The Truth about Commitment

So as we look at these Verily, Verily statements from Jesus we are seeing the statements that He is saying, “Hey pay attention to this…This is important…this is truth!”

Today we look at the final Verily, Verily statement.

The Last Supper has taken place, during this time Jesus had said, “Whiter I go, ye cannot come...”

To this ...

John 13:36–38 KJV

36 Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards. 37 Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. 38 Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

Jesus foretells that Peter will deny him that very night.

Jesus leads His disciples to the Garden where he will be betrayed.

Along the way he teaches them some very important truths that will be foundational for the Church.

At the garden Jesus prays.

Judas comes with a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees.

Judas points Jesus out with a kiss,the men come and arrest Jesus and to take him to Annas, the father in law to the high priest, and then to Caiaphas.

Peter in anger takes out his sword cuts off the high priest’s servant’s right ear.

The Gospel of Luke tells us...

Luke 22:51 KJV

51 And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.

Suffer ye thus far…meaning let it be…let this happen, and he heals the man’s ears.

The men take Jesus to the high priest.

Peter followed behind and stood outside where the High Priest’s palace.

Peter is recognized by a damsel, and says, “Art not thou also one of this man’s disciples?

Peter denies it, saying, “I am not”

A servant and officers stood by warming themselves by a fire, Peter began to warm himself there as well.

The High Priest begins to question of Jesus.

Some of the men around the fire recognized Peter and said, “Art not thou also one of his disciples?”

But he denied it, and said, “I am not.”

But one of the servants of the high priest a family member of the one who Peter cut off his ear said, “Did not I see thee i the garden with him?”

Peter denied again, and immediately the cock crew.

Luke 22:61–62 KJV

61 And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. 62 And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.

Can you imagine being told you would deny him three times, then seeing Jesus be arrested, imagine the fear Peter had as he followed after the men and Jesus.

Can you imagine the fear peter must have felt as he stood in the enemy camp warming himself by the fire.

Imagine the fear when someone began to recognize you, you deny ....someone else recognizes you…you deny…the family member of the one you had cut off his ear recognizes you…you deny and immediately what Jesus said would happen…happens.

Then out of the corner of your eye you see Jesus, the one you have followed, the one you have loved, the one who taught you so much, the one who trusted you…Jesus…turns and looks at you…then you remember.

You remember what he said, and He was right…He always has been, you know He always will be.

And then you break.

Peter ran…he began to weep bitterly.

Ugly cry, they call it now.

You have destroyed everything!

You have really messed up this time.

You betrayed him, oh not like Judas did, but it was a betrayal none the less.

We are not told whether Peter came back for the rest of the trial, or the crucifixion.

John was there, others stood a far off.

But I can only imagine how broken I would be.

Peter hit rock bottom.

We know that after the crucifixion he is found with the other disciples.

We do know after the resurrection the young man sitting on the side of the tomb clothed in a long white garment told the ladies, “…go your way, tell his disciple and Peter...” that he will meet them in Galilee.

We do know that Peter and John are together when the ladies came and told them Jesus was not in the tomb any longer.

We know that Peter and John ran to the tomb and saw that He was not there, and in shock they went again to their own home.

Later that evening we know that the disciples were gathered together because they were still fearful of what the Jews would do to them…when Jesus appeared in the middle of them and said, “Peace be unto you.”

They spent some time together and at some point Jesus left them.

Imagine, they were used to be on the move, going place to place seeing Jesus heal, hearing Jesus teach…and now nothing…they were just sitting around.

Peter, like any retired man, tired of just sitting around says, “That's it…I’m going fishing.”

The others decided to go with him.

They fished all night, and when morning came Jesus was standing on the shore.

They didn’t recognize him, but He asked, “Children, have ye any meat?”

They said no.

he said, “Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find.”

They did, and they weren’t able to bring the multitude into the boat there was so many.

Immediately, John looks at Peter and says, “It’s the Lord!”

Peter put’s his clothes on and jumps into the sea, no doubt swimming to get to the Lord.

The other disciples brought the ship, dragging the net to shore.

Jesus had a fire going, and told the disciples to bring the fish to shore.

Peter went up and drew the net to land.

They cooked the fish on the fire, and they sat around and fellowshipped while they ate.

15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

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.

Now with this context in mind, I want to give you some personal application of these verses.

When you mess up…and you will…there are three things you need to do, Like Peter, to recommit your life to Christ:

Jesus wants to reinstate your call, just as He reinstated Peter’s call after his denial.

He wants to make it clear....”I still want to use you.”

You haven’t messed up beyond the reach of grace!

So what do we need to do?

I. Confess That You Failed

You are not alone!

We are all broken, it just a matter of getting back up.

Pastor Levi Lusko tells the story of collecting shells on the beach with his daughter Clover. Levi was looking for the nice shells that were in good condition. meanwhile clover was picking up all the broken shells. When the father asked why she was picking those, she turned to her father and said, “Daddy, the broken ones are beautiful too.”

I think God sees things the same way.

In fact you are among the very greatest followers of God throughout the Bible!

A. The Greatest Fell Too

Abraham the father of our faith lied about his wife twice because of a lack of faith.

Isaac did the same thing.

