Welcome to Bible Believers Fellowship and the ministry of bbfohio.com. I'm Pastor Greg, and I welcome you to our study in Luke chapter 22, verses 47 through 62, titled, Peter Remembered the Word of the Lord. The conclusion of this two-part study can be found at bbfohio.com. Scroll down to our most recent studies and you'll find it there. You'll also find our contact and donation information at that website, which is again bbfohio.com. Now we begin with the current events update and then our study in Luke chapter 22 verses 47 through 62 titled Peter remembered the word of the Lord. This is part one of two. Nice sound effect. So this is where the world is headed. Warning this is not pretty. Satanic Temple in Boston had a weekend of blasphemy that sold out. That's just a few years ago. They couldn't get more than a handful of people to attend that kind of thing. So they're a bunch of people just ready for the Antichrist. In California, this won't probably shock you, but they're talking about a bill that aims to remove the statute of limitation from child sex abuse cases. And I've been trying to find a real good source on this, but from what I understand, it's basically saying that if the child says that they willingly took in sex, then the penalty would be minimal, possibly just a fine. California. California is not the place you ought to be. I blurred some of this out, but this is happening in, I'm just going to tell you the straight up truth, places where Democrats control. I want to tell you something before I go into this. This is a bondage-themed drag queen show in front of a bunch of kids. They'd had several of them, I guess, and the public found out about it, and because of an outcry, they stopped doing it. But listen, if I were in the 1930s, I would be telling you that the Nazi party is satanic. Well, I'm in the 2020s and I'm telling you that the Democrat Party is satanic. And I am not endorsing any political party, but I'm telling you when a party goes so far that the Democrat Party has, anyone with a spine and a brain that's functioning should be denouncing the Democrat satanic party. It's disgusting. And if you or anybody you know belongs to that party and are not resigning after what you're seeing right now, shame on you. Shame on your relatives. Shame on your friends and neighbors and coworkers. Shame on anybody who stays in that satanic party that is doing everything they can to destroy what's called the Judeo-Christian fiber of this country. It's sickening. That man should be shot. Death penalty for pedophiles. Amen. It's almost as it was in the days of Lot and Sodom, is it not? Which is what Jesus said it's going to be like. Hershey. Go woke, go broke. I hope so. Hershey's now facing a boycott. if you want to call it that, people are just disgusted and they're not going to buy their garbage. They're pushing a trans agenda for, it's called Women's History Month, but a man in drag is Hershey's idea of women's history. That's a man. Hershey. But here's how the lying propagandists at Yahoo News reported this abomination. So I'm supposing it's probably all over. This is how the news media reported it. Twitter is attacking Hershey's over their new candy bar wrapper. Yeah, that's what we're attacking Hershey for. We don't like the wrapper. if you want to call it attacking, we're just simply pointing out what they're doing. That's not attacking. Hershey's has a man in drag as their representative for women's history. You know what? They should have me next February. I'll be the poster boy for Black History Month. That's how stupid that is. Well, Tracy's always said the same thing. But it's not all losses. We're stemming the tide even yet. Amen? Of all things, the unions are fighting Biden's new pronoun policy for federal workers, where they're basically trying to say you'll be fired if you use the wrong pronoun for somebody. looking at a dude in a dress like Clinger on MASH, and you're supposed to call him ma'am, ain't going to happen. God bless the unions for taking that stand. In Utah, the Mormons are getting it wrong. The Mormon church is becoming opening toward the trans movement. And yet the governor has been doing things that are even more conservative than the Mormon cult. And he just signed a bill banning abortion clinics in that state. That's a pretty... Hey, anybody know Mike DeWine? Maybe give him a call, suggest that. The West Virginia governor signs a new carry bill allowing for guns on public college and university campuses. Now you see that little sign up there? This is how dumb a liberal is. A liberal thinks that a criminal is going to see that sign and not walk in there with a gun. That's how stupid liberals are. You know what that sign does? One thing. Creates a gun-free slaughter zone where any killer can walk into a building that has that sign on it and know pretty sure that there's not going to be any good guys with guns to stop them. So we're gonna cover some territories, cover some ground. Some of the messages in Luke 22 previously, we've gone to just a few verses. Sometimes that happens, but now we're getting into more of the narrative, and when there's more narrative than anything doctrinal or transitional or anything, we'll cover more verses. We're gonna start in verse 47, and we're gonna go through verse 62, and so, I'm gonna have you read with me with the thought. And so it begins. Last few messages we've been at that Passover meal, a lot of talking, discussions, and that kind of thing. But now it really is gonna start to move. So beginning verse 47, let's read through verse 62, and I'll read the ad and you join in. And while he yet spake, behold, a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the 12, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss? When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, should we smite with the sword? And one of them smote the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. And Jesus answered and said, suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear and healed him. 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 the thief with swords and staves. 