The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 6: He is Faithful

Episode Date: February 18, 2018

God is faithful even when we are not. This truth is not a license to sin, but an invitation to serve the sovereign Savior.

So you hear a story like that, you see a video like that, and you ask the question, especially if you're a parent, but everybody asked the question, man, how in the world do Bo and Erica make it? How do you get up the next day and take the next step forward? And then also with what happened in Parkland this week, we all asked that question, right? Especially for those 17 families. How? How in the world do you make it? And there are two realities, two ever-present realities for Boe and Erica that are the reason, the ultimate reality, that get them through that wake them up every day to the point where actually right now in our Arlington

campus sitting in the production booth or Bo and Erica serving right now. Amen. Amen. And here's how. There are two not just theological concepts, but actual realities in their life. One is that Jesus is in them because the Spirit of God is in them. It's what we've been talking about in the book of Romans. And the text that we're going to study in Romans today is essentially about the sovereignty of God.

that God uses imperfect people to bring about his perfect plan. And you look at something like that and you think, how in the world? Not only how did this happen, but how could I go on? And reason number one is because the spirit of God, by the blood of Jesus, is in them. Because when they surrendered their life to the Lordship of Christ, God deposited the comforter, the spirit in them. And then two, is that Jesus is all around them. What do you mean?

What I mean by that is the body of Christ surrounds them. that Jesus says, it'd be better if I leave and send you the Spirit, and then he calls us the body. And so, Christian community matters more than you know. And I've told you this a hundred times. I don't know if you believe me. But if you wait until you need Christian community to find it, it's too late, man. And you see, what they had done through serving here is they had built this family, this real family that was deeper than any kind of genetic family, just deeper. And so when they found themselves in an impossible situation, the body of Christ showed up.

around them. See, we want you to sign up to serve, not because we need you to pull off services, but because you need the body of Christ, period. And so I would highly encourage you to do that. And so if you ever see Bo and Erica serving, they serve at all of our campuses, really, I want you to just give them a high five because they are heroes of the faith. And before we dig into our pastors today in Romans, I just think the right thing for us to do as the church is that we would all bow our head and close our eyes and pray for those families in Parkland, Florida, because they need the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Would you pray with me?

Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, Lord, we know that you are good. We know that you are gracious. We know that you are sovereign over all things. And yet, God, we get the news of this sin in our state this week. And we ask all kinds of questions, God. We may ask why. We do ask how long, God, must we endure this crooked and depraved generation before you return? but God, we do know this, that you work in all situations for the good of those that love you

and are called according to your purpose. And so, God, we know that you sent your Holy Spirit to be a comforter. So, God, would you comfort those 17 families, those moms, those dads, those brothers, those sisters, but also those students and administrators at that school and in and around that entire area. And, God, we pray for your church in that area, for the Christians in that area, to bring hope and peace. and love through the person and work of Jesus Christ. And God, we know that you love us.

We know that you're sovereign and we know that you're good. You demonstrated your love for us and this, that while we were yet still sinners Christ died for us, and yet God, we look at our circumstances and we say, how could it be? But we also know this, that 2,000 years ago, on a hill outside of Jerusalem, when your son was being murdered, nobody would have looked at that and thought something good was coming from it. And yet, in fact, you were executing your plan with the execution of your son, the redemption of the entire world so that all things would be made new.

So, God, we look forward to the day where Jesus makes all things new. And in the meantime, would we love, would we encourage, would we pray for? And Holy Spirit, would you comfort those folks? And, God, we pray that many, many, many, would be comforted and come to know you. And we pray it in Jesus' name, and all God's people said. Amen. If you got your Bibles, Romans chapter 3, we're going to go one through eight. It is a difficult passage. It is. And it ultimately is about the sovereignty of God. It is about what happens when seemingly things are out of control.

And Paul wants us to know that God is always in control, that he can use imperfect people to bring about his perfect plan. And so when he starts off, he starts off with a question. And the reason he starts off with the question is where I ended up last week. If you'll remember, I said that the book of Romans isn't really a book. It's really a letter. And the intention originally is that it was written to church in Rome, and they would read it from the very beginning to the end out loud at church. And so the chapters and verses we put in later so we could find our places when we've studied it like this. And so really where 3-1 starts, it's answering the question or it's responding to 28 and 29.

And so last week at the end of the sermon, towards the end, I said, I made this statement, and apparently it, like, messed a bunch of you up. So let me just say it again. Okay, remember last week I said, congratulations, you're a Jew. And then apparently in disciple group, everybody's like, what was he talking about? I'm from Palacca, I don't think. What? Okay, in 28 and 29, remember, he's redefining who God's chosen people are, the promised people, all right?

