The Stages Of Backsliding - Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Maranatha Shabiba Conference 2021)

I don't like to take too much time apart from the word, but I think it would be inappropriate if I don't at least say a giant thank you to, to so many. If I name names, that will take me a bit. But especially to Bishop and Phoebe, thank you guys so much for all that you've done organizing for Bishop. For, all the sacrifices behind the scenes and organizing, organizing all the things that people don't realize need to be organized for this to be a seamless and a graceful experience. And again, I can name so many names, but I wanna say thank you to those who have helped in any way to make this conference possible.

From the events to the activities to the VBS to, the the registration, God bless you. Jesus praised the woman who anointed his feet. When the disciples criticized, he praised her and said she did what she could, and that's all that the Lord looks from us. Sometimes we think that we need something to please the Lord, something great and grand. And as long as you know in your heart that you're doing what you can do, the Lord will will praise your efforts for his for his glory.

And, many of you here are here for the first time. Many of you are familiar faces, but it's interesting because a lot of, people have been inquiring about, our worship songs this year. And, not in the sense of criticism, I hope. I didn't hear anything directly. I just had a few people come up and be like, a lot of people are asking about the songs that we sang this year because they're quite different from the songs that we've been singing in the previous years.

And that could be true, and sometimes when you hear, especially a few songs where you're not really familiar with, you feel like you've been robbed of some kind of experience you want to really, you know, worship with a familiar tune and and lyrics, and and that's okay. We completely understand. But I have to say this, as a church, United Evangelical Church, we have a strong conviction that our worship must be theologically sound. It has to be. I think where people get confused is that, as I said briefly earlier, without really admitting it, but by by the way we organize it and by the way we demand it, is that we kinda think that worship is about us.

And, that's where that's where it gets dangerous. And and we almost even, for some, have a limited view in the sense that we think that worship is solely for God to hear, and that is the the main purpose. But there is secondary purposes to worship, and I wanna show you one of those in Colossians chapter three. Is worship ultimately about God? Absolutely.

It's for his ears alone, and we better be careful what we say to God and what we say about God. And I think what's happening today in modern worship is at least two things. One, you have very talented gifted people. There's no doubt about that. But the songs that they they write and this isn't a criticism.

I'm not musically inclined in any way, but, what can happen is the songs can be more performance driven than congregational. That make sense? One of the things, the criteria when we when we choose worship songs is, is the congregation able to worship with this? Can they sing along with this? Is there a rhythm?

Is there a flow? Is there a tempo in which it it invites everyone to be able to participate in it? And secondly, modern worship generally is very shallow, very shallow in terms of lyrics, in terms of doctrine. And you might be wondering, well, what's the big deal about about that? And and it's here in Colossians three.

We look here in verse 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. What a convicting verse. I read that every time I read that, I ask myself, is the word of God not just in me, is it in me richly? You know, Apollos, we're told that he was mighty in the scriptures.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Why, Paul? Why should the word of God be in us richly? Teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Notice the connection between the word of God dwelling in you richly and teaching not separate from teaching in the form of worship, teaching in the form of song, teaching in the form of hymns.

So let me make this clear. What is the sole purpose of worship? Ultimately, to exalt the name that we believe in, to glorify the one that we read of in this word, to please him, but also there's a teaching component to worship. There is an element in which, yes, we are directing our voices to the Lord, but as a secondary consequences, we are also declaring something to one another. What are we saying about God to one another?

What are we learning about God from our music? What truths are we rehearsing in our hearts? And I would say that music is so powerful because even in Deuteronomy, God told Moses to teach the people certain truths in the form of a song. Why? Because you know tunes ever since you were in Sunday school.

You have jingles stuck in your head from commercials that you heard twenty years ago. There's power when you when you bring words and truth and partner them with song. And so our conviction as a church is, what are we saying about God, not just to God, which is the ultimate thing, but to one another? To one another. What are we declaring?

And what happened to us, if I can be transparent as a church, it wasn't an immediate transition. It was something that was slow, but it was it was something in which we could feel the sanctifying effect of. And worship team, I'm sure you know that very well. And I can say that as one of the leaders there, I could see it even in the congregation. What began to happen was the passion of singing within the congregation didn't come from the build up.

Didn't come from talent. Didn't come from somebody hitting a high note. But when certain verses came on the screen, you can feel the build up because there is truths being declared, and those truths is what was causing the passion and song. And so that is where we wanna be as a church. We want truth.

We want truth to be the source of our emotional stirring, our passion, our desire, our love, our excitement, and I'm afraid that that's not the case today. And what happened though is interesting is that your appetite begins to change. So when you come to these songs, these modern hymns and these old hymns, at first, you feel like, this is this is different. You know? This is not what I'm used to.

But then when you begin to just practice and you begin to trust in the process, it's almost like you listen to certain things that you listened to before. You're like, how did I how was I I didn't get it. And look, I mean, I can spend the next forty five minutes talking about this, but that's not the point of today's. I just wanna make a brief comment on it. One preacher said it very well that the worship in a church is a reflection of the theology of the church.

What you sing about reveals what you believe about God. And I am one of those who who don't ignore or or don't enjoy simple worship songs. But again, in my mind, I decipher what is something that we can sing as a church and what is something that you know, I believe Christians should be able to sing privately to the Lord. You should be able as you're doing dishes, sing to the Lord. You should be able as you're driving, sing to the Lord.

