The Lord knew that he would,
in a few years, deny he even knew him. The Lord saw Simon's
entire history at once. And he said to him, you are Simon.
But you shall be Peter. You shall be a rock. That's what Peter means, Cephas.
is the Arabic word for the Greek word Peter, which simply means
a rock, a piece of a rock. You're so unstable right now,
but you shall be Peter. You shall be a rock, solid as
a rock. Now, while he was Peter. He did
not cease to be Simon. Quite often he is called Simon
Peter. As a matter of fact, that's how
he's titled more than any other way. He's called Simon and Peter,
both Simon, what he is in the flesh, Peter, what he is by the
grace of God, Simon, Peter. Now, what is the significance
of this name change? Why would the Lord change somebody's
name? Can you imagine coming up to somebody that you just
met? They said, I'm giving you a new name. That would be unusual,
wouldn't it? And he says, I'm going to name
you Peter. You are going to be a little
piece of rock. Now, what is the significance
of this? Simon Peter was the first of
the apostles. We read in Mark's account when
he's giving the list of the names of the apostles, he says, now,
the names of the twelve apostles are these first Simon, which
is called Peter. He was the top apostle of the
twelve. He was the spokesman of the twelve.
He was a very special man. And, you know, the scripture
makes no effort to hide his faults. In many ways, this man appears
to be a contradiction. His words and his speech and
his actions do not line up very well, quite often. He seems to
be a great contradiction in terms. Now, before anybody gets too
hard on anybody else like that this morning. I believe so. So don't be too
hard on this man, but you think of Peter, Peter could demonstrate
such genuine humility. I think of what he said in Luke,
chapter five, when he found out who the Lord was and he said,
Lord, depart from me. I'm a sinful man. You don't want
to have anything to do with me." What true humility he demonstrated
at that time. And it was from the very depths
of his heart. And yet what mock, fake humility
he could demonstrate. Remember when the Lord came to
wash the disciples' feet? And he said, you'll never wash
mine. I'm far too humble to let you wash my feet. The Lord said,
if I don't wash you, You don't have any part with me, but he
demonstrated such mock humility at that time. And yet what arrogance
he could demonstrate. When the Lord told him he was
going to be denied, he looked at the other eleven apostles
and he said, this bunch might do it, but not me. I'll never
do it. Now, what arrogance he demonstrated
at that time in the same man. Genuine humility, mock humility
and arrogance. What courage He could demonstrate. You remember on the day of Pentecost
when He was preaching before that group that murdered the
Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, He stood before them
and He said, You have taken and with wicked hands have crucified
and slain the Lord of glory. What courage He demonstrated
before those men. And yet, what cowardice He demonstrates
when He is before that little maid and said, He's a Galilee
and His speech betrays Him. And he was so afraid of what
everybody thought about him, what that mate thought, that
he began to curse and swear and say, I don't know the man. As a matter of fact, if you look
on through his life, he seems to be haunted with the fear of
man quite often. I've heard people say, well,
the Peter after Pentecost was totally different than the people
before Pentecost. I don't think so. I don't think so. Look, look
what happened to him in Acts chapter 10 when he rebuked the
Lord. He actually rebuked the Lord.
What about when he was so afraid of men in Galatians 2 and Antioch
that he changed tables and Paul had to publicly rebuke him? We're
going to talk more about that in a moment when we're talking
about Simon Peter. But he seemed to always have
such a problem with the fear of man. He could show such courage,
yet such fear. He could demonstrate such love.
I love that passage of Scripture where the Lord said, Simon Bar-Jonah,
do you love me? He said, Lord, you know all things.
You know that I love you. And yet he could be so cold.
Right after the resurrection, he got... You remember that passage,
I think it was in John 20, where he said, I go fishing. It didn't
mean he was just going fishing for that day. He's saying, well,
I'm forgetting his disciple stuff. I'm going back to what I used
to do. I'm going back to fishing. He did this after the resurrection.
