July 17, 2025 • 26 mins
A study in the book of John.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to K Waves Pastor Spotlight featuring the Bible teaching
of our local Southern California pastors. This week we're pleased
to bring you the Bible teaching ministry of Doctor Mark Ambrose,
senior pastor of Pacific Coast Church, where Mark has been
the pastor for 30 years. Pacific Coast Church has been
a vital part of the San Clemente community for over
(00:20):
60 years, reaching multiple generations for the gospel of.
Jesus Christ. Today on Pastor Spotlight, Dr. Ambrose directs our
attention to John's Gospel chapter 18, starting at verse 13.
He wants to draw our attention to one of the
worst sins that humankind commits lying. The reason, well, it's
one sin derived from the father of lies, Satan himself.
(00:43):
Here now is Pastor Mark Ambrose with today's message liar liar.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
So I pretty much know the answer to this question,
so it is a rhetorical one, but I'm gonna ask
it anyway. If I were to say,
Liar, liar, how would you finish the sentence?
Let's try that again, liar liar.
OK, we're on the same page there. Is there, is
(01:11):
there any more to that statement that you'd like to make?
Yeah.
Hanging on a telephone wire.
Um,
So what I derive from it is lying is bad
because you don't want your pants on fire, right? Let
alone on a telephone wire, that would be even worse. Um,
(01:34):
and so, you know, when your kids, liar, liar, pants
on fire, you know, you do all that kind of thing.
But it's kind of funny because every parent teaches their child.
Not to lie. Well, every functional parent, right? I mean,
at the end of the day, nobody just says, you
know what, it's gonna be a problem, just lie to
your teacher, you know, or lie to your friend or
(01:56):
lie to the police, you know, we wouldn't do that.
It's just the kind of the basic parenting rule is
you teach your kids not to lie, right? Did you
all agree with that?
OK, then why is it when we look around the
world today,
Everyone's lying.
(02:18):
Did we not fulfill the parental role?
Um, because look around culture, think about it for a second.
How much deception and how much lying takes place.
Truth isn't even the issue anymore. It's whether you get
caught or whether you can persuade when you look at
things like you're accusing, you can't have square circles, and
(02:41):
there are square circles everywhere. So that means somebody's lying
and it just becomes this way of life.
And, and, and yet inherently, we know um that it's,
it's not good.
So, so what is that? What, what, why are we
getting to? Now here's the added bonus. If you look
(03:02):
through scripture and you look at different sins that are mentioned.
Lying is the worst. If you want to gradiate them,
lying is the worst.
Why do I say that? Because that's when everything went south.
Going back to Genesis, when Satan lied to Eve about
(03:22):
the tree and eating from the tree, what did he say?
He said, You will not surely die. And what did
God say if he ate from the tree? You would die.
Satan lied.
The first recorded lie in scripture. It was believed, of course,
they ate from the tree, and from that point on,
humanity has been tarnished with a sinful condition. Now we
(03:46):
require a savior to get out of it. Then you
got issues of heaven and hell with God, with not God,
and it all goes back to that garden in that
one lie.
We see that lines among the big 10.
In Exodus 20, thou shalt not bear fault with us
(04:06):
against your neighbor.
And Jesus even goes to the heart of it and says,
lying by definition.
I satanic. He said this in John 8:44 talking about Satan.
Satan does not stand in the truth because there is
no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out
of his own character, for he is a liar and
(04:29):
the father of lies.
He's the originator
So why have we been duped?
Cause today lying seems OK unless you get caught.
And if this is so significant that Jesus calls this satanic, what,
why have we minimized it? Why have we easily kind
(04:49):
of compromised and participate? What, what, what's, what's going on? Well,
here's the key. When it comes to lying, there's a
deception associated with it, and that's not a play on words.
In other words, we can be deceived into thinking that
lying is OK. And if we're not careful and we
don't recognize the signs that lie ahead. So I've entitled
this morning's message, liar liar.
(05:10):
We're going to look at how to how to recognize
the trap of deception.
And hopefully bring some truth into our lives. Maybe we're
we've compromised, we've minimized whatever we've done.
To enter into this, there you go, satanic behavior. it
sounds strong, but I'm wondering why does it sound strong?
(05:32):
Because maybe we've so minimized it.
So we're looking at John chapter 18 verses 13 to
18 and 25 to 27. Talking about Jesus. First they
led him to Anna, and Anna, for he was the
father-in-law of Caiaphas.
Who was the high priest this year. It was Caiaphas
(05:55):
who had advised as Jews that it would be expedient
that one man should die for the people. So he's
referring back to John chapter 11, may or may not
remember Jesus's darny crowd. He was very popular. He was
the miracle worker, and the, the, the local council, the Sanhedrin,
the Pharisees, Sadducees, the, the, the, the religious leaders were
(06:18):
very concerned.
