Lessons from Peter
Tom Shrader examines Peter's transformation from the disciple who denied Christ three times to the bold preacher who proclaimed salvation before hostile authorities in Acts 4. Through Peter's story, Tom demonstrates that while failure is inevitable in the Christian life, God's forgiveness is guaranteed and He continues to use broken people for His purposes. The teaching emphasizes that spending time with Jesus transforms lives in ways others can recognize.
“When people look at you today, at work, or at the gym, or at cartel, or wherever it is you hang out, do they see you've been with Jesus?”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Lessons from the Legends
Recorded: October 02, 2014
Duration: 39 min
Themes: failure, forgiveness, redemption, transformation, hope, grace, restoration, boldness, struggling with failure, feeling defeated, recovering from mistakes, new believer, pastor, feeling unworthy, needing encouragement, facing consequences
Scripture: John 1:35-42, Matthew 16:13-18, John 13:34-38, Luke 22:54-62, Acts 1:4-11, Acts 2:14-41, Acts 4:1-13, Romans 12:17-18, 1 Corinthians 1:22
Theological Themes: sanctification, becoming holy, divine grace, restoration theology, biblical transformation, spiritual maturity, gods faithfulness, redemptive work
Full Transcript
If you have Bibles, open them to John 1. Let me remind you of the series Lessons from the Legends. What we've done is take five Bible characters and say what can we learn from their lives? Generally, it's successes. Today's the exception to that.
We started with Joseph, and we looked at the idea of steadfastness and forgiveness. Then Daniel, thriving in a hostile world. So that would be a world like the one you live in. Last week was Paul, and really for some of us, an astonishing reality, and that is that God hates religion. Today, one of my favorite topics in general, and that is that failure is not fatal. We look at the life of Peter.
Living in a Failure-Phobic World
We live in a world that seems to try to put a bubble over us and not experience any hardship or difficulties or challenges, and for sure, if you fail, it's like, well, they're used, beat up, and get them out of here. We don't want failures around.
I'm on this little mini campaign. I think we've gotten carried away in the Christian world. Cut me slack here, because I haven't thought it through, so it's scary to say it. We've gotten to like a Tony Robbins kind of Christianity. Like Jeremiah was set aside in his mother's womb, so were you. Well, you're not Jeremiah. You're one of seven billion people. You're probably extraordinarily average, or the term doesn't mean anything.
I think we've gotten to this goofy, everybody's on this world to do some special thing that translates to a big thing. If I was just, I haven't met you, but I'll go with this. You're probably not special. Think small. Don't be thinking these big dreams to change the world. We got seven billion game changers walking around, and we haven't changed anything. So whatever it is, it isn't working.
Our Foundation of Hope
Failure's not fatal. Our model is Peter. Can I remind you of the sentence that we used, and have been using in the series? Our hope is rooted in the character of God, the promises of God, the sovereignty of God, and the faithfulness of God. That's the thing we've come back to again and again and again. Not just in this series, but in our life. Our hope is not Doug Ducey or Fred Duval. Our hope is the character of God, the promise of God, the sovereignty of God, and the faithfulness of God.
Beyond the Familiar Peter Story
Peter is a guy that I knew growing up. I knew a little bit about this guy. But if I knew one event in Peter's life, it was what? The rooster crowing. I mean, that's how you know Peter. If you ask people who are kind of moderately acquainted with the Bible story, the story of the life of Christ, you get Peter at the end of the Gospels.
What I've discovered is we've made a huge mistake. I think we've made a huge mistake in leaving Peter in the Gospels and never getting him to the book of Acts. So I'm going to trace this a little bit.
