What a sweet thought to think
that he's made an end of all our sin. I've entitled this message, Simon
Peter. The statement I'd like to make
by way of introduction is that the living, eternal God saves
sinners and very flawed people. And after they're saved, they're
still sinners and very flawed people. Simon Peter is an example. of that. I'm an example of that. You're an example of that. Peter was probably one year older
than the Lord, born about 1 AD. And it's thought that he died
somewhere between 63 and 67 AD. And we know that he died as a
martyr because the Lord told him he was going to die as a
martyr. And he told him by what death
he would glorify God. And church tradition has it. I don't know what that means.
I've heard it and read it all my life. But church tradition
has it that he was crucified upside down because he didn't
believe he deserved to be crucified in the same manner as the Lord. Now, we know regarding this man
that he was an uneducated man. Remember when the Pharisees heard
him, heard him and John and they perceived that they were unlearned
and ignorant men. That would describe Peter. And he was a fisherman from the
town of Bethsaida. And evidently he and his brother
Andrew were in business with James and John as professional
fishermen. Simon Peter is the first apostle
mentioned And he is certainly the leader and the spokesman
of the 12. You can't miss that in reading the gospels. These
are the men Christ selected to spread his gospel all over the
world. These 12 men. Simon Peter is
the first one mentioned that Christ selected. He was a very
admirable man. And you know that. And he was
a very flawed man. And you know that. As a matter
of fact, I've talked to so many people who say of all the apostles,
the one they identify with the most is Simon Peter. Now, what I've tried to do is
give a chronological sequence of the events of his life. And
I pray I preach the Gospel in doing this. This is not to exalt
Simon Peter. This is to exalt the Gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ that would save somebody like Simon Peter. But we're introduced to him in
John chapter 1, if you want to turn there. John chapter 1 verse
40. One of the two which heard John
speak, John chapter 1 verse 40, one of the two which heard John
speak And followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first
findeth his own brother, Simon, and saith unto him, we found
the Messiah. You know, he's wrong there. The
Messiah found men. But we found the Messiah. which
is being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus.
He brought Peter, his brother, to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld
him, he said, Thou art Simon, the son of Jonah. He already
knew him, didn't he? You see, he had known him from the foundation
of the world. He knew this is one who is eternally
united to him. He's always known him. Now, Peter
did not yet know the Christ, but the Lord knew him. Isn't
it wonderful to think that the Lord has always known you? If you're one of his, he's always
known you. And he brought him back to Jesus
and Jesus said, Thou art Simon, the son of Jonah. Thou shalt
be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, a stone. Now, I think all this happened
in several days events, maybe the next day or the day following,
he saw Andrew and Peter fishing and he said, follow me and I'll
make you fishers of men. And they did. But look in Luke
chapter five. This is where I think that Peter
first came to know really who the Lord was. Luke chapter five. And it came to pass as the people
pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the
lake of Gennesaret and saw two ships standing by the lake. The
fishermen were gone out of them and were washing their nets.
They'd been fishing all night and they were now washing their
nets, probably seaweed in them and things of that nature. And
he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's and prayed
him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he
sat down and taught the people out of the ship. This was Simon
Peter's ship. And when he'd left speaking,
he said unto Simon, launch out into the deep and lay down your
nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto
him, master. Now notice how he addresses him. Master. Teacher. Teacher. He thought he was a
great teacher. Teacher. We have toiled all night
and have taken nothing. And we know something about fishing.
We know this is pointless. We've toiled all night and taken
nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word, I
will let down the net. And when they had this done,
they enclosed a great multitude of fishes in their net break.
Now you try to put yourself in these guys' place. They understood
that the Lord said, fish get in the net, and they got in the
net. They understood the Lord was the Lord. This is when he
first understood this. And they beckoned unto their
partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and
help them. And they came and filled both ships so that they
began to sink. When Simon Peter saw, he fell
down at Jesus' knees saying, And he meant this from the depths
of his heart. Depart from me. You don't want to have anything
to do with me. Depart from me. For I am a sinful man. Oh Lord. He doesn't call him teacher anymore.