They were losing grip. They were losing power. They were
fearful of Rome's reaching like, who's this Jesus? So they said,
Kaaia has said, if you go back to John 11,
it's better if this guy dies.
than to create all this upheaval.
It's better if we just take them out because if
we keep rolling with this, it's going to go from
(06:38):
bad to worse.
And so that's when they put a contract out on
Jesus's life. Remember Jesus was always slipping away. And, and
so this is the guy.
But more importantly, he's going to Anias's house, who used
to be the high priest, who is the father-in-law of Caiaphas.
He's a more experienced guy. He was removed because of Rome.
(07:00):
They removed him. There were some things going on in
his life, so they removed him, but he's the, the
high priest is involved in all the temple, um, income,
all the sacrificial systems, and you know, they were ripping
people off because they'd sell sacrifices at a high, high
rate and then they would also had to buy it
in local money, so they'd give a high exchange rate.
So these guys were wealthy, these high priests, they were mavericks,
(07:22):
they were slippery.
And, and I, he was the experienced one. So clearly,
when they're gonna take Jesus away, Caiaphas before he gets
to him, and we'll look at this next time because
it turns into a kangaroo court, he sends them to father-in-law,
see what he has to say about them, see what
he can discover to add to the whole conviction piece, right?
So this is, this is what we got going on.
(07:45):
Think about when Jesus went into the temple just a
few days earlier, by the way, and started flipping over tables.
Whose tables? Caiaphas's tables, the money changer tables. He's flipping
them over. So no doubt Annas and, and, um, Anias
and Caiaphas were not fans of Jesus, and so they
were looking to take him out for sure.
(08:07):
But here's where it gets interesting. Verse 15. Simon Peter
followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple
was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus
into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter stood
outside the door.
So the other disciple who was known to the high
priest went out and spoke to the servant girl who
(08:28):
kept watch at the door and brought Peter in.
So
You kind of picture a courtyard, you picture like the
main house, high priest's house, but it was probably big
in multiple rooms, more of a, more of a, you know,
hotel kind of thing. But you got this courtyard, it's
clearly fenced in. You had to be let in, let out,
(08:50):
and the servant girl's monitoring the door, and they took
Jesus through. Courtyard is where the guards would hang out
if they're kind of not doing anything. It's where the
servants would hang out if they're not doing anything. But
if they needed their help, they'd be called on quickly.
And we're told that this
Other disciple.
Went in with them.
(09:11):
Which is interesting. Peter didn't.
But the other one did.
Who is, and he knows the high priest. Who is
that guy?
Like who, who, who is that guy? People have speculated.
We don't exactly know.
Some people say, well, it's John, our author, cause John
never referred to himself. He referred to himself indirectly. So
(09:33):
maybe John had a contact, but you're going, wait a second.
John's a, John's a fisherman from Galilee. What kind of
contact is he gonna have with a high priest to
be let in? I mean, what did his family sell
him fish on the side, mm, probably not.
My prediction is it was Nicodemus.
Because we know Nicodemus was a Pharisee. We know Nicodemus
(09:56):
hung out with, he was at the meeting where Caiaphas said,
let's take him out.
So he could have easily been there at the arrest
of Jesus. We know privately Nicodemus met with Jesus, and
we know at the end of Jesus' life and the resurrection,
Nicodemus was there as a believer. So it could be
that John was referring to Nicodemus. He's the one that
would have access. He just didn't want to call him
(10:18):
out because it could have been a risk. We don't
know in terms of Nicodemus's life, if he had have
called him out in this gospel, he might have been
a target. So, but doesn't really matter.
Inquiring minds want to know, so make your own predictions.
The servant girl of the door said to Peter,
(10:41):
You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?
He said, I am not.
So Peter comes in
Servant girls the door. We're told in Luke's Gospel, looked
at him very close.
So you're not one of his disciples, are you?
I, it was, it was so, it's a close pro.
(11:04):
He could have gone.
But he said, no.
She was suspect. She had reservations.
Don't really know why.
She probably wouldn't at the arrest. It was a servant girl.
She wouldn't have been in Yosemite.
Maybe somebody talk. I don't, we don't know. We don't know.
(11:24):
But what we do know
Is Peter Llied
He lied. Straight up. I mean, we talk about it
in other parts of scripture, the denial, but it's a lie.
Is a delay.
Now, why was he there?
Because we're told in the other Gospels that, that once
Jesus was arrested, that they, they took off. All the
(11:46):
other disciples took off. Peter stayed back. Why?
Don't know that either. You can speculate.
Was, was Peter trying to prove his allegiance to Jesus?
Jesus said, you'll all fall away, and he's thinking, no,
I'm not, I'm going there to the very end.
Was you proud? Was it like I can handle it?
I'm the leader of the group, don't know.
(12:08):
But he did put himself in harm's way.
He's all alone. There ain't no Jesus with him, and
there's no other disciples. He's dangling.
But here's the deal.
