The Power of the Holy Spirit Through the Example of Peter

We just celebrated the Day of Pentecost, and I had given a sermon on the Sabbath in the Fort Wayne Congregate, or the Indian Aplis Congregation, last week that is still appropriate and fits for us to think about even just a few days after the Pentecost, as it's not directly tied to that, but there is a lesson that we need to keep in mind in terms of just a year-round application of one of the major themes that we draw from the Day of Pentecost, and that is the transformative impact of God's Holy Spirit, which was given to the church on the Day of Pentecost.

And in thinking about that, and looking at so many of the Scriptures that teach us how using God's Spirit is really a transforming impact in our life over a period of a lifetime, many, many years, but it is the power by which God changes us and creates within us the new man that the Bible discusses in many different Scriptures. And actually changes our character, can help us to overcome ourselves and overcome sin, deal with the struggles of life, but it is the power, the comforter that Christ spoke would come, and it is what God uses to touch and interact with His elect, His children, to work in their lives.

And He does that, and certainly Pentecost puts our attention on that. There is an example from one individual in the Bible, I think, that helps us to put a face to that process. It's one thing just to talk in theory about the power of God's Spirit, how it can change one's life and all, but God also gives us some very tangible examples.

And there's one, I think, that stands out and is connected in one direct way with Pentecost, but also to the example of a lifetime of change that takes place. And that is through the Apostle Peter. I'd like to take some time this morning and look at a bit of a biography, if you will, of the Apostle Peter that we have from the Scriptures to help us focus on that aspect of his life that I think we can draw a lesson from and help us to understand how God works and how that Holy Spirit actually does reside within us and is the power for us to draw upon to change and to grow in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ, which is exactly what our life and our calling is really all about.

That's where the rubber hits the road. When we on the day of Pentecost see Peter stand up there in Acts 2, and he gives this very powerful sermon that launches the church, 3,000 people are baptized.

We all know that story. It's a minister's golden dream that he would give one sermon that would impact 3,000 people in one day to get baptized and change. I confess I've never given that sermon. I'd love to find the right ingredients to have people react in such a way, but Peter did. But the picture we see there in Acts 2 of Peter is not the same man that we see earlier in the book of the Gospels that was this fisherman that Christ called that we get a picture of, anything but what we begin to see in Acts 2, a man of conviction, a man who stands up in front of his peers, the other disciples, 11 of them at the time, and now apostles.

Many people gathered there in Jerusalem on that day of Pentecost, that high festival, who listened to his words, and he explained the dramatic miracle that was taking place right in front of them. You would never have dreamed that in one sense that he would have spoken with such eloquence and such conviction by the story or the image we get of Peter from the Gospel accounts. And yet that can give us some encouragement and some understanding as to the power of God's Spirit, and it's well worth our taking the time to look for a few minutes at the example of Peter.

Let's start by going back to Luke chapter five. Luke chapter five, where we find Peter being called to the job of a disciple, an apostle in training. Chapter five of Luke verse one, it was as the multitude pressed about him to hear the word of God that he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, which is also the Sea of Galilee. And he saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone from him and were washing their nets. Then he got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and so this is Peter's, and asked him to put out a little from the land.

And he sat down and he taught them multitudes from the boat. And when he had stopped speaking, he said to Simon, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. Simon was a fisherman. Christ was telling Simon, Peter, how to fish. You know, I don't know if you've ever gone out fishing with an expert fisherman.

You don't want to tell them how to fish. They already know. They'll take you. They'll show you what to do. And Peter answered, Master, we've toiled all night and we've caught nothing.

Nevertheless, at your word, we'll let down the net. He said, well, do it, but it's yeah, but, in one sense, but he said, we've been out all night and they're not biting today.

Moon's not right. Storm's coming in. You know how fishermen look at the sky, tell these things, and at least used to today, go fishing with somebody that's really well equipped. They, they have these depth finders and computer. It's a computer, basically a computerized depth finder that they've spent a whole lot of dollars for that sets in the boat and can spot the fish. You can look at it and you see these fish swimming, the images of the fish, know if they're there, how many, what depth then to set your line and everything. I mean, it takes away fishing. When I grew up fishing with my dad, we had nothing like that. You either knew the lake or you didn't catch anything. You knew where to go and how to do it. And my dad would be amazed at some of those devices. And I know he wouldn't put out the money for it, but they didn't have this. Of course, this was the main occupation back for Peter and his men. But anyway, it goes on. Verse 6, when they had done this, a great number of fish were caught and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help, and they came and filled both the boats so that they began to sink. And when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he and all were amazed, or that were with him, were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken.

