Apostle of a Grace-Changed Life

I have been much maligned already
this morning because some months ago after Trey preached, I said,
you know, typically you don’t want to give them 12 points.
In fact, when we were in seminary, I think the rule of thumb was
five is palatable. You know, six, you’re really
pushing it. Generally speaking, you want
to keep your sermons carved up in three to four section, three to four piece sections.
It’s just kind of what the human mind can endure. Well, I say
I’ve been maligned because these in your bulletin are not points. They’re just places, blanks for
you to fill in. It’s not really, in a sense,
a classical sermon per se, although my thoughts on it might be that
this is probably one of the more pure sermons you will ever hear
because it’s almost all God’s Word. Very little filler in between,
very little explanatory detail, as you will see in a moment.
What I want to do, though, let’s go to 1 Peter. I want to read
a portion of Scripture to you in
order to set the tone and kind of carve out where we’re going
to go with this little study just this morning. Just this
morning. First Peter, and we find ourselves
in chapter one. First Peter, chapter one. Peter. If you would, you can close your
Bibles. That’s what we’re going to look at this morning is Peter.
This will no doubt. I know I’ve preached a sermon
on two words before Jesus wept. I think I even may have preached
a couple on two or three words. I don’t think I’ve ever preached
a sermon on one word. And you might even think, well,
there’s certainly better words in all of Scripture to preach
than Peter. What about justification? What
about sanctification? What about those great doctrines
of truth? Well, that’s certainly possible.
And maybe I’ll start trying that. But when I began to study this
epistle and I’ve noted this thought before, I’ve even commented on
it in previous weeks. When you read the epistle of
Peter, something should go off in your mind that says this is
not the same man that we see in the Gospels. In fact, it is
so drastically different that liberals throughout the centuries
have said there is no way that Peter wrote this epistle. There’s
no way that Peter had anything to do with either of the epistles
that bear his name. Liberals have suggested for thousands
of years that the mere fact of the language, the intricacy of
it, the depth of the thought there, there’s no way that Peter
wrote this epistle. Well, I couldn’t disagree more.
And in fact, any of you who truly know the grace of God that comes
in and touches a person’s heart and life and changes them, transforms
them from within, you know that this is possible. You know that
it’s possible for God to draft a man off the shores of a fishing
trip and to place him into service and to use him so incredibly
that you can’t even believe it’s the same man. I want to have you keep your finger
in two places this morning. I’ve established it there in
1 Peter. I hope you didn’t close your
Bibles yet. If you did, 1 Peter is where we’re going to begin.
But I also want you to have your Bibles flexed to go to the Gospels. We’ll spend some time in the
Gospels back and forth. And I want you to start in Matthew
chapter 17. Matthew chapter 17. It’s a poignant passage. It’s a solemn
passage. It is what we know of as the
Mount of Transfiguration. And I believe that for Peter,
this was the turning point of his life. We know Peter. We know
Peter as the spokesman. And when we say spokesman, it’s
not like he was elected to the position. It’s not like they
said, well, here’s an articulate one. Here’s a man that thinks
well on his feet. Here’s a man that is wise beyond
measure. Let’s choose Peter. Peter chose
Peter. Peter was the one, just like
us, always willing to open his mouth at all the inopportune
moments. He’s the one that asked the questions
that everybody was thinking, but too smart not to ask. Peter
would blurt it out every time. And in this passage, we see a
classic text, a classic example of Peter’s behavior. But I think
this is the one where God finally got his attention and began to
transform and change his life into a new and different person.
Look at verse one through five of Matthew 17. Six days later,
Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, his brother,
and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And he, that is
Christ, was transfigured before them.” Now, we can go into all
kinds of details of what transfiguration is, but it must have been drastic
and dramatic, bright light. Some kind of change took place. Some kind of physiological change
that had an impact on all who saw it. Look at the second descriptive
there. His face shone like the sun. His garments became white as
light. And behold, Moses and Elijah
appeared to them, talking with them. This was not your typical
scene. Moses and Elijah come onto the
scene and Peter, unable to hold his tongue, says, Lord, it is
good for us to be here. If you wish, I will make three
tabernacles. Let me pitch some tents. Maybe
we’ll put a light in the tents as a memorial to the three of
you having this meeting. That’s the gist of his idea.