You have a choice to make.
Say yes.
Face the consequences.
(12:29):
Or say no.
And get off the hook.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
You're listening to Kwave's Pastor Spotlight featuring Doctor Mark Ambrose,
senior pastor of Pacific Coast Church in San Clemente. To
learn more about PCC, visit Pacific CoastChurch.org. Now, let's continue
with today's study in John chapter 18.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
How to recognize the trap of deception, number one on
your outline, it provides the easy way out.
This is probably the number one deception of lying.
It provides the easy way out. It does initially.
But progressively, which we'll see in a second, it doesn't.
(13:15):
It gets more and more complicated, but initially,
When you think about the times that you've lied.
It's usually to get out of the hot seat, to
relieve the pressure, to get away from the awkward.
To prevent the hurt, we like to get benevolent on
that side.
(13:35):
But ultimately it's for your benefit.
That's why you lie to benefit yourself. So you win
and don't lose. Why do you think sports guys are
always lying on the field about what they did or
didn't want. They're, they're not lying on behalf of the,
the other team so they can win. No, cause you
want to win at all costs. So you'll lie, you'll
(13:57):
do whatever. And we see that today, win at all costs. Lying.
Just part of the process.
When you look at the first lie.
Who won?
Satan
Lie, lie down.
They took the fruit. Who won?
(14:18):
See,
It was for his benefit to lie.
And so the story goes.
When you think about the times or you've fudged and
Dodged, done all those things.
It's always been for your benefit.
I really want you to settle into this thought this
(14:40):
morning cause I've been settling into it all week and
it's pretty profound how pervasive it is.
It's everywhere and in all of us.
Pretty sophisticated at it as well because it gets to
the point where it seems smart.
(15:01):
esteem strategic.
It seems like, well, of course, Peter's gonna lie.
What, what, what could a Peter done in that situation?
He could have just left.
Not ready to answer that. I'll be leaving.
(15:23):
But think about lying. I, I think lying straight up,
that's like, I think we would all agree, that's something
you kinda don't do. And if you do, you're really
gonna feel the prick of it.
Did you talk to Jim yesterday and you did, and
you say, no, I didn't.
(15:44):
Yeah.
But we go a lot further than that.
Define talk.
Do you mean in person? Do you mean by text?
I mean, and, and, and we can lie by omitting.
(16:05):
We can lie by insinuating.
We can go legalese, to find talk.
You mean have a conversation? No, I didn't.
Yet you know you communicated, you texted, but you're legalizing
and parsing the word talked. Does that happen today? Oh
my goodness.
(16:26):
See, they're all versions.
Of deception and it would make sense that the enemy
is really good at deceiving us when it comes to
deception and lying.
And we all have our ways.
To do with it. It's not exactly what I said.
Technically it wasn't a lie. We speak in half truths.
We like to give them colors, white lies. They didn't
(16:49):
hurt anybody. It wasn't a big deal and it's usually
driven on we don't want any more challenges. We don't
want any more difficulties. So in our thinking, we think
this will end it.
And here's the key. It doesn't. Let's keep reading.
Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire
(17:09):
because it was cold and they were standing and warm, uh,
and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was
with them, standing and warming himself. So at this point now,
Peter's trying to blend in.
Right, he just doesn't go to the corner of the
courtyard and sit in the dark. That would be a suspect.
It's cold. What are you doing over there, buddy?
(17:31):
You know, he gets in there. I'm one of you.
Right? So it's starting to take on a life of
its own.
Verse 25. Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself,
so they said to him,
You also are not one of his disciples, are you?
He denied it and said, I'm not.
(17:54):
So now we have the second lie by Peter. Now
what's interesting if you read Matthew's account for this, and
I recommend you do, it's on your daily devotions as
you go through, it's in Matthew 26. We're told that actually,
you know, it, the question was there, but actually it
started with a discussion from another servant girl who actually
accused Peter of being a disciple. It wasn't a question.
(18:16):
You are one of his disciples.
And then later on, we're told in Matthew's Gospel that
he just didn't deny it by saying, I am not.
There was more to it. John just abbreviated it. He
denied it with an oath and said, as God is
my witness, I do not know him.
(18:37):
He made an oath.
So Peter
Thought he'd just be one and done.
But as lying goes, it starts to take on a
life of its own and starts to take on a
reality of its own. And when the first lie doesn't
relieve the pressure, you gotta lie again because it starts
(19:00):
getting worse. And this is another deception to recognize when
it comes to this idea of lying. It always multiplies. 2,
it always multiplies.
It's like the old old potato commercial, you can't stop
at one.
99% of the timeline leads to more deception and more
(19:21):
cover up, and it's a slippery slope unless you end it.
Cause you, here's the deal, cause when you lie, ultimately
you're creating an alternate reality that isn't true, it isn't real.
