Peter - Failure Is Not Fatal

Tom Shrader examines Peter's journey from denial to powerful preaching, demonstrating that failure is not fatal for believers. Using Peter's three denials of Christ and his subsequent restoration, Shrader shows how God's grace transforms our worst moments into opportunities for ministry. He emphasizes that the same Holy Spirit power that transformed Peter is available to all believers today.

“Your job is not to be a soul winner. That's God's job. We don't want the souls you've won. They don't tend to hang in there very long.”

— Tom Shrader

Series: CBCC July 2014

Recorded: 2014 at Cannon Beach Conference Center

Duration: 1 hr 7 min

Themes: failure, restoration, grace, forgiveness, redemption, transformation, hope, ministry, struggling with failure, feeling defeated, recovering from mistakes, new believer, pastor, spiritual leader, young adult, feeling unworthy

Scripture: John 1:35-42, Matthew 4:18-19, Matthew 16:13-20, John 13:31-38, Luke 22:54-62, Acts 1:4-9, Acts 2:14-41, Acts 4:8-13

Theological Themes: sanctification, holy spirit, spiritual transformation, grace theology, restoration doctrine, pneumatology, biblical discipleship, divine forgiveness

Full Transcript

Good morning! Yesterday was my day off, so it seems like it's been forever since we've been together. I haven't been with you since Sandy did her session. We have a little bet always—in the best sense of the Christian term—and she always says, "Here's the questions we're going to get." It's amazing the personal questions that you have, and I think Sandy probably covered them.

How We Met

The first question is always: How did we meet? We actually met at church. Sandy was in church for four or five years while I was there teaching. She would come on Sunday night and sit right down front, and we would talk every week. She always blows it off as just me being courteous, but it was more than courteous. She had an interesting job at ASU, and she was an interesting person, but we really didn't have any conversation beyond that.

It's a convoluted story that, in retrospect, sounds like I kind of arranged it, which is not true. We ended up at a meeting at the end of the business day, and the total purpose of the meeting was for me to say thank you to her for serving. She had gone to one of our other campuses, primarily over by the university, filled with college students. Sandy was interviewing for a couple of jobs, and I wanted to let her know her value.

I said to the guy, "Have you told her how important she is to what you're doing?" Because I kept hearing Sandy's name over and over again. Who's your go-to person? Sandy. Who's been able to minister? Sandy. So I said, "Have you told her this?" They're young men, and they said, "Oh, she knows it." I said, "She needs to be told it."

So that's how we ended up at a coffee type of thing at the end of the day. We talked for five hours, five and a half hours. The coffee went into dinner. We started texting—I'm a big text guy, I don't like talking on the phone, I love to text. She was on her way to Las Vegas to run a marathon or half marathon, so we're texting back and forth.

A Quick Courtship

She got back Monday, and I called her. I said, "Maybe would you want to get something to eat or something?" I had not dated in a long time, so my skills apparently were rusty, though the charm apparently wasn't. We went out, and then very quickly, we did not date very long. That was like the first of December, and by Christmas, we had decided that we probably should be together.

The second time through is different, and so we decided really quickly—30 days into it, really—that we should be married. That was at the beginning of the year. I went to one of the ladies on staff and said, "I've started to date this young lady. What's the soonest we can get married without the old ladies being offended in the church?" She said, "Memorial Day." I said, "Really? Because I was thinking Christmas."

I went to the admin guy and said, "I'm dating Sandy, and we're thinking about getting married. What's the soonest we can get married without offending people?" He said, "I think Memorial Day." I said, "Well, that's great." So I called Sandy and said, "Memorial Day it is."

We got my two daughters, Sandy's daughter lives way over on the east coast, so my two daughters and their husbands and the two grandboys. We went to a favorite place—the place we actually had met the first night—and we had breakfast. Then we took the elevator up to the roof, and my son-in-law performed the ceremony. That's how we got married.

Common Questions

The second question was asked by a lady at breakfast yesterday. She said, "I have to ask this question, and I'm a little shy or embarrassed." I said, "Don't be embarrassed." She said, "What's the age difference between the two of you?" This year we're both having big birthdays. Sandy turns 50 this year, and I turn 65. So that's the age difference.

The third question I get, kind of from guys, is: "What's it like the second time? Is it hard? Can you make it work?" Sandy's heard this a thousand times, but we found early on the secret to making this work. We both love me. That's been the thing that's got us through our tough times and our difficult times.

I appreciate the questions, and ladies, I appreciate the way that you responded to Sandy the other day. Thank you for that.

Back to Our Study

We are back into our study, Lessons from the Legends. We started with Joseph, and we saw steadfastness and forgiveness. Daniel, we saw how to thrive in a hostile environment. Paul, we saw the premise that God hates religion—that God is not here to establish us as opportunities to save ourselves, but we outsource our salvation. God saves us. Christ died. The very things that Jesse just sang about, Brooke sang about, the team sang about.