And in our 20th century earthly view, we might even think of
that as just silly. In a sense, it was an act of
worship for Peter. It was magnanimous. It was, you
know, an act of some kind of devotion on Peter’s part. But
it wasn’t good enough for God. It’s not what God wanted. It’s not the purpose of this
scene. And we’ll make three tabernacles
here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah. He
even has his theology messed up, his theology of Christ. As if Christ is somehow on a
par with Moses and Elijah. While he was still speaking,
verse 5, a bright cloud overshadowed them and behold, a voice out
of the cloud said, this is my beloved Son with whom I am well
pleased. Listen to Him. And people, I
want to just suggest to you this morning that this is where it
started for Peter. Peter’s epistles, if you will,
are a written testimony to the grace of God that Peter was able
to do just as God commanded that morning to listen to Christ.
And what I want to present to you is that Peter was so transformed
that you can’t look at him in the Gospels and look at his epistles
and conclude that they are one in the same man. This is a transformed
man. In a sense, it is the new man.
It is the new Peter. It is Peter as God would have
him to be. In his epistles, just on the
face of it, you begin to see that. Twenty-two times he refers
to Christ. And you know what? Never to Moses
or Elijah. Usually, when he even mentions
Christ’s name, it’s Jesus Christ. Never Jesus as the, you know,
Pardon me, the contemporary approach in Christian song is so often
to use Jesus’ first name, you know, this casual, informal approach
that he is the Lord Jesus Christ. And if the Apostle Peter over
and over refers to him as such, what an instruction to us. But
in addition, Peter refers to Christ in a number of other ways.
He calls him the Holy One. He calls him the Lord. He calls
him the choice stone. He refers us to Him as the Shepherd
and Guardian of our souls. He calls Him the Just. He calls
Him the Chief Shepherd. Christ is fully and exclusively
in view for Peter. Christ is everything for Peter.
In fact, almost 40 times he mentions God. And if you know Peter’s
theology, he absolutely would include Christ in the Godhead. has been transformed. Peter has
been absolutely changed. And I think we’ll see it over
and over again. What I’ve suggested in this outline,
I don’t mind if you want to call them points. You know, I suppose
if I preach one 15 point sermon, if you want to kick me out over
that, I guess I can live with that. What I want to suggest in that,
is if you look at the epistle of Peter, every single paragraph,
every single paragraph bears the marks of Peter himself. And
I’ll tell you how, as we get into it. I’ve entitled the message
The Apostle of a Grace-Changed Life. I believe that in looking
at Peter, what we can do is gain encouragement for our own lives.
Wherever we’re sitting now, we’re not static. We’re not going to
stay here. We’re constantly under reform. We’re constantly under renewal
by the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit is constantly working
on us and changing us and transforming us. And I hope that as you walk away
this morning, you know that what God did with Peter, He will do
with you. He will. God’s grace changed Peter’s life
in a whole bunch of different ways. And in the end, as God
was working in Peter, he prompted Peter to write this epistle.
Now, there’s two very polar opposites in beginning to understand what’s
called the inscription of God’s word. How did it come to be? And we know that we know that
the Holy Spirit infused these men. But to think that the men
themselves weren’t involved in the writing is erroneous. We
think that the spirit just spoke through them and he did. But
we we come to think of it as if the man is just completely
absent. We do get the personality of
the man. We do get his life history. And you’ll see it over and over
again in Peter’s life. God’s grace changed Peter’s life.
Look at verse one. Of Peter’s epistle. When Peter
says that he is an apostle of Jesus Christ to those who reside
as aliens scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia and Bithynia, who are chosen. When he points to the sovereignty
of God, And it’s God’s sovereignty that first and foremost, God,
that I want to point out here, that God transformed Peter’s
opinion on. There isn’t any one of us that
wakes up thinking, oh, yes, in my natural state, God is sovereign.
