Unkept Promises

John 13:36-38

Introduction

By the time you go to bed tonight, you will have made as many as 35,000 choices. Some of those choices are as small as what you will wear, or whether you’ll eat a second piece of candy. Some of these choices, however, could be pretty important. It’s not beyond possibility that you could make life or death decisions today, which you do all the time when you’re behind the wheel of your car.

When we are faced with decisions, I believe there are two things that are true about all of us. First, when you’re presented with a choice, I’m certain that you have a desire to make the right decision. You actually want to do what is good and what is best for everyone.

There is something in you that wants to choose the healthy option for dinner. There is something in you that wants to say no to your temptations or treat that annoying person the way God wants you to. Because we are made in the image of God and He has implanted a conscience in each of us, there is this internal desire to do what is good.

But there is a second truth: more often than not, you make choices that disappoint you. You eat the extra slice of cake. You give in to your temptation. You give that person attitude instead of kindness. You oversleep and miss your time to spend with God. You choose to watch the extra episode of your favorite show instead of taking care of your responsibilities.

We are masters of making bad choices, and once our selfish decisions are made, we find guilt waiting for us, reminding us once again that we are less than perfect. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that most people—and especially Christians—move from one moment of guilt to another, wondering why they can’t just get it together.

If this sounds like you, I want you to know that you’re not alone. You find yourself in good company, because our text tells us that one of the most important figures in church history suffered with this exact same problem.

In John 13:36-38, Peter listens as Jesus tells His disciples He will soon be leaving and they won’t be able to follow Him. Peter was devoted to Christ and the thought of losing his master was unfathomable. As Peter often did, he spoke up and challenged Jesus. He was too devoted to let Jesus walk away, and in a moment of well-meaning devotion, Peter said, “I will lay down my life for thy sake”. He was so confident that if he was given the opportunity, he would stand with Christ.

Jesus’ response was a reality check amidst Peter’s emotional response. He said, “Peter, you’re not going to see the sun come up before you deny me three times.” By the end of John’s Gospel, we'll see that Jesus knew exactly what He was talking about.

Peter had all the best intentions, but when the moment came to make a decision, the weakness of his flesh overpowered his will, and he fell.

Now, you might be saying, “Justin, if Peter walked with Christ three years and wasn’t strong enough to stand, how am I ever going to find the strength to overcome my weakness and do the right thing? That’s exactly what I want to talk to you about this morning.

I want to provide you with four steps which come from our text that will help you avoid a fall like Peter’s. From his example, we can learn how to make progress towards a life of spiritual strength and godly character.

Recognize the desire for what is right

First, I want to make sure you acknowledge the desire you have for what is right. When Peter said that he would lay down his life for Jesus, he was expressing a deep, genuine devotion for Christ. It’s important to realize that Peter wasn’t just doing lip service, but his words actually came from a sincere desire to serve Christ and be faithful to him.

It’s also important to point out that Peter’s intended devotion was actually a proper response to the Lord. Though Peter was often known for speaking whatever was on his mind, his conviction to follow Christ anywhere, even in death, is a commendable trait.

But as I studied this, it raised several questions for me: Peter had this devotion to Christ before he was filled with the Holy Spirit in Acts 2. The Bible teaches us that in our natural state, no man seeks after God.

Romans 3:10–12 says, “10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

So, if Peter did not yet have the Holy Spirit, and all men who don’t have the Spirit turn from God, what led Peter to have this kind of devotion.

There are two important factors at work here that apply to you today:

Every man has a conscience (Romans 2:14-15, “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)”)

Jesus was “keeping” them while He was in the world (John 17:12, “12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.”)

Now, how does this apply to you? First, you have a conscience that helps you discern right and wrong. Though that conscience is influenced by your fallen nature, it is still a God-given grace that is helping you discern what is good and bad, and it is trying to pull you towards morality. This is true for every person in this room, whether you’re a believer or not. That is where your consistent feelings of guilt come from.

