WEBVTT 00:00:04.730 --> 00:00:06.814 Well, it's not an easy time to be alive. 00:00:06.814 --> 00:00:17.946 It's true, we have more technology and we have more infrastructure than any other culture that's ever gone before us. 00:00:17.946 --> 00:00:18.670 That's true. 00:00:18.670 --> 00:00:41.954 It makes it easier, makes us more comfortable than any other civilization that's been before us, and yet all those things it seems like those things are just betraying us in some way, still feel like we're living kind of at the edge emotionally and mentally. 00:00:41.954 --> 00:01:16.090 There's like a nagging at our nerves and it seems like we just eke out an existence week by week, and the political climate and the changes in ethics in our day and international events that we are unable to control just press on us daily and it makes it really hard to navigate our lives and we feel betrayed sometimes by the powers that govern us. 00:01:16.090 --> 00:01:19.828 We feel like they don't have our best interests at heart. 00:01:19.828 --> 00:01:55.668 We feel like we're living in some kind of point in history where things are changing and we sense that changes are coming soon that will likely alter the way we know life, and pressures of belief systems that are contrary to our own are pushing us toward the very real experience of being persecuted for our beliefs, and the very truths that we live our lives by are an affront to our culture. 00:01:55.668 --> 00:02:03.349 I mean here it is Year of our Lord 64. 00:02:03.349 --> 00:02:13.586 And Rome is tightening its grip on us and our beloved Palestine, and they're trying to gain some kind of control. 00:02:13.586 --> 00:02:17.703 They feel they've lost and they're waging war to try to keep the peace. 00:02:17.703 --> 00:02:30.227 And it's not clear to us at all what the future looks like and how are we supposed to stand for what we know is true in the face of all this opposition. 00:02:30.227 --> 00:02:40.151 And we have Jesus' disciples with us, it's true, but oh, how we wish Jesus was still with us. 00:02:40.151 --> 00:02:57.110 Well, maybe this is exactly how life felt for Peter and for the Christ followers that he wrote this letter to that we're getting ready to start studying. 00:02:57.150 --> 00:03:02.606 For the next few weeks we're starting a sermon series called Grace Under Fire. 00:03:02.606 --> 00:03:10.949 It's a study of the first letter of the apostle Peter to the ones who are following Christ along with him in the first century. 00:03:10.949 --> 00:03:14.902 And you know, I think we have a lot in common with them. 00:03:14.902 --> 00:03:23.706 I think the same things that we say about our day can be said about their day, maybe even more so in their day, I don't know. 00:03:23.706 --> 00:03:35.643 Peter's letter shows us how to remain righteous, remain faithful and remain purposeful in the midst of suffering, and suffering comes in many different forms. 00:03:35.643 --> 00:03:43.304 But Peter tells us in this letter how to have the kind of true perseverance that God expects from his people. 00:03:43.304 --> 00:03:53.471 And we normally walk through these scriptures when we do a book study, expositionally, expositorily, so we go verse by verse and we see what's there. 00:03:53.471 --> 00:03:56.770 And that's what's going to happen in the next few weeks. 00:03:56.879 --> 00:03:59.149 But my job today is a little different. 00:03:59.149 --> 00:04:06.147 My job today is to introduce you to the man Simon Peter, and a little bit of background to his letter. 00:04:06.147 --> 00:04:17.600 And I want to do this by reading to you the very first words that he wrote to the churches, and I want to read to you the very last words that he wrote to the churches that we have recorded in scripture. 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:33.088 So in 1 Peter 1, verse 2, his very first words that he wrote, after a brief introduction, he writes these words grace and peace be multiplied to you. 00:04:33.088 --> 00:04:38.747 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord, jesus Christ. 00:04:38.747 --> 00:05:05.413 According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept for you in heaven, who, by God's power, are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 00:05:05.413 --> 00:05:21.204 And then, if you just flip a few pages over, in the second letter, he wrote the last verse, chapter 3, verse 18, he ends with these words but grow in the grace. 00:05:21.204 --> 00:05:36.790 Under the pressure of their day, they were suffering persecution for their faith. 00:05:36.790 --> 00:05:40.620 Peter lays before them a promise. 00:05:40.620 --> 00:05:55.411 He lays before us a promise of God's grace, of God's peace, of a new birth, of a living hope and of an unfading inheritance, and of God's power to guard us and keep us. 00:05:55.411 --> 00:05:56.639 It's good news, isn't it? 00:05:56.639 --> 00:06:05.730 And then, at the end of his life, the very last thing on his mind, to speak to the churches After this life. 00:06:05.730 --> 00:06:09.956 It was packed with wisdom and experience. 00:06:09.956 --> 00:06:18.213 These words come out of this life from a man who had triumphed bravely and failed spectacularly. 