Learning From Peter’s Failures

Introduction

So who do you most closely identify with? Would you say you more closely identify with Paul or with Peter? Certainly, Paul teaches us that no kind of sin is too awful to be forgiven. And that certainly is helpful to us. I mean, some people think they’ve committed sins that are just so awful that they could never find forgiveness in the Lord. And here is one who persecuted the way, who killed Christians, who was consenting to the death of Stephen in Acts chapter 7. And so we can find this solace in the Apostle Paul that if we will forsake the practice of that sin, whatever it is, acknowledge our dependence upon the Lord, and then pursue a righteous course, we can be forgiven. You don’t oppose the Lord’s way in any stronger fashion than Paul did.

What does it say in Acts 26 in the conversation that he has with the Lord on the road to Damascus? Jesus says you’re kicking against the goads. The goads are prodding the animal in a certain direction, and if the animal refuses that prodding and beats up against the goats actually further injures himself. And that’s what sin does. It brings self-injury, bringing only detriment to our lives. I love the passage in Proverbs chapter 1 that speaks of those who set an ambush for themselves. And that’s really what people do when they persist in the path of sin, perhaps more on that next Lord’s day. But we see in Paul an extraordinary transformation. I was once a persecutor of the church of God, he says in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and he sees himself as the least of all the apostles, the chief of sinners, 1 Timothy chapter 1, but yet he thinks Christ that he received mercy because he acted in ignorance.

And God has demonstrated his perfect patience with Paul. And I think it’s the extraordinary transformation part of it that’s hard for us to really identify with Paul, and then the kind of dedicated, committed service that would mean that he did not take a spouse, that would mean that he would travel and make all of those missionary journeys, go through all of that persecution, and we’ve had none of it. Like he describes in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. And so when we see someone so much a debtor, so dedicated, so committed, and all of the great things that he did for the cause of Christ in the first century, I think we struggle a little bit to identify with the apostle Paul. His portrait seems so unlike mine.

It seems so unlike our own. But then there is Peter.

Dotting the canvas of Scripture in a number of places with these spiritual failings or shortcomings. And I think the thing we think about most about Peter is that he was not bashful to speak his mind. He would speak when the others only thought the things that he was going to say. And so in Luke chapter 9, verse 33, it’s interesting that at the scene of the transfiguration, as they are aroused from their sleep and they see what’s going on, Jesus being transfigured, and there appears the glorious visages of Elijah and Moses. And what does he say? Lord, it’s good for us to be here. Let’s build a tabernacle. A tabernacle for you, a tabernacle for Elijah, and a tabernacle for Moses. And I love Luke’s account, which says he does not realize what he was saying.

And often when you awaken from sleep and you start talking, that is sometimes the result. But particularly in this instance, he doesn’t realize what he is saying. And that would probably be true on other occasions as well. In Mark chapter 14, when Jesus, and we’re going to come back to this text in Mark 14, when he says, you will all fall away, because it is written in Mark 14 and verse 27, I will strike down the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. That’s actually from Zechariah 13, a passage we studied not very long ago, where the shepherd imagery of the last several chapters is woven in, and this prophecy of their fleeing from him in the garden. But after I have been raised, I will go before you into Galilee.

But Peter said to him, Even though all will fall away, yet I will not. And Jesus has to tell him this very night. I mean, here we have an affirmation. Though everybody else fall away, not me. I’m in this thing. Dedicated, committed. Tonight. Before the cock crows. You will deny me thrice or three times. But Peter kept saying insistently. It’s like he didn’t take that. Even the words of his master. Even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you, he says. And then there’s Matthew 16, where he makes the great confession. Only to tell the Lord shortly thereafter, when he says he’s going to die, he’s going to be killed, and the third day he’s going to be raised up. Peter takes him aside and rebukes him.

Tells him, No, Lord, not so. And Jesus has to say to Peter, get behind me. Satan. And so when we look at the character of Peter revealed in the scripture, I don’t know if you would put the check mark by Paul or Peter. Which one would you most likely identify with? I think most of us would say Peter. We feel more of a kinship with him in our struggles and troubles than the Apostle Paul. And I want to talk about some of his failings tonight. And I’ve got to tell you that Brett was the reason why I’m preaching this. We started talking about this while he was here on our Wednesday night trip after services at Southside. We took him to Winnie and we were in the car and talking about this, these stories in regard to Peter, and he had this idea.

