Grace Chapel Bible Ministries
Worship call 1099 Peter's denial's and the Kangaroo Court - 2024/06/21
(light piano music) (light piano music) (light piano music) (light piano music) (light piano music) (light piano music) (light piano music) (light piano music) (light piano music) (light piano music) (light piano music) (light piano music) Welcome to Worship Call with Bible teacher Buzz Lulbeck. Buzz is the pastor of Grace Chapel Bible Ministries located in Duncan, South Carolina. This ministry is dedicated to the verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word and discipleship programs aimed at strengthening the faith of God's people. Now here's today's message. You know, Peter received pretty much of a bum wrap. When we think of it, the apostle Peter, we always think of the negative. We think of how he denied Jesus three times. And so we cast our historical stones back at him. But how many of us remember his victory? And the fall, sometimes the fall comes prior to being lifted up. He fell, and that's what we remember. But how many of us remember of the hero of the faith that he became? This is the sixth day of the week in God's created order. The 21st day of the sixth month, two thousand, twenty-fourth year of our Lord. And this is another fine day in the Lord. Father in heaven, we thank you for it. We thank you for this time together. We thank you Heavenly Father. The opportunity that we can fellowship like this, the electronics that we have together, that we can come together and fellowship in your work. We thank you Heavenly Father for our brother. It was birthday this weekend. We lift him up. Oh, I pray Heavenly Father, a very joyous weekend for him. And as we continue to press four, and these things we pray in Christ's name, a man. And yes, happy birthday to the second most motivated individual who ever put on a year for him and to be called a Marine. And Tim, we wish you from the bottom of our hearts, a very joyous -- Happy birthday. --put this on here. There we go. Come on back. You weren't in it. Happy birthday Tim. But who'd ever known it, just wandering into that barracks back in 1981, yeah, 1981, when you walked into the barracks and we barely knew each other. The road we would share through all this life. So Tim, we love you. Stay motivated, Lord. Keep your armor on. Keep fighting a good fight of faith. We are pressing forward here and this morning we're going to talk. I read George Whitten's devotion yesterday. And I think it was worth reading and light of where we're studying this morning. So it's Isaiah -- he starts out with Isaiah 60, 1 through 3. Jesus, shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness, the peoples. But the Lord will rise upon you and his glory will be seen upon you and the nation shall come to your light and the kings to the brightness of your rising. On January 1, 1863, United States President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which were claimed freedom for all the slaves in the ten states which were in rebellion. At the time when the United States Secretary of State Stewart took the document to the President's Assign, Lincoln took a pen and he held it for a moment. And he then removed his hand and dropped his pen. Lincoln turned to Stewart and said, I've been shaking hands since nine o'clock this morning and my right arm has been paralyzed. If my name ever goes into history, it will be for this act. And my whole soul is in it. He hesitated and took the pen and without wavering took the document and bold assigned it. When you do something for history, you want to be right and with your whole heart. As children of God, what we do on this earth will be redound to our eternal existence. As Abraham Lincoln recognized his quintessential moment in history. We too must recognize our moment in time. The season we are in seems filled with porton and many of us may be making critical decisions and choices now. Like Esther, we were born for such time as this. We will need faithfully, scripturally based discernment and then resolution boldness to stand where the Lord has placed us. Say what he wants us to say and do what he wants us to do. While untold millions have been waiting for the promised return and the Messiah for centuries, the one sign we lacked was the restoration of Israel. How true is that? Through all of those past generations, it was only in our own that the Jewish people have returned to their homeland. The beginning of Ezekiel's vision, well underway, the inexorable headed toward the spiritual revival of the dry bones, Ezekiel 37. We do not want all the details, but we are watching and participating with great excitement. Friends, we are living prophetically in history and are probably in the last act. As history advances and accelerates, there will be times when we must be decisive, bold and unwavering in spirit, fully realizing that our actions are being recorded now and in the annals of eternity. Your family and the Lord will much have got in love. George Patravka, Obadiah and Elena, and this was from the devotion of yesterday. I said, "George is doing his summer tour." I sent out an invitation, so I haven't heard back from yet because I responded to it that he would come talk with us again. Maybe sometime soon, I will see George again in person. I say this because Peter had that opportunity, the window of opportunity opens to all of us. We study, and it's funny, it's