Peter's First Encounter with Jesus
In John chapter one, verse 35, we are introduced to Peter at the beginning of the ministry of Christ. John writes this. John the Gospel writer is writing about John the Baptist. He said, "Again, the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked upon Jesus as He walked, and he said, 'Behold the Lamb of God.' And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and beheld them following and said, 'What do you seek?' And they said to Him, 'Rabbi,' which translated means teacher, 'where are you staying?' And He said to them, 'Come and you will see.' They came therefore and saw where He was staying, and they stayed with Him that day, and it was about the 10th hour. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, Jesus, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. When he found first his own brother Simon and said to him, 'We found the Messiah,' which translated means Christ. He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, 'You are Simon, son of John. You shall be called Cephas,' which is translated Peter."
Then the story goes on. He said, "Follow me." And he did.
Peter's Great Declaration
In the Gospel of Matthew, we have an encounter where Jesus is dialoguing with the disciples. Matthew 16, verse 13. Let's go to verse 15. He said to them, "But who do you say I am?" And Simon answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus said, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood didn't reveal this to you, but My Father is in heaven." Verse 18, "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gate of Hades will not overpower it."
Now, here's what I don't want to do. I don't want to get into a discussion is Peter the first pope. What I want you to see is whatever is going on here, Peter is somebody important. So the life of Peter at this point is Peter walking with Jesus, following Him, life being changed, challenged. He's come to a point that you are the Christ. Jesus has said, you're part of this group of the twelve disciples. Peter was part of that subset, Peter, James, and John, that were the leadership of the leaders.
The Final Instructions
John 13. I'm going to hone in on the text here. John 13, as you turn there, if you go one chapter further, when you get to chapter 14, John 14, 15, 16, 17, almost all red-lettered. That's Jesus speaking. That's that last encounter He has with the disciples.
In John 13, what's happened is that Judas has betrayed Jesus and He is gone. Jesus said to them in John 13:34, "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another even as I have loved you, that you also love one another." John 13:35, "By this, all men will know that you're My disciples if you love one another." So that should be the distinctive.
among Christians. And let's go beyond that and say in the church, but in every relationship. I had a chance, I guess a week ago Sunday, to teach at Gilbert. I hadn't taught there in a long time. It was really cool to go back there and teach. The passage I had was from Romans 12:17. If your enemy is thirsty, give him something to drink. Hungry, feed him. As far as it depends on you, live in peace with one another.
Well, that takes what Jesus is saying here in John 13 up to a whole new level. He's saying here, I want you to love each other. He's saying there, I want you to love your enemy. Love your enemy is not just neutral. It's classic Pauline literature. Put off the old, put on the new. Stop hating him. Start loving him. And your love translates to action.
So Jesus has this incredible moment where He's telling them something special is going on. They sense it. And here's how the world's going to know. Here's how the world's going to know you're a follower of Christ. You'll be an instrument of peace when it comes to relationships, when it comes to business.
Being an Instrument of Peace
Imagine if you were the person in the office who is the one who got rid of all the pressure in a situation rather than bring pressure to it. I used a situation, it's one of my favorite stories, it's a football Saturday. I would say my daughters were maybe 10, so this is 20 years ago. It's a Saturday morning, college football, big deal. Didn't have near the channels we have now, but it's Saturday morning and I'm getting ready to watch. It's an important game, I think it's Dayton and Toledo, but I'm ready to watch it.
Susan comes in and said, I'm going to get us sandwiches. Do you have a kind you want? I said, I don't care, just something I would like. So she comes back, puts the sandwiches on the counter. Unexpectedly, the girls come in with friends. And so I go and I get my sandwich. I eat my sandwich. The girls get theirs. Their friends are in the dining room. I'm on the chair watching TV.
I'm done. I go over to the counter to get more. And Susan said, oh, I don't think I have enough. The girls are there. I don't know if there is enough. You better not take any. And I said, are you kidding me? Is it money? Because I got dough. I got a credit card. Is it money? I'm not asking you to cure cancer or go to the moon. It's get a sandwich. It can't be that tough. How hard could this possibly be? You know I'm in a growth spurt. How can you not do this? It's beyond me. I don't know how this could be.
