A Fountain Can Not Produce Bitter And Sweet Water.

Matthew 26:74 Peter began to curse and swear: "I don't KNOW that man!"

Matthew 26:14-16 Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

SIMON and JUDAS were living in a VERY personal relationship with Christ.They LIVED with Him,ate and drank with Him,sacrificed their FREEDOM to follow Him,Fled with Him when their lives were threatened BECAUSE of the gospel,seen with their very OWN eyes how He healed the sick,how He made the blind to see, the lame to walk,the deaf to hear,how he cast out demons and the MOST miraculous act that has EVER been WITNESSED before BY mankind,the resurrection of the dead.They SAW with their OWN eyes how Jesus took authority over death....took them BACK from the depth and the irreversible grip of the grave.Simon of ALL the disciples of Christ,was the one who received the revelation from the spirit of God that Jesus was the son of God.

The love that Simon felt for Jesus was SO intense,that he PROMISED Him that he would DIE for Him and would NEVER betray Him like Judas did.To PROVE his point, he CUT off the ear of the soldier Malchus, who arrested Jesus.He SAW how the soldiers pushed a crown of thorns into the flesh of his masters head,he saw the blood stained garment that was as a result of the flesh that was ripped off His back by the wipp with sharp metal pieces tied to the end of the strands. He SAW the agony and suffering in the Lord's eyes. Yet,when it mattered MOST to confess his love for the Lord to the world, Simon failed and denied his Lord with the words:"I don't KNOW that man."

The vicious cycle of denial of Christ is still VERY active in today's Christian living, 1985 years later. We as Jesus' followers OFTEN find us in positions and situations,where we deny that we have accepted Him as our Lord and Saviour. Instead of bearing the fruit of the spirit as recorded in Galatians 5:22-23,our lives reflect the fruit of betrayal and denial as recorded in Galatians 19-20. MANY of us find it VERY convenient to live like sinners when we are in their presence...to walk like them,to talk like them and to behave like them.There's really NO difference between THEM and US at THAT moment.We lie,we cheat,we gossip,we steal,we fight,we commit adultery AND we take part in wild parties.SOME of us EVEN go to SUCH an extent to justify our denial of Jesus by saying that Christ ALSO ate,drank and lived with sinners.Yes,so He DID.HOWEVER,He did NOT do this to drop to THEIR level as sinners,but to save them from eternal condemnation and the fires of hell!! If HE did NOT enter THEIR sinful lives,THEY would NOT have entered HIS holy life,because sin BLINDED them to the truth.

We as Christians in THIS day and age, have NEVER seen Jesus Christ before,OR witnessed the miracles He performed. We have NEVER accompanied Him on the dust roads of the Middle East OR heard Him preaching. WE follow, serve and love Him by faith. Although Jesus died for us on the cross...purchased our eternal salvation with His OWN blood, THIS does NOT mean we should continue with our sinful lives and ways. We must get to the point where sin becomes DEAD to us. The apostle Paul said: "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?…" (Romans 6:1-2). Jesus' death does NOT give us a BLANK cheque to sin.

We can NOT serve God AND the devil. A fountain can NOT produce sweet AND bitter water. We should be PROUD and HONORED to confess our Lord before men, so that He may confess us before His father and the angels. ALTHOUGH Peter had a SECOND chance, THIS does NOT mean we might get one too. Judas' destiny might become OUR'S as well.We as believers must remember that we can NOT just drop in and out of sin as it pleases us,and hope to get away with it.

Peter, who physically shared his life with the Lord, and witnessed the miracles He performed EVERY day, DENIED his Lord. Yet, he was forgiven by his Lord, for betraying Him. Unlike Judas Iscariot, he found GRACE in the sight of God, because the omniscient (all-knowing) Creator KNEW that Peter did NOT yet fully understood the implications of being born again. WE DON'T have this luxury, because unlike Peter in THOSE days, we have the HOLY SPIRIT to guide and teach us.