And so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee. Jesus said to them, Simon, do not be afraid, from now on you will catch men. When they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all, and they followed him. So they made the decision this day to change occupations and begin to go with Jesus, travel with him, and to be trained as a disciple. Peter's tools of his trade and his life were in place. As I said, he knew how to fish. That's why he reacted the way that he did.

His first recorded reaction was, in a sense, But, I know better, or I know what's going on. He hadn't really surrendered himself at that point to Christ. There's some evidence that you could assume, I think, perhaps that he knew that this was a unique individual. Why would he even take him out in a boat at that sense? There must have been some type of an acquaintance.

If you go to the Sea of Galilee today and to the village of Capernaum, which is on the north end, they've excavated, archaeologists have excavated what they feel could be the house of Peter.

And he had a home there from other accounts in the Gospels.

And they think they have... they show you a home that could very well have been Peter's. But we do know that he had a home here. And so he was established in this community, and he was a fisherman. And he had his business. And we find a picture of a man who is self-sure. He knows his trade. He knows how to do it. He is also a... you could say a strong-willed man. He's also impetuous. He recognized himself as a, you know, sinner. So he kind of wore his emotions on his sleeve. He seemed to be able to express himself and his faults quite openly and quite readily, as he did here in this account, which is kind of a switchover. So there's an impetuous nature about Peter that you always see as you go through the accounts of Peter in the Gospels. He's right out there in front. He's always making the statement. He seems to be a... you could say a natural leader. And by saying that, I'm not trying to indicate or imply that Peter is, you know, to get into this, the idea of Peter being the chief apostle of the Petrine doctrine that is, you know, been perpetuated that Peter was the chief apostle and all of this.

That's not where I'm going, but he did have a very dominant personality, and that comes out in the way that he is portrayed here within the Gospels. He's down on himself. He says, I'm a sinful man depart from me. But then he also is seen here to be somebody in whom at least Jesus had a certain amount of confidence because he said to Simon, don't be afraid from now on. You will catch men.

Christ saw within Peter and also within James and John and ultimately all the other apostles, he saw their value. He saw what was there that was, if you will, diamonds in the rough. That could be used once all of the rough was knocked off, polished and smoothed over. This is the unique feature that Jesus had about Peter and the other men. That is important to note, that he saw their qualities that could be properly used by the Holy Spirit and amplified to produce the type of people that he wanted and needed, and the church would be built around and ultimately composed of. And this is something that Peter sees himself as he instructs the ministry later on, we'll see, in terms of dealing with the members, dealing with all those who are called.

There's the same approach to the people. It is something that Peter seems to have ultimately learned, not necessarily up front, but he begins to look at people as God does. And that's an important quality. Surrender is the first step in the sense to that hope and to that direction and to that calling. Now, let's turn over to Matthew 16. I'm not going to cover every incident in Peter's life recorded here in the Gospels, but some of the key ones. And in Matthew 16, beginning in verse 13, it says, Jesus, when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? This was a region north of Capernaum, it was north of the Sea of Galilee, in what they call today Upper Galilee in Israel. Today it's still within the confines of the state of Israel over there. And you could go there and you can visit the region and perhaps even the actual spot. It's interesting, I remember as a student, 1971, going to this spot and seeing it. There's a very lovely waterfall there and kind of large pool of water. And there's a huge rock outcropping there that this waterfall goes over, which is interesting to note when you see what Jesus says to Peter here. But this was the scene, the setting, and he asked that he says, Who do men say that I am?

So they said in verse 14, Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah, are one of the prophets. This was the common scuttle bit among people as they reacted to Jesus' ministry. He said to them, But who do you say that I am? Because all of the above answers were wrong. None of those men were all dead. The prophets pointed to someone other than these men. Simon Peter answered and said, so he's the one who gives an answer at this point, he says, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. So Peter's vision at this point had improved. He said, You're Christ. He was locked in on that. But not with a completely 2020 vision. He had a certain vision and an understanding, but it was not complete, as later events will see and will determine. But he could see this. And so Jesus answered him and said, Blessed are you, Simon, bar Jonah, or Son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church in the gates of Hades or the grave which shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

And so here's that famous phrase of Jesus that he speaks to Peter, but really to all of them, but he does say specifically to Peter, You're Peter, and on this rock I'll build my church.

