SEVEN STEPS BACKWARD Pastor James J. Barker
Text: LUKE 22:31-34; MATTHEW 26:33-35 INTRODUCTION: 1. In the Christian life one is
either moving forward or backward.
You cannot be standing still.
If you think you are standing still you are actually
backsliding. 2. There are many examples in
the Bible of backsliding, and one of the most memorable is the case of Simon
Peter. 3. You will note that in Luke
22:31, our Lord warned Peter that Satan desired to “sift” him as wheat. But the good news is that our Lord
was praying for Peter (cf. Luke 22:32). 4. I want to remind you that
Satan would like to sift each and every one of us here today, but the good news
is that the Lord Jesus Christ is praying for
us. 5. Romans 8:34 says that Christ
is at the right hand of God, making intercession for
us. 6. “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” (Heb.
7:25). 7. This morning I am going to
speak on the danger of backsliding and will use Simon Peter as a Biblical
example of a backslider. Simon
Peter is undoubtedly one of the great heroes of the Bible. 8. He is prominent in all four
Gospels and he dominates the first half of the book of Acts. He wrote two of the epistles in our NT.
Why then would God allow everyone to see these embarrassing facts ABOUT Peter’s
backsliding? For our
admonition! 9. If a great preacher like
Peter can backslide, so can you and me!
There were seven steps to Peter’s backsliding, and Lord willing we will
examine all seven of them this morning.
I.
FIRST STEP: SELF-CONFIDENCE (MATT. 26:33-35). 1. First we notice Peter’s
self-confidence (Matt. 26:33). We hear much about improving one’s
self-esteem. But actually the
problem is most people are too selfish. 2. Peter was overly confident.
He was full of himself. As we shall
see in a few minutes, over-confidence leads to carelessness.
3. Peter did not really know
himself. He claimed to love Jesus
more than all the others (26:33).
4. Whenever a Christian
boasts of his love for God, or of his own accomplishments, the
backsliding has already begun. 5. Peter boasted, “Though
all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be
offended” (Matt. 26:33). Then our
Lord told him that in fact, Peter would deny Him three times that very night
(26:34). 6. Spurgeon said, “He who
thinks himself so much stronger than his brethren is the very man who will prove
to be weaker than any of them, as did Peter, not many hours after his boast was
uttered.” 7. That prediction from the
lips of our Saviour should have humbled Peter, but it didn’t (26:35). Peter was so sure of himself that he
actually contradicted our Lord several times (cf. 16:22; 26:33,
35). 8. Beware of confidence in the
flesh. “For I know that in me (that
is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing” (Romans
7:18). II.
SECOND STEP:
PRAYERLESSNESS. 1. Shortly after our Lord
warned Peter, He and His disciples left the upper room and crossed the brook
Kidron to the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives
(26:36). 2. Our Lord then took Peter,
James, and John and told them, “Watch with me” (26:37, 38). But after praying for a while, our Lord
came back and found them all sleeping.
Notice, our Lord spoke directly to Peter (26:40, 41). 3. I think our Lord spoke
directly to Peter because He had already warned Peter that Satan was going to
sift him as wheat.
4. Then Peter boasted that
though all men would be offended because of Christ, he would never be
offended. Again our Lord tried to
warn Peter (26:34), and Peter vehemently insisted that he would never deny
Christ (26:35).
5. And then after all of
Peter’s blustery boastings, he couldn’t even stay awake for one hour after our
Lord asked him to (26:40, 41). 6. Peter was careless and
prayerless. This is one of the
biggest problems we face. A
prayerless church cannot win souls.
A prayerless church cannot even pay its bills. III.
THIRD STEP: FLESHLY
SERVICE. 1. Prayerlessness always leads to problems with the flesh. Our Lord said, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (26:41). 2. If Peter had understood the real character of the flesh (our old nature) he would have been prayerful and careful. 3. Soon Judas Iscariot came with a great multitude of religious troublemakers, including the chief priests and elders (26:47-50). 4. We know from John 18:10 that
the man swinging the sword was Peter, and the servant of the high priest’s name
was Malchus. 5. We know this was done in the
flesh because our Lord rebuked Peter (26:52, 53). 6. Whatever is done in the
flesh is not accepted by God as true Christian service. I am afraid much of what is done in
church work is done in the flesh. 7. It is interesting to compare
the four Gospel accounts. In Luke
22:49, 50 it says, “When they which were about him saw what would follow,
they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword? And one of
them (Peter) smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right
ear.” 8. In other words, some of the
other apostles were thinking about drawing their swords, but they thought
it best to ask the Lord if that was
OK. 9. But Peter did not wait to
hear from the Lord, he just pulled out his sword and lopped the man’s right ear
off. I don’t think he was
aiming for his ear. Fortunately, Luke 22:51 tells us that, our Lord “touched his
ear, and healed him.” 10.Isn’t it marvelous that only
Luke the physician records that our Lord healed him? This miracle should have been enough
evidence for the religious leaders, but they had already made up their minds
that our Lord was in league with Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. They hated our Lord and were determined
to kill Him. IV.
FOURTH STEP: FOLLOWING JESUS
AFAR OFF (26:58). 1. This fourth step needs little elaboration. James 4:8 says, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.” But Peter followed our Lord from a distance. 2. I know Christians that never used to miss church. They were very close to the Lord at one time. Now they are following Him from afar off. This is a serious step backwards. If you are at this stage you need to get back close to the Lord. 3. Some Christians never used to skip the Sunday evening service, but now they are comfortable staying away from church. 4. I remember when I first got saved my father thought it very odd that I would go back to church on Sunday evening. But I didn’t want to follow our Lord afar off. I wanted to get closer to Jesus. V.
