Simon Peter - The Recovery

Introduction

Recently I spoke about Simon Peter's tragic denial of Jesus. Peter did not lose his salvation, because once a person has been born again he is forever God's child. But Peter did lose his joy, his peace, and his influence. He became a backslider. A backslider is a Christian who has temporarily been overcome by Satan--and that is one of life's saddest spectacles. It is sadder than a stranded ship--or a harp with broken strings--or a once-beautiful flower garden overgrown with weeds--or a dream house burned to the ground, leaving only smoldering ashes.

Peter's denial broke Christ's heart--but no more so than when you and I do it. Perhaps we've never denied him in the exact way that Peter did, but we do so in other ways. We deny him when others are ridiculing him, his Word, or his church, and we fail to speak up and take a stand. We deny him when we lower our moral standards. We deny him when we allow unholy attitudes to creep into our hearts. We deny him when we neglect his church, or when we fail to witness to others, or when we don't give him first place in our lives.

But I'm thankful that the story of Simon Peter doesn't end with his denial. We also have the record of Peter's recovery--and I'm grateful that you and I can also recover from our backslidings. Let's look at the steps involved in Peter's recovery--and bear in mind that those same steps will work for us. The first one is recorded in Luke 22:61, "And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter...." So, step number one was that...

I. He Received A Look

The clear implication is that their eyes met. That must have been a powerful moment, as Peter raised his eyes and saw that Jesus was looking straight at him. It was a look of disappointment, a look of deep hurt--but more than that, it was a look of wounded love--a love that persisted with full force in spite of Peter's cowardly denial.

When you were a child, did you ever do something mean or ugly which hurt one of your parents? You had not thought about your parent being anywhere around--and then suddenly you raised your eyes and there your parent stood, looking straight at you. You wilted. You could see both pain and love in that parent's eyes. You felt as if your heart would come up into your throat. For someone who loves us, believes in us, and trusts us to look intently at us in a time of weakness and failure is a crushing experience.

How much more it ought to crush and sober us to realize that the Son of God, who loved us and died for us, sees our every act of denial. He sees us every time we go astray--and he hears us every time we speak hurtful words--words out of keeping with his command to "love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, pray for them which despitefully use you." He sees right down into our inmost being whenever we carry around a bitter, vengeful, unforgiving spirit--a spirit so utterly contrary to his command to love one another, and forgive one another.

Sometimes we act as if God were nowhere around--and yet Proverbs 15:3 says that "the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." Psalm 33:13-14, "The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth." Hebrews 4:13 declares, "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do."

He sees us in the sunshine and in the shadows, just as surely as he looked upon Simon Peter at that shameful moment. The fact is that the Lord is looking at you right this very minute, and at me. He is looking all the way down into your heart, and into mine. What does he see there? Are there thoughts and motives within us that ought not be there? If so, let's get rid of them--for the glory of God, for our good, and for the sake of our influence. There was a second step, then, in Simon Peter's recovery.

II. He Remembered A Conversation

Luke 22:61 says, "And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice." Peter had boasted that whatever anyone else might do, he would stand true to the end. Yet, with sadness, Jesus had told Peter otherwise. Now, with pain in his heart, Peter remembered that conversation, recorded in Luke 22:31-34,

"And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.'

The word "converted" in that passage doesn't refer to being saved. Peter was already saved, and he never lost his salvation. Jesus said, in John 10:28, "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." The word "converted" means, literally, "turned around." So, Jesus was saying, "Peter, you're headed for a tragic fall, but you're going to recover--you're going to get back up again; and when you've experienced that turn-around, that conversion, I want you to encourage your brethren in their efforts to overcome their sins and to get back on their feet."

I think of some words from a country gospel song that was popular a few years ago, entitled, "Why Me, Lord?" The last verse contains these words, "Tell me, Lord, if you think there's a way I could ever repay all I've taken from you. Maybe, Lord, I could show someone else What I've been through myself, On my way back to you."

Jesus said to Peter, "I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." Hebrews 7:25 says, "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Jesus never stops praying, interceding, for those who have received him as their Lord and Savior. That guarantees our eternal security. Sadly, the lamp of faith can flicker, as it did in Peter's case, but if you are truly saved, that lamp will never be extinguished. Peter's faith went into eclipse--but it was never snuffed out, and--as we know from the remainder of the story--his faith did regain its strength, and shone more brightly than ever.

So that was the second step in Peter's recovery, he remembered--he remembered the words of Jesus, rebuking him for his overconfidence and predicting his failure. But he probably remembered many other things as well. Very likely he remembered how kind, gracious and forbearing Jesus had been to him throughout the time they had walked together--and as he remembered all of that, and realized how pathetically he had let Jesus down, shame flooded his heart.

Memory can be a powerful incentive, as we are reminded throughout the Scriptures. For example,

Jonah, telling about the horrible, frightening ordeal he went through in the belly of the whale, said, in Jonah 2:7, "When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord...."--and then he went on to tell of how he cried out to God, and was mercifully delivered.

Long after his recovery from that sad experience of denial, Peter wrote, in 2 Peter 1:13, "Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance...."