And he says this, he says, for no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical, but a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart. In other words, what he's saying is, this is not just a matter of heritage, but a matter of the heart, that God made a promise to Abraham,

and his promise is not fulfilled, just because your great, great, great, great, great, granddad, he was Abraham, that Jesus is the fulfillment of all of God's promises. So when I would just say to you, if you are in Christ, then that makes you a Jew, according to what Paul is saying,

obviously not a people group, Obviously, I'm not talking about herage. Obviously, I'm not talking about nationality. I'm talking about that you are a receiver of the promises of God. So you can think about it this way. If you are in Christ, congratulations, you are the chosen children of God. That'd be another way to say it. Or Galatians 220 says this.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ, who was a Jew, lives in me. And the life that I now live, I live by faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave his life for me. that when God looks at you, he sees his son, therefore you are a child of the promise. That's what he's saying. In other words, he's saying, just growing up in that heritage doesn't mean you go to heaven. Now, can we just agree, as we've been studying the book of Romans, that Paul is wicked smart, all right? There's like smart, then there's wicked smart, and Paul is up there in the wicked smart category.

Now, not only does he have the Spirit of God inspiring him to write scripture, but also Paul was a Pharisee of Pharisee, Pharisees and he was um he grew up in in uh tarsis probably went to law school and then he studied under gamalio this dude is brilliant he's so smart that the apostle peter when he's writing part of the bible the apostle peter says about paul hey you ever read paul he's super good right book of romans great explanation of the gospel but there's some parts in there i don't know what he's talking about the bible says about the bible that it's hard to understand This should bring you great comfort. If you have a hard time understanding the Bible, congratulations, you could make a great disciple.

So Paul, wicked smart. And Paul knows that as he rolls out his explanation of what it means to be made right with God in chapter 2. And he's primarily saying, hey, listen, just because you grow up in church, that doesn't make you a Christian. Just because you grow up with biblical religion, that does not make you right with God. That people are going to have some natural objections. And so what Paul is going to do in chapter three is he's going to answer the objections that people would have to chapter two. And so the way he decides to handle this is he does a Q&A with himself. So he asked himself hypothetical questions that his audience he thinks is going to ask.

And then he answers his own questions, which are the answers to his objections. So you've got to see this to understand three, one to eight. So it goes question answer, question answer, question to answer. This is what he does. So in chapter 3, verse 1, he says this. Here's the first question. Then what advantage has the Jew, or what is the value of circumcision? He's talking about 2.28 and 29.

He's like, it's not just outward, but being a Jew is inward. And so basically, he understands the question they would ask is this. Okay, in our context, it would go this way. So what good is it to grow up with biblical religion? Is there any advantage? If growing up in the church doesn't save you, then is there any advantage to grow up? growing up in the church. Answer, verse 2, much in every way.

To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. Now, here's what's funny about Paul, which makes me feel better as a preacher. He doesn't get to the second part of his answer till chapter 9. That's like July for us, okay? So, sometimes he gets lost in other things. But here's what he's saying. So what advantage is it to grow up a Jew? And he goes, there's a huge advantage.

You see, you grew up with the oracles of God, the Word of God. The way we would say it today in our current context is there's a huge advantage growing up with the Bible. Even though reading the Bible doesn't make you a Christian or reading the Bible doesn't make you go to heaven, it doesn't save you, but there's a huge advantage in knowing about God. There's a huge advantage between knowing right and wrong. And parents, this is why we raise our kids in the church. Jesus says that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord of your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And then he gives us the great commission to go and make disciples and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.

And he said the number one commandment was to love God. So really the great commission is impossible. To make people love God is impossible. You can't make anybody love anybody. But do you know what we do as parents? We take the kindling of the word of God. Do you know what kindling is? Well, we don't use that in Florida.

We take pine cones. And we gathered something very flammable. We gathered around their little hearts and souls and praying that the Spirit of God lights the fire to love God so that that thing goes ablaze. That's why it matters so much. And so Paul says there is a huge advantage of growing up with the Word of God. Knowing the Word of God is a huge advantage to you.

Second hypothetical question. He goes in verse 3. So what if some were unfaithful? Does their faithfulness nullify the faithfulness of God? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness or the faithfulness of God? You might want to underline that. We're going to come back to that out a lot. In other words, can we trust the promises of God since God's chosen people haven't lived up to his promises?

That they haven't believed God's plan of righteousness through his son. So have they failed? Here's what they're asking. Does our faithlessness nullify God's faithfulness? And then he answers it in verse 4. No way. By no means. Let God be true, though everyone were a liar as it is written.

And he quotes Psalm 51-4. Jot that down. And he only quotes the back half of the verse. That you may be justified in your words and prevail when you were judged. In Psalm chapter 51, here's what's going on. David, King David, had got busted. for sleeping with Bashiba, not his wife, and then having Bathsheba's husband killed, not good.

I mean, you think you're a sinner? You're JV compared to David, all right? And then he gets busted. He was going to cover it up. And then Nathan, the prophet was like, hey, bro, found you. Because everything private goes public one day. And so he says in the first half of this verse, 514, he says, God against you and you alone have I sin.

To which he would go, well, you kind of sin against Bathsheba and her husband, too. You're the dead guy. And David is going, yeah, yeah, yeah. but every single sin we commit is against God. Therefore, God is justified in judging him. That's what he's saying. Here's what the answer is. That God can be trusted, even though you and I are not trustworthy,

that our faithlessness, our failures, reveal how faithful God is. In fact, look at what he did to be faithful to his own promises. He sent his son, Jesus Christ, to save our sin, and God was even sovereign over our sin, which killed Jesus, and the execution of his son was a part of the execution of his own plan. That'll make your head explode, won't it? And so then Paul goes, okay, if you rightly understand that, maybe you would ask this, verse five.

