The Sin of Self-confidence

So, Lord, guide us in our study and strengthen and edify your people that are here. And, lord, be our teacher. Help me, lord, to say the things that your people need and control, my thoughts, and my my words that they might be edified and strengthened because we know lord this work is of you and lord, we need you to teach us. We ask you to teach us.

We want to learn a lesson from the scriptures from the Holy Spirit even as we listen. So, help us. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Take a peek if you would at Luke chapter 22. This is a parallel passage in Luke.

Luke 22 and verse number 31. Luke 22 verse 31. This gives us a little more information that’s not quite not covered in Matthew. Of course, Peter, Simon is in focus in these verses as well as in Matthew. Verse 31 says, and the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. Now you might read verse 31 and get the impression that the Lord is only talking to Peter, but He’s not.

Because it says, notice, and this is, you wanna know these pesky thes and thous that annoy so many people? This is one example of why it matters. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you. You is plural. So, Jesus is not speaking just to Peter. He’s speaking to all the disciples which is relevant because this is the the in this context, Jesus is talking about all the disciples. Remember in Matthew 26, he says, all of you will be offended, all of you.

But notice, so so the devil has a the devil has a target on the back of the disciples. He he is not that the devil cares too much about the disciples but he wants to get, of course, at Christ. That’s his goal but he wants to do it by the disciples. He wants to sift them as wheat. He wants to destroy them. Verse 32. Notice what it says, but Jesus says, but I have prayed for thee.

Thee is singular. So, now, he’s talking to Peter and of course, that makes sense because Peter is a leader among the disciples. He’s a he’s a spokesperson. He’s a very, he he’s probably the most probably the most famous disciple and of course, Peter, Peter’s fall that we’re going to read about Matthew 26 is dramatic and and so and and so it’s no wonder that the devil wanted the disciples and the lord is specifically pointing out Peter.

He says, but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. Verse 33, and he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee both into prison and to death. And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day before thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me. Now, the the interesting thing about the lord repeated, you can go back to 26, Matthew 26.

The the interesting thing about the timing, the Lord says, this night, the reason that’s important is because it is literally just within an hour or two. Probably I would say, I’m guessing here, probably within two hours Peter is going to will already have denied Jesus.

Even though despite how adamant and fervent he’s saying, I would never do that. And yet, the same night, he doesn’t. And he doesn’t just do it once. He does it three times and twice to women.

And so it’s not like, it’s not like he was a sword was pointed at his face. I mean, one of em, the Bible says, it was a maid. It was it was like a young lady, like a like a teenager. And he’s and he denies Christ. It was not like he was being intimidated or anything like that.

And so, in Matthew 26 verse 31, it says, notice what it says, then said saith Jesus unto them, all ye shall be offended because of me this night, for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. So, that’s a that’s a quotation from the Old Testament. Let’s peek at that. Zechariah chapter 13. That’s where that is from. Zechariah chapter 13.

Zechariah chapter 13. This is a kind of an interesting passage, but starting verse four, notice what it says, Zechariah 13 verse four, and it shall come to pass in that day that the prophets shall be ashamed, everyone of his vision, when he hath prophesied, Neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive. In other words, he’s speaking of a time when the prophets will not admit that they are prophets.

They’ll hide the fact. I’m not a preacher. We don’t. Mm-mm. They they won’t wear the prophet’s clothing. They’ll try to blend in. Verse five, but he shall say, I am no prophet. I’m an husband and I’m a farmer. What are you talking about? For man taught me to keep cattle from my youth. And one shall say unto him, what are these wounds in thine hands? And I I know we this is often cited to describe, you know, as a prophecy of Jesus being crucified, you know, the wounds in his hands, but in this context, what is what is referring to is back the days of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, when the communist took over, one of the ways that they decided who they would take out and execute was by looking at their hands, because the people that lived in the city, who didn’t use their hands to work, had smooth hands. And the people who lived in the the that farmed had rough hands and so they would look at the people who had rough hands and they would live but all the, they called them new people, new people would be taken out and killed in the killing fields and that’s how they would tell and that’s kind of like what they’re what they’re saying here. He’s saying, he’s saying, one shall say unto him, what are these wounds in thine hands? In other words, what what’s if you if you if you are a farmer, your hands, you know, you know, looking at the hands and he shall answer those are with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

