1. John 18: 1-27
Peter Denies Knowing Jesus
FACING YOUR FAILURE
January 26, 2014
First Baptist Church
Jackson, Mississippi
USA

2. References
• Slaying The Giants in Your Life by David Jeremiah
• Twelve Ordinary Men by John MacArthur

3. Peter – The Leader
• Four lists of the Apostles in New Testament
– Matthew, Mark, Luke and Acts
• The 12 are presented in three groups of four.
• Group 1 – Peter, Andrew, James, & John
– Peter always listed 1st as the Leader
• Group 2 – Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas &
Matthew
• Group 3 – James(son of Alphaeus), Thaddeus,
Simon the Zealot, Judas

4. The Inner Circle:
Peter, James & John
•
•
•
•
•
Present at Mount of Transfiguration
Present at Garden of Gethsemane with Jesus
All were fishermen
Came from the same area – Galilee
Two sets of brothers: Peter and Andrew/ James
and John
• All had been friends a long time

5. Simon…Also Named Peter
• Simon was a very common name for males.
• At least 7 Simons in the Gospel accounts
• Simon (Peter)was Simon Bar-Jonah or “Simon,
Son of Jonah”
• “Peter” was Jesus’ nickname for Simon
• Peter means “rock”
• When Jesus called him Simon – Chiding
• When Jesus called him Peter - Commending

6. Matthew 16:16-19
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah,
the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied,
“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was
not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my
Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are
Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and
the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will
give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven;
whatever you bind on earth will be bound in
heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be
loosed in heaven.”

7. Saint Peter by Rubens

8. PETER – THE LEADER
3 Key Elements For Becoming A True Leader
1. The right raw material
2. The right life experiences
3. The right character qualities

9. Peter – The Right Raw Material
1. Inquisitiveness = Peter asked a lot of
questions.
15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”
Matthew 15:15
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord,
how many times shall I forgive my brother or
sister who sins against me? Up to seven
times?” Matthew 18:21

10. Peter – The Right Raw Material
2. Initiative = drive, ambition & energy
10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew
it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting
off his right ear. (The servant’s name was
Malchus.) John 18:10
16 Simon
Peter answered, “You are the
Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Matt
16:16

11. Peter – The Right Raw Material
3. Involvement = In the middle of the action
28 “Lord,
if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to
come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on
the water and came toward Jesus.
Matthew 14:28-29

12. Peter – The Right Life Experiences
29 “Come,”
he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat,
walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he
saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out,
“Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand
and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you
doubt?” Matthew 14:29-31
22 Peter
took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never,
Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” 23 Jesus
turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a
stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns
of God, but merely human concerns.” Matthew 16:22-23

13. Peter – The Right Character
Peter went from…………to…………………….,
1. ……………………..Controlling to Submission,
2. ……………………..Impulsiveness to Restraint,
3. ………………….....Pride to Humility,
4. ………………….....Hatred to Love,
5. ……………………..Harshness to Compassion,
6. and……………….Fear to Courage.
Peter’s Epistles manifest this transformation!

14. John 18:1-14
Summary
•
•
•
•
•
Jesus and Disciples in Garden of Gethsemane
Judas and soldiers come for Jesus
Peter cuts off ear of High Priest’s Servant
Jesus is arrested
Jesus taken to Annas (High Priest Emeritus)

15. Peter Cuts Off Malchus’ Ear

16. Jesus Warns Peter
John 13:36-38
36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you
going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you
cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”
37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I
will lay down my life for you.”
38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down
your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the
rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

17. Peter’s 1st Denial of Jesus
John 18:15 – 18
15 Simon Peter and another disciple were following
Jesus. Because this disciple (John) was known to the
high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s
courtyard, 16 but Peter had to wait outside at the door.
The other disciple, who was known to the high priest,
came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and
brought Peter in. 17 “You aren’t one of this man’s
disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter. He replied, “I
am not.” 18 It was cold, and the servants and officials
stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter
also was standing with them, warming himself.

18. John 18:19-24
• Jesus questioned by former High Priest Annas
• Jesus is struck in face for “irreverent” answer
• Jesus sent back to Caiaphas, the current High
Priest
• Jesus still bound in chains or restraints

19. Peter’s 2nd & 3rd Denial
John 18:25-27
25 Meanwhile, Simon Peter was still standing there
warming himself. So they asked him, “You aren’t
one of his disciples too, are you?” He denied it,
saying, “I am not.” 26 One of the high priest’s
servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had
cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him
in the garden?” 27 Again Peter denied it, and at that
moment a rooster began to crow.

20. Matthew’s Account
Matthew 26: 69-75
69 Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a
servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus
of Galilee,” she said. 70 But he denied it before
them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,”
he said. 71 Then he went out to the gateway, where
another servant girl saw him and said to the people
there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
72 He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know
the man!”

21. Matthew’s Account - continued
73 After
a little while, those standing there went up
to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your
accent gives you away.” 74 Then he began to call
down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know
the man!” Immediately a rooster crowed. 75 Then
Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken:
“Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three
times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Matthew 26: 69-75

22. Mark’s Account
Mark 14:72
72 Immediately the rooster crowed the second
time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus
had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows
twice you will disown me three times.” And he
broke down and wept.
• How did Peter feel after denying Jesus?

