Mark chapter number 14, we're preaching through the book of Mark. And I think over the course of the last year, I've preached over 50 messages from the book of Mark. And we're now in the last couple of chapters and the last week of our Lord's life and ministry. And the truth is, when you come to the crucifixion week and the cruel trial of our Savior, It's a really sad place to look in the Scriptures if you look only at the crucifixion, only at the wickedness of man's heart. It's a really sad, difficult, gut-wrenching portion of Scripture to study and preach. But when you take a fresh glimpse every time you read the Scriptures of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, in the darkest of times, you see a bright spot. Because in spite of the wickedness and the cruelty of all the folks we'll mention and see in the Scriptures today, Jesus Christ in love and compassion, with a heart and a desire to obey God the Father, and do the work of God the Son to pay the price for our sins, even the cruel trial and mockery of our Savior has a beautiful spot, has a rose and a diamond in its core because Jesus, in spite of the wickedness of man, in spite of the coldness of my own heart, Jesus Christ was willing to bear the sins of the world mine on the cross of Calvary so that I can have everlasting life and peace with God in heaven forever. What a wonderful Savior. Will you follow along with me in God's Word? Mark chapter 14. We'll begin reading this morning, verse number 53. Mark chapter 14, verse number 53. We'll read through the conclusion of this chapter. Mark chapter 14, verse number 53. The Bible says, And they led Jesus away. to the high priest. And with him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes. And Peter followed him afar off, even into the palace of the high priest. And he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire. And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death and found none. For many bear false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together. And there arose certain and bear false witness against him, saying, We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands. But neither so did their witness agree together. And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? What is it which these witness against thee? But he held his peace and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the blessed? And Jesus said, I am. And ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes and saith, What need we any further witnesses? Ye have heard the blasphemy, what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death. And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy. And the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands. And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest. And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him and said, And thou also was with Jesus in Nazareth. But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch, and the cock crew and a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them. And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou Art one of them, for thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeeth thereto. But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom you speak. And the second time the cock crew, and Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept. Because it's passive scripture and I'll just be honest with you, when I see what these folks are doing to my Savior, it angers me and I want to sing the song, He could have called 10,000 angels but changed the words to He should have called 10,000 angels and let them have it. But the truth is, when you look at Christ, Jesus Christ humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And Jesus Christ in this cruel mocking and cruel trial of His own people. He is doing the will of the Father and acting in love knowing that Cody Sturgill couldn't pay his own way to heaven, couldn't be his own sacrifice without suffering the penalty of hell forever. And Jesus in love sets His face like a flint to the cross. pay the price for our sins. What a wonderful Savior. There's a few things I want you to see in this passage of Scripture. Look with me in verse number 55. The Bible says, "...and the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put Him to death and found none." I see this little phrase, two words, against Jesus. Against Jesus. Oh, I'll tell you something. There's a host of people in this world that are against Jesus. There are things that cloak themselves in the name of religion that are against Jesus. And it's sad to me, but there are times even in my own life as a child of God, a follower of Christ, that some of my actions and my faithlessness are against Jesus. May God help us never to be guilty again of it being said of us that we were against Jesus. You know, if you were to ask folks, are you against Jesus? Most people would say no. Most Christian people especially would say no, but our actions so often speak louder than our words, right? If you were to ask folks in some religions, Even churches that deny the deity of Christ, deny that Jesus is the only way of salvation. You look at most religious people, you say, are you against Jesus? They say, no. You look to the masses who