Introducing the Man Peter

Transcript

GR 1919
05/31/2015
Introducing the Man Peter
I Peter; Selected Scriptures
Gil Rugh

I’d like to begin a study of I Peter with you. Many of you have been through this book in a variety of studies, twenty years ago when we studied I Peter together. Some of you have shared you have done it in your Bible study and I thought it would be good for us. One of the ways I was brought to I Peter as I was working on some of the things we have doing in recent weeks flowing out of prophecy and Biblical interpretation, I was looking at some verse that I might walk through with you in the Scripture over which there are differences of interpretation and that led me to Peter and his message which is primarily not focusing on prophetic matters although he includes that but he’ll talk about the matter of living faithfully in a difficult world. We will be addressing some of the issues that we have talked about.

I thought tonight we would primarily look at a little bit of the background, refresh ourselves with Peter. The letter starts out, the first letter of Peter: “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.” He is well known. He is the most well-known of the apostles. All of us know something about Peter. Because of that he probably becomes one of our, we might say, favorite New Testament Bible characters. He’s just an open, you get the sense, down to earth real person. Sometimes he speaks up when you think, “Oh why would he even open his mouth at that time?” Says things that afterwards look a little inappropriate but they are used of the Spirit of God to communicate to us he is a man faithful through his life. He evidently died in the persecution under Nero. One of the early writers at the end of the first century, the late 80’s, 85, 88 A.D. somewhere in there. I didn’t write it down recorded that Paul and Peter both died in the persecution under Nero.

I just want to look a little bit and refresh your mind on some of the things about Peter. Maybe we ought to start with his prominence. In the Gospels Peter is mentioned 140 times. Now that is a lot of times. One of his names or a combination he really is known by three names, we will see that in a moment. There are 140 references to Peter in the Gospels. Now to get this in perspective among the twelve apostles the next closest apostle is mentioned 20 times. That is Judas Iscariot. Then there is John the beloved apostle who wrote the Gospel of John, the Book of Revelation, the Epistle of John. He is mentioned 19 times and then we come down Peter is mentioned 140 times, seven times more than the closest next apostles mentioned. You see something of the prominence of Peter in the Gospels and we will look a little bit at Peter in the books of Acts also.

So all the other apostles added up are mentioned 110 times in the Gospels; the other eleven a total of 110 times. Peter is mentioned 140 times. No wonder we have a sense like we know Peter and understand and appreciate him a little more than the others. We know more about him. More is told about him.

Come back to the Gospel of John, chapter 1. We will pick up there. What we are going to do is walk through some of the references to Peter in the Gospels. We are not going to do them all but to refresh our minds and we start when Peter is brought to Christ by his brother, Andrew.

So in John’s Gospel chapter 1, verse 35 when it says, “The next day John was standing with two of his disciples.” This is John the Baptist, not John the writer of the Gospel. So we have broken into the section here but talking about the ministry of John the Baptist who was introducing Christ to the nation.

Back in verse 29, John the Baptist has said, “Behold the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.” Come down to verse 35: “The next day John the Baptist was standing with two of his disciples and he looked at Jesus as he walked and said, ‘Behold the Lamb of God.’” It is his job to introduce Him. Interestingly he introduced him, the Lamb of God, the sacrificial One and John did not have a full understanding of all that would be entailed because he was the forerunner of the coming Messiah of Israel.

You will remember later in John’s ministry when he is in prison he sends a couple of his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the One or is there someone coming after?” The kingdom is not coming into focus here. I thought You came to establish the kingdom. So there is some confusion in John because he is the last of the Old Testament prophets but we are here to find out about Peter and the two disciples, followers of John the Baptist. When John the Baptist introduces Christ as the Lamb of God, they turn and follow Jesus and when Jesus saw them following He said to them: “What do you seek?” (verse 38) “Rabbi (which means teacher) where are You staying?” “He said, ‘come and you will see.’ So they came and saw where He was staying. They stayed with Him that day for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him and Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.” So Andrew goes and gets his brother. “He found first his own brother, Simon and said to him, ‘we have found the Messiah.’”

