If you would turn to Matthew
4 to start off with. What I thought we'd look at is
just in a very relaxed manner, recite some things you already
know about some of the disciples, apostles in the New Testament,
concerning a little microcosm of election. And that is the
inner circle of the 12 disciples. You know that Peter, James, and
John got to see some things and do some things that the rest
of the disciples didn't get to do. So they were part of the
inner circle of the disciples. So there actually was a little
election inside the election, as a picture to us of election. And to prove the fact, really
all this that I'll be discussing today is just to show an example
of the fact that God has every right to do what he wants with
us as people, to choose whom he wants. And I think a great
example of that is to look at these three men that were a subset
or a special part of the disciples. And to look at some of their
characteristics to recite this to ourselves as just a reminder.
You know that the Lord Jesus chose 12 disciples as the beginning
of his ministry, 12 of them including one trader,
and that was done on purpose, and then three of them as the
inner circle, Peter, James, and John. The calling of the disciples,
one reciting of that is in Matthew 4, verses 18 to 21. What we want to look at today
is especially things that happened in the lives of Peter, James,
and John, and just to remind ourselves of that. Okay, in Matthew
4, 18 to 21, and Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee saw two
brothers, Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother. casting
a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And he said unto
them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they
straightway left their nets and followed him. And going on from
thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee and
John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending
their nets. And he called them, and they
immediately left the ship and their father and followed him.
So this is the passage where we find the calling of Peter,
Andrew, James, and John. Isn't it interesting that Andrew,
Peter's brother, was not part of the inner circle? So it's
truly an election that's going on here of three men inside the
twelve. It's interesting, I never saw
this before, but you know that we're not gonna read it, but
in John, the first chapter, you have something that happened
ahead of this calling. This is up at the Sea of Galilee
in the northern part of the country, and in John one, it's John the
Baptist baptizing outside Jerusalem in the southern part, and it's
there in John one that actually, Simon saw the Lord Jesus and
said, Jesus said to him, what is it you're after? He said,
can we follow you? And he took him home that night.
And that's very interesting. And then later on, he called
them officially here in this passage. I thought that was really
interesting. So we have two sets of brothers. in the 12, but it was three out
of the four of those four who became part of the inner circle.
In Mark 1, James and John left their, it says they left their
father and hired servants in the boat mending nets. Must have
been pretty successful fishermen, their father, but they left it
all to follow the Lord Jesus. You know that James and John
were called the sons of thunder. And we'll see that in a minute.
They were evidently, you know, not quiet type guys. And then
you've got Peter and all of the things about him. I just wanted
to go through a few of those things this afternoon. Peter
is so interesting. Peter was the impetuous one.
He's always the one, he's the spokesman. He's the one asking
the deep questions of the Lord. He's the one telling him, no,
you're not gonna do that. And then Jesus had to say, get
behind me, Satan, you're going too far here, Peter. So very
interesting man. You know, when God saves people,
he doesn't change their personalities. He lets people be who they are
personality-wise, but he works on them in those personalities.
So it's very interesting to see some of these gentlemen. Why
wasn't Andrew part of the inner circle? This is all part of God's
doing, his election, and it's his business. First of all, let's
look at a few things about Peter and John as individuals. Then
we're gonna look at various combinations of Peter, James, and John to
see what they did together. First of all, concerning John, this is, in the Gospel of John,
We find that several times the expression John uses in that
gospel of himself is the disciple Jesus loved. So if you turn to
John 13, 23, you see an example of this. Evidently, it made such
an impression, obviously, on John that Jesus loved him, chosen,
that he referred to himself in the gospel as the disciple Jesus
loved, John 13, 23. Now there was leaning on Jesus'
bosom one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. That's him, himself,
he's writing this, and that's how he refers to himself. Then
in John 19, 26, When the Lord was on the cross,
guess who he delegated his mother to, to take care of? It was John. When Jesus, therefore, saw his
mother and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he said unto
his mother, woman, behold thy son. Then he said to the disciple,
behold thy mother. And from that hour, that disciple
took her into his own home. So John took care of Jesus' earthly
mother. Then you have in John 20, I love
this story about the run to the tomb. In John 20 verses three
through nine, they had heard that from Mary Magdalene and
the ladies that the tomb was empty that morning. And so they
told, they came and told Peter and John And so you pick up in
verse three, Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple,
and came to the sepulcher. So they ran both together, and
the other disciple did outrun Peter. John was faster than Peter.
