Persist With God

The title of my sermon today... I'll just give it and put it out of the way. The title is Persist with God. Or you can call it something else. You can call it Endure to the Kingdom or Don't Give In to Pride. It kind of touches upon all those things. But if you're labeling a disc back there in the recording booth, Persist with God will be fine. During the Fall Holy Days, we read and heard much about kings and kingdoms that are no more, about Jesus Christ, the King of kings, and we also learned about future kings yet to be crowned. God our Father has called us to be among those future kings and priests in His kingdom that Jesus Christ will establish upon this earth. And we read about that in Revelation 1.5-6. I'm just going to spend a brief moment here. Revelation 1, verse 5 through 6.

There we find that we are told that it's the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that makes this glorious future possible. Revelation 1.5-6. Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first born from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth, to Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. To receive those crowns referred to implied here as kings and priests, we must continue to walk with God. And if you turn to Revelation 3.11, Revelation 3.11 warns us, it warns us to hold fast. Hold fast what you have that no one may take your crown, that no one may take your crown. Hold fast, here we find in Revelation 3.11, is from the Greek krautaiō, and it means to hold on to, to seize, to retain. I would assume that means white knuckled intensity to hang on to that crown, so no one will ever take it away from us. In that sense, then, we must endure persevere or persist with God. Because with God is the only way to salvation. There's no other way that we may receive eternal life. And none of us, I'm sure, wants to lose his or her heavenly crown. The question I have today is, what then, what then must we do to help ensure that we persist with God? What must we do to help ensure that we persist with God? To answer that question today, we're going to consider the examples of four men from the Bible. Three men were kings, Saul, Solomon, and Isaiah. Each started his respective reign well, with humility and obedience to God. But over time, each one changed and found himself at odds with God. The fourth man we'll consider is Peter. He will be a king. Peter provides a contrast to the other three and how to better hold fast or persist with God. Together, the examples of these men provide all of us with three valuable keys to help us hold fast to our crowns and persist with God. Those three keys are practice humility, number one. Practice humility, two is obey God, and three, rule over pride. Rule over pride. And so let's turn back together to 1 Samuel 9. 1 Samuel 9, we'll begin looking at the first of these three kings, and that is Saul, 1 Samuel 9.

There's much written about Saul, and I'm by no means going to spend time reading every scripture. I'll be summarizing points and reading at other times. Definitely a good part of our study can be spent reading about life of Saul and lessons we can glean from his experiences. In 1 Samuel 9, we learn that when Samuel told Saul that God had chosen him to be Israel's very first king, Saul was merely a young man out looking for his father's lost mules. Doesn't sound like the sort of kingly type, does it? He's just a young man out there wandering around a servant trying to find his dad's lost mules. And so his response to Samuel in verse 21 is appropriately humble, I would assume. 1 Samuel 9, 21, Samuel has just told him God has chosen you to be king of Israel. And Saul answered and said, am I not a Benjaminite, a Benjaminite, the smallest of the tribes of Israel? And my family is the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak like this to me? Why would you tell me, me, that I am going to be king? Although he said, why me? He nonetheless meekly accepted God's will. And said, yes, he accepted it. Then about one week later, turning to chapter 10, the 1 Samuel, about one week later the tribes of Israel gathered and God revealed to them their king. Time to put him up on the stage and let everybody see who their king would be. Who is this king God had chosen? But the people couldn't find Saul. Couldn't find him. Looked high and low. Let's pick up the story 1 Samuel 10, verse 22 through 23. So the people actually turned to God. Where is our king? We can't find him in this crowd. Therefore, they inquired of the eternal further. Has the man come here yet? They asked. And the eternal himself answered, there he is, or he is there, hidden among the equipment. Hiding behind stuff. He must have been very good at hiding. He knew how to make himself small. And we find out that wasn't easy for him, because he's a very tall person. There he is, hidden among the equipment. Verse 23, so they ran and brought him from there, and when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. So here is Saul. Unpretentious, humble, handsome, tall, and obedient to God. Surely this man is going to be a great king, a good great king of Israel. Well, he could have been, but he wasn't. In the second year of his reign, Saul disappointed God. First Samuel 13. In first Samuel 13, we read how Saul became impatient at the time, waiting for Samuel to arrive, so that the sacrifices to God could be offered. It seems Saul was getting worried that the people were about to take off in different directions. And in his impatience, waiting for Samuel, he did something he had no right to do, and no authority to do.

We're going to look down here at verse 13 through 14. He had become impatient, so Saul took upon himself the duty of the priest, and offered the burnt offering to God. In verse 13-14, we're going to read, his arrogance cost him here his kingdom. It cost him his kingdom. Verse 13-14 of first Samuel 13. And Samuel said to Saul, you have done foolishly, you have not kept the commandment of the eternal your God, in which he commanded you.

