The Transformation of Peter

We're right in the Pentecost weekend, and our mind is on the theme of Pentecost. Probably the most dramatic story on the Feast of Pentecost is that which we read about in Acts 2, where the church began, 3,000 people were added to the church, and one day any ministers dream. And all because of the work that God began to do in building the church, and through one individual and a sermon that He gave, all of this began.

You will recall that the Apostle Peter stood up and delivered what we have as the first sermon in the book of Acts in the church on the day of Pentecost. A very powerful sermon. Any sermon that gets 3,000 people to make a decision to get baptized has got to be one that, well, I wish that was on the internet, you know, and we could pass that one around. But alas, it's not. We can read about it. But what is most interesting for you and I to think about is not so much maybe a dream of giving such a sermon or having such a reaction, but looking at the transformation of the man himself, Peter. Because the man we find in the Gospel accounts of the life and teachings of Christ is not the same man who stood up and gave that sermon on the day of Pentecost. That was a transformed man. That was a completely different man than the one we read about earlier on. Now, why is that? Why is there a different picture? One very simple reason. The power of God, the Holy Spirit, that began to move in Peter's life and transformed him and essentially made him a new man, a new creation that the Apostle Paul would later talk about in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17, where he talked about that if any are in Christ, we are a new creature. We've been talking about Christ in us through the Holy Spirit from the Days of Unleavened Bread. We come to the time of Pentecost and we focus in on the power of the Holy Spirit, the beginning of the Church, the episodes there. And it is really important that we focus in on that process of what that spirit can do. And I think looking at the life of one man, such as Peter, can give each of us certain things to focus on that perhaps are more tangible than some of the other higher thoughts that are certainly important regarding God's spirit and the themes of the season. But to see the action in the life of an individual and to relate to that perhaps is more instructive for each of us individually to try to gain the sense and the understanding of the Day of Pentecost and what God wants us to learn through patience, through determination, mostly God's, with us just as he had with the Apostle Peter to bring him to the point where he gave the sermon that he did with the love and the power that was there. The focus on that is a process and it is very helpful and I think encouraging for each of us to look at to understand what God is doing as he is bringing us into the image of his family and working with us. So I'd like to go through a review of the life of Peter for a few minutes here this afternoon to help us focus not so much on the man himself but on the process of God's spirit that began to work in him that is really at the heart of the message of Pentecost, the Feast of Pentecost, and the transformation and the change that we all look for, hear about, understand should be there in our own life and from time to time perhaps wonder is it really taking place. But to see it in the life of one man I think can give us a bit of a tangible hands-on experience and make something like this come alive and help us to extract the full meaning of the day of Pentecost and really focus in on who we are, what we should be doing with our life as we observe this day and as we focus on its theme. Let's turn back to the book of Luke and let's look at where Christ first called Peter and brought him into the cadre of men with whom he was working to build the church.

The calling that God Christ gave to these men from the various walks of life that they were engaged in to become his apostle or first his disciples for that period of time is instructive. They were rough men. They were educated men in some cases. Matthew was a tax collector. He must have had some type of a training in numbers at least to be able to have held that job. Peter we know was a fisherman along with a few others. Very hands-on, tough type of work outside day in and day out.

