Luke 22:31-34: 31"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
33But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death."
34Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me."
Mark 14:32-42: 32They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." 33He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch."
35Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36"Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."
37Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Simon," he said to Peter, "are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
39Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. 40When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.
41Returning the third time, he said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!"
42"Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!"
It was the Apostle Peter who tells us: Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
You may or may not know this, but in the United States, mountain lions are the animal regarded as the number one human predator. More people are attacked by mountain lions than any other wild animal.
Author and naturalist Craig Childs was on foot doing research on the mountain lions in Arizona's Blue Range Wilderness. As he approached a water hole from downwind, he spotted a mountain lion drinking water. The lion didn’t notice his presence. When it finished drinking, it walked slowly away into a cluster of junipers.
After a few minutes, Childs walked to the water hole to identify tracks in the mud and record notes. Just before he bent down to look closer, he scanned the perimeter, and there among the shadows of the junipers, 30 feet away, he saw a pair of eyes. He expected the lion to turn and run away, but it walked into the sunlight toward him. Childs pulled his knife and stared into the eyes of the lion. He knew what he had to do. More importantly, he knew what he couldn’t do. He writes:
Mountain lions are known to take down animals six, seven, and eight times their size. Their method: attack from behind, clamp onto the spine at the base of the prey's skull, snap the spine. The top few vertebrae are the target, housing respiratory and motor skills that cease instantly when the cord is cut….Mountain lions have stalked people for miles. One woman survived an attack and escaped by foot on a road. The lion shortcut the road several miles farther and killed her from behind….
I hold firm to my ground and do not even intimate that I will back off. If I run, it is certain. I will have a mountain lion all over me. If I give it my back, I will only briefly feel its weight on me against the ground. The canine teeth will open my vertebrae without breaking a single bone….
The mountain lion begins to move to my left, and I turn, keeping my face on it, my knife at my right side. It paces to my right, trying to get around on my other side, to get behind me. I turn right, staring at it….My stare is about the only defense I have.
Childs maintained that defense as the mountain lion continued to try to provoke him to run, turning left, then right, back and forth again and again, until he was just ten feet away. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity the standoff ended. The lion simply turned and walked away — defeated by a man who knew what never to do in its presence.
Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
When Peter wrote those words, I can’t help but think that his mind had to go back to the night in which Jesus was betrayed and arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane.
It was there in the garden that Peter discovered first hand how easily Satan can devour us.
It had been a busy and tumultuous week for Jesus and His disciples.
It began with Jesus entering into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey – being heralded as the Savior of Israel.
It quickly degenerated for them as Jesus set about upsetting the religious establishment by throwing the money changers out of the temple, defying their orders, confounding them with riddles, and publicly humiliating them – calling the Pharisees and Sadducees “hypocrites and a brood of vipers.”
By now – Thursday night – they had had enough of Jesus and were determined that He must die.
Somehow, Judas has been recruited to betray Jesus.
After Jesus and the other Apostle’s finish the dinner, they leave Jerusalem and go to the Garden of Gethsemane.
Jesus leaves 8 of the Apostles alone and asks Peter, James & John to come with Him as He goes further into the garden to pray.
Then, He leaves those three alone and goes and prays by Himself.
After finishing a time of intense prayer, Jesus returns to the 3 Apostle’s and finds them sleeping.
He confronts them about this and then goes back and prays again.
When he comes back to the 3 the second time, they are sleeping again.
The same things happens a third time
Finally, after three intense times of prayer, Jesus wakes the Apostle’s up and tells them it is time.
As they join the others, a crowd comes – a lynch mob of sorts led by the elders, chief priests and temple guard who are all following Judas.
Judas approaches Jesus and gives him a kiss.
This is the signal for the guards and they arrest Jesus.
At this, Peter takes his sword and attacks.
Now, its obvious that Peter is no expert at swordsmanship . . . In an attempt to decapitate one of the crowd, He only succeeds in severing the ear of a servant named Malchus.
Probably just before the entire mob wipes out the Apostle’s, Jesus picks up the ear and heals the man and then does the most amazing thing . . . He allows Himself to be arrested.
At this, all the Apostles run for their lives.
Later, Peter and John – slinking along in the shadows – follow Jesus into Jerusalem.
It is there that Peter reaches the lowest point of his life.
Follow along as I read one more passage: Mark 14:66-72: 66While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. 67When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him.
"You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus," she said.
68But he denied it. "I don't know or understand what you're talking about," he said, and went out into the entryway.
69When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, "This fellow is one of them." 70Again he denied it.
After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, "Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean."
71He began to call down curses on himself, and he swore to them, "I don't know this man you're talking about."
72Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times." And he broke down and wept.
Now let me ask . . .What happened?
Here is a man who just an hour earlier was willing to risk his very life for Jesus.
He had actually drawn a sword and was willing to fight to the death with the temple guard
And now as he stands before a servant girl and a small crowd inside the walls of Jerusalem and he is reduced to calling down a curse on himself and swearing that he doesn’t know Jesus.