00:06:18.213 --> 00:06:24.228 Here's what he has to tell us Grow in grace. 00:06:24.228 --> 00:06:43.105 He begins with grace and he ends with grace, which may be a little bit surprising when we see the kind of man that Peter was, because he was not the most gracious of people, kind of contrary. 00:06:43.440 --> 00:06:44.540 So who was Simon Peter? 00:06:44.540 --> 00:06:49.783 Well, simon Peter comes from Capernaum, which is not near Jerusalem. 00:06:49.783 --> 00:06:51.726 It's up in Galilee of the nations. 00:06:51.726 --> 00:06:59.750 Up away, he was kind of an outsider in many ways to what was going on in Jerusalem, so he probably spoke Greek as well as Aramaic. 00:06:59.750 --> 00:07:06.083 He was given a very common name for that day Simon Simon. 00:07:06.083 --> 00:07:14.007 There were two of the 12 disciples of Jesus named Simon, and I found nine Simons in the scripture. 00:07:14.007 --> 00:07:26.495 It was a big name because he was probably named after somebody that was a hero of the Jews of his day, which gives us an idea of the kind of political climate he lived in. 00:07:26.495 --> 00:07:40.329 Simon Maccabees was one of the Maccabees clan and he was an important player in the Maccabean revolt, which was a Jewish revolt against Roman government. 00:07:40.709 --> 00:08:04.713 That happened about 200 years ago, 200 years before this letter was written, and in Simon's day for those Jews, in Simon Peter's day, this was probably the closest living memory to anything like political independence for Israel, and Simon and his friends were all hoping for that kind of independence. 00:08:04.713 --> 00:08:20.048 They represented a renewed hope for what the scripture said and what they knew Surely the day would come when God would set up a Davidic king on the throne and overthrow the power of Rome, and this was what they were hoping for. 00:08:20.048 --> 00:08:33.191 But you know, simon would find out quickly when he was following Jesus, the true Messiah, that this kingdom is going to be very different than he thought it was going to be. 00:08:33.191 --> 00:08:43.634 And we're going to see that shift in his thinking as we go through this first letter of Peter to the Christians of his day. 00:08:43.634 --> 00:08:50.121 First letter of Peter to the Christians of his day. 00:08:50.121 --> 00:09:00.667 But actually, in reality, simon's vision of political revolution was interrupted every day by his very real life problems just trying to make a living, just working with his hands to feed his family. 00:09:00.667 --> 00:09:08.100 He had lived his entire life paying taxes to a foreign nation that was oppressing his people. 00:09:09.123 --> 00:09:17.895 And Capernaum was on the Sea of Galilee, which is a small sea, really just a lake, and that lake is fed by a river called the River Jordan. 00:09:17.895 --> 00:09:33.912 And at the River Jordan there was a man named John, and John was baptizing people and he was a fiery prophet that reminded people that the Bible said someone would come in the spirit of Elijah and would make a way for the Messiah. 00:09:33.912 --> 00:09:41.086 So this caused a stir and people were gathering, flocking to John's teaching and the baptizing he was doing in the wilderness. 00:09:41.086 --> 00:09:54.607 But John declared that Jesus, this man from a little town near nowhere called Nazareth, would be the Messiah. 00:09:54.607 --> 00:10:03.063 And so from that point Simon had to look at Jesus of Nazareth in a different way. 00:10:03.063 --> 00:10:06.692 But what was Simon like? 00:10:06.692 --> 00:10:07.232 What was he really? 00:10:07.232 --> 00:10:10.288 If you read the New Testament, you will get a definitely. 00:10:10.288 --> 00:10:11.691 You will form an opinion of the man. 00:10:11.691 --> 00:10:16.652 Okay, if you read his story, because he's not the kind of guy you can be neutral on. 00:10:16.652 --> 00:10:18.961 He is one way. 00:10:18.961 --> 00:10:23.673 You love him or you wonder why he's even doing what he's doing One or the other. 00:10:23.673 --> 00:10:28.503 You wonder why he's even doing what he's doing One or the other. 00:10:28.523 --> 00:10:32.913 Some call him the greatest disciple and he is mentioned more in the New Testament than all of the other disciples combined. 00:10:32.913 --> 00:10:35.283 Throughout history. 00:10:35.283 --> 00:10:37.730 Many thought of him as the first pope. 00:10:37.730 --> 00:10:45.988 The religious scholars of his day called him ignorant and unschooled because he didn't know anything about the weightier matters of the law. 00:10:45.988 --> 00:11:05.490 He's just a fisherman and he had a fishing business with his brother Andrew on that lake of Galilee and he probably, for all you fishers out there, he probably caught this little type of fish that's native there called tilapia. 00:11:05.490 --> 00:11:12.413 It's like a tilapia, it's not like the tilapia you get from China, I'm just telling you. 00:11:12.413 --> 00:11:17.826 Actually, they began to call it St Peter's fish. 00:11:17.826 --> 00:11:20.221 That's what they call it now, st Peter's fish. 00:11:20.221 --> 00:11:27.534 So St Peter was fishing for St Peter's fish, and we know besides that he was married. 