And I think we should understand that the rock that is being spoken of is Jesus Christ. Church was not built on Peter. The church we learned from other scriptures is built upon Jesus Christ. He is the head of the church. And that is the rock. He was the rock that was spoken, you know, was the one that was they followed in the Old Testament.

And that's why I said that this particular location in Caesarea Philippi, and there's an area there that could very well have been a spot where they were, there's huge rock outcropping. And you can almost picture Christ saying, You're Peter, and on this rock, and he could have pointed to this big rock outcrop to make his point that, you know, on something this massive, this solid, the church will be built. And the gates of the grave will not prevail against it.

And then from that, he gives the, you know, this instruction. And so he commanded in verse 20, his disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ. And so they looked upon Christ and had this understanding at this particular point in time as to who he was, and what he, what he was to do, according to the scriptures, and their vision beginning to clear up. Now, what's interesting is that, and you look in the subsequent verses here, this is quite a statement to me, to make to Peter and the apostles about the church and about certain lines of responsibility that they would have and what this, that was going to be that they were being trained for, what was going to, they were going to be a part of as it would develop later on. They had no full understanding of his death and resurrection at this point. They had no full understanding of what it would mean for the church to be built and people that would come. They were a very small band of people here, 12 men, Jesus, and whatever other followers that from time to time would come and go to envision the church as Jesus knew it would be ultimately grow, I don't think was in any of their minds at this time. Later here, it says in verse 21, from this 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. Then Peter took him aside. Now, whether this was later that day, a day or two later, but at some point Christ began to inject other knowledge as to what was going to unfold and Peter took him aside, began to rebuke him. Can you imagine rebuking Christ?

And even someone who you had just said, we know that you are the Son of God, the Son of the living God. Would you begin to rebuke the Son of the living God and kind of point out where he's wrong? Well, maybe some of you would. I don't know. But Peter did. He began to rebuke him, saying, Lord, far be it from you. This shall not happen to you. What did he mean by that? They were going to protect him. This was not their vision of their Lord and Master and Messiah. They were looking for the kingdom to come. It could be that. But it was far from what was going to happen, far from Christ's intent. And Jesus discerned something else because Jesus had a razor-sharp ability to discern people. He could look at them and know they had a bad attitude. You know, sometimes we look at people and say, you've got a bad attitude. And we're completely wrong.

Be careful about that. Unless you absolutely know by evidence that they got a bad attitude, or that they are this or they are that. We can't always discern the heart. We can make mistakes. Sometimes we can have discernment. Jesus never did. He had a discerning ability. And what he did at this point in time was right on. He turned and he looked at, you know, you can imagine him maybe stopping in this conversation, as some of us might at a time when we need to make a point with somebody.

And he turned, and the others might have thought, uh-oh, maybe they took a step back away from Peter.

Maybe they got the point. He turned and he said to Peter, get behind me, Satan.

You are an offense to me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.

But he's looking at Peter, and he's saying to Peter, get behind me, Satan.

Now, how do you think Peter felt? What do you think the other 11 were thinking?

Oh, man, I'm glad he's not talking to me. I didn't say that. Did you say that?

As I said, they started taking a few steps back away, probably at that point. He's talking, he's looking directly at Peter, and he's saying, get behind me, Satan. You're an offense to me. He's saying to Peter, your words, your attitude at this moment, are being influenced by Satan.

Now, those are strong words. That's a strong indictment. Now, I confess, I don't recall that I've ever looked anybody in the eye and spoke with that direct comment.

I've been called into a few situations over the years where I've had to discern or, you know, deal with them. There have been a few, less than a handful, that I could actually say, I'm dealing here with a demonic situation. And I've laid hands on people and prayed that God would rebuke a foul spirit. I've never gone looking for those. Don't go looking for them.

I've been in situations where another minister felt that there was a demon influence, and I personally didn't. I just felt it was an emotionally disturbed situation. And the guy just miscalled it and mishandled it. So I say over my years, I've had very, very few, and maybe I've missed a few. I'm certainly willing to say that, but you have to be, the point is you have to be careful. But the point I want to get to with this here, Christ was talking to Peter. This was an apostle in training. This was a man very sure of himself. This was a man accomplished in his own field who had, you know, even just a few verses earlier had had Jesus in a sense kind of make a strong statement to him that was complimentary, at least singling him out there. And now he's saying to him that he was being influenced by Satan. This is not the only occasion where this takes place in terms of Christ discerning something about Peter that he needed to bring out.