FIFTH STEP: ASOCIATING WITH
THE LORD’S ENEMIES (26:69; cf. Mark 14:54; Luke
22:55). 1. While our Lord was being beaten by his enemies (26:67, 68), Peter sat in the courtyard of the high priest’s palace and warmed himself at the fire (26:69; cf. Mark 14:54). 2. Peter should never have sat
down with our Lord’s enemies. Whenever I hear of a Christian getting into sin I
always inquire about their friends, and invariably this is a big part of the
problem (especially with young people). 3. “Blessed is the man that
walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful” (Psalm 1:1).
4. It is dangerous for God’s
people to associate with worldly people.
We should witness to them but we should never fellowship with them. We should never cozy up to the fireplace
with them like Peter did! 5. We must witness to the lost,
but never fellowship with them. Let me ask you, was Peter witnessing to
these Christ-rejecting sinners? No,
he was not. In fact, if Peter had
not been sitting there with the devil’s crowd, he would not have been recognized
as a disciple of Jesus (26:69). 6. You may ask, “What was wrong
with that?” What was wrong was that
in his weak, backslidden condition, Peter denied knowing our Lord
(26:70). 7. Over and over we are
commanded to separate from unbelievers.
Amos 3:3 says, “Can two walk together, except they be
agreed?” 8. Second Corinthians
6:17 says, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith
the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing.” 9. God wants us to be separated
from the world, and separated unto Him. We are to be a holy people, unspotted by
the filth of this world. 10.Peter knew better. Our Lord saved Him and called him away
from his ungodly friends and acquaintances. But now in his backslidden condition,
Peter is associating with the Lord’s
enemies. 11.Ephesians 5:11 says, “And
have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove
them.”
12.Peter did not reprove the
wicked sinners at the high priest’s palace. In fact, they reproved him (cf.
26:73). 13.Far too many Christians are
careless in this matter. They hang
around with sinners and laugh at their dirty jokes. They listen to all of their idle gossip
and chitchat.
14.I hate to say this but I
must. Some Christians actually
prefer the company of the ungodly.
If you are like that, then you are
backslidden! 15.“Know ye not that the
friendship of the world is enmity with God?” (James 4:4). 16.Friendship with this world
that has crucified our Lord is nothing but disloyalty and
treachery. 17.Lukewarm Christian: make up
your mind which side you are on! VI.
SIXTH STEP: CURSING &
SWEARING (26:72-75). 1. Oftentimes when Christians
are backslidden they will fall back on old habits, which, had been set aside
after their conversion. 2. For example, I had very few
Christian friends in the construction business that were saved. One day I ran into an old friend and he
told me a mutual friend had started smoking again, a bad habit he had given up
when he first got saved. 3. When my friend questioned
him about his smoking, he cursed him out. And we see here a similar situation
with Peter (26:74). 4. Peter had been a
fisherman. No doubt he picked up
the bad habit of profanity while working with ungodly men. But when Jesus saved him he cleaned up
his vocabulary. 5. For three years Peter was
speaking like a Christian gentleman, but now in his backslidden condition he
began “to curse and to swear” (26:74). 6. David Cloud told me that he
often gets angry e-mails from so-called Christians, who curse him out, using
vile and filthy language.
7. It is disgraceful for anyone
to use gutter language, but especially one who professes to be a disciple of the
Lord Jesus Christ. 8. Perhaps some of you are
familiar with George Washington’s “Order Against Profanity.” 9. “The General is sorry to be
informed that the foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing, a
vice hitherto little known in our American Army is growing into fashion. He
hopes that the officers will, by example as well as influence, endeavor to check
it and that both they and the men will reflect that we can little hope of the
blessing of Heaven on our army if we insult it by our impiety and folly. Added
to this it is a vice so mean and low without any temptation that every man of
sense and character detests and despises it.” VII.
SEVENTH STEP: OPENLY DENYING
CHRIST (26:70-75). 1. The saddest and final step is when the
backslider denies the Lord Jesus Christ.
Three times, and with strong oaths and curses upon his lips, did Peter
deny our Lord – just as our Lord had warned him he would
(26:75). 2. What a sad, sad scene this is! Peter started backsliding little by
little. He was too confident. He was sleeping when he should have been
praying. 3. He was walking in the flesh. He was warming his hands by the enemies’
fire and he even started cursing.
And now he actually denied Christ, only a few short hours after boasting
that he would never do such a thing. CONCLUSION: 1. Peter backslid, but thank God that is not the
end of the story. Peter wept over
his sin and he repented (26:75). 2. There is an interesting statement in Mark 16
that I read many times before I understood its significance (cf. Mark 16:6, 7).
3. The angel said, “He is risen; He is not
here…tell His disciples and Peter” (Mark 16:6, 7). It’s as if Peter was no longer
considered one of the disciples. 4. These words were both a “rebuke and an
invitation.” Peter was out of
fellowship with the Lord but the Lord had not forgotten him – “tell His
disciples and Peter.” 5. Perhaps there is someone here today who has
started down these seven steps backward… (1) overly
confident (2) prayerlessness (3) serving God in the
flesh (4) following Jesus afar
off (5) associating with the Lord’s
enemies (6) cursing & swearing & other sinful
habits (7) denying Christ
6. If you are on one of these steps, you need to
repent. 7. Are you
saved? |
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