It is very easy, sitting here in comfort on a Sunday morning, to condemn Peter for denying the Lord Jesus. We have grown up enjoying the blessings of liberty as Americans. One of those blessings is what we often refer to as freedom of religion. For that reason many, if not most, Americans take that freedom for granted. They have the attitude, “I’ll go to church if I want to, and if I don’t want to go, I won’t.” They believe that “the church will always be there,” and “I will always have this liberty.” However, that may not always be so. There is a rapidly growing anti-Christian sentiment in this nation. Interest in satanism and the occult is growing among our youth. What many call “traditional worship” is difficult to find in many churches. (It has taken on a more worldly approach in order to attract the world.) And Islam, which forbids any mention of Christ or the Bible, has made inroads in America. So, let me ask you this, if you were put into a situation (as Peter was) where your identification with Jesus could cost you your life - would you profess Him or deny Him? It is easy in our sense of security (because we don’t think we could ever be put in that situation) to declare that we would never deny Jesus. But be careful. Peter did the same thing, but when it came time to “Stand up, stand up for Jesus,” Peter denied his Lord. But we might not have to be put in a life or death situation to deny Jesus, and it is possible that we could do it every day. We do it when we who are saved live like the world and have the world’s priorities. We do it when we are with friends but refuse to talk about Jesus because we fear their ridicule. We do it when we intentionally fail or refuse to witness of Him among friends and family alike. (Sometimes this failure is because we depend upon ourselves and not upon Him.) As Jesus closed the prayer of John chapter 17, we are told that He and His disciples then went to the Garden of Gethsemane. Of course, we are familiar with the events that took place there. It was there that: 1) Jesus prayed, “Not my will, but thine be done;” 2) His sweat was as it were great drops of blood; 3) He came back and found Peter, James, and John asleep. This is also where Judas betrayed Him with a kiss, and He was bound and led away. As we come to vs. 15 we find Jesus before the High Priest Caiaphas, and we see Peter as he denies the Lord. From the events surrounding Peter’s denial of Jesus, we can learn some lessons about our denials of the Lord and how to avoid them in our lives. We see:

I. PETER'S CLAIM.

II. PETER’S COURAGE.

III. PETER’S CONTRADICTION -- VV. 15-27.

CONCLUSION: PETER’S CONVICTION.