3 “S’s” to Salvation

You know, when we read in the Bible about our life and what God has called us to, and He has called us through a tremendous calling, and it's not something that we are called, and then our job is done. It's through the rest of our lives that God works with us and develops us. We all know that. We all feel the development of God in our lives as He progresses us. There are things that we learn along the way.

And in sermons, you know, we can talk about things in general and give you points. And there are always, when you listen to sermons online, or things that maybe you hear here, they're good points. Sometimes we can learn more when we learn about people and see how they have lived their lives and what they've gone through and how they've had to endure the things that they've gone through and how they came out, if you will, at the other end.

You know, we've talked about a number of men over time. You can look at the example of Abraham. You can look at the example of David. We learn a number of things from those men. And one of the men in the New Testament who is fascinating, if you will, because he went through a number of events in his life. And actually, as you look at him, you know, as I've studied him a little bit, he's gone through three phases in his conversion. And they mirror what you and I go through in our lives. We go through stages, as we're called, and then as we work toward the return of Jesus Christ and the salvation that he has called us to and that he wants to give to us, we learn things about ourselves that are ever surprising, I think, as we learn about them, ever encouraging, as we see God continue to work with us and as we learn about ourselves.

And a man who continually learned about himself throughout the time that he was called and worked with Christ and had to face many more things than you and I have is the Apostle Peter. You know, Peter is one of those men who we know something about his personality. He was very outspoken. You know, Peter had something on his mind, he just said it. He wasn't worried about it, he wasn't worried about what people would think, he just said it.

And he had, not all of us are that way, and not all of the apostles were that way. But you know, Peter, it was good for them to have an apostle like Peter in their group because all the disciples learned from Peter. If he would make a mistake, he was right there, and when Christ would have to talk to him, they all heard.

And maybe they tucked things away in their minds and thought, I can't be that way. If I ever think that way, if I ever want to say that, okay, I understand that now, I get the lesson. So Peter was a help to everyone in that group that he was in, as Christ would walk with him. And Peter's a help to us today as well. You know, as we look in the Bible, we have many of the things and events in Peter's life that are recorded for us.

And as we go through those events in his life, we can see God developing him. And today I want to look at those three phases because they're very educational for us as well, and I hope very encouraging for us as well. Because Peter wasn't a perfect man from start to finish. He made mistakes, and he recovered from those mistakes, and he learned from those mistakes, and he grew closer and closer to God and to the way that God wanted him to be.

And we need to do the same thing. There's three phases I'm going to talk about, and all those three phases have S-words in them. Okay? Good S-words. Not bad S-words. Good S-words, and I hope that you'll remember those S-words as you think about your life.

I think everyone in this room today has been or is in the first phase of what Peter was in. And the things we learn in the first phase of our conversion, if you will, we carry with us through the rest of life, and sometimes we have to be reminded of the things that we learn in that first phase.

Many of us here who have been in the church for a while would consider that we are in the second phase. And the second phase can be difficult. There are some things we learn, and there are little tougher things to face, but you know what? We're more mature at that time, and we're ready to face them. And the third phase, you know, speaking for myself, I wonder, you know, how many are really there at that third phase?

But Peter got there. Peter got there, and God wants us to get there, and he will give us. He will give us what it takes to get to that third phase that will lead us to the return of Jesus Christ. So let's start off in Matthew 4. In Matthew 4, we will see the calling of Peter. And at some point in our lives, whether we're first-generation Christians, second-generation Christians, third-generation Christians, or whatever, at some point in our life, we were called.

At some point, we knew the truth, and we knew that God had called us to what His truth is. In Matthew 4, in verse 17, this is after Jesus Christ set the example of being baptized, and this is after the Great Temptation. It says in verse 17, this is, From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 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 fishermen.

And he said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Simple command. Follow me. Verse 20, They immediately, they immediately left their nets and followed Him. Now, there's a lesson for us in that. All of us have been called. We wouldn't be here today if we weren't called. Whether this is your first time here, or whether you've been here for decades. If we had not been called, we wouldn't be here today. When Peter was called, he immediately, he knew it was the truth, and he immediately dropped what he was doing to follow Christ.

He didn't make excuses. He didn't say, Well, give me a month. Give me a few weeks. Let me think this through. Let me make sure that this is what I want to do. He knew it. Now, his brother, Andrew, had been a disciple of John the Baptist. Andrew did hear of Jesus Christ, and Andrew did go to him and say, We've found the Messiah.

So he was warned about who Jesus Christ was, but when Peter got the call, he knew, I'm dropping what I'm doing, and I'm following this man. Well, we know the truth. We are to follow God immediately. We learn. Don't put it off. Don't make excuses. Don't say, Tomorrow, the next day, a year from now, whatever. There are many that Jesus Christ, or that God the Father called. Many are called, few are chosen. You remember that verse. Many that he called, but several. Several along the way had excuses. Things that they just kind of were biding their time for. Let's go back to Luke. Luke 9.

And we see as Jesus Christ called some other people, they didn't respond the way Peter did. Peter said, a good example, and his brother, Andrew, and James and John, as we see in the next verses there in Matthew 4. But in Luke 9 and verse 57, Jesus Christ is calling some other people as well.

In verse 57, it says, It happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Christ, Lord, I will follow you wherever you go. One of those dynamic statements, one of those things that we probably all said in our lives, God, wherever you take me, I will go. I'm not going to hesitate. It's your will. I will follow you. Someone made that statement to Christ. And Christ said to him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests.

