Denying Christ

Denying Christ

10/18/17

How do we feel when this question is posed to us?  Do we look at it as a continual process or do we do our best to prevent such a human characteristic from occurring?  Our denial of Christ comes in various ways and it is our responsibility to recognize this denial before it becomes ingrained within our lives and our presence accepts this separation from God as a permanent institution.  The Church (you) has the duty of sharing this truth with everyone who does not know who Christ is for if we do not we are guilty of accessory to the fact when it comes to their eternity.  From the looks of things, we have fallen down on the job and become a silent partner that no longer has an interest in the eternal company we represent.  Until we return to God and His Ways this nation and the world shall continue to witness the escalation of evil present itself unabated.

A few weeks ago I was sitting outside on a warm day eating lunch with a few of my coworkers.  There are two tables outside on the patio and we usually occupy one of them during the summer months during this time of the day.  This time of the workday is a chance to let loose a bit and enjoy a few moments without the phones, doctors, and patients going in and out of our work area.  The second table is usually occupied by the other clinic that is next door to ours and as it happened both clinic staffs have the opportunity to eat at approximately the same time, as was the occasion on this specific day.  The majority of the other clinic’s personnel had already gone back to work with the exception of one lady, who had not been working at the clinic too long was sitting alone at the second table.

The conversations that can accompany our presence during these outside lunch sessions can become pretty wild at times and when certain issues are discussed the words and language can get pretty ugly as well.  As was this time for a very snide comment was made concerning the issue that was being talked about followed by an extended period of laughter and to give credit the tone and words were funny at the time; for many people know that when one works in a medical profession the stress relief can become slightly gross and somewhat seemingly torrid as was the case here.  While I did not say the comment nor did I approve of the way that it was presented and spoken I was there when it was said and thus I was guilty by association because I did not protest the gesture nor did I get up and leave after it was stated loudly and publicly.

However, as soon as the words were used and made public the sole lady that was sitting at the second table did get up and leave without saying a word.  She had not been there her full allotted lunch time and the book that she was reading did not appear to be finished either.  While the other ladies at our table failed to recognize her leaving I did notice her walking off and as she turned the corner and left our sight it was then that God dropped this huge deficit of what had just occurred in my heart.  It is difficult to explain just how He did this but it was just as always with a calm, gentle, and quiet voice as He dropped the denial of Christ phrase into my heart.  It could not have been more than twenty seconds after the lady had rounded the corner and was out of sight that God did this and while I did not see the look on my face I wonder if anyone else recognized how I felt at that moment.

It was this total accomplice state that I participated in and voluntarily accepted that was the cause for God’s heart to drop at that moment.  While I knew nothing and still know nothing about the spiritual condition of the lady that was around us that day, I should have never allowed myself to be a part of such denial of Christ.  I was mortified as I walked back to my cubby hole and when I arrived at my work area and the door had closed behind me, my heart too dropped and I felt spiritually humiliated for I knew that I had done such a wrong to that lady.  No, I was not the one who directly provided the situation but I was there and gave her the impression that I was condoning such setting and to be honest, I was.  I know how these people talk and believe and I still try to communicate as much with them as possible but it was the fact that we were overheard saying and then laughing about a joke that should not have been said publicly that caught God’s attention and not mine first.  I was not being an ambassador for Christ at that moment and even though God shows me things to write and I consider myself to be a Christian, my worldly flesh still drives its hooks into my life which I need to make sure I recognize before they do damage.

For the most part, we do not realize that we as humans deny God every day even though we have not committed the “classic” denial of Christ scene.  And while some of us choose to deny Christ on a blatant standard we tend to forget that our bodies and the condition that we chose to live in so long ago are a direct insult of denial to how God created us.  While there is nothing we can do to change this permanent physical status concerning our bodies it is possible to change this status when it comes to our spiritual status and it is this aspect of our existence that is important to God for it is the only way that we can have eternal existence with God in His presence, for the eternal is just that eternal and dictates how our lives shall live afterwards.  The physical aspect of our existence we look upon as what counts in life and when our eyes are focused on this fact our words and actions are automatically dulled and we place their importance down the line when we should remember that it is the words and actions that give the greatest meaning to those around us.

With the majority of the populous of the world not believing in God or those who claim and proclaim to be Christians but continually live within the guidelines of the world, it is no wonder that the status of our lives has gradually and steadily grown accustomed to not having God in our lives.  So, when settings such as the one that I just described to you occur, it is no big deal and many of us carry on without another thought or care about what just occurred simply because we are so focused on our individuality and how we want to live than to understand exactly what is going on around us and how our selfish actions are being portrayed to others.  In other words, for those of us who believe in Christ and consider ourselves as Christians need to be witnesses at all times for Christ, not allowing the world to infiltrate our lives even to the slightest degree for when we do we set the tone for our enemy to work in other people’s lives against them.

