Peter’s Failure and Faith

Introduction

Well, good morning. It’s a great day, and we know that it’s a great day because our Lord Jesus lives. And if you have your Bibles, I’ll invite you to turn it to Luke chapter 22. In Luke chapter 22, we’re going to be going over this idea of failure. And failure not only being a bad thing, but sometimes being a good thing. I mean, failure is inevitable in the world. And it’s not fun. It doesn’t make you feel good. It doesn’t really help you with your self-confidence at all. Failure is a hard thing to go through. It’s something that builds a lot of people up. It’s something that trains a lot of people, and it’s something that teaches a lot of people a lot of life lessons.

And when we’re in Luke chapter 2, we’re going to be going over Peter’s failure, which led to his great faith. So if you have your Bibles open, look in verse chapter 31. The Lord said, Simon, Simon, indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail. When you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren. But he said to him, Lord, I am ready to go with you, both to prison and to death. Then he said, I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day, before you will deny three times that you know me. See, we have to understand this. Peter, who is Peter to begin with? Well, Peter was an apostle.

1. Peter Was a Chosen Person for God

Peter was a chosen person for God. He followed closely with Jesus throughout his ministry. And Peter got to see Jesus work up close. Peter even saw miracles. And in Matthew chapter 14, Peter participated in a miracle. John gave the Lord’s Supper talk about Jesus walking on water. But when Peter is with Jesus and Jesus is walking on the water in Matthew chapter 14, Peter is the apostle that when he says, Lord, if that is you, command me to come out of the boat, Jesus has come. And Peter, out of all the apostles in the boat, is the one to come out of the boat. No, although he didn’t stay on the water very long, but he came out. And so Peter has been seeing Jesus up close.

Look at Luke chapter 9. I just want to highlight this about Peter and where he sees Jesus too in Luke chapter 9. Beginning in verse 18, and it happened as he alone was, he was alone praying, that his disciples joined him. And when he asked them, saying, Who do the crowd say that I am? So they answered and said, John the Baptist. But some say Elijah, and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again. He said to them, But who do you say that I am? And Peter answered, You are the Christ of God. Peter confessing Jesus as God, Peter confessing Jesus as Lord, shows another aspect of his faith. Because this apostle, this disciple, this student of Jesus, has the heart to follow Jesus to the end.

And he understands that his rabbi, he understands that his teacher is God. If you look back at Luke chapter 22 in the 33rd verse, it also talks about the extent. Like I just was speaking, about the extent of how Peter would go. Verse 33, but he said to him, Lord, Peter said to Jesus, Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death. And so we understand that Peter, when we’re talking about Peter building up this confidence, I’m sure he had a lot of confidence in his faith. There was no doubt that Peter loved the Lord. There was no doubt that Peter would follow Jesus anywhere. But I think that there’s an application that I’m going to put right here, brothers and sisters.

2. Great Love Does Not Make Sin Impossible

And as Christians, we need to understand that this great love, this great intention, does not make sin impossible. This following of Jesus, this proclaiming of Jesus, and denying of Jesus, does not make you impossible to sin. Look at Matthew chapter 7.

In Matthew chapter 7, beginning in verse 21. It reads, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Cast out demons in your name, done many wonders in your name, then I will declare to them, I never knew you depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. When we’re making this application, when we’re talking about how these great love and these great feelings for Jesus doesn’t make it impossible, there are going to be days, and there is going to be a day, pardon me. There’s going to be a day when a lot of people who think they’re doing things for Jesus were doing it wrong.

And that’s a blunt reality that we have to accept, brothers and sisters. When you prophesy, cast out demons, work many wonders. We’re not doing all that today, but I’m saying when you go out and spread the name of God, you can have all the good intention in your life. You can have all the good intention in your work in your heart, but that doesn’t make it impossible for you to be wrong. Now, we have the guide. I want to be cautious. We have the word.