like combat. You'll train for years and years and years for that 30 seconds or that one moment to do the right thing of what you've been doing. The thing of what you've been trained for all your life, and some have gone through much more than that. We're training in the Word of God, and there's that one moment, that one blind moment, and that you're going to be on stage. That window of opportunity opens and as quick as it opens, it closes. Are we going to make the right decision? Are we going to say the right thing? What are we going to be remembered for? Peter had the window of opportunity to stand by the one whom he so loved, and he did love Jesus. He had his aspirations. He was excited for the kingdom. I'm excited for the kingdom. I hope you're excited for the kingdom. See, first, the kingdom and his righteousness, and what George had just spoke of this morning. Israel is in the land, and the prophetical events are falling in place. Boom, boom, boom. One after another, I am so confident that we are not going to see death apart from, well, you know, in a sense that if we, let me just say, in our generation, I'm sure that the Lord is going to come back, and so they're so compared to someone who don't care so much. Peter pledged his loyalty, and when the moment came, he had the ability to demonstrate to his God and to Jesus, to everyone. How much he loved the Lord? He had that moment, but he folded up like a cheap suit. Windows of opportunities to express our faith in a tremendous way only opens for a short while and then closes. Whether we'll get another opportunity or not, we don't know. But by the grace of God, Peter received another opportunity, and Peter would take that opportunity, and he was able, and many times what we find is that when we fail miserably, our hearts, and really our hearts are crushed with having failed, you know. And Jesus, the Lord, our God, is faithful to bring us into a retest, to bring us back, to give us another opportunity, and Peter would have that opportunity. So when that window closes, all we're left with could have should have would have, but did not reality, and just hoping for that another opportunity. When we fail a test, listen, every time that we fail a test, it's for the same reason, and we do what Peter did, we fall away from the faith, we turned away. And again, just hoping for the opportunity to come back and have a redo. So in reality, we learn something about ourselves when we fail, we learn that we need to get back to the books, we need to get back and we continue to strengthen our faith. We learn of our weaknesses, where we are in our faith, and most importantly, how great our love for the Lord is, and how great his forgiveness is, that when we do fail and when we do repent, that he is faithful, and he is just to forgive us our shortcomings and our sin and restore us. John 1825. What's that doing up there? All right, now Peter, now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself, so they said to him, "You're not also one of his disciples, are you?" He denied it, and said, "I am not." One of the slaves of the high priest being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off said, "Did I not see you in the garden with him?" And Peter then denied it again, and immediately the rooster crowed. All four gospels, so important is this. They're all four gospels, and they're different, and I have no problem with this, because really, this happened we early in the morning. It was dark, and really, who was it except for these other witnesses that saw Peter actually deny him? Jesus, I think it's a mark where Jesus actually looks back on his third denial that Jesus looked back at him, and he wept. So all four of the gospels, it's a little different, well, much different. Remember, and here I'm thinking these accounts are given to us through inspiration, through the Holy Spirit, through the writers, because who was there, who was actually witness? Maybe John, maybe John could give the most accurate account on this, but there's a lot of things going on, and I'm sure John wasn't paying attention to Peter. No, it was anybody else. Luke has an account, and he wasn't even there. Mark had ran off, probably naked someplace else, looking for clothes. So the site, they scattered, so what we're dependent upon, and all these accounts, I say, were dead on accurate, because they were from the Holy Spirit, and each one has something to tell us. And the question we have, since they were all there, one of the things, when you're seeing the different accounts in the gospel, look at what each one, look at the commonalities of each one. Again, each one has something to teach us, but what's common among all of us? Among all three, Jesus said this would happen, and it did happen. Peter did deny him three times before the growth. So there's another emphasis on this account, rather than Peter's failure. We think of Peter's failure. We think of him denying it. But there's a greater lesson to learn, rather than saying why he failed, you know, he failed pretty miserably. First of all, number one, the restoration of Peter. Peter being restored. And the Lord said, the Lord also told him, he said, "Peter, once you have been restored, then strengthen your brothers." The Lord is the Lord of second chances. He is the Lord of third chances. He's the Lord of fourth chances. As my wife so fondly of saying, when we fail, it's not