Let's note one other in the book of Luke, chapter 22.

Luke 22.

This is where there was, in verse 24 of Luke 22, there was a dispute among who would be the greatest among the disciples. Here's another occasion. Let's look at this. Luke 22 verse 24. Now there was also a dispute among them as to which of them should be greatest.

Consider the greatest. And he said to them, the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors. But not so among you.

On the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sets at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sets at the table, yet I'm among you as the one who serves? Saying, you know, in our society, the one who sets is greater, but he says, I come as a servant to you. He's making the point here that from his point of view, the servant, the attitude of a servant, is what is greater.

But you are those who have continued with me in my trials, and I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as my father bestowed upon me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and set on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And so here he makes a point about service and what the calling of God is, which is really to a lifetime of service.

It's not a calling to celebrity. It's not a calling to status. It's not a calling to a position of authority, or even a lifetime position of authority, when one might even hold a position of authority. It is a calling to a lifetime of service. And that is a sacrificial nature and a calling. And this is what he's making here at this particular point. And then as we move into verse 31, he singles out Peter again. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.

But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail, and when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren. And he said to him, Lord, I'm ready to go with you both to prison and to death. Again, this impetuous nature of Peter is that, what are you talking about? I'm willing to go. I'll follow you to prison. I'll stand by you in the courtroom. I'll go into the prison cell with you, and I will go with you to the death. I will stay with you always. And this is what he says. I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you'll deny me three times. They deny three times that you know me.

Now, Christ knew Peter. He knew where he was at that moment. He knew his weakness. But he's also saying again, Peter, you've been singled out by Satan. That's a little different from what we read back in Matthew 16, where he said, He behind me, Satan, you are an offense to me.

But there's a point we should understand here. And again, it's not the focus on just some supposed position of Peter, but the reality of what Jesus is saying to Peter on these two occasions, and that is that any one of us can be influenced by Satan if we are not careful, if we let down our spiritual guard, begin to think of ourselves too highly, be filled with pride, uh, coxure arrogance, if we're not humble, if we don't have the true attitude of a servant.

Uh, Christ here on two occasions told Peter of Satan's presence and of his tactics. And for whatever reason, he said to Satan, he said that Satan has asked for you, that he might sift you as wheat. In other words, take the wheat, you know, and the analogy would be of how they did it in that in the world at that time where at the threshing floor, the harvest of wheat was there all together on the, you know, on and off the stalks and mixed in with the chaff.

And as they would take it and lift it, the chaff would be blown away. And the wheat being a bit heavier would fall back. And through that continual lifting and throwing that pile into the air, the chaff would be 60, 70, 80 percent blown away. And then you would be left with just a pile of the pure kernel of wheat. And the chaff, which is not what was wanted, is not the true wheat, is so light, it's blown away. You know, again, you understand that particular analogy that would come that Paul even later used that, you know, we can be tossed to and fro by every slight of doctrine and wind of doubt, like a piece of chaff in a sense. And he's saying to Peter, Satan could throw you in the air and you'd blow away. His power is that great over. And his tactics are so subtle. And this is what he's saying to Peter. Satan, and it is the lesson for us, Satan is always hovering where God is working. He is not far behind. Whether it's with an individual, where God may be working with an individual, remember the parable in Matthew 13, where the one individual, where the seed was sown, the evil one came and snatched away that which was sown. So he's, if God begins to work with an individual, Satan can begin to work through others or through circumstances to discourage, to snatch away that seed of the kingdom that's been placed there. He also can be working, and it does work, where the church is and within the church.

Where God is working, Satan is always hovering.

Like, recall the, as we would the story from the first chapter of Job, where we find Job before God and he says, where have you, what have you been doing? Satan says, going to and fro through the earth, going to and fro. He says, see your servant, see my servant Job? And you know the dialogue there. Yeah, I see your servant, Job. But take away all that he has, you know, curse you.