3. Satan Is After You: The Pressure of the World

Satan is after you. Look back at Luke chapter 22. In Luke chapter 22, beginning in verse 54, having arrested him, Jesus, they led him and brought him into the high priest’s house. But Peter followed at a distance. Now, when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. And a certain servant girl, seeing him, and she sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, This man was also with him. But he denied him, saying, Woman, I do not know him. After a little while, another saw him and said, You also are of him. But Peter said, Man, I am not. Then, after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, Surely this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.

But Peter said, Man, I do not know what you are saying. Immediately while he was speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, Before the rooster crowed, you will deny me three times. So Peter went out and wept bitterly.

And once Peter gets there, Peter is recognized three times. And when we’re reading this, it says how they looked intently and confidently at Peter, knowing that he was with Jesus. Being an apostle meant that you were close with Jesus, meant that you followed Jesus. But Peter goes on to deny Jesus three times as Jesus said it would happen. Now, I’m not the one to condemn Peter. I’m not the judge. It’s not my place. But brothers and sisters, I want us to understand something about Peter denying Jesus. We just went over all the confidence. We just went over all the love. We just went over how he was an eyewitness, miracle after miracle, teaching after teaching, sermon after sermon. The pressure of the world is heavy. And it is so heavy that the man who got out of the boat buckled under it.

And that’s a real thing.

4. Peter’s Weeping Turned His Failure Into a Success

We know that Peter knows he did wrong. But I think we really need to consider the pressure of the world. Today we have the full word. Today we have a lot of tools to help us push away that pressure, to help us lift some of that weight, but it’ll crumble you at one point in your life. And you need to be conscious of that. Now, Peter’s failure didn’t surprise Jesus at all. Jesus said it was going to happen. And I think that we need to understand that Peter was weeping because he knew he let down Jesus. But Peter’s weeping turned his failure into a success. Because this was the true repentance that Peter was showing. This true repentance of understanding that my life did not go the way that it needed to go, and it needs to change.

And it led to a godly sorrow. Now, there are two types of sorrows. We have a godly sorrow. This godly sorrow that we hopefully have is a sorrow that is a sadness because you know you have turned away. But the sorrow, this repentance and the sorrow will lead to that repentance, and the sorrow will lead you to turn back to God and make your life for him. And we have a worldly sorrow where you can still be sad, you can still understand you did wrong, but the worldly sorrow leads you to a despair.

5. Peter Is Eventually Restored

And we have Judas with the worldly sorrow. Both knew they let Jesus down. Both knew that they had sinned, both knew that they were sad because of what they did. But how they handled their sin next defined whether it was godly or not. And so I want us to understand that Peter is eventually restored. Look at John chapter 21 John chapter 21, just just a little context about what’s going on here. Jesus has risen. Jesus is showing himself to the apostles. And in verse 15, we’ll begin reading. So when he they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to him, Simon, Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these? And he said to him, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, Feed my lambs.

He said to him again, a second time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? He said to him, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. And he said to him, Tend my sheep. He said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, Do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know all these things. You know that I love you. And Jesus said to him, Feed my sheep. Jesus asked Peter, Do you love me three times, mirroring the denial? Mirroring the past. Seeing if this man who was afraid is no longer afraid. And Peter responds, Yes, Lord, you know I love you. Leaving behind the man too afraid to claim Jesus, leaving behind the man that didn’t want to associate with Jesus.

6. When We Are Restored, We Share God’s Grace

Once he has asked him three times, do you love me? And Peter responds confidently, I love you, Lord. He says, feed my sheep. Jesus has now restored Peter, but he also has recommissioned Peter, and he has told him to do the work also. Feeding the sheep is important. And it shows the trust that Jesus has in Peter. Seeing the repentance that Peter went through, seeing the new man that Peter is now. Jesus has given him the work to go feed the sheep, to go spread the word and to do the work of the kingdom. Peter is an apostle, but he eventually becomes a preacher and he becomes an elder. And he does the Lord’s work diligently. And I want us to understand that when we are restored, brothers and sisters, we need to share God’s grace with other people.