He calls him Lord. And one thing that he had learned
from who this man is, he found out he was a sin full man, full
of sin. And that's what happens when
people see the Lord. Somebody that doesn't see themselves
in that light just has never seen the Lord. You see the Lord,
you will see that you are a sin full man. For he was astonished
and all that were with him at the drop, the fishes which they
had taken. And so was also James and John,
the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus
said unto Simon, fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
And when they brought their ships to land, they forsook all and
followed him." Now, the next event that I find
chronologically where Peter's involved You can read about it
in Matthew chapter 14 where the Lord is walking on the water
during the storm. He suspended the law of physics.
That's not hard for him to do. They're his laws. He can use
them or he can pass them by. But he's walking on the water
toward the disciples in that storm. And they're scared to
death. Scripture says they cried out thinking it was its spirit.
And he said, be of good cheer, it's I. I wish we would realize
that with regard to everything. Be of good cheer, it's I. I'm
the one in control of this. And Peter, none of the rest of
the disciples did this. Peter said, Lord, if it be thou
bid me Come to thee on the water. And he said, come. Now, I want
you to put yourself in this position. Can you imagine him pulling his
leg out over the edge of the boat and stepping down on the
water? None of the other disciples has to do this, but Peter did.
Peter was a man of great faith. And he goes walking on the water
to the Lord Jesus Christ. But you know what happened after
that? He saw the waves. and the winds boisterous. He
quit looking at Christ and started looking at the circumstances
and the environment. And he began to sink. Lord, save me. You know, that's
the prayer I pray more than any other prayer. Lord, save me. How many times have I prayed
that prayer? How many times have I prayed that prayer today? Lord,
save me. saved me. And the Lord reached and got
his hand and pulled him up and he said, O thou of little faith. I thought it was great faith
when he walked on the water. Well, I reckon it was, but it's
not anymore. O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? Now, In this event, he's a man
of great faith and a man of little faith. And Peter provides so
many contrasts for us. He's a man of great courage.
He's a man of cowardice, afraid of a little maid. He's a man
of humility. Depart from me, Lord, I'm so
sinful. Yet he could be so proud. He was so fearless of man. I think of him standing on the
day of Pentecost and saying, him being delivered by the determined
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and with
wicked hands have crucified and slain. What courage he showed
at that time. Yet how afraid he was before
a little maid, that he denied he knew the Lord. Now in John
chapter 6, this is after that event of him walking on the water. In John chapter 6, the Lord gave
a message where the 5,000 he'd fed decided, we don't want this
anymore. And they left him. They said
regarding what he said, these are hard sayings. Who can hear
the message of John chapter 6 where he clearly brought forth grace.
The doctrine of grace. He clearly brought out how God
elected a people. How Christ died for them. How
God the Holy Spirit's grace is irresistible. How they will persevere. How no man can come to Christ
except he's drawn to the Father. He brought a message on sovereign
grace. And everybody who heard him laughed. Many of his disciples went back.
That word carries with it the idea they let the sail in so
they didn't go quite so fast, kind of in an unnoticed way.
They went back and walked no more with him. And he looked
at the 12 and said, will you also go away? There's a lot to learn in that.
He didn't try to say, let me rephrase those statements so
you can understand. No, he watched them leave. He
knew exactly what they were doing. You see, he could see it in men's
heart. He watched them leave, and he said, will you also go
away? And who's the one who answers? Simon Peter. Lord, to whom shall
we go? It's not like there's an option.
To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. These words that they see as harsh statements, we see as
words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that
Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Now this is
a reminder to me and you. Faith is what you think regarding Him.
It's not what you think about yourself. It's not whether you
think you're saved or you're not saved. Faith has wholly to
do with what you think concerning Him. Do you believe He's the
Christ? Do you believe He's the Son of
the Living God? I'm talking about the Christ
of the Bible. You know that. I'm talking about God as He's revealed
in Scripture. God the Son having all the attributes
of the Godhead dwelling, residing in His body. Do you believe He's
the Christ, the Son of the Living God? That's what faith is. Beloved,
if you have that, you have right now, as the gift of God's grace,
saving faith. Turn to Matthew chapter 16. This is the passage of Scripture
where the Roman Catholic Church decides that Peter was the first
Pope. We'll see about that. But in
verse 13, when Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi,
he asked his disciples, saying, whom do men say that I, the Son
of Man am? And they said, some say thou art John the Baptist,
some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. Now,
I guess they meant that by way of compliment, but there wasn't
anything complimentary about it. To compare the Son of God
to some human being? I don't care who they are. That's
derogatory. It was wrong. And verse 15, he saith unto them,
but whom say ye that I am? Here comes Simon again, and Simon
Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the son of the
living God. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood
hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father, which is in heaven,
And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, stone, and upon
this rock, this large stone, not the same word, I will build
my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
I'll give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven and
whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Now, like I said, this is where
the Catholic Church gets the idea of Peter being the first
Pope. Now, first of all, when the Lord
says, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church.
