Title: Peter's Tears / Luke 22:54-61
Content Peter's Tears
In baseball games, the number of wins in the 9th inning is relatively higher than in other innings, which adds to the interest. The players do their best until the very end, and the spectators do not leave the stands until the very end. Imagine a situation where you were given a chance to come back with two runs in the bottom of the ninth. Now a player enters the final at-bat. He is the designated hitter. He swore to the manager and team-mates to get to the plate. All eyes are on him, and tension is running through the hall. He is the team's last hope. The ball count went to two-strike three-ball. The opposing pitcher threw the first ball. The ball must have been a ball. But he was so nervous that the bat turned slightly without realizing it. Strike. Damn it. He grumbles. Before he could regain his posture and focus on the plate, the second ball flew in. I just stared and missed it. Strike. The third ball bit and swung. Strike. At that moment, he looked at the waiting room. Eyes met with the director. Do you understand how he feels? He really was to die for.
Why did Peter have to deny the Lord three times?
First, we lightly accepted the warnings of the Lord.
you all will forsake me You will deny it three times tonight.
“He who pays attention to his word finds good; blessed is he who trusts in the Lord” (Proverbs 16:20).
“We preached him, admonishing every one, and teaching every one in all wisdom, that each one might be made perfect in Christ” (Colossians 1:28).
“Therefore, since you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted and built up in him, standing firm in the faith as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:7).
The reason Adam and Eve fell was because they took the word of God lightly. It led to unbelief in the way that God didn't want me to go well.
Example of a person who took the word of the Lord lightly
“Lot went out and told his daughters-in-law, who had been betrothed to his daughters, saying, “The LORD will destroy this city, so get up and depart from this place.” But the sons-in-law considered it a joke” (Genesis 19:14).
When the Lord warns, don't think it's a joke. He is not playing with us.
Second, I did not pray.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus commanded Peter and the other disciples to "pray that you might not fall into temptation." We can find the same thing in the prayers the Lord taught us. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13). Our prayers should include these things.
Peter could not pray when he should have prayed. I fell into a physical sleep. Where would the body sleep be? I fell into a spiritual sleep. Remember Samson sleeping on a woman's lap? He was the number one wanted by the Philistines. He even had a large bounty at stake. Delilah was vicious, trying to figure out his weaknesses, and even acting suspiciously. Nevertheless, he trusted only in his own strength and slept with his head on the woman's lap. This, too, is reminiscent of spiritual sleep.
The Lord said, "Watch and pray that you may not fall into temptation." To pray is to be spiritually awake. On the other hand, it would be safe to say that not praying is a spiritual sleep. Even Samson, the world's best seller, could not cope with the crisis while he was asleep.
A person who does not pray will come to realize later that his faith is powerless. Faith that shows power and can make a difference is prayer-backed faith.
In order not to fall into temptation, we must pray for repentance of our past sins. We need to pray for the future. Ask God for help and pray for a fence.
The Lord prayed and needed prayer. But can we refuse to pray?
“Therefore, since we have a multitude of witnesses surrounding us like a cloud, let us lay aside every burden and the sins that so easily entangle us, and with endurance run the race set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…” (Hebrews 12) :1,2)
Third, you have chosen the wrong group to hang out with.
He was basking in the fire among the people who had animosity.
It has peer pressure. I act this way when I'm alone, but when others see me, I'm conscious of them and act differently We must overcome this by faith.
“Flee the lusts of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22).
You have to choose wisely the people you hang out with. It is easy to commit delinquency if you hang out with rogue teenagers. A high school wrestler was awarded the Civic Award for Bravery because he caught a robber, but it turned out that he had been robbing drunken people at night. Several of the same school wrestlers did that.
We should associate with people of the same beliefs. Hanging out with people with different beliefs can easily lead to a change of faith.
If you hang out with people who play hanbok, you will be swept away.
Peter fell into the sin of denying because he did not take the Lord's warning very seriously, but he repented because he remembered the Lord's words. And it is also the word of restoration.
Peter wept over his ugliness. And he was moved by the grace of the Lord who saw through his actions in advance and promised forgiveness and wept.