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The Apostle Peter: A Life in Word and Deed
Preached September 30, 2009 at a Mission in Downtown Birmingham, Al by Jake Hanson
"Peter an Apostle of Jesus Christ..." 1 Peter 1:1
Tonight we are beginning a series of messages on the book of 1 Peter. I am calling this series, “Declaring the Excellencies of Christ in Word and Deed.” The book of First Peter teaches us many things. First among them is that we have been saved by the blood of Christ for the purpose of declaring the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout this world. This must be done with our mouths. But First Peter also teaches us that this declaration must be matched by the lives that we live. Believers in Jesus Christ declare the Gospel with both our mouths and our deeds. So, First Peter teaches us that if we talk the talk, we must also walk the walk. But he also teaches us, that if we walk the walk to which we have been called, we must also talk the talk.
As we begin this series, I want to begin by painting a portrait of the writer of this letter—the Apostle Peter. In-so-doing, we will see Peter’s journey of faith which serves as a wonderful basis for understanding the book of First Peter. To do this, we will be all over the Bible, so I encourage you just to listen.
In Acts chapter 4, we come to one of my favorite stories about Peter. He and John had gone up to the Temple—that place where Jesus had enraged so many of the religious leaders—and he healed a man who could not walk. This healing amazed the people, so Peter took the opportunity to explain the Gospel of Jesus Christ—that Jesus Christ had died, but that He was raised from the dead.
So the temple officials arrested Peter and John for their preaching. The officials questioned Peter and John, and the Apostles continued to tell them the Good News of Jesus Christ. And then Acts tells us in 4:13: “As [the temple officials] observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.” RECOGNIZED as HAVING BEEN WITH JESUS!
And we read a little further in Acts and find that all of the Disciples—then called Apostles, or ‘Sent Ones”—all of them were flogged by the authorities. That is, they were whipped mercilessly. And what was their response? Did they complain? Did they call their lawyers? Did they fight the leaders who were whipping them? NO! Acts tells us that “they went on their way…rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for [the Name of Jesus Christ]” (5:41). And the text tells us, they came back to the Temple every day to continue teaching. What courage!
We read these stories and are inspired. Peter truly was a man of God. But he wasn’t always that way. Let’s look at his earlier life and see how he gained this confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We first meet Peter—then called Simon—as a young fisherman on a boat with his brother. They had been working unsuccessfully all night long to catch fish. And then Jesus came. He climbed up in their boat and used it to preach to the people on the seashore. And when He was done, he told Peter and Andrew to go into deeper water and cast their net to catch fish. Their nets were bursting with the amount of fish they had caught which would confirm Jesus’ next words to them: “Follow Me! And I will make you fishers of men!” Jesus was promising them that He would use them to reach lost souls. But they were just rugged, hard-working fishermen. Not preachers-in-training (like me)! But regular, ordinary, get-your-hands dirty men like some of you!
Like I said, the man we know as Peter was born with the name Simon. But when Jesus meets him, he gives him a new name. His new name is Peter which means “Rock.” This new name is significant. You see, rocks are hard, unchanging, dependable and firm. But as we look at the life of Peter, he was anything but unchanging, dependable and firm. In fact, he was impulsive and often reckless.
In Matthew 14, when Jesus sent His disciples across the sea on a boat while He went off to pray by Himself, the Disciples ran into fierce storms. As they were fighting the waves and the wind, they saw Jesus walking on the water. Peter cried out, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So Jesus told him to come. And Peter became the second person in recorded history to walk on water. We are amazed at his faith, his bravery, his courage. But that very same faith and courage is equally matched by his lack of faith, and his lack of courage. As he walks on the water, he begins to see the winds and the waves and he becomes frightened and begins to sink. The faith in the Lord that had been holding him up on the water was being swallowed up by his fear.
Jesus rescued him, and asked, “Ye of little faith, why did you doubt?” From intense faith, to intense doubt—hardly an invariable rock!
And then we come to a similarly powerful moment when Jesus asks His Disciples to tell Him who people think He is. Peter then makes the first, and greatest declaration—“You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!” And then Jesus makes this stunning declaration: “Blessed are you, Simon bar Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father in heaven. [and] you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it!” What privilege! What honor! Peter was the first to declare Christ, and would be the foundation of the Church as the First Apostle. And we are likely to get very excited about Peter.
But then, in the very same conversation, Peter fails us again. When he learns what it means for Jesus to be the Christ, the Messiah—that this Messiah would suffer and that He would die—Peter takes Jesus aside, and he rebukes Him. Can you imagine? This chief of the Disciples rebuking the One through whom all things were made, and in Whom all things hold together! We are astonished as this hero, Peter is in return rebuked by Jesus, “Get behind Me Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's.”
The climax of Peter’s life comes as Jesus prepares to go to His death. The Disciples and Jesus are meeting in the Upper Room to celebrate the Last Supper during Passover. Jesus makes it known that one of His Disciples will betray Him by handing Him over to the religious leaders. We of course know that man was Judas. But while they are discussing who was going to betray Jesus, says to Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat;”
I imagine some of you here have wondered if Satan has asked to sift you. As First Peter tells us, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” But remember this: “Greater is He who is in you, than he who is in the world.” Stand firm against Satan who desires to destroy you. The Lord will strengthen you, for “no trial or temptation has overtaken you, except for the trials which are coming to others as well. But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to endure, but with the temptation He will provide a way of escape that you might be able to endure it.”