You see, Peter can be such a contradiction in terms. Simon, Peter. Simon, so fleshly. I got any
Simon Peters here this morning? People who can be so contradictory. You're Simon, the son of Jonas. The Lord looked in him, he knew
everything that would take place. You are Simon. How true that
is. You shall be Peter. Let's recall some of the things
the word of God tells us about Simon Peter. I'm going to get
to the significance of his name change at the end of the message.
But let's think just for a moment about this man, Simon Peter.
He's a lovable man, isn't he? I don't know of anybody I identify
with much more than Peter. I think of when the Lord was
walking on the water and Peter was in the boat. And Peter sees
the Lord walking on the water. And what faith he demonstrated
when he said, Lord, if it be Thou, Bid me come to thee on
the water. I can't imagine me doing that.
I would have stood there and watched him and just been so impressed,
but I can't imagine actually wanting to get down on the water
like that. I would have been afraid, God's sake. But Peter demonstrated
such faith. He goes down and actually walks
on the water to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Can you imagine
that? What faith this man demonstrated. But yet he begins to look at
the circumstances. He looks at the winds and the
waves. And he gets scared to death, he begins to sing, Lord,
save me. How many times have you began
to sing by simply looking at the circumstances and not the
Lord who's in control of the circumstances? And you begin
to sing and he cries out that wonderful prayer, Lord, save
me. Shortest prayer in the Bible, most effectual. The Lord reached
forth his hand and picked him up while he was sinking. You
are Simon, but you shall be Peter. There are so many examples in
the Scripture of Peter's courage. I think of John chapter 6, where
our Lord gave that sermon. And 5,000 people who professed
to know Him left Him. They walked no more with Him.
And the Lord watched them. And I think it's very interesting
that the Lord didn't ask them to come back, too. He didn't beg
them and say, let me rephrase that. You all give me another
chance. No, He watched them leave. And
He looked at the 12. Simon was the leader of them.
He said, you fellows want to leave, too? Will you also go away?"
And Simon answered, Lord, to whom shall we go? There's no
place for us to go. It's not like we even have an
option. Thou hast the words of eternal life, and we believe
and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living
God. Do you remember the Mount of
Transfiguration? where the Lord takes Peter and James and John
up on the mountain, and the Scripture says He's transfigured before
them. His face actually shined like the sun at this time, and
His clothes became glistening and white. And He was talking
at this time with Moses and Elijah. They appeared. Can you imagine
how Peter and James and John felt as they beheld this? And
I know what Moses and Elijah were talking to the Lord about.
Luke 9.31 says, they spake of the deceased, which He should
accomplish. They were talking about His death and the accomplishments
of His death. And Peter, while he's watching all that, the scripture
says, all of a sudden Peter answered. Nobody asked him anything. But
he had to speak. He had to pop off. He just had
to say something. I can identify with that. And
what he said was so stupid. It was so stupid. Lord, it's
good for us to be here. It was good for them to be here.
Let's build three tabernacles, one for Moses, one for Elijah,
one for you. Dumbest thing he could have said.
And at that time, a voice came from heaven, a cloud overshadowed
them, and they heard the voice of God speak. This is my beloved
Son. Hear ye Him. You reckon Peter
was scared to death at that time? He was being rebuked by the voice
of God the Father on the Mount of Transfiguration. You remember when the Lord began
to tell his disciples of the cross, and Peter took it upon
himself to rebuke the Lord. He said, Lord, it shall not be
unto thee. Be it far from thee, Lord. This shall not be to thee.
You're not going to go to the cross. And the Lord looked at Peter.
And this was right after what I think is interesting. This
is right after the Lord had said, thou art Peter. Upon this rock
I'll build my church. The very next thing he says to
Peter, get thee behind me, Satan. Now, can you imagine the Lord
speaking that way to you? Get thee behind me safe. Thou savest
not the things that be of God, but the things that be of man. Do I have any Peters here this
morning? Who could forget his denial?