With fishing, you had to get up every day, go out, put those nets in the water and fish or there was no money coming in. If you got sick, couldn't do it, nobody was there to do it for you. You had to show up. First law of success, showing up. Peter had to, as well as many of the other men. But then they were called to be disciples. A whole game-changer, a whole new approach to life. Here in Luke chapter 5, we find where Peter is called. He was doing what he enjoyed. He was doing what he had chosen, being a fisherman. He was probably a good fisherman, but Christ called him to a different job. Here in verse 1, it was, as the multitude pressed about him to hear the word of God, that he stood by the lake of Gennesaret. It was the Sea of Galilee in another name. And he saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then he got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the land. He sat down and taught them the multitudes from the boat. When he had stopped speaking, he said to Simon, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. He was going to show him this was better than having a fish finder. One of those electronic things that every modern fisherman has to have as you go out. I've been out fishing with Glenn Collins, and he's got a fish finder. Find the fish. It's tied into a global satellite that's probably tied into NASA someplace, and can spot the fish. No, I'm just kidding a little bit, but these things are quite phenomenal. When I was a kid growing up with my dad, they didn't have such things. You just kind of had to know the lake and go and go with your luck. Well, Peter had something even better than what they have today. He had Christ with him to take him out and show him where to find the best catch. But Peter said something in verse 5. He said, Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing. Nevertheless, it's your command. I'll let down the net. Now, in that, you can see it since already something about Peter's character. He's saying, you know, I know what I'm doing. I'm the expert here. Well, I'll go along with you. I'll do what you say. But we've been... they're not biting today. Weather's not right, clouds not right, moves in the wrong position, whatever the excuse is for fish not biting.

And, lo and behold, when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. And so they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help, and they came and filled the boat so that they began to sink. And when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus's knees, saying, Depart from me, for I'm a sinful man. For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch. 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. From now on, you will catch men. So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all, and they followed him.

Rather interesting approach to choosing three men to be part of his team of disciples in training to launch the church and to form the foundation of the church. Now, as I said, Peter was a good fisherman, but he also was a strong-willed individual. And by him retorting to Jesus this way, you begin to get a sense of the type of person that he was.

Strong-willed, knew his mind, certainly knew his job, was not afraid to speak his peace. A bit impetuous, but also when he was shown to be, in this case, wrong, or he was shown up, if you want to look at it that way, by Jesus, he did a reversal. Now, that's not necessarily bad. It's not even something you would say, well, a sign of humility at this particular point in Peter's life, because he was shown otherwise by someone who seemed to have perhaps no more than he did. And when that was evident to Peter, he changed his tune. He acknowledged the superiority of Jesus. Again, maybe signaling a bit of an unsure, you know, there was something inside this fisherman that was a little bit unsure about himself in the face of someone who was stronger than he.

Stronger in personality, stronger in presence, stronger in knowledge. Sometimes strong-willed individuals are that way because they're used to getting their way, or they can bluff their way through life and with a certain amount of native ability can take a person a long way. But when at times coming up against or next to, not necessarily against even, someone who is their match or better, they know when to yield.

And they yield because they have to, not necessarily because there's a true change of heart. Just trying to sketch, perhaps, a little bit about something about Peter that you begin to see in this first episode that does come out in the many other episodes that we will see. And we won't go through every episode in his life there in the Gospels. But I think all of us are familiar enough with the general theme of Peter as a man and the things that we see him engaged with that we'll note here to recognize that he's a very strong personality with a lot of ability.

And that's why you read him about him standing out among the 12. Not that he's, you know, the necessarily the chief apostle or anything like that. We're not going there in this sermon with that type of an idea today. That's not the point. That we're just looking at the personality of the individual.

But he does stand out in terms of a personality and how he is pictured here in in the Gospels. And what's important is to recognize what not only was there, but also most importantly what God saw, what Jesus saw in this. Because in verse 8 Peter says, I'm a sinful man and depart from me, oh Lord. But Christ said to him, don't be afraid. From now on, you will catch men. And they forsook all. Christ saw something else in Peter.

That's why he was calling him. He saw the, I think he saw him for what he was, but he was able to look beyond that. I have this theory that he saw all the various apostles for what they were. I remember even after three and a half years, every one of them fled at the moment of his death. Every one. And he still prayed for them. He still looked upon them with affection in his final prayer. I think he knew their character better than they did.

And he knew their weaknesses, but beyond that he knew how those weaknesses could be turned into strengths to serve the church. And that is what's most important for all of us to focus on, as we go through this life of just one individual, to see that that can happen to us if we yield to the transforming power of God's Holy Spirit.

