'BETRAYAL AND DENIAL'

Rev. Canon George Sinclair

by Rev. Canon George Sinclair                           

 Pastor of the Church of the Messiah, Ottawa, ON.
 www.messiahchurch.ca 

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Podcast of CFRA broadcast on Sunday,   

June 23^rd, 2019 

http://bit.ly/2XnVCkc

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This week's broadcast is the sermon I gave at Church of the Messiah. 

The sermon was called "Betrayal and Denial" 

 It is part of my series, "Knowing Jesus: John's Intimate Biography."

"Betrayal and Denial"

  

Today’s Reading:  John 18:1-17  (ESV)

Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

18 When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. ² Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. ³ So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. ⁴ Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” ⁵ They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.”^[a] Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. ⁶ When Jesus^[b] said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. ⁷ So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” ⁸ Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” ⁹ This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.” ¹⁰ Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant^[c] and cut off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.) ¹¹ So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

Jesus Faces Annas and Caiaphas

¹² So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews^[d] arrested Jesus and bound him. ¹³ First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. ¹⁴ It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people.

Peter Denies Jesus

¹⁵ 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, ¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ 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.”

Footnotes:

1. John 18:5 Greek I am; also verses 6, 8
2. John 18:6 Greek he
3. John 18:10 Or bondservant; twice in this verse
4. John 18:12 Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time; also verses 14, 31, 36, 38

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NOTES:

Knowing Jesus: John’s Intimate Biography

Betrayal and Denial

John 18:1-27.

1. Spiritual power is real, because the God revealed by Jesus is real.
   
2. God’s grace and mercy are very real, so failure, betrayal, denial, and abandonment do not have to be final.
   
3. Because Jesus loves you, your cup, He drank. Because Jesus loves you, His cup, He prepared for you.
   

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Rev. Canon George Sinclair

Church of the Messiah

www.messiahchurch.ca
613-235-0596
messiahchurch.office@gmail.com

George Sinclair George is the Lead Pastor at Church of the Messiah.
More about George Sinclair

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To listen to the above broadcast, click on the following link:

http://bit.ly/2XnVCkc

 

'GOD'S MERCY AND OUR FAILURES'

Rev. Joel Charles

Guest Preacher:

Rev. Joel Charles

Pastor of Shiloh Holiness Church in Ottawa:

ShilohHoliness Church

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PODCAST LINK to CFRA broadcast - Sunday, May 21^st, 2017:

http://proxy.autopod.ca/podcasts/chum/6/53688/good_news_261_may21.mp3

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Broadcast Notes: ******************************

God's Mercy and Our Failures

We’re all imperfect people and we live in an imperfect world. We all experience failures in life.

As a matter of fact, on the very night that Jesus Christ was arrested, before he went to the cross, two of Jesus’ best friends had massive failures.

Judas had the failure of betrayal and Peter had the failure of denial.

So, how does one handle failure?

Well, sadly, Judas rejected the mercy of God and he later went out and took his own life.  But, Peter accepted the mercy of God and he went out and became the leader of the church.

Matthew26:31-36 New Living Translation (NLT)

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

³¹ On the way, Jesus told them, “Tonight all of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say,

‘God will strike^[a] the Shepherd,
    and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

³² But after I have been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.”

³³ Peter declared, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you.”
³⁴ Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.”
³⁵ “No!” Peter insisted. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the other disciples vowed the same.

Beware of thinking, “This could never happen to me.”

1Corinthians 10 New Living Translation (NLT)

Verse 12-13:

¹² If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. ¹³ The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

We tend to overestimate our strength. Not only do we overestimate our strength, but we misuse our strength. And when we don’t pay attention to our strengths, they become weaknesses.

It is said that an unguarded strength is a double weakness.

We also fail because we fear the disapproval of others. Every time you make a decision based on what other people will think, you are sowing the seeds for failure in your life.

We see in Matthew 26, that Peter did everything wrong in denying Jesus. But what did Peter do right?

The question is how does one recover from failure?

First you have to grieve it.

To get past most things (especially failures) in life, you have to live through them.

When you grieve your failures, you learn lessons that help you avoid future failings.

In Matthew 26, when Peter heard the rooster crow, he remembered that Jesus had said,  

“Before the rooster crows, you’ll deny me three times. Then Peter went outside and wept bitterly.”

That’s grieving!

In Psalm 51, verse 17, David says to God,

¹⁷ The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
    You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.

Contriteness is when we say, “God, you’re right, I blew it.”

So we recover from failure when we take the time to grieve.

But, secondly, we recover from failure when we get support.

The first thing Jesus did when he started his ministry, he formed a support group, of twelve disciples. There’s a scripture in Mark16, verse 10, around the resurrection time, Mary Magdalene went and found the disciples grieving and weeping. Notice they were together.

When you go through a major loss in your life, you have to resist the urge to isolate. And you must also resist the urge to insulate, to prevent others from getting in. Both are dangerous.

We were never meant to go through life on our own. We’re better together. We’re meant for community.

The best time to build your support community is before any crisis.

The third thing, besides grieving and getting support to recover from failure, is that you have to cast yourself on God’s mercy.

Peter, himself, wrote about this in the firstbook of Peter, Chapter 1, verse 3. He says, because of His great mercy, God has given us a new life.

God has given us a new life by raising Jesus Christ from death. This fills us with a living hope.

Peter says, (in 1Peter 5:7), to cast all your anxieties on God, because he cares for you.

When you sincerely turn to God, it will amaze you what God will do in you, for you and through you.

In Lamentations3:22-23, it states that the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness.

God is faithful to us in his mercy, no matter what we do.

Let me show you one of the most amazing verses in the Bible: 2Timothy 2:13:

¹³ If we are unfaithful,
    he remains faithful,
    for he cannot deny who he is.

God cannot deny himself. God cannot be unfaithful. You may give up on God, but he’s never giving up on you.

That’s the mercy of God.

(Listen to the conclusion of this great message, by clicking on the link, below.) 

By Rev. Joel Charles

Pastor of Shiloh Holiness Church in Ottawa:

ShilohHoliness Church

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PODCAST LINK to the CFRA broadcast:

http://proxy.autopod.ca/podcasts/chum/6/53688/good_news_261_may21.mp3