But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? I speak in a human way. Here's what he means. All right, all right, I hear you, Paul. but if our sin is to show his salvation and how are we on the hook for that? How can God judge us? If God knew before the beginning of time that Jesus was going to come and our sin was going to crucify him,

then shouldn't we just keep sinning to show how much grace he has? And if that's a part of the plan, then are we off the hook? And he answers, are we off the hook with this by no means. For then how could God judge the world? His answer is, silly sinner. God judges because he is just and holy. and you're a liar, to which they would follow up with a kind of a closing thought in verse 7. But if through my lie, God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?

And why not do evil that good may come? As some people slanderously charge us saying, their condemnation is just. In other words, so if God is glorified because I'm such a sinner, I've got an idea, I'll be a biggest sinner you've ever heard of, so God is most glorified. Is that how it works? that's what they're saying. And Paul is like, no, that's not how it works at all. Now, all of this is fundamentally rooted in verse three.

Does our will personalize, does our faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? Now, you hear this, you hear this, and I think, I think the underlying implications are this, is that people begin to say, okay, so are you saying, if I've screwed up, is it over for me? Like if I've been faithless, if God made promises and I didn't keep my end of the bargain, and I've screwed up, am I too far gone? This is the question that he's answering in chapter three versus one through eight. Now, let's be honest. You ever felt that way?

I mean, like you consider yourself a Christian, a follower of Jesus. Maybe you grew up in church and you took a little hiatus and then you came back, or maybe you're just back here or whatever. I don't know. But you're like, you know what, I don't even know. know if I'm still in. Like, for instance, on Tuesday, we had elder-led prayer at all of our campuses, and our elders called us as a church to 40 days of prayer and fasting. And some of us have already screwed up our fasting, right? I mean, on Tuesday night, you were like, I promise, Jesus,

I love you more than chocolate. And then Wednesday, you're in the chocolate. And then you fair sayical wife is like, why are you eating chocolate? You'd be like, I gave up dark chocolate, not all chocolate. Sorry. Right? And then you think, I mean, you're not eating. You're not even a weekend. You're like, well, you know what, maybe next year? You ever feel like that? And it's one thing that says, it's chocolate, but it's another thing if it's like fidelity, or this thing that you used to struggle with when you were a teenager and now you're grown and you're like, really? Am I even a Christian? Like, why do I, why do I just keep having these same kind of struggles and failures and struggles and failures? And what you're asking, I think is

verse three, does my faithfulness nullify the faithfulness of God? Do you know what that feelings call? a feeling is called condemnation. And what Paul's going to be doing between Romans chapter 3, he's going to be making the case over the next several pages. For us, it'll be several months, so that he can get to the place in Romans 8.1 where he says, therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. You see, here's the point.

Now, don't think we're even close to being done. Okay? So we've got another two and a half hours or so, and then we'll be wrapping up. If you're a guest, you're like, serious? Not almost, all right? But here's the point, that God is faithful even when we are not.

And I would even say especially when we are not. That God is faithful, even when we are not, and this truth is not a license to sin, but it's an invitation to serve the sovereign Savior. And what Paul is talking about in chapter 3, verses 1 through 8, he's talking about the nation of Israel. But I think personally we get there sometimes too, right?

We think that our failures somehow nullify God's faithfulness. I can tell you, man, there was a couple of years. I struggled with this all the time. It was a couple years ago when we were rolling into the Before All Things initiative. And, man, honestly, man, I just felt this stress. I felt pressure. And I feel this, like, pressure to perform and, you know, be a good pastor and do all the things that I'm supposed to do in this role. And I'm talking to a friend of mine who's a very famous pastor at a church in Texas, a really big church.

he's been here before, and I'm talking to him on the phone, and he's like, Joby, what are you afraid of? And I said, Matt, I'm afraid that I'm going to let God down. And I was talking about how many hours I put in and how hard I try to work, you know. And I said, I'm what I'm afraid of is. I'm afraid I'm going to let God down. He goes, first of all, brother, you ain't holding him up. Well, thanks, Pastor Matt.

I didn't talk to you anymore. Call somebody nice. But essentially, that feeling, is what Paul is talking about. Now, Paul is talking about it at the national level. Because what they're saying, what his objectors are saying, or thinking maybe is, well, then what advantage, like, have I screwed up so much that I'm too far gone?

And at the macro level, he's talking about God calls Israel, sets her apart to be his people, to be a blessing for all people. He gave him his word, the Torah, the law, the prophets. He set up the sacrificial system so that they would see that blood must be shed for the forgiveness of sin. They see it over and over and over and over. Every prophet came and pointed to one day a coming Messiah would come and do for them

what they could not do for themselves. And yet, the people that were most religious were most likely to miss the promises of God. And so I think we can kind of get our minds around that at the macro level. And yet, even at the macro level, the national level, that God still uses as people. This is where Jesus came from, comes from Israel, and that God uses our very own sin for our salvation, that the execution of his son was to execute his eternal plan, and he's not done with anybody. And we could spend some time talking about God's plan for the nation of Israel and the Jewish people and all that. And I think that philosophically, theologically, we might be able to get our heads there.