Because that yielding, or surrender, if you want to use that term, is really the first step of a first fruit. Being able to yield to God, just like you and I are here today, and hear every Sabbath. And we'll be here tomorrow for the Holy Day. We yield our will to God to obey, worship, and to serve Him. That's the first step of a first fruit. Turn over to Matthew 14. Matthew 14.

Beginning in verse 22, this is another scene where he tries to walk on the sea. As he saw Christ do it. Another scene on the lake. Verse 22 of Matthew 14.

Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent them away, he went up on a mountain by himself to pray. And when evening came, he was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. That was a common feature. It still is on the sea of Galilee. Winds come in from the west and can whip up quite a storm very quickly on this rather large inland sea.

And it was in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it's a ghost. And they cried out for fear. Immediately Jesus spoke and he said, be of good cheer, it is I, do not be afraid.

And Peter answered and said, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. And he said, come. When Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. And when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid, beginning to sink, and he cried out, saying, Lord, save me. He immediately realized, after a few steps, he was doing something that he shouldn't be doing. And he became afraid and he lost faith. Thought he was on his own, took his eyes off of Christ. But immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, caught him and said, oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt? When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And then those who were in the boat came and worshipped him, saying, truly, you are the son of God. Peter had a strong desire to be where Christ was, out there on the water, walking. I'm not so sure that it was even that he wanted to just, you know, do something neat, walk on water, as it was to be where Christ was. But as he was moving toward him, he realized, looked around, the waves, the impossibility of what he was doing, that he shouldn't be doing, and the fact that he left the safety of the boat, all of that perhaps came into his mind, and he panicked. He took his eyes off of Christ, which is what happens when you and I take our eyes off of Christ. We panic. We realize we're on our own. We realize we're doing something we perhaps shouldn't be doing. We weren't cut out to be doing. We should have done something else. And we panic, and we lose sight. But Peter, being the impetuous one that he was, is used in this example to teach a very strong lesson. It was not the last step that Peter took that was important. It was his first step to go down out of the boat, and to want to be where Christ was, and to be with him. That's the most important step. If we can take that in our life, spiritually, the rest will come, as long as we keep our eyes focused on Him. Those are some of the lessons that I draw from this, not so much the idea of a man walking on water. For Christ, that was pretty easy. I guess if he wanted us to do that, that would be easy enough to do as well, if you want to talk about miracles. But miracles aren't easy. I should say miracles are easy.

God can perform a miracle for us, with us, in us. But keeping our eyes on God, having faith, staying focused, that's hard. In a sense, that takes a bit more than just some type of fancy miracle, like walking on water. That takes real faith in our everyday life.

That's what Peter had to perhaps think about later on, when he would think back on this example and what he learned and what he didn't learn. I dare say that if any of us took a few steps on water and then started to sink and then get pulled out of it by the one that we know is to be God, it would be an event we would think back on and learn a great deal about. Every one of these episodes in Peter's life, we've just hit two of them, but think about them and kind of keep in the back of your mind as we kind of walk through here this afternoon. These are all episodes Peter looked back on, and he learned later a lot, the bigger lessons, just like you and I do. If we remember, think about, pray about, and look back on what we have been through, an episode in our life, a bad episode, a good episode, a lesson learned, unique experience, whatever it might be, that's when we learn about ourselves.

That's when we mellow a little bit, perhaps to the point where we don't make a mistake again, or we build on a success that we have had, and we learn the lesson. I think Peter looked back on all of these and learned. A lesson to learn from this is that being a first fruit is not a spectator sport. You have to take a step. You have to move out of a comfort zone. Take a step in a different direction. That's what being a first fruit is all about. It is not a spectator sport. It's not for someone to just sit and watch, think about, or even read about. Being a part of the family of God and the Church at any time, whether it's during Peter's time in these formative years, or in our experience today, the 21st century, it is a contact sport. We have to get off the bench. We have to get off our seats. We have to mix it up, and we will make mistakes. First fruits are subject to mistakes, to being picked off, to making mistakes, because we're the first fruits. The firstborn in a family often makes certain mistakes that the second, third, or fourth born watch and learn from, like how to talk to mom and dad.

