Peter the Man (3)

Introduction: The Purpose of Studying Peter the Man

0:03 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, December 28, 1997, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now, in setting the stage for a series of expositions in that portion of God's Word that we have come to recognize and identify as 1 Peter, I am taking several Lord's Day mornings in order to set before you just a very small sampling of the many portions of the Word of God which help us to understand something of Peter the man. And if you ask why am I doing this, rather than plunging right into 1 Peter verse 1, my answer is quite simple, and it is this. Scripture is the words of God. It is the words of God given to us in the words of men. And in giving us His very words, 1 Corinthians 2 verse 12, and in giving them in the words of men, God has so ordained this process of giving us His words, that the men through whom He gives them lend to those words something of the contours, the dimensions of color and hue,

1:27 of their own God-given and redeemed humanity. And therefore, to increase our understanding and accurate handling of the words of any of the penmen of Scripture, if God has given us some insights with respect to that particular individual, it will help us both in understanding and in accurately receiving those words. So in our first study, we considered, Peter's background as it was shaped by the all-encompassing providence of God. Taking what the Scriptures tell us about his parentage, his place of dwelling, his religious upbringing, his marital status and his occupation, we are able to see something of the wise providence of God that was shaping and molding this man from his birth to be the man who could write this letter that begins with the words, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. In our last study, we began to consider Peter's spiritual pilgrimage as it was governed by the all-transforming grace of God. And in that message, I stated that a helpful bracket of reference in trying to sort out all of the things that the Scriptures tell us about Peter the man

2:53 and how God dealt with him in his spiritual pilgrimage is to think of the materials in the time bracket before Pentecost. That would take in all of the Gospels and the early verses of Acts chapter 1 and then the after-Pentecost experience. And that would take in, of course, the book of Acts and a few very helpful insights that we gain from the epistles of Paul. Now in that study last time, we had occasion to look at just three of those pivotal events in Pentecost.

Peter's Unusual Prominence and Privileges Before Pentecost

3:26 We had Peter's spiritual pilgrimage, his initial encounter with Jesus, John 1, 35-42. And the most significant thing in that encounter is that Jesus tells Peter, your name will be changed to Cephas or Rock. And then we looked at his initial call to follow Jesus as a full-time disciple, Mark chapter 1, verses 16-20, and the additional incident recorded only in the...

3:56 The Gospel of Luke, Luke chapter 5, verses 1-11. And then we noted his appointment to the apostleship in Luke chapter 6, verses 12-16. Well, this morning we want to complete our selective examination of the before-Pentecost events which played a major part in preparing Peter the man for his privilege of becoming Peter the author of that letter that we shall be reading today. So we move on now from that initial encounter with Jesus, the initial call to full-time discipleship, appointment to the apostleship to this fourth category of events in the life of Peter. And I'm calling them his unusual prominence and privileges as one of the twelve apostles chosen by Jesus. His unusual prominence and privileges as one of the twelve apostles chosen by Jesus. His unusual prominence and privileges as one of the twelve apostles chosen by Jesus.

4:56 His unusual prominence and privileges as one of the twelve apostles chosen by Jesus. As the Lord Jesus is preparing the apostles for their strategic and unique role as the foundation blocks in his spiritual temple called the church, it soon becomes evident that Peter is marked out as a leader among leaders, a very privileged one among the privileged twelve. And I want you to look with me at chapter 1, verses 1-12. And I want you to look with me at chapter 1, verses 1-12.

5:26 And I want you to look with me at chapter 1, verses 1-12. Just several examples. This is not exhaustive. For example, in Mark chapter 5, we see that the Spirit of God has been careful to record that Peter, along with James and John, are the only ones of the twelve brought into the inner room to witness the raising of Jairus' daughter.

5:50 In Mark chapter 5, in verse 22, we read, there came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet. And he makes his plea, Lord, come and heal my daughter. She is sick, nigh unto death. Meanwhile, the daughter dies.

6:09 And the Lord Jesus comes to the place where death has intruded into this family. And we read in verses 35-40 what our Lord did. And while he yet spoke, there came from the ruler of the synagogues, those who said, your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?

6:32 But Jesus, not heeding the words spoken, said unto the ruler of the synagogue, fear not, only believe. And he suffered. He permitted no man to follow with him, save Peter and James and John, the brother of James. So our Lord Jesus, with these favored three, then enters into the house, verse 40, but he, having put them all forth, takes the father of the child and her mother and them that were with him and goes in where the child was.