That that should be something a part of your life. David did it himself. And I'll I'll admit there are some things, like, I sing simple songs to the Lord. We heard a few oldies and goodies last last night. Create in me a clean heart.

Change my heart, oh God. Make it ever true. And you just repeat it. There's nothing wrong with that, but again, we have to know that in this context as a church, there is a specific discipline, and here's Paul's concern. Paul's concern, if you read carefully, is not as much about style as much as it is about substance.

You can debate style. Music, guitars, drums, they're of the devil, whatever. You can debate that all you want. But Paul's not concerned about style as much as he is concerned about substance. What are we saying to God?

What are we saying to each other about God? And I can tell you there have been a couple instances where people who are not even saved have come to a church service, and they were convicted by the worship. They were stricken by the words that they were seeing on the screen and were being declared by people who were teaching who God is with a tune. So worship isn't some secondary thing. Worship isn't about me liking what I'm hearing and worship is about God being pleased with what I'm saying.

And if you want any motivation to get out of a rut in worship, just remember this. It's not about me. I forgot. And you direct your attention to the Lord, and you realize I'm singing this to God. And you'll find the ability to to sing, I'm sure.

If you have more questions about that, please come see me. I would love to help answer that. But the purpose of this message is not about singing. There is something that I would like to address. Let's pray together, shall we, this Sunday morning?

Heavenly father, thank you for this amazing weekend in your presence. Thank you for the souls that you you saved. Thank you for the people that you've sanctified. Thank you, Lord, that you are the true and living God who speaks through the written word, but in a way as though you were speaking audibly to us. That is how profound and powerful these scriptures are.

And we ask this morning that you would awaken us, you would quicken us, you would enlarge in our hearts that we may run-in the way of your commandments. Lord, we pray that you would silence every other voice and that the voice of the Holy Spirit would dominate in our hearts. We pray, Lord, that you would even in this Sunday morning session, you would save, you would deliver, you would transform, and you would be glorified. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.

I have a simple message for you this morning. Very simple and I hope it's clear enough. I hope there won't be confusion in it. And my prayer ultimately is that even if one, if this is for one person, then mission accomplished. Yesterday after that late night service, my brother Benjamin and I went to go eat.

So we went to one of the places here ten minutes away, and there was a huge lineup. So we we ordered from the drive through, and they said your your your stuff will be ready in twenty minutes, so we went into the parking lot. This is last night around 11:30, I believe. And as we're sitting there talking and waiting, a random fellow comes to to my side of the car, asked to put my window down, and he he's on a bike, and it didn't look like he was in the best condition. And he began to ramble on about his condition, about how he just got out of jail, and and you can tell you can tell he's prepping you that he's gonna ask for money.

Right? And so he begins to give this whole spiel of where he was and what his life was like, and this person did this to me. And and I just looked at him and says, look. You want money? Is that what you're asking for?

I'll give you money, but, man, I have people barely carry cash these days. I have card. I I have maybe some things lying around in the car. And he began to say, you know, well, I gotta build off somewhere. So he goes on, and then and then I just asked him, like, well, where's your family?

Because he said he's on the streets, 35 year old guy. Well, where's your family? And he said, well, my mom's, my mom serves in the church. Mom serves in the church. She's not here.

And, and he began I was, oh, so and I began to just okay. Let's see. Is this guy legit? So I began to ask him some questions, and sure enough, this guy that was in jail for selling drugs, violent crimes, this and that, he admitted I was actually on the worship team. I was the drummer.

And then he begins to quote scripture. He begins to tell me books of the bible, and he begins to tell me how he witnesses to his drug dealing friends and the prostitutes that he hangs out with in the middle of his sin. And I looked at him and I said, you know truth. He says, of course. I said, then why are you in sin?

And he put his head down, and he goes, I just got caught up in the wrong things, man. And I said, well, when are you gonna go back? Because it's funny enough. My mom was talking to me today, and she told me that I need to get my act together. And I said, here you are coming to a random car with two Christians.

We just finished coming from a conference session, getting some food. Don't you think that's interesting? Said, what happened? Drugs. Drugs as a teenager.

Then he begins to say, look, I wanna show you some worship songs. And so we pull out our phone while we're waiting for our food, and we're beginning to listen to worship songs that he he knew, bands and albums. And I'm sitting bewildered. And I looked at him and I said, look, man. You're quoting scripture.

You're preaching to me. You seem like you have a a very thorough understanding of who God is. What's holding you back? You know you're miserable. You know you're mis you know you're not where you're supposed to be.

He goes, I know. I know. So then why aren't you going back? He goes, I can't, man. I'm too embarrassed.

People knew who I was before. They know what I'm doing now, and there is no way that I can make my way back without being shamed. I said, that might be true for people. That's not true of God. I said, let's pray.

So he put his hands into the car, held hands, and prayed. He looked at us and he goes, you're the type of guys that I should be hanging out with. I said, yeah. You're right. He says, I would love to keep in touch.

I don't have social media. So I said, he does. Maybe we can keep in touch. I have his name still in my head. He goes, look.

I haven't eaten all day. Can I have something of your food? I said, sure. Got the food, gave him a slice, parted ways. How does that happen?