23. Peter Denies Knowing JesusCaravaggio

24. How Do We Face Life After A Failure?
What is the difference between saying:
– “You’re a failure!”, and “You failed.”???
• One speaks to our character;
• The latter speaks to one specific event in life.
– Just because we fail one or many times, it does
not mean we have been disqualified from the race
to succeed!!

25. FAILURE
Facing Failure:
– Facing the reality of failure
– Facing the reason for failure
– Facing the result of failure

26. Facing Failure – The Reality
1. Facing the reality of failure
2 Corinthians 4:7-9
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this
all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We
are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not
abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
• The fact of failure is factored into our humanity.
James 3:2a
2a We all stumble in many ways.

27. God is not surprised by our failure!
Psalms 103:13-14
13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the
LORD has compassion on those who fear him; 14 for
he knows how we are formed, he remembers that
we are dust.
• Andrew Whyte (Scottish preacher)
”Spiritual growth is the saints falling down
and getting up, falling down and getting up,
falling down and getting up, all the way to
heaven.”

28. Facing Failure – The Reason
2. Facing the reason for failure
2 Corinthians 4:17-18
17 For our light and momentary troubles are
achieving for us an eternal glory that far
outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on
what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what
is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is
eternal.
• There is purpose in our failure.

29. Reasons for Failure
1. We fail now so that we may succeed later.
2. We fail in the incidental so that we may succeed
in the important.
3. We fail in the temporary so that we may
succeed in the eternal.
4. We fail outwardly so that we may succeed
inwardly.
Peter Marshall – “It is better to fail in a cause that
will ultimately succeed than to succeed in a
cause that will ultimately fail.”

30. Facing Failure- The Result
3. Facing the result of failure
2 Corinthians 4:16
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though
outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we
are being renewed day by day.
• On a daily basis God is renewing our inner
man.
• The world is perishing, so we do not put our
emphasis on the outward realm.

31. FIGHTING FAILURE
1.
2.
3.
4.
Acknowledge Your Failure.
Accept God’s Forgiveness.
Apply the Lessons of Failure Toward Success.
Accept Failure as a Fact of Life, NOT a Way of
Life.
5. Arise from Failure and Start Again.
6. Avoid Judging Failure in Others.

32. Facing Failure
1. Acknowledge Your Failure
– All sin is a failure of some sort, but not all failure
is sin.
– Don’t be afraid to admit it when you fail.

33. Facing Failure
2. Accept God’s Forgiveness
– If our failure is due to sin, confess it and receive
God’s forgiveness.
– Scripture tells is that God is a forgiving God.
1 John 1:9
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and
will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness.

34. Facing Failure
3. Apply the Lessons of Failure Toward Success
– Learn to use failure as a resource or opportunity
– Never accept failure as the final judgment or
assessment of our potential.
– John Keats (English author) “Failure is in a sense the
highway to success, inasmuch as every discovery of
what is false leads us to seek earnestly after what is
true, and every fresh experience points out some form
of error which we shall afterward carefully avoid.”

35. Facing Failure
4. Accept Failure As a Fact of Life, Not a Way of
Life
– Failure is an event, not a person.
– Failure is something that happens, not someone
you become.
– Peter preached with fire at Pentecost a couple of
weeks after denying Jesus.
– Peter failed, but he was NOT a failure.

36. Facing Failure
5. Arise From Failure and Start Again
– The temptation when we fail is to wallow in selfpity, to sulk, to feel sorry for ourselves.
– Best thing is to stand up, brush yourself off, and
start moving forward again.
– God wants you to be encouraged and trust Him
for taking the next step.

37. Facing Failure
6. Avoid Judging Failure in Others
1 Samuel 16:7
7 The LORD does not look at the things people
look at. People look at the outward appearance,
but the LORD looks at the heart.”
– God views things differently than man
• The rich man and the beggar in Luke 16:19-31
• A Pharisee and a tax collector in Luke 18:9-14
• A Pharisee and a prostitute in Luke 7:36-50

38. Peter’s Reinstatement
John 21:15-19
15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to
Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love
me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you
know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my
lambs.” 16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John,
do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you
know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of
my sheep.”

39. Peter’s Reinstatement
17 The
third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do
you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him
the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you
know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said,
“Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly I tell you, when you were
younger you dressed yourself and went where you
wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your
hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you
where you do not want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to
indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify
God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”
John 21:15-19

40. Peter’s Death
• Jesus told Peter he would die as a martyr. (John
21:18-19).
• Scripture does not record Peter’s death.
• Church history records that he was crucified.
• Clement recorded that he had to watch the
crucifixion of his wife first.
• Last words to his wife were, “Remember the
Lord.”
• Peter crucified upside down – declared he was
unworthy to die as his Lord had died.

41. Peter’s Crucifixion - Caravaggio

42. Peter’s Life Verse
2 Peter 3:18
18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory
both now and forever! Amen.

43. Scriptures to Overcome Failure
Psalms 37:23-24
23 The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who
delights in him; 24 though he may stumble, he
will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his
hand.
Psalms 103:10
10 He does not treat us as our sins deserve or
repay us according to our iniquities.

44. Scriptures to Overcome Failure
Psalms 103:13-14
13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the
LORD has compassion on those who fear him; 14 for
he knows how we are formed, he remembers that
we are dust.
Philippians 1:6
6 being confident of this, that he who began a good
work in you will carry it on to completion until the
day of Christ Jesus.

45. Scripture to Overcome Failure
Hebrews 4:16
16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace
with confidence, so that we may receive mercy
and find grace to help us in our time of need.