Maybe he was more of an athlete. And came first to the sepulcher.
Did he go in? No. And he stooping down and
looking in saw the linen clothes lying, yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter, you
can just see him there out of breath, following him and went
into the sepulcher. I don't imagine Peter stopped
a minute at the door. He charges in and sees the linen
clothes lying there and the whole thing about the napkin rolled
up and they knew he's gone, he's alive. So that was interesting
about John giving deference to Peter in the run to the tomb. Now a few things about Peter
and we could go on for a long time about Peter, but just a
few points. You know, early in Jesus' ministry, Jesus went into
Peter's house and healed his mother-in-law. Remember, that's
in Matthew 8. We won't read that, but that's significant. So Peter's
mother-in-law lived with he and his wife, and Jesus healed her. Then you got the famous passage
in Matthew 14 of him walking on the water to Jesus, a wonderful
passage. So it was at night, I think,
or early morning or something. It was pretty dark. Misty and
they saw this figure walking toward them. They were in the
boat and The Cybers got scared and Jesus said it's me and Peter
says If it's really you let me walk on the water out to you
see that's Peter who else would say something like that and Jesus
says okay come on and he starts out walking on the water and
he gets scared and starts sinking and he says Lord save me so Jesus
did and Wonderful story. Shows more about Peter. And of
course of the faith that Jesus had given to him. Peter is the
spokesman for the group. And let's look at a few of those.
Matthew 15, 15. He's always the one who's hyping
up and saying something, maybe something he shouldn't even say,
but he's gonna say it. And so Matthew 15, 15. Then answered Peter and said
unto him, declare unto us this parable. I mean, explain to us
the parable. Then in Matthew 19, 27, then
answered Peter and said unto him, behold, we have forsaken
all and followed thee. What shall we have, therefore?
What are we going to get for this? We've given up everything
for you, Lord. What are we going to get? And
Jesus answered him. The great confession, Matthew
16. Let's go back to Matthew 16.
Who is it that made the great confession? Well, of course,
Peter. The Lord's saying, who are people
saying that I am? And they say, well, some say
you're Elijah. Others, John the Baptist. And
he says, who do you say I am? And Peter, without a second,
says, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And so
he makes this great statement that, you know, Peter means rock. It means a little rock. And so
Jesus said, your name, you know, he changed it to Peter. It was
Simon. He changed it to Peter, the rock. And he says, you're
Peter, you're the rock. And on this rock, the bigger
rock, I'll build my church. Of course, he wasn't nominated
him as the first Pope, but he was making a statement of theology
there with using the word rock. And so that was all with Peter,
very important. The minute after that in Matthew
16, it shows the humanness of Peter and his impetuousness because
Jesus had to rebuke him, didn't he? in verse 23, because what
had happened is, in verse 21, from that time forth began Jesus
to show his disciples how he must go into Jerusalem and suffer
many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and
be killed and raised again the third day. When Peter took him,
and you can see this, Peter took him, maybe he grabbed his shoulders,
maybe, I mean, he took him and began to rebuke him, saying,
Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee. He was
rebuking the Lord. He was talking really straight
with him. This is not gonna happen to you. And so Jesus had to say,
Get thee behind me, Satan. That must have been a shock to
him. Thou art an offense unto me, for thou savest not the things
that be of God, but those that be of men. In other words, okay,
Peter, you're going a little too far here. We're buddies,
but I'm the Lord and you have no idea what's coming So then the temple question in
Matthew 17 24 When they were coming to Capernaum they They
that received tribute tribute money came unto Peter see they
came the other people came to Peter to to get to Jesus Doth
not your master pay tribute? And so that's where the teaching
comes about, about giving to Caesar what you owe Caesar. So
the tax collectors came to Peter to inquire of Jesus. Okay, then
in John 13, we won't go there, but Jesus is washing their feet. What does Peter do? He gets to
Peter. What does Peter say? No, you're not gonna do this
to me. He says, Peter, if I don't wash your feet, you're not clean.
