Groundless Fears, Unfailing Grace and Peter’s Denial

Father, Lord, here we are just seeking to live our lives for You. And Lord, that consists of so many different circumstances, situations, Lord. The funerals of loved ones.

Lord, interaction with family, maybe later today at different houses and gatherings. Lord, all manner of interaction with our children. Interaction with bosses and employees.

Lord, we just face so many situations that are relational, Lord. It's not just us being out somewhere isolated, but we encounter people. Lord, we want to be faithful to those people.

We want to honor You in the midst of those situations. Lord, we want to have the words that we're supposed to speak when we face those situations. Lord, we want to know what to say.

Lord, we don't want to be afraid. Lord, we don't want to sin and be fearful. We don't want to regard man in whose nostrils is mere breath.

Lord, we think of Philippians 1 and the manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ and that is not being frightened in anything by our opponents, that our lives would be a clear, our fearlessness, our fearless faith that's not afraid would be a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of our salvation in that from God. Lord, we want to be that. We want to be a clear billboard to the world that Your truth is true, that You are the way, the truth, and the life.

And Lord, we realize one way to do that is to not be a fearful people. And the only way to not be a fearful people is to be a people who have faith in You, who trust You, Lord, in the midst of various incendiary circumstances and trials. And so, Lord, I pray that You would even use this message now to help encourage our faith, give us greater confidence in You.

Lord, help us to learn to not trust in ourselves, to not put confidence in the flesh. And so, Lord, I just commit this hour ahead to You. In Christ's name, Amen.

Well, before I have you actually turn to the main text we're going to look at, I want to lead you there through a series of, well, kind of an introduction here. Before I let you know where I'm going, I want to lay a few thoughts out before you. James, do you know that person right there? Do you know who they are? You do, okay.

Well, Vess, do you know that person right there? Do you know that lady next to you? It's pretty easy to be here and get asked if you know someone next to you. And there's absolutely no grounds, there's no basis by which you would deny that you know that person, right? I mean, if anything, it was an awkward question for you, and you probably wondered in what ways using the word no, if you're thinking deeply about it. But there's no basis for you to be afraid to deny the fact that you know that individual.

You didn't even really have to think about saying yes. You had to think about my question being confusing. There's no grounds, right? When we talk about grounds, we mean the foundation or basis for why someone does something.

It's the reason that explains why they acted in that way. What was the reason, the thing that maybe made them feel, let's say they did the opposite of acknowledging they know that person. They would have lied about it.

There's a grounds. There would have been some basis by which they thought getting asked that question, lying would be the better route, right? There would have been something there that made them think and conclude lying would have been the right route to go. Ultimately, as was emphasized, what, two years ago? When this whole issue of Christians and lying was coming up, I thought Jeff did a very good job emphasizing that all lying, all fears, ultimately are groundless fears because God is sovereign and His grace is certain in the situation.

No matter what you and I face, even if there's a real physical earthly basis by which we might die, we might lose our lives, even if that's true, that doesn't justify I lie in that situation to protect myself because ultimately I'm lying against God who is sovereign, who put me in the situation, who knew exactly the circumstances that I was going to face. Now, what if you were Abraham? Let's think about Abraham for a moment. Approaching a certain ruler, and in approaching that certain ruler, Abraham had a fear.

What was his fear? It was that because my wife is beautiful, the ruler might desire her and kill me to take her. Genesis 12, 12. This is his conclusion.

When the Egyptians see you, honey, they're going to say, this is his wife, and they're going to kill me. So based on that reasoning, based on that logic, he comes up with a plan. You're going to say, we're going to practice deceit here, and you're going to say that you're my sister, and it's partly, in some ways it's true, but he has that type of reasoning.

His solution is to tell his wife to say she's his sister. Now, we know what his reasoning was. It's spelled out for us.

He thought he needed to be deceitful to prevent getting killed. Was the grounds for his fear, physically speaking, was that even true? Was it even true that there really was a reason to be fearful and conclude what he did? Can you prove from the Bible, from the text itself, that he had reason to be afraid? And if you research this question, people want to throw up ancient Near East writings that you find it wasn't uncommon for powerful rulers or men in authority to take women they desired. But does the text itself, if you read that whole account, does it ever make it really clear and indicate that yeah, you know what, Abraham really had a reason to be afraid, and his fear was probably actually going to come to pass.

It's interesting. If you look at Pharaoh's response in Genesis 12, Pharaoh called Abram and said, what is this you've done to me? Why did you not tell me she was your wife? Why did you say she is my sister? So that I took her for my wife. Now then, here is your wife.

