WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.520 Welcome to Pamoja Podcast, the place where stronger 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:06.740 lives are built, faith is strengthened, hearts 00:00:06.740 --> 00:00:09.740 are encouraged, and Christ -centered homes are 00:00:09.740 --> 00:00:12.820 shaped through ordinary conversations that become 00:00:12.820 --> 00:00:16.859 extraordinary encounters with God's truth. One 00:00:16.859 --> 00:00:21.879 conversation, one story, one revelation at a 00:00:21.879 --> 00:00:26.379 time. I'm your host, Barry Mwamba. As we have 00:00:26.379 --> 00:00:29.339 journeyed through this series, One truth has 00:00:29.339 --> 00:00:32.600 become impossible to ignore. God prepares His 00:00:32.600 --> 00:00:34.880 servants in ways that often make little sense 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:38.159 while they are living through them. Joseph could 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:42.100 not understand the prison. Moses could not understand 00:00:42.100 --> 00:00:45.719 the wilderness. Esther could not understand the 00:00:45.719 --> 00:00:49.340 palace. Daniel could not understand Babylon. 00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:53.619 Paul could not understand the hidden years that 00:00:53.619 --> 00:00:57.310 followed Damascus. Yet every one of those seasons 00:00:57.310 --> 00:01:01.530 became part of God's preparation for an assignment 00:01:01.530 --> 00:01:05.269 that would eventually bless generations. Today, 00:01:05.310 --> 00:01:08.430 however, we arrive at a forge that is far more 00:01:08.430 --> 00:01:12.049 personal because it touches every one of us. 00:01:12.709 --> 00:01:16.510 Not everyone has experienced prison. Not everyone 00:01:16.510 --> 00:01:19.969 has walked through a wilderness. Not everyone 00:01:19.969 --> 00:01:23.879 has lived in Babylon. But every believer knows 00:01:23.879 --> 00:01:27.480 what it feels like to fail. Every believer knows 00:01:27.480 --> 00:01:31.079 what it feels like to regret a decision, to replay 00:01:31.079 --> 00:01:34.480 a conversation, to wonder whether one moment 00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:38.900 of weakness has altered God's plan forever. That 00:01:38.900 --> 00:01:42.299 is why Peter's story speaks so deeply to the 00:01:42.299 --> 00:01:45.879 human heart. Peter was not a stranger to Jesus. 00:01:46.280 --> 00:01:50.040 He walked beside him. He listened to his teaching. 00:01:50.409 --> 00:01:53.989 He witnessed miracles that no one else had seen. 00:01:54.590 --> 00:01:57.469 He stepped out of the boat and walked on water. 00:01:58.349 --> 00:02:01.849 He boldly confessed that Jesus was the Christ, 00:02:02.209 --> 00:02:06.049 the Son of the living God. If anyone appeared 00:02:06.049 --> 00:02:09.129 prepared for a great assignment, it was Peter. 00:02:09.990 --> 00:02:13.669 Yet the night before the cross, everything seemed 00:02:13.669 --> 00:02:17.189 to collapse. The man who promised he would die 00:02:17.189 --> 00:02:21.620 with Jesus denied even knowing him. Three times, 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:25.780 before sunrise. If we had been standing there 00:02:25.780 --> 00:02:28.699 that night, most of us would probably have reached 00:02:28.699 --> 00:02:32.800 the same conclusion. Peter's assignment was over. 00:02:33.319 --> 00:02:36.960 His failure was too public. His words were too 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:41.460 painful. His weakness was too obvious. But heaven 00:02:41.460 --> 00:02:45.139 had reached a very different conclusion. Because 00:02:45.139 --> 00:02:48.819 while Peter believed his story had ended, Jesus 00:02:48.819 --> 00:02:52.169 already knew. that the forge was still at work. 00:02:52.789 --> 00:02:55.750 Perhaps that is one of the most comforting truths 00:02:55.750 --> 00:02:59.770 in all of scripture. Failure may interrupt our 00:02:59.770 --> 00:03:04.990 confidence. It never surprises God. One of the 00:03:04.990 --> 00:03:07.550 most remarkable moments in Peter's story happens 00:03:07.550 --> 00:03:11.349 before Peter ever fails. Jesus looks at him and 00:03:11.349 --> 00:03:22.099 says, that your faith may not fail, and when 00:03:22.099 --> 00:03:26.340 you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." 