said by all around us, that we are following the LORD. After all, that is what DESCIPLES ought to do. [By definition, a disciple of Jesus Christ is a follower of Jesus Christ.] Amen!
Yet, when we all are put under the great microscope and are viewed real close up, the real truth will be made known of us. Amen!
The microscope is on Peter. The Holy Ghost in the book of Matthew chapter twenty-six, verse fifty-eight, fine-tunes the narrative of how closely Peter has followed the LORD Jesus Christ that day. “But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest's palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.” [Matthew 26:58]
Do you see it? Peter “followed him afar off.” Isn’t this something that we are all guilty of all too many times to our own shame? Would it not be better for us to follow real close to Jesus? Amen! I wish with all my heart for this to be true with me. What about you?
Now, with Peter it is about to get worse. Following afar off can only portend to more trouble for the Christian on the horizon.
2. Denying You Know The LORD
Verse seventeen: “Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? He saith, I am not.”
Often [quite often] when we elect to follow the LORD “afar off” we end up getting too comfortable with the wrong people. We end up giving comfort to the enemy … to the enemies of God. Did you know that?
The first thing we usually do when we follow the LORD “afar off”, [by hanging around with the wrong crowd, and when put on the spot by the world’s crowd], is to SELL the LORD out. How do we do that? We do it by denying that we know the LORD.
Now, we DENY KNOWING HIM because of the very, weakened condition that we are in … which condition comes from following HIM afar off. In other words, we deny knowing HIM because the very distance we maintain between us and our Savior weakens our trust in the LORD.
When pressed by the world, we lose our testimony : we instead exude, “we are not of HIS disciples!”
How so? Look at what happened to Peter’s testimony. Peter’s testimony CHANGED when pressed by the damsel who kept the door: “I am not” one of HIS disciples! Do you see the downward slide Peter is on? Peter’s testimony changed [or was lost] because Peter was following the LORD “afar off”!
Before this night, Peter’s testimony was different, when he was following the LORD closely! Go back to John chapter thirteen, in verse thirty-seven, and we will hear a DIFFERENT testimony from Peter.
Let me read it to you. It was a good testimony! “Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.” [John 13:37]
Let me sum it here. When a disciple of Jesus Christ is following closely to HIS LORD he is willing to lay down his life for his LORD. Amen. Peter is degree by degree losing his testimony. But wait, it gets worse than this.
3. Standing With God’s Enemies
Verse twenty-five: “And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore unto him, Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not.”
Yes, when we elect to go down the wrong road, and to follow the LORD “afar off”, we end up [in the process] getting real comfortable with the wrong people and getting real comfortable with doing the wrong things. This, my friend, brings real comfort to the enemy … to the enemies of God.
Here is what happens to us. The fire within our heart has grown cold for our LORD Jesus Christ. So then, what do we do? We choose to warm ourselves by standing by the enemy’s fire. [Oh, how this grieves the Spirit of God when a Christian does this.] Yes, Peter has clearly denied [thus far] two times being Jesus’ disciple.
Now, we need to ask ourselves some real tough questions, here. Are we guilty of these very same things ourselves? Are we following the LORD “afar off”, and are we standing with God’s enemies … so that we can be warmed by their fire? Well are we? Are we any different many times than Peter?
4. Denying You Are With The LORD
Verse twenty-six: “One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him?”
it is here that the kinsman of the high priest occasions the entrapment of the Devil upon a particular man. The man [Peter] cannot see it coming.
Why? It is because there is a black cloud over spreading him [it is unbelief]. Why is this happening? It is because when a disciple of Jesus Christ “follows afar off” from his Savior the “fear of man” becomes the all controlling factor in all his behavior. Do you get that? I will show this to you in THE BOOK!
This principle is shown to us in Proverbs twenty-nine. Read with me there in verse twenty-five: “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.” [Proverbs 29:25]
If Peter would have followed the LORD Jesus Christ CLOSELY [this would be Peter putting his TRUST in the LORD], then Peter would have been kept SAFE from falling so far down! Peter’s testimony instead would be:
I fear God!
I am one of Jesus Christ’s disciples!
I am with the Lord Jesus Christ!
5. The Rooster Will Crow
Verse twenty-seven: “Peter then denied again: and immediately the cock crew.”
The LORD knew Peter would fail HIM three times, and the LORD had it set up so that the rooster would crow immediately after Peter’s third DENIAL.
This event is chronicled by Holy Spirit. Look with me in Matthew twenty-six, verse thirty-four: “Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.” [Matthew 26:34]
When Peter came to very bottom of his trial, he began to curse and swear [like a sailor] in a vehement DENIAL that he ever KNEW Jesus Christ. “Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.”
Now, do you see how bad it can get for the Christian? Oh, my! It was for Peter, here, as if a spike had been driven deep down in his heart, for all the pain, and remorse, he felt inside himself for his three time denial of the SON of GOD!
“And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.” [Matthew 26:74-75]
The antidote, or remedy, to avoid denial of our LORD and SAVIOR Jesus Christ in our lives is to FOLLOW CLOSE to Jesus Christ. You do this by DENYING yourself! Chapter, verse for this?
Turn with me to Luke chapter nine, verse twenty-three: “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” [Luke 9:23]
By denying yourself, you will not see yourself. You will not fear man because you will not see man. You will fear God. You will instead, be safe! As a result, this will be your testimony:
I fear God!
I am one of Jesus Christ’s disciples!
I am with the Lord Jesus Christ!
I belong to the SON of GOD!
Amen!