Take her and go. So Pharaoh actually seemed confused as to why Abraham lied. He heard she's your sister, so he thought I can legitimately take this woman.

Now, you could say, well, Pharaoh is just saying that because, you know, all the great plagues. Okay, maybe the great plagues that came upon him make him state that. But the author, Genesis, is the one who records it in this way, who presents it in this way.

And so my point is, if we're going through this sermon, we don't just want to assume that Abraham's lie had a physical grounds, earthly speaking, that was valid and that his wife's problem was going to get taken. As I look at that passage, it's not as clear to me that it was certain she was actually going to get taken. You can have a perceived threat that's not necessarily from actual behavior that Pharaoh has shown.

It's possible Abraham's fear was based more on assumptions about the moral standards of Egypt than on real, solid facts. Now, if you read all of those texts, I don't think there's a definite way to prove Pharaoh would have never taken Sarah had he known she was Abraham's wife. But I think the text strongly suggests it's not overly certain that if Abraham in that case, if he actually would have just told the truth, I don't think there's a whole lot of evidence there to validate that the king actually would have killed Abraham in order to take his wife.

So what if Abraham's fears were unfounded? Ever had that happen? You're going into a situation and you have all these fears building up in your mind and they actually end up being unfounded fears, but sometimes you end up responding in a cowardly way when there wasn't even a reason to do it. There wasn't even any basis for you to do it. You simply doubt God could protect you in a situation.

You assume all the possible things that might happen. And in the end, your fears might not even end up being validated. It's interesting.

Potiphar's later on in history, immediate anger and imprisonment of Joseph, shows the mere accusation of adultery was pretty serious to Egyptians. So, thus far, we've seen two brothers I've asked here a question. They easily told the truth.

There's no pressure. There's no fearful possible earthly consequence by them saying, yes, I know my wife who is sitting next to me. Secondly, we kind of just briefly looked at Abraham.

He lied out of fear for his own life before actually even seeing any valid threat. At least there's a perceived threat, an assumption that something was going to happen. And in his fear, not trusting the Lord, that was the basis for his lie.

Whether it would have come about or not and was legitimate, we can't know for certain. But he lied. He didn't trust the Lord when facing a fearful situation.

But, would you agree, there's always underlying motivations for your actions, right? There's always a ground for something. There's a basis you're here today. What's the basis for your motivation to be here today? Is it tradition? Is it based on command of Scripture? There's something leading you to be here today.

There's something behind our actions. There's something behind our motivations. In moments of fear, uncertainty, do you trust God's protection? Or are you tempted to take matters into your own hands through dishonesty? Think about it in a positive way.

What was the grounds for Joseph not falling into adultery? What was the basis by which he did not commit adultery? Genesis 39.9, he had a fear of God. He said, how can I do this great wickedness and sin against the Lord? So a fear of God outweighed any motivation for temporal lust and the satisfaction that it might bring. I'd say the same thing with Job.

Job persevered, at least initially, in a really solid way, and there was a basis for it. And I would call that basis was his trust in the sovereignty of God. That's what it was.

He said, blessed be the Lord who does what? Gives, takes away. Job acknowledges the sovereignty of God and he's able to give thanks. So when you sin, there's a basis for it.

Something's not right. There's something leading you and I into unbelief, right? And when we actually do a positive act of righteousness, when we flee from adultery, or when we thank the Lord in the midst of significant loss, there's a basis for that as well. There's something in the mind, a fear of God, a trust in God's sovereignty that's leading us to make those decisions, those righteous responses.

So there's a foundation. That's what I'm trying to show you. Just to get you thinking, there's a foundation and a motivation.

There's a basis. There's something that gets in your mind that's going to lead you to make specific decisions in certain circumstances. And yes, ultimately, even if there's the most valid physical reasons, earthly reasons to be absolutely petrified and afraid, we still should not fear because God who controls all things and is sovereign is in control.

I would say every fear is ultimately groundless apart from a true fear of God because God's grace will never fail. So, our actions, whether truthful or deceitful, always have some underlying ground and motivation for why we do what we do. Now this got me thinking, who else lied in the Bible and when you look closer, you step back and ask, you look at that.

And I'd say this situation is clearer than whatever assumptions I might have made about Abraham. With Abraham, you're kind of doing a little speculation. It's not totally certain.

You wish the text would say a little more. But who else in the Bible lied and when you look closer, you step back and you say, wait, was the human reason that they thought they needed to lie to protect themselves, was that reason even valid? Who comes to your mind? Peter. Exactly right.