We'll never understand, never know how much it costs to see our sin on that cross. That's the agony of the cross. The agony of the cross is not the beating and the scourging and the nails. I think we get a little distracted.

But I say this, and I'm very confident it's true, that there were thousands of people who died a physically more agonizing death than Jesus, who hung on crosses. Crucifixion was designed to last as long as the executioner wanted. It could literally go on for days. It would not be unusual for the birds of the air to come and begin to eat the body, or even dogs if they could get at it while the person was still alive.

And so the agony of the cross was not the physical part of it, though that was real. The agony of the cross was that He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf. That when Jesus died on the cross, there's that moment where He says, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" It's at that moment that He experiences the wrath that was due you and me. That's why you sing that song. Those are overwhelming words. I will never understand it. I'll never get it. I pray that I get it a little more each day because the more I do, the more grateful I am, thankful I am, humbled that I am. But that's what God desires.

Tomorrow we look at that. I had a couple people today stop me and say, "I think I know who tomorrow's going to be." So far we've had some really interesting guesses. None of them right, but some interesting guesses. But tomorrow's a guy that you might least expect.

Peter: A Man of Failure and Grace

But today our guy is Peter. And from Peter we learn failure isn't fatal. If we do a word association with Peter, and I say "Peter," and ask you either in a word or a phrase to describe Peter, most of you would say denial. Most of you, that's what you think about.

And I'm on a bit of a campaign to get our thought process about Peter out of the Gospels and into the book of Acts. If you leave Peter at denial, that's a low moment. We're going to look at that moment. That's a low moment for Peter. And not at all that radically different than a Judas moment. But with two different, totally different perspectives. Judas is swept away into despair. Peter becomes overwhelmed by God's grace and God's forgiveness.

So when we talk about failure, I think it's particularly important to remember that our hope is built on the character of God, and the promise of God, and the sovereignty of God, and the faithfulness of God. And I am loving the way that God has put together these messages in the morning and the evening. And I can't help, I'm not trying to take this and force it onto what Bill's saying at all, it's what Bill's saying, is that he's giving us yet another example of the character of God, and the promise of God, and the sovereignty of God, and the faithfulness of God, and the holiness of God. I think we get into that in the life of David. So I choose to believe God's put together this amazing week, and if not for you, at least for Bill and me. So we're having fun, and hopefully growing, and hopefully learning.

Peter's First Encounter with Jesus

So when we talk about Peter, I want to get to a moment in a second, but by way of introduction I'll just read it to you, but mention it. John chapter 1, you'll hear pages ruffle. I'm learning as I work my way around the campus, there's a lot of BSFers here. How many of you are BSF people? Yeah, a lot of hands. So they want to hear pages turned. So turn those pages, or at least give me the reference.

And it's John chapter 1, verse 35. It's Jesus' public ministry, that's the heading. John writes this: "Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked upon Jesus as He walked, and said, 'Behold the Lamb of God!'" This is John the Baptist he's writing about, John the gospel writer, writing about John the Baptist. "The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, 'What do you seek?' And they said to Him, 'Rabbi' (which is to say, being interpreted, Master), 'where are You staying?' He said to them, 'Come and see.' They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, 'We have found the Messiah' (which is, being interpreted, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, 'You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas' (which is translated, A Stone)."

There's that amazing moment, and it's almost stunning to go back and read those early encounters that Jesus has with those first disciples. And in my mind I'm going, "Is there more to it than this? Was there more dialogue than this?" Was it so compelling and so simple that Jesus said, "Follow me," and they said, "Sure."

The Call to Follow

In Matthew's Gospel, Matthew chapter 4, verse 18, Matthew writes: "And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen." Now we get the profession that they're engaged in, and they're at a day at work. So if it's helpful in the story, project yourself into it. So you're at Microsoft with your mouse moving around creating something, or you're on the sales floor, and you're helping someone in the store, or you're making a sales call, cold calling, whatever it is, they're in the process of their day.

Matthew chapter 4, verse 19: "Then He said to them, 'Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.' They immediately left their nets and followed Him."

And my intention here is not at all to then go, "This is the way we follow, and drop everything immediately, and go." But it is a compelling story to see how they respond. And I want to make sure we don't hold this up as the iconic model, and you begin to think that for you to be a real follower

of Christ, you need to abandon career, and abandon house, and abandon everything to follow Him. What you need to abandon is your self-will and your strength.

There was a question this morning at our time with the men, and the question was, "Tom, you said you became a Christian at age 30. What were the first 30 years like?" Without detail, what were those first 30 years like? I was absorbed in myself. That's what it is to be human—selfish, self-centered, sinful people. It manifests itself in all sorts of different ways.

