Luke
22:54-62
Introduction: Our God is awesomely amazing!
I am fascinated by several attributes of God, such as His greatness, power,
glory, mercy, compassion, loving-kindness, provision, splendor, majesty, forgiveness
and so on. But among all of them one attribute of God is more comforting and
re-assuring to me, i.e. God’s faithfulness. What do I mean when I say God is
faithful? When God says He will do something, He does it (even when it seems
impossible). Keep this in mind when we say God is faithful it means, God is
eternally reliable, steadfast, and unwavering in his commitment to his people.
He is the one who makes his covenants with his people and he is the one who
keeps it no matter what. God is absolutely trustworthy. In other words, we can
absolutely depend on Him with confidence.
God does not have to work at being
faithful; He is faithful. We see this theme over and over in the Bible. Let’s see how God displayed his faithfulness
in two Biblical characters in the OT. Joseph was betrayed by his own brothers,
and sold as a slave. For no reason he was thrown into a prison and forgotten by
the outside world for two full years. God showed Joseph his faithfulness by
rising him up to the second most high position of leadership in Egypt. As a
Jewish young man Daniel did not defile himself with the food in Babylon. That
won him a key position in the Kings palace. After having served three
successive Kings, now Daniel was an old man, because of his love and worship
for the one true God, he was thrown in to a Den of lions.
God showed his faithfulness by
shutting the lion’s mouths. If you just take these two incidents at face value,
it appears that God only shows his faithfulness to those who are innocent and keep
their devotion of God no matter what. But how about those who betray him, who
deny him, who walk in rebellion in spite of tasting His goodness and
experiencing his love?
We have been on a journey to learn
about faith by observing the lives of people in the gospels. By observing the four
friends and a paralytic we learned that faith is absolutely necessary for
salvation. We learned that it is not the quantity but the quality of faith that
can move mountains of difficulties from our path. We learned that Biblical
faith comes by hearing the words of God. The father of a boy who was afflicted
by a demon for a long time taught us it is OK to have doubts, but cry out to
God to help us with our doubts.
The Roman centurion taught us how to
speak the Word of Faith by recognizing the power and authority of God. Today we
will look at another biblical character to find out what happens when we mess
up and miserably fail God. Luke 22:54-62
I. WHEN WE ARE FAITHLESS HE REMAINS FAITHFUL.
The passage we read is about Peter who once was a robust,
energetic, a go-getter and an A type personality, now facing a serious crisis
of faith in his life. This incident is recorded in all the four gospels, but Luke
highlights certain details that are worth noting. A short background will help
us understand Peter’s predicament better. Right after celebrating the Passover,
Jesus told his disciples that as per the prophecy “You will all fall away or
will be scattered.” As expected Peter boldly declared, “Even if all fall away,
I will not” In John 17:37 we read, Peter saying, “I will lay down my life for
you.”
To that Jesus answered Vs 38, “Will
you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster
crows, you will disown me three times. “In our story we will see how Peter fell
into his own pit of denial. First denial came while he was sitting around a
fire and warming himself in the middle of the court yard. A servant girl looked
at him closely in the firelight and said, “this man was with him,” But he denied
it, saying “Woman I don’t know him.”
Second denial, Vs 58, “A little
later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” “Man, I am
not!” Peter replied. Third denial, Vs 59, “About an hour later another
asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean. “Peter
replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was
speaking, the rooster crowed. Then something powerful happened that changed
Peter’s life forever. Vs 61-62, “The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter.
Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster
crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept
bitterly.”
That one look of Jesus must have
pierced through the heart of Peter, bringing forth repentance. Did Jesus leave
Peter to his own predicament? No, at least on two occasions he showed his
faithfulness to Peter. Firstly, on the day of his resurrection itself. Jesus
said to the two trembling women, Mark 16:7, “But go, tell his disciples and
Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as
he told you.” Why exclusively Peter? Because Jesus knew how guilt-ridden Peter
would be after that three-time denial.
Secondly, at the beachside breakfast
where he reinstated and commissioned Peter. Do you remember this famous
dialogue between Peter and Jesus where he asked Peter do you love me? Peter
answered yes Lord with each answer Jesus gave him a task to feed his lambs, to
take care of his sheep and to feed his sheep. Just like Peter you may have said
and done things that has landed you into a pit of despair. You may feel like you
have betrayed Jesus through your words and actions, and are unable to overcome
the shame and guilt of your sin.
