In the life of the child of God, failure need never be final. You should never really be defeated by failure. The truth is, you can be the victor over life’s failure rather than its victims. Because as a believer in Jesus Christ, victory is your spiritual birth-right. Now we live in a day that we hear over and over again; that everybody loves a winner. As I go through life, I’ve discovered that more than loving a winner, people basically love to see that person who has risen up from the ashes like a phoenix; stronger, wiser, and better. Nowhere is more aptly portrayed than in the life of Simon Peter. Peter, in Luke chapter 22, fails the Lord miserably. The Lord had sat at the table that night with His disciples and said unto them that one you will betray me and another one of you will deny me. Because of me, all the rest of you will become frighten, afraid, and run for cover. And it was Peter, and you know that Peter was no different from many of us; Peter had a problem that he oftentimes put his mouth in motion before he ever put his mind in gear. And Peter blurted out, “No, Lord! I can’t speak for these other fellas. I don’t know what they’re going to do! But I’ll NEVER deny you. Fact about it; I’m ready to go to prison with you. I’m ready to even DIE with you.” And Jesus simply says to Peter, “Peter be quiet. Peter Shut up. I hear what you’re saying but I already know what you’re going to do.” And literally he says, “Before the roster crows you shall deny me three times.” Have you ever wondered what happened to Peter? This fellow how had followed the Lord so close. Who was not simply a disciple but was a part of that inner circle of disciples. What caused Peter to fail? What caused Peter to fail so miserably as it relates to Jesus? Now you will remember when you look at Luke chapter 22; Peter had been well warned. Jesus had told him, you know, before the roster crows you are going to deny me three times. Peter stands up and boastfully says, “No Lord, I’ll never deny you. I’m ready to go to prison with you. I’m ready…to die with you.” That was Peter talking when he was in close fellowship with the Lord Jesus. That was Peter at one of his better moments. That was Peter at his high moment. He was at the table with Jesus when he boasts about, “No Lord, I’m ready to go to prison with you. I’m ready to die with you. I will NEVER deny you.” That was Peter talking when he was in close fellowship with the Lord Jesus; at one of his better moments; at one of his high moments. And all of us know what it is to have one of those high moments; those better moments; those moments when we are in close fellowship with the Lord and we tend to stand up and boast in our faith. But we also know, like Peter, what it is to have those other moments; those moments when we don’t stand so tall. Those moments when we say things and we act differently then we did when we were in close fellowship with the Lord. So the question is: what leads to Peter’s denial of the Lord? What caused Peter to overdose on self-confidence? Peter promised more than the other disciples but he performed the least that night. What happened to Peter? Let me give you a few suggestions. First of all, it begins with a disconnected prayer life. You may remember that earlier in the chapter that when Jesus got to Gethsemane, He took in with Him into that garden Peter, James, and John. He goes and He prays and He rises from prayer and He goes and He finds the disciples asleep; Peter, James, and John asleep. But when you read the Gospel, Jesus doesn’t address James and John as it relates to their slumber: He says, “Peter,” He singles him out. He says, “Could you not watch with me but for one hour?” (Mark 14:37) Leaves, goes prays a second time, comes back and finds them asleep again. Awakes them and He goes and prays for a third time and for a third time He comes back and finds them asleep. And He says, “Rise, let us be on our way, my betrayer is at hand.” If you do the right thing at the right time you won’t be guilty of doing the wrong thing in the wrong place. Because as Jesus is on His way out of that garden, He is met by this mob-crowd being lead by Judas. Judas betrays Him with a kiss. And as those guards lay hold on Jesus to arrest Him; Peter gets caught up in the excitement of the moment, pulls out his knife and slashes off a fellow’s ear. And Jesus says. “Peter, put up your sword. For he who lives by the sword shall die by the sword. Peter, put up your knife. If you had prayed! When it was prayer time, you wouldn’t be acting like this now. Peter, I didn’t ask you to pray all night – just one hour. And if you had prayed that one-hour with me you would understand what is going on. If you had prayed when I asked you. Peter, you’d understand that My Father has this thing all figured out! He intends for me to die at Calvary but you’re trying to get me killed in a midnight brawl! Put up your knife Peter! As Pastor Graham said on last Sunday, if you do the right thing at the right time; you’ll never do the wrong thing in the wrong place. Peter failed first of all because of his prayer-less-ness. And I need to remind you that none of us are any stronger than our prayer life. AMEN. Then the Bible says that they arrest Jesus and they lead Him off towards the Judgment Hall. And Luke says in verse 54 that Peter followed but he followed afar off. He failed not only because of his ‘prayer-less-ness’ but he failed secondly because he became a distant disciple. He followed but he followed afar off. He stayed close enough to see what was going to happen but at the same time he stayed far enough behind that he would not be identified with Jesus because as far as Peter was concerned following Jesus was now a lost cause and there was no reason to further be identified with the man, He’s already been arrested. He’s in trouble, there is no reason for me to get in trouble; and so he became a distant disciple.
