You're listening to a message preached at Front Range Baptist Church by Pastor Dean Miller. It is our prayer that this message will be a help and an encouragement to you in your spiritual walk. Now, here's Pastor Miller.

1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1. We are kicking off today our series in 1 Peter and 2 Peter entitled Rock Solid, an unshakable faith. And today we're going to go through one verse. So don't get discouraged. We're just going to be in one verse. So let's read it together. 1 Peter chapter 1. Verse 1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. I'll read verse 2. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. This is an incredible book written by a man named Peter, and he is going to give us a firm foundation for an unshakable faith. Many years ago, there was a man who went to a city council and he orchestrated a deal with them to buy one of their old landfills, their old garbage dump. They had used it for years, they had covered it with dirt, they had put the sealant on it, and he bought it, and he had an idea that he wanted to build a beautiful entry-level home community for young families. And he put in all the roads and the sidewalks, and contractors came in and built homes, and it was a beautiful, bustling neighborhood. Streets and sidewalks and green grass and beautiful little new homes and children playing in the streets and running through all the yards. And it was just teeming with life. And um and something happened. And with all of that rain in that former landfill, the residents that had just bought these beautiful homes began to see something unsettling. Cracks begin to form in the sidewalks, cracks in the walls of the house, houses began to shift. And in just a few months, this beautiful, brand new neighborhood was unlivable. And all those people had to move out of those homes. And the old timers in that city, they said, I don't know why anybody was surprised. After all, it was built on garbage. In this book, Peter knew what it was to be shaky. He is the perfect guy for writing these two books. Jesus gave him the task of writing these books, and he wrote them, and uh he was the perfect guy because Peter knew something about shaky living. He had been often shaken by fear. He had been often shaken by failure. Peter knew what it was to be shaken by spiritual warfare. Peter also knew what it was to be shaken by suffering. Peter understood all of that. And it was by God's grace that Peter became a solid, strengthened man who could strengthen others. In fact, I believe that 1 and 2 Peter are books in the Scripture in answer to Jesus' prayer. In Luke chapter 22, when we read these, these are part of the prayer that Jesus prayed. In Luke 22 and verse 32, Jesus looked at him and said, Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not. And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And I believe with all my heart that these two books are part of the answer to that prayer that Peter wrote these to strengthen his brethren. We're going to get some strength out of this today. And as we go through this series, our faith is going to be stronger if we will apply it. Jesus prayed that for Peter, and Peter did become a strong man. And Peter is going to tell you in these two books, number one, how believers can stand firm in suffering. And when I say that, many people sit up and take notice because some of you are suffering. Some of you have your own ways of going through some battles in your life. Maybe you've got health sufferings, financial sufferings, maybe there's some family situations that you're suffering through. But all of us, at one time or another, are going to have some suffering in our life. And Peter said, This is how you stay firm and stand strong in suffering. And then he's going to write about how believers can stand firm against error. And I will tell you, the American church today is a church filled with error. We are living in the last days where we have heaped to ourselves teachers. And you can hear whatever you want to hear. You can find a podcast, you can find a YouTuber, you can go on any kind of social media platform, and you can find somebody who will teach the Bible the way you like to hear it. And I would just say to you today, you must be very careful, believer, how you hear, and you better even be more careful of who you hear so that you're hearing the truth of the Word of God. We are fraught today, filled today with error in the American Church, and these books are absolutely significant for us today. In 1 Peter, he's going to talk about how to stand fast in the grace of God. And then in 2 Peter, he's going to tell you how to grow in the grace of God. I just want you to think for just a minute right now as a Christian. How much have you grown since you've been saved? How are you growing as a Christian? We're going to find out that Peter's last words that he's going to write in Scripture is to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Are you a growing Christian? Well, you can't grow until you're rooted down, steadfast and sure. And so that's God's plan for his people is that God's people develop a rock solid faith that can stand in the face of pressure, that can grow in truth, that can resist error, and that can live ready for the return of Jesus Christ. How many of you believe that Jesus