But the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. Will you really follow me wherever I lead? I don't have a home I go to home to every night. I don't have an address that I pull my car into and I lay down my head, and a place, a steady place that I go to. I go wherever God leads me. That may be one place today, another place next week, another place the day after that, wherever God leads. And he's asking, when you say that, are you really willing to go wherever I lead?

Count the cost. Make sure that when you tell God these things, you really do mean what you say. And from the context here, some weren't ready for that. They might have said, I'll go wherever you lead, but they weren't really ready to go wherever God leads. Verse 59, and he said to another, follow me. But this man said, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. Let me finish up what I need to do. I've got a responsibility at home. I don't have time for this right now.

Let me fill my commission here. Let me get this done. Let me go through another season of whatever it is I have to do. Let me finish up working, you know, and maybe whatever the problem is on the Sabbath day. Let me finish that up. You know what? Then I'll follow you. No? That isn't what Peter did. Peter didn't say, let me get through the fishing season, and then I'll follow you. He left right away.

Jesus said to him, let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.

You just go and do what I say. I'll take care of everything. You follow me. You do what I ask you to do when I ask you to do it. Don't put it off. Don't delay. Don't tell God, not quite yet. I'm not quite ready to follow you. Verse 61, and another said, Lord, I will follow you, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.

You know, I need to go back, and I need to tell the people. Maybe I need to kind of go through another round with them. Maybe I need to keep another Christmas season or another or whatever season it is. I gotta do these things. Let them just all, let me just say goodbye to them. Go through this one more time, and then I'll be ready. Then I'll be ready to follow you.

Christ said, no one having put his hand to the plow when looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. When God gives you the doorway to the future, when he opens that door and opens our minds and says, this is the way, walk you in it, walk in it, follow him, immediately follow him. Peter and the others with him, they left behind their livelihood. You know, Peter was an everyday guy like you and me. You know, he was a fisherman, but he was willing to leave it all behind and just follow God and trust in him that everything would work out and that he would do, that God would see that he would have everything he needed because he knew that was the truth. When we find the truth, when we find the truth, follow it. Follow it and never take it for granted. Well, if we go back just a few chapters here, Luke 5, we find Luke's account of this time when Peter was called. In Luke 5, and we see another thing here in this first phase of Peter's calling. He's called, he drops what he's doing, he follows, he follows God. Luke 5 verse 5. Well, let's pick it up in verse 1. Get the context here. Luke 5 verse 1. So it was, it says, as the multitude pressed about Christ to hear the word of God that he stood by the lake of Jeuneserit and saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then Christ got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and he taught the multitudes from the boat. When he had stopped speaking, he said to Simon, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. Not exactly a spiritual lesson, Peter. Do this. Just put down your nets. But Simon answered and said to him, Master, we have worked all night and caught nothing. Nevertheless, at your word I will let down the net.

You know, Peter was a fisherman. Jesus was a carpenter. All night they had tried to catch fish. Peter knew there were no fish in that area. They'd tried and they'd tried and they'd tried.

And here's Christ a carpenter, telling Peter, just let down your nets one more time.

Peter, going from his own reasoning, his own logic, his own history, his own experience, said, we've tried it. We've tried it all night. There's no fish there. But notice what he said after that.

Nevertheless, because you said to do it, I'll do it.

Here's our first S word, the first phase. Peter learned to submit. He learned to submit to God.

And if Christ said do it, even if it didn't make sense, if it didn't make professional sense, if it didn't register in his mind that this is the thing to do, he simply did it.

He learned throughout the course of this first phase to submit to God.

And that's one of the things that maybe we need to learn as well. You know, we need to learn to submit to God. If he says to do it, do it. Sometimes we can look at things and hear things, read things in the Bible, and we think, I don't know that that would work. We all have backgrounds, we all have history, we all have experience, and we'd say, I don't know that that's going to work.

I don't know that even today that's going to work. Do it. Now, Malachi 36 is one of those very telling and profound verses when God is talking about tithes in Israel who, you know, wasn't tithing to him. And so many people will say, tithing just doesn't make sense. I can't make my budget work if I do first tithe. And then you want to add a second tithe on top of that? I can't work.

What Christ says is, do it anyway. Do it anyway and watch it work. Christ says, or God says in Malachi 36, prove me now herewith. Do it my way. Don't use your own logic. Don't use your own reasoning. Don't use your own history. Use my word. And if I say do it, do it. Because I'm above all words and I'm above all history, I can make anything happen. I can take care of anything. I can take the most illogical thing, and I can make it happen. We can't do that, but God can. Peter, did what God said. Verse 6, when they did this, they caught a great number of fish, and the net was breaking. Peter learned a lesson early in his calling. When God says, do it, do it. Don't make an excuse. Don't reason and say, I just don't think that's the way the thing to do. Do it. Simply obey. You know, in Acts 5 verse 32 at this point, Peter didn't have the Holy Spirit in him. The Holy Spirit was with him. Acts 5, 32 says, the Spirit is with those who obey God.

