Truth on Trial Part 2

Pastor Mike will be speaking on Truth on Trial Part 2. He will be in John 18:12-27.

We’re to do what we can to advance the gospel but be careful that the devil doesn’t cause you to get your eye off the main thing and that you focus on trying to make everything right in this world rather than making sure that everyone is right with the Lord in this world.

Hello this is Pastor Mike and welcome back to Hope Worth Having. It’s a great joy that we can be together and thank you for tuning in so that we can be apart as we study the Bible together. We’re continuing our study about truth on trial.

This is in the Gospel of John chapter 18 verse 12 through 17 and John in this passage of scripture is highlighting not only the character of Christ as he’s dealing with injustices in the Jewish trial but also we are seeing the weakness of the Apostle Peter.

Now he’s not an apostle at this time in the sense that Jesus is still dealing with him and still having to recommission him but here he is a man who is struggling with the trial and he’ll eventually be caught and he is identified as one of the disciples but Peter denies the Lord.

As you and I see the truth on trial we’re reminded that each and every one of us are really on trial. We are on trial every day and we must examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. God is testing us to see that our faith is real and it is genuine.

Join me as we start this study of John chapter 18. We know the Bible says that he was smitten. Jesus said why are you hitting me? Because in the law there was no violence or brutality allowed in the courtroom.

So for five particular reasons here we see a Savior who is bound and he is unfairly and unjustly brought before. this court, and Peter, he was free. To go where he wanted to. Peter was free because the Jews were intent on doing whatever they could, whatever was necessary, even willing to violate the Bible, even willing to violate their own set of rules to get their agenda done.

But here’s what I want you to see. I want you to see how Jesus took the injustice from others. I want you to note that just like the Old Testament, that before they took the sacrifice to the priests to be offered up to God in the Holy of Holies, that this sacrifice was bound, and this sacrifice was brought before, a sacrifice without blemish, a sacrifice that was brought not because.

their own sins but for the sins of others and this sacrifice was placed upon the altar and offered up to God on behalf of the sins of God’s people and so it is that Jesus Christ was bound and he was innocent and sinless and he was brought before this trial and accused falsely and he would eventually be put on a cross for you and for me and he was bound so that you and I could be free each and every one of us should have paid for our own sins but friends Jesus took injustice from others and he took injustice from others who had evil intent but I want you to note that he took justice from God so that you and I could receive grace and mercy for this trial would lead to the crucifixion of Jesus and the justice of God would be poured out upon Christ because all sin had to be dealt with my sin your sin had to be paid for the punishment had to be applied it wasn’t that God was unjust but that he was just and that even in the injustices that Jesus faced he still remained the sinless Savior and never never responded in a way that was sinful selfish but he was the sinless Lamb of God presented to a just and holy God for the sacrifice of of our sins so that you and I might receive grace and mercy from God.

The second thing I want you to note is that Christ was truthful when Peter was deceitful. We again look at verse 20 and 21 and we see that Jesus reiterates his point of how he was open. He didn’t do anything in the dark of the night.

He didn’t do it in secret. He didn’t do it behind closed door. It was always in a public setting. He was very truthful for what he said. He was very truthful in how he lived. He was not only a man who said it, he lived it.

He was a man of integrity. He was a man that they could not find anyone who could bear witness to any sin in his life. We know as we study the Gospels. that even Pilate said, I find no fault in this man.

Jesus was truthful. He was a man of integrity. And yet Peter was one who deceived and he denied. And he was the one that misled others. When John talks about Peter and this other disciple getting into the courtroom and being able to watch and observe this trial taking place, John never in this gospel refers to himself.

He always refers to the other disciple or he refers to the disciple whom Jesus loved. And that is a reference to himself. But John wanting to be a man of humility says, it was me and Peter, we got in there and we saw this.

And so there is Peter, there he is. And the moment of pressure is upon him. And what does he do? He denies even knowing Jesus Christ. No, this trial was not designed to discover truth. It was to push an agenda for the Jews had desire in John 11 53, that from that day on, they made plans to put him to death.

They already determined his guilt. The worst thing that Jesus did was he brought healing and forgiveness to the people. What Jesus could be accused of as being a man who spoke truth and cared for the hurting.

Jesus knew that the law would demand a witness. And therefore he challenged them to find that witness. And they could not. But John quickly leads us into Peter. And Peter ends up standing with the enemies of Christ, and there he denies Jesus.

What a contrast, what a contrast of lives, reminding each and every one of us what the Psalmist said, that blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the paths of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.

We must be careful where we stand. We must be careful where we walk. We must be careful where we sit, because all of these potential hazards can lead us to make wrong decisions, wrong confessions, and end up in attitude, in actions, denying our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Now, the third thing that I want you to note, that Christ, faced violence, but Peter faced peer pressure. In verse 22, the Bible says that when he had thus spoken, one of the officers, which stood by, struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, answer us thou the high priest’s soul.

Meaning, how can you talk to him that way? You’re not allowed to talk to him, but Jesus was not disrespectful. Knowing the law, he articulately communicates how that they are violating the law as they are accusing him.

