Hope for Failures

Introduction

Surprising facts:

Albert Einsten did not speak until he was 4 years old. His parents thought he was “sub-normal.” And, he was expelled from school and his teachers described his as “mentally slow.”

Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team.

Thomas Edison was called “too stupid to learn anything” by his teachers.

The Beatles were rejected by a recording studio who said, “They have no future in show business.”

Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper for “lacking imagination” and “having no original ideas.”

Marilyn Monroe was told by 20th Century Fox that she was not pretty enough to be an actress.

More than 1000 restaurants rejected Col. Sanders chicken recipe.

All of these, at one time were considered failures by others.

In life, sometimes we experience failures.

Our plans fail, our best intentions fail, our relationships fail...

And, those failures can make us feel like failures.

Today, we are going to see the Apostle Peter’s greatest failure.

Imagine for a moment your greatest failure in life...

Now, imagine that failure being written down and shared with generation after generation after generation. Anyone want to sign-up of for that?

Actually, I believe that Peter would want us to know about his greatest failure because, despite failure, we can find hope in the only One in the entire universe who can take our failures and turn them into something that will ultimately bring Him glory and become growth opportunities for us.

Body: Luke 22:31-34 & 22:54-62

We already looked at Luke 22:31-34 in this series, but let’s quickly remind ourselves of this passage...

Context...Last Supper...after the argument about who will be the greatest...

Key Points:

Sift like wheat…literally trying to separate them from their Master.

Jesus prays...

Jesus is praying that Peter’s faith wouldn’t completely fail and causing him to turn his back of Christ forever.

And, as we will see, that’s what happened. While Peter certainly failed to profess Christ before others, he did not fall away completely.

Why didn’t Jesus pray that the temptation wouldn’t come?

Because temptation is a normal part of human experience.

Because with every temptation, there is a way of escape, if we choose to take it.

Because there is always something we can learn either way.

Leon Morris: “The undergoing of difficulty and hardship is an integral part of the Christian way.”

Because we gain strength from the battles.

So, while Peter’s denial should not be considered part of God’s will, God often uses our propensity towards sin as a way of teaching us.

Jesus intercedes on behalf of His people...

Peter’s bold proclamation...

Jesus prediction...

Look at how it plays out…

Verse 54

High priests house?

Verses 55-62

A warm fire with the high priest’s servants and guards...

Peter’s denials don’t really call for much commentary...they tell a story of a terrified man, seeking to save his own life and to be accepted, even at the cost of denying that he knew Christ.

We know this story because more than most of us would care to admit, because most of us have had times where we failed when under pressure...

Timeless Truths

Satan is constantly at work trying to separate Christ’s followers from Christ and His mission.

This is admittedly the painful part of this message for us.

It’s not just Peter who experiences spiritual warfare. All believers will face varying degrees of spiritual warfare in our lives.

The three great forces at work against our souls is the devil, the flesh, and the world. In this case, all three play a role in Peter’s failure.

We are foolish if we believe that we are immune from these kinds of spiritual warfare.

But, how can we find hope as we know we will face Satan’s sifting?

Jesus continually intercedes on behalf of His people.

Jesus not only prayed for Peter and the other disciples, He is interceding on behalf of His people right now.

Hebrews 7:25 ESV

Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Romans 8:34 ESV

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

This should bring great encouragement to our hearts!

This is really the key for all readers of this difficult text: Jesus continues to intercede...even on behalf of failures.

Jesus interceded on behalf of Peter, even through He knew that Peter would deny Him.

That’s really good news for us!

How much good would it do us if we really believed that Jesus is making intercession for us, even in the midst of our darkest trials or worst failures?

Followers of Christ must pray for one another and look for ways to build-up one another.

The need for Christ’s people to pray for each other is not specifically mentioned in this passage, but it’s assumed, because a follower copies the example of his or her Master...

The church today shows more passion about our disagreements or our comforts than we do about praying for one another!

Strengthening other believers means purposely looking to build each other up.

The pattern: we learn from our failures so we can sensitively respond to others who have failed, and we can help encourage and guide them in their faith and walk.

Who are you praying for?

Who should you be praying for?

We must actively take part in building up other believers.

Today many of us specialize in giving reasons we can’t connect on a personal level with other people. Guess what happens when we do that? Nothing good!

We need to build each other up. If you don’t like one method (small groups, accountability, prayer groups, etc.) that’s your prerogative.

But, that doesn’t give you an excuse to not do it.

Here’s a challenge: get together with another person in this church (preferably someone you don’t normally get together with), have lunch, or breakfast, or coffee, whatever, and ask them what they need prayer for and how you can minister to them. Find out what’s going on in their life. Tell them your story. You’ll be shocked how much it means to you and to him.

Christ’s followers must always beware of pride and self-confidence.

Peter failed for a number of reasons, but the biggest reason was because he believed he was too committed to Christ to fail.

Failing Christ was something that others did, not the great spiritual giant that was Peter!

Most church problems come down to this: pride

We live in an incredibly prideful and self-confident time (not the good kind of self-confidence!).

This disease often even infects Christ’s church.

You know how to stop this infection? It has to start with you as an individual.

You must realize that you are always at risk of failing because of pride and self-confidence.

If Peter could fail, then guess what, so can any of us!

Pride often comes, like in the case of Peter, when two things are out of whack:

We start thinking we are something more than we are;

When we fail to pray.

Okay, so a lot of this is about how not to fail. What about when we fail?

That’s right, because the best way to overcome spiritual failures is to not fail spiritually.

But, at times we all run the risk of failing. Sometimes in small ways, sometimes in great big ways. What do we do about that?

Even after failures there is great hope for Christ’s followers.

Christ specializes in giving hope to people who have failed.

We don’t see the end of Peter’s story here, but we know that Peter became one of the most important leaders of the early church after this great failure.

God wasn’t done with Peter. In fact, Peter’s greatest days of ministry were still ahead of him.

When you do fail, return to Christ, knowing that He forgives and will make something good out of all circumstances.

What does it take?

Accept responsibility.

Confess and repent of your failure.

Move in a better direction.