Second Chances

Transcript

so uh brothers and sisters I thought x that uh this evening we could talk about x the subject of Second x Chances and in particular I'd like to x take a look at the life of Peter who has x um you know had a lot of his falling x shorts you know these times where he x missed the Mark x um we see a lot of examples in Peter's x life where he has fallen short where x he's Miss the mark and where the gospel x writers um show sometimes in painful x detail you know the the mistakes that he x made and the Bible is a lot like that x throughout both the Old and New x Testament we find many examples of the x Kings of Israel falling short David you x know um sinning against uh UAH and x basheba and ultimately against God and I x think it's one of the things that's x unique about the x Bible x um x unlike many ancient books that tried to x deify their uh their you x know you know that they looked up to um x the Bible doesn't always do that the x Bible shows the x their character warts and all and I x think it's done for a reason and it's to x give us hope and it's to help us x remember that when we fall x short we have this amazing blessing of x forgiveness I remember listening to a x talk by Brother Harry tenant many many x years ago where Harry spoke about using x forgiveness as a x springboard towards renewed faith and I x think that's what I hope to try and have x us focus on this evening this idea that x our lives in faith our our lives in x Christ are not x always you know a smooth ramp up where x our faith is ever x increasing I think if you're like me x brothers and sisters you when you exist x examine yourselves will and look back x over the course of your life we'll find x that there are times when you're feeling x very spiritually x strong and there are likely other times x when you're failing when you're feeling x spiritually x weak and that is I think a normal course x in the life of a x disciple what sometimes especially x difficult though is when we look out at x that our friends our Brothers and x Sisters in Christ who fall away from x Faith who find themselves in a point x where they are no longer faithful and x when they leave the faith and this can x be a real devastating blow not only to x them but to us because you know until x then we've been sort of walking together x and sometimes when we see these things x it can really be you know it can be x damaging um to our x psyche uh to our x morale and I just thought that it would x be helpful for us to realize that all is x not lost and that there is always x opportunity for x forgiveness and that uh while we are to x endure to the x end you know we don't know when that x that end might be and people who have x left the faith whether it be friends or x family have an opportunity still to be x forgiven and to come back into the fold x and as a community of Believers it's our x responsibility to make our community a x welcoming place for all especially those x who have fallen away we need to make x this an attractive place for people to x return and when we look at the life of x Peter we're going to see there are times x where it seems to me that he almost gave x up but x didn't um and we're going to start by x looking at the at the time when Jesus x was x introduced by John to um to Jesus so x John the Baptist introduces uh Jesus x introduces is Peter to to Jesus and x we're going to start there and we're x going to work our way through God x willing in the course of our class x tonight you know different events in G x in Peter's Life we'll see where he's x strong where he's confident where things x are all you know going really well and x we'll see also those times where he x failed so that's my hope and I'd like to x begin by having you turn with me to uh x Luke why don't we start in John chapter x 1 um and we'll just you know briefly x touch on this because this of course is x where Jesus is uh and Peter meet at the x introduction of x John x um let me just flip over x here so what we find here is that x um we're we're going to pick it up say x in John chapter 1 we'll look at the 29th x verse and um it says that the next day x John saw Jesus coming toward him and he x said look the Lamb of God who takes away x the sin of the world this is the one I x meant when I say a man who comes after x me has surpassed me because he was x before me I myself did not know him but x the reason I came baptizing with water x was that he might be revealed to is x Israel and so it's at this point that x John begins to introduce his disciples x to Jesus and he introduces the him of x course as the Lamb of God who comes to x take away the sins of the world in the x very next section of passages here in x John chapter 1 we s we we see we see the x continuation of the story verse 38 the x next day John was there again with two x of his disciples and when he saw Jesus x passing by he said look the Lamb of God x and when the two disciples heard him say x this they followed Jesus turning around x Jesus saw them following and asked what x do you want and they said Rabbi