But I don't know if that would help us personally. because we could grab onto that, God's big plan for his own renown and glory by using us. But then I think still at that personal level, I think we get to the place where we ask this question. You don't use these words, but you ask, does my faithfulness nullify the faithfulness of God? Am I too far gone? If I screwed up so much that God's like, you know what? I'm done with you. And so what I want to do for the remaining time we have together here is I want to look at it on a personal level.

The good news is this is that the Bible is full of individual people that God didn't give up on. I mean full. In fact, we could start with the Apostle Paul, the one that wrote the book that we're reading, the letter that we're reading. Because you want to talk about being far gone. He was a religious terrorist. His job was to kill people in the name of God. and yet Jesus didn't think he was too far gone. He came after him and he saved him on his way to kill people at church.

All right, there's one. Or another one, we could look at James. James is the brother of Jesus. Did you know that James did not grow up believing in Jesus, following Jesus? I mean, listen, you think you got family issues? Can you imagine growing up with Jesus as your brother? Right? Can you imagine Mary all the time she'd just go, James?

Why can't you be more like your brother? brother. Just ask, what would your brother do? That's what you used to do. And yet, God saved James later in life. You know what did it for him? The resurrection. That's what did it. When your brother dies and comes right from the grave, that's what it takes for you to believe that he's God? Would you agree? Anybody got a brother? Let me think about this. Think about this. Okay, I have a brother. He's a police officer in St. John's County. I'm sure many of you met him. And what would it take for you to believe that your brother is the son of God? Imagine your brother coming to you, but like, hey, I'm going to tell you. what's that bro he goes uh behold i am the son of god oh you the son of something but it ain't the lord all right we've been through some stuff all right and yet james his brother wasn't too far gone got saved him but the one i want to look at is my favorite favorite favorite disciple it is the apostle peter he's my favorite and the reason that he's my favorite is because he has these moments of incredible faith and incredible boasting and incredible promises and then usually on the same page in the Bible, he has these moments of incredible failure in faithlessness. He reminds me of a

guy I know, me. Because I'm telling you, if Peter went to our church on Tuesday when the elders said, all right, we're calling the whole church to fast, he'd be like, I'm giving up everything. What? Yep, I'm not eating. I'm not drinking. I'm not sleeping. I'm not doing anything. I'm just praying the whole time. That, you know, two days later, he's at the Chinese buffet. Just, ah, what are you doing? He's like, shut up. I don't even like y'all anymore. That's Peter. And yet, and yet, and yet, the crazy thing is that Jesus never gives up on him. Peter's failures and faithfulness never nullify the faithfulness of God. See, so not only does this work like in the big story of God's redemption of all things unto himself,

but it's also true for you that your failures and faithfulness never nullify, never nullify. God's faithfulness. You see, first time we meet Peter is it like Matthew chapter 4. Big moment of faith. Peter's a fisherman. just what he does, all right? And Jesus sees him on the seashore of Galilee and just walks up to him and says,

follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And you know what Peter does? I mean, bro, this ain't mustard-sized faith. This is mountain-sized faith. He drops his nets and he follows him. There's a lot of reasons why. But that requires a whole bunch of faith. He doesn't tell his family.

He doesn't like, he doesn't like seek wise counsel. He doesn't like get the, hey, listen, so we get paid on commission. Is this like a flat rate? It's hourly. Is there a 401k? I mean, can we talk about my future? None of that.

By faith, he drops his nets and he follows after Jesus. Huge faith. Huge faith. The next time in any significant way, Peter shows up, it's like Matthew chapter 8. By this point, Matthew chapter 8, Jesus has got all his disciples, and they're on a boat, and they're on the Sea of Galilee. Now, I don't know if you know this, but fishermen typically good with boats. The Bible says a storm arises.

It's just the topography of the land. There's big old mountain sides on either side of the sea of the Galilee. Wind comes down from the north, and sometimes these storms erupt like crazy. And then the Bible says that in the front of the boat, Jesus is napping. Fellows, and you take a nap this afternoon, you're like, Jesus. Don't mess with him. All right, and so, but the disciples, the disciples are afraid because of the wind and the waves. Now, the Bible does not specifically say that Peter is the one that wakes Jesus up,

but this is conjecture on my part, but I'm a professional. Who always talks first, who always talks most? It's always Peter. So if I'm going to guess, I'm guessing Peter's the first one to be like, hey, Lord, get up. Jesus is like, what? He goes, Lord, save us because we're perishing. To which Jesus is probably like, really, you're perishing? I'm napping.

And so Jesus, in my opinion, it's not specific, but you've got to think about how this actually happened. I think Jesus looks at Peter and the disciples and says, peace be still. and the storm lays down. And then he asked this question, where is your faith? So which Peter's like, uh-oh. Remember Matthew 4? It's back there with the nets. And Jesus is literally saying, where is your faith?

Because what Peter's saying is, I think I was putting my faith, not in you. I think I was putting my faith in the wind. I think I was putting my faith in the storm. Because Jesus is saying, if you put your faith in me, do I look stressed? Then why are you stressed? Where is your faith? But you know what Jesus doesn't do in that moment? He doesn't say, okay, you're out, that you're a failure, that your faithfulness nullifies my faithfulness.

