John 18:12-27 - The Denial of the King

Pray

Father, thank you for your Word.

Thank you for the opportunity to hear from you.

I pray that as we hear your Word preached this morning, that you would speak to our hearts through your Holy Spirit.

Let your Word sink deep into our hearts and change us into the likeness of your Son, Jesus.

I pray that you would use my small faithfulness to preach your Word and do a miracle in our hearts.

I need you to do this because I can’t do it with just my words alone.

You alone have the power to change our hearts.

I pray that you would show us the glory of Christ, the glory of your Son, Jesus.

It’s in his name that I pray all this. Amen.

Intro

It’s inspiring to hear stories of believers giving their lives for the sake of the gospel, giving their lives or being tortured for Christ.

We hear those stories and hopefully they make us more bold in our faith, they inspire us to also risk persecution by telling others about Jesus.

As we continue our series through the gospel of John, we’ve come to a passage that shows the opposite of those inspiring martyrs.

We hear so many stories about people refusing to deny Christ, but what about those who end up denying him?

What about those who truly believe, who are truly saved, but in the fear of death or torture they crumble and deny Christ?

What about them?

Is their denial of Christ unforgivable?

Is denying Christ the unpardonable sin?

The event we are going to look at today in John 18:12-27, specifically Peter’s denial of Jesus, is recorded in all four gospel accounts.

But John’s account is different from the other three.

He gives us some information that wasn’t in the others, and he leaves out a significant aspect that the others include.

He also arranges his depiction of Peter’s denial differently.

I’ll talk about the different information as we get to it.

But I want to explain the difference in arrangement before we dig into this account.

The other gospel accounts address Jesus’ trial and Peter’s denial separately, but John weaves back and forth between Jesus and Peter.

In this way John contrasts Jesus’ faithfulness and Peter’s fearfulness so that we will desire to be like Jesus and not like Peter, to be faithful instead of fearful.

He goes from Jesus’ faithfulness to the mission to Peter’s fear of the mission, then he goes from Jesus’ faithfulness to the truth to Peter’s fear of the truth.

And all of it is to show how Jesus is faithful to save Peter from his sin of fearfully denying him.

And he’s faithful to save even you from whatever fearfulness or sin you may have found yourself in.

So we are going to bounce back and forth from Jesus to Peter through this account in John 18:12-27 as Peter’s fearfulness highlights Jesus’ faithfulness.

Back and forth from the King to the Disciple… back and forth from faithfulness to fearfulness.

And first up, we’re going to see Jesus’ faithfulness in verses 12-14.

John 18:12–14 ESV

So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people.

Here we see…

The King’s Faithfulness to the Mission (12-14)

Last week we saw how Jesus displayed his sovereignty and goodness in the midst of the evil of his betrayal.

How he displayed his peace, his power, and his protection as he was confronted with the betrayal of Judas.

It was all part of the plan, part of how Jesus would accomplish his mission.

Now, after that display, the soldiers and officers arrested Jesus and bound him in verse 12.

John makes sure to note that the band of soldiers, the cohort, also included their captain.

Apparently Jesus’ arrest was a big enough deal that the captain accompanied his soldiers.

Remember the entire cohort of 600 soldiers wasn’t present, but their captain was there for an extra measure of support.

And we also see in verse 12 that they bound Jesus.

They may have just been following protocol, but binding a prisoner is only necessary if you think they might try to run or fight back.

And Jesus gave himself up willingly, so this binding was kind of unnecessary.

But this also calls to my mind the imagery of Abraham sacrificing Isaac in Genesis 22:6–14.

You can turn there in your Bible and read along with me since it’s kind of a lengthy passage.

Again, we are looking at how Jesus being bound in John 18:12 is reminiscent of Isaac being bound in Genesis 22:6-14.

Ok, Genesis 22:6-14 says…

“And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.””

This is a foreshadow of how God would provide the ultimate sacrifice of his own Son, Jesus.

And just like Isaac was bound, so was Jesus.