WHAT WENT WRONG?
What I want to do this morning – is take a look at the worst failure of Peter's life and see if we can't discover why he failed so miserably.
If we follow the story in these passages, we will discover first hand a recipe for disaster.
The first part of the process of Peter’s failing came when he ignored the warning that Jesus gave him of impending disaster. What, exactly had Jesus said to him?
Luke 21:31-32 31"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
Jesus gives Peter a very serous warning. Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat."
What a scary thought – Jesus is telling Peter that Satan wants to destroy him.
Peter – Satan has asked for permission to run you through the grinder
And not only that, but it is going to happen.
Notice what else Jesus says; "And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
"When you have turned back” - this tells us that not only has Jesus warned Peter that he was going to be tested by Satan, but that he would ultimately fail.
Now, I don't know about you, but I would hope that if I had been warned by Jesus – or by anyone for that matter – that Satan was out to destroy me, that I would listen to that warning.
But not Peter – noooo – he believes that he can handle the problem.
He doesn't need any help.
For some reason, Peter thinks that he is more powerful than the enemy.
Listen to how he responds to Jesus’ warning - "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death."
Matthew records his words this way; "Even though all may fall away, I will not."
Do you see the picture?
They have just finished sharing the Last Supper together.
They are getting ready to move to the Garden.
Jesus has told the group that one of them was going to betray Him.
Peter, in all of his bravado walks up to Jesus and says "I will never deny you."
But Jesus warns him - "Peter, Satan has asked for and received special permission to sift you like wheat."
I can picture Peter - his chest puffed out a little bit - makes a sweeping motion with his hand indicating the other 10 Apostles – even if all of these wimps betray you – I am willing to die for you.
Jesus probably shakes his head and sadly looks at Peter and tells him; “I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me."
Now, let me ask this question – are we being like Peter and ignoring the warning?
Has God told us anything like this and are we trying to handle it our own way?
Listen to a few of the warnings in Scripture:
1 Peter 5:8 - Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
John 16:33 - "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."
1 Corinthians 10:13 - "No temptation has overtaken you, but such as is common to man ... "
1 Thessalonians 3:5 - "For this reason, when I could endure it no longer, I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you."
What these and other passages are attempting to do is the same thing that Jesus did for Peter – they are warnings to us that Satan is seeking to destroy us.
You may not realize it, but you have a giant bull's-eye on your back.
You are a target.
Satan and his cohorts are doing everything in their power to shoot you down.
In Ephesians 6, Paul urges us to put on the full armor of God – Why? So that we "will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one."
What that tells me is that we can either turn to God for our strength and protection or we can face the enemy in our own power – ignoring the warnings of God.
That is what Peter chose to do – and it proved disastrous for him.
Let's look at the second part of this sure recipe for disaster.
Not only did Peter ignore the warnings – he also slept when he should have been preparing himself.
Listen to some of the passages in Matthew 26
38 Then He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me. "
40 - And He came * to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? 41"Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
42He went away again a second time and prayed ...
43Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.
44 And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more.
45 Then He came to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting?
Three times, Jesus went and prayed.
Three times, he asked Peter and James and John to pray with him.
Three times they fell asleep.
I don't know if it is significant – I think it probably is – how many times did Peter deny Jesus? Three times!
Not only had Peter been warned about his ultimate failure, but he was given the opportunity to find the strength to have victory.
And what did he do? He slept.
Later, I wonder if Peter wouldn't reflect on the words of Jesus; "So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour?"
You know, I can say this in all honesty
Whenever I have truly failed the Lord
Whenever I have lost a battle against temptation
Whenever I have lost a battle against the enemy
The one thing that was missing from my life was prayer.
I believe that Peter learned something from this experience that would be with him for the rest of his life.
It is a lesson all of us must learn.
The battle is not won in the field.
It is won in the preparation for entering the field.
We wouldn’t expect a football team to take the field and play a game without preparing themselves for the competition.
We wouldn’t expect our military to recruit our young men and women and then send them to war without training them for battle and giving them the tools they need to win.
But somehow, we think that we can win our spiritual battles on a daily basis without ever taking the time to prepare ourselves for them!
Listen - We will not – we cannot – overcome temptation . . . have victory over sin . . . live a Christ-like life in our own power. Peter tried and he failed miserably.
A servant girl challenged him – and he failed – a lowly servant girl.
The man who faithfully declared to Jesus: You are the Christ, the son of the living God
The man who went up the mount of transfiguration and saw Jesus in all his glory
The man who stepped out of the boat and walked on water
This man of incredible faith faced a person that he never dreamed would cause him any fear – a lowly servant girl challenged him to admit he was a follower of Jesus Christ and he wouldn't do it.
It would happen again – and then again – and every time, Peter would become more vehement in his denial.
His voice would grow louder – his denials more violent until in the end, he was cursing and swearing “I don't know the man."