And that's an example there of an individual. We learn more of Satan's tactics there, but through these examples, there's a lot for us to learn. Satan is always hovering where God is working. And in the example back in Matthew 16, where he turned to Peter, as I showed you, and he looks Peter in the eye and he says, get thee behind me, Satan.

What was Peter's reaction? Well, it's not exactly recorded. But you might imagine, maybe he tensed up, did he get offended? Did he reject it? Do you think, what do you mean, me, Satan? Satan, I'm not Satan, or Satan can't influence me, or you know, I'm trying to protect you. I'm your biggest fan, Lord. I'm your biggest supporter. What do you mean, me?

Why, I'm an apostle in training, or I'm a minister.

Let me tell you, Satan can work great havoc among a minister, with a minister just as he can anybody else. No minister that I've ever met, myself included, is immune from being manipulated or allowing, you know, Satan's thoughts to influence us, me. Remember, with your minister, we're all subject to that type of a situation where, in a sense, at times Jesus could just turn to us, and maybe at times he does, in ways we don't realize. And he's saying, you're an offense.

You're creating an offense. And Satan is the one doing it. Peter could have reacted, maybe he struggled within his mind, that that couldn't happen. But it can happen, and it can happen to any one of us. And we need to understand that. We need to realize this from this example. And I think Peter does. That's what I want us to get to. I think Peter does. I mean, if later on, as he recognized and remembered that day in the Northern Galilee when Jesus stood and turned and looked him in the eye and said, Get thee behind me, Satan. I have to imagine that that was one of the moments that he looked back on later, with the power of God's Spirit, and he learned.

He figured it out. If he didn't figure it out that day or the week after, he figured it out later on, what Jesus was teaching him. And he was on his guard even more. And especially after this other episode where he says, Look, Satan has desired to sift you like wheat, but I've prayed for you.

And it's there that Jesus adds the other dimension that is encouraging for you and I, because he was showing to Peter that he's the intercessor. I've prayed for you.

And we find in the book of Hebrews that Jesus is our high priest, our intercessor for us at the throne of God. And he is praying for us. He is protecting us.

He's protecting the church from just such spiritual attacks that are launched by Satan.

So that's important to realize. You know, this is not a whole sermon just on Satan and how Satan works, just in the context of Peter's life is all that I mean for it to be. But it is, I think, a very formative episode, these two occasions that relate to Peter that it bears us focusing on for a moment because of the role Peter eventually played and his teaching that we'll come to here in a few minutes. Peter learned in Matthew 26.

Time for us to turn, for you to turn to Matthew 26. There was one other... actually, I'm sorry, Luke 22. Luke 22. Let's look at Luke's account because there was another occasion where Christ looked Peter right in the eye. In Luke 22, he said that you will betray me, the rooster will crow not three times. Well, Jesus was arrested, the disciples fled. Verse 54 of Luke 22, they brought Christ into the priest's house, but Peter followed at a distance. And boom, boom, boom, Peter denies him three times. I said, I'm not with that man. I'm not with that man. Down in verse 60, he says at the third time, I don't know who what you're saying. Man, I don't, I'm not with him.

And when he was speaking the rooster crow, verse 61, the Lord turned. Uh-oh, there's Jesus turning again and looking at him straight in the eye. And you've got to realize this was this... Peter was saying, oh no, again. And he remembered that day on the road up in Caesarea Philippi when he turned at him and said to him, he turned and he looked at Peter. He 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.

And Peter went out and wept bitterly. You would have thought the other two occasions, he might have learned. And when Jesus specifically said, you're going to deny me three times, he would have steeled himself. I won't. I'm not going to deny. I'm not going to deny. I'm not going to deny. And then he did. Why? Because he was weak. He was human. He had certain flaws that had not been rough, the rough that hadn't been knocked off.

And God's Spirit hadn't yet been there in the degree that it would be on Pentecost in him.

And it just hadn't happened. He didn't have that power. Peter had yet many things to learn.

So, the sermon takes place in chapter 2 of Acts. And the rest of the story moves through.

We see a different Peter as we move through the early chapters of Acts. There's an episode in chapter 10 that I wanted to just take a minute to focus on. Acts chapter 10, where Peter is the instrument God uses to reveal to the church that I'm just not dealing with Israel and Jews, the tribe of Judah specifically. We're dealing with the whole world now.

That all people are going to come to this house. They call it a house of prayer.

And it's Peter that is used to do this. And in Acts chapter 10, Peter has this vision, as you know, of the sheet let down three times. And we're not going to go through all of that.

