As we conclude our brief study of Peter, we will review his rejection of Christ and his reassurance from Christ. We will also look at the revolutionizing of Christ, that is, how Christ revolutionized or changed Peter’s life.
The Rejection of Christ
John 18:18 Now the servants and officers who had made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and warmed himself.
John 18:25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said therefore to him, "You are not also one of His disciples, are you?" He denied it, and said, "I am not."
John 18:26 One of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said^, "Did I not see you in the garden with Him?"
John 18:27 Peter therefore denied it again; and immediately a cock crowed.
Have you ever asked the question, “What was the difference between what Peter did to Jesus and what Judas did?” Peter denied Jesus. Judas betrayed Jesus; that's stronger than denying Him.
Peter did not betray Jesus. In other words, he did not give Jesus up to the enemy. In fact, he fought to protect Jesus but Jesus did not need Peter’s protection; He wanted Peter’s obedience.
Peter did not betray Jesus; he did not want to be identified with Jesus. Not many Christians betray their Savior, but a lot of people deny their Savior. They just don't want to admit that they belong to Him.
Another difference between Peter and Judas is that Judas’ betrayal was satanically inspired; Peter’s denial was more than likely a fleshly or a result of his pride and fear.
Luke 22:2 And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might put Him to death; for they were afraid of the people.
Luke 22:3 And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve.
Luke 22:4 And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him to them.
Now Peter’s denial was still a sin and the last of his three denials was very intense:
Mat 26:73 And a little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "Surely you too are one of them; for the way you talk gives you away."
Mat 26:74 Then he began to curse and swear, "I do not know the man!" And immediately a cock crowed.
The Bible says Peter “began to curse and swear.” This doesn't mean he used bad language; it means he called down curses from heaven and he swore. He was taking oaths like some would say today, “I swear on a stack of Bibles, on my mother's grave…I’m serious as a heart attack…I never knew Him!” “If I am lying, may God strike me down…I never knew Him!”
Peter denied Jesus. He didn’t want to be identified with Jesus and today you will find Christians that will deny Him as well. Let me share with you a few ways that a Christian can deny the Lord today:
We deny the Lord when we act like we don’t know Him (like Peter did).
When we do not say grace over our food in public because we are fearful of what others might think, we deny the One who supplied us with the food to eat.
When we joyfully sing praise to Jesus at church with other Christians but dare not open our mouths at work or other places to speak His praises.
We deny Jesus with our disrespectful or rude attitudes
Paul says in Philippians 4:4-5, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.”
Christians ought to be the most pleasant people on the planet. One characteristic of the early church in Acts chapter two was that they “had favor (charis) with all the people.” (Acts 2:47)
Because the Greek word charis could be translated to mean lovingkindness, grace, favor or joy, this verse can be understood to say four things:
“Having lovingkindness with all people.”—That is, loving one another in Christian love and showing love to all they came into contact.
“Having grace with all the people.”—That is, showing grace to each other in all situations, and showing grace to all people they met.
“Having favor with all the people.”—Because the world of that time could see the love of God in these people, everyone favored them.
“Having joy with all people”—People could see that these people had real joy in Jesus and were happy people. They caused real joy wherever they went.
We deny Him with unloving speech
Eph 4:29 - Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear.
We deny Him when we don’t yield ourselves to Him in worship and service
Rom 12:1- I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
We deny Him when we lack an eternal perspective.
Mat 6:20 "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;
Mat 6:21 for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Col 3:1 If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Col 3:2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
Col 3:3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
Last time we saw that though Peter rejected Christ, he was reassured of Christ’s love for him.
The Reassurance from Christ
Peter denied Christ but was certainly repentant and restored to a place of fellowship with Jesus. Peter was sorry that he had denied his Savior and when the cock crowed, the Bible says, “He ran away weeping bitterly.” (Mat 26:75)
The Bible also tells us that Judas betrayed Jesus and felt remorse for his actions. It also says that he went as far as “confessing” his sin.