When Jesus walked past and their eyes met, Peter realized that he had failed.
He saw in Jesus eyes the hurt that he had caused.
By this time, Jesus was already weary from the long day.
He had been before the High Priest and the Sanhedrin . . . but, the look that Peter saw was not a look of exhaustion
It wasn't a look of fear from what was about to happen.
It wasn't a look of pain caused from the physical attack
It was the pain of being denied by his closest friend.
It was a look that Peter would never forget.
It was a look that caused this hardened, confident man among men to breakdown and cry.
When Peter looked into Jesus eyes, he saw the pain that he had caused and he realized that he had failed his greatest test.
Why did he fail?
Because he didn't heed the warning that Jesus had given him.
When it came to denying Jesus, Peter believed he could stand up to any force.
Nothing could ever cause him to deny his Lord.
And so, when Jesus asked him to pray – that he might not fall into temptation, Peter slept.
When the time came to take a stand – Peter – the rock – turned to Jell-o.
Could the results have been different - actually, I believe they could have been.
Let's go back to the beginning - 31"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.
Instead of Peter saying: "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death." – What would have happened if Peter had responded by saying - "Lord, help me that I might not fail you?"
Do you not think that God would have given him the strength that he needed for this hour?
Remember the passage from 1 Corinthians 10:13 ? "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man."
Do you know what the rest of that verse says? ". . . and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."
God is faithful – He will provide the way of escape – so that you will be able to endure it.
In fact, God did provide a way for Peter to escape - Jesus told him to pray that he might not enter into temptation.
But, what did Peter do – he slept.
I don't know about you, but I find this part of the story incredible.
It is such a contrast – that it cannot be missed.
In one part of the garden – you have Jesus.
He is facing the most difficult moment of his life.
What is he doing? He is fervently praying.
He is praying so hard, that he is sweating.
In fact, he is praying so hard that he is sweating blood.
The burden that He was carrying in his soul was so great . . . His prayers were so intense that His heart was beating so hard that it was forcing the blood in his capillaries around his sweat glands to be under so much pressure that they began burst.
The intensity in his prayers showed up as blood in his sweat.
This is a man who is so intent on accomplishing the will of the Father
He is so focused on not yielding to the temptation to escape the cross
That He is literally sweating blood as He prays.
And now, look at what is happening just a couple of hundred yards away.
Here, you have Peter
Like Jesus, he is facing the most difficult moment in his life.
What is he doing?
He is fervently, earnestly . . . sleeping.
He isn't sweating blood – in fact he isn't sweating anything.
He figures he can handle it.
As the night unfolds look at what happens.
Jesus – who has sought the Father's will – who has struggled in prayer, is able to stand up to the betrayal by his closest followers
The accusation of the priests don’t faze Him
He stands firm during the trials before Ananias, Caiaphas, the Sanhedrin, Pontius Pilate, King Herod
The cruelty of the Roman soldiers and the people of Israel are no match for his determination to accomplish God’s will
He willingly, gracefully endures
o The mocking
o The cursing
o The crown of thorns
o The torture of scourging
o . . . and even the cross.
And then there’s Peter . . .
Peter, who has sought the comfort of sleep isn't able to withstand a lowly servant girl.
Why? Because he ignored Jesus warning and slept when he should have been praying.
You know, as I finish this message, I have to admit that I am concerned.
I am concerned about my life
I am concerned about my family
I am concerned about you
I am concerned about your family
I am concerned about the church of Jesus Christ
I am concerned about this church
I am concerned about this community
I am concerned about our nation.
Why? Because I see Peter in all of us.
For too long, we have been ignoring the warnings of Scripture.
For too long we have been sleeping when we should have been praying.
For too long, Satan has been victorious in our lives, in our homes, in our schools, in our businesses and in our government.
It is time for us to wake up – to take the warnings seriously – to get on our knees before God and then to go out and take back what we have lost to our enemy.
For too long - we have been on the losing end of an eternal battle.
For too long - we have cowered in fear of the lowly servant girls of the world.
Let's face it – like Craig Childs – we have a lion standing before us, waiting to pounce, waiting to devour us.
We have a choice, we can do what God has called us to do and earnestly fervently pray
We can take up the armor of God and prepare ourselves for the battle
We can stand up against our enemy in the power of God or we can let him win.
The call on our lives . . . the call on this church is that beginning today
Beginning right now
We must rise to the occasion
We must come before God and humbly admit that we have been ignoring the warnings – we have been sleeping when we should have been praying
We must seek His forgiveness
We must seek the filling of the Holy Spirit
We must put on the armor of God and rise up and have victory through the strength provided for us through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
It’s time we attacked the gates of hell and have the victory that was assured to us through the power and resurrection our Lord Jesus Christ!
Peter warns us: Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
I believe that the words that Jesus spoke to Peter just before they went to the garden are the words that He speaks to us today:
Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail."
May our faith not fail.
Let’s pray.