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. Then took they him, and led him, and brought him into the high priest's house, and Peter followed afar off. And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them. But a certain man beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him. And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not. And after a little while another saw him and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not. 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 Galilean. And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yes spake, the cock crewed. 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. And Peter went out and left bitterly. Amen? So the Passover meal is over. Jesus has prayed, we talked about that last week, and now is betrayed. We refer you to our timeline that's available at bbfohio.com. You can download it for free. And we are approximately around midnight when this takes place. Just as a reminder, the Jewish reckoning of the day began at sundown, and that's when, from sundown until around midnight, they've had the Passover meal, the conversations, and the time of prayer. And so that's where we are approximately. No one can say 100% for sure, but you lay out the timeline, it seems to be around midnight. This may have happened right at the stroke of midnight. Knowing God, how precise He is about things, it's very possible that it could have been right at midnight when this happens. But we see there as we began in verses 47 and 48, 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. But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man? with a kiss. A kiss is probably the most touching and precious showing of your love to somebody. I prefer only one person to kiss me on the lips. Just FYI, fellas. I love y'all. No homo. But sadly, this is a kiss that is not precious. It's a betrayal. And it was prophesied, by the way, more than 1,000 years before it happened. This betrayal was prophesied by the psalmist in Psalm 41 9. Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. He trusted Judas. You know how we know that? Judas carried the money back. You say, well, I thought Jesus knew everything. Why would he trust him knowing what? That's beside the point. God himself allows you free will to make your choices. Even though he knows the end, he knows you're about to do something wrong, he doesn't stop you from doing that. God will intervene when it's his purpose sometimes. But for the most part, that's where the deists get it wrong. The deists believe in a God that's out there somewhere but doesn't intervene in the affairs of men. Generally speaking, that's true. God does not interfere in the affairs of men, but then sometimes people pray. And then other times, it's his own purpose to interfere. But for the most part, you make your choices. Don't blame God when you suffer the consequences. So again, yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. So that I was addressing the fact that God, Jesus is God. and he's on earth, he knows that Judas is the betrayer. He said so. We've already read that in our previous studies. And yet, the Bible says he trusted him. To trust isn't an emotion. He trusted him. He gave him the opportunity to do what's right. Some people like to preach that Judas couldn't have chosen to do differently. That's not true. God knew he was going to do it. But he had the choice. That's why Jesus said, offenses have come, but woe unto that man by whom they come. Why? Because it's their own choice to do it. Pharaoh is in the same boat, for example, and others in scripture. So we come to verse 49, when they, which were about him, saw what would follow. They reacted, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword? And some of you are like, yes. When I was a baby Christian, I'd read this and I'd stop and I'd think, oh, if I was there, I would have been Peter. I would have been Peter. If you are thinking that if you were there, I would have stood up for Jesus. Well, that's Peter. I would have been me. Yeah, Pedro. So you may recall that Jesus told him to buy a sword. Look up verse 36 there in your same chapter. Then said he unto them, but now he that hath the purse, let him take it, and likewise his script. He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. But he never told him to use it on other people whenever it's an offensive thing. So they weren't obeying Jesus by doing what they're doing here. He in particular, one person doing what he does here. He told them to buy a sword and have it because he was leaving. And the implications is what we talked about for self-defense, an animal attack, whatever the case may be, but not for circumstances like this. He never told them to use it offensively. There's a number of people with guns in the room right now. I'm not telling you who they are, but I'm telling you this. The bad guys come in shooting this place up, they're going to be hit from about five different sides. Those of you without guns, hit the floor. Amen. You've had, huh? Yeah. And that's the way it should be. That's the way it ought to be. In your own home. Those without a gun, hit the floor, get behind something and let the guy with the gun, the good guy with the gun, stop the bad guy with the gun. That's the job for police. I've got news for you. Police should actually be called cleanup crew. They come after everything's over with, and they document, they take eyewitness testimony, they are, it says protect and serve. Once in a while, they're able to protect, but most of the time, it is cleanup crew. Yeah. Actually, in the army, when we have a cleanup crew, we call them a police call. Oh, yeah, yeah. It's fitting for that very reason. So then verse 50 says, and one of them smote the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. And again, first time I was reading through that, I'm like, yeah. But that's not really what should have happened. In other words, that's a big no. Should not have happened. So the apostle John tells us who was involved. That's the interesting thing about this. In Luke, he kind of saves Peter some embarrassment in his gospel. But in the gospel of John, chapter 18, verse 10, it says, then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and smote the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. Now I'm hopeful that John named him because he ended up becoming a believer and we're going to meet him one day. And we'd be like, so which ear was it? The