Peter: The Man, His Message, and Ministry, Part A

Tonight we begin a very incredible journey in the life of a man named Peter. Because we're going to look at the first epistle that he wrote.

And by doing so, we're going to understand more of this man himself. And the Bible says in, of course, the book of First Peter, these words, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.

We'll stop right there because we're not going to get any further than that this evening. We're going to talk about Peter, this man, his message, and his ministry, and how God would shape this man. The Bible tells us in Romans 15, verse number four, these words, for whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction that through perseverance and the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope. Peter's epistle is about hope for those who hurt. If you hurt in any capacity, physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, Peter has words that will encourage you.

And the scriptures were written to give us encouragement that we might understand how God works in the lives of people. And one of the people we're going to look at this evening, the one we're going to look that primarily is, of course, Peter in what God did in his life, and how God would mold him through a series of events that would lead him to become a great apostle for the Lord Jesus Christ.

While man tends to veil the sins of his contemporaries, the Bible does not do that. The Bible is very clear, very lucid when it comes to showing us the frailties and the sins and mistakes and problems of people's lives. The reason it does is because the Lord doesn't want us to make the same mistakes these people did. He wants us to learn from their failures. He wants us to learn from their mistakes. And so when we read about these people in the Bible, we see ourselves in them and we see what God is doing in their lives and begin to see then what God wants to do in each of our lives.

Of all the disciples, Peter stands at the forefront. He was the leader of the 12. He was the spokesperson for the 12. He was the most popular of the 12. In Christ, throughout his ministry, said many things about Peter and to Peter. We will look at some of them this evening.

Alexander White speaks of Peter's influence when he says, After the name of our Lord himself, no name comes up so often in the four Gospels as Peter's name. No disciples speak so often and so much as Peter. Our Lord speaks oftener to Peter than to any other of his disciples. sometimes in blame and sometimes in praise. No disciple is so pointedly reproved by our Lord as Peter, and no disciple ever ventures to reprove his master but Peter. No other disciple ever so boldly confessed and outspokenly acknowledged and encouraged our Lord as Peter repeatedly did, and no one ever intruded and interfered and tempted him as Peter repeatedly did.

His master spoke words of approval and praise, and even blessing to Peter, the like of which he never spoke to any other man. And at the same time, almost in the same breath, he said harder things to Peter than he ever said to any other of his 12 disciples, unless, of course, it was Judas. And that's true. And we need to understand this man's personality, his character, his destiny, his destiny, how God, would use circumstances and situations to mold this leader to humbly serve him. Once you understand Peter, you begin to understand the letter he wrote in First Peter and in second Peter.

But it's always good to know the author of a particular book and what takes place in his life. And so I want to look at two points with you this evening.

One is a geographical sketch of this man's life. And two, the practicality of this man's life in terms of what God did in his Life and how it's portrayed. In his letter in First Peter.

All right? So if you have a Bible, turn with me to Mark Chapter 14. Mark chapter 14. This ist where we're going to begin this evening. Because I want you to notice four steps in Peter'S life that caused him to spiral downward.

And as he would begin to fall, you will notice that he will fall to great heights. He will fall to a place where God will use him in a very significant manner. It was AW Toza said that it's doubtful whether man can, whether God can bless a man greatly until he first of all hurts him deeply.

And that's true as you read through the Bible and examine the men and women in the scriptures. But as Peter begins to fall down, I want you to notice four things, four steps that cause him to fall greatly.

Pick up the narrative in Mark chapter 14, verse 26. And after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives, and Jesus said to them, you will all fall away because it is written, I will strike down the shepherd and the sheep, shall be scattered. But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee. We'll stop right there. Our Lord says, listen, now they're on their way to the Mount of Olives. And as they are walking to that vicinity, Christ quotes the Old Testament to let them know that this is what's going to happen.

Now, if it's written in the Bible, it's going to happen because the Bible is truth. And so Christ would quote the Old Testament to help his men understand that the shepherd was going to be smitten and his sheep were going to be scattered, referring, of course, to his disciples leaving him. Notice Peter's response.

Peter said to him, even though all may fall away, yet I will not. And Jesus said to him, truly I say to you that you yourself, this very night before a cock crows twice, shall three times deny me. But Peter kept saying insistently, insistently, even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. And they all were saying the same thing too. You see, they all followed Peter's example. Peter was a spokesperson. Peter was the leader of the 12. They chimed in with Peter. Oh, Lord, we will not fail you.

We will not deny you. And recall that Jesus had said to Luke chapter 22, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail. And what was Peter's response at that time? He said, Lord, with you, I am ready to go to prison and to death. He said, Lord, there is nothing that's going to cause me to deny you. There's nothing that's going to cause me to fall away from you. I'm with you 100%. Notice this.