7:12 Now we don't know all that was in our Lord's mind in setting his choice upon Peter, James, and John, but this much is clear. He was giving them a privilege denied the other nine. Of the apostles, he is singling them out for this privilege of witnessing his own mighty power in raising this young woman from the dead. In a similar way, over in Mark chapter 9, in that strange and mysterious event that we call the transfiguration, in which something of our Lord's inherent glory and majesty as the God-man breaks through the thin, the veil of his humanity, and his countenance becomes glistening. His very garments are transformed. Who is privileged to witness this? Mark 9, in verse 2.

8:08 And after six days, Jesus takes with him. Again, this was not an initiative taken by Peter, James, and John, but our Lord takes the initiative. And he takes Peter and James and John and brings them up into a high mountain apart, by themselves, and he was transfigured before them. Again, why he selected these, we cannot say with certainty, but one thing is clear.

8:38 He was giving them another occasion of an unusual privilege. They would not only see this favored three, the power of Jesus in raising Jairus' daughter, but they would see this manifestation of the very glory of their master, in a way that was denied others, even within the favored twelve. And again, when our Lord moves deeper into the garden, on that occasion, just before his betrayal, and then his trial and his crucifixion, when our Lord goes into Gethsemane, he goes in with eleven of those disciples. But according to Mark 14, verses 32 to 34, one says, And again, it is Peter, James, and John who are taken deeper into the garden and are there privileged to be invited into a fellowship of watching with their Lord. And they came to a place named Gethsemane, Mark 14, 32. And he said unto his disciples, Sit here while I pray. And he takes with him Peter and James and John and began to be grateful.

9:56 And he was greatly amazed and sore troubled. And he said unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. Abide here and watch. And so once again, Peter, along with these other two, is given the privilege of beholding something that the others were not privileged to see.

Further Privileges: Trial, Resurrection, and the Keys of the Kingdom

10:17 They would see their Lord until they fell asleep in this agony as he throws himself down upon the ground and cries out, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Furthermore, even though it would be the occasion of his tragic fall and denial of the Lord, it is Peter who goes into the place where our Lord is being put on trial. Matthew 26, verses 57 and 58. We read, And they that had taken Jesus led him away to the house of Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and elders were gathered together.

10:59 But Peter followed him afar off unto the court of the high priest and entered in and sat with the officers to see the end. Mark and Luke record nothing of anyone else being that close to this part of our Lord's trial. But we do discover in John's Gospel, John 18, verse 15, that John as well was there at this point in our Lord's trial, just a few hours before his crucifixion. And then when we read the Gospel records and come to the account of the resurrection, it is Peter who along with John runs to the tomb.

11:40 And though John being the younger outruns him, John merely takes a peek, but Peter stoops down and enters the tomb and is the first of the apostles to actually see the place where the Lord lay prior to his resurrection. And then there are those special words that are given in conjunction with the resurrection. Go tell the disciples and Peter. And then surely one of the passages in which the prominence and the great privilege of Peter is brought into the sharpest focus is in Matthew chapter 16.

12:17 In that familiar incident when our Lord asked the disciples, who do men say that I am? And they echo the current opinions, but then he turns and says to the twelve, he says unto them, Matthew 16, 15, he says unto them, but who do you say that I am? And Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood is not revealed unto you, but my Father who is in heaven.

12:52 And I also say unto you that you are Peter, you are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Now notice, I will give unto you, second person singular, he's still talking to Peter, and I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Now granted, over in chapter 18, those keys are given to the entire church, but here it is Peter singled out, though he is speaking for the others, the Lord does not say, blessed are all of you, but he says, blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. And he says to Peter, that you, Peter, will have a unique place in my purposes to constitute my church. I will give to you the keys of the kingdom. And while the Roman Catholic Church has built an entire fabric of an unbiblical structure upon the twisting of this passage, we must not allow the obvious sense of the passage, to go unheeded. Peter was given unusual privilege.

14:01 He was privileged to be blessed with this insight. He was privileged to be given this new name. No longer it is you shall be called, but you are now Peter, in virtue of that which Peter has come to discover about the identity of the Lord Jesus. And Peter is given some unusual prominence in the exercise of the key, the keys of the kingdom, whatever that may mean.

14:29 And so you can go through all of the gospel records. This has been but a sampling. And you will find again and again, whether it's listing the apostles, in which case Peter is always listed first, or even listing the favored three. It is always Peter, James, and John.

Significance of Peter's Prominence: Credibility and Influence

14:49 Whether it is the special commendation that is given, whether it's people inquiring of the policy, of the policy of our Lord, and they come to Peter as the one who seemed to be the natural leader and asked, does your master pay the temple tax? All the way through we see this place of prominence and privilege in the life of Peter. Now, what's the significance of these facts? If we believe all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness, why has the Spirit of God given us such a plethora of data to underscore this prominence and this unusual place of privilege assigned to Peter?