I want to look at Peter. Go to John 18. And we're going to look at Peter because as we look at Peter, we're going to think of this, what led him to be in this situation where he makes the response that he does? And then secondly, I want to consider God's response to Peter.

Because what I'm going to present to you, it's something that I really didn't see this until a few weeks ago in Family Devotions. Something stood out in John 18 I'd never recognized before. And it changed the way I framed and looked at Peter's denial.

And it actually left me far more encouraged about the grace and the mercy of the Lord. So John 18. Let's just start in verse 12.

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 the 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.

Simon Peter followed Jesus. Notice this. So did another disciple, since that disciple was known to the high priest.

He entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. So the disciple, who's known by the high priest, has entered the courtyard of the high priest. Right? You've read that before.

We're going to think about some implications though and look what happens as you go further. But Peter stood outside the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl.

So whoever this other disciple is, apparently there's enough authority and ability here to actually let Peter in. 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 he brought Peter in. Now look at verse 17.

The servant girl at the door. There's going to be something tricky about this that we're going to consider. Not tricky.

If you know the whole passage, another verse is going to come to your mind that might undo what you think it's saying. So we want to consider that briefly. But, verse 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.

Okay. Maybe you didn't pick it up yet, but let's think about this. So Jesus is taken from the garden.

Led to Annas. But Matthew also makes it clear they led Him to Caiaphas the high priest. So it seems this is the place of both of these men.

A son-in-law and a father-in-law. And notice, another disciple came in. He's already in the place where Peter is going to be.

And look what? The author of this Gospel, who I would say is John, what John tells us about this disciple. The reason this other disciple got in was because he was known to the high priest. Verse 15.

And then again in verse 16. The disciple, not just the individual, but the follower of Christ who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the person keeping watch at the door. And this person, this girl, listened to this disciple and let Peter in.

And then notice what this person at the door does. She asks Peter a question. You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you? Now for years, I was just misthinking on that phrase.

You also are. You also are. You also... who? Who's she thinking about? And this is the thing.

As you read further on, you get to verse 25 and you have the same phrase. And there's no sense of the other disciple being there. There's no sense of the other disciple in the same context.

And you have the same phrase. You also are. So you read this verse and then you read the other and you think all of this must just be referring to are you generally associated with the Lord Jesus Christ? That must be all that that phrase means because he goes on later to mention in verse 25 the exact same phrase.

You also are. This other disciple is not there. So for years, that's how I read it.

But recently as I'm reading this, it dawns on me, wait a minute. If you really visually picture this, this other disciple has just let in Peter and who's the question directed at by the servant girl? The servant girl sees this other disciple who the high priest knows, and she's well aware he's letting Peter in, and so her natural question to Peter is what? Are you also like this other disciple, one of the followers of Jesus Christ? This other disciple who's known and is in there and nothing's happening to him. He's known to be a disciple.

He's not in there hiding. And it's not just he's known to be a disciple. He's known to be a disciple by the very high priest.

The leader of this whole situation. Nothing's happening to this disciple. And Peter gets asked this question by the servant girl.

Oh, this person here that we all know here who's a disciple of the Lord, are you also a disciple just like this man right here? So I think who she's referring to is this other disciple who is known by the high priest. Now when you read Luke's account, you miss this. It doesn't record all these same details.

And if you end up combining the accounts, it could seem like she might actually wait a moment to actually ask Peter this question. But John's Gospel almost makes it sound as if she asked him this question even in front of this other disciple. So put yourself in Peter's shoes.

There's already another disciple in the area. A disciple known by the high priest. A disciple who apparently even has authority to let you in and is being honored in that way by the servant girl.

And as they're letting you in, the servant girl at the door puts two and two together and says, are you not one of this man's disciples, are you? And what is Peter's response? Peter denies it. Peter denies that he, like this other disciple, knows the Lord. Even though the other disciple is there and not denying it.

And the other disciple is there and known to the high priest. He's not just there because he snuck in. He's not just there because he got a pass.

No. The text makes it clear he's known. This is known.

It's known he's a disciple. He knows the high priest. It's emphasized and there's all that knowledge there about who this person is.

He's not hidden. So, you see, there's no soldier threatening Peter with a sword. There's no sign that even he would be arrested.

Peter's denying the Lord when another disciple who was already there had not denied the Lord. So as I'm starting to see, whoa, I've been picturing Peter's denial wrong for all these years. I went to look at commentators and they obviously point out the same thing.