is coming again? And we better live in light of that. Many people are living for this day, and we're not living for that day, and Peter's gonna teach us how to live in this day for that day and be ready to meet the Lord. So let's look at a couple things this morning. Number one, who was Peter? Who was Peter? This is point number one. Who was Peter? There's a lot of misinformation about Peter. Some people believe that he was the first Pope. Some people just know Peter as the butt of a lot of bad jokes. You know, two guys died and went into heaven, and when they got to heaven, they stood at the pearly gates and they met. St. Peter. And Peter made him pass some kind of crazy test. And uh and uh that's not at all who Peter was. Peter was a man who was born in Bethsaadia. He was born in the northern parts of Israel, up in the Galilee. He eventually relocated to a home base in Capernaum where Jesus based his ministry. Uh he was a fisherman by trade. The Bible tells you very clearly in the Gospels that Peter was a man, there was a man named Simon who had a brother named Andrew, and uh he was the son of a guy named Jonas or Jonah or John, if you will, and uh that's who he was born to. It was interesting, he was born with the name Simon. And uh I've always chuckled about this because the name Simon means one who hears. And Peter did not live up to that, did he? One who hears. In fact, they were up on the Mount of Transfiguration, and and that Jesus was revealing his glory, and Moses and Elijah were there, and the voice came from heaven. This is my beloved son. Then answered Peter. And God had to say, Peter, this is my son. Hear him. Simon, listen to him. Peter often was talking when he should have been listening. Peter was sleeping when he should have been praying. Peter was denying when he should have been standing firm. Peter oftentimes found himself in trouble because he uh he heard what the Lord said, but he didn't always listen to what the Lord said. Peter was a young man. Simon was married. Now, if you believe that Simon was the first Pope, you got to wrestle with that conundrum because Peter was a married man. He was probably the only one of the original twelve that was married. Most of those guys were teenagers when they began to follow Jesus, and Peter had a wife, and you say, How do you know that? Well, Jesus healed his mother-in-law. Now, Peter was dumb in a lot of ways, but I don't think he was dumb enough to have a mother-in-law without getting the wife thrown in, okay? Nobody just wants a mother-in-law. If I have to have a mother-in-law, I want to at least have a wife, okay. So Peter was a married man, had a mother-in-law, uh, and uh, and he was a fisherman who forsook his nets, left his profession to follow Jesus to become a fisher of men. Peter was a strong man. He was impetuous, he was impulsive. He um he was strong-willed. Remember when he told Jesus, I'll never deny you, Jesus, until that night he did. When they came to arrest Jesus in the garden, remember, Peter took a sword and he swung the sword at Malchus and cut his ear off. Now I just want to tell you something. He wasn't aiming for his ear. Peter was a fisherman, not a swordsman. Peter was trying to cut that guy's head off and he got his ear. Jesus reached down, picked it up, wiped it off, stuck it back on, said, Peter, put away your sword. We're not doing that. I forgot to mention this in our Flight 66 last week about Dr. Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke. He's the only one of the writers of the Gospels who talks about Jesus reattaching Malchus's ear. And Jesus performed a 12-hour surgery in one second. He put it back on. And I will tell you something, Malchus never had to have a hearing aid in that ear. I can tell you that. When Jesus put it back on, it was on right. It used to may have been on crooked. I don't know if it stuck way out, and that's why Peter got it. But it looked good after Jesus got done with it. But Peter was strong-willed, he was impulsive, he was self-confident. He told Jesus, he told Jesus, I'll never let you go to the cross. I'll die first before you go to the cross. And Jesus said, Simon, Simon, get thee behind me, Satan. Now look, when Jesus calls you Simon, after he's renamed you Peter, you've messed up. And when he says that he calls you Satan, you've really messed up. And Peter was that guy. He was impetuous. He was self-willed. He was a hardcore kind of guy. He was a leader among the twelve. You always will find Peter listed first in the list of the twelve. He was a man who was prideful. Peter struggled with pride. He struggled with Judaism and legalism. In fact, he couldn't really overcome that burden of being a Jew. Jesus had commissioned him to go into all the world to preach the gospel. Jesus said, You're going to go to Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and the uttermost part of the earth. And Peter preached at Pentecost. We'll talk about that in just a second. But then it took him ten years before he went into Cornelius' house, the Gentile Italian. Ten years later before he went in. And then he went in, and Cornelius got saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. And Peter came back to Jerusalem and told the brethren, the Jewish believers at Jerusalem, that the Gentiles also have received the Holy Ghost, like we have. And they said, No way, we're