In fact, he wrote another invitation this afternoon and preached it to it to his phone and sent it to us and wanted us to listen to it right now. And so I said, son, I’m preparing to preach the sermon that you already gave me. And so we listened to it in the car on the way here. And I don’t know. He may, whenever he preaches, he may preach about Peter from now on. I think he’s going to have to branch out beyond that. But he’s really on Peter right now, and he’s the one that caused this. And I know you’re studying Peter with Scott on Wednesday nights, and I certainly don’t want to steal any of his thunder. Perhaps he’s already addressed some of these things.

1. Peter Sinks

But if so, I tend, I intend to merely supplement what Scott is doing on Wednesday night. I want to look at three incidents in the life of Peter. The first of which is found in Matthew 14. And I simply label this incident Peter sinks. And when I did so, it immediately came to my attention that rhymes with Peter stinks.

But I want to suggest to you that we might not have been so noble as they.

Lord bid me to come to you on the water. I mean, that’s a pretty bold thing. Because you know we walk on the water all the time. You do that regularly, right? And so here Jesus comes walking to them on the water. He says, Lord, bid me come to you. What kind of confidence is that? I don’t know that we would have been the first to get out of the boat. I wouldn’t have been. And so let’s give Peter a little bit of credit here in the story of Matthew chapter 14. Now, what’s going on in Matthew chapter 14 before we look specifically at the story. Early in the chapter in Matthew chapter 14, John the Baptist is martyred. And Jesus is affected by his loss.

He withdrew to a lonely place, it says in verse 13 as a result of that. But he did not do that for very long because his work presses on. And the feeding of the 5,000 follows that in verses 13 through 21. And then we find Jesus praying alone in the mountain in verse 23. The reason why the disciples are in the boat. He sent them off ahead of him, which perhaps sets the stage for this important miracle by which the disciples would again be impressed with this one who is among them, who is Emmanuel. And so it says in verse 23, and after he’d sent the multitudes away, he went up to the mountain to pray. But the wind was contrary. The storm on the sea was contrary.

And so Jesus came walking to them in the middle of the night, the fourth watch of the night. He came walking to them on the sea, and when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were frightened, saying, It is a ghost. And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. And he said, Come. And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. Now, I want you to think about this incident. I know in my mind’s eye, I’ve drawn this scene many times. From the time that I was a little boy, I thought about this incident of Jesus walking on the water.

Okay, our carpet’s blue, so imagine this. Jesus walking on the water, and Peter saying, Lord, bid me come to you. At first they think it’s a ghost. And so he gets out of the boat. This is not going to happen in a matter of seconds. I mean, at least a couple of minutes are going to be involved here for Peter to get out of the boat, get on the water, and to begin walking on the water. Jesus must be some distance away yet. As he begins walking on the water. But the nature of Peter’s crisis is clearly revealed in verse 30. But seeing the wind, he became afraid. And he began to sink. And he cried out saying, Lord, save me. The important thing here is that when Peter found himself in such a great crisis, he did the thing that we should all do.

2. Peter Denies the Lord

And that’s turn to the one who can save us. And he said, Lord, save me. He turned to the ultimate source for help. Dr. Phil ain’t that. Now I don’t watch Dr. Phil. Every now and then I’ll catch a little clip of it, perhaps while I’m working out or something, I’ll see it. And he perhaps helps some people and has some good advice some of the time, but he can only do so much. Jesus is the source of ultimate help. The second occasion. Peter denies the Lord. We read the text in Mark 14. Both Matthew and Mark’s account say that it wasn’t just Peter who was affirming this. And that’s the part I did not read in Mark chapter 14 and verse 31. But that all the disciples were affirming this.

Again, we give Peter a really hard time about, oh, I won’t deny you. Even if everybody else falls away, you know, I’m ready to go with you to prison and to death. And it wasn’t just him saying that. And while the others did not deny the Lord three times, they did all forsake him and flee in the garden. And so, to be fair, you know, it wasn’t just Peter who was saying this. And I find it interesting that Matthew and Mark are the ones that record that because both of them were there. I know Matthew was there because he was one of the apostles, and Matthew tells this story. And so he was one of the ones. He’s telling on himself. He said, I said it too.