So I went over and sat down. I heard Susan go in and say, girls, do you want more? And they said, no, Mom, we're full. And so she went over and got a sandwich and brought it over to me. Now, there's a lot of ways to set a sandwich down. And she put it on my lap with a little napkin. Those of you that are married know that you're at a key point here because whoever talks next loses.
Here's what she said. She said, I know the Iowa game is coming on, and I know you're going to want to watch it, and I don't want the girls to bother you. So I'm going to take them to the mall and then to the park, and that way you can just watch the game and nothing will bother you. My point is this, and it illustrates. You can feel her going. It could have easily gone like this. I don't know who you think you are, but I went over there, I didn't know these girls were coming in. Boom, boom, boom. But she took Romans 12:18. As far as it depends on me, live in peace.
It wasn't that she wasn't right. You see that? And in every relationship, my responsibility, as far as it depends on me, is to bring that into it, whether that's at work. He's not saying right or wrong in the midst of that. He's saying, that's to love one another. Love your enemies.
Peter's Bold Declaration
Well, in the midst of this, Peter says in verse 36, where are you going, Lord? He said, where I'm going you can't follow. And Peter said to Him, Lord, why can't I not follow you right now? I'll lay down my life for you. I will die for you. He's serious. He's not kidding. He's determined. He's being honest.
And Jesus said to him, John 13:38, will you lay down your life for me? Truly I say to you, a cock shall not crow until you deny me three times. So that's the background. Here's the setting.
You're in the Gospel of John, Matthew, Mark, Luke. So you want to go to the left, to the Gospel of Luke, Luke chapter 22. All of the Gospel writers report this, but Luke adds an element that the others don't. And to me, it just takes the story. If you can ratchet it up, I think it's almost impossible to paint this picture with the intensity that's going on at this point.
The Three Denials
At this point, you've had all the emotional drama that we read, and now, in Luke 22:54, they've arrested Jesus, they led Him away, Peter's following, they've kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard, Peter's sitting among the people, and a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight, looked intently at him and said, this man was with Jesus too. He denied it, he said, woman, I do not know Him.
Chapter 22, verse 58, a little later, another saw him and said, you're one of them, and Peter said, man, I am not. Luke 22:59, after about an hour had passed, another man began to insist, saying, certainly, this man was with Him, for he's a Galilean, probably likely that his accent tipped him off at this point, and Peter said, man, I do not know what you're talking about, and immediately, at that moment, right now, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed.
So that's the setting. I don't know Him, I don't know Him, I don't know Him. What Luke tells us, and Luke
exclusive to him, but to me intensifies this so much, is that they apparently, Peter and Jesus, were close enough that the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord and how He told him, "Before the rooster crows today, you'll deny me three times," and Peter went away and wept bitterly.
Imagine that moment. You've had it in your life. Your equivalent of the moment when you've sinned knowingly, blatantly, but you didn't go through. Imagine if that moment, Jesus is right there, and there's the eye-to-eye contact, and you would just melt at that moment.
When the girls were small, and I was trying to deal with them, teach them lessons, I would take them, and I'd pick them up, and I'd hold them out in front of me, right like this, and it had to be the most helpless feeling in the world. Their little legs were dangling, and I'd be talking to them, and discipline them in love. That was the goal. That was almost always Sarah, never Haley. And Sarah, I thought this yesterday, and I got a call from Sarah saying, "So I guess I'm not the good daughter." I said, "No, you're the daughter that's like your dad. Your sister was like your mom."
Haley could have raised herself. I mean, she did nothing wrong. Now, I know you have kids like that, but I'm telling you, you didn't have one like Haley. There was no one like Haley. And one day she did something that on a scale of one to 10, if 10 was murder, this was one half. It was nothing. But in Haley's life, it was a big thing. If I told you what it was, you'd laugh. And she started crying and crying and crying. I had just been teaching some version of this. And I call it snot-running crying, where the nose is leaking and her tears. I mean, she was crying so hard and so broken over her sin, but it wasn't much. And I think of Peter in that.