15:34 Well, let me seek to answer with two very simple statements. First, this unusual place of prominence and privilege given to Peter by the Lord Jesus would add additional weight to his credibility and influence in the early Christian community. Remember, it is Christ who is building his church. It is Christ who is placing the various gifts within his church, Ephesians chapter 4.

16:04 It is Christ who gives some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists, pastors and teachers. It is not that Peter is jockeying for a place of influence. It's not that Peter is politicking to be the top dog. No, we see in our Lord's dealings with the twelve that he has assigned to Peter this place of unusual prominence and privilege.

16:31 Why? Because the Lord Jesus sees the whole configuration of his church before his own eye. He is the great architect of his church and he sees where all of the various ones shall fit within his church. And he has purposed that Peter shall exercise a tremendous weight of influence upon the early Christian community.

16:56 That he will have a concentrated sphere of usefulness among those of Jewish background, even as he was fitting and preparing Paul to have an unusual sphere of influence among the Gentiles. But in so doing, he is making it evident that if Peter emerges in the early Christian community as a leader, it's not because he pushed himself forward, it's because Christ has come and has assigned him that place. And in validation of that assignment, he was giving to him, while yet here on earth, this unusual position of privilege and of prominence. We've got to remember, we went over some of this ground in our New Testament survey, that when the gospel was first preached, the apostles did not stand up and say, now let us turn to Matthew 17. Let us turn to Mark 8. Let us turn to John 14. All of the communication of the message was an oral communication.

17:58 And when Luke begins to write his gospel, you remember he says, I'm writing these things in order to establish you with respect to the things most surely believed among us. So when the story of the person and ministry and life of Jesus would be spoken by these eyewitnesses, the apostles, and others who labored with them, when they would speak out those facts that are now before us in Matthew, Mark, and Luke in particular, what would they have heard? They would have heard from these eyewitness accounts of the various interactions of Jesus with the twelve whom he had chosen, that Jesus was again and again giving to Peter a place of unusual prominence and privilege. Therefore, when Peter emerges as a leader in the church at Jerusalem, when Peter emerges as an apostle to the circumcision, when Peter sits down to write or dictate a letter to a group of Christians way off in Asia Minor who may not have ever seen his face, they may have, but there's nothing in Scripture or in any solid extra-scriptural tradition of history to indicate that Peter ever went to Asia Minor.

19:24 Yet he sits down and writes a letter, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to elect sojourners, and then he names the areas of Asia Minor. Can you see that as the message had been carried to them, and he mentions that toward the end of chapter 1, he said, you have heard the gospel preached unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, there would have been this groundswell of awareness, this Peter is indeed an apostle and a greatly privileged apostle, and that his leadership did not have to be forced upon people by argument or persuasion. The Lord Jesus himself had tailor-made his dealings with Peter so that he would have this additional weight of credibility and influence in the early Christian church. Now does that mean that they would not listen to another apostle who is never named as having seen the resurrection or the raising up of Jairus' daughter, having not seen the transfiguration? No. And that's why I use the terms, it would give additional weight to his credibility and influence in the early Christian community.

20:45 And let me just say by way of practical application to us, that pattern of our Lord Jesus in establishing Peter in his unusual place of privilege and his unusual profile contains a vital principle that any place of usefulness, any place of prominence, any place of privilege into which any one of us comes, if we come into it in the way of God, we will never force our way into it. It will be given to us by Christ. And if we have any sense of the stewardship of that place, we would, if we could, run from it. But we are constrained by the will of our Master. So it was with Peter. But the second significance is this. This unusual place of prominence and privilege given to Peter by the Lord Jesus was never understood by Peter, the other apostles, or the early Christian community as constituting him the first pope.

Significance of Peter's Prominence: Not the First Pope

21:52 This place of prominence and privilege was never understood by Peter, by the other apostles, by the early Christian community as making him the first pope. Did Peter think that the unusual prominence and privileges put him in a distinctly different category of authority over the other apostles and over the people of God? Well, according to the Scriptures, he did not. Look at the opening words of his letter.

22:25 He identifies himself, not Peter THE apostle, nor does he say, Peter, chief apostle of Jesus Christ. Now, in the guidance of the Spirit, he does use a word found nowhere else in the New Testament. You Greek students, they call those the the once-for-all words. When he is describing the Lord Jesus, in chapter 5, he calls him the archipoeme, the chief shepherd.

22:59 But he doesn't call himself the archi-apostle, apostolos. He just says, apostle of Jesus Christ. Puts himself in the same category with all of the other apostles. He assumes no superior office, even though he had been given unusual privileges and had been put in a place of unusual prominence.