And notice how Isaac didn’t fight or run away from his father.

The binding of Isaac was just as unnecessary as the binding of Jesus.

Both of them were willing, neither fled or fought.

You see, Jesus willingly went with his captors because he was faithful to the mission.

The mission of laying down his life for his sheep, seeking and saving the lost by dying in our place and rising from the dead so that we could be forgiven and live with him forever.

Alright, back to John 18, Jesus was taken into custody and bound by the soldiers and officers.

And in verse 13 they brought him to Annas, the former high priest and father-in-law of the current high priest.

I want to give us a clear picture here of the position of high priest and why Annas and Caiaphas both seem to be referred to as the high priest.

In Numbers chapter 35, God gave Moses some laws about cities of refuge and how someone who accidentally killed a man could flee to one of these cities and be spared from retaliation from the family of the one he accidentally killed.

The length of time he was safe in that city was until the death of the high priest.

This clearly implies that high priests were appointed to that office for life.

But a few times in John’s gospel account we saw that Caiaphas was high priest “at that time,” or “that year.”

At some point after the return of God’s people from exile, the office of high priest was combined with political authority and it took on term limits.

But similar to how former presidents of the United States retain the title of President, former high priests also retained that title.

And to make matters even more confusing, the Roman governors during the time of Christ took the authority to appoint high priests, and they often appointed multiple high priests to that office at the same time as political tools to control the Jews.

So, at the time of Jesus’ arrest, Caiaphas was one of the acting high priest, but his father-in-law, Annas, was a former high priest who still retained the title and much of his influence even over his son-in-law.

That’s why Jesus was first taken to Annas.

Annas was not the one to preside over the official Jewish trial of Jesus, but he wanted to question him before he went to trial to make sure the trial went the way he wanted it to go.

Now, to bring this back around to Jesus’ faithfulness to the mission, in verse 14 John reminds us that it was Caiaphas that had prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation.

John recorded that prophecy back in John 11:49–52 “But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.”

That’s the mission.

Jesus’ mission was not to conquer Rome, or to free the Jews from worldly oppression.

His mission, in Caiaphas’ words, was that one man (Jesus) should die for the people.

His mission was to die so that we, the people, wouldn’t have to.

His mission was to take our death sentence so that we could be forgiven if we have faith in him.

His mission was to die on the cross and take God’s wrath against the sin of the world and then rise from the dead three days later.

His mission was to conquer sin and death so that through our faith in him we could be justified before God and live with him forever.

Jesus was faithful to the mission.

But as we’re going to see in verses 15-18 Peter was not faithful to the mission in this instance, he was fearful of it.

John 18:15–16 ESV

Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in.

John 18:17–18 ESV

The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

Here we see…

The Disciple’s Fearfulness of the Mission (15-18)

In contrast to Jesus’ faithfulness to the mission, Peter shows his fear and crumbles under the questioning of one little servant girl.

In verse 15 we see that Peter followed Jesus, but he wasn’t alone.

There was another disciple who also followed Jesus.

This other disciple is very likely to be the author, John, since whenever he is forced to write about himself he refuses to name himself.

So, Peter and John followed Jesus as he was led away to the courtyard of the high priest.

Most likely this was a compound of multiple houses where the high priest and his family lived, and it had an outdoor common area, a courtyard.

And not just anybody was allowed access to this priestly courtyard.

John was known to the high priest somehow, so he was allowed in with Jesus and the crowd who had arrested him.

But in verse 16 we see that Peter was left at the door.

Peter wanted to stay with Jesus, he was fearful of losing him, fearful of what life would be like without him.

That’s why he said back in John 13:37 “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

He was afraid, and being left at the door only heightened his fear of losing Jesus.

But John came back for him and talked to the servant girl who was guarding the door to the courtyard, and let him in.

John repeats the fact that he was known to the high priest because that was the thing that convinced the door guard to let Peter in.

John was known enough and respected enough in the household of the high priest to vouch for Peter to be allowed in.