He doesn't give up on him. Oh, and then it keeps going. You get to, like Matthew 14, they're back in the boat. Jesus, he's been doing miracles at this time, man, the crowds are getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. And he goes, all right, boys, y'all hop in the boat and you head on over to the other side. I've got some work to do with my father in prayer. and so he goes up on a mountain by himself and he prays. And a boys, they get in the boat on the Sea of Galilee.

Again, professional fishermen, and they are rowing to the other side, and a storm hits that night. And the Bible says, like the wind's in their face, and they're rowing and rowing, but they're not going anywhere. Kind of like you idiots on the cardio machines at the gym. You know you can go outside and, like, do stuff like that, right? Like ride a bike and go places. But whatever, all right?

So they're like this. They're not checking their heart rate. They don't care about calories. They just ain't going anywhere. And then in the middle of the night, They look up and here comes somebody walking on the water. And they're like, it's a ghost. And Jesus, when the water goes, I'm not a ghost.

And then Peter says this. If it's really you, my Lord, then call me to come out on the water with you. This is a huge moment of faith. Here's what Jesus is saying. I mean, here's what Peter is saying. My number one job as a disciple is to follow. So if you can do it, I can do it. So you call me to be with you.

and if I follow you, then I should be able to walk on the water. And Jesus is like, yep, you're getting it, Peter. Come on, big boy. Hop out the boat. Very loose translation, but that's what he means. What's Peter do? By faith. By faith.

I mean, you want to talk a step of faith. You step out of the boat and boom, on the water. And he's walking on the water. This huge moment of faith. And then, this is Matthew 14. He takes his eyes off of Jesus. He gets focused on the wind and the waves. He shifts his faith from Jesus, and he puts his faith, his trust in his circumstances.

And the Bible says he begins to sink. And beginning to sink, he cries out, Lord, save me. This is how you know that Jesus is full of grace. It says immediately Jesus reached out his hand and saved him. Because you know what I would do? I'd be like, bro, you can have the doggy paddle for a minute. You don't trust nobody, all right? But not Jesus.

Immediately. And he pulls his wet disciple into the boat. and he says, what are you afraid of? Ye of little faith. Faith. Big moment of failure. But then, do you know what he doesn't do? He doesn't kick him out of the group.

He doesn't say, you know what? This is the third time, Peter. And you're just failing after failing after failing. And so, you know what? I need men of faith. Now he doesn't give up on him. Why? Because it's not his faithfulness.

It doesn't nullify God's faithfulness. Two chapters later, Jesus takes the boys camping. Come on, guys, we're going camping. Where are we going, boss? Cessaria Philippi. When they heard that, they were like, uh-uh, because you don't know, but Cessaria Philippi was like the Vegas. It was like Sin City of the first century.

I mean, what happened in Cessaria Philippi, there were Temple Prostitutes, and it was crazy, all right? In fact, they called the place where you'd hook up with the prostitutes to the library. I didn't think some dude made up. Where you going? To the library? All right, that's how it was going. It was dirty.

And Jesus takes them there. There literally was this place. called the gates of hell. You can visit it today. And Jesus takes the disciples up on this rock, Cessori of Philippine. He goes, all right, boys, I got a question for you. Who do people that say that I am? Now, who's going to go first? Who's going to talk most? Peter. If you say enough words, eventually you say some right stuff, all right? He goes, ooh, ooh, I know, I know, I know. People say that you're a good moral teacher. Jesus goes, okay, that's cool, but who do you say that I am? Peter goes first, talks most again. He goes, you were the Christ, the son of the living God.

And then Jesus is like, winter, winter, chicken dinner, man, you nailed this. This idea did not come from you. It was revealed to you from my father in heaven, and I'm going to change your name. Your name's no longer Simon. Your new name is Petra or Rock. We would call it Rocky. And then he says, and upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. You want to talk about a moment of high, holy faith of Peter.

You know, Peter's looking at the other disciples, and be like, y'all hear that, boys? The boss calls me Rocky. Huh? You got a nickname yet? Thomas, you're going to get one. It ain't going to be awesome, all right? Simon the zealot. That means you crazy, man. And then John's like, I'm the beloved. Bro, you're the only one that calls you that. You can't give yourself your own nickname. Shut up.

Feeling awesome. And then Jesus says, upon this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And we know that he didn't mean the person Peter, but he was building his church on the public declaration that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. And here's how we know that it's not built on the person of Peter, because right after Peter says that, Jesus is like, boom, you nailed it. Now let me lay out for you the gospel. He says, we're going to go to Jerusalem. I'm going to be tried, crucified, dead, buried on the third day, be resurrected. And then the Bible says that Peter rebukes

Jesus. After hearing the gospel, Rocky, feeling pretty strong about his place in the pecking order now, says, Jesus Christ, get over here, and rebukes Jesus. Not on my watch. You're not dying. And then Jesus says, Satan, get behind me. The brother goes from Pope to the devil in one chapter in the Bible. Pretty big failure. I don't know about you, but when Jesus, full of grace and truth, calls you Satan, I mean, there's some years of counseling you're going to have to go through, right, to wipe that off. But even then, he doesn't get it. give up on him. Even then, it's not his faithfulness that determines the faithfulness of God. So they keep doing miracles. They keep traveling around. And then finally, Jesus says, the time has come.