For now the eternal would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The eternal has sought for himself a man after his own heart, suggesting, obviously, that Saul did not have that kind of heart. And the eternal has commanded him to be commander over his people, because you have not kept what the eternal commanded you. Now, despite God's correction at this time, as days, months, years go on, Saul turned even more to pride and disobedience, as we see in first Samuel 15.

Perhaps a familiar story for most of us, first Samuel 15. Here we see how Saul further disobeyed God, because he failed to utterly destroy the Amalekites. He spared their king, King Agag, in the very best of their livestock. When Samuel asked why he disobeyed God's command, a second time at least here, Saul was defensive.

He lacked humility, this time to accept responsibility. He again seemed to blame the people, verse 20 through 21, 1 Samuel 15. But I have obeyed the voice of the eternal, he he begs, and gone on the mission which the eternal sent me, and brought back Agag, king of Amalek. I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people which took the plunder, sheep, and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the eternal your God, and Gilgal.

They kept the best to offer sacrifice, he says, their fault. They chose to do it. Then, jumping down to verse 23, in response Samuel says, because you have rejected the word of the eternal, he also has rejected you from being king. A second time telling him what the consequences of his disobedience and lack of humility have caused him. Then Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the eternal in your words. Why? Because I feared the people, and I obeyed their voice. Now, it's interesting, Saul admitted that he feared the people more than he feared God. But, perhaps a little more truthfully, he feared losing their submission, losing their obedience to him and his authority over them.

And although he claims responsibility for his own sin, doing so, he seems to shift plenty of blame onto the people for his wrong actions. In essence, he's saying, they made me sin. They're the cause of my sin. Saul had become a king whose heart was not after God's own heart. And although God specifically chose Saul to be king, and Saul began his reign with respect for God, deference, humility, and obedience to God, he yielded increasingly more and more to his own will and pride.

What we see here is that he allowed pride to rule over his heart, and he turned himself away from following God. That is never a very wise thing to do. Saul eventually lost his kingdom, and God gave it to that man whose heart was like his own, and that was David, later King David.

And you can read about that in 1 Samuel 13, 14. And then many years later, David's son, his own son Solomon, would receive the throne of Israel. Now, King Solomon. We've learned about King Solomon. We're going to skip to King Solomon, our second king of the three. King Solomon was supposed to be the wisest of all earthly kings. Solomon, like Saul, had a promising start to his reign. Let's read, in this case, go to 1 Chronicles 28, please.

In 1 Chronicles 28, we're going to pick up how King Solomon began his reign. 1 Chronicles 28 and in verses 5 through 7. We're going to begin reading what King David had to say about Solomon, the assembled leaders of Israel.

David said, "...and of all my sons, for the Eternal has given me many sons, he has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom, the Eternal, over Israel. Now he said to me, God said to me, it is your son Solomon who shall build my house and my courts. For I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father." That's the sort of relationship God wanted to have with Solomon, like a father to a son. Moreover, I will establish his kingdom forever if he is steadfast to observe my commandments and my judgments as it is this day. And then skipping down to verse 9, "...as for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father and serve him with a loyal heart and a willing mind. For the Eternal searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek him, Solomon, he will be found by you. But if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever." And so God did choose Solomon to be Israel's next king and even to build his temple in Jerusalem. God would be a father to Solomon and Solomon, his son. The only thing Solomon needed to do was to serve God as he was told with a loyal heart and a willing mind. And those two qualities he seemed to have. Why do I say that? Well, let's look at 1 Kings 3, verse 7. Let's go back to 1 Kings 3, verse 7. Note what Solomon has to say in prayer to God.

1 Kings 3, verse 7-9. Shortly after his reign began, Solomon, we see, humbly asked God for wisdom and for knowledge.

1 Kings 3, verse 7-9. Solomon says to God, I am a little child. Of course, he's a full grown man, but he recognized what he was in front of before God. I am a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. I really don't know my way. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen. He recognizes this very special relationship God had with the children of Israel. Verse 9. Therefore, give to your servant an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and evil.

For who is able to judge this great people of yours? Now, God was so pleased with Solomon's request, and I'm sure we remember this part of the story. God was so pleased with Solomon's request that he gave him greater wisdom than any other person. And as a bonus, God also gave him wealth and honor. And so Solomon's reign became truly magnificent. Solomon built a house for the Eternal.

He fulfilled his father's desire of a house for God. And God hollowed the temple with his presence. And Solomon did many wonderful things that we can read about here, so that the entirety of his reign should have been blessed. But it wasn't. In the pride of his glory, and when he was old, Solomon turned from God into the idol worship of his many wives.

