THE 3 FIRES OF PETER’S PERFECTING
Lk. 22:54-62
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: Father’s Day
1. Doctor: “Your Dad has been in a coma for nine days. We’re running out of ideas to cause him to regain consciousness.”
Son: “I think I know something that might do it.” He walked over and turned down the A/C to 65 degrees. The Dad instantly opened one eye. [RD, June 2019]
2. “Remember: What Dad really wants is a nap. Really.” —Dave Barry
3. “The older I get, the smarter my father seems to get.” —Tim Russert
4. “I gave my father $100 and said, ‘Buy yourself something that will make your life easier.’ So he went out and bought a present for my mother.” —Rita Rudner. HAPPY FATHER’S DAY GUYS!
B. PETER: A CHRISTIAN HEAVY WEIGHT. We all know that Peter was a Christian heavy-weight – a man mightily used by God.
1. EXAMPLES:
a. Preached & 3,000 Saved – Acts 2:41
b. His shadow would heal the sick – Acts 5:15
2. BUT PETER HAD NOT ALWAYS BEEN SO USEFUL TO GOD. Before, he had been a doubter. One who cursed and swore, & even denied he knew the Lord Jesus.
3. WHAT BROUGHT ABOUT THIS TRANSFORMATION IN PETER’S LIFE?
4. GOD SENT 3 FIRES INTO PETER’S LIFE. We all know the power of fire. FIRE HAS POWER TO:
a. To purify or consume
b. To forge or develop (manufacturing)
c. To Empower, To Energize (like electricity).
5. In 51 days, Peter visited 3 fires that were to transform his life & make him the man God wanted him to be. God wants us to visit those 3 fires too!
6. So let’s consider the “3 Fires of Peter’s Perfecting.”
I. THE FIRST FIRE: OF “PURGING”
A. TEXT
When Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, He was taken to the house of the high priest. “Peter followed at a distance. And when some there had KINDLED A FIRE in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.” But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said. A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” “Man, I am not!” Peter replied. About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.” Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.” Lk. 22:54-62
B. DEVOTION TESTED
1. Peter had been in ministry with the Lord Jesus for 3 years. He probably thought he knew it all – that he had arrived.
2. But it had been easy to serve the Lord in those days – because Jesus was popular. But the situation all changed with the arrest of the Master.
3. As Peter stood and warmed himself (Jn. 18:18) at the fire of the Lord’s enemies, Peter was faced with the decision to boldly stand up for Jesus or to cower and deny Him.
4. Sadly, Peter gave in to peer pressure, and denied he even knew the Lord. This happened because Peter straddled the fence.
5. ILLUS.: BUILDING TOO CLOSE TO THE EDGE
a. Many years ago a man named Simpson built a house on the Canford Cliffs, near Bournemouth, England. Friends tried to warn him he had chosen a site too near the edge of the cliff, that landslides frequently occurred along the coast, and the very weight of the house would precipitate such a catastrophe.
b. But Mr. Simpson wouldn't listen. He built a very beautiful house there and for a time all went well. Then the inevitable happened, and the ominous warnings all came true. All that remains of his house is a heap of ruins on the beach known as "Simpson's Folly." [Anonymous] WE MUST NOT BUILD TOO CLOSE TO THE EDGE OF GODLINESS!
6. 1 Jn. 2:15 says, “If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” We must choose one or the other.
C. PURGING OF THE OLD LIFE
1. PURGING is recognizing the areas of sin in our lives and working with God to get them out. James 1:21 says to rid ourselves “of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the Word planted in you, which can save you.”
2. You can’t hold onto the world and also hold onto eternal life. Choose which one you want more.
3. This fire caused the death of the old Peter and the beginning of the new Peter. Has that happened to you?
II. PETER’S SECOND FIRE: OF OBEDIENCE
A. OBEDIENCE IS THE REAL PROOF OF LOVE
1. This fire occurred on the shores of the Sea of Galilee after Jesus’ resurrection. Peter and 5 disciples had gone fishing & caught nothing. A man on the shore told them to fish the other side. Suddenly their nets were jammed with fish. It was Jesus on the shore!
2. Jesus had built a FIRE of coals and had fish cooking on it. Around this fire Jesus asked Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’ [Meaning, more than all the other disciples – as he had boasted (Mt. 26:33)]. ‘Yes, Lord,’ he said, ‘you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my lambs.’” [SAID 3X] John 21:15-17.
3. Church, if you love Jesus, you ought to say so. It’s easy to SAY “I love You,” but the proof is – “Are you obeying Christ?” Jesus said, “If you love Me you will obey what I command” Jn. 14:15,23.
4. IT’S AMAZING THAT ALL CREATED THINGS OBEY CHRIST:
a. The Sun, moon, and stars obey Him.
b. The winds & waves obey Him.
c. The angels & demons obey Him.
d. The animals obey Him.
e. The only creatures that don’t obey Him is us!