You will note in this section here John the writer of the Gospel does translating in case the readers weren’t familiar with the different terms. You know you are going to have involved here Aramaic, Greek and so he does some translating.

So Andrew goes and gets his brother, Simon. Simon would have been Peter’s Jewish name, a form of Simeon, one of the sons of Jacob, the tribes. “He got his brother, Simon and said to him, ‘we have found the Messiah, the Christ. He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, ‘you are Simon, the son of John. You shall be called Cephas.’” We see Cephas in English. And then he translates it which means Peter. So we have his Jewish name, Simon from Simeon. He is called Cephas, that is Aramaic for a rock or a stone and then John tells us you translate that into Greek you have Peter. So we bring it over into English. So you have three names for Peter, Simon, Cephas, Peter. Cephas and Peter both mean rock or stone, one Aramaic and one Greek so we know him, he is referred to as John referred to him in verse 40, Simon Peter but remember that was the name he had growing up. His first name was Simon. His last name was Peter. So we call him Simon Peter but he wasn’t given the name Peter or the Aramaic form, Cephas until he met Christ but those three terms or a connection of the term all refer to Peter through the Gospels.

Alright, come back to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 4. That is when Peter meets Christ. He is brought to Him by his brother Andrew. Evidently already believers and followers of John the Baptist so those that would have genuinely repented and believed in the truth of God’s promises through the Old Testament and in the ministry of John the Baptist.

In Matthew chapter 4 and we find that Peter was a fisherman as you are aware and they had a business. Chapter 4, verse 18: “Now Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee. He saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea for they were fishermen and He said to them, ‘follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.” And then they go on to pick up two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, other fishermen.

Now keep in mind Jesus has already met Peter and given him another name. Now Christ is calling him to, if you will, full time ministry, become a full time follower in a sense, leave the fishing business, come and join Me in My ministry. I will make you fishers of men.

You are in Matthew, come over to chapter 8. Later on as we move through, verse 14: “When Jesus came into Peter’s home He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her and she got up and waited on Him.” Note verse 14 Jesus came into Peter’s house and Peter’s mother-in-law was sick. We are told here Peter was a married man. Interesting the things that are not developed about these men so important to Christ’s earthly ministry and the subsequent ministry after His death and resurrection. Later Paul will refer to the fact “Don’t I have a right along with Barnabas to have a wife join me in my ministry and travels like Peter does and the other apostles?”

So evidently Peter not only is married (we are not told anything about kids, family) but evidently his wife was part of his ministry and on occasion would be found with him. We will talk about an issue possibly of that when we get to the end of Peter’s letter but Peter was a married man as were the other apostles. You know you begin to think in your mind, ‘I wonder what their wives were like? Did they have kids at home and here their husbands are wandering around the land with this itinerant teacher talking about repenting, the kingdom of heaven is at hand and when it comes time to pay the taxes, on one occasion what? Peter had to go and get a special provision, a miracle by catching a fish and finding the money to pay the taxes. You know you think didn’t Peter come home from one of the travels around with Jesus, and his wife says, “Aren’t you ever going to stay home? I mean somebody’s got to help me take care of the family. You know we’d have a thousand volumes if we put in all of the details.

But just a reminder these were ordinary men with ordinary lives. Peter is called out of a life of a fisherman, a rather common profession for some up on the Sea of Galilee. Some of you have traveled to Israel and you have probably had some of what they call, “Peter’s fish.” A kind of fish that he would have caught in the Sea of Galilee, bony fish but what they ate.
Alright, so he is a married man. We don’t know anything else really about his family. His wife, they experience normal things. Here you’ve got sickness in the home, mother-in-law must have been living with them because they come to Peter’s home and his mother-in-law is there sick, perhaps the father had passed away. We just don’t go into any family details. The only reason for mentioning that is to show the power of Christ who heals her, not to develop anything about the family. Nothing else is said about Peter’s wife. Okay, you see something of Peter’s prominence.