How many wives did he have? More than one or two. 700. Yeah, 700 wives. Let's look at 1 Kings 11. Let's read about what happened. Just how badly did Solomon turn away from God? Remember, he's supposedly the wisest man on earth. 1 Kings, yeah, 700 wives begs the question, probably. But more than just that. 1 Kings 11, 5-6. How did he turn from God to idol worship? For Solomon went after Astorath, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites.

It seems there's almost as many idols he worshipped as, maybe not 700 as many wives, but many more than just one or two. He worshipped a number of different idols. Solomon did evil in the height of the Eternal and did not fully follow the Eternal as his father David. And skipping down to verse 9, the response from God. So the Eternal became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned from the eternal God of Israel who had appeared to him twice. What an honor that was. And yet Solomon didn't seem to value that.

It appeared to him twice, verse 10, and had commanded him concerning this thing that he should not go after other gods, but he did not keep what the Eternal had commanded. Now why did Solomon, in all his wisdom, he had it all, that would seem, or on appearances, why did Solomon seem to have it all fail to remain humble and obedient to God? Let's turn to Jeremiah 9 for this answer. It seems odd to be turning so far, so many years future, to get the answer to why did Solomon not remain humble and obedient to God.

But Jeremiah says something many years later in Jeremiah chapter 9, verse 23. And what Jeremiah 9 says here, I believe sheds good light on the reason why Solomon did not stay true to God. Jeremiah 9, verse 23 through 24, Thus says the Eternal, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let nor let the rich man glory in his riches, but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me. That he knows that I am the Eternal, exercising loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.

For in these I delight, says the Eternal. Solomon's wisdom, power, riches slowly affected his attitude and affected his sense of duty, his duty of obedience towards God. And as a result, as we see, God punished Solomon with enemies in his old age. And God would tear away half of the kingdom after Solomon's death. And so it's really sad, like we saw with King Saul, despite his early years of humility and obedience to God, Solomon foolishly, not wisely, but foolishly neglected God and allowed pride to roll over him. Of course, though, he wouldn't be the last king to do so. Many years later, King Azai of Judah did not do any better than Saul or Solomon. Let's turn to 2 Chronicles 26. Azai is the third of the three kings of old that we want to look at. 2 Chronicles 26.

In 2 Chronicles 26, we'll learn some interesting things about Azai. Azai was only 16 years old, a teenager. He was only 16 when he began to reign. And in verse 4 through 5 of 2 Chronicles 26, he did all right for a teenager. Yeah, he did what was right in the sight of the eternal. We read, According to all that his father Amaziah had done, and he sought God in the days of Zechariah. Now, just so you know, this Zechariah was a prophet during the reign of Aziah, and he appears to have acted as the king's counselor. This is not the same Zechariah we learn about later in the minor prophets. Very little is actually known about this Zechariah. But he sought God in the days of Zechariah then, who had understanding in the visions of God. And as long as Aziah sought the eternal, God made him prosper. And God did bless Aziah with victories against the Philistines and Arabians and many others we read about here in chapter 26. And Aziah expanded and strengthened the army. He improved the kingdom's resources we read, and he fortified Jerusalem with towers and amazing weapons. You read about it's curious exactly what were these machines of war he made. And the fame of his strength became well known throughout the area, throughout the land. But sadly, Aziah followed what we should recognize as a sad but familiar pattern. He excelled only while he remained humbled, and obedient to God. Aziah in time attempted to do what Saul had done, as I mentioned earlier. He attempted to take on the duties of a priest. 2 Chronicles 26, same chapter, but now verse 16. But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up. His heart was lifted up to his destruction, for he to transgress against the eternalist God by entering the temple of the eternal to burn incense on the altar of incense. He had no business doing that. In fact, as you read, 80 priests, 80 priests defied Aziah's arrogant attempt to usurp and take upon himself their consecrated God-given role and duty. In verse 19, how did Aziah respond to being told to go away? These 80 people surrounding him, preventing him from getting near to the altar of incense to do what he wanted to do. Verse 19, then Aziah became furious, and yet he censured in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priest, leprosy broke out in his forehead. And before the priest in the house of the eternal, beside the incense altar. And Azariah, the chief priest, and all the priest looked at him, and there on his forehead he was leprous.

You cannot be a leper in being the temple of God. He was unclean. So they thrust him out of that place, and indeed he also hurried to get out. He didn't dally now, did he? He couldn't get out of there fast enough. He also hurried to get out because the eternal had struck him. God's judgment was immediate and severe on Aziah, but he had brought destruction upon himself because of his pride. He failed to remain humble and obedient before God.