Barnes says, "...it is not probable that any danger resulted from it being known that Peter was a follower of Christ or that any harm was meditated on them for this. The question asked Peter was not asked by those in authority, and his apprehensions which led to his denial were groundless." I don't know if I'd say they're completely groundless on an earthly level, but Barnes makes that statement right there. And I would even add this, even if Peter had been questioned by someone in authority, like the high priest, instead of a servant girl, the high priest knows the other disciple.

So we'd assume something else absolutely would have happened? I mean, if the high priest is there as this other disciple is asking and the girl asked a question to Peter, is that how we should look at this that all of a sudden they're going to take Peter and stick him out there with the Lord and he's going to die with Christ? To me, this challenges my own picture of this setting differently. What I'm saying is it seems Peter's fear, at least in his first denial, like Barnes says, was actually groundless and unfounded. Peter could have said, yes, I am with this other disciple who is with Jesus.

And Peter could have gone in and apparently suffered no consequences like the other disciple who was already there and was known. Just putting that out there. That seems to be what's coming across.

And eventually, think of this, Peter goes out and weeps bitterly after three denials. Guilt written all over him. No one stops him and arrests Peter.

It's obvious this guy was with... No one does that. And then you fast forward a little longer, you've got Christ on the cross being crucified and where are the other disciples? Where are the other disciples as Christ is on the cross? Some of them are right there in front of the cross watching their Savior die. What did those Roman guards do? They finally came out of hiding.

Let's go take Peter and let's stick him up on the cross and throw some nails in his hand. No, that didn't happen. It didn't happen.

And in John 18, 8, you look at the guard as they're arresting Christ, Christ even says, if you're looking for Me, let these men go. And I would say that's exactly what happened. They were just looking for Christ.

Christ was the one they wanted. Christ was the one person that they were after. Now obviously, you go on, you get to the resurrection, you get to Pentecost, you guarantee Peter's got all manner of reasons to absolutely be terrified that he's going to get arrested and he's going to get stuck in prison.

And he does get put in prison and God delivers him. And he finds he ultimately, even with valid physical threats, Peter was able to be fearless through the strength that the Lord gave. Now people want to argue, who was this other disciple? I just want to spend one brief moment on that and not pass over and ignore it.

Who was this other disciple? And it does matter. Because as I thought about this, if it is a certain individual, in my mind it almost made me think, maybe I'm reading this wrong. Maybe I'm actually missing something here.

So think of this for a moment. John 18, 15 to 16, it says, the high priest knew the other disciple who followed Jesus into the courtyard. Now, in John, in the Gospel, the author of the Gospel often refers to himself in what way? It does use the phrase, the other disciple, and then it uses, whom Jesus loved.

Remember that. Is that the same language right here in this text? Is it the same language? It's not. It doesn't mean it's not John, but that should get you thinking.

It says other disciple. Acts 4, if you just look, Acts 4 obviously chronologically happens after everything we just read about. Right? And notice the characters involved in Acts 4. 5-6, On the next day, the rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas.

Same individuals. All who were from the high priest's family. Verse 7, And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, By what power, by what name did you do this? Who's here? Peter.

Filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and the elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, let it be known to all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead by this man, is standing before you well. And they go on. Verse 13, Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, John, okay? And perceived that they were... Listen to how Luke records this.

They perceived they were uneducated men. Common men. They were astonished.

And they recognized they had been with Jesus. You hear how Luke records that here? Peter and John. This is the high priest who knows the other disciple.

You see what I'm saying? In John 18, this other disciple is known to the high priest. If that's John, what's going on here? They perceived they were uneducated men. Wouldn't they have already known if it was John that he was an uneducated man? That they were common men and they were astonished and they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

If it was John, just sounds odd right there to word it in that way. So, I don't know. That sounds like a statement of they're just finding out who these individuals are.

You see what I'm saying? So some would argue because of that, it's clear the other disciple in John 18 is not John. Now, if that's true, then you've got possibilities that come up, which makes it interesting. Because is it Nicodemus? Is it Joseph of Arimathea? Well, now this is why it's interesting.

If it's Joseph of Arimathea, I have to ask, what if it is him? Well, John 19.38, again a point later, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, hear that? Secretly for fear of the Jews. This guy was a disciple secretly for the fear of the Jews. Well, that means if he's the other disciple there and he goes up to Peter, well, was he really known? Well, I don't think it's Joseph of Arimathea because what does the text say? He was known to the high priest.