And we learn to obey Him. We learn to submit to Him, even when it's hard to do, even when it goes against our grain, even when it's something that we would rather do something else. We learn to submit to Him. And as we watch Peter, as he immediately followed Christ, he recognized the truth and he did it. And he followed Him, and he left things behind. And as he learned, just do what God says, he developed faith. As you read through the next few chapters of Matthew, you see some of the things that Peter went through. His mother-in-law was sick, Christ came and healed her. Other things happened along the way. Peter became a man of faith. He saw God in action. He saw the fish, the miracle of the fish. He saw the healing of what went on. His faith was being developed, and as we walk with God and as we work with Him, He'll develop our faith as well. We have to see Him in the things that go on in our lives. Some things happen in our lives. Don't always just talk it up to coincidence. I don't believe there's coincidence in the lives of God's people. Things happen, and when good things happen, give God the glory. When bad things happen, He's there too, and He's looking to see what we do and how we handle those situations. Peter became a man of faith, and during that first time, that first phase of submit, a time when he was becoming a devoted disciple of Jesus Christ. He was studying how Jesus Christ was, and he was studying the Word of God, and he was applying it into his life. But part of being a devoted disciple is to submit. Submit to God and to His will. And Peter was learning that, and he was developing faith at the same time. You know, his faith may have been culminated here in Matthew 14. Matthew 14, a very famous incident, never entered Peter's mind that he would ever do this or that it would ever even come up, that he would have the opportunity just like for us. Some of the things that come up in our lives we might never imagine that this would be something that would present it to us, but in Matthew 14, we have the occasion where Peter actually walks on water. He looks out over from the from the boat that he's in, and he sees someone coming, and it's Christ walking on water. Who even thinks of anyone walking on water? That's not something you can even imagine in your mind, except there it was happening. And so Peter, in verse 28, Matthew 14, you know, as he sees Christ walking on the water, says, Peter answered Christ and said, Lord, that that you command me to come to you on the water. Look where his faith was at that time. He wasn't doubting. He was thinking, wow, what is this happening? It's like, you know, here's outspoken Peter. Here's Peter, who's willing to try anything, who has faith in Jesus Christ, who's built up over the time. He says, call me. Call me. I'll come out and walk on water. So Christ said, come. And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. He was doing the impossible. He was doing the impossible. I mean, literally the impossible. God can do the impossible in our lives. The things that we think can't happen unless we get involved. This is nothing about Peter except his faith in God. It was if Peter, there's no way he could have walked on the water. The only way he walked on the water, he's had faith in Christ and he kept his eyes on Jesus Christ. And as long as he kept his eyes and his focus on Christ, he was able to do the impossible.

There are things in our lives that are very daunting at times. Situations that we face that we may not know what to do may look hopeless in some areas. May look like there's no way out of a health diagnosis that we have, a financial crisis that we have. No way that we can get out of it. We think it's impossible. It's impossible. No one's going to give me this job. No one can heal me. No one's got a medicine that I can do, that I can use. Nothing is impossible with God if our focus is on him, if our faith is in him, and if we don't do what Peter did in the very next verse. He was doing the impossible when he kept his eyes on Christ and when he was walking on water, but in the very next verse he kind of looks around. He kind of gets back into the physical things and thinks, you know, he was a little distracted. I'm actually standing on these waves. They're actually going under my feet. There's this happening over here. There's this happening over here. He gets himself distracted, and all of a sudden he begins to sink. The same thing that happens to you and I, you and me. We begin to sink when we take our eyes off Jesus Christ. When we take our eyes off of the focus and get our focus off of what Christ is, we get distracted maybe by bad things in our life, maybe by health diagnosis, maybe by financial crisis, maybe by relationship problems, maybe by things that just don't go right over and over and over.

Maybe it's in good times we get distracted as well. Life is so fun. So many things are going on. We're buying new cars, having new homes, all this entertainment, all these activities, all of it's great. But then we lose focus. Why are we here? What has God called us to be? All those things are good. Everything that God gives us is good. But our focus is on the calling that God has given us.

To keep our eyes on Him, to let Him grow us, and to let Him develop us into who He wants us to be.

Peter looked around and he got a little bit distracted by what he was doing, and he immediately sunk. If we allow ourselves to get distracted by things, by activities, by not so good events in our lives, by problems that come up, and we lose sight of God, we've got to find our way back.

We've got to find our way back. We can't allow the good times or bad times of life to distract us and help us lose or cause us to lose focus of what God has done, or we will sink. Or we will sink.

Verse 30, when Peter saw the wind was boisterous, he was afraid.

Beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me. You notice he didn't try to save himself.

Isn't that a good quality in Peter? He didn't thrash around the water. He wasn't going crazy. He wasn't panicking. Lord, save me. I've taken my eyes off of you. You are the one that can save me. And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him and said to him, Oh, you of little faith. Oh, you of little faith. Why? Why did you doubt if you had just kept your focus, if you had just maintained your faith, if you didn't let something else get in the way and in between you and me, if you had just done that, you could have walked all the way.

Same thing goes for us. If we just would keep our eyes on God and not thrash around and think we have all the answers or we have to find all the things, God will save us. If we develop that kind of faith. Let's turn back. We're going to come back here to Matthew in a minute. Let's turn to James. James 1. James 1 and verse 5. James 1 and verse 5. It says, if any of you lacks wisdom, lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. God responds to people of faith who look to him, who aren't like the waves that go back and forth in the sea, but who keep their eyes on him in times of trouble, in good times as well as bad times, who keep their eyes on him and what the calling that he's given them is. And if we ask in doubt, if we kind of ask a prayer like, well, you know, we kind of say the words but don't mean the words, God's not going to answer. He sees what's in our heart. Peter was developing the faith that comes from the heart, the faith that made him, that defined him after a while and became stronger and stronger as he went through life. We'll be back in James here in a minute, but let's go back to Matthew. Matthew, this time to verse 6 or chapter 16.