00:11:27.534 --> 00:11:44.106 We know that and we know that his wife according to Clement of Alexandria, who was an early church father Peter's wife was a partner and minister with him and she ministered with him and she ministered with him and she also was martyred with him. 00:11:44.106 --> 00:11:47.870 So they lived together and they died together. 00:11:49.091 --> 00:11:52.153 But Peter himself was larger than life. 00:11:52.153 --> 00:11:53.615 He was big in every way. 00:11:53.615 --> 00:11:55.716 He was the center of every scene. 00:11:55.716 --> 00:12:04.320 His name is the first in every list of the disciples, peter. 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:07.125 He made really quick decisions, even if they were wrong ones. 00:12:07.125 --> 00:12:10.572 He engaged his mouth before he engaged his brain. 00:12:10.572 --> 00:12:13.629 You know anybody like that. 00:12:13.629 --> 00:12:23.167 Jay stewart holden said he was not the kind of flower that is born to blush unseen. 00:12:23.167 --> 00:12:27.293 Quick, impulsive, impetuous. 00:12:27.293 --> 00:12:29.495 He was a man who must express his feelings. 00:12:29.495 --> 00:12:38.960 He was quick on the trigger, a man who does things first and then thinks them over, sometimes, sadly, later on. 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:46.333 Such a man will make mistakes, but he'll make other things too that are not mistakes. 00:12:46.333 --> 00:12:49.804 You know anybody like that. 00:12:49.804 --> 00:12:53.187 He never did anything halfway. 00:12:53.187 --> 00:12:58.886 So he had huge successes and he had huge failures, and he always thought he was right. 00:12:58.886 --> 00:13:01.325 In fact, he always thought he was right. 00:13:01.325 --> 00:13:02.208 Do you know anybody like that? 00:13:02.208 --> 00:13:10.394 I feel like there's some elbows going on in here and I'm not sure I feel this kind of attitude in the room here. 00:13:13.101 --> 00:13:14.784 He actually rebuked Jesus. 00:13:14.884 --> 00:13:15.285 You know that. 00:13:15.285 --> 00:13:19.461 He rebuked Jesus as if Jesus was wrong about his death. 00:13:19.461 --> 00:13:21.283 Jesus is talking about his death. 00:13:21.283 --> 00:13:26.073 And Peter said no, no, no, lord, you will never do that. 00:13:26.073 --> 00:13:47.687 And then Jesus was going to wash his feet and he said you'll never wash my feet, which is just like so audacious to look in the face of the man who raises the dead and performs miracles and say let me tell you what you're not going to do. 00:13:47.687 --> 00:13:53.291 It's like what are you even talking about? 00:13:53.291 --> 00:13:56.186 Who does this? 00:13:56.186 --> 00:13:56.548 Right? 00:13:56.548 --> 00:14:00.431 But Jesus said no, if I don't wash your feet, you don't have anything to do with me. 00:14:00.431 --> 00:14:14.389 He said okay, all right, let's do it Cold plunge all the way, give me the whole treatment, because he was one way or the other that he couldn't be in the middle, right, 100%, some direction all the time. 00:14:15.551 --> 00:14:16.312 Know anybody like that? 00:14:16.312 --> 00:14:36.251 But Peter gives us hope when we think that we're not worthy to be accepted or to be used by God, because no matter how bad you are, peter was probably worse, he was the only person in Scripture who was rebuked by every member of the Trinity. 00:14:36.251 --> 00:14:45.268 So if you haven't been rebuked by the Father, son and Spirit, you're doing better than him, okay. 00:14:45.268 --> 00:14:50.991 The Father rebuked him on the Mount of Transfiguration. 00:14:50.991 --> 00:14:56.131 The Son rebuked him when he said you'll never die. 00:14:56.131 --> 00:15:01.889 And Jesus said get behind me, satan, because you savor the things of man, not the savor. 00:15:01.889 --> 00:15:03.365 You don't savor the things of God. 00:15:03.365 --> 00:15:09.470 So when Jesus calls you the devil, that's a bad day. 00:15:10.751 --> 00:15:23.489 Yeah, he got up, he went and cut off some guy's ear and Jesus had to rebuke him for that too. 00:15:23.489 --> 00:15:31.010 It was like, from the beginning to the end, he was just doing things that had to be corrected, you know. 00:15:31.010 --> 00:15:44.691 And then the Holy Spirit corrected him, because he had a vision once and this sheet was let down from heaven with all of this food that was unclean, and this voice said rise and kill and eat. 00:15:44.691 --> 00:15:45.994 And Peter said there's no way. 00:15:45.994 --> 00:15:50.687 Ok, I don't know what I would do. 00:15:50.687 --> 00:15:59.225 I'm not sure what I would do if I had that kind of vision and a voice from heaven, from the vision, says to do something. 00:15:59.225 --> 00:15:59.988 I'm not sure. 00:15:59.988 --> 00:16:04.267 I don't think I would say Let me tell you what I'm not going to do. 00:16:04.267 --> 00:16:07.816 I don't think I would say Let me tell you what I'm not going to do. 00:16:07.816 --> 00:16:10.600 I don't think I would say that no, do you? 00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:12.167 Got to rise and kill and eat. 00:16:12.167 --> 00:16:20.110 And then it says the spirit told me to go with them to Cornelius and don't make any distinction between Jews and Gentiles. 