And he says, Peter, get the boys, and go to the upper room. We're going to celebrate the Passover meal. And they get up there, they get into this upper room, into this private room, and they're getting ready for the last supper. You know, that meal where they all got on that same side so they could get the picture. so it'd be famous, and so they're getting ready for that. And then Jesus, knowing that all authority in heaven and earth had been put under his feet, he got up from the table to show his disciples the full extent of his love. He dresses himself as a servant, and he begins to wash his disciples' feet.

And then he gets to Peter. And Peter says, you're not going to wash my feet, Lord. And Jesus says, well, if I don't wash your feet, then you have no part with me. And he's like, okay, cool, then bathe my whole body. And Jesus is like, seriously, bro, you're making this weird for everybody. You're about to screw up communion for the rest of history. Just stop. And they're sitting around at the table.

And Jesus says, you know, one of you are going to betray me. Now, he's talking about Judas Ascariot, and it's going to happen later on. But Peter wants to make sure everybody knows. It ain't me. And so he talks first, he talks most. He's like, ah, not me. I would never betray you. I would lay down my life for you.

Big old moment of faith. Jesus is like, you sure about that scooter? because three times before the alarm goes off tomorrow, you'll deny me. Peter's adamant, not me. So then they go to the Garden of Gassimony. He says, follow me. They wind up in the Garden of Gassimity, the place of crushing. And Jesus, he says, hey, I need three of you to come with me.

Peter, James John, come with me. Now, there's so much written about why God would choose these people. fact, there's miracles all throughout the New Testament or all throughout the Gospels where Jesus would just take those three, like the Mountain of Transfiguration. Jesus takes Peter, James, and John. And people are like, why? Does he love those the most? What's going on? Here's what I know. I did youth ministry for 15 years. There's some teenage boys. You just cannot leave alone. They will burn down something, all right? So the way I think it goes, Matthew 17, the Mountain of Transfiguration, Jesus is like, you boys, y'all stay here. I'm going up on the Mountain of

Prairie. Peter, James John, get in the truck. Come on. And they have to go. And then when they get up there. I mean, you want to talk about Peter going from a great moment of fate to messing everything out. Jesus is there. Matthew says his face shines like the sun. Luke says his face is radiant like lightning. Mark is always understated. He says it's brighter than bleach. That's kind of weak, all right? It's like horrocks. And so, and so Jesus is there and he's transfigured on the mountain. I don't even know what that means. There's a metaphysical reality that happens where the divinity of God shines through his humanity that he's been wrapped in for 33 years. And Peter's there.

And guess who else shows up? The Bible says Moses and Elijah, the greatest of all the law and the greatest of all the prophets. Now, if you would have heard that in the first century, you would be freaking out. These are like the biggest heroes of the Old Testament. It's not as big for us because we have Jesus. He's the greater Moses, the greater Elijah. But if you're there and it's there. all of a sudden, I don't know how it happens, you know,

when there's a guy with a beard and a robe and some tablets and a staff, and you'd be like, Moses. And then another guy appears, this guy with a beard and a robe and, like a name tag that says, Elijah, I don't know what he would do. Fire from heaven, right? And you'd be like, ah, the prophet. And Jesus is transfigured. And what does Peter do?

He always talks first, he always talks most. He sticks his head in there, and he says, it is good that we are here. I think at this moment, the three guys, they're looking at him, like, you think you should talk now. You got Jesus, and the law and the prophets are there to bow down and encourage Jesus, the son of God, and you go, yeah, I should say something. You ever say something dumb and though? Oh, I know how I'll fix it. I'll say more dumb stuff. You ever do that?

Peter does. Everybody's looking at him. Anybody need a tent? I'll make you a tent. One for you, J.C., you, Eli, you Mo. What do you think? No? The presence of God envelops him in a cloud, and God says, behold my son and whom.

mind well pleased period listen to him that's Hebrew for shut up it's not about you and then it's gone they come walking down the hill and Gassimini Jesus picks the same three dudes you you you knew get in the truck come on and they go into the place of crushing because he's got work to do with his father and he asks one thing he says look boys can y'all just pray just stay up and pray this is a really big deal just stay up and pray and he goes and he prays and the Bible says that Jesus feels like he's going to die. Why? Because he knows his purpose. He knows his plan. He knows that the execution of God's plan comes with his own execution. So he asked this question. Father, if there be any other way, let this cup pass from me. You know what he's asking? He's asking the same question that people in our culture have a big hang up with Christianity over. Why is Jesus got to be the only way? Isn't there other ways? Isn't it just like if you had the right heart, towards God. Aren't you in? And Jesus is taking that basically and going, yeah, if you can be good enough, God, if you can align your chakra, if you could visit Mecca, if you could obey the five