depict Christ, Jesus, as a good man, a good prophet, a great story. You say, are you against Jesus? And they'd say, oh no, no, no. But when we look at the passage today, we meet up with religious people who are against Jesus. We meet up with the cruel masses who are against Jesus. And we meet up with the disciples who are against Jesus. The Bible says of this great group of people, verse 64, "...Ye have heard the blasphemy. What think ye?" The high priest speaking there. The Bible says, "...And they all condemned him to be guilty of death." Today's message is simply titled, Against Jesus. Against Jesus. Let's see who is against Jesus in this passage of Scripture. Let's see what God will teach us from His Word. Who is against Jesus? Number one, the first group of people who were against Jesus was false religion. Now, this false religion was founded by Jehovah God. This false religion was established and put in place with the leadership of Moses and the inspiration of God. It was the Old Testament law, and we meet in verse 53 this Sanhedrin group, the Bible says in verse 53, and they led Jesus away to the high priest. And with him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes. Now, there was a group of Jewish people Jewish zealots who sent for Jesus. They took Jesus and they led Jesus away to the high priest, to the chief priests, and to the elders and the scribes. Now, included in verse 53 are all the vital parts of the Old Testament law and the Mosaic system. The Jewish religious system is represented in complete form, and I'm confident because I believe in the inerrant, infallible Word of God, that God wants us to see here that the whole of Judaism was guilty of bringing Jesus to trial. A religion, isn't religion just a terrible thing? You say, did the preacher say that? The preacher said religion? Oh, yes. religion in its form. If you come to church just so you can say, I went to church, you've come for the wrong reason. If you do religious exercise just for the sake of doing religious exercise, all you've done is some emptiness. I'm country. I was raised working on a farm, and I like things to make sense. I'm not going to just do something because that's what everybody's always done. I'm not for that. And religion puts people in bondage. Religion says you have to work your way to favor with God. But that's not Bible Christianity. That's not Bible faith. I should serve the Lord with my life. I should give to the Lord. I should be faithful to the Lord. But my salvation is not dependent upon my works. And religion corrupts people. Let me show you what we see in this passage of Scripture. This group of people, all these folks, the high priest, the chief priest, the elders, the scribes, if you were to see this group of people standing side by side to get a picture here on the platform at Bowling Springs Baptist Church today, you'd be quite impressed. They'd been dressed right, they'd looked right. If you knew them in the community, you'd know them to be people who had the greatest credibility and the highest honor in the town. But Jesus looked on this group of people, He says, the outside is white, you're white and sepulchral, but inside you're rotten. It was religion. Now we see the high priests, we see the chief priests, we see the elders, we see the scribes. The Bible says in verse 55, what are they doing? The chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put Him to death and found none. What are these guys up to? You see these pillars of the society here standing side by side getting a picture. But what are they up to in this passage of Scripture? I see them mention the chief priests and all the council in that verse we just read. What are they up to? Are they up to protect the cause of the Lord? Are they up to satisfy the demands of the Bible? Are they up to make sure they're obeying God? No! They are scared to death. These people that should be admired and honored, they're scared to death that Jesus Christ, who is the Christ, the fulfillment of the Old Testament law, the completion of their religion, they're scared to death that Jesus is going to mess up what they've got going on. By the way, If you get to a place where you're afraid that if you put Jesus in your life, He's going to mess up what you've got going on, what you've got going on is inferior, and what you've got going on is going to hurt you, and what you've got going on is going to bring great damage to your life. If you say, I can't get saved. If I get saved, I won't be able to earn a living the way I've earned a living. Well, then you're earning a living the wrong way. You say, if I get saved, I can't... Live the way I'm living. Well, if you say, I can't get saved because of the way you're living, the way you're living is keeping you from heaven. Say, I can't get saved, it'll mess up this thing I've got going on. You've got a problem that needs to be dealt with. It is an eternal problem that has eternal consequences. And by God's grace, I beg of you, repent of your sin and come to faith in Christ. These people who looked like they were religious, they said, we can't let Jesus be who he's supposed to be as the fulfiller of the Old Testament law because he's going to mess up this religion thing we've got going on. We're going to be exposed. And