Jump over to the book of Mark in chapter 3, Mark chapter 3 and here you have the twelve chosen that will be that core group of followers of Christ, the twelve as they become really known it becomes a formal title for them, the twelve. Verse 14: “He appointed twelve so that they would be with Him and He could send them out to preach.” And again a similar situation to what did go on with others where this Teacher has gathered around Him certain pupils and then they go out representing Him, carrying His message, that’s what Christ is doing. What we are here for in verse 16: “He appointed the twelve.” And who do we start with? “Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter” and then we move on.

We will find in the list of the apostles we find Peter is mentioned first. This denotes something of the prominence that he has and among the twelve he is somewhat, at least the informal leader and we know Peter, James and John will form an inner circle from among the twelve but Peter seems to be the prominent foremost. You might think it would be John a disciple that is referred to as “the disciple that Jesus loved.” But Peter seems to be the one who is the prominent one.

When they are commissioned for ministry in Matthew 10 he is listed first. We won’t turn there. Come to Matthew 14, go back to Matthew 14. So many things about Peter you can’t include them all but we like this one. You know just by his personality Peter is an outgoing person. We know we have people with different personalities. Some are more reserved, quiet; some are more outgoing and talkative. Peter is obviously of the outgoing type. So in Matthew chapter 14 come down to verse 28 and you are familiar with the context. The disciples are going ahead of Christ and going to cross the Sea of Galilee while Christ remains behind and dismisses the crowds they have been ministering to then the boat gets a long way from land, verse 24 and a storm comes up and here it is late and the storm is blowing and the boat is going on and they are having a hard time and you look out as here comes Jesus walking by. Now you are on a stormy sea and they are struggling with the boat and you look out and here goes Jesus walking by, walking on the sea. “When they saw Him they were terrified. They said, ‘It’s a ghost.’ And they cried out in fear. Jesus spoke, ‘take courage, it is I. Do not be afraid.’”

Now you love this about Peter. Peter speaks right up. He doesn’t say, “Lord come get in the boat.” He says “Lord, if it’s really You, call me and tell me to come to You.” Now I won’t ask for a raise of hands but I wonder how many of us would have said that? If it were me I find myself saying, “Lord if it’s really You get in the boat and help us.” What in the world. “Lord if it’s really You, tell me to come.” What if it’s not Him and he tells Him to come? You know where you’re going when you step out of that boat. But there is an element of faith in Peter. If the Lord is walking on water and He tells me to come to Him, I love it that Christ doesn’t initiate it to put Peter on the spot. Peter initiates it. “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” He said, “Come.”

When you read these accounts don’t you stop and say “what would I have done?” I would have probably said, “That’s good enough Lord that You gave the command, I believe it is You. Now get in the boat.” I just love it. Who else would have done this? Peter got out of the boat. Can you imagine the other disciples here? Over the side he goes “and walked on the water and came to Jesus. Seeing the wind (you are out here, you’re not just on a sea of glass, remember we are in a storm and the wind hasn’t died down. Things haven’t gotten calm. You are walking on water that is being churned by the waves. He got out came toward Jesus, everything is going fine.) He saw the wind and became frightened. He began to sink. He said, ‘Lord, save me.’ Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand, took hold of him and said to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’” And that is a rebuke. Now it is a rebuke to Peter but I have to give him credit. He got out of the boat. Nobody else did. Nobody else said, “Me too, Lord, I am coming with him.” So he is a man of faith? He is a man whose faith can fail at times. This is one thing I guess we appreciate about Peter. Not that we are glad that he failed. Then we see the grace of God even in his failure. It is a time of growth for him and he comes through it. But when all is said and done name two other men that walked on water besides Christ Himself and Peter. He is a man of faith even though that faith can fail him at times but that is something about Simon Peter.

