2017-08-06 Luke 22:31-34 A Peek Behind the Curtain (2) A Providential Masterpiece

A PEEK BEHIND THE CURTAIN (2): A PROVIDENTIAL MASTERPIECE (Luke 22:31-34) August 7, 2017 Read Luke 22:31-34 – “Why were you saved?” “To go to heaven?” That is a wonderful result of faith in Christ. But that’s not why God saved you. After telling us we were saved by grace thru faith in Eph 2:8-9, Paul tells us why God saved us. This may surprise you. Eph 2:10: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” “His” is emphatic. Literally, “Of Him we are a workmanship.” He’s creating something new of us. We’re a “Workmanship”, of good works! Workmanship is the Greek word ποιημα -- a “making” of God. By Paul’s time the word meant a work of art – and not just any art – the art of Him! -- a creation intended to allure, to dazzle – a painstakingly crafted work of exquisite beauty. Christ is making of each of us a masterpiece of good works! We’re not saved for us; we’re saved for Him – to show His glory by the way we live in response to His love for us. But most of us don’t feel much like a masterpiece. We feel we’ve blown it long ago. Phillie announcer, Harry Kalas, once introduced outfielder Garry Maddox by saying, “Garry has turned his life around. He used to be depressed and miserable. Now – he’s miserable and depressed.” Perhaps that’s you this morning. All your efforts to turn yourself around have only resulted in going from depressed and miserable to miserable and depressed. But guess what? You are exactly the raw material God’s looking for. If it takes an artisan to make a masterpiece out of Italian marble, imagine what it takes to make art out of scrap metal and waste material from the dump. But that’s God’s specialty -- making masterpieces out of junk. He uses every good and every miserable and even every sinful experience to do just that. Ever watch those shows on HG channel where they take some rundown messed up house and turn it into a thing of beauty? We’re all drawn to those transformations, aren’t we? But let me tell you, God is a rehab addict in the best sense of the word. I don’t care what your past, what colossal failure or sin you’ve been thru, God will create a masterpiece of it – if you let Him. Now you’ll recall, on Jesus’ last night with His disciples they are showing their ugliness by arguing about who’s the greatest! Incredible situation which Jesus addresses by showing true greatness lies in serving. But He’s not done yet. He then gives them a sneak peek into what is going on behind the curtain of the spiritual universe where God and Satan reside. This reality will have a profound effect on all of them – but on Peter in particular. He will learn that 1 God can take junk and make a masterpiece. But it won’t be easy! Watch as he gives us a glimpse how this is going to happen to proud, but flawed Peter. I. The Profane Petition – Last week we saw that Satan demands to have all the disciples to destroy their faith – exactly his intention for all of us. II. The Priestly Prayer – What saves them (and us) is Jesus praying for us. He doesn’t ask for removal of the test; He asks for building of faith. III. The Prideful Pronouncement – Then we saw despite the Lord’s warning, Peter said, “Don’t need your help; in fact, I’ll help you. Count on me, Lord. I won’t fail you. I’ll paint my own masterpiece.” IV. The Predicted Peril But “34 Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.” Providence again. “Peter, I know exactly what you’re going to do. It’s not what you think. You are going to fail – spectacularly! You’re going to deny me three times. That’s a little more than a blip. That’s a disaster.” Peter’s overconfidence will bring about his downfall. And the key is in Jesus’ first statement: “31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you.” Simon – the old Peter. Acting in his own fleshly strength. Confident in his own ability. Sure of his own commitment and certain of his own power. It’s a recipe for disaster – like always when we’re trusting in our own wisdom, preparation or cleverness. The old hymn is right: “The arm of flesh will fail you; you dare not trust your own.” But Peter didn’t know that yet. He’s about to learn it the hard way. Abe did too. Gen 12:10 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, 12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” Abe needs protection. So what does he do? Trust in God? Nope. This is the old fleshly Abraham. Abe trusting Abe. So how did that work out? Not so great. Pharaoh, thinking Abe was Sarah’s bro, paid a huge dowry to take her into his harem. How manly do you suppose Abe was feeling about that time? But it got worse. Gen 12:17 But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife (before any consummation). 