And Mark seems to have been in the garden, according to Mark 14 in verses 15 and 51. The naked young man that fled away from the scene is only identified as the naked young man. But it seems that the Last Supper was held in the house of Mary, Mark’s mother, as that’s what Jewish tradition says. It matches Acts chapter 1. That’s where the disciples were meeting. And so Mark seemingly followed them out to the garden, and so he would have been a witness to this as well. All these apostles affirming their loyalty and then fleeing. I also like Luke’s account of this. Luke and John provide some unique details to these affirmations of loyalty and denial. Of course, in Luke’s account, Jesus further says, Simon, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like weak.

But I prayed for you that your faith fail not. And when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. Only Luke’s account tells us about that. And in verse 61, after the threefold denial, when it says, the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Only Luke tells us that little incident in the story. That’s as the cot crowed. And Peter went out and he wept bitterly. The beloved disciple’s narrative in John 19 is also different because of, or John 18, rather, because of the other disciples’ presence. When Peter is following at a distance, the other disciple, whoever he may have been, was following also, and he’s the one that let Peter into the courtyard. And yet, while he is more closely with Jesus in association during this mock trial, Peter is warming himself around the fire.

3. Peter's Prejudice Over the Gentiles

And some were uncertain whether he might have been one of those with Jesus, one of his closest followers. And the person who ultimately identifies him the third time, which is John tells us in John’s account in John 18, is the sister of Malchus, the servant of the high priest whose ear was cut off. She’s the one that says, You too were one of the disciples. Did I not see you in the garden? Actually, a relative, it says, of Malchus. And Peter therefore denied it again immediately, the cock crowed. Alright, the third incident, Peter’s failures. It’s one that I talk about a lot. This is the one that I have pictured in my mind so many times. Peter’s prejudice over the Gentiles. When Paul has to withstand Peter to the face.

And not only Peter is the one committing this sin of shunning the Gentiles who have been accepted among the Lord’s people, as we read back in Acts 10, and Peter was the big part of that, wasn’t he? When he sees the vision of that which is unclean. And he’s the one that sent to those whom God no longer considers unclean, but wants to invite them in to the gospel. And Peter then would ultimately go and preach to Cornelius, and not only would he do that, he would defend the conversion of the Gentiles before the Jews in Acts chapter 11. And I always love Acts chapter 11, 1 through 18, where he explains their conversion and that God has granted repentance that leads to life unto the Gentiles.

But by the time Paul arrives on the scene, and the events of Galatians 2 unfold, he is now shunning Gentiles and not wanting to be associated with them because he feared the Jews, it says. And Peter has to be withstood to the face. And even Barnabas, not just Peter, even Barnabas was carried away with this matter, it says in Galatians chapter 2. And so one thing that I find helpful about this particular failing is that if we think Peter lived perfectly after the resurrection. Okay, the lights went on. Now we understand. And so Peter then from that point forward is never going to commit another sin because all the lights are on. No. Even though he understands the will of God and his plan to redeem men through Jesus Christ, he commits a later sin.

This was post-resurrection. And I find great solace in that. It’s one thing to not know any better and to do foolishly. It’s another thing to know better and to stumble. But I’ll say this about Galatians chapter 2. I’ve always said that part of the story is too short. It’s not Paul’s intentions to tell everything that transpired. But I would like to know what Peter said after Paul was stood into the face. That’s what I would like to know. And none of that is contained in the story. And that’s the only place the story is told. But we know from the fact that he writes 1 Peter and 2 Peter. And he’s still a faithful and loyal disciple of Jesus Christ, that by implication, he humbled himself.

He accepted criticism from Paul, the Johnny come lately disciple. You know, we would have been tempted, I know, to say, who are you to correct me, you murderer of Christians. But there’s no indication that Peter responded in that way. We have every reason to believe that he accepted this public rebuke with great humility.

And I would say about that, what impresses me most about that is that he didn’t protect his image at all costs. Though he was an apostle, he was a leader among the Lord’s people, he was able to say, I messed up here. Oh, well. Okay. Your days as an apostle are done. This is pretty big. This is a pretty big matter. This isn’t adultery. You know, that’s the biggest matter we think about. A leader among the Lord’s people committing adultery. He didn’t commit adultery, but shunning the Gentiles, that’s a pretty big deal. Your apostleship is done. You’re out. But no. He still corrected this matter and was able to serve effectively as an apostle. He acknowledged his missteps and made coarse corrections. Okay. Where am I going with all this?

4. Failed Where He Had Encountered Success

There’s a common link in these three incidents of Peter’s failings. In fact, there’s more than one. And I want to share those with you briefly tonight, and we’ll be done. Number one, Peter failed in precisely the same areas where he had encountered success.