Peter learned a lesson that day when he was sinking in the water. He learned, keep your eyes on God. And as Peter learned these lessons, he, I'm sure through his life, just like you and me, had to be reminded of them of time and time, but he was building his discipleship. He was building his faith in God. He was learning to submit to God and believe in God and do whatever Christ said or God says throughout time. Throughout, and you can see God working with him. When we get to chapter 16, in the middle of the chapter, Christ is asking the disciples, who do you think I am? And who do people think I am? And this would be, I guess, a high point in Peter's, the first phase of Peter's life that we're going to talk about here, because God has seen the development of Peter. He's seen him make mistakes. He recovered. He kept his eyes on God. He's seen him fall, but he called on Christ. His faith develops. His trust develops. His submission to God develops. He is learning to trust him. Trust him totally. In verse 13 of Matthew 16, when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked the disciples, saying, What do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And so the disciples answered. Some said, John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

And he said to them, But who do you, who do you say that I am? You've walked with me for a while. Now you've seen me. You've heard me. We know each other. Who do you say that I am? It was Simon Peter who answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now we see in the very next verse, it was God who revealed that to Peter. God saw Peter's heart. God saw Peter's devotion. God saw Peter's submission to him, and he revealed to him, This man you're following is indeed my son. He is the Son of God. And Peter said it. And Jesus Christ patted him on the back. Verse 17, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood does not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And then he says, And you know what, Peter? You're this small rock. I'm going to build my church. I'm the big rock. You're going to be the small rock upon whom this church, my church, Christ's church is built. Now that's quite a commendation for Peter. Here he is. He's gone through the process here of conversion as God would have him do it at that time. And here God has revealed something very important to him, and Jesus Christ pats him on the back and says, Good for you. Of the disciples that are here, God revealed it to you, Peter. Now all of us would feel good if that happened to us. Whenever we're praised for something, it makes us feel good.

You know, what we find here, though, is that this was a turning point for Peter. He had successfully passed the first part of his conversion and his discipleship. He had learned to submit. He had learned to have faith. He had become a devoted disciple of Jesus Christ, and God could see that through his actions, through his choices, through the way he would maybe fall down, but then pop back up again, and he always continued to follow. And he developed that pattern of, I will continue to follow, even when I might have been embarrassed on a few occasions along the way. He didn't lose sight of his calling. He didn't lose sight of who God was. This was a high point. Down here in the very next chapter, after Jesus Christ says he's going to build a church, in verse 20, and we don't know exactly how long this after those words that he said to Peter, this happens, and says, then he commanded his disciples they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.

From that time, Jesus began to show to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Now before this, he hadn't told them this is what was going to happen to him, but now they knew who he was. Now God had revealed that to them. Peter is the one who has been told.

Peter took Christ aside and began to rebuke him. Now can you imagine rebuking Jesus Christ if he was standing here today and he said, this is what's going to happen, this is what you need to do, you know, and on and on and on. Which of us would have the guts to say, no, that's not the way it's going to be done. That's not the way your plan is. That's not the way it's going to happen. But that's what Peter did. When you read the verse, he began to rebuke Jesus Christ, saying, far be it from you, Lord, this shall not happen to you. Now we know Peter's heart. He just didn't want it to happen, but look what he's telling Jesus Christ. He's learned to submit. He's learned that whatever Jesus Christ says is true, or should have been learning that, but he still had yet more to learn. But he's sitting there and he's telling Christ this isn't the way it's going to work.

That's not the way it's going to work. Don't even say that. The way it's going to work is this is not going to happen to you.

Peter had some kind of gall to come out and say that just the way that he said it.

Peter was getting in the way. Peter was getting in the way of his conversion.

Peter was allowing his ideas, his thoughts, his will, his desire, what he wanted to have happen, maybe what he even deeply believed should happen, to dictate what God's word really says.

And Jesus Christ called him on it. He had some very stern words for him. Peter is sitting here telling him these things. And in verse 23 it says, Christ turned and said to Peter, Wow! If someone said that to me, I would be devastated. But I would take notice and I would think, what did I say? What did I do? How could that be happening? I see myself as not someone who's a pawn of Satan, but someone who's following God, following Jesus Christ. Here's Peter, who's been doing these things, and then Jesus Christ, the man to whom he follows, who he has his eyes on, says, Get behind me, Satan. Those were words that had to rock Peter to the very bone when he heard them. And Christ said, You are an offense to me, Peter, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men. What Peter was learning in the second phase of his conversion that happened very quickly after a high point in the first part was that he was going to have to recognize and sacrifice self. Self. His self was getting in the way. He was telling Christ, This is what's going to happen. This is what I want to happen. And Christ was telling him, No, Peter, you're not being mindful of the things of God. You're being mindful of the things of men. And too many times in our lives, we can let self get in the way of our conversion. We can let self dictate to us and, in essence, dictate to God what we're going to do. We think this is okay.

We think, and we interpret this as okay. Maybe your word is crystal clear on something, and you didn't say, well, most of the time or some of the time, but you said all the time.

We can fool ourselves and think, you know, but this is what I think. And we let self get in the way.

You know it was self. It was self that took the angel of light that we call Lucifer and turned him into Satan. It was self that caused the fall of man. Eve was all about self when she took of that forbidden fruit. What's in it for me? I'll do it my way. Self gets in our way between God, self gets between God and us. And so many times when we decide we know what's best, we have this idea.

We have this thought. We have this understanding. We have this, and we make excuses for ourselves and think God's okay with that. Maybe he said, do this, but it's okay if I do this. It's an acceptable substitute. Maybe he said be here, but that's okay if I'm over here anyway. Maybe he wants me to do this one thing, but if I do it in spirit and, you know, not exactly the way he said, that's okay.