Keep on going there. It says this, awake, oh sword, against my shepherd. Now notice who’s speaking in just a second. Awake, o sword against my shepherd and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts. So God is speaking. Here’s what God is saying, God is speaking to his own sword. He says wake up sword against my shepherd. God speaking. He says, smite the shepherd.

Who is God’s shepherd? I am the good shepherd. I am the chief shepherd. This is this is our lord, the shepherd of the lord. The good shepherd is Jesus himself but the lord is saying, wake up sword against that shepherd. He says, smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. So, this is a is a prophecy of the Lord Jesus.

And here the Lord that he’s saying, the Lord is saying, it is the lord who is going to smite the shepherd. It is the lord’s sword that is going to smite the shepherd. Of course, that might sound unusual to us but Isaiah 53 actually tells us that it was the lord who put the lord Jesus to grief. It was a sacrifice made by the father of his son. Right.

And that’s what this verse indicates but notice what the Lord quotes, he says, smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered. So the fact that the disciples this night are going to betray, or maybe not betray, but deny the Lord, the Lord Jesus when he’s arrested is something that was prophesied in the Old Testament. That doesn’t mean that god made them do it but it does mean that god and his wisdom and providence and foreknowledge was well aware that they were going to do that.

Not that they should. In fact, Jesus encouraged them. Remember in the garden, he says, can’t you pray an hour? Remember the flesh, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. So, the lord did not want them to fall into that temptation but they did. They fell and they fell in big, in a big, in a big way.

But notice what Peter says verse 32. We’ll get back to verse 32. He says, I will go before you into Galilee. Verse 33, notice what he says, thirty three and thirty five. Peter answered and said unto him, though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. And Jesus says, you’re gonna deny me three times tonight before the cock crows. Verse 35, Peter said unto him, though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. So, think about what, I want you to, I want you to pay attention to to two things, primarily, two things and then we’re gonna look at something to kinda finish up. The first thing, I want you to look at how Peter views himself.

Look at how Peter views himself. Here our Lord is telling him, as a result of the prophecy of scripture, the Lord is saying, first of all, I’m gonna be smitten. I’m gonna die. And as a result of that, all of you will deny me. You’ll be offended. Remember that word offended doesn’t mean their feelings got hurt. That word offended means because of the things that happened to Jesus, they they are going to stumble.

They’re, in other words, that crowd comes to arrest our lord and they all of a sudden lose their lose heart. They all of a sudden lose courage and the ones who a few minutes ago were saying, I’m gonna be faithful into death and to prison and all these things are running away. They’re fleeing. They’re hiding. They’re trying to they’re trying to to to be like the shepherd we read about or or the in Zechariah where they’re trying to hide their identities.

So, they’re gonna lose heart, they’re gonna lose courage, and they’re going going to deny the lord but here, Jesus, Jesus asserts something about Peter that is not so nice, not so good about Peter and Peter denies it. Think about it. Not not Peter denies the lord, that comes later, but Peter denies what Jesus asserts about him.

So, Peter thinks, thinking about Peter and himself, Peter thinks Peter knows Peter better than Jesus knows Peter. But the truth of this is that Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves. And you only need one example, and the example is right before us.

Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves. And you know what, that fact, that fact ought to create some sense of soberness and seriousness in us about ourselves. And it ought to give us, it should cause every one of us to second guess ourselves whenever we sense a a kind of confidence that rises up in our heart. Because that is exactly what’s emanating from Peter’s heart, is self confidence and pride and arrogance.