And so then then it can start leaking. And, and
you gotta lie to cover that up and you, and
you gotta lie to cover that up and you gotta
(19:41):
lie to cover that up. And but we're deluded and
deceived by the enemy in the beginning, oh, it's just
a little nothing, nothing, nothing, but then it becomes a something, something,
something over time.
But if we operate in truth, there's no alternate reality.
James warns us of this multiplication that can take place.
(20:02):
He says in the tongue is a fire.
A world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members,
staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire world
of the entire course of life and set on fire
by hell. There's this satanic piece again.
And I know some of you have been through some
(20:22):
very painful experiences when it comes to this.
Either the one that's.
Lying or the ones been lied to?
So I just bring this up, not to quiet the room,
but just to elevate the significance of it and the
deception from the enemy on it. Like a drug addict,
it starts small.
(20:43):
You don't become a liar overnight.
You lie.
Then what are you gonna do?
Depends on what happens.
But it's a pattern.
It's a pattern, and we got to watch the pattern.
If we're not careful.
Because if we can lose control.
More and more lies, and this is the pattern that
(21:06):
Peter's in.
But let's keep reading.
One of the servants of the high priests, a relative
of the man whose ear Peter had cut off. Who's that?
Malchus. So we got an in-law of Malchus. Now it's
getting dangerous. Now it's heating up. Now it's not this
servant girl that heard rumors. This is a guy who
watched his cousin get his ear cut off and miraculously healed.
(21:30):
It was probably dark and he's going there with 11 disciples,
I don't quite know, but I mean, you might remember
the face of the guy who cut your cousin's ear off.
At a minimum, who, who being healed, you're OK.
So we, we got, it's starting to heat up. It's
taken on a life of its own.
(21:51):
He said, did I not see you in the garden
with him? Yikes.
Peter again denied it and at once a rooster crowed.
Now, again, Matthew's Gospel.
Said, not did he take an oath as God is
my witness.
He called down a curse on himself, which is the
(22:13):
equivalent of saying, may God strike me dead.
If I'm not telling the truth.
And then the rooster crowed.
The alarm went off.
Why is that significant? Because Jesus said, Peter, you'll deny,
or let's reframe it, you'll lie about me 3 times
(22:35):
before the rooster crows.
Yet Peter thought one lie when it was over.
The pressure grew and grew, and he felt he had
to continue to cover until ultimately what happened.
He got busted. He got exposed. Luke's Gospel said when
this happened, Luke 22:61, and the Lord turned and looked
(22:56):
at Peter. He was walking through the corridor when it happened,
and Peter remembered the saying of the Lord and how
he had said to him with the whore the rooster crowsada,
you'll deny me three times, and he went out and
wept bitterly.
Brutal.
How to recognize the trap of deception #3 on your outline.
There is always a reckoning.
(23:18):
There's always a reckoning, especially for Christians.
We might be able to keep secrets from other people,
but God knows.
We might feel the the chance of getting caught is remote.
But God knows
Let me ask you,
Did anybody in that courtyard know that Peter lied?
(23:41):
Just him.
And Jesus.
And this is how it works.
As Christians, God knows.
And I think the takeaway for all of us is
the truth really from Colossians.
Paul wrote the apostle, the church in Coloss, says, Do
not lie to one another, see, and you have put
off the old self.
And its practices
(24:03):
That would be the non-Christian piece. That would be the
part where Jesus isn't part of it. And I put
on the new self, which is what, trustworthy truth, honesty,
which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of
its creator.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
And with that we bring today's study titled Liar Liar
to a close here on Pastor Spotlight. Doctor Mark Ambrose
will be back tomorrow as he begins a four part
series called How to Find Relief During Anxious Times. So
we invite you to be here at the same time tomorrow.
You and your family are invited to join Pastor Mark
at Pacific Coast Church this next Sunday morning. PCC is
(24:38):
conveniently located at 2.
51 Calle Frontera in San Clemente. Sunday morning worship service
times are at 8:30 and 10 a.m. Pacific Coast Church
is here to help everyone know and follow Jesus in
an honest and transparent way. Their mission is to reach
people for Jesus, grow followers of Jesus, and connect together
(25:00):
in Jesus. At PCC you'll find a safe place to
pursue Jesus.
No matter where you are on your spiritual journey, on
Friday night, January 31st, Pacific Coast Church invites all the
men to the men's summit. You'll be encouraged and inspired
by special guest speaker Michael Franzese. Michael is a former
New York mafia boss who now travels the world sharing
(25:22):
the gospel. Sign up now for your seat at the
men's summit on Friday night, January 31st at PCC's website at.
Coastchurch.org/men and we invite you to join us right here
at this same time tomorrow for another time of growing
in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ here on
Pastor Spotlight, we'll feature more from the Bible teaching ministry
of Doctor Mark Ambrose, senior pastor of Pacific Coast Church
(25:46):
in San Clemente. Pastor Spotlight is a production of KA Radio,
sharing life, delivering truth, giving hope.
