There are warning signs are all around us. Sometimes we heed the warnings, sometimes we ignore the warnings. Sometimes the warnings seem a little silly to us, if we are reasonable people.
After a woman sued McDonalds because she wasn’t warned her coffee was hot, companies are changing their instruction manuals and product warning labels to cover themselves from liability. Listen to a few of these:
On a particular brand of soap- Directions: Use like regular soap
On a frozen TV dinner - Suggestion: Defrost before eating
A Christmas pudding - Product will be hot after heating
On a chain saw- Do not stop chain with hand
On a motorcycle helmet mounted mirror - Remember, objects in the mirror are actually behind you;
The second hearing of Jesus’ trials came to a close with a guilty verdict.
Mar 14:64-72 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?" And they all condemned him as deserving death. 65 And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, "Prophesy!" And the guards received him with blows. 66 And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, 67 and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, "You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus." 68 But he denied it, saying, "I neither know nor understand what you mean." And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. 69 And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, "This man is one of them." 70 But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, "Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean." 71 But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, "I do not know this man of whom you speak." 72 And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, "Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times." And he broke down and wept.
Of all the stories in the Bible, I find this story to be one of the most dramatic.
I. A Rising Star
If any of the disciples had promise, a rising star for the good guys, it was Peter. It was Peter who had the nerve to get out of the boat when Jesus was walking on water. It was Peter who had the nerve to say, “Jesus, you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Peter was one of Jesus’ closest friends during his ministry years.
He was one of, if not THE, leader of the other disciples. He went with Jesus, along with James and John, to see Jarius’ daughter brought back to life. He was one of the three that saw Jesus transfigured temporarily with His glory in the presence of two dead saints: Moses and Elijah. Jesus healed his mother-in-law.
He was one of the men sent to prepare for the Passover meal, the Last Supper. He was one of three that was the closest to Jesus during his agonizing prayer in Gethsemene. He even drew a sword and tried to defend Jesus upon His arrest, cutting off Malchus’ ear.
Of all the disciples, Peter was an all-star. He is the one we would have put on our top list of deacon candidates. He is the one we want to teach our Sunday school class. We want him to run for mayor, or the senate, or president.
II. A Record Spoiled.
But in this moment, his faith collapses and he fell hard, very hard. At this time, we not only see Peter fall hard, but we jump on the pile. Let me assure you, during this sermon, it will look like I jump on the bandwagon of criticizing Peter.
And I am sure, in heaven today, he would agree by saying, “Well, I asked for that.”
I want us to consider a few lessons from this story that God has chosen for us to analyze. There are always warning signs before our biggest tests.
A. Peter tried to correct Jesus (Mark 8:31-33)
And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."
We are stepping towards a failed test when we think we are so spiritual, we need to be advising God.Pride comes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.
B. Peter questioned God’s movement in someone else’s life.
Luk 8:44-46 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. 45 And Jesus said, "Who was it that touched me?" When all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!" 46 But Jesus said, "Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me."
When we think that anything outside of our wisdom and experience cannot be authentic, we are ready for a fall.
C. Peter refused to step out into a deeper spiritual life.
Joh 13:6-10 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, do you wash my feet?" 7 Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand." 8 Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." 9 Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" 10 Jesus said to him, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you." "
When God calls you to a deeper walk, and you are content to remain where we are, we are scheduling our rooster to tune up.
D. Peter wanted to keep his distance.
Mar 14:54 And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire.
When we refuse to get more involved in service for the Lord, the rooster is about to start singing your song.
(Transition) Did you notice the elements of trouble in Peter’s life? Pride, lack of surrender to the Lordship of Christ, dependence upon his own strengths, refusal to be bothered by the radical Christian life?
Before we dismiss, I want to show you something very important about this story. This was a colossal failure in Peter’s life. It would take some doing to recover from this fall. This was a life-changer.
But it never caught God by surprise. And it was never beyond Jesus’ ability to use.