And it not just knew about him, but that he was a disciple of the Lord. And then the girl's question, are you also, like this other disciple, are you also one of the Lord's? And so, I don't know. I can't prove to you who it was.

But regardless of who it was, right there in John 18, what I wanted you to recognize, something I really hadn't seen, and obviously a lot of commentators had recognized, and I'm just pulling this out of nowhere, is that in Peter's first denial, he denies the Lord when it apparently, if he would have said yes, he would have suffered no real consequences because you have another disciple who's already known to the high priest and is there. And he's suffering absolutely no consequences himself. At least there's nothing in the text indicating there was anything negative about being known there.

You know what this makes you ask? What was the ultimate reason for Peter's denial? There wasn't grounds. And you know what the grounds was for Peter's denial? It wasn't ultimately, he had a fear in the present that something was going to happen to him. You actually go back and you find where the grounds of his denial was.

It was a past sin and manifestation of pride and self-confidence in his heart. That's what led him to where he ended up. John 13, 37, Peter said to Him, Lord, why can I not follow You? I will lay down my life for You.

He didn't even get close. He denied the Lord when apparently there was no reason he even needed to do it, earthly speaking. Jesus answered, will you lay down your life for Me? There's that confidence.

You're so bold. This is not good boldness, right? This is pride. There's a good boldness.

There's a confidence of Joshua and Caleb. That's not what we're seeing happening here in John 13. 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.

The Lord is now stepping back from graciously helping the self-confident Peter, and He's going to allow Peter to go fall flat on his face to learn a lesson he couldn't learn in any other way. That's a scary place. You ignore counsel.

You think you have it all understood, and God steps back and lets you fall on your face, and weeks later, or a day later, or an hour later, you look back and you realize all those people were right. What Christ said was right. I was too proud, too arrogant to recognize it.

This is a lasting warning against self-confidence. When pride leads to failure, it's absolutely humbling. You can overestimate your strength.

You can underestimate your dependence on God. You and I can resolve to do anything, but if God's not sustaining us, it's going to be absolutely a fruitless endeavor. I mean, you can be so confident you're going to lay your life down for Christ, and you can fall miserably when doing so.

So let's think about some further applications here on all of this. First, as just stated, you saw the extent by which... remember this, because some of you, even I, could be in this state right now. Have you or I had a previous manifestation of pride? Could have been a week ago.

Could have been three hours ago. I don't know. A previous manifestation of pride and self-confidence that was not acknowledged, not seen, and not repented of.

You understand what I'm saying? It happened in the past. You're here. I'm here.

We don't even recognize that's what was happening internally in our heart. That's what Peter went into this situation with. Not repented of.

Not truly recognized. Even though the Lord pointed it out and said, you're going to deny Me three times. Look where it lands the believer.

He denies Christ before a servant girl and maybe even, according to John, you almost get the sense with that other disciple right there. Realize, you combine Luke's account, it might have happened a little after. Secondly, you know what your pride does? You know what pride and self-confidence in us does? It prevents us from remembering certain Scriptures until after we've been humbled.

You know the Bible? That's great. Do I know Bible? Sure. It's not just knowing it.

Can I remember it in the specific situation by which those verses apply? What do I mean? Listen to this. In Matthew 26, immediately the rooster crowed. And what happened to Peter? And Peter remembered.

Why didn't I remember five minutes earlier? Why did it have to happen after I got humbled? Because pride was keeping you from recognizing this is reality and what Christ said was going to happen. So you had to fall to be humbled and then you remembered the truth. You remembered the saying of Jesus.

Before the rooster crows, You will deny Me three times. And he went out and he wept bitterly. Praise God, he wept bitterly.

So it is with us in self-confidence. All the truth we know, if it's not fresh on our mind, if we're blinded from receiving it with meekness because of our pride, we're going to be humbled. It's in the humbled state that God's Word often can strike most clearly on your conscience.

The things you and I are not recognizing when God humbles us, takes the rug out from under our feet, often then we have the greatest sensitivity to recognize certain truths the Lord's been trying to show us, but we've kind of been deflecting and not wanting to recognize that truth. A third thing. It's not just the extent pride takes that we should consider.

To apparently groundlessly, without any earthly reason, deny Christ. But think of the extent of Christ's mercy towards His believers. This should make it more amazing the Lord's forgiveness of Peter.

We know the Lord prayed for Peter that his faith not fail. Luke 22. We know the Lord said, once you have risen again, strengthen your brothers.