And he says, okay, wash all of me. I got you, I understand. So that's, in Matthew 18, 21, Peter asks him, Lord, how many
times do we have to forgive somebody? Is it seven times seven was the
perfect number? And so he said, no, seven times
seven, try that to start with. And then in Matthew 19, But we've already mentioned this.
Peter says we have forsaken all. What do we get after all this?
So there's a few snapshots of Peter. There's a few snapshots
of John. We don't have much about James
the same way, but at least I didn't gather much of it. But let's
now look at Peter, James, and John together, the group. What did they get to do that
the others didn't get to do? Well, the biggie was the transfiguration. So look at Matthew 17. These
three, Peter again is the spokesman here, but these three got to
really see something here, didn't they? We won't read it all, but
just kind of skipping down through it. After six days, Jesus takes
Peter, James, and John. This wasn't a coincidence. He
takes them and brings them up into a high mountain apart, and
he was transfigured before them. His face did shine as the sun,
and his raiment was white as the light. And behold, there
appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with them. And then answered Peter, and
said unto Jesus. Now, look at this. He's impetuous. He's the kind of guy who says
something out of place. You know, you're kind of embarrassed
for it. So what does he say? He says, Lord, let's build a
tabernacle for each other. How is he gonna do that? He says,
let's build one for you and Moses and Elijah. So then I take this
as a little bit of a rebuke. I don't know how you take it.
This voice out of heaven all of a sudden says, the Lord of
God, Jehovah, says, this is my beloved son in whom I am well
pleased. Hear ye him. We don't need a
tabernacle for Moses and Elijah, Peter. This is the guy. And when
the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were
sore afraid. So there's Peter again in action. We got some things going on with
James and John, the brothers. Look at Luke 9.54. This is maybe
why they call them the Sons of Thunder. Luke 9.54, what had happened
is, the Lord had gone through Samaria and he wasn't well received. And in verse 54, and when his
disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou
that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume
them, even as Elias did? But he turned and rebuked them
and said, ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the
Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.
And they went to another village. So James and John got rebuked.
They wanted to bring down fire. They were all ready. Just think,
all the power at their fingertips. And they could bring that down
on somebody. That'd be a temptation, wouldn't
it? So he said no. So there are some pretty strong
people here. Now, look at Matthew 20. This gets interesting. So was James and John's mother
a wilting, flower, weak woman? I don't think so. What did she
want? She wanted James and John to
sit at the right hand of Jesus. Look at this in Matthew 20, 20
through 28. Then came to him the mother of
Zebedee's children with her sons. I wonder if she was just dragging
them along or whether they really wanted to do this. You know,
let's take some guts. worshiping him and desiring a
certain thing of him. And he said unto her, What wilt
thou? She said unto him, Grant that
these my two sons may sit, the one on the right hand and the
other on the left, in my kingdom. Wow. She must have understood
that they were part of the inner circle, but now she wants to
cut out Peter and put her two on the right and left, right?
Bold move. But Jesus answered and said,
Ye know not what ye ask. Are you able to drink of the
cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism
that I am baptized with? They said unto him, this is them,
not the mother. We are able. So they were in
on this. And he said unto them, you shall
drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that
I am baptized with. But to sit on my right hand and
my left is not mine to give. But it should be given to them
for whom it is prepared by my Father. Now, how the other 10
like that? Oh, they didn't like it a bit.
And when the 10 heard it, they were moved with indignation against
the two brothers. Can you just see the little talk
going on in the back room with James and John? You know, it
all wasn't just rosy all the time among the 12. So this was
a little spat that went on. So that's James and John. But
what's the point here? The point is, in spite of all
of these Weaknesses, impetuosity, wanting to bring down thunder
on people. They were the chosen inner circle and God forgives
us of our sins as he elects us and he chooses us. He chose these
men and he stuck with it. Okay, so, asked of special rank. Now, let's get to the end. Peter, James, and John. Well,
those are the guys in Gethsemane. Let's turn to Matthew 26. Let's
talk about some of their failures in the end here. Matthew 26,
36 to 46. Then come with Jesus with them
into a place called Gethsemane and said unto the disciples,
sit ye here while I go and pray. That's evidently all 11. And
he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began
to be sorrowful. He took them deeper to where
he was going to pray, and to be sorrowful and very heavy.
