"The Apostles" - Which One? (Sermon Series - 2023)

Intro:

Good evening!

I’ve got a sermon series starting this evening on something that I “think” you will find interesting (I hope!)

The title of this series overall is “The Apostles - Which One?”

What we want to do tonight is begin talking about the apostles — the original 12, plus Matthias, plus Paul — and I want you to think about them in this regard …

Which one do you identify with the most?

Perhaps you identify with quite a few of them.

We can learn a lot from the apostles — Their personalities, their interactions with Jesus as well as others, the sufferings they willingly underwent for the Gospel’s sake, and we can even learn a few things from Judas Iscariot.

Hopefully by doing some character studies over the next several weeks we can gain some key takeaways from studying the lives of the apostles.

We’re going to start with a couple of the most well known apostles, and if I were to poll the audience about your list of favorite apostles, I bet the first two I mention would be on most people’s list at number 1! (Peter this week; Paul, Lord willing next week).

(My goal in doing this sermon series is not to give you ALL of the information about each apostle — For most of them, there’s just way too much information! — But hopefully, you can use this as a starting point to further your own studies of the different apostles using these character studies and taking good notes on each one).

Peter - April 9th

PETER’S CALLING:

Peter is also called “Simon” (which means “hearing” in Greek) and “Cephas” (which means “a stone” in Aramaic) in God’s Word.

Peter is mentioned 212 times in the New Testament, called “Peter” 162 times, with 6 more mentions as “Cephas” and 44 mentions as “Simon.”

John 1:35-42

John 1:35–42 NKJV

Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).

Another interesting tidbit is that Peter is always listed first in listings of the apostles (Matt. 10:2; Mark 3:16; Luke 6:14 — Many believe that this has to do with his natural leadership abilities.)

PETER’S LIFE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

Usually when listing the apostles, Peter is one of the first one’s people think of — not only because he is listed first in the Bible, but also because the Bible just has a LOT to say about him!

For instance, let’s just look at a few of the highlights:

(We’ll just mention some, and turn and read some others).

J.M. - Peter was, of course, a fisherman — (Matt. 4:18-22) (one of four apostles who were fishermen, along with Andrew, James, and John) — and he was told by Christ that He would make him a “fisher of men” (same text).

I always find it fascinating that these 4 men “immediately” or “straightway” left their nets and followed Christ — I wonder why that is?

J.M. He was married - Matt. 8:14-15; Mk. 1:29-31; Lk. 4:38-39.

(Read this one) (one of my favorites) - He walked on water to meet Jesus - Matt. 14:22-33.

Truly this was a faith-building moment for all!

Here’s a big one — (Read this one) - Peter confessed the divine nature of Christ - Matt. 16:13-20

I love this one!

So important!

J.M. - Peter witnessed the transfiguration (along with James and John, the “inner three) - Matt. 17:1-13; Mk. 9; Lk. 9.

J.M. - Vowed he would not deny Jesus - Matt. 26:31-35; Mk. 14; Lk. 22; Jn. 13.

But …

As we all know, Peter didn’t keep that vow!

(Read this one) - He denied even knowing Jesus - Matt. 26:69-75; Mk. 14; Lk. 22; Jn. 18.

Of course, Peter wrote two epistles in our New Testament - 1 & 2 Peter.

His epistles deal with Christian growth, the importance of knowledge of the Scriptures for said growth, adding to our faith, persecution, and watching out for false teachers.

PETER’S PERSONALITY:

A lot of people tend to identify with Peter, especially people who tend to be leaders, or “Type A personalities.”

Also, people who tend to be very zealous or maybe even a little impetuous have a lot in common with Peter.

Is that you? (It’s okay, you can admit it!) :D

Let me give one more event in Peter’s life, and that is that he got himself into trouble with Paul, didn’t he?

(Read Gal. 2:11-21)

Peter acted the hypocrite, didn’t he?

Maybe you’ve struggled with similar problems — or Maybe you worry too much about what people think about you, just like Peter did when he denied Christ 3x, when he messed up here in Gal. ch. 2, etc.!

PETER’S DEMISE:

As is the case with most of the apostles, we have to go by tradition/writings of early Christians to gain an idea of what might have happened to each of them.

Take these with a grain of salt (except for when the Bible speaks clearly about the deaths of a couple of apostles) …

But I tend to think there’s a high likelihood of the accuracy to these … (other’s disagree).

We do know that Peter’s death is alluded to by Christ at the end of the book of John.

John 21:18-19

John 21:18–19 NKJV

Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.”

In keeping with Peter’s personality, Peter basically then asks Jesus, “Hey, what about John?!” :D

Jesus tells him, essentially, not to worry about it - (verse 22) “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” :D

Well, early church historical accounts such as Foxe’s Book of Martyrs and others have this to say about the death of Peter:

He was supposedly crucified upside down (because he didn’t feel worthy to suffer the exact same death that Jesus suffered).

Other sources believe that Peter was beheaded.

Either way, we know it must have been a martyrdom of some kind according to what Jesus said at the end of the book of John.

CONCLUSION:

I hope that you have enjoyed our brief study of the apostle Peter this evening.

Lord willing, the plan is to study from the life of the apostle Paul next Sunday night.

Paul - April 16th

John - April 23rd

a

Matthew - April 30th

a

Andrew & Philip - May 7th

I put these two together for their “bringing.”

James the Son of Zebedee - May 21st

Nathanael (Bartholomew) & Thomas - May 28th

I put these two together because of their doubting reputations - “Can anything good come from Nazareth” & “Unless I see the holes in His side”

James the Son of Alphaeus - June 4th

a

Judas the Greater (Thaddeus) & Simon the Zealot - June 11th

a

Mathias - June 18th

Not a lot of information given about him

But something important can be found here in Acts — The qualifications for one to be an apostle

Judas Iscariot - June 25th

We all know the story — give the timeline …

Did Judas have free will?

Conclusion: