Peter's Restoration

Do you know what is interesting about the Bible? Most of the situations that arise in life will be found in these pages. There is scripture about abortion, there is scripture about homosexuality, there is scripture about abandonment and anxiety, there is scripture about bullying, there is scripture for every valid discussion underneath the sun. Do you think that God sat His word up that way? Of course He did. He wanted you to have the best possible guide that He could give so that you would have a compass as you navigate the choppy waters of life.

Today we are going to read a clip from choppy piece of the apostle Peter’s life. Turn with me to John 21:15-19 “When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.””

A little background information is needed here because this covers a situation in Peter’s life that has previously been commited. Peter denied knowing Jesus during Jesus’s trial and persecution. He denied knowing Him, he denied being His follower, he even went as far as to curse those who would associate he and Jesus together. At the time, Peter wanted nothing to do with Jesus.

Now some of you may be thinking, “well what about there verse of scripture that says if we deny Jesus then He will deny us?” That is found in Matthew 10:32-33 “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” And given the context of the scripture if would show pretty badly on Peter’s part, but this is not talking about a small lapse in wavering that Peter had. This scripture is talking about the soul-damning sins of shame, neglect, delay, love of the world, and fear. People who fall under the condemnation of this scripture reject all evidence and revelation and decline to confess Christ as Savior and Lord, until it is too late.

Peter did not deny that Jesus was the Christ. Matthew 16:15-16 “He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”” Peter knew who Jesus was. He confessed who Jesus is. Jesus went on to say that only God could have revealed this to him. This would clearly show that Peter had no problem confessing that Jesus was the Savior of all.

ASHAMED: Peter was not ashamed of Christ in this moment. Multiple times throughout Jesus’s ministry He sent the disciples out to be His witness. Peter boldly shared Christ with the men and women of various cities one various different occasions. Peter brought crowds to Jesus. Peter was the leader of the 12. Peter was not ashamed of his Christ, what Christ had done for him, nor the state that Christ was currently in.

Did you know that there are people who are ashamed of Jesus? Can you fathom this? I can understand being intimidated at carrying the name of someone so great to a lost world, but there are people who are ashamed to confront people who are living contrary to scripture. When they see something that is wrong by our God, they are ashamed to stand up and tell them what is right. ASHAMED! As if GOD is the one who is wrong. What if Paul was ashamed of the gospel? Where in the world would we be today? What if every preach that came along after Christ was ashamed? How would the gospel spread? Not very well. Jesus called us to be bold in the face of a world who rails against you. Why? Because they certainly will. Jesus is offensive. Jesus brings the greatest offense to those who live contrary to His perfect design. That is called conviction. Jesus confronts us with our sin and we feel as though we need to repent. We feel the compelling force to change. The world is confronted and they feel the urge to fight. They feel attacked. They feel offended. The light has come into the dark world, and the darkness hates it. This is why Jesus said that the world would hate you because of Him, but He never said that you could feel ashamed of Him because of this. His word tells us the exact opposite. It tells us to always chose pleasing God over pleasing those around us.

Have you ever been ashamed of the Lord? I sure hope not. The only way that I could think someone would be ashamed of the Lord is when they choose the world over our wonderful God. The love of the world will get you no where. Galatians 1:10 “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” You cannot serve God and man. You cannot please God while seeing the approval of your peers. In other words, if you desire to please your friends, if you are afraid of what people will think of you for doing the right thing or not doing the wrong thing, then you are not a servant of Christ. Jesus never called you to follow Him until it became difficult. God never called you to be faithful until it got in the way of your popularity, or your image. You were called to follow despite what the world thinks so that the world might see the light. How is this sinful world going to repent and turn from their ways if God’s children are blending in with it? How will they know that there way is not the right way if God’s children are walking in the way of darkness? You were called to be different, and if you are ashamed of that then I have a hard time believing that you are truly saved. I can say that because there is evidence of salvation, and if you are not displaying the evidence, then you may not have evidence to put on display. Think about that before you follow the world of Christ next time.

LOVE OF THE WORLD: Peter may have made mistakes, but loving this world was not one of them. Peter was married. He had a wife, and at least a mother in law. He had a business as a fisherman. He carried on his father’s legacy on the sea. But when Jesus said drop what you are doing and “follow me”, Peter went. Peter left everything behind. No arguing, no trying to reason for his old life, he left the world behind and pursued Jesus. This is something that is still happening today, by the way. Men and women are dropping everything they know, everything they have known, and they are pursuing Christ wherever He may call them. Whether it be across the city, across the state, across the nation, or to the other ends of the earth. Peter’s following was not an isolated incident. Jesus said, as we will talk about in a minute, that Peter would follow Him to his death. So Peter’s lapse in faithfulness was quickly reverted, and as we know from the study of Acts Peter is shown standing boldly proclaiming the word of God to those who would seek to kill him.

To love this world is to be the enemy of God. Loving this world means that you choose to follow its ways above God’s ways. Just as we have talked about you seek the approval of the world rather than seeking to please God. You choose yourself and your own pleasures rather than looking to praise the Lord. Loving the world is a classic example of the denial of Christ.

Another form of denial is...

NEGLECT: Peter never neglected his duties for the Lord. When Jesus called, Peter answered. When Jesus had a task, Peter arose to the occasion. There were things that Peter had to be reminded of, and there were times that Peter was put into his place, but Peter could not stand as a man who was neglectful.

Have you ever neglected your Spirit? Maybe through neglecting your prayer life, or maybe your personal Bible study. I know that I sure have. You can neglect your spiritual upkeep to the point of rejecting Christ. Now I am not saying that by studying the scripture that you will be saved, nor that you can pray your way into heaven. Prayer is essential to spiritual upkeep, and by studying the word you will be exposed to what it takes to be saved, but the practices alone will not take you into a heavenly eternity. But this is a certain reality. You can fill a church pew your entire life and never come into a saving relationship with Christ. You can sit in Sunday school classes and never accept the Savior. You can even show up to give your time to the extra events and never place your trust in Him. That is the neglect that ends in eternity spent in the most undesirable place.

Has someone ever opened a perfect door in a conversation for you to deliver the gospel, but you neglected to realize your opportunity? It is hard to realize an opportunity to share Christ when you are not readily looking for the opportunity. People are highly unlikely to stumble into the situation of evangelism. The gospel is most powerfully shared when a faithful follower of Christ is seeking an opportunity to share their Lord with the lost, and the lost gives them a good opportunity to deliver their message. If you are not prepared to deliver the message of Christ, then you will miss your opportunity. If you are not readily looking for the opportunity then you will certainly miss the opportunity. If you neglect to look for opportunities to share Christ and live for Him, then you are denying Him.

I believe that neglect and delay go hand in hand in many ways. Wives, how many times have you heard your husband say “I’ll get to it” when you ask them to do something for you? Now how many of you have actually had to go do something yourself rather than wait of him to eventually get around to it? Delay stresses everyone out, but delay can be life altering. If you are bitten by a venomous snake, but you delay medical attention, you risk death. If you hear they are handing out free samples at a local market, but you delay going, you run the risk of missing out on the product. If you hear the gospel proclaimed to you, but you respond with “maybe later” you run the risk of there ever being a later. I had a friend, his name was Zach Walters, many of you guys knew him well. He died tragically in a car accident at the age of 19. Way too young. He had accepted Christ earlier in life, but what if he had told Christ “maybe next time” before he took that drive? Shane Ward, a student at SS also died tragically in a car accident far too soon. He was 19. What if he told Christ “next time I will accept you, but not today.” You are not promised tomorrow. Let me throw this at you. You may be alive, but are you really YOU? How many of you guys have Alzheimer's in your family? You may be you, but are you really you? I Had a friend in high school who said he would accept Christ, but he wanted to sow his wild oats first. I am terribly sorry, but that is not how it works. In order for you to be saved you have to go through Christ, but in order to go to Christ first God must draw you. Man does not seek God, it is God who seeks man. God initiates the relationship, but there is no where in the Bible that God says He will offer you a second plea. I know He can, many of you know first hand that He does, but it is not a guarantee. There will come a day when you say no, it could be your last time. EXAMPLE: Rich man and Lazarus. There was a rich man in the Bible who lived like a king, and there was a poor beggar who ate the scraps off of his table every night. That poor man’s name was Lazarus. Both men died, the rich and the poor. Lazarus placed his trust in Christ, and was carried off by angels to Abraham’s side (heaven) when he died. The rich man’s trust was placed elsewhere and he was buried. His soul was tormented in hell. He lifted his eyes and saw Lazarus in the presence of Abraham, and so great was the torment that he begged for a simple drop of water be placed on his tongue for a shred of relief. That was denied. He then begged to have Lazarus sent to his brothers so that they would not end up in the place where the rich man is spending eternity.... listen to the response. Luke 16:29-31 “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”” EXAMPLE: There was a farmer one time, and I know I have told this story before but it is worth paying attention to, he was wealthy. He went to church, he was successful, he had everything going for him but he was not saved. He knew he was not saved. He felt the Lord extend the hand of grace many times, but the man always ignored it. He was a good man by our standards, he was genuinely kind, but lost. He said that He felt God call him every single day. Some days it was when he woke up, sometimes throughout the day, sometimes both, but the answer was always the same. “I will do it later.” Then one day he awoke and felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. Nothing throughout the day, nor the next, or any other day. It was said that he made the remark that he would give up everything he owned just to fee the Lord drawing him one more time. He would not put it off this time. I would like to tell you that the Lord gave the man another opportunity, but I simply do not know, but I can tell you that if God calls you today, or any day in the future, you better not turn Him down.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have God’s word. We have people preaching God’s word. You live under the conviction of scripture, but if you ignore the Spirit, if you delay until it is one second too late then your fate is sealed. There is no do overs.

The final example of the denial of Christ is this...

FEAR: Peter was afraid. This is human. If you had seen what Jesus was going through, I am going to venture out and say that you would not jump up and say “Hey! I know that man. He is my God, and I follow Him. Whatever you do to Him, you better do to me next.” Peter was not so keen to face it either. Remember that the night before, Peter pulled a sword and hacked the ear of a soldier off in defense of Jesus. He drew a sword on a man who was trained with the sword. A man who was trained and skilled in killing. Peter was ready to die in that moment. But within 24 hours he is seen denying even having associated with Christ. Do you know what this makes Peter? A sinner, but human. People make mistakes. Even Jesus told Peter that He would make this mistake. Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him 3 times before the rooster crows, which was in the morning and not far from the encounter with the sword and the soldier. He said that all of the disciples would scatter as a matter of fact. They hid out in fear. Peter was just given the chance to deny Jesus because He stayed around the vicinity of Christ in order to see what was happening.

-Jesus did not seem bothered by this by the way. You can read scripture and Jesus’s love, affection, and teaching never wavered. We will talk about that a little later on.

Have you ever been afraid to share the gospel? You might lose a little popularity, but I assure you that you are not going to lose your life. There are people around the world who could literally be killed for sharing Christ this very day. You may think that you have fears, but you have no idea what true terror is.

You may not have all the answers, you may be afraid of rejection, you may be afraid of blundering a delivery but I will tell you this: No one this side of heaven has all of the answers, people can only reject Christ because that is who you are offering not yourself, and a rocky delivery is far better than no delivery. You put Christ out there, and you allow His Holy Spirit to do the work.

