Failing Forward Series

INTRODUCTION

• Were you ever naive as a Christian?

• Maybe you thought that after you accepted Christ, you would never sin again or that you would never struggle with failure.

• We can have unrealistic expectations for ourselves as Christians: We are followers of Jesus, so naturally, the new life that Paul talks about should just happen.

• We should always resist temptation, say the right thing, and hear God's voice every moment of the day.

• But reality hits us, and we realize that we aren't as sinless as we thought, that the new life in Jesus is a journey that takes time, and that other believers are not always perfect.

• What do you do when you fail in life?

• Maybe you were a failure as a spouse or a parent.

• Maybe you experienced failure in your career.

• Failure is a part of life.

• The question is, does failure have to define you?

• For some, it does.

• In your life, how have you addressed failure?

• We can deal with failure in a variety of ways.

• We can ignore it and never acknowledge it.

• We can let it destroy our life.

• Today we will examine one of the most powerful stories of failure and redemption.

• I want us to take you through a very trying time in the life of the Apostle Peter.

• There will come a point in the life of Peter when he will have to decide how he will respond to an epic failure in his life.

• Would Peter go the way of Judas, who ended his life because of his epic failure, or will Peter follow a different path?

• Let's begin our look at the difficult part of the life of Peter.

• We will start in Luke 22:31-34.

Luke 22:31–34 (NET 2nd ed.)

31 “Simon, Simon, pay attention! Satan has demanded to have you all, to sift you like wheat,

32 but I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

33 But Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death!”

34 Jesus replied, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know me.”

SERMON

I. The boast.

• Before we get to this point in the life of Peter, we need to remember that he was a fisherman by trade.

• That Job was physically demanding, and most fishermen were typically not highly educated men.

• Peter tended to be the first one to speak.

• Peter was in Jesus' inner circle.

• Peter was the only one to get out of the boat and walk on the water in Matthew 14:28-31.

• When Jesus asked the disciples who others said he was and who they thought He was, it was Peter who said that Jesus was the Christ, the son of God.

• In John 6:66-69 when His followers were leaving Jesus in large numbers, it was Peter; when asked by Jesus if he and the rest of the twelve were going to leave Him, it was Peter who said that they had nowhere to go, that Jesus had the words of eternal life!

• When Jesus was arrested, it was Peter who drew his sword and cut off the ear of Malchus, the slave of the High Priest in John 18:10-12.

• It appears that Peter was a man who acted before he took the time to think.

• When Jesus plucked Peter off the fishing boat, He knew what He was getting.

• Peter had to be excited about the notoriety and crowds.

• Peter was the perceived leader of the disciples; this was evident from all we read about the interactions.

• In the past, when Jesus spoke of His death, Peter would have none of that; when Jesus washed the disciple's feet, Peter would have none until Jesus rebuked him.

• The discussion we read between Jesus and Peter probably takes place in the upper room, just before the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus is arrested and taken to be crucified.

• Jesus looks at Peter and tells him to pay attention that Satan has demanded to test all the disciples.

• This is a similar request Satan made of Job in Job 1:12, 2:6.

• Jesus said Satan wants to sift them like wheat.

• To sift means to toss about violently in a sieve to separate the good from the bad.

• The sifting process would reveal the true inner character of Peter.

• Jesus tells Peter that He would pray that Peter's faith would not fail.

• Notice that Jesus does not pray for the sifting not to happen, but rather that Peter's faith would stay strong.