00:03:26.340 --> 00:03:29.560 Those words have always amazed me. Jesus did 00:03:29.560 --> 00:03:33.199 not say, if you turn back, he said, when you 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:38.879 turn back, before Peter denied him. Jesus was 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:42.479 already speaking about Peter's restoration before 00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:46.719 the failure. Jesus was already preparing the 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:49.759 assignment that would follow it. Notice something 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:52.800 else. Jesus never promised Peter that he would 00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:56.639 not fall. He promised that his faith would not 00:03:56.639 --> 00:04:00.919 disappear. There is a difference. Peter's courage 00:04:00.919 --> 00:04:05.300 would fail. His confidence would fail. His strength 00:04:05.300 --> 00:04:08.939 would fail. But Jesus prayed that beneath all 00:04:08.939 --> 00:04:12.060 of that, Peter's faith would survive the storm. 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:16.420 Why? Because Jesus knew something Peter did not 00:04:16.420 --> 00:04:20.660 yet understand. Sometimes God allows the forge 00:04:20.660 --> 00:04:24.699 to expose our self -confidence so that our confidence 00:04:24.699 --> 00:04:28.759 can finally rest in Him. Before the cross, Peter 00:04:28.759 --> 00:04:32.100 was convinced that his devotion made him stronger 00:04:32.100 --> 00:04:35.779 than everyone else. He sincerely believed he 00:04:35.779 --> 00:04:40.100 would never deny Christ. His love for Jesus was 00:04:40.100 --> 00:04:43.240 genuine, but his confidence was still resting 00:04:43.240 --> 00:04:47.240 in himself. Then came the courtyard. One question, 00:04:47.540 --> 00:04:51.879 another question, another accusation. And before 00:04:51.879 --> 00:04:55.120 the rooster crowed, Peter discovered something 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:58.740 about himself that he never imagined. He was 00:04:58.740 --> 00:05:02.420 weaker than he thought. But perhaps that painful 00:05:02.420 --> 00:05:05.899 discovery became one of the greatest gifts God 00:05:05.899 --> 00:05:09.839 ever gave him. Because from that moment forward, 00:05:10.379 --> 00:05:13.920 Peter would never preach as a man trusting in 00:05:13.920 --> 00:05:18.069 Peter. He would preach as a man completely dependent 00:05:18.069 --> 00:05:21.569 upon Christ. That is one of the mysteries of 00:05:21.569 --> 00:05:25.910 God's forge. Sometimes he does not merely prepare 00:05:25.910 --> 00:05:29.850 us through success. Sometimes he prepares us 00:05:29.850 --> 00:05:33.970 by bringing us to the end of ourselves. Because 00:05:33.970 --> 00:05:36.850 a servant who has learned to depend entirely 00:05:36.850 --> 00:05:40.110 upon Christ can carry an assignment that self 00:05:40.110 --> 00:05:45.310 -confidence never could. Peter's tears were real. 00:05:45.990 --> 00:05:50.930 His regret was real. His failure was real. But 00:05:50.930 --> 00:05:53.269 none of those things were the end of his story. 00:05:54.449 --> 00:05:56.850 In one of the most beautiful scenes in the Gospels, 00:05:57.009 --> 00:06:00.649 Jesus would meet Peter again, not to remind him 00:06:00.649 --> 00:06:04.810 of his failure, but to restore him for the very 00:06:04.810 --> 00:06:08.990 assignment that had never left God's heart. That 00:06:08.990 --> 00:06:15.040 is where our conversation continues. As I continue 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:18.399 reflecting on Peter's story, I find myself deeply 00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:21.600 moved by what Jesus did after his resurrection. 00:06:21.860 --> 00:06:24.920 If I had been Peter, I honestly do not know if 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:27.540 I would have had the courage to face Jesus again. 