pillars, if you could become one with nirvana. If there's any other way, God, then this whole cross thing seems like an awful waste of my own blood. If there be any other way. He comes back to the disciples there asleep. He's like, come on, boys, wake up. Please, seriously, just for one hour. Could you just pray for me for one hour? He goes back. in, not my will, your will be done. He comes back and they're asleep again, asleep again. And he's like, come on boys, wake up, seriously. All right, get your things. Here they come. And the reason Jesus knows that they're coming is from the Garden of Gassimony. You can see over the Kidron Valley and you can see the eastern gate of the temple. That's where the guards, the Roman guards,

and the Sadducees and the Pharisees would have come with their torches. And at night, you could just see the torches coming down the hill. And so Jesus wakes up Peter and the boys and says, all right, get up. has come. And then they come forward. Judas portrays Jesus with a kiss. And who steps up to save today? Peter? I got this. The Bible says he pulls out his sword and chops a guy's ear off. Now, I don't know how much you're into swordsmanship. That's not a move. It's not like, ha ha, I've chopped off your ear. Do what? That's not what he was trying to do. Like he's trying to kill the guy, and he can't even do that right. And Jesus picks up dude's ear and it's like, woh, puts it on his head. And in my mind, he looks at Peter and he's like, are you being serious right now?

For three years you've been following me? When did we sword-chop people? That's not how we roll. They take Jesus to Caiaphas's house. The trial and the beatings began. Peter goes into the city, maybe kind of skirting around to see what's happening. The Bible makes it very clear that he goes to warm himself by a charcoal fire. A charcoal fire.

Somebody comes up to him and says, you're a Jesus. You're a Jesus follower, right? Nope, not me. Second time, somebody comes to him. Are you sure? Because you sound like a Galilean. You sound like one of his. I think I've seen you before.

And the Bible says that he curses at them and denies it. That means he said, blank, no. And then the third time, a servant girl. It's significant because she couldn't testify in a court of law. She goes, no, no, no. I recognize you. You're one of his. And he goes, not me.

and just then the alarm clock goes off. The rooster crows, and he knows in his heart, uh-oh, Jesus was right, I was wrong. Once again, I am a failure. Jesus is crucified. Peter's nowhere to be found. He's hiding. All the men were hiding.

They hit on Friday. They hit on Saturday. They hit on Sunday. John was the only one that was at the cross. On Sunday, two of the women, Mary and Mary, they go to check on the body. Why? Why? Because men wrapped him and they can't do anything right so women have to come behind it and fix it, okay?

It's been true since the Bible. And so Mary and Mary, they come running in and the boys are all hiding. And they go, we've seen him. He's alive. And guess who speaks up? Peter, I doubt it. By the way, you got big doubts? If you got some big old doubts about God and who he is and what he's promised, I got really good news, you can make a great disciple. Guess what the first disciples doubted? The resurrection. It's the whole point of the whole thing. And so Peter's like, I got to see this for myself. He runs to the empty tomb. John wants you to know in John chapter's 19 and 20 that John can outrun Peter. He mentions it three times.

So he names himself and he wants to know he's the fastest disciple. And so Peter sees the resurrected Christ. Jesus appears to Peter. And yet, by the time you get to John chapter 21, somehow in Peter's mind, he thinks, yeah, but I'm too far gone. because in John chapter 21 Peter says hey boys I'm going to go fishing anybody want to go and when Peter asks does anybody want to go fishing he's not asking like a good godly attender of the church would ask their pastor would you like to go fishing on my boat with me that would be a good godly thing to do that's not what he's doing he's saying I'm going back to

my old lifestyle because I think my failure and my faithfulness has nullified the faithfulness of God I think he's done with me because I'm a failure And so he returns to his old life. And they're fishing. The Bible says they fish all night long. And they're on the boat. They wake up in the morning. And there's somebody on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

By the way, that's where Peter met Jesus for the first time. And the guy from the shore calls out, have you any fish? This is how we know that Jesus is cool with ridicule and sarcasm. Why? Because the Bible's already told us all authority in heaven and earth has been put under his name. He knows that ain't got no fish. He's just jacking around with him. It's like when you go fishing and your wife's like,

Like, did you catch anything? You're like, woman, you know I'd have sent you a picture and posted something on Instagram. I'm like, right? You know. So, hush. So, do you have any fish? I'm like, we ain't got nothing. He goes, so try your nets on the other side.

To which these professional fishermen is like, there's no sides under the boat. It's just to see. Like, whatever, they chunk it, they catch 153 fish. John is like, that smells like Jesus. Peter throws his shirt on, dives into the water, and swims to be with Jesus on. shore where Jesus is cooking some fish. He's country, man, fish and grits for breakfast, all right? That's what he's doing. They eat. They're still freaking out. It's the resurrected Christ. They saw him dead. Now he's alive. And then when they're finished eating, Jesus says, hey, Peter,

why don't you come with me? And he brings him back over by the Bible wants us to know a charcoal fire. I think that matters. He says, Peter, I got a question for you. Do you love me? Peter's like, Oh, boss, you know that I love you. He said, all right, well, feed my sheep. Peter, let me ask you something. Do you love me? Oh, boss, you know that I love you. He's like, okay, feed my lambs.