Sadly, Jotham his son would rule in his place while he was yet alive. The remainder of his life, Aziah remained a leper. And he lived in an isolated house, probably not far from the palace, who knows, but forever cut off from ever again visiting God's temple. What a terrible fall that was. So now we have looked at three kings, and the pattern seems to go like this. Each began his reign with humility and obedience to God. But in time, they each began to make wrong choices. Pride grew, and disobedience became the routine of choice.

Solomon became over the concern with prestige and keeping his position. Solomon, blinded by pride and his glory, turned away from God to worship idols. And Aziah craved more and more power, but he overreached when he tried to do the duties of the priest. They each began very well, but they neglected humility and obedience to God, and yielded to pride. Seems incredible, doesn't it? We may even find ourselves shaking our heads in disbelief at these ancient kings' foolish pride. They had it all. They were doing the right thing. But we must be careful, even while we may want to shake our heads at these kings, in disbelief at why they would do that.

We must be careful and not let ourselves feel morally superior to them. We must think that pride would never rule over us, that we might never yield to pride. Even as these kings did. You see, pride is a very subtle thing. It's sneaky. It will slowly and subtly erode humility. It can deceive us into thinking that we're better, wiser.

That's why I said, don't shake our heads too much at these kings. Pride can make us think that we're better, wiser, even stronger, even spiritually stronger than we truly are. That we're even better than other people. If it left unchecked, if we leave pride unchecked, it will turn us away from God. Even if we have God's Holy Spirit in us, pride can turn us away from God.

Let's be turning to the book of Proverbs. I want to look at a few scriptures there with you in Proverbs 8. It's important that we remind ourselves what God has to say about pride.

God hates pride. He hates pride. Proverbs 8.13. The fear of the eternal is to hate evil. Pride and arrogance in the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate. I hate those things. If we truly love and respect God, we will be sensitive to ruling over pride. We will always struggle over pride.

We're human. We're never going to have it gone from us. The point I'm making here is that we must rule over it and not let it rule over us. We must be more sensitive to our need to rule over pride through our own humility and obedience to God. Now, perhaps the best known proverb about pride is in Proverbs 16.18. In Proverbs 16.18, we read this, Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. A haughty spirit, I think, of some unpleasant person—not me, of course— but an unpleasant person walking right off their nose, stuck up in the air.

The fear, pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Now, here, in this verse, pride and a haughty spirit suggest to us pride's destructive sequence. There's a sequence involved with pride, it seems. Proverbs 16.18 suggests that pride leads to carelessness in obeying God. Pride leads to carelessness in obeying God. And carelessness will eventually lead to our fall, or sin, or destruction, or our shame, or dishonor— all those terrible negative things we hate to experience. Pride, you see, puffs us up. That's why we take us back to the days of Unleavened Bread, right?

Puffs us up. Pride puffs us up. It makes our hearts swell like Isaiah's did, so that we carelessly say and do things that hurt others, but perhaps most often hurts ourselves. When we inevitably fall—because we will always fall from pride's airy height— when we inevitably fall from pride's airy white, high up there in the stratosphere, we will suffer the pain of pride's devastation in our own hearts and in our own minds. What will we suffer?

Well, some things I've suffered from, because when I've stumbled over pride, a sense of guilt, shame, some anger, humiliation, and even, at times, self-loathing. God warns us that this scripture first comes pride, and then comes destruction. But God is a good and loving God. He does not want us to be hurt by pride. Proverbs 29. Proverbs 29 and 23.

I love these anecdotes we can find in scripture for our problems in life, including our sinful ones like pride. God provides us a fantastic antidote for pride, and it is the Christian's very best remedy. It's humility. It's humility. Proverbs 29 and 23.

A man's pride will bring him low. And, boy, don't we feel low when we come down from pride.

But the humble in spirit will retain honor. You retain your right place where you belong.

It's human to puff up with pride, to fall to destruction, and then to live with its painful consequences.

But a Christian must act differently. We can't act like we might want to act, or like people to whom God has not opened their minds to understand, to live a different way.

We must act differently. When we find pride in our hearts, instead of allowing pride to control even more and more of our thoughts and our actions and our attitudes, we must stop, recognize what it is we're doing, repent, and draw near to God. In humility. All along the way, in humility. And to seek God, to seek His forgiveness, and then to get back to obeying God.

Justice, mercy, and faith. I believe that could be called.

Now, I want to look at something positive, don't you? The Bible provides us with a positive example, though.

God gives us a positive example of how we can rule over pride with humility. And we find that example with Peter. Peter. Peter, like us, and like those kings of old, was not perfect.