00:06:27.779 --> 00:06:29.899 Every time I would have remembered his face, 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:32.959 I would also have remembered the courtyard, the 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:35.920 accusations, the three denials, and the sound 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:38.620 of the rooster announcing what I had just done. 00:06:38.779 --> 00:06:41.740 Peter was not carrying chains around his wrists. 00:06:41.980 --> 00:06:44.959 He was carrying guilt in his heart. Sometimes 00:06:44.959 --> 00:06:48.360 the deepest prisons are not built with iron bars. 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:51.699 They are built with regret, shame, disappointment, 00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:54.779 and the painful memories of moments we wish we 00:06:54.779 --> 00:06:58.019 could erase. Those prisons can become so heavy 00:06:58.019 --> 00:07:01.300 that we begin believing God can no longer use 00:07:01.300 --> 00:07:05.009 us because we cannot forgive ourselves. Yet the 00:07:05.009 --> 00:07:07.930 beautiful thing about the gospel is that Jesus 00:07:07.930 --> 00:07:11.649 always moves toward broken people. After his 00:07:11.649 --> 00:07:14.350 resurrection, Jesus could have appeared to Peter 00:07:14.350 --> 00:07:17.629 anywhere. He could have called him into a crowded 00:07:17.629 --> 00:07:21.069 room and publicly confronted him. He could have 00:07:21.069 --> 00:07:23.850 reminded him of every promise he had broken. 00:07:24.410 --> 00:07:28.410 Instead, he chose another setting entirely. He 00:07:28.410 --> 00:07:31.589 met Peter by the sea. How beautiful is that? 00:07:31.740 --> 00:07:35.379 It was by the sea that Peter had first been called 00:07:35.379 --> 00:07:39.939 to leave his nets and follow Christ. Now, after 00:07:39.939 --> 00:07:43.040 the greatest failure of his life, Jesus brings 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:45.819 him back to the very place where everything had 00:07:45.819 --> 00:07:49.180 begun. It is almost as if the Lord is saying, 00:07:49.620 --> 00:07:52.899 Peter, your failure is not going to become the 00:07:52.899 --> 00:07:56.060 final chapter of your story. I am bringing you 00:07:56.060 --> 00:07:58.379 back to the place of your calling because my 00:07:58.379 --> 00:08:02.110 purpose for your life has not changed. That alone 00:08:02.110 --> 00:08:05.490 should fill every believer with hope. God does 00:08:05.490 --> 00:08:09.269 not define us by our worst moment. He sees the 00:08:09.269 --> 00:08:12.850 servant he is still shaping. Then Jesus asked 00:08:12.850 --> 00:08:15.329 Peter a question that has echoed through the 00:08:15.329 --> 00:08:19.750 centuries. Simon, son of John, do you love me? 00:08:20.529 --> 00:08:23.689 For years I believed this conversation was simply 00:08:23.689 --> 00:08:26.790 about balancing the three denials with three 00:08:26.790 --> 00:08:30.379 declarations of love. Certainly there is beauty 00:08:30.379 --> 00:08:34.000 in that comparison, but I now believe Jesus was 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:37.700 doing something even deeper. Notice what he does 00:08:37.700 --> 00:08:41.740 not ask. He does not say, Peter, why did you 00:08:41.740 --> 00:08:46.480 deny me? He does not ask, Peter, how could you 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:50.220 abandon me after everything you saw? He does 00:08:50.220 --> 00:08:53.679 not even ask Peter to defend himself. Instead, 00:08:53.720 --> 00:08:56.539 Jesus brings the conversation back to the only 00:08:56.539 --> 00:08:59.740 place where the assignment could truly be restored. 00:09:00.519 --> 00:09:05.259 Do you love me? Why? Because the assignment was 00:09:05.259 --> 00:09:08.860 never built upon Peter's perfection. It was built 00:09:08.860 --> 00:09:12.799 upon his relationship with Christ. That changes 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:17.039 everything. Jesus was not rebuilding Peter's 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:20.460 confidence in Peter. He was restoring Peter's 00:09:20.460 --> 00:09:23.730 love for Christ. Because once that relationship 00:09:23.730 --> 00:09:27.009 was restored, everything else could begin again. 