III. A Reasonable Similarity.
In Peter’s failure, there is an echo that goes back all the way to Job. You remember, Job was used by God to show Satan there were those who were beyond his reach. Job was tried to the edge of his life and never turned against God. As a matter of fact, you can go through the book of Job and see Job’s spiritual growth; slowly at first, but speeding up rapidly as we reach the end of the book.
So, with that pattern, let’s look at Peter’s life and failure in that light.
Luk 22:31-34 "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." Peter said to him, "Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death." Jesus said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me."
Please catch these points and do not forget them, for they will happen in your life if you live for Christ.
1. Satan will desire to sift you.
2. God will let him.
3. There will be an opportunity to “turn again”, or repent and be restored.
4. God will use the failure to grow you to greater effectiveness.
What was all this about?
I remind you of our first points. Peter was a rising star, depending upon his capabilities to succeed. That dependence upon himself was fueled by pride, failure to depend upon God’s strength, and the resistance to being inconvenienced for God’s purpose marked all of Peter’s failures before his big fall.
He was honest. He was brave daring. Those were recognizable strengths that Peter would depend upon instead of depending upon God. He is the one who said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God,” when the other disciples remained silent. He is the one who often asked Jesus, “Just exactly what did you mean when you said such and such…?” He is the only one who resisted the guards when they came to arrest Jesus.
But your strengths become your weaknesses when you trust in them instead of trusting in God. This event seemed to catch Peter totally off-guard. But it should not have, not after the warning Jesus had given him.
Look back with me to one of Peter’s shining moments and let’s see if we can see the warning there.
Mat 16:13-17 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" 14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”
Did you catch it. Peter jumped in there and was shining like a rock star.
Jesus said, “You are blessed, Peter, but this answer didn’t come from your strengths. Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you. You happened to listen to God in your heart. Don’t take credit for what God told you.”
Don’t get caught up in the pride of being used by God, thinking it was because you are the shining star of God’s kingdom. Give God the glory for shining through you. He deserves the credit, and pride will signal to the rooster section of the heavenly orchestra.
(Transition) Peter does repent and is recovered, to a greater life for Christ than he even imagined. But he learned in this colossal failure that it will be God’s strength and power that makes for success. But that’s another sermon. One that is coming soon.
For us today, let’s simply examine our lives. There will be tests coming. In some, we will see victory. In some of them, we will fail.
If you think this sermon is to equip you to keep you from falling, from being sifted by Satan, no, it’s not. It’s about the things we must look for during those tests. In this, I surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit to speak to you.
You know where you are in the testing of God’s children. You may be just about to enter your colossal testing. You may be just coming out. You may be in the middle of it, or you may be far enough out of it, you can evaluate what God was doing.
The greatest encouragement I can give you today is this: God working in your life during the worst tests. During the darkest moments of your life, God is still in control and all of His promises are sure.
“Oh what a Savior, Oh Hallelujah, His heart was broken on Calvary, His hands were nail scarred, His side was riven, He gave His life's blood for even me.”
Jesus suffered for you, to give you victory. He allows testing to give you growth. Oh, what a Savior! That Savior is waiting for you. When will you turn from your pouting? When will you turn from your anger? When will you turn from your defeat? Your Pride, self-dependence, your refusal to be inconvenienced?
If you have never been saved, He is waiting. We are here to help you in your journey. If you are struggling, He is waiting for you. Will you come to Him?
Some of you may be confused about God’s call. I sometimes am. We may be like the farmer that went to the big town one day. He got a call from his wife on his cell phone.
“Honey, please be careful. I just saw on the news that someone is driving the wrong direction on Highway 59.”
“No dear, it’s worse than that. It seems to me that everybody is driving the wrong way today but me.”
You may be asking why God is calling you to go against the traffic, to commit more than anyone else you know. You may get that warning that going with the crowd will end up painfully for you.
“Why me?” you may ask. “Why not someone else?”
It may be scary. It may be lonely at times. But walking God’s way, even against traffic, is blessed and joyful. It is rewarding beyond measure. Look at the signs. Listen for the roosters. Answer the call today.
