Wrong People, Wrong Place, Wrong Thing

Peter hoped to go unnoticed in the larger crowd, but he was with the wrong people at the wrong place, about to do the wrong thing.

Why does it come as a revelation to some that if you spend time around ungodly people, they’ll pull you down?

So, there Peter stood at the fire, and a woman noticed him and said, “This man was one of Jesus’ followers!” (Luke 22:56 NLT).

Peter said, “No, I am not.”

Jesus predicted that Peter would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed in the morning. That was Peter’s first denial. You would think at that point Peter might have said to himself, “Hold on. I did the thing I said I’d never do. I’ve got to get out of here.”

But, he didn’t. Then Luke tells us, “After a while someone else looked at him and said, ‘You must be one of them!’” (verse 58 NLT).

Again, Peter denied it. That was his second denial. Between the second and third denial one hour passed. That’s plenty of time to get out of there, but Peter stayed. Why was he doing it? Here’s the simple answer: Sin makes you stupid. So, you do things you never thought you would do.

Peter compromised, and he wasn’t thinking rationally. So finally, someone said to him. “This must be one of them, because he is a Galilean, too” (verse 59 NLT).

Then we read, “But Peter said, ‘Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.’ And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter” (verses 60–61 NLT).

The Bible says that Peter went out and wept bitterly.

When you hang around with the wrong people at the wrong place, you’ll do the wrong thing.