Self gets in the way. Self can get in the way, and self has gotten in the way of every single person who God has called, who has even attended church, who doesn't attend church anymore.

It's self. It's self that take people out of the church. It's not God. It's because they're interested in what they want, what they think, what they desire, what their will is.

That's what takes people out. Self. This is the way I want it to be. I don't care what God says, or I've closed my mind to it. I want what I want. Peter was going to learn during the second phase of his conversion, self is not good. Romans 8-7 is a very clear verse. The carnal mind is enmity against God and is not subject to the law of God, and neither indeed can be.

In Romans 13 it says, don't even make any provision for the flesh. Don't pay attention to self. Boy, is that hard to do. Boy, is that hard to do. We all have self. We all have ideas. We all have likes. We all have wants. We all have desires. We all have people asking us to do this and do that and whatever, and then we get in the way of pleasing others and pleasing self. And pleasing others is pleasing self. Well, we put that in place of pleasing God.

Peter was letting self get in the way here. Peter was letting self get in the way here of what God was going to have him do.

You know, Peter blurted this out. Christ sends these things to him. And then in verse 24, he kind of explains to Peter, what's going on? You know, what's going on? Because Peter didn't have a retort to this when he says, you're not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men. And Jesus turned around to his disciples and he said, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Let him deny himself.

Take up his cross and follow me. Now, what do we do when we deny ourselves?

We say no to ourselves, right? We say no. Certainly, if it's sin, we say, no. No, I'm not going to look at that website. No, I'm not going to go to that movie. No, I'm not going to use that language. No, I'm not going to do whatever it is. No, I'm not going to stay home and neglect God's command on whatever it may be. When we deny self, we say no to the things that we want to do and we choose instead to do the things that God wants to do, whether we want to or not. That's submission. That's what we learn in the first phase of our conversion. Follow God. Even when you don't want to do it, do it anyway. Deny self. You know, people who have drug problems and alcohol problems, they go through this every day, right? Every day, they say, no. No, I won't have that drink. No, I won't smoke that cigarette. No, I won't have that drink. No, I won't go to that website. It's a tough life, but every single day they have to say no. They have to deny self.

You know what? Every single one of us is addicted to self. Every one of us is addicted to self.

We love our ideas. We love our thoughts. We love our interpretations. We love the things that we want to do. We love the things that we love to do. But maybe they're not all. We love our thoughts. Maybe they're not all in the focus that he wants us to have. Nothing wrong with some of those things, but there are times when we can get ourselves out of kilter of what God wants us to have, and then we find ourselves in a problem. If we get distracted and find ourselves sinking, sinking. Well, Peter and the disciples and us, we have to learn. We have to deny self. That's a difficult thing to do. And as time goes on, the older and older we get, and the more mature we become in the church, we realize and God lets us say, wow, there's a lot of self in you yet. There's a lot of you that's made it, that's something that's been made up of self.

There's a lot of you that's made it, that's in those decisions that you make and the choices you make each day.

And as we see those things, we have to stop and tell ourselves, no. No, I'm not doing that. Or, yes, I am doing that. Yes, I will make the time. No, I won't take the time for that. I will cut this out because this is a priority, but I will do what God wants me to do. If we go over to Luke 9, Luke 9, Luke's account of this very same situation here, he expands on it a little bit.

Versus, pick it up in Luke 9 verse 23, you can see that he says the same thing, deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. Again, what are you going to hold on to? Self or God? It's one or the other. We either follow God or we follow self. Know in between, and if we waver between the two, God doesn't count that as a good thing. Follow me. Follow me is the standard that we have. Not follow me sometimes and follow myself sometimes. Follow me sometimes. Do what I want. Now, in verse 26, he goes on and he explains a little bit more of what denying yourself is. For whoever is ashamed of me, in my words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his own glory, and then his fathers, and of the holy angels. Whoever is ashamed of my words.

You know, sometimes we can be ashamed of what we believe, and we can find ourselves in a crowd of people who are all talking about, you know, I don't know if we just used the recent season we've been through, you know, not people in the church, but someone outside, and they're all talking about, you know, what a great last two weeks were, and all the things they got, and you know, what a nice time the last week or days were. And you can find yourself maybe not ashamed, but it's like uncomfortable. It's like, please don't ask me that question that I know you're going to ask. And then we're in a crowd of people and you have to say, I don't celebrate that day.

