FBCWest 683 | Acting like a Non-Believer
Recorded On: 10/26/2025
Bulletin
Hymn # 339 “It Is Well”
SCRIPTURE READING – Psalm 23
Giving of Selves and Our Offerings
OFFERTORY PRAYER
OFFERTORY MUSIC – Pru Hungate
Praise and Worship
“Resurrection Power”
“Raise a Hallelujah”
“Your Promises”
Proclamation of the Word
Message by Pastor Joe
“Acting like a Non-believer”
“Good Grace”
Sermon Notes
Mark 14:66 – 70 Three times people accuse Peter of being with Jesus. The first two times he denies it and moves away from the accuser
Mark 14:71 The third response to the accuser was to curse and swear
Mark 14:72 After the third denial Peter hears the cock crow the second time and weeps
Scritpures
Transcript of Service
Jesus and Peter face simultaneous accusations. Jesus in a legal proceedings and Peter in a public one. When Jesus was accused falsely, he refused to respond. When he was asked a truthful question, he did respond even though it caused condemnation in that legal proceeding.
Today we're going to take a look at how Peter responded in that public setting. We are not very good at multitasking, even though a lot of us think we are. It's difficult to do two things at the same time. Sometimes we may do concentrate on something else and then quickly move over and then concentrate on something else, but we're not doing two things at once. To give you an example, what we're going to be taking a look at today has been simultaneously happening.
We took a look last time at Jesus before the council and the high priest accusing him and trying to condemn him for who he is. Simultaneously, we're going to take a look at this time what's happening to Peter and the accusations Peter's doing. And so these two things are happening simultaneously, but we can't So even if we did a movie on this and we did a split screen, we would still have difficulty seeing what's happening because we're either going to concentrate on one or concentrate on the other. So the scriptures, knowing that, talked about what's the most important, the accusations against Jesus.
Now he's going to talk about the accusations that are made by to Peter. And so if you have your Bibles, and you should, turn to the Gospel of Mark chapter 14, and we're going to start with verse 66. And so it says this, and as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came. Now I want you to notice, it's interesting, Jesus is being accused and being questioned by the high priest in a trial before the Sanhedrin, before the council. So he is going through this legal situation while the servant girl of the high priest, so I don't miss the irony here. It's, she's not as significant as the chief priest, but she's still bringing this to Peter.
So this, one of the servant girls of the high priest came And seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, You are also with Jesus the Nazarene. Now, when she says this, she's not saying this as a statement. She's saying this with contempt. Jesus the Nazarene, as it was earlier said, Can any good thing come from Nazareth? So her saying that Jesus the Nazarene is a contemptible statement, so she goes, You're also with Jesus, that Nazarene. And so there's that accusation that she makes. But he denied us saying, I neither know nor understand what you're talking about. Rather than admitting or straight denying it, he's basically saying, I don't know what you're talking about. When I hear this, there was a movie, and I don't remember the name of the movie, there's a comedian, and he would say, do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth? In essence, he's saying, I don't understand the words that are coming out of your mouth. So he says, I can't answer you because I don't know what you're talking about. So he is in essence denying it by omission. He's not saying yes or no. He's going, I just don't know what you're talking about. which is, if you will, a denial by omission. And he went out to the porch. So he goes, it's uncomfortable here. I was being warned by the fire, but now I'm having these accusations made that I am affiliated with Jesus, and I don't want to deal with that.
And so he moves, which is like a lot of us do when we are in difficult situations when it comes to our faith. You go, well, maybe if I retreat, maybe if I move from this place to another place, then I can keep to myself who I am and what I believe in, because here people are asking questions. And the servant girl saw him and began once more to say to the bystanders, this is one of them. So this same servant girl is not letting him get away with it. I don't care if you move. I'm going to follow you, and I'm going to say, you're one of those.
And she's not only just asking it and saying it to Peter, she's now trying to get the crowd involved. Because you know the last thing we want is a crowd in opposition to us. And so she's revving up the crowd, saying, he's one of them. He's one of the guys that's on trial, going where my master is, accusing him to Jesus the Nazarene. And this is one of those guys. But again, he denied it. And after a little while, the bystanders were saying, again, saying to Peter, surely you are one of them. You are a Galilean too. Now, the reason they're able to say this is the Galileans had, if you will, like an accent. There were certain words that they had more difficulty pronouncing the way the Judeans did.
And so when Galileans spoke, they kind of spoke differently. It's kind of like if in the various parts of our country, there's different accents. If you go to Boston or that area, they have a tendency to have hard R's and you kind of know that they're from Boston. out of our country in Canada, they say a boat differently. And so you kind of know they're from Canada. The Southerners, they speak with a draw. They kind of say y'all, whereas other people say you guys or whatever.
So in the region, you kind of know where the people are coming from. So he's saying, you talk like one of the people who came from Galilee and Jesus came from Galilee. Now you say, I don't have an accent. And I don't think I have an accent, but yet I've had people tell me that they think that somehow I am a cross between a Virginian and a Texan. I go, I don't have an accent, but I've had people tell me. And so even if you don't think you have an accent, you do. Well, we believers, if you will, should have a course of speech that is kind of consistent with how we believe. We talk hopefully the way we believe. And so in essence, they're accusing Peter saying, you're speaking that way, therefore you must be one of them. You're talking like Jesus, therefore you must be like Jesus.