Welcome to K Waves Pastor Spotlight featuring the Bible teaching
of our local Southern California pastors. This week we're pleased
to bring you the Bible teaching ministry of Doctor Mark Ambrose,
senior pastor of Pacific Coast Church, where Mark has been
the pastor for 30 years. Pacific Coast Church has been
a vital part of the San Clemente community for over
(00:20):
60 years, reaching multiple generations for the gospel of.
Jesus Christ. Today on Pastor Spotlight, Dr. Ambrose directs our
attention to John's Gospel chapter 18, starting at verse 13.
He wants to draw our attention to one of the
worst sins that humankind commits lying. The reason, well, it's
one sin derived from the father of lies, Satan himself.
(00:43):
Here now is Pastor Mark Ambrose with today's message liar liar.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
So I pretty much know the answer to this question,
so it is a rhetorical one, but I'm gonna ask
it anyway. If I were to say,
Liar, liar, how would you finish the sentence?
Let's try that again, liar liar.
OK, we're on the same page there. Is there, is
(01:11):
there any more to that statement that you'd like to make?
Yeah.
Hanging on a telephone wire.
Um,
So what I derive from it is lying is bad
because you don't want your pants on fire, right? Let
alone on a telephone wire, that would be even worse. Um,
(01:34):
and so, you know, when your kids, liar, liar, pants
on fire, you know, you do all that kind of thing.
But it's kind of funny because every parent teaches their child.
Not to lie. Well, every functional parent, right? I mean,
at the end of the day, nobody just says, you
know what, it's gonna be a problem, just lie to
your teacher, you know, or lie to your friend or
(01:56):
lie to the police, you know, we wouldn't do that.
It's just the kind of the basic parenting rule is
you teach your kids not to lie, right? Did you
all agree with that?
OK, then why is it when we look around the
world today,
Everyone's lying.
(02:18):
Did we not fulfill the parental role?
Um, because look around culture, think about it for a second.
How much deception and how much lying takes place.
Truth isn't even the issue anymore. It's whether you get
caught or whether you can persuade when you look at
things like you're accusing, you can't have square circles, and
(02:41):
there are square circles everywhere. So that means somebody's lying
and it just becomes this way of life.
And, and, and yet inherently, we know um that it's,
it's not good.
So, so what is that? What, what, why are we
getting to? Now here's the added bonus. If you look
(03:02):
through scripture and you look at different sins that are mentioned.
Lying is the worst. If you want to gradiate them,
lying is the worst.
Why do I say that? Because that's when everything went south.
Going back to Genesis, when Satan lied to Eve about
(03:22):
the tree and eating from the tree, what did he say?
He said, You will not surely die. And what did
God say if he ate from the tree? You would die.
Satan lied.
The first recorded lie in scripture. It was believed, of course,
they ate from the tree, and from that point on,
humanity has been tarnished with a sinful condition. Now we
(03:46):
require a savior to get out of it. Then you
got issues of heaven and hell with God, with not God,
and it all goes back to that garden in that
one lie.
We see that lines among the big 10.
In Exodus 20, thou shalt not bear fault with us
(04:06):
against your neighbor.
And Jesus even goes to the heart of it and says,
lying by definition.
I satanic. He said this in John 8:44 talking about Satan.
Satan does not stand in the truth because there is
no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out
of his own character, for he is a liar and
(04:29):
the father of lies.
He's the originator
So why have we been duped?
Cause today lying seems OK unless you get caught.
And if this is so significant that Jesus calls this satanic, what,
why have we minimized it? Why have we easily kind
(04:49):
of compromised and participate? What, what, what's, what's going on? Well,
here's the key. When it comes to lying, there's a
deception associated with it, and that's not a play on words.
In other words, we can be deceived into thinking that
lying is OK. And if we're not careful and we
don't recognize the signs that lie ahead. So I've entitled
this morning's message, liar liar.
(05:10):
We're going to look at how to how to recognize
the trap of deception.
And hopefully bring some truth into our lives. Maybe we're
we've compromised, we've minimized whatever we've done.
To enter into this, there you go, satanic behavior. it
sounds strong, but I'm wondering why does it sound strong?
(05:32):
Because maybe we've so minimized it.
So we're looking at John chapter 18 verses 13 to
18 and 25 to 27. Talking about Jesus. First they
led him to Anna, and Anna, for he was the
father-in-law of Caiaphas.
Who was the high priest this year. It was Caiaphas
(05:55):
who had advised as Jews that it would be expedient
that one man should die for the people. So he's
referring back to John chapter 11, may or may not
remember Jesus's darny crowd. He was very popular. He was
the miracle worker, and the, the, the local council, the Sanhedrin,
the Pharisees, Sadducees, the, the, the, the religious leaders were
(06:18):
very concerned.
