Broken Vows Faith Series — E.A. Johnston

Peter’s Vow at the Lord’s Supper

In the Gospel of Matthew, in chapter 26, we find the tender scene of the Lord's Supper. And we see, after they had eaten and sang a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives. And in verses 31 through 35, we read,.

Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me. This night, for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.

Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. Let me pause here to say, friends, here Peter makes a vow to God he will not keep. I wonder how many of us have made vows to God that we didn't keep.

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

Let's continue with our text. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, that this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. Well, Peter doubles down and argues with Jesus and strengthens his vow.

Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee, I will stop their friends. We have to turn over to Luke's Gospel in chapter 22 to see the sad story played out in verses 54 to 62.

Peter Follows Jesus from a Distance

Then they took him and led him and brought him into the high priest's house, and Peter followed afar off. Let me pause here to say, we can just picture the cowardly Peter who had just boasted and bragged he would die with Christ rather than deny him.

But when the robber met the road, Peter shrinks to the shadows, stays back far enough, far enough away from Jesus so not to be associated with him. All sin is a step downward, and then you're on a water slide, slipping down the rest of the way until you hit rock bottom.

Peter’s Three Denials

Well, let's pick up things in verse 55. And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were sat down together, Peter sat down among them. But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire and earnestly looked upon him and said, This man was also with him.

And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not. And after a little while another saw him and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not. In about the space of one hour after another, confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth, this fellow also was with him, for he is a Galilean.

And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he spake, the cock crew. Let me pause here to say, friends, that the only gospel account of Peter's foul mouth of cursing and swearing appears in Mark's gospel.

Because most church historians affirm that it was Peter who was Mark's main source for the information contained in his gospel. Peter made certain that Mark included all of his denial of his Lord, including his foul mouth part where Peter cursed and swore.

Peter’s Heartfelt Repentance

But what I want to focus on here, friends, is not Peter's shortcomings. For we all have our own shortcomings. But what I want us to notice here are two main things from these gospel accounts. Number one, Peter had vowed a vow to Jesus and then broke that vow.

And in Peter's unique style, he peppered it with some cursing and swearing from an emotional outburst of trying to preserve his skin. But the second thing I want us to note here is Peter's heartfelt repentance.

He's really broken hearted over his sin. In verses 61 and 62, we read,. And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

And Peter went out and wept bitterly. I will stop there. In the life of faith, we will come across times in our own life where we just plain mess up. I can't point my finger at Peter because I mess up as much or more than him.

God’s Conviction over Broken Vows

Peter vowed an oath. He broke that oath. He wept bitterly. He was broken hearted over his sin. God showed me an area in my life recently where I was in direct disobedience to his word. It was like I was stabbed in my heart by a knife.

At first, I couldn't believe it to realize how blind I was, how stupid I was, how disobedient I was. It so disturbed me. I became broken hearted over my sin. I cried like a baby so hard. I didn't realize I was soaking my open Bible that was sitting in my lap with profuse tears.

I had wept so profusely. It looked like I poured a glass of water onto my Bible as it pooled into binding. God had reminded me I'd made a vow to him on a certain issue and I had broke my vow. I was allowed to experience the sadness of that broken vow from God's perspective.

Our sin breaks the heart of the Father when we sin. He gives us enough grace to see our sin for what it is and it should break our heart as well. This is true heartfelt repentance. God's not blessing us because we are in a place of rebellion.

Sins of Omission and Unkept Calls

We said we would do something and we didn't do it. He called us to a ministry but we wouldn't go. I recall a girlfriend of my daughter was visiting our home one time and I asked her what she wanted to do with her life once she got out of college.

She told me that she felt God had called her to be a missionary but after she looked into it she realized she'd have to raise her own financial support and it was too risky of an endeavor for her. So she had decided against it and instead to become a medical worker because it paid a salary of $80 ,000 a year and that's more of what she wanted.

Since that conversation I had with that girl about seven years ago I've kept up with her and she is yet to graduate college with her degree for the medical field and she's had one broken wedding engagement right after another.

She doesn't realize she has a broken vow with God. He had called her to a specific ministry but she wouldn't go because it didn't suit her well enough. But God remembers a broken vow long after we have long forgotten about it.

That's the way it was with me. I had forgotten about my vow to God regarding something but he had not forgotten. I was out of step with God in a particular area of my life because of a sin of omission.

Sins of omission are just as grievous to God as sins of commission. They're even more sneaky because they're not on our spiritual radar like a glaring sin from our actions. But God keeps a record of all we promise him, all we vow to him.

Responding to Conviction in Faith

If we fail to keep our word to him he will remind us of that in our life of faith. A principle of faith is how do we respond when God convicts us of sin? How do we respond and how we respond will determine how much further we go with God in our walk of faith with him.

Take this time now friend to reflect on your own walk with God to see if you have any broken vows to him. How you respond will determine how you progress. Amen.