Peter's failure is perhaps one of the most shameful of its kind ever recorded in the New Testament. In spite of his closeness with Jesus, his direct communion and countless sight of the Lord's power, he became arrogant and didn't believe the warning revealed to him. As we read in John 13:38, Jesus told Peter, "The cock shall not crow, till thou has denied me thrice." This is a solemn warning of which I believe Peter could have used to avoid committing sin. He could have trusted the Master and asked, "My Lord, if so, please tell me what to do that it may not happen." Unfortunately, he said the opposite. As recorded in Mark 14:31, "If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise." He loved Jesus so much that he couldn't accept the picture of denying Him three times. However, his love was supported not with trust but overconfidence thereby causing him to fail. Thank God that when he indeed sinned as predicted by the Master, he cried bitterly and repented immediately instead of condemning himself and continuing such fallen condition.
We can learn many things from apostle Peter's failure. Studying it carefully may shed some light for our benefit. Let it be known that when you backslide, you're not only hurting yourself but the people around you. So like Peter did, stand immediately in case you stumble. It is a huge mistake to stay in that backslidden condition for a long time just to punish yourself for failing God. Who are you to punish yourself? Jesus was already punished! Why repeat that punishment? You're not comforting God when you do so, you're just adding insult to an injury. Therefore, what I'm trying to say is, just in case you fail God, don't ever prolong that failure. It's extremely dangerous. We never encourage backsliding in the Church but we also never teach that when you fail, you must condemn yourself instead of letting God heal your backsliding immediately. As we read in 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". This is also much affirmed in Jeremiah 3:22, "Return ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings."
After Peter's failure, he must have learned so much from it that right after he received the Holy Spirit in the day of Pentecost, he became a humble leader in the Church of God. He must have learned that over-confidence leads to destruction. It's also evident that he didn't take his past shameful failure as something that may distract him from boldly preaching the truth. He boldly wrote in 2 Peter 2:20-22, "For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire."
I'd like to conclude this message with a quote from a book entitled The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life written by Hannah W. Smith in 1875, "The great point is an instant return to God. Our sin is no reason for ceasing to trust, but only an unanswerable argument why we must trust more fully than ever. From whatever cause we have been betrayed into failure, it is very certain that there is no remedy to be found for it in discouragement. As well might a child who is learning to walk, lie down in despair when he has fallen, and refuse to take another step; as a believer, who is seeking to learn how to live and walk by faith, give up in despair because of having fallen into sin. The only way in both cases is to get right up and try again."
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