So I raise the question to you this morning, how close are you following the Lord Jesus? How wide is the gap between you and Jesus? Do you not know that whenever you stop attending church you are following afar off? Whenever you stop praying, you’re following afar off. Whenever you stop paying the tithe, you are following afar off. Peter became a distant disciple. But not only does he become a distance disciple, he also becomes a disguised disciple. As they are moving Jesus from Judgment Hall to Judgment Hall, the chill of the evening begins to take its toll; and the guards build a fire in the courtyard. And the Bible says that Peter stood with them and warmed himself round about the fire. He stood around that fire pretending to be just another person in the crowd. He no longer identifies with the Lord; he simply stands with them rather than with Him! And whenever you follow the Lord afar off, you will ultimately wind up standing with them rather than with Him! Not only does he try to hide in the crowd, and that’s where many of us are today, rather than making a bold stand for the Lord; like Simon Peter, we’re simply hiding in the crowd. But he tries to warm himself by the fire of unholy fellowship. And the problem with that is if you try to warm yourself by the fire of unholy fellowship, like Peter, you might get burned. He’s warming himself around about the fire, and first there is this little maid who looks through the flame and catches a glimpse of Peter’s face, walks up to him and says, “Man what are you doing here?” Peter looked at her and said. “Me?” “Yeah, you. You’re one of his disciples.” Peter says, “I don’t know the man.” After some time an unidentified fella catches Peter’s face through the flame and says to him, “Man what are you doing here?” Peter says, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “Aren’t you one of His disciples?” Peter says, “I don’t even know this man.” And then there is this third man, he’s one of the guards of Kay-i-phus; fact about it, I believe it is John who says that he was a kinsman to the fella whose ear Peter had earlier cut off. And if anybody was going to identify him this night other than that man who got his ear cut off it would be this man. “Oh yeah, you ARE one of His disciples. Fact about it you’re the one who cut my cousin’s ear off. I know you’re one of His disciples!” And the word says that Peter began to curse! Saying, “I don’t even know the man.” He moved from being a distant disciple, to a disguised disciple, and ultimately to a denying disciple. Peter says, “I don’t even know the man.” One of them says, “You’re a Galilean. Your speech betrays you.” Maybe I ought to raise the question this morning; “Is there anything that absolutely identifies you with Jesus?” They say to Simon Peter, “Your speech betrays you.” Another one says, “Didn’t I see you in the garden with the man?” And not once, not twice but three times Peter denies his Lord. And as he denies Him that third time the Bible says that they were moving Jesus through that courtyard, and that roster began to crow. And as that roster crowed Jesus turned to look on Peter; and the Bible says that Peter remembered the word of the Lord. How the Lord had told him, “that before this night was over you are going to deny me three times.” And the Bible says that Peter went out and he wept bitterly. Peter had failed his Lord. And yet, when you read the Bible you discover that Peter made one of the greatest comebacks of all time. Because this same preacher who failed the Lord that night, got programmed to preach at Pentecost. Now what, shall we say to these things? How can we recover from failure? If the Lord says anything to you and me in this text today, He reminds us that in spite of life’s failures. In spite of your sins, there is a place where you can begin again. And that’s the good news of the Gospel; if you are here today and you are without the Lord Jesus Christ in your life, the word of God for you today is that you can begin again. Maybe you’re here this morning and you’ve backslidden; you’ve walked away from the Lord and from His church; the good news of the Gospel is you can begin again. Really that’s why we’re today, that’s why we get excited about the Lord and His church because we found it to be a place where we can begin again. But the question still remains, how can we recover? Let me lift up a few things and then I’ll be through. The Bible says that as they were moving Jesus through that courtyard, and Peter denied the Lord for the third time, that roster began to crow. And God literally spoke to Simon Peter through the crowing of that roster. God can use events like that to get our attention. God can use events like that to cause us to think about our soul. And bless be anything that causes us to think about the condition of our soul! Be it the voice of a preacher, the song of a choir, be it a face, a place, or a word of testimony, whatever God chooses to use to get our attention. And the Bible says that as that roster crowed Jesus simply looked on Simon Peter. And the Bible says that Peter remembered the word of the Lord and he went out and wept bitterly. So first of all, your recovery begins with your response to Jesus. When Jesus looked on Simon Peter it broke Peter’s heart. Oh the power of a look. That look broke Peter’s heart. Now have you thought about it; earlier that evening, Jesus surely had looked on Judas. He had washed his feet; surely He had looked on Judas. Judas betrayed Him with a kiss; surely He had looked on Judas. What’s the difference of Jesus looking at Peter and His looking at Judas? He looked at Judas and Judas rejected the look! He looked at Peter and Peter responded to the look because the Word says that he remembered the word of the Lord and he went out and wept bitterly. So the second thing in our recovery process is that we respond to Jesus we must then remember His word. For the Bible tells us that Peter remembered the word of the Lord. Have you ever been in Peter’s predicament? Have you ever messed up and the moment you messed up you remembered the word of the Lord? Now I’m about to step on some of y’alls toes, so if you can’t say Amen then say Ouch. There was a time when we placed emphasis on remembering God’s word. I remember every summer that I would spend with my aunt and uncle in North Carolina, every morning before my Uncle Joe left for work he would say, “Boy, I want you to read something from the Bible and recite it to me when I get home.” Now he never wrote what I said down but he had one of the best memories, he would always remember what I said the night before, heck sometimes he remembered what I had said the summer before. So I only got away with “Jesus wept” once. The point is, he saw the need for me to commit the word of God to memory. Now we live in a day and we live in a time when our young people can sing all the words to songs on the radio; and cannot recite the Model Prayer. Can’t recite the 23rd Psalm! Something is wrong. Our emphasis has shifted and we no longer see an importance on remembering the word of God.