But brethren, this man who became a coward right there when another man was given grace and was not a coward, this man who made an oath that he did not know Christ, which is ultimately what he was doing, he was making an oath, this man the Lord forgave. Think of all the people thinking, have I committed the unpardonable sin? And it's like, well, what have you done? I had a real wicked, profane thought. Okay, guess what? You know what Peter did? He really boasted really proudly that he went in there to see the Lord and then he got asked by a servant girl if he knew this other disciple who knew the Lord and the other disciples safe.

And Peter lies and says he doesn't know the Lord and he makes an oath. And Peter's not in hell. Peter gets on and used by the Lord.

So this is the extent, what grace of God, that we see right here in his response to Peter. Fourth thing, sin leads you to have fears that are groundless, that have absolutely no foundation. Like I said, ultimately all fear, why have it even if it's legitimate in an earthly sense? You've got a sword to your neck.

That's a legitimate fear, but it doesn't mean there's a reason to give in to that fear. What fears do you have in your life right now? Are you afraid a king might take your wife? What if it's not even a real fear? What if you're assuming something about that king because you're already in unbelief and doubting the Lord and it's not even valid? And even if it is valid that he might take your wife, should I fear or should I trust in the Lord? But you know what happens? If we give in to fear when there's no grounds, you know what's going to happen? What's going to happen when there really is a foundation by which we should be terrified? How are you and I going to fare in that? If we can't run with the horsemen, how are we going to do with the chariots? We're going to be left behind. Not in a dispensational sense.

Let me tell you... I want to give an example. I'm reading a biography this week. You know how I do that.

I read biographies. I like reading dead people. They finished well.

Jeff was just saying that a lot of a certain man's books are half-priced books this week. It's a sad reality. But dead people, there's something nice about them.

We're a part of the dead people and finished well, right? I want to give an example of someone in missions history. They had a whole lot of reason to be absolutely petrified. And they weren't.

Just remember, remember that example I gave about the Moravian missionary? Just adding on to this. Remember how he went to the camp of the most fearless Indians? What led to their conversion? Who remembers that example? He didn't leave when he finished talking to them. He laid down and he slept.

And all those natives got around him thinking about killing him and they saw how much peace he was in and they realized his God must be real. And that village got converted because a man went to bed in the middle of a bunch of natives and was unafraid because he had such a peace in the Lord. That, I'm telling you, that's an example of fearless faith.

Being assigned to your enemies of their destruction and your salvation and that from God. That example just blew me away when I read that. I forget.

Is it Niceburg? I forget the name. Do you remember the name, Benjamin? So, many know John Williams. John Williams and Harris, they went to Aramanga.

Almost immediately after getting there, they were struck down with clubs, spears. They were martyred. Right? John Williams was martyred in 1839.

And then a couple went after the Gordons. In 1857, George and Ellen Gordon, they went where John Williams had been martyred. Did they go in knowing there was a real likelihood they might get killed? They had a great physical earthly grounds to be terrified and they were not.

They went in. Years went on and they were safe. Four years.

And then a case of measles broke out. The couple was blamed. And they were both brutally murdered by the islanders in 1861.

John G. Payton, he was on another island at the time. He recorded the savages to stop the extension of the Lord's work had resolved to murder the missionaries. Almost simultaneously, they received their martyr crowns and entered in the joy of their Lord.

He goes on. Some very encouraging things. But listen to this.

Two years later, a book was written called The Last Martyrs of Erromanga. That book should not have been written. Or at least the title should have been changed.

It shouldn't have been The Last Martyrs of Erromanga. Because they weren't The Last Martyrs of Erromanga. There's a problem with the title.

I'm reading this book and I'm thinking, wait, they're The Last Martyrs? No, the title was wrong. It was prematurely published assuming no one else was going to get killed on this island. Ellis records this.

This young couple gets martyred in a near apostolic heroism. Mr. Gordon's own brother immediately took up his slain brother's work, won the affection of the very people who had taken both his brother and sister-in-law from him. Yet 11 years later, in 1872, he too was martyred.

John Williams goes and Harris, they're martyred. George and Ellen Gordon go and they're martyred. And then you've got James Gordon goes, survives a longer time, and then he too is killed.

And listen about his death. Hugh Robertson records, there Gordon was in his house, busy revising his brother's translation of the Acts of the Apostles. Assisted by his faithful helper Sozo, he had reached the midst of the seventh chapter of Stephen's narrative where Stephen was stoned.

Two natives came asking for empty bottles. Mr. Gordon suspected nothing and asked Sozo to look over their corrections once more. He rose.