00:16:20.110 --> 00:16:21.426 So the spirit rebuked him. 00:16:21.539 --> 00:16:25.091 Okay, so man, he's a man of contradictions. 00:16:25.091 --> 00:16:28.190 He has super high highs and super low lows. 00:16:28.190 --> 00:16:30.105 He had great insight. 00:16:30.105 --> 00:16:36.025 You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God, you have the words of life. 00:16:36.025 --> 00:16:41.631 And then he didn't even understand some of the parables that Jesus told. 00:16:41.631 --> 00:16:44.168 And Jesus had to say do you still not understand? 00:16:44.168 --> 00:16:47.063 It's like what is up with this guy. 00:16:47.063 --> 00:16:56.551 He had great faith to step out of the boat onto the water and then he has this doubt In the middle of his walk of faith. 00:16:56.551 --> 00:16:57.211 He has a doubt. 00:16:57.211 --> 00:17:00.663 Do you know anybody like that man? 00:17:00.663 --> 00:17:02.346 I get it. 00:17:02.346 --> 00:17:11.236 And it's interesting to me that later in his life, peter was so honest about all of this instability that he had. 00:17:11.236 --> 00:17:25.148 Because we know that a lot of these things we know about him because of the gospel of Mark, and we know that the gospel of Mark was written because Mark got his information from Peter, so it's really eyewitness accounts of Peter. 00:17:25.148 --> 00:17:34.025 So Peter is telling Mark all of these failures and all of his frailties and he's an open book. 00:17:34.025 --> 00:17:34.807 He's okay with it. 00:17:34.807 --> 00:17:38.108 At least at the end of his life he was okay with it. 00:17:39.221 --> 00:17:40.365 But here's the thing, guys. 00:17:40.365 --> 00:17:45.310 Here's the thing If you're going to follow Jesus, you got to go to school. 00:17:45.310 --> 00:17:49.007 You got to go to Jesus school. 00:17:49.007 --> 00:17:58.403 All followers of Jesus have the privilege of going through a training program designed especially for them. 00:17:58.403 --> 00:18:04.855 The purpose is to separate what is worthless from what is precious. 00:18:04.855 --> 00:18:12.633 The purpose is to separate what is worthless from what is precious and to form in them the kind of hearts that look and act like their Lord and to get them ready for their ministry. 00:18:12.633 --> 00:18:20.334 And Peter had a specific personalized curriculum in the school of Jesus. 00:18:20.334 --> 00:18:24.567 And you do too, and I do too. 00:18:24.567 --> 00:18:28.536 So what did Peter learn from Jesus' school? 00:18:28.536 --> 00:18:32.209 And it's impossible to go through everything he learned. 00:18:32.209 --> 00:18:36.103 It would be a really long sermon or a long sermon series really to do that. 00:18:36.103 --> 00:18:40.353 But I've pulled a few things out, things that Peter learned from Jesus' school. 00:18:40.353 --> 00:18:46.313 One thing he learned is that once you meet Jesus, you will never be the same. 00:18:46.313 --> 00:18:51.002 Never be the same. 00:18:53.307 --> 00:19:11.657 Strong people have to learn that they're not strong enough, that they are dependent on other people, and God has to change us from one thing into another, and often in Scripture that transformation is signified by a name change. 00:19:11.657 --> 00:19:15.086 And we see it all through Scripture, really. 00:19:15.086 --> 00:19:31.095 We see Abram to Abraham, we see Jacob to Israel, we see Saul to Paul and in this case we see Simon. 00:19:31.095 --> 00:19:35.685 And Jesus says I'm changing your name and you're going to be called Peter, which means a rock. 00:19:35.685 --> 00:19:47.018 Simon means one who listens and live up to your name, please. 00:19:47.018 --> 00:20:04.136 Peter means rock, and so this change of name is a change in destiny, and Jesus is helping Peter to see the kind of person he can become if he follows Jesus. 00:20:04.136 --> 00:20:05.919 There's a hope. 00:20:05.919 --> 00:20:10.711 There's hope for all of us guys. 00:20:10.711 --> 00:20:19.768 Now, maybe you didn't have a literal name change in your life, but maybe your life has changed so much that the people around you don't even recognize you anymore. 00:20:19.768 --> 00:20:22.394 That's the way it is with me. 00:20:22.394 --> 00:20:23.336 Amen. 00:20:23.336 --> 00:20:25.202 It's the way it is with me. 00:20:25.202 --> 00:20:33.352 I have trouble getting people to believe my testimony because I was such a mess before I was born again and Jesus changed everything. 00:20:33.352 --> 00:20:35.411 That's the way he does it. 00:20:37.885 --> 00:20:44.592 Another thing he learned in Jesus' school is you use what you're given, use what you've been given. 00:20:44.592 --> 00:21:00.247 It's a curious thing to me in Scripture that many times when God uh is preparing you to do something in the spirit, it's the same kind of thing that he prepared for you to do in the natural. 00:21:00.247 --> 00:21:03.416 You know what you're doing in the natural is. 00:21:03.416 --> 00:21:08.429 You're learning things about what you are going to be doing in the spirit, and it happened with Moses. 00:21:08.429 --> 00:21:12.595 Moses was a shepherd for 40 years before he shepherded God's people. 00:21:12.595 --> 00:21:16.747 It was sheep first and then it was people, and I don't know which one's easier. 