The 3 Fires Of Peter’s Perfecting

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.