CLOSE ENCOUNTERS SERIES
14 – THE BIG FISHERMAN PETER
PART 1
This morning, we’re continuing with our sermon series entitled CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
And we’ve been talking over the last several weeks and months about the GLORIOUS FACT that no matter…
--who you are
--what you’ve done
--where you’ve been
You can have CLOSE ENCOUNTERS with God
And what we’ve been doing is looking at the lives of the greats in the Word of God
People like…
--Adam
--Abraham
--Joseph
--Moses
--David
--Daniel
And many others
And last week, we talked about JOHN, but this morning, and next week, this is one of my favorites, because we’re going to be talking about the one person in all the Bible that I can identify with the most!
And that is THE BIG FISHERMAN, PETER
And the reason I call him “THE BIG FISHERMAN” is that if you’ve ever seen the 1953 movie entitled, “The Robe”, that’s what the Christians in that movie called Peter, because most likely in those times of persecution, they had to use code names
And when they decided a “code name” for Peter, it was THE BIG FISHERMAN
And so today, we’re going to begin the first of 2 MESSAGES talking about THE BIG FISHERMAN and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
With that in mind, let’s read…
• Luke 6:13-14 ( KJV ) 13And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles; 14Simon, (whom he also named Peter,)…
• John 6:67-69 ( KJV ) 67Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
INTRODUCTION
In The Last Days Newsletter, Leonard Ravenhill, the great revivalist, tells about a group of tourists visiting a picturesque village who just happened to walk by an old man sitting beside a fence. In a rather patronizing way, one tourist asked, "Were any great people born in this village"' The old man replied, "Nope, only babies.'
And how true it is – God takes the raw material of a man or woman, to make them what they can and should be by His Grace and Almighty Power
And of all the disciples, Peter is the most accrate mosaic of each of us here this morning
John MacArthur points this out in his great book, “12 Ordinary Men” when he says…
Peter’s name is mentioned in the Gospels more than any other name except Jesus. No one speaks as often as Peter, and no one is spoken to by the Lord as often as Peter. No disciple is so frequently rebuked by the Lord as Peter; and no disciple ever rebukes the Lord except Peter. No one else confessed Christ more boldly or acknowledged His lordship more explicitly; yet no other disciple ever verbally denied Christ as forcefully or as publicly as Peter did. No one is praised and blessed by Christ the way Peter was; yet Peter was also the only one Christ ever addressed as Satan.
Fumbling, bumbling, with…
--all the mistakes
--making bold statements that he didn’t back up
--putting his foot in his mouth
--even making a big mistake AFTER Pentecost
That’s right – most people know of Peter’s big mistakes BEFORE Pentecost, but they forget AND I DON’T HAVE TIME TO GO THROUGH THE ISSUE
But they forget that that Paul the Apostle had to confront him in Galatians chapter 2 about a wrong he was doing – and this was many years after Peter was older, wiser, and after Pentecost
Which tells me no matter…
--how old you are
--spiritual you are
--used of God you are
You are still susceptible to making mistakes!
And yet, with all of these things and what I’ve been wanting you to see throughout this series is that if a man like Peter, with all of his shortcomings and problems, if he can…
--walk on the water
--preach and 3,000 to 5,000 are saved and baptized instantly
--just walk by and his shadow bring healing and miracle
--have CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
Then so can we!
And that’s what we’re going to be doing this morning and next week, is looking over the life of one of God’s great – SIMON PETER, THE BIG FISHERMAN
And in order to try to help you get an overall view of his life, we’re going to be breaking his life down into 5 parts – 3 of which we’ll cover this morning
We’re going to be talking about his…
--conversion
--courage
--confession
--crash
--come back
And so, first of all, let’s talk about…
1. PETER’S CONVERSION
And the Bible tells us how Peter first came to know the Lord
John 1:40-42 ( KJV ) 40One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. 42And he brought him to Jesus.
Here’s the story of Peter’s conversion – it was all because Andrew his brother, led him to Christ!
In other words, Andrew had met the Lord, and he went out and told him to come to meet Jesus, and he did, and that is how Peter got saved
It all started with Andrew simply bringing him to Christ
And what if Andrew had not done that?
What if Andrew had been just content that he was saved, and oh well, my brother, he’s such a mess that he’ll never get saved
What if Andrew didn’t care
Then we wouldn’t have…
--Pentecost
--2 books of the New Testament
--the record of what God can do with a person despite their problems
But oh, thank God, he brought his brother to Christ
And really, isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be…
--shouldn’t we be bringing people to Christ
--shouldn’t we be concerned about family, friends, and associates
--shouldn’t we all say “I have found the Messiah!”
And we don’t read much else about Andrew, but the one thing he did was bring his brother to Christ
That’s how Peter came to know the Lord
NOTE: FRIEND DAY COMING UP IN SEPTEMBER!
And then, when he brings him to Christ, Jesus said…
John 1:42 ( KJV ) 42And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas [Peter], which is by interpretation, A stone [petra].
