Peter, Paul and Fred

How many of you are fans of folk music? Don't see a lot of hands. There's some going up there. There we go. Name it in the back. Many of you. In the 1960s, there was a folk group, as they were called, folk singers. They were called Peter, Paul, and Mary. Biblical names. Don't know if you remember them. Yes, now more heads are shaking. You agree. This group of two men and one woman had incredible harmony.

Their songs, you should remember, because of not only the words, but the harmony that they all brought to the songs that they were singing. That's been over 50 years ago, and some of those are still remembered. Any of you remember the song Puff? The Magic Dragon? Yes, I remember singing that as a kid. It shows my age. Right? There was a song leaving on a jet plane. I don't know when I'll be back again. See? You do remember that. There was a song Lemon Tree that they had out, which I do not remember. Maybe some of you do.

Okay, yes. So you remember that. Where have all the flowers gone? Yes, remember that. And the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind. And they had another one. If I had a hammer, hammer in the air. So you remember those groups. You remember the words. It kind of resonates and sticks with you, even after I heard some of the songs 40-50 years ago.

And I had to actually go to YouTube to check out some of the videos they had on it. So I could refresh my memory since it had been decades since I'd heard those songs. It was like it all came back. I'd heard them before.

Well, I want to give a sermon today that is titled Peter, Paul, and Fred. Peter, Paul, and Fred. I bring that up because three men have been mentors in my life. Not only their writings, but also their examples. And they have a way of sticking with me. I like them because Peter, Paul, and Fred have all made an impact in my life.

And I'm sure as many of you came back from the Feast of Tabernacles, you remembered a song, you remembered a sermon's given that made an impact with you this year. Or perhaps in the past years, even the decades, you remember certain messages you have heard that you can't shake that become part of your core. Peter, Paul, and Fred were are different people totally.

For those of you who have studied the writings and the stories of Peter, you realize he was brash, impetuous, always opened his mouth sometimes when he should have kept a shot. He was willing to take a step forward when all others were wanting to take a step back. Then there was Paul, this precise, copious man who thought about everything in great detail.

His letters that he wrote to the churches, even through Peter for a loop, as Peter said, some things are hard to understand the way that this very intellectual mentor of mine and hopefully yours. Then I come to Fred. Fred, as one of my mentors, was such a relaxed individual.

No matter what was going on, he was always calm. He would always give a message that made you remember it during the next week or two. There's always something poignant from his point of view. These three men gave some of the greatest sermons I've ever heard in my life. To even be considered in amongst them is a great privilege and an honor to be able to give a sermon, which mine will probably never compete with their messages.

But I'd like to look at those because I'd like you to think about who were the mentors in your life. I'm sure you have had some, that some sermons you have heard, that have stuck with you, that you remember even decades later, just like the music that I brought up about from Peter, Paul, and Mary.

So, I'd like you to turn to Acts chapter 2. I'd like to discuss a sermon, a few sermons that have made an impact in my life. As I look at Peter in Acts 2 and verse 9, let's go Acts 2 and verse 14. Let's go down to 14. We know this was the day of Pentecost. People were all gathered early in the morning waiting for the gift of the Holy Spirit to be given. But in Acts 2 and verse 14 says, But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and heed my words.

I think he was probably heard by most people when he made that introduction. For these that you are looking at are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only nine o'clock in the morning. But this is what was spoken of by the prophet Joel as the gift of the Holy Spirit was given. This was a foretaste, a forerunner of when this event would take place at the end time.

Verse 17, It shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.

And on my men-servant and my maid-servant, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath. Blood and fire and vapor of smoke, the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and notable day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. He said, men of Israel, hear these words.

Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did through him in your midst as you yourself also know. He says you were there! Very bold was this Peter and his sermon. Verse 23, him being delivered by determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands have crucified and you put him to death, whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it is not possible that he should be held by it. I'll let you read the rest of this sermon at some other time, but I'd like to go down to the end of it in verse 36 of Acts 2.

Peter says, therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said to them, what we need to be saying today, what has been said time and time again by God's ministers and his apostles, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, for the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.

And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, be saved from this perverse generation. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand souls were added to them, great increase in the size of the church. This incredible man gave an incredible message because he was being used by the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that is in each one of you. The same power God has given to each of us. It's just this. Peter was willing to be used by God.

Are we? Incredible example. This is the same man who rejected Christ three times from Christ last night, after Passover. This is the same man who walked on water. Only man I know.