18 So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 2 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” How’d Abe’s fleshly effort work out? It left him a highly conflicted coward, exposed his wife to immorality, brought “plagues” on his neighbors- a curse rather than the blessing he was supposed to be. Listen, God uses our preparation and education and talent for sure. But only after we bring it to him, lay it on the altar, and kill it. You have to brutal with the flesh or it will overtake you in a minute, just like Peter. Dr. Bronson Ray is a brain surgeon who saw a boy on a scooter smash headfirst into a tree. Realizing the danger, he got a bystander to call 911 and began to examine the boy. As he was working, a young man pushed thru the crowd, tapped Dr. Ray on the shoulder and said, “I’ll take over now, sir. I’m a Boy Scout and I know first aid.” Good luck, right? That’s like a second Lt. elbowing Ike aside on D-Day and saying, “I’ll take it from here, sir.” That’s like a first year art student telling Michelangelo “I think you’d better start that ceiling over.” That’s like Peter telling Jesus, “Don’t you worry. I’ll take care of myself – and you, too.” That’s like me saying, “Well, I spent 30 hours on this sermon. Surely it’ll save some people” or you saying, “Man, I’ll wow those kids with this clever object lesson.” Should we prepare as best we can? God requires it. But He’ll do the painting, see? In our own strength all we can do is keep making Him start all over again. We will always be colossal failures operating on our own. “The arm of flesh will fail you.” It failed Peter. V. The Preserving Pardon Thankfully, that’s not the end of the story. There’s a pardon and payoff in Peter’s future. The first is found in v. 32b: “And when you have turned again.” “Turned again.” What is that? Repentance! The word here means to turn back, return, turn around. Peter will act like old “Simon”, right thru a disastrous 3-fold denial of Christ. But he won’t stay there. He’ll return from denial to disciple. He’ll turn again. He will repent. But Peter’s not the only colossal failure, is he? There’s another one. There’s Judas. There are 10 very scared guys in this crowd, but 2 outright deniers. Two betrayers. Yet one returns to the fold; the other doesn’t. One lives a life of infinite usefulness; the other kills himself. One of them is in heaven; the other isn’t. What is the difference? Repentance. Oh, Judas regretted his decision, almost as soon as he saw the brutality of Jesus’ captors. But he never repented. Peter’s heart was always repentant; Judas’ heart never was. It wasn’t their actions that set them apart from each other; it was their hearts. Peter got forgiveness. Could Judas? Absolutely. But he never repented; only regretted. 3 Isn’t it wonderful to know you can be forgiven the most brutal denial of Jesus? Peter’s restoration is recorded in John 21. After His resurrection, Jesus found Peter back fishing. He’d had no luck that night, but suddenly someone on shore says, “Try the other side!” Immediately they had more fish than they could handle – Peter’s first clue that this was the Lord. Jesus cooked breakfast for them – isn’t that good? No stinging rebuke – no, “How could you have done that, Peter?” – just a gracious meal for a hungry fisherman. But then Jn 21:15, “Simon (old Peter), do you love (agape – the highest, selfless love) me?” You remember the story. Three times he asked Peter, “Do you love me?” – one for each denial. Jesus is seeking confession. And He gets it. The first two times Jesus asks, “Do you αγαπη me?” And Peter answers, “Yes I love you” – only he doesn’t use αγαπη. Peter uses φιλεω –brotherly love, affection. He’d never ceased to love Jesus that way – but he certainly did not selflessly love Him around that patio fire. And he confesses his guilt. And then beautifully, the third time, Jesus asks, “Simon, do you love me?” – only now Jesus also uses φιλεω. Beautiful grace. He’s saying, “I hear your confession, Peter. I will meet you where you are. You are at φιλεω today, and that is where I will meet you. I forgive you, Peter. Now – go feed my sheep.” Forgiveness and restoration – always there for repentant hearts. Howard Cadle had a Xn mom but an alcoholic dad whom he emulated. By age 12 he was drinking out of control and soon his gambling put him in the grips of a Midwest crime syndicate. But his mother persisted. She said, “Always remember Howard that at 8:00 every night I’ll be kneeling beside your bed asking God to protect and save you.” For a long time the prayers seemed to no avail. But one night in a drunken rampage, Howard Cadle pulled a pistol on another man and pulled the trigger. But the weapon failed to fire, and someone knocked it away. Howard’s eye caught a nearby clock. 8:00. It wasn’t long after that his health broke. A doc gave him six months. He returned home: “Mother, I’ve broken your heart. I’d like to be saved, but I’ve sinned too much.” Mom turned to Isa 1:18: “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” She told him, “No sin is too bad to be covered by Jesus’ death. To think so would deny His worth. But you must repent.” And Howard did. He soon recovered both spiritually and physically. He turned to honest pursuits and soon was making money hand over fist. Became a major financier for Gypsy Smith crusades and eventually one of the first radio evangelists himself 4 over WLW in Cincinnati. He once said, “Until He calls me, I shall preach the same gospel that caused my sainted mother to pray for me.” That same gospel is available today, Beloved. If