00:09:27.889 --> 00:09:30.950 And then something extraordinary happens. After 00:09:30.950 --> 00:09:34.950 every answer Peter gives, Jesus immediately entrusts 00:09:34.950 --> 00:09:38.649 him with responsibility. Feed my lambs. Take 00:09:38.649 --> 00:09:42.190 care of my sheep. Feed my sheep. Think about 00:09:42.190 --> 00:09:45.250 what Jesus is doing. He does not merely pronounce 00:09:45.250 --> 00:09:48.509 forgiveness. He places the assignment back into 00:09:48.509 --> 00:09:51.629 Peter's hands. The one whom Peter had denied 00:09:51.629 --> 00:09:54.370 now entrusts him with the care of his church. 00:09:54.830 --> 00:09:57.889 What incredible grace. What incredible trust. 00:09:58.289 --> 00:10:01.409 What incredible love. I believe this is one of 00:10:01.409 --> 00:10:04.610 the most powerful moments in the entire New Testament 00:10:04.610 --> 00:10:07.950 because it reveals the heart of God toward those 00:10:07.950 --> 00:10:12.230 who genuinely return to him. Jesus did not restore 00:10:12.230 --> 00:10:15.110 Peter so that he could simply feel better about 00:10:15.110 --> 00:10:18.600 himself. He restored Peter because the assignment 00:10:18.600 --> 00:10:21.759 had never been cancelled. The forge had accomplished 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:24.960 exactly what it was intended to accomplish. Before 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:27.940 the courtyard, Peter believed his greatest strength 00:10:27.940 --> 00:10:31.360 was his unwavering loyalty. After the courtyard, 00:10:31.580 --> 00:10:34.379 Peter discovered that his greatest strength would 00:10:34.379 --> 00:10:37.960 never be found in himself. It would always be 00:10:37.960 --> 00:10:41.950 found in Christ. That brokenness became the very 00:10:41.950 --> 00:10:44.950 foundation upon which God would build one of 00:10:44.950 --> 00:10:48.710 the greatest leaders of the early church. Perhaps 00:10:48.710 --> 00:10:52.149 that is why God sometimes allows us to reach 00:10:52.149 --> 00:10:55.269 the end of ourselves. Not because he delights 00:10:55.269 --> 00:10:58.509 in watching us fail, but because there are lessons 00:10:58.509 --> 00:11:02.330 that success can never teach. Humility often 00:11:02.330 --> 00:11:05.799 grows where pride has been broken. Compassion 00:11:05.799 --> 00:11:09.399 often grows where we have experienced mercy. 00:11:09.960 --> 00:11:13.639 Dependence upon God often grows only after we 00:11:13.639 --> 00:11:16.440 have discovered the limits of our own strength. 00:11:17.220 --> 00:11:20.700 Peter would never again stand before people boasting 00:11:20.700 --> 00:11:24.519 about what he would do for Jesus. From that moment 00:11:24.519 --> 00:11:28.340 forward, he would stand before people testifying 00:11:28.340 --> 00:11:31.970 about what Jesus had done for him. That is the 00:11:31.970 --> 00:11:35.250 difference between confidence in self and confidence 00:11:35.250 --> 00:11:39.070 in grace. And perhaps that is the greatest miracle 00:11:39.070 --> 00:11:43.409 of Peter's restoration. Jesus did not restore 00:11:43.409 --> 00:11:46.330 Peter to become the man he had been before the 00:11:46.330 --> 00:11:49.809 failure. He restored Peter to become the man 00:11:49.809 --> 00:11:53.409 the failure, surrendered to God, had prepared 00:11:53.409 --> 00:11:57.509 him to become. Peter's restoration was not the 00:11:57.509 --> 00:12:00.610 end of the forge. It became the beginning of 00:12:00.610 --> 00:12:03.750 a completely different man. The disciple who 00:12:03.750 --> 00:12:06.450 once trembled before the questions of a servant 00:12:06.450 --> 00:12:09.970 girl would soon stand before rulers, councils, 00:12:10.250 --> 00:12:13.870 prisons, persecution, and even death itself without 00:12:13.870 --> 00:12:17.610 denying the name of Jesus. What changed? How 00:12:17.610 --> 00:12:20.690 does a man move from fear to fearless faith? 00:12:21.129 --> 00:12:25.429 That is where our journey continues. As I continue 00:12:25.429 --> 00:12:28.529 reading Peter's story, I cannot help but notice 00:12:28.529 --> 00:12:30.970 that after the resurrection, something about 00:12:30.970 --> 00:12:34.190 him had fundamentally changed. He was still Peter. 00:12:34.330 --> 00:12:37.090 He still possessed the same personality, the 00:12:37.090 --> 00:12:40.269 same passion, the same love for Christ. Yet there 00:12:40.269 --> 00:12:43.909 was a depth within him that had not existed before. 