He gave them in what they wanted. One of the natives, seeking his opportunity, instantly plunged his tomahawk into the victim's face. The poor man sprang to his feet, pushing open the glass door leading into his study.

He fell heavily upon the floor. Sozo, who had left the manuscript lying on the floor where he had been sitting and had gone into the dining room, heard the thud when Mr. Gordon fell. On entering, he found him lying on his face, blood rushing from a fearful gash in his face and from his mouth.

Mr. Gordon made an attempt to turn onto his back. His lips moved. Sozo thought in prayer.

And then, with one long, deep gasp, his spirit returned to the God who gave it and to the Savior whom he had so faithfully loved. Mr. Gordon had fallen with his face upon his manuscript. And when he was moved, it was found the page of his last writings, Acts 7, was stained with his own life's blood.

In bitter grief, they buried him the same evening in a spot Gordon had already pointed out for his burial, should his death occur. So John Williams was martyred in 1839. George and Ellen, 1861.

Then this book, The Last Martyrs, comes out in 1863. And nine years later, James Gordon was also martyred on Erromanga. Did they have all manner of grounds by which to be terrified and cower back? They did.

And they didn't. That's what a life of faith, not of self-confidence, will produce. You get into the most legitimate situations, you could be absolutely terrified.

And God gives you the grace to go to bed. Or the grace to... Well, even there. How many nights he went to bed? Now, he did build a two-story house and he slept on the second story to give more of a chance.

James Gordon did. Understandable. God used his means to help you escape.

Lowered Paul down a basket. Patton hid in a tree and escaped getting martyred. So James Gordon actually was the last martyr of Erromanga.

Erromanga is now, back then, a Christian island for which all praise our dear Lord Jesus. You see the difference though? That's faith. We're going to believe the Lord.

We're not going to trust in ourselves. We're going to trust in the God who raises the dead. And He has delivered us and He will deliver us again.

On Him we have set our hope. That's who Paul is trusting. 2 Timothy 4.18 All have deserted me, none stood by me, but the Lord stood by me and strengthened me that through Him I might be delivered from the mouth of the lion.

And He will deliver me from every evil deed and He will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom. And you know how Paul got safely to the heavenly kingdom? He got martyred. His ultimate safety was not physical safety.

He was talking about spiritual security in the greatest sense. He was delivered from the evil deeds producing in him a denial of the Christ whom he loved. And he didn't deny the Christ even though all in Asia had deserted Paul based on those fears.

It's something, you know, I think as Craig pointed out in his Galatians series, it's something about Peter's denial here of Christ even later on. You think it would have left a lasting impact and you get to Galatians and you find Peter in a similar way denying the Lord, denying the truth by backing away and being a hypocrite and representing the gospel in a wrong way when Paul comes and Paul confronts him. And so that's a lesson for us.

It doesn't matter what lesson you and I had in the past about not being a coward and not being fearful. We've got to maintain our faith in the present. Oh, we need the Lord.

A fifth application. Our passage we see that this other disciple apparently was given far superior grace to be there and not deny Christ. That can be you.

If you didn't just make the proud, arrogant comment shortly before and set yourself up for absolute failure. You and I can fail in situations. There's no reason to fail because your prior attitude was wrong.

It was not a faith. A sixth thing. How often do we deny Christ in smaller, less obvious ways when there's no real threat to us? I realize I can't prove with Abraham, but let's say it's true there was no grounds and the Pharaoh, as the Pharaoh said later on, he had no plans of taking another man's life.

You know what you and I can do? We make assumptions going into a situation and we think the worst. We're already setting ourselves up for miserable failure. Let's just think of all the worst things that might happen when we go to the city.

Oh, they might kill me and take my life. Even if that's true and that's on the news, you don't then dwell on, well, that's going to happen to us. Right? Where is your mind? Where is my mind at? You know where the sluggard's mind is at? The sluggard says there's a lion outside.

I will be killed in the streets. You know what he's saying? He's humorously describing the sluggard as making ridiculous excuses for not working. And his ridiculous excuse for not working is if I go out to work, I might get eaten by a lion.

Okay, maybe if you're in Ghost of the Darkness building the bridge in Africa, it might happen to you. I don't know why my parents showed that as a kid to me. It was very scary.

Lions killed the people there. But most people, if I said I'm scared to go out because of a lion, it's ridiculous. You see, that can happen to us.

We make ridiculous decisions that have absolutely no grounds. But even if there is a grounds and there is a lion, there's the lion of the tribe of Judah who you can trust in who will keep you in perfect peace. If your mind has stayed on him, because you trust in him.