The Lord told him ahead of time, before the cock crows, you're
going to deny that you even know me three times. Now, the Lord
told him that would happen. You think after being with the
Lord that long, he would have known what the Lord says is so,
and he would have been seeking grace and mercy, but he didn't
have that reaction at all. He said, though the rest of this
bunch will deny you, I can see where John might, I can see where
James might, but not me. I'll never deny you. And you
recall what happened. He denied he even knew the Lord. He said, I know not the man. He was so afraid of what would
happen to him in confessing Christ, He buckled down. He said, I know
not the man. And he did so with cursing and
swearing. And the scripture says he was with inside of the Lord
while that was going on. He said, I know not the man.
And Luke's account says the Lord turned and looked at him. You know, he could have exposed
him at that time. Peter, you do too know me. But no, he just
looked at him. And Peter went out and wept bitterly. Simon, Peter. You know, I love Mark's account
of the resurrection when the angels appear to the women and
they say, go your way and tell his disciples and Peter, make
sure you tell Peter that I go before you. You see, Peter would
have assumed I'm not one of his disciples anymore. And I can
see why he would have assumed that. But he said, you make sure
you tell Peter that I go before you. You see, Peter still belongs
to the Lord even after his fall. I think of when our Lord said
to Peter, O Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to have you that
he may sit to you as wheat. And that's exactly what Satan
did to Peter and just what he can do to you or I. But the Lord
said, I prayed for you that your faith fail not. And when you
are converted, strengthen your brethren. But you know, even
after the resurrection, when the Lord gave Peter such assurance,
even after that, it was Simon Peter who said, I'm going fishing. You know, this disciple stuff,
let's just forget it. Let's go back to the way things
used to be. I'm going fishing. I was making a better living
then. I'm going fishing. And he even led some of the disciples
to go with him. Now, that doesn't mean they were just going fishing
for that afternoon. We're going back to our old way of life. I'm going
fishing even after the resurrection. He acted that way. The book of Acts tells us of
his courageous acts after Pentecost. I think of him standing before
the actual murderers of Christ and saying, him being delivered
by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have
taken him with wicked hands and crucified and slain. What courage
he demonstrated at that time. We admire it. And I want to have
that courage in confessing Christ, boldly confessing Christ before
men. God enabled him to do that. He was Peter at that time. Peter
enabled by divine grace. But I can take you to another
scene. Many years later, Peter had been an apostle for many
years. I mean, he was the main spokesman. Peter was somebody. Yet over there in Antioch, he
was eating with some Gentiles. And some Jewish believers came
from Jerusalem. And he became so concerned about
what they thought, not thinking about what God thinks, but what
man thinks. He became so concerned about what they thought that
he got up and left the Gentiles and moved over to the table of
the Jews. And Paul had to rebuke him publicly for that. And he
said, you denied the truth of the gospel in that. And this
is an apostle, an apostle by his actions denied the truth
of the gospel. Well, how did he deny the truth
of the gospel by just moving from one table to the other?
Well, he's saying you're a little bit more pleasing to God by being
over here with the Jews, a little bit more accepted. And Paul had
to rebuke him about that. But remember who this is that
was rebuked. It was an apostle. And he, what I admire about him,
boy, if I would have been publicly rebuked like that, I would have
been pretty upset. He just took it. He took it. He demonstrated
grace at that time. You see how he's Simon and he
is Peter, thou art Simon, thou shalt be Peter. Now, why did
the Lord say this? Why did he give him a new name?
What is the significance of calling this impetuous, weak, flighty
man? And he showed strength, too.
I'm not getting down on Peter. I don't deserve to tie Peter's
shoes. Don't sit here when I'm saying this, thinking I'm sitting
in judgment on Peter. I admire this man greatly. But what is
the significance of the Lord changing his name? Because he's
certainly not a rock. You see him going back and forth
and back and forth and back and forth so often during his life,
yet the Lord says you're going to be a rock. That's what Peter
means, a piece of the rock. What is the significance of this?