B. A POSITIVE CALL
1. The Lord Jesus doesn’t just want us to quit sinning, He has a work for each of us to do. Will we obey?
2. Jesus told Peter [God’s Word Trans.], “Peter... “when you were young, you would get ready to go where you wanted. But when you’re old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will get you ready to take you where you don’t want to go” [speaking of Peter’s crucifixion] John 21:18. “Then he said to him, “Follow me!” Jn. 21:19. Peter was called to do Jesus’ bidding, not his own.
3. The fire of Obedience in our life will cause us to do God’s will, even in the little things. Is there something God’s asked you to do, or NOT do, and you haven’t obeyed Him? has put on your heart to do for Him? Have you been to this fire yet?
4. ILLUS. Jed Harris thought he was couldn’t hear. He was tested by an audiologist. After examination, the doctor said, “Mr. Harris, there’s nothing wrong with your hearing. You just don’t listen!” [Today in the Word, 6-9-92.] Could that be our problem?
III. PETER’S THIRD FIRE: OF EMPOWERING
A. IDENTITY OF THE 3RD FIRE
1. TEXT: “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” Acts 2:1-4.
2. Jesus told Peter, “Go into all the world & preach the Gospel to every creature.” The added, “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but [stay] in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” Lk. 24:49.
3. Listen; Peter had been to 2 fires, but the Lord had a 3rd fire he had to visit; the Fire of Holy Spirit Empowering.
4. It’s good to be purged from the world. It’s good to be dedicated to the work of the Gospel. But there’s something more: you need to be filled with the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, which is evidenced by speaking with other tongues.
B. BENEFITS OF THIS EMPOWERING. THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL:
1. HELP YOU LIVE ABOVE A LIFE OF SIN.
a. It will make you one of the “sanctified ones.” Get full of the Holy Spirit and you won’t want to sin!
b. The Holy Spirit will put strength in your soul, it’ll grease your wheels, put wind in your sails, and conviction in your spirit!
2. THE HOLY SPIRIT HELPS YOU PRAY WITH A NEW POWER.
a. “Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” Rom. 8:26.
b. “They spoke as the Spirit gave the utterance.” Acts 2:4. All of the apostles and the early Church spoke in tongues. St. Augustine, 4 centuries later, said they still expected new converts to speak in tongues when hands were laid on them. 1 Cor. 12 & 14 are devoted to this teaching. The purpose was to help us witness (Acts 1:8); we haven’t finished that job yet! We still need the Spirit.
3. HE’LL GIVE YOU GREATER POWER WITHIN THAN THE SOCIETY/ CULTURE AROUND US. 1 John 4:4 says, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
C. ILLUSTRATION
1. A family lived on a peninsula overlooking a major ocean trade route, where they could daily see ships passing. A terrible storm hit and the winds and waves were frightening in their ferocity.
2. The eight-year-old son was looking out the window and was amazed to see a ship heading straight in to the cresting waves and forceful winds, yet still making headway. He asked, "Dad, how can that ship stay on its course and keep going against such terrible winds and waves?"
3. The dad answered, "Because the power within her enables her to overcome the opposing forces outside. There is greater force inside the ship, than there is outside!"
4. This is the only way Christians will be able to make headway against our culture. The Apostle John said it best, "Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world” 1 Jn. 4:4. The One who is in me is more powerful than any force in the universe. No angels, no demons, nothing of the created order – is greater than the One indwelling me! If I’m prayed up, no power can defeat me!
5. “Pastor, I think I have enough of the Holy Spirit.” Well, it doesn’t matter what you think, but what God thinks. God knows that if you’re ever persecuted, you WILL need all of His Spirit you can get! Peter got that power and it made all the difference!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Carol Devecka had just finished serving dinner and still had a house-full of company, when she heard God telling her to pack up the remaining food and put it in her car. Her mother said, "There’s still people sitting at the table, what are you doing?" She answered, "God’s told me to pack up the food and take it somewhere, with a gallon of milk.” "Where?” "I really don't know yet! But God will lead me, I’m sure."
2. She got in her car, “OK God, where are you sending me?” “Bricktown” was His answer, a community about 20 minutes away. God told her to drive down a lonely road & pointed out a run-down house. There were no lights on.
3. God said, "KNOCK ON THE DOOR!" “KNOCK AGAIN!" No answer! She went back to her car and asked, "What do I do now?" God said, "KNOCK AGAIN! Finally, a man opened the door and asked what she wanted.
4. She said, “The Lord sent me here with dinner for your family, because God wants you to know He cares for you!” The man stared and said, "I can't believe this. I lost my job and we have nothing to eat. Our baby has been crying, and now here you’re at our door!"
5. She brought in the food and they gave the baby some milk. Carol prayed that God would turn things around for them. As she was leaving, she heard the husband say to his wife, "See, honey? I told you God cares. We thought he wasn't paying attention to us, but he sent this lady here to make sure we knew."
B. THE CALL
1. Have you received God’s 3 fires? The Fire of Purging? (Surrendered) The fire of Obedience: Have you died out to your old life and wishes, and live only to fulfill the will of Christ for your life?
2. Have you been to the Fire of Empowering? Have you sought and received the baptism in the Holy Spirit and the power it brings?
3. Let’s come to the front and pray and let God apply these three fires to our lives and make us the men and women He wants us to be.
4. PRAYER