God saved me in 1980. There was another fellow that I knew in town named Tom Woods, Tommy Woods. Tommy and I got saved roughly the same time under the ministry of Larry Wright. So to celebrate our one-year anniversary, I'm a big cheeseburger guy. I love cheeseburgers. I said, "Tommy, why don't we celebrate?" He said, "Let's go to Chubb's." Chubb's had the best cheeseburgers in Phoenix, and we're there celebrating with a cheeseburger.

I said, "You know, my life has changed so radically. I mean, everybody in the office, anybody around me can see it. I had at this point not just cut the drinking down, but really had stopped it. I had changed in terms of my attitude toward people and lots of things. But Tommy, not much has changed with you. You were always a nice guy. You got this great smile. You're amazingly nice. Great family guy. Just a great guy." He said, "My outside hasn't changed, but my heart is radically changed. I used to do those things so that people would think I was a nice guy, so God would be happy with me."

The Nature of Life Without Christ

That's the definition of life without Christ—it's self-absorbed. It doesn't mean you have to abandon your life. It means you have to abandon your self-centeredness. Die to self. I'm alive to Him.

I despise the idea that says there's a bunch of people in full-time ministry, and then there's this subclass of everybody else. We have a tendency to say that this is their ministry. Camping is their ministry. Kevin would be in the same level of ministry if he was working at Hyatt hotel. You're in the full-time ministry. I don't want you to go, "Well, Peter, I guess he's one of those super guys." No, he's just like you. God may or may not be calling you to abandon this fishing ministry work that you have. But God's called you. Once you're a Christian, you're in full-time ministry. Got it?

The Great Confession at Caesarea Philippi

That's the background. Here's this moment in Matthew chapter 16. It's a passage that's produced all sorts of controversy. My intention is not to resolve that. Matthew chapter 16, verse 13: Jesus came to the district of Caesarea Philippi and He said to the disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" That was Jesus' favorite autobiographical reference. "Who do people say that I am?"

"Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, others say Jeremiah, one of the prophets." And He said, "But who do you say that I am?" In terms of preaching beach balls, we can stop right here and go, "But who do you say?" Have you reached that point? Who do you say that Jesus is? Some good teacher, great moral leader?

Peter speaks up and he said, "You're the Christ, the Son of the Living God." And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because flesh and blood didn't reveal this to you, but my Father's in heaven." This isn't something you figured out. If you get the gospel today and understand it, it's because God's opened your eyes to this. God's allowed you to see this truth.

Divine Revelation, Not Human Discovery

How is it that I'm sitting there and I don't want anything to do with Christ or the things of Christ, and on March 8th, all of a sudden I want Jesus more than anything else? Paul, Saul of Tarsus, is a great example of this. It's not like Paul is searching for God. He thinks he already has Him. But then there's that moment, not where Saul got so smart, but where the Holy Spirit invaded his heart and opened his eyes, and now he says, "I got it."

That explains why you've had these situations where you sit down with somebody that you really care about, and you're convinced God's told you to share the gospel with them, and you start to pour your heart out, and you're sharing stories, and all of a sudden you got a killer verse. It's a killer verse, not because God said it's a killer verse, but it's the one that killed you. So you go, "I'll try this." You know, "God says in His word," and you drop it, and he looks at you and says, "You're going to eat all that?"

Peter's Bold Declaration

A really important point. How can you sit down with a husband and wife, and you begin to pour your heart out, and one of them says, "I've been waiting my whole life for this," and the other one says, "Get out of here." Is this person smarter than the other person? Because they both heard the same thing. No, God's working in their life, and that's what Jesus said. God revealed this to you.

I mean, let me make a point. It popped into my mind, and we'll digress a little bit. Let's say Sandy and I run into a couple back home, and we go out, and they're both unbelievers. Sandy sits down with the lady. I sit down with a guy. Sandy lays out the gospel. She said, "I've been waiting my whole life for this," and she responds. I lay it out for the guy, and he said, "You know, I don't want any of this. Get it out of here." Let me ask - this is an important question for you to grasp - Is God happier, in that case, with Sandy or with me?

The same. Your job is not to be a soul winner. That's God's job. We don't want the souls you've won. They don't tend to hang in there very long. They tend to be a little bit just like you. Your job is, and this is great freedom in this, your job is not to convert anybody. Your job is to proclaim the gospel.

So Jesus says to Peter, "I also say that you're Peter, and upon this rock I'll build my church. The gates of Hades will not overpower it." I don't want to get into that. The Catholics are going, "There's the Pope," and others are going "Peter, Pebble," but here's what I know. This is telling us something big about Peter. Peter, you're going to be around in this deal. I've got something planned, this church planned, and whether you're the rock or a pebble, either way you're going to play a role in it.

The Last Supper Setting

Now we're into it. John chapter 13. The backdrop is this: It's what we identify as the Last Supper. Judas has left. Jesus is there with the boys. I mean, this is an intense moment.