Is he talking about Peter? Do you think he would build the
church on this sinful, fickle man? I don't think so. What do you mean, I don't think
so? I know he wouldn't. There's no way. Thou art Peter. upon this rock, this stone, this
cliff, this confession of me, who I am, I'll build my church. Aren't you glad that the Lord's
the builder of the church? I think people talk about church planting.
Somehow that whole idea just irritates me. The Lord's the
builder of the church. But what's he mean when he says,
and I'll give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven? And
whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Now, this is used, it's up to Peter as to whether or not you're
getting heaven or go to hell. He's got the keys to the kingdom.
And he may let you in, he may not. You better not cross him.
Boy, I'm glad nobody has any kind of authority like that,
don't you? At any rate, the keys to the kingdom is the gospel.
The way you get into heaven, is through the Gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's the key. You come by way
of Him, you'll be brought in. You come some other way, you're
shut out. It's as simple as that. This
is talking about the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. But look
what happened in this same chapter, verse 21. From that time forth began Jesus
to show unto His disciples how that He must. It was absolutely
necessary for Him to go into Jerusalem, He must suffer many
things of the elders and chief priests and scribes. He must
be killed and he must be raised again the third day. The word
must is the key. He must because it's God's purpose.
This is God's eternal purpose. He must because He came to save
His people from their sins. He must because the justice of
God demands His death because He was the sin bearer. He must
be raised from the dead because the justice of God demands that
take place because of what He accomplished. Oh, the word must
is so important. But look what happens. Verse
22, Then Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him. He started rebuking the Lord
of glory, saying, be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be
unto thee. But he turned and said unto Peter, get thee behind
me, Satan. I don't have any doubt that Satan
was at work with Peter at this time. And anything that's contrary
to the cross is anti-Christ. And that's what he was doing.
You don't need to do this. Get thee behind me, Satan. Now, I would say previous to
this, Peter was feeling pretty good. Thou art Peter. He didn't say thou art John.
He didn't say thou art Thomas. Talk about Peter. I would say
Peter felt pretty good about himself. And I would say Peter
thought, I'm a cut above the rest of these fellows. And then
the Lord gives him this message, get thee behind me, Satan. Thou art an offense to me, for
thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that
be of men. I can just see Peter shrinking
while this is being said, can't you? I mean, this is taking the
starch out of him. the man of transfiguration. You know, there were an inner
circle of the disciples and Peter was included in it. There's Peter, James, and John,
and there's everybody else. And when the Lord would bring,
do certain things, he'd always bring Peter and James and John.
He never included the other disciples. Now, somebody says, well, how's
that? I don't know. But the Lord did
it. They were the inner circle, and
Peter was the inner circle. And when the Lord goes up on
the man of transfiguration, he brought these three. And the
scripture says he was transfigured before them. At this time, his
deity burst through his humanity. What does that mean? I don't
know. But his face shined as the sun. His raiment was white
and glistening like no fuller can make them. And they were
just dumbfounded. looking at this, and Moses and
Elijah appeared unto him at this time. And they knew it was Moses
and Elijah. And I know what they were talking
about. I think this is so glorious. They speak of the decease which
he should accomplish at Jerusalem. Isn't that always the glorious
thing to speak of? the deceased which he should
accomplish." His death was accomplishment. His death accomplished the salvation
of all of the elect. It accomplished the putting away
of sin. It accomplished the full glory
of God. That's what they were talking
about. And the scripture says, then answered Peter. Nobody asked
him anything, but he answered. Had to say something. It's good for us to be here.