But he's preparing him to be sent to the home of a man by the name of Cornelius, who was mentioned here in chapter 10 verse 1, as being a centurion of what was called the Italian regiment. He was a Roman officer, a devout man, and one who feared God with all of his household. A Roman centurion of that age was an accomplished individual. He was more or less an enlisted man, as we would say today, that rose through the ranks. He was not always a noble. They were not of noble birth. They didn't buy their position in the Roman legions. They were not always generally connected to some political party or a powerful figure. They worked their way up through the ranks to get to the point of being a centurion and a leader of men. It's a very interesting study, just as to what was a Roman centurion, to get to this point. And it helps you to understand a little bit about the man. But it says that he was a devout man who feared God with all of his house, and he gave alms generously to the people and prayed to God always. This centurion, Cornelius, was a man who was changed by what he saw among the Jews of Israel in this time. And he was a seeker, I guess. To go back to the sermon I gave some months back about the three types of people you meet on the way to the kingdom. He was a seeker at this point. And he was seeking God. He prayed to God, the God that he heard about through the Jewish people. And he had a good reputation. He was a devout man. And it was this man that God then is calling and showing to the church that all people, all nations, are now going to be called to the church and to have the path open to them for salvation. And so it is to this man's house that Peter goes. And when we come down to verse 24, Peter goes to Caesarea and he finds Cornelius waiting for him, as he was called.

As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, fell down at his feet, and worshiped him. And Peter lifted him up saying, Stand up. I myself am also a man. Right there is a mark of humility. And Peter, at this point, he said, I'm not the man you worship. He's saying without saying that he's no greater than any of the other apostles. And he's really looking, I'm no greater than any of the other members. I'm just a man. He didn't want to have a cult of personality drawn around him.

And so he talked with him and he went in and he found many who had come together in Cornelius's home. And he said to them, you know, it's unlawful for a Jew to keep company with or to go out to another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Remember, that was the whole point of the clean and unclean items on the vision that Peter had. Therefore, I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. I asked them, for what reason have you sent for me?

And Cornelius said, For four days I was fasting until this hour, and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing. And he said, Cornelius, your prayer is heard, your alms are remembered in sight of God. Send to Joppa, call Peter, Simon, whose surname is Peter, he's lodging in the house of Simon a tanner by the sea. When he comes, he'll speak to you. And all of this transpired exactly as the message had happened. So I sent to you immediately, verse 33, and you have done well to come. Now, therefore, he spreads out his arms, in a sense, and he shows all the people here in his house, we are all present before God to hear the things commanded you by God. My family, my servants, some of my friends, we're all here to hear the things commanded you by God. It's a beautiful, beautiful phrase, verse 33.

It speaks to an attitude and responsibility. The church has the things of God, the knowledge of God, and is to teach it, to take it to people, to make it available. People are waiting to hear the things of God. Two weeks ago, after I left here, went back to Indianapolis, there were three ladies that were visiting that day, brand new, brand new. They had come to church and walked in and didn't even get out of the foyer, stood for 45 minutes talking to them and answering their questions. They had been on the internet and they'd found one of them had begun to keep the Sabbath. They were, one of them had actually contacted me a few days before and said that she would come and she gathered a couple of her friends that morning and brought her two other friends along. And they were, they're all brand new and I, they haven't been back since then. I hope to see them again. You never know. People come and go and, but I stood for 45 minutes basically explaining one thing right after another. They had all kinds of questions and, you know, I was explaining to them the things commanded by God.

It's always a refreshing experience to find someone who has questions and seeking and wanting understanding and you, you drop something. Sometimes you realize when you're answering questions like in a situation like that you're giving them far more than they can understand maybe at that particular point in time. But there they are. What do you say? Well, you can't understand this right now. You need to read this or you need to go back and you don't necessarily, you can't do that. So you, you know, and I several times I would say, well, you're jumping ahead of the story or that opens up another dimension of an, and you can see their minds just swimming. At least one lady was, you know, which was all said and done. But you sow some seed out there and God is the one that works with people. He calls in time. You know, He will do what He's going to do with any of us. But here was Peter standing before a group of people and he taught them the things commanded by God as he begins to do it. Verse 34. Peter became a very unique individual and used in a very powerful way as Paul was, as all the other apostles are that whose story we don't always have the details of in the book of Acts and the New Testament. But Peter, as we know, left two letters, first and second Peter, that give us an insight near the end of his life as to what he had learned and distilled of his experiences and all that had been spoken to him. And I want to note a couple. In 1 Peter chapter 2, would be 1 Peter chapter 2.