00:12:44.289 --> 00:12:47.289 The man who stood on the day of Pentecost was 00:12:47.289 --> 00:12:50.470 not simply Peter with more experience. He was 00:12:50.470 --> 00:12:54.009 Peter after the forge. That difference is impossible 00:12:54.009 --> 00:12:57.490 to miss. Only a few weeks earlier, Peter had 00:12:57.490 --> 00:13:00.269 been standing in the courtyard of the high priest, 00:13:00.610 --> 00:13:03.870 surrounded by ordinary people, denying that he 00:13:03.870 --> 00:13:07.570 even knew Jesus. Fear had controlled his decisions 00:13:07.570 --> 00:13:10.309 because he was afraid of what others might do 00:13:10.309 --> 00:13:13.330 to him. He had spent the rest of that night weeping 00:13:13.330 --> 00:13:16.230 bitterly, convinced that everything he had hoped 00:13:16.230 --> 00:13:19.610 for had come to an end. Now look at him again, 00:13:19.870 --> 00:13:22.649 the same Peter who once trembled before a servant 00:13:22.649 --> 00:13:25.669 girl is now standing before thousands of people 00:13:25.669 --> 00:13:29.330 in Jerusalem, boldly proclaiming that the very 00:13:29.330 --> 00:13:32.750 Jesus who had been crucified had risen from the 00:13:32.750 --> 00:13:36.990 dead and was both Lord and Christ. The same authorities 00:13:36.990 --> 00:13:40.450 who had condemned Jesus were still present. The 00:13:40.450 --> 00:13:43.590 same city that had shouted for the cross was 00:13:43.590 --> 00:13:47.200 still filled with opposition. The danger had 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:50.960 not disappeared, Peter had changed. That is one 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:53.860 of the clearest evidences that the forge had 00:13:53.860 --> 00:13:57.720 accomplished its work. God did not simply restore 00:13:57.720 --> 00:14:01.919 Peter's ministry. He transformed Peter's heart. 00:14:02.580 --> 00:14:05.240 The courage we see in the Book of Acts was not 00:14:05.240 --> 00:14:07.899 the courage of a man trying to prove himself 00:14:07.899 --> 00:14:11.460 after failure. It was the confidence of a man 00:14:11.460 --> 00:14:14.779 who had discovered that his life no longer depended 00:14:14.779 --> 00:14:18.179 upon his own strength. but upon the faithfulness 00:14:18.179 --> 00:14:21.980 of Christ. There is a profound difference between 00:14:21.980 --> 00:14:24.840 self -confidence and confidence that is rooted 00:14:24.840 --> 00:14:29.039 in God's grace. Before the cross, Peter spoke 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:32.200 with great certainty about what he would do for 00:14:32.200 --> 00:14:36.000 Jesus. He sincerely believed that his devotion 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:39.799 was enough to carry him through any trial. After 00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:43.220 the resurrection, however, Peter no longer preached 00:14:43.220 --> 00:14:46.559 about his own loyalty. He preached about the 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:50.100 mercy, the power, and the resurrection of Jesus 00:14:50.100 --> 00:14:53.419 Christ. His message had changed because the foundation 00:14:53.419 --> 00:14:56.899 of his life had changed. I find that deeply encouraging. 00:14:57.179 --> 00:14:59.700 Sometimes we look back at our failures and wish 00:14:59.700 --> 00:15:02.720 we could erase them from our story. We imagine 00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:05.580 that if those painful moments had never happened, 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:08.639 we would somehow be better prepared for God's 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:11.159 purpose. Yet Peter's life suggests something 00:15:11.159 --> 00:15:14.139 very different. The failure that almost convinced 00:15:14.139 --> 00:15:17.620 him he was disqualified became one of the very 00:15:17.620 --> 00:15:21.200 experiences that taught him humility, compassion, 00:15:21.559 --> 00:15:24.480 dependence upon Christ, and the immeasurable 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:28.120 greatness of God's grace. Isn't it interesting 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:31.600 that the man who once failed so publicly would 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:35.120 