The first step in falling down is the step of insolence, arrogance, pride. Insolence, and that was Peter, even if all are made to stumble, I will not, as if he was better than everybody else, as if he was a cut above the other 11 of Christ's men. Remember, in John 142, Christ said to Simon. He says, Simon, you shall be called Cephas. You shall be called Peter. You shall be called Rock. From now on, Peter, you're going to have a new name. You're going to have a name that's going to exemplify courage, stability, strength, dependability.

Peter wanting to live up to that name says, Lord, listen, I am rock. You can count on me. I'm dependable. I will never leave you, Lord. I will stand by you, Lord. And of course, he had a right, in some instances, we would think, to be that way. After all, he was the only disciple to walk on water. Nobody else did. We like to emphasize the fact that Peter fell when he was walking, but let me tell you something.

He was the only disciple to walk on water. He was the only one to get out of the boat and even attempt to walk on water. He also was on the Mount of Transfiguration, saw the unveiling of Christ as he would unzip his flesh and portray his glory, and he was the one who would have been recommended that we built an altar there on the Mount of Transfiguration to commemorate the site. He was a man who was filled with arrogance. We're that way, too. We don't necessarily like to admit it. And our arrogance is expressed maybe in another way.

We can express it this way. I'm not going to forgive that individual. Why would I forgive them? After all they've done to me. All that is is arrogance, insolence, pride, an unwillingness to humble ourselves to forgive another person. another way arrogance is displayed is by the very fact that you can't expect me to stay with my spouse the way they treat me the way they talk to me the way they act around me the way they demean me in public i will not stay with that individual any longer that's arrogance as if we are better than our spouse they are worse than we are and why would i lower myself to continue to be married to them or be with them when all they do is treat me with disgust.

Another way is we can say, why would I give my money to the Lord on Sunday? I can think of a lot better things to do with my money than to give it to the church. Again, it's a way of demonstrating my pride and my arrogance. And the Bible says in 1st John 2, verse number 16, we need to be careful about the pride of life.

The pride of life. the highest corruption of man's being is the exaltation of himself. That's what Satan's problem was way back in Isaiah chapter 14, where he tried to reach the heights of God, the ambition to rise as the prince of the world, Satan himself would try to arise, try to exalt himself. And this wasn't the first time Peter did something.

You recall back in Mark chapter 8 when they were in Cessori of Philippi and Christ, and Jesus said, you know, who do men say that I am? And Peter said, well, now are the Christ, instead of the living God? Well, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood is not revealed it to you, but my father who is in heaven. And then he began to talk about how he was going to suffer and die. And Peter said, oh, stop that Lord. Who, you can't say stuff like that. Come over here. Let's have a little conversation.

Lord, you're not going to let that happen to you. That's not going to be the was. What did Christ say? Christ said, get thee behind me who? Satan. Get behind me, Satan. Because, you see, Peter was being used of Satan to keep Christ from his ultimate mission. Peter didn't even know he was being used by Satan, but he was. To get Christ away from Calvary. But Peter's attitude was, Lord, you can always count on me. I am rock. I am dependability. I am courage. I am stability. But remember, the unipotent God of the universe doesn't need your assistance.

We think he does. He does not. Insolence was his first step. downward. Independence was his second step downward.

If you go back to Mark chapter 14, it says this in verse number 32 and they came to a place named Gessimony. He said to his disciples, sit here until I have prayed and he took with him Peter, James, and John and began to be very distressed and troubled. He said to them, my soul is deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and keep watch. And he went a little beyond them and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible the hour might pass him by. And he was saying, Abba Father, all things are possible for thee.

Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but what thou wilt. And he came and found them sleeping and said to Peter. He didn't say to James. He didn't say to John. He said to Peter. Why did he say to Peter? Lord, though everybody else fall away, I'm your man. You can count on me. You name me Mr. Rock. You see, he thought he was the first Rocky.

And so he thought nothing could cost him to fall. So Christ, of course, would address him. Say, Peter, Simon, are you asleep? could you not keep watch for one hour keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak and again he went away and prayed saying the same words and again he came and found them sleeping for their eyes were very heavy and they did not know what to answer him and he came the third time and said to them are you still sleeping and taking your rest, it is enough.

The hour has come. Behold, the son of man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Arise, let us be going. Behold, the one who betrays me is at hand. Now, get the picture. Christ tells these three men he is grieved and troubled in heart. Think of this. The God man coming to you and saying, I am deeply troubled. I am deeply grieved. Will you watch with me for one hour? What would you do? What would you do? What would you say? He goes off to pray. He comes back and Peter, James and John are asleep, fast asleep.

