I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. This is my story. To God be the glory. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Suffer a sinner whose heart overflows,
loving his Savior to tell what he knows. Once more, to tell
it, would I embrace? I'm only a sinner, saved by grace. If you were asked to stand up
here and tell everybody what the Lord has done for you, could
you do it? Could you? Well, you could just repeat the
chorus. I'm only a sinner, saved by grace. Only a sinner. Simon Peter could have sung that
song from the depth of his heart. We're going to look at his story,
and it's my story, 2 Peter chapter 1. I was planning on dealing
with most of this first chapter tonight, but reading this, I
paused at the first part of the first verse and just could not
get away from it. So we'll look at Maybe look at
the rest of it on Sunday morning, but read the first four verses
with me. 2 Peter 1, Simon Peter, a servant
and apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like
precious faith with us, him and the apostle, through the righteousness
of God and our Savior, of God our Savior, our God and Savior.
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge
of God and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power
hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness,
through the knowledge of him that hath called us to or by
glory and virtue, and whereby are given unto us exceeding great
and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of
the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the
world through lust." The first two words caught my attention. Simon Peter. Simon Peter. of God's salvation can be told in that name. You know that? The glory of God,
God's great salvation is seen in the salvation of this man
and his two names. Now I'm not going to preach on
Simon Peter, but rather I'm preaching the sovereign grace of God saved
a Simon and made him a Peter. Simon, Simeon is the name, son
of Jacob. Remember Jacob's son Simeon.
Simon, son of Jonas, a sinner. Peter, a saint. Simon, son of
Adam. Peter, son of God. Simon, lost. Peter, Simon, dead. Peter, alive under God. Simon,
blind. Peter, he sees clearly. Simon,
deaf. Peter, his ears are up. Simon,
dumb, could not praise God, worship God. Peter, preaching the gospel. Simon, lame, on both his feet. Peter, walking about the house.
Simon, wretched, miserable. Peter, happy, content. Simon, poor. Peter, rich, rich. Simon, an old cussing sailor. Peter, a praying saint. Simon,
a fickle, fallible failure. Peter means rock, grounded and
settled. In that name, is seeing the glory
of God and the salvation of God from a Simon to a Peter. Simple
Simon. This is my story and this is
your story if you know the Lord and saved by Him. Now, we're
just going to read between the lines. This most certainly happened.
Everything about everyone is not written in the scriptures,
but this happened. at least very similar to this. You know it did. Simon Peters
story. I'm going to tell it. That's
all I'm going to do, tell you a story. There was a man named
Jonah, about 35 years BC, 35 BC. A man named Jonah had a wife. Don't know her name, Mrs. Jonah.
Jonah was living in a poor fishing village called Galilee. He had a hard life. You can imagine
how tough it was to make a living by fishing, by hand, by nets,
by boats. It was a hard life. Hardships
at sea, out in the elements. So many ups and downs. Feast
and famine, you know, fishing. Feast and famine. Hard times. And his wife, the same. She was
the same. Same way. Went through it. was
a daughter of a fisherman and Jonah was probably the son of
a fisherman. That was the way of life. He
lived around Galilee. And their relationship as husband
and wife was probably like the sea that they lived on, up and
down. Storms and calms because of the
hardships that they went through. Well, they had a child. They
had a baby boy, Mrs. Jonah, and her first child, a
baby boy. And like all parents, it's a
mixture of great joy and fear, joy and sorrow. Being poor people
that they were, they worried for the future of that child.
What's to become of our baby boy? Jonah thought, how are we
going to feed another man? Mrs. Jonah, she worried, and
she had another Andrew, and perhaps more. Perhaps more. What's to become of our child? Well, Jonah thought, well, he'll
be a fisherman like me. That's what I want for my boy.
I want him to be a fisherman like me and like my father before
him and my father, his father. Mrs. Jonah. probably thought
this. I don't want my boy being a fisherman.
I want him to go to school. I want him to make something
of himself. I want him to pull us out of
this poverty that we're in. I want him to become somebody
in the world, maybe rich and famous, and bring us out of this
poor place. You reckon? Certainly. Get us out of here. Bring us
happiness. This goes on all the time. All
the time. Always has, since the beginning
of time. This very same story. Unbeknownst to Jonah and his
wife, this child Simon was indeed a special child. Not in and of
itself. He's just another boy born into
this world. Just another sinful son of Adam.