so a group of people that I would never imagine this would be said of, the religious elite, the Bible says that they sought how they might put Jesus to death. Here's what happens in religion. A group of people, they get power, they get influence, they get prestige. And rather than being willing to humble themselves before God and do what's right, in order to keep things the way it is, and the power the way it is, and their lives the way it is, when Jesus begins to get in the way, you know what they seek to do? Crucify Him. Crucify Him. Now, I'll just tell you something. You say, that could never happen here. It sure could. It can happen in any church. It can happen to any preacher. And we're praying with God's grace and with God's help. That won't be the case. We've got to be the kind of people who say more important than religion and ritual is our obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ and our willingness to do what God's Word says, the way God's Word says to do it. And we will not stand with culture rights and culture wrongs, but we will stand firm on the truth of the Word of God." Do you know what these people were? They were against Jesus. What were they trying to do? They were trying to put Jesus to death. Religious people. False religion was against Jesus. It's an odd group. to look at who is falsely accusing Jesus and trying to put an innocent man to death. False religion will defy itself to keep itself in place. Do you know what the message of the high priest, the chief priest, the scribes, the elders was for years and years and years and years? Do you know what scriptures they read? in their synagogues weekly, scriptures that pointed to the coming of a Messiah, scriptures like Isaiah 53 that said He would be led as a sheep before His shearers. He'd be cruelly tried and crucified. Those were the scriptures they read, and when Jesus stood before them, they hardened their hearts and closed their eyes, and they acted against Jesus. Jesus' trial has a few different spots. We have here in verse number 55 that they stood against Jesus and wanted to put Him to death. Then they called for witnesses. We'll see those witnesses in just a minute. The witnesses couldn't get their story straight, so the high priest comes on the scene and says, you know what? Get out of the way, boys. Let the big man take care of this. Verse number 60, the high priest comes in to the scene. The Bible says, And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? What is it which these witness against thee? Verse 61, But he held his peace and answered nothing. Again, the high priest asked him and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am. And ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. And the high priest rent his clothes and saith, What need we any further witnesses? This religious crowd, they stood against Jesus. And the high priest was no different. As a matter of fact, he put a cherry on top. He was the worst of all. I want you to see a few things that the high priest does wrong. Here's what the Scripture says in verse number 60. The high priest stood in the midst, asked Jesus, saying, Answers thou nothing? He says, What is this which thou witnessest against thee? He's like, I want you to talk to me, Jesus. Tell me what? Speak up. Jesus holds his peace. And then the Bible says again, verse number 61, the high priest asked him and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the blessed? Now this is an unusual way to ask Jesus if he declares himself to be the Son of God. I'll tell you about this high priest. He had religious superstition. He was believed by these high priests that if we say the name of God, if we say Jehovah, We've done something so sacred that it's wrong. This guy acted, this high priest acted in religious superstition and wouldn't say the name of God. We're to lift God's name in praise. We're to call unto the Lord. We're to call the name of God. We're to use the name of God frequently and regularly. He is our God. He is our Savior. David referred to Jehovah verbally over and over and over again. But it was the practice and the superstition of the high priest. He wouldn't say God. So instead of asking Jesus, are you the Son of Jehovah? He says, are you the Son of the Blessed? It's almost like, I don't like the big man upstairs. I think it's tacky. I don't like to call God that. I refer to him with more reverence. But his superstition was not to call the name of God. And he was acting in religious superstition saying, I'm not going to say the name of God. I'm going to say, are you the son of the blessed? Are you the Son of the Blessed? But in the same breath and in the same setting, this same man full of religion, the Bible says in verse number 63, "...the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witness?" He wouldn't call the name of God because of his religious superstition. But then he rends his clothes. Something fascinating. It was against the law, the Old Testament law, for the high priest to rend his clothes. He defied his own religion in an act of flesh, in an act of emotion, in a show. He defied his own religion by rending his clothes. He defied his own religion by condemning a man under the curse of blasphemy. It was not blasphemous at all. You