We have many examples of people denying God and Christ in the Bible and one setting quickly comes to mind with almost everyone who has read the New Testament and especially the Gospels knows.  The story of Peter’s denial is one that I have heard so many times and while I continually denied Christ for a fair amount of my life I never had God directly and pointedly send this shockwave through my heart before.  It is easy for us to read the passage of Peter’s denial and say basically the same words as he did as the moment was occurring, but this example is not the first time that a denial presented itself and in order to find this origin in human history we must once again go back to the Garden of Eden and visit our good buddies Adam and Eve.

We find ourselves referring back to Genesis 3:6-7 and watching this scene unfold.  I find it so intriguing that God continues to send us back to these two individuals for us to understand our present-day conditions but it is so fitting and it explains so much for it serves as a focal point of our issues and when we study God’s Word from this point onward it is easy for us to watch the progress occur which brings us to today’s spiritual environment.  These two perfectly created beings give us the first example of how to deny what God has ordained and given us as a standard and when verse 7 rolls around we see that the decision to disobey (deny) God has been completed and the world as we know it begins to take shape in all of its deadly formation.

We could skip right to the story of Peter but to be honest and fair we must include some other people in the Bible who have followed in Adam and Eve’s footsteps when it comes to denying God.  Cain, the son of Adam and Eve comes to mind and fits into this category then we have Moses, Abraham, Jacob, David and many other people that have too denied God at some point in their lives.  All of us do this activity and it is due to the fact that sin entered into our lives and through this entrance, we are subject to such deathly generosity.  It was never God’s intentions for us to live in such manner but it was the choice we made a long time ago and it continues to be portrayed each day that humans draw breath.  It is this point in our existence that we need to focus on and to rid ourselves from underneath, we have the opportunity to do such a thing but we need to have a pure heart before God in order to complete such a task.

John 13:33-38 gives us the picture of Jesus and Peter when Peter is told by Jesus that he will deny Him three times before the rooster crows in the morning.  Peter had been with Jesus on a day to day basis long enough for him to understand what Jesus’ mission was and what needed to be done in order for His mission to be completed.  There cannot be any event more drastic to a person’s ear for someone else to say that they know that they will do something against that person because they know other circumstances.  None of us know what the future may hold for our lives and for someone to be told that a specific event in your life shall occur at some point is very hard to contemplate especially when it goes against what one is feeling or believes at that moment.  If one wants to place it into another term then it is like a prophecy, a TRUE prophecy that is given to a person, group, town, or nation and many people doubt the truth of the content of the prophecy.

Peter had to have been taken back at this statement by Jesus for it meant that he would literally deny Him before the rooster crowed in the morning.  Not only would Peter deny Jesus once but Jesus at the same time said he would deny Him three times a feat that is hard to imagine because one would think that if someone did such a thing one time they would remember what had been said to them and do their best to not fulfill the remaining portions of the spoken word.  Yet, in John 18:12-27 where Peter completes the fore mentioned prophecy to him by Jesus.  We find Peter in verse 17 standing at the door where Jesus had been taken and the woman who was standing at the door (guarding the entering) asked Peter if he was one of the disciples of Jesus and Peter quickly replied that he was not which gives us the first of the three denials that Jesus had foretold.  Was Peter not recognizing that what Jesus had said was now coming to pass, or was it not in the way that Peter thought it would occur?  This is a question that can be posed to each one of us when such matters are concerned. 

With the bustling of activity that had been ongoing, there had been a crowd that had gathered to see what all the excitement was about, this is a normal reaction that humans have, myself included.  Verse 25 tells us that Peter was standing around a fire with a group of people and warming them because it was cold.  One in the group recognized Peter and asked him if he was one of Jesus’ disciples and for the second time within a few minutes, Peter denied that he knew Jesus in such a manner.  Surely, Peter would have gotten what was occurring by now, right?  Shortly after the second denial Peter came across one of the kinsmen of the man that he earlier had cut off the ear of and this man recognized him and asked if he wasn’t with Jesus in the garden and for the third time Peter said no and denied Christ in front of mankind and as soon as he said those words, the rooster crowed.

In my dealings with the new lady in the office next to ours, I had been introduced to her but that was about all the contact that we had between each other.  But I saw her almost every day and if I saw her that means she would have had to have seen me as well.  Humans like to observe and not say much for it is a way that we gather information about others in order to try and understand the overall atmosphere.  While our spoken words may have been few in number I can only imagine just what my actions as we passed each other could have meant to her and thus when the day arrived for me to act stupidly in front of her, my presence was not a good witness for Christ but a strong denial of Him in front of others.  A grievous place that God gently grabbed a hold of and gave a tug in order for me to understand exactly how important my actions and words to others need to be.