And he saith unto them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even
unto death. Tarry ye here, and watch with
me. You guys are the three that I
trust. Pray for me now. I need it. And
watch. And he went a little farther
and fell on his face and prayed, saying, O my father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will,
but as thou wilt. I've been reading Hebrews, and
there's a very interesting passage in Hebrews about this. He wept
bitterly here, crying and weeping. So look at the passage of Hebrews.
And he cometh unto his disciples and findeth them asleep. And
saith unto Peter, saith unto Peter, What, could you not watch
with me one hour? Watch and pray that you enter
not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second
time, prayed, saying, O my father, if this cup may not pass away
from me except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came and
found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. And he
left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying
the same words, Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto
them, Sleep on now, and take your rest. Behold, the hour is
at hand, and so a man is betrayed into the hands of sinners." So
he was truly alone then from that point on. His three had
dropped away. They couldn't even stay awake.
And he's on his own. OK, then Peter followed in all
of this. He snuck around. And after they
came and got the Lord, he followed at a distance, didn't he? And
in Matthew 26, 31 to 35, we see that Jesus said,
ye shall all be offended because of me this night. For it is written,
I will smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall
be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I
will go before you into Galilee. So he knows what they're going
to do, but he says, that's not the end of it. I'm going to go.
I'm going to rise again. I'm going to meet you in Galilee.
Peter answered and said unto him, this is Peter's great confession. Though all men shall be offended
because of thee, yet will I never be offended. I will never do
that. Jesus said unto him, verily I
say unto thee, that this night before the cock crows, thou shalt
deny me three times. Peter said unto him, though I
should die with thee, will I not deny thee? So you know what happened. We're not going to read it all.
Peter's following at a distance. He gets up close, and he's watching
what's going on with the high priest and with all that within
the inner court. And this little servant girl
who is, I think, related to, oh, I forgot to mention, who
is the guy who, when they came to get Jesus, drew his sword
and cut off the servant's ear? Peter, of course. Jesus healed
him. And there was a cousin or a relative
of that servant, whose ear got cut off, who was the little girl
who came up to Peter and says, you're one of them, aren't you?
He said, nope. And later on, she said it again. And he cursed
and said, no, I'm not one of them. So he denied the Lord.
And of course, he wept bitterly after that. It was just to sow
his sinfulness, just like all of us. And then let's look at
the forgiveness finally. Matthew 26. Oh, Matthew 26, 32,
the Lord says, I'm gonna go before you into Galilee. So he was already
hinting at the forgiveness right there. But, Matthew 26, 75, Peter,
remember the word of Jesus, which said unto him, before the cock
crows, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out and wept bitterly.
Now, One of my favorite other passages is John 21. John 21,
okay. So this is where we're gonna
wind up, finish this. And the whole point of it is,
we are terribly sinful people, God chooses us. And he did the
same with these three. They had a lot of faults, but
they were who they were, and he chose them. And then they
failed him terribly. They couldn't stay awake and
pray for him. Peter denied him. So the Lord Jesus is all alone
to go through what he went through, and yet he forgave them all.
And now, look at this. In John 21, after the resurrection,
I love this passage, and you cannot tell what's going on in
the King James. I'm sure you know what's going
on here. Watch this, John 21, 15 through 19. So when they had
dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou
me more than these? That's agape love. Peter, do you love me with agape
love, the highest form of love? He said unto him, yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. Not the same word, phileo. Lord,
you know that I, Treat you as a friend. Because he couldn't say, I love you. Excuse me. OK, he said,
feed my lamb. So he said it to him again a
second time. Simon, son of Jonas, love is now me. It's once again
agape. So the first time he said that,
do you love me more than these? Agape. He said, Lord, after all
we've been through, you know that the best I can do is phileo.
That's what I do. So he says, OK, Peter, do you
love me? Agape. So he said unto him, yea,
Lord, thou knowest that I phileo you. Best I can do. He said unto him, feed my sheep.
So he said unto him the third time. Simon son of Jonas lovest
thou me. Now he came down to the word
Peter was using Do you really phileo me? Peter So he said Okay,
this got to Peter Peter was grieved because he said unto him the
third time phileo you me And he said unto him Lord thou knowest
all things and and thou knowest that I flail thee. That's why
he said, feed my sheep. Sorry about that. I think what
it points out is that in spite of our sin, in spite of our ability
to love like we should, God loves us.