Mat 27:3 Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
Mat 27:4 saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." But they said, "What is that to us? See to that yourself!"
Mat 27:5 And he threw the pieces of silver into the sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.
What was the difference between the sorrow of Judas and the sorrow of Peter? Both were sorry for what they did—both felt remorse for their actions but what was the difference?
First, Judas felt remorse—he was sorry for what he did. He confessed to the chief priests and elders, but he did not confess to Jesus.
Secondly, Judas’ remorse drove him to commit suicide.
In John 10:10 Jesus says, "The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy…”
In Revelation 12:10 Satan is called the “accuser.”
The Greek word for “devil” is diabolos, and means, “slanderer” and “false accuser”.
By the way, it also means “malicious gossip” which tells us that when you gossip, you are acting like the devil—you have become one of his servants.
The difference between Peter and Judas is how they sorrowed or the kind of sorrow they expressed as a result of their actions. Listen to how the Apostle Paul distinguishes between two kinds of sorrow:
2 Cor 7:10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
Peter exhibited the kind of sorrow that produced a repentant spirit—Paul says that this kind of sorrow is according to the will of God.
Judas displayed the kind of sorrow that produced death—he hung himself. Paul says that this kind of sorrow is according to the world.
Judas probably reasoned in himself, “Look what I have done—I’ve betrayed innocent blood—how could I have done something like that—how could I have let myself fall.” It was all about Judas.
Peter probably reasoned in himself, “Look what I have done—I’ve denied my Lord and my God—He’s been so good to me and look what I did to Him!” For Peter, his remorse and sorrow was all about Jesus and it led to his repentance.
“And Peter…”
Needless to say, Jesus forgave Peter and not only restored Him but commissioned him! Let’s briefly look at how this was done.
Mark 16:1 And when the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.
Mark 16:2 And very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.
Mark 16:3 And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"
Mark 16:4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large.
Mark 16:5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed.
Mark 16:6 And he said^ to them, "Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.
Mark 16:7 "But go, tell His disciples and Peter, 'He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He said to you.'"
“And Peter”…These two words are only found in the Gospel of Mark. In verse 7 we find these two words. An angel tells the women visiting the tomb that “Jesus has risen; He is not here…” Then they say, “But go, tell His disciples and Peter…”
Matthew records the angels saying to the women, “Go quickly and tell His disciples…” But Mark adds the words, “And Peter.”
If you have ever offended anyone you love, you will appreciate the Spirit’s addition of these significant words through Mark.
I’ve offended more people than I want to admit. When I’ve tried to do the work of reconciliation I have often waited for a sign or something to demonstrate that the person has forgiven me.
Years ago I hurt someone I grew up with and loved dearly. I apologized to this person several times but for years it seemed like he could not forgive me for what I did.
I kept praying that God would close the gap between us and I would frequently look for signs that my friend was coming around to where we would be truly reconciled.
That day came August 23, 1986. I remember that day because I wrote it down in my Bible. We were able to go on a fishing trip together and talk it out and patch things up! Praise the Lord!
I imagine Peter was feeling low the day the women ran into the room where the disciples were together. The women were both nervous and excited as they relayed the message of Jesus given through the angels: “…go, tell His disciples and Peter…” I imagine that when Peter heard his name, he perked up!
Pastor John Butler says,
“These two words of reassurance spoke volumes to Peter. They spoke of forgiveness, and of the great grace and mercy and love of Christ. They said that though Peter had forsaken Christ in the dark hours that night before the crucifixion, yet Christ had not forsaken Peter. Peter was till his disciple. Christ could justifiably have excluded him. Peter had performed terribly during those dark hours the night before the crucifixion. He was indeed not worthy to be a disciple. He had proven false under pressure. But the wonderful grace, mercy, and love of the Savior prevailed; and…“and Peter”…was the blessed message Peter received.”