The firstborn will maybe make certain mistakes, but the younger ones will, if they're smart, they'll learn and maybe take a little different path or different angle. First fruits are subject to making certain mistakes, but they have the most to learn because of the reward and because of the opportunities as well. In Matthew 16, Christ had taken his disciples way up north to a place called Caesarea Philippi, verse 13. It's a northern Galilee, a rocky outcrop with a waterfall and a very nice little lagoon. You can go to it to this day, this location. Verse 13 of Matthew 16, When it came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? So they said, Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. And he said to them, But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered and said to him, And blessed are you, Simon, Bar-Jonah, the 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, and the gates of Hades, or the grave, 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 loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. And he commanded his disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ. Now this was a pretty strong, heady statement and revelation that Jesus made to the disciples, even for Peter, a blessing, because again, he was the spokesman, or the first one to raise his hand, or first one to know the answer, whatever. And he said that, blessed are you. And by inference, all the others would be blessed for understanding this as well. And when he said in verse 18, Peter said, you're Peter, and on this rock I'll build my church. The reason I said earlier, you can go to this location in Northern Galilee today, you can almost picture the spot where Jesus would have said this, because there is a huge rock outcropping and kind of a waterfall coming out of it. And you can almost picture Christ saying, as they were sitting kind of in the shadow of this location, you're Peter, and on this rock, he would kind of point to this, he could have actually pointed to the rock as an object lesson, and this massive, craggy outcropping to make his point that I'm going to build a church on a solid outcropping. He didn't build a church on a man on Peter. This is not the Petrine Doctrine of Roman Catholicism. Of course, they take it from that. But the rock is Christ, and he was very likely pointing to a literal outcropping of rock to fix that in their mind's eye, that the church, their work, their effort would be on a solid foundation. And really, he's pointing them to himself, to Christ as the Son of the Living God, the Messiah, which is what the whole intent was. It was not to be looking to any man, it was to be looking to God and to Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church. And Peter learned a lesson from this. I don't think Peter learned, as he walked away and later on thought back on it, so much that, oh, I'm the chief apostle. I'm the number one here, necessarily. I think ultimately what he learned was Christ.

Success comes from focusing upon Jesus Christ and Him alone as the Head of the Church. And Jesus is not some private personal possession that you personalize, you know, with a WWJD on a bracelet or a tattoo on your wrist or put onto a license plate or a sticker that you've got in the back window of your car, you know, some nice saying, quaint, appropriate and true. But having it on your license plate or even, you know, putting it on a bracelet or some other type of statement, that personalization by other than by itself doesn't really accomplish it.

Focusing upon Christ, His life and His life in us is what's most important. And that's what Peter had to learn. If there was any thoughts of vanity in this, they were soon dashed because it's interesting. You just read on and verse 21 says, from that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He would go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and raise the third day. And then Peter, verse 22, took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, Far be it from you, Lord, this shall not happen to you.

And Peter stepped over. Perhaps he was a bit cocky after maybe thinking that he was a bit above the other 11. And he said, No, no, we'll take care of you. And immediately Christ turned and said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan. You're an offense to me, for you're not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.

Quite a turnaround. Now, this was not likely the same afternoon, maybe some short period of time later. And you find Christ having to rebuke Peter. That was pretty humiliating.

If you're ever praised by your parent, by your supervisor or situation and you recognize that you've been singled out, given a praise, you get a star by your name.

Those are important things. You get a promotion, you get a commendation, raise, or the promise of something. And we all humanly like those things. Napoleon, the famous French general once was supposed to have said that men will die for ribbons. So he created ribbons. All kinds of ribbons for valor, courage, and would make those available. And his men threw themselves into the fight. And as he said, they will die for ribbons, for recognition, honor, and that's a human trait. And then in this particular story, Peter gets rebuked and kind of brought back down a notch in the front of everybody a short time afterwards. And he essentially told, you're subject to the works of the flesh, you're subject to Satan's influence. Watch yourself. Watch yourself. On another occasion, he will tell Peter that, look, Satan has desired to sift you, but I've prayed for you. So again, Peter looking back on this, sometime later, I think he learned a great deal about humility and not to put too much stock in praise, in what he thinks may be honor, to keep it in perspective. Enjoy it for the moment, for what it is, but keep it in perspective. As we say, don't let it go to your head.