I've seen a lot of fishermen out in the waters, never seen anybody walk.

There were 11 other men on that boat that night.

Not one of them stepped out and walked on water.

Was used by God, even to his death.

He believed in the power of the Holy Spirit. He is an incredible example to me.

Because, like you, like me, we all slip and fall. And Peter slipped more than a few times.

Christ chastised him more than a time or two.

This was a man that, after he received God's Holy Spirit, his shadow even was cast upon someone and they were healed.

Acts, since we're there in Acts 2, I like you to go to Acts 3, just after this event.

Peter and John says in chapter 3, went up together to the temple to pray at the ninth hour. There was a certain lame man from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which was called beautiful, to ask for alms for those who entered the temple. So here was this cripple that was actually brought every day up to the temple and lay there so he could beg for money. And he was like that from birth, except here it describes him as a man. How old was he? I don't know. Well, we do know he had been that way for at least 20 to 30 years.

In verse 3 it says, who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, ask for alms or ask for money. And fixing his eyes on him with John, Peter said, look at us.

This is just a man that just a couple of months before had denied and was scared to be a follower of Christ. The difference? God's Holy Spirit. So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something. He was expecting money. Oh, here I got two guys. They're going to give me money.

Peter said to him, silver and gold, I do not have, but what I do have, I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And he reached out his hand and helped him up.

I'll let you read the rest of the story sometime. Can you imagine the elation in that guy?

He said he leaped about what an incredible miracle. All done, not just by Peter, by the Holy Spirit. It's made possible because Peter actually made himself available to work for God, to use the Holy Spirit that was given. You might remember the story of Peter when so many men left him after he gave these hard sayings. One time, Christ asked him, said, who am I? I said, well, I think you're Elijah. Thank you. Another prophet.

Peter said, no, you're the Christ. You're the Christ. You're the Christ.

Like you turn to 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2.

1 and 2 Peter are written at the end of Peter's life.

An incredible example. I take to this in 1 Peter. 1 Peter 2 and verse 9. I could see Peter with such zeal writing this down, sending this. He said, but 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. All of us, hopefully, can relate to that. Let us know that God called us. We have a purpose.

We're called a holy nation, his own special people. To Peter, that was very important that the followers of Christ remember that. Like you turn to 2 Peter. Let's go to 1 Peter.

Let's go to 1 Peter 5. 1 Peter 5, verse 8. I'll read from the New Living Translation.

Because here, Peter is telling us what we need to know. Those who profess to follow God, those who have his Holy Spirit, he's going to give us such a succinct message that you can't miss it this time because Peter could be, well, as you say, blunt sometimes. He was a rough fisherman.

Remember, he was the one that when Christ came to him and called him and said, I'll make you a fisherman. No, no, no, I'm not. Don't come near me. I'm a disgusting man. Here's what he tells us. 1 Peter 5 and verse 8. He said, stay alert!

Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are. In his kindness, God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus.

So after you have suffered a little while, after you have suffered a little while, haven't we all at times felt like we've suffered that Satan's perhaps got the best of us that we've had bad days, bad weeks, and sometimes even bad months. He says, so after you've suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation, all power to him forever. Amen. Strong words from Peter. You may have others that you think about.

Peter and then Paul.

They were men of passion. They were men of zeal. They were totally different, just like this singing group, Peter, Paul, and Mary. All different people, all different sounds, but they come together in a harmony. I think of Paul, and I think of Romans 6 and verse 23. Many of you know it. You don't like to turn there. For the wages of sin is what? But the gift of God is what? Yes.

What a powerful statement to remember. It's a gift. I can't earn it, but I can earn death. I have, but it's gone.

Paul had so many incredible scriptures, and when I first started studying the Bible, the last person I wanted to study was Paul. Boy, there's just... Why did he write that way? Why did he put things in a way that sometimes hard to understand, as Peter said? And then as you begin to understand the man, you understand why God called him. There was only one man on earth at that time I think that God felt could take this gospel to the entire world, to the Gentiles, to the pagans, to the heathens, who would walk in there with his head up and his back straight and proclaim Jesus Christ to the world. That was not going to be easy for anyone to do.

That's where he said, bring every thought into captivity.

One of the hardest things ever. It is for me. Bring every thought into... I bring most, but boy, I like those occasional thoughts that go out here. I just let them go.

