Jesus reinstates Peter 3-3=0/3+3=eternity!
Summary sentence: The way to get right with God is to return to Him.
Introduction:
ILL: What’s a Backslider?
"Dad, what’s a backslider?" the boy asked.
"Well, Son, that’s a man who leaves our church and goes to another."
"But Dad, then what do you call a man who leaves his church and joins ours?"
"He’s a convert, Son, a convert!"
John 21:15-17
15.So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of Jonas, do you love Me more than these?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Tend My lambs." 16.He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of Jonas, do you love Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Shepherd My sheep." 17.He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of Jonas, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Tend My sheep.…
I find it interesting that when Peter encountered the risen Christ, Jesus asked him the same question three times. How many times did Peter deny the Lord? Three. And three times Jesus asked him, “Simon, son of Jonas, do you love Me . . . ?” (John 21:15–17).
The former Peter would have said, “Do I love You? No one loves You like I do, Jesus.”
But the new-and-improved, repentant Peter said, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You” (verses 15–17).
Jesus used the Greek word "agape" for love the first two times, while Peter used a different word, "phileo". Agape carries the meaning of intense, complete, devoted, sacrificial love, while phileo refers to love as in friendship.But in the Hebrew translation,It is said in this way:
15 After breakfast, Yeshua said to Shim‘on Kefa, “Shim‘on Bar-Yochanan, do you love me more than these?” He replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I’m your friend.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 A second time he said to him, “Shim‘on Bar-Yochanan, do you love me?” He replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I’m your friend.” He said to him, “Shepherd my sheep.” 17 The third time he said to him, “Shim‘on Bar-Yochanan, are you my friend?” Shim‘on was hurt that he questioned him a third time: “Are you my friend?” So he replied, “Lord, you know everything! You know I’m your friend!” Yeshua said to him, “Feed my sheep! So, Peter was essentially saying, “Well, Lord, all I can commit to right now is that I like You like a friend.”
I wouldn’t criticize Peter for that. It was an honest assessment of where he was. Don’t ever boast of how much you love Jesus; boast of how much Jesus loves you. Our love is fickle. It runs hot and cold. But God’s love for us never changes. It is always there. That is why John the apostle referred to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” That was not arrogant. John was saying that he knew Jesus loved him. And you need to know that Jesus loves you, even if you have fallen away from Him.
Falling Away can also be said to Backslide .
The idea of backsliding is mentioned quite a few times throughout the Bible. Sometimes it is called sliding, turning aside, turning back, falling, etc… The word actually means exactly what it sounds like it means. To backslide is to go backwards in your spiritual life!
Hosea 4:16 likens a backslider to a heifer. The backslider is like an ox that is in a double yoke. Both of the oxen are supposed to pull together to drag the cart, plow, etc… forward. The backsliding heifer decides to turn to the side or to stop in its tracks or even to go backward! Of course, this hinders not only the heifer’s progress, but also the progress of the other ox and the cart or plow itself! Can you see the application?
Jesus said for us to take His yoke upon us and learn of Him. We are supposed to be laboring together for the cause of Christ while getting to know Him more! When one of us backslides—stops doing our part in praying, devotions, giving, witnessing—the church suffers and ultimately the cause of Christ suffers!
III. The Consequences of Backsliding (Proverbs 14:12, 14—"his own ways)
12 There can be a way which seems right to a person,
but at its end are the ways of death.
14 A backslider is filled up with his own ways,
but a good person gets satisfaction from himself
A. A backslider hurts himself.
1. "Be not deceived…" (Galatians 6:7).7 Don’t delude yourselves: no one makes a fool of God! A person reaps what he sows.
2. Everything we do will return to us!
3. Have you ever heard the saying, "What goes around comes around"?
4. Well, it is true.
5. If you backslide, you hurt yourself spiritually.
6. You hurt your testimony with others.
7. Backslides results in spiritual deadness (Proverbs 14:12).
B. A backslider hurts others!
· Jonah’s story is a perfect example of this idea.
· He ran from God and got on a ship going the opposite way from where God told him.
· He figured it would affect no one but himself!
· Well, he was wrong!
· God sent a storm that affected everyone and everything on that ship.
· Even the unbelieving sailors suffered because of a backslid-den preacher!
1. Children,- Your children, both physically and spiritually, will be affected if we, as parents, backslide!
2. The Church,
a. Our church suffers when any member suffers, according to the Bible.
b. If anyone is sick spiritually, it is like a part of our body being sick.
Word Origin "Back Slide"
1.
to relapse into bad habits, sinful behavior, or undesirable activities.
2.
an act or instance of backsliding:
a backslide from his early training.
Recognize Your Vulnerability
1 Corinthians 10:12-13
Some Christians see a fellow believer fall into sin but fail to acknowledge that they, too, could stumble. That's dangerous. Satan has them right where he wants them: deceived by a false sense of confidence. Three enemies are constantly at work trying to bring us down: the Devil, his world system, and our own treacherous flesh.
Even though believers have a righteous standing before God, we must each, like Paul, acknowledge an internal problem: "sin which dwells in me" (Rom. 7:20). Satan takes full advantage of this weakness, luring us with fleshly and worldly temptations. He stokes our pride so we'll be blinded to our own vulnerability to stumbling.
Christians need to be continually on guard. Since ignorance--of the nature of sin, the strategies of the Enemy, and our own areas of weakness--sets us up for failure, we cannot afford to be careless in our thinking. Anytime you find yourself excusing, redefining, or rationalizing sin, you've lost your sensitivity to the Lord. God's Word must always fill our minds and direct our steps.
If you've drifted from the Lord, turn back to Him by acknowledging your sin and accepting full responsibility for it. Repentance simply means changing your mind and going in a different direction--toward God instead of away from Him.
The next step is harder. Respond with gratitude for the Lord's chastisement. Every time believers fall into sin, God lovingly works to bring them back into a fellowship with Him. His discipline may be painful, but it's always good because it brings us to our senses and reconnects us with our Father.
Conclusion:
This morning I want every one of us to evaluate our life!
Are we indeed backslid-den in our heart,in our spirit,in our own fleshy minds? Are we in complete obedience to God or have we let it progressed to the point that we do not care who it affects and what people think about our actions,Justifying it in our own minds?
If you are saved but backslid-den this morning, please come to Jesus today, confessing your sins, and restore fellowship with Him once again! Make some commitments to be faithful to do as you should concerning your walk with Him and faithfulness to His church! If you are not saved, confess Christ as your Savior, before it is eternally too late.We are all human and the church is filled with sinners,but there is a difference between already being saved and sliding back in to sin than starting from a fresh start,We as Christians should know better,but it happens to the best of us.
Maybe you have messed up. Maybe you are in a backslid-den state. The way to get right with God is to return to Him. He says in Jeremiah 3:22, “Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.” So, remember where you were. Return and repent of your sin. And then start living as God wants you to live.
Revelation 2:4 - Nevertheless I have [somewhat] against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
2 Peter 2:21 - For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known [it], to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
Hebrews 10:26-29 - For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, (Read More...)
Luke 9:62 - And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
James 4:8 - Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse [your] hands, [ye] sinners; and purify [your] hearts, [ye] double minded.
James 4:17 - Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth [it] not, to him it is sin.
Galatians 5:7 - Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?