That’s what’s coming up in his heart. I know. I know myself. And he is confident. He is sure. He there’s no doubt in his mind what he’s gonna do in the future. And yet number one, he’s dead wrong. But number two, he does it in the face of the Lord directly telling him, you don’t know what you’re talking about.

That’s how we see the arrogance of Peter. But on the other hand, if we if we understood and believe that Jesus, our lord, knows us better than we know ourselves, it would lead lead us to soberly and fearfully listen to his word, especially when his word describes us. Did you know did you know that’s one of the fundamental reasons that people do not come to the Lord Jesus Christ is that they deny the testimony of God’s word of themselves.

They think they know themselves better than God knows them. God says, there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. God says, there is none that doeth good, no, not one. God says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of god. God says, there is none righteous, no, not one and even though you and I might quote that to that to the to this person, all four of those passages of scripture and we can clearly spell it out just like Jesus did to Peter and yet the retort would be what?

But I’m a good person. And what does it boil down to? It boils down to one thing. I know me better than what God says of me. And nobody ever comes out and says, I am rejecting the counsel of God against myself. Nobody does that, but that’s what they’re doing, even though they don’t say it. That’s one of the primary reasons people don’t come don’t don’t actually come to Christ and and trust in him. It is usually not the claims of Christianity are too farfetched or they believe in evolution. It’s used it’s often it’s not that.

It’s for, and I’m not just talking about in our country, but in other countries as well. It’s, I’m a good person. And God is screaming, no you’re not. And you’re bad enough to go to the lake of fire.

And people say, well, I might make mistakes, but I’m not that bad. And God’s saying, you are. You actually are. Which do you believe? But this is not just a problem with people that don’t know Christ, this is also a problem with us.

When our opinion of ourselves differs from what Jesus tells us of us, that’s when the problem comes. What are we gonna believe? Are we gonna believe what the lord says of us? Are we going to believe what our own opinion of ourselves is?

How many times in scripture does God issue a warning to us that we simply dismiss and say, and we do it so lightly. But that kind of dismissal is the very evidence that we have the same view of ourselves as Peter had of himself.

And it leads us to one other point and I wanna share some verses with you on this subject but Not only does our lord know us better than we know ourselves, it also tells us that we don’t know ourselves as well as we think we do. That’s right. And it directly relates to our relationship to god.

The Bible says, he that trusteth in his own heart is a fool. We don’t know ourselves as well as we think we do and in addition, we especially don’t know ourselves as well as we think we do when we are subjected to temptation or pressure. Because that’s when it really comes out. Listen to these verses. Proverbs 14 verse 16, a wise man feareth and departeth from evil, but the fool rageth and is confident. See that confident?

See that? A wise man feareth and departeth from evil. See a fool is a fool is confident. In other words, I know. I don’t have to worry about it. I’m good. It’s that self confidence. Same thing Peter. Peter is saying. But a wise man is the man who stops and says, God says I should be careful about this. And that creates fear. Good, healthy fear that keeps us from the thing that would destroy us.

Proverbs 22 verse three, also quoted in Proverbs 2,712 says this, a prudent man foreseeth the evil in it going up ahead and hideth himself but the simple pass on and are punished. In this case, the prudent man is the man who is self aware. If I can just say that, he’s a man who’s self aware. He’s a man who is not fooled by self this kind of self confidence.

He foresees evil and instead of rushing into it headlong, again, it creates that sense of fear and he says, not me. I don’t know what might happen. I’m going somewhere else and I I I’m not just talking about, you know, like some this, you know, disaster or accident. I’m talking about in the spiritual realm.

In the spiritual realm First Corinthians 10 verse 12 says this, wherefore, let him that thinketh, he standeth take heed, lest he fall. There it is. You think, here’s the problem with that, thinketh he standeth. Let me ask you a question. Do you think you stand?