not letting them in this thing. And Peter backed up and he went back into his Jewish roots and stood in that legalism. And Paul, in Galatians chapter 2, had to come to Jerusalem to withstand Peter to the face and tell Peter he was to be blamed for that. In all of that, Peter sounds like he was a hard-hearted guy, but Peter actually had a pretty tender heart. After he denied Jesus, he went out and wept bitterly. When Paul withstood him, Peter later wrote, Our beloved brother Paul. And he had a good fellowship with Paul. I step out of the boat sometimes in faith, and then I see the problems and I start sinking. I often relate to Peter. I'm thankful that God used him because we are all like Peter in our humanity. But Jesus had more recorded personal conversations with Peter than any of the other twelve. Tradition tells us that Peter died in A.D. 67 in Rome, crucified upside down. What many people don't mention is that his wife also died with him in the same manner. Do you remember when Peter was arrested in Acts chapter 12 by uh by Herod and they were gonna behead Peter the next day? He's in jail and he's gonna be beheaded the next day. And uh the Bible says that Peter was sound asleep. The angel had to smite him on the side. He said, Get up, Peter, let's go. Now I want to just tell you something. If I got arrested and they were killing me in the morning, I would probably not be asleep at night. But Peter in Acts chapter 12 was sound asleep. You know why? He had finally grown a strong faith. He remembered that conversation with Jesus at the end of John's gospel when he was on the on the seashore there at Galilee, and he's walking with Jesus, and Jesus said, Peter, when you were young, you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you're old, they're gonna bind you and lead you where you don't want to go. And John records that Jesus was speaking about the death that Peter was gonna die. He was gonna die by being bound and uh by being crucified. He was gonna be, he was gonna die when he was old. So in Acts chapter 12, you find Peter sleeping in the face of execution because he knows I'm not old yet, and uh, and I'm not gonna lose my head tomorrow. And you talk about strong faith, he could say, Herod can say whatever he wants to say, but I'm resting in the promises of Jesus, and I'm going night and night. And he did. That was Peter. That's who he was. Number two, I want to tell you what he became. What he became. He was an old strong-willed fisherman, but he became something else. I want to say that first of all, Peter was a converted man. He had a name change. In the book of Matthew, Jesus travels up in Matthew chapter 16 to Caesarea Philippi, up in the north country. And uh, while they're up there near the place where there's the gates of hell and there's pantheism and the worship of demonic gods, in the face of all that idolatry, Jesus says to his disciples, Who do men say that I am? And they say, Well, some say you're Elijah, some say you're Jeremiah or one of the prophets. And then Jesus looks right in the eyes of those disciples and says, Whom say ye that I am? But who do you say that I am? And Peter speaks up immediately. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus said, Blessed art thou, Shimon Barjonas. Simon, the son of Jonah. Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father, which is in heaven, hath revealed it unto thee. And thou shalt be called Peter, and upon this rock I'll build my church. Now, many people have taken that to mean that Jesus was going to build his church on Peter. That's the craziest thing ever. Now he gave him the name Peter, which is the Greek word petros, which means a pebble or a stone. Now, now he is not the rock. What was the rock that Jesus said, Upon this rock I'll build my church? It was what Peter just confessed that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. The church is built on the rock of the confession of Jesus Christ being the Son of God who takes away the sin of the world. We're built upon Jesus Christ. Christ is the chief cornerstone. But he said to Peter, But you are a rock, you're a pebble. Now, when you think of Peter as the rock, don't think of Peter as like the rock, like the movie star, the rock, the big, muscular, tough, hulky guy, or rocky balboa, this bit. No, no, no. We're talking like pebble. Like you know, Bam Bam and Pebble, you remember them? We're talking about pebble. Uh Peter was a pebble, he was a small stone, but but Jesus is the boulder, the rock of ages. In fact, Peter is the one who later in Acts chapter 11 is gonna say this is the stone, speaking of Jesus. This is the stone which was set at not of you builders. He is the rock. And then later in 1 Peter, he's gonna make a confession that he is the foundation rock, not Peter. So Peter makes it very clear: I'm the pebble, he's the boulder, I'm the stone, he is the rock of Gibraltar, he is the cleft of the rock of ages, he is the one. So, but Peter was a man whose name was changed. Isn't it interesting that God loved to change people's names? Remember Abram? Uh Abram was changed, God called him what? Abraham, the father of many nations. Now, he had no children, and God changed his name to the father of many nations. Now, why is that? Because God was naming him for what he would become. Not what he was, but what he would become. Uh, he