But as Peter crossed the threshold in verse 17, the little girl who was guarding the door looked at him and asked a seemingly innocent question.

A question of association, a question of why John would want Peter to be granted access to the courtyard.

She knew John, she also knew that John was a disciple of Jesus.

So she asked if Peter was also one of this man’s disciples, but Peter’s fear of the mission makes him crumble in cowardice.

He denies it.

He says, “I am not.”

He was bold when he thought Jesus would be with him to conquer whatever opposition he might face.

But now in the fear of losing Jesus his boldness is dried up.

And in verse 18 he tried to blend in with the soldiers and officers warming themselves at a charcoal fire.

In his fear of the mission he stood with Jesus’ enemies rather than standing with Jesus.

He denied Jesus rather than risk the possible pain and death of being associated with him.

This is the exact opposite of those stories from Voice of the Martyrs.

In those stories believers are told to either deny Christ or die, and they chose death over denying Christ.

But here Peter wasn’t even threatened with death, he just had a fear of it, a fear of the mission, and he crumbled.

He denied association with Jesus even though John had already been identified as a disciple of Jesus, and he was fine.

And then he stood over with Jesus’ enemies rather than standing with Jesus, all because he was afraid of the mission.

The mission Peter was afraid of was the continuation of Jesus’ mission.

We already talked about Jesus’ mission to die for the sins of the world so that by faith in him we could be saved.

Peter’s mission, and the mission of all of Jesus’ disciples then and now, is to continue loving with Jesus’ love by telling others about him, about the gospel.

Peter was afraid of this mission because Jesus also said in John 15:18-16:4 that as we pursue this mission we will be hated and dragged into court and killed for it.

Now, there are a few passages of Scripture that talk about the consequences of denying Christ, and I’d like to talk about them here so we can have a better understanding of the state Peter is in before we move on in our passage.

Jesus said in Matthew 10:26–33 ““So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”

This passage is very appropriate for our discussion of Peter because it’s also talking about fear in the mission.

We are to pursue the mission as we proclaim in the light and from the housetops the gospel that was whispered into the dark corners of our heart.

And as we do that we don’t need to fear what people may do to us because God has more authority and more power than any of those who would hate us in our pursuit of the mission.

And he loves us and values us more than we can even think or imagine.

But fear of harm, fear of death, fear of what men may do to us may cause us to keep our faith hidden.

And Jesus tells us what the consequences are, both of proclaiming our faith in him and of keeping our faith hidden.

If we acknowledge him before men, he will acknowledge us before the Father.

If we deny him before men, he will deny us before the Father.

Right after Jesus says this in Matthew he explains the stakes of this acknowledgement and denial.

People must choose between acknowledging either Jesus or their family and denying the other.

And ultimately Jesus is calling us to take up our cross and follow him, to accept the persecution and death that inevitably comes from following Jesus.

But Jesus says that those who do not forsake their family and their own life are not worthy of Jesus.

Really… who could be worthy of Jesus?

None of us are worthy of Jesus.

That’s the point of the gospel.

None of us are worthy of his grace, so why would we think that denying him in a moment of fear would suddenly make us unworthy of him?

We were unworthy to begin with!

So where does this leave Peter?

Is Jesus going to deny him salvation because he denied Jesus in a moment of fear?

I don’t think so, John is just showing us what we’re all like.

Unworthy of the grace given by Jesus’ faithfulness.

Well, Paul wrote about denial of Christ as well in 2 Timothy 2:11–13 “The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.”

If we as believers die like Jesus died, then we can be sure that we will also live forever just like Jesus lives forever.

If we as believers endure or remain until Jesus comes back, then we can be sure that we will still reign with him.

If we as believers deny him in life, if we fall to fear, then he will also deny us in some way in his kingdom.

If we as believers are faithless to the mission, then we can be sure that he remains faithful because the mission is not contingent on our faithfulness, but on his.