Two Responses to Failure
And somebody else who was very close to this, same situation, who? Judas. Judas and Peter are at very similar positions. But one, Peter goes and repents. That's how you deal with failure. That's the story. And unfortunately, for most people, my fear is they leave Peter right there in Luke 22.
Peter's Restoration and Ministry
So you turn over to the right, to the book of Acts. And let's see how Peter's story ends. Acts chapter 1. Jesus has now risen from the dead, He gathers them together, verse 4, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised, which He said, "You heard from me, you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. You'll be my witnesses in both Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, even to the remotest parts of the earth."
And then when Jesus finishes saying this, He ascends into heaven. It says that they stood, it says in verse 9, they lifted Him up, verse 10, they gazed intently. Jesus is now gone. And there's a flinch to go, "Oh man, that's too bad." No, He had to go so the helper, the Holy Spirit would come. And that's what happens, now the Holy Spirit comes upon them.
Chapter 2 verse 14, Peter stands and he raises his voice and he says, "Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words." All of you are gathered together, pilgrims maybe as many as a million, million and a half are in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit has come. Pentecost has taken place. And Peter stands to deliver this first message.
Peter's Pentecost Sermon
Here's the essence of the message. Chapter 2 verse 22, "Men of Israel, listen to these words. Jesus, the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs." Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verse 22 that the Jews sought signs, the Greeks sought wisdom. "This guy, and you know all the signs, He did Him in your midst, you yourself know this, this man delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, it's the Jesus you nailed to the cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death, but God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it's impossible for Him to be held in its power, in death's power."
When you look at the book of Acts and the early sermons, almost always the message is the crucifixion and the resurrection and they're never separated. I want to talk about Jesus and he said I want to tell you it's by a predetermined plan in the foreknowledge of God, in other words Jesus didn't come to do a radical political reformation but got swept away in the events of the day and ended up crucified, no that was all part of the plan and He rose from the dead and look at the end of verse 24 and put an end to the agony of death.
Understanding Death's Defeat
When we started East Valley Bible Church, I had no preparation, no training, nothing and it never occurred to me, though it seems rather obvious, that we'd have to deal with weddings and funerals and all sorts of things. I had three, within six months, I had three funerals for babies who, one died at birth, one died at three days, one died in like four months. I'm not equipped for that but the very first person that died was a lady by the name of Connie and she used to live by us and I would drive by and see her working with their flowers.
She was this classy lady, and she got cancer and we went to the house and we prayed with them and we hung with them and they kind of got it for a little bit. It's the classic cancer story, got it for a little bit, you've been on this ride, up down, up down and finally they said to her, "Connie there's nothing we can do. Now we suggest you go to Tucson," which has to be the best
Way to prepare for death, I guess, but we suggest—that's terrible, isn't it? That is awful to say in this story, so I take that back—but we suggest you go to Tucson to the Med Center and they've got some new drugs. The chances of the drugs helping you are very small, but you have a chance to help others and she's an awesome lady. So down she goes and I would go and see her.
When the first time I saw her, because she had lost all her hair, she had on a wig and had her eyebrows colored and she looked as classy as ever. By about the next trip the wig was gone and a bandana replaced it. You know the story—at this point you're old enough, you've all lived it. I wanted to touch her.
It's funny, when I was in the hospital in January, this sounds so weird, but when I was laying there in intensive care, I wanted somebody to touch me. It was so not me. I just wanted somebody. When Sandy would come in and hold my arm or my hand, it felt so good. I just wanted to touch Connie, but her skin was bright red and the chemo was eating from the inside out. It was brutal. It's right as I was teaching this, that Christ died and was raised again to put an end to the agony of death.
