The Confidence of Peter

Today is a special day that at least here in the US we have set aside to recognize the Father’s in our life.

Now I will have to confess to you that if it was not for Jessica reminding me a couple days ago that it was father’s day I would have forgotten.

All of us here have had different experiences with the fathers in our lives but one thing is certain we all have the greatest Father.

We have a Father who loves us enough to forgive us when we fail him but thankfully He also loves us enough to walk along side us in order to make us into the man or woman that he desires for us to be.

This morning like we have for the last two weeks, I want us to take another look at one of the Apostles and see what we can learn from them. This time I would like for us to examine the Life of the Apostle Peter and see how God was willing to lovingly walk along side him in order to make him into the Man that he became.

When we look at the life of Peter we learn that he was a man of great heart and a great leader. He was a successful fisherman and a man who was willing to take risk. At times he was bold and impulsive and this side of him at times served him well and other times it got him into trouble. Peter was a man who at times had great faith even enough faith to step out and walk on water just like his Rabbi, Jesus.

Because of his great faith and leadership he was also the man who led the charge in helping Christ establish his church.

He was the man who was brave enough to stand up in a crowd of thousands and tell them they had just crucified the son of God and that if they didn’t want to die in their sin than they needed to repent and be baptized.

But you see before Peter could ever get to this stage in his life Christ had a lot of work to do in him.

One writer said it this way “Before God could do the work He desired through Peter, He first had to do a work in him.”

And as we will see this morning a lot of that work came in the form of simply allowing Peter to learn from his own mistakes.

This morning I want us to look at three mistakes that Peter makes and see how through these mistakes God as his Father shaped him into a man that we can all look up to and learn from even though he has been gone for over 2000 years.

If you would turn in your Bible’s to Luke 22. It is here that we will see these three mistakes that Peter makes in such a short time span.

In Luke 22 Jesus is on the cusp of being betrayed and crucified for the sins of the world.

Before Jesus is arrested he meets with his disciples in order to share one last meal together.

And during that meal Jesus informs his disciples that one of them would betray him.

Then starting in verse 23 the disciples all began a discussion in order to determine who it was that would betray Jesus.

This discussion then leads to an argument about who would be the greatest in the Kingdom of God.

It seems that they were arguing over who would be the most faithful. I believe that they were essentially saying to one another, “Maybe you will betray Jesus, but not me.”

I would never betray my Rabbi.

Now It is in this context that Peter makes his first mistake.

Notice verses 31-34 with me. Luke 22:31-34

Luke 22:31–34 ESV

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”

Here we see that Peter is very confident in himself so much so that he made sure to boast about his confidence.

Peter says he is willing both to go to prison and to lay down his life for Jesus. What Peter is saying is that no matter how hard the road gets, he will still follow Jesus.

Now his heart is in the write place. We should all be willing to lay down our lives for Jesus but I believe that even though his heart was sincere, Peter overestimates himself as to what he was willing to do when the pressure was on.

Although Peter had confidence that he would be faithful no matter the cost, Jesus knew better. In Luke 22:34, Jesus tells Peter that before the rooster crows, he will have denied three times that he even knows Christ.

So what is the mistake that Peter made on this occasion. Well, I believe that he placed to much confidence in himself. He thought that he was the greatest and that he didn’t need any help from others in order to get through whatever difficult situation that may arise.

But what we are about to see is that he like everyone else needs our Father’s help to get through this life.

After Peter’s boasting he finds himself with Jesus, James and John at the Mount of Olives.

It is here that Peter makes another costly mistake.

Luke 22:39–46 ESV

And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

In Jesus most difficult hour Jesus simply ask Peter to Pray. But Jesus didn’t ask Peter to pray for him but for himself.

Jesus tells Peter that he needed to pray so that he would not fall into temptation.

Now all of us just like Peter will have to face difficult times in our lives. But wouldn’t be nice if you could plan your trials? Wouldn’t it be nice if we new in advance when we would be tempted. Wouldn’t it be great if you could get out your calendar and say, “Lord, I’m going to be real busy on Wednesday, so why don’t we have my next trial on Thursday afternoon?”

Then you could make sure to have your quiet time, and you could pray and prepare so that when the trial arrived you would be ready to meet it head on.

But unfortunately life doesn’t work that way. One author said that the trials in one’s life are kind of like the“pop quizzes” of life becasue we don’t know in advance when they will come.