How does that happen? The scripture talks about talks about how this is possible and that there's a word that's used by the Old Testament prophets to describe the apostate condition of the people of God. It's a word that you've heard, it's a word that you've used, and it's a word that we have to be careful with because it can have different theological implications depending on how you believe the soul and what direction it can go into concerning their stance with God. It's a word called backsliding. Jeremiah fourteen seven says that our backslidings are many.

Proverbs fourteen fourteen tells us that backsliding uses the word backsliding. Backsliding begins in the heart. Now the debate is, is it possible for a Christian to have been walking sincerely with God, and then they backslide, meaning that they lose their salvation? I don't think that's true. I don't think that's true.

Hebrews ten fourteen tells us that those who are currently being sanctified are already perfected. But then there are other portions of scripture that that indicate it is possible for a sincere Christian to revert for a season, to to go into the opposite direction of what they know they're supposed to be walking in. And there are many scriptures you can point to, and here's here's one that's obviously controversial in its meaning, but it's quite interesting. I would like you to turn your attention there in James chapter five in verse 19. Look how James finishes his his letter.

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, my brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the if anyone among you, there's it's possible for somebody in the church who attends meetings, who professes to be a Christian. And I know that that's up for debate. We all know that Jesus spoke about different soils, and one of those soils is one that's corrupted with thorns, and there seems to be a reception of the gospel because of the cares of life and the deceitfulness of riches. That growth is choked. Yes.

That's possible. But my brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. Is it possible for a Christian to revert from spiritual growth and to open his heart to ways of life and to decisions that will cost him very greatly? Yes. And I don't think that person loses his salvation.

I just think that God as his father will severely discipline him. How does somebody from among you wander from the truth? Where does that start? How does that even happen? Is it an overnight thing?

Is it something that just occurs? Is it a visitation of some force that causes you to go into that direction, or is there a pattern? Is there is there a sequence of stages? And I would say, I don't know that man and his story for why he was in the place that he was last night. I don't know what brought him there, but I do know that the Bible can offer some insight of how it is that somebody who professes Christ, who even proved to be some somewhat of fruitful and loving towards the Lord ends up being in the wrong place with the wrong people doing the wrong things.

And then we might say, well, that person was not really safe to begin with, and that's true. That could be possible. First John tells us that because they were not of us, they left us. They are not with us because they weren't of us to begin with, and that is a possibility. I'm not debating that.

But is it also possible for somebody to go through a season, to go through a way of life, and to even make grievous decisions where that sin will even cost them their life? And I would say yes. And I wanna show you a pattern this morning of a man, as we talked about this weekend about the person of Jesus Christ, altogether lovely, altogether desirable. How a man who was one of the closest acquaintances to Jesus experienced this for a brief moment in his walk with the Lord. And it didn't happen immediately.

It happened in stages. It happened in stages. And this morning, it could be very possible that somebody in this place is backslidden and you don't even know it. Do you know why you might not know it? Because oftentimes, a person will not confess that they are backslidden until they reach the final stage of it, until they've come to a point place where they're making reckless decisions.

And then at that place, they say, yes. I have I have turned my back on the Lord, and I have not been as faithful as I'm supposed to be. When you you were backslidden far before that, and you just didn't know it. And I wanna show you through the scriptures how this is possible. So turn your bibles with me in Matthew chapter 26.

The purpose of this message is to reveal the different stages of this awful spiritual condition, lest we deceive ourselves. And each stage that you're going to hear proves that it is a more severe condition than the former one if one lingers in it long enough. Understanding these stages is important because it will maybe awaken someone to realize, wow. I'm headed in the wrong direction. I didn't even see it.

Matthew 26 beginning in verse 31. Jesus is ready to go to trial. Jesus is ready to go to the cross. And he says something of prophetic nature to his own 12. In verse 31, we see here that Jesus said to them, You will all fall away because of me this night, for it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.

But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.' Peter answered him, 'Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.' Jesus said to him, 'Truly I tell you, this very night before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. Peter said to him, even if I must die with you, I will not deny you. And all the disciples said the same. Stage number one. Stage number one.

The hand on the knob to the door that brings a person into the pathway of this spiraling spiritual condition is self confidence. Jesus gives a prophetic word, but the principle of Peter's response reveals this truth. He says, You will all deny me. Peter didn't believe it. Peter didn't believe it.

In fact, Peter didn't even consider the possibility. He immediately rebukes the thought to some degree, and he instead pronounces his utmost devotion to Jesus. Now every single one of us should have that brimming desire, and we should even say it to the Lord. Lord, I never want to walk away from you. Even in the most fiercest of persecution, I wanna stand for you, and I want your grace to be able to do it so that I can glorify your name.

But there's a difference between having that desire and having the wrong confidence thinking that warnings in the scripture do not apply to you because you're just that spiritual, That things that the Bible commands of us to be wise in, thinking this does not apply to me because look at who I am. Jesus gave me this identity. Jesus gave me this calling. Look at my track record. Surely, this does not apply to me.

And that is where the danger begins. Paul himself said, as you know, therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. First Corinthians ten twelve. There's a danger when you think that just because you're in a good place, that you and yourself have the strength and the determination and the willingness that will keep you going. Should you desire it?