He says in verse 31, "Therefore when Judas had gone, Jesus says, 'Now is the Son of Man glorified, the Father's glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, be glorified immediately. Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek me. And as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, where I am going you cannot come.'"

So you get the backdrop. We got the idea of hindsight here. He's teeing up for them the crucifixion. And then He says this: "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another even as I have loved you."

How the World Will Know

Verse 35: "By this will all men know you're my disciples." I want you to see that Jesus had a blank piece of paper there. He's got a blank whiteboard. How are they going to know that you're my disciples? And He could have written on there: Bible study, Christian camping, singing, worship, quiet time, good dad, good mom, good spouse. Here's how the world's going to know that you're a follower of Christ: that you love one another.

That's what makes strife in the church so horrific. Not long after I became a Christian, there was a story in the newspaper in Phoenix. It was Christmas time, and a church in town, one of the guys had put up a Christmas tree. And of course, there's always people in the church who are going, "Well, do you know the roots of the Christmas tree, and the history of the Christmas tree? And this is about something other than this, and about all of these things." So he took the Christmas tree out to the parking lot, and the next guy pulled it in. And on the news, the story of these two in the parking lot, followers of Christ, ready to celebrate the birth of the Savior, punching each other out in the parking.

And the world did what you would do. And that's how do I know that you're a follower of Christ? You're going to love one another. What does that look like? Well, it's patient, it's kind, it's gentle, it's all those things in 1 Corinthians 13.

Peter's Sincere but Misguided Promise

So He said all of this, and He's presented to them something that He's been intensifying over the last few months with them, and that is He's going to go and suffer. And then, John 13:36, Peter interjects. He said, "Lord, where are you going?" And Jesus said, "Where I'm going, you can't follow me. You'll follow later." And Peter said, "Lord" - and I think he says this with incredible sincerity - "Lord, why can't I follow you? You need to understand something. I'm willing to die for you."

So I get all this up to this moment that we're going to turn. Jesus has now said to him, "Really you're going to die for me? Let me tell you something, you'll lay down your life for me? I'm telling you, the rooster won't crow until you deny me three times." Peter, I appreciate it, I'm sure you're sincere, but let me tell you something, buddy: die for me? You aren't going to make it through the night. You're not going to last at all.

And again, I think Peter's sincere, I think Peter really means this when he says it.

Turning to Luke's Account

So that's the story, it's so familiar to you. Turn to Luke's gospel, and I select Luke's gospel for a specific reason. Luke's gospel, like Matthew, Mark, and John, has an account of Jesus' arrest. But I choose Luke for a reason, we'll see it.

You know the story, here's what's happened now: that Lord's Supper moment is over, Jesus has taught them, it's recorded in John chapter 14, 15, 16, and 17, that last message, really the first three chapters. If you're looking for a study to do, something for you to kind of plug into, to tear apart, to think about for the rest of the summer, John 14, 15, 16, that's a pretty good section to be working at, because that's Jesus fortifying these guys, saying "I'm about to leave."

Not gonna leave you as an orphan, I'm not gonna leave you alone, I'm gonna send a helper. Here comes the helper.

In Luke's gospel, Luke chapter 22, here's the story, you know it: "Having arrested him, they led him away, brought him to the house of the high priest, and Peter's following at a distance." And of course, I mean, how many of these messages? Peter's following, but he's not following far away. And where are the other guys? At least he's there. He's following at a distance.

"After they kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard, he sat down, they sat down together, Peter's among them, and a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight, looking intently at him, said this man was with him, with Jesus too. Peter denied it, said woman, I don't know him." One.

Verse 58: "A little later, another saw him and said you are one of them too, and Peter said man, not me." Two. Luke chapter 22, verse 59: "After about an hour had passed, another man began insisting, certainly this man was also with him, for he's a Galilean." Probably his dialect, his accent, gave him away. "And Peter said man, I don't know what you're talking about, and immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed."

The Moment of Recognition

So I'll give it to you in real time. "Man, I don't know what you're talking about." Urr, urr, urr. Immediately, right at this moment.

Now, the reason I selected Luke out of the four Gospels to record this is what Luke records, and only he records, exclusive to his Gospel. Verse 61: "The Lord turned and looked at Peter." You talk about drama. I can't create that. I don't know how to recreate that. I got goosebumps up here.

Think of the drama of that moment. Get yourself into that story. I don't know Him. I don't know Him. I don't know Him. Urr, urr, urr. And the Lord turns and looks at Peter. "And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had told him before, the rooster crows today, you'll deny me three times." All of a sudden, he looked and their eyes met. You imagine the intensity on Peter at that moment?

When the girls were small, and they would misbehave, and I wanted to get their attention, I would take them and lift them up, and hold them right like this. Eyeball to eyeball. And that had to be the most helpless feeling, you know, feet are dangling, and I'm mad, and my face, like Nebuchadnezzar with Daniel, my face is distorted, and I'm looking at you. And for those kids that had to be the most helpless feeling.