00:21:16.747 --> 00:21:21.438 I'd like to ask him that I think I do know which one's easier. 00:21:21.565 --> 00:21:27.137 Actually, john, when he was called, do you know what John was doing when he was called? 00:21:27.137 --> 00:21:33.729 He was mending, not the baptizer, john the apostle, john the disciple, he was mending nets. 00:21:33.729 --> 00:21:37.432 Mending nets, he was taking something broken and he was fixing it. 00:21:37.432 --> 00:21:49.184 Okay, so this was something that was dysfunctional, that he was pulling back into functionality, and he did that with his gospel. 00:21:49.184 --> 00:21:59.048 The first few verses of his gospel are literally a correction of the theology of his day, because there were some things, there were errors that were happening. 00:21:59.048 --> 00:22:02.425 He was pulling it right back, and you see it also in his letters. 00:22:02.425 --> 00:22:07.236 You see him pulling us back to the things that are right. 00:22:07.236 --> 00:22:12.385 He's mending nets right, the things that are right. 00:22:12.385 --> 00:22:13.067 He's mending nets right. 00:22:13.087 --> 00:22:15.112 Well, peter, when he was called, he was casting a net, he was fishing. 00:22:15.112 --> 00:22:16.855 He's literally throwing a net out there. 00:22:16.855 --> 00:22:26.368 And so that's what he did, not only in the natural, it's what he did in the spiritual Acts, chapter two, when the Holy Spirit fell and everything was changing. 00:22:26.368 --> 00:22:28.192 What did he do? 00:22:28.192 --> 00:22:30.755 He cast a net. 00:22:30.755 --> 00:22:41.726 He got 3,000 fish, at least that day, and what he did was he took something Jesus gave him, because Jesus gave him the keys to the kingdom. 00:22:41.726 --> 00:22:54.914 And he took those keys and he stood before the Jews and he opened the door to the kingdom to those Jews and he brought them in with the message of the gospel. 00:22:54.914 --> 00:23:10.191 And then, later on, in Acts 10, when that vision came and the Holy Spirit rebuked him and he went with Cornelius and he began to realize, hey, this is different, god cares about the nations. 00:23:10.191 --> 00:23:12.933 And he goes to Cornelius and he began to realize, hey, this is different, this is, god cares about the nations. 00:23:12.933 --> 00:23:15.696 And he goes to Cornelius's house and what does he do? 00:23:15.696 --> 00:23:24.484 He casts a net and he takes those keys that Jesus gave him and he opens the door to the kingdom for the Gentiles. 00:23:24.484 --> 00:23:27.951 This is what he did, he and John. 00:23:28.050 --> 00:23:29.193 Chapter three of Acts. 00:23:29.193 --> 00:23:31.176 They're healing a crippled man and what happens? 00:23:31.176 --> 00:23:34.710 He throws a net, preaches a sermon, throws a net. 00:23:34.710 --> 00:23:36.414 He goes fishing. 00:23:36.414 --> 00:23:38.913 Serve God in your own way. 00:23:38.913 --> 00:23:41.411 Use what you've been given. 00:23:41.411 --> 00:23:43.029 That's the way you're going to be most impactful. 00:23:43.029 --> 00:23:44.575 That's what he learned. 00:23:45.546 --> 00:23:50.096 But he learned some things too after Jesus resurrected and ascended into heaven. 00:23:50.096 --> 00:24:01.142 But he learned some things too, after Jesus resurrected and ascended into heaven, and one of the things he learned was we need the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:24:01.142 --> 00:24:06.457 After being filled with the Spirit, peter became the rock that Jesus spoke about, the rock of stability. 00:24:06.457 --> 00:24:15.148 This unstable man became a pillar of stability in the early church when the Holy Spirit came upon him. 00:24:15.148 --> 00:24:22.147 Okay, and how are we going to get into what God has called us to do without being filled with the Spirit? 00:24:22.147 --> 00:24:24.452 Guys, it's so important. 00:24:24.452 --> 00:24:27.444 I know the Holy Spirit's inside of us. 00:24:27.444 --> 00:24:37.307 He lives here, but we need to be praying to be filled with him consistently, because the scripture says to be filled with the Spirit literally means to be being filled with the Spirit. 00:24:37.307 --> 00:24:39.212 Continually filled with the Spirit. 00:24:39.212 --> 00:24:40.556 I need him every day. 00:24:40.556 --> 00:24:49.607 I need the Holy Spirit to help me actually walk out Christianity, actually follow Jesus and to step into my destiny. 00:24:49.607 --> 00:24:53.717 We need to cry out for that, trust God, for that. 00:24:53.717 --> 00:24:54.719 Be filled with the Spirit. 00:24:54.719 --> 00:24:56.932 But also he learned that we need to be filled with the Scriptures. 00:24:58.045 --> 00:25:20.613 In Acts, chapter 2, peter is powerfully preaching at Pentecost and he's proclaiming the words of Jonah, or of Joel rather of Joel, not Jonah, but Joel and also the Psalms, all of these Psalms that are coming together in his mind. 00:25:20.613 --> 00:25:26.594 He's beginning to realize, wow, all of this stuff about Jesus was already foretold. 00:25:26.594 --> 00:25:29.243 And he's beginning to say these scriptures out loud to the people. 00:25:29.243 --> 00:25:29.637 Well, how could he say it? 00:25:29.637 --> 00:25:30.762 Because these scriptures out loud to the people? 