Yes. Is the strength in your own? Absolutely not. And Peter here instead, what what he should have done, I believe, is that when Jesus said these words, he should have been extremely humbled. There should have been a holy and healthy fear.

There should have been a humility. There should have been an inquiry. There should have been a brokenness. There should have been a, Lord, please don't let this happen. Lord, I don't want that to be true.

Instead, it was just this pompous, I will never deny you. I will even die with you. There's no acknowledgment of weakness. A weakness and awareness of that weakness that will create a holy sense of desperation for God to be gracious and to expand his grace in your life. There's no sense of awareness that if I don't if I don't make these boundaries in my life, things will creep in easily and the little foxes will ruin the vineyard.

There's no sense of that here with Peter. He's he seems to be invincible. He seems to be someone that doesn't have any effect concerning the threats toward him. See, a person who is truly spiritual will realize that apart from Christ's grace in his life and a daily dependency on him, there is no knowing the horrors that you can experience from your own heart. And so you have people who say, well, you know, I can watch certain things.

Yeah. There's there's nudity in it, and there's profanity in it. And I know Jesus would not sit and watch this with me, but come on. It's like, it's entertainment. It's art.

I'm not I can do anything. Or you can hang out with certain people and they're not saved, and we heard it last night, and we, hey, we heard it from somebody firsthand on the street. They won't rub off on me. I'll rub off on them. And the bible says that even if you're a good person, bad company corrupts not behavior, good behavior.

I knew a young man who said, you know, I've reached the place of my spiritual power with God and my spiritual intimacy with the Lord. And he said this to me. He said, I'm sure if pornography was playing right in front of me, it wouldn't do a thing to me. I'm sure if that vile stuff was playing on a screen in the room that I was in, it wouldn't do a thing to me. That person is not walking with Jesus today.

Self confidence, a neglect of necessary disciplines in the Christian life begins to seep in through that open door when somebody has this it will never happen to me attitude, which leads to the next point in stage two as we come here to verse 39. And going a little farther, he being Jesus fell on his face and prayed saying, my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.' And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter notice, he he highlighted Peter out of out of the other two. So could you not watch with me one hour?

Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Stage two. If I can use the word backsliding without it giving you the connotation, I'm talking about losing your salvation. I feel like I have to clarify that all the time.

Talking about being in a place where you're not growing, you're shrinking. You're not thriving, you're shriveling. You're not effective, you're being affected. That's what I'm talking about. Stage one is self confidence.

Stage two is prayerlessness. You wanna know where the majority of backsliding begins? Neglect your devotional life. Stop spending time with Jesus on a one to one basis. And we see it clear here.

Right? I mean, Peter makes these great boast these great boast that he will never deny Christ. And if you think here that that this is not a problem, then you have to connect it with stage two because he had this confidence, and this confidence was so great, apparently, that he saw no fit to pray. There was no need to seek God. I can I can do this thing called Christianity and not be at the feet of Jesus on a daily basis?

I can actually I've got it figured out. I can manage this thing. I can tame myself. I know what I need to do. And Jesus highlights Peter out of the three, and he says, hey.

I heard what you said earlier. Couldn't pray for one hour. Well, is he being is he being aggressive here? No. He is he's he's highlighting the fact that he made these boats, and he wasn't able to live up to them.

And so what you see here is that prayerlessness opens a whole new world to new temptations. Watch and pray, lest you fall into temptation. How does temptation become stronger? How does temptation increase in its tides and its and its ability to pull you in? Just stop praying.

Prayerlessness is the evidence of an individual who indirectly admits that they can do this without God's help. They don't need God's wisdom. They don't need to be in his presence. They didn't need to come before him for guidance and protection. Now don't confuse this with a person who desires to pray but is being that is being afflicted or is is experiencing a season of life that is demanding much of their time.

I'm not talking about a person that's fighting for it. I'm talking about a person who has no desire for it anymore. It's not a priority anymore. It's not even on your list of things that you must accomplish in your daily schedule. I'm talking about an attitude that leads to a way of life where you have figured out how you can navigate without spending time with Jesus.

And why is it dead? How does that prayer life, that thing that was so real to you at one point, that one thing that was almost a reflex to you, again, because of stage one? Maybe you missed a day or two. Maybe you missed a week and you thought to yourself, I'm doing pretty good. Not only am I doing pretty good, I can actually get more stuff done in my day.

I don't know if this thing really works. I think if I use it for emergency times, it will really help. But I think, like, come on. Do I really need to do this every day? And so they begin to to convince themselves that it's possible.

It's possible to do this thing without prayer. Now if I were to ask you or tell you rather this morning that I will give you a thousand dollars a day, wouldn't that be nice? For you to find the time to seek the face of Jesus in a genuine and sincere way, and it's not a matter of time, it's a matter of what you do with that time. Does it really matter if you spend three hours of prayer and it's not really praying? No.

Fifteen minutes of true prayer can trump over that. But if I was to tell you, I'll give you a thousand dollars for you to make the time to cancel out all things or to begin the first thing of your day to be at the feet of Jesus. Would you find the time to do it? You would find the time to do it. Why?

Because of the reward. Thousand dollars a day? Come on. I'll do it. But see, the problem is we don't believe that there's something greater than a thousand dollars a day when we spend time with Jesus.