Think of Peter at that moment. Think of your own life. Think of when you are in the midst of something that you know is directly disobedient to God, and all of a sudden, you're not looking in the eyes of Jesus, you're just understanding the presence of God in this moment, and you're overwhelmed by this. That's Peter at this moment.

The Weight of Grief

And then, verse 62 of Luke 22: "He went out and wept bitterly." The Amplified said, "That is, he wept with painful, moving grief." He is crying.

Now, I always describe the girls, when they would get really upset as kids, and they would cry, they would have what I called, and I apologize, this is kind of gross, they would have what I would call snot-dripping cries. Your kids have those, where they're just crying so hard, and it doesn't even matter what it is. It could be nothing, it could be drama, it could be serious, it could be brokenness.

My daughter Haley, and I mentioned her the other night, she's the Gia kid, could have raised herself. We didn't have a lot of rules in our house. I'm not a big rule guy. I didn't like them. I just thought rules were kind of, no offense to you, because if you're a rule person, I know, I thought they were stupid. I thought if you get, here's my thing with a rule: if you're going to have a rule, enforce it. There's nothing I hate more than, "Well we have a rule, but we look the other way when people do it." Well, if you're going to look the other way, get rid of the stupid rule.

I hate rules. So my mom, and unfortunately I inherited a lot of my mom's traits, my mom did not like gum chewing. And if you'll notice, when I came in today, I was chewing gum, and I do it primarily for hygiene now, not for enjoyment. But my mom would go, "You're smacking gum," and I have no problem. So if you're a gum chewer right now, I got no problem with that.

But my mom, so my girls, when they started growing up, one of them had some gum one day, and I said, "We don't chew gum in this house, no gum chewing." And it was not meant to be any sort of a statement, it was just a, I don't even know what made me say it. And so that became a rule.

A Father's Perspective on Shame

My daughter Haley, when Tyler, that's now her husband, they were out one night, and he said to Haley, "What's the worst thing you ever did in your life?" And she said, "Chew gum." And he's going, "That's the worst thing?"

Well, one day, Haley's in her room, and somehow I came home early or something, and this was really interesting, because the society does not look down on gum chewing. Teachers give them gum, it's acceptable. So I come in, and I don't know if she was chewing gum, or I saw a piece of gum, and I said, "What are you doing with gum?" And she said, and she started to cry. And she said, "Dad, I'm the worst person in the world." And I'm going, "Just that," I'm going, "Uh-huh."

And she said, "Look at this." And she went around the room, and she had hundreds of pieces of gum. And she said, "I've never chewed any of this. People just give it to me, and I don't know why. I keep it, and I throw it away." And she just said, "Dad, I'm so bad." I said, "You are. Don't ever forget it. You're scum." No, I didn't say that. I said, "Honey, you'll be all right. It's gum." And she said, "But we can't have gum. And you said no gum."

And I don't know that it equals Peter's moment, but she was distraught. I mean, she was wiped out by this moment. And that's Peter. That's that moment.

Now, we know the risen Christ appears to Him, but I want to fast forward to the book that follows John's.

Peter stands up with the eleven and raises his voice, declaring to all who live in Jerusalem: "Let it be known to you, and give heed to my words." Here's what he's saying: "Listen up, guys."

Now, we saw Peter in that moment when he denied Jesus three times. When I mention Peter, you probably think, "I'm fine with that guy." But was his denial a failure? That was a massive failure. If something like that happened in our church, we'd take that person aside and say, "You can come here, you can give here, but you're probably not going to serve here." Every once in a while in our church during June, July, and August, it's hard to staff the parking lot ministry—that might be where you could go. But you've been with the Lord and denied Him three times. There's forgiveness, I guess, but not much usefulness.

Yet Peter stands up and says, "Guys, listen up."

The Power of the Holy Spirit

Let me back up to show you what happened between Peter's failure and this moment of boldness. In the book of Acts, Jesus has the disciples together. Acts chapter 1, verse 4 and verse 8: "He gathered them together, and He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but wait for what the Father had promised, which He said, 'You heard from me, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. You'll be my witnesses, both in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the remotest parts of the earth.'"

Then verse 9: "After He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them and said, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up at the sky?'"

I wish I'd been there at that moment, because I would have said, "We've never seen anything quite like this before. What do you mean, why?" If I went to Cape Canaveral during a launch—don't you love that picture? When they show the crowd during a launch, isn't everybody doing the same thing? They're all looking up. Here's this moment with Jesus, and now He's just gone.

The Day of Pentecost

In Acts chapter 2, the day of Pentecost arrives. Suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the house. There appeared to them tongues of fire distributing among them, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit coming to invade those early believers.