And during the time of life we will be studying, Peter had not yet received the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit. We're going to be looking at the time in Peter's life before that first Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given. To the best of his ability, Peter chose to be humble, to be obedient to God, and to rule over his pride. Peter did that. So can we.

Now, Peter, when you look at his life, Peter seems to have been a leader among the 12 disciples.

He's always named first in all the lists of the disciples. His name is first in the list.

And he often speaks as a spokesman, it seems. Whenever there's a group of them, he speaks first. Maybe he's kind of the natural leader among the group.

We will see that if you study, we can spend more time than I'm able to spend today. But when you look at Peter's life, you will see that he was often bold, courageous, quite blunt in speaking, and fiercely loyal, though. A lot of good attributes about Peter.

Peter was also a man of action. For example, while the others watched Peter walk on water, what did Peter do? They're sitting in the boat watching Jesus walk on water. Peter stepped out of the boat and actually walked on water, too, for a while.

Peter was the first disciple to declare Jesus was the Messiah.

He tried to defend Jesus and struck off the ear of Caiaphas' servant. Peter did that.

And although John outran Peter to the empty tomb, Peter was the first to step inside and take a closer look.

Peter often spoke and acted impulsively, but he knew the importance of repentance and staying close to God. Now, let's turn to Luke 5, because this episode of the net in fishes in Luke 5 illustrates some of these positive traits that Peter had. In Luke 5, Jesus was down near the lakeshore, teaching the multitudes, where Simon, Simon Peter, that is, where Simon Peter, James, and John were cleaning their nets beside their boats. They were still fishermen at this early point in time. Verse 3 tells us, then he, Jesus, got into one of the boats, which was Simon's or Peter's, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When he had stopped speaking, he said to Simon Peter, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. But Peter answered and said to him, Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing. Nevertheless, at your word, I will let down the net. Well, maybe it's just me, but it strikes him that Peter doesn't sound very enthusiastic here. We might imagine that Peter was worn out from fishing all night and had nothing to show for him.

I don't know if he's all that cheery at this point of view, at this point in time. Yet, he had stopped cleaning his nets to help Jesus. Now Peter is a fisherman. He knows they are not going to catch any fish. But he good-naturedly does what Jesus says, and he casts down his net where Jesus told him to do. Verse 6, And when they had done this, when they let down their net, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they both began to sink. Wow! Verse 8, what we see here in verse 8 is Peter's bold and unconstrained humility.

Verse 8, When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down, he fell down at Jesus's knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken. And so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Don't be afraid. Don't let this scare you.

From now on, you will catch men. So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all.

They gave up everything, gave up their business, his vocation, everything he knew. All followed him. Peter began his discipleship with humility and obedience. He acted on his conviction, and just like that, he left his vocation behind and became a disciple of Christ.

And so do all of us who follow Christ.

Now, as a disciple among other disciples, do you suppose Peter ever had arguments or disputes? Did he ever have struggles against pride?

Yep, he did. I think he did.

Prior to Jesus' resurrection, disciples thought, for example, before the Christ resurrection, the disciples thought Jesus would soon restore the physical kingdom of Israel on the earth. They're looking forward to the physical manifestation of the kingdom.

And when they read the Gospels, when we read the Gospels, we will find that the disciples did argue amongst themselves, quite often, in fact, and about a topic about who would be the greatest in the kingdom of God. In their disputes, I'm certain stirred up anger and pride. For example, let's turn to Mark 9. Let's look over to Mark 9. I see we need to reset that clock.

Give me a heart attack. Three minutes to five? Whoa! No, that clock is still an hour ahead.

Okay. Where am I? Oh, Mark 9. Talk about getting distracted.

Okay. Let's turn to Mark 9, verse 34, is where I want to be. All right. About a year, here we see from what do we call that? The Harmony of the Gospels. From what scholars have said, looking at the Harmony of Gospels, it seems Mark 9, 33, 34, this event is occurring about one year before Christ's crucifixion. What we're going to read here, Mark 9, 33, 34.

Then he, Jesus, came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house, he asked them, what was it you disputed among yourselves on the road? But they kept silent.

For on the road, they had disputed, argued among themselves about who would be greatest.

I find it interesting that not even Peter spoke up. Not even Peter would tell Christ Jesus what they'd been arguing about. Were they, I wonder, were they perhaps a little too ashamed to admit it? It's possible. Now, Jesus knew they were angry and filled with pride.

He taught them about Godly leadership. He had to tell them about humility in serving others. In verse 35, 37, here's a lesson he felt compelled to tell them at that time.

Verse 35, if anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.

Then he took a little child and set them in the midst of them. This is a very touching scene.