later encourage suffering believers with such 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:38.759 tenderness? Isn't it remarkable that the disciple 00:15:38.759 --> 00:15:41.779 who had experienced restoration would become 00:15:41.779 --> 00:15:44.860 a shepherd capable of strengthening others who 00:15:44.860 --> 00:15:48.279 were struggling? Perhaps Peter could lead broken 00:15:48.279 --> 00:15:52.039 people because he himself had been restored by 00:15:52.039 --> 00:15:55.679 the shepherd. That is how God often works. He 00:15:55.679 --> 00:15:59.259 does not waste our wounds. He sanctifies them. 00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:03.000 He does not glorify our failures. He redeems 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:06.350 them. He does not ask us to pretend those chapters 00:16:06.350 --> 00:16:10.289 never happened. He writes his grace so deeply 00:16:10.289 --> 00:16:13.250 into those chapters that they become testimonies 00:16:13.250 --> 00:16:16.450 of his faithfulness instead of monuments to our 00:16:16.450 --> 00:16:20.149 shame. When Peter stood before the Sanhedrin 00:16:20.149 --> 00:16:24.169 in the Book of Acts and boldly declared, we must 00:16:24.169 --> 00:16:28.769 obey God rather than men, I cannot help but remember 00:16:28.769 --> 00:16:32.419 the courtyard. The man speaking those words was 00:16:32.419 --> 00:16:35.799 not naturally fearless. He was a man whose fear 00:16:35.799 --> 00:16:39.840 had already been confronted, exposed, forgiven, 00:16:40.299 --> 00:16:43.080 and transformed by the grace of Christ. That 00:16:43.080 --> 00:16:46.220 is why the forge is so important. The forge does 00:16:46.220 --> 00:16:49.379 not merely change our circumstances. The forge 00:16:49.379 --> 00:16:53.179 changes us. Joseph emerged from prison with wisdom. 00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:56.360 Moses emerged from the wilderness with dependence 00:16:56.360 --> 00:17:00.429 upon God. Esther emerged from the palace with 00:17:00.429 --> 00:17:04.789 courage. Daniel emerged from Babylon with unwavering 00:17:04.789 --> 00:17:08.230 conviction. Paul emerged from hiddenness with 00:17:08.230 --> 00:17:12.009 spiritual maturity. Peter emerged from failure 00:17:12.009 --> 00:17:15.410 with humility, boldness, and a heart that would 00:17:15.410 --> 00:17:19.069 never again place confidence in itself. Every 00:17:19.069 --> 00:17:22.049 one of them became different people because every 00:17:22.049 --> 00:17:24.930 one of them allowed God to finish what he had 00:17:24.930 --> 00:17:28.369 begun. Perhaps that is the invitation Peter leaves 00:17:28.369 --> 00:17:31.930 with us today. Do not allow your worst moment 00:17:31.930 --> 00:17:35.190 to convince you that God has abandoned his purpose 00:17:35.190 --> 00:17:38.750 for your life. If your heart is willing to return 00:17:38.750 --> 00:17:42.069 to Christ, the very place where you thought your 00:17:42.069 --> 00:17:45.490 story ended may become the place where God begins 00:17:45.490 --> 00:17:48.849 preparing you for your greatest influence. Because 00:17:48.849 --> 00:17:51.890 in the hands of the Master, even failure can 00:17:51.890 --> 00:17:55.490 become another instrument in the forge. Peter's 00:17:55.490 --> 00:17:59.670 failure was real. His restoration was real. His 00:17:59.670 --> 00:18:04.069 transformation was real. But there is one final 00:18:04.069 --> 00:18:07.049 truth that brings his entire journey together. 00:18:07.869 --> 00:18:10.730 It is the truth that connects Peter to Joseph, 00:18:11.089 --> 00:18:15.529 Moses, Esther, Daniel, and Paul. Why did God 00:18:15.529 --> 00:18:18.329 allow every one of these servants to pass through 00:18:18.329 --> 00:18:21.990 the forge before entrusting them with their assignment? 