did the same thing throughout the Bible with Jacob, the deceiver, the supplanter. He called him Israel, the prince of God. Not what he was, but what he would become. Jesus did this many times. In fact, he called James and John the sons of thunder. Um he had nicknames for these guys, but then he called Simon Petrus, Roch. Not for what he was, but for what he would become. Peter was a man who had forsaken his nets and believed on Jesus, and then he became a disciple, which means a learner and a follower of Jesus Christ. And then later in Matthew chapter 10, the Bible said he called into him his disciples. And he named twelve, whom he called apostles. That's a different office. Peter had this progression. He was a converted man, he became a believer in Christ, he became a disciple of Jesus Christ, a follower of Christ. And by the way, that's why this is so important. Because every believer needs to become a disciple. Not everybody who believed on Jesus became a disciple of Jesus. Jesus had many people believe on him, but listen, he said, but if you're going to be my disciple, you must deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me. Now that's not a message that the American church likes to hear today. What do you mean, deny myself? I'm an American. I'm entitled. I owe it to myself. In fact, if I were to ask many believers in this room today, when's the last time that you can consciously remember you denied yourself anything? When's the last time you told yourself no about anything? Or made yourself do anything you didn't want to do. Many of us are the old Simon. We we are the old uh living for self. But Jesus said, I want you to come after me. And by the way, we're he wrote these books so that we can learn from a disciple how to become a disciple, how to learn Jesus, to grow in the knowledge. That's what a disciple is. It's a learner. And Peter's gonna close off the book by saying, But grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Learn Him, follow Him. Paul said, Follow me as I follow Christ. Be a learner, be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Listen, I believe that many of you today need to have your conversion from just being a believer to being a disciple. And then the disciples here were made apostles. Now, don't get confused with this. The apostles in this context of the apostles, that was a particular office that Jesus gave these twelve. Now look, you're gonna hear other denominations and other circles of believers have apostles. They're gonna say, here, this is a new apostle, or this is an apostle. There are no apostles in this sense. In order to be an apostle, Acts chapter 1, when they were looking for somebody to take the place of Judas, they said, Who among us has first walked with us in the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ? Not only that, beginning from the baptism of John, been baptized by John and uh walked with Jesus in his earthly ministry, not only that, have been a witness of Jesus Christ after his resurrection, and then been personally commissioned by him to be sent out with his message. Well, they they chose, and there was a man named Matthias who met that criteria. Well, look, the apostle Paul could be called an apostle because he was one born out of due time. He met the risen Savior, he saw Jesus in his resurrected body, and he was commissioned specifically by Jesus, sent to the Gentiles. Peter was the apostle to the Jews, and and uh Paul was the one sent to the Gentiles. And listen to me very carefully. These were sent ones, the the word apostle in the secular. Greek language had the idea of a group of ships that were sent by the emperor on a journey from an official business. And Jesus took that word apostle to mean these ones that I have sent out on official business. Now, let me just say, in a specific sense, there are no apostles today. But in a spiritual sense, in a general sense, we need to grow from believers to disciples that know how to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus Christ. And then we need to become apostles in the sense that we own the mission. And we are sent out with the Great Commission. Let me tell you how a church dies. A church dies when believers don't become disciples and disciples don't become apostles. A church dies when a church stops sending people and going out with the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And Peter was a man converted from just believer to follower to apostle, sent out to take the message. Peter was a converted man, not only because the Lord changed his name and changed his position, but but he also was a man who became Peter because he had a change of heart. After he denied the Lord Jesus three times, he was confronted by the Lord on the shores of Galilee. And Jesus said to him, Simon. He didn't call him Peter, he said, Simon. Jesus often called him Simon, even after he had named him Peter, for a couple reasons. One, because it was his natural name. It was the name he was most known by, it was his birth name. But he also called him Simon oftentimes when he was acting as his natural self. Simon was his natural self. Peter was his supernatural self. You're living in the old man. You need to walk in the new man. And so sometimes Peter would get off track and the Lord would say, Simon. Simon. And he says to him that day on the shores of