God is in control of all things. That is a doctrine we grow into
over a long period of time. And let me tell you, if you’re
not there now, you will get there. Whether it’s sickness, or disease,
or difficulty, or the fact that you don’t possess a certain gift
that you clamor for, or that you’re poor, or that you’re…
Whatever it is, God will get you to the point where you begin
to understand His sovereignty. You may not like it. In fact, as a Christian, I don’t
know how unbelievers go through life. If I didn’t know that God was
sovereign and that He sifted even the difficulties that come
into my life through His loving hands, I don’t know how I would
survive. Do you? How did Peter come to know the
sovereignty of God? Simple. He went on a fishing
trip. If you’re in Matthew’s Gospel, just flip back to chapter
4. In chapter 4, verse 18, Jesus
was walking by the Sea of Galilee. Now, this was a God-ordained,
sovereign moment. It’s not just that Jesus stumbled
across the first two fishermen that he saw. God had planned
this moment from eternity past. He had ordained it. He had selected
these two men. And it said that when Jesus saw
two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and Andrew, his
brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
And he said to them, follow me and I will make you fishers of
men. And I say that Peter came to
know that morning and began this process of understanding the
sovereignty of God, because look at verse 20. Immediately, they
left their nets and followed Him. This is a man who immediately
closed this great chasm that so many people have a difficulty
of understanding. You know, why did God pick me? Or what did God see in me? God
saw in Peter and his brother, fishermen. He didn’t see one
of the greatest apostles the church would ever know. Certainly
God knew that, but he didn’t see this human potential. That’s
not why he selected Peter at all. He chose him because he
is absolutely and perfectly sovereign. God’s in control. And Peter knew
it. And all Peter is pointing out
there in the first few verses of the book is that God is absolutely
in control of our lives. He’s absolutely sovereign over
the gifts we receive. He’s sovereign over how much
money you have, over whether or how many children you have.
He’s sovereign over your salvation. He’s sovereign. Paragraph two. Paragraph two
and verse three. It’s only fitting If you’re in
Matthew’s gospel, flip over to John chapter 20. It’s only fitting that this next scene that we
come across in John’s gospel would have a prominent impact
on Peter’s theology and life and practice. And it does over
and over again in Peter’s epistles and his life. In the early sermons
preached there in the book of Acts recorded for us, this element
comes out over and over and over again. It’s absolutely impactful
to Peter, John, chapter 20, verse three, Peter and the other disciple
went forth, they were going to the tomb, Christ’s tomb. The
two were running together and the other disciple ran faster
than Peter and came to the tomb first and stooping and looking
in. He saw the linen wrappings lying
there, but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came
following him and entered the tomb. And he saw the linen wrappings
lying there and the face cloth which had been on his head, not
lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.
People, the resurrection was absolutely real to Peter. And
it’s not just that he saw linens. Remember, he saw the Christ,
the risen Christ. No wonder then in the opening
pages of 1 Peter, He said, blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to His great mercy, has caused
us to be born again through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead. Everything went back to that
moment. Everything hung on that truth for Peter. Peter fixed
his absolute hope, his great confidence in the fact that God
had raised Christ supernaturally from the dead. In that same paragraph,
verse four, Peter mentions that he did so so that we would obtain
an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade
away, reserved in heaven for you. Where on earth would Peter
get that kind of imagery? Peter’s a fisherman. I’ll tell
you where he got it. He got it from the lips of the
Lord Jesus Christ himself. Turn to Matthew 19. In Matthew 19, and verse 27, look at where Peter’s
heart is here. Peter’s heart is in the earth.