No student likes pop quizzes, just like no one likes for trials just to pop up when everything seems to be going smoothly in ones life.

You see, Peter had an advantage most of us don’t have. Jesus told him that these specific trials were coming. In verse 31 He warned Peter that Satan was about to sift him like wheat.

In biblical times, wheat or other grain was sifted through a large strainer. As it was shaken violently, the dirt and other impurities that clung to the grain during the threshing process would separate from the good, usable grain.

Essentially Jesus is telling Peter that Satan is about to vigorously shake him up. Jesus tells Peter that Satan was about to tempt him in order to try to break him down.

Because Jesus knew what was about to happen to Peter and the other disciples He instructed Peter to pray so that he would not succumb to temptation.

Unfortunately , Peter did not take his Rabbi’s advice. It seems that he had forgotten one of the most important rules of following a Rabbi, Do what they do.

Peter’s Rabbi was a viewable distance away. Meaning Peter could see the anguish and pain that his Rabbi was in. He could have probably seen the sweat like blood flowing from his face. He would have seen his rabbi on his knees praying but yet rather than doing what his rabbi did Peter took a nap.

It seems that Peter was overconfident in himself because he did not see the need to pray.

I don’t know about you this morning but I have found myself, at times in my life in a similar situation as Peter.

I have thought to myself that I am man enough to take care of my own problem and I don’t need any ones help.

Because of my overconfidence in self I, like we are about to see with Peter, have not always been prepared to face the temptations and trials that I have had to face in my life.

So that none of us make this mistake again one of the best ways to determine if you are currently placing to much confidence in self is by evaluating how much time you spend in prayer.

Like Peter we need to daily seek the Lord’s help for whatever comes our way.

Because of Peter’s boasting in his confidence and his lack of praying another mistake that he make is his failure to do what is right when Jesus was arrested.

Luke 22:47–51 ESV

While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him.

Before Jesus is taken into custody his disciples ask Jesus if they should draw their swords and fight.

But before Jesus could answer their question Matthew’s gospel tells us that it was Peter who drew his sword and cut the high Priest servants ear off.

Jesus then has to remind peter that He does not need his help in this matter. He reminds Peter that at any time He can appeal to His heavenly Father and have at His disposal more than 72,000 angels.

Matthew 26:51–53 ESV

And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?

Once again we see Peter making a mistake that if we are honest with ourselves we have probably made before.

Peter failed to wait for the Lord’s response.

You see, what benefit could be accomplished from hacking off a slave’s ear? Absolutely none! All Peter did was make a mess that the Lord had to clean up. Jesus had to turn around and heal the slave’s ear. Peter’s problem lay in the fact that he acted way too fast. He reacted to the situation instead of responding to Jesus.

As Christians today we must be people who seek God’s advice and answers. And then as difficult as it may be, we must be wiling to wait and not take matters into our own hands.

Finally this morning other than the most obvious mistake that Peter makes, denying Jesus three times, there is one final mistake that Peter makes that I want us to look at.

Luke 22:54 ESV

Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house, and Peter was following at a distance.

Not only did Peter boast too much, pray too little, and act too fast, but lastly, he followed too far away. He feared what man could do to him more than he feared God.

Peter boasted of great courage, but in truth, he was afraid of what men could do to him. He told Jesus that he was ready to go to prison or to die, but he was far from ready. Once Jesus was arrested, we find that Peter wanted to go with Him, but out of fear he followed at a safe distance.

Isn’t that the same struggle we sometimes have in our faith? We want to follow Jesus, but it isn’t comfortable to stand out from the crowd and follow Him closely, so we follow at a distance.

You see when we find ourselves in this situation we need to remember who are Savior is and the Power that He has.

Our Savior has the Power to send twelve legions of angels.

We need to remember that our Savior is able to handle any situation and that he is in control.

Just like we all learn from our mistakes we can also learn from Peter’s.

A few things that we learn are.

1. Don’t place to much confidence in self. Instead recognize the need to pray and ask for help.

2. Secondly make sure that when we do pray that we are able to practice patience. Be willing to wait on the Lord rather than taking matters into your own hands.

3. Finally, let’s be people who are able to trust Jesus enough to follow him closely rather than at a distance.

Thankfully, Peter did learn from his mistakes and became a great leader in the Lord’s church.

This morning, I hope we can all learn from the mistakes of Peter so that we to can be faithful servants of our God like Peter.

Happy Father’s Day