God’s Him, you’re Not!

Introduction

Have you ever been way too confident in yourself?

Have someone share an example!

I. Introduction

A. Opening Scripture: Matthew 26:31-35

Matthew 26:31–35 CSB

Then Jesus said to them, “Tonight all of you will fall away because of me, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” Peter told him, “Even if everyone falls away because of you, I will never fall away.” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to him, “tonight, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” “Even if I have to die with you,” Peter told him, “I will never deny you,” and all the disciples said the same thing.

B. Setting the Stage: Peter's Boast and Denial

C. Thesis Statement: Through Peter's denial of Jesus, we learn a profound lesson about the tendency to place more faith in ourselves than in God.

II. The Boast of Peter

A. Peter's Confidence: "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you."

B. The Nature of Human Confidence: Pride and Self-Reliance

C. Relating to Peter: How We Often Assert Our Own Strength and Resolve

III. The Test of Faith

A. The Garden of Gethsemane: Peter's First Test John 18:3-11

John 18:3–11 CSB

So Judas took a company of soldiers and some officialsB from the chief priests and the Pharisees and came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing everything that was about to happen to him, went out and said to them, “Who is it that you’re seeking?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “I am he,” Jesus told them. Judas, who betrayed him, was also standing with them. When Jesus told them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground. Then he asked them again, “Who is it that you’re seeking?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they said. “I told you I am he,” Jesus replied. “So if you’re looking for me, let these men go.” This was to fulfill the words he had said: “I have not lost one of those you have given me.” Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) At that, Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword away! Am I not to drink the cup the Father has given me?”

B. Peter's Failure: Three Denials MATT 26:69-75

Matthew 26:69–75 CSB

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant girl approached him and said, “You were with Jesus the Galilean too.” But he denied it in front of everyone: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” When he had gone out to the gateway, another woman saw him and told those who were there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene!” And again he denied it with an oath: “I don’t know the man!” After a little while those standing there approached and said to Peter, “You really are one of them, since even your accent gives you away.” Then he started to curse and to swear with an oath, “I don’t know the man!” Immediately a rooster crowed, and Peter remembered the words Jesus had spoken, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

C. Understanding the Pressure: Fear, Doubt, and Peer Influence

IV. Confronting Our Own Denials

A. Examining Our Moments of Weakness: When Have We Denied Christ?

B. Self-Reflection: Recognizing the Root of Our Self-Reliance

C. Facing the Reality: Our Inability to Save Ourselves

V. Restoring Faith in God

A. Jesus' Restoration of Peter: "Do you love me?" John 21:15-17

John 21:15–17 CSB

When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John,G do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.” “Feed my lambs,” he told him. A second time he asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.” “Shepherd my sheep,” he told him. He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” “Feed my sheep,” Jesus said.

B. The Importance of Humility and Dependence on God

C. Surrendering Our Pride: Trusting in God's Strength and Promises

VI. Conclusion

A. Recap: Peter's Denial and Our Own Struggles

B. Invitation to Surrender: Letting Go of Self-Reliance

C. Closing Prayer: Asking for God's Grace to Trust Him Fully