00:25:30.762 --> 00:25:31.351 Well, how could he say it? 00:25:31.351 --> 00:25:32.152 Because they're in there. 00:25:32.152 --> 00:25:33.335 That's how he could say it. 00:25:33.335 --> 00:25:34.978 They're in his heart. 00:25:34.978 --> 00:25:37.468 Already this fisherman had the word of God in his heart. 00:25:37.468 --> 00:25:42.477 We need to be filled with the scriptures. 00:25:42.477 --> 00:25:45.709 He also learned that we need our brothers and sisters. 00:25:47.051 --> 00:25:50.499 Acts, chapter 1 and 2, and 3 and 4 and basically the rest of it. 00:25:50.499 --> 00:26:09.915 He was in Acts, chapter 1, he was together, all together, with the believers in one accord right, and the Holy Spirit fell upon them and they were all together the day of Pentecost and Peter stepped forward. 00:26:09.915 --> 00:26:14.970 He was with them and he stepped forward from them and he began to preach. 00:26:14.970 --> 00:26:21.336 But he was with them and he was with John in the temple when they performed the miracle. 00:26:21.336 --> 00:26:28.593 And we see that the group, the community, was together in Acts, chapter 2, and Acts, chapter 4. 00:26:28.593 --> 00:26:30.392 They had all things in common. 00:26:30.392 --> 00:26:35.153 They were continuing in fellowship and breaking in bread and prayer, the apostles teaching. 00:26:35.153 --> 00:26:36.155 They were together. 00:26:36.155 --> 00:26:39.692 So he understood we need each other. 00:26:39.692 --> 00:26:43.771 Can't do it on your own. 00:26:45.787 --> 00:26:51.269 He understood that there's joy in being persecuted for righteousness sake. 00:26:51.269 --> 00:27:04.233 Chapters 4 and 5 of Acts they were persecuted when they spoke about Jesus but they continued speaking in Jesus' name because they said we have to obey God instead of man. 00:27:04.233 --> 00:27:13.719 So they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name. 00:27:13.719 --> 00:27:17.688 It's beautiful. 00:27:17.688 --> 00:27:19.673 There's joy even in suffering. 00:27:19.673 --> 00:27:28.393 And that which he learned is that which he spoke through that first letter of 1 Peter to those early church believers. 00:27:29.776 --> 00:27:32.846 He also understood the importance of the fear of the Lord. 00:27:32.846 --> 00:27:37.993 Fear of the Lord is a healthy fear. 00:27:37.993 --> 00:27:50.980 It's a wholesome dread of displeasing God and it's a wholesome understanding of his holiness and that he is sovereign Lord and we know that he's Father and we know that he's father. 00:27:50.980 --> 00:28:06.530 We know that he loves us, we know he wants to be intimate in relationship with us, but we also have to understand that he's holy and that we have to live holy and if we don't do it, things are going to fall. 00:28:06.530 --> 00:28:33.148 He learned that message because of Ananias and Sapphira and they came in and they were saying things that weren't true. 00:28:33.148 --> 00:28:40.630 They lying to the, the church, to the apostles, to the holy spirit, and the end of that was they were killed and peter had a message. 00:28:40.630 --> 00:28:50.757 Peter had a prophetic word about it and it said after that that fear, great fear, came upon the region and the believers there. 00:28:50.757 --> 00:28:58.635 And the fear of the Lord is clean and the fear of the Lord keeps us focused on what's right. 00:28:58.635 --> 00:29:04.352 The fear of the Lord is to hate what is wrong and to love what is right, and fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 00:29:04.352 --> 00:29:12.114 This is where wisdom and purity come into your life by having a fear of the Lord. 00:29:12.114 --> 00:29:14.069 It's a beautiful thing. 00:29:16.526 --> 00:29:33.381 He also learned that self-control is a part of wisdom In Acts, chapter 15, this story where the Jerusalem council were meeting because, you know, the gospel was going forward, the Gentiles were receiving it and God was doing the same thing with the Gentiles that he was doing with the Jews, and they had no grid for that. 00:29:33.381 --> 00:29:35.808 They had no understanding how this could even happen. 00:29:35.808 --> 00:29:39.547 And so they're gathering together and saying what should we even do? 00:29:39.547 --> 00:29:41.836 I mean, do they need to keep the law? 00:29:41.836 --> 00:29:42.681 These Gentiles? 00:29:42.681 --> 00:29:43.925 They don't even know what the law is. 00:29:43.925 --> 00:29:45.608 What should happen? 00:29:45.788 --> 00:29:48.534 And you know what the old Simon would have done. 00:29:48.534 --> 00:29:51.720 He would have known what to say. 00:29:51.720 --> 00:29:54.053 He would have stepped up, whether it was right or not. 00:29:54.053 --> 00:30:04.217 He would have opened his mouth, he would have said something rash and he would have I don't know, maybe caused confusion, I don't know. 00:30:04.217 --> 00:30:08.114 But you know what Peter did. 00:30:08.114 --> 00:30:17.931 He stepped back and he let all the other guys talk A lot of heavy hitters there, right, and they're all talking. 00:30:17.931 --> 00:30:21.414 He let them all talk, let them give their wisdom. 00:30:21.414 --> 00:30:32.683 And then he gave his wisdom, and it was wise, it was actual, it was actually right, it was actually correct, it was actually correct. 