Come over to Matthew 16. We are in Matthew. We will just stay with Matthew. One of the more well-known accounts, Matthew 16 when in verse 13: “Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi.” We are up north here. “He was saying to His disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ Some say ‘John the Baptist others Elijah, others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’” You see among the people of Israel here is a man doing mighty things but they haven’t come to grips with who He is so they want to connect Him with one of the great Old Testament prophet’s maybe who has come back. “But who do you think I am?” Who speaks up? Simon Peter, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” I mean what a statement of faith. He is not confused.

Some are saying, “You are John the Baptist come back, some say You are Jeremiah, some say You are Elijah, I know who You are. You are Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Christos, the Messiah, God’s anointed One.” I mean this is a statement of faith and God says, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah.” The word ‘Bar’ means Simon, son of Jonah. “Because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but My Father who is in heaven. I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock (and the play on the name of Peter) I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it.” This has nothing to do with Peter becoming a Pope. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” You see the prominence of Peter. The foremost is going to come to the fore in the book of Acts. When we go there and the first 11 chapters Peter is the prominent figure by far.

Now we have a turn in Christ’s ministry as you are aware. The break really came after chapter 12 but the offer of the kingdom is withdrawn from the nation Israel. So the disciples no longer are going out to tell people to “repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Now you don’t go out and announce the kingdom. You don’t tell anyone that I am the Messiah at present because the option of them receiving Me as King has been withdrawn.

Then, here in the context. You see Peter speaking with that great testament of faith then verse 21: “From that time Jesus Christ began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priest and scribes and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.” Now you see what in the world is Peter thinking. “Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to You.’” He just declared in verse 16, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and now you take God’s anointed One, the Son of the living God aside and rebuke Him for saying what you don’t think is correct?

So this up and down in Peter. One moment he’s got a great declaration of solid faith, the next moment he stumbles. It’s like he gets out of the boat, great faith then he begins to doubt. You know the record of Peter that God has recorded as part of the Scripture for our encouragement does encourage us because in many ways we identify with him. Sometimes my faith is strong and unshakable, other times I say, what did I do? You know, I am overcome by worry or fear. Wait a minute. Just yesterday I was talking about how faithful God is and He is sovereign and now it seems like I am melting on the inside and Lord my heart’s pumping. I just don’t know if I can do this. Here’s Peter rebuking the Lord. And what a rebuke he gets from Christ. Christ turns to Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan! You have become a mouthpiece of the devil. You are acting on the devil’s behalf.”

You see how serious it is. I mean you say well we can understand Peter, you know, believes He is the anointed Messiah, the Son of the living God and now He is saying He has to go to Jerusalem to suffer and die at the hands but you see what you do. You submit yourself to the Word of God. You don’t reject the part that you don’t care for. And there is no softness here. Christ doesn’t just say, “I understand your confusion, Peter and you know you will work through this.” It is blunt. “You have become a servant of the devil. The devil is speaking through you.” In an attempt to discourage Christ, turn Him away from God’s ordained purpose, “you are a stumbling block to Me. You are trying to put yourself in My way. You are not setting your mind on God’s interests but man’s.” Then He goes on to tell him, “There is a cost in following Me. I am going to be crucified and you have to take up the cross and follow Me.”

So what happens? Peter demonstrates faith here, demonstrates a serious lapse of faith and then the teaching comes from it for all the disciples. “You understand you are My disciples. I am the Lord. You take up your cross and follow Me. And It is not going to be an easy road.” So Peter again comes to the fore.

We are in Matthew. We will just go into chapter 17, the Mount of Transfiguration. “He took with Him, Peter, James and John his brother, and led them up to a high mountain.” Not everybody gets the same prominence. You know it is Christ’s decision to call these twelve. It’s Christ’s decision to select three to have a special inner circle relationship with Him. It is not to be a cause of jealousy among the others. We simply are to carry out. We will see that at the end of what is recorded in the Gospels about Peter.