Do you think you stand? This verse says, take heed. Take heed. You know, the Lord is net the Lord never tells us to exercise self confidence. He doesn’t. First Corinthians eight two says this, and if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. And of course, you know this verse. Proverbs sixteen eighteen, pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall and man, is that not is that illustrated perfectly in Peter? You could see the pride come out as it relates to Peter and himself and his relationship to our lord. Peter did not understand his own weakness but what’s also true is the other disciples did not understand their weakness either. Notice in our text verse 35, Peter said unto him, though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise, also said, all the disciples. So, this was not just a Peter problem.

Remember, the devil wanted all the disciples. He wanted to he wanted to sift them as wheat. He wanted to tempt them and destroy them and so this is a what we might call in an endemic pride. That is it is natural to us. The fact that all the disciples were afflicted with the same fault as Peter shows that this pride and self confidence is a fact of humanity, not of Peter alone.

And and if that’s the case, then we can’t look at Peter and say, well, Peter, there’s the problem right there. Peter might, but I will right there. This is a problem that’s also found in God’s people as we see here.

So here’s here’s the thing I want you to I want you to see from this. This kind of self confidence, pride, and arrogance in our view of ourselves is there whether we see it and are aware of it or not. Now that’s kind of a hard thing because you can’t To to to receive because how can you know what you don’t know? But here the Lord says, listen, this is so pervasive, everybody has self confidence. You do, I do, all of us have thoughts of arrogance and conceit and self confidence and pride in in ourselves and as it relates to our relationship to God. Every single one of us has it, it’s there. You say, I don’t, you do.

You might not know you do. I might not see it but it is there. That is a matter of faith. We are not as good as we think we are. We’re not as faithful. We’re not as holy. We’re not as righteous, we’re not as smart, we’re not as knowledgeable, we’re not as wise, we’re not as kind, we’re not as loving. All of us, it is a fact of human nature, all of us think better than ourselves than we actually are.

The question is, do you and do I believe that? Now, remember, there’s just a quote if you wanna take note of it. Matthew Henry said this, if god leave us to ourselves, we are always in danger.

That’s true and I and to be honest with you, I think on a practical level, I think the lord does that sometimes. I think he’s just kinda lets go of the reins a little bit or maybe lengthens the rope. So that we will act naturally just to show us and remind us of where we go and how we end up without his active influence in our lives. I think he does that. How many of you have seen the Lord do that and at the end you were like, and the Lord’s like, remember?

Oh yeah, I’ve learned that lesson. That is not a fun lesson to learn, is it? It’s not. And I’ll probably learn it, no, I will learn it again, I promise you that.

Now notice in verse thirty thirty four, Jesus says, verily I say unto thee, that this night before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. Remember, Peter denied that he would deny Christ even once. He said, never be offended. Verse 33. I will never deny thee. So, he denied he would do it once but Christ said he would do it three times. So, when Peter actually did deny the lord, it proved the lord Jesus to be true and it proved that Peter had self confidence and that self confidence was foolish but the fact that Peter then did it two more times in the same night, you know what, you know what that did to Peter, right? It took Peter’s self confidence and it absolutely grounded into the ground with great emphasis.

You know what the Lord is gonna do with Peter? He’s gonna use this grand fall of self confidence and pride in Peter to grind him into the ground to probably forever rid Peter of self confidence like this.

Because he he so fervently said he would not do it and he did it not once but three times. Proving one, two, three times that it’s there, you need to be careful, you need to beware, and take heed. And that probably fixed Peter. You know, sometimes one of the best fixes, one of the, I say best, you, I trust you know what I mean, one of the best fixes for us in our faults is the Lord lets us dramatically fall.

And finally we learn. Yeah, so what happened with Israel? How were they finally healed of idolatry? The Babylonian captivity. It took that, and they were finally to this day rid of idolatry.

So, this is how Peter views himself but I wanna show you one other thing. Verse is in verse 33. I want you to see how Peter views the other disciples because here’s what you have to understand. We have to understand that our pride and self confidence like we see here is not just about our relationship with the lord. That’s first and foremost but that’s not only where it appears.