00:18:22.210 --> 00:18:25.559 As we conclude this conversation, we will discover 00:18:25.559 --> 00:18:28.579 that God's purpose has never been to produce 00:18:28.579 --> 00:18:31.819 impressive servants. His purpose has always been 00:18:31.819 --> 00:18:34.619 to produce servants who reflect the character 00:18:34.619 --> 00:18:37.880 of Christ. And that prepares us for the greatest 00:18:37.880 --> 00:18:42.819 forge of all, the cross itself. As I step back 00:18:42.819 --> 00:18:45.940 and look at Peter's life, I realize that his 00:18:45.940 --> 00:18:48.839 greatest testimony was not that he walked on 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:52.420 water, although that was extraordinary. It was 00:18:52.420 --> 00:18:54.759 not that he preached on the day of Pentecost 00:18:54.759 --> 00:18:58.420 and 3 ,000 people came to faith in Christ. It 00:18:58.420 --> 00:19:01.980 was not even that God used him to perform miracles 00:19:01.980 --> 00:19:05.119 or to lead the early church through one of the 00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:09.480 most significant periods in its history. Peter's 00:19:09.480 --> 00:19:12.519 greatest testimony was that the grace of God 00:19:12.519 --> 00:19:15.680 proved greater than the worst moment of his life. 00:19:16.009 --> 00:19:19.950 I find that incredibly comforting because Peter's 00:19:19.950 --> 00:19:23.609 story reminds us that God is never surprised 00:19:23.609 --> 00:19:27.910 by our weakness. Before Peter ever denied Jesus, 00:19:28.210 --> 00:19:31.470 the Lord had already spoken about his restoration. 00:19:32.089 --> 00:19:34.809 Before Peter ever reached the end of himself, 00:19:35.349 --> 00:19:38.289 Jesus had already prayed that his faith would 00:19:38.289 --> 00:19:42.829 not fail. Before Peter ever believed his assignment 00:19:42.829 --> 00:19:46.140 was over, Heaven had already determined that 00:19:46.140 --> 00:19:49.859 it would continue. That is the heart of the gospel. 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:54.220 God's purpose is never sustained by our perfection. 00:19:54.700 --> 00:19:58.880 It is sustained by his faithfulness. When I think 00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:02.660 about Joseph, I realize the prison did not cancel 00:20:02.660 --> 00:20:07.380 God's promise. When I think about Moses, I realize 00:20:07.380 --> 00:20:10.119 the wilderness did not cancel God's calling. 00:20:11.140 --> 00:20:14.789 When I think about Esther, I realize the exile 00:20:14.789 --> 00:20:18.430 did not cancel God's providence. When I think 00:20:18.430 --> 00:20:22.410 about Daniel, I realize Babylon did not cancel 00:20:22.410 --> 00:20:27.089 God's purpose. When I think about Paul, I realize 00:20:27.089 --> 00:20:30.690 the hidden years and the prisons did not cancel 00:20:30.690 --> 00:20:35.089 God's mission. Now Peter teaches us that failure 00:20:35.089 --> 00:20:39.309 itself does not have the final word when a heart 00:20:39.309 --> 00:20:43.460 is surrendered to Christ. Notice that every servant 00:20:43.460 --> 00:20:46.960 we have studied carried a different story, faced 00:20:46.960 --> 00:20:49.700 different struggles, and walked through different 00:20:49.700 --> 00:20:53.940 kinds of fire. Yet every one of them discovered 00:20:53.940 --> 00:20:58.059 the same truth. The forge was never designed 00:20:58.059 --> 00:21:01.940 to destroy them. It was designed to prepare them. 00:21:02.619 --> 00:21:06.019 God never wasted the prison. He never wasted 00:21:06.019 --> 00:21:10.680 the wilderness. He never wasted Babylon. He never 00:21:10.680 --> 00:21:14.720 wasted the hidden years, and he did not waste 00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:18.299 Peter's tears. Perhaps some of you listening 00:21:18.299 --> 00:21:21.640 today are carrying regrets that no one else knows 00:21:21.640 --> 00:21:25.000 about. Perhaps there are conversations you wish 00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:28.259 you could relive, decisions you wish you could 00:21:28.259 --> 00:21:32.039 reverse, or moments that still make you wonder 00:21:32.039 --> 00:21:34.960 whether you have moved beyond the reach of God's 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:39.160 purpose. Peter's life stands as a powerful reminder 00:21:39.160 --> 00:21:42.640 that when failure is placed into the hands of 00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:46.660 Christ, it no longer becomes the end of the story. 