Our faithlessness in the mission doesn’t lose us our salvation, it loses us the rewards of joy and peace as we see Jesus’ mission carried out without our participation.

That’s how Jesus denies before the Father those who denied him before men.

It’s important to remember the context, and this particular passage in 2 Timothy is a saying that Paul is reminding himself and reminding Timothy as the motivation for Paul to endure his suffering and for the suffering he is calling Timothy to endure as well.

It’s an encouragement, as if to say:

Don’t worry about whether you live or die; don’t stay silent about the gospel, but even if you do, Jesus’ mission will still be accomplished, so preach the gospel thinking less about this life and more about the life to come.

One last passage that will shed some light on Peter’s denial is 1 John 2:22–23 “Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.”

It’s important to note that there is a certain denial of Christ that does result in a lack of salvation, not a loss, but a lack.

This is the denial of Jesus’ true identity.

The denial that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

Now this sheds light on Peter’s denial because this is not what Peter did.

He didn’t deny that Jesus is the Christ.

In a moment of fear, he only denied his own association with Christ.

He still confessed that Jesus is the Christ, so he still had the Father also, he still had salvation.

But he denied his own association with Jesus, and he did that out of fear not out of unbelief.

So, Peter’s denial of his own association with Jesus will result in a measure of shame and lack of joy and peace for Peter, but he will not be denied salvation because of it.

Likewise, when you are fearful and deny or refuse to admit association with Jesus, you will not be denied salvation, but you may have some measure of shame and a lack of peace and joy as you realize that Jesus’ mission is continuing without your participation.

Now, Jesus’ faithfulness to the mission has been highlighted against the backdrop of Peter’s fearfulness of the mission.

Next we are going to hop back over to see Jesus’ faithfulness again in verses 19-24.

John 18:19–21 ESV

The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.”

John 18:22–24 ESV

When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?” Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Here we see…

The King’s Faithfulness to the Truth (19-24)

This is a series of things that John’s original audience would have immediately known were not right.

I’m going to highlight the aspects that were not right and how Jesus responded by calling out the deceit and departure from justice because he was faithful to the truth.

In verse 19 the high priest, or, former high priest, Annas, questions Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.

This is not right, it’s deceitful, and it’s a departure from justice.

The purpose of questioning Jesus in this way was to get him to incriminate himself.

That’s not right.

Also, the method of questioning him alone and not calling witnesses is deceitful because they could just claim he was lying.

And the subject of the questions Annas was asking him, his disciples and his teaching, was a departure from justice because Jesus’ disciples and teaching were not why they arrested him, that’s not what he would be on trial for, that’s not what they would kill him for.

He was arrested because of his claim to be the Son of God.

Questioning him about his teaching and his disciples was trying to add more people and crimes to their attack on Jesus, trying to stamp out this entire movement in one blow.

Well, in verses 20 and 21 Jesus calls Annas out on his wrong, deceitful and unjust tactics.

He claims, truthfully, that he has alway taught openly, and that the proper way to go about getting his questions answered is by calling the witnesses.

He also claimed to openly teach in the synagogues where the religious leaders, and even the high priest himself could have and probably did hear first-hand what Jesus had taught.

Jesus is calling Annas out, but he’s also calling him to the standard of truth and justice that he ought to have.

In verse 22 the officer next to Jesus apparently thought that he was being dishonoring in his response, so he struck Jesus and said, “Is that how you answer the high priest?”

Again, this is not right and it’s a departure from justice.

Prisoners were protected from harm until the consequences of the Law dictated their punishment of being beaten or killed.

Jesus hadn’t been convicted of any crime yet, so he should have been protected from harm.

This officer broke the law by striking Jesus.

But nothing happened to that officer, further showing the high priest’s deceit and departure from justice.

And in verse 23 Jesus, again calls out the deceit and injustice by being faithful to the truth.

He focuses on the truth or falsehood of his own statement as the only thing that could possibly warrant a strike like the officer gave him.

If he said something untrue or said something in a truly dishonoring way, then the strike would possibly be justified.

