Forgiven, restored and called
John 13, 18 and 21
As we near the kickoff of our Old-fashioned Tent Revival
I pray you have been seeking God
I pray you have examined your own heart
I pray that you have mad a commitment to allow revival first in your own heart
Then you have sought God’s guidance in inviting people to come and be a part of God’s revival
This is week three of our preaching about revival
And Butch covered some different aspects this Wednesday
Patti and I were in Colorado at a Pastors retreat
Getting some rest and relaxation
But also seeking God’s guidance in our own lives
Your lives
And the life of the church
Mostly we looked deep at our own relationship with God
Who we are in him
And how we glorify him simply by being his sons and daughters
You will hear much more on that in the days, weeks and years to come
As we fellowshipped with other Pastors and their wives
As we enjoyed the company of the amazing staff
Ate great food
Had amazing times of worship
And simply sat and took in the majesty of God in that place
Sometimes in a rocking chair
Other times on the back of a horse
We sought God and, in the quietness,
Of both that place and of our minds and hearts
We were able to hear God in a way that is often difficult in our busy sometimes crazy life
Patti may get a bit upset with me when I tell
You that on our first night there, she missed the last step on the stairs leading down to our bedroom in the amazing cabin that had been provided for us
She was not hurt badly
But still had enough pain to keep here from doing all the things she had planned
And God spoke to her in that place and said
Be still
I need you to just be still
And know me more
Psalm 46:10 was on the gate coming in
“Be still and know that I am God”
It was left as a note on our bed at turndown
On the first night
And was a constant topic in this time of healing for the men and women who were there
For restoration
For rest
For re- affirmation
And for spiritual and physical revival
Our revival was on my mind a lot
And God in the quietness of that place
Spoke to me as well
Let me get back to a starting place and then I will share with you what God showed me
The first week of our sermons on revival
We took a road though a valley full of dry bones
The nation of Israel
Had lost its desire for God
And as a result, lost the blessings he had for them
Mostly in the way of closeness to him
This is where we find our true blessing
It is in the right fellowship
In the right relationship
With God
That we find all that we seek
Peace
Comfort
Love
Guidance
Direction
Purpose
And so much more
We studied from Ezekiel’s prophesy how in order to have revival there are things that must take place
In order to have revival we must have the
Preaching
Teaching and study of God’s word
His word says we are to hide the word in our hearts
To crave it like a deer longs for water
That we are to use it as a sword for protection and defense against the attacks of Satan
And that the word is how God speaks to us the loudest today
And apart from the word
Communication breaks down
And we can’t hear God
Next, we saw the second part of communication
Prayer
How we speak to God
And we saw how God longs to hear from us
And how apart from prayer
Communication also breaks down
And revival does not occur
Next, we studied how God’s power is a must for revival
In Ezekiel’s vision
God breathed life into those dry bones
And they were revived
God breathed life in the dust that became Adam
And God breaths life into us when we accept his gift of salvation
By giving us his breath
His Spirit
To dwell in our hearts
And then we saw how repentance is a must for revival
We must turn from our sins
Turn back to God
And walk in the newness that his breath brings
In simple terms
We need to live like saved people when we are saved
The next week We looked at David and some of the mistakes he made
And how through Repentance
God revived him
And how he can do the same for us
When we admit our sin
Take responsibility for our sin
Cry out for his mercy
Ask for his forgiveness
Receive his forgiveness
His restoration
His revival
And then once again
Walk in the path of righteousness
Today’s sermon
Is about a man we all know
Aside from Jesus
He is quite likely my favorite bible character
Probably because I can relate to him and his mistakes
And see hope in his wins
His name is Simon Peter
We just recently finished a study of his 1st book
And saw Peter in his restored
Revived
Re- affirmed state
But Peter was not always the “Rock “that Jesus named him
In his early ministry
He was impulsive
He was often over eager
Often focused on the less important things
His story is so much like mine
And so much like some of yours that I can’t help but smile
As I think of him opening his mouth and inserting his foot
Rebuking Jesus
Jumping out of the boat twice
Cutting the ear off a man in the garden
Peter as I have said many times
Was a knot head
Until
Jesus
Changed him into the “Rock”
Peter’s path was sometimes rocky
Sometimes rough
And parts of his path
I know he wished he could Change
If he had it to do over again
I think he would have never denied Jesus
He would have never run away
The first thing I want to look at today is his denial of Jesus
Then I want to look at another common story on a beach on the sea of Galilee
Sometime later
Please open your bibles to John chapter 13 verses 31-38
Jesus had just shared the Last supper with his disciples
Judas had left and was on his way to betray Jesus
And Jesus was preparing the remaining 11 for the work ahead
Let’s read john 13:31-38
31 As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, “The time has come for the Son of Man[a] to enter into his glory, and God will be glorified because of him. 32 And since God receives glory because of the Son,[b] he will give his own glory to the Son, and he will do so at once. 33 Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. And as I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for me, but you can’t come where I am going. 34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