It does appear where we say, god, you said this but no, no, I know better. I know me. I know me and we say that and that and then we pass on and we do stupid and we find out. But it also affects our relationship with other believers and with other people. Verse, notice what Peter says in verse 33, Peter answered and said unto him, though all men should shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. You see, when someone has the stink of arrogance and pride and self confidence, you can’t just cover it up.

It will come out in the way we interact with other people. If we have pride in our heart, if it’s a part of our character, it will come out. It will, will, will come out. You cannot, no matter how hard you and I try, no matter how studied a facade we try to maintain, pride and self confidence will always come out for others to see and affect them, and affect their relationship and our view of them.

It’s never just a private thing because it’s a part of our whole being, a part of our character. Notice Peter says, though all men shall be offended, yet will I never. You see, Peter’s self confidence and pride surfaced not only in his relationship to the lord’s statement of him but it also surfaced in his view of himself in relation to the other disciples. He viewed himself in his heart of hearts as superior to them. Now, would Peter say, I am better. Well, in this case, he actually did. Maybe not those exact words but Peter did actually say, I am better.

You see, his arrogance now has made himself in relation to his fellow disciples, now he thinks he’s better than they are. He is less likely to fall. They might, but I won’t. I’ve got an edge on them. Jesus says in verse 31, all the disciples will deny him and they all do. But to Peter, Jesus speaks in the singular. Notice this, in verse 31, then saith Jesus unto them, all you plural shall be offended because of me this night.

And then Peter says what he says in 33, then 34, he says, verily I say unto thee, that’s singular to Peter that this night before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. So, Peter is the one who’s saying, yeah, all the other disciples might but I will not and and the lord takes it from all the disciples corporately and he says, now, looking at you.

You, sir, will actually deny me three times. The disciples would deny him once. Peter’s gonna do it three times. So, actually, even though Peter is saying, I am better than the other disciples. I am more spiritually fit. I am stronger than the other disciples. I would not deny you even in cases where they would, he actually denies the lord more.

So, we can see that Peter’s arrogance of himself creates a low view of others Peter’s arrogance in himself, his self confidence created in him a low view of others and that directly led to a more dramatic fall than the other disciples.

Again, a quote by Matthew Henry, this is a good one. It is common for those who think too well of themselves, easily to admit suspicions of others. Let me read that one more time. It is common for those who think too well of themselves, easily to admit suspicions of others. Now, that basis and upon the truths we see here, let me say this, if we are constantly suspicious of other people, the root of that is this pride and self confidence.

The root of fault finding and suspicion and a critical attitude and a critical spirit is pride. Because the criticism, the critical attitude is never turned inward. Galatians six one says this, brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore. Everybody wants to say, well, there’s I, there I am. That’s the that’s the problem. You which are, well, there’s me. I’ll be that guy.

Well, ain’t that kind of the problem we’re talking about here? He says, restore such in one, what does it say, in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. This is a totally different attitude, Exactly the opposite attitude than Peter had and this is talking about other people. Even when there’s a restoration, even when somebody else’s, somebody else falls, it’s not, well, figures. It’s fear.

It’s meekness. Says, I might too. God help him. God help me. That that is the heart that will keep us from being tempted. That’s what Galatians six one says.

Even though we deal with others who have fallen, we remain convinced that we are just as susceptible to the same temptation and that’s not just spiritual sounding words. That’s we are convinced of that in our heart. And so in this verse, we see both the our relationship, our relation to, and view of others, that is the person who fell, as well as the way we view ourselves fearing, lest we also be tempted.

Now, go to John 21 and this is where we’ll finish. You remember when Jesus said, all you will be offended because of me this night? And then he says, after I’m risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. Right? Everybody remember that?

Well in John 21, he goes before them into Galilee, to the Sea Of Galilee. Look at verse 12. Jesus saith unto them, this is by the Sea Of Galilee, they’d just come off the boat with the draft of 153 fishes that Jesus miraculously gave them. Verse 12 says this, Jesus say it unto them, come and dine and none of the disciples dare to ask him, who art thou knowing that it was the lord?

