DENIAL AND RESTORATION - Kenute P. Curry

DENIAL AND RESTORATION

Kenute P. Curry

Peter could not forget how he had denied his Lord and Savior, and also his best friend, as the boat rocked back and forth on the Sea of Galilee. He had tumbled face-first into the pit of his own fears. The most difficult journey is back to the place where you failed. Jesus knows and that is why He volunteers to go along.

John 21:4

1. IF A RIGHTEOUS PERSON FALLS UTTERLY DOWN (7 Times), HE WILL GET BACK UP ON HIS FEET AGAIN (Proverbs 24:16).

2. THINK OF A TIME THAT YOU TRIED TO DO SOMETHING ON YOUR OWN AND FAILED.

3. WE ARE CONTINUALLY BEING TRANSFORMED INTO CHRISTLIKENESS. IT IS A CONTINUAL, PROGRESSIVE TRANSFORMATION (2 Corinthians 3:18).

4. ALMIGHTY GOD, WHO BEGINS A GOOD WORK IN US, WILL CARRY IT OUT TO ITS FULL COMPLETION UNTIL THE RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST (Philippians 1:6).

5. THE SCENE IN JOHN 21 ENDS WITH THE RESTORATION OF PETER AND THE COMMAND FROM CHRIST TO FOLLOW HIM (John 21).

6. BIBLE CHARACTERS THAT HAVE PASSED THROUGH FAITH-ALTERING EXPERIENCES.

A. ABRAHAM – IT WAS A ROUGH PATCH IN HIS LIFE WHEN BEING TESTED BY GOD TO OFFER UP HIS ONY SON, ISAAC, TO HIM. ABRAHAM RECEIVED ISAAC BACK FROM THE DEAD (In A Figurative Sense) AS THOUGH HE HAD BEEN SLAIN. ABRAHAM’S FAITH WAS ACCOUNTED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND HE IS CALLED THE FRIEND OF GOD (James 2:23).

B. RAHAB – ALTHOUGH BEING A PROSTITUTE, SHE DID NOT PERISH WITH THE OTHERS IN JERICHO. HIDING THE TWO MEN WHO WERE SENT BY JOSHUA TO SURVEY JERICHO, SHE FOLLOWED THEIR INSTRUCTIONS, PROVING HER FAITH IN GOD TO BE TRUE (Hebrews 11:30). RAHAB IS ONE OF THE FIVE WOMEN LISTED IN THE GENEALOGY OF CHRIST (Matthew 1:1-17).

What brought Peter back to the Sea of Galilee was his hope in Jesus. That is where he knew him first, and he would soon know him again. The moment is déjà vu. John shouts “It is the Lord Peter!” Peter turns and looks. Jesus has come. Peter had failed, but God had come to Him. After plunging into the water and swimming ashore, he stands silent before his Lord. “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Three denials and three questions of love. Peter affirmed his love for Jesus three times on the shore that day. His restoration was complete.

It’s just you and God. You and God both know what you did. Stand amazed, He has come back, and invites you to try again; this time, with Him.

March 1^st 2014

©2014 Kenute P. Curry. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Bible, © 1979, 1980, 1982, 1990, by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

JOHN MacARTHUR – The MacArthur Study Bible, New King James Version (Nashville, Tennessee:  Word Publishing, a division of Thomas Nelson Inc. 1997)

HCSB STUDY BIBLE – Holman Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, Tennessee: Holman Bible Publishers 2010)