23:28 Furthermore, when he goes to charge the elders who are shepherding the various churches in Asia Minor, notice how he identifies himself in chapter 5, verse 1. The elders therefore among you I exhort. Well, Peter, in what capacity are you going to exhort us as elders? Who am a fellow elder?

23:52 One word in the original. The prefix, together, or co. He said, I am a co-elder. And then he charges them with their task.

24:03 And then when Peter's talking about the church as a spiritual temple, and it has a cornerstone, and it has living stones, does he envision himself in some unique and special place in the raising up of that spiritual temple? Look at chapter 2 of his epistle. He says, because it is contained in Scripture, 1 Peter 2, 6, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect and precious. He that believes on him shall not be put to shame.

24:34 For you therefore that believe is the preciousness, but for such as disbelieve the stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner. Peter does not in any way view himself as the cornerstone and the foundation of the church of Christ. Yes, according to Ephesians chapter 2, all of the apostles in their doctrine are part of the foundation of the church. Christ Jesus himself being, as Paul says, the chief cornerstone.

25:07 And in this Peter and Paul are completely agreed that the only cornerstone in Christ's church is Christ himself. The only chief shepherd is the Lord Jesus. He is the only true bishop. That's how he describes him in chapter 2 in verse 25.

25:26 You were going astray like sheep, but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls. You see how careful Peter is. The very terms and titles that men have used to exalt a mere man as the representative and substitute the vicar of Christ on earth, Peter will have none of it. In spite of his consciousness that he was a greatly privileged man and he was put in a place of unusual prominence.

25:59 Now you see how that will help us when we pick up his letter? We're reading the letter of one who has a proper view of who he is in the purpose of God. And as we shall see, God willing, as we come to our final point this morning, Peter never, never loses sight of who he is in spite of his great privileges. And his Christ directed sphere of prominence.

Peter's Tragic Denial of Jesus: A Providentially Used Fall

26:24 But then the fifth very key event in Peter's spiritual pilgrimage and we pass over so many things is that which many of us think of when we think of Peter. His tragic denial of the Lord Jesus. His tragic denial of the Lord Jesus. And if you ask me, are you saying Pastor Martin that even that denial was part of the all-encompassing providence of God within which God was working His grace to prepare Peter to write a letter to persecuted and distressed saints way up in Asia Minor?

27:04 Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. It's interesting that this event is one of the relatively few that's recorded in all four Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It was this very Peter who boasted of his superior devotion, courage, and strength.

27:21 Let's look at it in Mark chapter 14. Peter often gets a bad rap here as though the other disciples were not likewise boastful. But Peter outboasts them. But here in Mark 14, our Lord Jesus speaking to the disciples says in verse 20, And Jesus said unto them, All of you will be offended, for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered abroad.

27:52 Howbeit after I am raised up I will go before you into Galilee. But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I. Though all should be offended, not I. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto you, that you today, even this night, before the cock crows twice, shall deny me three times.

28:15 But he spoke exceeding vehemently, if I must die with you, I will not deny you. Now notice, In like manner also said they all. The other ten were equally affirming that if they had to die with the Lord, they would not deny him. But it is Peter, of whom it is said, he spoke exceeding vehemently, and Peter alone, who in that context of others affirming their courage, and their strength, and their determination to be loyal to their Lord.

28:54 Peter is the only one who makes a comparison, said if all of these enthusiasts, even Peter out, and in a moment of weakness turn aside, I am a notch above these potential turncoats. Though all should forsake you, yet will not I. And it is this same Peter who attempts to prove that he means business in terms of what he said. You remember when the soldiers come, and the officers from the chief priests, and the representatives of those in the temple guard, you remember when they come into the garden to lay hold of our Lord?

29:28 Who is it that draws out his sword and goes after Malchus' head? It is Peter. He is ready to take on the whole bunch. I will prove that when Jesus said all should be offended, somehow that prophecy has got to tink it.

29:44 Though the rest of these will crack under the pressure, Lord I will not. And to prove it, out comes his sword, and he goes after Malchus' head, and he ducks, and he cuts off his ear. Now it is very interesting, Matthew, Mark and Luke just say a certain one drew out his sword, but in the Gospel of John that certain one is identified in John 18.10 as Peter.

30:04 He is going to prove that he really meant business. One man taking on this whole entourage that has come to arrest the Lord Jesus. He does not have a fighting chance, but he is going to show I am not short on courage. Out comes the sword, off comes Malchus' ear, and the Lord has to put it back on and heal him.