which x means teacher where are you staying come x he replied and you will see so they went x and saw where he was staying and they x spent the day with him and it was about x the 10th hour Andrew Simon Peter's x brother was one of the two who heard x what Jesus had said and who had followed x Jesus and the first thing Andrew did was x to find his brother Simon and tell him x we have found the Messiah I think this x is fascinating because it tells me two x things the first thing it tells me is x that they were looking for the Messiah x they were expecting the Messiah to come x John's father Pro you know prophesied of x this after Jesus would was born we saw x Anna the prophetess speaking about this x so there were a group of people that x were looking for the Messiah and many of x them thought it was John and John x developed these large crowds that came x and these disciples that followed him x but he was quick to say it's not me x there's someone greater than me and here x he x introduces Jesus to his disciples John's x disciples and when this happen happens x two of them know what John has said they x take the opportunity to spend the day x with Jesus they are convicted in their x heart that it really is the Messiah who x they're with and what we find is this x beautiful expression where his where x Andrew you know is thinking all day long x probably about his brother I gotta tell x Simon Peter I got to tell Simon about x this and he looks he he seeks him out x and he says we have found the Messiah x that's in verse 41 of chapter 21 of x chapter 1 in John and uh you know I just x wonder I mean I don't know I don't have x a brother but uh I know Jim Boo has some x brothers and I imagine Jim if you were x uh sitting on the shore of a of a lake x and you had been fishing all day without x the help of your brothers you'd probably x be wondering where your brothers were x and when they showed up after you had x done all the work of you know throwing x out the Nets and fishing all day and x cleaning the Nets and then they show up x you might not have been so happy to see x them you didn't of course know and and x Peter didn't know the news that Andrew x would bring but in my mind my x imagination brings brings me to a point x where where Simon is probably not real x happy with his brothers and it's and and x what we see here and this is sort of an x as side but it says uh in verse 42 he x brought him to Jesus and Jesus looked at x him and said your Simon son of John x you'll be called sephus which one x translated is Peter or as we know you x know it's the the old expression Rock x and in my mind you know and I have no x idea whe whether this is true but I x picture you know Rocky the boxer right x you know it's as though Peter's so upset x with his brothers and and we get this x sense that okay now we're starting to x see his character here so he calls him x he calls him uh sephus and uh the next x day Jesus decided to leave for G for x Galilee and and we have the story x continue so that just sort of gives us a x little bit of background now turn over x or turn back to Luke and we're going to x come to Luke Chapter 5 and this will x develop a little bit more uh insight for x us into the calling of the the first x disciples one of whom of course was x Peter um again context John at this x point John the Baptist is no longer on x the scene up until this point he had x been you know preaching he had been x preaching this baptism of repentance and x two of the people that were in his x sights were x herodias and Phillip who were having an x illicit Affair and and John the Baptist x was telling these leaders in Israel that x they themselves also had to repent and x of course this was a a challenging uh uh x a challenging thing for them to hear and x because of that it's at that point that x John the Baptist was taken off the scene x he was thrown into prison so where are x John's disciples at this point in time x this is the question I want you to think x about x because John's disciples have no one to x follow John has been you know taken off x to this deep dark x prison and his disciples what do they do x what does Peter do he's sort of x spiritually x unemployed and he goes back to fishing x he's no longer following John the x Baptist around he's back on the Sea of x Galilee he's fishing so John chapter x Luke chapter 5 verse one says one day as x Jesus was standing by the lake of x janeret or the Sea of Galilee with the x people crowding around him and listening x to the word of God he saw at the water's x edge two boats he left uh two boats left x there by the fishermen who were washing x their x Nets he got into one of the boats the x one belonging to x Simon now here's a point that I think's x important for us to x remember this was not as we've just read x this this was not the first time Jesus x and Simon had x met when Jesus stepped on Simon's boat x here in Luke Chapter 5 they were already x acquainted with one another it wasn't a x chance encounter that that Jesus chose x Peter's boat they knew each other at x this point