He’s taken up to the Mount of Transfiguration because it is the mount where Christ is transfigured. He undergoes a metamorphosis. “His face shone like the sunk and His garments became as white as light.” What happened the glory that is His, the Son of God and the One who is to be the Ruler of Israel is in a glory, it shines through. “Moses and Elijah appeared to them,” talking with Him. What an awesome scene. Glory that is His, what is in His very nature now which has been veiled in human flesh is now allowed to shine forth and these two great Old Testament prophets, Moses and Elijah come and converse with Christ. Who speaks up? Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If You wish I will make three tabernacles, three tents and everybody will have a place.” A great idea. “Peter, shut-up.” But you know, it is Peter.

“While he was still speaking a bright cloud overshadowed them and behold, a voice said, ‘This is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased, listen to Him.’ Then the disciples fall and their face and they are terrified.” Then Christ graciously comes. “Do not be afraid, lifting up their eyes” (verse 8) things have settled back down to what we would say normal. Moses and Elijah are gone and that a glory that was shining through it was a gracious preview given to these three.

You see the importance of Peter and God preparing him for the ministry he would have after even Christ is gone; so something again of his prominence. Other things it is Peter in Matthew 18. We won’t keep going. Who asked Christ, “O Lord, how often do I have to forgive my brothers, seven times?” Wouldn’t you expect it is Peter who asked that question? You are talking about forgiveness in the context of how you deal with a sinning brother but it is only Peter who would say, ‘well how many times do I have to do it? “How many times do I have to forgive him, seven times?” He is going to go out on a limb here, really stretch it and it is when Christ tells him, “Seventy.” So you know it is a teaching time often when it is Peter who is being brought to the fore.

Sadly, we are not going to go there in Matthew 26 Peter again in self-confidence, “If everybody else fails to follow You, I won’t. I will be faithful.” And that’s when Christ said, “You will deny Me three times,” and Peter said, “No I won’t.” And you get a preview of something because even before they leave the mountain Christ has to rebuke those disciples who were sleeping. Peter is the one called out and we know about his failure.

We need to go one more time here in the Gospels. Come over to John 21 and this is after the resurrection so this is the last we have of the record of Peter in the Gospels and the disciples have gone back to fishing and verse 3, who decides that is what they are going to do? Verse 3: “Simon Peter said to them, ‘I’m going fishing.’” “The others said, ‘we will come with you.’” They get in the boat they spend the night fishing and don’t catch anything. Now comes dawn and Jesus is on the beach but the disciples don’t know it is Jesus, verse 4. And He hollers out to them, “Children, you don’t have any fish do you?” “No.” He said, “Well cast the net on the other side of the boat and you will make a catch.” “So they cast the net over the other side and now there is no so many fish they are not able to haul it in.”

Then it is John who speaks up, verse 7: “The disciple whom Jesus loved (which is a reference to John, the writer of the Gospel, the beloved apostle) said to Peter, ‘It’s the Lord.’” So Peter, what do you think? Well as soon as we get this fish in I can’t wait to see Him. No, Peter is over the side, out of the boat, leave the others to get the fish in. If this is the Lord I’ve got to get there and see Him. So he, I love the way it’s put. He threw himself into the sea but the other disciples came in in the little boat. They weren’t that far from the land, about 100 yards. They are dragging a net full of fish and Jesus had a fire going and they count the fish and then verse 11: “Peter went up and drew the net to land.” Then they come and they talk and then verse 15: “When Jesus said to Simon ‘Do you love me?’” There is going to be a restoration here you know after the denials. It’s the resurrected Christ.

Then you come down. Christ tells, “you know when you are younger you used to gird yourself , walk wherever you wish, when you grow old you will stretch out your hand, someone else will gird you, bring you where you don’t wish to go. He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.” You’re not going to die of old age, Peter. Then Peter is not done. He doesn’t quit. What’s Peter do? Well the Lord said what is going to happen to me so “Peter turning around saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who had leaned on His bosom at the supper and said, ‘Lord, who is the one who betrays You? Remember it was John who asked that of the disciples and Peter, “Seeing him said to Jesus, ‘Lord, and what about this man?’”