And when he had taken him in his arms, a child, Jesus said to them, whoever receives one of these little children in my name receives me. And whoever receives me receives not me, but him who sent me that is a father. So, this is a, I forget the phrase we heard in a sermon, an opportunity to teach a lesson. I forgot the exact phrase. But you know it because you were taking notes. Okay.

So Jesus took the opportunity to teach them all about humility, and the need to serve, the right approach to serving in leadership. But Mark 10, in Mark 10, the dispute rose again.

Fast forward, apparently, several months. In fact, maybe just several weeks before his crucifixion now. In Mark 10, we find that the well-meaning mother of James and John asked Jesus to place her sons in his kingdom in positions of authority, one at his right hand and one at his left hand.

And we're going to pick this up at verses 42 and 43. So James and John's mother, we all love it when our moms would try to intervene on our behalf when we were younger, right? Mom, you're embarrassing me! I don't think that's what happened here. I think James and John maybe even encouraged it. But anyway, the mother asked Jesus to place one of her sons at his right hand and one at his left hand. Now, the other 10 disciples, including Peter, were displeased, we find out. I think they're probably fuming, really agitated and angry about it. When they heard about the brother's mother politicking, we'd call it today, to place her sons in the best positions over them. You only got one right hand and one left hand. That leaves 10 others of you down there somewhere. They didn't care for that. Jesus rebuked them all in verse 42 through 43.

Jesus said, You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.

They knew this. We know this. Yet days later now, during the Passover, you read that carefully about the Passover meal, this dispute was still simmering even during that final Passover meal that Christ had with them.

So Jesus said his personal example then of foot washing. In Luke 22, 22, 26, Jesus again stressed to them, He who is greatest among you let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves.

Now, I'll say more about this foot washing incident in a little bit.

So Peter and the other disciples had to rule over their pride. They had to learn genuine humility. In the service of self-sacrifice, we have those very same lessons to learn.

Now, Peter was very human.

And so controlling pride and learning humility for Peter was not an easy thing to do. I think we deceive ourselves to think that Peter and the other disciples had an easier time with it than we did. We do.

You know, Peter even argued with Jesus.

And not just once.

We would never argue with God, would we?

Now, Peter's purpose in each case when he's arguing with Jesus, it seems well intended.

But still, he found himself at odds with the will of God. And we need to take time to look at that. Matthew 16.

He dared to argue with Jesus.

Matthew 16, 21.

Here's an example. Matthew 16, 21.

And...

Actually, yeah. Yeah.

Jesus had been showing them from Scripture and then quoting, that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer at the hands of the Jews, that he must be killed and be resurrected the third day.

Now, his disciples loved him so much.

They didn't want to accept the fact that he had to die.

They did not want that. And I think, humanly speaking, we can understand that.

But Peter obviously spoke up first.

But Peter wanted no such harm to come to Jesus.

And so in verse 22, Peter took him aside, as we read, and rebuked him, saying, Lord, this shall not happen to you.

But Jesus turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan.

Wow.

You are an offense to me. You offend me.

That must have hurt.

You are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.

Now, Peter spoke without understanding.

Because if Jesus did what Peter said, if he did not allow himself to be killed, then the salvation of humanity would have never occurred.

It never would have happened.

And of course, that's what Satan wants. He didn't want it to happen.

And perhaps that's why Jesus so sternly corrected Peter. They must have stung to get corrected like that.

But Peter meant well, but it was the wrong thing.

The second time Peter contradicted, Jesus appears in John 13.5.

Let's turn to John 13.5.

Different gospel accounts bring out different bits of information for us.

John 13.5, here we are, back at that last Passover. Peter, we are sure we remember this. It's part of our observance of the Passover service.

Peter contradicted Jesus in John 13.5 because Jesus had begun to wash his disciples' feet, just as a lowly servant or a slave would do, actually.

But remember, as I mentioned before, Jesus did this to establish a vivid example about right, correct leading, the servant's humble mindset.

But Peter was not willing to see his master dishonor himself in such a low way. By washing his feet, that was what the slaves were supposed to be doing.

And so Peter says, John 13, verse 8, you shall never wash my feet. I don't know if he said it like that.

But knowing Peter, I think he's probably pretty bold and blunt about it.

You will never wash my feet. And Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no part of me.

You have no part with me.

Again, Peter seemed to have spoken without grasping the lesson being aparted. He meant, well, please don't do that. I can do it myself, right? No, you cannot do this yourself. You do not recognize why I'm doing this and what this means.

I'm washing you.

Then, in Mark 14, sorry I'm making you go back and forth a little bit. Well, not really sorry, but I am making you go back and forth a little bit. Mark 14, verse 27.

