The Apostles in Acts - Peter

Apostles in Acts

Peter

Acts 4:8-12

Series Slide

Good morning and welcome to worship on this beautiful day that the Lord has made!  Has this not been a spectacular weekend?

Today is the final day in our series on The Apostles in Acts.  Now, the truth is… just like the Great Women of the Bible series we did last Spring, this one isn’t over, we just had to wrap it up somewhere.  There are so many more great men and women who were the emissaries of the Gospel.  I mean, we didn’t talk about John Mark… well, he was a footnote in the conversations about Paul and Barnabas, but he didn’t get a sermon.  We didn’t talk about Justus or Matthias.  We haven’t even considered Dorcus or Priscilla, much less Aquilla. And we didn’t even footnote Silas and Timothy when we discussed Paul and Barnabas.

Sermon Slide

But, all things must come to an end. And, we bring this series to an end by lifting up The Rock, Cephas… Simon… the one we know as Peter. 

So, we begin our discussion about Peter where we should always begin our time together, with prayer.

<prayer>

Peter

As we begin, I am going to do something I don’t often do in my sermons, I am going to read something written by another author.  This comes from Max Lucado’s book, They Walked with God.  I thought about rewording it, but I really don’t think I could improve on the words of Max.

So, receive these words about Peter…

<Read from They Walked with God, 241-243>

I am so glad that Jesus shared that meal with Peter… because without the restoration of Peter, we wouldn’t get to eat bacon or shrimp… or better yet, bacon wrapped shrimp. Amen? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go read Acts 10 and Peter’s vision about the unclean animals.

OK, I’m joking but only a little.

What is it that we know about Peter, not from the Gospel… we heard a lot about that Peter from Max’s writings, but what do we know from the Book of Acts? What do we know about Peter after his lakeside fish breakfast with Jesus?

First of all, Peter was a leader.  When Jesus ascended, there was no one left to lead the rowdy ragamuffin group of fishermen, tax collectors, zealots, and common, everyday people.  That is, no one except Peter.  Within a few days of the ascension, Peter stands in front of the Disciples and all the followers of Jesus who have gathered in seclusion and speaks about the prophecies of Jesus and the needs of the church going forward.  Then in Acts 2, Peter stands before the entire city and proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the thousands gathered in Jerusalem.  Peter may have never intended to be the leader, but Jesus had prepared him for the task from the beginning of their time together.

What else do we know about Peter? He was bold and he was brave.

Just as we heard in today’s reading, Peter had done a good thing… he and John were walking through the Beautiful Gate to go into the Temple and pray when they encountered a man born lame.  This man wanted help… it was a man who had likely given up on ever being anything but the “cripple” he was, so he would have friends or family bring him to the Temple so he could beg for alms, for pocket change… As Peter and John passed, he asked them for money.  It’s important to note that this was just, a day… any regular day… it wasn’t the Sabbath… so, when Peter told this man, “Silver and Gold I do not have, but what I have I give freely, In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, get up and walk.”  At that moment, the man's legs were strengthened and he stood up and walked.  He not only walked, he jumped and danced as he entered the Temple praising God.  Everyone there knew him… they had walked past him time after time with eyes cast to the other side so they wouldn’t have to lock eyes with him… you know what I’m talking about… we do the same thing when we see a homeless person begging at the street corner.  But now, this man was walking and dancing and praising God at the top of his lungs.

Nothing Peter said or did was against the law. Nothing he did was forbidden. Nothing he did contradicted scripture, but it scared the Pharisees.  It scared the ruling power that someone had the power to heal a man lame from birth… It scared them that Peter and John would preach about Jesus’ resurrection… so, the Captain of the Temple Guards arrested Peter and John and threw them in jail overnight.  It wasn’t until the next day that they were able to give an account of what they had done.

So, when they are asked, “By what power or in whose name do you perform these miracles?”  Peter boldly proclaimed the good news of Jesus Christ… He proclaimed the truth of the resurrection.  The truth was, he had done nothing wrong, but these religious leaders couldn’t have someone going around talking about Jesus’ resurrection… so they told them they could go, but they couldn’t tell anyone anything about this man Jesus anymore.

Peter was bold.  He was so bold that he asked these religious leaders, “What is right, that I listen to you or to God?” Then he told them, “We cannot help speaking about the things we have seen and heard.”

All through Acts, we see Peter stand boldly and proclaim he faith.  From a sobbing failure after the crucifixion to a bold proclaimer after the ascension.  That is who Peter was.

Oh, and one more thing. Peter was a revolutionary.  Not in the revolt kind of way.  I mean, he was courageous enough to hear from God and make a change.  The people of God, good Jews, would never eat shellfish.  They would never consider eating pork.  They couldn’t imagine eating reptiles or any other “unclean” animals… that is until the vision he had in Acts 10.

After that vision, Peter goes into the house of Cornelius and proclaims the Gospel, and Cornelius, a Gentile, is baptized along with his entire house.

From there, Peter proclaims the Gospel to Gentiles… and Peter is a part of the leadership that sent Paul out among the Gentiles with Barnabas.  Then, when the Pharisees who had come to follow Jesus began to require the Gentiles to follow the Jewish laws and customs, it was Peter who stood in their defense:

Acts 15:7-11 (3 slides)

After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

Peter

Peter, the revolutionary for Christ.

Peter, the bold and brave.

Peter, the leader for Jesus

Like all the Apostles in Acts, there is so much we can learn from this man, Peter. But, if we remember nothing else, hold on to these words that he shared with us during the Jerusalem Council…

“We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved.”

It’s not the work of someone else… others' decisions on our behalf don’t get us into heaven.

It’s not the work or the acts that we commit that save us.  We aren’t saved by what we do.

President Trump's idea that, if he can broker a peace deal in the Middle East will be his ticket to Heaven will not work.

Our feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving drink to the thirsty, healing the sick, and visiting the lonely do not save us.  They should be the outgrowth of a life lived in relationship with Jesus… as we seek to follow Jesus… as we become more and more like our savior.

But what saves us is the fact that we have accepted the free gift of Jesus… that we have placed our faith in Jesus… and we are saved by His grace.