We don’t get out in time for Sunday school. We can’t make it out for Bible Study. Oh but you need the word. The Psalmist says that it will be a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your pathway. Oh you need the word. You need it, not just in your hand carrying it around; you need it in your head so that you can remember it! But not only do you need it in your hand and in your head but make sure you get it down in your heart! For David said that’s where he hid that he might not sin against the Lord. Peter remembered Jesus’ words and then the word says he went out and wept bitterly. So not only did Peter remember but he removed. And maybe there is somebody here this morning; if you are going to be restored, if you are going to recover, you need to remove yourself from some place. Where is that place where you know the Lord is not pleased with your going there? Where is that place where you can’t even go in the light of day? You’ve got to wait until darkness falls and on your way there you’re looking this way and that way. You think you spot somebody you know you have to drive on pass that place. Where is that place you wouldn’t want to be caught dead in? The truth of the matter is you ought not go anywhere that you are not willing to die because you don’t know where you are going to meet death! Somebody here needs to remove yourself from some place but somebody here needs to remove themselves from some possession. What is it that comes between you and the Lord? What is it that keeps you from being all that God wants you to be, doing all that God wants you to do and having all that God wants you to have? What is that thing that possesses you rather than you possessing it? Maybe you need to remove yourself from place. Maybe you need to remove yourself from some possession. But thirdly, maybe you need to remove yourself from somebody.
Who is that person that comes between you and the Lord? Oh, that man that ain’t yours and never will be yours. That woman don’t really belong to brother, she belongs to someone else! Maybe it’s not some place. Maybe it’s not some possession. It maybe some person. Regardless the Bible said that he remembered, he removed, and then thirdly he repented. Peter shed tears of repentance. Peter’s heart was broken over his sin. The Bible says that he went out and he wept bitterly! He remembered, he removed, and then he repented. Now not only did Peter fail the Lord but I remind us again that Judas failed the Lord that same night. Isn’t amazing that Judas and Peter both failed Jesus the same night but did not have the same outcome. Judas failed the Lord and his failure became final. Because the Bible says that instead of repenting he went out and hanged himself. But what did Peter do? He went out and he wept bitterly. And he got restored. Because in John chapter 21 the Bible says that after that Resurrection Morning, when the disciples meet Jesus on the shore, when the list is called of the disciples, John says that Peter was right there with them.
So Peter got re-connected. And the reason that many of us. Will never recover. From our fumbles. Is because we go home. And we sit down. And we say. I’m not going back. But when the disciples assembled themselves together again. Peter got re-connected. And not only did he get re-connected. He got restored. For in John chapter 21, Jesus asked three times. “Peter. Do. You. Love Me?” And it’s interesting that He asked him three times, “Do you love me?” Warren Steward says that He asked him once. For every. Denial. I want you to know. That you can be. Restored. Because our God’s grace is. Sufficient. And not only did he get re-connected and restored. But he got. Re-commissioned. For Jesus said, “Peter. If you love me. Feed. My sheep.” Though he had fumbled. Peter got reassigned and re-commissioned. And that’s what I love about the Lord. Though we failed. He’s in the restoring business. And though you’ve failed in life. The Lord says you can still be usable. And maybe that’s God’s word for somebody here this morning. You’ve failed in life but the good news of the Gospel is we serve a God of a second chances. Not only second chances but third, fourth, fifth and on and on. How do you know preacher? I know because the word says in Proverbs, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again.” Anybody here knows. He will give you. Another chance? And that’s why I get all excited about the grace of God! Yes, I know this morning. Because of His grace. He’s looked beyond all my faults. And He’s seen my very needs. And I’m mighty glad. I’ve been given. Another chance. And maybe that’s a word for somebody here this morning. You’ve failed along the way. But you can recover. From your failure. Have I got a witness. For when it was all over. Peter got a programmed for Pentecost. Isn’t amazing. The who one failed the worst. Is the one the Lord left in charge? And that was because. Other folks were going to stumble. Along the way. And God needed somebody. Who had already been restored. To let them know. That God is in the restoring business. But the problem is. Many of us want to live as like we have. Never made any mistakes in life. We’re living like. We’ve been holy. All of our lives. But everybody in here. You’re an ‘ex-something’. Because that’s what God’s church is made of is people who are ‘ex-somethings’. But don’t beat yourself up over your past.