Galilee after his resurrection, Simon, do you love me? And Simon said, Yes, Lord. I love you. Feed my lambs. Simon, lovest thou me more than these? Lord, I love you. I'm fond of you. Feed my sheep. Simon, lovest thou me? Finally he said, Lord, thou knowest all things. And he said, Feed my sheep. The Lord Jesus confronted him about his denial. He had denied the Lord three times, and Jesus made him confess his love for him three times. And then Jesus commissioned him and said, I'm entrusting my flock to you, Peter. Feed my sheep. Watch over these. And you see Peter take the lead, and he did entrust him with that leadership. You see Peter taking the lead at the day of Pentecost and preaching, and 3,000 people were saved. In fact, Peter got up and preached to that council of the Sanhedrin. He said, In this holy one of Israel, whom you denied. Isn't that interesting? Fifty days before, Peter had denied that very one in front of that very group. And now Peter, a changed man, a converted man, is preaching in Holy Spirit boldness about the sin of denying Jesus. Why? He was changed. He was converted. He'd been forgiven. He'd been restored. The Lord had given him power. The Lord had given him his Holy Spirit. He said, When you're converted, strengthen your brethren. Feed my sheep. And Peter took that old net of fish and put it aside. And Jesus said, I'm going to make you fishers of men. And Peter at Pentecost cast a net and drew 3,000 souls to Jesus Christ. A chapter later, he goes up to the temple with John, and they go to pray. And they met a lame man on the way. And the lame man stuck out his palm and asked for an alm. And this is what Peter did say Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And that man went walking and leaping and praising God. And people arrested Peter and John, put them into the prison, flogged them. What are you doing? By what authority are you doing this? And Peter said, I'm doing this in the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom ye took with wicked hands and crucified, and he preached. And let me tell you something. In that service, 5,000 people were caught in the gospel net that Peter threw. In just the first few chapters of the book of Acts, Peter has already caught 8,000 souls for Jesus Christ. Then the Lord sent him up to Samaria, where he confirmed the new Samaritan believers there. Then he was sent to Antioch to help that church grow. Can I tell you something, church? Listen to me very carefully. One of the greatest things you can do with other believers who fall and stumble. The Bible says, if any man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one. What a joy it must have been to Peter to hear the Lord say, Peter, I forgive you. And now I'm entrusting you to feed my sheep. Look, let me tell you what happens too oftentimes. Too oftentimes in our Christianity, people stumble and fall into sin, and we go to them and we leave them right where they are and we tell them that it's okay. Jesus didn't tell them it was okay. He restored him. He got him back on his feet. He helped him set the bone. He helped him transform and change back into the man that he knew he could become. You denied me as Simon, but you're gonna preach for me as Peter. And you'll notice that when Peter writes this book, he does not say Simon Peter. He starts it off rock. An apostle of Jesus Christ. He was not riding as the man he was, he was riding as the man he had become through the grace of Jesus Christ. What a joy that God has saved you to become something. That he saved you. Listen, you're not saved by works, but you're saved unto good works which he hath before ordained that you should walk in them. God saved you for a purpose. God saved you for a calling. And Peter was the man that became that. Let me close with this and we'll go home. Number three, we talked about who he was and what he became, but let's talk about what he wrote. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers, scattered throughout Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. Now, if you were to go home and uh you open up your phone on your Google Maps or your Apple Maps or Waze or whatever you use to travel, if you open it up, you would not find any of those places because those were Roman names given to this region of the world. Today it's modern-day Turkey. You'll see Jerusalem down in the south. And who these people are are people who had been saved in the early ministries of the church. These are the thousands of people who had come to Christ. Josephus, the historian, writes that by the time you get to Acts chapter 8, there are over a hundred thousand members in the first church. I mean, think about it. 3,000 saved at Pentecost, 5,000 saved just a few days later. Then the Bible says, then that number of the disciples was multiplied. Now look, if you've got 8,000 and you multiply it, the lowest number you can multiply it by is two. That's 16,000 at the very least. And if you multiply that again, that's 32,000. If you multiply that again, that's a big number. Some of you didn't laugh about that. I went to Christian schools, so I just got to 32. That's as many as I could count. But um but uh they they multiplied, and then the Bible says, and then there were added to them daily, such as should be saved. God was multiplying, God was adding to his church daily. Let me tell you