The Agony of Death
Well, the agony of death He's talking about here is not the Tucson Med agony. There is a great side note to this. She passed away. I don't know what to do in a funeral, so I called Darryl. I said, "Hey Darryl, I've never done a funeral. I don't have a clue. I don't know what to do." So many of you have been pastored by Darryl. His concern, His love—he said, "You'll figure it out," and hung up. That's the help I got from Darryl. I told him, "You better never call me for something."
But I learned then the physical agony, the emotional agony of death, but the uncertainty. We could stand at her memorial service and say with certainty—not with power of positive thinking, with certainty—that Connie's not here, but she's in a better place. Don't we say that everywhere now? Every time somebody dies, they go, "He's in a better place." You know, Idi Amin, he's in a better place. No, he's in hell. Not everybody goes to heaven. But the end of the agony is to know that Christ died and rose again. And if you believe in Him, you have eternal life.
The Holy Spirit Pierces Hearts
Peter delivers this message. Look what happens. The message applied by the Holy Spirit pierced their hearts. You've had that sometime, haven't you? When somebody's taught or you've been in a place and it's as though it's just you and the other person in that room. I've had that. I had that with Larry where it was like—there were times when Larry would teach and I would go, "I know there's 400 people here, but it's like there's just the two of us." This word convicts you.
That's what happens. These people are going, "What do we do?" He says, "Repent, turn." You might in your own way right now be going, "Okay, what is it that I'm supposed to do here?" Well, you're supposed to believe that Jesus died in your place. Believe doesn't mean mental ascent. It means you're trusting Him for your salvation.
If you take last week—God hates religion, which is you trying to make God happy, trying to please God—you know you've sinned and you're trying to make it up. There's nothing you can do. But I come to Christ in repentance and faith. I confess with my mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in my heart God raised Him from the dead. I'm saved, delivered, rescued from the consequence of my sin. These people did it. Acts 2:41—3,000 people that day were saved. I wrote on my sheet, "Wow." Can I remind you? That was a guy who just delivered this message. God saved 3,000 people through him.
The Early Church Community
Now we're going to take the time, but look just briefly as you get a chance at Acts 2:42 through 46, and you'll see what that early church was doing. There was the Apostles' teaching and fellowship and breaking of bread, and there was prayer, and there's a sense of awe and wonder, and they're selling their stuff and helping one another. For those of us who have stuff, that's a scary proposition. Is the Bible teaching us that we're to live in some communal way? No.
But I don't want to just dismiss it. I don't want to let you off the hook and go, "Oh, I can keep all my stuff." Nor am I trying to separate you from your stuff. I'm trying to say that you live in a community. In this case, they had pilgrims all around them. It wasn't like now where you pull out just like this. We went out for dinner last night and the bill came and I just gave him a card. I don't know what happens after that. I never get a bill and I don't have any money. Sandy does something, I guess. I keep going until the gal said, "Well, that's no good." I go, "OK, I got another card." We can keep doing cards.
But they didn't have that. They didn't have an ATM. They didn't have any of this. So the guys who had were taking care of the guys who had not. Which kind of connects to that John 13 passage: "This is how they'll know you're my disciples, that you love one another." Because the rest of the world doesn't do that. The rest of the world is going to go, "Oh, man, you don't have much. You're in a tough spot. Hang in there." Give them a poster with the cat hanging on that thing. "Hang in there. You'll be good." No.
Peter Filled with the Holy Spirit
So this takes place. That's Peter. Now look at—we'll close. Take the guess out of it. Acts chapter four. Peter and John have been used by God to heal a man. The Jewish leaders want to know, verse seven, "By what power and in what name have you done this?" Acts 4:8: "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, 'Rulers and elders of...'"
The people, if we're on trial today for the benefit of what we've done to a sick man, as to how we made him well, let it be known to you and all the people by the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene. And just so you're not confused, which Jesus? The one that you crucified. I love that. The one you crucified and God raised Him from the dead. By His name we stand here.