the end. Stand up, brush yourself off, and continue to press forward. He's going to be remembered for the failure, but again, how much do we remember him for his victory? And that victory was made because he was restored. He becomes a hero of the faith to whom much is given, much is expected. It was the Lord who restored Peter. Again, the Lord is the Lord of second, third, fourth chances. Even Peter had given up on himself. Remember, Peter said, "I'm going fishing." And the rest of them said, "I'm going fishing." This is even after they saw the resurrection. You know what I was going through, Peter's mind? I'm almost sure of it. It was the fact that, well, I failed miserably. Yes, he's resurrected, and an amen to that, but I failed so miserably, and I denied him just like he said. Just like I said, I wouldn't, but I did it anyway, and he's not going to forgive me. So I'm just going to go back to doing what I know to do, and I'm going to go back fishing. What kind of faith did any of us have? Listen, what kind of faith did any of us have? Again, when we fail, when we fall, when window opportunity opens, and we take that, and it calls for great faith, and we crumble. Just like Peter, like that cheap suit. And we can break our hearts. I know, I know, dear Christian friends, that they're so hard on themselves. You know what? We know one. I won't mention his name, but he loves the Lord so much that he is desicc by his lack of faith. Visibly, he has strong faith, but he knows his heart, and that's the rest of us as well. We stumble, we fall, but it is the Lord that picks us up. We don't brush ourselves off. The Lord brushes ourselves off. And what kind of faith do we have at any given time? And sometimes the Lord will bring us into that situation. It's not faith that fail. We have to go back to the after action report. Faith never fails. We just fail to apply faith. We just fail to be faithful. But we're growing. We're growing. We're learning the Word of God. We're growing in God's Word. And we're putting on muscle to that faith, and waiting for that next time that the window opportunity opens. Because every time there's an exercise of faith, and it's a positive, and we're victorious on it, we bring pleasure to the Lord. So we all have sinned. We've all fallen short of the glory of God. We all continue to do that. We all have a record of failure ourselves, every one of us. So it's time to stick in that lip that Waziwaziwu will impress on forward to that high ground that God has set for us. So one of my favorite hymns is "Come thou frown of every blessing." And in it, the line is wandering from the fold of God, or Jesus taught me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God. We tend to wonder. Our hearts tend to stray. But it is that the Lord has an open door policy to bring us back. So if our faith is based on past performances, if it's based on our past failures, then none of us are worthy at all. And we might as well all go back vision, because our spiritual life is done. Again, we'll go back to the statement that the Lord is a Lord of first, second, third, fourth chances. And where would Peter be? Listen, if he wasn't, see, this is based on God's holy name. This is based on Jesus' holy name. This is based on Jesus' reputation. What did Jesus say? "Peter, I'm going to make you fisher men." He said, "Peter, once you've been restored, then strengthen your brothers." "Peter, I'm going to make you in the twelve. You're all going to have thrones." This is not based on you, Peter. This is based on me. This is based on my promises to you. Then, where would it be if Jesus just said, "To break there, Peter." You know, he didn't make that one. Well, listen, that reflects on Jesus, because Jesus said this was going to happen. Jesus did say that you're going to deny me three times before the cockroach. It happened. But Jesus said all these other things too, didn't he? Jesus said, "I'm going to go to the cross. I'm going to die. And three days later, I'm going to walk out of that tomb." And he told Peter. He said, "These are the promises. They weren't based on Peter." So, Peter, all Peter had to do was repent and get back with the program, because Jesus knew what he was talking about. And when it talks about Peter's heart, it did break his heart. And he did weep. See, this was different than Judas. I think Peter could have been thinking like this. Well, I'm no better than Judas. I'm no better than Judas. Yes, you are, Peter. Judas was looking for a buck. Judas was looking for it to get rich. And Peter, you were in the moment. You were scared. You didn't know what to do. You floundered. And you failed to apply. That's different. Again, we all have our failures, don't we? So, he acted because of a faith that was not strong enough. Remember, Peter is just a little faith. And Judas simply sees the opportunity to get richer. So, more importantly than that. Now, the first point was that Peter would be restored, okay? First point. As Jesus said, he would be restored. But here, more importantly, here's a point. And probably why we have the most important account in the four gospels. It's testimony. It's testimony. We could ask the question, what happened to Peter? We got it before an after picture. And not only would Peter, but with all the apostles. It's one of the, it's one of the external evidences of the resurrection. The shepherd was, how we say, the