* If you have ever denied the Lord, the words “and Peter” should give you hope.
* If you ever sinned and Satan was whispering in your ear, accusing you, that God will never forgive you, “and Peter” should put your fears to flight!
* If you’ve ever miserably failed the Lord, “and Peter” should remind and reassure you of God’s love and mercy.
The old hymn titled, My Savior’s Love, expresses these sentiments:
I stand amazed in the presence Of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me, A sinner, condemned, unclean.
O how marvelous! O how wonderful! And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful! Is my Savior’s love for me!
I often wonder why the Lord continues to allow me to serve Him when I think about all the times I’ve let Him down. When I open the Bible to study His word, it is like Jesus is saying, “Go tell His disciples and Chuck…”
Each time I prepare to teach and preach His Word to His flock it’s like He says, “Go tell His disciples and Chuck…”
Sometimes when I arrive at church, I look around at all that God has done and is doing…
I am humbled that I am even in the ministry. It’s as if Jesus is saying, “and Chuck…”!
The amazing this is that you don’t have to be an apostle like Peter to hear the angels mention your name. You don’t have to be a preacher to hear the angels mention your name.
All you have to be is someone who’s messed up.
All you have to be is someone who sinned.
All you have to be is someone who denied his or her Lord Jesus and our merciful Lord will tell His angels to say, “Go tell His disciples and your name…”!
We’ve looked at the Rejection of Christ, the Reassurance of Christ. Now let’s look at the last point in our outline, The Revolutionizing of Christ.
The Revolutionizing of Christ
When we get to the book of Acts, we discover that there has been a change, Peter has going through some sort of transformation. He, who once timidly and cowardly denied knowing Jesus, was now courageously declaring Him.
As we close we are going to explore this change in Peter. We are going to look at (1) the power behind the change; (2) the boldness from the change; (3) the confidence from the change; (4) the wonder of the change and (5) the company of the changed.
1.) The Power behind the Change
The Book of Acts also records that before Jesus ascended to the Father, He met one last time with His disciples and told them “not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father.” He tells them, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
The disciples did just as Jesus commanded and waited. On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit did come and breathed power upon this new group of believers and He has been filling believers with His power ever since.
On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit gave the disciples the ability to preach the wonderful works of God in the languages of the foreigners who were in town for the holiday (2:11).
In town there were Parthians and Medes, Elamites and Egyptians, Libyians, Cyrenians and Arabs. The disciples were preaching in their languages. As a result, the crowd began to wonder what was going on and describes the strange behavior of the disciples as drunkenness.
Peter stands up as the spokesman. In the past, Peter would be the first to open his mouth but only to insert his foot in it. Here he is the first to speak—this lets us know that he is the same Peter; yet he is different; he does not deny Jesus—he preaches Jesus!
He preaches a sermon that shows that Jesus is indeed the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah. Peter boldly concludes his message with words found in Acts 2:36, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
The book of Acts records Peter going on to preach another powerful sermon in Acts 4. In verse 13 notice with me Luke’s (the author) commentary:
Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
Peter and the other disciples had obviously been changed and the change was noticed. They were bold; they were courageous. Earlier in Acts, chapter two, we find what made the difference in their lives. Acts 2:4 says they were “filled with the Holy Spirit.”
There was power behind the change. It wasn’t Peter’s power. Jesus promised that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them and that is just what happened.
This power is still available. If you and I are to overcome our weaknesses, fears and inadequacies, like Peter, we need this power and the Bible says the Christian can have this power. Paul says in Ephesians 5:18, “Be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
2.) The Boldness from the Change
Acts 3:1 records both Peter and John going up to the temple to pray. Don’t miss the fact that Peter has come out of hiding and is not afraid to walk right into the temple where the enemies of Jesus hung out.
At the gate of the temple, they meet up with a man who the Bible describes as “lame from his mother’s womb and being carried along…”The man is at the temple begging for money but Peter says to him, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk."