But that wasn’t the case.

Jesus was perfectly honoring and perfectly truthful in his response.

In fact, his response of answering the heart of the question rather than the question itself is perfectly in line with how he had been teaching… the very thing that the high priest was asking him about.

Well, Annas wasn’t getting anywhere with his unjust interrogation, so he sent Jesus off to the official trial with the current acting high priest, his son-in-law, Caiaphas.

John doesn’t give us any details about the official Jewish trial of Jesus because the other gospels sufficiently depicted that trial, and John’s focus is slightly different.

John wants us to see Jesus’ faithfulness against the backdrop of Peter’s fearfulness, so he goes straight back to how Peter is faring at the charcoal fire surrounded by Jesus’ enemies in verses 25-27.

John 18:25–27 ESV

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.

Here we see…

The Disciple’s Fearfulness of the Truth (25-27)

Again, in contrast to Jesus’ faithfulness Peter shows his fear of the truth.

In verse 25 Peter was asked the exact same question the little girl at the door asked him, and again, he denied it with the exact same words.

In the light of that charcoal fire, the officers and soldiers could see Peter’s face, they could see his fear, and they recognized him as one of Jesus’ disciples.

“Aren’t you also one of Jesus’ disciples?”

Again, they used the word “also” like the girl at the door because John was known among them and he was also known to be a disciple of Jesus.

Peter was not known, but he was at least recognizable as one that they had seen hanging around Jesus with John.

At this point there’s nothing wrong with being a disciple of Jesus, but Peter had already denied it with the servant girl at the door.

One lie begets another to either cover up or continue the previous lie.

Peter is still fearful of the mission, but in continuing to deny his association with Jesus to these soldiers and officers, now he’s also fearful of the truth in general.

If he tells the truth now, then he will be caught in his previous lie, so he has to keep lying, keep denying Jesus, so that the shame of his lie won’t come out.

In verse 26 Peter is confronted with evidence that his previous denials have actually been lies.

Remember the guy who Peter chopped his ear off, Malchus?

Well, his relative, who was also in the arresting party, identified Peter as one who was in the garden with Jesus.

If your relative got his ear chopped off, and you were there to witness it, do you think you’d remember the face of the guy that did it?

This relative produces eye witness evidence that Peter was in the garden with Jesus when they came to arrest him.

And Jesus was there only with his disciples, according to Judas’ intel.

Therefore… Peter must be one of Jesus’ disciples, and he must have just lied about it.

In verse 27, after this evidence of his lies comes out, Peter fearfully denies the truth of his association with Jesus a third time and a rooster crows.

His fear of the truth has compounded because the truth is that Peter is a liar, and he has disgraced himself by fearfully denying his association with Jesus.

His fear has trapped him, and as the other gospel accounts mention, this last denial also included swearing and oaths, but I think John wanted to keep a bit of Peter’s dignity intact so he simply says that he denied it.

Three times Peter denied his association with Jesus before the rooster crowed that morning.

And as soon as it crowed, the reminder of Jesus’ words earlier the previous evening came crashing back into Peter’s mind.

In John 13:38 “Jesus answered (Peter), “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.”

Jesus was right… he’s always right.

And the other gospels talk about Peter’s response of weeping bitterly, but again, I think John wanted to retain some of Peter’s dignity, so he leaves out that response.

But I also think that John leaves Peter’s denial without response because he would go on to depict a different aspect of his response later in chapter 21.

I don’t really want to steal from that sermon, but I’ll just say that John depicts Peter’s response to this failure not with weeping, but with resignation.

He knew he had sinned against Jesus badly.

So bad that he thought he was no longer fit to be one of Jesus’ disciples.

He had fallen, and he thought he couldn’t be restored, so he decided to go back to fishing instead of initiating and leading Jesus’ church.

After all, how could a fearful man ever hope to faithfully lead Jesus’ church?

Conclusion

This account doesn’t resolve very well because it’s only one piece of the mounting tension that will culminate in Jesus’ death and burial.