And they all stop, and they all stare, and they all look at you like, what, you know, what, whatever, did you just get off of? And you might feel a little self-conscious at that time as you're explaining it. And as if they're even interested in explaining it, and as you go away, you may feel a little bit that they're looking down on you as you're this poor unfortunate soul who doesn't understand things and who has been lost along the way and caught in a time warp of the Old Testament and that we're not paying attention. I'm just giving one example. There are other things that we can be ashamed as well. Jesus Christ said, if you're ashamed of my words, I'm going to be ashamed of you. If you're ashamed to say no to someone because you need to be at Sabbath services, when Sabbath services are, that's being ashamed of God. If you're ashamed to tell your boss, hey, sunset is in 10 minutes I need to leave even though this isn't done. You know what? That is being ashamed of God and His words. There are things and other examples I could give, but you know, there are times when we could feel ashamed. Jesus said, don't feel ashamed. Peter at times, and we've talked about this before, and Paul at times probably felt ashamed. Paul talked about it. And he had to come to the point, no matter what God says, I'm not ashamed of it. It is the truth, and I will follow it, the nice self. Because when we're ashamed of something, we're thinking about self. We're not thinking about God. We're not focused on what He's called us to. We're thinking about what others think of us. Oh, they won't like us as much. They won't do this as much. Things won't happen the way that they should or that we want them to. You know, Peter, later on in his life, he wrote a couple of epistles. The first epistle specifically, you know, talks about life. Let's go back and see some of the things he said back in 1 Peter. As he came to understand this and realize that it couldn't be all about self, that we wouldn't just say about self all the time and give in to self in these things. In 1 Peter 4, 1 Peter 4 and verse 1, he says, therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he should no longer live the rest of his time in the flesh, for the lust of men, for the will of God. He's given up self. He's no longer marching to the beat of the self-drummer. He's now marching to the beat of what God says to do. For we spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles when we walked in in lewdness, lust, drunkenness, revelry, stunking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard to these, your friends think it's strange that you don't run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. It's a tough thing to go through. It's a trial when your friends look at you and think, who are you? What's happened to you? Sorry, state, we don't even want anything to do to you anymore. Deny self. God's more important than those friends who would say those things. God's more important than those who would have you do what they want you to do, because our job is to do what God wants us to do. Verse 11, if anyone speaks, if you're going to speak of the Word of God, don't mince words. Don't try to make everyone feel good, and like they're one of us. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone serves, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

When you speak, speak the truth of God. It's okay if you speak the truth of God in a manner, but someone gets a little upset that you don't agree with them, that it's okay to celebrate Christmas, for instance, just because there's a good spirit in the air during that time, just because people feel good during that time. And look how nice people are. And when you say, no, God's not in Christmas, no matter how nice people are, no matter how well they're doing, no matter how giving they are, God's not in Christmas.

People can be a little ticked off. Okay. Speak the truth of God. Don't just send there to try to make them happy. Speak the truth of God so they know what you believe, without being offensive, because we don't want to be offensive to anyone, but speak the truth of God. You know, one of the things in this life, in the time we live now, that I think is something we just have to keep in our minds, is that not everyone who calls themselves Christian is a Christian. There's a whole world out there, a billion people that say, I believe in Christ. Well, by that definition, they're a Christian. But by the Bible's definition, they're not Christian the way you and I are Christian. And sometimes I, more often than I would think, I hear people saying, well, they're Christian. They do this and they do that. If they don't teach the truth of God, they're not the same Christians you and I are. Simply put, there are plenty of people out there who say the things of God and will use His name, but they don't do what God says. And we can find ourselves thinking, oh, they're Christians. They're not Christians the way you and I are supposed to be Christians. Jesus Christ made it perfectly clear back in Matthew 7 what was going to happen to the Christian. What was going to happen? Let's go back there and look at that. And if we try to make ourselves feel like them and that everything is good, I'm not saying that we should be out there challenging people, but I don't think we should be out there making people feel like we're just one of you. We just keep a different day as our Sabbath than you do. Because we are different. We follow the Bible, and by the definition of loving God, most of the Christians in this world do not follow God. Matthew 7, verse 21. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, we can say, not everyone who says to me, hey, I'm a Christian. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.

That's quite a distinction there. How many of the people that keep Sunday that are celebrating Christmas to say I'm Christian will be in the kingdom of heaven? Well, God can call them. God can open their minds. We're not here to denigrate them or to condemn them or anything else like that, but we have to have our eyes open. Not everyone who says I'm a Christian will be in the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many, a billion, maybe, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, haven't we prophesied in your name? Haven't we cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me you who practice lawlessness. You didn't pay attention to my command. You didn't pay attention to my law. You didn't pay attention to my word. All you did was use my name and did what you wanted to do. Self-dictated your religion. You just used my name and put it on self. For you and me, God, Jesus Christ, the Bible, dictate our religion.

That's where our religion is. That's where our beliefs are. And self needs to be left behind.

So then we go back to James. Let's go back to James here from James 4.

We'll go back to our first S-word here. James 4 verse 7. Therefore submit to God.

Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Don't resist God. Resist the devil. Submit to God.

Don't submit to yourself. Don't submit to your friends. Don't submit to your family. Don't submit to your own wills, wants, desires, the things I like to do. Submit to God and do his will. We're either submitting to God or we're submitting to ourselves. Flatly put, the Bible is a lot about black and white. Life and death, blessing and cursing, you submit to God or you submit to self. It's as simple as that. Who do we obey? Who do we follow? We follow God or we follow self? Peter was learning. You know what? My idea was, this isn't going to happen to you, Christ.

But he learned. I'm submitting to what you say. I'm submitting to your will. That's what I need to do, even though it may not be something that I want to hear or that I want to do.

Let's go back to Matthew 18, because the second phase of Peter's education on self and learning that he has to sacrifice self and crucify self and bring it to death continues. We were in Matthew 16 and he's rebuked. Christ teaches the disciples in chapter 17, Peter, James, and John, actually have the opportunity and vision to see the kingdom of God or the throne of God. And then in chapter 18, we find something that they maybe didn't understand what Jesus Christ had said. Matthew 18, verse 1. It says, At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Okay, we've been through all this. Christ, which one of us has the position? Which one of us is greatest? Is it Peter? Is it James? Is it John? Is it me? Is it him? Who's the greatest? What did they learn? You know, you can almost see Jesus Christ shaking his head thinking, man, we've just been through all this. It's not about self. And here's a question that's directed about self. What about me? Look what I've done. What position am I going to have? Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child to him, said him in the midst of them, and said, Surely I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Unless you become as this little child, teachable, humble, dependent, willing to learn, kind of a blank slate that has to be filled in his education by his parents. Unless you become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. So we see that humility, submission, denial of self, they go hand in hand. If we really believe and if we really want to be in the kingdom of heaven, those things have to happen. And God will lead us in that just the way that he led Peter. He will educate us just the way he educated Peter. If we get ourselves out of the way, if we get our own ideas and our own preferences out of the way, and let God lead us because he is and he's faithful to do that. Well, you'd think that the disciples got that, but in the very next chapter here in chapter 19, we find Jesus Christ teaching the same thing again. Chapter 19 and verse 13.