36 Simon Peter asked, “Lord, where are you going?”
And Jesus replied, “You can’t go with me now, but you will follow me later.”
37 “But why can’t I come now, Lord?” he asked. “I’m ready to die for you.”
38 Jesus answered, “Die for me? I tell you the truth, Peter—before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.
Peter in his pride
Says
Not me Jesus
I’m all in
I will die for you
And Jesus in cowboy terms
Says
I don’t think so Peter
I am imagining how Peter must have felt
God’s word does not say specifically how he felt
But he must have been crushed
He had just vocalized his support of Jesus
And Jesus said
Nope, ain’t happing
I believe with all that was going on the thought of Jesus’ words soon became a distant memory
Until----------------
In the next scene
Jesus has been arrested
He is being illegally tried for crimes he did not commit
And Peter had followed
At a distance
Far from giving his life for him
And now was trying to keep from being noticed
For fear that he also might be arrested
Let’s pick up in John 18:15-27
Simon Peter followed Jesus, as did another of the disciples. That other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, so he was allowed to enter the high priest’s courtyard with Jesus. 16 Peter had to stay outside the gate. Then the disciple who knew the high priest spoke to the woman watching at the gate, and she let Peter in. 17 The woman asked Peter, “You’re not one of that man’s disciples, are you?”
“No,” he said, “I am not.”
18 Because it was cold, the household servants and the guards had made a charcoal fire. They stood around it, warming themselves, and Peter stood with them, warming himself.
19 Inside, the high priest began asking Jesus about his followers and what he had been teaching them. 20 Jesus replied, “Everyone knows what I teach. I have preached regularly in the synagogues and the Temple, where the people[a] gather. I have not spoken in secret. 21 Why are you asking me this question? Ask those who heard me. They know what I said.”
22 Then one of the Temple guards standing nearby slapped Jesus across the face. “Is that the way to answer the high priest?” he demanded.
23 Jesus replied, “If I said anything wrong, you must prove it. But if I’m speaking the truth, why are you beating me?”
24 Then Annas bound Jesus and sent him to Caiaphas, the high priest.
25 Meanwhile, as Simon Peter was standing by the fire warming himself, they asked him again, “You’re not one of his disciples, are you?”
He denied it, saying, “No, I am not.”
26 But one of the household slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Didn’t I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus?” 27 Again Peter denied it. And immediately a rooster crowed.
Peter the disciple who had so boldly said
Not me Lord
I’ve got your back
Had just denied that he even knew Jesus
He had fallen asleep three times in the garden when he was supposed to be watching
And now he out of fear denies Jesus
Not once but three times
Just as Jesus had said he would
Luke records the best visual of what Peter must have felt
Luke 22:60-62
60 But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.
61 At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.” 62 And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly.