In Mark 14, 27, now this is on that same evening, after they had sung a hymn, after their meal and all the words Christ had spoken to them, that left singing a hymn, they walked to the Mount of Olives.

That same evening, now I don't know, I guess I should have studied this more carefully if they're still there in the room or on their way, nonetheless, that evening, before he was arrested, Jesus again explained from Scripture that all of them would desert him, that they would leave him alone, desert him.

And Peter says, Mark 14, verse 29, Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will. Again, I don't know if he said it like that, but I do it for emphasis to make the point. I never will.

And Jesus replied, I tell you the truth, Peter. This is the truth. I tell you the truth, Peter. This very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. You'll deny three times that you even know me.

Of course, Peter refused to believe that he would ever abandon and deny his Lord. So in verse 31, he says, No.

Peter declared vehemently, Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you. And all the others? About the same. But Peter said it first.

Peter said it first.

And so Peter responds with these powerful and intense emotions here.

And again, because I think he's so shocked and emotional, he probably didn't realize that he's arguing that he knows himself far better than Jesus Christ knows him.

But this time, Jesus does not correct him.

Does Jesus really allow Peter to have the final word?

Not hardly. And we're going to see that in John 21 in a little bit.

Now, these three instances suggest pride and a need for greater humility, don't they? Peter meant well, but his good intentions were at times contrary to what needed to happen. Peter spoke with passion and conviction, but he lacked full understanding.

His tone and words sometimes lacked proper respect, indifference, and regard toward Jesus as the Messiah, whom Peter himself had declared him to be. He did that in Mark 829.

Now, at times, Peter acted as if he had superior understanding, as if he knew what was best.

Now, again, pride can be very obvious, as in lording it over others.

But as I mentioned earlier, pride can also appear in unintended ways.

It can be in unintended ways, such as in being too familiar, perhaps showing not enough respect in regard for authority, for even what's holy, or perhaps assuming that we know what's best.

Peter's example can remind us of how subtle pride can be, even when we think we're being kind and helpful. I'm acting in your best interest.

Now let's turn to John 21 and consider that pivotal moment in Peter's life.

I appreciate Mr. Stewart's sermonette.

We're going to read some of these scriptures that he covered in his sermonette.

But I'm going to be looking at something different than he did, and it just shows the richness of God's word. There's different things you can study, and it's rich, and there's always more meaning.

John 21. We're going to consider this moment in Peter's life. Now, again, Peter, James, and John, and four other disciples, the names aren't mentioned, have just returned to Galilee shortly after Christ's death and resurrection.

It was before Pentecost. Now, what were these men feeling and thinking at that time?

I don't know, but I wonder if maybe they had a mix of emotions, perhaps joy, excitement, maybe some confusion, and fear, and maybe for some of them, even some guilt.

Perhaps not knowing what better to do, though, let's look in verse 3 of John 21. Perhaps not knowing what better to do, because I'm in Peter said to them, I'm going fishing. I am going fishing. I know how to do that. I don't know what I'm doing anymore, but I do know that. And they said to him, We are going with you also. So they went out, and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing.

Now, this should start sending a little familiar to us in a strange way. Verse 4, continuing, But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore, yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. And then Jesus said to them, Children, have you any food? And they answered him, No. And then he said to them, Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you shall find some. And so they cast the net. Now, I'm going to stop there. Now, this may be a small thing, but there does seem to be a subtle difference here from the first time Jesus had told Peter where to drop the net. Again, here's Peter, a fisherman by vocation. He knows about fishing. He's professional at this. He's been all night fishing, and like before, they haven't caught a single fish. And now somebody is standing on shore, some stranger, I guess, standing on shore, yelling at them, telling them where to fish, as if he would know about fishing there on land. And I'm out here in the boat. You can imagine possibly what was going through his head.

This time, it's a subtle difference, but this time Peter says nothing.

But seems a little unusual, perhaps, with Peter. Could his silence imply that he is more humble and obliging than he used to be. They follow the man's directions. They cast the net in verse 6, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish. This had happened once before, deja vu, when Jesus called Peter, James, and John to follow him.

Now, verse 7 tells us, John is the first to realize that the man on shore was Jesus.

But as usual, Peter is the first to take action.

He plunges into the sea and quickly swims to shore towards Jesus.

So, as Peter the man he used to be, had the events surrounding the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus changed him.

Peter's pride had led him to take a brother crushing and humiliating fall that night when he denied Jesus Christ three times.

In Luke 23.62, it tells us that after the rooster crowed, Peter realized what he had done and he left the courtyard weeping bitterly.

Have you ever seen a man on shore? You know how heart-wrenching that emotion is.