Little children were brought to him that maybe he might put his hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. What didn't they learn? Just a little while ago, little children were brought and he said, bring them to me. Now people are bringing their children to him and they're saying, no, no, no, no, no, he doesn't have time. And Jesus said, let the little children come.

Don't forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of heaven. In 1 Peter, 1 Peter 2.

1 Peter 2 and verse 1.

Peter writes, Later on in his life therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, all hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, all those things we learn throughout the course of our lives, lay aside all those things, and as newborn babes, as brand new creatures, as brand new babies, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. If you tasted that he's gracious, drink and desire the pure word.

Not just the things you want to hear that are easy to hear, but the things that you and I need.

Because there are a lot of things that we need and that I need. Sometimes it's not so easy to hear them, but we know we hear them because God is working with us and wants us to become a part of his kingdom just like he wanted for Peter to become part of his kingdom and the other apostles at that time if we let him do that. Well, Peter was learning, but there was still a little bit of that old Peter that was there. It takes time. Self doesn't disappear just because we decide one day it needs to disappear. It takes a long time. And for Peter, he continued to wrestle with self and it would show up all the way until the time that Jesus Christ was observing that last Passover. Let's go to John 13. John 13. For three and a half years, they follow Jesus Christ. He's taught them. Peter has learned to submit. He's learned about self. He's learned that self is not good. He's got to put it aside. But we come to the Passover where Jesus Christ is putting in motion the new ordinances for Passover. And he begins to pour water for himself and he's going to wash the disciples' feet. In verse 6, John 13, he came to Simon Peter and Peter said to him, Lord, are you washing my feet? You know what his sentiment was. You shouldn't be washing my feet. I should be washing your feet. A good sentiment. But Jesus Christ had to remind him, Peter, I'm God. I'm the Son of God. It's my plan. And he says, what I'm doing, you don't understand now, but you will know after this. Just do it. Let happen what God wants to happen. And you will understand. Submit, Peter. We learned that. Get yourself and your own preferences out of your way. I appreciate what you're saying, but just do it. Peter remembered in verse 8, it says, Lord, or Christ says in verse 8, if I don't wash you, you have no part with me. And then Peter says, goes the opposite way. You know, wash all of me. And Christ says, no, once you're baptized, you know, wash your feet. Once your feet, you know, once a year is fine and recommit to God.

Later on in the chapter, verse 34, after the events of that night, the rituals of Passover that Jesus Christ instituted are done, Christ talks to them in verse 34, some verses that it's always good to remind ourselves of. It says, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples. If you have love for one another, not Siagape love bonding together, Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Christ answered, where I'm going, Peter, you cannot follow me now. You're not ready. You're not ready yet, Peter. Where I'm going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me afterward. If you continue on the path, you will.

But you're not ready now. There's more you have to learn. You've come a long way. You've learned a lot. You've changed a lot, but you're not there all the time. Peter said to him, impetuously again, Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for your sake. Same thing that you and I might say. I would lay down my life for Christ. If it came this minute, I would say, yes, shoot me. Cut my head off. Peter had the right sentiment. He had the right sentiment. He said, the right thing, I would lay down my life for your sake. But we know those words, they were words at that point. He had more to learn. Christ said, will you lay down your life for my sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied me three times. Here's the turning point in Peter's life. He's been through phase one, learning to submit, learning to be a good disciple, learning to do what God says, developing faith and trust in God. He's been through the second phase. He's understood self. Self is always getting in the way. What I want, what I want to do, what I want to believe, what I want to understand, what I like doing gets in the way of what God wants me to do sometimes.

Well, we know the rest of the story. Peter denied Christ three times. On the very same night that the words came out of his mouth, I would lay down my life for your sake. But in the next few hours, he denied that it even knew Christ. How do you reconcile that?

We may say things. Probably all of us, if we were asked today, would we give our lives for Christ? I would hope we'd say yes. Will we give our lives for our wife, for our children? Yes. Would we? Are we ready to do that? Peter said it. Peter wasn't ready to do that. He had more to learn, more for God to develop in him. And he learned my words have to match my character and what I, what God develops in me. And he learned, he learned he just wasn't ready to do that. That very night, three times, when he should have been denying self, he denied Christ.

When he should have been saying, no, no, I'm not going to deny him, he even warned me.

He denied Christ. He didn't deny self. He forgot that part. He was looking out for himself that night. And his protection and what he wanted to have happen was in his best interest. He learned a tough lesson. And over here in Luke 22, Luke 22, verse 61, we find the turning point, a turning point in Peter's life into the next phase of his development.

61 after Jesus Christ, verse 61 after Peter denied Christ the third time, says, the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. So Peter went out and he wept bitterly.

He wept bitterly. That weeping bitterly brought about a change in Peter.