I mean, you love Peter, he’s so human even as such a key man in the purpose and plan of God and Jesus says to him in this somewhat gentle rebuke we might say, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?” You follow Me. And we identify with Peter. We always like to be in someone else’s business. What’s the Lord doing in their life? What is the Lord doing there? “Peter, you don’t need to worry about what I decide, you concern yourself with following Me.” And so we leave Peter in the Gospels.

We come over to the book of Acts, walk with Peter through Acts. His prominence in the Gospels continues for the first 11 chapters of the book of Acts the dominant figure is Peter. In chapter 1 after the ascension of Christ down in verse 15: “At this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren.” There are about 120 people gathered here, followers of Christ and he speaks. Again it’s Peter. He is the leader. He is the one who takes the initiative and it is the position that God has given him. “Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas.” And the betrayal by Judas Peter understands was foretold in the Old Testament. Remember Christ had spent 40 days before His ascension instructing them, opening the Old Testament Scriptures to them to show how He had to suffer and die and so on.

Verse 21: “Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us – beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from one – one of these should become a witness with us of His resurrection.” Now we say it is important that we replace Judas in this group of the twelve. Some say well he was out of line here because Paul was to be the 12th but I don’t think that is the case. No indication that Peter was functioning improperly here and Paul will come on as an apostle but by his own testimony he will be a unique case.

So they pray and the Lord directs them and they chose Matthias in verse 26. He is added to the eleven. Some people will say well see he was out of the will of the Lord because you don’t hear anything about Matthias but who else do you hear about of the apostles? I mean we are going to hear about Peter and John will be involved there and you hear about some others but by in large we are not following the line of all the different apostles. I don’t think that is an indication that Matthias was not a good choice. It’s just we are not going to following Thomas. We are not going to follow Matthew. So God is going to follow a particular line.

So we have Peter prominent here. The day of Pentecost the Spirit comes, the church is started. Who preaches the first sermon? I mean if this was a question and answer everybody would get it right. Peter, of course. Verse 14: “Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them” and then Peter’s sermon unfolded here filled with Old Testament Scripture showing it fulfilled in Christ.

So that sermon on the Day of Pentecost with the establishing of the church and at this point it is a Jewish church. These initial believers who form the beginning of the church, they are Jewish and have been gathered for the feast of Pentecost.

You get into chapter 3 and the chapter opens us, “Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. And a certain man who has been lame from his mother’s womb. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, be began asking to receive alms.” A beggar in Israel would come and seek provision from, if you will, fellow Jews and a needy person.

“Peter along with John fixed his gaze upon him and Peter said, ‘I do not possess silver and gold but what I do have I give to you.’” What did he have? The power of Christ. “In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene – walk!” He grabs him by the right hand and he is strengthened immediately. You see something of the faith of Peter and God choosing to use him in powerful ways in the early days of the church demonstrating that this is God’s work and the message being preached by these men is genuine.

Then in verse 12 you have Peter’s second sermon. A crowd draws because this man was well-known. When I lived in Philadelphia I would go into center city every day for school. I would be elevated in the subway and always saw the same people. There was a lady; we called her the bag lady, always in the same place. I always go by and talk to her and she was always drinking this concoction that she had in a mason kind of jar and I always wondered what was in it but I never had the courage to ask and she always said, “Hi sonny, how are you today?” You know you just get to know these people.

Well this man in the temple he was a regular; brought there so he could seek alms so it would be a means of support. So when they see him healthy then a crowd gathers so Peter preaches another sermon. Verse 12: “When Peter saw this, he replied to the people, ‘men of Israel, why are you amazed?’” And he cuts right to the core of their guilt.

We talked earlier today about having to deal with sin. Peter doesn’t beat around the bush. “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered up and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. But you disowned the Holy and Righteus One, and asked for a murderer to be granted you, but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, - a fact to which we are witnesses. And on the basis of faith in His name, the name of Jesus this man has been made strong and I know you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did but it fulfilled what the prophets had said that this Christ would suffer. Therefore repent and return that your sins may be wiped away and that he may send the Christ.”