30:23 Well then, as you know, in a very short time, just a few months later, a few hours later, I am sorry, the very mouth, the very mouth that contradicted the Lord Jesus. Think of it. Jesus said, the Scripture says, smite the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. All of you are going to be offended.

30:43 Peter blurts out and contradicts the Savior. You see what he is doing? He is contradicting the Savior. He is saying, the Scriptures can be broken.

30:52 My courage, my resolution, my determination will override even the Scriptures. Isn't that what he was saying? Jesus said unto them, you will all be offended for it is written. Peter said, no, it may be fulfilled in all this point, but not me.

31:12 Think of it. Just a few hours later, in the very mouth that made those affirmations is the mouth that is first of all making up evasions and equivocations and then proceeds to downright lies and then to validate his lies. He even pronounces oaths and maledictions and curses upon himself if he is not telling the truth. You know, kids, you cry the hardest about your innocence when you are most guilty, right?

31:41 When you have got a good conscience and mama asks you something, you say, no, I don't know anything about it. When you have got a guilty conscience, you say, no, I never did it. That is exactly what Peter did. Look at Mark 14, verses 66 to 72.

31:55 It is not a pretty picture. Mark 14, verse 66. And as Peter was beneath in the court, there came one of the maids of the high priest. And seeing Peter warming himself, she looked upon him and said, you also were with the Nazarene, even Jesus.

32:13 But he denied, saying, I neither know nor understand what you are saying. He said, what in the world are you talking about? I don't know what you are talking about. He claimed ignorance of the significance of her words.

32:26 Then he proceeds to something worse. And the maid saw him and began to say to them that stood by, this is one of them. But he again denied it. And after a little while again, they that stood by said to Peter, of a truth, you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.

32:42 But he began to curse and to swear. That doesn't mean he let out a bunch of four-letter words. He began to pronounce curses upon himself. Do you remember how people say, I swear to God and hope to die if I'm not telling the truth, that kind of business?

32:55 That's what he was doing. He was saying in the name of the true and the living God, I am giving you the truth. If I am not speaking truth, may I be smitten for my lies. He began to curse and bring upon himself oaths of malediction.

33:11 And straightway the second time, the rooster crowed. And Peter called to mind the word how Jesus said unto him before, the rooster crows twice, you shall deny me. Three times. And he thought thereon, and he wept.

The Purpose of Peter's Denial: Equipping for Ministry to Suffering Saints

33:29 Here was his tragic denial of Jesus. Now why has the Holy Spirit recorded this for us? Is it to show up, Peter, so we can stand off in self-righteousness and say I would never do that? No.

33:43 Among the many reasons God has recorded this, that we might see how God was preparing him to write, to suffering saints way off in Asia Minor, who would likewise feel the pressure of those around them to deny their Lord. For to be a Christian in that setting was costing people something. The theme of suffering and of opposition is woven throughout the entire first epistle of Peter. And if Peter is going to understand what the pressures are when society begins to be more active in its hostility to the Christian and his consistent lifestyle, when they begin to suffer for claiming attachment to Christ, who knows better what that internal suffering is all about than one who had experienced it to such a degree that he denied his Lord, who could never again be boastful, who could not encourage others to trust in their own native characteristics of boldness and aggressiveness of temperament. Who better than one who falls prey to the devil in such a period as this to warn others as he does, be sober, be watchful, your adversary the devil as a roaring lion. Why did Peter include that?

35:09 Because he remembered the Lord's words, Satan has desired you to sift you as wheat. Behind the pressure of those who will speak to you there in the courtyard, Peter, behind the activity of those who will trump up charges against your master, behind the threats to your own skin, Peter, there's the activity of the devil himself. And Peter came to an experiential acquaintance with those realities. He could then write as he does in his epistle, chapter 4, verses 14 and 15, words that otherwise would not have had the same significance.

35:50 Let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or a meddler in other men's matters. If any man suffer as a Christian, listen to what Peter says, let him not be ashamed. Can you imagine something of what happened in Peter when he had those words either dictated them to someone to write or wrote them himself? He says, look, don't be ashamed in being identified as one of Christ's ones.

36:22 If you suffer as a Christian, one who is so identified with Christ that the world's opposition to him terminates upon you, don't be ashamed. I was ashamed, so ashamed that I denied that I knew him, so ashamed that I took oaths and maledictions upon myself, trying to persuade others that there was a great distance between Jesus on trial and this one whom you think is his disciple. You see, this tragic denial of Jesus was part of that which God did to prepare this man to write to suffering saints who would feel the pressure to deny the Lord. He needed to write to people not to be cocky and strong in their own strength, but to be watchful, to be sober, to recognize that they had an unseen but very real adversary. Hugh Martin, in his excellent expositions of some of the major incidents in the life of Peter, wrote very perceptively as follows. I summarize one paragraph in which he says Peter's native temperament was obviously an aggressive, forward, intense temperament and it comes out again and again in various incidents. And yet he makes this observation.