Jacob lied and connived,

Noah got drunk,

Moses killed a guy

Samson was immoral

Gideon was fearful

Rahab was a prostitute

David had an affair and murdered to cover it up

Elijah was so depressed he didn’t want to live any longer

Jonah ran from God

The disciples questioned Jesus instead of just believing

The inner circle fell asleep when they should have been praying.

I don’t care what you have done, you are not out of reach of God’s Grace!

Romans 5:20 KJV

20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

What makes the difference after the failure is your confession.

you see, not only had the greatest Fallen, but

B. The Greatest Were Restored

1 John 1:9 KJV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Noah saved the human race by obeying God.

Abraham became the Father of our Faith

Isaac carried his family forward by faith and invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.

Jacob became Israel, and led his family, and when he was dying, by faith brought blessing upon the children of Israel

Moses Led the children of Israel to safety

Samson avenged the Lord’s name by killing more in his death than he had in his life.

Gideon led a small band to victory through faith

Rahab obeyed in faith, and is even in the lineage of Christ

David was a man after God’s own heart, and wrote a large chunk of the Old Testament in song.

Elijah saw many miracles, and was taken to heaven, passing the mantle to his protege who performed twice as many miracles as Elijah.

Jonah was instrumental in a revival spreading across an entire city. Historically it is possible that he stayed in Nineveh as a missionary. There was a tomb of Jonah in Iraq (where Nineveh was) that was destroyed by ISIS in 2014.

The disciples went on to reach the world for Christ.

Failure is not the end!

So Confess that You Failed.

II. Come Back to Fellowship

Fellowship with Christ first and foremost, but fellowship with the church family as well!

We need each other, especially during these times.

Do not let your pride get in the way of help and accountability that is necessary to have a profitable Christian life.

History tells us that Peter came back to fellowship.

The Bible shows him with the others when Jesus appeared.

He was there on the seashore with Jesus.

But I think it is very interesting that Jesus sought him out specifically.

You see...

A. Jesus Seeks for You

The young man, the angel, that was at the tomb specifically mentioned Peter there…he says go tell the disciples and Peter.

Why mention him by name?

He was one of the disciples.

I believe God was seeking Peter because he had denied.

He wanted to make sure that He knew He still wanted him to serve Him.

Jesus spoke a parable before...

Luke 15:4–7 KJV

4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? 5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. 7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

Jesus seeks for you today, if you have failed.

He still loves you.

So...

B. Come to Him

Peter did...

Peter heard that it was the Lord, and he cast himself into the sea to go to Him.

Proverbs 24:16 KJV

16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: But the wicked shall fall into mischief.

The number seven is often used in the Bible as a symbol of completion.

it means he fell, over and over and over and over, and yet the Bible says he was just…because he rose back up and followed.

Get back up…and start again.

I messed up, I did the same thing again!

Get back up and follow Him

It’s only February and I’ve already messed up on the Bible reading

Get back up and follow Him

I haven’t prayed in years

Get back up and follow Him!

I haven’t been as faithful to church as I ought to be

Get back up and follow Him!

Confess that You Failed

Come Back to Fellowship

III. Commit to Follow

Jesus wanted a commitment from Peter.

A commitment to love Him, and a commitment to follow.

Three times Jesus asked Peter lovest thou me.

He then told Peter in a Verily, Verily statement...

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

Jesus was telling Peter two things in this statement:

A. This Won’t Be Easy

Jesus was foretelling of Peter’s death in a poetic way.

When he is old…history tells us somewhere between 64-67 years old...

thou shalt stretch forth thy hands…he will be crucified just like Jesus was…although because Peter felt unworthy to die the same way and so history tells us he asked to be crucified upside down.

We imagine this would have been much more painful, and possibly a slower way to die.

and another shall gird thee (prepare him), and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.

Many commentators believe this is two fold fulfillment, they would carry him to his death, but also the Holy Spirit would carry him through his ministry.

Either way the ministry that Jesus was calling Peter to when He said, Feed my sheep…and follow Me…this ministry was going to be difficult...

full of persecution

imprisonment

Beatings

and eventually martyrdom

We may, or may not be called to a life of persecution and martyrdom, but we are called to a life that won’t be easy!

But in the end, we can rest in the realization that even though it won’t be easy...

B. God Will Be Glorified

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

If the end result is that God will be glorified, we will spend an eternity praising God that we were counted worthy.

This is the very reason we were created…to glorify God.

Romans 11:36 KJV

36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Isaiah 43:7 KJV

7 Even every one that is called by my name: For I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

Yes we will fail!

But when we do, we need to get back up!

Confess That You Failed

Come Back to Fellowship

Commit to Follow

Don’t worry about what is going on with your neighbor sitting next to you.

Even after all of this Peter looked over at John sitting next to him,

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

He says, “What about John Lord…is he going to die like that?”

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

Jesus said that’s my business!

Don’t worry about the man next to you…worry about yourself!

Follow thou me!

What about you?

are you following Christ?

You say, Well I’m here aren’t I

Yes, but are you following Christ

I’ve served him all my life

There will be people in that final day who say I served you, I even cast out devils in your name, but Jesus will say, depart from me, for I never knew you.

Are you following Christ…or are you doing what you want, what will get you seen, what will get you following?