right ear. Right ear, yeah. But it's not gonna have a scar though, see? So it's gonna be interesting to talk to him about that. Yes, I believe we're gonna hang out and talk to these people. We're gonna have eternity to do it. Plenty of time, because there's no more time. So verse 51 says, and Jesus answered and said, suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear and healed him. Just like that. Just like that, and Jesus fixed the ear of Malchus and rebukes his captors. To Jesus, it was about like you handing someone a cup of water. He just picks that ear up, puts it on his head. He can do that because he's God. Don't try that at home. Verses 52 and 53, then Jesus said unto the chief priests and captains of the temple and the elders by which were come to him, be ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves. That's how they come out against Christians to this day. Christians will be standing in front of an abortion center just silently praying and who shows up? A bunch of people with guns. What are you doing? Just standing here. Are you praying in silence? And they arrested her. They arrested her. That's on video. There are people who have nothing but a sign, just standing there with a sign. They arrest them for holding the signs up. What do they got? Come with the guns. And that's how they're going to come after the believers during the tribulation period. You better believe that. So enjoy it while you can, wicked people, if any of you are watching right now, because your hour is about up. But at this point, Jesus is, he said, I've come to lay down my life, and that's why they're not fighting. You know, there's coming a time when Jesus is gonna kill a bunch of people. Revelation 19, and it'll be by the word of his mouth. couple billion. They're just going to drop dead. If they have the mark, dead and in hell. Just like that. Johnny? Isn't it interesting here that the priest and stuff earlier asking him for a sign, and right there, right in the middle of his capture, he gives him a sign. He gives him the sign, yeah. Good point, Johnny. Amen. You think about that? They said, give me a sign, and here, as he's being arrested, don't you think that'd be a pretty good sign? He'd be able to attach an ear that's been cut off? That's a pretty good sign. So the apostles would scatter at this point, and that fulfills prophecy. Zechariah 13, seven, awake, O sword. against my shepherd and against the man that is my fellow, that's the apostles, saith the Lord of hosts, smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered. And I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. That's what happened. That's being fulfilled right here in this text. Spoken hundreds of years before Jesus was born. Prophecy fulfilled. Then verse 54, look at that, where it says, then took they him and led him and brought him into the high priest's house. And we're gonna go over some of this. These things that they're doing to Jesus are illegal. They're against the law of the Jews. But we're not gonna get into that in this study. We'll cover that. But look at these last words of verse 54, and Peter followed afar off. That is not where we should be in our relationship with Jesus. If you and your relationship with Jesus is that He's out there somewhere, and He's not with you seeing and hearing and observing what you're doing, He's out there somewhere, there's something very wrong with that picture. By reality, the Holy Spirit is in you, and that Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, and no matter what you're doing and where you are and what you're thinking, there's trouble if it's sin, because He's right there. Now, I'm not judging or condemning those who are dealing with things physically in the tangible sense that you're sinning, but I'll confess to you right now that one of the things I have to deal with is my thoughts. And I have to remember that my thoughts, God is aware of. And if you will remind yourself of that and remember that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is in you, it has a cleansing effect to your life and your thoughts when you realize those thoughts you're having aren't right and God's right there kind of, you know, observing. And if you think, If you're saved and you think of Jesus afar off, you're fooled. you just are deceived about your relationship with the Lord because he's right there. But the sense of closeness with the Lord is something that you only have with Jesus when you open your arms to him by believing and reading and receiving his word and praying and speaking to yourself in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. We sing, and he walks with me and he talks with me. Well, not if you're not in his word and in prayer. He's going along with you, but that's not walking together. It'd be like how would you feel if you're with your spouse or significant other and you go for a walk out in the beautiful woods out here. We got a nice little area back here. And the whole time you're walking, they've got their headphones on and they're going... And you're just walking along and you're talking to them. They're not hearing anything that you're saying. Spiritually, that's what some of us look like. When we're walking, Jesus is right there, but we got some headphones on or whatever, we're not paying any attention to his presence. And that's a sad thing that Peter's a far off. And so Peter's denials begin. Verses 55 to 57, and when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall and were set down together, Peter sat down among them. Verse 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 them. And he, verse 57, and he denied him saying, says he denied him, that's talking about Jesus, he's denying Jesus. And he denied him saying, woman, I know him not. Woman? Woman? I mean, I just pictured Peter. Woman? I know him not. I hope no one here has ever looked at somebody and asked if you're a Christian and you denied it like that. That's heavy stuff. Are you one of them Christians? Oh, no. Are you a believer in Christ? Well, not really. I'm not like these crazy fanatics. What you ought to be saying is, yes, I'm one of those crazy fanatics. But there's strike one. Verse 58, and after a little while another saw him and said, thou art also of them. And Peter said, man.