Filled with such remorse, then, would Peter humbly turn towards God in repentance and seek his forgiveness?

Or would Peter heap upon himself guilt, shame, anger, and self-loathing and turn away from God? Or would Peter heap upon himself guilt, shame, anger, and self-loathing and turn away from God?

Jesus meeting with Peter in John 21, verse 15, provides us the answer.

And so we have these three questions that Mr. Stewart covered very well. And most scholars seem to agree with Mr. Stewart that they seem to find a connection here, definitely, that the three times Jesus asked the question of Peter may correlate with the three times Peter denied Christ. So in verse 15, Jesus asked Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?

These other men. Jesus seems referring to the other disciples.

And maybe he's even giving a not-so-subtle correction to Peter.

You remember Peter had implied that he loved Jesus more than the others when he said, even if everyone else departs, I will never depart. I'll never leave you.

So maybe this is a little subtle correction on Christ's part, or maybe not so subtle from Peter's point of view. And now, without comparing himself to others and knowing that Jesus knows his heart totally, Peter simply and humbly says, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. And he said to him, feed my lambs. That is, teach his disciples, especially the young ones and the new ones, and the truth. The second time Jesus questioned Peter in verse 16, he simply asked, do you love me?

And Peter gave the same answers before. However, Jesus said to him, tend my sheep.

Perhaps telling Peter to make sure he takes care of the disciples. He oversees them, guides them, gives them a little more governance, perhaps. But verse 17, the third time Jesus asked, do you love me? Peter was grieved and full of sorrow. And this time, Peter seems to break down maybe three more of a repentant sinner before his omniscient Lord and God.

Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. And Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. And again, emphasizing the importance of feeding and teaching and caring for the disciples. And Peter seems to have been examined and now corrected.

And part of what we learn here is that Peter did not succumb to pride s destructive remorse and self-loathing. Peter humbled himself. He repented before Jesus Christ's scrutiny.

And Peter would remain forever loyal to Christ because he truly did love Jesus Christ, his Lord and his Savior. He truly did. And Jesus foretold of Peter's faithful persistence with God, even until his martyrdom. And that's what we read about in verse 18 through 19.

I will not, and most surely, excuse me, I must surely say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish. This he spoke signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when he had spoken this, Jesus said to him, follow me.

That strikes me as an affirmation.

You're okay, Peter. Come on. Follow me. Follow me. Don't quit. Peter was very human, just like us.

He did not allow pride to rule over his thoughts and actions. And when corrected, he humbly repented. He learned from obeying God and humility. And how do I know this?

How do we know this? That's what Peter says. Let's turn to 1 Peter 5.

1 Peter 5. Many years later, after he does receive the gift of our Father's Holy Spirit, Peter's writing instructions.

Peter's writing instructions. Instructions that Jesus Christ had taught him.

And Peter's exhorting all in God's church to live a life of humility and self-sacrifice. 1 Peter 5. The elders who are among you I exhort. I, who am a fellow elder, and a witness, an eyewitness, of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed. Shepherd the flock which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain, but eagerly, nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

Nor as being lords, examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

But these directions are not just for elders in the church, ministers in the church. He continues on. Likewise, there's a similar attitude and approach here of humility, likewise you younger people submit to your elders. In fact, I might say, yes, all of you be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility. For God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. Humble yourselves so that God may lift you up. You ever notice about human pride? We're trying to lift ourselves up. That's the opposite of what we should be doing. Let God lift us up.

What these scriptures reveal is that Peter practiced a life of humility and obedience to God.

He was a rock who did not allow pride to rule over him, to destroy his hope of salvation.

Peter was called to kingship in the kingdom of God.

Matthew 19.28 tells us that he will sit on one of the 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel.

He served God obediently until his death, and he persisted with God.

He held fast to his crown, and it awaits him upon Christ's return.

His example of humility, obedience, and dominance over pride is the example we should all strive to imitate in our own daily lives.

I'm not saying we should argue with God and yell at God, but you know what? I think we may do that from time to time, but God is very understanding.

Peter practiced a life of humility and obedience to God, and so can we.

That's the good news of what we can worry about here in the Bible. So we, too, are called then to be kings.

But not like Saul, not like Solomon or Isaiah, but kings and priests in the kingdom of God, as we read in Revelation 1.6. But will we follow Peter's example?

Will we persist with God?

We can. We've been shown how.

We can, if we are genuinely repentant and remain obedient, and rule over our pride. We cannot let pride dominate us in how we live our lives and how we treat one another.

So let us take to heart the lessons to be learned from these ancient kings.

This future king and our eternal king, Jesus Christ.

Let us persist with God so that we, too, may receive our crowns as king and priest in the coming kingdom of God.