Well, turn with me, if you will, to Matthew chapter 16. Now, I've
heard people say, I've heard preachers say, Peter was totally
different after Pentecost. No, he wasn't. He was still Simon. He's always Simon Peter and he
will be Simon flesh to the day dies. But look here in Matthew,
chapter 16. Verse 18. The Lord is speaking to Peter
and he says, and I say also unto thee that thou art Peter. And upon this rock I'll build
my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Now, here is the only other time
in the Scriptures where the Lord looks at Peter and says, You
are Peter. He didn't simply call him by
name, Peter. I wanted to tell you something. No, He said, You
are Peter. It means something. This is the second time, that
place in John 1, and right now He says, You are Peter. And upon
this rock I'll Build my church and look up in verse 13 of this
passage of Scripture, let's let's look at this for a few moments. And 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, you know, everybody's
got their opinion. Everybody's got something to
say. And they named some of the things that men said. And they
said, some say thou art John the Baptist. Some, Elias or Elijah
and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets, they put you in
some high company. They say very good things about
you. And men say good things about Jesus Christ for the most
part, don't they? Good things. But here's the issue, verse 15.
He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Now here is the one issue that
the God of glory has with you and I. Who do you say, if God
cuts into your heart and sees what's really there, what you
really believe, who do you say that Jesus Christ is? Whom say ye that I am? Now this is the issue. When God
looks in your heart, what does He see with regard to your thoughts
concerning Jesus Christ? Whom say ye that I am? Verse 16, And Simon Peter answered
and said, Thou art the Christ, God's anointed Messiah, the one
whose hand God is on, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God." That's who you are. God's Christ. The Christ of God. God the Son. The Second Person
of the Trinity. The God-Man. That's who you are. The Christ. The Son of the living
God. And Simon Peter, verse 17, "...and
Jesus answered to Simon Peter's confession, and said unto him,
Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah. How blessed of God you are to
make that confession. For flesh and blood have not
revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." Now,
I want you to think about this. If you really believe that Jesus
Christ is God's Christ, the Son of the living God, if you really
believe that, if God looks in your heart and sees that faith
really is there, you know what that means? That means He revealed
that to you. Isn't that wonderful? To have
God reveal something to you? He said, flesh and blood didn't
reveal this to you, but my Father which is in heaven. And then
he says in verse 18, And I say unto thee that thou art Peter. You are a piece of a rock. And upon this rock, this big
rock, it's a different word, you're a little rock, and upon
this big rock, this confession of me, I will build my church. That's how significant this is. This is what the church is built
on. This is where true church membership comes from. Believing
this. Believing this. Thou art Peter, upon this rock,
this confession of me, I'll build my church and it's so powerful
that the very gates of hell shall not be able to prevail against
it. And the imagery is this message. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Who He is. And what He did. He's the son
of the living God. The Christ refers to his work.
It's going to come in and it's going to knock the gates of hell
down and he's going to pluck out everybody he died for and
the gates of hell won't be able to stop him. That's how powerful
this message is. If you believe this, even the
gates of hell cannot prevent you from being saved. This is
how powerful and awesome this is. This is what he builds his
church on. Now, that's how significant this is. Thou art the Christ.
You're Peter. Peter said, Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. And the Lord looked at him and
said, I said, now there's Peter. There's Peter. You're still Simon,
but you're Peter. This is Peter. Peter is somebody
and anybody who believes that Jesus is the Christ. Now, we
talked some about this last week, but it's worth going over again.
Turn over to First John, Chapter five. Hold your finger there
in Matthew and turn to First John, Chapter five. This has
become For whatever reason, this has become more real to me than
it ever has. Look in verse one of First John, Chapter five. Whosoever. What a wonderful word. I love this word because I'm
a whosoever. People who believe in election sometimes act like
they're afraid of this word. The Bible uses this word. It's
a good word. Whosoever. Whosoever believeth. Doesn't
matter who they are, if they believe that Jesus is the Christ,
whosoever believe it, that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God. Now, what an assurance this gives
if I believe that Jesus is the Christ. Now, here's the kicker.