He had a good focus on the members, who and what they were. 1 Peter chapter 2.

And in verse 9, he says to them, 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, who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. What a message. What a way to look at people. This is how Peter looked at the members. He draws this understanding from the Old Testament right out of the book of Exodus, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a special people. This is who you are, he says. This is how he looked at each member. Remember, he said to Cornelius, get up. I'm just a man.

And he had been told by Jesus, remember that last scene in the book of John, where they were on the shore of Galilee having a fish fry on an early morning?

And he was told by Christ, feed my sheep. Three times. Feed my sheep. Feed my sheep.

When you're converted, feed my sheep. And so Peter spent the rest of his life feeding the people of God, feeding him spiritual knowledge, showing him the things of the kingdom. And this is how he looked at them. This is why he could live the sacrificial life that he did and be a model, not only of a first fruit, but of just a dedicated Christian. And what we see really here in his life is the work of God's Spirit as a comforter going alongside to help knock off the rough edges over a period of time. In chapter 5, 1 Peter, he says something to the ministry. He talks directly to the ministry in this case, verse 1. He says, The elders who are among you I exhort. So this is directive teaching. I, who am a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.

So here he starts to single them out. He says, Sheperd the flock of God, which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion, but willingly, not for dishonest gain, but eagerly. Again, a sacrificial attitude of a servant. This is how they are to be dealt with. This is how a minister has to look at his calling and his life.

Nor is being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

When the chief shepherd appears, you'll receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

Likewise, you younger people submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility. Now here he begins to draw in the others, but it's still in the context of teaching the elders, and he gets into some very pointed teaching about Satan.

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, casting all your care upon him for he cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And perhaps as he wrote these words under the inspiration of God's spirit, he remembered Jesus turning to him and saying, Get behind me, Satan. You're an offense to me.

And he remembered how any of us, if we're not really humble, but if we're filled with ourselves, we're filled with pride, we're filled with who we think we are, who we are, what we've done, anything that causes us to get our mind off of God and not give God the credit and instill a humility where God's grace can work. We're all subject to being influenced by word, by our deeds, by what we might get caught up in, that is something of Satan meant to snatch away the seed sown in someone's life, disrupt the word or the work of the church, confusion, whatever it may be that is Satan's mode and tactic at that particular time. And Peter here says, Be sober, be vigilant, because there is an adversary and he can devour. And he also remembered what he, because this is what he wrote in verse seven. He said, He cares for you, meaning Christ.

So he also no doubt remembered where Jesus said, Satan's wanted to sift you, but I've prayed for you. I've prayed for you. And he's saying, God cares. And he's praying for us. And if we do our part, then God will do the rest and protect us.

Peter learned this over a lifetime of experience. It's a very directed teaching from Jesus.

He learned the power of the Holy Spirit to get to the point in his life where he could pen these words.

Because again, it was God's spirit that inspired it. But God's spirit has to have already done it, been allowed to do its work because we've yielded at any point and situation in our life, moving aside ourselves, moving aside our own will and letting God work.

That's a great lesson from the Feast of Pentecost, as we learned last week.

That is certainly a great lesson for every single day of the work that the Comforter, God's Spirit, can be doing with each one of us. Peter's lesson is one of faith in God, not in himself.

Too often we take matters into our own hands, or we forget certain principles, we forget the power of God's Spirit, we forget its fruits. Our journey as first fruits leads us to faith and reliance on God, and to manifest the fruits of that spirit, not the fruits of a different spirit. If we stay close to God, if we learn the lessons that we can from people like Peter left to us for this particular purpose, I think, to see how God's Spirit goes alongside in over a lifetime and through many experiences knocks off the rough edges, to reveal the diamond, to reveal what Christ sees within each one of us, and has seen from the very beginning when he issued that call to make us a part of a chosen people, a royal priesthood. Keep our eyes focused on that, be submitted to God to the Holy Spirit. It can do its work, and we can fulfill what Peter writes, and we can, in a sense, even be someone like Peter who has learned the lessons of a lifetime of experience as a first fruit.