I find that interesting. And there’s another character like that in Scripture. And Moses. If you were to summarize Moses in a sentence or word, what would it be? Mine is Numbers 12 and verse 3. It’s right on the tip of your tongue, right? Numbers 12 and verse 3. Right? How would you characterize Moses? He was the meekest man or the humblest man of all the earth. That’s a short statement. Numbers 12 and verse 3. That’s the first one that I would choose. Here was a man of tremendous meekness. Demonstrated in Exodus 32. Remember the incident in regard to the golden calf, and he comes down from the mountain with he’d had the tablets. He broke the tablets when he sees the unbelievable transgression happening in regard to the golden calf.

And then God says to Moses, I’m just, I’m done with them. I’m tired of them. I’m going to make of you a great nation. And most of us probably might have responded, well, that sounds pretty good. Make a great nation of my people. But that’s not what he does. His humility shines as he says, but these are your chosen people. Have mercy on them. And he intercedes in Exodus 32 on behalf of his people. And look at all the criticism he deals with. Don’t you think Peter also had to deal with a lot of criticisms, all the apostles did? And in Numbers 14, when the spies go in to spy out the land, there’s Korah’s rebellion in chapter 12 that we have to deal with. When the spies go in to the land and come back with a negative report, the people pick up stones, it seems, not just the stone Joshua and Caleb, the two faithful spies, but also Moses and Aaron who had stood with them.

And the Lord has to intervene in Numbers 14. And then we get to number 16. And here they are complaining again in the wilderness. And time to provide water again. And we know the incident, right? Moses struck the rock.

Must we fetch you out water from this rock? And here this humble man in this instance failed to be humble. And did not give God the glory. That’s what God said in response to what he did. And as a result, he was not allowed to enter into the promised land. But he failed in an area that was typically his strength, being the meekest man of all the earth. And so what about Peter? As the incident of Peter walking on the water. I want to suggest to you that there was tremendous faith when he says, Lord, bid me to come walk to you on the water. That was evidence of tremendous faith. And then as he looks around and begins to see the turbulent seas and the winds, immediately his faith weakens.

He takes his eyes off Jesus, which is when we get into trouble spiritually. Now he was not literally looking at him. We need to look at him with the eye of faith. And when our focus gets away from Jesus, instead of looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, Hebrews 12 and verse 2. He started looking around at all the wrong things and being influenced by his surroundings and circumstances, instead of saying, focused on the Lord, he went from a tremendous faith that would say, Let me come to you, to a weakened faith. And while the Lord saves him and has mercy on him, as Peter requests, he’s still upbraided for his weakness of faith. What about when he denies the Lord? Notice how he is confident.

And all of them are confident in their loyalty and determination to serve Jesus. But now, as he has been told in the garden to put up his sword and rebuked by the Lord. It’s not that kind of fight that we’re involved in. And he becomes very disillusioned. And his whole ideas of what the Messianic kingdom was going to be all about when all of that is shattered and he’s fatigued as they had been sleeping in the garden from sorrow. And this is all going on in the middle of the night. He’s not so sure now about his identification with Jesus, and he’s not sure that he wants to be acknowledged as the disciple of Jesus. And he was so certain just hours ago. And here is the one in Acts chapter 11 who defends Gentiles coming into the kingdom.

5. The Problem of Fear

The spirit that fell upon us at the beginning has fallen upon them. God has granted them the repentance that leads to life. And he’s defending the Gentiles to a Jewish audience, and now he’s ashamed of any association with the Gentiles. We might say he waffles in regard to Gentile association. But I want to tell you there’s another link here. And the other link here, and it’s mentioned in two of the three accounts, but I think is obviously evident in all three, is the problem of fear. Faith can so easily fall victim to fear. And as I mentioned just a second ago, it’s when we take our eyes off Jesus that we are susceptible to fear. And that’s why we’re admonished to fix our eyes on him and purify ourselves just as he is pure, 1 John chapter 3 and verse 3.

The first and third incidents mention fear specifically. And the second one most definitely implies it. What was he afraid of when he walked to Jesus on the water? What is the only thing that he could have been afraid of? As he looked around, it says, as he saw the wind, as the turbulent seas are around him, and he begins to sink. He says, Lord, save me. He’s not talking about spiritual salvation, but there are overtones there. He’s talking about saving his physical life. Have you ever been on a lake that is turbulent as the result of a storm? Not me. I get out of there. I’m not a big lake guy anyway, but if there’s going to be a storm, I’m not going to be on the lake.