Peter’s heart is in a what’s-in-it-for-me mentality. Verse 27, Peter said
to Him, Behold, we’ve left everything and followed You. What then will
there be for us? What’s in it for me, Jesus? Where
are we going to when are we going to get our paycheck? To say nothing
of the Christmas bonus, right? Verse 28, Jesus said to them,
truly, I say to you that you who have followed me in the regeneration,
when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you will
sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And I’ll bet you, if I know Peter, and I do because I know my own
heart, that wasn’t enough for Peter. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But
what about now? And Jesus continued, and everyone
who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother
or children or farms, for my name’s sake, will receive many
times as much and will inherit eternal life. People, these are
merely the words of the Apostle. proclaiming that imperishable
inheritance. It’s Christ Himself that we will
inherit. And Peter had come to that great
truth and had grasped it that morning. And now in his epistle
is proclaiming that wonderful truth. What about you? Have you come to that position
where this isn’t all that it is? Where there is that imperishable
and undefiled inheritance that’s reserved in heaven for you. Or
is this all there is? Is this all there is? In the next paragraph, not only do we see Peter’s life
transformed in the area of God’s sovereignty, and in Christ’s
resurrection and in eternal rewards, but in human ability. This is
one that there’s a lot of people now, a lot of Christians need
this kind of transformation, even still. Because sometimes
we think that it’s us that keeps hold of God’s hand, and it’s
not. It never is. It’s God that’s got a grasp on
us. In verse 5, Peter says, he mentions
those saints who are protected by the power of God through faith
for a salvation ready to be revealed for the last time. It’s God that’s
got His hand on you and He’s not letting go. See, Peter in
Matthew 26, don’t go, I’m just going to allude to it. Peter
had this mentality that even though everybody else falls away,
I’m not going to fall away. I never will. Peter said at the end of that,
even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. We know
what happened. Not just once, not twice, three times. Peter
denied Christ. It’s not us that keeps hold of
God. It’s not us and our good intentions that seizes hold and
refuses to let go of God. It’s God that’s got his hold
on us. We are protected by the power of God through faith. Do
you believe that? Because if it’s all up to you,
it is going to be a rough ride. In chapter 1, verse 6 through
9, we see there that Peter says,
in this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little
while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials.
You know what? When you read Peter, you almost get irritated.
You almost get irritated with Peter because, Peter, you’re
so insensitive. You have no idea what I’m going
through. Consider it all joy, like James says, when you’re
going through trials. What he says, even though now
for a little while, it’s necessary. You have no idea what my life
is like. I’ve got a hard life. I’ve got physical difficulties. I’m poor. People are after me. I’m persecuted. Let me tell you, this is one
of the most profound areas where Peter’s life was changed. Peter
didn’t always have this view of trials as being these temporary
things, as being these necessary things, as being these things
where faith is absolutely requisite in order to persevere. Peter had to be taught about
faith, he had to learn faith, he had to grow in his faith.
The passage alluded to there, Matthew 14, points us back to
that moment where Christ came walking on the rough sea, surprising
the apostles. They thought it was a ghost.
In verse 28 of that, Peter said, Lord, if it’s You, command me
to come out to You on the water. There’s faith. I might call it
faith with a small f. There’s something there. There’s
an element of faith in that. He gets out of the boat, right? Jesus said, come and Peter got
out of the boat and he walked on the water and he came toward
Jesus. Most of us, our hearts would be bullied by that, right?
No. As soon as our feet got wet,
just like Peter’s got wet, our faith would begin to fail, just
like Peter’s. Peter had to learn about faith. And seeing the wind,
he became frightened. He began to sink and cried out,
Lord, save me. Immediately, Jesus stretched
out His hand and took hold of him and said, you of little faith,
why do you doubt? People, we will never, not in
this life anyway, have our faith perfected, but it should be growing.
Don’t you believe more firmly now than you did a year or ten
years ago if you’ve walked with Christ that long? The longer
you live, don’t you learn to trust Christ that much more? Peter said, even though you’ve
been distressed by various trials, the proof of your faith, even
though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and
honor at the revelation of Christ Jesus. There’s going to come
a day when your faith is proven and it’s part and parcel of the
Christian walk. We don’t get it all at once.