see, religion, false religion, stands against Jesus. And may we not be guilty against Jesus. They weren't acting for the truth. They were acting against Jesus. Number one, false religion stands against Jesus. Number two, we meet up with the cruel masses. The cruel masses were against Jesus. Look at what the Bible shows in verse number 56. The Bible says, many bear false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together. You know what blows my mind? There were a multitude of people who were willing to come and stand and tell stories against Jesus. Just because the masses say it, doesn't make it so. As a matter of fact, when you hear the masses crying and belly aching, question it. Question it. These masses of people, these groups of people, many bear false witness against Jesus. But their witness agreed not together. Verse 57, there arose certain, and then that bear false witness against him, saying, We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands. Jesus did declare that his temple would be destroyed and he would rise from the dead, but they were just bumping the guns and running off with the mouth about things they didn't understand. They were just doing anything they could to speak out against Jesus. who are loud and boisterous and obnoxious speaking out against Jesus. They remind me of these masses of people, ignorant masses of people. And I want to encourage you to do something as a Christian. When you start to hear these people, the loudest people who are standing against Jesus, the loudest mouths who just say anything they think or hear, don't hate those people. Don't hate those people. Love them. Show them the love of Christ. Explain. Take the opportunity, if God affords it, to explain to them the gospel. Pray for them. Because these masses of people, we'll find out in a little while, I'd say the same group of people that were standing up witnessing against Jesus, when they began to see what God was doing, I believe on the day of Pentecost, some of these people came to faith in Christ. I believe that day that Peter preached the gospel in the temple, that some of these people came to faith in Christ. Don't hate those people. Love them. Give them the gospel. Be patient with them. Work to evangelize the masses, these masses of people, cruel false witness that they brought. The Bible says in verse 59, But neither so did their witness agree together. What they had to say didn't make any difference. What they had to say was not right. Verse 64, the masses rise again. The Bible says, Ye have heard the blasphemy. What think ye? The Bible says, All they condemned him to be guilty of death. This mass of people, all they were doing was repeating what was going on around them. And the Scripture continues in verse number 65, "...some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy, and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands." Well, I can't hardly stand to read that verse. It breaks my heart to think what people have done. Do you see what they're doing to our Savior? The Bible says some began to spit on him. Do you know who they were spitting on? They were spitting on the Son of God. They were spitting on the only hope that they had, the man who spit in the face of Christ. The only hope he had of ever having everlasting life was the very face that he spit on. Sometimes I think that if it were me, I wouldn't have stood for that. Jesus in love and patience. He took the spit in love. He was willing to pay the price for that man's sin. The Bible says that they covered his face and began to buffet him. What did they do? They put something over his face and just punched him. Put a cloth on somebody's face. It keeps it from busting open, but you can do such damage. They were punching and hitting our Savior. They began to say unto him with his head covered, prophesy, tell us who hit you. You're the son of God, the son of the blessed. Tell us who hit you. Can you imagine the mockery? Not only did he know whose name it was that struck him, he knew everything about their families. He could number the hairs on their head. And he was getting ready to go to the cross for their sins. Prophesy, the Bible says, and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands. These people. the masses. Folks, I want you to know something. There are masses of people against Jesus. I don't like it, but I want you to know something that we need to learn as God's people. The outlandish, loud, unkind, uncouth, cruel masses of people are masses of people for whom Jesus died. And the spirit of God's people should be the spirit of the Savior, that we love those people like Jesus loved them. We don't stand for what they stand for, and we don't act the way they act, and we don't condone their actions, but by God's grace and with God's help, they're all souls for which Jesus died for. And let them curse and scream and Mock and stand against Jesus, but may the children of God pray. I'm reminded of Jonah. Jonah did some things wrong. Jonah's heart was so full of hate toward the people of Nineveh. The people of Nineveh had done terrible things to Jonah's people, and Jonah hated them. And Jonah knew the power of God and knew that God could change them. And when God called Jonah to the people of Nineveh, he said, no, I'm not