37:46 Yet there was clearly something needed before his capabilities in this respect could have their full play and exercise, their full consecration and use in the spiritual kingdom of the Lord. His natural turn or talent was manifestly combined with a share of carnal self-reliance as rendered it comparatively useless and occasionally dangerous in the household of faith. You see what he's saying? Yes, he has this natural temperament of being forward, being ready to speak of his devotion.

38:22 To whom else can we go, Lord? You alone have the words of eternal life. When the Lord comes walking on the water, who says, Lord, bid me to come and I'll come? It's Peter.

38:33 There's that aggressiveness. There's that intensity. He speaks openly. He speaks sometimes without even thinking.

38:41 That's what it says on the Mount of Transfigurations. Peter bumbled out some words and it says, for he knew not what to say. There's that element of his temperament that can be harnessed for the advancement of the kingdom. But Hugh Martin very perceptively says, but it had to come into a totally different sphere of orientation.

39:01 And he goes on to say, Peter counted these traits as his own. He trusted in them at hand, serviceable, ready to be relied upon. Though others forsake you and deny you, yet not me. I have this stock of native and cultivated courage.

39:16 If anything, Peter could regard as very likely to desert him. It was his bold and manly valor, his blunt and rugged courage. Alas, in one sad hour, the proud structure lies scattered on the ground to be reared anew on a different foundation. Not to be obliterated so that Peter becomes totally something other than God made him to be from his mother's womb.

39:47 God does not change Peter into someone who is reticent and tentative and always saying things last. No, God doesn't change his fundamental temperament. But he has to shatter the foundation on which it was being manifested and exercised. And through this event of his denial, God shatters it by letting Peter see that at the point of his greatest native strength, he was but a weakling unless upheld by the power of his Savior.

40:19 Courage will never fail me, he says. It may fail the others, but not me. And God had to teach him the great truth of John 15. Without me, you can do nothing.

Peter's Gracious Restoration and Recommissioning by Jesus

40:33 So his tragic denial of Jesus has overtones that are heard when we pick up his epistle and we'll have occasion again and again to hear some of those overtones. I've just hinted at two or three of them. But then finally, the great event, in which the Lord Jesus is preparing Peter for his usefulness in the future and for the time when he would write the first and second letters of Peter, is his gracious restoration and recommissioning by Jesus. His gracious restoration and recommissioning by Jesus.

41:11 And here again, in the interest of time, we pass over many details in which the Lord Jesus is acted restoring and recommissioning Peter after his tragic fall. There is the look of Jesus recorded in Luke 22, 61 and 62. Perhaps some of you have seen one artist's attempt to capture what that look might have been like. But the scripture is careful to say that Jesus looked upon him.

41:39 And it was that look, like the visit of Nathan the prophet to David, that began to pull the strings that eventually open up to him the heart of Peter and bring him into something that we can only describe as a paroxysm of genuine remorse and grief and the deepest repentance. He remembers the words that Jesus spoke. He weeps bitter tears. And then our Lord, in many ways, makes it evident he is committed to restore and recommission his servant.

42:15 He says, go tell the disciples. And Peter is still one of them. And Peter. And the scripture is careful to say there was a special post-resurrection appearance to Peter.

42:26 It's mentioned in Luke 24. It's mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15. All part of the Lord restoring. And these things are not there just to fill up space in our Bibles.

Jesus' Prayer and Prophecy: 'Strengthen Your Brethren'

42:37 But I want us to think more particularly upon two passages in which the restoration of Peter is most strikingly set before us. First of all, Luke chapter 22. Luke chapter 22. How does the Lord Jesus deal with one that he knows is going to deny him three times before the rooster crows twice?

43:00 In Luke chapter 22, we begin our reading. Excuse me. Luke chapter 22 and verse 31. Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you that he might sift you as wheat.

43:24 But I made supplication for you that your faith fail not. And you, when once you have turned again, establish your brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, with you I am ready to go both to prison and to death. And he said, I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day until you shall three times deny that you know me.

43:54 Now we can't go into a detailed exposition. It's been difficult to discipline myself to pass over some of these passages in such a surface manner. But will you notice that when our Lord announces that behind all that human eyes can see there is a real spiritual conflict in which the ancient prophecy of Genesis 3.15 is finding a very focused, concentrated expression in the warfare between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.