Listen to me
Peter was broken
Peter was ashamed
Guilt ridden
He must have felt as if he could never do anything right again
He had failed
He had failed
He had failed
He had broken his promise
Bailed when the water got hot
And God’s word said
As Jesus looked at him
It all washed over him
And went away weeping
Sobbing
Bawling
Over the next day he watched as Jesus suffered and died
He watched as he was taken down and placed in a tomb
He saw the risen Jesus
And al the while he remembered the words of Jesus
And all the while he was broken
Let’s jump forward in the story
The time is after Jesus’ resurrection
He had appeared to the disciples a couple of times
And had told them to go to Galilee and wait for him there
And so, they did
But once again
Peter had to be a knot head
Jesus had said wait
Just wait
“Just be still”
And Peter
In his mind ---having failed at this ministry thing
Went back to what he knew
He went fishing
Jesus said wait
Peter fished instead
I know how he must have felt
“well I’ve failed at everything else
I’ll just go back to what I know
John 21:1-14
Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee.[a] This is how it happened. 2 Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin),[b] Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.
3 Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.”
“We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.
4 At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. 5 He called out, “Fellows,[c] have you caught any fish?”
“No,” they replied.
6 Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.
7 Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore. 8 The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards[d] from shore. 9 When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread.
10 “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus said. 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn’t torn.
12 “Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. 14 This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead.
Everything I have told you this morning was leading up to this moment
Peter
Still broken
Still ashamed
Still guilt ridden
Still feeling he has no value
No worth
Peter the fisherman
No longer feeling he was worthy to be an apostle
Has just met with Jesus
Just eaten with Jesus
And now Jesus does something that is amazing
Verses15-17
After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?[a]”
“Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.”
“Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.
16 Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
“Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.”
“Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.
17 A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.
You have all heard this story
It is commonly called the restoration of Peter
And Jesus does restore Peter
Peter was broken
Emotionally
Spiritually
He had failed
He had made lots of mistakes
And he was busted
And Jesus said
It’s ok Peter
But here is what I heard the loudest on the mountain last week
Jesus re- affirmed Peter
I love this part
You see he could have restored Peter
And Peter could have gotten up and left feeling better about himself
His situation
No longer guilt ridden
And went back to fishing
Peter could have been restored and still believed he had messed up his chance to truly live for God
To serve Jesus
To be an apostle
But Jesus in this moment
Re- affirmed his call
In these verses Jesus 3 times says
If you love me feed me sheep
What he is saying Guys
And I hope this hit you like it hit me
Is yes, I know you failed
And yes, I knew you would
But that has changed nothing
My love for you has not changed
And my call for your life has not changed
Nothing has changed
Peter was restored
Then he was re- affirmed
Then he was revived
Looking later at the boom of Acts we see
Peter – the Apostle
Boldly doing what he was called to do
And we see lives being changed
Here is where I wanted to get to today
Have you failed Jesus, we all have?
Made mistakes--
Denied him if not verbally at least in our actions
Disobeyed him
Maybe you feel you have failed even to the point where you feel he no longer can use you?
Are you living in guilt and shame?
He wants to restore you- that’s called forgiveness
He wants you to cry out to him
To jump out of the boat and run to him for restoration
He will restore you
He will free you from the bondage of guilt and shame
Emotionally and Spiritually
And that would be much more than we deserve
But then he wants to reaffirm you and your call
You messed up
Feed my sheep
You made mistakes
Feed my sheep
You ---------
Feed my sheep
We can’t do anything to change the way Jesus loves us
How much he loves us
Or even his use for us
In our brokenness
He says feed my sheep
In His righteousness
Not ours
We have that ability
Listen to me
If you, are here today and don’t know Jesus as your savior
He has a call for you
And
His call for you has not changed either
He came to seek and to save the lost
And call you to salvation
Will you jump out of the boat?
Will you run to him?
Will you let him reconcile you to God?
Restore you to proper relationship with him
Close from the heart
Pray