We don’t handle everything all at once. It’s a walk of faith. Incremental this growth in Christ. I don’t have my points numbered,
so whatever is next, verse 10 of chapter one. Verse 10. Verse 10. And I want to point
I want to I’m just going to go to John’s gospel briefly just
for a few verses in John’s gospel. Listen, don’t bother turning
up. I’ll be gone there just a sec. In John chapter six, remember,
Christ preached this very difficult sermon about the bread and the
blood and and all these difficult imagery and people were they
just had a difficult time with it. It says in verse sixty six,
as a result of this, many of his disciples withdrew and were
not walking with him anymore. It was a sad day. So Jesus said
to the twelve, you don’t you don’t want to go away also, do
you? He was challenging their faith. He was seeing how firmly
they believed. And Peter, the spokesman, ever
the one, Simon Peter answered him, Lord,
to whom shall we go? Where are we going to go? You
have the words of eternal life. Christ’s words echoed the words
of Scripture. Christ’s words were true. Christ’s
words laid the groundwork. They became the very foundation
of the New Testament. And no wonder, then, when you
come to Peter’s epistle and you look at verse 12 of that same
section of chapter one. And he speaks of the prophets
and it says they were those prophets were not serving themselves,
but you in these things which have now been announced to you.
Peter’s view of God’s Word is as high as anyone else’s in all
of Scripture. It seems like Peter was so enamored
with the Word of God that in almost everything he says, he
declares it. He proclaims the validity, the
trustworthiness of God’s Word over and over again. Track with
me down to the end of chapter one of Peter’s epistle. In verse
23, he says, you’ve been born again, not of a seed which is
perishable, but imperishable. That is through the living and
enduring Word of God. This is exactly the image that
he told Christ, you have the words of eternal life. Where
else are we going to go? And in this day and age where
so many are going everywhere but Scripture. It serves as a great reminder to
us There wasn’t any other place
for Peter. Peter had come to that fixed position already.
And no wonder in chapter 2, he begins to turn this corner and
he says, like newborn babies long for the pure milk of the
Word. If you’ve ever brought a baby a bottle, you see them.
You know, they just quiver. Can’t wait to get the bottle.
Peter’s view of the Word had been transformed. The Word of
Christ The word of truth, the word of the gospel. He knew there
was no hope outside of that. In verse 13 through 16 of chapter
one, Peter there exhorted that we are to prepare our minds for
action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the
grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
And you say, well, that sounds like a good apostolic instruction.
That sounds like one who had walked faithfully with the Lord,
lo, these many years. He, of all people, ought to be
the one to give us that exhortation. And then you remember that it’s
Peter who, when invited to the prayer
meeting of all prayer meetings, fell asleep. And Jesus came back
and said, You men couldn’t keep watch with me for one hour? And you either have to come to
the conclusion that Peter is an absolute hypocrite. How can
you, the drowsy apostle, come to us and say, prepare your minds
for action, except that Peter had been absolutely transformed
in the area of vigilance? watchfulness, alertness, zealousness
in the service of Christ, Peter had been changed, absolutely
changed. And you can see it in countless
other ways in his epistles and in the book of Acts. In that same section, chapter
1, verse 13, The next verses call us to a
holy life. This harkens back to the very
moment that Peter was called by Christ. And here we see his
understanding of the holiness of God transformed, changed. Most have this view of God and
His holiness as this austere, foreboding, He’s so holy that
if you come near him, you will be burned and scorched forever. And yet now here is the Savior
calling Peter to himself to follow him, to come into his service.
People, the holiness of God isn’t designed to scare us and frighten
us away. It’s designed to call us near
in holiness. When Simon Peter heard Christ,
he fell down at Jesus’ feet in Luke 5, 8 and said, Go away from
me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. And Jesus wouldn’t have any of
it. You think Peter was informing
Christ? Oh, oh, Peter, oh, you’re a sinner. Sorry, my mistake. I’ll go find another fisherman.