uh they had probably two x previous meetings at least the first is x the one that we just read about in John x chapter 1 where John testified that x Jesus was the son of God and when Andrew x Peter's brother brought Jesus tomb and x and said you know look we're just x convinced this is the x Messiah um but the second time was in x Luke chapter 4 where we sort of see this x uh healing that took place where and and x I get the sense that this took place x before when Peter's mother-in-law was uh x was healed this was probably before he x had become a disciple so this is the x point he he gets into the boat we're in x Luke x 5:3 he got into one of the boats the one x belonging to Simon and he asked him to x put out a little from the shore and then x he sat down and taught the people from x the boat when he had finished speaking x he said to Simon put x into deep water and let down the nets x for a catch and Simon answered Master x we've worked all night and we haven't x caught anything x but because you say so I'll let down the x Nets right Peter wouldn't have done this x for anybody else but he was doing this x because Jesus said so and he was doing x this because x John the the one that Peter was a x disciple of John is now basing his x decision about Jesus on I mean Peter is x basing his decision on Jesus about x John's testimony of him and the previous x encounters he had so Peter allowed Jesus x to use his boat and even put down his x newly washed Nets back into the water x because as he says because you say so so x it gives us a little bit of uh insight x into uh John's character so x um verse x eight verse six rather when they had x done so right and this is that beautiful x uh catch that they have when they had x done so they caught such a large number x of fish that their Nets began to break x so they signaled their Partners in the x other boat to come and help x them so full that they began to sink and x when Simon Peter saw this he fell at x jesus' knees and said x go away from me Lord I'm a sinful man so x I guess one of the things that I'll x bring up here brothers and sisters is x that Peter's reaction wasn't a desire x for Jesus to go away you know that's x what it says in the NIV but it really x wasn't a desire for for for Jesus to x leave but it was I think an expression x of Peter's feeling of x unworthiness in the face of such Godly x Glory x you know he realized he recognized that x this was a miraculous event that just x took place and based on that he was x expressing really nothing different than x what we saw Moses say on Mount x Si uh when he did exceedingly fear and x Quake I don't know if you remember that x expression you know in Isaiah uh Isaiah x said woe to me I am a sinful man or or x woe to me I am ruined I think he said so x these are sort of Expressions that I x think are common in the face of Glory x Daniel said something how you know said x something similar he said you know how x can I x stand and how can I talk with you my x strength is x gone I think that's what was happening x here when when Peter uh experienced this x so they pulled up their boats on x Shore it concludes this section includes x in verse 11 of Luke 5 so they pulled x their boats up on shore left x everything and followed him so I wanted x to try to pull that out a little bit x because when we think of the calling of x the first x disciples what we see is not some Blind x Faith where Peter is just following any x guy that just just came and said follow x me he is following Jesus based on reason x and based on x evidence for us as Disciples of Jesus we x have faith which is the evidence of x things not x seen what we see in Peter's life was x evidence of things that he did see and x he did hear he heard John the Baptist x Proclaim who Jesus was he saw Jesus x perform the Miracles he spent time with x Jesus and based on that he was able to x then give up x everything and follow our x Lord so I wanted to start there to sort x of build Peter up in our minds to see x this this growth of uh of faith in the x man and we're going to see this Faith x continue so as we see the faith continue x now think about x um the x crowds that begin to follow Jesus Peter x is among the first of his disciples but x when we come to John chapter 6 we see x the the crowds following Jesus and Jesus x is at the peak of his um popularity if x you x will and it's at this point in time x time that Jesus begins to teach hard x lessons do you remember that so let's x turn over to John chapter x 6 x and we're going to uh dip into this x point where Jesus is looking at the x crowds who are demanding of him proof of x his x authority so they don't want to just x follow x him they want Jesus to prove to him to x them who he is and why they should x follow him so John chapter 6 verse 25 as x an x example um When the Crowds found him on x the other side of the lake they asked x him Rabbi when did you get here and x Jesus says I tell you the x truth you speaking to the x crowds are looking for me not because x you saw miraculous signs but because you x ate Loaves