But if you happen to get caught in a lake during a storm, that can be a very frightening thing. In the Sea of Galilee, especially. That could be a frightening thing. Massive waves and turbulence. Even in a boat, they didn’t feel safe on occasion. Especially when you’re out walking on the water and the boat’s back there. When Peter became afraid, that’s when his spiritual problems came. And in the case of his denials, again, while the word fear is not specifically stated in the text, that must have been why he denied the Lord. No, I’m not one of his disciples. And with an oath, swearing. No, I’m not one of his disciples. I don’t want to be associated with him. He feared some kind of retribution or backlash.

I’m not sure what he was thinking the consequences would be by saying, No, I’m a disciple of Jesus. I’m one of his. He was so willing. When he pulled the sword in the garden, but again, now he’s not sure where this whole thing is going. His whole vision of what the Messiah’s kingdom was going to be like was shattered. And now Jesus is in custody. I mean, he’s talked about his death. It looks like now he is going to die. What is all this going to mean to this cause? Maybe I don’t want to be associated with him. Again, he was afraid. And in the third occasion, when it does mention fear specifically, it says he was afraid of the Jews. He was concerned about associating with the Gentiles and the reaction his fellow Jews would have to him for having any kind of association.

He feared pure disapproval.

We far too often fear what other people are going to think about us. Or how they’re going to treat us or regard us. Because of our decisions to be loyal to Jesus and to practice righteousness, to be pure in speech, to display moral purity, to not engage in debauchery and intoxication and immodesty, and to wear the apparel or the lack thereof at the beach or a swimming pool that other people do. Because we make different moral decisions. Sometimes people struggle with that, and particularly young people, but it’s not just young people. Struggle with what other people are going to think of us. That’s what Peter was struggling with. That’s the same thing. And we’re not talking about a kid, we’re talking about an adult. We’re talking about a leader among the Lord’s people.

And he’s concerned, he makes a poor spiritual decision because of his fear in regard to his fears.

What’s the connection in all of this? It is rooted, is it not? In some sense of self preservation. There’s some concern about preserving myself. In all three of these. Oh no. I’m in a dangerous situation here, walking on the water. I could perish. If I’m associated with Jesus, I who knows what could happen to me. Oh, what are my Jewish friends going to think? You know, this could be bad for self. And I think that’s the way we think when we’re in trouble spiritually a lot of times. There’s some sense of, I’ve got to preserve myself. And the way that I preserve myself in this situation is not do what the Bible tells me to do. But what we need to understand, the reason why there’s an X beside that is you’re not really preserving yourself, are you?

You think that you think that’s what you’re doing. But you’re not preserving yourself. You’re putting your major self at risk. When you put your spiritual self at risk, that’s the self-preservation you need to be most concerned about. Do not fear him who is able to kill the body, but fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. That’s ultimate self-preservation is making it to heaven and receiving God’s approval and what men can do to me. Look, the worst thing they can do to you is kill you. But yet we look at that sometimes and go, I don’t want to die. I don’t want to lose my life, and we hold on to that. But we need to learn to hold on to spiritual life more than physical life.

6. The Distance Between the Highs and the Lows

Rooted in some false notion about self preservation, protecting self and doing what is best for self, we actually choose the opposite and endanger what I might call ultimate self. And one more thing. And what we see very clearly in the walking on the water story, but really all three of the stories is that the distance between the highs and the lows may not be very far apart. You know, you would think that when we excel in something, that we would continually excel in something. And that when we reach some spiritual plateau, that well, we’re on the plateau and we’ll stay on the plateau. And whoa, I’ve taken one big giant step in spiritual growth and maturity here. And notice how if you started thinking like that, pride has already entered into the equation in a very quick fashion.

Look, if Peter’s stories don’t tell us anything else, they say that the time between the highs and the lows may not be very far apart. And that’s why let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. And then the next verse, you know that very well, don’t you? About in time of temptation there’s a way of escape. 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 13. At the moment we think we’ve arrived spiritually, we’ve got it all figured out, we’re making giant strides spiritually. The falling may not be very far away. Think about it. We could be very grateful people. And very shortly delve into a moment of ingratitude. All of a sudden, some circumstance unfolds, and we get self-absorbed again. And whine and complain about our circumstances.