00:30:32.683 --> 00:30:38.156 So only after others had spoken did he step up and give his own wisdom. 00:30:38.156 --> 00:30:40.452 So he learned self-control is a part of wisdom. 00:30:41.424 --> 00:30:46.678 And he learned to overcome his prejudices and walk in the gospel consistently. 00:30:46.678 --> 00:30:53.586 Remember, he had this message that he took from that vision that was let down from heaven. 00:30:53.586 --> 00:30:55.413 He took this message to the Gentiles. 00:30:55.413 --> 00:31:01.191 He knew it was for the Gentiles In Acts, chapter 15, he was talking about that very thing. 00:31:01.191 --> 00:31:08.791 But then later the apostle Paul had to rebuke him because he had stepped back from that truth. 00:31:08.791 --> 00:31:14.866 He had actually stopped eating with Gentiles when Jewish people were around and Peter had to say. 00:31:14.866 --> 00:31:24.816 Paul had to say Peter, no, you're not doing well, you're not walking consistently in the gospel. 00:31:24.816 --> 00:31:29.035 So Peter had to learn to grow in grace. 00:31:29.035 --> 00:31:32.594 This is the big thing he learned. 00:31:32.594 --> 00:31:34.891 We never stop growing in grace. 00:31:34.891 --> 00:31:42.771 Right, his life is up and down, but there's a constant in all of our lives we're all up and down, but there's a constant. 00:31:42.771 --> 00:31:45.329 It's the grace of God, it's the gospel of Jesus. 00:31:45.329 --> 00:31:46.493 That's the constant. 00:31:46.493 --> 00:31:50.894 But he had to learn that, sometimes the hard way. 00:31:50.894 --> 00:31:56.498 Do you know anybody like that that forgets what you've learned? 00:31:56.498 --> 00:32:08.704 But I want to close with maybe the greatest lesson that I see that he learned, and it had to do with his failure actually. 00:32:08.704 --> 00:32:10.208 And it had to do with his failure actually. 00:32:10.228 --> 00:32:15.458 There were many kindnesses that Jesus showed toward Peter in his life. 00:32:15.458 --> 00:32:19.087 The name change was a kindness. 00:32:19.087 --> 00:32:29.307 Once he said Satan desires to sift you like wheat, but I've prayed for you and when you're converted, strengthen your brothers. 00:32:29.307 --> 00:32:35.578 Okay, you're not going to fall or you're not going to fall completely. 00:32:35.578 --> 00:32:41.776 I've prayed for you and you're even going to out of that, you're going to strengthen people. 00:32:41.776 --> 00:32:49.092 This was something that was a kindness of Jesus and it actually was a kindness that a special message was given to Peter. 00:32:49.092 --> 00:33:07.144 Actually, it was a kindness that a special message was given to Peter even at the resurrection, when the angel said go tell the disciples, and Peter and Peter, oh, tell Peter, especially tell Peter. 00:33:07.144 --> 00:33:21.150 This is kindness, because all the while, jesus the good shepherd was shepherding his little sheep, but what was happening is he was getting ready to graduate from Jesus' school. 00:33:21.150 --> 00:33:29.030 Another shepherd to shepherd his sheep, and so, in John, chapter 21,. 00:33:29.030 --> 00:33:34.097 You know the story, shepherd his sheep. 00:33:34.097 --> 00:33:35.762 And so in John chapter 21,. 00:33:35.762 --> 00:33:42.565 You know the story, what he learned was failure does not disqualify you from service to God. 00:33:42.565 --> 00:33:48.890 That's good news, for we're restored by the kindness of Jesus. 00:33:48.890 --> 00:33:52.633 We're restored by the kindness of Jesus. 00:33:52.633 --> 00:33:54.693 So here he is. 00:33:55.894 --> 00:33:58.998 Peter had overestimated himself. 00:33:58.998 --> 00:34:01.920 He said I'll never forsake you, lord. 00:34:01.920 --> 00:34:04.761 These other guys, I don't know about them. 00:34:04.761 --> 00:34:08.628 They're a little wimpy. 00:34:08.628 --> 00:34:11.032 I have my doubts about them, but I know me. 00:34:11.032 --> 00:34:13.936 I will never deny you. 00:34:13.936 --> 00:34:19.460 I will never deny you, lord. 00:34:19.460 --> 00:34:19.903 I will never. 00:34:19.903 --> 00:34:24.632 You can count on me. 00:34:24.652 --> 00:34:25.914 He overestimated himself. 00:34:25.914 --> 00:34:28.177 He thought he was more committed than he was. 00:34:28.177 --> 00:34:35.119 He thought he loved Jesus committed than he was. 00:34:35.119 --> 00:34:36.244 He thought he loved Jesus more than he did. 00:34:36.244 --> 00:34:38.849 He thought he loved Jesus more than the other people. 00:34:38.849 --> 00:34:41.257 He thought he could go through any temptation and come out victorious. 00:34:41.257 --> 00:34:41.998 But he was wrong. 00:34:41.998 --> 00:34:45.969 On all of those counts he was wrong. 00:34:45.969 --> 00:34:48.414 And now Peter's unsure. 00:34:48.414 --> 00:34:50.898 All of his failures are right in front of him. 00:34:50.898 --> 00:34:55.795 He's not filled with the power of the Holy Spirit yet, john 21,. 00:34:57.126 --> 00:34:58.228 He denied his Lord. 00:34:58.228 --> 00:34:59.811 And what does he do now? 00:34:59.811 --> 00:35:04.666 What do you do now when everything you built your life on is gone? 00:35:04.666 --> 00:35:05.909 What do you do? 00:35:05.909 --> 00:35:08.753 How do you go forward? 