Paul Daugherty - God Still Wants You - Part 2
God's heart beats for people. It beats for you. It beats for your family, your parents, your grandparents, your children, your grandchildren. This is the gospel, the good news. So here, Peter is dealing with shame. And the blood of Jesus is stronger than the blood of Judas. The blood of Jesus is stronger than the crow of the rooster. The blood of Jesus is stronger than that sense of shame. But the enemy whispers, "Shame, shame on you". Shame on you, shame on you. Here's what shame does. Shame stops you from living your best days. Shame stops you from living your best life. Shame keeps you living with your head down, losing your confidence, losing your sense of momentum. Shame keeps you from pursuing your dreams. Shame keeps you in a prison of feeling like you're never worthy and you always have to own your flaws and your faults, and you're always going to be held under the captivity of your guilt.
See, guilt says I did something wrong, but shame says I am wrong. Guilt says I did something I shouldn't have done, but shame says I'm never gonna be good enough. Shame keeps us in a paralyzed state. And Zechariah 3:1, it says that when Joshua was standing before the high priest, that the accuser of the brethren stood, making accusations against Joshua, "He showed me Joshua". Look at this in Zechariah 3:1. This is an interesting Old Testament scripture, long after Joshua has died. It says this. "He showed me Joshua". So he is getting a vision, Zechariah is getting a vision of a mighty man of God standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him, the accuser constantly.
I need just help for a second. Pastor Ty, will you stand here? And I want you to just point your finger at me. All right. So here Joshua is, and Satan is standing at his right side, right side, yeah, and he's pointing at him. And here Joshua is trying to be a mighty man of God, trying to follow after God, Zechariah's getting this vision, the accuser just pointing, pointing. But look at verse two, it says, "Then the Lord said to Satan". Tim, will you stand up here? Just be the Lord for a second. Come and stand between me and the accuser. The Lord points a finger back at Satan and says, "Rebuke you Satan. The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you. Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire"?
See, the blood of Jesus stands between you and the accuser. What Peter needed to know when that rooster was crowing, the rooster was pointing the finger at Peter. Shame on you, Peter! Shame on you! But the Lord was standing in front of the rooster. The Lord had already gone ahead of you into Galilee. The blood of Jesus is stronger than the accusation, than the crow of a rooster. It's says in verse three of Zechariah 3, "Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes". This is us and our own sin. This is us and our own self-righteousness. Our self-righteous acts are filthy rags. But the angel of the Lord stands before you and the accuser. The angel of the Lord stands between you and what you think you're unworthy of.
And in verse four, "The angel said to those who were standing before him, 'Take off his filthy clothes.'" And he said to Joshua in verse four, "See, I have taken away your sin and I will put fine garments on you". This is what the blood of Jesus does. He covers you in the righteousness of God. He covers you from what the enemy has tried to bring against you. How many are thankful for the blood of Jesus, for your family, for your son, for yourself? Where would we be without Jesus? Where would we be without His grace? And yet Peter knew this. He had heard the sermon. He had heard about forgiveness, 70 times seven. He had heard about mercy. Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.
Peter knew about these things. And he says, "I'm going back to the fishing boat, 'cause it works for others, but it won't work for me". It's gonna be there for others, but it won't be there for me. And Peter hangs himself, not like Judas, Judas ends his life, but Peter ends his own sense of purpose. Peter stays in this place of shame, in the prison of guilt and anger. This morning, I woke up at 6:00 AM and I heard our kids crying and screaming out in the living room. And I went out there and Benny was laying on the floor and he was going, "Ah, it's all Liam's fault".
So I come out there, you know, Benny's crying and screaming. And I said, "Benny, are you okay"? And he goes, "Yeah, I'm all right". And then he is kind of limping, he's like, "It's all Liam's fault". And Liam goes, "That's not true. That's not true. It's not my fault. It's Benny's fault". And I said, "What happened"? And Benny goes, "He kicked me. He pushed me. He pinched me". And Liam goes, "Nope, he kicked me first, he hit me first". And Benny goes, "He took my bug, he took my bug from me". And Benny was like, "I got this bug from Ryan Edwards". Ryan is a member of our church, he's just giving out bugs to our kids. Thanks, Ryan. And Liam goes, "The bug was for both of us". And Benny goes, "No, you know he gave it to me. That was my bug". I said, "Boys, boys". And I said, "Liam, did you hurt Benny? Did Benny hurt you or did you hurt Benny"?
