September 16, 2018
Morning Service

Having completed our study on the letter from James, we now turn out attention to the first letter Peter the apostle wrote to the church.  Peter was the leader of this group of 12 ordinary men that Jesus hand-picked to continue His work here on earth upon His ascension to heaven.  He was a fisherman by trade and Luke described his calling from Jesus like this.

  Luke 5:1-11  And it happened that the crowd pressed on Him to hear the Word of God, He stood by the lake of Gennesaret.  (2)  And He saw two boats standing by the lake. But the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets.  (3)  And He entered into one of the boats, which was Simon's, He asked him to thrust out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the people out of the boat.  (4)  And as He stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let your nets down for a haul.”  (5)  And answering, Simon said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing. Yet at Your word I will let down the net.”  (6)  And doing this, they enclosed a great multitude of fish. And their net was being torn.  (7)  And they signaled the partners, those in the other boat, to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they were sinking.  (8)  And seeing, Simon Peter fell at the knees of Jesus, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.”  (9)  For he and all who were with him were astonished at the haul of fish which they had taken,  (10)  and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be taking men alive.”  (11)  And bringing their boats onto land, forsaking all things, they followed Him.

·        I find this to be a great example of Peter’s character.  Though he didn’t agree with the Lord, he still obeyed and cast his net into the sea.  He also recognized who he was by his statement “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.”  This story also shows his commitment as he forsook all and followed Him (all in).  There was no doubting in Peter’s mind that the Man he had just met was Divine as he called Him “Lord.”  From this day forward his life was changed.

·        In the next 3 years he was a witness of many miracles including seeing his own mother in-law healed by Jesus (Matt. 8:14).  He was one of 3 who witnessed the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter: (Mark 5:35).  That same 3 also were present upon the Mount of Transfiguration and saw Jesus transfigured into His holy countenance that “shone like the sun.”  There he also saw Moses and Elijah and heard the voice of God speak “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear Him!” (Matt. 17)  He even walked on water with Jesus, before sinking because he took his eyes off the Lord. (Mark 14:22)

·        Peter’s walk with the Lord followed a pattern during this time; it was full of highs and lows.  One of the highs is recorded in chapter 16 of Matthew’s gospel:

  Matthew 16:13-18  And coming into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say Me to be, the Son of Man?”  (14)  And they said, “Some say, John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”  (15)  He said to them, “But who do you say I am?”  (16)  And Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  (17)  Jesus answered and said to him, “You are blessed, Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but My Father in Heaven.  (18)  And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

·        Jesus was excited because Peter understood what was happening; he was able to grasp the reality of who Jesus truly was and the foundation He was building for the future church. He was catching what Jesus was pitching.  But though he understood, he still had to come to terms with the fact that Jesus was the One who chose the way, not him.  This caused Peter to have some low points as well as highs. His lows included his 3 denials of Jesus upon his arrest and also this encounter with Jesus just shortly after his confession of faith in Matthew 16.  

Matthew 16:21-23  From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.  (22)  Then Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God be gracious to You, Lord! This shall never be to You.”  (23)  But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things that are of God, but those that are of men.”

·        This helps me to identify with Peter.  He was real.  He had some successes and some failures.  Life at times was a struggle.  I too have my highs and lows in my walk with the Lord.  Upon my failures, I hold on to fact that Peter failed but yet was restored by Jesus after his repentance and Christ’s forgiveness.  He simply got up when he fell down and kept following just as we should upon our failures.  Those times of failure can become our greatest time of learning and growing if we allow it to.  It helps us to realize that we can fall, but we don’t have to stay there.  We can repent, get up, and start following again hopefully a little wiser.  We learn from our mistakes.

·        The Book of the Acts of the Apostles is full of Peter’s ministry to the Jewish believers as well as his calling to the house of Cornelius that opened up salvation for the Gentiles as well.  He continued his pattern of highs and lows, but no one ever doubted his commitment to Christ or his love for Him.  He was often beaten, threatened and eventually martyred for his faith.  History tells us that he was crucified, but upside down because he considered himself unworthy to die as His Lord did.  The key for Peter was that when he hit a low, he did not stay there.  He repented and learned from the experience and then moved on. (Matt. 26:75)  Please keep all this in mind as we read this letter He wrote to us, the church which he played a huge part in establishing.

 

 1 Peter 1:1-2  Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect sojourners of the Dispersion of Pontus, of Galatia, of Cappadocia, of Asia, and of Bithynia,  (2)  according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

·        Peter was writing to the believers who were scattered throughout the world because of the persecution against believers in Jerusalem.  This persecution that was meant to diminish the church actually caused it to grow instead, spreading believers through the world to share their faith with new groups of people who had never heard the gospel message.  Peter here reassures these believers that this “Dispersion” is according to God’s plan and He will be with them through this time. (Rom. 8:28)  He now speaks words of encouragement which includes looking to the hope for the future.

1 Peter 1:3-4  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  (4)  to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in Heaven for you

 

 

·        We have been born again (begotten) to a new “living hope” that is available to us through the resurrection of our Lord.  Our hope is that death has been defeated, our sins have been forgiven and we have been given an inheritance that never changes.  It will not deteriorate, nor be tarnished, nor does its glory ever diminish.  It will remain the same forever.  This is unlike the riches that we accumulate on this earth as they will eventually become worthless.

·        Our heavenly inheritance is what Jesus spoke of in John 14.

 

John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me.  (2)  In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  (3)  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, so that where I am, you may be also.

·        Peter encourages us to focus on this in the times of trouble and persecution.  Today may have suffering and heartache in it, but there is a day coming that will not.  Our Lord Jesus Christ will return one day and take us home to a place He has prepared just for us.  A place that is beyond our imagination.  A place that we will spend our eternity in the presence of our Savior.

 

I hope this now can set the stage and prepare our hearts to receive what Peter is writing to us.  He was a man who knew who he was (I am a sinful man, Lord), but he also recognized who Jesus was (The Christ, the Son of the Living God).  He was a lot like us; just an ordinary man who had an encounter with the Son of God and was forever changed.

 

Heavenly Father, thank You for loving us and sending Your Son to redeem us from our sins.