That's what I need to bring back. Bring every thought into captivity so I do not let anger run amok, not let immoral thoughts have their own way. Paul knew this.

Maybe that's why he was the writer of 14 books that we know of in the New Testament.

There's a lot in there. God wanted him to be a mentor to many of us.

Where are all the fruits of the Spirit listed?

Galatians 5 verse 22, right? Those fruits that I have to occasionally go over in my mind because I did not exhibit. I did not grow those fruits like God would want me to.

He tells at the end of his book, he said, I fought the good fight.

Those are one of his books. I fought the good fight. He was ready to die.

He was... it didn't matter to him because he said, well, I know it'd be good over here if I did, but if I didn't, he was just so easy in serving God to the death.

Whatever it took, because he was led by the Holy Spirit.

He was stubborn. He was a stubborn man.

And he had to be blinded before he could finally see, as most of us understand the story of Paul.

And so many of us sometimes have to not be blinded, but we have to be prodded to begin to see and look towards and look to God every day like we should. But Paul gave an incredible sermon that I dwell on sometimes. I read.

It was a sermon given in front of a group of intellectuals, probably the superior intellect on earth at the time, if I can actually say that.

And there were not really anyone else around who believed like Paul at that time, in that city, that day. How would you like to stand before the group considered the smartest and most intellectual people on the planet, all by yourself? And stand before them?

And teach them? Took a unique man, as Paul was standing there that day in Athens. I like to turn there and read just a portion of his incredible sermon that has inspired me in Acts 17. And we'll start in verse 16.

Now Paul had just left Berea and came into Athens. He was in Greece, as it was considered the intellectual superior city to all on earth. We're all learning.

He was supposedly started there, came out of there.

And so Paul arrives there before Silas and Timothy and asks them to hurry up and get there with him.

But verse 16 says, now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols, or as it says, full of idols.

So he walked through Athens and all the city just there were idols everywhere and people were worshiping all the different gods and goddesses. Therefore, he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews, because there were a few Jews there, so he went to the synagogue to talk to them. And with the Gentile worshipers, there were a few of those. And in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there, then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. The Epicureans, they advocated pursuing pleasure is the purpose of why you were here, why you were on earth. So enjoy everything you can think of that's pleasurable to the senses. That was how the Epicureans believed and they taught and these philosophers would stand in Mars Hill almost every day preaching this to the people teaching those who came to learn from the great minds of their day in Athens. Remember, this was the place where Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, Epicurus, they pontificated from Mars Hill in this very spot that Paul was standing on. Then there were the Stoics who believed in extreme self-control discipline. You don't laugh, you don't have any fun. Two extremes. There was no balance.

And here these two diverse groups of people were standing there espousing their way of life.

And all of a sudden they hear this man that has come into town and obviously he had caused some bit of stir. And so these philosophers bring him over and say, oh, what does this babbler want to say?

Very condescending. These two people were. These two different philosophers are many philosophers because it actually, my margin, my Bible says, they actually said this babbler means a seed picker, which is actually an idler, one who doesn't really work for a living, an idler who makes a living picking up scraps. So as you can see, very condescending. They looked at this little man and they said, let's let's let's let him come up and let's let's hear what he has to say. This is going to be good. This is going to be entertainment for us.

Being we are the smartest men on the planet at the time.

Others said he seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, which is Mars Hill, saying, may we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak, for you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore, we want to know what these things mean for all the Athenians and the foreigners were there who were there, spent their time and nothing else but either to tell or hear some new thing philosophizing. That's what their life was about. Verse 22, then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, men of Athens, I perceived I perceived that in all things you are very religious.

He's playing to their intellect and I'm sure they sit back in their robes and yes, he's got that right. They like this guy, after all. For as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription to the Unknown God.

Therefore, the one whom you worship without knowing him I proclaim to you.

He said, God, who made the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in the temples made with hands. Ooh! All these buildings, all these temples you could look in Athens at the time, all built to these gods and people came up and brought money and food and everything else to worship them because the gods were right there in those buildings they presumed. And Paul said, no, they're not.

This God does not dwell like that. Nor is he worshiped with men's hands as though he needed anything. Here, he needs something. Bring me something. Since he gives to all life, breath, and all things, he has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on the face of the earth and has determined this their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation so that they should seek the Lord in hope that they might grope for him and find him though he is not far from each one of us.