You can't afford to do that because if that inspires ambition, there will be a time when God and his mercy may bring us down. A notch or two, and again, put us through a test to determine loyalty, to determine faith. That is a major lesson that they had to learn. In Luke 22, Luke 22, this comes out, when the disciples began to jockey for a position as to who was the greatest. Luke 22, verse 24, There was a dispute among them as to which of them should be considered the greatest.

He said to them, the kings of the Gentiles exercised lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them were 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 is 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 am among you as the one who serves.

And you are those who have continued with me in my trials. And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as my father bestowed one upon me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. So, who was the greatest? Was there a question?

First fruit has to come to recognize that God has called us to a life of service, not celebrity, not status. But it's really to a life of service. This is the point of Jesus' comment here of becoming a servant. When we are appointed to this, then there is an opportunity for us to grow. And there is room for many, many others on the same branch when we realize that. Peter had to look at this, and it was just in the next verse where Christ said to him, and indeed Peter, Simon, indeed Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat. But I've prayed for you that your faith should not fail, and when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren. But he said to him, Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death. And he said, I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny me three times that you know me. You will deny three times that you know me.

Again, Christ knew Peter better than Peter knew himself, and he knew the other disciples better than they knew themselves as well. But a first fruit is called to a life of service, and keeping that in perspective, Peter had an opportunity to realize that, in a sense, he was marked. And it was only by God's intervention, Christ's intervention, that he was not, in a sense, just kind of picked off the branch or whatever, just as you'd pick a flower and crumble it in your hands and let it go. That's where he was. But for Christ's prayer for him, an intercession, which is the same Christ that makes intercession for all of us continually today, so that we might have that same grace, that same opportunity.

You know, Christ tells him, you're going to deny me three times. And that's exactly what happened. We know the story of after Jesus's arrest, where he was taken, and Peter denied him three times. Down in verse 61 of Luke 22 here, it's that third denial that is more poignant as Luke tells it, because when Peter said, I don't know him, the rooster crowed, and the Lord turned and looked at Peter, the piercing gaze right straight through him. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. So Peter went out and wept bitterly.

Didn't take long for that rooster crow three times.

It was a very short period of time that evening. And Peter learned a very painful lesson, probably the most painful of all. Especially when Jesus turned and looked at him and bore a hole right through him.

He got caught. And Peter had no justification, no excuse. I personally wonder, looking at this story and thinking about it, if this were the time when it really began to sink into Peter, who he was, what he was, and the depth of a repentance took place here. That really burned into his conscious. I don't know.

But he went off fishing. And you know the story in John 21, where they encountered him again on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. And Christ bored in on him again, telling him to follow me and feed my sheep three different times. He asked him, do you love me? But he said, essentially, follow me. Christ began his talks with Peter with an instruction to follow me. And some of his final words of instruction to Peter, at least that we have, are the same to follow me. And that's what Peter had to do. He had to learn to follow Christ through three and a half years of experience in the flesh, which was only a preparation for what was to come later and for what was to be involved in his life. And until Peter could let go, he could never truly hope to possess the powerful influence of God's Spirit, which was to come. And what he had to let go of was himself, his nature, his impetuous nature, his strong will. Not that he ever became a wallflower and a person who someone could just walk over. I don't ever see that taking place. But he developed a meekness of strength with character that allowed him to do even greater things and participate in some very noble expeditions on behalf of the church because he had indeed learned to let go and to allow the work of the Holy Spirit to begin to work within his life. And that became the most powerful influence upon him. Remember all the other statements that came about. Christ told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until Pentecost, and you will be imbued with power from on high.