Let's make three tabernacles. One for you, one for Moses, and
one for Elijah. Now, he couldn't have said anything
any more spiritually stupid than that. How derogatory to the Lord
to put these men on the same plane as Christ. Let's make a
tabernacle for Moses. Elijah and Christ. It was a blasphemous,
horrible thing to say. Somebody says, could a believer
say something like that? Well, he did. He did. How many times are you all, you
know, being the preacher, people are always thinking, I want to
watch what I say. I might say something stupid.
Well, I might say something stupid too. Do often. And don't worry about
it. Don't worry about it. But what
did Peter do? He said something really stupid.
And the scripture says a bright cloud overshadowed them. And a voice came from heaven,
This is my beloved Son. Hear ye Him. And after that they
saw no man save Jesus only. Now right after that, we have
the story of the rich young ruler. And after he went away and the
Lord, you know, said how hard should they then have riches
enter the kingdom of heaven? You remember the story. But at
any rate, at the end of the story, Peter made this statement. He
said, no, we've left everything in it, everything for you, what's
in it for us? How are we going to benefit from
this? He took a blessing of grace and
turned it into a work. What a blessing of grace if the
Lord enables you to leave all for Him. Wouldn't that be a pure
act of grace? Is that something you could take
credit for? But old Peter, he turns it into a work. Though
we've left it all, what's in it for us? Now that was a stupid
thing to say once again. But you know what we gained out
of this? This is how the Lord brings good out of evil. We gained
the parable of the workers in the vineyard. This was the Lord's
answer to Peter's stupid question. Everybody gets the same. The 11 hour worker, the one hour
worker, 12 hour worker, everyone gets the same. Because we're
saved the same way by Christ. And I don't have any doubt, and
I don't know how to say this, as stupid and wrong as what Peter
said was, I have no doubt that the Lord caused him to say that
in order to bring about this parable. The Lord controls everything. I mean, it doesn't matter what
you're talking about. He's the first cause. What about? He's
the first cause of it. He's the first cause of it. I
mean, you can just write that down. Peter does this dumb thing
again, and the Lord does what only He can do. He brings good
out of evil. And how thankful I am for that
parable. Matthew chapter 20. The Lord is spending His last
24 hours with the disciples. You can read about it in John
chapters 13 through 17. And He begins by washing their
feet. Everybody's flipping out. You
can bet on that. Everybody's flipping out as the
Lord washes their feet. And when he gets to Peter, what
does Peter say? He said, you'll never wash my feet. I'm far too
humble to let something like this take place. You're not going
to wash my feet. The Lord said, if I don't wash
you, you have no part with me. He said, wash my head, wash my
hands, wash every bit of me. That's the response of a believer.
Has such pride, has such arrogance. But during that time, this is
when the Lord foretold Peter that he was going to deny him.
Simon, Simon. This is in Luke's account. Satan
has desired to have you. Literally, he's asked permission
for you. that he may sift you as wheat. But I prayed for you that your
faith fail not." Now he tells Peter, you're going to deny me
three times. What was Peter's response? John
may. Andrew may. Thomas may. Not me. And he meant it, and
he believed it. I love you far too much for that
to take place. And the Lord said, before the
cock crows, you're going to deny me three times. No way. It's not going to happen. Well, you know what took place.
You know what took place. He just didn't realize how weak
he was. You will remember in Gethsemane,
before his arrest, he took James and John and Peter once again
with him to pray. He said, watch with me while
I go yonder and pray. And he goes yonder and prays.
Do any of those fellows watch with him? No. They fell asleep. Fleshly. When people fall asleep when
I'm preaching, I don't get mad. They fell asleep on the Lord.
Why would I think it wouldn't happen
to me? But the Lord comes back and says, Peter, Peter, couldn't
you watch one hour with me? No. He didn't. How do you think Peter felt during
his denial? You know, the Lord told him this
was going to take place, and he must have been thinking somehow,
it's not going to happen. And he can't help himself. They
say, you're one of them. He said, no, I'm not. He said,
yeah, you are. I know not the man. Your speech betrays you. He began
to curse and swear, saying, I know not the man. And then he heard
that cock crow. And Luke's account says at that
time, even while he's denying him, the Lord looked on him,
didn't say anything, just looked at him. And the scripture says
he went out and he wept bitterly. He saw how weak he was. He saw
how he couldn't control this. He wasn't blaming God's sovereignty
on this. He was blaming himself. And he was so brokenhearted over
it. How do you think he felt when
the Lord died and they put him in the grave? And he, he thought
it's over for me. He remembered the Lord saying,
whoever denies me before men, him will I deny before my father,
which is in heaven. And he thought, well, it's over.