Liam's head kind of got low, and he said, "I hurt Benny". And I said, "Well, let's go outside. Let's go talk about it". So we go sit down and Benny's just watching through the window, just wants to know how bad I'm gonna punish the sinner. Like what are we gonna do to the sinner? We get so excited to watch how God punishes a sinner. And I'm so thankful that when Jesus has a conversation with Peter, he doesn't do it in front of 120 people. Like it's just Him and Peter on a beach, 'cause real restoration, real grace is so sweet, it's so tender, it's so special, between a father and a son. I don't let my sons come in and watch when one of the other sons is getting disciplined. It's just between me and Liam, or me and Benny, or me and Mack, most of the time.
So I'm sitting there with Liam and I said, "Benny, go away, this is just me and Liam". I closed the doors. I said, "Liam, what's going on"? And he said, "I'm sorry, Daddy, I'm sorry". I said, "I forgive you. We all need forgiveness". How many of you, you know, I look at the room, and y'all are looking at me like, man, this guy has bad kids. No, actually I actually have great kids, but they're just kids. They're human, right? How many of you guys have kids that have missed it? How many of you have a kid that's lied before? Okay, hands go down. Cheated, stolen, not shared their toys? You're like, okay, that's an easier sin, I could admit to that one.
We all have kids that have messed up. And when your kids mess up, do you go, I'm putting these kids up for adoption, I am done with these kids? Can you imagine if I would've said that to Liam, like, hey, we're putting you up for adoption? You just, you know, this crossed the line. You're no longer a part of the family. No, we love our kids. In fact, when they miss it, I get closer to 'em. There's something about their shame that makes me want to be close to 'em. There's something about the embarrassment of feeling like they missed it that makes me just want to be like, "Hey, let's talk, man. Let's talk. Are you all right? Are you okay"?
And I'm not even a great dad, like I'm trying my best, but we have a Father in Heaven that is so much better than any of us dads here on Earth. 'Cause we get angry, we miss it, we're impatient. But He is rich in mercy. His love is patient with us. He's got long suffering. Can you imagine our Father in Heaven just sitting down with each of us, like he sat with Peter on the beach, just saying, "Come on, Peter, come on. Come have breakfast with me". And here I was, I was sitting with Liam, and Liam, I said, "What's going on"? He said, "I just wanna spend more time with you, Daddy". I said, "We've been spending a lot of time together".
I start becoming defensive. I'm like, "I've been spending a lot of time with you. We just got done taking a long break, spending a lot of time with you". And he said, "I know, but you guys send me to school". And now I know where he is gone with this. He's like, "I gotta go to school every day," and he's like, "Why can't you guys just not send me to school and I'm with you 24/7"? And I was like, "No, we need that space. I'm with you right after school. I love you so much". How many of you are thankful? Don't, all right, don't judge me for that. Listen, I love, I love, I love it. But you know, I've taken him to school, picking him up from school, hanging out with him at night, laying him down for bed and we're laying. I go, "Liam, I love you, man. You still gotta go to school though".
And he's like, "Okay, all right". And I said, "You know I forgive you, right"? And I said, "You know Benny forgives you, right"? He said, "Yeah, I think so". I said, "He does". And I think this is where shame keeps us in this place where we think we can't be forgiven. It keeps us in this place of distancing ourselves from people who wanna bring healing and bring love, and so we push people away. And the enemy whispers, on top of the shame, fear, the fear of rejection, the fear, the fear of failure, the fear of not ever being good enough, the fear of constantly feeling like you're never gonna be enough or have enough. And the enemy keeps whispering these things. But the way that we overcome shame and fear is through grace and faith. Grace is the antidote to shame and faith is the antidote to fear.