We don't believe that there's a greater reward. We don't believe that there's a greater grace, a greater protection, something that outweighs any amount of money that can be offered to you. So we neglect it. When I feel like it, I'll do it. Is that how you feel about your diet?

Is that how you feel about your your disciplines for the body? Only if I feel like it. Well, people that think like that don't they'll have very successful lives. Do you say that about work? I'll only go to work when I feel like it.

Yeah. Let's see how your bills feel about that. And I'm scared to talk about prayer like this because I almost make it sound like it's like a chore that you have to do because that's what good Christians do. One of the greatest calibrators to knowing the need to praise the belief that god almighty hears me in this moment. I have god's full attention.

You believe that and you're convinced of that, prayer will be the most thrilling and exciting thing. You believe that, your reflex will be when bad news comes through that telephone call or you see something in your life that is out of whack. You will sense this grace and this strength and even this excitement, I can't wait to bring this before the Lord. Knowing that I'm gonna invite him into this situation, he will deal with it. Peter here is not praying And stay in that place long enough and watch the dangers come.

Stay in that place long enough and watch what will happen. And I wanna say this to you this morning as a brother who loves you deeply. How many of you are at stage two right now? When's the last time you had quality time with Jesus? Stay there long enough and you'll come to stage three.

Stage three as seen here as we scroll down. Oh, how I wish we can read this whole chapter. Verse 47. You know what's amazing here before we go there, look at verse 44. So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time.

Peter had three opportunities to pray. There's three invitations, so to speak. You can argue that for Peter to pray, for the disciples to pray. How many times did Peter deny Jesus? Verse 47.

While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the 12, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign saying, the one I will kiss is the man sees him. Just a reminder, public affection for Jesus doesn't mean you have the right heart for Jesus. The one I will kiss. The one who kissed the face of the son of God sold him for 30 pieces of silver.

Walk in Christianity long enough and you'll realize that not everybody in church that even sings and seems like they have a devotion to Christ actually have one. Judas kissed Jesus. Verse 49. And he came up to Jesus at once and said, greetings, Rabbi. And he kissed them.

Jesus said to him, friend, do what you came to do. Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. And behold, one of those who are with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. We are told according to the gospel, according to the gospel of John, that this person who cut off the ear of this servant was in fact Peter himself. And what's amazing here is that this stage tells us what happens at this point of backsliding, and this is it.

Your flesh takes dominance. Stage one, there's a self confidence. Stage two, that leads you obviously to a prayerless life. Stage three, the old man trumps the new man. Now what we know here is that Peter took a sword out and aimed it at a person to do what?

What do you think? Do you think he aimed for his ear? Who aims for the ear? He was aiming for his neck. He wanted to kill that man.

Peter, hold up. How many sermons did you hear? How many miracles were performed in the name of Jesus through your hands? Wasn't it you that the father had unveiled the truth that Jesus is the Christ? Didn't you see your business flourish in one moment when Jesus gave you one word of instruction about your boat and the nets?

And that same Peter now has no issue to assassinate a man. That same Peter now is ready to kill a man. That same Peter now is ready to do something in a way in which he doesn't care how his testimony is reflected through it. It's amazing what happens when you don't spend time with Jesus for a while. Attitudes begin to resurface.

Thought patterns begin to to overtake you. Temptations and suggestions come alive. And, oh, if you really wanna see how the flesh can manifest itself, be in a tense situation like Peter and see what will come out of you. See, Jesus said, watch and pray that you may not enter in temptation, and Peter didn't realize that temptation was just minutes away. And here it was.

They're gonna come and touch the one that you love. They're gonna come and arrest the one that you surrendered everything to follow. And what Peter does instead is that he is ready to kill. What a contrast to the composure of Jesus Christ. Right?

Friend, do what you came to do. The holiness of that, the self control of that, the beauty of that. Isn't it wonderful we read somewhere else that when that ear was cut off, what did Jesus do before he entered into trial? You can argue that the last thing that Jesus did before he went into trial was what? He healed the man.

He restored his ear. That's the last thing Jesus did before he was falsely accused in a court. What's the last thing Peter did? Cut the thing off. What a contrast between the spirit and the flesh.

You'd be amazed to know what kind of anger can come out of a Christian who hasn't been spending time with Jesus, who hasn't been serious about the devotional life, the lust, the giving in. And you hear it from people, brother, I just can't help it. It just overtakes me. You know, when people used to come up to me all the time about how they fell into specific sins, my main question after trying to understand and listen to them, my main question, it still remains the same question was, when was the last time you spent time with the Lord? I I I logged on to it again, brother.

I'm I'm I'm back into it. When was the last time you were with the Lord? In that inevitably, every single time somebody has said, it's been a bit. It's been a while. I've neglected it.

Prayerlessness will lead to lukewarmness. Prayerlessness will lead to lukewarmness. And what we sense here is, Peter, that peace is in there. That joy is in there. Trusting in God is a foreign concept, and it's replaced by your own wisdom like Peter.

It's replaced with your own dealings with situation instead of leaning on the wisdom of the word of God. And you were so easily triggered, and you're so willing to attack people, and you're so willing to thrust yourself in a way in which people question, question, is this how Christians act? Sin has now moved in. And what happens here at this stage of backsliding is this is when I believe people begin to take notice. This is when people go, brother, have you seen so and so's social media?