stricken. The shepherd was arrested. He was stricken. He was put on the cross. What happened to the, to the, um, she, exactly what Jesus said. They were scattered. They were scared rabbits. They were terrified. They were looking. Um, they, they were, they were hidden away. They, um, petrified scared rabbits. Again, Peter denied three times the, the other disciples, they went off hiding and on. But they came back. They all, when, when their faith failed them, they were little little fates. Let me remind you something here as a side note. You go into the big crisis with a little faith. You'll probably have no faith coming out of it. But you go into the crisis with a big faith, then your faith will only get stronger. It behooves us to use our time wisely to, to establish and to maintain our spiritual priorities. So that when we do go in to the crisis, to the big crisis, we can glorify God in a great, great way by our decisions. And, um, and the exercise of the faith. But getting back to this, um, the, we see the disciples here, including Peter here. Let's start with Peter. Let's start with Peter. Here is Peter. And deny Jesus three times. Scared stuff. And then advance forward to Acts, to the first book in Acts. And here is Peter with the coming of the Holy Spirit, standing boldly, proclaiming the name of Christ in the full crowd. He was beaten. He was whipped. He was, um, he threw out his ministry. And then when it finally came down to the point where he was going to be crucified because of the name of Jesus, he says, hang me upside down. Because I, um, because I'm not worthy to die in the same way my Savior did. What happened? They saw the resurrected Christ. They saw the resurrected Christ. And listen, it is the word of faith. We haven't, we haven't laid our eyes on Jesus. But what did Jesus say? Um, say, oh, you see, he told Thomas, you see, and you believe, or he asked the question, you see, and you believe. Well, blessed are those who do not see, has not seen, I've all, I've all the resurrected Christ, but who believe, who's faithful to the word. And to know and to have, as if, and faith by our sight, having known to know the resurrected Christ, to know that he's at the right hand of the Father, and to stand upon that truth. Blessed are they. So as a validating, as a, as a witness, we see the change, and it was these disciples that turned the world upside down. So we could say of Peter, not only were you with Jesus, but you were the one who was an eyewitness to the resurrection. And we know that through his actions. It was Jesus who cooked them up breakfast. Who gave them? Again, I should have titled this, you know, the, the God of first, the Jesus of first, second and third chances. And we'll, we'll get back to this in the resurrection, but, um, but the previous of things to come. Here it is that Jesus cooked them up breakfast. Jesus sitting out there on the, on the, by the fire while they were coming in. They didn't recognize him at first, and then he opened up their eyes. They recognized him. Peter jumped out of the boat and ran up there. And he had, so he sitting there and Jesus cooking fish and Jesus asked them how many times did Peter deny Jesus? Three times. How many times did Jesus ask Peter? Do you love me? Three times. So where he had three, three denials, he now has three affirmations that he loved Jesus and Jesus said, okay, I'm going to give you a commandment. Go and feed, you know, with each time, go and feed my sheep, ten my sheep, feed my sheep. Well, what a wonderful lesson. Enjoyed. All right. Once again, my brother, happy birthday to you. Hope you have a great weekend and let's close out and prayer. Father, I have it. Thank you for this opportunity this morning sharing your word. Thank you for being a God of first, second, third chances. You're, you're so gracious and you're even more gracious than what we are to each other. For each other, we, we often just slam the door on a relationship without no opportunity of repentance, of giving a person an opportunity to come back and try it again. And a lot of friendships have been destroyed because of either misunderstanding or really actually stabbing a friend in the back and being so regretful for. But I pray Heavenly Father that we can take on, first of all, our Lord Jesus Christ's attitude of forgiveness. How many times should we forgive? 70 times seven, always. And to bring that relationship back together, we've all failed. And we thank you for the lesson that Peter gives to us. And we pray these things, Heavenly Father, as we continue to grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and whose name we pray. Amen. All right. Another fine day. No, Lord. We have communion Sunday coming up this, this Lord's Day. And I don't know what the lesson is. Maybe we'll probably continue on in Hebrews and then have our communion. And I hope you're here with us. Until then, stay motivated, Lord. Keep your armor on. Keep fighting a good fight of faith. Lord, Will and Spirit God, grab your pen and we'll be back here Sunday morning. All right. And if you want to, if you want to get more, more, you can join us. Thank you for, let me do with this one. I got to get Michael to redo this. But thank you for joining us. Join us again here. You can come and visit us on our website at www.grchappell.org, where you can pick up archives and notes and see this lesson again. So, you you you [BLANK_AUDIO]