Nothing special about this boy. But here's one thing special
about it. God loved him. God chose him. This is this boy's
only hope. This is this boy's future. God
loved him, and God chose him. God foreknew him, chose him,
loved him, predestined everything about him. This boy is predestined
not to be great, but to receive great grace. Listen now. Here's wisdom. We read about
wisdom. This is wisdom. If you listen carefully, we'll
see the wisdom of God here. All our worries, all our fears,
all our hopes, all our dreams, if they're worldly or carnal,
we don't have wisdom. This is what this typical family
wanted for their boy and for themselves. He'll bring us out
of here. Now this boy was destined not
to be great, but to receive great grace, great mercy. Not to be a great leader, but
to be a follower, follower of the Lamb. Not to be rich and
famous, but to be poor and infamous to the world. Ended up dying
at the hands of those that hate him. Is that what you want for
your child? Is that what you would want for
your child? At the same time, or somewhere
thereabouts, there was another child being born. 80 miles south, in a little small
town, a young woman and her husband pulled into a small town. She's
great with child. She goes into a barn. There's
no place to have this child. She goes into a barn, and there
she gives birth to her firstborn, a son. Now this is a special
child, in and of itself. Yes, a child was born, but this
is the son that was given. This is the eternal son of the
Most High God. His name shall be called Emmanuel. God with us. He is special, alright,
unlike any other. This is God manifesting the flesh. This is God and man joined together. Special. This child, this son
was born that Jonah's son may be born again. This child was born that Simon
might be born again. This, the son of God, God's son,
came from glory to bring Jonah's son to glory. And their lives are intricately
bound together in the purpose of God, the wisdom of God, the
eternal will and power and purpose of God, this covenant before
the world began. These two were born at these
exact time. And like it was said of Jacob
concerning Benjamin, his life is bound up in the child, remember
that? So it is with these two. In fact,
they were bound together by love's strong cord before the world
began. They were united by the heavenly
Father before the world began. And they both, they must come
to meet one another. Their lives are intricately bound
and woven together. Joseph and Mary's son, as supposed,
this is the son of the highest, Jonah, It's just a lowly sinner. Jonah's son, just a lowly sinner. Just a lowly son of Adam, Jacob. Joseph and Mary's son is not
going to become somebody. He already was. He's going to
become a nobody. That Jonah, his son, might be
somebody. Joseph and Mary's son, supposed
son, is not going to become rich and famous. He was already that.
But he's going to become poor and hated and despised. That
Jonah's son, named Simon, might become rich, not in material
things. Did you read Proverbs 8? True substance and true treasures. For in Christ are hid all the
treasure of wisdom and knowledge. Better than gold and fine gold.
Better than rubies, the price thereof. And he's going to make
Jonah's son, Simon, rich in peace, joy, love, faith, goodness, meekness. Jonah's son, Simon, is going
to become somebody because Joseph and Mary's supposed son became
a nobody. So the boy Simon grows. Jonah's
son, he grows. He becomes a teen, a teenager.
Now he knows everything. Right? That's just the way it
is. Always has been. Young man, nothing special about
it. He's just a sinner. Did he go
through a wild time? Did he go through a problem?
You have no idea. Got in trouble? Well, he ends up being a fisherman
like his father. Not what he wanted, perhaps,
but he and his brother Andrew probably had big dreams, didn't
they? You reckon they got together
and they talked about, we're going to get out of here one
of these days. Or maybe we'll have a fleet of boats. We'll
own a fishing business and we'll have servants. We want to accumulate all we
can and get out of this place. No? No, Simon? You're going to
lose everything. You're going to lose everything. The game. Everything. Simon thought, you know what
he thought, a young man, grew up in his 20s, he thought, my
day's coming. When I see my chance, I'm going
to take it. My day's coming. Yeah, Simon,
your day's coming. So now he's a 30-year-old man,
maybe older. He's fishing all night. He caught
nothing. He's weary. He's disappointed. He's depressed. He's in debt. He's in distress. And he's discontented. And he's dragging. And he hears
a voice. Simon, son of Jonas. And he looks up. And the man says, follow me. and he drops everything he owns
and follows the Lord Jesus Christ. It was his day, all right. When
the day star, remember Simon wrote this, oh, when the day
star rises in your heart, you'll love him, son of righteousness,
risen with healing in his wing. Look back at 1 Peter, he gives
a summary of his salvation in these verses. First Peter 1,
he says, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, a stranger scattered,
he says, elect. You ever thought about it? He's
talking about himself today. Elect. He said, I'm an elect. I didn't choose. I wasn't even looking up. And
I heard a voice speak to me. Simon, son of Jonas, follow me. Irresistibly drawn. Chosen by
him. I didn't choose him, he chose
me. Elect, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification
of the Spirit. Simon knew that there were many
boats, there were many out there competing for the fishing in
that Sea of Galilee, that Lake Janissary. Many fishing boats. He knew them all. All of his
cronies he probably went into the pubs with. Later on, huh? He knew that. But this Lord and
Master came by his boat. Chose his boat. Chose him and
his brother Andrew. Sanctification. That's what that
means. Set apart by the Spirit of God unto obedience. From a
rebel to an obedient son. Unto the obedience and sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ. His obedience. His blood. Oh,
he said grace. I received grace. And you who
are His elect, grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Oh,
blessed be the God and Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, according
to His abundant mercy, has begotten us again. Peter said, I was born
again. Not of corruptible seed. Not redeemed by corruptible things.