Man, I'm concerned for him. See what he was posting? You see the things he was writing? Man, have you noticed so and so, the way they've been coming to church? What's going on?

And at this point of backsliding, you might have people come up to you if they love you enough, like how Jesus approached Peter, and he rebuked Peter. Says, this is not how you're supposed to act. You wanna live by the sword, you'll die by the sword. Put it back. And so at this point, people begin to notice because if you are a person who lives in community and you are backsliding, people who are discerning enough will say, there's something up here.

What's the next stage? We would think it ends there, and no, it doesn't. We come down here to verse 57. And those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered, and Peter was following him at a distance. As far as the courtyard of the high priest and going inside, he sat with the guards to see the end.

What a phrase. Peter was following Jesus at a distance. He didn't stop following, but he wasn't participating either. He was observing. He was far enough where people could not associate him with Jesus, but he was close enough in his mind that he thinks he was actually following Jesus.

And what happens here is that because of the flesh not being dealt with, a separation will begin to occur between you and the master you once served. It's not a total abandonment. It's not a sense in which you recant. It's not a sense that you deny the person of Jesus Christ and his saving work, but there is a connection that's not as strong. And there's like a hairline thread between your heart and his.

And like Peter, in our life, we can sense this rapidly growing emptiness that once occupied was occupied by the lover of your soul. The warmth of his nearness is foreign. The sense of his closeness is a past experience and memory. The knowing of of that shepherd bringing you to green pastures and making you lie down, all of that is something of the past. And at this stage, what happens is you begin to now pull away and distance yourself from anything that is associated with the person of Jesus Christ.

Number one, the people of God. You don't hang out with Christians as much anymore. You might come hear the message, but you're out as soon as that amen is said. And then it's not even about that. If you're like a church like ours, we have extended time of fellowship.

We we hang out on Sunday for most of the day. And so you might have people I'm not saying this about anybody. Don't worry, guys. United Evangelical Church. I'm just using our church as an example.

Don't be scared. But what you might have now is people, they'll come to church, but they'll skip the sermon because they don't wanna hear the word of God. They don't wanna be convicted by the message. But they'll come for the fellowship, they'll hang out. If there's a barbecue especially, come on.

How can you deny free food? Right? Backsliders love free barbecues. And so you begin to just come for the fellowship and you hang up because you grew up with these people. They're your friends.

You knew them even before they were saved. And, yeah, you all came to Christ together at one point, but here you are now, more realistically, you begin to separate yourself from true Christians. Because true Christians love to talk about Jesus. True Christians love to talk about what they've been exposed to in the word of God. True Christians are holy.

True Christians don't meddle with the world. And so you'll find the ones in there that are worldly so that you can you can resonate, but even people like this will actually now befriend the world, and we'll get to that later. But not just the church, the word of God itself. Oh, this Bible that was so familiar with your daily grip. This bible that was so familiar with you highlighting it is now your new vacuum at home.

All it does is collect dust. And you don't remember the last time you cracked open the scriptures, not because you needed a sermon, not because you want to make sure that if somebody asks you at church when you last read your bible, you could say, this morning? I read it this morning. You don't remember the last time you came because you were hungry to feast on truth and to know your savior better than you did yesterday. So the word of God, just like prayer, there's no appointment with it anymore.

And then we see that as he's following at a distance, the real danger begins. The Saint Peter said in first Peter five eight, Be so reminded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Obviously, he wrote that inspired by the Holy Spirit, but I'd like to think that he wrote that because of experience as well. And listen, David, a picture of Jesus, was a shepherd.

Was he not? And what did he tell Saul when he was submitting his resume to go and fight Goliath? He goes, hey, Saul. Yeah. I'm a teenager, but I wanna let you know something.

I've grabbed lions by the beard, and I've punched them in the face. I've wrestled with bears. Even when sheep were in the very grip of the mouth of a lion, I was able to rescue them. I could take care of this giant. What a wonderful picture of the greater David who is the greatest shepherd that when you and I as his sheep stay close to him, he will deal with the roaring lion better.

But when you distance yourself from the shepherd, as your heart is getting colder and colder, the devil's heart is pounding with excitement. Look how far he is from Jesus. Look at this wandering sheep. I got him. And the only way that you can be protected from this lion who roars and intimidates and wants to devour your faith is to stay near the shepherd.

But you're following at a distance now. You're observing. You're not participating. You know what's going on, but you're not in the game, which leads us to the next stage, the backsliding in verse 69. Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant girl came up to him and said, you also were with Jesus the Galilean.

Now notice Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. Stage number five, comfort in the world. Comfort in the world. In the gospel of John, we are told a more detailed picture of what Peter was like at this stage. In John eighteen seventeen to 18, let me read it.

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. Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Look look how the Bible's writing it. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

Because of the coldness of the fellowship between you and the Lord, because of the coldness of the fellowship between you and the true people of God, you find yourself now being able to warm yourself with those who don't know Christ. You're able to stand with them. You're able to fellowship with them. You're able to warm yourself in their presence to the point where Peter now is denying Jesus. And I'm not saying that people will outright deny Jesus at this point, but there is a type of denial that does not need your words.