Jesus then cometh and taketh bread and giveth them and fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples after that he was risen from the dead.

So, when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon, Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, notice he uses Simon, Simon, in Luke, remember Luke 22, he said, Simon, Simon, Satan, Satan hath desired you. Here he says, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? Now, there’s a there’s a long debate about who the these are. We don’t know for certain because the Bible doesn’t tell us and some people think it’s talking about the fish because Peter said, I go efficient. You know, as if Peter abandoned his discipleship to Christ.

I don’t personally believe that. If you think that’s fine, that’s not what I think. And the reason I think that he wasn’t talking about the these is because he’s talking about love and because he asks the same question three times. He says, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, yea, lord, thou knowest that I love thee. No, Peter did not answer Jesus’ question.

He answered a question Jesus did not ask. Jesus did not ask you to love me. He said, lovest thou me more than these? Peter answered, I love you. You see a little bit of a different attitude? Amen. That’s right. He saith unto him, said, he saith unto him, feed my lambs. Verse 16, he saith unto him again, the the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, yay, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. I am so glad Peter Peter has had an attitude correction here.

He saith unto him, feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, lovest thou me? He said and he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee. Again, not answering Jesus’ question. Jesus saith unto him, feed my sheep.

Three times. Now, we know Peter recently denied the lord three times. Let me tell you something. From this, these verses, I think that these that is being referred to, lovest thou me more than these, is referring to the other disciples. And the reason I think it’s referring to that is because it’s three, but secondly is because at the core, what Peter was asserting is that he loved Jesus more than all the others, and that’s why he would never deny him. He was gonna be faithful to death because of his love for Jesus. And what was shown is, here it is, his love for Jesus was not what he thought it was.

His love for Jesus was not what he thought it was. But another thing I want you to see is this, the fact that the Lord has this conversation with Peter at all. He hinted at it when he says, I’ll go before you into Galilee. Now they’re in Galilee, and now they’re having the same conversation, I think about the same matter, although not directly stated in classic Eastern culture.

Talk about something without talking about something. And the fact that Jesus is having this conversation at all, you know what it shows us? It shows us that Peter’s denial was not his undoing.

In other words, even when you and I royally flop in the grandest way, there is restoration. That’s what this indicates. And if you have been a believer for any length of time, you will have experienced a royal flop. I mean, the kind that you’re ashamed to admit to now years later. And if you haven’t yet, you will. Why? That’s just who we are. That’s what we do. The disciples did it.

We do it. It’s just, should we? No, but we do. But even when that happens, there is restoration. But in this restoration, what you see is Jesus, through his work in Peter, has created a new attitude. He’s not willing to say that he loves Jesus more than everybody else. He’s saying, I love you. I don’t think that was ever in question. I don’t think Jesus, I don’t think Peter abandoned his love for Jesus. I just think it was much weaker than he thought it was.

And now Peter knows that, he is certain. What kind of fear does that produce in you and me when we know we don’t love Jesus as much as we thought we did? You know what that does? That for anybody who is under the influence of God’s spirit at all, that’s that that leads to a healthy kind of fear. Lord, help me to love you better. Lord, if you don’t help me, I will fall. Amen. I will yield to temptation.

If you don’t help me, you must hold me up. Listen, and that’s where the Lord wants every one of his children there. No self confidence, no trusting in one’s own heart, but fearfully leaning upon God for his grace every step of the way, day by day for fear that we know that without his grace, we would certainly fall in dramatic style.

Lovest thou me more than these? Lovest thou me more than these? Lovest thou me more than these? Peter says, I can’t say that anymore. I think Peter learned his lesson. Hard lesson to learn but it no doubt transformed Peter’s relationship with Christ.

We know that because he’s restored, but it also, just like it affected his relationship with Christ as well as his relationship and how he viewed the other disciples, here that is also being challenged. And here, now that he’s gotten his view of himself right through that huge fall and restoration, now he’s gonna view the other disciples in a better light as well. Let’s pray.