He spent quite a number of days from the time of his resurrection to his final ascension, teaching, talking, working with them, polishing off some of the rough edges, getting them ready. When you come down to that sermon in Acts 2 on the Feast of Pentecost, you do see a different man stand up there. And where we too have been given snippets of conversations from the other comments from the other apostles, I think indeed we would have seen a dramatic transformation in all of them as well. Peter just happened to be the poster boy for the 12th that we read so much about and find out about. Later on, Paul comes on the scene and Barnabas and others in the book of Acts, and Luke focuses in on him. But we find there at the beginning of the book, we find a man who is very confident, who can stand up and talk as he does. And Peter becomes a very different individual in the work and in the service of the church. In chapter 10 of Acts, I'd like to turn to that and note another episode beyond that of chapter 2 in the day of Pentecost, because you'll remember Peter was the one Christ used to open the door of salvation to the Gentiles. Remember, the church initially was within the Jewish community among the descendants of the tribes of Israel. And it was only later on that God showed that salvation is open to every ethnicity, every race, Gentiles, all other nations are going to become part of this church. And he used Peter to be the one to make that possible by sending him to the home of a man by the name of Cornelius, who was a centurion. And chapter 10 of the book of Acts tells how Peter had his vision himself when he was at Joppa, a sheep being let down and had the vision there three times. And then he is told to go to Caesarea, to the home of this man named Cornelius, whom we are told at the beginning of Acts chapter 10. Verse 1 was a centurion, what was called the Italian regiment. He was a devout man and one who feared God with all of his household, who gave alms generously to the people and prayed to God always. So this individual that God used to be the, again, the model or the opening to the Gentile world and Peter to encounter him is not an ordinary Gentile. He's a devout individual. He would be one that you would call a seeker. He was not of Jewish descent, but he probably, because of the time that he had spent in Galilee and in Judea as a part of the Roman occupying force, he had come into quite intimate contact with the laws and the customs of the Jews, and he respected what he saw. He respected what he saw and was a devout man. And he gave alms. He gave of his wealth and he served. And he was a righteous individual to the knowledge that he had and to what he recognized of the Jews, the remnant of the covenant people of Israel, as he had encountered them during this period of time. So there's more working underneath the surface here with Cornelius as to why he was the one and why Peter then was told to go to him. So in verse 24, we'll jump right to there, the following day they entered Caesarea where Cornelius was. And Cornelius was waiting for them for Peter and his party. And he called together his relatives and close friends. As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshipped him. Pretty heady stuff. Now, if you thought you were the chief apostle, you might let that guy stay at your feet for 10-15 seconds. Okay, maybe 30.

Okay, maybe a minute. But you don't get that. Peter said, no. He said, stand up. I myself am also a man. You begin to sense that Peter at this point had a pretty good sense of who he was. And he was not one to be worshipped and fawned over at this time. So Peter lifted him up saying, stand up. I'm a man. And as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together. And he said to them, you know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or to go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Therefore, I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. I asked them, for what reason have you sent for me? So Cornelius said, four days ago 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 said, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard. Your alms are remembered in the sight of God.

Send therefore to Joppa, call Simon here, 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. So I sent to you immediately, and you have done well to come. Now, therefore, we are all present before God to hear all the things commanded you by God. You can see this man with friends and family in a large room in his house, having been called for this one occasion.

He's already now before Peter and learned one lesson of the Church of God, and that is, you don't worship men. Because Peter said, stand up, I'm not one to be worshiped. I'm just a man. And he stands before Peter, and in front of his family and friends, he says, we have, you know, I was told to sin for you. I had been seeking through prayer, through fasting. And this had been going on as part of his life for some period of time before he was singled out to be this unique individual. What I find interesting is that in verse 33, he said, we're here. We're present before God. Cornelius sensed that even in his own home, this gathering had God's presence there. We are here before God to hear all the things commanded you by God. And he turned to Peter, and he wanted to hear. Now, Cornelius was becoming a first fruit because, as you will go through, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they were baptized. They became many of them. With Cornelius, in a sense, in the lead, they became first fruits. And the attitude that they had here, as described in verse 33, is a remarkable attitude to focus in on. They were there to hear the Word of God from Peter.