This was strange to them. He's talking about one god when they believe there were plethera, even hundreds of gods, each one controlling something else in the world or your environment or your life. He's saying, I'm talking about the unknown god, one, one who is all-powerful who made everything.

And he says he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our own being as also some of our own poets. Some of your own poets said, for we are also his offspring.

Putting their own words back in their face, which because so many, they did not believe they were from the gods. The emperors all proclaimed that which they actually knew was not correct. He said, therefore, since we are the offspring of God, Paul's making that clear to them, we ought not to think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising. Truly, these times of ignorance, God overlooked. Ooh, that's pretty, pretty much slam in their face. But now commands all men everywhere to, what did Peter say earlier?

John the Baptist say, what did Jesus Christ say? What did we just say? Repent.

Because he has appointed a day, a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked while others said, we will hear you again on this matter. So Paul departed from among them.

Now, it becomes obvious that that never took place because there's no scriptures on it. Chances are, they didn't want any of it because it said after these things, Paul departed. Paul departed from Athens and went to God. He had preached a sermon. It was in your face. He told them about the real God, whether they wanted to hear about him or not. He was an incredible man with incredible vision, incredible heart. So Peter, Paul, and now Fred.

Man's name is Fred. He is my mentor, one of them, and for over 25 years he taught me.

And like Peter and Paul, he was a man of faith, not only faith, but incredible faith, who used God's Holy Spirit every day that he walks.

Fred made me a deacon over 20 years ago when I was in my 30s.

And I remember him calling me and talking to me.

And he said, I considered making you an elder back then. He said, you're too young, way too young. I don't think you're ready to handle that. After 20 years, I must say he was absolutely right. I was not ready. But during that time, he worked with me. He taught me patience because I didn't have a lot back then. He taught me to have patience with people because I started giving sermons and traveled across the southeast, various churches.

Couldn't figure out why people just didn't get it.

You know these problems? Here it is. It's just simple. Just get your act together.

He taught me there are levels of conversion from all from everyone. And we're all at different levels. And the people of God are called by God. God is working with them and giving the Holy Spirit with the amount.

Just what you need to take you through where you're going and where you're headed.

And it also taught me I was at a different level of conversion than Fred, my mentor.

Something happens with age. All of you who are older realize that.

You don't realize it when you're in your 30s. You think you know it all.

Then over the next decade or so, you find that you really didn't know much at all.

And you're thankful for those people who did know enough to help you.

Fred taught me what true Godly humility really is.

He taught me to, because I made a lot of mistakes my first 15 years of speaking.

And as he mentioned one time that I caused him more problems than the other 12 speakers he had.

Combined.

Because I always thought, well, just stir the people up. Just keep them going and get everybody excited.

They'll all come around to my way of thinking, which was not what was needed.

But it was a great lesson for me.

As he called me one time, remember he called me and asked me because I had given this sermon and this woman was going to leave the church with her family because of the sermon that I gave.

And he asked me to call and talk to her and apologize to her for offending her.

And what I said was the truth. Can't apologize for the truth.

At which he calmly said, not asking you to.

I'm asking you to apologize that you might have offended her and that was not your intention. He said, was it your intention? Well, no, not really.

Then call. That was the hardest thing to do one night was pick a phone because I thought, what's wrong with this woman? She just... But I did.

And it was the most liberating thing I'd ever done in my entire time in the church.

Because Fred explained to me, this is what Jesus Christ, the humility of Jesus Christ, it's not about you. It's about how can I help people and you want to help her?

Does she need help? I said, yes. Will you be helping her by running her out of the church?

I said, no, sir. He said, I'm not going to tell you to do it. I'm just asking you to do it.

I did. And it was very, very wonderful experience for me. And it's made me realize that it's not about me. It's about helping other people. That's what a true minister of God does.

Fred corrected me many times.

Every time out of love. Not one time did he call me and just like I would have done at my age.

But he would talk to me, show me where I was wrong, where I might be able to change. He was so calm and so caring, like a parent.

Said Fred's 20 years older than I am. He could be. But the way he handled it showed an incredible amount of God's Holy Spirit. Such an example to me. Perhaps you've had people like that in your life. Perhaps it's been family members. Perhaps it's been even part of the clergy.

Or, minister, elder deacons. Perhaps it's just been somebody up and down the street who has shown incredible love and compassion.