00:21:47.180 --> 00:21:51.140 It becomes another place where grace begins writing 00:21:51.140 --> 00:21:55.259 a new chapter. Please hear me carefully. This 00:21:55.259 --> 00:21:59.180 is not an invitation to take sin lightly. Peter's 00:21:59.180 --> 00:22:02.579 tears were real because his repentance was real. 00:22:02.839 --> 00:22:06.519 The Bible never celebrates failure. It celebrates 00:22:06.519 --> 00:22:10.339 redemption. There is a profound difference. God 00:22:10.339 --> 00:22:14.319 does not glorify our falls. He glorifies his 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:18.319 ability to restore those who humbly return to 00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:21.720 him. Perhaps that is why Peter would later write 00:22:21.720 --> 00:22:26.160 about humility, suffering, endurance. and the 00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:29.819 grace of God with such tenderness. He was no 00:22:29.819 --> 00:22:33.279 longer writing as a man who believed he was stronger 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:36.740 than everyone else. He was writing as a shepherd 00:22:36.740 --> 00:22:40.099 who knew exactly what it felt like to be restored 00:22:40.099 --> 00:22:43.640 by the chief shepherd. That is what the forge 00:22:43.640 --> 00:22:48.480 produced. Not a perfect man, a humble man, not 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:51.920 a man who trusted himself, a man who trusted 00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:56.099 Christ, not a man without scars. a man whose 00:22:56.099 --> 00:23:00.319 scars had become testimonies of God's faithfulness. 00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:03.839 And perhaps that is exactly what God is doing 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:07.099 in our lives. He is not looking for flawless 00:23:07.099 --> 00:23:11.440 people. He is forming faithful people. Men and 00:23:11.440 --> 00:23:15.039 women whose confidence rests entirely in Him, 00:23:15.339 --> 00:23:19.319 whose identity is rooted in His grace, and whose 00:23:19.319 --> 00:23:22.900 lives become living testimonies that no season 00:23:22.900 --> 00:23:26.680 surrendered to God. is ever beyond redemption, 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:30.259 because the forge has never been about producing 00:23:30.259 --> 00:23:33.539 impressive servants. It has always been about 00:23:33.539 --> 00:23:37.180 forming servants who reflect the heart of Christ. 00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:42.819 As we have walked through Joseph's prison, Moses's 00:23:42.819 --> 00:23:46.359 wilderness, Esther's palace, Daniel's Babylon, 00:23:46.920 --> 00:23:50.000 Paul's hidden years, and Peter's restoration, 00:23:50.559 --> 00:23:54.519 one question still remains. Why does this pattern 00:23:54.519 --> 00:23:58.119 appear over and over again throughout scripture? 00:23:58.859 --> 00:24:01.720 Why did every one of these servants pass through 00:24:01.720 --> 00:24:05.000 the forge before stepping fully into their assignment? 00:24:05.480 --> 00:24:09.059 The answer is found in the life of one who stands 00:24:09.059 --> 00:24:13.799 above them all Joseph pointed toward him Moses 00:24:13.799 --> 00:24:17.619 pointed toward him Esther pointed toward him 00:24:17.619 --> 00:24:21.240 Daniel pointed toward him Paul pointed toward 00:24:21.240 --> 00:24:25.529 him Peter pointed toward him. Every forge was 00:24:25.529 --> 00:24:28.950 quietly preparing us to understand the greatest 00:24:28.950 --> 00:24:32.809 forge in history. Not a prison. Not a wilderness. 00:24:33.250 --> 00:24:37.869 Not Babylon. Not hidden years. Not failure. The 00:24:37.869 --> 00:24:41.309 Cross. Join me in our next conversation as we 00:24:41.309 --> 00:24:44.309 arrive at the center of God's redemptive story 00:24:44.309 --> 00:24:47.970 and discover why what looked like Satan's greatest 00:24:47.970 --> 00:24:51.599 victory became his greatest defeat. and why the 00:24:51.599 --> 00:24:54.660 cross became the greatest forge the world has 00:24:54.660 --> 00:24:57.799 ever known, because when the enemy believed he 00:24:57.799 --> 00:25:02.039 had destroyed the Son of God, God was accomplishing 00:25:02.039 --> 00:25:06.700 the salvation of the world. And there, at Calvary, 00:25:07.480 --> 00:25:11.299 we finally discover the deepest meaning of every 00:25:11.299 --> 00:25:14.200 forge we have explored throughout this journey.