you’ve never come to Christ, today is the day. You can leave with your slate wiped clean, completely forgiven. And if, like Peter, you are a believer, but you’ve denied your Savior by the way you’ve lived, forgiveness can be yours, too. You’ve not lost your salvation, but you’ve lost your way. You can get it back. “Turn again.” VI. The Providential Payoff This is so powerful. Listen carefully. God never wastes anything in our lives. Nothing. Not even the sin. He’ll use it all to make a masterpiece of any repentant heart. This is shown in 2 ways here. First, v. 31 Jesus says, “Simon, Simon.” That’s about the same as saying, “Danger. Warning!” You can almost hear the warning buzzer go off. Simon – you’re about to revert to your old self. And it’s not going to be pretty. Be alert.” BUT -- v. 34: “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.” When Jesus actually predicts the ugly details of his coming failure, He calls Him – “Peter.” It’s the only time in the Gospels that Jesus calls him Peter. Peter. Rock. What’s He doing? He’s addressing him as the masterpiece he will become, not the failure he is. Don’t you love that? I love that! Jesus did the same thing with Gideon. You say, “No way. Gideon was 1300 years before Jesus was born.” Right, but nevertheless, he met Jesus. Midian was oppressing Israel and God responds to their pleas: Judges 6:12, “And the angel of the LORD appeared to him [Gideon] and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” Who’s the angel of the Lord? That is a title often used of Jesus in OT appearances. So Jesus says to Gideon, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” Mighty man of valor? Not quite yet! Gideon protests that he is the weakest son in the weakest family in the weakest clan in the weakest tribe of Israel. He offered a sacrifice as God commanded – at night because he was afraid of his own family. It took not one but two fleece experiments to convince him the Lord really wanted him. “Mighty man of valor”? No way. So why’d Jesus call him that? Because – listen – because Jesus sees what He is making of us – not what He is starting with. Jesus sees the masterpiece He is creating, not the mess we give Him to work with. “You’re going to fail miserably, Peter. You’re not prepared. But I’ve got your back. I see you for what you will be. I see you as the Rock you will become, not the Simon you are.” Aren’t you glad Jesus sees you for what you 5 will be, not for what you are? There’s a payoff coming for true believers. Jesus calling him Peter hints at that. But there is a 2nd, crystal clear statement. V. 32b: “And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” So track with me. Jesus is saying “You’re going to fail. I know that. But you’re going to repent. I know that; I know your heart. And guess what? I’m going to use your failure to enable your ministry.” Grasp that truth and it will change your life. God wastes nothing. He will use your strengths and your weakness; your joys and your sorrows; your successes and your failures to enable the mission He has for you. That is empowering. He will use your successes to encourage and inspire; He will use your hardships to speak to and comfort others in similar situations; and he will use your sin to encourage others away from similar failure and to show His grace in the midst of failure. No wasted parts; no throwaway experiences; no expendable parts when repentance is at the core of existence. God used the sin of adultery and murder in David’s life to ultimate good. How? By showing us that however glamorous sin may look and however good it may feel, the price later is very high. We need to know that. But he also showed us that His grace is sufficient to cover any sin. Except for David’s failure we’d never have had the comfort of Psa 32 and 51 showing us that thru Christ God can forgive anything. God used the sin of disagreement between Paul and Barnabas to result in 2 missionary teams instead of one. There is nothing in our life that God will not use if you live a humble, repentant life. Take heart! You are not the first exception. You are in a long line of failures that God is using for His glory. His providential payoff is still in effect as He continues to create masterpieces of good works out of the trash bins of failure. Conc – Eph 6:10: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.” Peter tried to be strong in Simon’s might. It didn’t work out so well. But he learned, that God is ready to pick up the pieces as soon as we turn again.A woman ordered a copy of her birth certificate. But when it came a few weeks later, she stomped into the courthouse complaining, “My birth certificate arrived this morning, but it was filled out wrong!” The clerk asked, “What do you mean?” The woman angrily replied, “It’s in my maiden name!” I guess she didn’t want to live with that original identity any longer, and neither must we. Peter couldn’t change the fact that he was born “Simon.” But he didn’t have to live there. As he “turned again” Jesus created a masterpiece named Peter. And He’ll create a masterpiece of you, too, one that will act like who you are in Christ, not who you were. Let’s pray. 6