But what’s amazing, even having been hit and struck in the face, the great composure that Jesus displayed. Peter would later tell the church in 1 Peter 2, 23, who when he was reviled, reviled not again.

When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judges righteously. My friends, Jesus demonstrated great patience as he suffered insults, lies, and abuse. Jesus said in John 13, verse 38, that he would lay down his life.

Jesus said he would lay down his life, but he asked Peter this question, will you lay down your life for my sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied me three times.

Peter was a man who made rash vows. He was a man who said he would never betray the Savior. He would never disown him. He would never deny him. But we know that he denied Jesus three times. Jesus felt the sting of betrayal, the sting of being denied, that as he was enduring on behalf of Peter so that he might bring forgiveness and grace to Peter, Peter was denying him as his Savior and Lord.

The Apostle Paul understood what it was like to be betrayed. He said to Timothy, the young pastor, this you know that all those in Asia have turned away from me among who are phagellus and homogenes.

Paul was devastated and he felt the sting of rejection by others. The prophet had prophesied that Jesus would one day be denied. Zechariah 13 6 says, and one will say to him, what are these wounds between you and me?

your arms and he will answer those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.” The greater sting for Jesus was not the slap across the face. It was the denial of the one that he loved, Peter.

The one that he’d given his life for. And Peter had buckled under the pressure. He had disowned his Savior Jesus during Jesus’s most difficult hour. When Jesus needed a disciple to stand up and speak up for him, Peter denied him.

But Peter’s experience is a warning to each and every one of us. It’s easy for us to be upset with Peter and to be mad with him, but we were reminded that boasting in our abilities is always an invitation.

It’s an invitation to failure in our life. We have to be careful about being proud and thinking that we’ll always be what we should be and that we should strive and desire God’s grace more than anything in our hearts.

As we read this passage and we see these stunning contrasts between Jesus’s response and Peter’s response, you might say this morning, Mike, thank you, that’s very interesting, but what does this have to do with my life?

And I think that is a good question and I think it is a great question. And so I want to leave you with three takeaways this morning that will help you. What are three principles that emerged? Certainly a lot more, but you don’t want to be here forever, do you?

I want you to be encouraged this morning at the clock I’m looking at. It says that right now it’s 7 .38. I don’t know if it’s a .m. p .m. what it is. I don’t have a watch. My phone is on the front row, so we’re in quite the quandary here, right?

But be encouraged in all of my notes that I’ve typed out for you. You were on the last page and we’re already halfway through the last page. So surely the pastor will get done in time. What are these three takeaways that I need to learn this morning?

Number one, we will not always receive justice in this world. When our children were little they used to say to Terry and I, that’s not fair, Dad. That’s not fair, Mom. And our response was always, life is not fair.

Life is not fair. And perhaps one of the great principles you could teach your children and grandchildren is that life is not fair. And as we look at how our Savior was treated, He was treated very unfairly, right?

And they violated all the laws. They violated all the rules of a Jewish trial of being brought before the Sanhedrin court. And here Jesus was treated as if He was guilty. They did it in secret. They did it behind closed doors.

They presumed He was already wrong. And a guilty man in life, there are going to be many injustices in this world. Sometimes those injustices are personal. Sometimes those injustices are right within our community.

Sometimes those injustices take place at the workplace. Sometimes those injustices happen on a national level. And we become angry and upset. But I want you to remember, and I want you to note how Jesus responded to injustices in His life.

Jesus did not become a rebel rouser. He did not grab a sign and hit the streets and start protesting. He did not grab a sword and demand that He will hurt somebody for perpetrating this injustice upon Him.

But rather, Jesus was a man who understood that we live in a sinful, flawed, and selfish world. And as a result, of it, we as believers will face persecution, we will face injustices, and we have to learn to respond as Jesus did.

Can I take you back to 1 Peter 2, 23? Jesus, when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judges righteously. You see, friends, one day God will right every wrong in this world.

And I know that we’re on our missions to right all the wrongs, but I’m here to tell you we won’t be able to. We are to be light, we’re to be salt, we’re to do what we can to advance the gospel, but be careful that the devil doesn’t cause you to get your eye off.

the main thing and that you focus on trying to make everything right in this world rather than making sure that everyone is right with the Lord in this world. My purpose on this earth is to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is to do what I can to get as many people to heaven. It is to help people to come to understand that we are sinners in need of a Savior and praise God. We have a Savior who went to the cross for our sins and He died for us and if we have faith in Him, we can have eternal life.

You can get caught up in all the social justices in this world and forget about the main thing. And as someone once said, the main thing is to keep the main thing, the main thing. The second takeaway is that I have to come to grips with is that God permits injustices to advance His plan.

The reason Peter became such a rash vow taker, if you will, is because he could not believe that somehow Jesus would have to die on a cross but he would have to suffer for the sins of mankind. Peter was not going to allow it.

He grabbed his sword and he was swinging for the head when they came to get Jesus and he was such a bad swing that he totally missed the head and got the ear. But God brings everything full circle. Peter is witnessing the trial.

He is seeing his Savior who was truthful on trial. He was watching it all unfold and rather than standing up and making his stand. And with Christ and for Christ, He retreats. He denies the Lord three times.

