Have you ever been camping? There’s just something about being outside sitting around a campfire in the evening that draws you into deeper conversations. Even if you’re at home, the glow of a fire pit in your backyard seems to pull everyone outside to enjoy the company and conversation. Just like when we met at our home, when you gather around the fire, the truth is revealed.
Today we’ll be exploring some of the times in the Bible where God communicated through and around fire. These fiery conversations shed light on several topics that we will cover in the next few weeks.
As we begin, think about the last time you were around a campfire and let me set the stage for this campfire conversation.
It was Thursday night, it was late, around 2AM and it was dark…in the natural and in the spiritual. Before it was over, this night would turn out to be a very sad, very scary night for the disciples of Jesus…There was a serious test coming, they just didn’t understand it yet.
Earlier that evening Jesus had warned them about what was coming.
Matthew 26:31 “31 Then Jesus *said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.’ 32 But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” 33 But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” 35 Peter *said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too.”
Jesus had just said that all of His disciples will fall away that very night, but Peter says twice that Jesus is wrong because he will never deny Him, all the other disciples say that also.
This is not the first time Peter had tried to correct Jesus. And let me just give you a little heads up…that is never a good idea.
Peter was a lot like us, in that he rarely learned from his mistakes the first time around. How many of us have to keep making the same mistake till we finally learn that the word is true and is always right about the consequences of our actions. As leaders, we are called to set an example to others, and too often the example we set is a bad one.
You see, Peter had been given a position of leadership and influence among the men who followed Jesus. So when he said he would never fall away from following Jesus, the other guys followed his example, even though Jesus had just said they would. Their words and dedication are about to be tested.
Jesus then goes to a garden to pray and prepare Himself for what is about to happen next. He is under great stress while praying because He knows everything that he is about to suffer.
He has asked Peter, James and John, his top three closest friends to watch with Him as He prays. But when Jesus returns to them, He finds them asleep. Jesus rebukes them and I’m sure Peter is ashamed of his actions. This happens three times.
Immediately following that, a group of soldiers along with a mob of people approached them. They were being led by Judas, who was there to betray Jesus.
John 18:4-10 “4 So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and *said to them, “Whom do you seek?” 5 They answered Him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He *said to them, “I am He.” And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them. 6 So when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground. 7 Therefore He again asked them, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.” 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am He; so if you seek Me, let these go their way,” 9 to fulfill the word which He spoke, “Of those whom You have given Me I lost not one.” 10 Simon Peter then, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear; and the slave’s name was Malchus.”
Jesus exhibits His power when He speaks and the mob falls to the ground. Peter sees this as an opportunity to redeem his falling asleep on the job just moments earlier.
He pulls his sword and swings for Malchus’ head. Peter wasn’t fooling around…he wasn’t aiming for his ear. He intended to remove Malchus’ head. He had just witnessed the power Jesus had over the mob and I’m sure he assumed that his sword and Jesus’ words were all they needed to defend themselves from this mob.
But Jesus didn’t back his move, instead He rebuked Peter and in the gospel of Luke it says He healed Malchus’ ear. I’m sure this reminded Peter of a situation not too far back when Jesus said he was acting as an agent of satan. We’ll get to that in just a minute.
So, Jesus is arrested and all the disciples have now scattered, running from the soldiers and the mob that had shown up to drag them before the high priest.
Things aren’t working out the way Peter had hoped. I’m sure he’s confused.
Luke 22:54-56 “54 Having arrested Him, they led Him away and brought Him to the house of the high priest; but Peter was following at a distance. 55 After they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter was sitting among them. 56 And a servant-girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight and looking intently at him, said, “This man was with Him too.”
The fire is warm, but the conversation is hot, fueled by the events of the night and what was going on right inside the high priests house at that very moment. Then, after looking at Peter for a while, a girl confronts him about being a disciple of Jesus.
Alright, this is it…the pivotal moment for Peter to stand up for what he believes.
But before we go forward and discover Peter’s response, let’s go back a little further and look at the backstory to understand how this entire scenario was playing out from Peter’s perspective.
Matthew 16:13-18 “13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” 15 He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
Wow, It looks like Peter just got a huge endorsement and a blessing from Jesus. I’m sure that felt great. Peter’s probably looking at the other disciples with a “Did you hear that?” look.
When the teacher calls on you to answer a question and you give the perfect answer, then He says publicly how God gave you the answer…and it’s the very foundation of His church. Great job Peter, that’s something to be proud of.