and had your x fill so the crowds were you know x following Jesus not because of his x teaching but because of what they ate x they followed him for loaves not for x love x right so Jesus now is going to in x essence test the crowd and he teaches a x a hard lesson in verse 35 John x 6:35 then Jesus said I'm the bread of x life he who comes to me will never go x hungry he who believes in me will never x be x thirsty um we come all the way down to x verse 41 it says and the Jews began to x Grumble about him because he said I'm x the Bread of x Heaven they said is this not Jesus the x son of Joseph whose father and mother we x know how can he now say I've come down x from heaven and then Jesus goes on and x sort of doubles down and gives an even x harder teaching for them to accept in x verse x 53 I tell you the truth unless you eat x the Flesh of the son of man and drink x his blood you know he's talking to um x you know Jews who follow strict dietary x rules and regulations and he's saying x you've got to eat the blood of the of me x you know you've got to drink my blood x and eat my flesh I mean it just was too x difficult for them to comprehend and x understand and it's it because of these x things in verse 66 of this chapter we x see from that time many of his disciples x turned back and no longer followed x him and Jesus says to the Core group of x Disciples of one of whom is x Peter you don't want to leave me too do x you Jesus asked the 12 x Simon Peter answered himl to whom shall x we go you have the words of eternal life x so again we're seeing you know Peter x built up here Peter at a at a strong x point in faith while all the Crowds Are x Falling Away Jesus recogniz uh Peter x recognizes that Jesus still he's still x realizes and still believes that Jesus x is the Messiah and in uh chapter if you x turn over to Matthew chapter x 16 uh we'll look at the 13th through the x 19th x verses when Jesus came to the region of x ciceria Philippi he asked disciples who x do you think the son of man is and some x replied that you're John the Baptist and x others Elijah but who do you say I am x and Simon Peter answered you're the x Messiah x the son of the Living God so while all x the crowds were falling away Peter's x Faith was strong Peter's Faith was x strong and sure and that confession in x the in the face of uh the x disillusionment of so many was the x confession in which Jesus Built his x Ecclesia right that you are the Messiah x so again what we're trying to do is show x like these periods in Peter's life where x he exhibited great x faithfulness and then we're also going x to see the flip side of the coin so x um let's let's think about that for a x moment now so when we think of Peter's x calling we see that Peter is sort of x spiritually x unemployed after John the Baptist has x been impr prisoned he's got nobody to x follow he's gone back to fishing x we see that uh he you know he's prac x practicing his x trade and when he's practicing x practicing his trade at one point he's x asked by Jesus to throw out his newly x cleaned Nets into the water and because x you said x so I will do it this is what Peter x replies now I want you to think brothers x and sisters to that time in Peter's life x where he wasn't at that Zenith of Faith x we're going to now fast forward through x this period of time where Jesus begins x to x teach about his impending death by x crucifixion and we're going to see how x Peter begins with great x confidence but soon falters in faith and x of course I think you know where we're x going here x um let's let's look at um let me get my x notes x here um let's start by flipping over to x Mark chapter 8 so at the end of Mark x it's where we first see Jesus begin to x describe or begin to teach that he's x going to x die we'll look at the 31st x verse x says he began to teach them that the son x of man must suffer many x things and be rejected by the elders x Chief priests and teachers of the law x and must be killed and after three days x rise again and he spoke plainly about x this and Peter took him aside and began x to rebuke x him but when Jesus turned and looked at x his disciples he rebuked Peter get x behind me Satan he said you do not have x in mind the things of God but the things x of x men can imagine that you know Peter's x intentions were good here in his in his x thought process he's intending to x protect his Lord so much so that he's x even going to lay down his life for x Jesus so that he can protect him Peter x didn't fully understand that Jesus had x to suffer before he could become king x and so what happens next as we see this x episode of the x Transfiguration where Peter catches a x glimpse of the future Glory that is to x be revealed to Jesus upon his x resurrection it says um in chapter nine x of Mark Mark 9 verse one where uh Jesus x turns to them and he says I tell you the x truth some who are standing here will x not taste death before they see the x kingdom of God come in its power and the x very next passage in verse two shows us x that coming power of the kingdom of God