But he began to curse and square. I want to stop there. let me go. I do not know this man who you are talking about. So his response is he begins to curse and swear. Well, there's two ways to look at this. I'm going to talk about both of them. One is kind of the thing is that, well, he begins to curse and swear in the sense of he says foul language to say, a follower of Jesus wouldn't talk this way, therefore I'm not him. And so he curses and swears. And a lot of times we try to fit in to the group, into the world by talking the way they do. And in essence, Peter's saying, I'm denying that I'm with him because I'm not talking like a believer. I'm talking like the world. And so he talks like the world and curses and swears. There is another way of looking at this. To me, it's even worse, which is that he began, I'm going to reverse it. He began to swear, swearing not in the bad language, but in the bearing false witness. He began to swear, I swear to you, Like you hear people, I swear on my mother's grave and you go, but your mother isn't dead yet.
Well, that's immaterial. You know, we try to make these big pronouncements. Somehow it is really important. I swear on a stack of Bibles. When's the last time you read one? Well, that's not important, but I swear on a stack of Bibles. So Peter's saying, I swear I'm telling the truth. I'm not one of his, which to me is worse than cursing. He has violated one of the Ten Commandments, bearing false witness.
And then it says that he cursed. Well, again, this is not bad language, but in essence saying, I called curses on me if I'm lying and curses on you if you don't believe the truth. So in essence, he's saying, I hope bad things happen to me or you if I'm not telling the truth, which again, to me, is far worse than saying bad words. So he says either he tries to speak as if he's not a believer by his language where he tries to convince you he's not a believer by his testimony, that if he is a believer, it's false. Now notice the difference between Peter and Jesus. Peter responds either, I don't know what you're talking about, or I'm not that. Jesus, during his accusations, never responded when they were false accusations. He only responded when he was asked the truth. Are you the Son of the living God? And then he speaks the truth. Peter, unfortunately, never speaks the truth. He could have remained silent, but instead he was more afraid of the crowd. What about us? Are we concerned what other people think or what our Lord thinks? Are we more concerned what they can do to us or how he can bless us? Immediately, a rooster crowed his second time, and Peter remembered how Jesus made the remarks to him. Before a rooster crows twice, You will deny me three times. And he began to weep. Peter was so afraid of being condemned by the crowd, he denied Jesus. Jesus spoke the truth and was condemned by the religious leaders. Interesting comparison.
But I do know this. And I think Peter will agree with me because of his actions from now, even after the resurrection. It is much harder to live with your own condemnation than with others. You see, while Peter was in that crowd and they condemned, if they condemned him, he was condemned while he was in the crowd. But when he walked away from the crowd, he had to live with himself in his own condemnation that he denied his Lord, even though his Lord told him he would. But here's what's awesome. And here's what's awesome for you and me. When we haven't acted like believers the way we should, when we haven't made testimony of what God has done for us, or when we have not said what we should say because we are afraid of what the crowd says. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Peter will learn this when he's in Galilee. speaking like a Galilean. Paul understood this. Paul, the one who persecuted the church and did it with zeal, understood that in Christ there's no condemnation. Mark won't talk about it, but there is a difference between Peter's denial and Judas' betrayal.
Peter will seek forgiveness and receive it. Judas never does. Judas cannot live with himself in his own condemnation of his actions, so he hangs himself. Peter becomes uncomfortable because in the Gospel of John, we are told that Jesus asked Peter three times, do you love me? And I'm sure Peter was very disconcerted with that because he knew he denied him three times. But Jesus did what Jesus does. He loved and forgave. So yes, we haven't been perfect. And even if we attempt to be, tomorrow we won't be perfect. this same mouth that here today praises God will get irritated in my car tomorrow at some idiot driver and will curse that person with the same mouth I praise God. Kind of inconsistent. Kind of as Jesus says, you don't expect fresh and salt water out of the same fountain. So maybe I need him to wash me out some more.
So only fresh water comes. But again, I am comforted in the grace of knowing there is no condemnation. He doesn't say, Well, you blew it. Stand over there in a corner for a while. Come to me. Come to me. Find the forgiveness that you need. And more than forgiveness, find a relationship. It's one thing when you have done something against someone and they say, I forgive you. It's an entirely different when that person says, not only do I forgive you, let's be together, let's be family, let's hang out together, let's talk, let's just be. And that's the relationship Jesus offers to us, even when we deny Him. As I commonly say, He has been faithful to me constantly, and I've been faithful to Him several times.
And every time that I haven't been faithful, He has been, and His grace and His love covers me. You see, I praise Him not because I'm awesome, but because He is. I praise Him not because I'm better than I used to be, but because He's perfect and He's going to make me like Him. Good grace. Awesome grace. Wonderful grace that allows us to be sinners that we are. We're all. have sinned and come short of the glory of God. No exception. There's also no exception for His grace offered. The same Lord who forgave Peter forgives you and me. The same Lord who forgave Paul and called him to ministry. is the same one who loves you and has called you to ministry. Now, it may be ministry behind a pulpit. It may be ministry in leading a Bible study. It may simply be in a ministry at your work or at your school saying, I'm one of his. I speak like one of his. You can identify me as one of his because I talk with grace and I talk with comfort and I talk with reconciliation, because he has called all of us to a ministry of reconciliation. And when we fail, he's there still saying,
Atta boy, atta girl, get up, dust yourself off, because my grace is sufficient for you.
And all God's people said.
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