doing it. I don't want to tell them of the saving grace of Jehovah God. I don't want to do it. I hate those people and I don't want God to do anything in their lives. It took a whale and a long time. God had to change Jonah's tomb because Jesus died on the cross for all the world, even the cruel masses who speak out against Him. Number three, it wasn't just the religious group or the cruel masses that stood against Jesus, but it was also Peter and the disciples. Most of us that are saved today would have to lump ourselves into Peter's category. We give him a hard time, but the way he acts is quite familiar, I'm afraid. The Bible says in verse 54, Peter followed far off, even into the palace of the high priest, and he sat with the servants and warned himself of the fire. Guess what Peter's doing? Mr. Bold Peter, who whacked off Malthus' ear just a little while ago, Mr. Bold Peter, who told Jesus just before that, I'll go with you even unto death! I'm ready! Mr. Bold Peter, he's warming himself by fire following Jesus far off. Before we give Peter too much of a hard time, he's the only disciple that's even far off. Peter's following him far off, and the Bible gives us some more insight into what's going on in Peter's life. Verse 66, as Peter was beneath in the palace, There cometh one of the maids, the high priest, and when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth." Guess what Peter runs into? He runs into one of these loudmouth masses. You know who the loudmouth masses are, right? He runs into one of them, one of the same people that would be guilty in just a few minutes or was just guilty of condemning Jesus. One of the loudmouth masses comes up to Jesus, and they're obnoxious and they're a bit scary because they have no principle. This lady comes up to Peter and says, Thou also is with Jesus of Nazareth. What did Peter do? Bold Peter, man, I'm ready to go with you even to death. He denied Jesus, saying, I don't know, I know not, neither understand thou what thou sayest, verse 68. And he went out into the porch. He said, I'm getting out of this, I'm getting away from her. Goodness, I'm going to get away from the mad masses. Verse number 69, the Bible says, another maid saw him and began to say to them that stood by, this is one of them. Another one of those big mouth masses comes to him. This is one of them, I know him. The Bible says, and he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them, for thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeeth thereto. You see that? Thy speech agreeeth thereto. You know what they said? Peter spoke up and said, I'm not one of them. And they're like, ha, ha, ha. You just gave yourself away. You talk like you're from Nazareth. I talk like I'm from chill highway Virginia. I can't help it. I've thinned down quite a bit my accent over the years, but when I first went to Crown College, I just graduated from high school, I'd speak to people at school and they'd be like, say that again. Where are you from? i must have talked like a real hillbilly it was a terrible thing that happened because as i was spent time in knoxville and i began to travel and sing for the college my accent thinned a little bit and i came home and some of my friends made fun of me for uh... they made fun of me for being a yankee because i didn't talk like i used to but uh... at any rate you hear me talk you can't you can't mistake where i'm from it's like ruthie poor ruthie i've put her through language school at our house She goes home. She grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. If you didn't know her and didn't know that, if you just heard her talk on the streets, you'd be like, she is a southern belle. She goes home and they're like, what happened to you, Ruth? People who knew her growing up, what happened to you? Where did you learn how to talk like that? You can't deny by the accent. Now here's what happened. They said to Peter, we know you're from Nazareth. We can tell by the way you talk. You know what Peter did? It's devastating what Peter did. In verse number 71, he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom you speak. I know not, as he cursed and swore. You know what? He said, I know how to separate myself from Jesus. I'm going to sound with my words like a heathen. He began to curse and swear and to make more distance between him and Christ. Now, you can't read this and preach this pastor's scripture without making this point. How many of you, your language Your accent and the way you dress and the way you're patterned, attending church, it makes you look like a Christian, but the way you talk, you don't sound like one at all. There's no room for filthy language in the life of a Christian. None. The Bible says that our conversation is to be chaste, pure and right and honest. And Peter said, I know how to keep from being looking like a Christian. He said, I'll just curse. The third time he denied the Lord, and the third time we see what God said would come to pass. Cock crew, verse number 72, the second time the cock crew, Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept. The religious folks were against Jesus. The masses were against Jesus. The disciples and Peter were against Jesus. But there was Jesus. Think about Jesus in it all. Do you know