Because friends, sometimes God does allow injustices to advance His plan, and the plan was that Christ would go to the cross and die for your sins and my sins. I don’t like the injustices. I don’t think they’re right.

But I do know that God is in charge, amen. And when you are betrayed, when you have been denied, when someone has walked out of your life, and you feel like you have been treated unfairly, perhaps you even feel like it might be upset with God this morning that He has brought injustice in your life, this is so unfair that I lost my job.

This is so unfair that I find myself in this circumstance. Remember that He permits. injustices to advance his plan. A .W. Tozer put it so eloquently when he said, I can trust the one who has my best interest in mind.

God is smarter than you. He’s smarter than me. And he allows things to unfold in ways that we may not always agree with or like, but we can be confident that he is in control and that he is in charge.

The third takeaway and the final one that I want to share with you this morning. Is that any of us at the wrong time with the wrong people can do the wrong thing. I mean, Peter of all people. Peter, this great disciple that had great access to the Savior.

Yes, he was among the twelve, but you understand he was among the three Peter, James and John that went to the top of the mountain and they saw the glory of Christ unveiled before them. They heard Moses and Elijah speak.

They heard the father speak in which he said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Peter who Jesus looked at and said. I am going to call you a rock. Peter hadn’t achieved a rock yet. He was just a pebble.

But Jesus also much potential in Peter. He saw so much leadership in Peter. He saw a young man that would eventually be a valiant leader for the church. Peter. When Jesus said, who do people say that?

I am Peter spoke up and said you are the son of God the Messiah oh the one on the most high Peter who was commended so many times by Jesus but now he had failed Jesus he had let him down not just once not just twice but three times he failed and I don’t care how long you’ve been living for Christ and I don’t care how long you have loved Jesus and I don’t care how many times you’ve read the Bible through there isn’t a one of us that isn’t vulnerable to sin in this world and that each of us must be alert and we must be on guard and we must recognize that in that moment of the pressure,

that moment when we’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, standing with the wrong crowd, doing the wrong thing, hanging out with the wrong people, we can let our Savior down in a very significant way.

But I leave you with hope, because this Savior who was not only dealing with the travesty of injustice in this trial, but He was well aware of Peter and what He was doing and how He was denying Him, this Savior came to die for the Apostle Peter.

He came to die for all who have failed Him. He has come to die for all who have lied, for all who have denied Him, for all who have sinned against Him. And you may have found yourself this morning having failed Jesus this week, having failed Him in the last month, having dropped your guard, and you were in the wrong place looking at the wrong thing, thinking the wrong things in your life, responding the wrong way.

You may have been to the point of frustration and anger in your heart that you lashed out, and you said what you should not have said. Friends, there is a Savior who died for you. He died for your sins.

He died for your failures. He died for every time we let down. Jesus. And here’s the distinction. Judas, full of himself, full of what he wanted, failed in his attempt to try to bring in a political king, went and hung himself.

But the Bible teaches us that Peter wept bitterly. And your response is crucial because in spite of your failures this week, God’s grace allows each and every disciple of his to move forward because of his mercy, because of his sinlessness, because he went to that cross for you, because he already took care of your sin.

And if you will come and you will be honest and you will be humble and repentant in your heart, you have a Savior that if we confess our sins… He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all of our unrighteousness.

I love the words of the Apostle Paul. Philippians 3 .13, brethren, I count not myself to ever apprehend it, but this one thing I do. Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before.

You and I have not arrived, not but there is one thing we can do when we leave today. Make sure that you put all your sins, all your failures, all your grudges, all your guilt, all your struggles under the blood of Jesus Christ this morning.

And when you walk out of this building, I want you to forget those things which are behind and I want you to move forward and reach forth for what God has for you by His grace. The trial of Jesus was unfair and illegal, but yet we see in Christ a stamina and a strength that is in His heart that sets an example for all of us as we’re dealing with the injustices in this world.

We’re thankful that God, even in the corruption of the world, still gives us the strength to keep our eyes upon Him. And Jesus Christ stands as the one that we look to for how we handle every matter and every trial in this world.

And I hope today that you’ll be encouraged and you’ll be strengthened. And we know that some of you are walking through some deep valleys, some difficult times, but I want you to be encouraged by the life of Christ that even as He dealt with the injustices, that He continued to point everyone to Christ.

And may that be true on all of our lives. Let me encourage you to make sure that you are checking out our YouTube channel. We have a YouTube channel, Hope Worth Having. We’re uploading every week, different teaching lessons that I’m doing.

And also we have some interviews on there. We have some question and answer sessions. So I hope that you’ll take advantage of that. Also, I wanna mention this month that everyone that supports us and gives a donation of $10 or more that we’re gonna send a copy of my book to them entitled Dynamic Devotions.

Feel free to reach out to us by going to our website and you can make your donation or you can write us at Hope Worth Having, 600 Miller Street, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, 17201. And we’ll be glad to get this information out to you in this copy of this book that I know will be a blessing to your life.

This is Pastor Mike Sanders reminding you. that in Christ there is hope worth having.