Look at Matthew chapter 28.

This is very well known. This is Jesus’ last message to the apostles before he goes up into heaven. All the authority has, and Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of age. Amen. When we are restored, we work.

When we are made new, we work. Now, this work is a good work. It’s a work that we should be wanting to do. It’s a work that we should be happy to do. We should always be happy to share Jesus. We should always be happy to see a brother or sister or some broken soul come and be baptized. And although Jesus wasn’t speaking directly to us, he was speaking to the apostles, it applies to us today. Look at 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2, beginning in verse 9. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people, that many proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Who once were not a people, but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Brothers and sisters, listen closely to how they describe the people of God, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and special people. But look where you have to start, and look where it starts. Look where you come out of. That he called you out of darkness into the light. When we are restored, when we become this royal priesthood, when we join the people of God, you have to leave behind the sin. And I think it’s so wonderful that God says that you wouldn’t have you have not obtained mercy, but now you have obtained mercy.

This restoration, this coming to God, coming to God through Jesus, makes you very high in the kingdom. And I’m not saying high is God, and I’m not saying high as the angels. I’m saying you’re special. This restoration. And I think that when we know and when I think that when we read that we are this royal priesthood and these holy people and the special people of God, that we would want to invite people to come be in that.

Amen. Turn to Acts chapter 2. Look at verse 32.

For this Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promises of the Holy Spirit, he poured out this which you now see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said to them, Repent, let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

God turned Peter from broken into bold. In fact, when you read throughout the book of Acts, it describes Peter’s preaching as bold, frantically, I mean a lot.

I want to stand on his side. I want to preach his name. And he does that.

Boldly, he preaches.

To prison and to death. And he sure did. And so I want us to understand when we are restored, when we have this confidence, when we learn who Jesus is, when we understand that Jesus is God, when we fail Jesus, when we don’t want to be associated with him, when we deny him by sinning. And then when we come to him and we’re restored, we share him. Share him proudly. A lot of people, I mean, that are Christians might go out into the world, meet people who aren’t Christians, and maybe one of the biggest questions they ever are asked are, well, why do you believe what you believe? Why? Why do it? Why live so differently? Why not get to enjoy the many things that this world has to offer?

Conclusion

And you know what you can do, brothers and sisters? You can smile and say, Jesus saved my life. You can smile and say that Jesus has given me the life that I always wanted. And you can share with them that their life can be made whole too. Not being ashamed of Jesus is part of our evangelism that we all can do. You have to start with acknowledging Jesus to teach Jesus. And so I want to ask you this morning, or I want to leave you this morning with some conclusions. Take these things home. Understand that failure is not final when you come back to Jesus. Understand that you have sinned, understand that you have failed, but that does not mean you are failing in life. There is only one true failure in life, and that is not making it to God on the day of judgment.

True repentance will lead to being restored. When you truly want to change your life, when you truly understand you failed, when you truly understand that your life is not at the good place that it needs to be. That is when you will say, I need to change. That is when you will go to God for the change, and that is when the change will happen. And when we are restored, we need to share God’s grace with others.

Peter denied Jesus and then repented. Peter was recommissioned and restored. And then Peter went on to proclaim. And he proclaimed that the true restoration is only through Jesus. And so I asked you this morning. Be restored today. If you’re here this morning and you haven’t become a Christian today, I invite you to do that. I invite you to understand that you have sinned. Understand that you have let God down, but understand that God loves you dearly. Understand that God wants you in his kingdom. There is a way to be restored, and it is when you are baptized in the water, putting away that old person afraid and coming up a new person confident in the Lord. Or maybe you have decided you wanted to be restored.

Maybe you have been baptized, and the pressure of the world has started to crush you again. We can support you. God can support you. If there’s any way that we can help you this morning, won’t you come and stand as we stand and sing a song? There is a stranger.