I don't know what the experience I had was for these last 30 years,
but it's over. I'm going to hell. I don't have
any doubt that he thought that about himself. But after the
Lord was risen, would you turn with me for a moment to Mark
chapter 16? This is after he appeared to
the women and told them to go tell the disciples about his
resurrection from the dead. Look in verse 7. But go your
way, tell his disciples that he goeth before you into Galilee.
There shall you see him as he said unto you. Now would Peter
have gone with him? No, I'm not a disciple. He didn't mean me. But how merciful the Lord is.
Go tell his disciples and Peter. You make sure Peter knows this. You make sure Peter hears this. I guarantee you, Peter didn't
believe himself to be a disciple. He thought of the Lord's word,
whosoever denies me before men, him will I deny before my father
which is in heaven. And he thought, I've denied him.
But here's the thing. Didn't the Lord say, I prayed
for you that your faith fail not? He did. Peter denied his connection
with the Lord. He denied that he knew him or
that he was one of his disciples. He caved in under cowardice,
but he didn't deny the Lord. He didn't say he's not the son
of God. He didn't say he's not the Christ. He just, out of being
chicken and afraid, denied his connection with him. You've done
that just as bad. I've done that just as bad. I
don't have any question about that. But if you would have asked
Peter at this time, are you saved? Probably not. Do you have faith? Probably not. Do you believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God with all my heart? He
never quit believing that. Now, after hearing the Lord was
raised from the dead, After these women come to Peter
and John, you know what they did? They ran to the sepulcher.
Remember that? They ran to the sepulcher. John
outran him. But who was the one who went
in? It was Peter who went in to the sepulcher. And the Lord
appeared to them for 40 days. And I don't know when this took
place during this period, but the Lord had appeared to them
for several times. And all of a sudden Peter announces, I'm
going fishing. Now he wasn't talking about a
one day excursion. The fishing is in the original
in such a way as you can't get that out of it. He's saying,
I'm forgetting this disciple business. I'm going back fishing.
I'm going back fishing. And a bunch of the disciples
Went with him, said, we go fishing, too. We're following you. You
see, he had some kind of leadership over him. And he goes back to
fishing. And that night, they caught nothing. And the Lord was on the shore.
And he said, children, have you any meat? And they said, no,
we haven't taken a thing. He said, cast on the right side. And they did. And that's when
they took up 153 big fish. And all of a sudden, John said,
it's the Lord. They didn't recognize him at
first, but John said, it's the Lord. What did Peter do? He jumped
in the water and swam to get to the Lord. And there they had
that meal that was so good that the Lord fixed for them. And that's when the Lord, after
they ate, said, Peter, do you love me? Yea, Lord, feed my sheep. Peter, do you love me? Yay, Lord,
feed my lambs. Peter, do you love me? Peter
was grieved that he asked him a third time. And he said, Lord,
you know all things. You know what a weak, sinful,
contradictory, hypocritical man I am. I can't hide that from
you. You know all things. You know me inside and out. You know me a whole lot better
than I know me. And you know that I love your person. I love everything about you.
I love your attributes. I love your salvation. I love
your person. And then the Lord said, well,
they're going to carry you in a way you don't want to be carried.
And this was his signifying by what death he would glorify God.
His martyrdom would glorify God. And what was Peter's response? What about John? What about this
man? I love the way the Lord said,
none of your business. If I will that he tarry till
I come, what's that to thee? You follow me. But he was all,
even then at this time, what about this man? The very first act of the apostles
in Acts chapter 1, Peter made a blunder. We need to get somebody
to take Judas' place. Here's these two fellows I'm
electing. Lord, show us which one of these you've chosen. Neither.
Neither. He'd chosen Paul. Not Matthias
and whoever else the other guy's name was. He'd chosen Paul. So
his very first act as an apostle was a blunder. And you go through
the first 12 chapters of Acts. I mean, there's just a lot said
about Peter, his ups, his downs. I also think it's funny there
in Acts chapter 10 when the Lord's sending him to the Gentiles.