They were losing grip. They were losing power. They were
fearful of Rome's reaching like, who's this Jesus? So they said,
Kaaia has said, if you go back to John 11,
it's better if this guy dies.
than to create all this upheaval.
It's better if we just take them out because if
we keep rolling with this, it's going to go from
(06:38):
bad to worse.
And so that's when they put a contract out on
Jesus's life. Remember Jesus was always slipping away. And, and
so this is the guy.
But more importantly, he's going to Anias's house, who used
to be the high priest, who is the father-in-law of Caiaphas.
He's a more experienced guy. He was removed because of Rome.
(07:00):
They removed him. There were some things going on in
his life, so they removed him, but he's the, the
high priest is involved in all the temple, um, income,
all the sacrificial systems, and you know, they were ripping
people off because they'd sell sacrifices at a high, high
rate and then they would also had to buy it
in local money, so they'd give a high exchange rate.
So these guys were wealthy, these high priests, they were mavericks,
(07:22):
they were slippery.
And, and I, he was the experienced one. So clearly,
when they're gonna take Jesus away, Caiaphas before he gets
to him, and we'll look at this next time because
it turns into a kangaroo court, he sends them to father-in-law,
see what he has to say about them, see what
he can discover to add to the whole conviction piece, right?
So this is, this is what we got going on.
(07:45):
Think about when Jesus went into the temple just a
few days earlier, by the way, and started flipping over tables.
Whose tables? Caiaphas's tables, the money changer tables. He's flipping
them over. So no doubt Annas and, and, um, Anias
and Caiaphas were not fans of Jesus, and so they
were looking to take him out for sure.
(08:07):
But here's where it gets interesting. Verse 15. Simon Peter
followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple
was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus
into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter stood
outside the door.
So the other disciple who was known to the high
priest went out and spoke to the servant girl who
(08:28):
kept watch at the door and brought Peter in.
So
You kind of picture a courtyard, you picture like the
main house, high priest's house, but it was probably big
in multiple rooms, more of a, more of a, you know,
hotel kind of thing. But you got this courtyard, it's
clearly fenced in. You had to be let in, let out,
(08:50):
and the servant girl's monitoring the door, and they took
Jesus through. Courtyard is where the guards would hang out
if they're kind of not doing anything. It's where the
servants would hang out if they're not doing anything. But
if they needed their help, they'd be called on quickly.
And we're told that this
Other disciple.
Went in with them.
(09:11):
Which is interesting. Peter didn't.
But the other one did.
Who is, and he knows the high priest. Who is
that guy?
Like who, who, who is that guy? People have speculated.
We don't exactly know.
Some people say, well, it's John, our author, cause John
never referred to himself. He referred to himself indirectly. So
(09:33):
maybe John had a contact, but you're going, wait a second.
John's a, John's a fisherman from Galilee. What kind of
contact is he gonna have with a high priest to
be let in? I mean, what did his family sell
him fish on the side, mm, probably not.
My prediction is it was Nicodemus.
Because we know Nicodemus was a Pharisee. We know Nicodemus
(09:56):
hung out with, he was at the meeting where Caiaphas said,
let's take him out.
So he could have easily been there at the arrest
of Jesus. We know privately Nicodemus met with Jesus, and
we know at the end of Jesus' life and the resurrection,
Nicodemus was there as a believer. So it could be
that John was referring to Nicodemus. He's the one that
would have access. He just didn't want to call him
(10:18):
out because it could have been a risk. We don't
know in terms of Nicodemus's life, if he had have
called him out in this gospel, he might have been
a target. So, but doesn't really matter.
Inquiring minds want to know, so make your own predictions.
The servant girl of the door said to Peter,
(10:41):
You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?
He said, I am not.
So Peter comes in
Servant girls the door. We're told in Luke's Gospel, looked
at him very close.
So you're not one of his disciples, are you?
I, it was, it was so, it's a close pro.
(11:04):
He could have gone.
But he said, no.
She was suspect. She had reservations.
Don't really know why.
She probably wouldn't at the arrest. It was a servant girl.
She wouldn't have been in Yosemite.
Maybe somebody talk. I don't, we don't know. We don't know.
(11:24):
But what we do know
Is Peter Llied
He lied. Straight up. I mean, we talk about it
in other parts of scripture, the denial, but it's a lie.
Is a delay.
Now, why was he there?
Because we're told in the other Gospels that, that once
Jesus was arrested, that they, they took off. All the
(11:46):
other disciples took off. Peter stayed back. Why?
Don't know that either. You can speculate.
Was, was Peter trying to prove his allegiance to Jesus?
Jesus said, you'll all fall away, and he's thinking, no,
I'm not, I'm going there to the very end.
Was you proud? Was it like I can handle it?
I'm the leader of the group, don't know.
(12:08):
But he did put himself in harm's way.
He's all alone. There ain't no Jesus with him, and
there's no other disciples. He's dangling.
But here's the deal.
You have a choice to make.
Say yes.