x in x Vision six days after Jesus promised x that some would see the kingdom before x death Peter James and John witnessed the x Victory and witnessed the x glory that awaited Jesus after his death x they witnessed the glory of the coming x king um Peter speaks of about that in x one of his letters I think it's second x Peter chapter 1 where he talks about x that so what happens is x um they were transfigured they were x transformed before him his clothes x became dazzling white whiter than anyone x in the world could bleach and there x appeared before them Elijah and Moses x who were talking with Jesus and Peter x said to Jesus Rabbi it's good for us to x be here let's put up three shelters you x know Jesus purpose was to fulfill the x law on the prophets so it was fitting x for Moses and Elijah to be there but x Peter he wanted to erect sort of tents I x think to replicate the tent of meeting x where God's glory was manifest Peter x doesn't know what to do but you know the x purpose of of Us coming here is to show x the the Heights and the depths to which x Peter goes so his promise to Jesus you x know look when Jesus explains that he's x going to have to die die and Peter sort x of takes him aside and says you know let x it not be so that sort of continues on x even after the x Transfiguration um let's look at Matthew x now we'll go to Matthew chapter x 26 uh verse x 33 Peter replied even if all fall away x on account of you I never x will I tell you the truth Jesus answer x answered this very night before the x rooster crows you will disown me three x times but Peter declared even if I have x to die with you I'll never disown you x and this was sort of the faith that he x had I mean he was prepared to die for x Jesus um the violence then that that x occurred in the garden next um you know x shows us that Peter was you know x prepared to to put to action his his x claim that he would die for Jesus you x know it was Peter that pulled out his x sword and struck the the ear of of this x man because he was prepared to die for x Jesus it was Peter who had the courage x when all the other disciples fled it was x Peter who had the courage to enter the x garden you know where Jesus was being x tried before Caiaphas x and before x Annis um and it was at this point in x time that of course we read about the x denials of Peter uh the first Denial in x John chapter 18 where you know the x little girl sort of encourages him you x weren't one of them were you oh no I x wasn't and you know one thing leads to x another x um so what happens next I mean we we x don't need to necessarily go through all x of these details because they're so x familiar to us probably but I x think the exhortation for us brothers x and sisters is that we need to know our x spiritual x limitations and we know and we should x avoid hanging around places of danger x and Temptation x maybe um you know you think of the x feeding of the 5000 you know when the x crowds were there they wanted to make x Jesus uh you know King even if they had x to do so by force right and what does x Jesus do he takes his disciples and he x puts them in a boat and he sends them x off so that they would avoid that x Temptation I think Peter needed to make x sure that he didn't fall into x temptation so after his earlier x denials and he's now x confronted by this relative of uh the x man he tried to kill x um let's we can we can go there that's x uh John chapter x 18 verse x 26 as Simon Peter stood warming himself x he was asked uh you're not one of his x disciples are you and he denied it x saying I'm not and one of the high x priest's servants a relative of the man x whose ear he had cut off challenged him x didn't I see you with him in the Olive x Grove and again Peter denied it x and at that moment a rooster began to x Crow x um it was at this moment brothers and x sisters that Jesus was probably being x transferred from annus to x Caiaphas he's leaving Annis he's leaving x you know going between these two men who x are trying him and this is where Peter x denies him that third time and Jesus x looks and sees the whole thing transpire x before him he witnessed the entire event x we see that in Luke chapter 22 I'll just x read it for you it's in verse x 60 Peter replied man I don't know what x talking about and just as he was x speaking the rooster crowed and the Lord x turned and looked straight at x Peter then Peter remembered the word the x Lord had spoken to him before the x rooster crows today you'll disown me x three times and he went x outside and wept x bitterly what we're going to see next x brothers and x sisters is the personality of Jesus x Jesus there are times in all of our x lives where we fail our x Lord and how we respond to those x failures is sort of the key to the x lesson x tonight and what we're going to see is x that we have a lord we have a master who x loves us and wants us to come back to x him no matter our x failings x and I think this is going to be evident x when we see how x Jesus interacts with x Peter our Lord was x concerned about the impact on Peter's