This is what happens to you at the moment you believe. Really important to understand: that same Spirit that invaded Peter invaded you. It manifests itself differently—I'm not saying be like Peter in terms of circumstance, but in terms of substance.

Brian Loritz and I split a week teaching here a couple years ago. After the evening sessions, we'd head to the Driftwood to talk. During one of these conversations, he said, "I know you're retiring, and this is a confessional time for me. What's your biggest regret in terms of your teaching and presentation? What did you neglect?"

My answer surprised me because I hadn't thought about it: "The Holy Spirit." I'm one of those conservative evangelicals who believes in the Trinity but only teaches two-thirds of it. I saw what I believe are distortions of the Holy Spirit and probably responded against them. Rather than just teaching what I understand to be the truth, I neglected it and then mocked what I saw. That's terrible.

The Power Source

But that same power—that's what Jesus is saying to the disciples in John 14, 15, and 16—you're going to have power. Imagine having this amazing guitar but never plugging it into the power source. Nobody can hear it. What good is it? You and I have this power—the power of the Holy Spirit.

These disciples are moved out of the upper room and begin to speak in tongues. This isn't a dissertation on tongues, but notice what it is: known languages. It would be like if I'd never spoken French but suddenly started speaking French, and you stood up and said, "I'm Parisian," and I'd apologize. Then you'd say, "I understood every word you said."

Peter's Bold Proclamation

This brings us to Acts chapter 2, verse 14. Peter stands up with the eleven, raises his voice, and says, "Men of Israel, listen to these words."

Look at verse 22—it sounds very similar to Stephen's message and becomes the message of the early church: "Men of Israel, listen to these words. Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs." Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 22 that the Jews ask for signs. Peter said Jesus did these signs in your midst, just as you yourselves know. "I'm not giving you new information. Maybe what's going to happen is the Holy Spirit's going to connect the dots for you right here."

"You delivered Him up by the predetermined plan of God." It wasn't that Jesus was on this spiritual revival and things careened out of control, overwhelming Him with the political and economic powers of Rome. No, that was all part of God's plan.

God's Eternal Plan

Our hope rests in the character of God, the promise of God, and the sovereignty of God. In my Bible—and I don't know why this speaks volumes to me—the Bible is about creation, the fall, redemption, and restoration. Page 1 and page 2 are about creation. Page 3 is about the fall, and the rest are about redemption and restoration. This is all God's plan from the beginning.

God is in heaven, and then Adam eats this fruit, and He goes, wow, I didn't see that coming. I don't know how I'm going to fix that. I'm going to have to think about that a little bit. No, this was part of it all along.

There's a story of Daniel. I thought we threw three guys into the fire. There's four. It's a pre-incarnate Christ. He's coming. All of that Old Testament. Some scholars, and I'm always, I'm not a scholar at all, so I'll quote them and hope it's accurate, is that Jesus is on every page. This is all about He's coming. That's what I read in Isaiah. That's what I read in the Old Testament. That's what I'm looking for. There's this one that's coming.

God's Predetermined Plan

Jesus, yay, but He was delivered over by the predetermined plan for knowledge of God, nailed to the cross by the hands of godless men, put to death. How great is this? Verse 24, but God raised Him again. On Easter, we go, there's an empty tomb. The empty tomb doesn't prove that He rose. It just proves the tomb's empty. Now, we know why it's empty, because He rose again.

In this early church, as they delivered messages, so if you're a pastor or a Sunday school teacher, you have a chance to teach, they had two things they coupled together and never separated, the crucifixion and the resurrection. Christ died by the predetermined plan, nailed to the cross, but God raised Him from the dead and put an end to the agony of death, since it's impossible for Him, Jesus, to be held in His power.

The End of Death's Agony

Then when Christ died, there was an end to the agony of death, not the physical agony. Shortly after we started the church, and I was telling someone this morning, that we never had any training. Not one of us had been in church leadership. We didn't know anything. We read the Bible, kind of saw what they did, and I don't want to make this like that first century church. I had a lot of young guys, we're going to start a first century church. I said, all right, let's get rid of the air conditioning to start with. We don't mean truly first century. No apple, no anything. So we saw these things.

We had a lady get sick in the church, and I used to drive by her house to get home every day, and she was this classy lady. She'd be out gardening, and she was just like the quintessential classy lady, and she got cancer. And it was such that they said there was nothing we could do here, but you could go down in Tucson at the university. There's a medical school, and there's some experimental things. We doubt they'll help, but you might help the next person.

So I taught in Tucson once a week, and I would go down to see her. And the first time I went in to see her, she's lost her hair. She has on a wig. She's very proper and tall and this. And then by about the third time I saw her, the wig was gone, and she had on a bandana. And by about the fifth or sixth time, the bandana was gone, and she was bald as could be, and she had turned bright red. The chemo was eating out of her skin. And I wanted to comfort her, and I would go over, and I would start to reach out, and I was almost, I was afraid just this. I put my hand lightly on her arm, and she started to twitch.