And both of those words appear in Ephesians 2:8, "For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith in Jesus Christ". So if I'm going to walk in victory over shame and fear, I have to receive the grace of God through my faith in Jesus Christ. When I put my faith in Him, I want the band to come out, that's when I can receive the grace that He has. That's when I can receive the healing that He wants to bring. That's when I can get out of the prison of shame. And here Peter is, wondering can God still use me.
Jesus calls him over to the shore, and they knew it was the Lord. And Jesus took some bread, in verse 13, and he broke it and he gave it to them. We've heard about the Last Supper, this is the last breakfast. He breaks the bread, and then he does the same with the fish and He shares the fish with them. This was the third time Jesus had appeared to His disciples after He was raised from the dead. "When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?' 'Yes, Lord. You know that I love you.'" I could just imagine Peter, just crying as he's talking to Jesus, 'cause this is the first one-on-one conversation they've had.
You know, when Jesus rose from the dead, He was thinking about Peter. When Jesus had been crucified, buried, and He was in the tomb for three days, He was thinking about Peter. When He rose from the grave, in fact in Mark 16, it says that Mary and Mary, y'all remember Mary Mary, "Take the shackles off my feet so I can dance I just wanna". Come on, who grew up on Mary Mary? All right, so Mary and Mary, they were the first two that showed up at the tomb. When they went to the tomb in Mark 16, they were alarmed 'cause the stone had been rolled away. They didn't know how they were gonna roll away the stone. And when they got there, the stone was rolled away.
The same God who rolled that stone away can roll stones away for you, over the tombs in your heart, the tombs that you have placed people, the tombs that you've placed your dreams, your purpose, your calling, the same God who rolls the stone away in that garden can roll the stone away in your heart. Some of you have stones built up so high, walls built up so high around your heart. And then when they walked into the tomb, they were alarmed. They saw an angel, an angel of the Lord, and he said, "Don't be alarmed. He is risen, He's not here. The Savior looking for, He was laid here, but His body is no longer here". And then he said in verse seven of Mark 16, "Go tell His disciples and Peter".
Look at that in verse seven, "And Peter". He could have just said, go tell the disciples, but he said, "Go tell the disciples and". Go tell that rooster-crowing man, Peter. Go tell the man who needs to hear it the most. Go tell all the disciples, but especially go tell Peter. Jesus wants you to know, He's got a special message just for you, go and tell Peter that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the deceiver, the liar, the manipulator, the God of David, and Rahab, and the God of Esther, and Ruth, and the God of Boaz, and Solomon, and the God of Joseph, and the God who's walked with people like Moses, and the God who heals the brokenhearted, that same God has a message for Peter, for Peter.
The same God who's been using broken people from Genesis 1 all the way to Revelation has a message for Peter. Peter, all you see is problems in your life, but all Jesus sees is potential. All he sees is Pentecost. All he sees is the promise of God, still written over your life, because the promises of God are not contingent upon your behavior, and not contingent upon how good you've been, but they are contingent on the nature of God. And He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And He will not fail you and He will not fail you. Go tell the disciples and Peter. And so Peter's sitting on the beach and Jesus says, "Do you love me"? one time. And Peter says, "You know I love you". Jesus says, "Feed my lambs".
The second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me? Do you love me, Peter"? He said, "Yes, Lord. You know that I love you". What Jesus was doing is what a professional counselor would do. He's teaching Peter to rewrite where Peter has got so much shame, over three times denying Him, over three times missing it, over three times Peter fails, fails God, and feels like a failure. And Jesus is, one by one, addressing each of the failures. Do you love me? I still have a purpose for you. I still have a calling for you. I still want you.
On the third time, He says, "Simon, son of John. Do you love me"? 'Cause I know I love you, I know I want you. I just want you to know if you love you, if you still see that I have a plan for you. Peter was hurt this time because Jesus asked him a third time, "Do you love me"? He said, "Lord, you know everything about me, the good, the bad and the ugly. You know that I love you". And Jesus says, "Feed my sheep. Follow after me, I have a purpose for your life. I have a plan for your life". I had a dream yesterday morning. I woke up from this dream, and in my dream I was holding this old knife that my parents had given me when I was like eight years old, which is a dangerous thing to give an eight year old.