He says, Peter, Simon, what are you doing? Could you not watch with one hour? The one who said, I'll never deny you, can't even watch for one hour? He went away. What would you do? I'd stay awake. I mean, I'd stay up. Not Peter. He went to sleep. And so Christ comes back again. He goes away. He comes back again. And you know what? They're still asleep. Listen, you know, when I go to sleep and I get, you know, waking, when I get awoken by someone, I don't go back to sleep. I can't go back to sleep.

I'm too restless. us. Not Peter. Not Peter. Twice that happened. Within a space of one hour. He went back to sleep. That's independence. That's independence. He had boasted about his commitment. And yet, he was unwilling because of his arrogance to seek God's God's. guidance, God's support, God's power, and all of this will precede his denial. Listen, if you are an insolent man, you then become an independent man. You don't need God. You can do it yourself. I've already given you my word. I'm with you, Lord.

I don't need to pray, too. But his independence would cause him to fall further and further away from the Lord, not closer to the Lord. Remember, this is the one who heard men not always to pray and not to faint, right? These are the ones who said to them, Lord, teach us how to pray. Luke 11, verse number one.

So the Lord taught them how to pray because he wanted them to be prepared for this night. But they weren't. Listen carefully. We lose our battle before men in the courtyard because we don't bow before God in our closets. You mark it down. You lose your battle before men in your community when you don't bow before God in your closet. And before Peter ever denied his Lord, he didn't believe he needed his Lord. Why pray? Don't need to. This is the most anticipated event of eternity, Calvary. This is the greatest day, the Eve of the greatest day in the history of the world.

and Peter's asleep. That's amazing to me. You see, prayer expresses our dependence upon God. When you don't pray, you express your independence from God. You don't need God. Listen, you can judge how dependent you are upon your God by how much you spend in your closet in prayer with God. if prayer's a priority for you you're a dependent person if prayer's not a priority to you it's because you are an independent person and the only reason you are independent is because you are insolent you are arrogant you are proud you said well i didn't come to church for you to tell me that i was an arrogant individual i don't mean it to sound that way but i need you to understand something This was the greatest of the 12 disciples.

This was the strongest of the 12 disciples. And this man was about to fall greatly. See, it's hard to stumble when you're on your knees, right? If you just stay on your knees, you don't stumble. It's when you get up and start to walk around and think you don't need the Lord is when you're going to be in trouble. You see, they weren't prepared to face what they were about to face. Why did Christ say, watch and pray? He knew what was going to happen in the next hour. They didn't know. And they were not prepared to face the battle.

They weren't. And three times Christ said, you watch and pray. You watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. And what do they do? You kidding me? I got to get some shut out. I'm tired. They wouldn't sleep. They didn't need the Lord. And can you imagine the shock when they would see Judas leading the band of soldiers to the guard? They weren't prepared for that. His insolence led to his independence. Listen, his independence would lead to his impatience. Let's read on. Verse 43, and immediately while he was still speaking, Judas one of the 12 came up accompanied by a multitude with swords and clubs from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.

Now, he who was betraying him had given them a signal saying, Whomever I shall kiss, he is the one, seize him, and lead him away under guard. And after coming, he immediately went to him saying, rabbi and kissed him. and they laid hands on him and seized him, but a certain one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. Who do you think that is? Peter, read John 18. Peter draws the sword. The high priest's servant's name is Malchus, according to John 18.

And you need to read this account with John 18, because you see when these men are coming to find the Lord he goes to meet them at the garden entrance and he says whom do you seek and they said Jesus of Nazareth and he said I am and what happened to them bang they all fell over every one of them there were 600 soldiers and they all fell over and Jesus fell over and Jesus Jesus said, who is it you're seeking? Who is it you looking for? Who do you want? And they got back up again. So Peter's thinking, what?

This is great, man. He draws a sword, wax off Malcolm is here. You know what Christ does? John 18, he picks up the ear, puts it back on, and heals him right there. Can you imagine the littlest miracle that Christ ever performed? was the loudest miracle he ever performed. Amazing. He just put it right there. Put it back. He told Peter, put your sword back into its place. For all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot appeal to my father and he will at once put at my disposal more than 12 legions of angels?

How then shall the scriptures be fulfilled that it must happen this way? Peter, put your sword away. I don't need your help, Peter. Peter, I don't need you. All I got to do is ask my father, he'll send legions of angels. But Peter was impatient. He didn't want to wait for the Lord. Independent people are very impatient people. And he was impatient. and patience is the characteristic of one who isn't in the process of trusting God. He wasn't willing to trust God, nor was he wanting to trust God's word in the situation.

You ever been there? Things around you are unraveling. So you've got to do something. So you step out instead of trusting God, instead of trusting what his word has already said, you begin to take matters into your own hands. Do you ever do that? We'd like to be in control. And Peter was an impatient man. He took manners into his own hands and totally forgot about what God's word said, what God had told him for three years of ministry, and what God had just demonstrated in front of him at that time, when all those soldiers fell backwards.

much.