Peter’s original name was Simon, which means pebble. Jesus changed his name to Peter, which means rock, and Jesus famously said “On this rock (Peter) I will build my church.” But Jesus addressed him as Simon because Peter was acting like his old self in those moments. Peter did love the Lord. He followed the Lord, and Jesus knew that. Peter had a moment, but Jesus restored Him to his calling. Jesus went as far as to affirm Peter by telling us the way that he would die. He would die serving the Lord. It is said that Peter was crucified in a manner very similar to Christ, but he did not want to be thought of as equal so he requested to be crucified upside down. Peter made mistakes, but Peter still had a purpose. Peter still had a calling. Jesus told Peter well before that he was the one to start the church, and Jesus never withdrew His calling on Peter’s life.

Jesus had to restore Peter because Peter was tasked with starting the Lord’s church. If Christ did not restore Peter, I doubt that Peter would have been so emboldened to start the church. I doubt you would have found Peter confronting the Pharisees, I doubt Peter would have become the Peter that we know of today. Peter was restored finish the work that Christ started within him.

What do you need to be restored to complete today? Had God called you to do something for Him, but you are ashamed of your past?

Now you might be saying “Sure that is Peter’s story, but what does that have to do with me?”

Do you think that the Lord has a calling for your life? I can assure you He does. At some point in this interaction with Peter, Jesus gave the disciples the great commission. Do you know what that is? The easiest layout of the calling for every single Christian that there was, is, or ever will be. It is a call for me, just as it is a call for you. If you say “well God hasn’t really called me to do anything” then you are lying to yourself. Of course He has! Now you may not have been paying attention or listening, or following, but He is calling. You are to spread His gospel. The same gospel that was presented to you the day you were saved. When you see people’s lives changed you are to lead them to discipleship. I would suggest doing it yourself but at least getting them to the right people to be brought up as they are currently spiritual infants. If you are an infant yourself you are to be discipled yourself. You cannot lead where you have not gone, and you cannot disciple if you have not first been discipled.

But let me ask you this. Have you ever denied the Lord? Before you say “No! I would never” take this into consideration.

Have you ever been afraid to stand up for the Lord? Have you ever been in a situation at work, or out with you friends where God was being challenged, or was being misrepresented? Did you know that you should say something? Did you feel as if you should stand for God, and set the record straight? Now did you? There is a difference between knowing you should stand up for the Lord, and actually standing for our God. If you do not stand for God when He is being attacked, how can we say we are any different from Peter? We deny God when we remain silent in the face of spiritual adversity.

Conclusion: Peter denied the Lord. It is in the scripture, and there is no way around it. But that is not who Peter was. He was afraid, he was human. He was not ashamed, he did not neglect nor delay to love the Lord, and he certainly did not choose this world over Him. He had a lapse in faith, but Jesus restored Him. He drew Peter back to His side, and reminded him who he was, and what he was called to do.

You can I deny Jesus far more than we realize. I hope we do not do it out of shame, I really do because there is nothing to be ashamed of when you follow Christ. I hope that we are not neglectful nor delay to follow our Lord when given the opportunity. I truly hope we value following our Savior rather than pursuing this world. This world only brings ruin and death. God is the one who gives eternal life. He is the one worth pleasing, not your peers.

But even though we have failed, thankfully Jesus has not changed His mind on us. He is faithful even when we are not. You and I, we have a calling. Whatever calling that may be, it still stands. We make mistakes. We are human. Jesus forgives, and Jesus restores. Jesus also commissions. Some of us here have been running for years. Maybe we have told ourselves that we are not good enough. We were never good enough. Jesus called us despite of our failures. If God called you years ago, He has not changed His mind. Whatever you have been telling yourself to put it off, let it go, and answer the Lord. Some of you are about to be given a task, or are currently dealing with the Lord in those regards, but you may be tempted to say “Look at my failures.” God saw them. Long before you ever made them. He saw them, and He called you anyways. He chose you, and no matter the situation, you are not going to change His mind.

If He has given you a task to complete, do so. If He is calling you, listen to Him. If you are not dealing with anything, I assure you that you will before long. Follow Him faithfully. You may have made mistake, but your mistakes are not greater than the blood of Christ which covers them. Follow Him.