Such as silver and gold, vain conversation received by tradition
of your father. No, my father, Peter said, my
father didn't know the Lord, but he chose me. And so according to his abundant
mercy, I was born again by the word of truth, by Christ himself,
a lively hope, a living hope. I was dead, Peter said, I was
dead, dead in trespassing. I am alive unto God, lively,
living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
an inheritance incorruptible. Peter thought, well, I'll inherit
my father's business. What are you going to inherit,
Peter? A couple old worn out boats. Oh, now, he said, I have
an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, it fadeth not away,
reserved in heaven for me, for you who are kept by the power
of God. Simon Peter will tell you. I
was chosen. I was set apart. He gave birth to me. He kept me all the days of my life. I wanted to leave. I wanted to
go fishing. He wouldn't let me. Kept by the power of God. And
he went on down to say to us, whom having not seen, you love.
Simon Peter, you remember his story that after he denied the
Lord something Terrible. He heard the good, those two
words, the sweetest words he had ever heard. And Peter. Go tell my disciples, and Peter,
not Simon, Peter, called him a rock when he felt like anything
but. The reason that the Lord called
him that was because he's found on the rock, Christ Jesus. He's
a living stone, John, just like his Lord. See, they're vitally
connected. He's built on that rock, Christ
Jesus. So that's His name, too. His name is the Lord our Righteousness,
and that's our name. He's called a rock, not because
He is a rock, but because He's in Christ the rock, in the cleft
of the rock, and on the rock, Christ Jesus. 2 Peter, our text, if you will,
he says in Verse 2, all grace and peace be multiplied unto
you. It was multiplied unto me through
the knowledge of God. I didn't know God. I didn't know
Jesus Christ, my Lord. You remember, I think it's Luke
chapter 5, another place where when Peter first met the Lord,
he was fishing again and caught nothing. All night long and caught
nothing. And the Lord was preaching. Great vast multitudes were following
him and the Lord got in Simon Peter's boat. Remember? Of all
the ships, of all the boats on that Sea of Galilee that day,
the Lord got in his. The Lord chose him. And he told
him, shove off. And he did. And Simon's in that
boat. And Simon sat there and listened to the Lord preach.
He was a captive audience with him. That's the seed being sown
in him. And then the Lord, after he finished
preaching, he said, launch out into the deep. That was a portent
of what Peter is going to go. They that go down to the sea
in ships, These do business in deep waters and Simon and Andrew
and all of them and God's people all go through deep, dark waters
and travel. And that was a prophecy of what
all Peter was going to go through, but not alone. The Lord is going
to be with him the whole time. Launch out into the deep and
cast your net on the right side for a draft. And Simon, little Simon said, Master, I've
been fishing these waters all my life. In fact, we fished all night
last night. And? Well, we caught nothing. Man's just a fool. You couldn't
catch one fish. You hear me? You can't catch
one fish unless the Lord puts it on your hook, puts it in your
net, right? Without me you can do nothing,
our Lord said. He's about to find that out all his life. So
they cast the net on the right side, remember? And they couldn't,
the net began to break. There were so many fish. And
they hollered for James and John, come over and help us. And boats
filled full of fish. Till the boats started sinking.
What did Simon Peter do? This is when he first met the
Lord Jesus Christ. This is not Jesus. Gentle Jesus,
meek and mild. Simple, poor little rabbi. This
is the Lord Jesus. This is the master of the sea.
This is the God who made... We read about him in Proverbs
8, didn't we? This is the one who made all things. By him was
not anything made that was made. This is the one who knows, calls
the stars, numbers the stars by name, and knows every fish
in the sea. And buddy Peter, when he saw
the omniscience, omnipotence of our Lord Jesus Christ, he
fell at his feet, on his knees. Now he knows who this is, something
of who he is. He's going to find out more.
He's going to grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And what did he say? He said, it's the first time
he ever knew this, that he was a sinner. And he said, depart
from me Lord, I'm a sinful man. He said if he knows every fish
in the sea, he knows every thought in my head. He knows me. The thoughts and intents of my
heart, he knows me. This is the Lord my God, and
I'm a sinner. deserving of wrath and judgment. This is his first understanding
of who he is. And he found that out by learning
who Jesus Christ is. Not just a man, this is the Lord
Jesus. And he said, depart from me.