And I remember this verse pretty clearly, Acts chapter 2, verse 24. God raised Him again, putting an end to the agony of death. It's obviously not the physical agony. I watched my wife Susan die. I watched her die for seven years. I watched the last couple of months that were so difficult. She was so noble. I didn't understand really until recently how much pain she was in. And sometimes I wouldn't be there, and she'd fall, and she couldn't get up. And I would be so frustrated with her, and angry at her, and angry at me, and angry at everything. And she would just, there'd be times when she'd just say, it just hurts so much. Not complaining.

Spiritual vs. Physical Agony

When He said He put an end to the agony of death, He didn't mean your physical agony. He meant your spiritual uncertainty about death. Haven't you done this? Every funeral they go to, they'll go, well, you know, we're going to miss Bill, but he's in what? A better place. Okay, let's deconstruct this. This guy is a jerk. Okay? He doesn't care about God, the things of God, Jesus, anything else. He was bad to his wife, his family, his kids. He was bad to his co-workers. He was a bad dude.

And what I've discovered is, the worse he is, the faster they want to get him into heaven. I'm waiting for the one to say, well, we're here today to celebrate Bill's life, but you know, Bill's in hell. They never say this. I don't understand why they don't say this.

The end of the agony of death is not that everybody, theological terms, justification by death, it's not that everybody dies and goes to heaven. But for those of us that know Christ, the agony is not, I wonder what's next. I wonder where I'm going. Now, unless you're Randy Alcorn and you have it all figured out what it's going to look like, the rest of us are going, well, I'm not really sure about this or that. All I know is, here we go. I'm going to be with Jesus forever. There's not a suspicion there. As you're laying there and you're in the process of dying, okay, here's what I try to say.

I try to be a source of encouragement to everybody everywhere. So here's what I try to say to people when they're hurting, okay? Remember this, no matter how bad it gets, it can only last a lifetime. Does that excite you? But I mean, sometimes I don't have anything else for you. Absent of the body, present with the Lord.

Peter's Transformative Message

Peter delivers this message. We've got to wrap this up. Peter delivers this message. They're pierced to the heart. They said, what should we do? He said, repent, each of you. Acts 2:38. Be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of sin, and you'll receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

So then, verse 41, those who received the word and were baptized that day, about 3,000 souls were added. Talk about God moving. Can I take you back? Who is the preacher? That's the guy, the old guy that we kicked out.

of the lamp. Peter, you had a big chance. You had a good run. You had three good years, screwed up along the way a few times, but we're still there at the end. That probably put you over and out of the edge, and I doubt much is going to happen.

No, 3,000 people, the beginning of the church. We won't spend time on this, at least not much. This is what the church is to do: teach, fellowship, breaking of bread, prayer. And look at the result of this. There are people, there's a sense of awe in the church, and the people outside begin to see this.

In chapter 2, verse 46, they continue day by day, breaking bread house to house, taking their meals, and having favor with all the people. Remember what Jesus said at the Last Supper? This is how they're going to know you're my disciples. You're going to love one another. These people are living together.

The Early Church's Compelling Witness

I don't think it's prescriptive. I think it's descriptive. I don't think He's saying let's sell everything and we'll move into Cannon Beach. I think He's saying there was this share, this attitude, this spirit, and it was so compelling that the people see it. There's amazing accounts from the early, early history of the church, how the world would look at them and say, there's something different about these Christians.

If there's one of them that dies and they don't have any money, the others chip in and they bury him. They care for one another. They love one another. They share with one another. And the people are stumped by it.

I'm listening to the radio one year at Christmas, and this disc jockey says, I've come up with an idea. I want to do this for December. I want all of you that are my fans, you know, he's Rick the disc jockey. All of you that are my fans, I want you to give 10% of your income for the month of December to this charity he had. I don't know what it was, United Way, whatever it was. And people are calling in, and the newspaper, Rick is amazing! Look what Rick is doing.

And I wanted to go, there's thousands of people in this town that do that, not in December, but 12 months a year. And they're followers of Christ. And they don't just do that. They give you half a day on Sunday, and they're there serving, and they're serving all week long. When one guy called in and said, you know, at our church, that's what we do. And Rick's blown away. He thought he had invented tithing. Well, the people see that.

Peter Before the Religious Leaders

Fast forward, on the next day, the rulers, the elders, the scribes are gathered together at Jerusalem. High Priest is there, and others, and all who are the high priestly descent. And they place them in the center. That is, placed in the center, that is Peter and John. And they said, by what power or name have you done this? The healing that's taking place, the preaching that's taking place.

And Peter, filled with the Spirit, Acts 4, 8, said to them, rulers, elders, if we're on trial today for the benefit done to a sick man, as to how he was made well, let it be known to all of you, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene. And then he adds, I love it, he keeps adding, the one you crucified. Jesus who you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, crucifixion, resurrection. By this name, this man stands, that's how we did it.