something. Thousands and thousands of people were coming to Christ. And then in Acts chapter 8, here comes Saul wreaking havoc against the church. Great persecution, and the believers were scattered. Let me tell you what was happening. Listen to me. There was a massive, heavenly scent fire of God in Jerusalem. And the devil came into that fire to kick it with persecution. But let me tell you what he did. He kicked out those embers all across the world. And everywhere those believers went, they began to set the world on fire for Jesus Christ. And Peter was writing to people way up in modern-day Turkey, in Asia, Bithynia, Galatia, Pontius, Cappadocia. He's writing to them. And let me tell you what he was writing to them about. These were people that we know from Peter's book. These were saved people. These were elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit. These were born-again people. He's going to write to them about their inheritance reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God. He's going to write to them. Listen to me. He's going to write to people who are in who are out of their homes. They're strangers. They're pilgrims, he's going to call them. There are people who are foreigners and aliens in foreign countries. These people, listen, up in that area of the world, they were strangers up there. They were hated by the Gentiles up there because they were Jews. They were hated by the other Jews up there because they were Christians. These are people who had lost their homes. These are people who were losing their businesses. These are people who were losing their livelihood. These are people who are going to jail, being beheaded, being stoned, being persecuted for the cause of Christ. And Peter's gonna write to them in these books about being rock solid in this world and how not to have a shaky faith. What's he gonna write about? He's gonna write about salvation. By the way, listen, one of the first things that you ought to do when you go through a trial of faith is always go back to your salvation and stand on solid ground. You might be shaking on top, but the rock beneath you is not. We are saved and secure in Jesus Christ. He's gonna write about suffering. He's gonna write, he's gonna write about this 15 times in this book about suffering and trials and fiery trials and terrible things that are gonna happen in the name of Christ. In fact, he's gonna close this first book of Peter off in chapter 5 by writing these words. But the God of all grace, who hath called us into his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, and settle you. Strengthen you. He said, You're gonna suffer for a little while, but the purpose of that is to mature you. The purpose of that is to strengthen you, the purpose of that is to settle you down. You know, sometimes, listen to me very carefully. Sometimes God has to shake you up, to settle you down. You say, What do you mean by that? You ever picked up a glass of orange juice or a jug of orange juice and poured it real quick and drank it and it was watery? Well, it says you gotta shake well. You gotta shake that thing up in order to get all the goodness out of it. Sometimes God has to shake you up. But he also wants to settle you. What does that mean? Settling you was what I used to do at 7-Eleven when I was a little boy. I'd ride my bike up to 7-Eleven and I'd go in there and I would take my 50 cents and I'd get a slurpee. Anybody remember 7-Eleven Slurpees? Come on. I don't even know if they still got them anymore, but I love those things. And I would get that cup, and it hasn't, you know, had that dome lid on it, you know what I'm talking about? Well, let me tell you what I would do. First of all, I would put that cup up there, and I would just, I was a little kid, I'd reach up and grab that handle. I was on my tippy toes, I'd grab that handle, and I'd fill that thing up until I could see it. Then I'd hurry up and put the bubble lid on it. And let me tell you what I'd do. The people behind me hated me. Because I was a little kid and I had all the time in the world. I'd take that cup and I would go on the counter, and then it would settle down. Then I'd reach up and I'd I'd pull it like that and I'd and I'd get that thing until it was overflowing. Sometimes God has to take you in trials and tribulations, and he's doing this to settle you so that he can grow you. Many of us resist the sufferings of Christ. We resist the trials of our faith. We try to ease our trials by sneaking out of them and getting away from them. And God said, Let the trial of your faith is more precious than gold that perisheth. Though it'll be tried with fire, it'll be found under praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Let God use you and shake you up so that he can settle you, strengthen you, establish you. That's what he's doing. He's gonna write about sanctification. Some of us aren't gonna like this, but he's gonna write a lot about submission to human authority. He's gonna write about shepherding. What it means to be in the church, what it means to be shepherded, and how to shepherd. He's gonna give instruction to me. I'm gonna preach a couple of messages to me, and you're gonna get to say, Amen, Pastor, you need that. He's gonna write about the second coming of the Lord Jesus. Listen, he's gonna write about that, and he's gonna write about