But that tension will be resolved in Jesus’ glorious resurrection, and Peter’s amazing restoration to the mission.

Here, in John 18:12-27 we’ve gone back and forth between Jesus’ faithfulness and Peter’s fearfulness so that we will want to be faithful like Jesus… faithful to the mission and faithful to the truth… and so that we will be warned against fearfulness like Peter… fearful of the mission, and fearful of the truth.

But the reality is that we’re more like Peter than we are like Jesus, and more like Peter than we may want to admit.

So, when you are tempted to respond in fear, and you will be, remember Peter’s fearful denial as a warning to not do likewise.

And when you end up responding in fear, and you probably will, remember Peter’s fearful denial and know that even a bold apostle like him was not immune to fear and doubt.

And when you feel convicted about your fear and doubt, remember Jesus’ faithfulness, and how he came to die and rise again to free you from that very sin.

Your denial of association with Christ does not mean Jesus will deny you salvation.

His faithfulness and his love for you makes sure of that.

No, your denial simply means you are human, and you’re in need of grace just as much as everyone else, just as much as Peter.

But if your denial is a denial of who Jesus is, the Christ, the Son of God, or a denial of his work on the cross, then your denial is one that will result in Jesus saying depart from me, I never knew you.

You see, in order to be saved from sin and death, you must have faith in Jesus, you must believe that he is the Christ, the Son of God, and you must believe that he became a man and died on the cross in your place, and rose from the dead so that you could be forgiven.

So, if you believe that then confess it to God, pray to him and tell him that you believe, and ask for his forgiveness and eternal life that he is ready and willing to give you because of Jesus’ faithfulness.

Now, none of us are perfect like Jesus, we will never be perfectly faithful to the mission or perfectly faithful to the truth like he was until we are freed from sin in eternity.

And ironically, at that point the mission will be completely accomplished, so we won’t need to be faithful to it anymore.

We are not called to be perfect like Jesus, we are called to strive for perfection like Jesus knowing that we will not arrive at perfection until we are glorified with Jesus in eternity.

Earlier in the service we sang the song “He Will Hold Me Fast.”

That song has special application to this passage we just looked at.

Remember this song when you feel like Peter, fearful of the mission, and fearful of the truth in the wake of temptation to hide.

When I fear my faith will fail

Christ will hold me fast

When the tempter would prevail

He will hold me fast

I could never keep my hold

Through life's fearful path

For my love is often cold

He must hold me fast

Those He saves are His delight

Christ will hold me fast

Precious in His holy sight

He will hold me fast

He'll not let my soul be lost

His Promises shall last

Bought by Him at such a cost

He will hold me fast

For my life He bled and died

Christ will hold me fast

Justice has been satisfied

He will hold me fast

Raised with Him to endless life

He will hold me fast

Till our faith is turned to sight

When He comes at last

It’s not up to you to remain faithful, it’s up to Jesus, and he won’t let you be lost.

When you are unfaithful, remember that he already paid for that sin, so rest in his faithfulness, and strive to be faithful like him.

Pray

Father, thank you for your Son, Jesus.

Thank you that he was faithful to the mission and the truth.

Because of his faithfulness we can be forgiven of our fear and sin.

I pray that you would help us to remember this, to remember the gospel when we are confronted with our fear and sin.

Help us to remember that you have already forgiven us because of Jesus’ faithfulness to take our sin and punishment on the cross.

I pray that you would give us boldness to remain faithful to you, faithful to the gospel, faithful to Christ.

Even when we experience pain and difficulties and even the threat of death.

Give us supernatural joy and peace in Christ to tell everyone about him regardless of what they may do to us.

I pray that you would take our pursuit of faithfulness and do an amazing work here in Eureka, in Humboldt county, and throughout the world.

Lord, we desire that people would hear and believe the gospel of your Son, Jesus, and that they would be saved from sin and death.

I pray that you would do that as we faithfully and boldly tell others the gospel.

I pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.