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PETER'S BACKSLIDING AND RESTORATIONINDEX FOR OTHER ARTICLES
Before Peter returned his inspired pen into its inkwell for the last time, he left his readers with a severe warning: "Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness." (2 Peter 3:17) While this warning relates more to the danger that false teachers and mockers pose when they would take us away from a Bible based faith, yet we cannot be blamed for thinking that Peter also had his own experience in view when he plunged into a hellish denial of the Lord Jesus. Peter's backsliding on that occasion had many unique circumstances about it, yet it also contained the blueprint of every single case of backsliding before and after and it is here that we learn vital lessons.
PETER
HAD THE SEEDS OF BACKSLIDING IN HIS OWN HEART. As seen, Peter rightly
warns about the various enemies which pose real threats to the
Christian. Not least, he describes the devil as a devouring lion (1
Peter 5:8). However, our biggest enemy is probably ourselves i.e. that
part of our old nature which still hankers after the world. With what
conviction can Christians sing: "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it/Prone to leave the God I love." When
Satan tempted the Lord Jesus, he found nothing in Him (John 14:30) i.e.
nothing he could twist to his own fiendish ends. Alas! Such words can
never be said of Christians who are still in this world. It seems that
the Enemy has only to toss a lighted match into our hearts and an
inferno would pursue.
PETER
CONFUSED EXCESSIVE CHRISTIAN EXPRESSION WITH GENUINE CHRISTIAN
FORTITUDE. On a number of occasions, Peter commendably expressed his
faith in very decisive terms. He confessed Christ as Messiah etc.,
(Matthew 16:16). He truly declares that he had left all to follow
Christ (Mark 10:28). Yet Peter's forceful nature belied a great
weakness. Peter's brave words extended to his rebuking of the Lord
Jesus who spoke about going to the Cross (Matthew 16:21-22). In the
occasion of his fall, Peter openly boasted that if others denied the
Lord Jesus, then he would not and was ready to go to prison and even
death for His sake (Luke 22:33). While no one is advocating a weak,
spineless Christianity, yet to confuse a militant spirit with strength
of soul is a great mistake.
PETER
NEGLECTED CLEAR WARNINGS AND MISREAD PROVIDENTIAL HAPPENINGS. Our Lord
gave a general warning that one of the Apostles would betray his Master
(Mark 14:18). This made some impact upon Peter, for he was among those
who rightly perceived their capability of the dastardly deed and
sorrowfully said "Is it I?"
(v19) However, when he was further told that Satan desired to sift him
as wheat (Luke 22:31), Peter then expressed his thoughts that he would
never deny Christ but rather die first. Amazingly, the Saviour further
gave him a third and personal warning which came in the guise of a
prophesy i.e. that before the cock crew, he would deny his Saviour no
less than three times. How could Peter not get the message? True, these
were fast moving and extremely confusing times, but the warnings could
not be clearer. There is no evidence that Peter paid the slightest heed
and subsequently went with John into the very palace of the High Priest
(John 18:15ff). Providence seemed to open doors to him that were denied
to others. Peter misread these providential occurrences because he
failed to read them in the light of God's word. That which is written
alone is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path (Psalm
119:105). Peter ignored the danger signs. He went through red light
after red light. He had been rebuked when he tried to rescue Christ in
Gethsemane. He had slept instead of praying. He put excessive faith in
John who too must bear some blame in leading another brother astray.
Yet Peter must also bear full responsibility for his actions.
PETER
BACKSLID IN A MOST HORRIBLE FASHION. It is not surprising, because he
was in the wrong place at the wrong time and with the wrong people. The
simplest of incidents provided the fatal spark. A young girl simply
identified him as a follower of the Lord Jesus. It is here Peter
failed. His brave boasts of prison and a die-alone-if-needs-be stand
all crumbled. His three fold warning was followed by a three fold
denial, exacerbated by the oaths and curses that flowed from the lips of
this backslidden fisherman. Abraham Lincoln once said that the cockerel
(excuse the similarity) was the wisest of all the birds because it
crowed after the egg was
laid. Well might Peter have restrained his boasts until after the
conflict. He wasn't ready to go to prison at all or to suffer death by
crucifixion, although he honestly felt he was. He was ready but to
backslide and deny His Saviour, although such a thought was repulsive
to him. Things aren't always what they appear and we do well to walk by
faith in the Bible rather than by outward appearances as viewed through
our deceitful hearts.
PETER
WAS PRESERVED FROM UTMOST APOSTASY. If Judas betrayed Jesus, then Peter
denied Him. Both acts were despicable and we look in vain for something
inherent in these men to explain the difference. The difference,
however, is this: Peter was a backslider while Judas earned himself the
reward of an apostate. Satan sifted them both as wheat, but our Lord
prayed for Peter but not for Judas (Luke 22:32). Peter was an elect
vessel of mercy while Judas was a reprobate vessel of wrath (Romans
9:21-23) Christ's prayer that Peter's faith would not (ultimately) fail
was gloriously answered, and while Peter would be allowed to fall so
far, yet it would not be fatal. Part of this preservation i.e. its
means (but not its cause) lay in the fact that Peter recognised his
sin, wept real bitter tears of repentance and returned to seek Christ
afresh for pardon. By contrast, Judas offered nothing more than fleshly
remorse and died a suicide (Matthew 27:3-5).
PETER
WAS GRACIOUSLY RESTORED AND USED ONCE AGAIN. Although there is only
comfort for the backslider in his return to God, yet there is every
provision made for him to do so. Our Lord named Peter personally in
Mark 16:7 in his message to the disciples. Even His warning in Luke
22:31-32 contained the promise of restoration afterwards upon His
conversion i.e. return to Christ. This return involved a very humble
and threefold challenging of Peter's faith (John 21:15-17) but the
various Greek words for "love"
denote that Peter had learned his lesson well and was more moderate in
his language about the Saviour, yet genuine in His faith. The rest of
the NT shows that Peter was greatly used of God, despite his earlier
falls and subsequently there is no backslider reading these words who
cannot make a recovery by returning to His grieved Saviour who
declares: "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him" (Hosea 14:4)
THE END
THE END