what Jesus did? Jesus stood before this multitude of religious people. And I don't think Jesus looked at the high priest when he answered the high priest, I think in verse number 62. I don't think Jesus looked at him and said, I'll show you, buddy. There's coming a time when you'll see me sitting on the right hand of the Father. I'll show you. I don't think that's what he said at all. I think the message that Jesus wanted to send to the high priest is, look, I'm going to sit at the right hand of the Father. I'm going to fulfill the payment for your sin. It's going to happen. And I think there was a hint and a sound of love in his voice as he spoke to the high priest and the religious people that day because Jesus was going to go to the cross and do the work of the Savior. And when Jesus heard the masses' curse, He didn't say, these people don't deserve me, and they didn't deserve Him, and we don't deserve Him. He didn't say that at all. In love, He said, I'll go on to the cross, and I'll go on to the grave, and I'll go on to the resurrection, and I'll go on to the ascension, so that I can pay the price for their sins, the masses. And Peter, he didn't hate Peter for what Peter did. and patience and love He forgave Peter." Folks, I want you to know something. The biggest mistake is not to have been against Jesus. The biggest mistake is to remain against Jesus. Oh, the life of Peter is such a beautiful picture of what can happen even when a cold-hearted Christian Someone who's lived in rebellion to God for however long, when even a cold-hearted Christian gets right with God, repents of their sin, and becomes a faithful servant of the Lord. The story of Peter is a beautiful story. You see, Peter was guilty of being against Jesus, of denying his own Savior. He squandered away his opportunities with this group of people to give them the gospel. He squandered away an opportunity to stand before that Sanhedrin and witness to the miracle-working power of Jesus. But I'll tell you something about Peter. He didn't continue against Jesus. You know what Peter did? He went out and wept bitterly, repented of his sin. And the next chance God gave him, he stood up for Christ. You see Peter as he stands on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter number 2. You see him stand before the masses and God fills him with the Spirit and he preaches the gospel and 3,000 people get saved. You know who was in the masses of the 3,000? I believe it was in Pentecost. It was the same town, the same area, the same masses of people. As Jesus preached that day, I think some of the people who said they declare Him guilty of death, I believe some of the same people who stood at this trial and said, let His blood be on our hands, I believe some of the same people in the masses heard Peter preach the gospel on the day of Pentecost and repented their sin and came to faith in Christ. You know what happened to Peter? Peter said, I've been against Jesus and I've sinned against God, but I'm not going to continue. And when Jesus gave him the opportunity that day in the temple, as the multitude of people had gathered because the lame man had been healed, when the masses of people gathered around, Peter stood up and said, let me tell you about Jesus. Let me tell you what He did for me. Let me tell you how He saved my soul. 5,000 people got saved. Peter testifies to the hope for even those of us who at times have stood against Jesus. How many of you here today, in your Christian life, you're not as in tune with Jesus as you once were? Your faith in God is not like it used to be, not like it ought to be. Your commitment to the cause of Christ is not where it should be. Your burden and love for other people is not what it ought to be. Folks, I want you to know something. The greatest mistake in life is not having been against Jesus, but it's to continue against Jesus. And I beg of you, if you're here today and you've never been saved, that you'd be saved by the grace of God. Ask Jesus to forgive your sins and be your Savior. And if you're here today and you are saved and your heart's cold towards God, I beg if you turn from your sin and your wicked way and walk no more against Jesus, as the old song says, stand up, stand up for Jesus. Become a soldier of the Lord. You know what's beautiful? In spite of the wickedness of all the people, Jesus paid the price for our sins. In spite of the sins of the past, Jesus is faithful to forgive us of our sins. In spite of the past, Jesus is willing to meet us there and use us anyway. You may be here today and you walked in the door against Jesus, but I beg of you, don't leave against Jesus. The Bible says and teaches us here that they were against Jesus. They all condemned Him to be guilty. Folks, out of this dark scene, we see people like Peter rise to the top, be used of God. We see the masses put their trust in Jesus. We meet up with even religious people later who come to faith in Christ like the Apostle Paul. When Peter decided, you know what, I'm not going to be against Jesus anymore, it made a difference in everybody else's life too. Oh, what we can do. Oh, what you can do. If you'll consecrate your life to the Lord Jesus Christ and put Him first and put your trust in Him. Oh, don't be against Jesus. Let's pray.