When Jesus tells Peter that Satan has asked to sift him, Jesus says, “but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail.” But Peter, in his characteristic boldness and confidence, and with perhaps the most resolution of his life cried out, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!” And “I will NEVER deny You, Jesus!” “Before a cock crows,” Jesus replied, “you will deny Me.”
When Jesus was betrayed to the authorities, it seemed Peter was going to be true to his word. He took out his sword and cut the ear off one of the Temple guards—it was good for Peter that Jesus immediately healed the man’s ear! You see, Peter still did not understand what was happening. Jesus would have to suffer, and His kingdom was going to be different than what Peter had expected.
So, the authorities took Jesus. And though the Disciples had all fled, but Peter and John followed Jesus at a distance. As Jesus was being questioned by the religious leaders, Peter sat beside a fire—a charcoal fire, John tells us. He keeps as close an eye on what is happening to Jesus as he can, while members of the temple guard gather around the fire. And some of them recognized Peter. “You were with Jesus, weren’t you?” And Peter makes a stunning claim—words that are chilling to even consider. “I do not know Him.” Can you imagine? “I do not know Jesus!” Had he forgotten those words of Jesus, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3)?
Just then, a cock crowed, just as Jesus had said. Luke tells us that as they were sitting at the fire, and as Peter was emphatically denying knowing Jesus, “The Lord turned and looked at Peter” (Luke 22:61). Can you imagine how Peter must have felt as his eyes met the eyes of Jesus whom he had just denied? The text tells us that he went out and wept bitterly. The thoughts running through his mind must have been intense.
As Jesus went up to suffer His miserable death, it would not be Simon Peter who would bear the Cross of Jesus up the hill when Jesus could no longer bear it—it was another Simon. And it was not Simon Peter who would be crucified next to Jesus, but criminals and strangers.
Would Peter ever be forgiven for this betrayal? Could he ever be forgiven?
I imagine that some of you have the same question. Can you be forgiven for the sins which you have committed? Never forget that “the LORD God, [is] compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; [He] keeps lovingkindness for thousands, [He] forgives iniquity, transgression and sin;” and He pays the penalty of sin on the Cross for those who trust in Him.
Peter, this Rock, did not seem such a rock. He blurted out with such seeming boldness. He made such firm resolutions. He gave us so much hope. But the greater the firmness of his resolutions, the harder he fell. What Jesus would tell him is true, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
So, why would Jesus name him Peter, or Rock—this symbol of firmness and dependability?
Jesus named Peter ‘Rock,’ not for what he was, but for what he would become by the power of the Holy Spirit in his life.
The Scriptures are clear to make known that Jesus forgave Peter. When the women were at the empty tomb, wondering who took Jesus, an angel appeared and said, “[Jesus] has risen; He is not here…Go tell His Disciples—and Peter.” And the Scriptures are clear to say, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon [Peter]” (Luke 24:34).
It seems that Peter was thinking of returning to his fishing trade when Jesus appeared to Peter. Like when they first met, Jesus told Peter and the Disciples with him to cast their net on the side of the boat. And just like when they had met, their catch of fish was enormous—too big this time to haul in. They gathered around that charcoal fire—the same type of fire where Peter betrayed Jesus—and they ate breakfast.
Jesus pulled Peter aside and began to question him, “Peter, do you love Me?” Peter answered, “Lord, You know that I do love You.” It was the third time that Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love Me?” that the question began to pierce Peter. You see, Jesus had seen Peter make bold declarations before, only to fall flat on his face. Jesus is not satisfied with promises and words. His love must be confirmed by his obedient actions. Jesus wanted Peter to mean business. “If you love Me, then feed My sheep!” Love and obedience does not consist of words alone. It must be accompanied by deeds. Peter’s declarations would need to be matched by obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is the same for you and for me. Our promises and pledges are not what the Lord asks for alone. He asks for our obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
What changed in the life of Peter to make him truly be the consistent, dependable, unchanging rock that he would become later in his life? What would make him turn for a reckless, yet fearful man into a bold and faithful man?
What would turn him from one who denied knowing Jesus when the going got tough, to getting tough so that the world might know Jesus, as we saw at the beginning of this message?
Peter finally submitted to the work of God and the power of the Holy Spirit in his life. You see, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is so weak—but the work of the All-powerful, life-transforming Holy Spirit can sustain even the weakest of us. Be ye filled with the Holy Spirit—let Him control you and your life. Quench not the Holy Spirit in your sin and lack of faith. Ask, seek and knock for the Holy Spirit for the Father in heaven gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. Let Him come and take over your life!
For those of you wondering if there is forgiveness for you—remember Peter. The Lord wonderfully used Peter to establish His Church to which we attest tonight. There is forgiveness for sinners, and the Lord can still use you.
You might want to know the rest of the story of Peter. The book of Acts tells us that Peter was arrested at least twice—and miraculously released. The story trails off as the Apostle Paul becomes the central figure in the book of Acts. But Church history tells us what eventually happened to Peter. Peter took the Gospel to Rome. While he was there, Christians were persecuted for their faith, and Peter became a victim of that persecution under the Emperor Nero.
He was to be executed in the same way as Jesus—on a Cross. But Peter objected, believing he was unworthy to be executed in the same manner as Jesus. So he requested that he be hanged upside-down on the cross. And so he died. The man who had run away from persecution and suffering would not fail or deny his Lord again. It is a beautiful story of redemption and hope. And it is a story that gives hope and encouragement to sinners like you and me. And the words of his letter, First Peter, which we will be looking at in the coming weeks will encourage us as well to declare the excellencies of Christ in our words, as well as our deeds.