For every one of you that is born again, you have the Holy Spirit working inside of you. That is the very God of heaven dwelling inside of you, leading you and drawing you to what is good and right. While Peter followed Christ, it was the Lord Jesus who was keeping him, but today we have the Holy Spirit internally drawing us to follow and serve God.

I say all of this to help you recognize that there is an internal desire to do what is good, especially as it pertains to the things of God. This is not the devil trying to beat you down or just you getting in your own head. These are God-given, spiritual forces working inside of you, trying to pull you into a deeper obedience to God.

Realize your weakness to accomplish it

But there is another force working inside of you, which brings us to our second step. You must realize that by yourself, you are too weak to act appropriately on your “righteous urges”. Peter’s problem was not the desire that was in him to be faithful to Christ, it was a lack of ability to follow through with it. He loved Christ. He knew that following Christ was the right thing to do and he wanted to do it, but he lived in the same flesh you and I live in today, and when his will and his flesh were at odds with each other, the flesh won.

Our flesh is a powerful enemy. Warren Wiersbe said this about the flesh:

Satan wants to use our external enemy, the world, and our internal enemy, the flesh, to defeat us. His weapons and battle plans are formidable.

Warren W. Wiersbe

Every morning when you wake up and look in the mirror, you are looking at your biggest enemy. You have a body and a mind that wants what it wants, and it will devise all kinds of tricks and tactics to convince you to feed it. Many times, Satan has to do very little work to make us embrace temptation; all he has to do is give occasion for the appetites of our flesh, and the natural man will gladly take the bait.

If you’ve wrestled with the phenomenon I mentioned in the beginning—that you are torn between wanting to do what’s right and consistently falling short—this is the piece that is causing that to happen. You are living every day in a flesh that is self-centered and hungry for things that aren’t good for you or anyone else. Your flesh doesn’t care about your spouse, your friends, your country, or even you for that matter; it’s only interested in getting what it wants.

The difference maker here, however, is whether you recognize that fact or not.

You see, Peter’s greatest problem was always his self-confidence. He thought that he understood things when he didn’t, so he would speak out of turn. He thought he was stronger than he was, so he would act rashly and aggressively. Peter’s greatest enemy was an internal pride that was ignorant of the weakness of his flesh and the finite nature of his understanding.

You and I actually have a blessing that Peter didn’t have, and that’s a clear example of how weak the flesh actually is. Peter thought he had it together, but you and I have the opportunity to see through that lie and recognize our weakness before it takes us down.

Rest in the grace of Jesus Christ

Now, steps one and two are not very encouraging by themselves. I want to do the right thing but I can’t do the right thing? Where is the hope in that? The answer is found in steps three and four.

Once you have recognized your desire for good and the weakness of your flesh, step three is to rest in the grace of Jesus Christ. Would you agree that Jesus knew Peter was going to fall at this moment? Do you think he knew that Peter would deny him and even curse him? But notice what Jesus says to Peter: “thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.”

Hidden in this moment of confrontation is a promise that Peter is going to need at a later time. Even though Peter is about to fail miserably, Jesus is giving him a guarantee that one day, Peter will be with Him in His heavenly kingdom. That is an undeniable example of the grace of Jesus Christ.

Jesus said that if anyone denies Him before man, He will deny them before His Father and the angels. With that reality in mind, God would have been totally fair to condemn Peter for his failure and leave him to the weakness of his flesh, but that’s not what happens. Peter is a chosen disciple of Jesus Christ, and his position as such is not based on the works of his own righteousness—it’s not even based on his ability to stay true to it—it’s based totally on the grace and merit of Jesus Christ to stay true to His Word.

And for you and I, that is our only hope in the face of our weakness. When my flesh fails me and I fall short, I have to rest in the reality that my salvation and standing with God are not determined by my ability, but by His grace that has been extended to me through the victory of Jesus Christ.