From that time forward, Peter is a changed man. He's gone through two phases of his conversion, and he enters into the third because his weeping bitterly wasn't like he saw his weeping bitterly. His actually brought about a true, deep repentance. He understood, my self is bad. I need to get rid of self. I need to deny self. I need to bury self. Everything about me, everything about me, except for what God has put in me, is bad. And it needs to go. And at that point, Peter got it. At that point, Peter got it, and you can see a change in him from that time forward. Now let's go back. Let's go back into the same chapter here, verse 31. So I want to point this out. As I was putting the sermon together, I came across these verses, and they've been in my mind ever since. The Lord said, verse 31 of chapter 22, Simon, Simon, indeed Satan has asked for you that he may sift you his wheat.

Satan wants to try you. It's time to see what you're about, and I'm going to, we're going to let Satan have you. But I prayed for you, Peter, that your faith should not fail.

And when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren. I wrote about this yesterday in the letter. When you've returned to me, when you've learned your lesson, you're going to get turned over here. You're going to go through some trials, some things you don't understand. They're going to be painful, Peter. But I trust you're going to return to me. You're going to depart from me for a while. You're going to deny me three times. You're going to leave me. But Peter, come back.

Return to me. And when you return to me, you strengthen your brethren. You let them know what's going on. You know, let them what you've been through. You record for them, and you help them as they go through the same process. Return to me. We all wonder from times. There's times when we leave Christ behind. Maybe when we're unhealthy, maybe when we're having a crisis of something in our life. Maybe when we're having really good times in life. Maybe when we're all way on vacation. We leave God behind. Return to me. Remember what you're here for. Remember what God has called you for. Return to me. And when you return to me, strengthen your brethren. Help them. Share with them. Help them to understand. Encourage them. Exhort them to be on the way that you, Peter, are.

Because God had faith, or Christ had faith, Peter would return.

And when we find ourselves a little bit distant from God, when we find ourselves not quite as close as we should be, return. Return to him. You know, as Peter realized himself, and he finally got it. Myself needs to be buried. I need to crucify myself just as Jesus Christ crucified. Myself needs to die just as Jesus Christ died for our sins. When he got it, you see a different Peter.

You see a different Peter. No longer the impetuous one, although he was still outspoken, and he still did things, and whatever. But you see Peter in a different light. He had changed inwardly. He became who God wanted to be. Come. You know, as Jesus Christ was there in the time before he was ascended into heaven in John 21. And for 40 days he was there after he spoke with the apostles after his resurrection. You remember that Jesus Christ turned to Peter three times, and he said, Peter, do you love me? Do you love me? Remember when he said that? I think the Peter knew what Jesus Christ was saying. You know, Peter, you said you lay down your life for me.

Do you love me now the way I want you to love me? The way you're supposed to love me?

Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord, you know I do. Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord, you know I do.

Peter, do you love me? And it pained Peter to hear that, because I think as he was hearing those words he knew, Christ was reminding him, Peter, make sure you don't deny me again. Deny yourself, but don't deny me. Go forth and let me finish the work that I've begun in you. And as the day of Pentecost came, and as the Holy Spirit was put in to the disciples and the apostles, we see Peter going out, and we see Peter in a new light, bold, speaking the word of God, not mincing any words, telling people exactly who Jesus Christ was, exactly what the gospel is. Peter, who denied Christ because he was afraid for his own well-being, he didn't care what the Sanhedra did to him. When he brought before him, he told him exactly what the truth was, and he stood by it, no longer afraid of what man could do to him, committed to God. He had done, and he was in the phase of total, your next word, total surrender to God. Total surrender to God. I will trust in him with all my heart and all my being, all my mind, all my soul. I won't lean on my own understanding. I won't think that I know better than him. I trust in him, and I have crucified self, and I will follow him, and I will believe him, and I will not make any provision for the flesh. Total surrender to God. And as you look at Peter's words, and as you look at what he has done in the time after that kind, you see where he became a different man, inwardly as well as outwardly, as the Holy Spirit was in him, and it led him to the point where he followed God even to his very death. Very death in a very tough way, if the legends are right. He didn't deny Christ again. He didn't deny God again. He became what God wanted him to be. It's a painful process, just like it's a painful process for you and me.

But he'll be in the kingdom of God. He'll be one of the rulers, as it says, of the Apostles, of the 12 tribes of Israel.

Over in 1 Peter, 1 Peter 5.

I see, as I flip through 1 Peter, I didn't read some of 1 Peter 3 here. It talks about submission. You can see where Peter talks about submission as he learned that. But over here in 1 Peter 5 and in verse 9.

You, speaking of the people then, speaking to you and me, you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. You once were not a people, but now you are the people of God.

You once had not obtained mercy, but now you have obtained mercy.

Beloved, I beg you, as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. Make no provision for self. In chapter 2 and 3, as I mentioned, you see submission over and over and over again in these verses. Submit. Learn to submit to God. Learn to submit to authority. Learn that and make it part of your character. In chapter 5 of 1 Peter, verse 5, Likewise, you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility. For God, resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Verse 8. Well, let's read verses 6 and 7. 2. Therefore, humble yourselves unto the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, casting your care upon him, for he cares for you. Trust him, have faith in him, he can do the impossible. Be sober. Be vigilant. Because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour in whatever way he can. Through bad times, maybe he'll devour us through good times when we put too much of our stock into that. Resist him. Steadfast in the faith.

Resist him. Don't resist God. Resist him. Be steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to his eternal glory by Jesus Christ, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To him be the glory of the Dominion forever and ever. Amen.