From Denying To Devotion

It was said by Jordan Peterson--He referenced the word of God as the first hyperlinked book. I thought that was pretty profound. What does the hyperlink? In the digital age, you click on a hyperlink and it takes you somewhere else in the book. It takes you to somewhere that's confirming or affirming or expounding upon a previously mentioned truth.
There are 65,000 cross-references or “hyperlinks” in the Word of God. 65,000 cross references.

“The Bible is true in a very strange way. It's true in that it provides the basis for truth itself. And so it's like a meta truth. Without it, there couldn't even be the possibility of truth. All of that Old Testament meaning is coming into one moment in time with Jesus. What you're looking at is a visualization of the Bible.

Every single one of those lines is a biblical verse. Now, the length of the line is proportionate to how many times that verse is referred to in some way by some other verse. So you say, Well, this is the first hyperlinked book and the 65,000 cross-references, and that's what this map shows. And so that's a great visual representation of the book.

And then you can see, well, why is it deep? Why is the book deep? Well, just imagine how many pathways you could take through that. You just journey through that forever. You'd never, ever get to the end of it. So in order to be people of the book, biblical truth is the sort of truth that is the precondition for truth. Not merely true, but the precondition for truth itself.”

- Jordan Peterson

It's the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And if I wanted to find out what type of lives were lived by those who saw Jesus alive, Paul goes out of his way to make sure we're aware of those who saw Jesus when He rose from the dead. 1 Corinthians 15:5 tells us "And that he was seen by Cephas," this is Peter, and "then by the twelve". This is a general title to the original 12 disciples. We know that all of them but John, John was the youngest of the 12. All of them deserted Jesus and Peter denied him. And yet here the Lord shows Himself to those guys. See, these guys would be the eyewitnesses of the greatest event in human history. They would be eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.


I think it's important to note that when Paul writes this, it's only 20 years post the resurrection. 20 years where people would have been still alive, where word of mouth would have carried forth. Why does Paul isolate Peter here? Why did Jesus isolate Peter? Now, if you know anything about Peter and Jesus, Jesus said that I have to go to Jerusalem. I have to suffer at the hands of the religious leaders, I have to be crucified and I will be raised from the dead, is what he said. And Peter said, “Not so, Lord, I'll be persecuted for you. I will go to prison for you. I would even die for you,” he said. And Jesus said, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked for you to sift you like wheat. But I've prayed for you that your faith might not fail. And when you have returned,” which to me tells me he's going to depart, he's going to fail. “When you have returned." Ready?: "strengthen your brethren.”

 You know why I love that? It’s because the ingredients that made Peter bolder and louder for the truth of the Gospel was the shame and the guilt of denying His Lord and Savior.
See, we often don't want to talk about those things in our past that produce shame. And I'm here to tell you those are the ingredients that God will even use to make you experience His grace even more. Some of you reading this, right now, you've spent a life denying the Lord and you're teetering. You're on the edge of denying the Lord like a Peter to becoming a Judas that would completely betray the Lord.


And the Spirit is prompting you to put down your defiance and surrender all and give your life to Christ. Listen to me, lifestyles that have defied the Lord, denied the Lord, disobeyed the Lord, all of which leads to ruin: Marital ruin, emotional ruin, circumstantial ruin. We know how this ended, though, right? Jesus restored Peter. He restored him back to Himself.


And what I want you to hear right now is that Christ's dying is greater than your denying. And Christ being risen is greater than your ruin.

So the answer is not regret. That's easy. The answer is repent. That today would be the day of salvation. Repentance is to “change your mind” about who Jesus is!

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