Just like a whole world has always been, wanting to hear something of substance from people who knew what they were talking about, from people who knew that they served the true God, had a knowledge of salvation, a knowledge about the purpose of life, and had the gumption to go and to make it available, and could explain it in a coherent sentence, article, or other means to convey truth. And they had the gumption to do it, as Peter and the other disciples had then, as God's Church has always had down through history to this very day to do that one thing. To take the Word of God and to explain it and to teach to others what God says we should do. And has the passion to do that. That's called preaching the gospel.

And Cornelius recognized that in that very presence, they were there before God.

That's what firstfruits do as well. Firstfruits have a mission and a purpose, and they understand it, and they're committed to it.

And in every generation of the firstfruits, there's always a strong need and a strong desire to stay close to that mission, to recapture it, to brush it off from time to time, and to make sure that it is the driving force of the Church. Because that's what firstfruits do. They take the Word and they go out and they spread it by example, by teaching, by support, by all the means that are there. That's the nature of the message that the firstfruit has been given. That's why Peter found himself in this home here this day and was the unique individual among many others to convey that message. Peter learned the value of the firstfruits, of what he was, and the people he served, and the people that became a part of the Church. Keep in mind, Peter, up to this point, had only dealt with those who were like him, fellow Israelites and those of the tribe of Judah. He had flocked with those that were of his own feather. He was stepping out into another world by going to Cornelius' home out of the Gentiles. And he caught some flack about it. And he didn't learn his lesson perfectly because later on we find in Galatians that Peter even kind of waffled in one occasion and kind of sided with the Jews and would mix in a particular setting with the other Gentiles. And Paul said, I had to rebuke him.

So it took a while for Peter to even learn. And you know, that's something about a firstfruit.

Even with God's Spirit, even after years of experience, even after, in a sense, some mighty things are done through your life, there are still things to learn.

There are still imperfections to kind of mold over it or to knock off. And Peter had to learn that. Near the end of his life, he wrote down in what are first and second two letters, the distillation summary of what he had learned. And there are two very insightful books just to, number one, learn about what Peter had learned and certainly other teaching comes out of them as well. But when we read what he had learned about himself and about the firstfruits, it's instructive. Let's turn back to 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2.

1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2. Beginning in verse 5, he said, You also as living stones are being built up, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Now, he's speaking and writing and talking about not just members, but keep in mind firstfruits.

And he's telling them, you're a holy priesthood.

He goes to quote some other scriptures. Verse 6, therefore, it is contained in scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, precious, and he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame. Therefore, to you who believe, he is precious, but to those who are disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble being disobedient to the word to which they also were appointed. But you, verse 9, you, and I might just insert the word firstfruits, but you, firstfruits, 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.

If you did nothing but focus on verse 9, you'd have a pretty good summation of how Peter looked upon the membership. A chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. And he was quoting out of the book of Exodus, the themes from the book of Exodus there. But he looked upon the people as very, very special, called out of darkness, who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. And he was speaking as a Jew, who recognized that all of those who were in this category were a chosen generation.

It's quite a touching approach that he has to the members, to the people here, as he begins to leave them his final thoughts about who they are. In chapter 5 of 1 Peter, he talks to the ministry.

In verse 1, he says, The elders who are among you I exhort. I, who am a fellow elder. He didn't say, I'm a fellow apostle, or I'm an apostle, and you're an elder. He didn't pull any type of rank over them at all. He said, I'm a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. To the elders, he says, Shepherd the flock of God which is among you.

That's what Christ said in John 21 on that shore of the lake. Feed my sheep. Take care of them. Be there for them.

Teach them. Leave them. Be an example. Make sure that they have good fodder, good feed, are well taken care of.

