The Debauchery of Denial

 

 

Debauchery = archaic: seduction from virtue or duty

Related Words

Bad, badness, blackness, evil, evildoing, ill, turpitude, villainy, wickedness, wrong; atrociousness, evilness, heinousness, sinfulness, unscrupulousness, viciousness, vileness, villainousness; devilry (or deviltry), fiendishness; corruptness, debasement, degeneracy, degeneration, depravedness, dissoluteness, dissolution; indecency, lasciviousness, lechery, lewdness, looseness, perversion, perverseness, wantonness; abomination, anathema, taboo (also taboo); criminality, reprehensibleness; baseness, despicableness, dirtiness, lowness, meanness; lousiness, miserableness, wretchedness

 

Denial

 

Definition of DENIAL

1. Refusal to satisfy a request or desire

2. A. refusal to admit the truth or reality (as of a statement or charge)

(2): assertion that an allegation is false

B: refusal to acknowledge a person or a thing: disavowal

 

3. The opposing by the defendant of an allegation

4. Negation in logic

5. A psychological defense mechanism in which confrontation with a personal problem or with reality is avoided by denying the existence of the problem or reality in denial.

 

Luke 22:47?62 (KJV)

 

47       And while he yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him.

48       But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?

49       When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword?

50       And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.

51       And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.

52       Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves?

53       When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.

54       Then took they him, and led him, and brought him into the high priest’s house. And Peter followed afar off.

55       And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them.

56       But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him.

57       And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not.

58       And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not.

59       And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilaean.

60       And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew.

61       And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

62       And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.

 

Wept – Sob, Wail

Bitterly – violently

What would cause someone to behave this way?

• What would cause a person to sob in the presence of God?
• What would cause them to wail in repentance?
• Weeping bitterly for forgiveness?

 

Peter realized what he had done wrong.

• He came to the realization that he had sinned against God!
• Sin alone separates us from God,
• But Sin alone is not what causes a person to be lost.
• Denial however condemns us.
• God’s grace can forgive any sin, but when a person Denies God, he ultimately condemns himself.

 

 

Judas also came to that realization that night,

• But he could not find it in himself to repent,
• So the bible tells us that he went out and hung himself.

 

Let’s not get mad at Peter and Judas here because…

 

Rom 3:23 lets us know that…

• “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

 

Who has?

• All
• Everybody
• Every one of us here today.
• At some point in our lives we have denied a relationship with him.

 

But what would cause Peter to weep bitterly.

• Here was a strong man.
• A fisherman by trade.
• Many a storm he weathered out in the sea.
• Here was someone who would fight to defend Jesus.
• He was a tough guy!
• But we find him weeping bitterly in vs. 62.

 

• Could it be that he realized how much Jesus loved him?
• Could it be that he realized that when no one cared for him…Jesus cared for him.
• Could it be that he realized that he had just denied his greatest friend when this friend needed him most?

 

Let me tell you why I believe Peter wept bitterly…Jesus had told him in Matthew 10.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matthew 10:32-33

32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

You see, a person can’t have it both ways.

They can’t pretend they’re not a Christian one moment and then expect Jesus to hold the door to Heaven open for them the next.

He said, if you deny me, I will deny you.

You have to choose, are you going to openly be a follower of Jesus or are you going to hide in the shadows and pretend you don’t know Him when people start asking questions.

Peter had just denied Jesus 3 times in one night.

 

Peter supposes that there was no way in the world he could get into Heaven now.

• He sealed his own fate.
• He shut the door of heaven on himself.
• He denied the savior of the world 3 times.
• And before who??? A stranger!

 

• He wasn’t being tortured.
• His life wasn’t on the line.
• No one held a sword to his throat and made him say it.
• He did it on his own.
• Of his own choice.
• For the sake of Self-Preservation

What is it about us that cause us to be more concerned about what other people think about us than what God thinks about us?

 

• And now we find him weeping bitterly before God.

 

 

How many remember that Jesus had given Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven?

He said, “Peter, it all starts with you.”

You’re the guy who’s going to be the first one to walk through the door.

You are going to lead the way.

• Can I suggest that if Peter didn’t get things right with God that night none of us would of had a chance to get into Heaven?
• If he didn’t repent that night…no one after him would have repented.
• We don’t realize the effect we have on other people around us.
• We don’t realize that their salvation depends on our salvation.
• They won’t follow Christ if they have no example.

 

 

Up to this point in Peter’s life we don’t find him repenting.

• We see him hanging with Jesus.
• We see him at the healings.
• We see him walking with Jesus,
• We even see him handing out the bread and fish that would feed thousands.
• He was there for the miracles,
• But we don’t find Peter… in fact we don’t find any of the disciples repenting for their sins.

 

Jesus told them all that repentance should be preached…

• Yet none of them had ever repented as far as we know.
• Up to this point they were satisfied with just being a part of Jesus’ ministry.

 

• But this night Peter realized that he had to become a result of Jesus ministry.

There is a difference.

• It is important to be a part of the ministry, but it’s far more important to be a result of the ministry.

You cannot minister to anyone until you yourself are ministered to.

 

 

How could he stand on the day of Pentecost and preach repentance if he himself had not repented of such a terrible thing?

How could he stand there with a straight face and say repent and be baptized if he himself did not weep bitterly that night?

 

 

Listen…

• We need to weep before God from time to time.
• We need to find a place like Peter did and repent for our wrongs.
• Chances are we’ve offended God many times this week.
• Profanity
• Lust
• Lying
• Malice

 

Did you know that he won’t even hear your prayer if there is sin in your life?

 

1 Pet 3:12  (New Testament)

For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

 

“The reason some people haven’t found a place to repent of their sins is that they haven’t yet realized how much their sins offend God.”

 

So many people say things like, “Well I don’t believe God is that kind of God.”

• Or I believe this or I believe that.
• It does not matter what you believe.
• And it does not matter what I believe.
• “This Book is the only book that has the words to eternal life.”
• And regardless of our own personal beliefs, it is by these words that we will some day be judged.

 

 

There is no second chance after death.

• There is no purgatory.
• There is no help for the one who does not repent.

 

 

When Peter denied Jesus…he looked up and his eyes met with Jesus’s eyes and they shared a communication that words could not utter.

• Peter saw the pain his denying caused Jesus.
• He realized just how much he hurt God.

 

Here is our problem.

• We know what it’s like to be offended.
• We get mad if someone hurts us.
• We shake our fists and say all kinds of things when someone does us wrong,
• But we expect God to sit back and do nothing when we deny him every day.
• We expect him to be quiet when we curse his name and sin against him.
• Ps 7:11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.