x life when Peter disowned x Jesus he x saw Peter weeping and going outside in x you know just x sheer shame x and what we find is that after Jesus x resurrection the angel in the Tomb sent x the x women x where they sent the women x specifically and especially to x Peter and to me this gives us a real x sense of of how much our Lord loved x Peter and wanted to make sure that this x failure in his life did not become x permanent when I sent my email out today x about class I quoted Winston Churchill x and and Winston Churchill said failure x is not x permanent he said that it was you know x the desire to continue that was most x important and what Jesus wanted to do is x see Peter not x fail forever but bounce back so when x he's raised the Angels go and especially x tell Peter we see that in Mark chapter x 16 um I know we're turning our our x Bibles quite a bit x tonight but I think that can be a good x exercise every once in a while so Mark x chapter 16 and I'll read verses six and x seven x um don't be alarmed he saidou looking x for Jesus the Nazareth the Nazarene who x was crucified he's risen he's not here x see the place where they laid him but go x tell his x disciples and x Peter what an odd thing to x say tell his x disciples and Peter it was as though in x Peter's mind he no longer considered x himself a x disciple it was as though in Peter's x mind he had failed his Lord so much that x he couldn't even fathom the idea that he x was a disciple of x Jesus was it that he had given up was it x that he had fallen away x fully and so the Angels go to tell the x disciples and Peter that Jesus is x risen and when Jesus made his appearance x again after the x resurrection he showed himself first to x Peter turn to uh First x Corinthians and here Paul uh under x inspiration talks about that 1 x Corinthians chapter 15 x this of course is the resurrection x chapter and we'll look at uh the x beginning at verse x three Paul says for what I received I x passed on to you as of first importance x that Christ died for our sins according x to the scriptures that he was buried x that he was raised on the third day x according to the scriptures and that he x appeared to x Peter and then to the 12 so the first x thing that Jesus does is it's as though x he seeks out Peter with the x intention of saving him from his x failures look at Luke Luke chapter x 24 similar x thing we see Jesus wanting to reassure x Peter of his love Luke x 24:33 they got up and returned at once x to Jerusalem there they found the 11 and x those with them assembled together and x saying it's true the Lord has risen and x is appeared to x Simon then the two told what had x happened on the way and how Jesus was x recognized by them so we're reading of x course of this account of the disciples x on the road to emus and how Jesus you x know had appeared to them alive so again x Jesus wants to reassure Peter of his x love he wants to make it easy for Peter x who has failed so you know so x spectacularly to not view himself as a x former disciple but as one who can and x should and would be welcomed back into x the fold and brothers and sisters I x think that's such a wonderful lesson for x us so now I'd like you to turn with me x to John chapter 21 x and it's here in this chapter where we x see Jesus being x reinstated x um this this welcoming back was not x unconditional you know Peter had to x choose to come back and Jesus wanted to x make it easy for Peter to make that x choice but he still needed to choose so x we're in John chapter 21 we'll look at x verse x 15 x when they had finished eating Jesus said x to Simon Peter Simon son of John do you x truly love me more than these yes Lord x he said you know that I love x you and Jesus said feed my lambs and x again you know these three questions you x know do you love me do you love me and x each time Jesus is responding in the x affirmative in the affirmative and it's x just showing us that yes he had to x um he had to x choose and if he did he'd be welcomed x back now at this point brothers and x sisters I want to pause and I want you x to think back to the beginning of the x class where x Peter had fallen you know had sort of x fallen into spiritual x unemployment John the Baptist was x imprisoned Peter had stopped following x John and had gone back to his career as x a x fisherman he was spiritually x unemployed and he went back to his trade x of x fishing and Jesus came and told him to x put out his Nets and he x did next what we see is uh this x conclusion where Peter has been x reinstated by Jesus and this takes place x in a very similar way Peter views x himself as spiritually unemployed he has x denied Jesus at the most critical point x when he was prepared to lay down his x life for Jesus he failed him not once x but three times and he views himself as x such a failure that in his mind I think x he can't even consider himself to be a x disciple x anymore he's spiritually x unemployed and what does he x do chapter 21 of John gives us an idea x says in verse one after Jesus appeared x again to the disciples