And many times I felt like Timothy or Titus, as Fred would turn me there, tell me to go to 1 Timothy or 2 Timothy and Titus to learn what it was to be a young minister or training to be a minister. Fred was a family man, still is. Lived it. His family very, very important to him.

He was a man of honor. If it was the right thing to do, it didn't matter what it cost. You did it.

Very, very good lessons. But I guess one of the greatest things that I think I have to think about now is that no matter what I call Fred about, he can make the hardest things in the Bible so simple.

That is a gift. That is a gift I wish I had because he can take any scripture, and I would call him many times and say, I just don't get this. This is not what I'm reading. And he would just explain it simply, quickly and accurately.

See, I remember some of these sermons, perhaps you do, sermons that last a lifetime.

We've all had them. Fred gave a sermon one time called, Shiny Rocks, one of my favorite sermons ever.

And my wife and I still use that phrase even today.

Because Fred talked about when he was a child, and he went out, him and his brother, and they went out, I forget, somewhere in South Carolina, somewhere wherever they were, and they found these very shiny rocks. And those shiny rocks, they found just a few, and they put them in their pocket, and they kept them. And boy, that was just the most important. I mean, they were so impressive to look at, and it was theirs, and that was so important to them for a few years. And from there, it went to a bicycle, and all these objects during his time, they were the most important things in the world. But like he said, the important things are the things that will matter a million years from now. And shiny rocks and bicycles are not two of those things. And so a lot of times, Mary and I, something will come up, and we go, how, you know, is this really important? Is it going to matter a million years from now? No. But how we react to it is going to matter, because godly character is going to matter a million years from now. Incredible lesson. It was an incredible sermon.

He gave a message one time, and he brought up a, like a pressure cooker, this big old clumsy looking thing. And he gave a sermon on vessels of God. And he talked about how this pressure cooker is big old pot. As you cook on, boy, it had it for years, and traveled from one place to the other. It was beat up. It was just like, but it just worked, and it was still good and strong. He cook everything in it. And he said, kind of made that reference that, that's me.

That's men. And then he said, you know, we men are tough on the outside and everything else. And we're, God made us to take the abuse. God made us to be tough, not to be soft.

And then he opened it up, and inside was this crystal, very beautiful wine glass.

And he said, that's a vessel like my wife. That's how God made women. He made them different.

They're all vessels, just for different purposes. And he made them to complement each other.

He said, that's why they protect. We're there to protect them, so they don't feel that way.

Then he gave a sermon one time on sacred names, because I didn't understand. At that time, 15 years ago, I couldn't understand. Yahweh, Yahshua, he's like, all this. I asked him, could you give a sermon on it? Because I'm really, I'm out of my league, over my head.

I can't explain it. He came down, gave a simple 45-minute sermon that I'll never forget. Made it so simple. Went into the Old English, went into different understandings, and just made it so crystal clear. Then he gave one on peace and safety. And he said the word about 30 times in a sermon, I'm like, what is he saying it? But I never got that out of my head, because he said, at the end time, and he went to the scriptures, that at the end time, everybody will be saying, peace and safety, peace and safety. Don't look towards men. Look to God. Because there's only one way to peace and safety, and that's not through men, it is through God. I'd like to turn, if we will, to 1 Timothy as I wrap this sermon up. 1 Timothy 6, and I'll read from the New Living Translation.

I bring this sermon up today because I hope that you will recognize, as I know I've talked to various people in the congregation, and they have had mentors in their lives. Hopefully your father was a great mentor. Hopefully you've had someone who has directed your path and made you a better person, if not a more godly person. And that's important because in today's society, nobody thinks about that. Everybody's kind of self-centered, and it's about them.

And the world promotes that. It's why teachers get very little money today compared to other nations who consider the education and the mentoring of the youth very important, like it is in Japan, some of the highest paid people. Something we've lost as a country.

1 Timothy 6 verse 11. This is something that Fred taught me. He said, But you, Chuck, all the way back, but you, Chuck, are a man of God. So run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness in a godly life along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses. And I charge you before God, who gives life to all and before Christ Jesus, who gave a good testimony before Pontus Pilate, that you may obey this command without wavering. Then no one can find fault with it. No one can find fault with you from now until Jesus Christ returns or comes again.

Good instruction. Very good instruction for me. God is my bank.

This is my bank. God is always my bank, always will be. But you know, Fred is my ATM. And occasionally we all need an ATM to go to.

So please remember, there's harmony in this world.

But the best harmony is one when all agree with this.