It's a denial that's found in Titus one twelve that they profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their lips, works. A renouncing? No. Just a fellowshipping with the world.

And at this point, all connection seems to be in severed between you and the Lord. And you are now you're okay. You can you can hang out with blasphemers. You can actually laugh at the same jokes as those who hate Christ. You can actually sit down and now you're planning vacations with worldly people.

Now you're going to where they hang out. Now you're sitting in their homes doing things that you wouldn't do in a Christian's home, and there seems to be nothing stirring in you saying, this is wrong. And then you think to yourself, well, they don't hate God though. They're good people. They just don't believe in God.

If they haven't surrendered to God, they hate God. Especially if they're exposed to the gospel and they refuse to give into it and surrender to it. And the insanity of this stage is that you convince yourself you can stay among such people and not be influenced. But stay in the pressure cooker long enough, someone thought the same thing, and his name was Samson. He thought that he can lay his head on Delilah's lap and maintain the anointing that God has given him.

He thought that he can be the fellowship of this evil woman and that he can control the circumstances. And next thing you know, after just a few days of being persuaded and seduced, the man lost not just his hair, he lost his eyes. You're comfortable in the world. And if you're at this stage, it's never too late to turn back, but the longer you stay by the fire of the world, the more likely you will slip into stage six, which is here in verse 73. After a little while after a little while Peter's been hanging out there for a bit now.

After a little while, the bystanders came up and said to Peter, Certainly, you two are one of them, for your accent betrays you. Look what he does here. Then he begins to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, I do not know the man. And immediately the rooster crowed. Stage six.

Unthinkable decisions. Things that you never thought you would do, you start doing. I know of people that when they have professed Christ, who had a certain lifestyle before, when they have backslid, they did worse things in that place than they did before they were even saved, supposedly. After a little while, he lingered. And because he lingered, he didn't deny Christ just once.

He did it three times. At this point, you're living in such a way that Peter here is showing us it becomes much more harder to turn back. And there's no telling what can happen. Like the man is cursing. The man is using language that is not befitting someone who knew the truth.

And he begins to say things, and he begins to lash out, and he begins to act in a way in which I'm sure these people are like, okay, man. We got it wrong. We thought you were one of him, but it clearly shows that you're not. And it's at this point it's at this this level where people make decisions even as Christians that once were walking with Jesus only to return back, but have made certain choices that affect the rest of their lives. And again, there are examples of people who've gone through not just days or weeks, months and even years of having this somewhat connection but comfort in the world.

And because they were in that condition, they made life choices like marrying someone who's not saved. Only after to be saved or after to be married, rather, they are reawakened, and now here they are married to someone who doesn't know the Lord. Things like that happen all the time. And so this man here is showing us that you can now begin to do things and say things and repeat things and react to things in which there are severe consequences. Jesus Christ will always be able to forgive you.

But I'll tell you something that will never forgive you. The Lord will always forgive you. His arms are always open, but there is something in this life that will never ever be able to forgive. Time. Christ will restore.

Christ will revisit, and he will even replenish the things that the locusts are eating. You'll never be able to win time again. Once it's passed, it's gone forever. And that is the sad part about this. There's a hope in this message, by the way, but the thing, I have to be honest.

I have to be honest. The greatest grief about this, yes, you may have had a bad testimony before men, but in a personal way between you and God, you've wasted time. You've wasted time. Where was Jesus in all of this? Where's the Lord?

Luke 22 is our final text this morning. Verse 60. Luke 22 verse 60. But Peter said, man, I do not know what you are talking about. And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.

Pause there for a moment. I told you two nights ago that the bible often uses animals to do spiritual things. Remember? I believe I had swans. For you who are there, this isn't gonna make any sense to you.

The Lord used swans in my life at one point, and here God ordained for a rooster to preach repentance. The rooster crowed. Maybe I'm your rooster this morning. And the Sunday morning message trying to get your attention. While he was still speaking, the rooster crowed, And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.

Peter wasn't the only one who heard the rooster crow. Jesus heard the rooster crow, and they both, at that sound, locked eyes. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord how he said to him before the rooster crows, today you will deny me three times. And what was his response? He wept bitterly.

What did he see in those eyes? Something enough for this hardened heart to melt again. Some might say that he saw the holiness of God. Some might say that he saw the severity of God. I believe he saw the compassion of God.

What did those pupils look like in that dark scene probably only being lit up by torches? What kind of reflection? What was on the face of Christ as Peter just finished cursing with his lips and he heard the rooster crowed and he looks over and Jesus looked, what did he see in those eyes? We can debate, but I think the debate can be closed with this. There is eyes of restoration.

If not, then John 21 doesn't make sense when when the Lord calls him to follow him again. Where the Lord goes and finds Peter doing what he was doing before he met the Lord. He was fishing and he stands there and he goes, you catch anything yet? And what does he do? He waits for them.

The one whom Jesus loves says, it is the Lord. And Peter, in Peter like fashion, doesn't even get dressed, jumps right in the water. And the man that was following Jesus at a distance was the first one to jump in the water to go back to him. And he goes back to Jesus. And what does Jesus have prepared?

Not just a meal. A meal ready by a charcoal fire. The same place where where Peter warmed himself with the world, Jesus now invites him to have a meal with the charcoal fire. I wonder what Peter felt when he smelled the smell of charcoal. See, when Jesus restores us, he doesn't brush our sin underneath the rug.

