Who Is Your Savior? Series

OPEN: Back in the days of the California gold rush, there were 3 prospectors who found a rich vein of gold back in the hills. They realized this was a great discovery and they decided, “We’ve a good thing going here - as long as no one else finds out about it.” So they made a vow to each other keep the location … secret. Then they headed into town to file their claims, get the equipment they needed, and they kept their word. True to their vows, they didn’t say a word to anybody. So, they filed their claim, bought the equipment, and headed back to the mine. But when they left town… a crowd of people followed them. THEY WERE FOLLOWED??? WHY?

Well, it was the expression on their faces that gave them away. Their faces glowed with excitement - they were going to be wealthy men. And people SAW their expressions and they knew these me must have found something special… and so they followed them out of town.

These men had found great riches. And there was something about how they looked that gave it away!

Our text today is one of the best-known New Testament stories ever! It tells of the sermon that started the church. It tells of 1000s of people who believed in Jesus and were baptized for forgiveness of sins. There were no Christians until AFTER this sermon was preached. And this event (Pentecost) was literally the break that separated the Old Testament (God’s contract with Israel) and the New Testament (God’s contract with us/ Church)

1000s of sermons have been preached about this pivotal event in Scripture. And today’s sermon will be just like those other sermons (pause) except today’s sermon will be a little different than most of them because I’m going to tell you how to share Jesus like Peter shared Jesus.

Now, here’s my first point: Peter didn’t just share who Jesus was - he shared who his savior was. You see, Peter had struck GOLD… when he decided to follow Jesus. From the moment on, Peter’s life was never the same

It was Peter (along with James and John) who were part of Jesus’ inner circle. The other nine apostles spent a lot of time with Jesus… but not like these three did. Everywhere Jesus went, Peter, James and John went as well. And when Jesus came walking on the water out to disciples’ boat it was Peter who was the only guy that had the courage to step out of the boat. When Jesus asked the disciples who they thought He was… it was Peter who said “You are the Christ the Son of the Living God.” And Jesus said “Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood have not revealed this to you but my Father who is in Heaven. And later, when the crowds abandoned Jesus because His teachings offended them, Jesus asked the 12 if they were going to leave Him too… it was Peter that said: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68)

Peter even said he was literally willing to lay down his life to protect Jesus from harm.

But THEN Jesus was arrested. And Peter followed as Jesus was led into the city and put on trial. He sat down at campfire nearby, waiting for his chance to perhaps free Jesus. While he was waiting there, someone recognized him and accused him of being a follower of Christ’s – but Peter said “NO. I don’t know anything about this Jesus.” Then someone recognized him said he looked like a Galilean and a follower of Christ and once again Peter denied it. A third time someone accused him of being a follower of Christ, and this time Peter not only denied Christ, but he cursed and said “I do not know the man!”

Three times Peter denied knowing who Jesus was. And once he’d done that, he realized he’d failed. He’d failed Jesus. And there are scholars believe that after that time Peter thought to himself “I’m just going back to fishing. I’m so much better at fishing than I am at following Jesus.” He had failed so miserably that he realized he didn’t deserve to be with Jesus anymore.

But then Jesus DIED for Peter on the cross (just like He did for us) and after the resurrection, Jesus sat down at another campfire, and three times he asked Peter “do you love me” until Peter broke down in tears. Peter knew, from that moment on, that Jesus had forgiven him.

From that time on, Jesus wasn’t just a teacher that Peter followed - Jesus became the Savior that Peter clung to. Jesus became the risen Messiah who loved Peter and Who had died for his sins. And you could see it in his face. Now it’s Pentecost, and Peter was intense in how preached to those people. Hiss message wasn’t a theological presentation and it wasn’t a Master’s Thesis for a special college degree. He was a man who was on fire for Jesus. His was a heartfelt message to a lost people.