Now, I think Peter is a little slow on the uptake. See the previous 35 minutes. So then a third time, Jesus. Peter, one more time, do you love me? Peter goes, oh, I see what you're doing. Yeah, last time I was by a charcoal fire, somebody asked me three times, and I said, no, all three times. Yeah, I get it, God.

my failures disqualify me, that my faithfulness nullifies your faithfulness, that your promises are not true for me because I'm not true and trustworthy. I get it. But that's not what God says to him. You know what he says to him? Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? Feed my sheep. Feed my lambs. Then he says, Peter, when you were younger, you went wherever you wanted to go, you dressed yourself. But when you were older, somebody else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go. And you did you where you do not want to go. And you were younger. You went wherever you wanted to go. and you were stretch out your hands. And this, he was saying to him to tell him what kind of death he would die by. Peter was crucified upside down, decades later. Jesus is saying, listen, Peter, it would be better for you to follow me and die than to live without me. And then he closes up his time with Peter with these two words. Follow me. Remember what the very first two words Jesus ever said to Peter on the sea of Galilee is?

Follow me. And Peter could have been like, yeah, but what about the mountain of transfiguration? And what about I denied you? What about I chopped a dude's ear off? And he's like, you know what? Peter, why don't we just do a do-over? Why don't we just start all the way over? And Peter, you don't need a second chance.

You just need a new life. And I'm telling you, Peter, I am not done with you. Don't you ever give up on a God that would never give up on you. Don't you ever count your failures because God counted your faith as righteousness. You see, you see, our faithfulness, our failures never, ever, ever nullify. They never nullify the faithfulness of God. Again, because your righteousness is not about how right you are. Your righteousness is given to you by Christ's righteous work on the cross.

And so he's looking at Peter there and saying, never, ever, ever give up on God because he will never, ever, ever give up on you. that your faithlessness cannot nullify the faithfulness of God. This is what Paul is doing in Romans 3, 1 through 8, and this is who Peter is. And he doesn't just get a second chance, he gets a new life. He says, so Peter, I tell you what, go wait in the upper room. Something cool is going to happen. Peter's in the upper room.

The Spirit of God fills Peter. He finds himself on the southern steps of the temple. Thousands of people are around. And guess who's going to talk? Guess who's going to talk first? guess who's going to talk most? Peter steps up and he preaches the sermon on the very first day of church. He preaches the sermon on the day of Pentecost.

Did you realize that the thing that got Peter in the most trouble is the thing that God used to herald his name above everything else? Do you realize the thing in your life that you feel most condemned about could be the very thing that God wants to redeem to use for his glory and share his gospel all over the world? Guess who used to get in trouble all the time in middle school and high school for talking too much and telling too many stories. Now they call it a calling.

Do you understand what I'm saying? Because it's not about your failure and faithlessness. It's about God being faithful to his promises. So he uses the loud mouth that can't shut up to be the one to preach the gospel on the day of Pentecost 3,000 people get saved. And the church is born. And literally the reason that you and I can be here is because God used imperfect people to bring up.

bring about his perfect plan. And do you know why Peter could do that? Two chapters later, Peter's walking into the temple. A guy asked for money. He's like, ain't got no money. I'm in ministry. But what I got is Jesus. Get up and walk.

The guy walks. They arrest Peter. They put him before the people. Remember, he used to be afraid to admit that he even knew who Jesus was to a servant girl. Now he's standing in front of people that can legitimately kill him. And he goes, and they say, you've got to stop all this Jesus stuff. He goes, you do whatever you got to do, but I can't stop talking about what I have seen and heard.

you know what he saw you know what he heard the gospel you know what he experienced that his relationship with god was not founded on his failures it was founded on the faithful promises of god that is the gospel this is why when he decades later when peter's an old man he can write down first peter one 16 to 19 since it is written you shall be holy for i am holy and you snicker at that like peter how are you going to talk about being holy you literally chopped a dude's ear off that's not holy he goes and if you call on him is father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourself with fear throughout your time of exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the feudal ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the

precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. Peter says the only way I can stand here today doing what God has called me to do is because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. this is what Paul is saying about a nation in Romans 3 1 through 8 and this is what Peter lived throughout his life that our faithfulness does not nullify the faithfulness of God so are you too far gone never ever ever ever that how whatever you think you've done to disqualify yourself is nothing compared to the limitless relentless love of God poured out through the blood of his son, Jesus Christ. And the reason that Peter could say these kind of things is because Peter had experienced the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so the way that we're going to close our service is we are going to

experience the gospel by celebrating Holy Communion. I'm going to pray after I pray our campus pastors will set up communion at our campuses and I will set it up here. So if you would please just pray with me. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, Father, God, we love you because you loved us first. God, I thank you that at the cross when Jesus says it is finished, that their performance and their pretending is over. And God, that grace is not a license to sin, but it sets us free to serve you to walk in the freedom that you have purchased for us.

So, Lord, I pray against the whispers of the enemy in all of our locations, God, that There are men and women here, and we all have a tendency to fix our eyes on our failures, and may we fix our eyes on you, the author, and the perfector of our faith. God, may we with Paul be able to say, therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Because your body was broken and your blood was shed. And whoever would trust you, we would be cleansed and redeemed and settlement. partner. And we pray this in the good strong name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.