He wants us to have a conversation about it. He wants us to be honest about it. He wants for us to confess it. He wants us to meet us at that place where we went wrong so that he can restore you. And Jesus asked those famous questions.

Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? Three times as you know because of the three denials. Yes, I love you.

You know all things. You know I love you. Then he began to be sad at the third time, and Jesus said, follow me. I'm convinced there are a lot of people in church who admire Jesus, But if you claim to love Jesus, you will follow Jesus. And how powerful is God's restorative grace?

So powerful that when this man went through all the stages of backsliding, Jesus Christ ordained it for him to be the first person to preach the first Christian message at Pentecost. And just like that guy that we met the other day, just a few hours ago, I have no doubt in my mind that if he were to abandon that bike that he said that he stole so that he can run around and ask people for money, if he laid that aside, maybe called his mom and came back, that God has something for him. God has a calling for him. So I looked at that guy and I said, why are you waiting? How much more do you need?

Your mom called you today and you come to this car, and there's two people here that love Jesus and that are telling you to go back to where you know you need to go. You not you might not be in the rut like that person is. You might not be on the streets riding a bike around that you stole and asking people for money, but maybe you're at stage two. Or maybe you're at stage four. You're following at a distance.

Or maybe, maybe you're actually in the world and you're just here and it has nothing to do with Christ. You're just here for everything except Christ. And you know exactly who you're gonna go hang out with when you go back. Right? You know exactly who you're going to hang out with when you return and they have nothing to do with your Lord apparently.

Wherever you're at this morning, no matter what stage, those eyes are still the same. They look at you and they're waiting for you to lock back with him and for you to simply say, lord, forgive me for being overconfident to begin with. Forgive me for thinking to myself that I can do this without the wisdom and the disciplines that you've called me to obey. Bring me back. Let me say this in love.

Let me say this in love. You may not like me. I love you enough to say this. Some of you need to hear this and you need to hear it clear. Be careful.

Stop messing around. God has been extremely gracious to you. God has not exposed you. Don't test his patience. He will love you enough to expose you and crush you if he can restore you in that way.

Don't mess with this. This is real. Stay in this long enough and you'll make decisions that will leave scars forever. Stop playing around. What a way to end the conference, right?

I say that in love, and I preach a message like this because I've been to enough Christian conferences, man. I've been to enough Christian conferences where I don't even need to tell you. So I say this to say that there's nothing to fear. He who called you is faithful to keep you. He who called you is able to bring you before the presence of the Father with all joy and glory.

He who called you, has truly called you, will finish the work that he began in you. And people love to quote Jude where he says that he's able to bring us before him with all joy and with blamelessness, but people forget to neglect what Jude said earlier and he said, keep yourself in the love of God. Keep yourself in the love of God. Brothers and sisters, thank you so much for this conference. Thank you for the chance to be able to speak the word of God to you.

Thank you for loving truth even when the truth has to sting us sometimes. And I pray that not one of us in here would even have a season of going back in the other the other direction. The time of this generation cannot afford such a way. There's too much at stake and there's a dying world that needs to see a people on fire for Christ. May the Lord do that work in us through this conference.

Know that we are praying for you. Know that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you can know a graduation from graduation in the faith. Yes, you'll fall. Yes, you might make mistakes, but he is able through that even to just launch you further as you learn from those failures. God is so good to us.

He is good to us. He's even good to the backslider. Let's pray. Yes, Lord. Heavy message indeed.

But Lord, after a weekend of hearing about your beauties and your loveliness and your grace and your wonderful prayer for us and the plans that you have for us and the way you deal with us even when we're not faithful to you. Lord, we end this meeting lest we be exposed as Peter was to all the things that were so glorious yet still was able to make these decisions. Protect us, Lord. Keep us, Lord. Lord, we believe that what you've given us have been sources of wisdom to be able to identify where our steps lead us.

And, Lord, we just ask that you would bring us back to where we're supposed to be because it's very likely that many of us are at least at one of those stages. But Lord, we go back to stage one and we tell you we can't do this without you. We can't walk faithfully without you. Lord, if you were to let go of us, we will surely fail and disappoint you. But Lord, you call us to receive your grace and you are more than willing to give it.

You do not take delight in our failures, in our trip ups, in our stumblings, Lord. For those in here who might be in a place they know they should not be in, they're talking to someone, they know they're a married man, a married woman, they have no right to talk to another person the way they're talking to. They have no way to be no right to be handling money the way they're handling money. Lord, may you awaken them to realize that through this message perhaps you're trying to get their attention. Rescue us from ourselves this morning.

But Lord, we end it here. We end it at the truth of those lovely eyes, those same eyes that looked at Peter. Look at us now. With no desire to condemn, no desire to strip away because you promised that you'll hold us forever, but, Lord, with a desire for us to be where you want us to be. And you're willing to restore us and willing to bring us with all the mistakes and all the dirt that we've collected on our feet.

You're willing to wash our feet again. Blessed be the name of the Lord. We give you all glory and praise. And Lord, we leave with hearts that are awakened. We leave with hearts that will obey you.

We leave with hearts that will worship you. Lord, if this message was for one, mission accomplished. We give all glory to you in this place. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.