So, when you are wrestling with your weakness, take a step back and realize that Jesus died for that very thing. If you are saved by His grace, He’s not looking for a reason to be rid of you; He’s faithful to show you His Amazing Grace in the middle of your daily battles with the flesh.

Rely on the power of the Holy Spirit

But I hope that there is one more lingering question knocking around in your mind. It’s truly great to be reminded that God’s grace is greater than all our sins, and I hope that gives you great comfort, but does that mean we are destined to spend our lives caught in this tension of wanting to do the right thing and failing?

To answer that question, I give you our fourth and final step, which is to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. Earlier, I reminded you that if you’re saved, you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The same God whose Spirit hovered over the deep in Genesis chapter 1 has set up His living room in your soul. If that God is powerful enough to bring an infinitely large universe into existence, and He’s powerful enough to overthrow the powers of sin and darkness through the blood of Christ, then do you think He has the power to defeat your sinful flesh and produce righteousness in you?

Think about our example with Peter. Here, we find John’s account of Jesus’ warning, but in Luke’s Gospel, we find a more detailed account of this event. Luke records this:

Luke 22:31-32, “31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren."

Jesus told Peter that, not only would he be forgiven for his failure, but he would be restored to a place of spiritual strength so that he would be able to strengthen his brethren. After the Holy Spirit came in Acts 2, Peter was the first one to stand up and declare the Gospel, and in that day, over 3,000 people came to Christ.

God is able to work through the power of the Holy Spirit to take weak sinners and make powerful Christians. He not only has the grace to forgive you for your sins, but He also has the power to help you overcome your sin and be profitable for the sake of His kingdom.

How do you receive this power? That’s the million dollar question that has made rich men out of many televangelists. The answer is not exciting. There’s no laying on of hands or uttering prophecies over anybody. The answer is actually quite simple. Go to God in prayer, repent of your sins, and humbly ask Him for the strength to overcome it. The power of God does not come through any ritual or ecstatic experience; it comes when we’re humble enough to realize that we need something from Him that we don’t have in ourselves, and we simply ask for it in faith.

I’ve seen this work in my own life, specifically in the area of my children. I’ve always thought of myself as a very patient person, but children have a way of pushing you to the boundaries of your patience. And I’m ashamed to say that I’ve often lost my patience with my kids. My words have not always been characterized by grace. The ways that I have responded to their disobedience have not consistently showcased the kindness I have received from my Heavenly Father, and that has burdened me to my core. There have been many nights that I’ve sat in a dark room, staring at pink walls and stuffed animals asking God to forgive me for my impatience and to make me into a Christ-like father. The change didn’t happen overnight—in fact, it’s still in progress as we speak—but by God’s grace, I have seen how His Holy Spirit has worked in me. There have been times when they’ve done things that would have ruined my day, and I’ve been able to look them in the eyes with love and handle it with grace. There are moments where the wrong thing happens at the wrong time and my flesh gets the better of me, but I’m a work in progress that is truly seeing progress.

I tell you this because I want you to be confident that it’s possible for you to have a testimony even better than mine. It’s possible for you to not only want to do the right thing, but to actually follow through with it and stand on the other side feeling good about what God did. You can see spiritual victories in your life. You can see transformation happen, and it’s all possible through the power of God’s Spirit. And when you fall short, you can be sure that the grace of Jesus is ready to pick you up and carry you into another day.

Conclusion

So, I want to ask you this morning: what weakness are you struggling with? It might be a weakness in your devotion to Christ. It might be a struggle with self-control, or a battle with a temptation. You may have a pet sin that you keep tucked away, and the guilt of it eats you up, but the ability to overcome it just isn’t there. Maybe it’s a struggle to control your temper, or bitterness towards someone else that you can’t seem to let go of.

I want to invite you to take these steps and be transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Embrace that longing in you to do the right thing, and be okay with the fact that you’re not strong enough to bring it into reality, but rest in the grace of Jesus Christ to forgive your failures, and trust that the Holy Spirit is powerful enough to transform your failures into a testimony of His strength and love.