Peter takes this man by the hand, lifts him up and the Bible says, “immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.”
Of course this miracle gets the attention of onlookers and draws a crowd. Does Peter run and hide? No! He is a changed man and begins to preach Christ and the Resurrection.
Peter says, "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.
And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”
Notice the change in Peter! He has changed from cowardly to courageous. Before the resurrection, when asked whether or not he knew Jesus, Peter swore up and down that he “didn’t know the man.” But now Luke writes in Acts 3:15 that Peter declares himself to be a witness of Christ.
When Christ gets a hold of you there is going to be a change; there’s going to be boldness.
Not only is there going to power from the change and boldness from the change…there is going to be confidence from the change.
3.) The Confidence from the Change
Notice I didn’t say “self-confidence.” Peter’s confidence was in the Lord.
In Acts chapter 4 Peter and John were thrown in jail for preaching the Gospel. Listen as they are interrogated:
Acts 4:7-8 – “And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, "By what power or by what name have you done this?" Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said…”
Peter had confidence in God and when attacked the Bible says Peter and John, “raised their voice to God with one accord and said: "Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them…”
The Spirit of God was reaffirming in their hearts that the battle wasn’t theirs, it was the Lord’s.
Peter and John also knew that the temple guards and Sadducees weren’t after them because of who they were but because of whose they were. Thus they continued to pray:
Acts 4:29-30 "Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus."
Peter and John realized they were servants of God, thus their confidence was in the Lord. Acts 4:31 says, “And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”
There was a change in Peter’s life. There was power behind the change; there was boldness from the change; there was confidence from the change.
4.) The Wonder of the Change
Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
Peter and John were accused of being “uneducated and untrained.” But this means something different then what it would mean today.
“Uneducated” simply means “men not instructed in the learning of the Jewish schools.” “Untrained” means “men of the common sort.”
What the people were marveling about is that Peter and John had never been to the Ivy League schools. They had never been to the schools of the Pharisees and the Scribes.
But Peter and John had a better working knowledge of the Scriptures than the highly trained Sanhedrin. How? They had been taught by Jesus for 3½ yrs.
Jesus both taught and modeled practical Christianity to Peter and the other disciples. This is why the Bible puts a premium on church attendance. This is why we stress LIFE Group attendance.
It’s one thing to go to Bible College and learn the word of God taught by the professors but it is another thing to learn practical Christianity by attending a small group Bible study and putting what you learn into practice through practical ministry and service in the church. This is what Jesus did with His disciples—He taught them and then put them to work.
This brings us to our last point.
5.) The Company of the Changed
Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
Peter and John had been with Jesus! They were different! The power of God had been poured out in their lives! They had been in Jesus’ company and were changed men!
This reminds me of the account in Exodus 34 where Moses spends 40 days and 40 nights on Mt. Sinai. The Bible says that when Moses came down from Mount Sinai that the skin of his face shone because he had been with God!
No one spends time in the company of God and remains the same! Peter and John spent time with Jesus and it was like rubbing a magnet against a piece of iron—they received in themselves the power of God.
They received power, they received boldness, they received confidence—they were changed men!
Have you spent time in the company of Jesus? Jesus will change you!
He will change you from a child of the devil to a child of God.
He will change you from a boozer and loser to a King’s kid.
He will change you from a thief to someone who gives.
He will change you from a liar to someone who can be trusted.
He will change you from an addict to one who gets his “fix” from the Spirit of God.
He will change you from one who speaks nonsense to one who has good sense.
He can clean your mouth and renew your mind.
He can change you from an adulterer to one who is faithful.
If you are antisocial, He can make you friendly.
If you are bitter, He can give you joy.
If you are anxious; He can give you His peace.
If you are envious, He will make you content.
If you keep company with Jesus, He will change you!
Somebody said, “He walks with me and talks with me and tells me that I am His own. And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.”
Peter was a changed man! Have you been changed?