And what a fascinating statement
Jesus looks at Peter and says, I know…
--you’ve got faults
--you’re a handful
--you will be high maintenance
But I’m going to go ahead and call you what you will be
Did you hear that – WHAT YOU WILL BE, THOU SHALT BE
And I’m so glad that God doesn’t see Ricky Nelms for…
--what he is
--the struggles
--the mistakes
But he looks and me and you and says, YOU ARE, BUT ONE DAY YOU WILL BE
You are…
--a prostitute, but you will be a bride
--a loser, but you will be a winner
--a sinner, but you will be a saint
--broke, but you will be blessed and highly favored of God
That’s Peter conversion
And then, secondly, let’s consider…
2. PETER’S COURAGE
Because of all the things we can say about Peter, one thing for certain is that HE WAS A MAN OF COURAGE
He wasn’t afraid of anything!
A. I mean, this guy is the only mortal to ever walk on water!
And we read about that story in Matthew 14 and the Bible says that Jesus came walking on the water and Peter said, “If it’s you, let me come”
And he did – and THAT TOOK COURAGE
I mean, think about COURAGE
It reminds me of the story of the man that was walking a tight rope across the Niagara. And then, he took a wheelbarrow and walked it all the way across and the crowds were just cheering. And when he came back, he said, “Do you think I can do it again?” And they all yelled and cheered. And then he looked and said, “O.K., who wants to ride in the wheelbarrow?” No body came!
I mean it took courage to walk on the water – and I know he sank, but think about it, he left the others on the boat!
And I believe the Lord is speaking to some people this morning – it’s TIME FOR YOU TO STEP OUT OF THE BOAT
It’s time for you to…
--dream again
--rise up to the challenge again
--to leave the comforts of the boat
It’s time for you TO STEP OUT OF THE BOAT
And it took courage
And then, there was another time when Peter displayed great courage
B. CUTTING OFF AN EAR OF A ROMAN SOLIDER!
It was the night Jesus was going to be arrested and he went and cut one of the soldiers ear off
And really, he missed, because he was going to cut his head off
Talk about COURAGE!
And Jesus promptly healed that man’s ear, which was a great act of God’s protection because the penalty for harming a Roman solider was death
And Jesus in effect delivered Peter from the death penalty
But not only do we see his courage here, but let’s FAST FORWARD to many years later, in the book of Acts, and God gives Peter a vision
C. THE VISION OF THE GENTILES IN ACTS 9:9-48
And I don’t have time to give you the details, but basically it was a VISION of a gentile man and his whole house that needed to hear the Gospel
And Peter was a DEVOUT JEW and he had a hard time with that, no doubt
But when he saw that vision, he immediately went out to a man’s house who was a gentile and preached the gospel and that was the very first gentile to get saved
And you better be thankful – because if it wasn’t for Peter’s courage, we might not be saved today!
Thank God for people who don’t care…
--where God sends them
--who God sends them to
--what color they are
But they will preach the Gospel, red, yellow, black and white
And by the way – here’s a little preach point – every work of God needs 2 things – A VISION AND COURAGE
Perhaps that’s why God told Joshua…
Joshua 1:9 ( KJV ) 9Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
And I believe God is telling some people in here…
--don’t be afraid to launch out
--don’t be afraid to get out of the boat
--don’t be afraid to start that business
--don’t be afraid to share your faith
--don’t be afraid of getting land for this church
Because if we’re going to do anything for God, we need A VISION and we need COURAGE!
That’s Peter’s courage
And then, finally, this morning, let me talk to you about…
3. PETER’S CONFESSION
It’s in Matthew 16
Matthew 16:13-19 ( KJV ) 13When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
And I’m here to tell you this morning, that the GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST THE CHURCH
Somebody shout – IT’S ALL ABOUT THE CHURCH
Jesus never said I’ll build my…
--youth ministry
--prison ministry
--TV ministry
--music ministry
He said I’ll build my church, and if you build the church, you’ll have…
--youth ministry
--prison ministry
--TV ministry
--music ministry
And some people don’t like the church, and if you feel that way, it’s like you saying “Ricky I like you, but I don’t like your bride!”
As long as my arm is connected here, we’re OK
But if you see my arm back there on the Information Desk, you’ll faint
Why? Because we’ve got to be part of the body
And that’s Peter’s confession – HE IS THE CHRIST
And on that confession, Christ will build his church
And I tell you another confession
It’s found in John 6
John 6:67-68 ( KJV ) 67Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
IN CLOSING
This morning, some of you need to MAKE YOUR CONFESSION
Some of you need to GET OUT OF THE BOAT
Some of you need COURAGE
Some of you have made mistake after mistake
Some of you have A VISION
Whatever it is, you can have a CLOSE ENCOUNTER TODAY!
Fourthly, not only do I want you to understand…
--Peter’s conversion
--Peter’s courage
--Peter’s confession