He is the stone which you rejected, Jesus, and the builders, but He became our chief stone. Acts 4, verse 12, here's our close. There is salvation in no other name, for there's no other name under heaven that's been given among men, by which we should be, can be saved.

The Exclusive Claims of Christ

And I remind you who said this, standing before the powers to be, there they are, not a little servant girl. What a little servant girl, that was too much. But now here's Peter, standing before them and he said, I can't stop it. They ask him, they say, stop it. He said, I can't stop it. Why? Because there's salvation in one name and one name only. And that's our message as we go into the lost and dying world.

After 9-11 in Yankee Stadium there was this amazing event. I don't know if you remember it or if you even saw it. It was presided over by the priestess Oprah and on it they had somebody from anything that remotely looked like a religion. The stand, the platform was filled and as I said they did everything that day but sacrifice a goat. And they talked about this and this guy talked about that and then there was a guy that got up and read a poem and the wind blows and the ying and the yang and all this.

Here you go. None of that's going to save you. It might make you feel good or might make you confused. What's going to save me is Jesus.

Confidence Through Being With Jesus

Now that should be the end of the story but I added the last verse just for a punch. As they observed Peter and John, the confidence of them, they understood they were uneducated, untrained men. They were amazed and they began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.

I get here, the question that I get all the time when I do the testimony part is, okay so you're in real estate and God saved you and then where did you go to seminary? I'm not much of a student. Tuition was kind of high and I never made it. Oh, you went to Bible school. Sold pole grams down in Miami. No and I didn't go to Bible school. I didn't get, you know, built way beyond me in terms of education.

Here's all I did. I just read. I read and I would start each of these reading sessions by saying, God I don't know much. I want to know more. You teach me. Help me understand what's right. Don't let me get the stuff that's wrong. And when I was done, I'd say thank you. Now let's see how we can use it.

And they looked at him and they said they weren't educated and to them that was a big deal. And I'm not putting that down. Bill and I were talking about that this morning. I have great admiration for guys that are trained and educated and maybe too much in some instances.

because I'm deficient there. I don't know, but they looked at him and they said these are regular old guys. They're like you and me. But they'd been with Jesus.

Four Key Truths About Failure

Here's the "so what" - four of them quickly. Failure is inevitable. Isn't that what they said? To error is human. You're going to fail. You're going to have your equivalent of the "er-er-er" moment. But it's not fatal.

The second thing is your forgiveness is guaranteed. Maybe not by the people around you and maybe not by the church, but by God. Remember what we said the first night? Didn't get much reaction, so that tells me I didn't communicate it well. You can do nothing to make God love you more or cause Him to love you less. He accepts you. He chose you before the foundations of the earth. And here you go - He knew everything you did, everything you were doing, everything you thought, everything you will ever do. He's never going to be in heaven and go "didn't see it coming, wouldn't have chosen him."

God Still Uses Broken People

Here's the third thing, and this is beyond the forgiveness: you're still useful. God still uses you.

One day I was at home and I found this book and I began to read it. I was blown away by this book, absolutely blown away. I'm going "how do I not know this guy?" So I read a little more and I go on the internet and I discovered the guy. He had an amazing pedigree and was a pastor who had a moral failure.

I wanted to write a letter to him and say "I'm sure that was terrible. I've been on the internet. I've read all the stuff back and forth. I understand it was awful. But God just used you and your book to touch my life."

I was telling a friend of mine, a pastor, about this book. I said "do you know the guy?" And he said "I don't. Well, I know that name. Well, I don't." About five minutes later he said "I know that guy. He had an affair with his secretary, didn't he?" I said "yeah." He goes "I could never read his stuff." I said "wow, the book of Psalms must be tough for you."

You may be here and you may be past your "er" moment and saying "I can still be in the family but I'm never going to be in the game." I'm here to tell you, look at Chuck Colson. Biggest failure, the biggest genesis of one of the largest ministries that's ever existed.

The Final Question

And then the last question, and you have to go, is have you been with Jesus? They could look at him and see they'd been with Jesus. Do people see that with you?

It feels like I've talked about that every session - that people ought to see the reality of the risen Christ in you. Something different about you. The invisible God being made visible so that you have the opportunity to say it's Jesus.

Let me pray. Father, thank You for this awesome and amazing truth. Pray for this afternoon and the carnival, the fun that we have. But God, never let us take this time for granted. Remind us, remind me, that failure's not fatal. We got the "er-er-er" moments, but we also have that moment where people can look at us and say "he's been with Jesus." Let that be the impression we have.

God, let us get Peter out of the Gospels and into the book of Acts and everybody else in our life who falls in that category. Let us be the instrument of forgiveness that You use to reach out to them. We pray it in Christ's name. Amen.