Seventh thing, the last thing. Abraham went on from his lying and deceit to become the father of many people. And Peter went on from his life, his lie, not life, to become the spiritual father of the thousands of Pentecost.

I mean, as Craig preached months back, praise God, the people He uses to grow His kingdom. But sometimes if God's going to use you or me to grow His kingdom, He's first got to do what? Grow us. And sometimes that means He cuts all the branches off and you look like you're not going to bear any fruit.

And it looks really pitiful. I was thinking of that track recently, Others May and You Cannot. There's times God, He hides you away, He puts you in a situation.

That track really ministered to Paul Washer when Ravenhill gave it to him because he recognized God's doing something deep in my life and it might not manifest until later all the fruit that God's going to produce. And not ironically, that actually is exactly what's happened in brother Paul Washer's life. Years and years and years and it seems like, what's going on? And then now you look physically, earthly speaking right now, God's used him to bear a lot of fruit in his evangelism.

So brethren, you might even look at your life and think, am I even really bearing certain fruit? And I desire to bear more. Don't neglect to recognize what God is doing to mold in you the character of Christ to make you a person of faith. Because you might end up on that island one day or in that tribe with those natives.

Again, North Sentinel is still an island, that exists, that years ago John Allen Chau went to and got murdered on. I realize the India government, that's all on lockdown. There's still people there.

Is John Allen Chau's brother going to go like James Gordon and get killed? I mean, imagine if in our day, North Sentinel Island became a Christian island. That happened to Aramanga in John Patton's day. Can you imagine the absolute thrill and encouragement to see that happen? It's amazing, you read missions history and you think, well, there's no more opportunities like that today.

There are. We heard even a little while ago about the place in Mexico where there's unreached people. You know about Brazil and the jungles.

I realize that all the governments and the drones and security, it's like they want to protect these people. Well, they're doing that in China and missionaries are still getting in. There's still a way.

Something to pray for. So brethren, remember, every fear ultimately is a groundless fear. There's no foundation for it.

Because God's grace will not fail you. And He is sovereign and on the throne. You can trust Him.

Let's pray. Father, Lord, I pray that You would help us. Lord, we have these situations that we go into with self-confidence.

Lord, there's times we've been like Peter. It's not a faith and a reliance on You. But Lord, it's just dogmatic.

I'll never deny You. And Lord, we don't want to be people who say I'll never, I'll never. Lord, by the grace of God, we are what we are.

And by Your grace, Lord, we won't deny You. Lord, by Your grace, we will not be frightened when we face our opponents. Lord, I do pray that You would help it be true in my life.

You'd help it be true in these dear brethren's lives. That we would live a life only worthy of the Gospel of Christ. Lord, that whether faced by our opponents, Lord, we would not in any way be frightened so that it would be a clear sign to them of their destruction.

But of our salvation and that from God. Lord, the same grace You gave John Zaisberg in that Indian village to lay down and sleep. The same grace You gave George and Ellen Gordon.

The same grace You gave James Gordon to go back after a book that was written called The Last Martyrs. And then he goes and gets a tomahawk in his head and he dies. Revising Acts 7. And You gave him the same grace.

Lord, no, he didn't look up to heaven and see You standing at the right hand of the throne of God. But Lord, You gave him the same grace You gave Stephen. It didn't matter that there was hundreds and hundreds of years apart.

Lord, You are the same today. And we want to trust in You. Lord, we want to believe You.

Father, we want to be people of faith. Lord, yes, we want to be not just people of faith. Lord, we want to see others come to know You, the one true God.

Lord, I do pray. You are the Lord of the harvest. This is Your harvest.

Lord, I trust there's people in our church right now, they might feel like it's a slow process, but Lord, You're molding in them the deep character where they could actually end up in a missions context and suffer in such a way like we just saw in those examples and they wouldn't deny You because of the little things You're doing in their life right now. Lord, I pray You'd continue to do that in various brethren's lives. Lord, that one day we could send them out into the harvest that is plentiful and the labors are few.

And Lord, we don't just want labors. Lord, we want people who will last, who will have faith and trust in You. Lord, it won't be a crumbling situation in their life where they just despair and they come back like Andy said, the devil attacking all the weak cracks in their life.

Lord, deal and resolve those weak cracks in our lives now and make us more like Your Son. Father, we just... Lord, we look to You. Lord, help us.

Commit this to You. In Jesus' name, Amen.