Here's what's really important. What does it mean, Jesus is the Christ?
You can't really believe that Jesus is the Christ if you don't
know what that means. What does it mean to believe
that Jesus is the Christ? I'm very interested in this because
it says, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born
in God. I want to be in that group. So what does it mean to
believe that Jesus is the Christ? Christ is none other than His
last name. My name is Todd Nyberg. His name is Jesus Christ. It
doesn't work that way at all. The Christ has to do with His offices. There's a very important connection
in the Old Testament. The Christ is the Greek word
for the Hebrew word Messiah, which means God's anointed, the
anointed of God. Now, in the Old Testament, there
were only three different types of people who were anointed by
God. God's anointed prophet. That means God sent this man.
He really does bring a message from God. God's anointed priest,
the one whom God sent to represent men to Himself, and God's anointed
King. When I believe that He's the
Christ, I believe that He's God's anointed prophet. I believe that
He's God's anointed priest, and I believe that He's God's anointed
King. And this is what it is to believe on Him. This is so
simple. Would to God that we can get
hold of this. I believe that He is God's anointed prophet. Now, what's a prophet? A prophet is a man who brings
a word from God. It's not just his opinion he's
spouting out. It's not just his thoughts that
he's giving or his opinions. He's actually bringing a word
from God. That's what a prophet is. I want
to hear a true prophet, don't you? I want to hear somebody that
brings me a word from the living God. Now Christ Jesus is God's
anointed prophet to this extent. He himself is the word of God. When God speaks. There's only
one word he has to say. Christ. He is the Word of God. He is
the Word that comes from God's mouth. Jesus Christ. What's that mean? Who is God? Jesus Christ. What's God like? Jesus Christ. But what's the truth? Jesus Christ. How can God save
somebody like me? Jesus Christ. That's the complete
answer. He is all God has to say. His Word is always, this is my
beloved Son, hear ye Him. He is God's prophet that brings
us the Word from God. He's God's anointed prophet. I love when our Lord says, I'm
the Alpha and Omega. That's the same thing as Him
saying, I'm the A to the Z. The alphabet, the first letter,
the last letter of the Greek alphabet, everything in between,
everything spells Christ. He is the Word of God. Now, here's my question. Do you
believe that? Do you believe He's God's anointed
prophet? Then, my dear friend, you are
born of God. That's what the Bible says. He's God's anointed priest. Now,
what is a priest? A prophet is a man who brings
a word from God. A priest is a man who brings
men to God. That's what a priest is. He is
a man who brings men to God. Jesus Christ is God's anointed
priest. He's the only priest that God
has commissioned. You know, when a man claims to
be a priest, oh, that's so presumptuous. There's only one priest that
can actually bring a man to God. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is God's anointed priest. Now, believing He's God's anointed
priest, and this is what it is to believe He's the Christ. You
really believe that when He, as a priest, offers His sacrifice
to the Father, He brings His precious blood and offers it
before the Father. That blood that He shed on Calvary's
tree. This is what this priest brings.