44:24 And he says to Peter, Satan has asked to have you. That he might sift you as wheat. The picture of placing some wheat into a kind of sieve and letting the grain drop through to the ground and the chaff would be kept and then thrown to one side. Satan's intention is to try to demonstrate that you're nothing but chaff.

44:46 But Peter, I know that you're wheat. You're real wheat. Wheat of my own planting and growing. And I've made supplication for you particularly praying that your faith will not fail.

44:59 It doesn't say I'm praying that your courage not fail. Had he prayed for that he never would have denied his Lord. But I'm praying, I have prayed that your faith fail not. Now notice.

45:09 And you, when once you have turned again. He's telling him, Peter, you're going to turn away. When the devil attempts to sift you as wheat you are going to turn away. But I'm telling you, Peter, you're also going to turn back again.

45:25 You see that? How can he turn back if he hasn't turned away? The Lord is telling him, Peter, there's going to be a temporary success of the devil, of the adversary. You are going to turn away.

45:37 But you shall be turned again. Why? Because I've prayed that your faith will not fail. And where the root of true God-imparted faith is in the soul of the man, that faith will not lie dormant in his soul.

45:52 It will be active. And our Lord Jesus says, I prayed, I made requests that your faith fail not. And when you have turned again. Now notice.

46:02 He lays this imperative upon him. Establish, strengthen, settle your brethren. Peter, remember. Though you will dissociate yourself from me, and in so doing temporarily dissociate yourself from the brotherhood of faith.

46:21 Peter, they are still your brethren. You're still part of the household of faith. And when you have turned again, Peter, Peter, you who have denied me, you who need a reconversion, a turning again, you will be an instrument in order, think of it, to strengthen your brethren. How does one so weak as to deny his Lord gain the gall to try to strengthen his brethren?

46:51 Well, it isn't a matter of Peter's gall. It's a matter of the Lord's appointment. And the Lord, in essence, is saying, Peter, part of the very crucible in which I'm preparing you to strengthen your brethren is what's going to happen to you in the next hours. You see, God's ways are not our ways.

47:13 The Lord Jesus is telling Peter, and he affirms it in the latter part of this passage, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. But all of this in the gracious providence and mercy of the Lord Jesus is part of that which God is using to make a fit instrument to strengthen his brethren. And in a very real sense, every time a Christian from A.D. 64 onward has heard Peter's epistles read, any time a believer in any language sits down with a translation of these epistles, the Lord's word is finding an additional fulfillment as brethren will be strengthened until the very day that the Lord Jesus comes back again. Strengthened with the words of one who did not float above us in a life of such unattainable consistency that we can't relate to him, but one who was sifted and in the sifting seemed to go down before the power of the adversary. So that if all you had known of Peter

48:29 was what you knew of him, in those minutes or that segment of time, however long it lasted between the first and the third denial, if all you knew was a man saying, get out of here, I don't know what you're talking about. No, I don't know anything about him. I'm certainly not one of his followers. And then you heard him say, if you don't believe me, I'll take solemn oaths in the name of the Lord God of Israel that he strike me dead if I'm not telling the truth.

48:58 If you only knew that, if you only knew that of Peter, you'd say, how in the world could someone like that ever be used to strengthen his brethren? And that for almost 2,000 years. Well, you see, God's determined to show that all of his ways are ways of grace. And upon the rubble of Peter's denial is built this man of God who in the purposes of God becomes the instrument of God to strengthen his brethren and to strengthen them with a realism that would never have been there had he not passed through this tragic denial of his Lord.

Jesus' Three-Fold Question and Recommissioning: 'Feed My Sheep'

49:39 So that's the first passage that points to this restoration of our Lord. But now, turn briefly to John 21. Perhaps some of you have already anticipated that passage. This appendix to the book of John in which the Lord Jesus manifests Himself to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias.

50:05 That's what we know as the Galilean Sea or Lake. And you remember what He does after providing this breakfast for the disciples who've been out fishing all night. We read in verse 15, When they had broken their fast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? And he said unto him, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.

50:29 He said unto him, Feed my lambs. And he said unto him a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? And he said unto him, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. And he said unto him, Shepherd my sheep.

50:45 He said unto him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Do you love me? And he said unto him, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you.

50:58 And Jesus said unto him, Feed or shepherd my sheep. Verily, verily, I say unto you, When you were young, you girded yourself, and walked where you would not, but when you shall be old, you will stretch forth your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you would not. Now this he spoke, signifying by what manner of death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he said unto him, Follow me.

51:26 What is our Lord doing? Our Lord is graciously restoring and recommissioning his disciples. And he is going to bring out of the very mouth that on three distinct concentrated situations, in three different specific situations, this very mouth that denied any attachment to Christ. From that very mouth, the Lord Jesus will now draw forth the confession of Peter's love.

