Why was Peter so unstable? Generally speaking, a man is unstable for three reasons. First, he is governed by his emotions. Second, he is afraid of loss; that is, in seeking for his own happiness, he is afraid of the cross and of pain. Third, he is afraid of men in general; that is, he is afraid of offending men. He wants to please men and to please the environment. These are the basic reasons for instability in man.
Peter was this kind of person. He was tainted by his own emotions. If a man lives according to his emotions, at times he is carried to the loftiest heights, and at other times he is carried into the snare of Satan. Emotions are very unstable. We have never seen a person who can remain on the same emotional plane for a long time. If a man lives according to his emotions, he is conducting his life by the impulse of his emotions, by what capriciously drives him to be hot or cold within. Such ones can receive God's mercy and revelation. But they can also be driven by the impulse of their heart to exclaim, "God be merciful to You, Lord! This shall by no means happen to You." Peter hindered the Lord. It seemed as if he was clearer than the Lord about what needed to be done. He "took Him aside and began to rebuke Him." All who are emotional like to be the Lord's counselor; they like to make proposals to the Lord. They have a plan for everything. An emotional person can act by the impulse of his emotion and turn around suddenly to rebuke the Lord, saying, "God be merciful to You, Lord! This shall by no means happen to You!" He is quick to feel, quick to speak, and quick to act. But in reality his speaking is Satan's speaking!
We must learn to receive some basic dealings. We are by nature emotional persons. We should not think that we are very much different from Peter. This weakness in character is the greatest hindrance to our work. If this obstacle is not removed, our Pentecost will not come. We cannot live our life according to our emotions or by the impulse of our feelings. We should not live by stimulus; rather, we should deny our own feelings. Our feelings will guide us to the left one minute and then to the right the next minute, to the east one minute and then to the west the next minute, and up one minute and then down the next minute. These feelings are not from the Lord but from the corrupted man within us. If such feelings occupy a central place in our life, we will be of little use to God's work. Only the weakest ones live according to their feelings. It is not a sign of strength to live according to one's feelings, but a sign of weakness. A strong man is one who can control himself, whose eyes are opened, and who puts no trust in his own feelings. Only those who do not trust in their own feelings, but rather deny them, will be able to learn what it means to live not by feelings. Otherwise, they will always regard their feelings as being themselves. Peter had a forthright character. He said what he thought was true. He said what he saw and what he felt. To others he was upright, honest, and not given to diplomacy or double dealings. But he was actually living by his emotions, and he was useless in the spiritual pathway. There was no alternative except for him to go through his dealings. Brothers and sisters, we may feel that we love the Lord, but actually there is no love for the Lord within our being. We may feel that we are for the Lord, but actually there is nothing for the Lord within our being. Our being is much deeper than our feelings; it is buried beneath our feelings, far, far beneath them. We may feel that we are willing to die for the Lord, but do we really know the kind of persons that we are? When we say that we are for the Lord, we do not know the very "we" to whom we are referring. We do not know the "we" that boasts of dying for the Lord or living for Him. Our real person is beyond and much deeper than our feelings. Peter thought that his outer man was his person. But the one who boasted of dying for the Lord was just the emotion of Peter's outer man. It only took a little time for his real condition to be exposed. Before a man is broken by the Lord in his emotions, he invariably lives by his emotions. He is prone to fluctuate back and forth. Although he may feel that he is very genuine, he is in fact being controlled by his emotions. We know that lying is detestable, and that it is pitiful when someone does not know that he is lying. In the same way, our fickle emotions are detestable, and it is pitiful when we do not know that our emotions are fickle. Those who are convinced that their feelings are an accurate reflection of who they are, are most foolish. They will have to experience what Peter experienced, a total and utter failure, before they know that their feelings are different from themselves. They feel one way at "the last supper," and they feel another way at the "garden of Gethsemane." They feel one way when they come out of "Gethsemane," and they feel another way when they enter the "courtyard." Blessed is he who can separate his feelings from himself. Only a foolish one assumes that his feelings are himself. Everyone who is taught by God knows that his feelings are not himself. Our feelings are something totally different from ourselves. Brothers and sisters, have we seen this? When our emotional impulses point one way, we are not necessarily the person our impulse portrays. As far as Peter's impulse was concerned, he was a heavenly man, one who would never fail. He was willing to cut off the ear of Malchus for the Lord's sake. But spiritually speaking, Peter's feelings could not be considered to be Peter's very person. He was bold according to his feelings, but he was fearful according to his own self. He loved the Lord as far as his feelings were concerned, but he loved himself more than the Lord as far as his person was concerned. He was willing to lay aside himself as far as his feelings were concerned, but he wanted to protect himself as far as his person was concerned. If this is the way the church's ministers are, and if the church follows the footsteps of such ones, surely the church will be as shaky as they are, and the gates of Hades will surely prevail against the church. God can never use such persons.