And the Lord says, rise, Peter, kill and eat. Not so, Lord. I'm
not going to do that. Nothing unclean's in my mouth.
Well, nobody believes that in the first place. And in the second
place, you don't dictate to the Lord what you're going to do.
But the Lord was sending him to the Gentiles, and the Lord
saved some Gentiles through him. And some people criticized him
after that. You've gone and eat with men
that are Gentiles. And he said, Who was I that could
have stained God? I wouldn't have done it. I mean,
I'm sure I wouldn't have done it, but what choice did I have?
The Lord saved him. He, all of his life, he had a
problem loving Gentiles. I think of Galatians chapter
2. I've heard of it. Well, there's the pre-Pentecostal Peter before
Pentecost and there's afterwards where he's such a mighty, strong
person. Well, what about Galatians chapter
2? When some people came down from James, they have the circumcision
came down. Scripture says he feared them, the circumcision.
And he actually denied the gospel in this. He got up and moved
tables. He was saying, you're better off at a Jewish table
than you are at a Gentile table. It didn't say a word. And that's
where Paul publicly rebuked him with regard to the truth of the
gospel. Now, can you imagine how humiliating that was? Paul
did this in front of everybody. And what are Peter's words with
regard to Paul? Even as our beloved brother,
Paul, speaking of these things according to the wisdom which
the Lord had given him. Our beloved brother Paul. But
let's close by turning to Acts 15. This is the last information
about him in the book of Acts. Acts chapter 15. And here's the setting of what
took place, verse one. And certain men which came down
from Judea, the church in Judea, certain men which came down from
Judea, and you'd think that that would give them some credibility,
they taught the brethren and said, except you be circumcised
after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. Yes, you need
the blood of Christ. Yes, you need the grace of God.
Yes, you need something else. When therefore Paul and Barnabas
had no small dissension and disputation with him, there was an argument
that took place. They determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain
others of them should go up to Jerusalem and to the apostles
and elders about this question. And being brought on their way
by the church, they passed through The Nicaea and Samaria declaring
the conversion of the Gentiles, and they caused great joy unto
all the brethren. And when they were come to Jerusalem,
this is where Peter and John were, they were received of the
church and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all
the things that God had done with them, but there rose up
certain of the sect of the Pharisees, which believed. And there's a
problem right there. The sect of the Pharisees, which
believed. What comes first? Pharisees. Why did it just say
believer? Because they weren't real believers.
But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees, which
believed, saying that it was needful to circumcise them and
to command them to keep the law of Moses. Now, anytime somebody
says something is needful, other than what Christ has done, they've
left the gospel. You believe that? And the apostles and elders came
together for to consider this matter, and when there had been
much disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them, Men and brethren,
you know how that a good while ago God made choice among us
that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel
and believe, and God which knoweth the hearts, bear them witness,
giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us. and put no
difference between us and them, Jews and Gentiles, purifying
their hearts by faith. There's no difference. We're
saved the same way. Now, therefore, why tempt ye God to put a yoke
upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor
we were able to bear? What you're trying to put on
them, you don't do. You don't do it. And now you're
putting it on them. He's exposing the hypocrisy of
all this. And then he gives our confession
But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
we shall be saved, even as they." He doesn't say they'll be saved
like us. He says, we'll be saved like them. When those Gentile
dogs are saved, that's the way we are saved. And this is spoken
in such a way in the original Where you could accurately translate
this, we believe by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we've
been saved. We believe by the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ, we're being saved. We believe by the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we will be saved. All the tenses
of salvation are found in that word. Peter. He's an example
of how when the Lord saves someone, he saves a sinful man, a flawed
man. They're still sinful and flawed
after they're saved, but they've got a new nature. They've got
a nature that was not there before that cries out, we believe that
by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even
as they. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that you save
sinful, flawed, weak individuals and enable them to believe on
your Son and give them life to believe on your Son. Lord, we're asking in Christ's
name that we might be saved, that we might be enabled to believe
on your son, that we might be enabled to preach him. Lord,
we thank you for your grace in Peter's life, and we ask for
the same grace in our own lives for Christ's sake. In his name
we pray. Amen.