And this Peter—I never knew Him, I never knew Him, I never knew Him—says in verse 12, "And there's salvation in no one else, for there's no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which you may be saved." Peter, who denied Christ to the little servant girl, is now standing up in front of the authorities that ultimately could meet with his imprisonment or demise. And he says, I can't stop talking about this. It's the loving thing to do.
Very interesting yesterday, in the conversation with the Imams, and then in the conversation where our side was represented by Tyler and Jim Mullen. As we started talking about evangelism, the Imams were saying, "If you really love somebody, you're going to try to convert them." That seems right to me. I disagree completely with their fundamental premise that Jesus is just a prophet, and not God come in the flesh and all that goes with it. And our guys said the same thing. The reason that you share your faith is because you love somebody. It's the most loving thing to do.
The Foundation of Our Confidence
It's not to get extra credit or scalps or earn heaven, because you already have that. It's not to get God to love you more. He can't love you. This is just, to me, mind-blowing. He can't love you any more than He does. He approves of you as much as He's ever going to approve of you. He's calling now to tell you. There's no other name.
Acts 4, verse 13. Let's just read this, and then we're done. These guys observed the confidence of Peter and John, and understood that they were uneducated, untrained men, and they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.
Now, we don't have enough time, but we can get the effect of this. Simple application. When people look at you today, at work, or at the gym, or at carpool, or wherever it is you hang out, do they see you've been with Jesus? Do they see the result of that?
Credentials Versus Transformation
And He points out that they weren't educated, and they weren't trained. That's not advocating, don't be educated, don't be trained. It's just saying they were amazed, not by their credentials, but by a life that was transformed and energized. It's an amazing verse, Acts 4, verse 13. It's a softball to ask those questions. How would they know you've been with Jesus?
Here you go. Four points.
Four Life-Changing Truths
So what? Number one, failure is inevitable. If you're trying to figure out, "I don't want to fail," that alone is a failure. Failure is inevitable, it's part of life. Derek Jeter just retired. I don't know what Derek Jeter's lifetime average was. Does anybody know? Yeah, three something. Let's put it at the highest, let's say it was .399. So that means six times out of ten at-bats, he made an out. Failure is just part of this.
Number two, forgiveness is guaranteed. I should add more to this. By God. God will forgive you. People might not, but you're going to fail. It doesn't mean you aren't broken. It doesn't mean you don't confess it, but it means you are forgiven.
Number three, you're still useful. I think of good, conservative, evangelical, Bible-teaching churches. If we had a guy in our congregation who did whatever the equivalent is of Peter denying Christ, I wonder what we'd do with that guy. We might let him, in August, work the parking lot ministry, maybe. And that's not to minimize the parking lot ministry. Some of you are probably in that, and it's very important. But it's kind of an entry-level position.
We might let him do that. If he did that long enough, and he was old enough, and therefore relatively harmless, he could move to getting a lanyard that says guest services, and he could say welcome. But would we let him teach? What if he taught a message? What if he taught a message and 3,000 people got saved on a Sunday?
God's Radical Grace
So I want you to know, because you may be sitting here—we get a lot of broken and beat-up people, and you may be one of them. Failure is inevitable, you're forgiven, and God will still use you. I don't know where, but I know He'll use you. And the more He uses you, the more that platform just opens up to you.
And then, here's kind of the payoff question. Have you been with Jesus? Are you spending time with Him through His word, in prayer, with His people?
I love this story of Peter. I love it when we get him out of the gospels and into the book of Acts. Next week, a guy that if I gave you from now until Jesus comes and said, "We're going to learn from his lessons," you wouldn't guess this guy. So don't waste your time, but I'll tell you when we get here next week who it is.
Father, thank You for that. This has to hit us, God, because every one of us has failed. Just remind us it's not fatal, and that You use us. God, let us be with Jesus, and let people see it. And they'll see it when they see us loving one another, caring for one another. Father, we pray it to You, in Christ's name, amen.