Failure Isn’t Final

(Luke 22:31-34, 54-62, John 21:15-17)

Sifting by Satan (Luke 22:31)

“Sift” in this verse means “to be turned upside down, shaken and separated–to be shocked through the
agitation of sudden trials.” These trials can take many forms—sickness, death of a loved one, loss of
reputation, financial disaster, loss of employment, broken relationships, etc.

Note that Jesus did not pray that Peter would be spared from Satan’s sifting. Rather He prayed that
Peter’s faith would not fail. That is Satan’s prime target: OUR FAITH!

Sifting can remove pride.

Peter was very prideful. He said, in essence, “I’m ready for anything. I can handle it.” Jesus
was trying to wake him up to the danger just ahead. But it seems that Peter was overconfident
(See also 1 Cor. 10:12)

Human resolve is inadequate, we need the aid of the Holy Spirit

The Prayer of Jesus (Luke 22:32)

Jesus prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail (see also Heb 4:15-16)

In the Greek, “you” is plural, meaning “all of you.” Jesus was speaking about praying not only for
Peter but for all of the disciples---and that means you and me today!

Denying Jesus (Luke 22:54-62)

(The Greek word for "deny," aparneomai, means to utterly deny that one has any relationship with a
person.)

Peter followed at a distance. Why?

Said that he did not know him, said he was not one of His followers, denied even knowing about
Jesus, let alone following Him

Ways we deny Jesus

1) When we’re to busy to pray, we deny that He is the center of our life.
2) When we neglect His Word, we deny that He is competent to guide us.
3) When we worry, like when we see our personal lives, health, security, family, children, and
homes threatened, and in a fit of anxiety we start focusing on building up our defenses, we, in
effect, deny that He is Lord of our circumstances.
4) When we turn away from those in need, we deny that He is a God of mercy who has put us
here to be His hands and feet.
5) When we fail to speak for Him when He prompts us, we deny His real presence
6) When we, like Peter, fall into the attitude that we can handle life's challenges on our own,
we deny our need for Him.

Used by the Grace & Mercy of God (John 21:15-17)

After repentance comes a fresh opportunity to serve and to make use of lessons learned to help
strengthen others

God used Peter despite is denial of Jesus

Gave him 3 chances to reaffirm to compensate for 3 denials

To love Him is to feed, guide and protect His sheep

He can use us too in spite of our failures too

Our lives as Christians are made up of triumphs for Jesus in spite of our own flaws

This is a testimony to God’s grace and mercy (see Ps. 32:1-10)

It is said that the difference between a “winner” and a “loser” is that when a loser gets knocked down,
he stays down, while a winner gets back up, time after time, and continues the fight to the end.
However, Jesus does not depend upon our personal ability or our individual desire to be successful,
He is mainly interested in our willingness to be empowered by Him and used to the glory of God.