But they brought it back from a missions trip. They used to bring back souvenirs. And it was this old, ancient knife. It's still at my mom's house. And it's got a sheath, and the rubies that were once on it, fake rubies, have popped off, it's kind of messy. And in my dream I woke up and I was holding it and I had this picture of like Indiana Jones and all these movies that people go hunting for hidden treasure and old, ancient artifacts. And recently just watched "The Count of Monte Cristo," and there's this moment where they find the hidden treasure and the hidden treasure is scathed, it's scarred, it's cracked, it's been sitting below an ocean. It's been through some stuff. And I heard the Lord say the treasure of Peter's testimony, the treasure.
See, the Bible says that we are earthen vessels with God's treasure inside of us. The treasure that's inside of you is not supposed to be flawless in all of its ways. This is why, when Jesus rose from the grave, He didn't raise from the grave with no holes, no scars. He rose with the scars. He rose with the holes in His hands. He rose with the hole in His side. Why? Because there's something powerful about a treasure that's been through the weather, the treasure that's been through.
See, a diamond is only as powerful as the heat that it's been through, the cutting process that it's been through. The gold that is pure gold has been refined through a fire. The stuff that's really worth something has weathered the storms. Peter, you have a testimony on Pentecost, and you might think you're unworthy, and you might think you're too scathed and too scarred, and you might think you're not qualified, but your very testimony is the reason why you're going to reach the next generation. It's the reason why you're gonna raise people up who need to know there's a Savior who loves Peter. There's a Savior who loves Thomas. There's a Savior who's seen all that you've done, and He still wants you. And He still wants your kids. And He still wants to use you for His glory.
I want you to stand to your feet all over this room. I was driving home last night after church, and I was on the phone, and Ashton and I had driven in different cars, and so we're talking on the phone and this torrential downpour just started pouring. How many of you guys just felt the rain last night? It was so strong. It just started pouring, pouring hard. And I was on the highway and the speed limit is 65, I had to slow down to 25. Finally, at one moment it was so intense, the rain, the torrential downpour was so intense, I just had to stop 'cause I couldn't even see. And I felt like the Lord was saying, "This is the rain that I've been waiting to pour out. This is the rain that I've been waiting to pour out".
We canceled an egg hunt last Sunday, thinking it was going to pour. All week it's been building up. The clouds have been preparing for this downpour. The clouds have been giving us a sign that rain is coming. I was in the Mabee Center on Friday night as thousands of people packed in and healing started to flow, and there was such a thick presence of God in the room. And last night, when the rain started to pour, I just began to feel like God was saying, "I'm about to pour my rain out on Victory. I'm about to pour my rain out on sons and daughters. I've been building it up. I've been preparing it. I am ready, I am ready to pour out my grace, my favor, my Spirit on sons and daughters to prophesy, on mothers and fathers, on grandparents and grandchildren, on all ages".
And I just sensed the Lord wants to do that this morning with every head bow and every eye closed. If you're here right now, you just need grace. You just need an outpouring of God. You need a fresh touch from Heaven. Maybe the enemy has whispered lies of shame, fear, confusion, doubt. Maybe you've been questioning the season that you're in. Maybe you've been questioning the season that you're walking through. Maybe you've just been in a place of just paralyzation. You've been paralyzed by your own mistakes. You've been paralyzed by the disappointment maybe you feel in this current season. And maybe you're here today and you just go, I just need a fresh touch from Heaven. It's here. The same rain that was pouring last night is about to pour today.
And God says, "I have a rain that's greater than the rain of the world". You've walked through the rain of disappointment, but now you're about to experience the rain of my good grace, my purifying, gentle compassion, my good mercies that are are new this morning. If that's you today and you need it, I want you to raise your hand, all over this room. God's talking to you, ma'am, He's talking to you, sir. He's talking to your family. He's talking to you, from the back row to the front row.
If you need it, I want you to leave your seat. Come and find a place at this altar, come on. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are those who are thirsty for the rain Lord, I want the rain of your goodness. I want the rain of your presence. I want the rain of your purity. I want the rain of your righteousness. I want the rain that washes away the accusations of the enemy, the condemnation in my heart, the guilt, the fear, the shame, the confusion. Lord, I want your rain. Lord, pour it out on me this morning.