Proving God Wrong!

Do you ever feel as if God has let you down? Do you ever think that maybe He doesn’t love you as you thought He did?

Intro

Dad and I on the lake and the propeller falling off of the boat

In my young eyes Dad had let me down.

Problem:

The problem when we start to think and believe that God isn’t true to His word or He has let us down is this:

We call Him a liar - because that’s who He has told us He is

We allow doubt to overtake faith and trust

We ultimately turn from Him toward other things

Just like this story before us and Peter

Drama

Jesus put on trial

Annas questions Jesus

about disciples

about his teaching

Jesus Responds openly

Illus: I hear Christians often say that because Jesus was quiet they will be too. As if Jesus promoted only quietness. Yes, meekness is a

Jesus ministry has been one of openness

John 7:26 ESV

And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?

They had many opportunities to come after him openly

John

Matthew 26:55 ESV

At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me.

Matthew 25:16 ESV

He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more.

Why not seize him publically? Why wait until the dark? Why under the cover of night and mostly silent?

I imagine it’s because it’s easier than dealing with

Jesus’ many followers

Politics

Making a scene

Evil is done in the cover of darkness

John 3:19 ESV

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

But, there is only one way to bring light into the darkness. There is only one way to combat the evil in men’s hearts

The Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Doctrine

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is open to all

John 18:20 ESV

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.

The Presbyterian history of those who believed the gospel was for the elect only and not to be offered to all

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not to be kept a secret

John 18:21 ESV

Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.”

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is left to be conveyed by Jesus disciples

God uses common men to convey the good news taught by Jesus Christ

Disciples are the method of communication God uses to draw men to himself through Jesus Christ

Common language, common communication,

The Gospel of Jesus Christ draws hatred from the world

John 18:22 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?”

They are enemies of God

They are direct rebellion to God himself

The officer struck Jesus (God Himself) and placed him lower than the high priest

How often do we place ourselves as authority even over God in our own life?

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is ultimate truth

John 18:23 ESV

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?”

John 18

Jesus knew they could find no fault in his teaching

His very words, the words of God the Father, are truth

The hatred and questioning of Jesus were unjust

Peter’s Denial attests to the fulfillment of Scripture

John 18

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.

God even uses Peter’s actions to back up Jesus claim and attests to God’s Word as truth

John 13:38 ESV

Jesus answered, “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.

Doxology

Man’s testimony and witness to God may fail

Peter denied Jesus three times

Jesus tells Peter that He will deny him

This isn’t the power of suggestion

This isn’t some self fulfilled prophecy

This is the Word of God made true

indestructible - It cannot be attacked nor torn down by man at anytime

It is to be trusted and believed

The Gospel of Jesus Christ will never fail

Our problem is we impose or project onto God what we know of our earthly Father

The Words of Jesus here are important because it has one major assumption attached to it for the Christian

Jesus’ Words are truth

What we read and hear is not debatable nor negotiable.

Why is is this important?

If Jesus words are not true than the Gospel is not true and we are all doomed and are to be pitied

No, it is precisely because it is true that we are Christians should have hope and be encouraged

The gospel is a message about Jesus Christ - A True Message

This is the message that Jesus is speaking about and referring to in this passage

The GOSPEL: A message of reconciliation, a redeemer, a savior, etc . . .

Illus:

My Dad didn’t take me fishing that Day. He did at other times and on other days.

But, God my Father sent His very Son to come down to earth to accomplish what I cannot do even when I didn’t even know I needed it. He accomplished things for my to restore a relationship and save a lost sinner such as I.

I love my Dad. But, I should never hold HIs words to such a level as the God of the Universe. I should also never bring the God of the Universe down to me. God’s Words are to be trusted and have stood the test of time, and they will never fail.