Face the consequences.
(12:29):
Or say no.
And get off the hook.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
You're listening to Kwave's Pastor Spotlight featuring Doctor Mark Ambrose,
senior pastor of Pacific Coast Church in San Clemente. To
learn more about PCC, visit Pacific CoastChurch.org. Now, let's continue
with today's study in John chapter 18.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
How to recognize the trap of deception, number one on
your outline, it provides the easy way out.
This is probably the number one deception of lying.
It provides the easy way out. It does initially.
But progressively, which we'll see in a second, it doesn't.
(13:15):
It gets more and more complicated, but initially,
When you think about the times that you've lied.
It's usually to get out of the hot seat, to
relieve the pressure, to get away from the awkward.
To prevent the hurt, we like to get benevolent on
that side.
(13:35):
But ultimately it's for your benefit.
That's why you lie to benefit yourself. So you win
and don't lose. Why do you think sports guys are
always lying on the field about what they did or
didn't want. They're, they're not lying on behalf of the,
the other team so they can win. No, cause you
want to win at all costs. So you'll lie, you'll
(13:57):
do whatever. And we see that today, win at all costs. Lying.
Just part of the process.
When you look at the first lie.
Who won?
Satan
Lie, lie down.
They took the fruit. Who won?
(14:18):
See,
It was for his benefit to lie.
And so the story goes.
When you think about the times or you've fudged and
Dodged, done all those things.
It's always been for your benefit.
I really want you to settle into this thought this
(14:40):
morning cause I've been settling into it all week and
it's pretty profound how pervasive it is.
It's everywhere and in all of us.
Pretty sophisticated at it as well because it gets to
the point where it seems smart.
(15:01):
esteem strategic.
It seems like, well, of course, Peter's gonna lie.
What, what, what could a Peter done in that situation?
He could have just left.
Not ready to answer that. I'll be leaving.
(15:23):
But think about lying. I, I think lying straight up,
that's like, I think we would all agree, that's something
you kinda don't do. And if you do, you're really
gonna feel the prick of it.
Did you talk to Jim yesterday and you did, and
you say, no, I didn't.
(15:44):
Yeah.
But we go a lot further than that.
Define talk.
Do you mean in person? Do you mean by text?
I mean, and, and, and we can lie by omitting.
(16:05):
We can lie by insinuating.
We can go legalese, to find talk.
You mean have a conversation? No, I didn't.
Yet you know you communicated, you texted, but you're legalizing
and parsing the word talked. Does that happen today? Oh
my goodness.
(16:26):
See, they're all versions.
Of deception and it would make sense that the enemy
is really good at deceiving us when it comes to
deception and lying.
And we all have our ways.
To do with it. It's not exactly what I said.
Technically it wasn't a lie. We speak in half truths.
We like to give them colors, white lies. They didn't
(16:49):
hurt anybody. It wasn't a big deal and it's usually
driven on we don't want any more challenges. We don't
want any more difficulties. So in our thinking, we think
this will end it.
And here's the key. It doesn't. Let's keep reading.
Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire
(17:09):
because it was cold and they were standing and warm, uh,
and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was
with them, standing and warming himself. So at this point now,
Peter's trying to blend in.
Right, he just doesn't go to the corner of the
courtyard and sit in the dark. That would be a suspect.
It's cold. What are you doing over there, buddy?
(17:31):
You know, he gets in there. I'm one of you.
Right? So it's starting to take on a life of
its own.
Verse 25. Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself,
so they said to him,
You also are not one of his disciples, are you?
He denied it and said, I'm not.
(17:54):
So now we have the second lie by Peter. Now
what's interesting if you read Matthew's account for this, and
I recommend you do, it's on your daily devotions as
you go through, it's in Matthew 26. We're told that actually,
you know, it, the question was there, but actually it
started with a discussion from another servant girl who actually
accused Peter of being a disciple. It wasn't a question.
(18:16):
You are one of his disciples.
And then later on, we're told in Matthew's Gospel that
he just didn't deny it by saying, I am not.
There was more to it. John just abbreviated it. He
denied it with an oath and said, as God is
my witness, I do not know him.
(18:37):
He made an oath.
So Peter
Thought he'd just be one and done.
But as lying goes, it starts to take on a
life of its own and starts to take on a
reality of its own. And when the first lie doesn't
relieve the pressure, you gotta lie again because it starts
(19:00):
getting worse. And this is another deception to recognize when
it comes to this idea of lying. It always multiplies. 2,
it always multiplies.
It's like the old old potato commercial, you can't stop
at one.
99% of the timeline leads to more deception and more
(19:21):
cover up, and it's a slippery slope unless you end it.
Cause you, here's the deal, cause when you lie, ultimately
you're creating an alternate reality that isn't true, it isn't real.