51:58 Three times significant. Three denials before the rooster crows twice. Now that very mouth will confess its love to the Lord Jesus. Lord, I do love you.

52:12 You know everything. You know that I love you. And then he is distressed when he asks the third time. And he affirms again his love.

52:20 And the Lord Jesus does not question. He doesn't say, If you love me, how could you have done what you did back there when I was on trial? The Lord doesn't rub it under his nose. The same Lord who looked upon him knew that he went out and he wept bitterly.

52:37 That Lord knew all of the activity of that heart broken over its sin of denial. And the Lord had been graciously affirming to Peter that he had not cast him off. Go tell the disciples and Peter and the other indications of his love and concern. But now he focuses upon Peter.

52:58 And draws from his mouth the fresh confession of loving attachment. And then tells him that in his attachment to Jesus he will live to be an old man. And that as an old man he will be martyred for the cause of his Savior. Verse 19 makes it clear.

53:18 This he spoke signifying by what manner of death he should glorify God. And then when he had spoken this, he said unto him, Now imagine what these words must have meant to the man who with his brother in the fishing business with his other two men had heard Jesus there in the area of Capernaum pass by while they were there doing their trade and said, Follow me. Now the Lord Jesus utters the same words. Peter, nothing essential has changed in the extension of my grace to you.

53:56 Then several years ago I called you unto myself with the words, Follow me. Peter, you left your nest to follow me. And you've been a loyal follower. You've had a temporary lapse.

54:09 Satan has desired to sift you as wheat. But I've prayed for you that your faith fail not. And when you are turned again, Peter, strengthen your brethren. And how is he to strengthen his brethren?

54:21 He is to do it by feeding the lambs and feeding the sheep. And by shepherding them. And by shepherding Christ's sheep. Two different words used.

54:30 Bosco and Poimano. And we don't have time to go into the significance. But this much is clear. That Peter from this point on could never doubt that the Lord Jesus had fully forgiven him.

Conclusion: The Wonder of God's Grace in Peter's Life

54:42 That the Lord Jesus had restored him to his office as an apostle. That he was in attachment to the Lord Jesus to serve him throughout the rest of his days. And have the privilege of sealing his testimony of attachment to Jesus by laying down his life in martyrdom. Do you see how the gracious activity of our Lord forms the bridge from the tragic denials of Peter to the place where he can stand on the day of Pentecost and preach about this Jesus with a good conscience?

55:20 How years later, just a short while before his own martyrdom, he can sit down and pen an epistle to saints who are struggling against opposition and pressure. Some of whom may have caved in at this point or that point. And yet he can write encouraging them. He can write saying this is the true grace of God.

55:39 Stand fast in it. As he gives, as it were, a cryptic summary of the pressure of his own spirit in writing that letter. Here is a man wonderfully prepared to speak to others of the sustaining ennobling empowering forgiving grace of God. Because he had known that grace in his own life restoring and recommissioning him to his task.

56:05 No wonder Peter begins his words his letter with the first words he utters to those scattered believers is grace to you and peace be multiplied. He knew the meaning of grace. He could go on to say God is the God of all grace. In chapter 5 in verse 10 he summarizes the thrust of his own letter saying that he has written briefly testifying that this is the true grace of God to stand fast in it.

56:37 Dear child of God that's the grace that encompasses you and encompasses me. And while there is no direct responsibility of God in any of our denials and our faults there is grace that overrules them. To make us better men and better women. There is grace to restore us and to put us back in the place of usefulness.

57:01 And you who are strangers to Christ don't you envy a Christian that he has a savior who doesn't sit and say if you perform here here and here then I may continue to extend my favor to you. But he looks into the eyes of true disciples and says yes Satan has desired to sit you this week but I pray for you and whatever lapses you may experience my prayers will prevail and you will be turned again and in turning again you will even be more useful. You say oh that's a terrible doctor people will abuse that. Anyone who abuses that and uses it as an excuse for sin knows nothing of the grace of God. Nothing is more constraining upon the heart of a true believer than the pressure of the free abounding grace of God. Oh taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusts in him.

58:03 Let's pray. Our Father we do thank you for your gracious dealings with your servant Peter. We marvel at the way you fashioned and molded him so that he would be the man you could use to encourage your people and we thank you that that grace extended to him was not exhausted upon him but that that grace is available to us in Christ today. We pray that you'd bless the instruction of your word and that there may be a fresh sense of the wonder of that grace and a fresh appropriation of that grace.

58:45 Seal your word to our prophet and to your praise we ask in Jesus name. Amen.