how we should be living in light of that coming. Listen to me very carefully. You are going to stand before Jesus one day. And he will not be a baby in a manger, he will not be a mangled man on a cross. He will be the God of glory coming in power and holiness and might. His face as the radiance of the sun, his eyes as a flaming fire, and he is holy, whom the whole world, heaven and earth, would disappear if they could, if they could find a place to hide from him, but they cannot. And we're gonna stand before him and give an account of ourselves, our stewardship. And Peter's gonna tell you in light of that coming what manner of persons we ought to be. He's gonna help people understand that the suffering we go through today is not worthy to be compared to the glory that will follow. He's gonna tell us how to conduct our marriages and our homes. Let me tell you something carefully that we're gonna find in this book. As the world turns up the heat of persecution, as the pressures of life come on, let me tell you where we usually fail. We come home and we take it out at those at home. We we our marriages are broken, our families are broken because of the pressures that come in life. And look, if you you are only as good of a Christian as you are at home. And Peter's gonna tell you how to stand for your faith. And I'll tell you one of the great things that you're gonna learn in this book. He's gonna teach you about electing grace and eternal security. Now don't get nervous about this. We believe in a whosoever will gospel. Whosoever will may come. But let me tell you the power of election. Listen, there are a lot of people who say they believe in election, but they don't believe in election. We'll hear more about this next week. They believe in selection. And they confuse it with election. But we're gonna see biblical election and our eternal security. Let me just tell you something right now. If anybody could have lost their salvation, Peter would have done it. We see Peter following, not following, standing, not standing. I mean, we see Peter all over the map. If anybody could lose their salvation, Peter would have lost it. Peter would, listen, in some circles, Peter was saved on Monday, lost on Tuesday, saved again on Wednesday. Listen, we're not saved, lost, saved, lost. We're not, we'd be more confused than termites living in a yo-yo. We are not up and down, up and down, up and down, saved, lost, saved, lost, saved, lost. Peter's gonna write, listen, we are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. I am not holding to him, he's holding to me. Peter is gonna tell you, there were many times a Simon, I let go of him, I denied him, I walked away from him, I got my eyes off of him, I sank in the water, but he never one time took his eye off of me. He never one time took his hands off of me. There were times I was unfaithful. He is always faithful. There were times that I went back on my word. He never went back on his word. There were times when I denied, but he never denied me. He was greater than my unbelief. He was greater than my sin. He's greater than my sin. The grace of God is what we stand in sure and steadfast. Now, can I tell you something? Some of you have built a beautiful little life on a foundation of religion. And the grass looks green and the sidewalks are clean and everything looks good in your neighborhood. But you don't know when a storm is coming. You don't know when the floods are coming. If you built a house on the wrong foundation, the cracks are gonna show. And there is gonna be decay and breakdown. Listen, there is no other foundation which is laid than that which is laid in Jesus Christ. You cannot build on any other foundation but the Lord Jesus Christ. Look, listen, you can't join this church and be saved. You can't get baptized and be saved. You can't live a good life and be saved. You can't just try real hard and read your Bible and be saved. Listen, there's only one way to be saved, and that is to come to Him as a sinner, confessing your need of salvation and bowing before him like Peter did. Oh Lord, depart from me. I'm a sinful man. And Jesus took that confession and made Simon into Peter. Jesus changed him and transformed him through a confession of sin and a belief on the Lord Jesus Christ. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. It is the gift of God, whosoever will may come. But listen, it is the gift of God. It's a gift that God has given that must be received. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. But I, friend, I want to tell you, we are not saved by works. We are saved by grace through faith and not of ourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. You say, okay, well, if it's a gift, what does that mean? I mean this that God sent his pure precious son into this world who knew no sin to be made sin for you. He took all your sin upon himself and was crucified and crushed at Calvary and shed his blood and paid the wages of sin, death, and he died. He paid your penalty. And then he rose from the grave. You know what Peter said to Jesus? He said, I want a life like that. I want a life that never dies. And you know what Jesus said to Peter? If you want a life like this, you gotta give me yours. You come to me and you give me your life, and I'll give you my life. I'll take your sin and give you my righteousness. I'll take your I'll I'll take your unrighteousness and I'll make you righteous before God. But it's by faith. You say, well, how do I receive that gift? The Bible says the way you receive that gift is by faith. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. Even to them. Here's the key. To even to them that believe on his name. If you'll come to Jesus Christ today and you'll say, Lord Jesus, I'm unworthy. I'm a sinner. Nothing I can do to save myself. But you came and died for me. And Lord Jesus, I want you to forgive my sin, take my sin, and give me your life. And I want to tell you something. When you receive the gift of Jesus Christ, the Bible says you're born again, a new creature. I will tell you, you can live in your little nice neighborhood. You can make your life look nice and sweet. But you never know when the storm's coming. And when it comes, things will settle out to their foundation. And if your foundation's not on Christ, it'll fall. If it's built upon the sand, the winds will blow, the rains will come, the floods will rise, and great is the fall of it. But Jesus said if it's built on the rock, the winds come, the floods may bang against it, but it stands sure. A rock solid faith. An unshakable faith. You can have that today. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for using Simon Peter. Thank you for helping us to see what we can become as disciples and followers of Jesus. I pray that we'll grow immensely in this study. And Lord, I pray that this morning, if there's someone here that does not know Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, they've never been born again, that today they would find that conversion, that change, that new start, that new life. If any man be in Christ, he's a New creature. And today can be that day. Our heads are bowed. How many of us would say, Pastor, I know that I know that I know my life is on the foundation of Jesus? I know I'm saved. Slip your hand way up high. I know I'm saved today. What a sight. Would you just say, Praise God for so great salvation? Thank God for that. May lower your hands. I want to ask those of you that just raised your hand, are you a disciple? Are you a learner? A follower? Are you growing in grace? Are you growing in your knowledge of Christ? Are you a believer and that's it? Or are you a follower? If you've been following Christ, are you a sent one with the gospel to take his message to others, to share the light? The gospel. Let God speak to your heart today about where you need to grow. How many of us would say today, Pastor, I don't know for sure I'm saved? I don't know that I couldn't raise my hand with assurance earlier. I need to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I want to know that I'm saved. Would you just lift your hand way up high? I'm not going to embarrass you or come to you. God bless you. I see your hand. Who else? Just slip your hand way up high. I need to be saved today. I don't know for sure. God bless you, young men. I see your hands. Who else? Just lift your hand way up high. I need to know Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior today. I want to know that. If you raised your hand, you can know that today. I want you to step out by faith. You can come right here to the front, and one of our men and ladies will take the word of God and show you how to be saved. You just step out from your seat, we'll meet you. More important than that, Jesus will meet you. You step out, Jesus will meet you. We'll show you from the Bible how to be saved today. If you're able, would you stand with me all over this room? I'm going to let you pray this morning. I want you to pray right where you are. Believers, I want you to pray. You're welcome to come to the altar. You're welcome to come here and kneel and pray here at the front. But I want you to pray today. Lord, I've been saved. But am I saved and becoming what you've saved me to become? Am I growing? Is my faith rock solid? Do I have assurance? Some have already come. You step out. If you need to be saved today, you come, let us take the Bible and show you how to be saved. Don't leave here not knowing. And don't leave here not growing in Jesus Christ. We sang this morning about the old rugged cross. We sang about salvation belonging to the Lord our God. Lord, thank you for that so great salvation. Thank you for assurance of salvation. But Lord, we're not just saved to sit. We're to be rooted and grounded and growing in Christ. We're living in an evil age, in a dark world. There's a lot of suffering in this world, a lot of trials in this world. But Lord, we have your word that we can grow and we can bring glory in those things. Lord, I pray that we would be people steadfast, unmovable, yet always abounding in the work of the Lord. Lord, I pray that even though we've not been saved by works, only by grace, through faith, but we've been saved unto good works. You have saved us as Simon, but you want to make us Peter. Good works that you have foreordained that we should walk in them. Lord, I pray that we would be people. So oftentimes, Lord, we're not a perfect church by no means. This is a church filled with Simons. Our natural man so often falters. But Lord, we want to be supernatural by the Spirit of God. Be Peter, walking in assurance and faith. So use us, I pray. In Jesus' name. And all God's people said.