Depart from you? No, he departed from his father
to come for you, son of Peter. This is his glory. This is His
mercy. This is His grace. This is Simon
Peter's salvation. Depart from you? No. He said,
I'll never depart from you. And you'll want to depart from
me. But I won't let you. I've come for you. Isn't that
good news? This is Simon Peter's God and Savior. Isn't that what
He said? We've obtained this precious faith. Peter obtained
something much more precious than all the boats in the sea
and all the nets and all the houses and all the land. He obtained
this precious faith. Remember what precious means?
Valuable. Precious faith. Well, here's what became of Mr. and Mrs. Jonah's boy. He didn't become rich, but he
became rich in faith. Joy, peace, goodness, godliness,
righteousness, wisdom, happiness. He didn't have much. In fact,
he just wandered around preaching. But he had it all. Listen to
me now. He's not famous. He's going to
be crucified. Legend has it upside down, the
worst possible way. Die a horrible death. But he's
now living a wonderful life. Why? Because he had the one thing
needful. He knows the Lord Jesus Christ. Greatest thing ever happened
to him. Do you reckon that Simon Peter, you reckon Simon Peter,
when the Lord came and called him, he went home and told his
parents, I'm leaving. Dad, I'm leaving. Mom, I'm leaving.
Where are you going, son? You're going to follow the Lord
Jesus Christ. You're going to do what? You're going to leave
this good business? You're going to leave us to follow
this? Yeah. Son, you're a fool. No, mom,
dad. I was a fool. I believe he's
given me wisdom. You see, gain is loss. He that
gains this world, loses. But loss is gain. The greatest calling in life,
people, is not a profession or an occupation, but a vocation
to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you're that,
let me say it one more time, nothing else matters. Because
we're going to lose it all. Ask Job. Job said, it's certain
I brought nothing into this world, and it's certain I can't take
it. He said, naked I came into this world. He had it all. Job
had it all. He was as high as you could get.
And then he got as low as he could go. But the root of the
matter was in him. And he blessed the name of the
Lord. And every one of us are going to lose everything and
everyone. But if you know Jesus Christ,
you lose nothing. It's all game. Do you hear me?
But I didn't say that. Wisdom from above said that.
Here is wisdom. There is he that maketh himself
rich that hath nothing. And he that maketh himself poor
that has everything. What's to become of Simon? Jonah's
son, Simon. A son of God. A son of God. This is a true story. There's
a missionary named William Carey from England. Missionary to India
for 40 years. Faithful missionary. By the way,
there wasn't much fruit from his ministry all those 40 years.
Not much. But in he's fruited. In he's worth it. But he was
for 40 years in India and he had a son named Felix whom he
loved dearly. He loved Felix. And Felix was
born and raised in India on the mission field with Brother William
Carey. And Brother William Carey loved
that boy and he grew up and he seemed like a believer and he
had high hopes that Felix would be a missionary like him. You
know the government of England called and chose Felix to be
ambassador of that country, ambassador of England to the country of
India. And William Carey said, my son
has fallen low to become an ambassador for the lowly country of England, the king
of England. I had hopes that he would attain
to the lofty stature of being an ambassador of the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords. What about you? What are your
hopes for your children? What are your hopes for yourself?
What are your dreams? What are your wishes? One thing to you. One thing to
you. Stand with me. Our Lord and our God, we thank
you for your sovereign mercy and grace, your wisdom, your
word, your truth, Lord. You keep your
truth forever. The truth is always truth. In
spite of man, modern man, all of his attainments, all of his
technology, all of his wisdom, all of his Wisdom, hath not God made foolish
the wisdom of this world? Man hasn't risen, Lord, he's
fallen. But the truth goes on. You've kept your truth for all
generations and you've made known your ways and your word to the
sons of Jacob and not to Egypt. Oh Lord, how we thank you. We
thank you. Oh Lord, may thy word be our
wisdom. May thy truth be our guide. May thy gospel be our joy and
rejoicing, our hope, our dreams, our wishes, our one desire. May our heart's desire for us,
for our children, our children's children, be one thing, that
we might be found in Christ, that we might know him and the
power of his resurrection and be made conformable to his suffering
and Oh Lord, and be devoted in this life like Simon Peter was,
to being a servant, not being served, but being a servant of
the Lord Jesus Christ and his people. Oh Lord, give us this
wisdom from above. I hope, I pray this for these
people, for all who hear this. In Christ's blessed name, amen.
You're dismissed. Oh my god.