We modern-day Christians also need to pause, on a regular basis, to remember. We need to remember the mercy of God. We need to remember how, when we cried out in repentance and faith, he forgave us, cleansed us, assured us of a home in heaven, and gave us newness of life in the here and now. We need to remember the promises that we made to him, of how we would serve him faithfully, and how we would carry our part of the load and give it our very best. We need to remember how, when we were baptized and united with the church, we pledged to be regular in attendance,   and to tithe. We need to remember how we promised to read the Bible and pray daily, and how we earnestly told the Lord that we would bear witness for him at every opportunity.

We need to remember the words of Jesus, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." We need to remember how we pled with God to help us during that time of crisis, and he reached down and strengthened us and saw us through.

If we are thoughtful at all, we'll be saddened at the memory of how we have, at times, allowed laziness, or cowardice, or materialism, or a bad attitude to lure us from the path of Christian duty. As you and I remember and take stock of our lives, no doubt we see many things that we ought to change--and I challenge you, and I challenge myself: let's determine right now that, by the grace of God, we'll make those changes.

III. He Repented With Tears

Step three in Peter's recovery is seen in verse 62, "And Peter went out, and wept bitterly."

I can picture Simon Peter--big, manly fellow that he must have been--as he hangs his head and walks slowly out to a solitary place. The tears are flowing freely now; he falls to his knees, then on his face, and his big shoulders heave like a child's as he sobs out his confession to God. And from what followed there is no question but that those tears were expressive of deep, heart-felt brokenness. They were genuine tears of repentance.

Repentance has always been the way back to God for a believer who has faltered and failed. The beleaguered old patriarch, Job, went through a long, dark night of the soul. Horrible doubts plagued him, and his attitude got badly out of sorts--even toward God. But finally he made it through that deep, lonely spiritual valley, and here's what he said to the Lord in Job 42:5-6, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." In Ezekiel 18:30 we read, "Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, everyone according  to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin."

In Revelation 2 God had several commendations for the church at Ephesus; but in verses 4-5 he spoke these sobering words, "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."

So Peter went out and wept bitterly--he repented--and from that point on, God began to strengthen and mold him. He continued to grow in grace and became one of God's most courageous, powerful spokesmen. It was Peter who stood later, on the day of Pentecost, and preached, and 3,000 people were saved.

When the Jewish religious authorities tried to stop the apostles from preaching the gospel, Peter-- along with the others--refused to be intimidated. We read in Acts 4:18-20,

"And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."

Then Peter was imprisoned, but an angel of God miraculously set him free, and he immediately began preaching again to the crowds. In Acts 5:26-29 we read,

"Then sent the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men."

Then look at verses 40-42, "...and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."

So, Simon Peter, the fearful, intimidated, cowardly disciple who cursed and denied that he even knew Jesus, did recover--and how wonderfully he recovered. He became a spiritual dynamo, a flame of fire. He became one of the most outstanding Christian leaders and spokesmen of all time.

I'm so thankful that our God is the God of another chance. In the story of Simon Peter, we've seen a person go from the lowlands of failure and shame to tremendous spiritual heights--and we've seen how it happened. First, he received a look from Jesus--a look of hurt, but also of love and compassion. Next, Peter remembered that conversation with the Lord, in which he had confidently claimed that he would never falter, but how Jesus had sadly predicted otherwise, and how our Lord's prediction had come true in that Peter had shamefully denied Jesus. Then, Peter repented with tears--he confessed his sinful failure and asked the Lord's forgiveness. And that's the way back to God for any of us when we've blown it spiritually.

Tonight, fellow Christian, Jesus looks at you and me with that same look of love that he directed toward Simon Peter. Will you respond to that look? Will you remember his goodness to you, and your promises to him--and will you repent, and ask him to help you make a new start?

It is popular today--and so very appropriate--to display yellow ribbons in honor of our service men and women, and in anticipation of the time when they'll return home. That custom probably grew out of a story that has been told and retold, in various versions. Here is the essence of the story. Many years ago a young man went terribly wrong, and was sent to prison. His parents, who had tried to raise him in the right way, were deeply grieved and shamed. Finally, after about four years, the day came when the young man was released from prison. He boarded the train for his hometown.

As the train got nearer, he became extremely nervous. The passenger seated next to him couldn't help but notice, and the young man shared his story. He said, "I wrote my parents and told them that if they could find it in their hearts to forgive me and let me come back home, to tie a yellow ribbon to one of the limbs of the old oak tree out in front of our house. I told them that when we pass that old oak tree as we slow down for the station, if there's no yellow ribbon there I'll know that they would prefer that I just move on, but if there's a yellow ribbon tied to one of the limbs then I'll know that they've forgiven me and want me back."

The young man was almost afraid to look as they approached the place where that oak tree would be visible from the train. But he did look, and what he saw made the tears flow and he almost shouted with joy. There was a big yellow ribbon tied to every limb of that oak tree.

God has a tree full of yellow ribbons for you and for me. Thomas Wolfe, the renowed American author, wrote a book entitled You Can't Go Home Again--but the good news of the Bible is that you can go home again. Regardless of how far you or I might have strayed from the right path, Jesus is ready to forgive us of our backsliding and give us a new start. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

But if you are not a Christian, then God's message to you is different. His call to you is a call to salvation--a call to meet those two conditions set forth in Acts 20:21, "...repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." If you'll come to Jesus in that way, he promises to forgive your sins, to give you newness of life, and then to give you a home in heaven when you die. He invites you to come to him now. In Revelation 22:17 we read, "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."