by the Sea of x tiberias it happened this way Simon x Peter Thomas called dimus Nathaniel from x Canaan in Galilee the sons of Zebedee x and two other disciples were together x verse three here's the point I want to x highlight Peter says I'm going out to x fish he's like I give up I failed I I'm x not x worthy I'm going back to my old way of x life the situation is almost identical x to what we saw early on in Jesus x ministry where in where where Peter has x gone out to fish after John the Baptist x has been x prisoned um he's gone back to his trade x this time Jesus puts uh Peter puts out x his Nets again and at this x point Jesus says do you love me more x than these right do you remember that x and I guess the question is uh so that's x uh John 21:15 do you truly love me more x than these and what's x these I think it's his his trade do you x love me more than the than the the Nets x do you love me more than your old way of x life and Peter says yeah I x do feed my x sheep and to me that's the lesson x brothers and x sisters that's the x lesson we need to be able to bounce x back we're going to see one more x occasion where Peter bounces back so the x first sort of comparison was this x comparison where Peter has almost x identical circumstances one early on in x his life one at the end of uh Jesus min x Ministry after the resurrection you know x so the same circumstance Peter comes x back to the Lord um second example is x what we x see in x um in the actual failure of Peter when x he disowns Jesus those three x times Peter has again he's one of the x only of the disciples only two of them x followed to the to this trial the others x never even appeared Peter had the x courage to do so but he was x afraid at the sort of the power of Annis x and Caiaphas that they could snap their x fingers and Peter could lose his x life and later on in x life Peter finds himself before Annis x and Caiaphas again so turn with me to x Acts chapter 4 and here in Acts chapter x 4 we'll see x the second chance where Peter is in x front of these two men once again but x this time he's no longer afraid this x time he's no longer going to disown x Jesus to the contrary Peter is going to x stand up and Proclaim loudly his belief x in the Risen Lord Jesus so we'll look at x uh acts 4 verse x 1 the the context here here is uh Peter x and John are before the high you know x the high court the Sanhedrin in x Israel and uh they're there because x they've been preaching that Jesus was x the Messiah that while he had been x crucified by the leaders in Israel and x by the Roman authorities he was alive x again and so it says in chapter 4 verse x one that the priests and the captain of x the temple guard and the Sadducees came x up to Peter and John while they were x speaking to the people and they were x greatly disturbed because the apostles x were teaching the people and proclaiming x in Jesus the resurrection of the Dead x And They seized Peter and John because x it was evening they put them in jail x until the next day this was the very x thing that Peter was so afraid of when x he was in The Garden that night when x Jesus was on trial he was afraid that he x was going to be seized and put in jail x himself and now he finds himself in the x same x situation but many who heard the message x verse four believed and the number of x men grew to about 5,000 and the next day x the rulers elders and teachers of the x law met in Jerusalem look what it says x in verse six Annis the high priest was x there and so was x Caiaphas it's like Peter has a doover x Peter is given a second chance before x the very many was most afraid of before x John Alexander and the other men of the x high priest family and says verse 7 they x had Peter and John brought before them x and they began to question them by what x power and what name do you do this and x Peter filled with the Holy Spirit said x to x them rulers and Elders of the people if x we're being called to account today for x act of kindness showed to a x and are asked how he was heal he x then know this you and all the people of x Israel it's by the name of Jesus Christ x of Nazareth whom you crucified but whom x God raised from the dead that this man x stands before you healed and that's the x second chance brothers and sisters x that's Peter bouncing back you know x giving a doover and I think in all of x our Lives we will find ourselves failing x at one point or x another and the the thing I want to x emphasize is the importance of not x giving up not feeling as though you are x spiritually x unemployed but to recognize the power of x forgiveness as brother Harry tenant said x forgiveness offers us a springboard x towards renewed Faith so let us renew x our faith in spite of the challenges x that we face in spite of the the x disappointments that we experience in x spite of our failures let us know that x we have a lord who loves us we have a x God who is merciful and that it is his x desire that we endure in faith to the x end so that we can share with all the x saints of old in the glories of the x Kingdom