00:35:08.753 --> 00:35:09.355 I mean, what do you? 00:35:09.355 --> 00:35:09.635 Even? 00:35:09.635 --> 00:35:12.186 Everything has to change now, right. 00:35:12.186 --> 00:35:14.050 I mean, do you abandon ministry? 00:35:14.050 --> 00:35:15.251 Do you abandon your dreams? 00:35:15.251 --> 00:35:19.487 And he's shocked at his own response. 00:35:19.487 --> 00:35:23.952 He betrayed himself, he denied Jesus. 00:35:23.952 --> 00:35:25.052 He betrayed himself. 00:35:25.052 --> 00:35:28.677 He's a broken man, no confidence. 00:35:28.677 --> 00:35:33.081 And Jesus tells them to go to Galilee and wait. 00:35:33.081 --> 00:35:35.269 And they go there. 00:35:35.269 --> 00:35:36.052 But they don't wait. 00:35:36.052 --> 00:35:37.731 He goes fishing. 00:35:41.606 --> 00:35:45.617 Peter turns back to what Simon knew. 00:35:45.617 --> 00:35:48.132 Simon knew fishing. 00:35:48.132 --> 00:35:55.137 He went back to just the only thing that he felt comfortable with. 00:35:55.137 --> 00:35:57.909 He took all the others with him. 00:35:57.909 --> 00:36:01.451 They were out there fishing and it was this is so classic. 00:36:01.451 --> 00:36:06.688 They're out there fishing, they fished all night and they caught nothing which felt very familiar to him. 00:36:06.688 --> 00:36:08.393 This has happened before. 00:36:08.393 --> 00:36:14.572 And somebody's on the shore and it says if you caught anything, no, throw it on the right side. 00:36:14.572 --> 00:36:17.539 Okay, this sounds really familiar to me. 00:36:17.539 --> 00:36:20.751 And then they get a catch that they can't even haul in. 00:36:20.751 --> 00:36:23.378 This sounds, this is, this is not. 00:36:23.378 --> 00:36:26.409 I mean, it doesn't take them very long. 00:36:26.409 --> 00:36:28.853 Right, it takes them, maybe longer than it should have. 00:36:28.853 --> 00:36:33.150 But that must be Jesus over there and Peter what. 00:36:33.150 --> 00:36:34.590 He jumps in the water. 00:36:34.590 --> 00:36:35.891 He can't wait till the boat to get back. 00:36:35.891 --> 00:36:49.688 He jumps in the water and he goes and he swims to the shore and Jesus had made fish and made bread on a fire and he had a meal for him. 00:37:01.085 --> 00:37:10.759 Jesus recreated the same miracle that happened when he called Simon and now he's calling Peter back into his destiny. 00:37:10.759 --> 00:37:13.570 But Peter can't see it. 00:37:13.570 --> 00:37:28.972 He's sitting by the fire, he's warming himself because he's wet from the water and he remembers another fire that he sat by not too long ago warming himself. 00:37:28.972 --> 00:37:43.918 Not too long ago, warming himself the night Jesus was betrayed, the night he denied Jesus once and twice and a third time by lying and cursing. 00:37:43.918 --> 00:37:59.757 And surely the smoke from that fire was stinging his nostrils, just like the memory of his denial was stinging his soul. 00:37:59.757 --> 00:38:06.289 And he's sitting there by Jesus and thinking oh, here it comes, here it comes. 00:38:09.007 --> 00:38:13.411 And of all the things Jesus could say, he could have said a lot. 00:38:13.411 --> 00:38:18.532 Where's your great allegiance now, peter? 00:38:18.532 --> 00:38:25.097 Peter, I had such great hope for you. 00:38:25.097 --> 00:38:28.313 I thought you could be a leader in my movement. 00:38:28.313 --> 00:38:30.891 I poured so much into you. 00:38:30.891 --> 00:38:42.998 I feel like I just can't trust you now, going to have to put you on a program of rehabilitation before I can trust you. 00:38:47.726 --> 00:38:48.849 He didn't say any of those things. 00:38:48.849 --> 00:38:50.135 You know what he said. 00:38:50.135 --> 00:38:56.793 He said the most important thing Do you love me? 00:38:56.793 --> 00:39:00.940 Do you love me? 00:39:00.940 --> 00:39:07.614 He said Simon, simon, he used his old name, simon. 00:39:07.614 --> 00:39:14.851 Do you agapeo me, agape, agapeo? 00:39:14.851 --> 00:39:18.074 Do you love me with a high level of love? 00:39:18.074 --> 00:39:26.425 Do you love me with the most committed covenant kind of love, high level of love? 00:39:26.425 --> 00:39:29.771 You love me with the most committed covenant kind of love. 00:39:29.791 --> 00:39:30.693 And Peter said Lord, I phileo you. 00:39:30.693 --> 00:39:34.780 Phileo means brotherly love. 00:39:34.780 --> 00:39:38.065 It means you're my friend, you're my good friend. 00:39:38.065 --> 00:39:39.829 You're my good friend. 00:39:39.829 --> 00:39:42.735 Are you devoted to me, simon? 00:39:42.735 --> 00:39:46.610 Lord, you know you're my friend, simon. 00:39:46.610 --> 00:39:47.713 Are you devoted to me? 00:39:47.713 --> 00:39:55.177 Lord, you know I'm your friend. 00:39:57.266 --> 00:39:58.487 He wasn't even sure where his love was. 00:39:58.487 --> 00:40:02.092 He'd made that big boast before and he knew that didn't work out. 00:40:02.092 --> 00:40:03.775 He didn't know his own heart. 00:40:03.775 --> 00:40:07.440 Now, lord, you know I love you on this level. 00:40:07.440 --> 00:40:17.463 And the third time Jesus said Simon, do you phileo me? 00:40:17.463 --> 00:40:21.800 And it says Peter was grieved that he asked a third time. 00:40:25.914 --> 00:40:27.199 Maybe he was grieved because he used a different word. 00:40:27.199 --> 00:40:27.961 He used Peter's word. 00:40:27.961 --> 00:40:35.146