Remarkable, this is the fisherman; a man called from a life of fishing and spends a few short years with Christ. What a time it would have been. Goes through the trauma, the crucifixion, his ups and downs and failures but now look at the power. I mean, the grace of God at work in his life, preaching the second sermon in the book of Acts, it’s by Peter.

You come into chapter 4, Peter and John are arrested and down in verse 8: “Peter filled with the Holy Spirit said to them, ‘rulers and elders of the people’” and on he goes. Verse 10: “Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus, the Nazarene whom you crucified whom God raised from the dead.” You see the conflict and that he is telling them, you who have been at war against the God of Israel, you crucified the Messiah. He raised Him from the dead. “He is the stone which the builders rejected. There is salvation in no one else. There is no other name under heaven that is given among men by which we must be saved.” Verse 13 says: they understood that Peter and John I mean these are fishermen; they were uneducated. That doesn’t mean they were not intelligent but they had not gone through the process of a formal education like Paul later educated at the feet of Gamaliel. These men had been raised in a family that fishing was the business and they entered that business but that doesn’t mean they aren’t intelligent but they are not the men you would expect to be delivering. They are not trained rabbis, Pharisees, men like that and on they go.

You come into chapter 5 you have the story of Ananias and Sapphira and who takes the lead here when they lie about their gift? Verse 3: “Peter said ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?’” Peter who had to endure the rebuke of Christ, “Get behind me, Satan,” and here now he has to confront them for their lie to the Holy Spirit. It wasn’t a lie to Peter, it wasn’t a lie to apostles, and it wasn’t a lie to the church. It was a lie to the Spirit of God.

This early stage of the church God is establishing how serious sin is among His people. “You have not lied to men, but to God,” the end of verse 4. “And Ananias falls over dead.” And then when his wife comes in and she is asked. She doesn’t know her husband has died and she is questioned by Peter and she perpetuates the lie. Verse 9 “Peter said to her, ‘Why is it you have agreed together to put the Holy Spirit to the test? The feet of those who have carried out your husband to the grave are going to carry you out.’” She falls over and dies. “Fear came over the whole church.” Note verse 12: “At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people but none of the rest dared to associate with them.” Well we say isn’t that going contrary, don’t we want the church to be as big as possible? That’s not what God is doing. He is calling out a people for Himself. We think the more people the better. We want people to be saved but the church is to be the company of the redeemed. We turn it into something else. Here what is done is what? To be sure that people are afraid to become identified with the people of God unless they have truly believed and are committed to faithfulness to that God. You don’t want to be part of that group. You lie there, you know where Ananias and Sapphira are. They are in the grave yard. We admire these people, we hold them in high esteem. Obviously God is doing something but I don’t think I am ready to be part of that group. Peter providing the leadership. And that goes on down through the chapter here.

Again verse 15 what is going on. What’s going on, Peter would come by and his shadow would fall on the people. This is not some magical thing. What is demonstrated God intends these men to be held in high honor because they are the mouthpiece for new revelation from God. So it like the Old Testament prophet when the young men came out and said, “Go up bald head” and treat him with disrespect and he calls a curse and what? A bear comes out and 42 of them are torn to pieces. What is that? Why did you do you that? You understand that the Word of God coming through this man is not this man is infallible but he is God’s spokesmen and so these miracles and what are going on, Peter has his flaws. He still has them. We will see later Paul said he had to rebuke him when he writes to the Galatians. He talks about having to rebuke Peter for stumbling but he is God’s servant, God’s mouthpiece. And then supernaturally released from prison later as chapter 5 goes on and finally they are told by the Jewish leaders that you ought not to be talking about this One, Jesus and Peter and the apostles. But you note how that is put? It doesn’t just say the apostles, Peter and the apostles. You see something of the prominence. “Peter and the apostles answered, ‘we must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you had put to death by hanging Him on the cross.’”

I mean there is a certain fearlessness. They just told you we don’t want you talking about this One and the first thing you say is in response, ”You know what that says about you? You are God’s enemies. He’s been exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance for forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things.” And they are flogged as the chapter ends they go on rejoicing that they could suffer for Christ.

