If you haven't sinned, the sermon today is not for you. But if you have sinned or failed God, you might want to listen to this sermon. We are going to talk about God's message of hope for all sinners.

(Mark 16:1-8)

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so they could go and anoint Him. 2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb at sunrise. 3 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us?” 4 Looking up, they observed that the stone—which was very large—had been rolled away. 5 When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; they were amazed and alarmed. 6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he told them. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has been resurrected! He is not here! See the place where they put Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see Him there just as He told you.’” 8 So they went out and started running from the tomb, because trembling and astonishment overwhelmed them. And they said nothing to anyone since they were afraid.

In the seventh verse of our text today Mark inserts two short words that will offer hope to everyone who has failed God "and Peter." Remember that Peter is the one who has previously boasted of his allegiance to Jesus's but later when confronted, denied Christ three different times. Can you imagine the agony he was going through having denied the Savior this way? But now that Christ was resurrected these words from the angel that Christ was alive and made it a point to mention Peter's name independently must have been life changing for him. We can be sure these words are accurate because this is the same John Mark that would later fail the Apostle Paul on his first missionary journey. 

This is what these two short words say to us today; "Jesus Resurrection offers hope to all who have failed God." On this beautiful Easter Sunday, 2022, I want to give you three insights on How Jesus can turn your failures into hope.

1.     Failure can’t be Hidden from Jesus

Ever since Adam's sin, humanity's instinct to failure has been to hide from God. Although this is impossible and doesn't make sense, we still do it. Think about the facts here. Jesus knew about Peter's failure before it happened. He had predicted it (Mark 14:29-31). Jesus also noticed Peter's failure when it happened. The Book of Luke says that when the cock crowed Jesus turned and looked at Peter (Luke 22:61). Both love and reproof must have been bound up I that look from Jesus. But Jesus also noticed Peter's failure after it happened. Jesus didn't act as if Peter never failed. He acknowledged his failure with the words "and Peter."

Just like Peter, Christ knows more about us than we know about ourselves. We can't hide from Him. We may think we are getting away with sin in our life at the moment, but the Lord will not let us forget it. He is going to bring it to our attention so we can deal with it. We are only fooling ourselves if we think we can hide it. We need to turn from sin and confess it to the Lord immediately. This is always the first step when we have failed. But this first point doesn't give us much hope, does it? Wait, there's more!

2.     Failure can’t separate us from Jesus’ Love

Peter's failure was pretty bad. He had spent the previous three years in the very presence of Jesus. He had seen the miracles, heard Him teach, and he was on the Mount of Transfiguration. But Christ's love was greater than Peter's failure.

But Christ's love was greater than Peter's failure. This is good news for us! God's love is always greater than our failures. The love of Christ literally sent Him to the cross to secure the forgiveness we needed for our sins (John 3:16). But to forgive sinners and at the same time be a just God, the penalty for our sin had to be paid. Salvation may be free to us but it cost God dearly. If we want God's love and forgiveness, we must turn from our sin and put our trust in what Christ did on the cross. No one else can deal with God on your behalf. You must meet privately and personally with the Lord. 

The great news in all this is that because God's love operates on grace, it means that there is hope for every sinner. There is hope for you, no matter how great the sin! There is no failure that can separate us from Christ's love if we will turn in repentance and faith to Him.

3.     Failure does not exclude us from Christian Service

If God would have based Peter's authority as an Apostle on works, he would have been severely demoted. But God took Peter and made him a trophy of grace for all to see. It was Peter who went on to preach on the Day of Pentecost when over 3000 people got saved and the Church was founded.

So how does God use our failures in His service? He uses our failures to teach us. This doesn't mean we abuse God's grace. But it does mean that He often uses our failures to teach us so that we grow in obedience to Him (Sanctification). If we are learning from our failures, He will use us in serving Him. He will also use our failures to teach others through us. When Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost he could have just given up and said I have failed too severely. But the reality is that restored sinners must go to those who are not right with God and tell them of the abundant grace of the Lord Jesus. The fact that God has restored you can bring tremendous hope to those who may know you past sins.