And so then then it can start leaking. And, and
you gotta lie to cover that up and you, and
you gotta lie to cover that up and you gotta
(19:41):
lie to cover that up. And but we're deluded and
deceived by the enemy in the beginning, oh, it's just
a little nothing, nothing, nothing, but then it becomes a something, something,
something over time.
But if we operate in truth, there's no alternate reality.
James warns us of this multiplication that can take place.
(20:02):
He says in the tongue is a fire.
A world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members,
staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire world
of the entire course of life and set on fire
by hell. There's this satanic piece again.
And I know some of you have been through some
(20:22):
very painful experiences when it comes to this.
Either the one that's.
Lying or the ones been lied to?
So I just bring this up, not to quiet the room,
but just to elevate the significance of it and the
deception from the enemy on it. Like a drug addict,
it starts small.
(20:43):
You don't become a liar overnight.
You lie.
Then what are you gonna do?
Depends on what happens.
But it's a pattern.
It's a pattern, and we got to watch the pattern.
If we're not careful.
Because if we can lose control.
More and more lies, and this is the pattern that
(21:06):
Peter's in.
But let's keep reading.
One of the servants of the high priests, a relative
of the man whose ear Peter had cut off. Who's that?
Malchus. So we got an in-law of Malchus. Now it's
getting dangerous. Now it's heating up. Now it's not this
servant girl that heard rumors. This is a guy who
watched his cousin get his ear cut off and miraculously healed.
(21:30):
It was probably dark and he's going there with 11 disciples,
I don't quite know, but I mean, you might remember
the face of the guy who cut your cousin's ear off.
At a minimum, who, who being healed, you're OK.
So we, we got, it's starting to heat up. It's
taken on a life of its own.
(21:51):
He said, did I not see you in the garden
with him? Yikes.
Peter again denied it and at once a rooster crowed.
Now, again, Matthew's Gospel.
Said, not did he take an oath as God is
my witness.
He called down a curse on himself, which is the
(22:13):
equivalent of saying, may God strike me dead.
If I'm not telling the truth.
And then the rooster crowed.
The alarm went off.
Why is that significant? Because Jesus said, Peter, you'll deny,
or let's reframe it, you'll lie about me 3 times
(22:35):
before the rooster crows.
Yet Peter thought one lie when it was over.
The pressure grew and grew, and he felt he had
to continue to cover until ultimately what happened.
He got busted. He got exposed. Luke's Gospel said when
this happened, Luke 22:61, and the Lord turned and looked
(22:56):
at Peter. He was walking through the corridor when it happened,
and Peter remembered the saying of the Lord and how
he had said to him with the whore the rooster crowsada,
you'll deny me three times, and he went out and
wept bitterly.
Brutal.
How to recognize the trap of deception #3 on your outline.
There is always a reckoning.
(23:18):
There's always a reckoning, especially for Christians.
We might be able to keep secrets from other people,
but God knows.
We might feel the the chance of getting caught is remote.
But God knows
Let me ask you,
Did anybody in that courtyard know that Peter lied?
(23:41):
Just him.
And Jesus.
And this is how it works.
As Christians, God knows.
And I think the takeaway for all of us is
the truth really from Colossians.
Paul wrote the apostle, the church in Coloss, says, Do
not lie to one another, see, and you have put
off the old self.
And its practices
(24:03):
That would be the non-Christian piece. That would be the
part where Jesus isn't part of it. And I put
on the new self, which is what, trustworthy truth, honesty,
which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of
its creator.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
And with that we bring today's study titled Liar Liar
to a close here on Pastor Spotlight. Doctor Mark Ambrose
will be back tomorrow as he begins a four part
series called How to Find Relief During Anxious Times. So
we invite you to be here at the same time tomorrow.
You and your family are invited to join Pastor Mark
at Pacific Coast Church this next Sunday morning. PCC is
(24:38):
conveniently located at 2.
51 Calle Frontera in San Clemente. Sunday morning worship service
times are at 8:30 and 10 a.m. Pacific Coast Church
is here to help everyone know and follow Jesus in
an honest and transparent way. Their mission is to reach
people for Jesus, grow followers of Jesus, and connect together
(25:00):
in Jesus. At PCC you'll find a safe place to
pursue Jesus.
No matter where you are on your spiritual journey, on
Friday night, January 31st, Pacific Coast Church invites all the
men to the men's summit. You'll be encouraged and inspired
by special guest speaker Michael Franzese. Michael is a former
New York mafia boss who now travels the world sharing
(25:22):
the gospel. Sign up now for your seat at the
men's summit on Friday night, January 31st at PCC's website at.
Coastchurch.org/men and we invite you to join us right here
at this same time tomorrow for another time of growing
in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ here on
Pastor Spotlight, we'll feature more from the Bible teaching ministry
of Doctor Mark Ambrose, senior pastor of Pacific Coast Church
(25:46):
in San Clemente. Pastor Spotlight is a production of KA Radio,
sharing life, delivering truth, giving hope.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.