Okay it goes on and you are familiar with the book of Acts. Paul will get saved in chapter 9 but when you come to chapter 10 we come back to Peter who brings the Gospel to the Gentiles for the first time, Peter. At that point he still doesn’t know that the Gentiles are going to be included in God’s plan and he will tell the Gentiles at Cornelius’ house “If it hadn’t been for special revelation from God I wouldn’t have come to your house.” Amazing! You know what he says, “If you as a Gentile had invited me come and tell you about the salvation in Jesus, the Nazarene, the One crucified and raised by the power of God I wouldn’t have come.” You know, it’s hard to believe, you get to chapter 10 of Acts and Peter said, “I wouldn’t have come but God gave me a special revelation” because he still hadn’t grasped that God’s salvation was so great it would even save Gentiles and then chapter 11 the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem you know what they do? They call Peter on the carpet for going to the house of a Gentile. That is in chapter 11.

Verse 2: “So when Peter came to Jerusalem, those who were circumcised (that was a way to refer to the Jews) you went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” And then he tells them the special revelation that he had from God. Verse 12: “The Spirit told me to go with them without misgivings and he went and told them and the Holy Spirit fell on these Gentiles” just as He did on the Jews in Acts chapter 2 “and who was I that I could stand in the way of the Lord?” And then agreed at the end of verse 18: “God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.”

We will have another account with Peter, chapter 12 miraculous event and chapter 13 now we switch to Paul. It doesn’t mean that God is done with Peter but the story line of the history of the church is now going to focus on Paul. Why? Because we are going to carry the church out now beyond the Jews as we will see that Peter is the apostle particularly to the Jews but he is the one who brings the Gospel to the Gentiles which prevents there from being a Jewish church and a Gentile church. Peter is the connecting point. The same man who preached the Gospel on the Day of Pentecost that brought Jews into the church to be the foundation in the beginning point is the man who brought the Gospel to the Gentiles and so the Jewish leaders say, “God has granted the Gentiles the same salvation.” Peter makes the connection. The Spirit fell upon them just as He did on us at the beginning. So Peter is a key figure and a key person even though now the focal point through the rest of the book of Acts and our New Testament because primarily the epistles, Paul, is the prominent writer, Peter will write too and John will write a few but primarily Paul. That doesn’t mean Peter’s ministry is not going. He will go on until he is martyred. We’ll appreciate that in his letter that we are going to look at.

So just a reminder of a fisherman called by God and used in a mighty way during the earthly ministry of Christ and then the key figure in the early days of the church, those early few years as God established the Gospel and the church is now comprised of Jews and Gentiles. Samaritans were saved in Acts chapter 8. They were mixed blood, Jews who had intermarried with Gentiles so it had carried beyond the bounds of strict Judaism but that is understandable. Going to the Gentiles is what had to take place to prepare the way for what God would do through the ministry of Paul.

Encouraging to us, ordinary man so to speak, set apart by God. We belong to Him. We have the same God. We have the Spirit indwelling us. It doesn’t mean I will have a ministry with the power of Peter but God will enable me to have the ministry He has prepared for me and for you and Peter will be an encouragement to faithfulness in that.

Let’s pray together. Thank You Lord for Your grace demonstrated in the life of Peter and Lord the record that You have preserved for us is an encouragement. We would like to think he didn’t fail but You have graciously revealed the failures which reveal Your grace and did not prevent You from using him and using him greatly. Lord we are encouraged. We are disappointed when we fail. Lord we are grieved that we sin against the Spirit and Lord thank You for Peter. Thank You for Your grace and that same grace that sustains us. Thank You for the record of his life, his faithfulness even when he stumbles. Lord, by Your grace he gets up and faithfully serves You and Lord as we begin looking into the letter that the Spirit directed him to write Lord we pray that we will be encouraged, strengthened as the Spirit speaks through what You directed him to write to encourage us in the difficulties and trials of walking faithfully with You of faithfully serving You that You will prepare and mold us and encourage us we pray in Christ’s name, amen.