Not at all. No wonder then when Peter says
as obedient children, do not be conformed to your former lusts.
This is a transformed man that says, you know what? It’s time
to grow in Christ. It’s time to reform your life.
It’s time to give your life fully and totally to the Savior. But
like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in all
your behavior. Because it is written, you shall
be holy for I am holy. That’s the understanding of the
holiness of God in which Peter was transformed. It was no longer
this holiness that was to be over there and apart and separate
from him. This foreboding God frowning
over the top of his brow. It was a holiness that was intended
to transform, to call us to a new standard of living. Well, now this may get me kicked
out. If preaching one word didn’t get me kicked out, preaching
one word over two weeks probably will. Chapter 2, verse 4, we’ll
finish with this. And in order to set this up,
turn to Matthew 16. In Matthew 16, we have just that profound moment where Christ
comes to the apostles and there’s all kinds of opinions of who
Christ is and what He’s like. And He finally comes to Peter
and says, you know, Peter, what do you think? What do you think
of me? Simon Peter answered and said, verse 16 of chapter 16,
you are the Christ. There weren’t a whole lot of
saviors. There weren’t a whole lot of messiahs. Peter isn’t
suggesting that Christ is just one way to heaven. You are the
Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus said to him, blessed
are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal
this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. What a gracious
provision of God. You’ve been blessed to enjoy,
Peter, this understanding of me. Essentially is what Christ
says. And in verse 18, he says these
famous words that are so misunderstood and twisted by so many. I also
say to you that you are Peter and upon this rock, I will build
my church. I take that to mean his profession
of Christ as being the Son of God. That’s the rock upon which
Christ was going to build. And this image, this image of
a structure being thrown up, that’s Christ’s image. Peter
didn’t have to go to a pastor’s book of illustrations for his
material. He walked with Christ. And when
he went to write his epistle, turn back, if you would, in verse
four, he begins to use not his own illustration of what the
church is going to be. He uses Christ’s. He said, coming to Him, you saints,
as a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice
and precious in the sight of God. You also, as living stones,
are being built up as a spiritual house. You know what Christ did here?
He changed Peter’s mind about his church. He transformed his
understanding about the church And he said, Peter, it’s not
going to be built on you as the first pope. It’s not going to
be built on people, it’s not going to be built on people who
think they’re the greatest or who forced themselves to the
top of the heap. It’s going to be built on Christ.
It’s going to be built on a solid foundation of the cornerstone,
who is none other than Jesus Christ. our Lord and Peter’s
understanding of the church was forever changed. He forever now
knew that it wasn’t going to be built on his back. Can you
imagine the pressure if Peter had understood it that way, that
the success of the church depended on Peter? Peter also points out that It
is a gathering of saints and that we all as living stones
are being built up. God begins to use each one of
us. Is that your understanding of the church? Is that your understanding
of the holiness of God? That rather than chasing you
away from God, God is calling you to that standard and he’s
giving you the grace, he’s giving you his word, he’s imparted his
spirit to you. He’s given to you Christ as an
example and he’s calling you. to a new standard of holiness?
Is that your understanding of vigilance? A watchfulness? A prayerfulness? A zealousness
in the service of Christ? Is that your understanding of
the Word? Is it the only place to which you can turn for life
itself? Let’s bow our hearts before God. Let’s pray for that same kind
of transforming grace in our own lives. O merciful God, we have tasted and have seen
how rich Your Word is, how complete Your grace is, to show us a bumbling
fisherman like Peter, so much like ourselves, so fully and
completely changed and transformed, so gracious, so warm, so thoughtful,
so worshipful. Lord, it does give us hope that
with us who are so inconsistent and so callous, You can change
us. And it’s that for which we pray
this morning, that you would show your grace to us in a new
and different way and that you would continue the work of transforming
our own lives, renewing us in your Word and making us conformed
to Christ and to His image. Father, we thank you for this
sampling of your Word. We ask Your blessing as we meditate
upon these things. For Christ’s glory in Jesus’
name, Amen.