I have good news for you this
morning. God loves you regardless. He knows we are only human and may not
always live up to his expectations. He understands our weaknesses as how Jesus
understood Peter’s so he prayed that, “Peter’s faith may not fail.” Yet when
the time of testing came Peter caved into the fear of man and miserably failed
the test.
Similarly, our faith may fail us and
land us in trouble, even when that happens as the scripture says, in II Timothy
2:13, “if we are faithless, he remains faithful for he cannot disown himself.” Our
faith may fail, his never wanes. That's who he is, he cannot change! When we
are unfaithful, he remains faithful. In other words, we may give up on Him but
he never gives up on us. Oh, who wouldn’t want to love and trust such a
reliable and never-failing God?
I can’t tell you on how many
occasions I have failed the tests that came on my way. I have grieved the Holy
Spirit through my stubbornness and lack of faith, yet I praise God for his faithfulness.
God has truly remained faithful to me and to my family. He has not yet
abandoned me neither has he forsaken me. God is absolutely faithful and
trustworthy.
II GOD IS ABSOLUTELY FAITHFUL
We are living in peculiar times more than ever before in the
History of our country. We don’t know whose words are trustworthy and reliable
anymore. During the 2016, elections one particular campaign tapped into a
widespread belief that Americans have about politicians: “They lie.”
Ironically, now the same people are having hard time to be truthful. A
Rasmussen survey in 2014 found that just 4 percent of likely voters that year
believed that “most politicians” kept the promises they made on the campaign
trail, while 83 percent did not. (The remaining 13 percent were undecided).[1] This survey exposes the innate nature of man
which is one of lying and an inability to keep their promises. But, our God is
not like our politicians!
Scripture tells us that our, “God is
not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” Number 23:19.
This claim places God far above mankind and speaks of God’s absolute
faithfulness, truthfulness and trustworthiness. God is more than 100% reliable.
Let us focus on God’s absolute
faithfulness and how we can experience his faithfulness on a day to day basis.
Consider the following scriptures: Deuteronomy 7:9 “Know therefore that the
LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love
with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,”
(ESV)
God is still keeping His covenantal
promise he had made to Abraham in Genesis 12, by blessing the country of Israel
and blessing all those who are kind to Israel. But his faithfulness is not only
limited to Israel and those who bless Israel, but all those who love him and
keep his commandments even to a thousand generations. Psalm 33:4 “For the Word
of the Lord is upright, and all His work is done in faithfulness.” He will
cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his
faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.”
Can God protect us from the evil
one? Can he forgive all our sins? 2 Thessalonians 3:3, “But the Lord is
faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.” I John
1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” These scriptures tell us that
because God is faithful we don’t have to be afraid of the evil one. Because He
is faithful no matter how many times we sin we can be rest assured that each
time when we come to Him in repentance he will forgive us and cleanse us from
all unrighteousness. Just because he is faithful it doesn’t warrant us to keep
on sinning.
I can go on and on, but I think you
get the power of God’s faithfulness. Lamentations, 3:22-24 “The steadfast love
of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every
morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.” What an assuring promise of God this is. God is
loving us relentlessly with his steadfast love. His mercy is unlimited and will
never come to and end.
The good thing is we can experience
a fresh portion of God’s mercy every day. Great is God’s faithfulness. The
bright day light, the warmth of the Sun, the gentle breeze in the evening on
the lakeside, the starlit sky in the night, the pleasant feeling of the moon
light, all remind us of God’s faithfulness. Our waking up to the sweet singing
of the birds put us again on a path to experience His faithfulness one more
day. God is our portion and we will put our hope in Him.
For the past several weeks we have
talked about faith, why is it so important? Here are some reasons why it is
important that we know, understand and more importantly live by faith. The
righteous shall live by faith. (Romans 1:17). For we walk by faith not by sight (2
Cor 5:7) For
whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. (Romans 14:23) Finally, Hebrews
11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw
near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
Where is your hope today? Who do you
trust more? Do you trust in yourself, your leaders or so-called politicians? Or
do you trust in God alone? I want to close with
these words of David that became faith giving words in my life Psalm 37:25, “I
have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or
his children begging for bread.” I have started my journey of faith at age 18,
after 36 years of following Jesus I can tell you with confidence that our God
is absolutely faithful, and when we put our trust in Him he will never fail us.
Amen!