This is the sacrifice He brings. You really believe that in His
blood, all sin is put away. Do you believe that? All sin,
by his shed blood, by his precious blood, everybody he died for. I need to bring this out. Everybody
he died for is saved. When you talk about the priest
representing his blood, is he bringing that blood for everybody
or just those who believe? He's bringing that blood for
those who believe. If he brings that blood for somebody who winds
up in hell, his blood didn't do any good, did it? No, if you're
a believer, you believe His blood is effectual blood. That blood
that He presents before the Father is all that is needed to make
you pure and holy and without sin in God's sight. Do you really
believe that? Do you believe the blood of Christ, that His
blood was shed for you? You don't have any sin. You believe concerning
this Christ, this priest? You believe that righteousness
that He presents before the Father, His perfect obedience, is enough
to make you totally justified in God's sight. Not guilty. Perfect in God's sight. Now,
do you believe that? Do you believe that His righteousness
really is charged to you? That is your righteousness before
God? And you're just in God's sight because of His righteousness? Your prayers. I dare say you
don't feel good about your prayers. I know I don't. But do you believe
if the great high priest presents your prayers before the Father,
that the Father actually hears them and accepts you for His
sake? Now, that's what it is to believe
that He's the priest. He's God's anointed priest. Hebrews
7.25, and here's the ticker that will prove whether or not you
or I really believe that He's God's anointed priest. Hebrews 7.25
says, Wherefore, He is able. to save them to the uttermost
that come to God by Him." Did you catch that? He's able to
save them to the uttermost that come to God. How? By Him. I don't come pleading anything
but Him. Nothing else. I wouldn't dare
plead anything but Him. And this is what somebody who
really believes that He is God's priest, God's Christ, they won't
come any other way but by Him. Our Lord said, No man cometh
to the Father but by Me. And that's how I come. I'm coming
right now pleading only the name of Christ. Lord, save me, forgive
me, hear me for Christ's sake. You really believe that he is
the priest that God has anointed that will bring me into the very
presence of God. Do you believe that concerning
his priesthood? Do you believe he's God's priest? And then thirdly,
who is the anointed one of God? God's king. He's God's king,
he's God's prophet, he is the one who brings the word from
God. He's God's priest. He's the one who brings men to
God and they're accepted. He is God's king. Now, what is
a king? A king is somebody who reigns. He rules. Not simply he has the
right to rule or would like to rule and what can't do it unless
we let him. No, he does rule. He is the king. He's the king of kings. And He's
the Lord of Lords. He reigns. He controls. Do you really believe He controls?
Do you really believe that? He reigns in creation. I think it's interesting how
there's a big debate going on. They talk about evolution versus
intelligent design. I don't like that term, intelligent
design. It's creation. He created all
things. He reigns in creation. He controls everything. He reigns
in creation. He reigns, right now, in providence. That means everything that happens,
I don't care what it is, bad, good, indifferent, He's in control
of. The lot is cast into the lap,
the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. He reigns in providence. Everything that happens is under
his dominion and under his sovereign control. And he caused it. He's the first cause behind all
things. He reigns in providence. He reigns in salvation. And we had such a wonderful example
read to us in the in the Luke chapter five with that leper.
He saw Jesus, the Scripture says. He saw who He really was and
He fell down before Him. And here was His cry, Lord, if You will, it's all up to You. It's every bit up to You. Lord,
if You will, You can make me clean. Now, do you believe it's all
up to Him as to whether or not you'll be saved? Do you really
believe that? It's all in His That's what it
means to believe He is King. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ, God's anointed prophet, God's anointed priest,
God's anointed King, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ
is born of God. In Matthew 16, Peter, verse 16, answered and
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered and said unto
him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah. Notice he calls him
by his name of flesh. Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah,
for flesh and blood hadn't revealed this unto thee, but my Father,
which is heaven, and I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter. And upon this rock, this confession
of me, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God, I'm going
to build my church and the very gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. Now, I'm looking at some people
right now, and I'm including myself in that group. You're
Simon. Not looking for an excuse, but
dealing with the facts. You're Simon. Can't you? Can't
you identify with this man so much going back and forth, back
and forth, just a flesh? You're Simon. But you shall be
Peter. What's that mean? You believe
that Jesus is the Christ. That is saving faith. What I
love about this passage of Scripture, there's no, I'm not going to
give any qualifications. Well, and, if, or but. Let's just take it as it stands.
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ. They're born of God. He says to all the children,
you're Simon. You shall be Peter. And everybody
that makes this confession is a Peter. Let's pray together.