We may be grateful people most of the time. Very grateful. We’re very thankful to God for all the good things in our lives. And now just one little incident, and boom, we’re back into ingratitude. Faithful. As was Peter. And then we can have moments of foolish self-sufficiency. Right on the heels of times of faithfulness, purity. We can be going along just fine. Purity, weeks, months, no occasions of lust that have beset us. And then all of a sudden, here the circumstance unfolds, and we find ourselves weak again. Sometimes we experiences these weaknesses because of such things as fatigue. Fatigue contributes to our inability at times to make the right decision. The distance, as I mentioned a second ago, between humility and pride can be a very short distance.

We can relapse into a moment of pride and seek an opportunity to have our ego stroked. And though we are characteristically loving.

We sit there and we’ll read 1 Corinthians 13 love is kind and love is patient. Love does not seek its own. And some days we’re really good at that, and some days we’re miserable failures. And the more we fail at that, the more troubled our relationship is going to be. And we can have a great day or a great week, and then one really bad day can drive a very significant wedge in a relationship. And though generally exercising self-control and outburst of anger and unruly tongue can spark transgression. And so sometimes our failings are in relation to areas where we have excelled. And remember, as Peter is affirming his loyalty, what does Jesus tell him? Satan. Satan wants to get you. He’s actually demanded an opportunity to get at you.

He’s demanded an opportunity. Here, Peter is doing quite well, but Satan has demanded permission. He wants to sift you like wheat. And I don’t know what all is involved in that, but I think it’s something that grinds, and you put the thing in the top and you grind it and it comes out in a more fine fashion. He wants to put Peter in a grinder. And I’ll tell you, when you’re doing well spiritually, I wonder if he says, I want to sift brother or sister so and so like wheat. Let me at him. Let me have him for a little while. See what I can do. As he did with Job.

Conclusion

Perhaps areas of our strength. They’ll say, I can take care of that. Let me add it. Secondly, the common link was fear. And thirdly, the distance between our successes and failures may not at times be very far apart. I conclude tonight, you’ve listened well with this. I’ve enjoyed this look at Peter’s failings. Despite all of those failings, I have every confidence that Peter finds himself now in the presence of his Lord. But the words of Jesus in Luke 21 are always relevant. They’re relevant in a time of judgment that this text is talking about. But at all times, he says, be on guard that your hearts may not be weighed down with dissipation with waste, overindulgence, or excess. Be aware. Be on guard that your heart may not be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life.

And that day come on you suddenly, like a trap. For it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. But keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place and to stand before the Son of Man.

I’ve decided to say something I had not planned to say.

What do you see tonight when you look around?

We had more people here this morning than we have tonight. Have you noticed that trend lately? I have. Let me tell you why that bothers me.

And I say, I know you’re saying, well, you’re preaching to the choir, we’re here. Maybe I need to say this on Sunday morning, but it just hit me tonight. This passage is why we’re here. Because we need to be spiritually attentive people. We need to stay on the alert. Can you imagine? Can you imagine if the Lord returned in the next five minutes and a brother in Christ is sitting there in his recliner watching a silly football game? Well, I made a good decision, didn’t I? It isn’t going to matter whether the Seahawks of the 49ers won, is it? Who’s going to play in the Super Bowl? It’s really not going to matter, is it? We need to be spiritually alert. And I’ll tell you, just three times a week isn’t enough of spiritual alertness.

And when Jesus speaks these words, he is telling us. You better pay attention to your heart. And my grave concern for this generation. It doesn’t matter how good the church is, how good the elders are, how good the preacher is, how good the song leader is. We’re living in times when people they want to be acknowledged to be among the Lord’s people. But they’re not spiritually alert. And I want to admonish you to stay the course. Set a good example for your brothers and sisters. Be committed to spiritual things above all else. And I appreciate you for making the choice to be among the Lord’s people tonight. You encourage me. And I don’t mean that last comment that I’ve made to be discouraging overall. But this is something that we’re going to have to deal with among the Lord’s people in the days ahead.

May the Lord grant mercy to us that we’ll be found faithful, that we will stand before the Son of Man. That’s what really matters. That I won’t have to cower in fear on the last day or wonder is he going to let me in? Am I going to bask in the presence of God eternally or am I going to be sent to an eternal torment that I am going to stand before the Son of Man? Make sure our hearts are ready. Is your heart ready? We admonish you to prepare your heart. Let’s stand and sing together.