The Faithful Friend For The Fallen

The Faithful Friend for the Fallen

John 21:18-24

18 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.

19 This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.

20 Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?

21 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?

22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.

23 Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?

24 This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.

Intro:

1. All have sinned and have fallen short is what the Bible teaches. Our righteousness is as filthy rags.

2. What leads us to fail the Lord and to fall? Carnality – which is being more concerned with the things of the flesh and this world than the Spirit and the things of God.

3. The person we are studying this morning is Peter who denied the Lord three times after he said he never would forsake the Lord.

4. May I suggest that Peter had fallen into a carnal state of mind that led to his failure. How? He was more concerned about his flesh and the possible politics against him than he was about confessing the Lord and continuing to follow the Lord.

5. I see church people who are so carnally minded, and it concerns me for them because I know it can lead to a fall!

** Understand something though. Even though I see your carnal followings, faults, and failures, I will still pray for you, preach in love to you, and be your friend.

6. Let me list some words that defines what carnality is even more. Write them down and see if these things are in your life that takes your attention off of Christ and puts your attention more on the carnal.

a. Preoccupation (the shows, sights, sounds, speeches, sports, scandals, scoop) We get so preoccupied with these things that we take our mind off of God.

b. Pride c. Pleasures d. Possessions e. Power

f. Politics g. Positions h. People Pleasing

j. Privileges k. Postings

7. We really do fail God in so many ways don’t we?

8. No wonder we are not close to God. We go to church with drudgery and toil. We do not have a hot burning love for the Scripture, Songs, Sermons, Sanctuary, and the Saints.

9. Have you failed the Lord and fallen? There is a Faithful Friend for the Fallen!

10. Look at what Peter did after he had failed the Lord so miserably.

Body - The Faithful Friend for the Fallen

I. Peter’s Failure

** In Matthew 26 - Peter denied the Lord three times.

A. The Place of His Failure

1. The Place was Wrong

a. He kept company with the Servants

Mt. 26:58 58 But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest's palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.

b. He kept company with the Schemers

Mt. 26:59 59 Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;

2. The Path was Wrong (He followed the Lord afar off, and soon was not following the Lord at all. Some of you have been guilty of following the Lord but at a distance. Think back to some people that used to go to church here, and they then started following the Lord at a distance. Today they are not following the Lord at all.)

3. The Profanity was Wrong

Mt. 26:74 74 Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. (When we get away from the Lord, our looks, love, and language will change.)

B. The Pain of His Failure

Mt. 26:75 75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

**No Peace of God – No Presence of God – No Power of God

**Sin is a criminal that kills you, steals from you, and destroys you!