I have no idea what brought this new lady to our part of the country or to the hospital either, but I do know that since she is here it is my responsibility to my Savior to be a witness for Him at all times.  I have no idea what her status is with the Lord and I have no idea if I shall ever get the opportunity to verbally find out either, but I do know that as I walk and talk up and down the aisles of the hospital my activities she may see and if that is the case then I need to stand firm for Christ at all times.  The Bible does not say what the spiritual conditions of those that Peter came in contact with were that evening but it is clear that all of them knew who Peter was and that he was associated with Christ.  Peter must have been crushed when he heard the rooster crow and realized that he had just fulfilled Christ’s words towards him.  It is this position that we need to try and avoid at all costs and when we do fail Christ repent as soon as we realize our mistake and return to His covering.

What is so fantastic is that both denial aspects of our existence can be covered if we live under the blood of Christ.  The physical element we have no control over but the voluntary issues that lead us to choose to deny Christ or to stand up for Him we do have an opportunity to do what is correct.  There is no doubt that Peter was a wonderful man who loved Christ and served Him with his whole heart.  And it would not be fair to judge Peter according to this one evening’s processions but we do need to understand exactly what transpired that evening for all of us shall find ourselves in a similar venue at some point in our lives.  My actions stunk that day during lunchtime and it is still hard for me to think about for my actions mimicked Peter on a perfect parallel level.  I immediately asked for forgiveness and while that thought continues to live inside my mind it no longer has any roots in my heart for I chose to repent of my actions as soon as I understood what had occurred.

It is this simple act of obedience that God wants from our lives as well.  I am so very confident that Peter repented of his denial patterns of Christ that night and you and I have the same opportunity to make things right with God too.  A repentant heart is the best kind of heart to have and if we use this type of heart as our guide God will do mighty things through our lives.  Over thirteen years now I had a life-changing event infiltrate my body, a heart attack, my widow maker was 99% blocked and by the grace of God alone I am still here alive and well today to deliver a message to you that it is time that the Church stand up and shake off the world before God has to do it for us.  Trust me; if you heed the warning signs before the life-changing event arrives things shall be a lot better all around and for everyone.  My actions had to have had an effect on this lady somehow because when I am around people tend to listen to my words and how I portray them towards others, a gift that I have always had but only within the past few years understood.  Peter knew this about himself as well and I can bet that he wanted to crawl into a hole and hide for the remaining days of his life as well.

What lasting effect did Peter’s denial have on the ones who he lied to?  Nothing else is really mentioned about these people but we can imagine that at some point in the coming days they had the same denial thoughts as well and maybe have participated in the crowds that shouted to have Jesus crucified.  Those three moments in time Peter probably wanted desperately back, but his flesh overcame him enough to deny the one person who took him in when his life was in shambles.  Did those people forever hold it against Peter or did they go to their graves not understanding who Jesus was then and who He is now because of those denials?  Our witness for Christ is important every day of our lives and we must never succumb to the denials of Christ through the temptations of the world’s settings.  Can you imagine how Peter must have felt when he heard the rooster crow?  I kind of understand that feeling because it was a similar feeling when God “crowed” His voice in my heart and revealed to me about my actions at the table.

Church, do you realize that we are denying Christ through the lies that we are speaking towards the people that are lost by our worldly actions and accepted worldly beliefs?  There is no doubt that Jesus walked this earth for a specific purpose and for one purpose only and that purpose was NOT to start any new bloodline or to marry or to have any carnal knowledge relationships with women, but ONLY to show those that do not know God that He is the only way to salvation.  Every time we open our mouths and spew worldly conversations or accepted worldly products we are denying Christ in the same manner that Peter did and that I did that day.  It is our responsibility to be around the people that do not know God for it is our purpose to witness to them but we cannot do such a mission if we portray the world and not Christ.  Sadly, we have become so ingrained with the world that our hearts no longer can see the truth about Christ and what He wants us to do while we are walking this earth.  We must not be forced to think about Christ but to have Him so much in our lives that we portray Him at all times without even knowing we do.

Living the Word every day of my life is what I need to survive in this place and it is your responsibility to live in the same manner.  It is not a matter of being perfect but understanding God’s Word well enough that we walk in His Light without even knowing it, it becomes that natural inside of us.  Look around us, look at those who claim to be a Christian and see how they are portraying Christ and ask yourself are they living according to the presence of God’s Kingdom or are they feeding others a lie by embracing the world?  When our testimony shifts to serve the world we are denying Christ, plain and simple and while Peter's example here may seem a bit harsh to some it serves its purpose perfectly for it is an exact match for how we act today.  We need to continually remember that there are only two kingdoms in this existence of ours and one kingdom’s ruler utterly despises our presence and wants nothing more than to see us suffer unmentionable torture away from God, and the other Kingdom is ruled by our Creator who loves us and sent His only Son to die for us so that we may have direct contact with Him for eternity.  I love Scripture for it shows me that I am a sinner and that there is a way that I can follow that covers me until that day I see God and tell of my countenances.  Scripture also shows me how to live a life that exemplifies Christ, not deny Him and it is this Truth that I learn from each day.

DLB