And unfortunately, being prideful, seems to be what happened to Peter. But the problem is that scripture is clear what happens to us when pride is involved.
Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before stumbling.”
Just look at the next couple of verses to see what happens to Peter fairly quickly after that.
Matthew 16:21-23 “21 From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. 22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” 23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
Jesus lays out exactly what is going to happen…and needs to happen to Him, but Peter has other ideas. Again, he felt the need to correct Jesus. And again, it wasn’t a good idea.
Peter’s pride caused not only him to stumble, but he became a stumbling block to Jesus.
Peter got a little ahead of his position. He let his pride lead him into trouble. We call it getting a big head when we are full of pride.
And that’s the problem, because we must realize that we go “head first” everywhere we go. No matter where we find ourselves, our mind went there first. You see, The direction of your life is determined by your attitude, your mindset, and your thoughts.
That’s why God’s Word tells us that our life can be transformed by the renewing of our mind.
Romans 12:2 “2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Peter didn’t wan’t to accept what Jesus was saying about His crucifixion, because his mind wasn’t set on the right things.
He has been going back and forth between blessing and rebuke for a while. This is because his thoughts on who Jesus was and what he was supposed to do are mixed between the natural which creates doubt and the spiritual which creates faith.
You see, doubting wasn’t just for Thomas.
Peter had his doubts also, and they showed up that night Jesus was arrested. And please hear this clearly…doubt always creates instability.
James 1:6-8 Whoever asks shouldn’t hesitate. They should ask in faith, without doubting. Whoever doubts is like the surf of the sea, tossed and turned by the wind. 7 People like that should never imagine that they will receive anything from the Lord. 8 They are double-minded, unstable in all their ways.
We should not doubt when we ask…We should ask in faith, because doubt brings about instability, but faith creates a firmly grounded stable life.
We’ve all seen news footage or photos of a car that’s hit a large tree. The result is always the same…the car is destroyed…but the tree is still standing strong. That’s because the car was out of control and unstable but the tree was firmly rooted to the ground.
In the same way, our faith should be grounded through God’s word. So that when unstable doubt crashes against our firm faith, we can be assured that the doubt will be destroyed, but our faith will remain standing strong.
Colossians 2:6-7 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
So now, let’s pick back up where we left off with the story of Peter being accused by the servant girl of being a disciple of Jesus.
They are around the fire debating the events of the night and she confronts Peter. At this point Peter is doubtful, unstable and scared. So this was his response.
Luke 22:57-62 “57 But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.” 58 A little later, another saw him and said, “You are one of them too!” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” 59 After about an hour had passed, another man began to insist, saying, “Certainly this man also was with Him, for he is a Galilean too.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.”
This campfire conversation has left Peter emotionally destroyed. Everything that Jesus said would happen, has begun to happen. He has been taken into custody and Peter has denied knowing Him three times. So much for saying he would never deny Jesus, even if he had to die. But when it came right down to it, the accusation of a young girl was enough to cause Peter to fall away.
Peter has gone from being a rock, to cowering away from the ministry of Jesus, the very thing he had left his fishing business to follow.
Having your mind set on the right things is the only way to defeat the attack of the enemy. Because he attacks your mind with lies and you have to have your mind renew by the word of God to repel those attacks.
Just like Peter, in the right situation or environment, we are all vulnerable to cave into the peer pressure and walk away from the foundation of our faith.
Peter was supposed to be the rock, the one to lead the others…Jesus had said so. In the next couple of weeks we’ll see how things turn out for him.
But how about you? How are things turning out for you? Have you questioned what God has clearly said about you? If so, does that seem like a good idea based on Peter’s experience.
The only way you can learn is by experience…but it doesn’t have to be yours. You can learn from Peter’s experience and trust what Jesus has said.
If you are God’s child, He has clearly said He will never leave you, so you don’t have feel alone. He has said you are victorious, so you don’t have to feel defeated.
You just have to accept what He has said as a fact and not just an opinion based on how you feel at the moment.
If you are not His child and haven’t confessed Jesus as Lord, would you be willing to do that tonight?
Following Jesus won’t make your life here on earth perfect immediately. Just like we learned about Peter tonight, there will be tough times as well as times of blessing.
But what will be perfect is the forgiveness of your sins. If you accept the free gift of salvation that Jesus offers, your new position in Christ will settle the question of where you will spend eternity.
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