Shepherd the flock which is among you, serving as overseers. Not by compulsion, but willingly. In other words, you're there because that's what you want to do.

Just as he was called from his fishing boat, his fishing occupation, what he had chosen and entered a different line of work, he sang to the elders, you've done this willingly. You were not compelled to do it. As any minister must have that willing desire to do that job out of a sincere heart. Not for dishonest gain, but eagerly. Nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And there he must have reflected in verse 3, summarizes what Jesus has said that, the greatest among you, let him be your servant. You want to be great? Serve.

Find that spot. That's what first fruits do. They serve the needs of the individuals of the congregation as a whole.

Serve it at a time. And if a time passes, someone else does it, and you move on to do something else, that's the way it works.

In the life of a congregation, people come and go, move in, move out. People grow. People develop interests, talents. Children grow through the various stages, and we serve in various ways, and then we may move into other areas. The needs are always there.

The people doing them will change over any given amount of time. And those things go through an unnatural progression. Sometimes changes will have to be negotiated, made, agreed to. But if we as first fruits always recognize that we are servants first, to the need, not to ourselves, not to our ambition, not to our ego, but we're servants to the need of the church, to the congregation, to the larger church as a whole, then we will yield ourselves to that. In the spirit of Christ saying that if you're going to be great, be a servant first. And if Peter saying here to a group of elders, don't lord it over. Don't be lords. Don't be seeking and searching. Don't be ambitious. No one to yield. No one to step down. No one to step aside. No one to move on to something else.

You can go laterally. You can step down. You can step up. It's a matter of all of us within the congregation, within the church, being examples in that sense. And here he's specifically saying to the elders, and he's speaking from his own experience.

Because this is not speaking as one who is looking upon himself as the chief apostle. This is a man who's learned that he denied the master three times within a matter of a few hours at the most critical moment, the most critical moment in need of a man's life or of the organization, if you will. The organization at that time was no more than 12 disciples in Jesus Christ and on that night when Jesus was arrested and tried and then crucified, they all fled. That was the most critical moment for somebody to step up and stand out.

And Peter knows he failed. And he got the eyeball.

If you ever get the eyeball from somebody, you know how that can penetrate. What would it have been like to have gotten the eyeball treatment from Jesus Christ at that time? Peter remembered that the rest of his life. And when he said here, you don't lord it over one another. You serve big examples to the flock. And he was establishing a principle by which the firstfruits will always develop and grow to their optimum. Because he had learned the power of the Holy Spirit to change a person himself in his thinking to become something new like this.

And he recognized what he said in verse 4. That when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

Any elder, and for that matter, really any of us, we have to recognize that the ultimate crown, the ultimate reward that we search for, is when that chief shepherd appears. And it's the glory of a changed body. It's eternal life, a crown of life, as Paul would later call it.

That's what we look forward to. And that will put into a proper perspective everything that we think we gain today. Every position, every title, every point of vanity, everything that we might have any ambition for. And ambition by itself doesn't always have to be bad, just so that we are able to keep it in check and to know our strengths and our talents and what we have to do and work toward that end. Peter learned that. He learned that the purpose of the Holy Spirit is the key to the work of the body of Christ. And that begins with the individual. It begins with the individual.

His whole transformation is a model of a first fruit. When we see it at work in his life, we see the work of the Holy Spirit as a comforter, going alongside to help, as Jesus said that it would be. Each one of us has access to that same life-changing power. That's what we celebrate and focus on during the weekend, if you will, the Feast of Pentecost, the power of the Holy Spirit that is able to change us. Transform us. But it begins with us individually. Peter's life, his story, is a lesson of faith in God, not in ourselves. It's a journey of faith that leads us to faith and to the image of God, and to the image of a first fruit. So let's learn that lesson. Let's focus on that as we think about it over the coming hours, as we keep the Feast of Pentecost, and recognize that it begins with us. If Peter changed, we can change. But we can only change through the power of God's Holy Spirit.